Time to get the gates out

This week Aubrey is doing so many things. Saturday morning I went in to get Aubrey up because she had been crying which was not normal. She usually just plays in her crib and babbles happily until I come and get her. When I walked in I was shocked to find her standing in her crib and holding onto the bar and her mobile toy with a look like "help I am up here and I can't get down now". Then, today I found her halfway up the stairs and very proud of herself. She is pulling herself up to furniture and even took a step or two while standing at a couch and grabbbed meg's bowl of cereal and dumped it on the floor. It's weird because she still looks so little to be doing these things. But, she is 13 mo old today and yet only doing about what a 9 mo old would be doing. She is pretty much mirroring what her cousin Katie is doing who turned 9 mo old this week. I just really hope she will be able to walk into nursery in 4 mo.

Camping at Bridger Lake

Bridger Lake
ooops the timer went off, then it started pouring rain
Meg being a "big helper"
Savannah playing with Jack


Well, as we approached the last week of summer Cory tells me he wants to go camping with the family. He felt like he missed out on all the fun this summer since he got a new job at the beginning of it and didn't have any vacation time. So, he told the teenagers they had to spend a whole 24 hrs away from their friends and away from any cell service to go camping with us. The reaction was better than I thought it would be. My deal with Cory was since we would be missing the temple dedication on Sunday we would take the 4 younger girls to visit temple square on Sat morning then go camping after that. It turned out pretty good. So, we packed up the car to the rim for one night of camping. Hardly seemed worth it to me but we did it anyway. Cory made up tin foil dinners that morning so they would be ready when we got there. We found a nice spot at Bridger lake which is close to Fort Bridger Wy. It was breathtakingly beautiful and it made me glad we came even if it was going to be short. We set up camp as quickly as possible and got a fire going to cook the dinner. Soon we were all sitting around the campfire enjoying one of our favorite things to do as a family. We realized we haven't been camping in about 2 yrs and also realized it's much easier when you have a trailer. We sold our trailer 2 yrs ago because we out grew it (maybe that's why it's been 2 yrs since we went camping lol). Aubrey was strapped into her carseat in the middle of the chairs so we didn't have to worry about her crawling around inthe dirt and getting into the fire (my husband's brilliant idea). Cory told a ghost story the little girls liked then we went to bed and I realized that "tent" camping when you are 40 is not at much fun as when you are much younger. It started raining in the early morning and never really stopped. So, we had a soggy breakfast of eggs and bacon then made a unanimous decision to forgo the hike and packed up and went home. Everyone had a fun time and the teenagers shouted for joy (literally) when we got back in cell range. I think Meg's favorite part of the whole trip was running around with her very own little flashlight. Chelsea liked chasing squirrels and Savannah liked playing in the mts with Jack, our dog. Cory and I both just love having all of our kids with us and seeing them have a great time together. Now school can begin and we can get back to a normal routine, which is so nice.

Road trip to Colorado

Our next door neighbors moved to Colorado in June. When I asked Savannah what she wanted for her birthday this year she told me the only thing she wanted was to go to Co to visit Mady. So, that was the plan. I drove Savannah, Chelsea, Meaghan, and Aubrey to visit our friends the Darleys. We left at 11:00 on a thursday night and arrived around 8:00 in the morning on friday. Aubrey fell asleep 20 min after we left and didn't wake up until 15 min before we got there. Meg slept most of the way and the other two were on and off. We had a great time in Co and saw lots of things. After we got settled we hung out at the pool for the afternoon. Friday night we went to a pizza place similar to Chuck e Cheese to celebrate Savannah's b-day. Saturday Val and I took the 3 older girls to Lakewood amusement park. It's a really old place so Val and I felt like we were going back in time. The kids had fun though. Glen watched the 3 younger girls while we were gone and had them napping all at the same time for 3 hrs. He's a saint! While we were gone Meg asked Glen "are you guys done staying here yet, are you ready to come home now?" Saturday night there were fireworks and an outdoor movie playing right behind where Val lives. Savannah thought that was pretty cool that she got to see fireworks on her birthday. Sunday we went to church and I was surprised how far away their church was and how big and area their ward was. I thought Co would be similar to Utah but not so much. Later we watched a movie in their clubhouse which has a theatre you can use. Later we went on a bike ride. Monday was our last day of fun so we took everyone to the Denver zoo for the day. It was nice and the animals were very active since we went first thing in the morning when it was cool. When we got back we had dinner then hung out at the pool for the rest of the night. They have a really nice pool at their apt complex with waterfalls that the girls liked to play in. We all packed up our car so it was all ready for us to leave at 6:00 the next morning. I had Glen carry the girls to the car while they were asleep hoping they would all sleep in the car the first few hours of the trip. So, much for plans...they were all four awake when we pulled out of the parking lot at 6:02. Aubrey and Meg went back to sleep but that's it. It was a very pretty drive through the rockies and I wanted the girls to be able to see that. They liked the tunnels and driving alongside the Co river where we could watch many groups of people river rafting. It was definately harder driving in the day though because of all the potty stops we had to make and stopping to eat twice. But, all in all it was a great vacation to end the summer with.