Monday, July 27, 2020

Sterling's 11th Birthday

Sterling, our sweet beautiful son, celebrated his 11th birthday during Covid-19 times.  Sterling is happy, full of hugs, loves to get his back tickled, noisy, always on the go with riding scooters, his bike, nerf guns, or airsoft guns, or remote control cars, or helicopters, or drones.  Sterling does not like school except for the social parts. He enjoys recess and lunch and gym.  The actual core subjects are not that exciting for him.  Sterling's favorite friend is Dane, although he's only played with Makayla and Lincoln during lockdown.  He and Lincoln have played hours of Legos and he and Makayla have jumped for long stretches on the trampoline.  His favorite cartoon is "Gumball". He likes the color blue. Favorite cereal is Reeses Puffs, and favorite restaurant is McDonalds. He especially loves their cheeseburgers. He also like the food at Texas Roadhouse. Sterling is witty and usually has a clever comeback. He and mom clash sometimes because their personalities are similar.  Sterling clicks amazingly with dad.  He and Lincoln tease each other often. He is fun and loving and cares about how people feel.  He is a great kid and we love our Sterling boy!

Sterling was pretty excited to open his gifts. He got a cool Fort Nite themed pinata that had lots of little toys to assemble.  He was absolutely THRILLED to get a remote controlled airplane.

He chose to spend the afternoon at Get Air and lucky for them, they pretty much got the place to themselves.  They had a good time.

Sterling got to fly his airplane 2 different times on his birthday. We went in the early afternoon and at dusk.  He already handles his airplane like a champ. He has a knack for remote controls.  Happy 11th Birthday Sterling!




Saturday, July 25, 2020

The Great Escape

We headed to Mount Pleasant to escape the pandemic and city riots.  We enjoyed one week hanging out down there.

Day 1
The first day was kind of a bust because it SNOWED in June!  So we hung out at the cabin besides a little drive past the Manti Temple.  We played games like the bean game with Rook cards and SkipBo.  

At least we got to color some airplanes and drink hot cocoa.

Day 2
The next day we ventured out in Helga to see if the Skyline Trail was open.  Along the way, a dog ran in front of us and we hit it. Such a bummer start to this day.  It was still alive, but to know that we injured it was depressing.  The owners took it to a vet and hopefully it was okay.  And the trail was snowed in and closed, so we recalculated our plans.

We ended up going west, past Moroni, and up a new canyon.  The snow was melted on this side, and we took in new sites.

Even snapped a family photo on top of a mountain.

This rock caught my attention. It looks like the side profile of the moon's face. The moon said to me, "My darling, you do not have to be whole in order to shine."

Beautiful views!

Shot guns and did word puzzles.

Explored an old ranger station on the way back.

Day 3
Took Helga South this time to the Spring City area.  Shot some guns and explored white rocks.

Enjoyed the Spring City Museum and its fun family activities.

Found the old jail and then went swimming.

Day 4
Went to Palisades and it was C O L D! ! Much colder than last year.  We learned August is better for kayaking than June.  It was still peaceful though and fun.

Spotted some owls at camp. So cool to see them closeup!

Ended the night with hot dogs and smores.

Day 5
Went rock hounding in the morning.


Visited the great museums of Mount Pleasant.  Scott has befriended the guy's son who sculpted Joseph Smith and Abraham Lincoln art pieces.

Came across these bottled peas from 1933. They look amazing for being 87 years old!

Spent the evening at the car races.  This was pretty fun and honky-tonk.

Day 6
Took Helga again up the mountains past Moroni.  We had good time shooting guns and exploring.

Found a cabin in the middle of nowhere.

The active ant nest was creepy.

The most interesting thing was discovering the green dirt.  There was a green hue probably from some minerals.  Pretty fascinating to behold!

Made it to the top of another mountain.

Day 7
Headed home, but not before looking at the owls one last time.  Such a beautiful area!