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!

Camping at Wasatch Mountain State Park

In June we went camping. My kids LOVE camping. They are so at ease in nature. Being outside makes us all feel good.

First we went exploring around the park.

 

We had a good meal and smores.

After Caroline put herself to bed the rest of us stayed up and had a hilarious time making up and building upon each other's stories.