seriously?!

We had the longest dry spell going on here, and then a couple weeks ago the weather god's decided it was about time for us to get our own share. It started out harmlessly enough with a bit of rain. That was do-able...

...and then came a skiff of snow last Monday morning, which was a mess to run in at 5:30am. We were soaked. But still, the boys were excited about it and ran out in the morning to grab a handful of snow to eat before it all melted.

We figured we were in the clear when Kevin Eubank, our local NBC meteorologist, took off his white coat and chose to wear his dark suit coat for the 10pm weather Tuesday night, but this is what we woke up to Wednesday morning. It was beautiful and a mess all at the same time. Seriously, though?!

Now just two days later it was 70 degrees here today and absolutely perfect. Go figure!

quick trip

A couple weekends ago we took a "quick trip" to Lake Powell. We left Friday after the boys got out of school, sat in traffic on I-15 through all the construction in Utah County for almost 2 hours, and finally made it to Paige, Arizona, around 11:30pm...the boys had barely fallen asleep 15 minutes before that. Saturday we spent the whole day out on the lake in absolutely perfect conditions--water 75 degrees, air 83 degrees, and then drove back home on Sunday. Whew! Fast, but fun.

Castle Rock

The very cool, and very knowledgable, park ranger composed this photograph.

He might be on to something!! This trip to Rainbow Bridge was a first for all of us.

Jake...driving?!

It was a beautiful drive home through the canyon just east of Cedar City.

I could have stayed to take pictures all day!

remember september

I kinda got out of blogging when my camera was gone for over a month, and now that I've had it back for over a month, it's high time to get back on track!

first painting

Last time, I left off at the beginning of the month with the state fair and Ben's painting. Here is a better picture of it, hanging proudly in the Lego room, next to the piano so he can see it well. I just saw his latest painting last week when I picked him up from class, and he is the real deal. It's incredible, and should be done in the next week or two.

haiku

Although Ben and Jake finally got off to school at the beginning of September, the second week in, Jake had a couple days off for reading evaluations. Just when I was getting used to a bit of solitude. *sigh* We had fun though. Lots of playing, lots of reading, lots of together time. Jake is probably the one I have spent the least amount of one-on-one time with, so it was all good. He has been enthralled with the Magic Tree House series this year. This day he was home we finished reading #37, Dragon of the Red Dawn, and learned about haiku poetry, the shortest form of Japanese poetry, and it's written about simple, everyday things about life or nature. Jake and I spent some time outside trying to come up with our own haiku's about what a beautiful morning it was. We got a little carried away just jumping around on the trampoline.

It was a fun morning, and although we didn't write down any of the haiku poems we came up with, I'll never forget the cool breeze, the warmth of the sun, the birds flying overhead, and that crazy Jake!!

machine gun fire

A few weeks ago we had this crazy wildfire in the hills of Herriman, just west of us, and it was a little too close to home. We saw the smoke in the afternoon, but by nightfall this is what we saw. First picture is courtesy of Julie, taken from her house. Second one is what we saw from our house. WOW! I think only 4 homes burned, but it could have been so much worse. It was called Machine Gun Fire because it was started at a gun training range at Camp Williams, on a hot and very windy afternoon.

mueller park canyon

Our annual visit to the canyon is usually the first weekend in October, but we had a change of plans this year and went in September. It was the warmest outing there we've ever had, but still lots of good times with family...and the food was outstanding, as usual! Thanks to Barry for bringing everything up to the canyon once again. It was worth it.

Grandpa and Grandma Airplane were here visiting us this weekend too,

and joined us in the canyon.

Nathan "rapping" the ABC's!! So cute.

I love these fun women!! (And boys too.) There were some who weren't able to come

who we missed, including Uncle Terry and Aunt Patty (and we missed her

yummy cinnamon rolls!) who are on a mission in Texas.

And that's our September--good times!

friday

This past Friday we ventured out to the Utah State Fair.

Will and Jake had fun at the Little Hands on the Farm exhibit.

Will was too short to go on the rides Ben and Jake wanted to go on,

so I took him on the ferris wheel where we got a wonderful view of our surroundings.

There are always strange animals to see, like this pigeon filling up its chest with air.

Love the tractors

But this is the real reason we came to the fair. In June Ben started an oil painting art class, and he recently finished his first painting. We missed the county fair, so with the nudging of my friend Jolee, who's daughter Ady is in Ben's class, we entered Ben's painting into the state fair. Ben's art teacher, Linda, told us that even to have your picture hanging on the wall at the state fair is a big honor, even if it doesn't win anything. Ben entered the junior amateur division, which is from ages 6-11, so we knew it would be tough competition.

We entered the fine arts building, and found his division in the back, and there was his painting of Point Bonita Lighthouse (near San Francisco)...with a second place ribbon!! Let me just say that Ben is amazing, and that he got absolutely ZERO art skills from either Daren or me, but my mom and brother, Darren, are great artists, so I guess it will be carried on through him. Congrats Ben!! Love you honey!
p.s. funny thing--I finally got my camera back right before the fair, but forgot to bring an sd card, so these pictures are still from my cell phone. Now I'm back in business!

first week of school...again

After three months of summer vacation, Ben and Jake finally, FINALLY, started school again this week. They had waaaaay too much together time this summer, and had just about worn each other out with their teasings, tauntings, and all around craziness that comes with being boys. We celebrated their return to school on Monday night at Chuck E. Cheese. One of my favorite things there is the picture machine. Will did his picture on his own and I LOVE it.

Seriously, I don't know if Jake is capable of keeping his tongue in his mouth...ever!

The next morning it was off to class. Ben is starting 4th grade(?!) and Jake is starting 1st grade. They both have great classes and I love their teachers already. These guys are growing up way too fast!!

After school I picked up the boys at the bus stop, and on our way home I asked Ben how his day had been. I specifically asked about his science class, because my friend Kim (whose son, Reggie, is one of Ben's good friends) just took over as the science teacher for grades 3-5. (Previously one of the 5th grade teachers) She has so much energy and is a lot of fun, and I knew she would be a great science teacher. So, when I asked Ben about Kim's class, he said it was better than recess. Now that is impressive!!

3 boys in school all day, 5 days a week. What ever will I do with all this "free time"? (At least until Will goes off-track in a couple weeks!) I spent the first couple days running around doing errands, i.e. walking up and down almost every isle of Target, taking my time, enjoying a bit of freedom from having to rush. It was glorious! But, with spending lots of time comes spending way too much money--what can I say, the Halloween decorations were calling my name!

And don't worry. I have PLENTY to keep me busy for a very long time. I'll be ok.