Pumpkin Patch!

We had a day off from school today, so we took advantage of the beautiful fall weather to venture out to a local pumpkin patch. It was sunny, beautiful and we were the only ones there, so it was quite a treat. We purchased 3 pumpkins, for a total of 84 pounds! (Of course they liked the big ones!)Our adventure then led us through a 2.4 mile corn maze. A fun day, happy memory.

Who are these cool cats?

Check these kids out.

A first grader, a seventh grader and a fifth grader! I think while I was busy feeding them, washing their clothes and worrying about them my kids have been growing up on me. They make me laugh, they make me cry, they make me proud and yes frustrated too. I hope I am giving them the things that they need to go out into the world and make it a better place than they found it. They sure make my world a better place, every day, even when I'm picking up dirty clothes off the bathroom floor, or spending the night at the emergency room because aforementioned 7th grader decided to try a back flip off the swings and landed hard enough on his back to create concern that perhaps he had broken ribs. (No broken ribs, all is well). Parenthood is an amazing gift and I'm so thankful that it is mine, thankful that I have Todd to share it with and thankful too that I have great parents and a sister who love my kids and have loved me so well.

Camping Adventure!

At the end of the summer, we inherited Todd's parents 1974 Prowler camper trailer. The kids were soo excited! We aren't experienced campers, and it took us all day to pack, but we finally hit the road at 4:30pm on Saturday night. We went to a nearby reservoir called Rockport and lucked into a spot! Zach caught a few fish, the girls swam and we played games and had a nice camp fire. We marveled at how many more stars we could see than at home. Gorgeous! Then we snuggled into our miniature home away from home for a cozy nights sleep. Our final summer adventure before back to school. Lauren said it was one of her favorite adventures of the whole summer.

Family Summer

Hiking with Grandma and Old Mike, check out those muscles on Grandma!!! Yoga is her secret!

Fish Lake, Idaho with Grandma and Grandpa Little and Brundage mountain top with Allumbaugh cousins.

Sara's Dock, Indianola Washington

Montana hiking

Rimini, Montana- Fishing

York Montana- Hiking with Grandma Dawn

This summer we had a fantastic opportunity to travel the Northwest and see all of our siblings and parents. We put a lot of miles on our new suburban as we travelled from Utah to Southern Idaho, then Montana, then Northern Idaho, then Eastern Washington, then Seattle, back to Montana and finally home to Utah. In each state we celebrated time with people love, we hiked, we swam, we read, we played and Zachary fished. We feel so lucky to have so many people to love and share our lives with.

Summer Time summer time sum sum summer time!