Tubing the Provo River

Filling the "RetroRocket".  Holden's tube was attached to my raft.

It was a chilly Labor Day this year, but that didn't stop us from our yearly tradition of floating down the Provo River.  The river was higher than usual so it didn't take us long to reach Vivian Park just in time for a choo-choo train to ramble by as we stood next to the track.  The boys had a great time.  Later that evening we had a barbeque in the backyard.

Wether braved the rapids in the little blue boat attached to Kjell's raft.  Cuteness personified.

Uncle Joshua and Alena.  Joshua and Marcus were river buddies.

Our group.

Berries

Holden picking a raspberry with Michael and David Sims

Holden, Thomas, Emma, Marcus

While picking berries Emma sang me a song in French and Marcus sang me a song in Chinese.

Kjell was a little ways off picking blackberries.  He was able to keep Port entertained with a steady diet of blackberries.

He likes them.

11 wipes later...all clean.  And to answer your question, no this baby rarely stops smiling.

We joined up with the Sims family for an evening of berry picking in Payson.  Kjell and Port picked blackberries, while Marcus, Holden and I filled our bowls (and bellies) with raspberries.  Wether is noticeably absent from the photos because he found a slide and sandbox he relentlessly pointed to and cried until I gave in and let him go play...even though the play area was in someone else's yard.  Kjell entertained Port by feeding him blackberries and I entertained Wether by letting him trespass....sigh.  After enjoying nature's sweet fruit and a glorious late summer evening we stopped at Carl's Jr. on the way home to eat burgers and fries and climb on the massive indoor playground.  It's a great tradition.

Thinking Inside the Box

The kids all wanted a turn to climb inside the box that Holden found.  The other morning I went in Holden's room to wake him up only to find him in the box with a blanket over the top.  He jumped out and yelled "roar". 

15 Minutes of Fame

Cover of Utah Valley Magazine

Whoever gets the most votes on Facebook gets a prize (gift certificate to a restaurant)

Can you guess who I look like?

To read the article click here:

http://uvmag.com/septoct11/26.html

Come On Irene



Mom's surveying the damage from Hurricane Irene.  She's breathing a sigh of relief that the dead tree in the background (that my dad has been wanting to cut down) did not fall on the house!  The house and boat made it through unscathed, although the same cannot be said for the stone walls.





The beach and tennis courts at Wilson Point are submerged.



More Oregon Pics

Thanks for the pictures Ruby!

Kjell and Tryg with their heads in a giant tube.  Per and Julie looking on.

Holden playing in the giant tube.

Uncle Desmond and Aunt Emma Kate playing with Port.

2 Family-sized tents outside of the house.

Kjell and Olivia crabbing at low-tide with Holden observing.

Port napped in his carseat while we crabbed.  He he is just waking up.

Per and Kjell crabbing with several little boys helping out.

Looking good Kjell!

Cousin Heidi in her backpack.

THese 3 kept good company for the crabs.

Look!  It's a crab!

Wether (2), Ansel (5), Marcus (6), Kurt (7), and Holden (4)

The T.V. wasn't on much but when it was....

Kjell spent quite a bit of his vacation with his catch.  First he caught the crabs, them cooked them, then got the meat out, then searched for the perfect crabcake recipe, then shopped for ingredients,and finally cooked the crabcakes.  Good thing they were delicious!

WW asleep with Shrek.  When he didn't want to sleep he'd say "No want to" and when we didn't listen he'd say "No thanks."  That usually worked.

Grandpa Larry with baby Port.  Port enjoyed macaroni and cheese.

Grandma Ruby rocked Port to sleep while we packed up the car.

Just the day after we departed, Bjorn returned from his mission to Denver, Colorado.  We were sad to miss him.  Here is Tryg welcoming Bjorn at the airport.

Feeling crabby?

Port turned 7 months while we were in Oregon.  He's practicing sitting up.

Off to Oregon



Marcus took a picture of me packing.



Kjell drove almost the whole way but I took a turn around 3am. 

Crabbing

Holden's favorite activity was hiking in the mountains.  Here are the boys on the trail from Ecola State Park to Indian Beach.

Photo by Marcus.

Standing in a tree.

Another photo by Marcus.

Boogie boarding at Indian Beach

Wetherill

Holden. "I'm making concrete." 

Port.

By the end of the trip Marcus was boogie boarding on his own.  He said his favorite part of the trip was riding the waves.

Kjell boogie boarding

Marcus and Kjell catching some waves.

Joshua and his girlfriend Alena after hiking Tillamook Head.

Hanging out at the beach.

On our way home we stopped at Multnomah Falls.  Port is hiding behind Kjell's head.

We’re back from our much-anticipated roadtrip to Seaside, Oregon. A few weeks ago we went to Mt. Pleasant for our ward campout and it proved to be a trial run for our 13 hour drive/5 day campout to Oregon. I won’t go into details about the campout except to say it took me all day to pack and unpack to be there for 12 hours including driving home with Wetherill at 5am! After the campout our expectations were low but our trip to Oregon was definitely a success! Only Kjell and Marcus ended up sleeping in our tent and it was clear skies all but one night (great odds for Seaside). My only regret was that I did not take nearly enough pictures. I only got my camera out a few times and Grandma and Grandpa didn’t even make the cut! I’ll do better next year. I expect to add quite a few more pictures once I receive copies from Ruby and Julie, who hopefully did better than me. Here’s a quick synopsis of our trip:


Thursday, August 11: We departed at 6 pm and drove through the night. Kjell did the bulk of the driving and the children behaved very well.

Friday, August 12: We arrived in Seaside around 6:15 in the morning. It was cold! We unpacked the car and played with the kids until around 10 am when we all took naps. Uncle Tryg watched Port for me so I could sleep. In the afternoon the boys went for a ride on the tractor and we headed to the cove with the kids for some boogie boarding.

Saturday, August 13: We went crabbing in the morning, which was great fun! Marcus was very excited to ride in Grandpa Larry's triuck.  The kids ran around the beach while Kjell, Joshua, Tryg and I searched for large male crabs. We caught 3. I went to a few garage sales with the kids afterward while Kjell, Tryg, and Joshua crabbed some more. Per and Julie arrived on Saturday with the kids. After lunch we headed to Ecola State Park where the cousins ran around and we walked out to the viewpoint and then we headed down to the beach. Since it was a short walk, I grabbed the wetsuits and boogie boards only to discover that the path was so steep that a rope was needed to descend to the beach. Julie, Kjell, and I had kids on our back making the descent even more treacherous. We made it and swam in the ocean for a while before beginning the equally difficult ascent. Live and learn. That evening Ruby prepared a huge meal for everyone including Aunt Emma-Kate, Uncle Keith, cousin Desmond and Uncle Carl. It was a full house!

Sunday, August 14: Our family was ready for church at 8 am giving us 2 hours for family photos by Julie. After church we ate lunch and rested followed by a hike on a logging trail near the house. Julie took more photos of us at the top of the mountain. Once again, Ruby prepared a feast for dinner. Marcus really wanted to sleep in the tent with his cousins but we finally compromised and invited Ansel to sleep in Marcus’ tent. When Kjell checked on them they were trying to sleep on the same cot. Earlier, Julie overheard their conversation about how they were going to visit each other and Ansel was going to show Marcus his room. These 2 really bonded on the trip.
Monday, August 15: Crabbing was so fun the first time, we went again. This time we brought sand toys and the boys had their cousins to play with (although Holden was teasing Lars). Ruby joined us as well and took pictures. Our family went into Seaside after crabbing where we shared an Elephant Ear and went on a mini-train ride. We bid adieu to the Washington McCords that afternoon. Tryg and I went on a hike from Ecola State Park to Indian Beach with Marcus, Holden, and Port. Wether stayed with Daddy and they went to the store together and made crab cakes.  That evening we played "Battle of the Sexes".  Ruby, Alena and I beat Kjell, Joshua, Uncle Lance, and Larry...barely.

Tuesday, August 16: Kjell was regretting not going on the gorgeous hike with us the day before, so he went on the hike with the same kids while Wether and I went to the beach. They joined us at the beach where we spent a few hours playing in the sand and in the ocean. It was a gorgeous day. After returning home, Kjell made crab cakes while I bathed the kids and began packing all of our stuff. Ruby rocked Port to sleep. We departed around 4pm with Joshua catching a ride back to Utah with us. We stopped briefly at Multnomah Falls before our long drive home.

Many thanks to Larry and Ruby for hosting us and for all of the cousins, uncles, aunts, brothers, etc. who helped us with the kiddos!  Ruby prepared almost every meal for us and was there for our every need.  Thanks to Julie for not 1 but 2 photo shoots.  We can't wait to see the results.