Carvin' Pumpkins

These simple traditions are oh so great. You can never grow too old to enjoy carving pumpkins.

Haulin' Hay

There is just something about hay and work and farms that is down right FUN! I can't explain it! It isn't fun to to do houseWORK, it isn't fun to do yardWORK, but it is fun to haul hay! It's fun to climb on the stack when it's done and it's fun to ride on the stack back home. I'ts even fun to see if your strong enough to throw the bale of hay where it needs to go.

We spent the day Saturday getting enough hay to last us through the winter. Bailey drove the truck for the first time. She drove, the boys rolled the bales over to the trailer, I did my best to get them on the trailer and James did a whole lot of work.

Colton

Last month we had a terrible accident happen in our family. Colton was at the farm when he was run over with a truck. He was life flighted to Primary Children's where we found out both femurs were broke. Even though it will be tough for the next couple months, he will recover just fine. It missed his growth plates and his hips. We are so thankful. He has two metal rods in both legs that start at his knees and run up to the top of each femur.

So nothing keeps him down. Jodi found him a Jazzi motor scooter and Wade was glad to go along for a ride. Keep smilin' Colton, we love you!

Red Ribbon Week

Red Ribbon Week was last week at school. My kids had a blast dressing up for all of the different days. Their favorite was Red Day. It was a contest to see who had on the most red. My kids found everything from red shoe laces to red ties to red bands for their wrists to red hair. I think they even found their red underwear. They were definitely covered in red.

Ice Blocking

Ice Blockin!

Tarzan!

Fall break + Family + Fun = TARZAN!!!

Grandma Jo took all the family to Tuachan in St. George to see Tarzan! It was the most amazing show that I have ever seen. There were apes swinging right over our heads. The actors were in the air more than they were on the stage. There were huge butterflies and acrobats. We even got to shake hands with the apes when the show was over. The kids were mezmerized the entire show.
We stayed the night and played with the cousins the next day. My kids just cry whenever we have to leave them.

Football Season!

Wade played football and soccer this year. His loved playing defense and pulling the flags off of the other team. He was quite a little player.

Bailey

So Bailey is 10 years old! How fast time flies. Bailey is such a great example of me and our family. She is so positive! She has a great attitude about life. She tries hard in everything that she does. She is friendly and smart and just plain AMAZING. I look at her every day and think how lucky that I am to have such a great daughter. I am blessed to have her!

Bailey is so talented. Everything that she tries, she succeeds in. First of all, and most importantly, she is so smart. She is top of her class. She reads on a 9th grade reading level and she loves to write. She just finished an 11 chapter novel that she wrote. She loves to read! She can memorize anything. She has the potentail to be and do anything in her life. Her dream right now is to be a vet. I remember when Bailey was little in Green River and how she knew her alphabet and their sounds before her second birthday. I remember when she turned two how she wrote the word mom and dad with magnetic letters on the fridge. She has always surprised me.

Bailey is very athletic. She played on an all-star Babe Ruth Softball team. Her team went to Regionals. She was the pitcher for her city team. She plays soccer and is the all star goalie. Her city team won first in the tournament. She loves volleyball, but her favorite sport is Basketball. Bailey is also quite a swimmer. She was on the swim team this summer. She is very good at sports.

Bailey is also musical. She is great on the piano and she has a gorgeous voice. The primary has commented on how pretty her voice is.

Bailey also loves to dance and do gymnastics. She loves doing backflips on the trampoline.

Bailey is amazing with animals. She loves horses. She loves doing the barrels, and she is the super fast at tying goats. At the last horse show, she brought home four trophies. I love to watch her show her horse and run the barrels.

Bailey is great with her brothers, and they adore her. She can make any game fun. Bailey loves the water and the boat. Bailey loves to hunt, camp, ride four wheelers, and fish (although Bailey always seems to be the first one swimming in the lake when the fishing isn't so great).

Bailey has no fear. She will jump off the tallest cliff or slide down the biggest rock. The only things that scare her are snakes and shots.

Bailey loves the color blue, Carrie Underwood, ice cream, and steak and potatoes.

Bailey's personality attracts people to her. She is fun and nice and energetic. She is a great kid and I am proud of all she does. I am especially lucky to get to be her teacher in 4th grade this year. I know she will always do her best and do great things. I love you!

Bowling

Grandpa and Grandma Huggard came down for Bailey's Birthday. They took us bowling for her birthday. We all had a good time watching the kids' expressions after they bowled. They are sure fun! I am sure Grandma Huggard won the game, but Chase will tell you that he did. We all laughed and had a great time. It was especially funny when I rolled the ball, it hit a stray pin that was laying down in the middle of the lane, and that pin shot back and I got a strike!

Bailey is 10

For Bailey's 10th Birthday, we had the Amazing Race-South Sevier. Three different teams met at our house for the starting line. James drove one team (camoflauge), I drove the Blue Peace team and Grandma Jo took the Rainbow Peace team in her car (Thanks MOM!). The teams raced throughout South Sevier looking for clues and performing challenges. They had to eat baby food, sing to the city workers, run the barrels on a stick horses, shoot baskets, carry ping pong balls on spoons, and buy things at the grocery store. We sure got a lot of crazy looks from the townspeople. The teams were very competitive! They were really racing! Even though I told the drivers to obey the speed limit, I am sure they didn't (No, James, you can't pass us on Main Street). The kids had fun, but were exhausted when we made it to the finish line. All the teams came in very close, Bailey's team won. It had Savanna, Yates, and Kaetz on it. All the kids thought it was the best party ever. We opened presents. Bailey got a lot of money, she thinks she will buy an ipod with it. We gave her a bike. It was blue, her favorite color. She made her own cake this year. It has a Amazing Race path made out of candy. It was a great day. I love you Bailey!

Pickin' Pumpkins

Part of the fun of the Pumpkin Patch in Central are the rides. We got to go on a train ride. It is really a tractor pulling a few homemade carts around. I thought it was just a little scary doing doughnuts in the middle of the main oiled road, but the kids liked it.

At the Pumpkin Patch, they had free "homemade" rides. The kids got in this thing, put on a seat belt, then they spun around and around. They said it was lots of fun. Bailey couldn't get enough. Chase was so proud of himself for being so brave. Wade did it, but wasn't sure his stomach liked it much. I was just gald that they stayed in the seat belts.

It was fun to watch the kids look at ALL the pumpkins and decide on their favorites. Wade had to find the biggest one! Bailey wanted a tall skinny one. Chase was content with any of them. We came home with a trunk full of pumpkins and a few squash.

Biking at Fish Lake

I have wanted to ride our bikes along the trails at Fish Lake for a long time, and Fall time was a great time to do it. We all rode on the trail that follows the bank of the lake. The colors of fall were amazing. We had a picnic and thankfully had all of our fun before the rain came. It was a great day.

Soccer Season!

ALL of my kids got to play soccer this year! Chase was finally old enough, and he was so excited. I coached Chase's team. They were so cute. We were just happy when the kids were kicking the ball in the right direction. Chase liked being goalie. He was also quite a player. Just like in everything he does, he sure had determined looks on his face when he kicked the ball down the field.

Wade moved on to the next division, so he was the youngest player on the team. He did very well. Wade doesn't like to play goalie or defender. He likes to be on the go, all of the time! He runs for a full hour and doesn't get tired. He is a really great player. Soccer is one of his talents.

Bailey has always loved soccer. Ever since her team won a soccer championship in Nephi, soccer has been one of her loves. She loves being goalie and she is an amzing goalie. At her age, the kids have super poweful kickers, but she stops them all. The 4th/5th graders had a tournament and she didn't let one person score during the entire tournament. We got all kinds of comments after the game about how talented she was. It was pretty exciting. I get a little nervous when there are penalty kicks right at her, but she deflects them no problem. Their team was the champions! Way to go!

Shane drew a moose tag, and nothing could have made James happier (unless of course he drew it himself). More tags drawn means more missed work, more being in the mountains, and this time more horse riding.

James has always wanted to take horses into the back country of the Uintahs. I guess he can mark that off of his bucket list. He and Shane went several miles up into the tops of the Uintah mountains. They rode to Red Castle, which is the setting of the book Return to Red Castle (one of my favorites). They saw a lot of great country, but no big bull moose. I think maybe they don't get any the first week so they have a reason to keep going back.

So while James was gone, of course I went to Emery County. I think hanging out with my mom and my sisters is the very best company around. We all have such a great bond! We went on the mountain for a picnic. Wade walked up the hill and found a perfect arrow head right off. I can't believe it. I've searched my whole life and never found one, and he seems to find one every time we go anywhere. Chase thinks Kade is his very best buddy and can't see why Kade can't come and play every day after school. Bailey loves to play with Devin, Colton, and Tylee. It was a nice weekend.