Next.....A long post with lots of pictures. You've been warned! ;)

Up next in the camera is the beginning of October -- we went camping with Nana and Papa! It was such a fun trip! Nana and Papa had yet to try out their new toy hauler trailer so we headed out on Friday after work and went to the Brown's Camp area and found a great camping spot near Diamond Mill. It was big enough for both trailers and had lots of tall trees around and tons of space for the boys to run around and explore. It turned out to be great weather and we had a lot of fun! View from the trailers out to the forest

View from the forest to the trailers

Nana and here little buddy =)

Saturday was Gorgeous! and we saw that there was a trail to the river so we went and checked it out. It was a fun hike down to the river and we stayed to throw a few rocks.

After a LOT of rocks found a new home in the river, we hit the trail again and headed to a bridge nearby that led into a little forestry center museum. It was so great and had cute little things for kids to do and interact with to learn about the forest and the area around where we were. Once back at camp we had some lunch and then it was naptime while the guys hit the trails on their motorcycles.

Once the kids were up we had a lot of fun exploring the forest and of course making things out of nature with Nana! They gathered all sorts of materials and built a couple of garages and a road for their trucks! We all got into it and had a great time! The kids also enjoyed getting rides from Papa in the big wagon! After a yummy dinner, Jay and I went for a motorcycle ride while the kids had smores with Nana and Papa, then the kiddies went to bed while we played tripoly, ate snacks and watched a movie.

The next morning we hung out for a while then packed up to go home. The kids kept busy hunting for air soft pellets and riding in the wagon.

Thank you Nana and Papa for such a great trip! We sure had a blast and look forward to lots more camping trips with you guys! Love you!! =)

Catching up on all the fun.

I have lots to blog about, I'm just lazy and don't get to it...SO here's what's been going on lately (or just what's still in my camera). However, I think I'll do just one event today and more tomorrow.

Last month we went camping with the Oakes family and had a blast! We met at a camp ground in the Blues and enjoyed great weather, great food and great company! The kids had a ton of fun running around together and getting dirty.

Mandy and Brycen looking cute

Here's our campsite from one angle. We got a great big one with some pavement and lots of room to play. We parked both trailers in it and Mandy and Drew had all the gear to make it comfy and fun! This was also the first time we used our trailer! It was comfy and warm and worked our great!

The boys LOVE riding their bikes while camping! They were always out there racing around.

While the guys were napping, Mandy and I decided to take the kids on a walk which ended up a fun hike! These two kiddos were so cute together and it was fun seeing them interact. So handsome!

We lined all the kids up on this log and gave them a bouncy ride. Giddy-up!

These three were inseparable. They loved going to "log park" and "pinecone palace" to play and gather pinecones and find caterpillars and butterflies and imagine away. They were so fun!

Mandy and Drew brought these tiny plastic chairs and Dallas LOVED them. He kept himself busy carrying them around everywhere and playing with them for SO long everyday. It was great! (here he's playing at "log park") I'm thinking I need a couple for our house to keep him occupied... =)

There's a great trail that we took to a little river and the kids loved throwing rocks into it. Drew found a little snake and everyone held it, but Brycen was all over it! He loved it and was so fascinated. It was cute to watch him just haul it around! Drew was very good at finding all the critters.

Us!

We planned to go swimming at a hot springs pool nearby, but it was closed! We had a picnic by the river instead and then found a swimming hole to play in. It was COLD water but lots of fun!

Mandy and Drew!
Awww.


Our rig.

Thanks Oakes family for such a fun trip! We'll definitely have to go again next year! Love you guys! =)

First day of school!! =)

First day of school was a success!!!

Last night we had a nice FHE about manners at school and about learning. Daddy also gave us all a nice blessing and we packed our bags and snacks. Jett was SUPER excited and told me at LEAST ten times to remember to set my alarm! We all got up nice and early and got ready to go! After a couple wrong turns we made it to school on time and had fun seeing cousins and teachers and new friends. I left Dallas and Tucker with Grandma Karen and went to the teacher's prayer meeting and then we all met for devotional. I loved seeing all the kids dressed up and singing a hymn, saying the pledge of allegiance, and having a thought and a prayer to start the day. THAT is one of the best things about PHA. I love that the spirit is there along with the regular school stuff. It's so great! Jett looked a little nervous when we first arrived, but jumped right in and wasted no time taking off with friends and not looking back. He loved it all and especially had fun playing tag during breaks. He gets to ride home with his friend Bella and he was so excited to tell me how great school is. He even enjoyed getting his homework done for tomorrow! I'm so excited for Jett and that he finally gets to go to school. He has great teachers and I know it's going to be a great year!
As for my class, it went well! I hope to get to know these 3rd grade girls better and be a good math teacher for them. I'm looking forward to learning a lot and I have LOTS of great examples in the teachers already there and they are all such a big help to me. I get to teach just the first hour at PHA so when I get home, I get to do "school" with Tucker. He's so excited to learn more and I love having some more one-on-one time with him. =)

All around it's been a great first day! Hopefully we can continue in our new routine and have fun learning all sorts of new things this year!

Ready to go!

Tucker took this pic! ;)

Pictures from Crescent Lake =)

Crescent Lake 8/2-8/6

Here's Tucker playing on the beach with the buckets. All the kids loved playing with the water and sand in these buckets. They made lots of "soup". =)

All the guys brought their nice bikes and went on a good long ride!

Sitting on the beach - that's our view! And that's Josh skiing.

Cute kiddies ready for tubing!

Clarissa and I went with the kids for a ride!

Jett taking a swimming break. The water was pretty deep here, but so clear - you can still see the bottom! Jett looked almost like he was floating in air.

Handsome hubbie and Dallas ;)

Gotta love double knee-boarding. Jay got Josh pretty good here!

Jayson on the tube=crazy ride! He was almost flying!

Tucker and Brenna - they spent a lot of beach time together playin' around!
Jett had a lot of fun with his little row boat!

Jett learned pretty fast how to row along and enjoyed giving rides out on the lake.We all did a lot of this. SO nice. =)

Loved sitting in the sun!

Dallas had so much fun playing in the sand...and the dirt.

Roasting marshmallows!

My attempt at skiing. It was fun! Maybe someday I'll get better at it...

Lots of sky-skiing by all the guys. They had a blast and tried hard to land their flips...they'll get it someday soon...=)

The kids got so dirty everyday. One night they all lined up and got a bath in the dinghy. The water never got emptied and the next morning there was a dead chipmunk in it. oops.
We then filled up this bin and set it in the sun to warm the water. Worked pretty good!

Dallas crawled in here to rest while we were packing up to go home!