Amelia in Arches

It was finally time for Amelia's big trip with Grandma Cathy and Doug.  She has watched as Jonas and Samantha got turns and was ready to go.

She was clearly pretty excited to finally be out of the car.

  

Enjoying a little snack in the room.

They did lots of exploring and hiking in the park.  Grandma Cathy always supplies the kids with a journal and colored pencils and things for their trips so they can record all of the things they see.

I guess they weren't the only ones there that day.

Amelia and Grandma Cathy.

Between a rock and a hard place, or something like that...

They always bring along binoculars for the kids, too.  That way they can really see lots of cool things.

 

Amelia and Doug in a slot.

She did get a little homesick, and called us, crying, on the first night, but after that I think she was fine and had a great time.  She brought home lots of pictures on post cards, pamphlets and booklets and wants us all to go back together.  I think all the kids really enjoy this little bit of one on one time with their grandparents.

Family Climbing

The kids have been wanting to see where Shawn and I (and Jonas) have been spending our time, so after we got back from Snowbird on Labor Day, we took the whole family to the climbing gym.  The girls were all just a bit nervous on their very first climb up, but that was about all it took.  Shawn, Jonas and I never even got a chance to climb ourselves because we were so busy belaying the girls who just couldn't get enough.  (Poor picture quality, but only had the phone with us and poor lighting - this is the best we could do.)

Amelia was pretty fearless, and in fact only quit when we dragged her out of there because everyone else was done.  She has a little spider man in her - she scrambles up the wall whether she has foot holds or not.

Samantha was pretty nervous at first, but once she climbed up and realized it was safe, she just kept going, too.  She's been asking if she can get up early one morning to go with Shawn and me before school.  

Megan's favorite part was definitely climbing to the top of a wall and honking the horn.  We had to encourage her to climb other places that didn't offer that opportunity just so it wouldn't make everyone crazy.  But she loved it, too.

And poor little Peter kept asking if he could please have one of the belts (harnesses) so he could climb.  (It just didn't seem worth the money for a 3 year old.)  He tried tying the rope around himself a couple of times and then finally just gave up on that and started climbing the walls without it.

Maybe next time we'll go ahead and put him in a harness.  I think he's ready.

I was pretty sure that everyone would like it, but I was a little surprised at how much they all liked it.  With that many climbers it was sure nice to have 3 of us certified to belay -  the girls were all climbing the whole time we were there - only taking breaks to move to another wall and get tied on. This will definitely be a repeat activity.

#18

Because a birthday isn't enough celebrating in the first week of school, we like to throw in our anniversary as well.  Eighteen awesome years of marriage is worth celebrating, though!  Just like with Jonas's birthday, it is hard to believe that so much time has gone by.  It just doesn't feel like we are old enough to have been married for 18 years!   I've loved spending these years with Shawn and look forward to many many more!

Because of Jonas's birthday, a previously scheduled climbing class, and Jonas's ordination to become a teacher, we couldn't manage to get away for the weekend, but since it was Labor Day, we did manage to get away overnight and spend some time at Snowbird.  This has been a favorite anniversary spot from the beginning.

There's just something about being in the mountains...

Of course, being in the mountains made it very convenient for Shawn to knock another peak off of his list.  

We decided to hike Hidden Peak.  That way when we got to the top, if we were short on time, we could take the tram down.  (We were and we did.)

I always have such a hard time making the summer scene here match with the winter scene.  I have to work really hard to visualize the ski runs that we are on during the winter.  Shawn doesn't have that same issue.  He explains the different views of each of these photos here.

The first bit wasn't too bad, but it got pretty steep near the top.

Shawn is already getting ready to take some face shots of powder on this slope.  (Do you like how I caught both trams in the background?)  I asked him to please put all thoughts of winter away for a while longer, but I know he's thinking about it even now.  (He can see the top of the tram from his office window.)

Couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day.

A couple of different views from the top and the photographic proof that Shawn was there.

The views were beautiful.

Like I said, we opted for the tram ride down so that we would still have time to do something fun with the kids for the holiday.  Still a great way to celebrate an anniversary.  So grateful to have Shawn in my life!

I Couldn't Possibly Be This Old, Could I?

It really seems like just 5 minutes ago that I was walking out of the hospital with Jonas in my arms as we were starting our little family.

I just can't believe that it's been 14 whole years.  Where did my little baby go?  He's grown up a bit since then, and I guess Shawn and I have, too, but I really don't feel old enough to have a 14 year old!

Jonas is so easy to please that it's actually kind of hard.  This was our conversation the night before his birthday. 

 Me:  Is there anything special you want to have for breakfast tomorrow?

J:  I guess I'll just have cereal.

Me:  You don't want anything like pancakes or crepes or waffles?  You know it's OK to have something other than your usual bowl of Cheerios.  It is your birthday after all.

J:  I guess I could have Frosted Cheerios or something.

Really?  That's all the kid's going to ask for?  Yeah, I went to the store and bought him some Frosted Cheerios for breakfast.  (I even threw in some Apple Jacks as a bonus.)  He wasn't much more help with gift ideas, either.  He really just never asks for anything.

His morning was pretty typical, but there were a few presents waiting for him .

Woody and Buzz were there too, keeping an eye on things.  If you've ever seen Toy Story, you know how they feel about birthdays.  Hopefully this one wasn't too stressful since these were Jonas's presents and not Peter's.  Not too much competition this time around.

Of course, we made him wear the birthday crown and  he decided to open just a couple of presents before school.  He was the only kid without a pillow pet and we didn't want him to feel left out, so Swoop seemed the perfect solution.

These other pictures showed up when I downloaded the camera.  I guess the little kids were doing a little birthday posing after Jonas headed off to school.

Goofballs.

 I showed up at the junior high and checked Jonas out of school so we could go to lunch.  Once again, he made things easy by choosing someplace super fancy.  We enjoyed a lovely lunch at Einstein Bros.

Although I asked him all afternoon if there was anything special he wanted to do, he really couldn't think of anything.  We ended up going to dinner with my parents and Rob and Michelle's family at El Farol's where he unwrapped a stack of new books.  Perfect.  I meant to take a picture but just forgot once we were there.  I hope his day was a good one, even though he's not big on huge celebrations.

I just can't believe that we are only 5 years away from sending him on a mission.  I already know how fast those years will fly by.  Happy 14th Jonas!  Thanks for being such a great kid.

(And just for the record - I am still taller than he is as of his 14th birthday - but just barely.)