He retired the coat

I did a post a few years ago about how much Tate is always in his coat. Indoors, outdoors, doesn't matter. He just likes to be in his coat.

With so much use, it's no natural it got pretty hammered. For whatever reason, we even sent him New York in that ratty old coat. Look at this thing. He's holding it together with duct tape.

It was probably that picture above that convinced Megan to send him a new one. 

How to make Skin Cancer

Harper is horrible at protecting her skin. She gets burned pretty frequently.

Back in July, Harper fried her back during a cheer practice.

It was bad and blistered up. But you could see it even a month afterward.

And here is a pick five months later and you can still see the burn lines.

I'm worried what this girl did to herself.

When you're really tired, but you still want to hang with your boyfriend.

And He's Back

What a great day. As Megan put on her Welcome poster, I've been 23 Month, 99 Weeks, 691 days, 16,616 hours for this day.

We had a ton of family and friends show up at the airport. Tate was a little overwhelmed. When he hugged me he said, "This is intense."

For a moment, the gang is back together and it feels great.

 

I love fall hikes

I just love hiking when the leaves change color. From Silver Lake to Deuel Creek to Mueller Park; I try to get the kids to go on as many as possible.

So many garbage cans

It really only dawned on me the other day (when I emptied them all) how many garbage cans we have in our house.

And not just the number of garbage cans in the house; but rather how many garbage cans are in the same room.

In the kitchen, there are 3 garbage cans. One next to the fridge, one under the sink and one by the computer desk; plus a recycle bin in the mud room.

Additionally, in the master bedroom. There are two garbage cans literally inches apart from each other. One by the toilet and the other under the sink. Plus Megan keeps an impromptu paper bag one behind the mirror where she preps. I once threw this away and got in trouble.

In the girls' bathroom, there are also three garbage cans. You would think this would help keep that area clean...but it doesn't.

The Final Countdown

Nearly 2 years ago, Tate, our eldest son, left on his LDS mission to New York City. 

Shortly after he left, Megan started diligently tracking how many weeks remained til he came back. 

In some ways, it's felt like an eternity, but in others, like no time at all. Either way, the countdown is nearly over. Or, as Megan, puts it, it's nearly Tate time.

One of our favorite camping spots

There is a camping spot in the Uintas that Reece, Gideon and I like. It is up past Cliff lake. We camped there last year and returned again to the same spot this year. We even camped in the exact same camping spot. To make it funner, they each brought a friend. 

It was super pretty hiking at dusk and the full moon lit up the evening.

Swimming in the lakes is becoming a tradition with us. They swam in one of the lakes last year and we did it again this year. The boys even got creative and used their sleeping pads as rafts.

Hoping to do this many more times.

 

The Meddler gets some Karma

Harper, Hudson, Hudson's friend, and I decide to go see the fall leaves. In Megan's car is a tupperware container full of a vasecline-like substance. Harper, unsurprisingly, opens the container and starts meddling with it. She plays with the goo, applies it to her lips, and offers it to everyone else, etc...

Later that night, after we get home, Harper asks Megan why she has a container of vaseline in her car. Megan replies that it's not vaseline, but her friend's medical cream for her rash. The best part is it barely phased Harper. She laughed it off.  I predict no change in her on-going behavior.

This Kid Climbed Kings Peak

Most people know I love to hike, so it's especially fun when I get to take one of my kids on an epic backpacking trip. 

I recently got to go along with Gideon and other boys and leaders from our church to climb Kings Peak, the highest peak in Utah.

It's a mult-day trip and definitely the longest hike Gideon has done with a heavy pack, so it was a challenge but Gideon did great. Gideon has a lot of grit and can power through anything if he's determined enough.  

On summit day, when we got above the timberline, we could feel the thinner air, but Gideon mustered on and was one of the first to make it to the summit.

This is my third time up to Kings Peak but this one was the best, because I got to go with my son.

A House Divided

It's become pretty clear, there is a pretty clear delineation of personalities within the family. 

We have our home-body readers and our socialites.

• Hudson and Gideon are our home-bodies. they will read in their rooms for hours on end. They don't mind being alone and seem to prefer staying at home.
• Harper and Reece are our socialites. These two are always looking for the next party. They always want someone to hang out with and don't like being alone.
• I would say Tate is our hybrid. He seems to be a mix of both. Comfortable doing either or.

I captured this picture of both Hudson and Gideon simultaneously chilling in their beds, consuming a good book. They devour books and they are always on waiting lists at the library for books they want to read. It's not uncommon for them to be in the middle of several different book series at the same time.

Interestingly enough Harper and Reece seem to really like listening to books; instead of reading them. Harper often listens to audibles via a device. Megan is constantly reading books to Reece and he badgers her all the time for more.

Keeping Tucker trimmed

Afte rour bad experience with Tucker's hair cut a couple months ago, we weren't sure what to do with his hair next. Unfortunately, his hair grows pretty quickly and he was really shaggy again right in the middle of the summer heat wave.

I decided to take a stab at cutting his hair. I had to borrow some clippers from a neighbor after it became apparent my little beard clippers were not going to cut it (get it).

It wasn't my best work. I described the style as a "stray dog" look.

Gideon and I climbed King's Peak

One of my favorite things is taking my children to fun places I've been to before. So, it was really rewarding to climb to the top of King's Peak (highest peak in Utah) with Gideon.

Kings Peak is a long hike. It's about 26 miles round trip. We did it with other young men from our church over the course of several days. 

Gideon had to carry a heavy pack. He is so skinny it was difficult to synch it tight enough around his waist. 

We camped near Dollar lake and Gideon even swam in it with me. He was the only boy that would do it.

Gideon: future male model

Harper, like me, often points out when someone resembles something or someone else. The other day, she pointed out how Gideon looks like Bridger, a popular star.

Gideon obliged with a look-a-like shot.

He is a good looking kid.

The funny thing is I acutally already did a similar post about this years ago where I thought he looked like a model in an poster ad at a hair salon.

Reece: The baby of the family

Reece turned 10 years old last month, but he will forever be the baby of our family.

And he willingly plays the part:

• He still needs assistance with his shoes and hair every Sunday morning or else he won't be ready for church on time.
• He leaves wrappers all over the house (a big pet peeve of mine).
• But the biggest thing is he rarely will get his own food when we are eating. I have to force him to get a plate and serve himself up things. More commonly, it's often easier just to dish up a plate and hand it to him. Sometimes, he will actually just sit down and start eating from a plate of a food; of some unfortunate person who got up to grab something before eating (usually me).

I think he'll always be the baby in our eyes.

Harper likes to meddle

I guess I would say Harper is a curious person. Or she has a lot of nervous energy.

From cracking other peoples' knuckles to open packages she wasn't supposed to, she likes to mess with things.

Here she is scooping out the entire tub of aquafina...just because.

Or here when we butchered into a watermelon and apple.

Or here where she cut the edge of a cereal box...with cereal still in it.