Birthdays and National Parks

In September Sydney turned 14 and had a fun sleep over with her friends Grace, Sierra and Jaya.  Sydney has really matured this last year and makes life pretty easy on us.  She chooses good friends, is very responsible, and for the most part does what she is asked, except hug her mom.  We are so happy she is a part of our family and love her very much! 








 For Fall Break, Mike really wanted to have a western outdoor adventure.  So he meticulously planned a trip to Capitol Reef National Park and Bryce Canyon.  Jackson and Sydney were off school so we took them horseback riding and Mike took Jackson fishing at Fish Lake the first couple days. 




















Then we rented a cabin near Bryce and the girls came down from BYU on the weekend and joined us the last few days.  We rented razors and celebrated Jackson's 17th birthday exploring the beautiful trails and scenery and as a bonus for him getting extremely muddy!  Jackson has surprised us with his will power these last 6 months as he has lost over 30 lbs. and even started jogging in the early morning.  His happiest moment came though when we told him he could finally build his own computer for his room.  He has been begging us for the last 6 years and we finally agreed if he got a job and paid for it himself, we would let him.  He has been working the last couple months going door to door for a political initiative and surprisingly loved it.  He doesn't have a fear of meeting strangers and has realized he may love doing sales.  Jackson has challenged us in many ways, but he has also made me a better parent and has always given hugs freely. 
















While we were in Bryce we even got a visit from Grandma, Grandpa, Katie, Braxton and Beckham.  They were the icing on the cake to our fun filled week.  I have to admit I was a little nervous the kids or me wouldn't enjoy our western outdoor adventure, but it actually turned out to be a great memory for all of us thanks to the great planning of my hubby!












 Paige made a new "friend" in the last couple months.  She and Joel have been enjoying their time together but I've been warned to not make more out of it than it is!














Comments

  1. SusanNovember 17, 2018 at 12:11 PM

    Love catching up with you and your family..looks like quite the outdoor adventure! I'm with you, not really my cup of tea, but sounds like it was really fun in the end!

    ReplyDelete

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