Fall at Sundance

On Conference Sunday we decided to go for a drive up Provo Canyon. It was a very rainy gray day but we were worried that we would miss out on the leaves if we waited. The drive to Sundance was beautiful and Sundance itself was amazing! I thought it would be harder to see the brilliant colors when the skies were so gray but that was not the case. We collected about a million leaves and took a bunch of pictures. Here are some.......

What we've been up to.......

Macie's first day of preschool.....she was super excited! We had french toast for breakfast at her request. YUMMMM!

Cole's first day of 2nd grade....The picture below is Cole and one of his best buddies, Tommy. They are even in the same class this year. Cole started a couple weeks before Macie this year and Cole requested bacon and pancakes for his First Day of the School Year breakfast. No one was surprised about the bacon request, he is the biggest bacon fan I know!

Cole is doing a little reading, his choice in books is a bit spooky!!

Macie is playing her second season of soccer this fall. She is the only girl on her team and has kind of assumed the mother of the team role. Or maybe the boss of the team :) She herds them around and tells them to listen to the coach. In the above picture she is just chilling while she waits to get back in the game. It looks a little uncomfortable if you ask me!

This is the top of the greatest little hike ever! I can't remember the name of it but Jenny took us this summer with her kids and she sent me some great pictures (which I have been too lazy to find in my inbox and move them to my photo file, that is why I don't have them posted here. But maybe I can get them posted when I update our blog -- probably in December since I am so on top of keeping this thing updated!!) The hike was the perfect length and very kid-friendly. And at the end is the reward, a great wading pool and water fall with a million cool rocks, half of which we now have in our yard for our "collections."

We also had our annual Rich Family Reunion in August. It is always very fun thanks to the planning and effort put into it. Everyone has a great time, except maybe my dad who looks like he is wondering why on earth we do this?!?!?

I love the camper in the background. It's classic!!

Here we are after attending the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. We have loved checking out the new temples in the area and are always impressed with the detail and beauty.

And this is video of Macie playing soccer (at the request of Grandma Dean:) )

Fabulous Fourth!

We went to Vernal for the 4th of July this year. We spent all weekend playing with cousins, riding four wheelers and the "magic carpet," eating popsicles (and wearing popsicles), running through the sprinklers, feeding the cows, catching candy at the parade and having a magnificent time. We have been home for a week and a half and I think we are still recovering!

We also went to the Dinosaur Quarry (although the actual quarry is closed, the rest of the area was open) outside of Vernal. That was really fun too. Cole and Macie earned their Junior Rangers badge and were sworn in and everything! It was great, as well as boiling hot :)

Justin Celebrated his 33rd Birthday!

We had a yummy dinner for his birthday, ribs (his request, not my idea!), and a cake. And the cake is a sorry attempt at a golf ball. My sister Lesa made a golf cake that put mine to shame!

And yes, Cole and Justin have rib bones in their mouths, what carnivores!!

This is becoming a habit.....

I will spare you all the excuses for letting so much time go by without an update. Here is my update!

School ended, my job of 7 years ended (not by choice) and the summer was upon us! We have had a funny combination of being busy and lazy. One might ask how that is possible, it's hard to explain but it is possible :) We have been busy playing, eating Otter Pops, figuring out a new job and all that comes with it, slipping, sliding and riding bikes. We have been lazy enjoying the air conditioned house with all the ceiling fans humming happily, reading good books and watching movies while eating popcorn and brownies. I am getting skinnier by the minute!!

Here are a few pictures of our summer time activities.......

This is just being silly (and thank goodness those are clean!)

Cole and Macie built a "fort" using our coffee table. Being the fun mom that I am, I let them sleep in it. Cole read Macie a few books and then they actually went to sleep!

Cole and "Barry" or "Beary" (I've never thought about the spelling) are playing a little Mario Kart. They both look pretty excited!?!?

Catching Up

Little Toothless (Cole lost his 2nd top tooth last night)

Macie's preschool field trip to Thanksgiving Point Farm

I picked Macie up from preschool and all the kids walked out wearing their "Ant" hats, it was sooo cute!!

Macie gets to play soccer this season! She told me she kicked the ball "a million times" in the last game. It's been a cold, soggy season so far. Hopefully we'll get some better soccer weather!

Easter and Elizabeth's Blessing

Cole lost a tooth the day before Easter, so we had the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy at our house on the same night!

Cole turned 7!!

We invited Cole's friends over for a fun party that was WILD!!

Macie turned 4!! She got to have fun party this year too! We had fun friends and cousins over to celebrate.

This is how Macie felt on her birthday.......she was a total puke-literally!

Cole played basketball again and it was a blast! Below is a picture of Cole and his buds Tommy and Kaden. Above is Cole dunking the ball (not with any help of course!)

This is a small attempt at catching up from blog laziness! I just go through phases and I have evidently been in a non-blogging phase. I pay for it though because now I have a million and a half things to post and it's totally overwhelming!! Oh well, it's my own fault. PS...the pictures at the top are the most recent. It's way too much work to move them around so you are getting kind of a look back from yesterday to basketball in February.