A trip to a ghost town in Juab county

We took a trip to a ghost town in Juab county today. Becca's class is studying Utah history this year and she has been assigned to do a report on Juab county. Our trip was a field trip so that she could get a better sense of what Juab county is like. We drove down to Silver City and then wandered around in the snow. Enjoy the pictures.

The kids poke their heads out of the window of an abandoned home.

Daddy and his girls stand in front of the biggest building in the ruins. You can kind of see the ledge behind us. The walls dropped in about 10 feet and there was some kind of pool at the bottom. We're not sure what the building was for.

Chantel and the kids stand in front of a sealed mine. About twenty feet in the mouth of the mine has been cemented over to prevent intripid explorers from doing a Tom Sawyer and getting lost inside the mountain.

Chantel and the kids pose on the way back down to the car. Notice the sweet deal that Amy has. I want to ride around in a baby sling. =)

Emily and Amy hang out

Emily loves to soak in the bath and isn't bath time always more fun when you have a buddy?
Amy hangs out in her captain's chair and wonders what Emily will do next.
Look at me. Aren't I the cutest baby ever? I love pretzels, ice cream and whatever else Daddy manages to sneak to me.
I am a budding artist. I have to concentrate super hard when I am making beautiful art.

Becca the basketball star

Becca has been playing basketball for the last two months and has really had a lot of fun. She is a really good defender and her offensive skills have improved significantly. She averaged about two baskets per game--really good considering that she only made one basket all of last year. She has had a lot of fun and was really sad that Thursday was her last game. She is looking forward to next year.


Becca drives to the basket

Christmas 2008

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We had a wonderful Christmas season. We started out our celebrations with a wonderful meal of Swedish meatballs and rice porridge on Christmas Eve. The kids acted out the nativity story. Gordon was the narrator, Chantel was the stage manager, Becca was a shepherd, Hannah was a wise man, Peter Gordon was Joseph, Emily was Mary, and Amy was baby Jesus. Acting out the nativity story always sets the right tone for Christmas. The kids got up early on Christmas day and had a lot of fun opening their presents. Here they are holding up their stockings. The stuffed animals proved to be one of the biggest Christmas hits.
After Christmas we went to Idaho to visit grandparents. We drove to Eagle on Saturday and half of the drive was in a big snow storm. We made it safely to my parents and the kids had a wonderful time playing in the snow with Grandpa Pete, Grandma Susan and Uncle Brad.Grandma Susan hosted a tea party and everyone got to wear one of the tea party hats. Grandpa Pete took everyone bowling and it was a lot of fun.

On New Years Eve we drove to Twin Falls and enjoyed visiting with Chantel's parents. We spent the evening at McKay's home and the kids had a blast playing with their cousins. We played games and enjoyed visiting.


We came home Friday and everyone is happy to be home. We took the Christmas stuff down yesterday and are ready to start a new year. We hope this year is as eventful and satisfying as the last year.

Christmas Party at BYU

Every year the president of Brigham Young University hosts a Christmas party for the children of all of the university's employees. They have a craft station, a games station, Santa's mailbox, and food. Becca made a calendar, Hannah and Emily made little purses, and Peter Gordon made a clapper. They played some of the games and then we went to get ice cream at Sugar N Spice. It is always fun to get ice cream at BYU. It was a nice morning outing.

The kids enjoy a break from working on their crafts and pose for a picture.

Musical chairs. Peter Gordon got eliminated pretty quickly and Becca made it into the final group.

Christmas decorations

We spent the morning putting out our Christmas decorations.

The kids had a lot of fun putting the ornaments on the Christmas tree. There are a lot of low hanging ornaments.


Emily and Amy thought it was great fun to lie under the tree and look up at the branches while I put the tree together.

Becca read Christmas stories to the younger kids to entertain them while Chantel strung the lights on the tree. I put the nativities out and hauled boxes around. It is always fun to get the Christmas stuff out.

Halloween Fun

A pretty bright pumpkin.


Four pumpkins for the four older kids. Amy isn't ready for a pumpkin according to her siblings.

All tricked out for Halloween trick or treating.

The kids loved Halloween. Emily was a pumpkin, Peter Gordon was a pirate, Hannah was a witch, and Becca was a "1950s girl." Amy was a baby cow. She likes milk. =) They got to trick or treat twice--once in downtown Springville and once in our neighborhood. After trick or treating we watched the original Star Wars movie. Peter Gordon thought the lightsaber fight between Darth Vader and Obi-wan Kenobi was awesome. The kids have been eating candy all day.