Help! I'm falling!!

This is what happens when kids don't listen to their parents.

 This is the rock that they were posing on. Lander was hanging on it and gave me the inspiration to take the falling off the cliff pictures.  It looks a lot closer to the cliff than it really is...I promise.

Dead Horse Point

I should probably apologize in advance for all of the pictures that I'm about to post, but people will just have to deal.. :) ...The colors were so vivid that I just couldn't resist taking a lot of pics, even though I'm not normally a desert person. It was absolutely beautiful.

This is the drive to Dead Horse Point, a park near Moab, Utah

We met up with some friends from Idaho. Some of their kids were sort of traveled out, if you know what I mean. So Josh told them to make their most unhappy faces as proof. This was the best picture that we got. Love how Lander is doing his fight pose. They are all such goofs!

(Jake, Katy P, Brit P, Jessica P, Lander, Jacob P)

 Look at that cliff. How would you like to fall off that? 

Brit & Jess are standing at the overlook, freaking their dad out. 

 The colors literally just popped. I wish that our photos could do it justice.

 I also wish that I could get a picture without weird faces from my boys. 

Oh, well. I will just have to use them as bribery when they get older.

 Thanks to the rain, the temperature was nice and mild. We couldn't have ordered a better day.

 Love ya, Babe!! XOX

 Dixie & Lander sitting by Dead Horse Point. It was freaky!!

 Lander & Jacob P.

cousin dinner in Logan

We were able to go to the Farnsworth cousin dinner in Logan. It was nice to see everyone!!

Walker F & Jake

 Lander eating Cheetos

Guitar Lesson

Jake got his first guitar lesson with cousin Nate. Jake's been begging for more ever since. Thanks, Nate!

Choppin' Wood

Jake found a new toy this summer, the axe. Freaky, I know but, he loved using it and was so cautious with it that we were okay with him spending hours chopping wood. I will admit that I was a little relieved when he was done.

Summo Wrestling

 ....such silly boys.....

Circumhorizontal arc

...that's just a fancy word for a FIRE RAINBOW. I researched it a bit and discovered that it is a rainbow formed by plate shaped ice crystals in high level cirrus clouds. Sammy found this one while we were hiking at Cress Creek. Beth & I couldn't believe how intense the colors were....until we took off our polarized sunglasses. It was still pretty, but if you ever encounter one, please, put on those polarized lenses. The view will knock your socks off!

Cress Creek Hike

Day 2 of our adventures with cousins =  hiking Cress Creek, a trail just a few miles from home

Jake, Lander, Sam, Grace all holding their buckets for rocks & treasures.

sneaky Lander, very sneaky 

 Sam & Jake trying to catch a lizard

 ...he got away...

 but the kids still had fun

Tautphaus Park Zoo

More cousins in town. Isn't it great?!? This time it was Eric & Beth who stopped in for a fun visit. While the dads played, the moms took the big kids to the zoo.

Grace, Lander, Sam, Jake

 Poor tiger!

Jake, Grace, Beth, Lander, Sam, Dixie

 This peacock had flown into the penguin exhibit. 

The penguins were ganging up on it, pecking at its feathers and traumatizing it. 

It made for an impressive display, though!

 Sometimes I wonder if the kids were on the wrong side of the cage......

 Okay, so these birds stink. I don't think that I could ever be a zoo keeper, but the kids loved it!

 This is the brand new baby zebra that had just been born a few days earlier.

Fort Couch

I love how kids can take something so simple, in this case, the old couch in the basement, and turn it into such an adventure. The boys had so much fun playing in the fort that they built in the couch. 

It's the simple treasures like these that makes life so great.

meet Mo-Minion

I'd like you to meet Lander's new best friend, Mo-Minion. 

more from Kelsey's trip

I was so happy to have Kelsey come up for a visit. It was really nice getting to spend time with her & our little buddy, Tristan. Here are a few highlights from the trip.

Lander, Kels, Jake & Tristan at Nature Park

 Kelsey & Tristan

 Jake's find in the cache by the race track 

 Tristan literally fell asleep at the table. He was so exhausted from all the fun!

  Kels said that he's never done this before.

 Jake loves playing with Tristan. 

That's probably one of the main reasons he fell asleep at the table. 

 If you look closely, you can see the lady bug that had Tristan mesmerized.

 Kelsey, Tristan & Lander looking over the cache found at BYU-I

Intro to Geocaching

Kelsey & Tristan came to visit and introduced us to the fun of geocaching. 

We were surprised to learn that there was a cache on the hill right above our house!

Lander, Kelsey & Tristan

 Jake & Lander using GPS to find the way

 Josh found it first (of course). He's hinting to the boys where to find the treasure.

 Jake found it!

 I love my boys!!!!

Basketball Hoop

We decided to try an experiment over the past school year. Rather than pay someone to teach the boys piano lessons, Dixie taught them (sub-standard lessons, I'm sure) and we put the money we saved towards fun family things. We were able to buy bikes for the boys last fall and then this spring we were able to get a basketball hoop. The boys were ecstatic. Jake worked really hard helping Dixie dig the hole for the post.