KSL Your Life, Your Health Appearance

The TV station sent us a few pics.

Mom received an email one day from a KSL reporter who wanted to spotlight our family and our Fall hikes in a new story she was working on. Mom has been on Studio 5 a few times, and our family appeared on BYUtv's Family Rules, but this was our first time being on the local news station.

We met the reporter and the cameraman at Big Springs Park in Provo Canyon and Mom did a quick interview. KSL also wanted to interview one of the kids, and Seth volunteered. Then the cameraman followed us up and down the trail getting images and videos. The Fall leaves were beautiful in the canyon, so it was perfect timing.

Lots of people said they saw us on the news, which was really fun, and now we have another appearance to add to our resume.

Mom was so nervous and she talks with her hands way too much.

Seth did a great job!

They caught a picture of Dax taking a pic of us.

We don't get too many family pics in the Fall, so we enjoyed taking a few.

We talked about the different leaves for the camera.

Seth got to wear a fun microphone.

After our interview, we enjoyed our annual Fall picnic and Fall drive. We ate at Big Springs park and then drove up to Sundance and enjoyed the beautiful leaves there, too. Mom loves this time of year, and the boys are starting to catch the vision, too!

Picnic at Big Springs

We saw turkeys twice!

Mark loves the leaves like Mom!

Such a happy Mom!

The colors were amazing this year!

The Fall foliage covered the entire hillsides.

Mom and Dad love being together.

BYU Football Game

The boys love BYU.

We were down visiting Glen Ray's Corn Maze, our boys favorite pumpkin patch, when Dad received a call from someone in our ward. They had some extra tickets to the BYU game and wondered if the boys wanted to go! Obviously we did, but we were in Payson and the game started soon.

So we hurried back home, got layered up, and Mom dropped Dad and the boys off right by the stadium to save time parking. 

Mom dropped them off, so getting in was easy.

Seth mostly goes to games for the popcorn and Cougar Tails.

Dax loves anything with sports!

Mark was so excited to see the Cougars!

Mark took this beautiful photo.

Mom stayed home and worked on the blog while she watched the game on TV. Then she picked up the boys and everyone got home and in bed by midnight.

Mom enjoyed a little alone time at home.

August Fun

We had one weekend between our return from Seattle and school starting, so we were busy running school errands. But the boys still found time to make their own Risk game after playing it at Bear Lake this summer.

The boys use their creative side.

School is great this year. Everyone is going to school with no masks. The boys are enjoying their teachers and classes. We feel very blessed that this year feels a little more normal. Unfortunately, after the first week of school with no masks, the kids all got sick and Mom, too. They missed a full week of school, and had to do online work again. Dad got sick as we were all getting better, but he pushed through and is still trying to get better 2 months later. 

Seth is heading to 3rd grade!

Dax is a 6th grader this year. Last year of elementary school!

Mark is a 9th grader. Technically a freshman, but still at the Junior High.

All ready to go for the first day!

No one was very happy about being at home for school for a week.

Mom needed some serious ice cream after surviving a week of online school again.

Once school started, things began to slow down a little bit with adventures. We have been enjoying a little slower pace. Soccer gets started in September and there isn't much baseball, so life feels calm for just a minute. 

Someone recommended this ice cream spot, so we went to check it out.

The boys liked it because it had some free arcade games.

We escaped from an escape room. It was really fun to work as a family!

Two of Dad's students now stand 6'6 and 6'4. They're 9th graders.

Dad has really grown out his hair. 

Seattle Day 9

We took this photo by a green screen before heading up the Space Needle.

Since our flight didn't leave until 7 pm, we had almost a full day to explore Seattle. Despite the fact that we were sore and tired, we got up early and walked a few blocks to the Space Needle. The boys did really well with the height, and we were so proud of them! Mom and Dad were a little more hesitant, but soon we all managed to enojoy the beautiful views. It was a clear day and we could see west to Olympic, South to Rainier, and northeast to the Northern Cascades, so that was a really cool way to say goodbye to the parks. The boys loved being able to walk on the glass floor. Mom wasn't so sure, but she gave it a shot and didn't die. 

We played at this really fun park next to the space needle.

The park had lots of fun things.

Someone was nice enough to take our family photo.

The views from the Space Needle were amazing. We were lucky for such a clear day.

Mark was a little daring!

There's Mount Rainier in the background!

The Space Needle has some selfie cameras. 

We had to give them all a try!

There are benches along the glass. Mom would not sit on one. The boys didn't mind.

The second floor had a moving floor made of glass. 

Dax just riding around the Space Needle.

This stop was more fun than we expected. 

We shuffled back to the hotel and got all our bags sorted and squared away, and then we headed for Pike Place. The boys really enjoyed walking through the market, smelling the fragrant flowers, watching the flying fish, and seeing the diverse group of people in the area. The only purchase we made was for the world's best clam chowder. Mom, Dad, and Dax really enjoyed it, but Seth and Mark had to survive on sourdough bread and oyster crackers.

Pike Place Market was a great adventure.

We admired the Great Wheel from afar.

Mark was so excited when he saw this sign. He loves Nirvana.

The famous Gum Wall

AAAHHHH!

NOOOOOOO!

Mom was horrified.

Dax loved seeing the fish at the fish market.

There was so much to see at Pike Place Market.

Honestly the best clam chowder we have ever had.

After the market, we drove to Ballard Locks. It was pretty cool to see boats raised and lowered to go through the channel. At least, Mom and Dad really liked it. The boys were more interested in the salmon that you could see swimming just below the surface, and the harbor seals that were chasing them. We had a great time watching, and the boys even earned one more Junior Ranger badge.

Mom loved watching the locks.

It was so cool to watch them move the boats up and down.

The kids liked watching the fish.

We also went down underneath to watch the salmon.

Our favorite sighting was 4 Harbor seals.

We had just a little while before we had to drop off the rental car, so we threw a frisbee in the park for awhile and jettisoned all our extra food. Then, it was off to the airport. It was a wonderful nine days that we'll never forget. Now we just need to recover!