Living Planet Aquarium

 We have been wanting the visit the new aquarium since it opened and we finally got our chance.  Daddy was working so we got up and got our chores done and headed up to meet him and visit the aquarium.

 This iguana (I think) jumped off of the branch it was resting on and swam over to say hi to Titus.  I could have watched it swim around in there forever!

 That first close up made Titus an instant aquarium fan.  He was in heaven.

 I was glad that this giant anaconda and flesh-eating piranhas were behind glass.

 This South American Amazon River tank was super cool because you could look in from the side or from above, and the fish were HUGE!

 When we were first considering our visit, I was a little apprehensive about the cost.  It was going to set our family back $70 to spend a few hours there and I thought that was a little pricey. 

 After Jeff and I talked about it, we decided that if the kids wanted to go, we could invite them to pay their own admission.  They were happy to use their own money to buy their very own ticket.  It made the whole experience more meaningful to them.  We were only there for 10 minutes when we all decided that the aquarium is well worth the price of admission.  In fact, I would say it's a bargain for what they have to offer there.

The penguin exhibit was so fun!  I wanted to stay and watch them walk and dive and swim much longer when Titus announced, "bye-bye" and started waving at the glass.

 They seemed so playful as they would dive in and swim right over to where the kids were standing.  The penguin exhibit also featured a unique underwater viewing where you could watch the penguins swim from underneath.

 Not gonna lie...jellyfish=creepy.

 The sharks though, were not creepy.  Just very, very cool.

 How often do sharks swim right over your head?

 Levi finished the aquarium feeling distraught.  He wants to be a soldier when he grows up and fight the bad guys, but he also really wants to be an animal scientist.  After visiting the aquarium, he felt certain that he will have to give up his military ambitions to be a biologist.  I reassured him that he doesn't need to decide all of that right now.

Our visit was a great success.  We would recommend the aquarium to anyone. Hanging out with this crew, however, is my favorite thing to do no matter where we are.

Deer Camp

 For the Fifth Grade Living Wax Museum History Project, Daisy chose to be Sacagawea.  She read her biography, wrote a speech, and made a poster.  Grandma Jones sewed this authentic Sacagawea costume.  It was fabulous! I don't know how we would make it without Grandma Jones.  How do other people survive without a Grandma Jones?

 We shipped the boys off to go deer hunting.  Daisy and Ashlyn performed their Halloween dance routines at the local holiday craft show.

 When we were all done dancing, we joined the boys at deer camp.

 Titus could hardly wait to get out of the car and onto a four wheeler.

 And when I pulled into camp and saw Levi wearing his hat, I simply had to capture the moment.

 While everyone else was on a horseback ride, Grandpa and Grandma took Titus on the four wheeler.

 

This guy had been counting the days down to deer camp for months.  He was so happy to finally be there.

It is not easy being the only girl with all of these rascally boys around, but Daisy does a good job of it.

Isaac joined the big boys for extensive hut building on the hillside.

Levi was all business when it came to chopping wood.

We ate grandpa's homemade deer camp stew.

 I left Daisy at deer camp to take care of the boys.  She was right in her element with her daddy and her horse.

Trevin (whom Titus adores) took Titus for one little ride before Titus and mom left deer camp for the season.

While everyone else was camping, Titus the Troublemaker kept me entertained and exhausted.

 When the boys got home from deer camp it was time to shift Halloween into full swing.

Isaac and Titus got to wear their costumes to the library for Storytime, so we took these pictures outside.  Titus was mad that he was too short to see through the cut outs.  I couldn't hold him and take his picture at the same time so he had to settle for standing in front. 

Autumn has been good to us.

All Hallow's Eve

 It is no secret that I am not a huge fan of Halloween.  I just can't figure out what it is that we are celebrating.  I get the whole historical significance of this day that comes before All Saint's Day, but it is blown waaaay out of proportion in my opinion.

Luckily for my kids, their Grandma's are much more festive than me. 

 The kids look forward to Grandma JoAnn's Annual Halloween Party every year.  Even though my little goblins are really the only ones young enough that live close enough to really get in on the fun, Grandma still goes all out.

All the kids and Grandma get in costume before we go to Grandma's Haunted House for spooky games and witchy food.  

 This year we carved pumpkins with our friends the Noll's.  Levi's choice to get the biggest pumpkin he could find at the Big Red Barn ended up being a beast to gut.

 No power tools or fancy patterns for us...just old school Jack-O-Lanterns carved by kids.  That's the way we like it.

 The kids got to wear their costumes to school.

 Titus and I went up to watch the School Halloween Parade.

 Isaac walked through the parade with his best friends Macy and Raelee.

 And Daisy was cracking us up.

 Soon after the kids got home from school it was time for Trick-or-Treating.

 When we went to visit my parents at the beginning of the month, my mom took all the kids shopping and bought them whatever Halloween gear they wanted. They were in heaven...and I was so thankful.

 This guy LOVED his Superman costume...and still asks to wear it.

 I don't know what these two would do without each other...or what I would do without them.

 Isaac morphed from Captain America at school in to a Monkey for Trick-or-Treating.

 I love that we can go trick-or-treating around our neighborhood just like I did when I was a kid. 

 Titus is oh-so-super.

 Happy Halloween from the Circus.

Saying Goodbye

Specific sounds and smells have the kind of sensory power to transcend time and space.  When I hear the sound of the Bosch mixer and the smell of the warm oven, it is as though I am a young girl living at home with my parents all over again.  Every Saturday morning, and many days in between, my mom was in the kitchen mixing and making something.  Most often it was cinnamon rolls, which she took neighbors, friends, and ward members anytime a baby was born, or a loved one was lost, or any occasion which deserved celebration or compassion.  I've eaten way more homemade bread in my lifetime that I've eaten bread bought at a store.  One day after we had been married for a few years, Jeff asked me why I didn't bake.  I answered simply, "Because I don't have a Bosch."  How did he expect me to make anything without one?  I wasn't trying to sound spoiled, I simply didn't know how.  We always had one growing up.  We used it for everything. 

When we make the trip home to spend time with my parents, it is not a rare occasion for the Bosch to make it's appearance.  My kids love cooking with Grandma.  On this trip, they were making Mackendocker's Cake for my great-grandma's funeral.
This picture was taken in May of 2010 at Grandma Adams' birthday party.  It is of me, holding my son Isaac when he was 1, my mom, her mom (Grandma Holyoak) and Grandma Holyoak's mother-in-law, Lova Adams, my great-grandma.  My mom's dad died when he was only 36 years old, on my mom's 14th birthday.  I never knew him, but I knew his mom, Grandma Adams.  She lived in Washington my whole life.  We would stop and visit on shopping trips to St. George.  There were pecan trees in the yard to the side of her house.  Grandpa would shake the pecans from the tree with a big pole.  We would gather them up and then Grandma would shell them.  She had a big birthday calendar on her wall with all of the birthdays of all of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  Many of the names I knew, but some were cousins that were too distant for me to recognize.  Grandma Adams died last week at the age of 96. 

 The kids and I went down for the funeral.  We stopped at Chick-Fil-A in St. George for lunch with Grandpa and Grandma Jones, and Chelsea and Jamie before the viewing began.

 And we all got special Chick-Fil-A hats.

 This is my family!  I am so lucky!

 Saying goodbye to my grandma was not a sad thing for me.  I have all happy memories of her, and she lived a very long, very good life.  Like anyone that has been on earth for 96 years, she went through some very hard things in her life.  I feel proud of the legacy she has left for me, one of strength, hard work, determination, frugality, and humility.

 As soon as the funeral was over we were off to the mountain.  The kids couldn't wait to get there.

Grandma always has fun projects to do while we are at the mountain, things the kids don't get to do when we are at home.

The mountain really is a kid's dream come true.  You get to be dirty and play with stick, dirt, and rocks.  You get to go on adventures and be outside all the time.  You get to have a fire!  You get to be noisy (unless Grandpa tells you to use your 'primary voice' because it is the opening day of the deer hunt...right.)  You get to eat junk food.  And you get to be with Grandpa and Grandpa.  What more could a kid want?

 My parents love this place.  They spend every weekend all summer long here.  This was the last trip of the season. The leaves have already fallen and the snow will not be far behind.  We won't go back to the mountain until next May.  Saying goodbye to the mountain feels lonely and sad for them.

 We spent our time loading up camp and packing up for the winter.  We had a great time.  We look forward to making lots more memories at the mountain.