Have I mentioned. . .
that my baby is walking? Where has time gone?

Pioneer Trek

Last week our family participated in a pioneer trek with our ward.  We went up to Wyoming and dressed in our pioneer attire camped and treked around Martin's Cove.  Thursday was a travel day-- 6 hours up to the Willie Center 6th crossing where we set up camp.  Friday we traveled to the historic Martin's Cove and treked 6 miles.  Saturday we treked 4 miles in the valley where the Willie Handcart company rescue took place.  It was an AMAZING experience for our family!  The kids did AWESOME!  Dallin walked the whole way and Sierra only rode for a few short stints.  Here are a some pics of our adventure.  (most pictures were taken on Friday, as we had 3 river crossings and the women's pull on Saturday, so I packed the camera away in a safe place.)

This is how Grant entertained himself on the drive up to camp. . .

Unloading the car into our handcart

Our little pioneer girl

Dallin at sunset

"Hi, Pa!"

Button yo-yo

  

Our Family!

Some must push and some must pull. . .

Finding shade beneath the handcart

Walking up to Martin's Cove

Grant and our flag

Poor Grant wore out and fell asleep during our trek both Friday and Saturday.

What WE do in the Summertime

Scott surprised the kids with a slip-n-slide and pool as a last day of school gift.  It was too cold on the last day of school to use it, but we finally were able to on Memorial Day, and have nearly every day since.

Ha!  I never get tired of seeing him in goggles.  It makes me laugh everytime!

Lounging by. . . or on the pool.

We heart summer BBQ's!

Forts in the backyard

Tree swing

Trent LOVES to go on summertime wagon rides around the neighborhood!

Triathlon

Scott competed in his first Triathlon this month in St. George.  He did really well.  Scott's mom and I were close to tears several times-- just so PROUD!  He finished 10th in his age group (FANTASTIC for his first time!).  The kids, Grandma Sue and I were all there to cheer him on.  It was such a great experience.  He definitely "has the bug" now.  He's already planning to compete in another this summer.

The kids. . .waiting. . .waiting. . .waiting for Daddy to bike past.

Go DAD!!!!!

FINISHED!!!!

Dancing Queen

Before we left on our Spring Break excursion, Sierra had her Spring dance recital.  She danced to "Zipp-a-dee-doo-dah" and "I hope you dance".  Two years ago, I never would have thought she would be comfortable on stage. Wow, has she changed!  She was SUPER excited to get to dance on a real stage.  When it was her turn to dance, she went right up, looked out at the audience and smiled the whole time while she danced!  She was ADORABLE (I'm not biased, of course).  I was completely entranced, she was lovely.  Her brother, on the other hand, kept asking after each routine (14 in all) if it was over yet, to which I gently reminded him how many ball practices and games she has sat through to support him.  Due to technical and lighting issues, we don't have any great pics of her actually dancing (and I'm having troubles getting the video to upload), but here are some cute shots of her before and after the recital.

Grant surprised Sierra with flowers after her performance.  He picked them out himself (of course he picked THE BRIGHTEST ones available).  Despite what the picture portrays, he was very excited to give them to her.

On the stage after the recital

Baseball and Prophets

Grant is in Sunbeams now, and that means he gets to participate in Junior Primary!  Recently, he was given the opportunity to give his FIRST TALK in Primary.  I was excited for my little boy, but unsure of how to engage his interest in writing and giving a talk.  Now, Grant is obsessed with interested in 3 things:
1. Playing BASEBALL
2.  Talking about BASEBALL
3.  Watching BASEBALL

He wears Dallin's old baseball jerseys or some other baseball shirt nearly everyday.  It's normal for kids to have imaginary friends at this age, but he has an imaginary baseball team-- the Rangers.  He has regularly scheduled games and practices, and informs me when it is my turn to provide treats for his imaginary baseball games.  He sleeps in his baseball cap.  He is outside "practicing" even as I type this (note: it is 9am and not yet 40 degrees outside).

The topic Grant was given for his talk was "There is Safety in Following the Prophets".  I figured the best way to get him excited about this topic was to relate it to baseball.  So, throughout the week we talked about following prophets as we played baseball. We played catch and talked about how our mitts keep our hands safe-- just like how the prophet's counsel keeps us safe.  I pitched for him and talked about how his batting helmet protects his head-- just like how we'll be protected if we listen to and follow the prophet's teachings.  He ran the bases and we talked about following the rules and how the commandments are the "rules for life". When Sunday came he was excited to give his talk.  He went right up and with some help from mommy related following the prophets to baseball.  It was cute.  Here is his talk:

I like baseball. (held up a picture he had colored of a ball and bat)

I want to be safe when I play baseball, so I do 3 things:

First, I wear a batting helmet to keep my head safe. (put on his batting helmet)

Second, I wear a glove to keep my hand safe (put on his glove)

Third, I ALWAYS follow the rules.

Heavenly Father wants us to be safe too.

So, he gave us a prophet to help us.

Thomas S. Monson is our prophet (hold up a picture of Pres. Monson)

If we follow the prophet, we will always be safe from the bad things in the world.

Thanks, Grant for helping me gain a better understanding of the Gospel!

Recitals, Triathlons, Spring Break. . . OH MY!

I've attempted several times to begin another marathon post to catch up on what we've been up to, but haven't made much progress.  So, over the next several days I'll try to post mini-updates.  First things first, after our last post I'm sure some are wondering what Trent's up to (or should I say IN TO?).  It didn't take long after learning to climb our two stairs that step down into the family room for him to make it up the big stairs.  Here he is the first time he made it:

Just checking Mom is still there. . .

Whew!  He made it!  (Can he sit any closer to the EDGE!?!?!)

Busy

Trent has reached a fun stage.  Yesterday not only did his first tooth finally come through, but he also learned how to climb stairs.  He is MUCH happier now that he has some independence (ie: he can crawl wherever he wants) and is increasingly curious. . . which means trouble!

Here he is in his first successful stair climb:

Now that he is more confidant in his abilities, Trent has decided to move on to more challenging feats like:

Conquering the big stairs...

Navigating through obstacles...

Exploring rugged terrain. . .

And "organizing" the house. . .

Aren't 7 month olds great?!?! Can't wait to see what fun we'll have when he is 8 months! :)