Growing (but not fast enough!)

Here are Ari's cute one-year-old photos, taken by my sister-in-law Renee about a month ago. She has grown up so fast, but not quite fast enough, according to Robbie. The other day he was very sad and I finally was able to figure out that he was basically feeling jipped because he thought Ari was supposed to grow into a "big boy," but she was still a baby! Hopefully he understood when I explained that, first of all, Ari would grow into a big GIRL and also that it will be a little while longer before she's not a baby anymore.

Back at the Ranch . . .

We spent last week at the Morrill Meadowbrook Ranch, near Capitol Reef National Park (the ranch has been in the Morrill family for almost 100 years and is shared by all the descendants). We had some great adventures!

Robbie became a "four-wheeler groupie" and hung out on and around the four wheelers as much as possible, hoping someone would give him a ride. He did get to go on lots of rides, including a few with Mommy (my first time driving a four wheeler!). Here he is with cousins Ivy and Audrey.

We took a hike to Hickman Bridge (a huge arch in Capitol Reef) with the Jeffries family and got to this "cave" just in time to wait out a big downpour. It was amazing to watch the water flow down the cliff faces and to hear the thunder echoing down the canyon.
The rain stopped long enough for us to snap a photo and get most of the way down the trail. By the time we got to the car it was pouring rain again.

Nate took Robbie on his first fishing trip at the little creek that runs through the ranch property. They caught a nice fish and Nathan ate it for dinner.Ari had a blast just playing in (and eating) the dirt!

We had one scary "adventure", too. Robbie literally came within inches of a rattlesnake, right on the front porch of the ranch house! Luckily Grandma heard the rattle and got Robbie out of the way in time. Nate quickly killed the snake and we saw that it was a baby rattler, which are particularly deadly. Needless to say, we feel Heavenly Father must have been looking out for this little boy and we are very grateful!

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Helping Dad

Just a cute picture of Robbie "helping" Daddy fix the car. I'm glad they like to do "manly" things together!

Float in a Box

Today we went to the Days of '47 Float Preview at the Expo Center. Before we went in I told Robbie that we would look at all the floats and then he could choose his favorite one to vote for. He carefully looked at each float and chose one that looked like a big purple train caboose. I filled out his ballot and didn't think anything else of it.

As we pulled into the driveway at home he said, "Is the float in a box?" It took me a while to figure out that he thought we had chosen our favorite float to bring home in a box, like we were at a "float store". I realize now that I had said "I put your vote in a box" as we left the Expo Center--he must have though I said "I put your float in a box". Needless to say, he was pretty disappointed.

Matching Cars

So, we now have matching "his and hers" cars. Awww, how cute! Nathan now has a Toyota Corolla the same color as "my" Toyota Camry. (I just want to emphasize that we did not purposely go looking for a "matching" car--I'd like to think we aren't quite that cheezy!)

It will be SO nice to be a two-car family again. I especially look forward to not being "stuck" at home all day now. Although, I have to admit, a year and a half with no car has taught me some invaluable lessons, like how half the errands I "needed" to run really weren't that important after all, how planning ahead can really reduce a lot of stress, and the beauty of just spending a simple, slow day at home with the kids. I hope I don't forget this stuff now!

Beautiful Spots

Isn't this world so beautiful? Friday morning we got up VERY early and headed down to Provo for the hot air balloon festival. It was a beautiful morning and seeing all the colorful balloons in the air was quite a sight. I've been so anxious to get up in the mountains, so on Monday night we finally took a hike to Cecret Lake in Albion Basin at Alta. In my opinion, this is one of the most beautiful spots in the world. I love the rugged glacer-carved look of the area, plus its always so green and has incredible wild flowers.

This is the first "real" hike when Robbie has had to walk the whole way, now that Ari has taken his spot in the big carrier. He did very well and I was so proud of him. He enjoyed finding big, flat "sleeping rocks" and had to test out a few. Here he is with cousin Abby.