Odds and Ends

Below are some random pictures taken the past couple of weeks.
I currently serve with the Bears and came home from our weekly meeting with this on the table. What an amazing daughter I have! I like to cook, but not as much as she likes to cook. She had made homemade meatballs and spaghetti. Carter & Parker had set the table also. What a huge milestone as a mom when your children do something for you instead of the other way around. By the way- it tasted delicious! She is definitely hired:).

Carter & Parker had asked this particular night if they could make a fort in their room. I said they could as they quickly scurried into their bedrooms. A few hours later I went into their room to find this. Apparently they decided to use their mattresses as the cover for their forts and they chose to sleep on top of it. They are very creative! (Parker is on the top and Carter on the bottom).

Byron was researching our family history recently for a lesson in Gospel Doctrine. He found out that one of my early relatives was actually buried in the Alpine Cemetery. After church we quickly went up to find his grave. This is what we found - and to realize that he was the first person buried in the Alpine Cemetery is pretty cool - isn't it amazing to find out about our relatives. I am so lucky to have a husband that has such a passion for family history. Maybe one day a part of that passion will sink into me :).

October 2nd was the BYU vs. Utah State game. Scott & Heather Chapple came down that weekend and came to the game with us. We had a great time visiting with them and enjoying their company. The best part was that we won. Go BYU!

I took 2 pictures of us all and didn't get a really good one -Jeff came with Ashlyn, Scott, Byron & Heather.

Sorry Scott - I caught him while he was eating.

Carter & Parker loved being in soccer this season. They had a great time playing and were especially excited to receive their end of season medals.

Thanksgiving Point Gardens

On Monday - October 5th - the kid's didn't have any school. The weather was a little chilly, but we decided to head to the Thanksgiving Point Gardens. We pretty much had the whole gardens to ourselves and enjoyed every moment of it. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous! The workers were busily putting in bulbs and pansies while we were there. We had a great time and enjoyed seeing the beautiful grounds while enjoying each others company.
Carter, Bradley & I
Tanner with an amazing view! The water, rocks and plants just looked absolutely gorgeous! We saw a cute little frog by this area popping its head out of the water.

Carter & Parker

Tanner, Parker, Carter, Johnathan, Bradley & Camille

Another gorgeous spot!

Cute Bradley

This was a fun picture, but it didn't turn out as good as I'd hoped - the kids enjoyed being by the water, though. (pictured from youngest to oldest)

Bradley & Johnathan by the Secret GardenMy boys in the Secret Garden.

All of the kiddos.

These shots were taken on the top of the waterfall - such pretty scenery.

Camille & I

Before we left I told the kids we could have a silly picture - pretty scary if you ask me:).

My cute boys - Parker, Carter, Tanner & Johnathan -

Bradley was done by this point and not so happy to be in yet another picture.

I love each of my kids and feel so blessed to have them in my life.

Sept. miscellaneous pictures

Camille has such fun activities planned at Young Woman's. This particular activity was called the "P Party." She had to come dressed up in as many "P" items as she could and ended up eating pizza and working on her Personal Progress. She went all out and had fun trying to wear many different "P" words. She had a purse, plaid pants, purple shirt, polka dot fingernail polish, pink fan, and the list went on.

This particular day I was working on the computer and Bradley decided to color right next to me. We had never really pulled out a coloring book before and he enjoyed looking at the Sesame Street book. Bradley won't watch TV except for a Leap Frog Alphabet show and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so I have had to introduce Elmo and Big Bird to him through books. It was fun showing him the pictures and having him repeat who they were. He likes Cookie Monster the best and loves to sing the "C is for cookie" song.

Parker, Johnathan & Camille went to the 2nd home BYU football game with Byron. Camille took some cool pictures. Johnathan & Cameron enjoyed sitting together - I love this picture.

Here is a cool shot of the stadium.

Parker enjoying the game.

We had the fun privilege of having Grandpa Beck come to see Johnathan's last soccer game and Carter & Parker's second to last game. He had to juggle both games since they overlapped each other. All 3 loved having their grandpa there to watch them play. (Parker, Grandpa Beck, Johnathan & Carter)

Camille took this picture at the Children's Discovery Gardens. Byron was lifting up Bradley to see the fish. Life is just better with a dad around:).

Awesome book

So I just have to put in a plug for a great book I just read. It is called,"The Incredible Gifts of Women - 12 Gifts That Will Change Your Life Now" by Barbara Barrington Jones.

She addresses the many thoughts that women have about being overwhelmed, exhausted, unhappy, depressed, hard on ourselves, and many other things. I came away from reading it determined to be a better wife and mother. It was awesome to read about other people's lives and how they have overcome challenges and trials. I am determined to not let Satan have a handle on me and tear me down like he is trying so hard to do right now. His emphasis is on the family - especially on the woman in the family. We can do this if we unite together.

Funny

Yesterday I was up in Salt Lake watching Tanner mow the lawn at one of our duplexes. This particular duplex is on a major intersection. I was standing next to Bradley when a guy comes running down the sidewalk with very short shorts on and no shirt. Bradley quickly pipes up, "He naked" as he is pointing to this guy. He says it about 3 times, I couldn't do anything but laugh. This guy practically looked naked to me also with such short shorts :).

A couple of weeks ago we were all downstairs watching the BYU football game. Byron had pulled out the sunflower seeds and each kid was eating them. Johnathan would grab one seed, take forever to shell it, eat it, then come and get another one. This particular time, he had been trying to shell the seed for about 2 minutes, when he all of a sudden says, "Aaaaaahhhhhh, there is no seed!" He was quite disappointed after so much work. Tanner quickly says, "You must have gotten the seedless kind."

These kids are constantly making me laugh.

Fishing - second and third time around

So Byron had to try out fishing again with the family after his first fishing trip was such a great success. The first time he took Camille & Johnathan at 5:30 a.m. up to Silver Lake in American Fork Canyon on a Saturday morning. They had a great time. I am so glad that Camille loves taking her camera wherever she goes to catch these awesome memories. They were the first ones to the lake and enjoyed quite a bit of time all to themselves.

They caught one fish while there. There were a group of Boy Scouts next to them that caught 4 fish and gave them to Byron before they left. Lucky Byron got to bring home 5 - as soon as he got home, he took the bucket full of fish and dumped them out on the grass in the backyard. The kids were very intrigued with fish flapping around. Soon they quit moving and Byron went ahead and gutted them. There was no way I was going to watch - Camille & Johnathan joined me in the house while the rest were loving every moment of it.
Johnathan

Byron with his catch!

Camille & Johnathan

Parker & Bradley watching the fish.

The following Monday, we went as a family for FHE up Tibblefork Reservoir. We arrived around 5 p.m. and enjoyed about 2 hours of fishing. There were so many fish jumping out of the water all around us -- I couldn't believe the show we got from them. The kids loved taking turns. We had bought a smaller fishing pole and Tanner bought one, so with 3 poles it was a lot more enjoyable. The canyons were starting to change colors and were just beautiful that time of day. Camille & I enjoyed taking pictures of the surroundings.

Tanner ended up catching a fish that was pretty small. We ended up throwing it back in so we didn't have to deal with taking it with us.

Cute Parker

Byron

Tanner with his fish he caught.

Bradley & I

Poor Bradley got too close to the shore and fell face first into the rocks. He wasn't very happy about having dirt all over himself. I just couldn't resist this picture moment.

Camille & Bradley fishing together

Johnathan

Parker & Carter

Here is Johnathan sitting so patiently. The surroundings were gorgeous!

Tanner & Camille spending time together.
Byron & I

Bradley & Camille
Just before the sun went down the water looked gorgeous with all of the shadows.

We had such a great time. We are so blessed to have such beautiful surroundings and places so close where we can go together.