Random August

I have realized that I simply do not have a green thumb. I want one, but it hasn't happened. We planted some pumpkins and the only ones we got were ready to go in July. Sigh. I keep trying, but so far have not found the magical way to make things grow. 

It's fun to see progress in the yard. This is Erik's garden that we planted just for him. It's a work in progress and we add to it when we find plants we like.

Mosey bringing us more gifts. How did we ever deserve such a sweet cat?!

First day of school

Not only did we have one first day of school, this year we had THREE. First up was Sarah and Steven's first day of 4th and 2nd grade at Foothills Elementary. Adam had been accepted at Providence, so it wasn't his first day yet. It's a little bright on our front porch, so we now take them in our back yard so we don't blind the kids.

A day or two after school started we found out Steven had FINALLY been accepted to Providence Hall. He got a second first day of school. (Lucky kid!) He didn't mind the switch and it was great that he gets to walk to school.

Kindergarten starts a week after the older grades, so it was FINALLY Adam's turn to go to school. He was pretty excited. (and adorable) His teacher was Mrs. Cooley, who we all loved.

 I'm not in as many pictures, so I thought I'd post the proof of my being there. ;)

Happy Birthday Erik

Today is Erik's second birthday. Two years since we got to hold him and then say goodbye to him. I posted a picture of our visit to him this morning but I couldn't think of a caption. I hope it doesn't sound cheesy, but I just couldn't think of the right words for my emotions. Sad. Hopeful. Longing. Love. Since we believe in the second coming of our Savior we see our separation as temporary, but it's still a separation we wish didn't exist.

On the way to his grave we listened to the CD the funeral home gave us of the services. I'd only relistened to it once before. Our Bishop, Craig Pierce, said some wonderfully reassuring things. The gospel of Jesus Christ really does take away some of the sting of death.

For his birthday I made him a chocolate zucchini cake with chocolate frosting and we took him some flowers and balloons. I know this is all for us, but it feels good to celebrate his life.

We let the kids light the candles and then sang happy birthday. The boys wants to burn out the candles. We ate about 1/4 of the cake because it was really rich and heavy. (yet delicious)

We also brought his next door neighbor Lilly some Lilies. She doesn't have her headstone yet, but we always like to think of her. I know there are a lot of people in Heaven, but I wonder if they've met.

The kids continue to talk about him a lot. Adam always prays that he and Kevin will be resurrected soon. A couple months ago I was helping Adam clean up his room. I cleared some garbage off his table and he said frantically, "MOM, PLEASE DON'T THROW AWAY ERIK'S PICTURE!" I hadn't seen a picture of Erik, so I asked what he meant while I continued to clean. He said again, "Please mom, don't throw away his picture, it isn't garbage!". He came and got a folded (crumpled) up piece of paper out of my had and set it gently on his dresser. When I opened it I saw a sweet picture he'd drawn of our family. Mike and I are at the top with Adam. I'm holding Erik in my arms. Sarah and Steven are below. It's supposed to say, "Dear Mom and Dad it's for you", but it reads "Dad Mom is for u Dear." I love it and hang it next to my computer. I love the sweet, simple faith he has that he'll see his baby brother again whenever the time may be. For now we just wait. Happy Birthday Erik.

End of summer trip to Colorado

Since camping in the Uintahs followed by a trip to Washington wasn't enough, a couple days after we got home the kids and I drove to Colorado to see my family before school started. My mom had signed the big kids up for horse riding camp, so I couldn't ditch out on the trip just because I was tired of driving. :)

My mom recently finished her barn and brought her horse Grace back to live with her. She also acquired Ruby as a companion horse. The kids had a lot of fun doing horsey chores and Adam even asked to shovel manure. I love it when they're young and think chores are cool. While the bigs kids were at camp my adorable nieces and nephew would come over to hang out with Adam.

The big kids had a lot of fun at horse camp. They learned how to care for a horse, saddle the horse and also did some riding. At the end of the week they put on a show for us. 

We also got to spend a few hours at the county fair. A few years ago we went and the kids loved being in these giant, plastic gerbel balls that were on water so they moved well. They had them here, but they were on a hill so the kids had less mobility. My kids favorite part was the petting zoo, since the lama's name was Adam, and my mom is a funnel cake junky. 

 Although three trips back to back was a bit much I'm always grateful to be able to visit my family.

Trip to Spokane and Canada

Last week Mike had to go to Spokane, Washington for simulator training. Since it was a drivable distance, and the kids were out of school, we decided to tag along. We listened to a book on tape so the 11 hour drive wasn't too bad. On the drive up there we passed the Idaho Falls Temple , so we stopped at the visitors center for a few minutes. The temple/grounds were closed for renovation, but one of the senior missionaries was nice enough to take a picture of us in front.

On Tuesday we went to the Riverwalk in Spokane. It's a beautiful area to walk along. We went on "one of the 13 most beautfiful gondola rides in the world," but it was a little overrated.  :) I'll have to find Mike's pictures, because he took some good ones while I went shopping for running shoes.

On Thursday we went on a quick trip to Canada since none of us had been there before.They don't stamp passports when you go by land, but it was nice to have two foreign countries under our belts. There wasn't much to do right over the border so we stopped at Christina Lake and had lunch at Kool Treats. I wish we'd had more time, but Mike had to be to work by 4. We also stopped by the Spokane Washington Temple.

I don't know if it's just my kids, but my kids LOVE hotels. Staying in a hotel is always a huge treat for them. There was a little hallway between our room and an adjoining room and the kids used it as a fort. They drug a bunch of pillows and sleeping bags and hung out there.

While Mike was working we hung out on base. We went swimming in the indoor pool, which is where they have the SERE water training. The put you in a raft and spray you with fire hoses and other fun stuff. In order for the kids to be able to swim in the big pool they had to swim the whole length and tread water in deep end for a minute or two. They were both able to do it. 

Thursday evening we got to go into the simulator with Mike and practice flying. The kids all flew around Salt Lake City and I got to fly/crash down the Vegas strip. Even though they had the movement turned off it still made me feel like we were moving. 

The red screen of death! ;)