eArLy CeLeBrAtIoN

Now this is a handsome boy! And WOW, he is turning 10 this week!!! We had a birthday party for Owen this evening. With football going on now, we decided to have the party this weekend because next weekend the boys start their games. And we had a great evening. Thanks to all our family who came (and those that couldn't make it thanks to you also) for your love that you all show my kids and Clark and I too. We are very blessed to live around all our family. My kids would be so sad without their cousins to play with so often. We had a Stewart Family Original party. Complete with swimming and roasting hot dogs. Easy and fun!!

Owen didn't want a cake this year. His favorite treat is "dirt cups" and that is what he wanted for his birthday dessert.

Facing the future

As I have watched my boys grow over the years, I tried to deny the fact that they were "large". I ignored the comments about their size and people saying wow what great football players they will be. I didn't let Owen play his first year, just because I didn't want him to play...ever. Well, I lost that battle. And now Owen is in his third year, and Davis is beginning this year. And I do have to admit I love it!! They are SO fun to watch, and they are great football players.




I do enjoy watching my boys play football, but I still find it very funny how the coaches cheer the players on when tackling. They all huddle around and just watch intently. I look at these pictures and I can just hear the coaches cheering the boys on to just "sack him". I heard Davis' coach tonight say hit them hard and when they fall jump on them. Whew, not quite what a mom wants to hear, but as I have been told it is football!


Poor Ally, she is the cutest team manager out there though!!

Bike ride/Hike

It happens every year. At the beginning of the summer, my kids and I talk about all these things we want to do for the summer and it seems as if we have all the time in the world. But once again we are scrambling to get stuff done. I got a bike at the beginning of the summer and the kids and I started scoping out bike trails. I thought it would be so fun to go for rides with the kids. And it is, rides around the neighborhood on nice level ground that is. Oh my gosh, I am out of shape, my kids kicked my can today as we finally made it to a trail in Riverdale. We will definitely be going back in the fall. My favorite time of year to go hiking. There were a ton of trails off the main trail to go hiking on and they will be beautiful when the leaves change colors. I am so excited for that time of year!

I'm broke

Oigh! We went "Back to School" shopping today and Friday last week. I had to break it up into two days, because it is a chore. A very expensive chore. I used to do this without my kids. I tried again this year, because lets face it, it is just easier. But I came home and nothing fit. It was all too small. I don't want to admit that my 9 year old son wears a size 9 1/2 shoe. Oh my gosh, when did my kids grow up?!? So I gave up trying to do it myself and off we went to the mall. Me and my boys have different taste, but they enjoyed doing their shopping and we were able to compromise on most items. My boys will be looking quite handsome on the first day of school!

No markers allowed!

I went shopping for school supplies this morning and picked up a couple boxes of markers. I threw a box in Ally's bag along with her coloring book and we went to Krissy's house. All the kids grabbed the markers and ran downstairs. We saw the kids again a few minutes later after it was too late. I am so glad I bought the washable markers! Oh and YEAH the boys are home. Besides the cave, fishing and the train, today they visited Cove Fort. They had a fantastic time! So here are a few more pictures from their trip.

Road Trippin' with Grammy & Bahkey

Dave and Sheila took Owen, Davis, & Chris on a road trip. And my boys are having a fabulous time. I was a bit nervous today because they had no phone service, that is not a nice thing to do to a mom. But rest assured Owen called me tonight and he was so excited, so that made it all better. They traveled to Ely NV. and went to a train museum. I guess they got to go on a train ride, I will have to get more details on that later from the boys though. And after that they went to Lehmans Cave. Owen said it was cold, wet, and awesome. Dave said Davis had a pretty tight grasp on his hand going into the cave, but quickly became comfortable and friends with the ranger. Davis just has a way like that! After all that fun, they have driven to Milford. On the agenda tomorrow is a drive up the beaver mountains and fishing. I think they should have cell service all day so I am good. I know my boys love these trips, but I miss them. Ally went to bed tonight at 7:00, so it has been pretty quiet. That is so rare for me that I have no clue what to do with myself. I resort to updating my blog!


You tell me, does she look like she misses her brothers? I think she is much to busy to even think about that. Actually she has talked about "her boys" quite a bit. She says they are at grammies house.

Short explanation

We have spent the last 3 days up in Yellowstone camping. It took forever for me to pick and choose from all the pictures I took. But here is my massive post. Enjoy!

Mesa Falls

Whew we all look pretty hammered in this picture. Ok so it's just me that looks awful, this is what happens after 3 days of camping though. But man this place was awesome. We took a little detour on the way home and went to see Mesa Falls. My camera was acting up again (yes that is the story of my life). So I didn't get many pictures, good thing it happened at the end of our trip.

Yellowstone

This was one of the main places we planned to go on our trip, but it wasn't my favorite. Yes, Yellowstone is beautiful and amazing, but way crowded and a very long drive. The one thing I found cool to look at were the hot pots. Those amazed me. Old Faithful was a little bit of a let down to me. We stood around for ever to watch it explode, and I felt like "oh was that it". I guess I was expecting more. The scenery and animals were beautiful. Luckily we were not part of the party that got charged by the buffalo in Yellowstone this weekend. That would have totally soured my opinion of the place. More fun memories of our trip.

Fishing

My boys love to fish, and Mat, Andrea, Josh & Rachelle made their evening by taking them fishing for a couple of hours one evening. Thankyou so much for making my boys so happy and letting them tag along. Davis won the gold star that night. Man that kid really had the right touch that night. I will always remember the excitement in his eyes when he got back to camp. Owen didn't have such luck, but he still had a great time and enjoyed the evening. He said he had lots of bites, but they all just got away. Darn fish!

Hanging around the campground

The campground we stayed in was beautiful. It was such a nice place to stay for 3 days. Everything went well as long as we shared our space with the mosquitoes. Besides that, it was perfect. The kids had a great time riding their bikes around. There was a slight hill on the loop around the site, and that was the main attraction. They went down that hill full speed on bikes, in dumptrucks, or just running. I am shocked we didn't have more injuries. There was also a nice creek that we had fun playing in and riding down in the canoe. Thanks mom and Colin for putting together this enjoyable get away for us.