Yummy lunch Mom!!

Aubrey just loved her lunch today. She was trying to lick her bowl and when she was done with that she tried licking her tray. I guess you really can't go wrong with Top Ramen.

Halloween

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. As the kids get older it gets more fun but there is a window that seems smaller and smaller that Halloween is what I remember as a kid. We all carved pumpkins in the afternoon which was a lot of fun. Meg and Aubrey put stickers on their pumpkins which is the best idea ever because they still feel like a part of it but don't get frustrated because of the mess and the fact that they can't use any of the things you use to carve a pumpkin. Cory has become the master "pumpkin sculpter" and even went to a craft store a couple days ago to get special pumpkin carving tools and did a practice pumpkin a few days ago as well. As soon as we were done carving pumpkins the teenagers left to go get ready for Halloween parties so we didn't see them the rest of the night.
Trick-or-treating was fun. The big girls are still young enough to enjoy it. Meg was funny, she was actually surprised that people were giving her candy when she said trick-or-treat. She also thought it was funny that nobody could recognize who she was with her costume on.

Three Forks Hike

There were some "hot pots" at the top that the kids sat in.


On Friday some of our family went on a beautiful hike up Spanish Fork canyon. It had been raining for a couple days previously so we weren't sure if it would be a good day or not but it turned out to be the perfect weather and the leaves were probably the prettiest I have ever seen. It was good to do something fun like that with my sisters and the big kids. My dad came along as well as my younger sister Susan's husband Dale.

Peaches

Savannah, Meg, and Chelsea picking peaches.
Grandma and Meg peeling peaches


This is the 3rd year now that we have benefitted from our little peach tree in our backyard. The whole family looks forward to all the bottles of "yummy peaches". I have always gone to my mom's house because she has all the stuff and helps out a lot and we make a day of it. The kids really helped this year in picking the peaches and also wanted to come to Grandma's and help bottle them. Now, we have 60 quarts of peaches in our food storage. Unfortunately that will probably only last our family about 6 months. I also have some in the freezer for shakes, peaches n' cream, and pies. YUMMY!

First day of preschool

Meg at her new preschool Taylor's tots
Meaghan and her friend Josh after their first day of preschool


It was Meaghan's first day of preschool today. It was a long morning because she goes in the afternoon and it doesn't start until 12:30. When I told her she wouldn't be going until after lunch she told me her pancake she had just eaten for breakfast could be her lunch instead then we could go already. She got herself dressed, shoes on, brushed hair, had her brand new backpack on and was waiting outside for a long time before it was finally time to walk to school. It was really cute to see all her little friends that were going to the same school walking together. Their backpacks were all about as big as them and you could just see a head and little feet running. When preschool was over Meg's teacher said "is Meg always such a great cleaner?". I had to laugh because Meaghan can't stand things to be messy and is always telling me "this place is a mess, Mom, we have to clean up." I hope she stays that way.

Liberty Park

Aubrey and cousin Katie
Kamryn and Meg selling "lemalade"
Meg and Aubrey all wet
Cousins eating ice cream


My sisters invited me to go to Liberty Park with our non-school age kids. It was so much fun. I haven't been there in years. They have a fun little place in the middle of the park called "canyons" it has several little streams that all feed into a very small pond that the kids can float boats, sticks, or whatever you have down. It was a nice day, not too hot and not very many people. I wish I would have thought about it and put my kids in their swimsuits like everyone else did but, oh well. We then went to one of the many playgrounds there which also had a place to play in water as well as swings, slides and other fun stuff. Our dad came with us so he could watch all the grandkids playing together and having fun. We then went out to lunch. It was a fun spur of the moment thing to do before the 3-4 yr old's start pre-school next week.

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.

Happy Birthday Aubrey

Aubrey turned one years old today. She woke up with a swollen eye and it was pink on her eyelid and underneath her eye. I thought "oh great, we are going to be around so many kids this weekend I've got to get her on drops if she has pink eye." So, I was able to get her into the doctor this morning and it turns out she doesn't have pink eye, thank goodness. But she does have an allergic reaction to something, who knows what. She just looks like she got bonked in the eye.
Aubrey is a very happy baby and loves being right in the middle of all of her siblings. She likes to laugh and thinks everything is funny. She isn't crawling yet but she scoots on her tummy around the house and is getting into everything. We are going to have to get the gates to the stairs out tomorrow before she falls down them. She loves her daddy and every night he gets home from work she screams with delight saying "da da". She gets mad if he walks by her and doesn't pick her up. We went to Cherry Hill for her birthday today with some friends. Aubrey really loved sitting in her little floaty in the lazy river. I think her favorite part though was eating her birthday doughnut at night.

What a week!

Monday - I was one of four of the activity day leaders and we took 20 girls to Camp Kiesel. It's a boy scout camp that they offer the use of to the girls. They had a lot of fun learning to shoot bee bee guns, bow & arrows, canoeing, indian art, sling-shots, and doing a fun obstacle course etc. Savannah's favorite was the archery and canoeing. It was a really hot day so most of the girls wanted to jump in the water after they got out of the canoe. But, we said no. "aah, boring old leaders". These girls are really sweet and fun to be with.



Wednesday and Thursday - I took Savannah, Chelsea, and Meg to Lagoon for my parents Lagoon day. Cory's mom and two of his nephews also joined us on Wed. Thurs was bounce back so I took Savannah and Chelsea alone to do the big rides in the afternoon. They were both very brave and went on Wicked, Colossus, Wild mouse, Spider, and Rocket. They both said their favorite was wicked. In the evening I took Meg all by herself. We had an awesome time just "Mom and Meg". She said "I LOVE every ride at lagoon, can we live there?"




Friday - We started the day at 9:00 in the morning with Savannah and Chelsea being in the neighborhood pioneer parade. Activities and treats followed with Savannah and I helping with the booths for activity days. Later we went to my parents for Butlerville days. They have a parade/carnival in the afternoon and fireworks at night. All the kids had fun being with their cousins. Meg kept saying "boom pretty" during the fireworks and Aubrey was mesmerized and just stared at them.

Saturday - Our family went to the Ochre Mt. temple open house. It's a beautiful temple and we had a great experience.

Now, I need a really long nap....

Price Family at Bear Lake

I took myself and the 4 little girls to Bear Lake for a week of fun with my family. My parents arranged for us all to stay in two really nice town homes in Harbor Village which is right across from the Marina. It was a beautiful place to stay. We went to the beach every day and had fun just being together and riding on wave runners. Sandy and Steve Morgan were very generous in bringing their boat up for us to enjoy. The water was pretty choppy because of the wind so we had to transport people on and off the boat with the use of the wave runners. Once Savannah and Chelsea got on the boat and had so much fun they both said "we are never ever getting off of this boat". It was fun to see Danny try and get up on an airchair. It was also fun that Gordon Furness and his wife and family were staying at the Furness cabin and were at the beach every day as well. My kids LOVED going to the swimming pool at the condos. We usually ended up there in the afternoon/evening after being at the beach. It was difficult trying to get Savannah and Chelsea out of the water. In fact, one day Chelsea was in the pool non-stop from about noon until I had to drag her out at 9:00 at night when they closed.
Cory got a new job at Liberty Tire Recycling and has only been there about 2 weeks. It was impossible for him to get any time off to come to Bear Lake with me and my family. Mitchal also had cheer camp the exact same time we were in Bear Lake. Cam also had to work. My mom suggested we stay through the weekend at the beach where my mom's side of the family has some cabins. I was excited to hear this since I was sad that Cory, Cam, and Mitchal were going to have to miss out on the fun. They all arrived on Friday and we had a great time at the beach every day. We rented a boat and two wave runners and I was actually able to get up water skiing after not having done it for about 10 years. Savannah tryed water skiing and got up for about a second and then she was done. Cam made a good effort at trying to get up on one ski and was soooo close. Mitchal and cousin Katie had a lot of fun on the tube we pulled behind the boat. Chelsea tryed the tube but it was too scary for her. Everyone loved riding the wave runners. Meg loved playing in the sand and running in and out of the water. She also enjoyed going on the paddle boat with anyone who would take her. Jack, our dog, LOVED the beach and the lake and the kids loved playing with him too. Cory's sister Terri and 3 of her kids also joined us and that was a lot of fun to be with them. On the drive home Sun night it was starting to rain. We could see lightning in the sky over the lake and it lit up the lake. We stopped for the infamous Bear Lake shakes on the way out of town. As we were driving through Logan canyon we saw many deer on the side of the road and even a couple Moose. Meg said "mommy I saw a baby deer and it was lost and looking for it's mommy." I have decided Bear Lake is one of my favorite places.