Johnson's Pumpkin Patch

 Awww, look at those cute kids!  We went to the Johnson's Pumpkin Patch over in Santa Clara.  It's a new pumpkin patch that is at some of Josh's good friends farm.

 They had an awesome train for the kids to ride.

 They had a fun little petting zoo.

 They had games! Tyson spent all of his money in this game.  It was trying to find a nail in the haystack.  He loved it and found it every time.

 Piper was in heaven because they had horse rides and that was where she pent all of her money.

 JD looks so uncomfortable here. It's a funny picture.

 Even funnier was when they were trotting.  His face is priceless.  He wasn't quite sure if he liked it or not.

 Oh my goodness, that is the picture of cuteness!

 Piper didn't care about finding the nail, she just wanted to jump in the straw.  Repeatedly, mind you.

We finished off the night with decorating sugar cookies and eating pumpkin pie.  Well, I ate pie, everyone else had sugar cookies.  It was such a fun night and I can't wait to go back next year.

I'm Beautiful

Piper came out of the bathroom the other day and this was what she looked like!  She told me, "I'm beautiful mommy!"

Yes darling you are beautiful! In more ways that you can imagine!  I hope you always remember how beautiful you are and that you always think of yourself as beautiful because you are!

Fencing & Biggest Loser

 A couple of weeks ago, our school (which is the greatest school ever) hosted a family fitness night.  One of the rotations was fencing.  Tyson got picked to try it out.  He's the one in the camouflage shorts.

 He loved it!  Afterwards we found out that you have to be 9 to take lessons. Boo!

 I love this picture.

 Tyson going in for the kill :)

 He also got picked to help Sione Fa.  He was a contestant on The Biggest Loser, season 7.  Sione and his cute family now live in Ivins and I actually teach his little boy at preschool.  He is a super nice guys.  Super funny too.

I thought this was a cool opportunity.  How often do you get to meet someone famous?

Camping

A couple of weeks back we took our one and only camping trip of the summer.  Can it still be called summer? It was in October?  In Dixie, I think it would be safe to say that it is still be summer. 

It wasn't REALLY camping.  We stayed at the cabin, but the kids still had a blast.

Look at those dang cute kids.  They were waiting so patiently in the back of the truck while the guys worked on pulling down a tree that too close to the cabin.

All boys, even 30-year-old ones love to play in the fire.

                                                                       

The boys loved throwing pine needles and sticks in it.

                                                                              

We made smores.  Which incidentally, Piper does not like. 

The boys however ate about 6 each. It was AWESOME!

Piper was loving the fact that Grandpa got to hang out with us.

Ha, ha, ha!  Scott was trying to use my camera to take a picture of us.  I love my expression.  This was the 100th attempt and he finally got one. We were watching Zoo Keeper and we are all super exhausted at this point.

Up with the sun!!  Throw your cowboy boots on over your pj's and your set to go squirrel hunting.

JD on the zip line. He did it about 10 times and then got tired of pulling the rope up the mountain.  If there was an easier way to get the rope up, I think he would have done it all day.

Awww, my sweet baby!  She loved it up there.  So many bushes and so little time........

Tyson was so cute.  He made a squirrel trap.  He even drew me a diagram in the dirt of how he would build it and how it would work.

Waiting ever so patiently for the squirrel to eat the cookie.

Piper strikes a pose. 

Still waiting patiently.  He would have waited all day long if we had let him.

Josh and I spent one afternoon cutting and piling the tree that they guys had cut down.  It was a lot of work. This is next years burn pile.  The kids had a blast playing in it.  Everything was covered in pine sap!  They kept making wands out of the sticks and trying to curse each other.  Proud mom moment!  They love Harry Potter as much as me. 

Then they took to making fox holes in the branches.  Again, that is why everything is covered in sap!  They loved every moment of it though.  I am so grateful we got in one last trip and that we all had a fun time.  I will cherish these memories forever!

Wagon Train

We had a very cool chance to see something that I believe was spectacular.  I wondered why people weren't lining the streets to see it? A real live wagon train!  A commemoration trip to celebrate the pioneers who settled Dixie.  They made the trip from Parowan to Dixie in 7 days. 

We watched it twice.  Once in Ivins and then we hurried to pick up Grandma and go watch it in Santa Clara.  It was phenomenal to watch.  I wish we could have afforded to take our family.  I got a little emotional watching it.

A funny story.  There was a little guy on a horse.  He looked to very young.  JD turns to me and says' "Why is a 4-year-old riding a horse?"  That little cowboy heard and he turned around, very offended and said, "I'm not 4, I'm six!"  It was the cutest thing.

If you give a kid a trophy........

It will make his day!

 Tyson was the team captain for the last football game. 

 After the game we went to the park for pizza.

 I love little boys!

 Look at his face!  Is he not the cutest?

He is so proud of his trophy!  What great coaches to get trophys and pizza for the boys!

Elk Hunt 2011

 Josh shot this bad boy on opening morning of the elk hunt.  He's pretty proud of himself.

 They had to leave the poor guy out in the snow and the woods and run home for a snow mobile so they could pack him out.  There was no snow on the Kolob side of the mountain, but Cedar was covered.

Look how muddy! They had a blast.  Luckily Scott didn't get an elk, so hopefully, and I'm crossing my fingers here folks, we can share some of the meat with him.

Spooky Houses

 Every year we make "spooky" gingerbread houses!  It's a lot of fun.  This year I opted for a store bought kit and it was the greatest idea ever. Don't know why we hadn't done it before!

 Only a handful of pictures, because, well, I was a mess.  No Josh around, just little old me and a very helpful 4-year-old.

 Speaking of which, there she is.  You'd never know that she is a destructive force of nature.

 The frosting is like cement, but the boys had trouble keeping them together.  They got a little carried away with the candy on the roof.

 They loved being able to use the decorating bags.

This was after I had cleaned up a bit!  What a mess, but the kids enjoy it and I hope they do it with their kids.  Heck, I'll even come help!

Flat Tyson

Tyson's class read a Flat Stanley book a few weeks ago.  It's about a boy who get's flattened by a bulletin board.  His family folds him up and mails him to visit his realtives and he has grand adventures. 

Well, the kids had to make their own "flat" person to send out to their relatives and to see what adventrues they could have.  Such a fun and cute project.

We of course had to make a cowboy person and Tyson is so excited!  We sent "Flat" Tyson out to my friend Meagan in Minnesota last week!  Can't wait to see what adventures he has there!  We'll keep you updated on his travels.  He has several trips lined up!