10 Months old for Noah

Noah is doing really well. He has had so many new experiences this last month! He went on a horse, river rafting, zip lining, tent camping in 30 degrees, and so much more fun. Noah is such a trooper and an amazing baby. He really is so good and sweet. His little smile just melts my heart. He learned how to climb on things now so is everywhere and into everything! He will pull himself up on everything and move from table to couch and things if he can reach, but is not ready for walking quite yet. He is so content now that he can get to everything basically. He now has four teeth on top and three on the bottom. When his teeth come in they come in multiples and right after the other... makes for a hurting little man, but still sweet. He now knows that he isn't supposed to do certain things and will look at you with a very serious face like, so what- are you going to stop me. His little attitude is too funny. We sure love him!

Utah Ranch

Kylee works on a ranch in Provo canyon. On our way back to Vegas we stayed with her and Madi so we could get some outdoor fun in. Can I say what a LONG day it was, but one of the best! We fit in almost everything we could do. We started out going on the zipline. There is five different sections that you go down. Soaring above the mountains and trees it was beautiful and exhilarating. Benjamin and Emma got to go, I thought that Emma would go by herself the first time and then get scared and need to go with one of us. No, she had a blast and wanted to be by herself every time. By the last trip down she was trying to flip upside down like Aunt Kylee! We had Madi come up with us so she could watch Noah, but then Noah was able to come on it too, um what?! He had all his own ropes and hung all by himself from the line. He was then attached by a rope to whoever was going with him so he couldn't go down by himself. This kid cracks me up he did absolutely nothing, no laughs, no tears, no screams, no funny faces because the wind is blowing in his face, NOTHING! He just sat there and acted like nothing was going on. My mom had to be pushed off the first couple runs, but I know she enjoyed it so much! It is so freeing to just fly above the trees.

Next we went down the Provo river. My mom, Madi, Noah, Emma, Benjamin and Charlotte started off in the raft. Kylee and Taliah were in a canoe and I paddle boarded. I think at one point Kylee had all the kids, except Noah in the canoe. They even floated down the river holding on to the side of the boat too. Noah passed out on my mom and slept for the ride. I really wanted to try paddle boarding and am so glad I did! I was a little freaked out doing it on a river with some rapids, but it was so fun. It took me a few minutes to get comfortable so I just stayed down. Then I stood up! It was fun and I was proud of myself. A little nerve racking, but by the end I was loving it! Poor Benjamin kept losing his pants with the current of the river. If you ask him about the canoe ride he just says, "My pants fell down and everyone saw my bum."

After that we got on the horses. Kylee's boss has 18 horses up on his mountains. They just roam free. There are two groups-the originals that he has had since birth and then the new ones that he has acquired since then. These horses are so funny, if you heard someone talking about them and what they did by just using their names, you would think you were hearing about a dramatic group of teenagers. They are so picky and who they hang out with and get in fights over girls and friends. I had no idea horses were like that! Emma and Charlotte loved the horses. Emma kept giving her horse hugs and had a huge smile the whole time. Benjamin wasn't so much for riding them, he just like sitting on them and petting them. They took us on a ride through the trees. When we were getting ready to leave all of the horses (separated by their two groups) came galloping down the mountain into the river to get a drink. That was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. Wow, breathtaking moments. We went on a razor ride up to the top of a mountain. It looked right down to Provo. You saw the river between the mountains and then it opened up to the town. I just love things like that and getting to experience new views and moments. On the way back down we stopped at a white pine tree (not positive on that name) We got some of the pine needles off to smell them. It was like pure Christmas, that was probably one of the best smells I have ever smelt! Definitely one of my favorites now.

Thank you Kylee and your boss for letting us enjoy all of that! We had a blast and can't wait to come back and visit.

Idaho summer

We had the longest summer vacation! It was so fun. After our camping trip we went to my grandparents house and played with them for a day then headed to my parents house. Jake was able to come and stay for the first week at my parents too. I am so glad we could all go. I love being able to be with my family and have so much time. We were only missing kylee that week :( It is so fun just being together and chatting and doing whatever. We got a game of kickball going behind my parents house. The kids loved playing with grandma and grandpa! They love them so much. We love them all a ton. I love seeing my dad with Benjamin, they are best buddies! Emma loves her Grandma Cindy and just wants to be around her all the time. Noah got so spoiled having so much people to love on him and play with him. We all went and saw Planes 2 at the most amazing movie theater I have ever been too. It was like an old school theater/an actual broadway-musical-opera theater/all brand new and so pretty. The kids had slumber parties almost every night. So much fun, but their absolute favorite was when they got to sleep in grandma and grandpas room! There was 6 people and 2 dogs sleeping in one room, Noah and I slept in our room and there was 5-6 empty bedrooms. Crazy fun! Noah figured out how to crawl up the stairs in about one try. He was a pro and no matter what we put to block the stairs he would figure out a way around it. He learned how to put his foot on the frame of the couch to climb onto the couch, he climbed on to end tables and whatever he could reach. He pretty much thought grandma and grandpas house was the best place ever. I mean how could it not be when she puts food and water and beds on the ground for him... (the dog's) LOL he loved it. When I was there I did hair for everyone and also decided to go a little cray cray and color my hair HOT pink! Everywhere we went someone would say that they liked it, my mom wanted them to stop encouraging me :) It is just hair, all will be ok. While in Idaho I got to spend time with friends that I rarely see or haven't seen since moving away. Oh how I miss them! Such great friends. We had such a wonderful time and I am so grateful we had the chance to go.

Yankee Fork Gold Dredge

Growing up my family went to the gold dredge every year, up by Stanley, ID. My Grandpa Buzz (dad's dad) grew up there. His dad worked on the dredge. When they stopped running the dredge it was parked on one side of the river. J.R. Simplot, the owner of the dredge, found out that it couldn't be parked there so he called my Great Grandpa Schraft and he moved it to where it is now. We have not visited there in almost 10 years due to people being busy or not close enough to make the trip. This year we all made it a priority to go. It was so much fun! They have redone things in the dredge and put up a lot of pictures. There was a lot of pictures of my grandpa as a child, with his friends and in the little class they provided for the kids. We all loved seeing my grandpa light up and talk about his childhood and all of those memories. There is a lot of history up there for that little town. By where we camp there is a graveyard for the town, then up the mountain a few miles is another graveyard. There are only three people buried there, they wanted them buried away from the other townspeople to do scandals, affairs, and murder. It is a pretty crazy story!
We were all in tents except for my grandma and grandpa. At night it got down to 30 degrees. It was SO cold! Poor Noah started getting a couple teeth when we left so again sorry everyone for his cries echoing through the campground! We had so much fun though. We hiked, played games, swam in a freezing cold river and just enjoyed each others company without any technology to disrupt our family time. We went to the little town of Custer and walked around reading all the stories and history. We planned for gold and the kids all thought that was amazing that they found their own gold!
We seriously had such a fun time and it is beautiful up there. I loved being there and remembering old memories and creating new ones. My dad loved that we could have my younger sisters there and my kids- a whole new generation to share this history with. Thank you grandpa for having such an amazing experience to bring us all back to.