August

Noah's birthday started us off this month. He got quite the haul this year as Indiana Jones has started to replace pirates. Noah and Summer have both gotten very good at swimming this year and Noah got a body board to play with when we go to the Sperry pool.




We took a long Sunday drive to scope out a new bike ride. We talked with some friends about going all the way around the Oquirrah Mountains and we wanted to check it out first. Along the way we stopped at the Great Salt Lake and got our feet wet. It was salty. Actually it was on the nasty side. I guess we can scratch that off the list of places to visit.





We were excited to check out the Tour of Utah. This was a 5 day bike race that brought in some of the top US pro teams included a few guys who rode in the Tour de France. We went out on the second day and watched them climb Big Mountain (near East Canyon). We had our cowbell and cheered on the racers.







We missed 2 days of the race as we went to Bear Lake for the shop's annual Treasure Hunt/BBQ. The kids had a blast but the wind blew so hard at night that our tent was pressed against our faces.


The next morning after we got home, we went out to Tooele to see the final day of racing, a time trial.



It was pretty boring plus hard to know who was in the lead. We were rooting for a Utah native who was 30 seconds behind the leader and he caught him for the overall win.






Dave took off for a few days with some friends at the end of the month. They went up to Banff, Alberta, Canada for some golf and the Stobbe Invitational, their yearly competition. He didn't come in first but didn't come in last either. 7 guys in an RV for 5 days. You'll have to ask him for stories.



The end of the month brought the first day of school for London and Summer. London is in 3rd grade and Summer is in 1st. Noah will start in September.





The first day of school also brought some excitement at the south end of the valley. The mountain was on fire!! It was a few miles from us but sure looked impressive.

July

As soon as we got back from the Bahamas, the Smith family gathered up in Ogden for Bub and Di's blessing of Broc. It was nice to have the whole family together and we were able to get an updated family picture. (There are a lot more kids in this one!!)








We have tried to stay active this summer and one afternoon went for a hike/picnic up at Alta. The road to Secret Lake was still closed so we hiked up a bit and had a picnic dinner. The kids loved playing in some patches of snow, though it grossed Tee out since it was "old, nasty snow."





We have been losing teeth left and right. Summer has lost a few and looks like a jack-o-lantern. Even Noah got in the act and lost his first tooth.

Tee got to spend a week at Girl's Camp and Dave enjoyed playing Mr.Mom. We went to Silver Lake near Brighton one day for a hike/picnic. They have a really interesting visitor's center there. The kids enjoyed playing with the binoculars and playing "Pick the Poop". I will leave that one to your imagination.

Tee and I will often go out for short bike ride and leave the kids on their own for an hour or 2. This is what happens when the girls decide to play beauty parlor.

Sorry for the Lapse-June

Wow, where did the summer go? Sorry about not posting anything. We had computer issues throughout the summer and I have been too lazy to download pictures from the camera. I'll see if I can get you caught up over the next few days.

We left you in June as school was about to end. London won a $50 scholarship from reading all year.

Tee rode with a friend in the Little Red, a women's only bike ride in Logan. I think Little Red Riding Hood needs to wax a bit closer on the face.

London had her piano recital with Aunt Karleen and Dave and Tee rode in the Tour de Cure, a 100 mile ride in Brigham City for diabetes.

At the end of the month, Tee and Dave took a group from the dive shop out on the Aqua Cat, a boat in the Bahamas. It was a great time. Tee won a certificate as the 1st Mate of the Sea Dog, their chase boat, because she did every off boat excursion you could do. (I'm sure Des, the captain of the Sea Dog had nothing to do with it.) We went out fishing one afternoon and Tee caught a mackerel.

Here are a picture of Summer and Noah, they had a fun June too.

The Last Two Weekends

We enjoyed Memorial Day Weekend down in St. George. Tee's parents let us use their time share and Mindy and Ryan came down as well. Earlier in the week, the weather was sunny and hot (temps in the 100's) but then a front came through and it was rainy and cool. The pools were warm so the kids were happy even if the parents choose to watch rather then swim. We visited Brigham Young's winter house, did a few bike rides and enjoyed the pool for a few days. The kids enjoyed driving past Entrada Golf Course, which of course you know, was where High School Musical 2 was filmed. Naturally we couldn't get too close, it is a private course and the guard at the gate wouldn't let us in.

We are in the final days of school. Noah finished last week and the girls have started the parties and movies that make up the final few days. Summer had Medieval Day and Tee helped out. They had a great time with the swords, feast and meeting a real knight.

This last weekend started with an "ouch!" Summer hurt her elbow on a neighbor's trampoline Friday. No one saw exactly what happened but according to Summer, she was trying to do a back flip and landed wrong. Now I always thought you should start with front flips but you know Summer. The x-rays were negative but she enjoyed showing and telling everyone what happened. She has to wear the brace and sling until tomorrow. No doubt she will enjoy wearing it to school.

Saturday was fun. We started with some boating on Utah Lake with 3 other families from the neighborhood with boats. While the water was too chilly for Tee and Dave to get in. London enjoyed riding on a large tube. The weather was great but naturally we forgot out camera. The day ended with a Real Salt Lake soccer game. We have some team members in our neighborhood and they gave us some tickets. It was our first time and we had a blast. Not only where they great seats (luxury box with free food catered by Famous Dave's BBQ) but Real won 3-1. Dave was quite taken with it and is in danger of becoming a soccer fan. So much so that we had to go Park City this morning to see the reserve squad play. Here are all the kids with Adam and Nick.

Salt Lake Century and Soccer Update

Yesterday was an eventful day. London finished the spring soccer season with her last game. She had been held scoreless all season but the drought is over as she scored twice!! Naturally Mom and Dad didn't see it as we were off riding but she did a great job and collected the rewards later that evening.

Dave and Tee went on their first organized ride of the year, the Salt Lake Century.

They had 36, 72 and 106 miles options. We decided on the 72 since that would be our longest ride of the year by about 20 miles. We had 2 friends join us. Jen did the 36 since this is her first year on a bike and her first organized ride. Al on the other hand was going to do the 72 with us but when he got ahead and missed the turn around spot, he decided to do the whole thing. The Salt Lake is a good one to do that with since it was very flat and there wasn't any wind yesterday. It was an great and relatively easy "first ride" of the season.

Here is Tee in action at about mile 55.

Next up Tee is doing the women's only ride, "Little Red", in Logan June 7 and we are thinking about the Tour de Cure, a century ride in Brigham City on June 14. This is a fundraising ride to benefit diabetes so if we do it, we need to raise at least $150 in pledges for each of us. YOU MAY BE HEARING FROM US!!!

We wrapped up the day using a gift card at Chili's that Dave received for speaking at Noah's preschool about diving. Afterwards we did dessert. The kids have a standing arrangements that if they score a goal they get a Slurpee. Since London got 2 we went to Chill, our new favorite, over priced ice cream/frozen yogurt place.

Another Sunny Sunday

We decided to spend a beautiful Sunday together as a family, skipped out of church and went south to the Provo River Trail. We parked just below Bridal Veil Falls and rode the 2.5 miles up to Vivian Park. After playing on the playground for a few minutes, we headed back down the canyon. The kids did great on the ride except for the occasional yelling about who gets to be the leader. Summer wiped out once. She was riding close to the edge of the trail, looked the wrong way for a second and when her front tire hit the soft dirt, it stuck and she flipped right over. Luckily she was going slow so it wasn't bad. No tears and just a small scrap on the knee. Noah had a bigger wipe out in the circle this morning as we were getting ready. We didn't see that one, just heard the crying and saw the little body tangled up with Major Trouble out in the street. He landed right on his head, his helmet has a nice scrape/indention where he hit. He got a little scrape on his cheek and his eyebrow but now he thinks he's tough.

On the way down the canyon we stopped and payed in the water at the waterfall then had a nice picnic back near the car. The weather was just gorgeous so naturally Dave took a nap on the blanket.

Remember the last post about the REI bike deal? Well we got a call from REI a few days later and apparently we had won some drawings. Dave won a new bike saddle and Ted (apparently they couldn't read Dave's writing) won a really nice fleece lined riding jacket.

Here is some video of Major Trouble in Action

Noah-Bike Riding Fool

Last Sunday we thought the family was getting soft and decided to go out for a bike ride. It was really cold and everyone was complaining that their hands were cold but a funny thing happened halfway through. Noah remembered how to ride his bike!! We took the training wheels off last fall but he's never been very happy about it. He'd rather grab a scooter or a skateboard to play with in the circle. With soccer season upon us, we wanted him to get a little strength in those chicken legs. Suddenly he didn't want to get off the bike. First thing Monday morning, he wanted to ride. As soon as Dave got home he wanted to ride, same thing Tuesday, same thing Wednesday. When we told him that he might be able to get a new bike if he kept riding, that added fuel to the fire. Needless to say Thursday saw a stop at Toys-R-Us for a "big kid bike." The Huffy "Major Trouble" proved to be just that. Dave experienced a "some assembly required" moment when trying to put it together. The front forks were bent so that the tire wouldn't fit in. Noah was remarkable calm during the whole event and proved especially patient the next day although there were numerous phone calls to remind Dave to stop and swap out bikes on the way home. We got it together and off he went. The "Major Trouble" is an 18" bike which makes the 10" garage sale special from Papa via Summer via London look even smaller. The timing was great because on Saturday we Noah's soccer game at 10 and then jetted down the street to REI's Bike Bonanza!!



First we have Noah at soccer. This is his first season with any organized sport. You can tell it's his first because he stands around a lot. Don't yell at him to run or chase the ball because all that does is make him look at you kind of funny. He has a great coach from Australia who played semi-pro for years. We love all the Australian/soccer lingo. After his first practise Noah said he needed new "soccer boots". We especially like that he calls everyone "mate".

Here we have Noah in inaction. That's him in the back. The kid in the black hat was the best. Everytime he ran up to the ball, he's pick it up, set it down away from everyone else and kick it. I guess he's just another American who doesn't understand soccer.

After a rather uneventful first game, we headed to REI. There were free bike helmets at 11am. We all got one. Then the Sandy Police had a bike course set up. The kids did it like 3 times each. They had free mini Jamba Juices. Again the kids did it like 3 times each. There was also free popcorn and cookies. They had a tent set up with some seminars like how to fix a flat and basic maintenance. If you sat through a seminar, you got a free goody bag. It had a water bottle, a pair of bike socks, a set of tire levers, a bike tool and a power bar. The kids all got one as well. Summer has worn her socks for 2 days straight including to church this morning. After a few hours at REI we headed to a second soccer field for London's game. They lost 2-1.

Today was an even nicer day weather wise and after stake conference we loaded up everyone and all the bikes and went down the hill for a ride on the Jordan River Trail. We were quite impressed that all the kids were able to go 6 miles. It must have been the power bars we ate at the turn around point. Noah was great on the new bike although he was very scared and almost wiped out on a small downhill. When we got home, we used our new bike maintenance skills leaned yesterday and washed/lubed our bikes. Dave's was especially noisy and a little cleaning made it quiet right down.

Noah on Major Trouble.

The King of the Mountain.