{8.16.2021-8.22.2021}

 

The girls started school this week! They have been so excited to start second grade! They are in the same class again this year and will be in Mrs. Nell's class. The second graders get to hatch chicks toward the end of the year and they are most excited for that, I think! 

Alya: 7 years old -- Favorite book: "I love all my books" -- Favorite color: "black" -- Favorite food: BLT -- When I grow up I want to be: "A paleontologist"

Lyla: 7 years old -- Favorite book: "Dino Mike" -- Favorite color: "purple, pink and red" -- Favorite food: "BLTs & lasagna" -- When I grow up I want to be: "a mom & a paleontologist" 

We met my dad and two of my sisters in Scofield to go fishing for a day. We got rained on pretty good, but look at that rainbow! And look at the size of that trout!! 

I walked in the boys' room and found Alya reading to Axel! So sweet! 

Eli thoroughly enjoyed his ice cream sandwich. Look at his little scrunched up nose! // I took the kids on one last hike before school starts. We have tried this hike before but couldn't find the trail so we tried again this week. 

We found it! It was a pretty good little hike! Well shaded, not too long, and there was a really cool arch at the end of it! 

These pictures make me chuckle. We took them at the beginning of our hike and Bullet is so excited to get going! // This picture makes me laugh the most. Axel must have stepped on Lyla's foot and her face cracks me up! I just really love these kids. I am glad we can go on all these adventures and even though sometimes it's hard, or cold, they are always excited for the next adventure. 

{8.9.2021-8.15.2021}

I got to take the girls school clothes shopping this week! They were pretty excited to come home and have a fashion show! They are getting so excited for school to start! // Axel will be going to preschool this year (he technically could have gone to kindergarten this year but I decided to have him wait a year) so he got a couple of new shirts too that he wanted to model! 

I just don't even know what to say. I have some crazy kids! Haha! 

Lyla decided she wanted to try tumbling this year so she has been working on her headstands! // Eli couldn't hang for pizza and movie night! 

I am learning to enjoy gardening...I always get so excited when it comes time to plant the seeds and I do pretty good the first little bit of watering...but I kind of tend to lose interest...and digging through all the leaves wondering what bugs are going to be crawling on the produce, or which bugs are going to crawl up my arm kind of freaks me out...but I do love to see a sing full of food that we grew ourselves! I'm glad that Matthew pushes for this every year. 

Axel made a camera out of these building blocks. He loves these blocks and he comes up with some pretty cool things! // I have no idea what he is doing...look how dirty his little hands and bandaides are! Haha! At least his foot looks clean! 

We always have fun hanging out with the Westenskows! I love how all of their hair is sticking up from the static electricity from the trampoline! 

We went fishing up at Strawberry with the Westenskows, too. The kids found this crazy sink hole and of course it was their favorite spot to play! 

My kids are much more brave than me. I have never held a crawdad...and I'm okay with that! I don't even like to handle them after they've been cooked! 

It was a beautiful evening! We got rained on and had to hunker down for a while, but it was just so beautiful! 

{8.2.2021-8.8.2021}

I love this busy little boy! He just quietly goes about his business but he tends to work wherever we are so that he's never alone. 

He loves swinging! I feel a little bit bad because I am not great at taking him to the park in the first place...let alone pushing him on the swing when we do come to the park. Maybe I should work on that! Haha! // This is what happens when you ride your bike through a mud puddle. 

Another fishing trip in the books! 

I love how Alya looks so disgusted by holding this fish. She soon had a smile on her face (while still holding the fish!) // I love that my kids aren't grossed out by these things! 

This is how he wears his hat right now! He is so funny! // My dad came down and took us to lunch. The boys found his foldable lenses and tried them. He is going to be a very cute old man one day! 

Our Sorenson Family Reunion this year was at Lagoon. We had so much fun! 

We all wore matching shirts for Crystal. She had a sign in her room that said "I think I'll just be happy today" and one of her friends made us these shirts, so we all wore them today. We sure missed her. 

The kids were so brave and rode all (most of) the rides. Alya had to practice her deep breathing skills for a couple of the rides and she opted out of a couple of them. Lyla rode as many rides as she could! She even rode the Colossus!

Matthew is a professional at skipping rocks! 

{7.26.2021-8.1.2021}

He refused to let me get a picture of him! // Eli loves his daddy! 

Eli sleeps! 

We have had a few good lightening storms this week! 

{7.19.2021-7.25.2021}

This week was our 24th of July camping trip! My favorite weak of the year! We camped on the Boulder and it was beautiful! We got rained on every day so it was a little cold but that meant that we were able to light a campfire so I guess I can't complain too much! 

I love that we do this trip every year and I love seeing all of our kids get to play together! (Lincoln, Alexa, Annalyn, Beckett, Alya)

The other moms are a lot more fun that this mom! Diana brought all kinds of crafts for the kids to do, it seems like we all brought games for them to play, Lindsey brought balloons and made animals and swords for the kids, someone brought glow sticks, Becky took all the kids on fourwheeler rides...the kids were very busy all week long! 

Axel and Ainslee were best buds all week! They were so cute! 

I thought this moss was so cool! // Ainslee was so nice to let Axel practice riding a two wheeler on her bike. He got pretty good at it! I think I know what he might be getting for his birthday! 

It was just so beautiful all week long! 

We went on a hike to Cascade Falls. You can see petroglyphs in both of these pictures...can you find them? 

I think this is our whole group that went on the hike!

We made it to the falls!! 

These people are just really good people, and I say it every year, but this trip is like my Christmas! I almost start counting down the days until next year on the last day of our trip!

(We had to get a picture of the Bankheads seperate from the rest of us because they had to leave early.)

It's so fun to see how these kids grow and change, and see the new additions every year! (Alexa, Eli, Lyla, Alya, Riley, Sophie, Annalyn, Lincoln, Ainslee, Axel, Beckett, Colter, Graycie)

On our way down from our hike it started to rain. All the dads and some of the kids had made it back to the trucks, but some of us moms and a few of the kids were caught in the rain storm. It started raining so hard and so fast, I think it was a legitimate flash flood. It sounded like lightening was striking right above us, it was SO loud. Water was running down the trail. By the time we made it to the pavement we were walking through inches of water. It started to hail on us just as we made it to the little pavilion thing with the maps...we had to take shelter underneath it for a minute. By the time we made it to the cars we were DRENCHED!!!!! It was pretty crazy!