Back to School Party

I shamelessly stole Nienie's (http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com) idea for back-to-school crowns and a family back-to-school dinner, and we celebrated the last free day of Summer Vacation.

The children all designed their own crowns(except for Sage, and she would have nothing to do with a crown she hadn't made herself, so it sat on the table as her place marker... until she decided she wasn't going to sit there either... sigh).
Gary's was "Gary green", as are many other things in his life. Eden's was petaled and pretty, and Lily went organic and picked a passion flower out of our yard and we hot glued it on.
I tried to make dinner out of things they loved, but I got just a teeny weeny bit creative, and put chocolate mint from out garden in the lemonade slush, and they all thought it was cucumbers and wouldn't drink it. Then they wouldn't eat the potatoe casserole because it too had green specks in it -- which it alwasys does, and they normally love it, but everyone was suffering from cucumber-phobia or something tonight. Then, I'd forgotten to tell Chad that I'd already salted and spiced the pork chops before I sent them out to him to grill, so he salted and spiced them again... My visiting teachers turned out to be the heroes of the evening, as they had, yesterday, brought me a birthday balloon tied to a pineapple. (What a great treat! Thank you Connie and Courtnie!) We chopped that up for dinner too, and, well, nobody could find anything wrong with that!

Then we headed out for a Rhino and four-wheeler ride.
As she waited to get going, Sage looked just like an Eloise Wilkin illustration. See?
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/trywhistlingthis/sets/72157605891976713/)

Sage kept pointing out the clouds, or telling off the chapparral, I couln't figure out which.



We got a very rare glimpse of a desert tortoise. This is only the second one I've ever seen out in the desert. And we didn't touch him, I promise. He was like this when we drove up.

The desert was freshly washed with rain.

Lovely, power lines and all.

This is how you know you've gotten to the end of the road and it's time to turn around and go home.

What a fun day!

Boulder Mountain Bike Ride, 2009

This past weekend was the Boulder Mountain bike ride. Chad and I enjoyed cool weather, gorgeous scenery, and great friends.

My babe and his bike.

A few group shots.

Chad biked through Koosharem, Torrey, Escalante, and Panguitch. They go over Boulder Mountain, past Calf Creek,and through Bryce Canyon National Park. Beautiful. They race each other for the town signs. Torrey is one of quite a few that Chad won(Thanks to Don's pulling forever!!!). Go Babe!

Relaxing along the way.

Done!

Racqual is my neighbor. I think she's thinking Arby's.

"I Love to See the Temple..."

Chad and I took the kids up to South Jordan this weekend to visit friends, and go to the Oquirrh Mountain temple open house. Usually you have to be 12 to go inside a temple, but before it's dedicated, anyone can go. The kids were SO excited. This particular temple was designed with many circles inside of it -- etched into windows, painted on the ceiling, in the design of a lot of the upholstry, and even cut into the carpet in the celestial room. We pointed this out to the kids, and explained that it was meant as a reminder that the things that happen here last for eternity. They loved discovering and pointing out the circles for the rest of the tour.

The temple was so beautiful, and even though it wasn't dedicated yet, it was peaceful, and the feelings were sweet. I loved it, and loved even more that my children got to feel what a special place it is.

It was a day that I hope they remember for , well, eternity.

In the hospitality tent, after the tour, there were cookies and bottled water, and more information about the temple and the church, and one special treat for us. This painting. It was painted by Chad's BYU roommate, Shawn Perkins, and he and his family were the ones with whom we spent the weekend, and with whom we took the tour. Shawn is so talented, and we can't wait to have a copy of this hanging in our home, to remind us of a wonderful day.

I wish I had taken more pictures of our weekend. We went to the "beach" in South Jordan, went to the Thai Chili Garden with the Steeds(Chad's other college roomate, and his wife), and discovered Red Mango frozen yogurt. We let the kids play outside, (all 14 of them! 20 when the Steeds were there! Wow, we've come a long way since our college days!) enjoyed Lyndy's wonderful cooking, and stayed up 'till at least midnight every night because we just knew the weekend would end too soon. Thank you sooooo much, to the Perkins. I am looking forward to repaying the favor as soon as possible!