Ice Cream and a Bomb

When Rob and I used to go to the Ogden Temple we loved to stop at Farr's Ice Cream across the street, obviously! So it was a MUST to take my kids there, too. Can something be nostalgic for me when it's only been a few years? Well, it is.

I couldn't take enough of these pictures. The lighting and colors were just right!

On the way home from Ogden we stopped at Hill Aerospace Museum. Nate loved this place when he was small. Again with the nostalgia...

Warning: Fuzzy pictures follow.

Nate is blasting off out of the ejector seat.

Awww. Aren't they so sweet together? Actually what looks like a nice hug is actually Madeleine trying to wrestle him out of the chair so she can give it a try.

Caroline thought all the Boy Ken's (boyfriends/Ken dolls) were fantastic! She even saw one off in the distance and was excited that it was moving! Madeleine's like, "Cara. That's just a guy." Nate was sure to show her all of the headless Boy Ken's and also just the heads that were on display elsewhere, laughing all the while. The look on her face is priceless! Makes me laugh every time I look at this picture.

Nate had read about the Blackbird so that was his favorite plane to see. On our way out a docent stopped us and talked to us for a long time about that plane and many other things :)

Nate also likes reading about the atom bomb.

How often do you get to snack underneath a huge plane of some sort?

Such a fun day!!

P.S. One funny note I want to make is that the morning of this, of course, we procrastinated getting Nate's church clothes found and put together. Yes, his church clothes always need to be "found". Anyway, we either couldn't find them or they were dirty or something so I told him to put on the nicest pair of jeans that he had and found this nice, clean button-up shirt for him to wear. It was taking him forever to come downstairs so I yelled up to him. After a while he came down crying mad and saying, "I hate this outfit! It looks so dumb!" I had the hardest time not laughing. I rolled up the sleeves and un-buttoned the top button and that was good enough for him to wear it just for the day. Then I took the shoelaces out of Rob's dress shoes and put them in Nate's dress shoes. Nate keeps taking out his laces and losing them. After the second pair of laces I bought and he lost I gave up and he's been wearing shoes without laces to church for the last couple of months. Ghetto, I know. Haha.

His House in Ogden & Manti

That picture makes me laugh. It's such a typical face of my youngest.

We went to the Ogden Temple many times while we lived in Layton. It closed for renovation around the time that we moved. We decided to play hooky from school a few weeks ago in order to attend the open house. Rob wasn't able to join us and we missed him but the kids and I had a very nice day.

We walked through the beautiful rooms and Madeleine enjoyed seeing the bride's room the most. Nate liked the baptistry and Caroline liked the lights. Of course, the Celestial Room was my favorite.

It was so special to experience this with my children. These pictures were taken at the fountain. My kids threw a couple of pennies in and then fished some back out. I told them that meant bad wishes would come true ;)

 

 

Today was the dedication of the Ogden Temple and I was able to take Nate with me (Rob was in Fairview again). I loved that we took the time to visit the temple first. He was attentive during the whole thing and we had a nice time.

A couple of weeks ago we visited Rob in Fairview and there is really just so little to do around there so one of the days we ventured down to Manti to see the temple. It really is so beautiful! When I mentioned this to my Grandma Allred yesterday she told me that her father actually worked on the interior of the temple as it was being built. Fun little family history tidbit.

All of these days were great and full of love. We felt love from our Heavenly Father, I felt love for my children, and I hope they felt love from me. I'm so glad that Rob and I were sealed together in the Lord's holy temple and our children are ours forever.

Summer in the Mountains Part II

Lisa Falls

This is the first hike we ever went on with Nate not in a backpack. He was 1 and a 1/2.

Nate dared Rob to stick his head in the falls.

After the falls we went to Solitude Ski Resort to walk around and explore. Rob has many memories of coming here and skiing/snowboarding. 

I thought this sign was perfect for Rob.

One evening we happened upon this fun little lake at Highland Glen Park. We weren't prepared for water play so we brought Rob back the next day along with float mats, etc.

Rob's company party was held at Storm Mountain this year. Our family loves s'mores.

The kids found an old playground and while Rob and I were sitting there I realized that we found ourselves in a fun photo opportunity so I took advantage.

Our Summer in the Mountains - Part 1

Before summer break I made a goal to get us in the mountains every week until school began again at the end of August. I'm happy to announce that I achieved my goal.

Here are some of the reasons this was so important to me:

• We truly live in a most beautiful place. We are blessed to have mountains and waterfalls and lakes and forests and we should take advantage of them. People travel from all over the world to visit our state and too often we don't explore it enough ourselves.
• I once read the fantastic and fascinating book "Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder"  and it really affected me. I know that getting my children (and myself) into nature positively and dramatically improves our overall mental and physical health. I see it with my own eyes and feel it with my own body.
• It's monetarily free, stress free, and doesn't need much planning. Just pack snacks and sunscreen and go!
• I'm not a fan of entertaining my children. I am a big fan of my children entertaining themselves. An easy way for this to happen is to let them roam and explore and empower themselves outside. They discover and learn and never ask me what they can do or tell me that they are bored. I can actually see their brains rapidly firing neurons.
• I have good memories of my parents loading us in the car and driving to some random natural setting to play. All they had to do was find somewhere without a fence and us kids would do the rest. I wanted to give my own kids those same kinds of good memories.
• Rob and I think it's important to make sure our kids are comfortable and confident participating in active, outdoor play which will lead to wanting to try more things as they get older (snowboarding, hiking, rock climbing, canoeing, etc.) It's so fun and we live in the perfect environment for it!
• Nate is our scientist and knows more facts about geology, meteorology, biology, and entomology than anyone. He loves sharing his knowledge with us and seeing it all first hand when we are on one of our expeditions.
• I call Caroline my little monkey because she is so quick and flexible and balanced. She never wants any help climbing over rocks and through streams. This gives her the vestibular sensory input her body craves.
• Before this summer Madeleine HATED walking anywhere. She would moan and complain walking a block up the hill to school. Fast forward to Labor Day and she hiked up to Timpanogos Cave like a champ! So proud of her!

I have way too many trips and pictures for one post so here is Part 1 of 3. I'm not putting these in chronological order because it doesn't really matter. We sure enjoyed our summer in the mountains. As a family, it was our favorite summer ever!!

Temple Quarry Trail

City Creek Canyon

 

Click on pic below or here for video.

 

Bridal Veil Falls and Squaw Peak Lookout Point

Much more to come!