Attempting to climb Big Mountain

Last weekend we took the kids to climb Big Mountain. It is 3.8 miles up and then you can ride down on the gondola. Everyone was excited. Kellen was on Gregg's back, Lydi was in the front pack and Payton was going to hike. We knew it would take quite a while, so we had tons of snacks and of course a lot of water. To our dissappointment, when we got to the trailhead, there was a sign that said Chair One (the lift we needed to ride down) was closed. It also said there were bear sightings in the first mile of the hike. We decided that almost 8 miles round trip would be way to much for us at this point, so we hiked up a while and then turned around and hiked back down. I was nervous about the bear so it was probably for the best :) All I know is in the spring we are going to hike Big Mountain as soon as Chair One is open!

Here is Lydia in her hiking boots ready to hike!

Getting ready to hike!

On the trail!

Here is another failed attempt at a picture of all three kids where everyone is looking and smiling...we even bribed with suckers. Oh well...it was a cute attempt at least :)

Lydi's famous pouty face...she is working us already I think

Camping, big boy beds and lots of other fun

A lot has happened in the past few weeks as usual around here. Kellen started sleeping in the other bed in Payton's room. The first few nights were tough to get him to sleep in there. I wanted to move him to the other room thinking it might be easier if they weren't sharing, but Gregg really wants them to share a room. After a few nights of persisitance bedtime is running a little smoother. It is adorable to here them in there talking to each other before they go to sleep.

Here is what else we have been up to:

Payton has been practicing on his big bike! One of our summer garage sale finds!

Lydia all ready for our morning walk

More Lydi smiles

My short hair cut (picture by Payton)

A lot of messes = a lot of baths

Lydi tipping over

Will we ever have a picture of all of them looking and smiling?

We went camping over Labor day weekend with some friends. It was so much fun but slightly crazy. Between our family and theirs, there were 7 kids 5 and under :) The boys had a blast as they have never been that dirty for that long in their lives. We were right on Tally lake, so the kids all swam most of Sunday. It got pretty cold that night (37 degrees) so Gregg and I froze. The kids had plenty of blankets and slept through the night so they were just fine! Camping will definitely be happening a lot next summer!

Payton and our friends' daughter Julia swam all the way out to the dock quite a few times through out the day!

Gregg and the babies took a nap in the shade.

Payton was a huge help setting up the tent :) or at least he thought he was! and Lydi supervised.

Lydi (or Lydi Lou, or Lou Lou and Gregg and the boys often call her) started laughing the past few days. It is so cute to hear!


Have I told you how amazing of a sleeper she is. 8-10 hours STRAIGHT every single night. She must know that I need it :) In all seriousness...I couldn't ask for a better, sweeter baby. We are SO blessed!

We have a cousin!!!

This post is a little over due so I will just lump it with "We get to meet our cousin". Hudson Paul Carman was born on August 1st and we finally got to go down last week to meet him. While we were in La Grande, we stayed with some great friends from college. Payton and Kellen had a blast playing with their little boys Aiden and Loren. We stayed up late after the kids were in bed every night playing games and had a ton of fun meeting and holding Hudson!
Here is Kellen on the drive down...apparently enjoying himself

Don't let Payton fool you...he just was pretending to be sad for the picture

Cousins 6 weeks apart

The babies having fun at the park

An awesome park in La Grande...we would have stayed all day if the boys weren't tired

While we were at the park we met up with another friend from college. I regret not getting a picture of Payton and her little boy Greg. I so wish we lived nearer to our friends there so the boys could all grow up together.

For less than a dollar a day you can feed and clothe this poor boy...No actually Gavin's parents had a fun dirt pile to dig and play in!

Aiden, Kellen and Payton playing in the sprinkler

We tried to do a photo shoot of all the grandkids but it proved to be kind of tricky. Here are the best of what we got :)

And another one of silly Kelly as Payton calls him. He is definitely the jokester of the family.