And We're Off...Another Ride - Albion Trail

So we headed out for another bike ride up to Alta. The plan was to ride up the road to the top of the Albion ski lift in Alta. We had been told the rode was only open to bikers; however cars were driving up the road as well. We didn't think this would be safe for the kids to ride with cars on the road.







So we asked an employee if there was a different road we could take. He told us "oh yea, just take the utility road. It is really easy, even the kids can ride up it."




Being expert bikers that we are (ha ha ha) we decided to head up the utility road. A few hundred yards up the road and I knew we were in trouble! The road was practically straight up; maybe a few switchbacks, and mostly gravel. The bike ride turned into a 1.5 mile hike up the mountain pushing our bikes.


Definitely not the most fun bike ride; but one of the most memorable because it was so hard.



The scenery was very beautiful with lots of wild flowers all over the mountains. The temperature was very nice as well 65 degrees. And we even got rained on. Once we got started we had to keep going, because it was too steep to turn around and go back down with the kids. At the top of the lift we knew we could meet up with the road.

We finally made it. This was the first time Grandpa had joined us for one of our rides; not so sure he will ever go again. Definitely not the normal bike trip we usually go on. We loved that he was with us, and hopefully he will come again. I've never been so happy to see a road.







By the time we got to the top there was no question we were going to take the road back down the mountain!!!









It was a dirt road, but it was smooth. The only problem coming down the road was that it had just finished raining, so the dirt had turned to mud.




Megan loves riding behind Tom; she doesn't even have to pay attention to what she is doing. She's just along for the ride. Most of the time she is bouncing up and down on her seat singing at the top of her lungs.






The kids thought it was awesome! They were able to get muddy and it was actually o.k. We all made it down safely.

You've got to love mud!


After the ride we went up to Albion Basin camp ground for a picnic. So we found a table and set up dinner. We didn't know that you had to pay to use the picnic table.A little fruit, veggies, and chicken rice salad. Yum, Yum!! Right about the time we were just getting finished, the ranger came and said that we had to pay $8 to picnic. Megan said to the ranger "BUSTED". We were laughing so hard; even the Ranger thought it was pretty funny. Leave it to Megan. We love how she can come up with the perfect thing to say at the perfect moment.
We even had a visitor "chip".



After dinner Grandpa left and we decided to stay and ride a little longer. We kept shuttling everyone up the road, and then we would take turns riding down. This was a lot of fun.


Then Max decided he wanted to ride down the dirt trail we had walked up. Mom decided "what they hey...be a good Mom and spend some quality time with your son". So we started down the steep, gravel trail. All the sudden Mom's tire sunk into the gravel making the bike come to a complete STOP! Yep you guessed it, Mom proceeded to fly over the handle bars, flipping in the air and doing the body slide 10 ft. down the mountain. Ouch! Turned out o.k., only a few cuts, scratches, and rocks embedded into the skin. Other than feeling like being hit by a truck, Mom was o.k. and it still turned out to be a great day.

So sorry, there are no pictures of Mom doing tricks on her bike.

Max's lawn service

Max has been doing a service project over the summer. He has been taking care of a neighbors lawn. Brother Halvas put this sign up in his yard this morning. Max loved the sign.

Our First Fishing Trip

Max has been asking to go fishing for 2 yrs. So we finally decided to go. It was sad because we did not catch anything. Maybe next time the Benham family can go and show us how it's done. Even though we didn't catch anything we had a great time!




I think I might have a bite.

The best part in Mya's opinion was eating all the marshmallows.

Max is trying so hard to be patient, but the fish just are not going to bite.

Megan said "I sink I got an alligator" ha ha. By the look of her eyes one might actually have thought she had caught an alligator.

City Creek Canyon

Mom & Mya

Our good friend Melanie - biker woman!
















Our trip up City Creek Canyon. It was 100 degrees. We made it up 5 miles and called it quite because it was so hot!

At least we tried!

4th of July Party

What a fun time we had for the 4th of July. We had a bbq with our neighbors Matt, Kliss, Noah, Ben, Zach, and Jerry. It was so much fun. Tom's Dad also came. Most of the other neighbors were out of town...too bad for them because we had a great time. Sorry guys, haha.



Just isn't a neighborhood party without a game of "pig".













That was an amazing shot Kliss.














Thanks Kliss for the festive cake. It was very yummy!












And of couse, the fireworks were absolutely amazing.

Max's Creations

Max's mind never stops creating. He can come up with a solution for anything. He thinks the same way as his dad. Just the other day I was thinking what a great husband and father he will make someday...he can fix anything, and can create whatever is needed for situations. This is something he has done even when he was 18 months old; nailing "fancy" crackers to our brand new walls in our new house. Not even one cracker was broken! We had a beautiful display of "fancy" crackers all over our wall. Then there was the time when he was 3 and made a "boobie-trap" in our family room. He had taken string, wire, blankets, all kinds of toys, you name it and had tied them in very complicated patterns so that when the door was opened everything set off everything else; just like the dominoe effect. It was truly amazing for a 3 yr. old. At the time it wasn't very funny, but now that he is almost 11 it is very funny and quite amazing to think about. This brings me to some of his inventions as a 10 yr. old. Just yesterday he was outside with the lawn mower and had driven a stake in the middle of the lawn. He had attached a rope to the stake and also fastened it to the lawn mower. The theory was that the lawn mower would drive by itself in circles around the stake; each time wrapping shorter and making the mower move slightly to mow the next strip of circle. It worked!! However, when Mom saw what was happening, and how dangerous it was he was not allowed to mow the lawn that way anymore. He was extremely upset. He was also upset because his blower would not start. He came in and said "well, at least I have something to do today...fix my blower." So he came inside and asked for a few zip lock bags. I asked "what do you need them for"? So I can put all my parts from the blower in the bags. He worked on his blower for over 2 hrs. and then suddenly I heard it outside running. He came in covered in grease from head to toe. I said "you fixed it"? He answered proudly "Yep, it was a big job, but I did it". I was pretty amazed and proud of him that he had actually taken the entire blower apart and had fixed it himself.

Here is a picture of his latest creation. We have a dead spot in the front of our yard because the sprinklers don't have enough pressure to water. So, Max decided to fix the problem by hooking up the hose to one of our extra sprinklers and wire tying it to a stake so that the water would hit the dry spot. Thanks Max. I love how you can create and fix anything!!!






Max...the lawnboy!

Happy Fathers Day Daddy!

We love our Dad!! He is the greatest Dad in the entire world! He would do anything for us. Not only is he a great Dad, but a wonderful Father. We feel very blessed to call him our Daddy and husband. For Fathers Day we decided to give him pictures for his new office. We went up Emigration Canyon and happened to find an entire mountain full of these yellow flowers. It was so pretty. We hiked up into the middle and the kids "plopped" themselves down in the middle of the flowers and this is the result.


Here are some more pictures we took. We had a great time taking all the pictures. I love my new camera, I just need to learn how it works!! This is one of moms favorite pictures we gave to Dad.






"and they did walk in the ways of their father"
(Helaman 3:20)



Wild Poppies growing in the canyon.























Found this really fun tree to take pictures in by the Zoo.