Fall Flings

This summer we broke down and bought a house. We decided that it wasn't really feasible to live in Amber and Spencer's basement any longer. This picture was taken right after we bought it. We've since done some pruning, window updates and had Fall. 

One weekend we went on a quick trip up to Roan Mountain State Park for hiking.

Carl was thrilled to hike a lot, but it sure is hard for those little legs to get over those big rocks.

This fall I broke one of my cardinal rules and let my kids pick up leaves. I decided that their little hands couldn't hold that many; boy was I wrong when we got back to the car. Luckily they could be convinced that the squirrels needed their leaves to make their nests so we should leave them on the ground by the stream.

The leaves were lovely, and the girls look great in their matching undershirts.

I thought this picture of the canopy turned out really cool.

Carl is always up for a picture.

The Finch's, a.k.a. the Seven Dwarves, joined us for trick-or-treating in downtown Elizabethton. They were serious contenders in the costume competition.

Ryan and the kids talked me into getting a pumpkin this year. I thought it was festive enough to buy pumpkin window clings and put them up. Silly me. Ryan was on his own for jack-o-lantern making. Well, he wasn't really alone as you can see from the picture, but I had already put up my window clings and was wiped out.

One of the great features of big shade trees are all the leaves that make for great piles to jump in.

Summer

This is Ryan.  I sensed a tone of discontent from the prior post's author regarding our data-security arrangement.  It is a lamentable but understandable viewpoint, from one with such a nebulous view of "The Cloud".  I can take the criticism though, knowing that our photos are safe from loss, if also safe for the time being from most other members of our household.

Enough said.  Here are a few shots from this summer we've been meaning to share . . .

It's been a great summer for bicycling, and here are the McClure's with us about to embark on a rain-ride.  It was a priceless few days we got to spend with them in September, and the kids had so much fun playing inside and out every waking moment.  We're so lucky they drove up here for a visit.

Here were are taking a break at  Elizabethton's famous Covered Bridge, and Michelle giving her best Japanese-teenager-taking-a-photo impression.

Helen and Jane are loving their freedom on their bikes, especially when riding to the library or to a park.

Carl and Alice are usually Michelle's riding buddies, but around our home driveway they get to head out on their own.

Here's Michelle and the kids tackling the job of pruning our overgrown cherry trees.  Notice that Carl, with a rake 3 times his size is also in on the action.

Columbus Day and Happy Birthday Carl!

So in the process of moving across continents, someone, who will remain nameless, sequestered all our family photos to a "cloud" where they are, for all practical purposes, inaccessible to me. Then this same unnamed person upgraded our computer to Windows 10 - another roadblock to my technological pursuits. Ergo, I only have found these pictures posted here. I'm not sure where the rest are, somewhere on The Line I'm sure. Once I'm done updating our blog I'm going to go listen to some music on my cassette-tape player. 

 Here are Carl and Alice playing some great tunes for us.

This year's model's of the famous Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria. I think that they are getting less elaborate, but no less loved. I'm not sure what we are going to name the 4th boat when Carl gets older. Maybe he'll make the Endeavor.

This year for Carl's birthday we had the Finch's and Call's over for a good time. Although Ryan taught Carl to say pumpkin pie, I put my foot down and we made him a spice cake with cream cheese frosting. 

The younger set of cousins really appreciated all his new toys. His favorite gift may be the goggles we got him. As a side note, I just don't think Carl could have too much in the way of safety protection.

As if it weren't fun enough to have a birthday party, the Elizabethton Homecoming Parade marched right by our house after dinner. I think this might be the first time Ryan has incited panic in the kids getting them all excited to run outside. I've never seen kids inhale burritos so fast. Happily we didn't have to put our CPR training to use.

Happy 1st Day of School!

Helen started 2nd grade this fall and is doing great adjusting to the new school.

 Jane is so happy to be in Kindergarten and could hardly sleep the night before her first grade.

Fun with the Finch Family

The Finch Family has graciously let us live in their basement while we've been in the house buying process. Not only has it been fun to be around 7 cousins all the time, but there are also 6 chickens that need daily human interaction as well. 

(I have serious doubts that they are ever going to lay eggs after all the psychological and physical trauma they've been through in these kids hands. But perhaps chickens are made of tougher stuff; they have been around for a long time. Our kids cannot be the first kids to harass our avian friends.)

 Our kids were quickly (instantly) incorporated into the job chart when we got to Amber's house, and Hunter and Helen have been great buddies. Okay, the truth is both of them like to be the boss and there is no small amount of friction. Here is one of their quieter moments.

 Alice and Bianca love jumping on the trampoline during sprinkler time.

 Here are the kids doing their best to keep the Sabbath day holy while enjoying their fowl friends.

 A couple weeks ago I broke down and bought a tea set for $2 at a garage sale. It has been a big hit.

 Being around all these older kids has given Carl all sorts of ideas... This is not my favorite idea: potty train a 22 month old in the middle of the biggest family move of our life. No, I'd prefer bamboo shoots under my fingernails.

Utah Fun

Working our way east across the globe, we made a long over-due stop to Grandma and Grandpa Hackett's in Sandy, Utah.  In addition to being together and catching up on stories, everyone had their favorite part about being at Grandpa's house:  Ryan = lots of chocolate snacks, Michelle = lots of naps, Helen = making ice cream with Grandma, Jane = wading pool in the backyard, Alice = sidewalk chalk, Carl = new kitchen cabinets/drawers to empty.

We were so lucky that Royce could spend the weekend having fun with us too.  I don't know if he's ever explored the "Princess" children's books at the library so thoroughly.

He also took us on a great hike up Big Cottonwood canyon to Donut Falls.

We spent a day up in Salt Lake too, and started with a visit to Great-grandma Johnson's home.  She had the best motorized toy cars, lots of family pictures, and we really enjoyed lunch together.

Next we spent some time seeing the conference center, temple square, and the visitors centers.

Daily dips in the backyard wading pool was a huge highlight for the kids.  Carl is definitely not supposed to be in the "big kid" pool, but he's a tough guy to keep track of.

The hammock also kept the kids giggling, especially when Grandpa would pretend to not notice they were occupying said hammock as he rolled it up.

Aloha

In the second half our our trip we learned how to make leis. The girls and I loved it. Carl spent the whole time wandering from one piece of mischief to the next while Ryan watched him like a hawk.

Here we are on a hike to Akaka Falls. We were all so excited to see bamboo that we stopped to take a picture. It's the little things.

 It was tough to get this picture without any tourists wandering in a out. We can assume that our kids photo-bombed any number of other people as well.

 We took a tour of a chocolate farm and factory -- certainly a highlight for Ryan. Those are the cacao pods hanging off the tree which Jane is so elegantly pointing out to us.

 Wading with small children is not fun. The independent attitude + slippery rock + waves is a recipe for disaster. After about 10 minutes of extreme wariness we let the kids play on the beach far from the tide pools. Carl was just as happy piling sand on his legs. The feel of the sand on his body (and slipping into his diaper and waistband) had a hypnotic affect on him.

 The girls and I created this fabulous coral garden.

 While in Kona I got to go to the temple while Ryan watched the kids. I loved it! It reminded me of the Columbus Temple where Ryan and I got married.

Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park

En route to the mainland soil we took a brief stop in Hawaii to visit the most active volcano in the world. We've spent the last year reading all the books on volcanoes at the library and jumped at the chance to see one up close and personal. Here we are on the bird hike in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. We never actually saw any birds, but we heard them and saw a strategically placed feather on the trail. I suspect it was a plant by the park ranger. 

 Here are the girls on Desolation Trail. Helen made sure we stayed in the right place.

 Here's another fine trail with great steam vents. I was really happy we brought a baby carrier when I saw the "fence" keeping my children from falling into the crevice below.

We made it - the actual crater! It was freezing and raining, but we are happy. (This was mere hours before a gastrointestinal virus struck our family, leaving us quarantined in our military base cabin for two days.)

 The girls came back at night later that week to see the glowing vapor. 

 Ryan, Helen and Jane got to explore some lava tube caves while the rest of us were still prostrate will illness. 

The kids loved the zoo in Hilo, especially the benches.