(6.29.20 - 7.5.20}

There is a gorgeous little waterfall up Manti Canyon that we decided to "hike" to this week. We thought it might be more of a hike, but you can pretty much just drive straight to it. 

Even though it wasn't much of a hike there was plenty to do! Logs to cross, rocks to climb, etc. etc. It was fun and so pretty! 

This tractor made. Eli's. day! He was enthralled with watching him drive past our house. // Because we knew the hike wasn't actually a hike, Audrey brought some cute little paper boats for the kids to play with. That kept them entertained for a while! It was fun to just have kind of a relaxing afternoon! 

We went up with Matthew to the grazing pasture for the evening. The kids spent probably an hour at the river throwing rocks in!

Left: Lyla // Alya's shiner is starting to look a lot better! 

Throwing rocks and bonding with grasshoppers. They were pretty heartbroken when I wouldn't let them bring this grasshopper home with us. 

This picture cracks me up!! It's perfect! 

Jeni and Crystal came down this week and we went to Palisades. The girls loved their tubes!! 

I was impressed with how far out they let themselves drift on them! // Eli is so cute! I love that little smile!! 

My favorite part about the picture with Crystal and Axel is the snack Eli left on Crystal's knee! It was so funny! 

I must have saved these pictures wrong off of my email. I wish it wasn't fuzzy, and I'm sure I could go back and find it in my email again. Maybe one day I will, but for now, I just wanted this cute picture of Axel and I on the blog! 

We were up in Idaho for the 4th of July. I thought this picture of Grandma and Lyla was pretty cute! I am so grateful for Matthew's family and how good they are to my kids! // Again, another fuzzy picture that I must have saved wrong, but I love how cute and sassy she looks! 

It was fun to play on the slip n' slide! 

I love this kid! He is such a character! // I can't get over his eyes!!!!!

Eli's favorite part was the water fight! // I wish I could remember more details about this picture. I think I just looked over at Axel randomly and saw him in his skivvies trying to get himself into the bucket. So funny! He is crazy!

Matthew splashed Eli pretty good and his reaction was hilarious! He di not like it at. all!! 

He much preferred the slip n' slide like this! 

I love Eli's reaction to the fireworks! So cute! I love these warm summer nights!

 

{6.22.20 - 6.28.20}

If I were to tell you that Matthew took three sets of family pictures in one year, would you ever believe me?! Well, it happened! These are the first family pictures (with just my little immediate family) we've had since our wedding day! I am so happy with them! 

These kids are my everything! 

My sweet little Lyla! She is my tender hearted, animal loving, crazy, silly girl! 

Alya, my Munchkin! She is so kind and loving, a great big sister, goofy girl! // My little Eli! My baby boy - who refuses to be a baby! He's all boy! He's my song singing, superhero loving, sword wielding warrior.

Axel Bo Baxel! He is so creative, artistic, talented little man! 

I love this guy and I am so glad we have this crazy, crazy life together! 

How cute is this!? This bond!!! I hope it's never broken!

Alya took a nose dive on her scooter this week! (I'm SO glad it was after we had our pictures taken!) She was cruising and landed right on her face. Not even her hands broke her fall. It was the scariest thing I have ever watched! She has a pretty good shiner but thank goodness she is okay!

Eli is my little helper every morning when I go out to water the bushes and trees! He loves it and I love that he wants to help! // Matthew took us for a drive! We went looking for a spot to take our friends for our annual summer camping trip and ended up where I shot my little buck last year. It's such a pretty spot! 

This was a fun moment to walk up on! The boys were just hanging out on the stairs and Axel was reading Eli a story! I say it all the time, but I absolutely love moments like this! 

I love this happy brown eyed boy! 

And this wild child of mine! 

Her poor face!! 

This picture is Lyla to a T! Her crazy sense of style, all her collectables hooked onto her purse with the crazy hair to top it all off! 

{6.15.20 - 6.21.20}

These kids are troopers! Sure there is some whining and complaining, but they hiked a long way today to go look at Dad's trail cameras! 

Such a pretty view! // The kids and I built a cute little tee-pee! It was very difficult to fit all four of them in at the same time, but we were pretty pleased with how it turned out! 

Eli was a great little helper! 

I love these people! 

I love these cactus flowers! I think they are some of my favorite "wild flowers." (Are they even considered a wild flower!?)  

I love this dirty face! He's such a handsome boy! // My little hiking buddy doesn't actually love the walking part. I don't blame him. There are lots of rocks for tripping on and the sagebrush is just about as tall as he is! It makes hiking difficult! 

This is his favorite seat in the car! Haha! // I did a thing! I have been debating for years about cutting my hair and I decided to go for it! I am so glad I did, I love it so much! 

Sometimes I am a fun mom and pull out the paint and some random wooden blocks I have stashed in the basement. This kept Eli entertained for a long time! 

Lyla turned her "S" into a snake. 

Axel's just kept adding more and more layers to his little ghost! I love this artistic child of mine! 

Alya's little witch boot turned out pretty cute, I think! 

I got out of my comfort zone this week! Because of Covid, the Scandinavian Festival that our little town puts on every year was basically cancelled. The city still tried to do some events and feature some "booths" virtually. So I signed up to do a "burn with me" type of activity. I think my family and close friends are the only people who saw my video, but it was a good learning experience for me and I am pretty proud of the piece I designed! 

I love this tree climbing Spiderman! // Peek-a-boo Eli! 

I know she's holding a hand in this picture, but Lyla actually got brave and hung herself upside down for a second! 

I love that their big teeth are coming in! They look so different without their baby teeth! It's crazy to me how big they are getting! 

I love this picture! I love that these girls have each other - I hope they always have this bond and have each other's backs! They will! They have to!! 

I don't know what these two talk about all the time, but they seem to have a lot to say to each other. Especially at 10:00 at night when they are supposed to be sleeping.