The Rest of August

I have a hard time remembering what we did the last half of August.  I know that Bevan mowed the lawn a few times, I pulled a few weeds, Dallin rolled over, and Anna discovered dirt for the hundredth time.  That pretty much sums it up!  The end of August was Labor Day weekend and that meant SWISS DAYS!  The world's biggest craft fair and our street turned into a parking lot!  Our ward was in charge of selling Swiss tacos during lunch and dinner time.  It's basically a Navajo taco... but it's called a Swiss taco instead.  No one has figured it out yet.  It was really impractical for me to volunteer, having a high-maintenance infant, so I let Bevan volunteer TWICE as long.  It's fun to see how the whole town works together to accommodate 60,000 people per day.

Saturday morning was the Swiss Days 10k race.  Bevan and I are technically supposed to be taking over the administration of the race, although we still have no idea what we're doing!  We had to be at the race start/finish line by 5am.  Ugh.  How does that work with 2 kids?  Anna sat on my lap while I signed up late registrations and Dallin slept in the jogger the WHOLE TIME!  It was a miracle!... and I've heard there are many "miracles" during Swiss Days.  I got a free hat, t-shirt, and a couple donuts out of the deal, and I also learned a lot about putting on races.  It's only really as complicated as you want it to be.  We are simple people, and this race will continue to be simple, but we will need help for next year so if anyone wants to come and help out, we'll let you run the race for free!

Bevan just HAD to run the 10k and Anna stayed in her pajamas until noon.

Lava hot springs in the summer is cool!

I love the title to this post :)
August 7, 2013
After the family reunion in the Tetons, we felt like we needed more fun.  Sharon was still in town so we decided to book it to Idaho for more fun with Vanessa!  I'm glad mom and dad let us use their van because we filled EVERY seat!  6 kids between the 2 of us?  When did this happen?  Anyway, we spent the night, but slept very little.  The next day we backtracked a little to Lava Hot Springs.  Few people in Utah know that Lava has an amazing outdoor family swimming pool.  There are speed slides, regular slides, diving platforms, and an awesome indoor kiddie pool.  Anna was in heaven!  We literally spent all day there.  Dallin mostly slept, but I was able to get him in the water a few times.  I missed Bevan.  I could have used an extra set of eyes on Anna.

Mixed feelings about canning

Here's what my Monday looked like...
25 pounds of "tony" roma tomatoes
7 hours in the kitchen
cracked finger tips
stained appliances
every bowl that I own was dirty
and in the end...
only 4 1/2 quarts of spaghetti sauce???!!!

I wanted spaghetti sauce because that's what our family uses A LOT of.  It's one of the few things that Anna will eat willingly.  I also wanted to see if I could do it using only what I grew:  tomatoes, onions, basil, peppers, chilies, etc.  I wasn't upset I only got 4 quarts of sauce, recipes told me to expect it with only 25 lbs of tomatoes.  What made me mad is that Anna DOESN'T LIKE IT!  I don't blame her.  It doesn't taste or smell at all like Grandma Beverly's... or Prego for that matter.

It's not like my garden was a total wash this year.  We had lettuce, sugar snap peas (which we're still picking), huge red bell peppers (which Anna loves), green beans, squash, carrots, chilies, and tomatoes.  It's been totally worth it and I felt like I saved money because I started everything from seed.  BUT... I will make huge changes next year.  I felt like spaghetti sauce was supposed to be the climax!  Maybe it'll be that way in years to come.  Until then, those 4 jars are so precious, I don't think we'll ever open them.

Here are the newest members of our family.  I named them Tiny, Shiny, Don, and Buddy.  I think I'm going bonkers.  Time to get out of the kitchen.  It's supposed to freeze later this week.  Oh darn!  I guess garden season is over!

Ackerson Family Reunion

August 1-4, 2013
I was so excited for the reunion this year!... which doesn't explain why we were the LAST ones to show up.  I think I had to work that morning, or something.  That and I forgot to tack on the extra 2 hours it takes for us to do anything since having 2 kids.  Oh well!  We went a new way to the Tetons this time:  Kemmerer/ Big Piney/ Marbleton, all towns I've never heard of.  It was fast, nothing to see, nothing to stop for, better not break down because it might take a while to be rescued!  It was worth it.  We made it to the park in record time.  It was dry, it was dirty, it was beautiful!!!

The next day we went on a mass-hike to Leigh Lake.  Anna and I never actually made it to the lake because I thought she was old enough to hike on her own, without a baby backpack.  It was like dragging a camel through the desert!  I can't count how many time I threatened to just leave her.  Finally we just headed back and prepared lunch for everybody (each family is in charge of one meal, which makes it nice).  We swam in the afternoon, ate more food, got more dirty, and zonked!

On Saturday, we hiked around Colter Bay.  It's fun having such a large family because there's so many people to talk to!  After lunch we invaded the pool at Jackson Lake Lodge and forced our way in.  It was so nice to let Anna have a soak before she got dirty again.  Dallin slept most of the time in the shade.  Party pooper.  We started smelling the barbecue for the guests and knew it was time to get going for dinner.  After dinner, we had skits, games, and songs.  You'd think that the fun would stop once it got dark... but that's what fire wood is for!

The last day was Sunday.  James and Nora prepared an excellent devotional/ church in the mountains.  It was hard to pack up and head back to reality.  I started to think it was all a dream, until my black, cracked heels reminded me of all the fun.  It's started me thinking about next year's reunion, that Bevan and I are in charge of!!!  It will be hard to top the Tetons!

Bevan had the easy child

Anna seemed to just blend in to the surroundings

Swimming at String Lake!

The non-swimmers making use of the shelter (I was one of them)

Cousins have so much fun together!

The newly weds!  Ooooooh!

I don't know why I was always having people wave when I took pictures

Those pools were a little filthier after the Ackerson herd left.

'till next year!

Sharon's in Town!

Every year when Sharon and her family came to Utah, it seemed like I never saw them.  I was always working a ton.  Well, this year has been slow... so let the fun begin!  After our 24th of July hike with Bevan's family, we took off to the cabin for her welcoming party.  I failed to take any pictures, so that day was a bit fuzzy.  The next day she came to Midway to hang out with me!  We went on a walk, bought some ice cream, and her boys watched a lot of netflix.  The next night, we snuck away on a sister's outing to see the "Lower Lights", a modern gospel revival band.  We met Nora and James there too!  It's a crazy coincidence, but one of the members used to be in Bevan's singles ward back in American Fork.  Debra always was REALLY good with a guitar.  The next several days consisted of a barbecue with Miranda, visits to Dairy Keen in Heber, feeding ducks in the park, All That Stuff in the Barn, and MORE ice cream and netflix.  The fun never stops when family is in town!

 Lucy and Anna had such a good time together!

Bald Mountain on the 24th

We were surprised with a visit from Beverly and Lloyd on the 24th of July.  They had "business" for their mission in Cove Fort that brought them home for a couple days.  Great!  Let's do something.  They recommended a hike at Deer Valley, like the one we did last year.  Bevan's sister, Trisha, and her girls would come too!  Sounded like a real party!  We don't get to see them very much.  We made it an early-afternoon event and the weather was perfect.  We all took the ski lift up to the top of Bald Mountain and hiked down.  The twins were adventurous and kept running ahead.  I enjoyed the views and kept noticing how steep the ski runs looked.  It was hard imagining them covered in snow.