Pioneer Museum

Activity Days

This activity we had a combined activity with all 4 activity day groups.  It was pretty neat to see all these girls together.  With adults we had 28 people.

I've driven by this place in Pleasant Grove several times and never really thought much of it...so it was kind of neat to see this and learn more about our pioneer ancestors and how they lived.

Afterwards, headed back to Megan Andersen's house for treats...captured some of them trying out the hammock.

Cascade Springs

Monday picnic, I took the kids to Salamander Flats campgrounds up AF Canyon.  Nice campgrounds there and close to Cascade Springs.  After eating lunch, we headed over to the springs.  Again, my pictures don't do this place justice...it was pretty cool. 

I didn't get a picture of the place where the spring comes out of the mountain, darn it, it was spectacular.  But the cascading waterfalls around the entire place was fun to see walking on the board walks and pathways.

You can tell it was a hot day, kids wore out fast.  But overall, I think they liked it.  Fall would really be amazing to see this place, with the leaves changing...

Love my monkeys!!

Framed Out

 House is coming along.  Mostly framed out, the basement bedrooms haven't been framed yet, but otherwise the next step is shingles, windows, wiring and plumbing...Lets hope things stay on schedule...

 

front

back

Ice Skating

It has been so hot this summer...thought ice skating would be fun with cousins.

Battle Creek Falls

This was a short simple hike in Pleasant Grove.  Invited Denham and Brenin to come along. ( Jarom was at scout camp in the Uintas for the week.)

On the trail...Ammon wanted a picture on a big rock.

Sorry for the terrible quality of my phone pictures...

gettting wet and cooling off...

Newest Nephew

 My sister Tana Clayton just had their 6th child.  Congrats to her and Matt.

 Samuel Nathan Clayton 8lbs 10 oz and is 21 inches long

Party Day

 Tarin was excited to decorate her cake.  This idea I had found on Pinterest.  I like fun, and easy cakes that the kids can do themselves.

I took the girls to American Fork Rec Center to swim for 2 hours then back to the house for pizza and cake.  I like simple, and they had a blast...best combination.

Noelle, Kazy, Tarin, Raegan, Denali, Spencer, Madison

Hangin' With Cousins

Cousins Denham and Brenin Wolfe have been in town for the summer. They have done a few things with the kids, but we wanted to introduce them to Sliding Rock. It was nice the sun was covered by some clouds for the hike up, but oh wow, was that water cold!!  They didn't last too long without the sun to warm them up.  Either way, it created some great memories.

Brenin                                                                                         Denham

Hanging out to eat lunch.  Crazy Ammon's picture faces...

We All Have Talent...

Activity Days

This was another successful day.  Sadly two of my girls (Tarin included) turned 10 and moved on to the next class, and two more will leave by the end of the month...but we all had a wonderful day.  Sewing and decorating, such sweet memories.  I have never enjoyed a calling as much as this one.  I've learned so much and look forward to every activity.  These girls are angels and lovable in every way.  I love teaching them and watching them smile.  Seeing them excited to come just makes my day.

 I have to give the credit of this purse idea to Megan Andersen and Lisa Ballard. They are the 8 yr old Activity Day leaders.  I found a fun pattern for a purse, but with limited time for the activity I decided to simplify the project.  These are fabric place mats I found at Ross for cheap, and sewed ribbon for the handles.  A piece of advice these ladies gave was to have the handles already sewn on, otherwise it takes too long per girls.

The girls sewed up the sides with an angled bottom to finish.  Then they were able to decorate with buttons and flowers left over from another activity.

Next month I will have two more girls, one of which is Raegan...lose a daughter, gain a daughter.  I'm looking forward to it! :o)

4th Of July

For the holiday, I wanted to get the kids up early and watch the hot air balloon lift.  It's really cool to watch 30 hot air balloon fill and take off...but sadly the weather wasn't as permitting.  A storm rolled through and cancelled the lift.  We still made it to the Provo Parade.  It was super busy...more so then when I was a student here.  But the kids still enjoyed it.

Funny thing, when looking for a parking spot for the parade we paid $5 and it was our old apartment.  Brought back old memories.

AFTER the parade, we took off for the weekend...

It's just over a 3 hour drive, and wasn't bad at all.  Moab has so many parks, Arches, Canyonlands and state parks...so much to choose from.  So much to explore, we knew we'd be good choosing anything.  We found a condo for a great deal and brought our own food.  So gas and lodging was our only expense.  A great vacation.

After getting settled into the condo, we took off to Dead Horse Point to watch the sunset...Oh so amazing!

Other side of the look out...the Colorado River is spectacular!!

Kids loved all the climbing that was available...

After a bit, we headed back to town to watch the fireworks

Happy 4th of July.  Such pride to be apart of this great nation.

Arches National Park

Next morning we got to an early start to beat the heat.  Park opens at 7:30am so we were ready to go.  Arches National Park is amazing with so much to do.  We decided to pick one hike that was good for everyone, Delicate Arch.  It was amazing for sure!

saw historical markings and picked up some natives on the way...taught them what stacked rocks mean, trail markers.

Loved exploring all the rocks and formations...so strong!

Almost to the Arch, looking through a window to the arch...

Oh, so glorious!  It was awesome to behold it's magnitude in size.  Nature is amazing and so mysterious.  Love having the opportunity to come and enjoy nature! 

our turn for pictures...

Seriously, just hung out and enjoyed the view for an hour or so.  Loved climbing the rocks around and enjoying the breeze.

Just a note...I learned how afraid of heights Trent is.  He was having a heart attack with the kids around the drop offs all around...understandable, but he literally had everyone stay close...kind of funny. :o)

Sit back and enjoy the view!

Made it back around lunch time.  Snacked and took off to the Rec Center there in Moab.  It was a really nice facility and the kids enjoyed cooling off.  Finished with going out to eat at the Moab Grill.  Tarin's pick for her Birthday dinner.

Took off the next morning to head home.  Decided to make this a tradition every year and switch up the activities...need to explore the many parks all around Moab.