Jackson Hole

We took a quick trip up to our condo in Jackson the first weekend in October. Seth & I decided we have never been there this time of year (which is quite shocking, actually)- but we couldn't beleive how beautiful it was! We will definitely do it again. We were lucky to have some friends who were headed up there the same weekend that we could hang out with. We had fun showing them our favorite things to do up there. We went animal viewing- which was amazing! There is so much wildlife out trying to stock up on food for winter. We saw 3 bears, loads of moose, a bald eagle, a family of river otters, loads of elk, pronghorns galore, etc. etc. We went on a short hike at string lake & then let the kids wade in the water & try to catch minnows. We took all the kids rafting down the snake. Normally we would never put our kids on such a dangerous river, but at this time of year, the water was really low & quite tame. We went into town & walked around the shops. We went on family bike rides. It was a great trip!
The tetons in the fall are amazing!

Can you see the bull moose hiding in the grass????
A bear- oh my! This funny guy was just hanging out right by the road eating berries for hours. There were so many people stopped to look at him that the rangers set up road blocks & wouldn't let you park there. It was quite funny.
This is my first picture of baby J smiling. She's in front of a HUGE moose, but the camera blurred him out. I don't care cause I was so happy to get photos of her smiling!
Yet another moose.
We invited everyone to our condo for dinner one night & then the kids made cookies.
Catching minnows at String Lake.
The moms resting for one quick second!
Smurf in his tighty-whitey's catching a ride with dad.
a quick stop at Jenny Lake. The ferry was closed so we couldn't go see Hidden Falls.
We celebrated Noodle's birthday whilst vacationing. He's five now!
Getting ready to ride the river
Here we go! (Yes, we are taking 3 year olds down the snake.) They loved Big Kahuna!
A family bike ride. Is it child abuse to put your three month old in a bike trailer????

Blessings

I loved my friend Melissa's latest blog about blessings. And Gratitude. It gave me the warm fuzzies. You can see it here. But today I'll be sharing another kind of blessing with you.
Baby J's blessing day was August 22nd- a day you would think would be sure to be warm, sunny, and beautiful for a get-together with friends and family. But this year, August was anything but typical. I believe the weather man said it was the rainiest August in Utah's history. Anyway- thanks to Melissa, I've decided it was a beautiful day nonetheless. The RAIN was a BLESSING. The COLD was a JOY. Thanks to all our friends and family who braved the weather to spend the day with us. Having you there was the greatest blessing of all.





Seth & his Grandpa Wallace. Thank you for coming Grandpa!

I can't pass up an opportunity to showcase one of Michelle's many fashionable fatima's.

Welcome to Behinds-ville

Yes, I've done it again. I've gotten tremendously behind. How does this happen??? I'll tell you how- LIFE gets in the way. So, rather than try to make 25 posts & get properly caught up, I'm going to give you a "best of" the last two months- at a glance.
Ready????
GO!

Kenni & baby J watching TV

baby J & her Great-Grandma Hansen

One of the last summer days at Liberty Park









Family night at Boondocks





I dragged some of my friends up to Snowbasin to go Mountain Biking with me on my birthday. Afterwards we met some of our other, less brave friends at the Oaks for breakfast. It was so much fun!
I haven't gotten to do much Mtn. Biking this summer at all with the new baby, so it was great to get out.

Seth competed in the 50k Mtn. Bike race up at Snowbasin. His team did great, considering how out of shape they were!

Kenni's Birthday party. They got together for the premiere of Camp Rock 2 & had a pj party. Like, could you just die?

Seth took all the kids to the HAFB museum by himself while I was out of town. He is so brave. (either that, or so eager to get out of housework that he'll go just about anywhere. The jury is still out......)

Baby J's maiden voyage into grandma Ree's pool. Yes, these pics were taken in OCTOBER. Man, its been a warm fall!

Back to School

Ah, the first day of school. One of my favorite photo op's. The kids are all getting so big! If you count preschool, this year I get to send four of my five out the door. Its so fantastic. Kenni is in 3rd grade this year, Sparky in 2nd, Noodle & Smurf are both in Preschool. (Noodle is a "missed the deadline" baby, so he & Smurf will only be 1 year apart in school, same as Kenni & Sparky).
So, for at least 2 hours twice a week, I get some alone time with my baby. Joy of joys. And really, there's something about that first hint of fall in the air, new school supplies, and football season that makes you take a deep breath & say "Ahhhh!"
I love it!





I always take a picture of them getting on the bus. Do you think when they're in high school they'll hate me for it????