cousins, peaches & flag football

It's been a busy couple of weeks. Cassie & Rissy got to stay with us for a few days while their parents celebrated their anniversary. The kids and I built a fort in the girls' room that they all slept in (I use the term "slept" pretty lightly). We had a fun weekend.

We have been fortunate that mom's peach trees have continued to produce good fruit. We bottled whole peaches and got several batches of peach jam and peach syrup as well as some dried peaches. Jane was a good little helper--she was in charge of removing the pits from the peaches. We've been working on tomatoes and salsa this week.

Zachary decided that he'd like to try flag football. He is really enjoying it, pulled some flags in Saturday's game, and caught an interception!

Utah State Fair

We went to the Utah State Fair last Friday night. Anna and Griffin chose to spend their money on a ferris wheel ride and Zachary chose to spend his climbing the rock wall (he climbed to the top both times!). It was your standard carny with lots of loud music and people with no teeth, startling tattoos and unusual underwear. We enjoyed the animals and a nice picnic in the shade. The highlight, really, was the rodeo. There is something so American and moving about cowboys and cowgirls and a Sheriff's posse at dusk listening to the National Anthem. Griffin was one of ten kids selected for the mutton bustin'! Of course they didn't have a helmet that would adequately fit his head, but we perched one on top. He stayed on his sheep for about 3 seconds, and earned a belt buckle. Griffin thought it was "too fast!" but what great, delightful fun!

School starts!

Zachary and Anna started school last week. Zachary is in 4th grade, has Mrs. Jarman, a teacher new to Sandy Elementary, who is getting two thumbs up from our 9 year old. Anna is in 2nd grade, has Miss Ellison, who just got her gifted certification, and who is awesome (Zachary had her two years ago)!

Griffin started Kindergarten today. His teacher, Mrs. Smith, is super great with loads of energy. Griffin started today half day, but thinks he might want to try full day starting next week (Sandy Elementary went to full day K last year and it was very successful). This is going to be an adjustment for Jane--she did well today, but was a little lonely.

Soccer

We've started fall soccer! This is Anna playing goalie, one of her favorite positions.








Conversation at Griffin's game last week, 1st quarter, he's sitting on our blanket cheering for his team:
G: Mommy, it looks like my team isn't doing so good.
M: Yep.
G: I better go in there and score a goal.
M: Great, buddy, run hard!
Griffin went right in and scored a goal. And then scored another one.

Labor Day weekend

We spent Labor Day weekend at the cabin--a few days with Bart, Shonnie & kids and a few with our friends, the Smiths and the Morrills. The kids 4wheeled a bit, we rode horses, ate good food, hiked until it poured, and roasted marshmallows over the fire inside the cabin. It was a fun weekend.

Jeremy and Griffin riding Patches.

Lagoon

Target Lagoon day was Monday. We got in for a great price (and thanks to our Stake for the two free tickets we got (we missed Stake Lagoon Day, but yeah for Jeremy's calling and connections)) and had a tasty hamburger and hot dog lunch compliments of Target.

David and Hollie and their girls met us there (this is Anna and Rissy on the white roller coaster) as well as Suzy and LeiLani. We spent a few hours at Lagoon-a-Beach and then rode rides well into the night. It was great fun!

welcome Jack

Cousin Jack was blessed on August 17. He has a sweet disposition and seems to always be happy. I love baby blessings because it brings the extended family together (Jack is pictured with Aunt Barbara). Welcome, Jack. :)

Girls Camp

My new calling is Camp Director. This is a picture of me with my awesome girls and leaders at girls camp. We spent four great days together at our cabin. The theme was Steadfast in the Stars. We went on an evening hike to Lookout Point and stargazed, hiked the Little South Fork trail, learned about compasses and went on an orienteering course (thanks Suzy & Brannon), learned to tie knots, built different kinds of fires, prepared and ate good food, and worked on some projects. Jeremy and the kids came up for the Bishopric and Family Night (it was nice to have them!). It was a productive week and I think the girls learned a lot and had good experiences. It's amazing how much you can love a group of people after spending four days with them.

sleepover

We got to have a fun sleepover with cousins Naya, Fisher, and Cori. We ate hot dogs and then watched The Waterhorse on the trampoline outside (and projected the movie onto a sheet) when it got dark enough. It's great to have cousins!

Red Fish Lake

The Wright camping trip was at Red Fish Lake this year near the breathtaking Sawtooth Mountains in Stanley, Idaho. This is a picture of the leaving-at-5-a.m. group at Stanley Lake. We had a fantastic group camp site where we had the entire site to ourselves (we even had our own dumpster and our own outhouse) complete with a stream just past the fence and down the hill. Great spot.

We spent a day at Red Fish Lake playing in the water and building sand castles. The next day most of the group rafted (we had two large rafts) and kayaked down Swirly Canyon. Griffin bravely and without hesitation jumped into the very cold river to Aunt Molly, the river guide, Jane was happy as long as she didn't get splashed, Anna was glad to ride in the same raft as her cousins, Zachary had his first experience kayaking down a river (and loved it!), and Jeremy floated down in the ducky. Fun!

We went on a long hike in search of a waterfall (this is the group having a snack and water break) and we were able to see it at a distance.

We missed the cousins who weren't there, but so enjoyed spending time with those who were able to come.