Deer Valley

After Josh and I spent the weekend at Stein Eriksen in Deer Valley, we decided we wanted to take the kids back.  So we booked a room for the following weekend and packed up again for a few days in the mountains.  The weather was perfect and the trees were in full color for us. 

We spent most of the day outside hiking and enjoying the great fall day.  Josh had Liev in the backpack and Liev was super stoked to be tied to dad all day. 

Overlooking the valley.  Beautiful view!

This mountain behind us was amazing with color. 

We hiked up one of the ski slopes.  What a beautiful picture with the colorful trees on both sides.

We found a shady spot and settled down for a picnic.

Josh pulled out the hammocks and the kids had fun playing around.

Once again - the colors up there were amazing!

The girls thought this little teeny tree was, "so super cute!"

This looks like a painting.  Who knew that so many colors could be on one mountain at the same time?

The girls found walking sticks.  I love Rhen's stick - not really much help with walking, but whatever. 

Even though Liev didn't do much walking, he wanted one of his own too.

We hiked on a mountain bike trail and Josh taught the kids to stay on the "high side" when the bikes came up behind us.  The girls loved looking out for bikes and yelling "high side" to warn us to get off the trail.  Rease also found a wrench in the weeds and kept it tucked away safely in the back of her pants just in case. 

The view from the top of the ski slope.

We took the kids on the Alpine Slide and they had a blast!  We had to take turns since the babies couldn't ride so Josh took Rease and I had Rhen with me.  The girls thought that was the funnest thing they'd ever done. 

Waiting for dinner Josh spent some time with Baby Keen. 

Looking good baby boy!

We also spent time in the pool and hot tub, watched movies, ate lots of treats and mostly just loved hanging out together as a family.  We got up Sunday morning and went to church at one of the Park City wards before we headed home.  He had a wonderful fall getaway together!

Painted

Yes at first glance it may look like Liev got beat up. 

 But if you looks closer you'll realize that he just got into his sisters markers instead. 

 Although Liev thinks it's funny, mommy does not. 

Oak Hollow Fun Run

Rease had a fun run at school and parents and siblings were invited to run it with them if they wanted.  So I loaded the kids into the stroller and we ran with her.  It was a mile run around the neighborhood and believe me, I felt every bit of that mile!  But we had fun and loved doing it with her.  Her friend Lacee who lives just down the street caught up with us and ran with the girls to the finish line.  I've been trying to teach my kids about the importance of being healthy by eating right and also keeping active.  While we were running, Rhen kept saying, "mommy we are getting so healthy!" 

So here's to being healthy!

Wally the Worm

Our kids love creatures.  Thanks to their dad they are not afraid of bugs, worms, snakes, spiders, etc.  One Sunday afternoon they found a friend - Wally the Worm.

 Rhen was the first one to pick it up. 

 Then big sister Rease had a turn.

 Buddy boy was a little apprehensive at first.  He didn't quite know what to do once he actually had it in his hand.

 But figured out that he just had to have fun with his new friend.

After they were done playing with Wally, they found him a nice home in the dirt and left him in peace.  Not sure he survived much longer after they had their time with him.  Sorry little guy!

All wrapped up

We went to visit Papa Beutler at work one night (he works at Costco.)  While we were chatting, Rhen got herself all wrapped up in the bungee cord next to one of the aisles.  

 Don't mind her outfit of stripes, polka dots and canvas shoes - oh and her shirt is on inside out.  She dressed herself.  

Anniversary #8

Josh and I celebrated our 8th anniversary this year - where has the time gone?  Life has definitely been busy lately but we were able to take some time and celebrate just the two of us.  A friend of mine got us a room at Stein Eriksen in Deer Valley so we left the kids (yes all 4 kids!) with my sis and headed to Park City for the weekend.  The weather was perfect and the fall colors were in full bloom.

Deer Valley is beautiful and Stein Eriksen was amazing.  Not only did we get a great room but we also got massages at the spa while we were there.  It was a perfect start to our weekend.   

 

We tried a new restaurant on Main Street.  The food was okay, but we had fun eating outside and just chatting with each other.

We went up to ride the Alpine Slide but got there just as it was closing.  Instead we got some ice cream and walked around for a bit. 

  The next morning on our way back home, we drove around for a bit and couldn't get enough of the beautiful colors that were all around us.  Our anniversary usually falls on a week when fall is at its best - we love having an excuse to get away and enjoy the outdoors before the cold sets in.

Happy Anniversary to my sweet husband!  Don't know what I'd do without this man in my life!

Backwards

So what? Rhen likes wearing her clothes backwards.  I don't see the problem here. 

Rhen's dark tooth

So this is Rhen showing off her dark tooth.  You can't see it very well, but her right front tooth has turned dark.  I'm not sure when or where she bumped it, but I just started to notice that it is darkening.  I'm not surprised that it happened to Rhen - it totally just fits that she has a dark tooth!

Big Blues

I took this picture with my phone and sent it to Josh when he was in Chicago.  This is right before Keen went to bed and he was wide awake and alert.  I love those big blue eyes of his!

Canning

So it's canning season and we've caught the bug.  For the past month we have taken every free moment to can, freeze and dry food for our pantries.  We've had a blast hanging out and feeling very domestic!

It started with corn.  Jeanie called me up and said that her cousin had corn that we could go pick and have for free.  So we did and then set to work cutting it and bagging it to freeze.  Hayley and I and all the kids worked hard for a few hours and got a lot done. 

 Pickles were next.  Hayley taught Rease how to use a knife and cut off the ends of the cucumbers.  She was super excited to be able to help.

 Then we did green beans. 

 We got peaches from my aunt in Tooele and we canned them and also made peach jam. 

 And peach leather.

 Then we raided Steph's garden and got all her peppers that she wasn't using.  We also went to a local farmer's market and picked our own tomatoes.  So we made salsa.  Delicious!

 Jeanie found us a great deal on beautiful pears.  So next we worked on canning pears.  These are my kids' favorite so they were happy to see we canned a lot!

 Last thing on the list was grape juice.  Caleb's grandma gave us a lead on a friend of hers that had grapes.  So we called them up and they were more than happy to let us have their grapes.  They were beautiful grapes and made delicious juice!

I'll have to admit, we are tired of canning!  But I am so glad to have it all.  Hayley wrote down what we started with and how many jars we ended up with.  Here's the breakdown:

1 bushel of green beans - 47 pints

1/2 bushel pickling cucumbers - 20 quarts

12 dozen small ears of corn - 30 quart bags

3 bushels peaches - 30 half pints of spiced peach jam, 20 half pints of regular peach jam, 32 quarts peaches and 6 pans of fruit leather

2 1/2 bushels tomatoes - 20 quarts bottled tomatoes and 5 batches of salsa (made with 1/2 bushel of peppers)

130 lbs pears - 75 quarts

4 bushels grapes (white and purple mixed) - 48 quarts grape juice.

Tummy Time

My other babies have not really like tummy time but Keen actually seems to enjoy it.  After the funny faces and getting situated, he usually ends up falling asleep. 

I love his chubby little cheeks and arm rolls - he is so squishy!

Just eating

We had dinner outside one night at Grammie's house.  Papa brought home Subway sandwiches and we enjoyed the perfect fall weather.  Liev thought it would be better to eat with his pants off.  

Then when no one was looking, he snuck a few bites of Rhen's sandwich.  

What guys?

 It's delicious!