Rise and Shout!

We took the kids to the BYU vs. San Diego State game on Saturday, and what a game to see! The weather was great; we won; the kids made it through the WHOLE thing! Aunt Kristen was with us visiting from CO, and Aunt Haley and Uncle Kane made it through about five minutes before Madelyn started crying. Still, it was wonderful.


This is of the boys playing under our bleachers. The secret . . . warm clothes, lots of junk food, and seat cushions. Magic!

Climbers, Jumpers, Sliders . . . BOYS!

Yes, this is my child leaping for his life.





It's their daily bed adventures. They climb my bed (it's got perfect little steps, though, right?) and then . . . you saw.





I thought it was darling when they started racing on their tummies like this. Then they took the skateboards outside and flew down the huge hill of a street. Not so cute anymore--more like stitches waiting to happen.





The tree outside has become a new jungle gym now that Robbie has developed his climbing skills. Ty brings out a stool and smacks at the branches (if we put him in the tree he freaks). This is him and his friend Cole.

It's just a day in the life. I love these little boys.

Swimmers

Robbie now swims the entire length of the pool (around 30 feet)--through the deep end and all! We're so proud of him. He actually is starting to swim laps with Daddy. So exciting.

Ty swims half the length with little motor kicks--no help from Mom and Dad.

We love our little fish!

Oh, but Robbie has to have a mask and snorkel, and Ty wears floaties.:)

Prove Nothing

We're bikers. Well, in a hand-me-down mountain bike with a trailer attached kind of way. Still, we go on family bike rides several times a week and look forward to each one. Well, the other day Rob told me to follow him up this little mountain, and once at the top, laughed and said we were going down (this wasn't a laugh of jest, but pure adrenalin). I looked at the steep dips marked by ATV tracks and hesitated, while Rob charged down the slope with my kids in the trailer!!! Well now what! "I can't" has been deemed a "bad word" in our house since we've started trying Robbie out in the deep end and without training wheels, so I had no choice. I'd barely gone two feet, when my bike slips from under me, sending me skidding down the mountain--rocks tearing holes in my clothes and skin. I curled in a ball, unable to stop the tears.

"Are you serious?" I hear Rob say as if he is completely dumbfounded that someone could fall off the ridiculously dangerous hill. I look up and start laughing and crying at the same time; the boys are totally confused.

I ride home in stinging pain (I have so much more sympathy for my kids with scrapes now--I've forgotten!)--everyone staring at the girl who looks half-dipped in chalky paint.

The picture does no justice. My body is scabbed from ankle to bicep and there is a gash/bruise four inches around on my hip. Needless to say, I'm trusting my instincts next time and proving nothing to anyone.

Hogle Zoo

We've been wanting to check out the Hogle Zoo for sometime, and were so glad that we finally did. There was a darling little baby elephant, the giraffes got just feet away from us, and the massive male tiger was on the prowl. Plus, Robbie finally mastered the carousel (no, seriously, we have spent the last 4 years buying tickets only to pull a crying child off the ride).

I thought this was so funny. We were surrounded by exotic animals of the world, and Ty was most fascinated by the squirrel in the tree. Go figure.

Pumpkin Patch

It's our second year in a row, and I am just as pleased. The pumpkin patch in Paradise, Utah is fabulous! Any pumpkin, any size, $2. Robbie had been begging for a white one, and Ty gravitated only to those he could carry himself (so his is like the size of a grapefruit) but it was a blast. We went with Rob's parents and sister Haley & her family. I so love fall!!!

Horsies

They're obsessed! We seem to be surrounded by horses, and with that comes the responsibility to feed them, right? It's so cute; the kids save their wilted carrots or wild apples that we pick from a nearby orchard and regularly make trips to feed our neighboring horsies. Just this morning we went for a little four-wheeler ride and happened upon four horses in an alfalfa field behind our house. You got it--15 minutes of picking and feeding. The craziest part is the kids have no fear--at all! Ty and Robbie both boss 'em around and get mad if they bite or nudge. So funny to watch!

Well, when my friend Aimee told me how cheep the pony rides were at Thanksgiving Point, I knew it was time for a trip. $3.50 and the kids were in heaven (we even went back for a second ride). Robbie had to wear his "cowboy ring"--the nail rings they make in Nauvoo--and then it was giddy-up from then on! Ty's been so proud of himself that he tells everyone he's a cowboy.