Reading with Mark...

Since Mark is getting older, he's showing more interest in books.  On a Saturday, Maxine was reading on the couch and Mark grabbed a book and snuggled in next to her.  His favorite book lately is about trucks.  

Oh the many silly faces of Mikayla.  

I should have edited these a little because they're too dark but I'm feeling lazy.

That crazy hair and gorgeous blue eyes are killer.  I love you Mikayla.

Merril's M.E.R.A. 1088!

Merril and Ryan R. decided to go on another adventure by competing in the M.E.R.A. (Motorcycle Endurance Riders Association) Utah 1088.  They have to ride over 1,088 miles in less than 24 hours.  Here they are, packing up to go.

If crazy had a face, it would look like these two.

Mark.the.shark.  He was outside playing on Gavin's longboard while the packing was going on.  I snagged this.

The rally wasn't just about riding a lot of miles but seeing lots of cool places along the way.  Different locations had different points associated with them.  They accumulated points, scavenger-hunt style.

That's Merril in the background!  I can't imagine how Ryan takes pictures while riding a motorcycle!  That's a little scary.

Another destination that gave them points, a Stonehenge replica.

Merril has a GPS tracker called a SPOT.  When turned on, it will transmit his GPS coordinates every 10 minutes and I can track him on my smart phone, even when he can't make a call.  The SPOT also has 3 buttons that can send a standard text like, "Everything's OK.", "In Trouble, send help.", and "Call 911."  It's given me some peace of mind, knowing I can help if he gets stuck or hurt while he's out of cell phone service.  The SPOT device was worth a lot of points and that combined with the other points nabbed Merril 1st Place!!  Ryan got 2nd because he doesn't have a SPOT.  

In then end, they rode over 1,200 miles in less than 24 hours.  WOW!

Oh yes, it's the first day of school...

We blinked and summer was over.  About time too because I was starting to go a little batty with the kids home all day.  Maxine started 7th grade, Jack-4th, Juliet-3rd, and Mikayla started preschool.  Everyone popped right out of bed and was ready way before it was time to go down to the bus.  I've been lazy since Mark was born but this year I'm putting my foot down and making sure the kids take a home lunch.  Fingers crossed that I can keep my resolve.

Maxine is excited that this is her last year at the Intermediate School because the bus comes so early: 7:05 a.m.  After this, the start time of middle and high school is later and later.

Mikayla is killing me in these pictures.  She was really excited to go to preschool.  It has taken quite the amount of coaxing for Luke.

Mikayla's preschool teacher plants wildflowers up a pretty little walk to the front door.  She wants to pick them all.  Her teacher said she could pick 1 a day.  :)

Jack is just getting bigger.  

Julie is so stylish.  Those glasses are not prescription.  She just saw them as Justice and wanted them so bad she purchased them herself.

Here's to a great year!

Dinner up at Kolob Cabins...

My side of the family doesn't tend to get together often, mostly because of lack of planning.  Everyone is busy and we let it slip.  The last couple of months, my Mom has decided that we need to have family dinner once a month.  The 2nd Sunday was deemed the day and we rotate who hosts.  This Sunday we had it up at the Kolob cabins. We showed up first and played around on the cement deer at Grandma's cabin.

Later everyone else showed up for dinner.  Yum.  Jeannie's kids took Jack out on the 4-wheelers and so did my Mom and I.  It was a perfect day and very pleasant.

Mikayla is silly, as always.  One thing that I love about her.  Another thing I love is when she's asked, "How are you doing?" she replies, "Great!" almost every single time.  Most people when asked "How's it going?" reply with, "Ok." or "Good."  It's unexpected to hear, "Great!" and I guess that's what I love about it.  Mikayla: You.Are.Great!

Little Jamaica Falls...

Little Jamaica Falls is just south of the Gorge and we were told about it the summer Mark was born.  We kept meaning to go but it just kept getting put off.  This summer, it was on our list of activities to do!  Little Jamaica is a mineral spring.  The water pouring out of the top is full of minerals and those minerals harden the ground and rocks.  People have brought sand bags down to build a little pool and it has all calcified, making a wall.

It was right next to the Virgin River.

Merril stopped by and then had to leave for work.

We stayed and played for a while.

It's a really neat place to visit and not that far away.  I don't think it's regulated by anyone and so there was a ton of trash on the hike down.

Towards the end, Mark got in too deep and ended up face down in the water, flailing like a frog.  I was right there and pulled him out and hung him upside down, hopefully getting any water to drain out of him.  Then I was worried he had water in his lungs so I watched him for signs of distressed breathing.  Merril was recently trained as a emergency medical responder for Search & Rescue and brought home his new EMR bag.  It has a pulse oximeter that tests blood oxygen saturation levels.  Mark was asleep but I totally sneaked into his room and put it on his big toe.  His sats were 96.  *sigh*  No worries now.