A time of Change!

William and Ryrie worked hard on completing their Chief Scout awards this summer.  This was one of the last things they needed to do--construct a shelter and sleep in it.  They enjoyed their night and didn't get eaten by mosquitos too badly!  The only wildlife they experienced were the neighbor's cats having a fight.  Their main projects this summer included--the bike stand business, painting address signs for people in the neighborhood, teaching piano lessons for free to a number of young children, and painting Grandma's fence.

Harvest time!  We sharecropped at Grandma Spencer's this summer, and enjoyed the results so much! as George put it, "Thanks for the garden Grandma!"
 Apple juice, crab apple juice, even rhubarb juice!  We also made pear juice from our tree.

Scary torpedo in the garden!

I was very excited that my sundried tomatoes worked out! yum!

Can you think of anything prettier?

 This summer, when I was at girls camp, James introduced the boys to Billy Joel.  When I came back, they were big into "We didn't start the fire" and "For the Longest time."  I pulled out my BJ piano book I bought back when I was at BYU and the twins are learning some songs!  Pretty fun.


End of August brings School!  My baby is a full-time student now!
Back to a semblance of routine.  Here's our morning mantra: "Brush your teeth, comb your hair, make your bed and say your prayer!"  Shortened up--Teeth, Hair, Bed, Prayer!
In the mornings at breakfast we do our family scripture study.  We are still working through President Hinckley's "Stand a Little Taller."

Grade 1

Grade 9

Grade 9

Grade 6

Grade 4

That's lots of learning, right there!

The kids are loving school.  They all have great teachers and are all learning some amazing things.  They love to share at dinner with us--two "apples" and an "onion."

These are some of the things George has said lately.
At night while cuddling--"I need a spelling test."  Me--Okay, here are some words:"I, you, it, as, kiss, hug, go, to, sleep."  George, smiling after completing the last one and realizing it was a sentence--"One more word!  Cuddle."
"Why do I have red hair?"
"Tell a story about naughty Mama.  Or good Mama!  Or Georgie."
"I wish I was still a baby.  Then every day would be a happy day." (He was feeling overwhelmed by school that day and wishing for the good ole, pre-math days.)
"I'm famous at school!" (what does that mean?) ""All the girls chase me."
"Why isn't G a vowel?  Vowels say their own name."
"I'm going to somewhere that starts with a B on my mission--BYU.  Do they speak English there?"
Owen to George--"I love you George!"  G back--"I love you too!"  :-)

We went to see Pete's Dragon at the end of the summer and ever since George and James have had a special "Pete and Elliot" relationship.  James is Elliott, and in Georgie's mind, he IS Elliott.  When he speaks like Elliott (gibberish, plain and simple), George responds.  It is quite amazing to see, actually.  Dad might not do something, but Elliott might.

My new favorite thing to do--grocery shopping online.  Drive up here and say, "I'm here for my groceries!"  Best invention ever.  So worth the extra $3, especially when there is a snowstorm!

Another big change in our lives--Seminary students in the house!  They are getting way to grown up.  :-)
Early morning seminary isn't too early in our neck of the woods--6:30 start time.  We have a car pool, for which I am deeply grateful.  :-)

Awesome August

Our August was great.  I feel like we had a nice combo of working and playing, being visited and visiting.  

James sold his little Honda and bought this Pontiac in it's place.  Great commuter car, comfortable, and easy to get in and out of.  The twins are more comfortable driving this car than the suburban.  

Time to stain this deck...

James and I enjoyed several painting sessions on this massive beast.  We are happy with the finished product!

James singlehandedly took down this beast of a tree and significantly trimmed many others in our yard this month!

We got new deck furniture and the boys loved decorating their new "house."

The bike stand business was in full swing this month--the boys hired Owen to do a bit of work for them as well.

And you have to have some sugar in the summer, right?

James' two nieces came to summer Institute classes!  How neat is that?

These two both shot up like weeds--we discovered at the end of the month that they both jumped 2 shoe sizes!

Best. Invention. Ever.

Our campsite in Whistlers Campground, Jasper.  We set up in the rain but didn't get too much for the rest fo the week, thankfully!  We absolutely loved having the bikes with us on this trip.  It gave the boys so much freedom around the campground, and the trails we biked were so much fun and doable for everyone.  And you see, yet another great use for Spencer Bike Stands! :-)

There was a big herd of elk right in our campground!  We came upon these as we biked the trail that goes through the very large campground.

One of our many short hikes

This is an historic structure--been around since the 20's I think.

Brand new adirondack chairs that Parks Canada is putting in everywhere.

Beautiful Vista

Love it

Our own herd of Elk

Recovering from a big bike day in Jasper town.

A George Rock Man

Lloyd's family joined us for a big hike day up Edith Cavell Meadows.  We packed in our suburban like sardines to get to the trailhead--no one got too car sick, miraculously!

We got to have many views of this glacier along our hike--its called the Angel Glacier because of the "wings" that go out to each side.

This was the first of many summits--we didn't realize there was more behind it, which made it a mental as well as physical challenge to get to the top.

Better view of the Angel

Made it to the top!  James motivated me--I wouldn't have made it without him.  

The view was indescribable.  Mountains in every direction you look.  

These little rockstars hoofed it up the whole way with no complaints.

We enjoyed this shallow lake--the boys made videos of "rescues" that look really realistic.  The whole lake is shallow the entire way across.

Family unity was strengthened...we hope!

Remember that summit?  Oh man.

Wouldn't be a great hike without this goofball along.

And this one!

The dividing screen--sometimes sharing can be hard

A happy camper!

George, James, and My first time geocaching.  Owen helped a lot.

And yet another mountain top to enjoy!

We love this waterfall

Tommy's foot gear

He was at the perfect age to just live this camping experience.  No worries about dirt, bugs, or smells.

And back to that summit...did we really do it?

Time to retire the old beloved shoes!

 Home from Jasper--back to the realities of fall harvest.  Time to tackle our apples!

George loves the apple peel spaghetti

Ready to party--we purchased this pizza oven instead of a BBQ.  Best decision all summer.

The party arrives!  Greg and Kassie and Hinckley and Addie joined us for a great week of fun.  Thanks for making the drive guys!

We visited the cold waters of the legislative building.

Addie loved the water!

Hinckley was a little less sure--it was so cold!

The boys enjoyed spoiling their little cousins with lots of attention

super cool lego model of the building.  There were some fun lego characters to spot--darth vader and some clones, harry potter inside the windows...

We took the fam to Elk Island.  Didn't see any bison until the drive home.

My summer dream--a fire and picnic at E.I. 

This guy never eats junk--but I think he really enjoyed his crazy stacked s'more.

Whew!  Made it through August!  Pretty tiring.  So much fun.  See you next summer!