Fall Break Northern California

 For Fall Break this year we decided to go visit Grandma Glover and see some more sights in Northern California.

We drove to Quincy on Wednesday and was able to get there in time to do a short hike to what we thought would be a waterfall only to be disappointed that the drought is so bad that there was no water.  It was still a fun and very pretty hike though.  That night we had pizza with Grandma and Grandpa Jim and had a fun night talking and catching up.

The next day we hung out with Grandma and Grandpa in the morning and then headed over to watch Quincy High School boys soccer game (just happened to be a weekday, middle of the day game)  We only stayed for 1/2 of it because they were killing the other team.  We then stopped by a park and then decided to hike the big Q that is right above the High School.  That night we had dinner and hung out.  The kids loved stacking cards across the living room and were very entertained for a long time with that activity.

The next day we woke up early and headed towards San Francisco.  We stopped at the Jelly Belly Factory and took a tour.  It was fun for the kids to see an actual factory and how things go through all the different stages to get made, packaged and shipped.  We of course bought some jelly bellies and enjoyed a little train ride around the parking lot.

After that we headed into San Francisco.  The kids were super excited to see the Golden Gate Bridge but like it is so often, it was covered in fog that day.  So we drove across the bridge but unfortunately didn't get to see how big and amazing it is.  We then drove down Lombard street and then walked around Pier 39 watching the Sea Lions, eating Donuts and seeing Alcatraz from afar.

The next day we spent the day at The Great America amusement park.  We got some really cheap tickets but apparently so did everyone else and it was so super crowded.  But we rode some fun roller coasters and had a good time.  After we left we drove to a hotel just outside of Yosemite.

The next day was a long day but we had a great day in Yosemite.  We entered on the south end and exited that night on the East end.  We started with a walk around the Giant Sequoia's although the kids loved looking for chipmunks more I'm pretty sure. Then we drove into Yosemite Valley and saw El Capitan.  The kids loved watching the rock climbers and we had just shown them the movie Free Solo right before we left on our trip.  We ate lunch and then we hiked to Vernal Falls.  Siena didn't want to go to the top as it gets very steep with lots of steps so we stopped at the footbridge but the others kept going and made it to the top.

The last day we drove home but stopped at Great Basin National Park.  It's known for their cave tours but since we had just done the ones at Mt. Timpanogos last month we didn't do that.  We ate lunch, took a drive and a short hike to a very low lake but had fun splitting our drive home up a little.

We had a great trip.  It's always fun to see Grandma as she isn't able to come visit us since Grandpa Jim doesn't travel well and shouldn't be left alone.  So we love being able to see her.  The trip was a lot of driving and the kids did great.  We were happy to see some new sites as well.

September 2022

Nancy and Shad offered our family tickets to the Jack Johnson concert at Usana Ampitheater.  Our kids have never been to a real concert before so although they don't know Jack Johnson songs we went.  It was a fun night just sitting on the grass listening to music and having fun.

I've been wanting to do this as a family for a long time but we finally hiked up and went on a tour of Mt Timpanogos Caves.  The hike wasn't too bad and Siena who is our hiker that hates hiking survived as well.  We made it up pretty fast and had to wait a while for our tour time but it was worth it.  The caves were really cool (literally cool as well) and it was fun to learn about them and see everything inside.

My birthday started with a trip to the Orthodontist with the girls.  They've had their expander in for a month and needed a check up.  Everything looked good.  Then we decided to go get donuts and we headed over to my parents to let Gus out since my parents were out of town.  So we played with Gus and ate donuts all before school started.  While the kids were at school Shane and I went to lunch and shopping.  I got new shoes and a BYU sweatshirt.  That night the kids had stuff going on so Shane made us dinner and we opened presents and went about our night as normal.  It was a fun day and Shane and kids always make me feel special and loved!

We of course celebrated mine, Kayla's, Siena, Aria and Jennifer's birthdays at dinner at my parents.  It was yummy as always and always a fun time.

The saddest thing happened this month.  Aria's cute bird Scottie died.  It was pretty traumatic. Aria was getting ready for school and had Scottie in the bathroom with her and something startled Scottie and she flew into the mirror and broke her neck.  We weren't exactly sure what was going on and was hoping she was just stunned and scared so we put her back in her cage and within about 30 minutes she had passed away.  Aria was very upset, especially since she saw it happen and it was a very sad day.  We had a little funeral and as we went outside Aria crying said 'Now you can go outside, I always wanted to take you outside' Heartbreaking.  She cried and cried all day and did for a few days.  Jennifer was so thoughtful and came over that night and brought Aria a stuffed animal owl that Aria named Waddie.  Aria slept with and cuddled Waddie every day and night for weeks.  Scottie was seriously the cutest bird and loved to sit in our trees, be held and always let Aria hold her, pet her and sit on Aria's glasses and shoulder.  She really was a special bird and I was even sad that she died.  I know she will always have a special place in Aria's heart.

Siena decided she wanted to do a little more competitive basketball than just Jr. Jazz rec teams.  So we put her in some basketball camps this summer and in September she tried out for Bantam.  This is through the high school you are in the boundaries for.  She made the Lone Peak 5/6 grade combined team.  She is excited to start practicing and will play games after Thanksgiving through February.

Jaron made his 4th grade Utah Cake which is the tradition here in Utah schools and had to document it.

After Scottie died we found out her horse riding instructor, Scott, got cancer and was not going to teach for a while since he was in treatments.  So Aria tried to think of other things she could do with animals.  She isn't old enough to volunteer at the Humane Society but we found out she could go read to cats.  So one Saturday morning we drove up to Murray to the main humane society and read to cats.  Honestly the cats didn't really care about us reading but it was fun for her (Siena came too) to see them pet them and they had a fun time.

We went to a BYU Men's Soccer game as a family one night.  It was fun to see older players play and they were hustling up and down the field.  Jaron loved it and watched intently.  The Pace's came and it was kind of interesting cuz the boys just wanted to go play and mess around and Jaron was like no thanks I'll just sit here and watch the game.

Westfield, the school Jaron goes to now puts on a school carnival every fall.  It was a fun night and the kids had fun rock climbing, playing games and going on the bounce houses.

I got to meet Jeff and Whitney's newest little girl, Hazel.  She's so darling and cute and everyone is in love with her.

We had a shower for Ella who is getting married in October.  Since they met in Hawaii it was Hawaiian themed and such a fun night.  That night we realized Brigitte is almost as tall as Brigitte.  Just another inch or so. 

Jaron got to go biking with his friend Aiden and then Parker invited him and Graham to bike in Provo canyon and then stop by his dad's work on a Saturday to eat snacks and play games there.  He works for Qualtrics in Provo.

Siena and Aria turn 11!

Siena and Aria turned 11!  I feel like they have changed and grown up so much this last summer.  They have grown a ton, their feet have grown and they just act a little older.  No longer girls, they are just turning into tweens and they are becoming so fun and cute to hang out with.

The night before their birthday we had their birthday party.  We invited their friends Annie and Holland and went to Wilkerson Farm.  It's a small version of Cornbelly's with a fall festival, corn maze and rides.  They had so much fun riding all the rides.  The rides were on the small side but it wasn't crowded and they just ran around the whole time.  They also had fun in the corn maze and hay ride.

Their birthday was on a Saturday this year.  Which they were happy about until they realized Jaron had a soccer game.  But they were glad that was a day they had a day off from school and soccer.  We started the morning opening presents then headed to Jaron's game.  That afternoon they went to Obstacle Warrior kids, a ninja gym we hadn't been to in a long time.  They had so fun and were exhausted and their hands hurt by the time they were done.  That night we went to dinner at Chuck a Rama for dinner, not my favorite but the kids love the all you can eat atmosphere, even if they don't eat all that much.

They've started 5th grade this year and are starting to sit in the front seat of the car sometime, are a little more into music and are continuing to shine in their each individual ways.

Siena is into crafts, sewing or any project type thing she can find online.  She loves to create things basically.  She loves to do crafts and computer creations.  I think she would be great at some coding things as she gets older so we'll see.  She loves to read and still loves to create games or activities for the family to do.

Aria is still our huge animal lover.  She always has a book checked out from the library on birds, horses, animals, whatever she can find.  She loves to learn about them and we hope we can find her some horseback riding lessons soon.  She's still improving a lot on the violin and will participate in her orchestra at school again this year.  She is also a huge reader.  She always has a couple different books she's reading and will read in the car and take books wherever she goes.