Fun with Grammie and Papa

Cooper (and me and Nate!) had so much fun visiting his Grammie and Papa.  He was able to spend a lot of time with them, since we stayed at their house.  Grammie read stories to Coop.  Papa let Coop tag along a lot in the yard.  Cooper has talked about how he went to the pet store with Papa and Cassady to get fish for Papa's pond.  There were lots of tender moments with his grandparents.

One memorable afternoon was spent at the park with Cooper's cousins and Grammie.

Cooper, Grammie and Calvin

Go Cal, go!

Jaisie had just as much fun as the boys.

Coop found lots of "big boy" stuff to do at this park.

Cooper's most favorite thing he did with Papa was drive Papa's backhoe loader.  It was so cute to see my Dad with two little blonde grandsons on his lap, driving the backhoe.

The BEST part was that Papa let him actually steer the backhoe when they were driving.  Here's a little video I took (bad quality because it was zoomed in).  Cooper has watched this video over and over, and has a big cheesy grin every time.

Cooper's First Camping Trip and Cascade Springs

For two people who like camping, I'm not sure how our child made it to almost three years old without ever going camping.  Being in Utah where the mountains are close, cool, less buggy, and such, we decided to take Cooper on an overnight trip to Granite Flats in American Fork Canyon.  The campgrounds there are beautiful, and we always stay in the same spot where we don't have many neighbors, and on this trip didn't have any.  It was so nice!

After a quick 45 minute drive from my parents' house, we were at the campsite.  Grandpa came with us, and we had the fun of setting up all the tents.  Then it was time for a rest.

 Cooper and Daddy, who were great camping buddies, going off to see the river and go on small hikes.

 I was just happy to be in the mountains again.

 We had a nice visit with my Dad for a bit.

 Coop got right to work with his tractors, especially the big Case backhoe loader and skidsteer from Grandpa!

 Soon Chelsey and Cassady joined us.  Chelsey had one bag of clothes for the week, and since we were going to our cousin's wedding reception the next night, she had heels in her bag.  I had to take a picture just to razz her for bringing heels camping.

 Tyler spent the night with us too!

Papa and Grammie stayed with us for dinner and roasting marshmallows, and then had to go on home, but we were sure glad to have them with us for a bit. 

 Cooper had fun roasting marshmallows and making smores.

 The next day we drove up the Alpine Loop over the mountain to Cascade Springs.  After being away from the summer Utah mountains for a few years, I couldn't get over the views like this one of Mt. Timpanogos.

 Cascade Springs was hot, but we mustered some fun out of it.  Cassady was a good sport helping with upset Cooper.

 The pictures never do this place justice.  The natural springs create beautiful little ponds full of rainbow trout, and waterfalls, and you'd never guess it because much of the area is surrounded by sagebrush and dry landscape.  It's one of my favorite places in Utah, always worth a visit.

Cooper, Tyler (cousin-9), Chelsey (Aunt-21) and Casasdy (Aunt-19)

 Cooper and Mommy enjoying some shade

 Tyler, Chelsey, Chrystal and Cooper

 Cooper and Mommy

Some of the "trailway" at Cascade Springs is boardwalks over the water.  On our way out Cooper wasn't looking where he was walking, and walked right off the boardwalk and fell.  Thank goodness the drop off was only about two feet, and he landed on a side with no water.  He did land in a rosebush, and hit his head on a log.  I was walking a few steps behind him, and just couldn't reach him fast enough as I saw him start to go off.  It was awful, and he got a nice little bump on his head from it.  Thank goodness he recovered within a few minutes, and we were able to have a picnic lunch.  Nathan was gone fishing down the road, and missed all the excitement.  

American Fork Steel Days 2012

Our first week in Utah, we got to celebrate American Fork Steel Days.  Many small towns in Utah celebrate the town's heritage with various festivities over the course of a week in the summer.  Many early citizens of American Fork worked for the local steel company, Geneva Steel, and that is where Steel Days gets its name.  The neighboring cities of Pleasant Grove celebrate with Strawberry Days, and Lehi with Pioneer Days.  You get the point.

Our first fun Steel Days activity was "Picnic in the Park."  I've never had the chance to take my own child, so this was a special treat for me.  One of the parks is full of games and activities for children, all for FREE!  Our first thing was to go on the big bouncy slide.  Cooper and his cousin, Calvin, are EXPERT at climbing and sliding.  We took several trips to the bounce house place while in Utah, sadly no pictures of those--we were having too much fun climbing and bouncing!

Next was the Chick-Fil-A cow train.  Woohoo!!

Calvin and Cooper did NOT want to get off because it was so much fun.

They boys got to go fishing for a prize at the fishing booth.  They both won blowup swords.

Jaisie was along for the ride.

Our family has the cutest little 1-yr olds!  Look at those eyes!

Tyler had fun with us, and wanted a picture of his blue tongue that matched his blue shirt.

The boys all tested their strength, trying to ring the bell.

Aunt Chelsey and Uncle Stettsen were there too, since they were babysitting Tyler for the week.

Tickles!!

Our next Steel Days activity was the parade on Main Street.  Cooper and Calvin (prize sword in hand) were excited for the parade, if not for getting their picture taken.

Jaisie didn't want to sit, but wanted to get down and play!

The parade didn't disappoint!  There were lots of floats, town royalties (or "pretty pretty girls" as Coop calls them), police motorcycles, the AFHS marching band, lots of dancers, and all sorts of things like candy, t-shirts, gift certificates, and stuff thrown to the audience.  Cooper's favorite thing was this vintage firetruck driven by the AF volunteer firefighters.

Our last Steel Days celebration was the fireworks after the concert.  We opted out of the concert, and stuck to our old tradition of blankets on the high school lawn, waiting for the fireworks.  Cooper was excited that the Mt. Timpanogos Temple could be seen from where we were sitting, and wanted his picture with it.

Cooper and Daddy

Mommy and Cooper

Calvin wielding awesome night stick from his Dad

Cooper and Calvin with their glow sticks.  AWESOME!

Me and Cassady, who was lonely for her fiance, George

Jason and Camyll

Jaisie

Chelsey and Stettsen

Grandpa and Grandma

We had lots of fun waiting for the fireworks to start, but nothing was better to Cooper than the fort Auntie Camyll made for them!!

The fireworks show was AMAZING and lasted nearly a half hour (picture is crummy, though).  Cooper was not afraid at all, and really enjoyed the night, as did Nathan and I.  Such a great way to spend a Saturday night in the summer!

Ginormous Slip-n'-Slide Birthday!

The day we arrived in Utah was my sister's birthday.  "Auntie Tuhmill" (as Cooper calls her), the birthday girl, threw herself a birthday bash at the park.  We had a great time visiting and eating.

The BEST part though was the giant hillside slip'n'slide.  The magnitude of the slide is lost in these pictures.  The sliders picked up a lot of speed on the way down!

 Most of the adults opted out of going for a slide, since the evening was pretty chilly, and the water was COLD, but that didn't stop the kids!

Calvin had a great time, and went so fast he slid right off onto the grass.

 Coop always preferred going on his belly.

  Alex was downright dangerous.

 Tyler was quick on his feet.

 And not to be outdone, but birthday girl herself went for a slide.

It was a great party.  But Camyll, we gotta do it again when it's warmer so Nate and I can give it a try!  Slip'n'Slide 2013 anyone???

Happy Birthday Camyll!!

So Thankful

After visiting family in Utah for three weeks, we are home again, and it feels great.  Never in my adult life of living far from home have I ever felt "ready" to return to my own house, but this time was a long enough span of time, that I could actually say I was ready.  It was an amazing opportunity, since I'm not working, Nate can work remotely, and my Dad generously gave us Skymiles for free airline tickets, that we were able to spend three jam-packed weeks of fun with our family in Utah.  A BIG, BIG, BIG thank you to my parents for letting us stay in your house and use your cars so that the trip cost us practically nothing.  We LOVED being with family that we only get to see a few times a year.

Before I start uploading pictures of our trip and blogging about the fun we had, I wanted to take a moment to reflect.  Today as I've been unpacking, cleaning, and grocery shopping, I've had an overwhelming sense of gratitude for how blessed we are.  Putting away our clothes from the trip into closets already full of clothes, stocking our fridge (which was TOTALLY empty except for a few condiments), adding to our food pantry, bathing in our big shower, and cleaning our house had an affect on me like never before.  I take so many things for granted, including the blessing of being able to have more than sufficient for my needs, and to have many things I also just want.

It's funny that coming home to our house, I look around, and for the first time since moving here, feel like our house is beautiful, that acquiring more "things" seems like a frivolous waste.  It's funny how as humans we can easily become preoccupied with the gathering and acquiring of material things.  While I've never considered myself very materialistic, in the sense that name-brands or high-priced items mean little to me if you can find something good quality for less money, I suddenly felt very materialistic today being surrounded by so many things that are MINE.

On the flip side, I also feel so blessed in non-material ways.  Visiting the home and town I grew up in gave me the opportunity to reflect on all those who contributed to making me who I am today.  It was a special experience to get to attend church on Fast Sunday in the ward I grew up in from 10 yrs to 26 yrs old when I got married.  [For those who don't know about our church, Fast Sunday is the first Sunday of each month when all the members 8 yrs old+ have the choice to go without food for two consecutive meals, to donate the money from those missed meals to those less fortunate, and to take the opportunity to pray and focus more on your soul/spirit, rather than your physical body.  Also on that Sunday, instead of having a few congregation members speak on specific/assigned gospel topics, the Sunday meeting is an opportunity for congregation members to spontaneously bear testimony to each other about gospel-related feelings and experiences.]  Seeing ward members I've known for 16 years bear testimony about our Savior, prayer, eternal families, and such things, caused my heart to swell with love for those people.  Many of them had donated their time to various church assignments while I was a youth.  I have such fond memories of Girls Camps, Young Women leaders who spent time with me setting Personal Progress goals and helping me achieve those goals, and also even of Primary teachers and leaders.  Then as an adult when I lived at home, I was able to also serve and teach in the Primary to the small children.

I have so many memories of growing up in American Fork.  Nathan gets to hear about it all every time we visit, but being home in the summertime instead of at Christmas, stirred up some memories I hadn't thought about in a long time.  Some of the places have changed quite a bit, but some remain unchanged.  Anyway, being able to reflect on my childhood and upbringing, about my immediate and extended families in Utah, and about the "village" that helped raise me and provided me with such a beautiful childhood to look back on and remember, I feel so blessed and thankful.  Knowing as an adult how hard it can be to provide such an environment to your child, and how much work it is to create those kinds of memories, and how many kids don't have the blessed life I did growing up, I guess now I appreciate it more than I used to.

Lots to be thankful for today, and thinking about this all day just made my first day back home in NC even more wonderful.