Nov 2017

 Devon's parents and brother came for Thanksgiving.  We don't have any pictures of the amazing Chinese food we made, or the huge burn I got from making it- but trust me it is good.  Also they got to come cut a Christmas tree with us.  No snow- which was nice except there really was no snow all winter.  We found a good tree though.

 We also hiked Split Level ruin.  I am realizing that as we go back to hikes with new people, we take fewer pictures every time we go.  We have been on this one a lot.

 We also went to Bluff fort- the kids always love to go- and Devon has ancestors who lived here.

 Carrie made a new best friend- Uncle Thomas.

 This is why projects don't get done very fast- I did make seat covers for our van from towels- they are amazing.

 Leah watches shows in our bed often since she is always the first one up.

The girls do this every time they take a bath- maybe laying on the floor after bathing is counter productive- hopefully not.

October 2017

 There is a hike very near our house called 5 Kivas.  A few years ago Kelsey and I and the kids tried to hike it- but I was 8 months expecting- and it just didn't happen. We finally made it back.  The fall colors were beautiful and it is a great little hike- not 5 minutes from our house.

 My parents told me they wanted to go to Hole in the Rock- so i asked it we could join.  It was definatly an adventure.  The road in is 60 miles of dirt road- about half of which is quite rough.  It took about 4 hours for us to drive in, but it was well worth it. 

 There was an area called Devils Garden- all kids of interesting rock formations and soft sand.  It was a really fun place for the kids to run and play.

 This is by the actual Hole in the rock- stopping for lunch

 This is the real thing.  I was shocked at how narrow and steep it is.  I still cannot see how they made a road down it.  We were boosting kids and jumping down 6 foot drops the whole way down.  Actually we were too wimpy to make it to the bottom.  I also didn't realize it was more than a mile long!

 The next day we did a short hike to Mossy Cave.  We did not realize Fall Break in Utah means everyone travels to Southern utah (or Disneyland).  It was crowded so we didn't want to pay to get into Bryce Canyon. 

 Some other time in October we took the Murdocks (Devon's principal- they have 3 girls about our kids ages) to House on Fire ruin. 

 Spencer held and planned his annual Halloween party.  Carrie was "Poppy" from trolls, Leah was a skunk and James changed costumes often.  Some people thought it was mean to dress Leah as a skunk, but she still asks to wear the costume regualarly.

 Once again the favorite was the doughnut eating contest. 

 Carrie and Ruby go to the same daycare and are great friends.

 We had a huge mummy relay race

 Spencer made some very creative decorations for our house.

 On Halloween or neighbors made a maze in their yard.  Actually my dad and Spencer helped make this when my parents were here.   Also, homemade doughnuts- highlight of trick or treating.

September 2017

 We our new backyard neighbors, the Russells to River House.  Spencer and Max, and Katy and James and Carrie are great friends- and their mom works with me.  Anyway they are the best back door neighbors possible.  Afterward we stopped at the river, and Katy swam all over in the mud- but enjoyed it!

 We went to Provo to buy a new van (we had some car trouble on the way to the eclipse).  Thankfully Gabe and Anna let us stay with them- and the kids had a great time!

 A necessary stop at the NickleCade.

 Leah always follows Carrie.

 The girls and I often go to story hour on Wednesdays- they girls love it.

 We have 1/2 acre of property, and because we moved in the middle of the summer the weeds in the huge garden area were out of control!  They were taller than the kids.  We are really trying to stay on top of this this year- hopefully we won't have a picture like this this September.

We got a rowing machine- and the kids use it quite a bit....

August 2017

So today just before church started the power went out at our church building. They were never ever to restore all of the power so we had a very shortened Sacrament meeting and went home. The Bishop told us to write about in our Journal- so I decided maybe i should update my long-neglected family journal. Hopefully I can catch up some day.....

The Robert's (Devon's grandparents) family reunion was the beginning of August.  It was in Idaho, just outside of Twin Falls.  We had fun on the Harrop's boat and playing with lots of cousins.  Even though I grew up in Idaho I had never seen Shoshone Falls.  It was amazing, and huge!

Also in August was the San Juan county fair.  They had a money dig, face painting and lots of animals.  The kids had fun.  They are excited this year to submit some of their garden produce to the fair- we are still not brave enough to raise our own pig....

Our neighbors run a pizza truck- we got a special picture on our box.

For my birthday i really wanted to go see the eclipse in Idaho Falls.  I wasn't actually sure it would be worth the trip- but it was absolutely amazing.  It got dark and cold in the middle of the day.  When the sun was totally eclipsed the whole neighborhood erupted in cheers. It was such a show of the Majesty of the Creations and the Creator.  I hope my kids remember it- but I always will.

Leah turned 2 on August 24th.  She enjoyed her cupcakes. 

My birthday was August 23rd- it's fun to have our birthdays close since it's not so fun to think about getting older- I can plan for Leah's birthday instead.

We found some great trails right around the corner from our house.  There is a Hogan, a Tepee, a Pioneer home, a Mexican adobe house, a Piute house and a large viewing tower.  The kids love to go there because we just let them run on the trails and hope they find one that leads back to the car.

We could not get great pictures of the eclipse- but really this is what it looked like- it was unbelievable.