Grandparents Day, Human GPS, Lots of Tomatoes, Peppers, Spaghetti Squash, Peaches, Single Momming It, Biking, Hope Squad, Shaving, Retiring Underwear, Dirty Dash

The school year is in full swing.  Parent teacher conferences are coming up soon which has happened really fast!!  This past week they had a grandparents morning where you could eat breakfast with your grandparents.  I am glad Sarah and Noah got to bring G&G T to school for a fun morning.  Noah's teacher was nice enough to take a few pictures so we could see them enjoying each others company.

 After eating a donut they got to play some games together before school started.  Here's Noah and Grandpa T hanging out:

The high school had a Welcome Back assembly at the beginning of the school year.  They let Matthew participate in the school wide assembly as the Human GPS with the student officers.  I got this video texted to me from the principal to show Matthew during the assembly.  Let's just say he was a bit excited!!  If you could only bottle up that energy to sell--we would be millionaires--haha!

It is harvest time with our garden.  I have tried putting it off, but it really needed to get done.  I sent Aaron and Daniel out to pick all the tomatoes and there were a TON!  They brought in about 2 bushels of tomatoes.  

 In addition to picking tomatoes they also picked all the Anaheim peppers:

 And the spaghetti squash:

 Time to get busy trying to preserve the tomatoes.  I ended up getting quite a few bottles of salsa, spaghetti sauce and tomato soup.  Once that batch of tomatoes got finished there is a whole new crop of tomatoes that are ready again in the garden.  Time to get back to bottling....

 Aaron had a business trip last week in New Hampshire. The last evening they were there him and his travel buddy decided to take a drive up to Maine just to say they have been to Maine.  Aaron texted me pictures of his adventures:

 While in Maine they stopped by a seafood place for dinner.  It was a place that you could pick out your freshly caught lobster and they would cook it right there for you.  The shack even had its own ship they had gotten the lobster from that very morning.  Here's the poor lobster that was about to be Aaron's dinner--poor thing!

 He then texted a picture his scrumptious lobster dinner:

Wanting to join in on the food fun I texted Aaron a picture back of my not as fancy home made Mac and cheese topped with ketchup.  Not nearly as gourmet, but that's what we eat when I have 6 people (me and my kids) to feed and I don't feel like making a big dinner--haha!

 The scouts are preparing for a 50 mile bike ride around Bear Lake later this month.  In preparation one of their activities was biking 25 miles around our house.  One of the leaders took some pictures so we got to see how the boys did.  Daniel is actually smiling in the picture so the 25 mile ride can't have been that bad, right?!

 On the bike/walking path trail:

 Stopping for a break under the underpass.  Gotta love the graffiti.  At least it wasn't profane which was nice.

 Daniel has been involved with the Hope Squad at his school.  I was a bit nervous about Daniel facing such a heavy topic, but it hasn't been too bad.  Daniel had the chance this last week to help a student get some professional help.  Students these days are under so much pressure and stress that more of them are ending up with depression and other issues.  I am glad there is help for them and that other students really do care and want to help those who need it.  It was fun to see the 7th grade Hope Squad picture on the school site:

 Noah has a hard time falling asleep at night.  I think I passed on my insomnia to the poor kid :(.  Anyway to help with that he takes a nice hot shower before bed every night.  He likes to use Aaron and my shower for some reason instead of his, but whatever floats his boat.  Anyway, the other day I noticed he had a sore on his chin.  I asked him what happened and he told me.  He said that he usually shaves with the razors back side, but he made a mistake and used the sharp side to shave his face which cut his chin.  Poor guy!!  I never knew facial hair started in someone so young--haha!  He can be so cute.  We did talk about maybe not using dads razor for a few years since those frog whiskers aren't too long, yet.  Hopefully, I don't see any more cuts on his chin again....

 I am not into football a whole lot, but Aaron sure is.  Football games on TV are really long.  So Aaron justifies watching the games by folding laundry while the games are on.  I am just fine with that since it is a win win situation--Aaron gets to watch the game and I get the laundry folded by him.  As he was folding laundry this past week he came across two pairs of underwear that are really old.  When we were potty training the boys we let them pick out whatever underwear they wanted to encourage them to use the potty.  Josh picked out Scooby Doo underwear which has been passed down through all the boys.  These underwear had very bad luck.  When the kids would have poop accidents it was just easier to throw the underwear away instead of trying to clean up the mess.  That is how we got down to just one pair of Scooby underwear.  Incidentally they got nicknamed the Scooby Poo and the Scooby DON'Ts underwear.  Aaron came across them while folding laundry and we decided it was finally time to retire the Scooby Poos.  It really is the end of an era--haha!

 This underwear has seen and survived many things.  I think they deserve a moment of silence--haha!

 The Star Wars underwear belonged to Daniel.  He was told not to poop on General Grievous.  It must have worked because Daniel was the easiest one to potty train!

 Don't poop on Obi-wan!!

 Don't judge me too harshly that my youngest is 8 and I still have potty training underwear circulating in the clothes....those things are pretty stretchy--haha!

My brother's peach tree went crazy this year.  They ended up with a bumper crop of peaches and after they got sick of them they gave them to everyone and anyone who wanted them.  I ended up getting about a bushel and a half of peaches.  Sarah and I made a yummy dessert with some, froze quite a few quart bags full of peaches.   We also canned quite a few and made a bunch of peach jam as well.  We really had peaches coming out of our ears.  We loved getting them so I am not complaining, though.  They were really juicy and delicious peaches, too.  I am glad to restock my stash of peach jam--yum!!

Josh is still participating in Cross Country.  The team had a meet out at Antelope Island yesterday.  I have started working and am working quite a bit so I had to miss this meet, unfortunately.  Luckily, Aaron and G&G T were able to make it.  It was super hot and the course was actually on the dirt road so it wasn't a very fun race.  However,  Josh beat his personal record which was pretty cool.  Here's all the sophomore boys at the starting line:

 Did I mention it was hot and dusty--at least that is what Aaron and Josh said.

 Getting ready to finish:

Josh did have a meet last week, however, that morning he went to school.  I got a call a few hours later saying Josh was really sick and that he needed to come home.  I went to pick him up from school and found out that during his first period class he got incredibly dizzy which made him really sick.  He tried to make it to the garbage can, but didn't make it and ended up barfing all over the floor in his first period class--poor guy!  He had to have someone help walk him down to the office since he was so dizzy where he hung out on the sick bed until I got there.  I then had to help him walk out to the car because he was so dizzy.  On the way home he barfed again.  Luckily, I had an empty Fiiz cup that he grabbed in time so the barf was contained.  Ew!!  Fiiz to the rescue--haha!  He came home and threw up a few more times and then took a nap.  When he woke up he said he felt a lot better.  Being on the safe side, though, I kept him home from school the next day, too.  He was just fine the next day so even though he didn't go to school we still got a few things done like binge watch a few tv shows, get some allergy shots for him and then I took him out to lunch. It isn't very often that I have one on one time with just Josh so it was a nice day.  So back to Cross Country he did have a meet the afternoon that he got sick so he ended up missing that meet which he wasn't very happy about.  Luckily, there were a few cross country team members in his first period class that saw him barf and could tell everyone that he wasn't faking it.

Saturday Josh and his friend Nate signed up to run the Dirty Dash race up at Soldier Hollow.  Aaron and I got to take them back to Soldier Hollow again which was funny since we had just been up there the previous Saturday for a meet.  We dropped them off after taking the obligatory 'clean' picture before we left to go out for lunch at Dairy Keen.  Here's the 'clean' picture before they got mud soaked during the run:

 There were a lot of muddy obstacles throughout the race so you really get dirty doing this run!!  Nate and Josh decided to do the run without shirts on.  I guess it does save on laundry if I am looking at it from a practical standpoint...Here's a muddy picture from a photographer along the race:

 Here's both of them posing at the finish line:

 What nerds--haha!

They had a lot of fun.  I almost have Aaron talked into doing this race in the spring.  Keeping my fingers crossed we will be able to do it!!

Speaking of Josh he came home last week without his school backpack.  We asked him where it was and he said he thinks he left it in Seminary.  Well the next day he came home again without his back pack and said he didn't know where it was at.  We were a bit upset since his back pack had all his schoolwork in it as well as his $100 graphing calculator.  Josh didn't seem stressed out about it which made me a little upset.  We started looking at replacing all the school stuff when Josh went to school the next day and finally found it.  I guess someone had stolen it, rifled through it, but didn't find anything so they threw it in the garbage behind the school.  Thankfully the custodian found  it and was able to give it back to Josh.  We were so grateful!!  Hopefully Josh will keep better track of it after this scare!

Noah started piano this past week.  He has been wanting to start for a while now so when the teacher had an opening we took it.  Sarah went with Noah to his first lesson which was nice.  Noah was a bit nervous so it was good Sarah was there.  It was also good Sarah was there so she can help him know how to practice when he is at home.  When I got home from work yesterday I asked if everyone had practiced the piano and Noah told me that he did yesterday and doesn't need to practice again.  I laughed a little and told him he had to practice EVERY day to get better.  Hopefully, he will still like piano after practicing every day!

Josh tried out and made it back on the Clinton City Youth Council again for this upcoming year.  He was pretty excited about that.

Sunday we all got together to celebrate my Mom's birthday at my brother's house.  We had some yummy hot dogs and hamburgers with lots of other delicious food.  It was nice to get together and visit with everyone while the cousins played together.  I didn't even think to take a picture, but it was fun to get together with everyone.

Yesterday I had to go and buy new tires for the car.  Boo!!  I hate spending money for such things, but such is life.  I am glad that I have started working so we have that extra to pay for unexpected expenses like new tires.  Speaking of working I have started the flu shot clinics.  I get to help out the Salt Lake office as well as the Logan office while working my regular shifts out of the Ogden office.  These next few weeks are pretty busy, but I really like this job and it is short term so you can do anything for a little while, right?!  Just don't judge my messy house too harshly the next few months!!
The funny thing about me working is that Aaron has to pick up the slack. He is the one to drive the kids all over creation to all their events in addition to making dinner, doing homework, chores, and practicing instruments/piano.  He is not enjoying it a whole lot.  I came home yesterday from work and he was complaining a bit about it.  It does make him appreciate everything I do when I am around which is nice.

Bacon Wrapped Poppers, Police Dog, Cross Country Meet at Soldier Hollow, Dairy Keen, Train Burger, Stake Conference, Stupid Tolls

We are keeping busy.  This last week was fun.  Our garden is doing great.  Aaron picked the Anaheim peppers and smoked some poppers with them.  Our jalapeño pepper plants died so he picked up a few jalapeños from the store to make some poppers with them, too.  I am very much a wimp when it comes to spicy food so the Anaheim poppers are for me and the kids while the jalapeño ones are for Aaron and whoever is brave enough to eat the spiciness.  They are pretty yummy then again most anything that is cheese filled and wrapped in bacon is pretty tasty!

 Friday night we got a call from a neighbor about 9 pm.  Our neighbor's son is a police officer for Tremonton City.  He happened to be down visiting with his police dog who Matthew has been wanting to see for a long time.  The neighbors called to see if Matthew wanted to come over to see the dog which was a resounding YES!!  This police dog is a Belgian Malinois and is very well trained.  Matthew was getting ready for bed so he is in his pajamas (which happens to be too short, but I didn't want the fight that would happen if I asked him to change) so don't mind the man-pris--haha! Matthew was pretty excited too see the dog:

 He even got to check out the police truck and turn on the lights.

 He got to sit in the back seat where the criminals sit.  Hopefully, this is the only time he ever sits here!!

 He even got to see his picture on the radio/display from the back seat:

Then he got to see how the dog helped the policeman.  It was pretty impressive to see how trained and obedient that dog was!

I am glad the person had a huge protective barrier on his arm otherwise I am sure that wouldn't feel really good!

 It was really nice of our neighbors to think of Matthew and to let him have this experience.  He loved it!  The dog was really friendly when it wasn't commanded to attack anyone--thank goodness!!

Matthew says that Sophie would be a good police dog, but I am not so sure about that especially as I look at her as I am typing this.  What a lazy dog!

She does try to be scary by barking at people, but as soon as they try to pet her she cowers and then pees a little because she is afraid.  I am thinking that is not quite police dog material--haha!

The next morning Aaron and I got up bright and early to drive over to Josh's cross country meet at Soldier Hollow over by Midway, Utah.  The drive over was really pretty because we got to see all the changing leaves as we drove through the mountains:

 We like going to this meet because it is such a beautiful course as you can see:

 Here's all the sophomore and freshman boys right after the race started:

 There were a ton of schools at this meet!

 The first part of the course was really steep:

 Thankfully, the last part of the course is all downhill so they get a bit of a break from the crazy steep climb at the beginning of the race.  Here is Josh nearing the finish line and he is tired:

Wahoo Josh!

The Syracuse Boys team came in 5th place overall which isn't too shabby.

We went to see Josh after he crossed the finish line.  He was tired and sweaty.  Aaron made sure to avoid Josh's shoes this time.  Last meet Josh accidentally stepped on Aaron's feet with his spiked shoes.  Too bad Aaron was wearing flip flops so those sharp metal spikes did some damage--poked a hole in his big toenail and left a few other puncture marks across the tops of his feet, too.  OUCH!! Good thing Aaron is up to date on his tetanus shot!!  Anyway, Aaron steered clear of Josh's feet this time around and came out unscathed--haha!

After Josh's race Aaron and I drove over to enjoy a Train burger at Dairy Keen in Heber.  You can't drove all that way and NOT stop can you?!  We each enjoyed a Train Burger and split a fresh peach cobbler shake which was pretty yummy.

Last week the cross country coach told the team that since they were going to be gone over lunchtime that he would buy the team lunch after the meet.  He then asked if anyone had suggestions on where to eat.  Josh raised his hand in milliseconds and blurted out at the same time DAIRY KEEN!!  Since no one else had any other suggestions that's where the team went for lunch.  Josh made sure everyone ordered a Train Burger, too.  We are just doing the public a service by letting everyone know that Dairy Keen is the place to eat if you are ever in Heber City, Utah--haha!

Saturday afternoon when Josh got back from the meet we decided to take the family to Lagoon for a few hours.  We had some fun going on the rides together.

The next morning our stake had a special stake conference.  We were able to have Elder Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Elder Mark Pace of the Seventies come speak with us.  It was broadcast to all the church buildings in our stake, but if you wanted to see them speak in person you had to go to the actual Stake Center.  Josh and his friend wanted to see them in person so he got up early and went to the Stake Center.  Aaron ended up taking the other kids to our church building to see the broadcast.  I didn't go because I woke up with a monster head cold and felt terrible.  I was sad to miss it because Aaron and the kids said it was pretty interesting.  After the meeting was over Josh texted us this:

He was pretty excited!

Last week I got to start up my CNA job by helping teach/practice blood pressures in class at the local high school.  I had my orientation for the flu shot job two weeks ago and have my first shift next week.  It is interesting doing both jobs at the same time.  I guess it keeps me on my toes.

In other things we got a bill from New York for a toll road.  I think it was pretty ridiculous to send us a bill for $1 in the mail using $0.55 postage just to get it to us.

Whatever works I guess.  I will say that those toll roads back east are EVERYWHERE!!  They make you pay to drive everywhere.  We were glad to get back to Utah where 99% of the roads are free--well not necessarily free, but don't charge tolls to drive on them!

Birthday, Back to School, Business Trip, Cross Country Meets, Fair, Service Award, Lagoon, Hike, Blessing

Life didn't stop while we were away and didn't slow down when we got home from our vacation either!  I spent the next few days getting through all the laundry which was a TON!!  Here's what my vacation view of scenic Mount Laundry looked like when we got home--haha!

Poor Aaron had no break time, either.  We got home Monday evening and he had to go to work bright and early Tuesday morning.  It was a bit rough for him, but he survived--poor guy!

Daniel had new student orientation at the Jr. High.  They had all the new incoming 7th graders come tour the school and answer questions.  Daniel was excited, but nervous.  He went by himself because he was too old for parents to come with him.  I was okay with that since they would be having a back to school night with parents the following week so off Daniel went to his new school.  I can't believe he is in Jr. High!!

A few days after we got home it was Sarah's birthday.  I can't believe my baby girl is turning 10!!  I can still vividly remember the morning of her birth as can Aaron.  I don't think Aaron would be able to ever forget that crazy event!!  He always reminds Sarah that he was the first to hold her EVER.  We both got copious amounts of gray hair from that crazy accidental home birth event for sure!  Anyway, Aaron got up early and got Sarah 10 donuts from the store so she could wake up and celebrate with her siblings.  He left her a sweet note on the donuts:

We then went to lunch with G&G T to celebrate.  Here's Sarah enjoying her mini Cookie Monster birthday treat:

She then got to open up one present from G&G T:

We waited for the rest of the presents for when Matthew got home from his Summer Program.  Since Matthew had his birthday while we were gone on our vacation, we made sure to celebrate his birthday when we got home.  It just happened to work out that Sarah and Matthew wanted the same ice cream birthday cake so that's what they got.  We first sang Happy Birthday to Matthew and let him blow out the candles:

We then put Sarah's candles back in the cake and did the same thing.  Here's she is blowing out her candles:

Present opening time:

It was a fun birthday for them both--at least I think it was!

There was no rest for the weary for Josh.  Unfortunately he had his first Cross Country meet a few days after we got home from our trip.  He did run every day while we were traveling (except Sundays), however, he lost all advantage he got by attending High Altitude Camp the week before we left because we spent so long at sea level while we were traveling.  Let's just say that first meet was a bit harsh for Josh.  It was a HUGE meet.  Here's just the sophomore boys starting line:

We cheered Josh on, but while we were waiting for him to finish (it was a three mile race) Sarah brought her sketch book that she got from her birthday and played with it.

Here's Josh close to the finish line:

The next day we decided to check out the Davis County Fair.  The kids spent a few minutes coloring a huge picture display sponsored by the local hospital:

We then got to visit the butterfly tent where you could go in and see a bunch of butterflies up close and personal.  You were only supposed to look and not touch so we were able to get some close up pictures of them:

We then did some other activities they had there like the bean bag toss:

The ball recirculation thing that I have no idea what the official name was for it:

My kids are like bloodhounds when it comes to finding candy.  They all found this spinning wheel of prizes they all had to take a turn at.  Everyone came away with some sort of candy:

We did stop by the petting zoo as well.  Noah liked the bunnies:

Sarah liked the tortoises:

They even had a zebra you could pet, too:

Josh liked the camels:

After we got home from visiting the Fair, Josh had an end of year party for the Clinton Youth Council and their parents.  They had an ice cream social which was fun.  Josh got a few awards.

His first fun gag award was the 'Gummy Worm' award for being flexible and making others laugh:

Here's the Youth Council as a whole showing off their awards:

Josh then got another award which was pretty cool:

It was the Presidential Volunteer Service Award.  

Josh did between 75-99 hours this last year to receive the silver pin that goes along with the service award.  I thought that was pretty awesome!  Here's the silver pin that he received:

The first Sunday that we were home from our trip we had made the appointment for Matthew to receive his Patriarchal Blessing.  With so many big life decisions coming up for him we thought now would be a good time to receive it.  We tried to teach Matthew what it meant and I think he had a basic understanding of what it was about so we went with him to see the patriarch.  It was such a neat experience.  Good thing they had a box of Kleenex there!  He is a really special person and we were thankful to be reminded of that as well as given some direction for his life.  I can't wait to read it over with him when the printed version comes soon.  Here we are when we got home after he received it:

After we changed out of our church clothes Aaron started on dinner.  The fire alarms were cheering him on--haha!

Despite the smokiness of our house the dinner was still delicious and I love that Aaron enjoys cooking Sunday dinners!!

To celebrate the last few days of summer before school started we had some fun.  I took the kids to Lagoon.  They wanted to ride the Terror Ride for some reason even though Sarah and Noah weren't looking too thrilled to be riding it:

Josh is always up for anything.  There isn't anything that scares this kid and he has been like that from birth!!

The Sky Coaster:

That evening was the back to school night for the Jr. High students and their parents.  We went to all of Daniel's classes to get the supply lists and to hear about what they would be learning throughout the year.  Afterward Daniel wanted to try opening his locker to make sure he knew how.  It took a few tries to figure it out and then Daniel wanted to walk through the school again to make sure he knew where all his classes were.  He was excited, but nervous to be starting school at an all new school with 7 classes instead of 1 with preps.  Here's my locker opening 7th grader:

The next day I took Noah to meet his teacher at an open house at the elementary school during the morning.  Noah was excited to meet his teacher and to see his new classroom.  I took Sarah over to meet her teacher (even though it was Daniel's old teacher so she already knew who she was), but she was busy getting her classroom together so we didn't stop for too long.  We went to back to school night at the elementary school that evening.  It was so weird because we only had to visit two kids' teachers instead of three.  That was the first time that has happened in YEARS.  It made me a bit sad, but alas time keeps moving.  Sarah was excited to get Daniel's old teacher as were Aaron and I.  She was good with Daniel so Sarah is excited to be in her class this year.  None of the kids have ever had Noah's teacher, but we have been reassured by many people that she is nice and a good teacher to have so Noah is excited about being in her class this year.  It was weird because the high school didn't have any back to school night for the parents.  Since Josh is our first typical high school student (Matthew is special education so things for him are just different) we were really surprised about that.  The first day of school for the high school was late start for 11th and 12th grades, but regular start for the incoming sophomores which counted as their back to school.  Josh wasn't too nervous since he knew his way around the high school from being in Cross Country.  As for Matthew he has the same Learning Center teacher that he's had for the last two years.  She is awesome so are are just fine with that.  Matthew also got the same bus driver as last year which is way awesome.  She is very personable with the special ed kids and is very good to work with Matthew's schedule which is great.

In preparing for starting school Aaron was able to give everyone their back to school priesthood blessings which brought some comfort to the kids.  We then did our annual height measurements on our wall next to the table.  Our kids are really growing fast.

Matthew:  5'11"
Josh: 6'4"
Daniel: 5' 0"
Sarah: 4'7"
Noah: 4' 3.5"

The morning of the first day of school was met with some nervousness, but excitement, too.  Aaron got up early to make the kids an awesome breakfast.  I usually am the one to do this, but Aaron was sweet enough to let me sleep in which was awesome!  He made them biscuits and gravy with bacon and watermelon.

Matthew made sure we took his picture before he left on the bus.  Here's my cute senior:

Josh left for his bus (it is a different bus than Matthew's since Matthew only rides the special ed bus that picks him up right in front of our house every day).  Josh's bus stop is a few houses down from ours so he wanted to make sure he got there in time to ride it the first day.

Here's my high schoolers:

Here's my cute Jr. High boy who is the only kid of mine in Jr. High this year:

Here's my elementary kids who were really excited to get to school that morning:

Aaron and I walked the kids to school.  Sarah immediately knew where she was going and left before I could get a picture.  Noah we dropped him off.  He looked a bit nervous, but he came home saying things went well that day.  Here he is when we dropped him off in his class line:

Right after we dropped the kids off Aaron and I went to grab a drink from Fiiz.  We usually go out to breakfast, but Aaron had to go on a business trip right after so we only had time to get a drink.

Aaron left for California for a few days right after the kids went to school.  Not the easiest way to start out the beginning of school, but what do you do?!  That afternoon Noah came home with a bag he had to put in three things about him in it.  He really wanted to show his class his cute dog so he made me take a picture of him with her.

That evening was pack meeting for the cub scouts.  Noah got an award which was fun to see:

That Friday it was Activity Days so we did a painting party at my house.  I led the class and all the girls' pictures turned out great.  I hope they had fun learning how to paint:

Monday afternoon last week we had a Family Home Evening lesson by Josh then we went to get our last summer shaved ice from Hokulia for refreshments.  Yum!

Last week Josh had his second Cross Country Meet.  This one was a lot smaller than the first one.  Here's all the jr. varsity boys after the race started:

Here's Josh as he ran by us:

Josh is still recovering from vacation, but is doing better than the first meet!

There was a Court of Honor this past week for Scouts.  Daniel got some awards, but most exciting is he earned his Star Rank.  Here he is getting his awards:

Pinning his Star on me:

Wahoo Daniel a Star Scout!!

Speaking of Daniel, he decided to take up the saxophone for band.  It has been rough, but hopefully we all will survive him learning how to play that instrument--haha!

Saturday we took the kids to Lagoon.  Here they are riding the Turn of the Century swing ride.  There are a few rides Aaron and I can't handle very well anymore now that we are old and this is one of them.  We sat out and cheered the kids on while they rode--haha!

We also got our annual old west family photo done as well:

That evening Daniel wanted to use his free coupons for Zeppe's Italian ice.  I had never had one before so we went and picked it up.  It was pretty tasty!  We then did some Pokemon Go on Daniel's phone.  He has wanted a phone for a really long time and they really use them at school so Aaron and I gave Daniel his birthday present early--a phone.  He has been so excited about it.  It will be really useful for him as well.  He had his first Hope Squad meeting last week and was elected 7th grade president of the Hope Squad which puts him in charge of meetings and notifications for others.  Wahoo Daniel!

Monday to celebrate Labor Day we took the kids hiking up Farmington Canyon.  We went on the Car Graveyard hike.  You know it's close to Fall when the leaves started changing.  We were about a week or two too early to see the full effect the leaves changing, but they were still pretty:

Here's the first wrecked car:

More pretty leaves and a crazy hyper dog:

2nd wrecked car:

Posers:

3rd wrecked car:

More pretty leaves:

Josh spent the day with friends so we missed him on the hike.  Even though the leaves were starting to change colors it was still pretty hot outside.  It was about 93 degrees so it was odd to see the colored leaves even though it was so hot outside!  I am looking forward to sweatshirt weather that is for sure!!

When we got home Aaron made some tri-tip steak chili from some leftover tri-tip roast we had eaten the day before.  We then made some Navajo Tacos to use up the chili.  It was pretty tasty!!

Yay I am finally caught up with everything our family has been up to for the last month!!  Yay again!!