Fall and Summer.

Wether report: stormy on Sunday and Monday. Still Summer? Not! Fall is here! Well not really till the end of Sept. But, at least it's almost fall. I'm sick of it being hot, sticky and humid. In other words I'm sick of summer. Well at least it's autum.

First Day of School

Despite its early arrival (August 18!!) the first day of school was anxiously awaited by both girls this year. Catherine started 4th grade and Emma started 2nd grade. Both of them got the teachers they were really hoping for all summer. We were all pleasantly surprised (and relieved.) I was really impressed with both teachers - they each fit our girls' needs and personalities so well. I have high hopes that this will be a great year!

Here we are continuing our first-day-of-school tradition of walking to school with Dad.


The Saturday before school started Catherine spent the afternoon making these badges. She wore one each of the first days. I loved them. :)

Here's Spencer with his carpool buddies going to preschool. He goes to a lady's home in our neighborhood. He still requires some coaxing to actually go, but once he's with his friends, he enjoys it.

My summer vacation by Catherine Sally Smart

This summer I've found out how to post coments. It's been lots of fun. But I have been up to other
things this summer. When I went to Maine me and Madeleine ( see other pictures) went on a blueberry expedetion. That was pretty much my highlight. I've all so gone to.......... the zoo, pioneer park, the aquarium , and the childrens garden at Thanksgiving Point.
But I'm glad to be back in school.

Another one rides the bus

At the beginning of the summer we made a list of fun adventures we wanted to do this summer. I'm happy to say that we actually did a lot of them. (It wasn't a huge list.) Our last week of summer we took our annual (only we haven't done it for the past 2 years) bus ride down to visit Dad at BYU. It's amazing how exotic public transportation can be for kids who ride around in a mini-van most of their life. I've also simplified the process by driving to the University Mall (which is where we would have to transfer anyway), parking, and riding the bus from there. The ride from there is just long enough to be exciting, but not TOO long that it takes more than half our day just to get there and back.

We had a good visit with Dad and the various office secretaries who give candy to our kids and then ate lunch at the new and improved Cougareat. A great last-week-of-summer outing.

Here is Spencer pretending to be asleep.

Climbing on the rocks at BYU. For all those who haven't been to campus in a while this is a new feature on the grassy hill south of where DT (Deseret Towers) used to be. (Yes, again for those of you who haven't been to BYU in a while: DT is GONE!) The old canal that used to run along campus drive under the Bell Tower has been covered up and landscaped with a nicer looking (and shallower) stream. This waterfall is the headwaters of that stream. I'm sure this is the site of many campus engagement photos.

Norah's blessing

Yesterday we celebrated Sarah and Nathan's baby, Norah's, blessing day. They blessed her at the Branch in Provo Canyon where Nathan's grandparents live all summer. (Nathan was blessed there when he was a baby too!) Our kids thought it was pretty awesome to have church outside!!



All the cousins admiring Norah in her beautiful dress.


Spencer acting up while the Bowen family picture is being taken.

Emma with Grandma Udall and cousin Lily. (Grandma Udall is a faithful blog patron and I wanted to acknowlege her. Plus, this is a pretty cute picture.)After the blessing we had lunch at Nathan's grandparents cabin on the north-fork of the Provo River. It is literally on the river - the back of the cabin has a deck with steps right into the river! This place oozed with authentic rustic charm. Our kids thought it was magical. Everything from the goose in the river (that they bring with them every summer and then return to a farmer for the winter), to the dammed area for swimming and sitting in floats and the rope bridge that spanned the river. I also loved the loft with about 8 beds covered with old quilts.


Here is a little picnic table with scraps of wood, a box of nails and kid-size hammers! Needless to say, our boys were in heaven! There was also another table set-up with paints to embellish any creation, rock, etc.
The biggest highlight for the kids was the treehouse. There was traditional ladder-access, but there was also a ramp entrance from the second-floor balcony of the cabin. It felt like Swiss Family Robinson. The tree-house was also full of treasures perfect for playing houseOur kids were very distraught when we had to go back to our church. We had a fabulous afternoon visiting Wildwood. We also particularly enjoyed the company.

And now, school has started! More on this momentous occasion next time as well as a summer-recap.

The Maine Event

We just returned from our family vacation to Maine! Michael's parents and siblings all met-up there for a combined family reunion. I was so dreading the traveling aspect, but our kids were amazing and things went so well on the way there. (The trip home is another story.) We spent our first day in Portsmouth visiting Michael's grandmother, Grammie Millie, or Nona (Italian for grandma) as our kids call her. She is still pretty amazing and kept us fed and entertained!
We had wonderful day in Portsmouth - I LOVE that place. We used to go there a few times a year when Michael's parents still lived there- and before we had lots of kids. :) It is a beautiful New England seaside town with lots of history and character.

From there we drove to our final destination: Little Sebago Lake in Maine. Wow- so beautiful. We stayed in a great cabin (there they call it a 'camp') right on the water. The lake was pretty big, but we stayed on a narrow channel between two bigger bays. That created a nice spot for kids to play and pretty scenery to look at.

Catherine and her cousin Madeleine were very proud of themselves for rowing the raft to some wild blueberry bushes and picking some and keeping them safe during the harrowing return trip.Michael's brothers, Tim and Matthew.

We had a few nice days early in the week and then the weather turned wet and cold, but we still enjoyed the scenery - drove to Portland one day and saw the ocean and some lighthouses, ate Lobster, visited a Maine wildlife preserve and toured the lake via Uncle Larry's speedboat. We also really enjoyed being with our people.


Here are the girls braving the cold at our visit to Aunt Anne's and Uncle Larry's house. (Yes, this is their backyard!) The cousins swam with Michael out to the float in the background and went down the slide!
David impervious to the cold day. :)
Lobstah! We had a lovely lobster feast. :)

For those who are interested I created a web album of a lot more of our pictures. You can click HERE.

Pioneer Day Commemorative Camp Out

This year we had our second-annual Pioneer Day Commemorative Camp Out at Payson Lakes with our friends, the Kapps. Fun and good food (bratwursts, marshmallows, etc) and great company were enjoyed by all.

Emma and Spence with Braxton and Carson:

Time for bed:

Spencer finally falls asleep somewhere else.
David is the last to go to bed. (look at that dirty face, illuminated only by the flash on the camera.)
And miraculously the last to wake-up! He slept the latest he's ever slept-in in his life.
We spent a good part of the next day at the lake. Pretty scenery and refreshing water. We were surprised at how hot it was up there! The Kapps brought a fun blow-up raft. Catherine proudly became the master rower and loved to take other kids for rides.

Poppy came up for the morning to play with us. It's always nice to have an extra adult at water features. The boys loved playing with him.

The Police!

This year for my birthday, Michael gave me tickets to the Police Concert! (This was not a benefit concert for the SLPD, but the name of an 80's iconic band.) I have been a fan of the Police since the 8th grade and this was their final reunion tour. I was so excited! This was also a big deal since we have only ever been to one concert since we were married and that was 8 years ago and that time it was for personal fetish of Michael's. :)

The concert was held at the USANA Outdoor Amphitheater. We had obviously never been there before, again because of our said lack of concert-going over the past few years. It was a cool place and a lot easier to get to than the old concert venue at Park West (though not quite as pretty, but still, it was prettier that I expected.)


We had a great time going together - it was the first date we'd had this summer and it was fun to have such a long one. I loved the concert - listening to that music brought back so many memories of sitting in Allison Burbige's bedroom or driving around in our old suburban with my High School friends. :) Plus it was a gorgeous night to go to an outdoor concert. We watched the full moon rise over the mountains to the east, behind the stage. I LOVE summer nights in Utah. They are always pleasant with a perfect breeze. Lately I've been craving being outside at night - but usually by the time I've put the kids to bed and cleaned-up I just need to fold laundry or get other stuff done - or I just don't do it. So I was SO GLAD to have the chance to just enjoy sitting outside all evening. And the fact that Sting's voice was serenading me in the backgroud? Well, it doesn't get much better. Oh wait, yes it does, because I got to sit with my honey. :)

Here a couple of clips. (This time I think the grandma's may be the least interested.)



King of Pain. My all-time favorite Police song.

And now, the classic:



Only disappointment: they didn't play Syncronicity 2! I kept waiting, but no luck. My first theory was that Sting was saving his voice so he could get up early to perfom with the Tabernacle Choir the next morning, but that wasn't the case either. I guess they couldn't fit him into their Pioneer Day program.

Okay, for those who found this post utterly useless, next time the post will be back to the kids.

And for those of you who still need a cute little kid to look at, my sister Sarah had her baby and you can click here to see her!

Germany trip teaser photos

Michael here with long overdue Germany photos.

Remember the shot of us kids we have at this spot taken the day we arrived? In case you don't remember, it's the super old hospital.

This is the view looking across the PX parking lot. That's the commissary in the distance (now a gardening superstore). The main road that went from the PX down to the school and down to the shopette is behind the photographer.

My best guess as to which building was ours (middle stairwell, right?). All of them look like this now.

Our Dambach house. I knocked but no one was home. I should've taken a photo of one of the other houses, because without the scaffolding they have lots of window boxes and stuff.

More photos coming later - going camping with the young men from Church so wanted to get a few up before I go.

First bratwurst in Frankfurt