Our Hike

Sunday morning we woke up to the most amazing weather. We decided quickly that we should forgo church and hike. The only thing that gets you closer to God than church is climbing towards heaven. And heaven it was!

Last year Coren was our weakest hiker, however this year he took off in the lead and I basically had to chase him up the hill. Steve and Carson and Kenna were behind us, and every time I looked at Steve he gave me the most confused look. Coren was shocking us!


We stopped along the way to pose for some pictures and take a couple of small breaks.

Coren pulled a bag out of his camel back that had a bunch of treats he got at This is the Place the day before. It was so cute!






Once we reached "our top" about 2 miles up. we stopped and enjoyed the view. Coren had brought his binoculars that he got from Grandpa Ellis and he started to show us lots of cool stuff.




On the way down, Kenna, Carson and I took off running. We pretty much ran most of the way down which was really fun! Coren was the first one up but the last one down. He was amazing. If only he would not keep forgetting to watch the trail. He fell many times!

We had seen a dead snake on the road before we went up the trail. Carson started to cry and Kenna was freaking out. The whole way up Coren would yell to them that he was scaring all of the snakes away. Then he would tell me that he still had lots of energy, and then he was running out of energy, and then after his snack that he had his energy back. As soon as we got down he had to have a picture with the snake. Prove that he was the fastest, strongest, and bravest.

What a great hike. I am so excited for lots of hiking this summer!

This is the place

Saturday we spent the entire day at This is the Place State Park. It is such a fun place. We ended up getting a season pass because we love it so much. We were there for about 8 hours and didn't get to see and do everything. We were kind of slow cause the kids wanted to hear and see everything, but it was a great day!

Me and Makenna did our best at mocking the statues, she of course is much funnier than me and kicked my butt!

Makenna and Steve found that they were really good at stilts. The rest of us pretty much sucked. Kenna liked it so much that Steve is making her some of these things. Too funny!
The kids found some caskets and had to pose in them. They are so funny.


The kids wanted to pull the handcarts but they weren't able to this time. I let them move them forwards and back time so that they could get a feel for them when no one was looking. Next time they should be able to take them for a spin!!
We played a pioneer game where you roll a medal wheel with a stick. The first one down the hill wins. I raced Steve...
I think we can all see who won!
Look at that speed!!!
The kids loved it too. They were so funny to watch.


They got to make puppets. They turned out really cute. Kenna named hers BOB and wrote a note on his back that said, "Bob, don't mess with him!"

It was baby animal days so the kids got to pet all the babies and ride on the ponies. They loved it. Kenna wanted to kiss a baby pig, but I wouldn't let her! Sick-o!



They also got to make necklaces out of real Indian arrows and then at the end take the money they earned doing yard work and buy some souvenirs. It was a great day!

Long weekend!

We had the best four day weekend ever! It was so nice to have all of us together and just cram as much into the weekend as we could. First though, we had to get something important done. The neighbors grass was making a home of our flower beds and it was making me crazy. I went out the other day and worked on it, but the shovel just wasn't going into the ground good and it was taking forever. So, Steve said he would do it and then we could get some mulch down. So we went to the stinky dump for our mulch and got to work. Steve offered to pay the kids for their time knowing that they would want some spending money for the weekend. They worked hard. It turned out looking really good and so I was a happy woman. We celebrated with Mexican Food for dinner!

Late night!

The kids all wanted to have a late night so bad. So, they each got to invite a friend. They invited Josh, Will, and Emily. We made pizzas and then they played and had a great time. Our late night ended at 8:30 because Coren had school the next day, but I told them that they could do a really late night once school was out. I am sure they will be taking me up on it as soon as they can.