Flag Football

 Derrick played his first game of flag football and absolutely LOVED it! He loves playing with all those boys and having fun learning how to play the game.

1st game

1st game

Team Pictures

Cold day at Derrick's game

 This was the coldest game. I donated my coat so Derrick could be warm enough. The wind was brutal so I bundled up in the blanket with the girls and kept warm. Derrick had fun after he was warm! They happened to have team pictures on the coldest day, so both teams were in the picture. Kevin's parents came to one game and that made Derrick VERY happy.

Halloween

 This year I helped KayDee's class with their Halloween party. I had to come up with something for the kids to do for their rotation. I decided to do something that made them move so I stuffed some pumpkin leaf bags and we played games with those and I also used our pool floaters to run a relay race like trick or treating. Some groups had fun and others said they were tired. KayDee's group had so much fun they were disappointed since they didn't get enough time to throw the BIG pumpkin around.

 Derrick dressed up as a Ninja and always covered his face when I took pictures.

Samantha was a mid-evil girl and KayDee was tinkerbell with green fangs! We trick or treated in our neighborhood and were saved from walking home when Kevin picked us up on his way home from work and dropped us off at the party at the park.

Off-Roading with the Erickson's

 We were so excited to have my brother Jeff come down to go off-roading with us. Spencer was planning to come too but couldn't since his weekend was too busy. We wanted to go on the Red Mountain Trail since we had attempted it before but never finished. We drove up the first mile and were strongly disappointed by a fence with a locked gate. The attempts to keep the "wilderness" was not going over well with us.

 We had to turn around. The dog was wandering as we were deciding what to do and we called for her and she never came. We said multiple prayers and left her in the Lord's hands even if there were tears still on our cheeks. We saw two cars parked at the beginning of the trail so we put our name and phone number on a paper on the windshield and hoped they'd call us if she was with them.

 Next we needed a place to camp. QUICK!!! It was getting dark. We drove a few miles down the road and found another FENCE! So we decided to go by Sand Cove near our house since we knew there were no fences. We cooked in the dark, set up camp in the dark and hoped we could do some off-roading in the morning.

 Camp was cleaned up and we decided to take Jeff and his three kids (Ryan, Becca and Sam) on the Bowl Hike since it was just right there. The kids did great and were glad for some adventure but I think the men were ready to have some 4x4 adventure.

 We went back to our house, made lunch and set off to the road behind the Reservoir. Here we had some really nice rocks to climb! We got some good video too if I can figure out how to put it on here. The kids cheered and had to examine the rocks after each obstacle.

Jeff and his kids left late afternoon with some adventure. We were so happy they came. I don't think my kids will stop repeating all the funny jokes told at the campfire. I was pleased to have Ryan run up to me at the next gathering to make sure he gave me a hug. I would love to spend more time like this with our families.
I know you are all wondering about the dog. Well we got home and we had 3 messages on our machine telling us that she was found by a group of scouts, she spent the night with them and they had a great time. We had to pick her up at the scout leader's brother's house. There was a prayer of gratitude said as we drove to get her.

2011 Family Picture

Valley of Fire

  We kept passing the signs that said Valley of Fire along the freeway and kept saying we wanted to go see what it was. We had never met anyone who had been to the Valley of Fire and only had the information that was on the web. Fall break came and it was settled, we packed and left for 2 nights at the Valley of Fire. 

First we had to find a camping spot. We drove around looking for a large tent pad and couldn't find one big enough for our tent. We found 3 walk in camp sites that were bigger and the one in the very back convinced us that we should camp there.

Tarantula

We noticed that many of the park visitors did not have children so being in the back corner would allow our children room to make noise and the amazing rocks to climb on made our kids extremely happy. We enjoyed our camp site for the rest of the day and slept under a FULL moon. The tent did not have the rain fly on so we could see the stars and the moon was so bright it was actually hard to sleep but we didn't see a need to complain since it was sooo BEAUTIFUL!

The next day we went to the visitor center so we would know what our options would be for the day. The chipmunks were entertaining and the kids were already convinced that the rocks were good enough to climb on.

 We hiked White Dome where we ran into a large bus of Italians toward the end of the loop.

This is where we started and took the most pictures since we were so fresh.
The rocks were all different colors and sizes and we were able to crawl through many of them. My favorite picture is the one that looks like waves.

Then we went to Rainbow Vista where we saw 7 big horn sheep (Kevin's favorite).
Mouse Tank was fun since we continued to run into a Swiss couple (David and Andrea) on vacation. We stopped and talked to them and thoroughly enjoyed David's description of people from different countries (one including how loud Italians are and another of how American women smell of coconut sunscreen).
We learned that Mouse Tank is named after an Indian who was a nuisance to the settlers and they nicknamed him mouse since he would steal and bother them and hide in these rocks.

We decided to go to the Lost City Museum in Overton for the afternoon since it was getting HOT.
When we got back to camp we saw that David and Andrea were in the same campground and we invited them for dinner. We made Navajo tacos and enjoyed playing games, Uno and Pass the Pig, and the kids tried to tell some jokes.

1930s Valley of Fire visitor housing

Our last morning we saw the Atlatl Rock and Petroglyphs. The visitor housing was interesting too.
Then we saw the Petrified Logs. It is random to have 3 logs in the middle of sage brush and rocks...
We also saw the Elephant Rock and we ran into David and Andrea again. We parted there as we drove home and they went to Zion.

School Carnival

The kids school has a carnival every year to help raise money for supplies and to fund programs for the school. The kids had fun in all the bounce houses and Samantha enjoyed the gladiator one. I tried to stand in line for the Water Walkers (you can see it in Samantha's picture) but the line really didn't move for the 45 minutes that I stood there. Kevin got in line for these bumper boats and the kids were able to do them before the carnival ended. We had a great time and love that our school tries to get the best stuff for our kids!

Picture Day

Derrick 2nd Grade

KayDee Kindergarten

Samantha 4th Grade

The night before we prepared so we wouldn't have so much to do. I put foam curlers in KayDee's hair so it would hold curl. I doused Samantha's hair with gel so we could get successful curls in the morning. I gave Derrick a hair cut so we wouldn't have to work too hard to make his hair look great. We picked out clothes for them to wear and set them out. Morning came and the kids got ready with lots of ease and my bathroom was more full than normal, including the counter. We managed to get Derrick's hair to spike with gel, hair spray and blow drying. Samantha's hair curled perfectly and we found a clip to match. KayDee's curls were more tight than expected but a cute hair band makes her look adorable. I was hoping those curls would relax a little for the school picture but they never did. We had 10 minutes before the bus came and so we went to the yard to take pictures so I don't have to buy them from the school.
I arrived at the school to help teachers and the photographers needed help so I helped in the afternoon and received a free package for KayDee. That makes me happy since I like the kids to have at least one picture taken from the school. I think it is exceptional when things work out that way.

Hunting at Boulder

We went hunting up Boulder Mountain over Labor Day weekend. Kevin took each of the kids with him each time he went out so they all had one on one with Grandpa and Dad. Kevin's parents were there and some friends to scope out the elk for the rifle season.

Derrick and Samantha each went early in the morning (notice there are no pictures from 6 am) and went on horses. KayDee went in the evening and they went on the 4-wheeler.

Samantha's ride ended up being more exciting than she wanted. The horse shifted and she fell off and then later it reared up as it was avoid climbing over fallen trees. Although she was skeptical that she'd ever be smiling about that situation, the next day she was happy she had a story to tell her teacher and friends at school.

I have to note that I had a great time camping in our tent and cooking on the fire. I bought some cast iron pans and used our dutch oven to cook straight on the fire. Eggs and bacon, lasanga, pancakes, hot chocolate... Kevin would get back to camp and ask expectantly about what I had cooked and if there were left overs for him. That's exactly how I like it!

 

Motorcycle DUDE!

There he is. All decked out in his leather ready to ride to work. He's looks pretty smokin!

First Day of School 2011

 Samantha and Derrick started their 4th and 2nd grade year. They are super excited to start a new year. We gathered their supply list for each of their classes and tried on new shoes. I wonder if they are mostly excited to get new books every night from the school library or see their friends at school.

KayDee started her first day of kindergarten a week after the older kids. Kindergartners have to be tested the first week of school. Clearly, she was very excited and has enjoyed riding the bus!

Hunting at Beaver

I joined Kevin for a couple days hunting on Beaver Mountain. I called Kevin's mom and she was happy to take the kids for the night. Kevin and I had a great time and we really enjoyed being together as just a couple. It's not often we get to spend time without the kids for a longer period of time. We are grateful for the opportunity and for Kevin's parents who watched our kids even though they weren't exactly angels.

Vaughn Erickson Family Reunion

We joined most of my siblings and my parents at East Canyon for the Erickson family reunion. This year my parents splurged and got shirts for everyone with a special message on the back. We had fun swimming, mini golfing, and figured out we like tennis but need to build some skill.
It was fun to be with everyone who came. Each family came in and out as they had time over the 3 days. Cousins were pleased to be together and enjoy the end of the summer. We had a very fun trip and are grateful my parents decided to have a big get together.

"The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but to those that endure to the end..."

Rusty and Rosy

KayDee finished the Rusty and Rosy preschool program from Waterford Institute. She enjoyed learning to read with their online program she did 15 minutes a day, 5 days a week. She can read sight words and knows all the letter sounds, so she can sound out simple words. We are proud of her and are excited for her to start kindergarten!

The Little Mermaid

 We went to The Little Mermaid at Tuacahn with the girls in Kevin's family. It was done really well and we all had fun. They were so creative with the water fountains and flooding and using skater shoes to glide across the stage like they were swimming.

Clearly, King Triton fit his part well. The girls were a little intimidated to stand next to him. And the picture with Ariel and Eric turned out better than we thought. Roni, my sister-in-law took it and caught the beginning of the moment of KayDee getting stepped on and everyone turned to look down to see if she was okay. Nice timing Roni!

Back and Forth

 Samantha took some pictures of us while were were at home between crops. We have been back and forth to the farm as Kevin has been needed.

 Kevin called me while he was sitting in a tractor and told me to look outside and this is what I saw. It is beautiful! This is looking out from Travis and Bree's house.

 Daddy Daughters

Sunday braids.

Going to church.