Lady's Man

I was waiting out on the lawn today for Aiden to get home. He came running off the bus and sat down by me and I said,"You sure look good today. That is the first time you've worn that new school shirt. Why haven't your worn it before?"

"Uh, I don't know how to say this...it's kind of hard to say..."

"Just say it. Does someone at school like red?"

"It's Holly, she loves me and I love her."

"Oh really, how do you know Holly loves you?"

"She told me today at recess while we were walking laps. Just don't tell Dad okay."

I was trying to keep a straight, serious face, because this was a serious talk but at the end I did let out a little laugh and Aiden just smiled.

Soccer Stud

Aiden just had his last soccer game of the fall season tonight. He is getting to be a great little player and he really likes it. There team was the Green Dragons.

This is Aiden far left and Kyler chasing down the ball. Now in their league they don't keep score-it's "just for fun", but if you ask Aiden or Kyler at any given time what the score was they would know. It's funny that they try to keep the competition out of sports these days and that is all the kids care about.

Look at the determination. Way to go Aiden! Way to go Green Dragons!

Dancing Queen

Eliza started dance this fall and she is so excited. She said "I'm glad that I finally get to do something." We've been watching Aiden do things for years and now she is finally old enough to join a class.

She has a pink outfit and a black one, so it's so hard to choose each week. She also told my mom that she heard on tv that now she is taking dance she is going to be really busy. Those 45 minutes a week leave her no time at all now.

The best thing about dance is that she gets to do it with her cousin Paige. They both have the same dance outfits so we try and coordinate every week. They are learning how to skip in class and the teacher has asked that they practice at home. It's funny to watch Eliza try to master that skill. She doesn't quite get it yet, but she sure looks cute trying!

River Wild

We had a family reunion this year at Colette's family cabin in Island Park. One of the highlights was the big float down Big Springs river. This is Eliza, Abbie and me. Russ jumped out to get some shots of us going down.

Curtis and Colette were in the party paddle boat. Colette got to catch up on her reading while Curt tried fishing.

Shane, Jace and Tricia were cruising the other canoe. Don't they look great? They had the great snacks-swedish fish and peanut butter m&m's. We wanted to float next to them.

And here comes the old row boat. Grandpa Jaussi, Nate, Aiden, Natalie and Hallie had a great time. The problem with the old row boat was it's speed. SLOW! So we all had to take turns pulling-even the paddle boaters took turn.

And here are the newlyweds Kenny and Megan-the fastest in the kayak. We had such a great time. That was the last outing for our canoe. Our next canoe trip down the Provo River lasted one minute with a crash into a bridge and a broken canoe. I'm glad we have the memories of floating down the raging Big Springs river!

Jack!

Jack makes our family so happy. He is such a happy boy. Russell thought that he looked like a Pepsi can at our family reunion at Yuba Lake. So we had him pose next to the can, but he was sad when he really didn't get to drink it.

Jack is a water baby. He loved the swimming pool this year and he loves the bathtub. He goes crazy when he gets near the water splashing and laughing. At the pool he would just scoot out into the water and he wouldn't care how deep he was getting. He is so much fun!

Look at that awesome smile. Nothing is better than having Jack light up whenever he sees you. He likes to catch people's eye at the store and smile at them and he loves it when Aiden and Eliza play with him. It has been so fun to watch him grow and I can't wait to see what his personality is going to be. I am so glad that little Jack Simon is in our family.

Backpacking trip to Ruth Lake

Russell and I took Aiden and Eliza on a backpacking trip in the Uinta Moutains. We went to a beautiful place called Ruth Lake. It was a short hike (about a mile) perfect for the kids. It followed this fun stream that they had fun playing in and before we knew it we were at the lake!
Isn't it gorgeous? We saw a beaver swimming around eating lilly pads and a chipmunk and that was about it for wildlife. Unless you count the 10,000 mosquitos that feasted on Eliza.
The water was pretty icey, but that didn't stop Eliza from getting her toes wet. I guess she's like her mom in that way. I love to put my toes in the water when we go hiking.

All Aiden wanted to do the whole time was fish. I am so happy he caught one! He was so excited. We had fished the night before with no luck, but he woke up early the next morning because "that is when the fish are out" and he was right. Way to go Aiden.

Russell cooked the fish up for breakfast. Aiden was right next to him helping out. Eliza said that she didn't want to eat the fish and Aiden said, "Eliza, once Dad cooks it then it will just be chicken." So Eliza ate it and said, "Ya, this is chicken". It's a good thing Russell had brought a lot of lemon pepper to hide the fish taste. And it did taste great.

Jack wasn't quite old enough to make it on the backpacking trip, so he got to have a sleep over with Grandma Liston. But knowing Russell I'm sure that there will be plenty of backpacking trips to come that he will be a part of. And that is fine with me. We had such a great time being together and having an adventure!

My first post!

This is my first blog! Thanks Tricia for helping your baby sister out with her blog page. We loved swimming at the Scera Pool this summer. Russell said I was raising a family of fish- oh ya! I think blogging is going to be awesome!