More September stuff

More random September stuff. 

Piano lessons have begun and my music cabinet looks like this. I've got to pull myself together!

I wanted to do a yarn/crochet project and this is what I found. I put the project on hold. 

I found a package in my mailbox from the Laurel class. It was a sweet note and these beautiful home-made magnets! Sunshine poured out of the package and lighted up my entire day!

We had another night at Hale Center Theater to watch "Beauty and the Beast." It was really fantastic. So well done. And right before intermission, at the end of Be My Guest, they showered the audience with gold confetti. It was soooo fun!

The girls have started jump roping in preparation for the school jump team. They just keep forgetting to put on shoes. Can you tell?

We found a black widow on our front porch. I buried it in spider killing foam and it actually tried to claw its way out. Ooooo, it was gross! Perfect way to start Halloween month.

My Time hike - Israel Canyon

The My-Hike this week was Israel Canyon, in Saratoga Spring with Tanya. Now, this is an interesting one because it is mostly just a utility road up to antennas and power lines. If you have a 4-wheel drive, you can drive the whole way up. Or there are a couple of other rocky places to park along the way.

Well, we decided to park right where the pavement turned to rock and we started to walk. It was 4-miles to the top!!! It was a long, hot hike but we made it. (And we weren't sure we would.) We didn't bring enough water and we started so late that we had to make arrangements for the kids to be picked up. 

The view was worth it. 

The way down was just as challenging for me. I felt a bit like this truck we saw off the side of the road down a ditch.

At the end, I could see my car. It was close. But I also didn't know if I could make it those last few steps. 

We were both sore for DAYS afterward.

We were both also very proud of ourselves!

Private Victory!

Bounteous harvest

After a summer of growing and caring for a garden, I am sometimes too gardened out to do anything with the harvest!

We had a lot of peaches, you can see HERE.

We also had a lot of corn and I was so late getting to it that almost half of it was bad. I saved what I could, husked, blanched and froze it. Now we can have fresh corn-off-the-cob all winter long!

I also made my favorite recipe for spaghetti sauce and froze a bunch of that.

I'm not a crazy awesome canner, but I do have my favorites:

Tomatoes and peaches. 

(And frozen corn and spaghetti sauce.)

And this year I got a camping stove which made it soooo nice!

I also made some peach fruit leather. (I need a little more practice on that one. It wasn't a hit this year.)

I HEART canning. 

Sept stuff incl Newsies and Coleman

We were lucky to have Elder Larry Lawrence and his wife visit with us and preside at our Stake Conference. They were so down to earth and kind. Sister Lawrence conducted a women's training mtg for the wives of Stake presidency and bishopric wives. It was lovely and she was a pro. It was also fun to talk with her about their time in Russia.

Also, I think this was the first time they ever took a selfie with a selfie stick as a visiting authority.  hhaha

Young Women bonding

Bryce liked Rachel's new jacket so much, he fell asleep in it. Cute boy.

For my birthday, my mom took me to see Newsies at Capitol Theater. I was all dressed up and ready to go and then there was a huge accident on I-15. It blocked ALL lanes of traffic with no exit available. After an hour of being at a stand-still- I followed some other cars who went off-road to merge onto an exit off-ramp.

I made it to the theater with moments to spare. A very friendly garage attendant let me park without paying because I didn't have cash. (I got change at the theater and paid on my way out.)

All the stress was worth it. It was an amazing show! From the set to the choreography to the performers. It was all just amazing. I loved every minute and wanted to watch it all over again the minute it was over. 

Aunt Sarah and family moved to a new home in September and we watched the boys to keep them out from under foot. My kids loved it. LOVE being with cousins! Especially cute little Cooper. 

And Syd had fun with Cooper and SnapChat!

State Fair

We love going to the State Fair. Sterling works the Farm Bureau booth and we wander around having fun!

Parker enjoyed this nice looking car.

We went through the Little Hands on the Farm exhibit.

We checked out all the animals.

And the kids were patient enough to walk with me through the Home Arts exhibit. One day I hope to submit something.

We ended up in the corn pit at Dad's exhibit.

Oh and can't forget the big yellow slide. One of our all-time favorites!

My Time hike - Stewart Falls

Now that the kids are in school...

Let's take a minute to think about that... 

All the kids are in school. ALL of them, all day long!

Now that the kids are in school, I have decided to expand my daily routine and go for hikes. 

The first hike was to Timpanogos Cave and this was the second hike- 

Stewart Falls.

We saw two big moose. It was pretty awesome!

Beautiful beautiful mountains!

I'm including these maps but I admit, I'm not so good at recording them. I start halfway through or the GPS stops working. But I think its fun to look at. 

Carter Creek 2017

Last year, we didn't have Sydney with us at Carter Creek. This year, not only was she with us, but she brought a cold with her. Poor girl didn't feel very good but despite that, she still had fun.

We all have more fun when we're together!

I didn't take a lot of pictures this year. I wanted to get out from behind the camera and enjoy the moment more fully. I did capture a few sweet moments though.

We hiked to the beaver dams, like we do every year.

We went on the nature trail several times.

We also went fishing only one afternoon. And boy was it cold and windy. 

Sydney and Bryce pulled an already dead fish out of the lake and made us all believe they'd caught it. We almost believed them until we saw the intense interest that flies had in it. Gross.

Beautiful faces.

We roasted s'mores!

Parker, hard at work on a wood carving project.

We also played in the creek!

Parker did a lot of cooking and was really good at it.

I LOVE going to Carter Creek! It is such a beautiful camp. The nearby trails, the creek, moose meadow, campers, cabins, firepit, visiting with other campers. 

Mostly I love having uninterrupted time with my family - Sterling, my children, my parents. Sometimes when life is forced to slow down with no distractions, you start to get bored. And I've found that sometimes when you're bored together, that's when you find you get goofy and make your own fun. And also when deeper conversations happen and deeper connections are made. 

Thank you, Carter Creek, for another wonderful year!

Carter Creek in the past:

2008 slide show

2009 Notch lake

2009 Puppy Love

2009 Lyman lake

2009 camp park

2009 Lily lake

2009 Beaver dams

2011 day 1

2011 day 2

2011 day 3

2015 day 1

2015 day 2

2015 day 3