Dinosaur Museum

One place that my nephew, Mason, had to go to was the Museum of Ancient Life (Dinosaur Museum) at Thanksgiving Point. My boys were happy to escort him there. We happened to go during the Museum's 10th birthday celebration.

As we entered the Lobby we saw several activities for the kids. The first place we stopped was the table with dinosaur bones. I think the boys could have stayed there the whole time. They were able to touch the bones and ask the assistant Paleontologist questions.

While the boys were checking out the bones Austin headed for another activity. He tried his hand at the Bolo Toss. A Bolo is a short rope with a ball secured to either end. It was funny to watch him. Nana showed Austin how to throw the Bolo and then Austin had a turn. At his turn he ran right up to the ladder (at the other end of the room) and threw his Bolo down. He got very excited each time he tried. It was really cute.

When the other boys (all except Mason) noticed what Austin was doing they decided to give a try. The boys had a lot of fun.

One of the reasons Mason wanted to come to the Museum was because of an visit he had when he was younger. Mason really liked watching the Paleontologists work on the dinosaur bones through the big window in the museum. The head Paleontologist noticed Mason and asked him if he would like to come inside. Mason was so excited - what kid wouldn't be! Before he left the Paleontologist gave Mason a fossil.

Mason brought his fossil on this trip. We inquired whether the same Paleontologist still worked there and found out that he still did. We were able to visit with him as we entered the museum. It was so fun to see Mason (and his Dad!) so excited to visit with the Paleontologist again (sorry I can't remember his name).

While Mason was talking to the Paleontologist Devon was getting excited about everything he was seeing. He kept asking me to take his picture by different bones.

The Museum has a wonderful collection of mounted dinosaurs. In fact they say it is the world's largest display.

They also have several interactive stations. One of the first stations we came to was the Erosion Table. The boys had a lot of fun making dams out of sand and playing with the toy dinosaurs.

We had to stop and take pictures with this good looking dinosaur. Austin was pretty excited to get out of his stroller and climb all over the dinosaur. He wasn't very happy when all of the other boys wanted to get on the dinosaur as well. He wasn't too keen on giving up his spot!

By the end of the museum the boys were getting a little restless - especially Austin. It looked the shark was the last exhibit, so I called all the boys over to get a quick picture. Not a smart move with tired hungry boys. Devon wasn't happy at all (he's sulking in the picture). So instead of the normal picture I told them all to act scared. That pretty much did the trick, the only one we didn't get was Devon. Oh well, it is still a cute picture. I love Tanner's face!

After the picture Austin was letting me know that he was done so I told Chad I would see him in the lobby. I took Austin and went out the door that said "Exit". When I got through the door I saw that we were in another exhibit. I immediately thought I would just go through it, but then I noticed that it was the Fossil Dig. I had a feeling that Austin would settle down if I let him out of the stroller to walk through the sand - I know smart huh! Austin loved it. I gave him the paintbrush and he went to work. Shortly after his brothers entered the exhibit. They were equally as excited to find some fossils.

We had a lot of fun at the Museum. It was a little tiring for the adults, but the kids loved it! It was fun to see the boys having so much fun.

Stewart Falls

One activity Chad and I were looking forward to was hiking to Stewart Falls. Chad and I hiked there when we were newly married and we loved it! We knew the boys would also love it.

Stewart Falls is nestled in the mountains behind the Sundance Resort. It was a beautiful day for hiking. The weather was perfect. The scenery was breathtaking. As soon as I got on the trail I took a deep breath of the fresh mountain air. It sent my senses soaring! I loved it. It was like coming home. I decided that if I ever take one of those survey's that asks you what your favorite smell is, I will definitely write mountain air! It wasn't just the air though, it was the whole picture. It was the mountains, the trees, the quiet reverence. I have always loved being in the mountains. I love how quiet it is. There is no city noise, just the soft whisper of the wind blowing across the leaves. This is where heaven meets the earth. There is a reason why mountains were often Temples.

As we walked down the path I found myself wanting to take a picture of everything I saw. I know that isn't unusual for me, but it was fun trying to capture what my eyes were beholding.

It was also fun to watch the boys hike along the trail. Trevor, Kaden, and Zach were at the front of the pack racing ahead. Tanner and Devon were in the middle hanging out with Nana, Papa, Mason and Uncle Aaron. Austin was on Chad's back taking it all in. I, of course, was in the back lagging behind because I kept stopping to take pictures. The boys had a fun time hiking the trail. The hike was estimated at 2 miles to the falls. I didn't hear any complaining from the boys. We were all anxious to get to the falls. As we got closer we could hear the water and that helped move us along a bit quicker.

Water break!

Devon was Papa's little buddy

What a beautiful sight the falls were!

We stopped at the lookout point to take a quick picture and then headed down the final part of the trail to the base of the waterfall.

We crossed the water and found a spot to stop and eat lunch. The boys quickly had a bite to eat and then they were off checking out the waterfall. The water was bitter cold, but that didn't stop the older boys. Devon and Austin were content to stay at the water's edge.

One of the cool things about Stewart Falls is that you can go behind the waterfall. Before we left we told the boys about how we had gone behind the waterfall when we first went to the falls. Not to be outdone Trevor, Tanner and Kaden all ran behind the waterfall.

Trevor was first, he has no fear! He was so quick to go through that I didn't have time to take a picture of him, so I told him to go back through. What a trooper - he went back through even though it took his breathe away!

Tanner was next to go through. He loved it!

Then Kaden ran through and came out laughing!

After the boys were all wet we ventured out into the middle of the water for a family picture. Thanks Dad for wading out with us to take the shot! After that I got to take my parents picture. Aren't they cute! They don't like this picture, but I think it is great so I am posting it. Sorry Mom and Dad.

We all had a lot of fun at the waterfall, but sadly we had to pack up and go back home. We all took one last look at Stewart Falls and then we headed back up the trail. Funny how the trail didn't seem quite as long on the way back as it did earlier in the day! We all enjoyed taking in the scenery once again. I loved the Aspen trees sitting amongst the ferns.

We mentioned to the boys that they might want to pick a rock to take home for their rock collections. Chad told them (jokingly) to fill up their pockets. Kaden took Chad at his word and filled his pockets. He said they were heavy, but he was determined to make it back to the car with all of the rocks. Later we found that Kaden had a bruise where the rocks kept hitting his leg. Kaden didn't complain though, he was just excited to have so many rocks!

Austin was so good all day. He never complained about being in the backpack carrier. I think he had the best seat in the house! When we stopped to take a drink near the end of the trail, we noticed that Austin had fallen asleep. How cute is that!!

When we made it to the car we were all covered in dirt, but it was worth every minute. It was a great way to spend the day. All of the kids were happy and so were we. These are the things memories are made of!

As we drove home I was again taking pictures. Every where I looked was worthy of a picture. We were on a windy mountain road though, and sadly many of my pictures didn't turn out, but one of the last pictures did. Some of you may think it didn't quite turn out, but I love the motion in the picture. To me it shows the beauty of our drive home after a wonderful day at the falls.

Tibble Fork

I have never liked to fish.  I have always believed that a line being towed behind a boat should only be used for waterskiing.  As a result, I have only taken the boys fishing once or twice.  The last time that any of us went fishing was on our 2008 Easter trip to Tennessee.  You may remember this trip as the trip when Trevor almost drowned and Tanner chipped his front tooth; however, we did catch several small blue gill on that trip and the boys will never forget the way that the fish that we thought were dead began moving again once we started cooking them over an open flame.

One of the things that the boys were anticipating before we left for Utah was going fishing with Papa.  While I don't love to fish, I do love spending time with my boys even if it means doing things that are not at the top of my list.  We were all up very late the night before we were to go fishing, so the 5:30 a.m. wake up call was rough.  We were finally able to wake most of the boys up, but Devon would not wake up.  First I tried to wake him up, then Brooke gave it a try, but neither of us had any success waking him up, so I gathered the other boys and left Devon behind with Brooke.

We drove up to Tibble Fork Reservoir, which is up in American Fork Canyon no more than twenty minutes from Nana and Papa's home.  We got off to a bit of a slow start due the cold morning air, but as soon as the sun came over the mountains, our luck changed and the fish started to bite.  We caught a few rainbow trout, which the boys (especially Zach) were disappointed to have to throw back into the water.  It was fun to watch how excited everyone would get when one of the lines began to move and almost everyone was able to catch a fish.

The slopes leading down to the bank of the reservoir are riddled with ground squirrel tunnels.  They were pretty quiet when we first arrived, but as soon as the warmth of the sun's rays began to peak over the mountains, the ground squirrels sprung into action.  They searched for and fought over what little food they could find nearby.  One particularly enterprising squirrel managed to successfully carry a watermelon rind all the way up the slope to the mouth of his tunnel only to find that it wouldn't fit through the tunnel's opening.

We were only at the reservoir for a few hours, but we all felt like the trip was a success . . . all of us, except Devon.  Devon eventually woke up that morning and when he did, he realized that he had been left behind.  He was very upset!  Brooke tried to call me while we were up at Tibble Fork, but my phone didn't have reception that far up in the canyon, so she was unable to reach me.  He was still upset when we got back, so we assured him that we would go fishing another day.

Of course, we stayed up way too late every night during our trip, but we stayed up particularly late on Thursday night.  Apparently Aaron and Zach had quietly decided to go fishing again on Friday morning, so Zach woke up early and quietly got ready to go fishing with his dad.  Ironically, Devon, who could not wake himself up on Thursday when I was prepared to wake up early, managed to wake up early on Friday morning, when I had absolutely no plans to wake up early to go fishing.  In fact, I was quietly hoping to catch up a little on my sleep.  Devon was crying, so Brooke asked me to go see what was bothering him.  When I got in the room, Zach whispered to me that he thought Devon was having a nightmare.  Devon immediately piped up through his tears and said, "I'm not having a nightmare, I just want to go fishing!"  Well, what can you say to that?  I'm not sure how he know that Zach was going fishing, but, needless to say, we both got dressed and headed off to the canyon with Uncle Aaron, Zach and Papa.

I'm glad we went.  Devon was so happy all morning that he could hardly contain himself.  Zach caught the first fish of the morning, then he gave his pole to Devon to use.  Devon waited patiently for a bite.  We reeled the line in a few times to replace the bait that the fish were stealing, but the water was pretty still for a while.  Finally, Devon's line began to move.  I'm not sure he realized what was happening, because he didn't have much of a reaction, so I quickly pulled on his line to set the hook and Devon did the rest.  It took a little bit for Devon to reel the fish in and we realized why once he pulled the fish out of the water.  It was the biggest fish that we had caught all week.  Devon was pretty excited.  Actually, I'm not really sure what he was more excited about: catching the fish or watching his Uncle Aaron beat the head's fish on a rock until it finally died.

I have to admit that I had a great time fishing with the boys.  It was a great way to spend some quiet time talking in a beautiful setting.  You never know, but I think I see a little more fishing in our future.

On Monday, July 19th, Chad and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary. It was a pretty normal day. We didn't do much to celebrate since we just returned from our Utah trip, but I had to do a post about how grateful I am for Chad.

It has been a wonderful 14 years. They say that your love gets stronger with each passing year and I would agree. The love we have now is so much stronger than the day we got married. Don't get me wrong, it was very strong then, but it has grown so much. It comes from "seeing" Chad each day. It is the small things that make me love him so much. He is so thoughtful and caring. He is a wonderful support to me. He makes sure that I am happy. He is such a great Dad. He knows our boys well and he is aware of what they are going through. He is very aware of when the boys need to have "Dad time". I am so thankful for that.

I have learned a lot from Chad. He makes me want to be a better person. He is my best friend and I can't imagine life without him. I look forward to spending eternity with Chad. I love you eternally Chad!