SWIMMING!

Our new camera takes underwater pictures...so expect a lot more of these!
Clancy went to swimming lessons with us and he was brave!

Jovie doesn't open her eyes underwater. Who knew?

Ikey's soccer season

And by the end of the season...he kicked the ball.

Ikey's gold soccer team was named "The Freight Trains" at his suggestion. He thought he was playing rugby and was in the middle of the scrum all the time. He only noticed there was a ball in the game during the last two games. Watch for his red shin guards in this video. He crashes into someone (foul?) then kicks the ball and shows a little hustle.

This will remind you that he's still just a little guy...the one holding his ear and sucking on his fingers in the huddle.

I think Grandpa Joe was itching to coach, although he said more than once that coaching 3- and 4-year-olds would drive him crazy. Watching them almost did.

 Jovie loved wrestling with the multitude of fans that came to cheer for The Freight Trains: Grandma Pat and Grandpa Joe in this picture.

 Grandma Rainey came to almost every game and Grandpa and Grandma Faucheux came to a couple. It was hot every time. Ikey was pretty good to share his treats with Jovie. 

These two characters are crazy. Last night, Ikey didn't like what I served for dinner. He pointed at his plate and said, "Those vittles are NOT tasty."

Yard Work

I love to do yard work that makes a difference. In this yard, that means taking plants out. I pretty much hate mugho pine bushes and have asked TB to dig up everyone I've ever run into. This morning, I really had it in for this ugly overgrown wonder so he was nice enough to rip it out by its roots. This picture is before the bush bit the dust, but after I covered some ugly landscaping plastic with "pine mulch" I raked up from the huge trees in the front yard.

Looks better right? I planted a peony just behind the big green sprinkler box which hopefully will cover it up in a couple of years, but it looks more like a yard and less like a mistake now.

Near the front door, there were three old and huge laurel bushes that were full of snails and were hiding a pretty courtyard.  





TB graciously agreed to take out the laurels and I planted tall grass. We still need a strip of sod to fill in the grass here and TB wants some lupine and day lillies, but I think it already looks a million times better.

Rocky Mouth Waterfall

We celebrated Grandma Rainey's birthday with breakfast at Market Street this morning. We just love Grandma Rainey and we always have fun with her. Uncle Shane gave us a great list of waterfall hikes because he knows all about things like that. We headed out right after breakfast to Rocky Mouth Waterfall which is just a short steep hike from Wasatch Drive.

It was pretty! Ikey practiced throwing rocks and Jovie practiced jumping off rocks. If you're looking for information about hiking or canyoneering, check out Uncle Shane's website at www.climb-utah.com

Wasatch Mountains State Park

Everybody went camping at Wasatch Mountain State Park. The Wans made the reservation, the Faucheuxes made delicious Sanpete County chicken, the Preeces made broccoli salad, the Bible-Hopewells made pancakes, and the Burrows made banana bread. We drove from Big Cottonwood Canyon over Guardsman Road toward Midway and it was really pretty. Popa entertained the kids with a very animated story about David and Goliath.

The kids built (what else?) a railroad track in the campground. They were dirty almost as soon as we got there and they stayed that way.

I think this was the first campout for Miles and Sylvie, and Grandma threatened that it was her last, but I think she'll go again.

 The next morning, Todd and the kids went fishing while I cringed in a corner as far away from the worms as possible.

We ate lunch at Cafe Galleria in Midway which was a cute restaurant with good food. It was really fun and we'd go again in a heartbeat, two nights next time!

Ikey and the Legends

We had a great time at Marsha's birthday party and we just love her and her family so much. Ikey wanted to talk basketball with a couple of guys on the porch.

Have you ever considered...more bubble guns?

Ikey with the Hall of Fame NBA Coach Jerry Sloan.

 Ikey with the legendary NBA Coach Frank Layden. They were both telling jokes!

Jackson, Wyoming

The weather was great, the kids were crazy. We stopped at the Willow Park Zoo in Logan which was really cool. I'd recommend it to anyone, especially if you haven't seen a coyote or a baby emu. The kids were in rare form avoiding photographs.

Any photo like this with a calm-looking and smiling Isaac has almost certainly been bribed out of him.

This is a cool place that closed before we got there...we'll try again some day. No one would pose with me for this photo.

It's a long drive to Jackson from our house. Jovie yelled, "The sun is in my eyes!" every time it was. I told her to look out Ikey's window and she'd always ask if she could. He said no one time, so she fell apart until I gave her my glasses. Isn't she a cool kid?

The kids talk non-stop in the car and sometimes it's funny. Ikey said, "I noticed my bed was missing in my room." Jovie said, "Is it under the sheets?" Ikey laughed and said, "Oh yeah, it is!"

I told TB that we should do one of those old-timey family photographs as are so popular in Western resort towns. He said, "What, so the three-year-old can hold a rifle and dress up like a bank robber and the two-year-old can look like a saloon girl?" So instead, they just wore costumes at the history museum. 

 I told Jovie that this was a "trapper" costume. The next day, she said she wanted to "dress like a catcher again".

 

We went to the National Park and took my required photo at the sign.

We rode the Jenny Lake boat and it was Jovie's first boat ride, besides canoes and rowboats, and she loved it. It threatened to rain, and it did just a little.

 We hiked to Hidden Falls and Jovie threw several "logs" and rocks in.

We hiked up to Inspiration Point to see the whole Jenny Lake.

 The kids lugged around some moose antlers in the visitor's center.

Ikey flashed a gang sign at the antler arch in Town Square.

Cecret Lake

The whole family joined the crowd hiking up to Cecret Lake in Albion Basin above Alta.

Dad came on this hike, even though I know he doesn't like to do the same thing that hundreds of other people are doing at the same time. He "cecretly" liked it though...

We were one week early for the Wasatch Wildflower Festival, but Jovie still found some beautiful flowers.

There were four big moose on the trail and we marched right past them like we weren't afraid, but I was.

Cecret Lake was really pretty, but the kids wouldn't smile at the camera because sometimes they won't.