September

Time for another catch-up post.

My mom and 2 uncles (Jo & Peter) came over for a 2-week visit in September.

We (they) planned lots of fun outings.

Brunch at Sundance has become a tradition for my parents. So the first Sunday we drove up beautiful Provo Canyon.

After brunch we drove to Park City and walked around Main Street for a little while.

Of course no family visit is complete without traveling in Utah. We went to Moab for a weekend, giving my uncles a chance to rekindle with the place where Trevor and I got married on their previous visit.

We visited the usual, Arches NP and Canyonlands NP, but we also went to Dead Horse State Park.

Trevor and I both celebrated our birthdays during my family’s stay. We had amazing dinners at Mazza and The Happy Sumo. Both Will and Tessa were adventurous and tried new things.

Mazza

&

The Happy Sumo

(Don’t worry, that is not sake in her cup.)

At The Riverwoods there was live music before we had dinner. We sat and listened for a while and tried to take some good pictures. That didn’t work out so well with the boys.

I did get this video of Tessa dancing to the music.

We’ve been working in our yard pretty much every single weekend this year, so it was nice to get some help.

The day before their arrival Trevor and I found out that I had miscarried. On the day of their arrival my family had to wait for 2 hours on our front porch for us to come back from the hospital. (Sorry, again!) I don’t think I ever really told my mom how much I appreciated her help and support in the two weeks she was here. I know that she knows this, but it should be said anyway. So Mam, dank je wel!

Some of the things we did in August…

– A 4-wheel drive day trip to Cascade Springs

As you can see in the upper left picture, Will and Tessa were really excited for this. It was a nice drive though!

– Hiking Timpanooke

One date night Trevor and I hiked part of the Timpanooke trail. We got a late start and we had to turn around at the Giant Staircase and still hiked most of the way down in the dark. But we did see a moose and some deer.

– Sundance

We had some time to kill one afternoon while in town, so I took the kids up to Sundance. We walked around for a bit, ate a snack and drove back to town. The temperature in the canyon was a lot nicer than in the valley.

– Another Belt Promotion for Will

Brown-Orange!

– Our trip to Lake Powell

Which has its own post.

– And some random pics of the kids

Ready for the sun!

Both fast asleep in the car after Granny Night.

Tessa trying to dress herself. Those are Will’s socks.

Tessa feeding Will’s bear her lunch.

Piece By Piece

Will and I both love building Legos.

He’s got quite the collection by now.

Every summer we try to build all his sets.

To be honest, I think I might enjoy the building more than him, and he the playing.

But it is a fun way for me to spend more time with Will.

So far we’ve finished his Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Atlantis and some of his City and Creator sets.

Up next are his Star Wars and Batman sets.

And when summer is over we break them all apart.

Will REALLY likes to do that.

And I get my shelving space back!

Atlantis & Harry Potter

Indiana Jones

Moab

Moab is one of our favorite places to spend time.

Last weekend it was time for a break from the kids, so Moab is where Trevor and I went.

We stayed at the Red Cliffs Lodge along the Colorado River (where we held our wedding reception 4 years ago). It is such a beautiful place.

We visited Arches NP on Sunday. Trevor recently read the book Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey, who spent three seasons as a park ranger in Arches in the 1950’s. Back then (from 1936-58) the entrance road, called Willow Flats, was a dirt road several miles north of the current road. Trevor wanted to drive that road into the park. From there you can get to the Eye of the Whale Arch. It was really quiet out there, since very few people go there. We hiked there for about an hour.

Arches N. P. with the La Sal Mountains

After that we drove to the Devil’s Garden area. 3 Years ago we hiked the whole loop with Will. We hadn’t been back there since. Along the trail you can see several arches, Landscape Arch, Navajo Arch, Double O Arch, Partition Arch, and a few more if you take the primitive trail back to Landscape Arch. 3 Years ago we also walked past Wall Arch, but it came down in August of ’08. Now you pass it on the other side, since the trail is covered completely with big boulders.

This time we hiked to the Dark Angel, a short walk from Double O Arch, and then we walked back.

I just love that Moab and the National Parks around it are only a 3.5 hour drive away. The area is so beautiful and there is so much to do that we already talked about where we’re going to hike next time.

Will and Tessa had a great time with Granny Kris. Will told Grampy (Dean) “My mom and dad needed a break from Tessa and me!” That boy is just too smart.

PS. I love Red Cliffs Lodge’s address: Mile 14 on scenic Hwy. 128.

 

Update

Here are the hikes we did:

http://www.mtbguru.com/trip/show/15832-eye-of-the-whale-arch

http://www.mtbguru.com/trip/show/15834-dark-angel

Tomorrow it will be fall…

and I will turn 30.

This is what we woke up to this morning.

Kind of shows how I feel about tomorrow.

Dark clouds with a bit of sunshine coming through.

But I am happy that my birthday is also the beginning of fall.

Because these are my favorite colors…

In the summertime…

We have been busy these last several weeks. I was a little apprehensive of the summer vacation, this being the first time as a stay-at-home mom. So I had crafted this schedule to keep us sane and happy. The plan was to do one field trip a week and lots of playing with friends and cousins. We also got season passes for Seven Peaks, which made Will very happy. And so far, after the first 4 weeks, things are going pretty good. I still enjoy being at home (I do a lot more than I expected). It is great to be able to watch Tessa grow up and form her personality, and to see Will interact with her. He is a great big brother. I have to admit, I do have my moments (okay, days) that things don’t go well and Trevor comes home to a messy, dusty house, 2 cranky kids and a wife who …, well let’s say I am surprised that he comes home the next day as well. He is so good to let me rant about the day to him. He now expects the first 20 minutes to be like that. I miss adult interaction, even though we have the best neighbors and we hang out and talk. I miss the feeling of accomplishment after finishing a project at work. I miss some of the stress that work brings along. And I still have not gotten used to all the work at home. When I was still working we didn’t feel the need to have the house spic and span at all times. That pile of washed laundry didn’t really need to be folded, we could find things to wear in there. But now… now I feel I should at least try. And here I am typing this post while the dishwasher is full of clean dishes, the laundry pile still exists, there is dust EVERY where (part of that is to blame on the wind and sand in our yard), the bathrooms really need a good cleaning and the vacuum cleaner hasn’t seen daylight in a while. And I feel bad. I know I shouldn’t. Because I am having a good time with the kids. And that is more important. But I still feel bad. Bad that dinner isn’t always ready when Trevor comes home. Bad that the neighbor kids made circles in the dust on the tv-stand. Bad that I am still here typing while I really should go do those things on my list. I make lists. Trevor hates it. It always gives me such a feeling of accomplishment when I can cross things of those lists. Unfortunately there aren’t many crosses on this week’s list. YET! Because maybe today is the day. I am trying to get Will to help, at least while Tessa is napping. THE perfect time to do chores. (But also THE perfect time to read that book…) I guess Trevor can let you know what I chose when he comes home. He doesn’t really care. (I am lucky!!) He just wants us to have a good day. Me and the kids. And if that involved staying at the pool the whole day or having cleaned, it doesn’t matter to him. (Did I already say that I am lucky!?!)

And here I am, typing, trying to get some inspiration on where to start today. Maybe just with the first thing on that list of mine. And then slowly those crosses will follow.

Thanks for listening! Pictures of all the fun things we have done so far (and maybe of us cleaning) will follow. I should put that on my list as well…