Utah Trip: Snowbird

We spent the first full week of August at Snowbird Resort, near Salt Lake City, Utah. We had a fun trip, and it was so nice to finally go on a vacation. The boys, even Gavin, did great in the car. We drove over 2100 miles on this trip. I was expecting it would take longer to travel and drive now that we have Gavin, but it really didn't. We stopped every 3-4 hours. I would nurse while we ate and then we would get gas and hit the road again. Normally once we've driven up the canyon to Snowbird we don't leave the entire week. This year we went down into Salt Lake three times. Once to visit with Robert's brother and his family; another time to visit with my mom and our Clason cousins, and a third time to tour Temple Square. We enjoyed the cool, mountain air. And just relaxed and played.

We took Adam and Matt on their first real hike. It was to Secret Lake in the Albion Basin near Alta. The lake is a bit of a secret because it is not visible until you crest the ridge. It was a 2 mile hike. We even took Gavin, carrying him in our arms. My brother called me a pioneer woman because I was carrying a baby up the mountain and then nursed him in the shade of a scrub bush. The boys had a lot of fun.

Here's a family photo while on our hike. L-R: Adam, Grandma Leonard, Robert, Matt, Heidi holding Gavin, Uncle Derek, cousin Greta, Aunt Alexis, cousin Evan, Uncle Owen, and Aunt Holly.

This is a picture to document Gavin's first time swimming. The water was as warm as a bath so he enjoyed it.

Utah Trip: Alpine Slide

A major event the boys were looking forward to on this trip to Snowbird was the all-day activity pass, and specifically, the alpine slide. That was the #1 thing they wanted to do. Robert, Adam and Matt spent all of Tuesday on the alpine slide, riding the tram up to the 11,000ft. Hidden Peak, and riding the slide somemore.

Robert and Adam zipping down the slide.

Aunt Holly and Matt cruising down the slide.

Aunt Holly and Matt enjoying the chairlift up to the top of the alpine slide.

Utah Trip: Aunts, Uncles,and Cousins, Oh My...

While in Utah, we got to visit lots of relatives. It was nice seeing everyone. Matt and Evan at Temple Square

Matt, Greta and Adam walking hand-in-hand. Greta was much more enthused about this than the boys--but they were good sports.

Visiting with my mom, their Nanna. L-R: Matt, Adam, Greta, Uncle Derek, Nanna Blake, Uncle Owen, Aunt Holly, Evan, Heidi and Gavin. Nanna got to see all of her children and grandchildren during this visit.

Greta, sweetly giving Adam a kiss.

We also got to visit with Robert's brother, Mike, and his family, that now live in Utah. Here are Matt, Uncle Mike, Kieralyn and Adam playing a game in the backyard.

Utah Trip: Temple Square

Of course, since we were near Salt Lake City, we wanted to take the boys to Temple Square. They had both been there before but did not remember doing so. We went with my siblings and cousins. We spent about an hour and half there, walking around. We shared with them some of our personal family stories of Temple Square, such as, their Grandpa Leonard being baptized in the Tabernacle, and their great-great-Grandpa Reichmann passing away inside the temple, in the arms of then prophet, Joseph F. Smith.

3 Months

Gavin is 3 months and one week old. I would have posted this last week but we were on vacation. He weighs 13 lbs. 6 oz. and is 24 inches long. He has reached quite a few developmental stages this past month. He started sleeping through the night (yippee). He now sleeps from 9:30pm-7am. He started laughing. Adam and Matt are his favorite things to laugh at. And he has started to grasp/grab things. He nurses 6 times and naps 4 times each day. He went on his first roadtrip this month---all the way to Utah. He also got to meet all of his cousins. He loves to suck on his fingers, thumbs and any type of cloth, especially my shoulder when I'm carrying him.

1st Day of School

We got back from our vacation from Utah last night. So, Adam and Matt had their first day of school today. Adam starts 2nd grade and Matt starts Kindergarten. They missed the first couple of days. Here they are dressed and ready to go. Both were a bit anxious and said they don't like school. However, secretly, I think Matt was pretty excited and Adam was happy to see his friends again. (Holly--notice their shirts?)

Heading to Utah

Although the summer is winding down and school will be starting next week, I am finally going on vacation. Robert, Adam and Matt have gone on trips this summer but not me. I haven't gone anywhere for the past six months. That's a long time when you live in the middle of nowhere. We're leaving on our trip tomorrow. We're driving up to Cheyenne to see my folks and for Grandpa to do a bit of (free) dentalwork on the boys. Saturday morning we'll leave for Utah, specifically Snowbird. Adam and Matt are quite excited. Matt's been counting down the days, and every morning tells me how many days are left 'til we leave. This will be Gavin's first roadtrip. Hopefully, he'll sleep a lot. He's nearly 3 months old (next Tuesday). He's starting to play with toys--trying to grab them. Last night he laughed for the first time. Adam and Matt were jumping off the couch and Gavin thought that was quite funny. Since the boys will be missing the first two days of school, we went down there this morning to find out who their teachers are. Adam's second grade teacher will be Ms. Nelson. This reminds me of one of my favorite childhood books, "Miss Nelson Is Missing" , in which a 2nd grade teacher named Miss Nelson turns up "missing" because of the naughty behavior of her students. Matt's teacher is Mrs. Lightner. She and I are friends from PTO and her daughter was in Adam's class last year. I think she'll be a good fit with Matt. Today is being spent doing laundry, packing up food, cleaning the house, and hopefully not forgetting anything. It will be so nice to get out of town and see lots of family---and mountains.