Up in the Mountains

Robbie has begun to dress himself, and I must say, I am proud of his creative combinations--not just anyone could throw that together!

I can't believe Ty smiled for this picture--I think it's a first!

This doesn't begin to capture how radiant the trees are right now. The whole mountainside is bright red and orange--its brilliant!

We live next to so many beautiful waterfalls, springs, mountains, and parks, but have only visited a handful of them. Last week, we decided to take the kids to Cascade Springs--it's only 7 miles from our house and supposedly just gorgeous. We all piled into my brother's old truck, Buddy, and braved our way up the rocky road, only to find out that it was closed for road work that day (of course!!). Still, it was so lovely outside and we couldn't help but get out and explore the mountain anyway. The boys had a blast hopping the little spring; Robbie loved all the fallen leaves and a make-shift bridge he found (Daddy fell trying to go across it), and Ty was in heaven finding all the little sticks, leaves, and bugs on the ground. Hopefully we'll get to the springs at some point, but as it is supposed to snow tomorrow (yes, already!) it looks like it may be a few months.

THREE!!!

Robbie is three! We love him so much. He is such an amazing big brother and a perfect helper to Mommy. I interviewed him on his birthday, and though half of these favorites are probably just the first thing that came to his mind, it was cute to get a glimpse.

List of Favorites

Movie: "Lighning Queen" (Cars)
Color: "You mean of markers? Um...green."
Best Friend: "Caden." (They met two weeks ago--he's a new neighbor)
Food: "Noodles."
Treat: "Black ones [Riesens] and Nemenems [M&Ms]."
Thing to do: "My bike."
Toy: "My bat."
Drink: "Water and milk."
Animal: "Um...elephants...and tigers."
Song: "Teach me all that I must do" [I Am a Child of God].
Thing to do with Grandma & Grandpa: "Um...that they give me presents and cake."
Thing to do with Daddy: "Um, just play with him football."
Thing to do with Ty: "Just football."
Thing to do with Mommy: "My bat [baseball]"

End of interview

We love you, Robbie!

No, this is not one of his birthday presents; we were at some friends' house and they had a child ATV and Robbie just loved it, but it reminds me of the type of boy Robbie is--so full of fun and adventure.

Grandma Haas filled a pinata with candy, balloons, bubbles, and toys! What a treat!

Robbie trying to somehow crack the thing open. We ended up just pulling the strings and letting the goods spill to the ground.

Robbie and Grandpa Wilde (their birthdays are only one day apart) and their birthday cake.

Robbie wanted eggs and bacon for breakfast, peanut butter and honey for lunch, and noodles for dinner (it doesn't so much matter what kind of noodles, as long as there is some kind of pasta involved). In the evening he went up to Wasatch State Park and got to fish on his new fishing pole--so exciting!

Swiss Days

Our sweet little town of Midway is home to Swiss Days--a cute little fair of great crafts and food. Half of the proceeds go to the General Missionary Fund, the other half go toward the city boosters, so it is a great cause and so much fun! I decided that I really wanted to embrace the whole experience this year, so I volunteered to make the famous Swiss Bread for a few hours one day, and I also volunteered at the Knochwurst & Sourkraut booth. My parents were in town, so I volunteered them too, and we had a total blast! I can't wait to do it next year.

Mom and me manning the front of the booth--one of us put a cookie on the plate and the other put the utensils on.

My Dad was the Kraut Man--having served a mission in Germany he couldn't have been more thrilled. The kraut fermented at room temperature for 59 days!!!

Air Museum

On our way to Rob's parent's house, we decided to stop at Hill Air Force Base to see all the airplanes. The boys loved the huge ones outside, but what we didn't know was that they had a little kids area on the inside. What a great discovery.

Haas Boys take the moon!

Ty in the cockpit

Robbie flying a jet

By the "BIG" plane Robbie saw from the freeway.

Non-Stop

We're officially in paradise. Rob's third year of medical school has been so fabulous so far! He works an 8 or 9 to 5 and then comes home and is DONE!!! No studying. No escaping to the office for an hour or two. He's done Family Practice and Rural Family Practice, but both have included an urgent care/ER so they are a little more exciting of rotations. Each night we rotate activities like swimming, basketball, park, or fishing, but lately we have been going for family bike rides up to Wasatch State Park. It is a beautiful ride and there is a park and little fishing lake for the kids. We feed the ducks and the kids just go bonkers. So...I haven't written forever because we've been playing--it's like two years of make-up time and it feels so great (well, until residency, I guess. Then it will be overly bitter. Oh well, until then...). Here's a few pictures to update you all.

My brother, Daniel, brought these up for us to play with one night. CRAZY things, they are, but fun! They're like pogo sticks attached to your feet. I had a few "issues" at first, but Rob got the hang of it right away. So fun.

Robbie made a cute wall hanger at Home Depot's Kids Workshop. It's free and every month. I only went once in Kirksville, but was happy to find that they did it in Park City, too.

Our latest and greatest form of entertainment! We got the bike trailer and have used it every day. It's so funny because everyone here thinks I'm like a super active mom now--for all of you who know me, stop laughing.

Robbie learning to golf at the driving range. Embarrasingly enough, I think he hit the ball more than I did.

Ty was our ball boy. He'd fill up a basket and then empty it into another. It went on for 30 minutes.

Busting out the good ol' slip 'n' slide. We live in a neighborhood with few kids, so all the neighbors got a hoot out of seeing the boys slide down and play.

This is at the fair. It was the cutest little fair I've ever seen and the boys loved it. We got tickets to the rodeos so Robbie could finally see real bull riders (he wants to be one when he grows up--no worries, I'm gently discouraging) and Ty, who thinks all living things are dogs, was going nuts over all the "dogs" in the stalls. It was cute.

We were driving into Heber one day and saw all kinds of cars and jolly jumps in the park. We got out to take a look, and they were FREE! So we let the boys play for a while. This is of Robbie climbing a jungle gym-like jolly jump. Total blast.

Wilde Reunion

Robbie with his cousin, Emma, on the July 4th

Emma, Robbie, and Mary. They loved getting pulled on these snow sleds--no matter the time of day (as you see, they are in their jammies).

Loving cousins

Rob, Robbie, and Johnny (my brother) on the tube. Robbie was very brave for his first ride and actually loved it until he got sucked under the water for about 5 seconds. Still, we all just told him he was great and "swam just like a fish!" He still talks about it almost every day.:)

Boating on Deer Creek Resevoir.

A Time for Firsts

Since being in Utah, our boys have experienced quite a few firsts. Enjoy!

Ty's first 4-wheeler ride (p.s.--this is now ours!!! How exciting, huh?)
Ty celebrated his first birthday (please ignore my hair--I just finished wrestling the boys)

Robbie mowed his first lawn (with a little help from Daddy)

We went on our first "official" fishing trip

Rob and Robbie got to drive their first tractor (Thanks G & G Stuart)