Here goes nothing, Part III

So, having gone through our photo archives from July 1-Sept 30 in the last couple of days, I am remembering exactly WHY our poor blog fell to the wayside...we were BUSY!  We really did have an eventful summer, and it was a lot of fun going through all the photo memories...Also, it gave me hope that warm weather WILL return in a few months!  Anyway, enjoy the post...and fair warning....there are A LOT of photos to follow...

JULY

Sar and Meg at the lookout over Bear Lake

Building Sandcastles at Rendezvous Beach, Bear Lake

 Megan, one of my BFF's came to visit us at the end of June/beginning of July for a few days.  It's always so nice to spend time together, and even better when the weather cooperates!  We did lots of fun things with Meg while she was here such as hiking on the Crimson Trail, watching Trav in his Spartan race, and spending a day at the beach in Bear Lake

Trav teaching Jackson to Fish, Mantua Resevoir

This is what happens when nature calls and no bathroom is available :)

July was when we got to introduce something to Jackson that we both grew up doing a lot of...FISHING!  We took him to a place near our home one evening after work and of course he was entertained.  I'm not sure what was more amusing to him that first time...the wiggly worms, the slimy little fish we caught, or the endless rocks that he got to throw into the water! We had to think fast when he announced to us that he needed to go poopy and their was no bathroom close by...the fishing bucket then doubled as the toilet!

Family of 3 watching Fireworks July 3, 2012

Jackson with Gpa and Gma H @ the 4th of July Parade

Daddy and Jackson watching the parade...Firetrucks were a favorite this year

  My parents were in town to help us celebrate the 4th of July festivities.  Jackson was fascinated by the fireworks and parade this year.  He loved the "big, noisy" fireworks and the firetrucks and monster trucks at the parade.  It also didn't take him long to realize he had to be quick to snatch up some candy that the parade people were throwing if he was going to get any at all...of course Trav and I gave him some help with that too!

Evening fishing at Newton Dam with Daddy

 Some of the nights in July were sooo hot, so we would wait until the sun got a little lower and go out fishing.  Trav wanted another chance to catch a Tiger Muskie like last year!

Picnic and Fishing with Daddy at First Dam

 Since I work in health care, I don't get to take as much time off for holiday's as some people...on the days that I had to work, but Trav got to take off, he would always take Jackson to do fun things...like picnics and fishing!

Getting to ride in a BIG excavator

 One of our friends had a job with an excavation company and one evening got permission for us to take Jackson over to show him the big "mighty machines"  This was in HEAVEN...until our friend started up the engine, and then he didn't want to have anything to do with it!  He was content just watching Travis pushing and digging the dirt.  Travis had to practically wrestle him to stay on his lap for a picture! 

Helping Daddy turn his crib into a  toddler bed

 Jackson graduated to his toddler bed in July, and of course when Trav got out his tools to switch it over, he was right there with his hard hat and power tools wanting to help him with the process!

Digging in the dirt...this happened more nights than not

Driving an old Tractor at Old McMarvin's farm

Petting a baby goat at Old McMarvin's farm

We visited with some of our friends in SLC who live next to a farm of sorts.  Jackson loved the big old tractor and the baby animals.  He wasn't interested in getting close to the bigger animals though.

Can't forget the marshmallows for our first camping trip!

Jackson, Kyla, Derek playing at Strawberry Reservoir

Travis' whole family...minus Parker

First time sleeping in a sleeping bag

We went camping for the first time as a family of 3 at Strawberry Reservoir with Travis' family.  Jackson LOVED every minute of it.  We fished, played in dirt, went crawdad trapping, chased, hiked, and slept in our new family tent!  Jackson loved sleeping in his new sleeping bag...except I think he was a little cold because he whined in his sleep most of the night until we finally gave in and put him between us on our bed.  We are soooo excited to do more camping this year and make lots more fun memories!

Trav took some "2 year old photos" of Jackson towards the end of the month, and as always they turned out fabulous!  I felt like he really captured his personality in this set of photos...

AUGUST

First Trip to the Dentist Aug 6, 2012

Building the K'NEX rollar coaster WAY past bedtime

Jackson LOVES building things! Whether its wooden or Duplo blocks, LEGOs or K'NEX this kids is entertained for hours. My parents had gotten this K'NEX rollar coaster for us before Jackson was born, and we decided it would be a fun thing to do one lazy Sunday afternoon....little did we think it would take us the rest of the afternoon, into the evening, and past Jackson's bedtime to finish!  Needless to say, that thing stayed put together on our table for the next week so that we could enjoy it for all the time it took to put together!

Sunday afternoon hike in Logan Canyon

Playing trains with Noobie

Digging in the dirt with the diggers

The last weekend of August, we met up with some of Travis' family at Bear Lake for a little camping trip to send the summer off right.  Bear Lake's nickname is "The Caribbean of the Rockies" because of the water's intense blue appearance. We stayed at the South Eden campground on the east side of the lake, and it was  seriously SO pretty there!  The weather was perfect temperature, the water was crystal clear right up to the shoreline, and our camping spot was just a few yards away from the beach we spent the day playing at!  The highlight of the trip was everyone taking their turn on the stand up paddle boards (SUP) that we rented.  Travis and I had gone on a day-date SUPing a few weeks prior to that trip for the first time and thought it would be sooo fun to do again with everyone!  The only downfall of the trip, was due to fire restrictions, we couldn't have a campfire to roast marshmallows on. :(  We can't wait to go back again this year!

Evening stroll with Gpa A

You can't go to Bear Lake and NOT get a Raspberry Shake!

Uncle Ben and Trav ready for an evening SUP  ride

Uncle Ben giving Kyla a ride, and Sarah giving Jackson a ride on the SUP's

Family of 3 soaking in the sun at Bear Lake (I want summer back!!)

Kyla and Jackson "swimming in the waves"

Even Nobbie got her turn on the SUP

SEPTEMBER

Jackson's first pony ride @ Eastern Idaho State Fair Sept 6

 We had the pleasure of experiencing the Eastern Idaho State Fair with our friends, the Johnson's and it was a treat!  State Fair's are the perfect place for "people watching" at it's finest, and this one most definitely did not disappoint!  We had our share of Navajo tacos, foot long corn dogs, and gyros.  Jackson was overstimulated after spending 5 minutes walking through the carnival midway.  Maggie splurged and paid $1 to see the world's fattest pig (I think it was 1500# or something!)  My favorite part was watching Jackson take his first pony ride!  The whole time he was on it he was saying "I'm a cowboy and his is my horse bullseye" (Think Toy Story 2)

Super Jackson to the rescue- Sept 11

Best little helper!  Making muffins for breakfast

Our first glance of Trav (blue shirt//orange shoes) running the TOU Marathon (14 miles into it!)

Trav running into the finish line, 26.2 miles...CHECK!

Top of Utah Marathon swag

Sept 15 Travis ran his first marathon!  He had trained hard all summer for this race and was in shape and ready for it.  The way that this race is set up, spectators can see the runners for the first time as they come out of the canyon -14 miles into the race. When I caught my first glimpse of Trav coming out of the canyon, he wasn't moving at his normal pace, and I was worried that he had hurt himself.  He hadn't hurt a foot, or a leg, his muscles weren't cramping like you'd imagine they could, instead he had been having flu symptoms the entire run!  Poor guy felt miserable, and so being the loving, helpful, supportive wife that I am, I offered to DRIVE him to the finish line so he could run in for his medal! :)  He declined then, and again at mile 18, and mile 22...he was determined to finish this race the honest way, and he did!  He didn't run it in the time that he was hoping for, but he finished a MARATHON with the flu!  I am SO proud of him for this accomplishment that he spent so much time training hard for through the hot summer months!  He's definitely way more hardcore than I am! :)

Jackson got to spend the weekend at Kyla's house while we went to Seattle

On the ferry to Bainbridge Island-Seattle Weekend Sept 20-24

Hiking to Wallace Falls 

 Travis and I took a long weekend trip to Seattle to stay with my friends there for a few days and Jackson got to stay the weekend with his cousin Kyla and her family.  We were only in Seattle for a few days, but Megan and Andy were the perfect hosts and made sure that we saw all of the sites: Fremont district (including the big troll statue), the Public Market, the original Starbucks, the gum wall, the space needle, riding the ferry to Bainbridge Island, and taking a hike to the beautiful Wallace Falls.  We LOVED Seattle, everything about it was great!  We hope to go back there again soon!  We were so glad that Jackson was in good hands while we were away.  He and Kyla are two peas in a pod and had so much fun together!  My sister-in-law told us that the days (for the most part) were full of giggles!

A couple of funny highlights from Jackson's stay with Kyla was the night that he went "missing"  Aunt Heidi went in about 3:00 a.m. to check on them and Jackson was nowhere to be found.  As you can imagine she panicked, all the lights went on, they searched the house, and eventually found him under Kyla's bed!  As Uncle Ben was pulling him out, Jackson woke up and said "Hey, what am I doing under here?!"

Jackson's empty bed

Sound asleep under Kyla's bed

Another funny highlight was when Jackson told Travis' brother that he needed to go potty, so Ben took him in to go.  As they are standing there (Jackson standing on Ben's feet for a boost) nothing is happening, so Ben asks Jackson, "Are you going to go?"  Jackson's reply was "I am" and at that moment Ben feels/smells/sees a layer of poop down his leg!  Sorry about that Ben! :)

Corn maze with friends

Sammy and Jackson running through the maze

 We took Jackson to the corn maze this year for the first time and he had a BLAST!  We went with our friends Eric and Katie who have a little boy a few weeks older than Jackson (Katie and I used to work together and these boys have been BFF's since they were born)  Anyway, those two boys had so much fun running around and around.  I'm pretty sure that they ran a mile or more all said!

Look at those red faced, dirty little boys!  So cute!

Enjoying the fall colors in Logan Canyon

The fall colors were incredible this year in Cache Valley.  I don't remember them being that way the last 2 years that we have been here.  Everywhere you looked there was bright yellows, reds, and oranges.  We loved the long, slow autumn season, and we enjoyed the outdoors as much as we could for as long as we could!

That does it for now...October, November, December are next! Stay tuned...