The fruits (or veggies) of our labors...

Richard helped me plant, weed, water, and now harvest our garden this summer. This isn't the first squash, but thus far it is the biggest! I grilled it up last night with olive oil, salt and pepper and served it with dinner. It is quite a satisfaction to eat something you grew yourself. Not to mention, Richard has learned a lot during this process. I thought these pics were so adorable of my little farmer. :)
Richard doesn't, or says he doesn't, like zucchini but he sure had fun licking the skin.
While we were doing this, Hannah was helping Daddy clean out the truck from our recent trips to the mountains. Thanks for you help, Hanners!

Hannah...Dancing Queen

Mountain fun...

Yes, we were in the mountains, again. I have been there more this summer than ever before, but it has been fun. And I'm sure we have a few more camping trips coming up before the end of summer. Anyway, we met Chris at work yesterday and got a bite to eat then headed for the mountains. We had a good little hike and saw a few animals, but I loved the views from where we were. You could see mountain peaks for miles and miles. It was so beautiful.

Richard has this Diego camping kit. He was using his "stove" to cook his corn nuts in pan on the drive to Curtis Creek. What a smart cookie!

Hannah throwing dirt on one of our potty/leg stretching breaks.
Richard helped Hannah a few times walk down the rocky, bumpy road. What a good brother. He is so thoughtful and loving of his baby sister.
This photo doesn't even partially show the beauty of this view. The mountains just went on and on and were covered with light and dark greens. It was breathtaking.

I just realized the placement of the stick Richard was playing with, oops! Well, the kids had fun as we walked along the trail of the mountain top we were on. Playing with sticks and dirt, throwing rocks, smelling flowers, and being with each other. They are so cute together.
Chris and Richard had a race back to the truck. Richard would have won, but he turned around to walk with Hannah and me. Yeah, Daddy!
Hannah was so filthy when we were finished. This doesn't even show the dirt on her entire body. But look how happy she is, dirt and all. Kids don't really care about that do they? :)

Another outing...

After church we headed to the mountains again. This time we went up to Rock Creek, past Hardware Ranch. It was a really long drive through Sardine and Logan canyons and the kids fell asleep. Richard was folded right in half much of the time, very flexible.

After driving for a long time we stopped on the top of a mountain and let the kids stretch and throw rocks while Chris looked for animals on the neighboring mountains. They found this pile of sand from broken sandbags and couldn't resist playing. Eventually they threw it all over themselves and each other.
Again, we saw many deer. These 2 young bucks were pretty close to the road. We saw some bull moose too far for a photo op, but it was a nice drive through nature, again. :)

The gaming begins...

I made the mistake of letting Richard play a game on the computer today. He loved it so much her played games for almost 1 1/2 hours. Chris needed to use the computer for work and "kicked" Richard off. Richard was soooooo mad! The games he played were on "nickjr.com" and "playhousedisney.com". They went along with his favorite shows. They were a lot of fun and educational. We'll just have to set a time limit on them. He had a lot of fun!

Our 24th of July activites

We decided to go up to Curtis Creek to enjoy the mountains and scout for beautiful animals. We usually go 2-3 times a week, but with gas and how busy we've been, this is really our first venture up there. It was so beautiful! We saw a lot of gorgeous animals, the moose are my fav, though, and we saw them just before it got too dark.

Richard and Daddy taking a break from driving and looking for deer.

This was one of the first animals we saw, a darling and spotted fawn. So cute!
There were many young bucks. All spikes and 2-points.

Richard kept begging us to go hiking so we found some shade and ventured out. We went quite a ways until we saw june bugs or something covering the pathway. They were all over the place. I couldn't get a good photo, but they were nasty! Chris thinks they were mating. Ehw!

Daddy and Richard on their potty break.

Isn't that gorgeous! I love to see moose!
Richard was afraid of the dark outside so he turned on his lantern as we drove. He'd hold it up to the window to look out and mostly held it on his lap until he fell asleep.

Cheese and the mailman

Richard grabbed this block of cheese out of the fridge the other day and just started chewing on it. Crazy boy!

This morning they sat at the front door waiting for the mailman. He usually comes about 9:30 or so and they just sat waiting. So cute!

Chris is at it again

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This isn't the greatest photo, it was taken on Chris's phone. I've tried to touch it up a bit, but we don't have the best program.

Anyway, Chris and I love to watch Deadliest Catch on Discovery. Aside from the "smoke and mirrors" drama, the catch is pretty interesting. Well, while Chris was in Vegas for a convention, he ran into Keith Colburn, captain of the Wizard. Also his lead deck hand.

I guess they were promoting their new line of crab, unbroken crab legs. Chris also met the captain of the Early Dawn, Rick Fehst.

Thoughts on So You Think You Can Dance

So, I'm really bummed that Kherington was voted off. I do have to say this last week she did not perform as well as previous weeks. However, how did Comfort beat her out? Come on. And what's up with our 3 Utah boys getting voted off the last 3 weeks in a row?! I just hope Chelsie H. (Utah) stays in. She is so awesome. I love to watch her dance.

As for Matt, Thayne, and Gev; they did a good job, but weren't as consistent as some of the others. I thought Gev deserved to stay a bit longer, though. Now I'm rooting for Twitch or Will. Although, all 4 guys left are really talented. I just hope Chelsie takes it all the way! :)

JibJab commentary

Chris did the following video and Richard thought it was so funny to watch himself, Hannah, and Daddy. Richard said, "Hannah isn't cute anymore. And Daddy isn't big anymore." We thought that was so funny. :)

jibjab

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Family dinner up the canyon...

Rocky, Jaime, Paul, Brittany, Mom, Whitney, Riley, and Brady

This month was Chris and my turn for family dinner. We have been gone from home so much that we decided to go up the mountains rather than rush to get the house and yard ready for company. I'm glad we went up there. It was cooler and the kids all had a great time.

Chris prepared BBQ beef sandwiches, watermelon, carrots and dip, and cheesy bacon potatoes. It was really good food. And for dessert we had peach, pineapple, mandarin orange cobbler. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. I loved it! Thanks, honey, for all your hard work! I love you!

And thank you, family for coming up with us!

Bo, Heidi, Whitney, Brady, Brittany, Grandma T. (Lookin' pretty good for 95!) Grandma "Kia" and Hannah
Mark forgot Marki's shoes so Mom made some out of the insole and laces from Mark's shoes

Richard got so dirty and I'm not quite sure how
Hannah took my cup from me and filled it up with dirt then poured it out on herself
Brittany and Whitney just being cute girls
Brady, Chloe and Riley roasting marshmallows Bryce waiting for his turn
Richard got right in there and burnt a few himself
Heidi, Hannah, Chloe, Mark, and Marki

Chris working on the food as Chloe looks on

Guilty Heart...

As Chris and I were away all week, the kids were left in the kind, capable hands of Aunt Diana. I so missed the kids and once Saturday morning came I just wanted to get the camp torn down and go pick them up. When they saw me neither of them wanted to let go. Any time I walked into the other room, or even had set Hannah down, they were worried I was going to leave again.

So we spent Saturday afternoon together as a family. Richard had a hard time letting me go after I said his prayers and tucked him in with a goodnight kiss. He asked me to sleep on the floor next to his bed.

I told him I missed him so much and that I'm glad we are all home. He said, "I missed you too Mom. I wanted ya." I said that the girls needed me for camp. Richard responded, "I needed ya, too." Oh the heart ache. What a sweet boy, and he understands feelings so well. I know he and Hannah will have a hard time letting me go anywhere, now. Even if it is just for a couple of hours. I love them so much and am glad we are all safe and sound.

Katee/Will Pas De Deux

This was so beautiful. I love when they add new types of dances to this program. And they used David Archuleta's version of Imagine. How cool is that? :)

Girl's Camp 2008