Labor Day - Snow Canyon Hike

We had beautiful weather for Labor Day so we decided to take a little hike. This is our favorite hike in Snow Canyon. There's not much of a trail just a lot of scrambling over rocks to get to a beautiful lookout.

Our little independant Bella insisted on trying to climb most of the rocks by herself. Both of the kids really enjoy hiking, but we sure do go slow!

Samuel's favorite activity was jumping off little rocks all along the trail.

Beautiful scenary at the top. We practiced with Samuel going up to the top that when we said stop he needed to stop in his tracks. Bella on the other hand was making us really nervous. She is just prone to accidents and fearless - not a good combination!

Chuck keeping a tight grip on the kids.

Mommy and Bella.

The Well Traveled Bit

I debated about sharing this story because it makes me feel like a horrible mom, but it truly is amazing. As a preface, Sister Bella is constantly trying to feed and stuff things in little Isaac's mouth.

About a week ago, Chuck had his tools out working on reupholstering our kitchen chairs. The kids were having a great time playing with a screwdriver bit kit he had out. When he went to gather the scattered bits he realized that one was missing but figured that it would show up eventually.

It eventually did show up about 6 days later. He was holding Isaac while Trina and I were getting our hair done and he just wouldn't stop crying. Chuck checked his diaper and he had pooped so he pulled off his diaper and there was the missing screwdriver bit in the bottom of the diaper! We concluded that Bella must have feed him the bit days earlier and his little body was finally getting rid of it. Isaac didn't seem to mind having the bit in his little intestinal track. He only was disagreeable when it was in the bottom of the diaper. Chuck called the Doctor and he told us not to worry as long as he wasn't bleeding and the bit was in one piece. We felt really bad for poor Isaac. It is scary to think that it could have been much worse had he choked on the bit. It made me almost cry at the time, but what a story!

Weekend in Helper

Samuel was so excited to see Grandpa's new 4-wheeler (or as he thinks - Samuel's 4-wheeler that has to stay at Grandpa's house)! We all had to take turns taking him for a ride because that's practically all he wanted to do all weekend. He did tell mommy she needed to go over the bumps because I was avoiding them at first.



Samuel is fasciniated with all of Grandpa's humming birds. He couldn't wait to help make more juice.



We took the kids to Dino Mine Park to play. They sure do have a lot of fun at this park!

Helper Parkway

On Friday night we took the kids for a walk along the parkway.



I wanted the kids to walk across the swinging bridge. It's not quite as scary as I remember when I was a kid. The kids sure enjoyed trying to run along as it swayed.

Hey Brady - does this look familiar. You're eagle project is looking a little worn these days, but what can you expect it's only been about 16+ years!

Samuel is very curious about everything and so he was asking Grandpa about every piece of mining equipment. He wanted to know what it was called and exactly what it did.

After taking in all the information Grandpa passed along, Samuel would then turn to me and tell me what he had just learned.



That night Samuel and Chuck decided to sleep on the back lawn in the tent. Samuel was so excited he could hardly settle down to go to sleep. Chuck wanted to come in because the wind was blowing, but Samuel was staying put. Samuel finally did consent to come inside about 1:30 a.m. when the wind whipping the tent was just too noisy for them to sleep.

Huntington Canyon

On Saturday we took a drive up Huntington Canyon for a little picinic. The weather was beautiful!

Mom wasn't with us for any of the festivities because she had a tooth operation on Friday morning. This may explain why we are eating off a big rock for our table without any plates, utensils or napkins. But we enjoyed it!

The kids love throwing rocks in the river and watching Grandpa throw really big ones in is their favorite. Just look at the size of the rock about to hit the water!



It's hard to see in this picture, but if you look really close you can see Grandpa Clayton up on the hillside. He crossed the log in the picture above and climbed the hillside throwing and rolling big boulders down to the river. He was providing quite the show for us! I'm just glad Samuel is young enough he couldn't go along on this adventure. We were worried Grandpa was going to come tumbling down the hill himself!

Grandpa Clyde

Grandpa Clyde passed away August 17, 2008 at the age of 98.

He fought in World War II in the Pacific.



My dad gave Grandpa Clyde this picture for Father's Day in 2006. It personifies Grandpa's life - tough, hard working and determined to get the job done. (The same could be said for you dad!). Grandpa was also a great example to us of always having a positive attitude no matter the situation.

As we drove from the chapel in Elmo to the cemetary in Orangeville our eyes were greeted by an amazing and beautiful sight. Flags lined both sides of the road leading to the cemetary.



The military tribute - something that I have never seen before was very touching and made each of us so proud for the sacrafice and service to our country Grandpa had given many years ago.

Each of Grandpa's children was presented with a flag.





The day truly was a celebration of a life well lived!

Isaac Pictures

Isaac started grabbing his toes this week.

He has the short stuby Cox legs like all the rest of the kids!