Sunday evening mountain hike

June 30, 2013

We love living close to the mountains.  There's a great trail just a few blocks from our house.  A fun family actvity that we like to do together is going for a Sunday evening hike.  We waited till it was later in the evening, and even still it was extremely HOT! I have a feeling it's going to be a scorching fourth of July.  I got some great photo's , but it was really bugging Kirk, he didn't want to stop to take the pictures he wanted to just keep hiking.  It was fun to watch Jence holding on to Dan's hand as they walked.  He is such a cute little guy and loved the walk.  He would point to things like the waterfalls, and such.  Benjamin had fun, but fell down a couple of times and got scratched up a bit.  The mountains are gorgeous, we just love them.  It's nice to raise the kids with opportunities to be close to nature.  They love seeing the animals.  On this walk they actually came acrossed a snake.  Well it's been a fun evening, and another perk of hiking is that the kids are easy to get to bed, they crashed pretty fast!

Farewell for now Grandpa Stevens

 Sadly we lost Dan's Grandfather on June 22, 2013.  Jay Hillman Stevens was Born on July 10, 1919. Our youngest son Jens if named after him, his middle name is Stevens.   

Dan was able to speak at the funeral he did a really great job.  It was nice to look back and reflect on the tremendous legacy this great man left behind.  I will never forget the kindness he showed towards our family.  He loved people, and he especially loved his family.  Dan has so many wonderful memories of his Grandfather and one of them is that his grandpa Stevens loved gardening.  Grandpa would grow gigantic produce.  Dan can remember weeding the tall rows of corn, and gaining an appreciation for gardening.  Dan still to this day loves working in the yard and always plants a garden.  One of the first things Dan did after we bought our first home was to get a garden started. 

 One of my memories of Grandpa Stevens, is that he always had pine nuts at his home.  I had never had pine nuts before, but discovered that they are really good.  We are so sad to loose this wonderful man.  He always had a positive and up beat attitude, and a bright smile.  I remember listening to all of his amazing stories, some where hilarious, and unbelievable, and others were historical.  Like the time when he was serving in WWII as an army cook.  He made peppermint ice cream to Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Franklin Roosevelt. 

 Seeing his casket draped with our American flag gives me such a deep gratitude for our freedoms.  Each day that goes by we loose more and more Veterans from WWII.  These are the men who freed Europe from the Nazis.  These are the men who stood up to evil, and had the courage to defend liberty.  It is a tremendous loss, to see this generation pass away. They are some of the greatest Americans our country has known.  Being born in the great depression taught them thrift, and frugality.  Rising to the call of war taught them courage and selflessness.  The world was never the same after WWII. This is the generation who returned from the horrors of war, and went to work.  They made America into the economic and military power that it is today.  This generation showed that economic freedom and capitalism doesn't suppress, but provides opportunity. A chance to create greater prosperity for their children, and grandchildren.  Grandpa wasn't born rich in wealth, but he was born rich in love.  His parents taught him to have faith in God.  With that faith, and fortitude Grandpa leaves a great legacy.  One of his last dying wishes was to help fund the missions of his great grandchildren.  He leaves a deep foot print in our hearts. We love you Grandpa.  Your life and example has shaped our lives. May the spirit of peace fill our hearts until we can be with you again. 

Here is a photo of our kids with one of the military Veterans' who did the Honorable Military Burial.  He gave Kirk a bullet from the gun they shot in honor of Grandpa's military service.

Black Family trip to Bear Lake

My sister Kristen has come to visit this week.  It's been so much fun to hang out with her, and to have the kids play together.  We were able to go up to Bear Lake for a few days.  Bear Lake was gorgeous, and so peacefull.  We had our family, my parents, Kristens family, and Mike's family there.  Kyle wasn't able to make it but Sarah came up for one of the days. We had the best time.  The kids loved kyacking on the lake, and paddle boarding.  They also loved playing baseball, basketball, water gun fights, and jumping on the trampoline.  We ate yummy food, and the last night got rasberry shakes in Garden City.  The pictures tell it all gorgeous lake, with lots of fun family time toegether!

Kate's Ballet Recital 2013

Kate performed beautifully at her ballet recital this year.  She has grown into a beautiful ballet dancer.  She had a good experience this year with ballet.  She's really developed a love for it.  Her teacher Brandi has been amazing.  I wish I could have gotten a photo with her.  Kate has just idealized her.  For the recital this year Kate was a  blanket.  She did a very cute dance with a big blue blanket on stage.  Kate has loved ballet and has had the opportunity this summer to participate in a Ballet West Academy summer five week class.  I'll post some more photo's soon. 

Benjamin learns a money lesson

Interesting story, today Ben wanted to earn some money.  He made his bed and I told him I'd get him some money.  I got into our change jar  and fished out a quarter,but he got really upset.  He said he wanted a green one.  At first I was confused and told him that quarters only come in silver and they don't make green coins.  Then he said he wanted the green one with George Washington on it.  Then it dawned on me that he was referring to a dollar bill.  He wasn't interested in the change, just getting a dollar.  He must have seen his older siblings counting out their dollars.  Benjamin is a smart little guy.

Jence is a big boy now!

Jence just wants to be a big kid!  He refuses to sit in his high chair anymore.  He just screams when I try to get him to sit in it.  It's to bad because that was usually my spot for him when I wanted to keep him occupied for a second while I make dinner or something.  I use to put him in there and give him snacks and he'd love it.  Not anymore.  He pulls himself up onto our kitchen bar stools with his arms.  It's scary because I worry he will fall. I make him get down, and then he just pulls himself up again, we did this over and over until I've finally given up.  He eats up to the bar with the rest of the kids now.  He looks so smug and proud of himself when I let him eat up there.  Jence is jabbering like crazy now.  The other day he said the word shoe.  He calls Dan Mommy, but he also calls the babysitter Mommy so I think he's a little confused on what the name means.  he loves to eat still.  Today he wanted something out of the pantry.  I kept pulling different foods and and showing him, he would grunt and shake his head until I showed him the protein bars.  That was what he wanted he nodded, and ate it.  He is assertive and knows what he wants, but is sweet and jolly to be around too.  I am looking forward to this summer so much.  Jence is at a fun age where he can really enjoy being outside, and have fun with the older kids.     

Mom's and Muffin's

Another school year has come and almost gone.  Kirk has almost completed first grade, it's been a great year for him.  I feel like First Grade is such a huge milestone.  I really miss eating lunch with the kids, and they begin to depend a lot less on their mom.  Kirk has really thrived in math.  He loves his school teacher's and we will miss them so much!  Each year the first graders have a Mom's and Muffin's day, where the Mom's are invited to come and enjoy a morning with their kids.  Kirk's class sang us a song in french, and also recited a rap called "Little miss riding hood".  He got to wear a wolf hat that he made, and the girls wore little red hats like red ridding hood.  It was fun to watch Kirk at school and meet his friends.  He is a really sweet little boy, I love you Kirk so much!

 Here is Kirk with Jence.  I had to bring Jence along with me and he was really actually pretty good, he didn't tear threw the classroom like he usually does at our home.  Kirk got to try to hold him on his lap for a few minutes.

 What a great year Kirk, I'm excited to watch growup even more next year as a big second grader!