Preschool!

We signed Scooter up for pre-school at the beginning of summer, and when we found out we were moving we decided to let him go for that month before we moved! He absolutely LOVED it, and we really miss his teachers & friends now that we have moved! If only there were some way we could transport them up here...or just apparate to pre-school a few times a week!

Here is Scooter on his first day of preschool! I can't believe how big he is getting!!
We went on a field trip to Bridal Veil Falls at the end of September. Here he is showing me the rocks that he found! He loves rocks - and wherever we go we keep coming home with more of them!
With Teacher Chrissy and his friends!

Scooter & Mommy! He didn't want to stand still for the picture!
Throwing rocks in the water!

On his last day of class with his teacher! What a fun, fun experience this was for him, even though it was only a month long! We are really, really hoping we can find a pre-school similar to this one - it was exactly what we were looking for!! ...Anyone know of a great pre-school in Bountiful?!

Moving Day is Coming

We've had such a great summer! We were actually so lucky because Ryan was home with us the whole summer - so we had a great time swimming & playing! Even though we will miss hanging out with him all day, we felt so blessed when Ryan got a new job a few weeks ago. It is in Salt Lake, so with the new job comes a move, too. It is strange to feel both happy, excited and sad at the same time! We are really excited to have some more space in our new place, but so sad to leave here! Last weekend we moved about half of our stuff up there! Here are some pictures of our new place!
Scooter going down the stairs.
Mommy & Daddy's room.
Lots of grass to run around on outside!
The front room. I love the how the big windows let in lots of light! Plus, it will be nice to be above ground! (Our basement apartment now is actually really nice, but I'm excited to be able to see the world outside the windows, instead of just the window well!)
Kitchen table! This is one thing that I am most excited for - we actually have a kitchen table! Wahoo! And I really love the little bench!
Baby's room!
Going on a walk with Nanny! My mom, dad & Erica came up to help us move our stuff - thanks guys!! It has been just amazing how much everyone has offered to help- in all kinds of ways! It makes you feel good & loved that so many people offer to help!! Thank You!
Scooter's room! His bed has these cool drawers that you can put toys in and a little place perfect for hiding in! His mattress isn't on the bed yet, and he's had tons of fun driving his cars on his bed! I'm not sure what he's going to think when we get the mattress on there!
New recliner! I had asked Ry if we could get a recliner when the baby was born, so I could sit in it to feed him! We ended up getting it a few months early, but that's okay with me! It is so comfortable!

Family Camp!

My aunt & uncle are so nice, and they invite our whole family up to their cabin each summer! We were so glad we were able to go again this year! Thanks Sue & Gary! We had a TON of fun!
Scooter loved the 4 wheelers! He wanted to stay on them all day & he is still talking about them! (He says "Glendon has a 4 wheeler, and at the cabin there are two red 4 wheelers!") He had a blast! Here are my two handsome boys on one -of many- 4 wheeler rides!
Ryan was happy to actually be able to ride the 4 wheelers this year, since last year he was on crutches!
Me & my long lost cousin, Casey! We haven't seen him for ages, and it was so fun to hang out together! One night he was teasing Mauri & telling her he was going to sleep in his car, so when we were all heading to bed, Casey started up the stairs and Derek said "I thought you were sleeping in your car Casey!" and Casey said "I was just teasing!" and Derek said, "You shouldn't do that anymore!!"
Cute cousins! Abbey, Mauri & Melody!
Happy, happy! Getting ready for another 4 wheeler ride!
Ry & Lins! Lindsay brought up a blanket she was working 0n - my mom was teaching her to crochet. It was so funny because Lins said to me that she brought her blanket because there were like 3 of our aunts & our mom & grandma who crochet, so she was going home with a blanket! My mom did help her a couple of times, but Lindsay did so awesome! I wish I had a picture of the finished blanket - that Lins finished! - so I could post it! It's so cool!
Nanny, Mar & Scooter getting a ride with the neighbor!
The neighbor also had a motorized swing set! It was so awesome, and actually went pretty fast!
Me & Lins!! We missed having Aubrey, Erica & Myke there with us!
Ryan took these pictures when he & Scooter were out on a 4 wheeler ride! It's so beautiful up there!



Playing games! This is such a fun bunch of people! Everyone was laughing and having so much fun! I don't think I've ever heard such an enthusiastic game of Uno!!
Worn out kiddos! Mar fell asleep holding the turkey feather that she found!
And Derek fell asleep snuggling with Nana!
Cute Grandma Mecham listening to my moms ipod!
Our amazing, wonderful hosts! Sue & Gary not only let everyone stay in their cabin and ride the 4 wheelers, they cook some very delicious food for us while we're there!! (and as you can see, it's practically enough to feed an army!!)
Derek going on a 4 wheeler ride with Gary!
Me, Lins & our cousin Emily!
Thanks again Sue & Gary for another great Family Camp!!

Another Birthday!

We were excited to celebrate Ryan's birthday! He says he's getting old...but then he's happy when he remembers at least he's not as old as me, ha ha!! We went to lunch & then to see a movie, and then had ice cream cake later!

Ryan ordered a BYU cake - it's an ice cream cake with heath bar in it! Yum!!
Ryan blowing out the famous birthday candle at my moms house! He was doing it in slow motion for the picture!

Now & Then!

We celebrated our 7th anniversary at the beginning of July! Every day I feel so lucky that I get to be married to Ryan! I know that nobody is perfect, but he is honestly perfect for me, and I love him tons!! Here is a picture of us on our anniversary, and just for fun - a picture from our wedding day!

4th of July BBQ!

We had such a fun family party on the 3rd of July! We were all together to celebrate the 4th, and we started off the morning by going to see Toy Story 3! What a fantastic movie! Definitely one that we want to see again! I loved Scooter's "commentary" during the movie - "Mom look, it's Woody and Buzz!" ..."Oh no, that's not good!" and other cute little things! And luckily the people we were sitting by were patient and didn't tell us to "shoosh" or anything...Of course, I guess when you sit by family they don't have much choice but to be patient with you! haha!

Then we went to Nanny & Papa's house (Scooter has been calling my dad "Pops" lately, which I think is so cute!) and had a BBQ and a swimming party!

Erica and Aubrey were so nice to work as lifeguards at the pool! (Derek & Mauri called them that! They were good sports too, considering that they didn't walk away from the pool dry...) Here is Erica catching Derek as he goes down the slide!
Having fun!
Mauri sliding through Erica's legs!
Splash!


Drying off for a few minutes on his new Buzz Lightyear towel from Nanny & Papa.
Taking a small break to sit at the kids picnic table & drink his kid sized Shasta!
What a fun, fun day! The times we get to spend with family are some of my absolute favorite! And we were oh so happy that this bbq did not end like our one last year... No injuries or trips to the hospital! Phew! Made it even better!!

Our New Favorite Camping Spot!

We went camping with Lins, Glendon, Mauri, Aubrey & Tyler last weekend, and this camping trip was much better than our camping trip last year! (even though that trip was pretty funny!). We went to Wasatch Mountain State Park. We had never been there, but Lins and Glendon had, and they told us great things about it! And we loved it! The campsites were awesome, there was plenty of room for the kiddos to run around and play, and they had actual bathrooms - not scary, hold your breath and run out "bathrooms!" Yay!

Here is Scooter in the car on the way there!
Digging in the dirt! He and Mauri were both covered in dirt, but they had so much fun - and we were just happy that they didn't have to play in mud this time!!
Mauri playing the drums! The firewood we brought up was from a woodworking store that was closing down, and the kids had a lot of fun playing with it before we tossed it in the fire!
They had this big open field and a pond just down the road from where we were camping, so we had a fun afternoon playing frisbee, catch and feeding the ducks!

The Kiddos, having fun!

Feeding the ducks!
On the playground with Daddy!
One of the few times the kiddos were sitting still! We were all helping get dinner ready, so Lins put in a movie for Derek & Mauri, and they had a great time hanging out in their camp chairs & eating some pre-dinner snacks!
We had such a great time camping, and we can't wait to go again! There were two fun things I didn't get a picture of that I wish I did! One was our cute camp host, Mr. Tunney. We saw him & talked to him several times, and every time we saw him he tried to convince Mar that girls shouldn't have dirt on their faces. He told her that girls weren't supposed to like dirt, and Mauri said "Well I do!" He also gave the kids a ride in his golf cart, which made their day! He was so nice!

The other thing I wish I would have taken a picture of was when we were at the pond playing, and the kids were on the playground. There was a time when only Mauri & Derek were using the playground, and then some other kids walked over to play. Lins said: "Is she (Mauri) being threatening?" and we turned to see Mar standing at the top of the stairs holding a stick almost as big as she was, and the other kids just looking up at her!! It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen, and is still making me chuckle! We love that girl! She is always cracking us up!! (Oh, and Glendon went over to her & she said she was just asking the other kids if they wanted to play what she & Derek were playing! But Glendon took the stick away- since it might have been a bit threatening!)