Mom and I were able to have a little date and went to the Hale Center Theater. Mom and I have both loved going to the productions there. This theater is one of the things I miss about living in Orem! The productions are inspiring and the talent incredible.
Of course, the real treat was being able to spend some time with my Mom. I love her so very much! Thanks Mom!
Justin has been begging for time to watch Nanna paint. So Nanna and Justin spent the afternoon in her "art studio." Instead of watching Nanna paint, Justin (with Nanna's tutelege) started his own oil painting.
Of course he choose a train picture to draw. He will always love trains!
Here is the beginning of his painting (We will post the final painting when he finishes). He is learning a lot about shadows and highlights and mixing colors. I love to watch him apply what he learns so well.
Justin loves art! He is already such a good little painter--our little Leonardo! I loved watching this experience as it warms my heart to know that my boys are blessed with such amazing grandmothers! What a great influence for good they are in their lives.
Our family and Nanna went to the Central Utah Water Conservancy District to check out their display of water resistant plants (to give us good ideas when we landscape our house). It was inspiring and beautiful. We can wait to create our own smart piece of paradise!
Jolynn and her boys joined us for a good portion of the day today, and we had a blast! Our boys all play together so well! I am always amazed with Jolynn and Alex. They are such dedicated, creative, fun and loving parents. It shows through their boys. We love being with them. It's also fun to share home schooling ideas!
Lately, upon entering a store, Max will sign "hat" and doesn't stop signing until I find a hat for him to wear. I finally broke down today and bought this one for him. Now he can wear it all the time. He is so funny.
I love this picture! I not only love having both my moms together (we all went to Romero's primary program for church) but I love that they are good friends. So often our two families combine activities and do things together. How often does that happen????? We have been so blessed by our mothers.
Max has REALLY TAKEN to his Nanna and Grandma. He is our first child to want to leave us to go to them! He adores them both! This morning he woke up, looked around, and after figuring out where he was, yelled out, "Nanna!"
This morning we went to TJ Neyman's baptism (one of the main reasons for our trip to UT). We all looked forward to this special event, but Justin was especially excited. He and TJ are not only cousins, they are very good friends. TJ has been an incredible example for Justin, especially as Justin prepares himself for his baptism next year. They are both such fantastic boys.
TJ's baptism was in the chapel right next to the Draper Temple that is almost completed. It is absolutely beautiful. We can't wait to come back and go inside.
We love staying with Lani & Joe. I have never know a better host than these guys. We always feel so at home and are so comfortable. There company is the best! We really love spending time with them, and Justin always begs to stay longer!
Thanks Numbers! We love you.
Today we ventured on our first long distance road trip in the Beast. We're excited to see how our homemade fuel works and how good of gas mileage it gets. It's so fun to travel at $1 per gallon rather than $4 per gallon! Yiphee! Geoff has worked so hard to get everything working smoothly with the Bio Fuel. I visited the "shop" where he and his partner make the fuel and was so impressed with their set up. It has really taken a lot of effort to get the oil secured and the formulas right. It just another way which Geoff is amazing. I'm really so proud of and grateful for him.
Justin is in charge of watering all of our plants and garden boxes. He noticed that some of the leaves of our "dragon" plant were drying out, and decided to trim the plant (as he has seen me done). He did a great job.
This led to the much needed bush trimming project, which Justin has also been in charge of. He likes to form shapes out of our bushes and was busily at work when his apprentice arrived with his paper cutting scissors. Justin gladly obliged and Max eagerly watched and then trimmed his own little bush.
They were SO CUTE TO WATCH and our bushes look...well nothing shy of fabulous!
Tonight Justin came downstairs and yelled, "Mom, come look!" I got such a kick out of the redistribution of clothing parts!
Geoff was able to watch the last quarter of the Boise Football game. When Max and I got home, we went in and joined Geoff. We can tell already that Max will be a little athlete. He had such an interest in the Game! 
Max, who doesn't need persuading for anything, wouldn't have ANYTHING to do with the sidelines. He walked strait into the rumble in the middle of the field in search of the ball.
He stayed and helped Geoff for most of the game. (Geoff is such a good dad!)
Justin even made a quarterback sack...at least a quarterback flag!
Today is Kris Horton's birthday. A few days ago, my sister asked me to name a few of my hero's and it was so easy to quickly spout out Kris's name. I first knew of Kris because she is the wife of our then Stake President, Craig Horton (Another Hero!). For several months, I knew Kris by seeing her with her husband at church functions. Before ever meeting her, I admired her. She was always so happy and outgoing. You could tell by watching her that she sincerely cared about people. I loved watching these interactions. I especially loved watching her watch her husband. What a love affair her eyes told.
Here are a few pictures of the beautiful scenery that the trail follows for over 40 miles. Of course, we only went around 10 of those miles. It was a good bike ride for Justin. He did great!
We stopped and had apples and my version of rice crispy treats (a work in progress recipe till I get it just right-but still yummy). The views were beautiful. On the trail we saw squirrels, a snake, a heron, and a wounded duck that some thoughtless person shot with an arrow. Geoff called for help & and we stayed until the trail experts came.
On the way back to our car, we stopped at the dirt bike tracks. Justin even dared a few hills. Geoff and Justin biked and Max and I ran all over.
Biking on trails like this makes me crave to be outdoors ALL THE TIME. Nature is so rejuvenating. This is a great trail. I hope we make it back before winter settles in. In a couple of weeks, the wild blackberries will be ripe and ready for picking!!
Lately, Max has demanded that we eat lying down on the family room floor. Sometimes it's just not worth the battle to NOT do what is fun for him. We've had a good many snacks just like this.
Our favorite place...Rock Island. It's always a hit. This time the McCauley kids joined us.
Justin had an assignment to divide a piece of paper into four sections and write the four seasons on them. He thought that was a little boring, so he made this little star box instead. Justin never ceases to amaze me. He seldom does things exactly as suggested...his creativity takes him way "out of the box" into another world that is so fun and exciting. I love doing school with him. He's such a good student, and quite frankly...a great teacher!
This morning we went to The Trailing of Sheep event at the Boise Foothills Learning Center. I can't say that sheep are normally that intriguing for me, but this was a very fun and interesting morning!
I've discovered a new hobby and can't wait to start (and I'm serious!). These are Angora rabbits (so cute!). The lady in the picture raises them and has had as many as 74 at a time. She raises them for their hair, which has amazing properties. It is 7 times warmer than wool, and not irritating to your skin. We admired all the clothing she has made from her own rabbits and it is the softest and coziest yarn I've ever felt! She is very talented.
We then went down into a pasture where they had demonstrations on sheep herding. They showed us how they communicate with the sheep herding dog, so he will do exactly what they desire. These dogs are so athletic and so intelligent. I never realized how much was involved in training them. This was very fun to watch.
Here we have the sheering of the sheep...before, during, and after pictures. After this man sheered his lamb, Max ran over and tried to put the wool back on the lamb...it just wouldn't stick. It was cute.
Well, we all know a little bit more about sheep and enjoyed a beautiful morning outside with good friends. They best way to start a Saturday!
I love when I find good learning activities that don't cost. This was such an event, until of course I got pulled over for speeding. This darn activity ended up costing us $140.00. Ouch...I am so mad at myself!
