PACKERS August 2012

I guess this is September news, but we found out on Sept. 4th that we are having a little girl in January. We are very excited to have two girls around here. Luke wanted a brother because he said, "I already have a sister." I was very sick all summer, but luckily that has past and life is good again. Now to settle on a name...

At the end of July, beginning of August, we took a short trip to Palisade state park to do some camping and four wheeling. We invited mom and dad to come with and we had a blast. We rented a rhino so the kids could ride in the back. Sophie could even ride in her car seat. It made the trip SO much fun to have them ride with us. They were constantly screaming "weeee" in the back and laughing at each other.

We took a break at Palisade pond and had lunch and did some fishing. It was so quiet and beautiful up there in the mountains, just our family. Luke got lucky and caught some big ones with the help of grandpa! He really enjoys fishing and had more fun doing that than riding. Unfortunately, Rob didn't have the luck that day because he got stung by a wasp, right by his eye, while in the Porto potty, haha. Poor guy.

After lunch we rode to the top of the mountain and both kids fell asleep in the back. We have no idea how. It was so bumpy and loud, it was like sleeping next to a lawn mower! We wore them out I guess!

The next day we had fun swimming in the lake and playing at our camp ground and the play ground they had there. Sophie found a family of duckies and proceeded to feed them an entire loaf of bread. When we tried to leave, we found out our battery was dead and wouldn't charge. So we had to wait until Dad and Rob went to the closest Walmart to buy another one. Mom and I entertained the kids for a couple hours and the wait was nothing a few suckers couldn't help. Luckily we were on our way again.We took the kids to the Manti temple on the way home which was a nice way to end our trip.

One day we went with mom and dad down to Levan to pick green beans. Sophie loves grandpa's dogs so much. She is the only person who doesn't despise them so I guess they love her back. The next day Luke and Sophie helped me blanch and cut up half a freezer full of beans. Luke thought he was pretty cool because he found a bean that looked like a bow tie. Surprise, surprise, Sophie found one too!

 

Our friends from Florida have been living in SLC for the past 8 months for work, so before they left we decided to hike to Timp Cave. The hike is harder than we all thought. Way harder! Especially for the dads who ended up carrying kids the whole way! It was worth the hike to see the inside of the cave though. That was a VERY busy day. We hiked all morning. Then I had to drive Rob down to Orem for a 3 hour job interview. (he had to change in the car because we didn't have time to run home before he had to be there for the interview). Then that night we had a double date with Rob's brother to see Wicked! We didn't mean to plan that much in one day, but we couldn't switch anything either. We hope we never have to pack that much in a day again! haha. Wicked was fantastic! Definitely worth the price of the ticket!

Rob's grandpa was born in Brigham City and so was his dad, so we had the opportunity to take an early tour for the Brigham City temple open house. The whole family was there and Rob's dad and a tour guide took us through. WOW! It is such a beautiful temple. We learned a lot of the symbolism of the decor that was chosen. There are peach blossoms everywhere (since Brigham city is known for their peaches) from the handmade rugs to the chandeliers. It is really amazing. Afterwards, Rob's parents took us all to Peach City ice cream which is an old diner he went to as a kid. 

And Luke started his second year of Preschool! I was so excited to get back in a routine again! This was the first year he really was old enough to play with friends in the neighborhood and wow, I turned into a day care center. There were kids at my house ALL day EVERY day. To Luke, friends are better than Christmas or any toy he could ever want, so he had the best summer he could have ever hoped for, but I was ready to have my own two kids back. He is loving school and can't wait until next week when he gets to bring the snacks! (the best part of preschool)

Rob and I went to President Monson's birthday celebration at the Conference Center. The performers sung some famous Broadway songs and they were fabulous! When President Monson was walking out, he shook my nephews hand (age 10) and said, "watch this," and he then proceeded to wiggle his ears at him. HAHA. It was hilarious. He will remember that forever. President Monson really is someone who will pay attention to the "one."