Frightening Frightmares

We enjoyed a fun evening at Lagoon, even though we didn't make it to most of the scary stuff. The spook alleys and terror rides were a little too scary for us this year. But we loved the trick-or-treating and the kids even liked the singing chainsaw zombies. I liked reminding the kids that their Dad used to sing and dance in the fun Lagoon shows.

Peter the Astronaut

Leia the Butterfly, Talmage the Bumblebee and Ammon the Spider

Talmage just Hangin' around :)


Talmage and Leia as Aladdin and Jasmine-- Aladdin seems quite happy about all this :)

Poor Fourth Child

I guess by the time the fourth child comes around, Mom is so busy that he gets a little neglected. When Peter got tired today, the poor baby had to resort to taking a nap in the dirty-clothes basket. He's such a cute, funny boy!

Two Big Birthdays!

We had a fun birthday weekend! Ammon's birthday was on Saturday and Leia's was on Sunday. We enjoyed a fun family party at Boondocks.

Peter, Ammon, Leia and her friend loved climbing in the huge play place.
Talmage loved racing on the slick track. You can see Talmage ahead of Spencer, who is blocking uncle Clint.

The kids also enjoyed spraying each other on the bumper boats. Talmage and Ammon were battling against Leia and Katie. Our kids are growing so fast and they are so much fun!

Over 1,000 Pounds

This morning when my kids were getting ready for school, the boys were taking turns weighing themselves. They all stood on the scale together and were amazed at how much they weighed. Then they told me it was my turn. I reluctantly stepped onto the scale while they all watched and then said, "Woew"! Talmage asked me how high the scale could measure. I said I wasn't sure, maybe 300 or so. He replied that I weighed over 1,000 pounds and it still worked. Shocked, I said I don't weigh that much, and then I reminded him about the decimal point on our scale.

Today at my step aerobics and weight training classes, I made sure I worked extra hard so my son wouldn't think that I weigh more than 1,000 pounds!

Good old Bear Lake

Since we moved back to Utah (about 6 years ago), we have gone to Bear Lake at least once every summer. Somehow, we didn't end up going this summer, so we decided to make a short trip up this Labor Day weekend. We had fun playing on the sandy beach.

Spencer dragged me and the kids to the Oregon Trail Museum, but we all ended up liking it even though we didn't think we would. The kids enjoyed the simulated wagon ride and the old-fashioned cash registers they got to play with.

We swam at the Ideal Beach pool after playing on the beach.

We love hiking up to Bloomington Lake--one of the beautiful glacier pools in a nearby canyon. Spencer and Talmage are always brave and swing on the long rope and drop into the chilly water. This year Spencer even talked me into swinging on the rope. It took me a while before I could breathe in the icy water, but it was really fun! Leia and Ammon said they wanted to try, but I told them they needed to wait a few more years.

We love good old Bear Lake!

I yuv you!

I had a wonderful conversation with Ammon as I held him after he woke up this morning:

Ammon: I yuv you a million times, Mom.
Mom: I love you a million times, Ammon.
Ammon: I yuv you a billion times.
Mom: I love you a trillion times.
Ammon: I yuv you a billion, billion, trillion times.
Mom: I love you infinity.
Ammon: I yuv you infinity and beyond!

I like Buzz Lightyear even more now! I'm such a lucky Mom!

Aspen Grove

We enjoyed a fun Pearson family reunion (Spencer's Mom's family) in Aspen Grove last week. We're all wearing our reunion shirts in this photo. We love Aspen Grove because we have lots of family time, and we also have time where the kids get to go to different groups and participate in fun activities while the parents get to do their own thing for a few hours each day.

Nathan and Spencer had fun competing in the championship horseshoe game. Nathan ended up taking the win. But Spencer was happy to be the shuffleboard champion of the week. Unfortunately, we were humbled on this trip in our volleyball and racquetball skills. We thought we were pretty good, but we played against others who were much, much better--but we still had a lot of fun playing!

Aspen Grove is owned and run by BYU, so on Sunday we enjoyed a nice sacrament meeting in their outdoor amphitheater.

We were busy the entire week, trying to fit in as many fun things as we could: Volleyball, racquetball, air rifle shooting, shuffleboard competing (Spencer and I competed together in the doubles shuffleboard championship game, but Val and Joyce won in he end), interesting lectures, hiking, ropes course/wall climbing, late-night game playing, no cooking or dish washing, singing in a family talent show, frolicing in the pool, playing family field games, mini golfing, playground playing, etc. We were completely exhausted at the end of each day. I even fell asleep in the middle of the day in a very uncomfortable chair while watching a rousing game of horseshoes.

Talmage was very good at climbing the rock wall. He did the two most difficult climbs and went all the way to the top on both.

The Rollins Family! We loved this wonderful family reunion!

The Bangs are Back!

I have resisted having bangs for the last 15 years or so, but I finally gave in and had some cut recently. I had been pondering over this decision since I went to this "fabulous" hair stylist a few months ago, who told me that I might want to do something about that billboard on my forehead. (He is actually an amazing stylist, just maybe a little too honest about his opinion.) I blame my fear of bangs on my hair situation when I was in Jr. High--notice the scary 7th and 8th grade photos! I never wanted to go back to using Aqua Net, a blow dryer and a curling iron every morning. I guess my hair change is not that drastic, but for me it was quite a step.

Pineview Partying

The day after Spencer and I returned from our trip, we left for a camping trip with my family to Pineview Reservoir. We loved playing in the water: skiing, knee-boarding, wake-boarding and tomcat riding! Go Spencer and Talmage on the tomcat!

I enjoyed a calm ride on the tomcat with all of my children.

Crazy Talmage, Leia, Ammon and Gabe had a fun ride together.

Grandma provided the kids with swords that they enjoyed battling with every chance they got.

We all enjoyed each others company playing games, eating dutch-oven cooking and Grandpa's fried eggs, boating, beach playing, campfire story telling, etc. Thanks Mom and Dad for another fun family trip.

Time Away!

Last week Spencer and I enjoyed a rare get-away with just the two of us. We were able to go to a beautiful resort in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. We loved every minute of our fun vacation, and we're so grateful for generous grandparents who watched our kids while we were gone.

Our favorite activity of the trip was scuba diving. We both got scuba certified when we were in college, but we haven't been since we were married. We were able to do two dives on this trip and it was awesome! We saw beautiful sea life, coral, and we were so excited when we saw a sea turtle.

The all-inclusive resort had many fun activities we could participate in for free, so we took full advantage of that and stayed busy the whole trip. We enjoyed horse-back riding, kayaking, paddle-boat riding, hobie cat sailing, yoga/pilates classing (just me), swimming, and relaxing.

Some flamingos lived right outside our hotel room and we enjoyed watching them every time we passed. Leia loves flamingos so we took several photos of them.

We enjoyed eating all kinds of yummy food on our trip. This photo was taken in their Tepanyaki restaurant where I caught the shrimp with my mouth that Spencer had them throw at me. We loved this trip we had together. We will enjoy these memories forever.