It's a Kiwi Christmas!!

Nathan wanted to dress up like Santa Claus. (He remembers his Uncle James doing this once when he was little) . . .

Marlee couldn't stop laughing . . .

Van had fun . . .

Noah couldn't stop giggling . . .

Elijah thought it was great . . .

Merry Kiwi Christmas y'all!!

First Day of School

Here they are . . .

Van, Marlee, Noah, and please ignore the strange face that Tama is trying to make

Timpanogos

For Nathan's birthday this year, I thought it would be fun (adventurous) for us to summit Mount Timpanogos (11,749 feet). We woke up early, excited, and a bit anxious. The weather was going to be perfect. It was the start to a great day!! We started hiking about 6 am. The trail was nice and quite.

Watching the sun rise was beautiful. I think Nathan took over a dozen photos of it. We decided it looked just like a Bob Ross paining.

Now this wasn't our first time attempting to summit this mountain. I tried once in college and only made it to Emerald Lake (10,380 ft) Nathan and I tried once when we lived in Aspen Grove, but we were ill prepared. Not enough water, and terrible blisters made us turn around after only 2 hours of hiking. So, we figured "3rd times the charm" spelled success for us this time around!!

I love these waterfalls!!

Last time I saw them, they were just a trickle! As we were walking we kept saying over and over how we couldn't believe how much water there was!! There were so many places that we had to cross streams. I just didn't remember that from the last time I hiked. (But it had been over a decade ago)

We started passing some areas that had seen multiple avalanches over the years. There were lots of gnarly trees like this . . .

And then we started crossing a snow field.

Yes! It were very slippery.

And then we crossed another. And then another.

And then we started thinking . . . well, Utah has had record snow fall this year. I knew we would eventually have to cross some snow. I just thought it would be at the top, like 10,000 feet. I suppose we should have looked at this site before we left. oops. Ice picks, and crampons required?! It's the middle of July!

So, at about 9,500 feet, we admitted we had been defeated yet again.

Mount Timpanogos 3, Ormsbys 0!

But we did have lots of fun, and that's really what it's all about.

Love ya Nathan!! Happy Birthday.

What to do when it's hot . . .

You can sell Otter Pops during South Ogden Days . . .

Business was slow this year. Not sure why.

But they did make $21. Good job kiddos!

Otter Pops not your favorite?
You can go over to the mud volleyball pit, and roll around in it.

Guaranteed you'll cool off pretty quick

and have a BLAST!!

Easter Weekend

Our Easter weekend was great!! We had lots of fun,

and we ate waaaayyyy toooooo much candy . . .

Poor Vance (and Noah too, but we didn't photograph him). They really ate too much. In a "sick" way, (pun intended) Nathan is proud that his boys finish off Easter the same way he did as a kid.

We started the weekend at Washington Terrace City's egg hunt. I thought about maybe going to South Ogden's hunt instead, since it's just around the corner from us, but it seemed wrong. We've spent all week helping Nathan fill eggs for the Terrace. Besides, the kids are convinced that it's their Dad's hunt. The egg hunt went well. Close to 1,000 people there. The kids got a ton of candy. I didn't take any pictures this time. I just enjoyed it.

The afternoon and evening was spent at Grandma's and Grandpa's. The real highlight of the day for the kids was that they got to see Samson, their new cousin, for the first time! They talk non-stop about him. Can ya blame them? He's pretty cute!!

We did 2 eggs hunts at Grandma and Grandpa's. One was for their Easter baskets and chocolate eggs. Lots of candy, they were in heaven. Marlee was very competitive this year.

We had to tell her to hold back a bit, or I think she would have found/taken EVERYTHING.

The other hunt was outside for the "real" eggs. Again, lots of fun. Elijah was so careful to put his eggs in his basket without cracking them. Unfortunately he tripped in the gutter, and all his eggs spilled out and were seriously smashed.

We attempted to get a cute photo of us, but it didn't seem to go very well.

There, this one is much better!!

Sunday morning we gave the kids their chocolate bunnies.

Van kept saying all day long, "This is the best Easter EVER!!"

Noah was pretty happy too.

And then we made them wait till after church for our egg hunt.

(I wanted them in their Easter clothes)

Noah and Vance

Marlee's "glowing" a bit in this picture. It's just proof that the sun really was shining.

Vance, Elijah (who was tired, grumpy, and had just fallen off a rock), and Noah

Elijah, Marlee, Noah, Vance

It was fun, and the weather cooperated all weekend. Yeah!

Snow Can Be Fun!!?!

Would You?

Happy Valentines Day.
Vance is in the short sleeves, and Noah's in the stripes.

95!!

My beautiful Grandmother recently turned 95. What an amazing woman!!

She had 10 children, and now has 200+ posterity from those original 10. And she can keep all of us straight!

4 Generations of women = AWESOME!!

Love you Grandma!!

Spring 2010

Some old footage from last spring 2010. We miss you warm sun, come back soon.

You want WHAT for lunch?

On the way home from school this afternoon, I asked the boys what they wanted for lunch.
Noah: "I want a hot dog, and Van wants phytoplankton."
Me: "What? He wants what?"
Noah: "P.H.Y.T.O.P.L.A.N.K.T.O.N (said very very slowly). Van loves to eat it."
Van: "No I don't Noah, I want a tuna fish sandwich"
Noah: "I know Van, phytoplankton are eaten by the middle fish, and the tuna eat the middle fish. You eat the tuna that has the phytoplankton inside it!"
Van: "Oh yeah."
Me: "Where did you learn this? Did you learn it at school today?"
Van: "No, we learned about snowman's."
Noah: "I learned it on The Magic School Bus."



Thank you Magic School Bus for educating my children.