Is Your Garbage Can Clean?

Caleb is earning money for a side-by-side 4-wheeler thing he has been fascinated with for ages. I guess (???) I'm OK with my young-ish son owning an ATV if he actually earns the 600$! We came up with the idea of cleaning outdoor garbage cans to help him earn money. This is coming from a child that has thrown-up a time or two at the smell of a stinky diaper! Here is the flyer he created to distribute to our neighborhood tomorrow. What an entrepreneur!

Spicy Ivie

I love my Ivie. She has spunk and spice. Lots of it. Sometimes I don't know what I'm going to do with her. This week, she dialed 911 and and a policeman ended up on our doorstep, she leaned FAR over the bed of Wes's truck as it was traveling 35 mph (about giving me a heart attack), and she wore swimwear to school as an accessory (her style resembles Punky Brewter). We had a nice little chat about how if 911 appears within ANY number, it will dial the police. I chased Wes down the street after seeing Ivie risk her life and when I finally caught up, Ivie was required to get out of the back and into the cab of the truck. There she will ride for a LONG time to come. And she came home from school NOT wearing the swimwear, so she must have figured that one out on her own. Wheew.

Actually

At some point in each of my children's young lives, they discover and start using the word, "Actually." I don't know if this is common among children, or if Wes and I use that word a lot and our children learn it from us. But it is SO funny to hear little people say, "Actually...." Norah pronounces it, "Ack-a-lee." I love it!

Conference Weekend

Hiking in Bear Gulch. Handsome Strong Wes!

Norah with Eli and Lia. Norah was feeling a bit moody about something...

Norah and Lia. Opposite personalities for sure, but are learning to be sweet little friends! Bold Norah is learning to give quiet Lia some space, and Lia has become comfortable with how Norah operates. There is not much in life sweeter than little girls!

Wesley's parents recently built a beautiful cabin in Idaho, near the potato fields of Ashton and within view of the Teton Mountains. We have designated General Conference weekend (when the prophet and other church leaders speak to us and we view it on TV) in October as a time to gather as a family. I love being with family. My sisters and sisters-in-law are some of my dearest friends, and I love how the aunts and uncles take interest in my children and love them so much. Plus cousins make the best kind of friends! It was a splendid weekend full of good relationships and uplifting counsel from our church leaders. I always want to be a better person after conference.

Anasazi Ruins

We live in a unique state. Alpine mountains, sandstone desserts, world class skiing, national parks galore...We have decided to explore this great state, so this week, we traveled to SE Utah to explore where the Anasazi Indians lived 800 years ago. Wes's brother (Owen) and his family did this same thing a few years back and raved about their experience...so we copied them. We stayed in Monticello. A little town at a high elevation with fabulous autumn scenery and amazing views of the surrounding valleys. Owen's good friend, Bryce and his cute family played tour guides and took us to some little known ruins and petroglyph panels, and fed us an awesome dinner!

A woolly mammoth. In recent years, the rock has chipped away, but our friends said it was definitely an elephant-like animal with a trunk. How would our Indian friends 800 years ago know about woolly mammoths OR elephants?

A dinosaur footprint.

A cob of really old corn (it was mini compared to ours today).

Anasazi pottery shards. Amazing! Look at the painted designs!

Caleb's collection of pottery and flint.

"Wolfman" petroglyph with our friends, Jesse, Alan and Lydia.

"Balcony House" ruin at Mesa Verde NP.

Are we crazy parents to take our 3 year old on this ladder surrounded by cliffs? The people in our tour group seemed to think so, but were so helpful and kind. The gentleman next to me climbed back down the ladder to cheer on scared Norah and offer his help.

"Cliff Palace" ruin at Mesa Verde NP. Over 100 rooms and many, many kivas (underground rooms thought to have been gathering places for ceremonies).

In one of the kivas, we saw some poison ivy growing, indicating a seep spring was near. I pointed out the poison ivy for the children to see. Norah was really interested in this plant that she was sure was named after her sister. She pointed to another plant off the trail and said, "Mom, that is poison Norah." She was serious!

What a grand adventure!

Bear Lake

Inspired by my friend Stephanie and her blog, I am going to post more often because I want to remember all the little things in our journey as a family.

I have a little recipe box full of 3x5 cards that I have recorded milestones, funny sayings and sweet moments we've had since having children. I read some with Caleb tonight, and we laughed and laughed at the hilarious things he said and did as a little child. I'm so thankful for the idea from a friend in Sandy to keep memories in a recipe box in my kitchen....because that is where I live my life...in the kitchen!

Yesterday, we took off in to Bear Lake (45 minutes away). We roamed the beach, skipped rocks, built a ramp for Caleb's remote control car and watched Caleb and Ivie jump off a rickety old pier. It was a beautiful early fall evening, the water was so calm, the beach deserted. Jane, at 19 months, is still summoning the courage to walk but she charged into the water on all fours, fully clothed. Norah and Ivie gathered tiny shells. My nephew Brigham, who has become Caleb's surrogate brother was with us. He always brings a sweetness and contentment to our outings, and is a super companion for Caleb on our many adventures.

All the children were soaked at the end of our time on the beach. I've been a mother long enough to know that would happen so I brought a change of clothes for each child. Then we went to a little pizza place for some mediocre pizza. While we waited for dinner, we each took turns acting out a movie or book, without using words. Hilarious, especially with 3 year old Norah doing the acting. All her movies were princess movies, of course! On the drive home, we introduced the children to "Lunchlady Land" by Adam Sandler....navy beans, navy beans...sloppy joe, sloppy, sloppy joe." What a classic tune. OK, maybe not classic or classy but hilarious.

It was a fun evening. One of those times that I was happy we didn't do the practical thing, but went out and created a memory!

Friend

I have a fabulous friend named Stephanie. We became reacquainted in Minnesota (after having known one another in college, but lost touch for 5 years). I loved being with Stephanie because she adores her children and savors time with them. Most of us adore our children, but Stephanie really, really enjoys being with them. I remember talking to her one day and she mentioned that her husband had been working the previous night and she wanted to watch a movie, but didn't want to watch alone. So she let her two little ones stay up and they watched Mary Poppins. It had never occured to me to 'hang out' with my children like that. But it occurs to me now, thanks to Steph! We went on many, many adventures together with our children in tow. Oxbow zoo, the nature center, apple orchards in autumn, children's museum in Minneapolis, lots of picnics at the park and slip 'n' slides in our backyards. We were never in a hurry...we just noticed the roses and watched the clouds roll by. We did a co-op preschool two or three different times and I was always so happy my children were able to be around her loving influence. Steph always made me feel like a better person and a better mother. We had so much fun together creating memories with our children. We were REALLY WITH our children, listening to them, dreaming with them and laughing with them. I'm so thankful for Stephanie's friendship and her lasting influence on my mothering. I will always long for carefree days (before our children started school) full of exciting adventures, but I'm so grateful for the memories we made together.