Hiking Donut Falls

Let's start the post off with a video of The Quince. We love her!

We hiked Donut Falls one Saturday in September, and it was really cool! The road and parking lot were crazy busy, but we were lucky enough to snag a parking spot close to the trail head. It was a beautiful day and the girls enjoyed being out in nature! 

Claire and her silly antics. She is so funny!

The girlies climbing a hill. It is waaaaaay steeper than it looks!

Meanwhile, back on flat ground ....

Climbing back down.

The scenery was beautiful and it smelled even better!

We made it! Greg and the girls are up there somewhere.

Waiting with my little bestie.

Sof loved it so much she climbed back up with me to see it again. It was really cool!

Greg and his little bestie.

The whole crew.

Later that afternoon, we decided to go to Cherry Hill, because why not?

The confidence of this man astounds me.

Rub a dub dub, 3 beauties in a tub.

The Deck of All Decks

So, we redid our deck, and it ended up being a doozy. You think by now that I would realize that none of my projects are ever as easy as I think they would be, and redoing the deck was definitely something I don't want to ever do again.

It took most of June for me to get measurements and quotes from various suppliers in the area. After deciding who to go with, the next item on our list was to pick the Trex color that we wanted. That, again, took weeks because Greg and I are 2 of the most undecided people to hit the planet. We finally picked out a color, which in itself seemed like a small miracle, and I got everything ordered. It still boggles my mind how a Domestic Goddess like myself can know more about building supplies than the so-called experts who work at the local construction stores. 

Anyway, the project I thought would take 2 weeks ended up taking 2 months. It was not awesome.

Greg did a fantastic job demo-ing the deck and it was my job to put it back together - a job that ended up being much bigger than I thought.

Buh-bye horrible blinding vinyl.

Hello totally rotten joists underneath.

I ended up removing all but 2 of the rotten joists and replacing 1/2 of 1 of the beams. Aren't the new supports so pretty?

This is how the girls got to the backyard. They made a fun game out of balancing across the joists, and I'm proud to say that no one fell through the cracks. They were good little helpers and I like to think that they will grow up to one day enjoy building things like their Mama.

Every morning they would wake up to see what progress had been made on the deck while they were sleeping. All I can say is our neighbors were troopers.

Doesn't it look so good?! Now it only needs the white trim.

If you are ever in the market to redo your deck, I have a wealth of knowledge of what not to do/what not to buy :). It was a great learning experience, and I have had a few nightmares of my father telling me what I did wrong. Probably because my sub-conscious knows what I did wrong, but the deck is sturdy and that's all that matters. It's a beaut and I'm so glad it is done! It feels so good to check this on off the list of things to do. 

I built a deck in my sandals, ripped my good exercise clothes, and personally fed the local mosquito community, but that is okay, because the deck is done.

Hala-freakin-lujah!

The End of August

We got an awesome tow strap that allows me to pull Sofi on her bike. It's the best!

We love finding Kitty Casey when we go down to the Kaysville ponds.

I hope Claire is always this confident. 

Claire is so excited to start her dance class. She sure dances to the beat of her own drum.

6 months old!
- So smiley
- Loves food
- Getting stronger at sitting up

The cutest babe at Cherry Hill!

They're loving the neighbor's A/C unit 🤣

I'm not sure who looks more mischevious

Sofia the 2nd Grader

Sofia started 2nd Grade. She was equal parts nervous and excited. We were told she had the best teacher in the school, Mrs. Smith, who has won multiple awards. We thought Mrs. Thomas was the best teacher for 1st Grade, so Sof has hit the teacher jackpot again.

True to tradition, Greg took Sof to school on the ebike. Yes, the Farrari was in the parking lot again this year.

Sof came home really excited about her class. She had a lot of fun friends in her class and said she had a great day. That is always a relief for me to hear her say that :).

We surprised the girls that night by going to the Ogden Jump Park for Family Night. There was fun Wipe-out area in the corner that the girls had a lot of fun on. It took a few tries, but they finally got the hang of it.

Watching Claire scorpion was a highlight of the night. Oh to be 4 again ...

The Close of Summer

We tried to have as much fun the last few weeks of Summer before our lives turned into scheduled messes again :), and I think we succeeded. Here is a major photo drop of everything we did.

Remember Claire's favorite climbing mechanism, our cat tree? Here she is in action.

The girls weren't super thrilled when I told them we were riding our bikes down the Lagoon Trail, but they quickly forgot those feelings and ended up having fun.

Doing laps at our favorite farmington bike course.

My little sister crocheted Quincey this adorable little romper and it finally fits! 
How adorable is she?!

Lazy summer mornings are my favorite.

Looking more grown up by the day.

We found the best climbing tree!

Claire's "cool" trick 🤣

Sof and Greg went on a walk one night and happened across this concert in the park. All of Sof's rockstar wishes came true at a class reunion at the Nicholl's Park pavilion. I think the true heroes are the fans dancing in the front row :).

It has taken me years, but I have come to learn that while Greg is very good at showing no emotion with his face, his nostrils do all the talking. It is hilarious just watching them in every conversation, because I can know exactly what he is thinking just by how he flares them. And the best part? Sofia does the same thing!

This video brings me so much joy!

Good morning beautiful! Claire slept goooooooooood.

Quincey was having the best time laughing at the girls on the tramp one night.

I had been wanting to take the girls to the Treehouse Museum all summer and finally made it happen with a week to spare. Here is Sof living her dream of being a Police Officer. It was pretty cute to watch her "crack the case."

I managed to get this on video. It was hilarious watching the girls do a puppet show.

Backyard fun.

The cutest kitty ever drawn by Claire. Her handwriting is getting pretty good too.

We got Quincey to bed early enough one night to go on a family bike ride.

I made Claire a smoothie and turned around to see her cute face like this. I was dying! The smoothie went clear up to her eyebrows.

A perfect fit.

Greg looks bugged, but don't let his face fool you

The cutest video of sweet Quincey.

Claire is hilarious!

And that's a wrap.