Starting home, and seeing friends

John's contract ended on July 3rd, so we packed up the van (Once again, amazing how tightly we fit everything...) and headed north for a whirlwind tour before heading home. We spent the 4th with a good friend from my student teaching days, and the boys had a blast with their boys, and of course the pyrotechnics that went along with the holiday. I don't think they got a lot of sleep that night. =)

The next morning we took them up to Salt Lake to see temple square. Their favorite parts seemed to involve water.

The view wasn't bad either.

We got a family photo on the steps of the temple. Almost at the very spot John and I took a photo the last time we visited, the day after our wedding. (And sadly, I can't find the picture. Oh well)
  

Of course, my little clowns had to post for some shots on their own. =) 

By the time we left temple square, they were pretty tired, from the excitement, and I'm sure the lack of sleep the night before. 

OUr next stop was in Poccatello Idaho, and the wedding reception of a good friend. A "little brother" of ours. The boys' favorite part was the trampoline nearby. 

But they did leave it occasionally. 

After the reception we continued north to Rexburg Idaho to see a dear friend and old roommate, Marnee. Our boys had a blast together, and we even got a few posed shots for posterity.

Well, as posed as you get with 5 small boys. =)

 And here's Marnee and I. It's been too long in between visits. We need to fix this. 

 As we left Idaho behind, we stopped briefly in Logan to show the boys where we were married. They thought it was great. Such a beautiful, peaceful place...

 

Our last stop in Utah was in Provo, and one last posed shot with Ella and Lily. Once again, we tried... =)

John and I also got an unplanned tour of the ER and Labor and Delivery at the local hospital. Diagnosis: Kidney stones and a UTI. Yeah... That's what you want on a road trip... On the bright side, that was the shortest ER visit we've ever had. And, I finally started to feel better. =)

Mountain Hiking

One Saturday, since it was too hot to do much else, we escaped up the pass and went hiking in the mountains. Timothy was thrilled! I found a few trails that were advertised as family friendly, and easy enough for small children, and off we went. 

The first one was pretty flat, and was more of a forest hike. It led to an overlook where we could see all the way to Zions National Park. Pretty, but not quite what we'd had in mind. It did boast some bristlecone pines that were supposedly some of the oldest trees in the area. 

The next trail was Cascade Falls Trail. This one was full of breathtaking views, which I didn't capture fully because I was too worried about a certain 5 year-old falling off the mountain. We finally reached a compromise where he didn't roam too far ahead (Farther than I wanted, but...) and I admitted that he was big enough to be careful. We made it to the falls without incident. 

 The falls weren't really big, but apparently they were created from a crack in the bottom of Navajo lake nearby. Still, the views made it worth the trip. And, Mommy learned about loosening the apron strings... =)

St George

One weekend, we took advantage of a rare Saturday that John had off and went down to St George UT, about 45 minutes south. The difference in altitude was about 1500 feet, so the temperature was much warmer. It was hot, but we had fun. 

We found a place called Pioneer Park, just above the city. It was advertised as family friendly and good for small children. It was right. We found a few places to hike, and the boys loved it. The first place we stopped had a small canyon of sorts, and was much cooler than the rest of the park. It was a nice place to start. 

Andrew wasn't so sure about climbing up the crevice though. He was content to check out the dirt floor for a while.

John found a place to scale to the top, and I had to work to keep Timothy from following right behind. 

Then we found a place to climb and overlook the city. It wasn't too had of a climb, but challenging for the boys, who bravely pressed on.

It was totally worth it. =)

 And of course, we had to check out every "cave" we found. =)

  

Bonus Pic. Love this one. =)

More Summer Fun

So... This is way overdue, but here's the beginning of my catch-up posts from the summer. 

Daddy's schedule took off, and we didn't see him much the second half of the summer, but we kept busy in many ways. Nathan enjoyed the lack of baby locks...

 Learned how to climb....

And how to walk!

We did take advantage of every moment we did have with Daddy

Someone lost his first tooth! =)

We found more parks

And a lake. (A very cold lake)

And when we could we ran away and reunited with friends

  

 There was also a lot of this...
  

Apparently not having bunk beds, or a lot a toys, let to some creative moments. Thankfully, more of them involved mattresses, and only a few involved flooding the bathroom. ... At least once I turned off the sink in their room. =)

 We took them to see the Greenshow at the festival. Outdoors, and kid friendly. They loved it. Nathan was entranced. He was glued to the stage for the whole 40 minutes.  It's good to know we're raising them right. =)