Wednesday, August 29, 2018

and more fun in 2018



Not sure what the two boys are thinking???

Adam and his cousin being silly.  I guess they filled it with water.




Alex worked in Hooper one day.  He works for a company that reseals asphalt.  They were at Hooper Elementary.  I headed over to see him and took him and his co-workers snow cones.  It was super hot and they welcomed the treat.
July 9, 2018




Wonderful advise.  We must never give up.  We are never alone.


Jaime and I sorted though thousands of pounds of green beans at the Ogden Cannery.  It was fun to have her with me.  We ever threw a few beans at each other without getting caught.
July 20, 2018




Jaime's first job!!!!
She is so excited and loves her job.  She works at Pizza Pie Cafe in Clinton.  It's great she has her own money now and especially great when she brings us home left over pizza.  Yum Yum.



Snow cones with Ryan.
 July 30, 2018




Alaska here we come !!!!
 We went on a day cruise out of Seward to the Kenai Peninsula.  It was breath taking.  We saw humpback whales, orca, seals, otters, bald eagles and a glacier.  


August 4,2018

   




Denali park was nice.  We took a bus ride in and enjoyed the scenery.  We saw some moose and even a grizzly bear from a distance.  It rained a little bit, but wasn't to bad.





This bear happened upon us as we were walking a trail.  It was running down the mountain about 150 feet away from us.  Thank goodness it wasn't headed towards us, but we weren't going to stick around to find out.  I started speed walking towards the parking lot with my hands in the air (I am sure I looked like a dork) and then couldn't help but run (You aren't supposed to run.  Sorry, if a bear is running, you run!!)  When Mike knew we were safe he went back for some pictures.  He was plenty far away from it by this time but, I stayed in the parking lot till it was totally gone.  My knees were shaking.  This was way to close.  Had it wanted us, it could have been to us in 10 seconds.  It's exciting now, but in the future I would rather see a bear from the safety of a car or bus.  After we spotted the bear they closed the trail we were on.
 Aug. 7, 2018

We took a glass top train ride to Seward.  It was amazing.  Words can't describe the beauty.  We saw glaciers, waterfalls, gorges, a black bear, a mom and baby moose and much more.
 August 9, 2018


This is a baby sled dog.  We toured a sled dog training center.  It was very interesting.  We even got to pet the dog (Shasta) that was in the movie Snow Buddies.  We got pulled on a cart by 14 sled dogs.  It was pretty fun.  The dogs were so excited to run and pull us.  The kept barking until the gate was opened and then they were off and silent as they pulled us. 



We happened upon this reindeer farm one day as we were driving.  We had a blast as we hand fed these cute reindeer.  The babies were adorable.  They don't have teeth on the top of their mouths and so there was no chance to get bit.  And just to clear up all the confusion, reindeer and caribou are the same thing.  If it's in the wild it's a caribou, if it's behind a fence it's a reindeer.

Aug. 10, 2018




So I know this looks bad, but he barely touched my nose.  The guide told us to stick these leaves in our mouth and the moose would eat them, if we wanted to "kiss a moose".  I am not usually daring but went for it.  It was later pointed out to me that I am lucky it didn't sneeze in my face.  Yikes.  That would have been horrible.  I now have a cute t-shirt that says I kissed a moose in Alaska.  (I had to buy it myself of course.)  



We got to hike on this glacier for about an hour.  We had to sign a waiver before hand, as glaciers are ice and are constantly melting.  At first the ice was covered with gray gravel and then we got to the white parts.  It looks soft and fluffy but it is solid ice and is slippery.  We felt safe and guides don't let you go to certain areas alone.  This adventure was well worth the $30 a person to say we walked on a glacier.




We saw this mom and baby moose from the road.  It was pretty amazing.  A sun roof comes in handy and I was able to stand up in it and get some good pictures and video from a safe distance.  I was glad to get some good pictures of them to make up for the time the bull moose walked 20 feet across the road in front of our car and the camera malfunctioned (ok, I thought I was recording and I wasn't).  



We enjoyed our adventure to Alaska.  It was beautiful and we have great memories.  As much as I loved it, I would never want to move there.  There are to many wild critters (mainly bears) everywhere.  I did get to mark another state off my list and now have only two more to go!!!  Alabama and Louisiana here I come !!!!



We had a long layover in Seattle on the way home.  We had hoped to go up in the Space Needle but this is as good as we got.  It took us an hour and a half to get there, via tram and walking, and then there was a 2 1/2 hour wait.  Darn.  

Aug. 11, 2018


But we did get to see the gum wall and Mike was super excited.  JK.  He was actually grossed out and barely stood by it to take this picture.  It's a fifty foot wall covered in thousands of pounds of old gum.  I did chew a piece and add to the collection.  Mike passed on that.



 We really didn't see anything great in Seattle, but it beat a 6 hour layover in the airport.  Better luck next time I guess.




Cute little Adam.  I guess Jaime does have a sister after all.
Aug 12, 2018



Adam's first locker.  I wouldn't let him shut it as we had problems opening it and I didn't want him to get stuck inside.  I can't believe he is in Jr. High.  Where has the time gone??
August 13, 2018



Fun before going back to school
8-16-18



We went to see (bug) Jaime at work.  It was good to see her in action.  She was a little embarrassed by the pictures (our job was done!!!).
Aug 17, 2018



August 18, 2018


The boys love to go to Aggie Family/Scrimmage Day each year.  They have fun doing all the fun, free activities (climbing wall) and especially love to go down on the field to get autographs and play catch with the players.


Jaime???






"It's the most wonderful day of the year!!!"
The first day of school


Adam- 7th grade

Jaime- 12th grade

Ethan- 4th grade


Three kids at three different schools, with three different start and end times.  Bring it on !!

The fun continues in 2018






 Happy 12th B-day Adam.  Don't worry, he got a cake later.
April 13, 2018



We are so proud of Adam and that he was ordained a deacon.  He loves to be in young mens and pass the sacrament.
April 15, 2018



It has been special to be able to do baptisms for the dead with Adam.  I don't doubt Ryan is teaching these family members the gospel on the other side.
Ogden Temple   April 21, 2018




Ethan's art displayed in the school art show.
4-24-18



Date to the Ogden Cannery
4-25-18





The opposing team was short on players and so Ethan got to play against Adam.  Adam's team won, but it was an intense game.   Ethan played his best game ever.  He gave Adam a run for his money at times and it was fun to see the brothers go head to head.  
 
May 12th  (very fitting that Ethan got to wear orange)



May 12, 2018

We love you Ryan.  I can't believe it's been 6 years.  We love and miss you so much.  We are so thankful we are six years closer to being with you again!!


 
We enjoyed to day together as a family.  We attended Adam's game, visited the cemetery and went to dinner.  Afterward we played at home.  These bumper things were very fun and we all took turns.  We actually had four of them.  No one could get Mike down.  Sadly they aren't built for durability and we had to return them all, as they started to deflate after only a few times using them.




May 16, 2018
 
It was the end of the year 6th grade dance.  The theme was the 50's.  Adam changed shoes and flattened his hair when he got to the bus stop.  Silly guy.  He looked so cool !!


Watch out!!!!  She's official.  Jaime finally got her license.  She was so excited.  She's been doing great.  So far so good and she's only backed into a wall in our garage and broke the passenger side mirror.
May 19, 2018



6th grade graduation
May 23, 2018



The building of our shed.  It was a family/friend project.  Thank you for everyone's help and thank goodness know one was hurt.  It's so great to be able to move things from the garage into it.  Yeah !

Jaime and her art work.  We had many hot dog roasts afterward to burn extra wood.  Jaime is using the ashes.  Don't worry, we will be putting siding over it, so we just let her go to town.



My parents returned from their LDS mission in Okinawa, Japan at the end of May.  They brought these back for the kids.
 Adamson



Ethanson  (like Danielson from the Karate Kid)




Ethan once again lucked out.  Adam's baseball team was short and so Ethan got to play.  It was a double header and they lost the first game.  The second game was exciting and they came back in the last inning to win.  Of course, I had left right before because I figured they wouldn't have a chance to win.  Both boys scored after I left.  Go figure??
 June 1, 2018




Ethan got a black eye two days before the wedding.  He had been at Kangaroo Zoo and bumped heads with his cousin while bouncing.  Poor guy.  
 June 7, 2018



The big day!!!!

June 9, 2018
 Alex and Kelsie Lott


 What a special day it was.  It also happened to be Jaime's 17th b-day.  She was happy to share her day because she was so excited to get a "sister".  Alex and Kelsie (Smith) met back in October.  We loved her from the start.  They got engaged at the end of January.  We are so thrilled to have her in our family.  She is a perfect fit.  We are so happy for them. 


Happy 17th b-day Jaime
We celebrated before the wedding at a park.



Boy am I glad he landed this.  I didn't let him do it again, just in case. 



Ethan
June 11, 2018


I love this.  It's so true.  We always need to trust him.  He loves us so much and knows what is best for us.


Ethan's piano recital.  Jaime was at girl's camp and so she missed hers.  Ethan did great.  It's such a blessing that he and Jaime love to play.
June 15, 2018



Croquet match in the back yard.
 June 20, 2018




Jaime got her wisdom teeth out on June 28.  She was super scared but did very well.  She was a bundle of emotions when she came out.  It was sad at times to watch and at times we could hardly stop from laughing.  I have some great video and many crazy memories of this day.
 I finally had to stick my finger in her mouth to make sure she wouldn't bite her tongue.  With a mouthful of gauze she said it was "humongous".  It wasn't.  But it was funny to hear her talk and watch her.  She wanted to ride a horse and drive the car at one point.  She couldn't even walk and Mike had to carry her into the house.  she cried when we told her she couldn't have cookie dough ice cream because she couldn't chew the cookie dough pieces.  She said the doctor was nice until he "stabbed her with a needle" in her arm.  She was referring to the IV.  And she said there was a lot of blood from the needle.  There wasn't any.  She was totally out of it.



We camped the week of the 4th of July up in Emigration Canyon, Idaho.  It was beautiful up there and very peaceful.  On the 4th we went kayaking to Oneida Reservoir.  We had a blast.  Alex and Kelsie joined us for the day.  


 Yummy food Eth!!   Thanks.



We went on this hike to get out of the rain.  So did everyone else in Idaho.  It was packed and we had an hour and forty minute wait.
 July 3, 2018

We forgot a few things and headed to the store near Bear Lake.



Poor Mike.  He was stirring our dutch oven potatoes and a potato flew out and landed on his ankle.  Crazy.  He got this huge blister that later I had to drain to relieve the pressure.  Watch our for flying hot potatoes!!!