Ogden Temple Open House Day

On August 20th I took the boys up to Ogden for the temple open house.  The Ogden temple was completely renovated and before they rededicate it they let people walk through.  I'm so glad we got to go!  The boys really enjoyed it and had lots of questions about the temple. Brian's favorite room to see was the baptistery and Timmy couldn't decide between the celestial room and the sealing room.  It was a great opportunity for them to see the inside of the temple.

Following our beautiful morning tour of the temple and grounds, we met my mom for lunch.  She was in Ogden babysitting Mandy's daughter Ellie and she was so nice to treat us to lunch! We loved spending time with her and with adorable Eleanor.

After lunch we still had all afternoon with no plans and we were already in Ogden, so I thought I would take the kids to the old Union Pacific Railroad Station, which has been turned into a few different museums, the main one being a great train museum.  The boys were in train heaven.  We stayed there for hours!

They loved all of the train museum, but I think their favorite part was the model train exhibit.  I seriously tried numerous times to get them to look at me for a picture, but they were so excited to chase the model trains through the hallways that these were the best I got.

There was also a small car museum in the building which the boys enjoyed as well.

Before we left for home we explored the train yard section.

Timmy's face shows how they were as we walked through those gigantic trains.  Both boys just kept looking around in wide eyed wonder saying, "wow, look at that!"

That day was definitely one of my favorites from August.  

Little Mud Monsters

 This is what happens when the kids are left to their own devices for a short time in the backyard.  I came out to check on them and they were so engrossed in their mud slinging battle that I watched them for about five minutes before they even knew I was there.  Then they blamed each other for starting it.  I couldn't help but bust up laughing while I snapped a few pictures.

Cecret Lake

The boys and I hiked up to Cecret Lake at the beginning of August.  We saw some moose and had a great time!

Timmy insisted on carrying a backpack the whole way up.  He packed it himself too.  When we got to the lake he started unpacking his bag and pulled out some toys, his blankie, his giraffe and a little toy microphone.  He called it his walkie talkie and was disappointed when I would not let him use it to amplify his voice up there in the quiet mountain air.

I had forgotten how much cooler it is up there and I did not bring jackets or sweaters for the boys.  They were cold as soon as we got out of the car.  I didn't want to skip the whole hike because of a cool breeze, so we improvised.  Brian wore a towel and Timmy wore an extra shirt of mine that happened to be in the car.  I'm sure we looked like a motly crew, but we still got to enjoy a gorgeous fun hike!

The hike is one mile up and one mile back.  Timmy did great going up, and then decided he was tired coming down.  He sat down to rest about ever twenty feet or so, but I did make him walk the whole way despite the incessant begging for me to carry him.  I'm glad I refused to pick him up, because in the end he was super proud that he did the whole hike all by himself.  Brian wanted to keep hiking and probably could do a much much longer hike no problem.

More July Happenings

I have been slowly making my way through the loads of pictures I took this summer.  It is taking me much longer than expected because I have to stop every few pictures to relive all the wonderful times we had.  Here's a few of those fun happenings from July.

One benefit of my sister Emily being in town is that she has a really nice camera and she takes tons of amazing pictures and then sends me the ones of my kids.  All the great July pictures of the boys came from her.

In July we had friends over for a slip-n-slide BBQ.  A good time was had by all.

We spent fun Sundays at Mark's parent's house.  One time the order of fun for the evening was having staring contests.  Timmy is surprisingly good at it.

Then the staring contest somehow turned into arm wrestling.

Brian made some great Lego creations.

We had a blast at the neighborhood parade and party.  Mark always does a great job of running the show.

This whole summer brought lots of beautiful rainbows.

We went to a Bees baseball game with friends and the favorite part for the kids was the train ride.

They also had fun eating a blue snow cone.  I don't know how much baseball they actually watched, but it was a nice evening out with friends.

Mark's work had their work party at All Star Bowling where we had unlimited food, rides, games and fun!

The boys got to try real bowling for the first time ever.

In July we started a new morning routine.  After breakfast Timmy works on his UPSTART Preschool program (which we love by the way) while Brian practices his piano.

I sit in between the two and mostly help Brian and be there for support for Timmy when he needs it.  So far this is working before school as well.

We went to the zoo where we got a picture of all 16 Evans cousins.

July brought a trip up to a new lake with some friends that I had never been to.  It was Silver Lake Flat Reservoir up American Fork Canyon.  It ended up being a beautiful fun day.  

We visited my Grandma Joyce.  Brian and Timmy love her and her house.

Then to celebrate Pioneer Day, we went to the Church History Museum.

Brian and Timmy were super excited to try their hand at stone cutting.

July was packed to the brim with fun adventures.  I am so grateful for all the opportunities we had to learn and grow and have fun together!