We have been struggling with pink eye. Megan had it a few weeks ago. Now Noah and Kyle have it in both eyes. Well just today Ella woke up and now it is her turn. We still all went to church thoough since it was the primary program.
It was fun to watch Kyle, noah, and Megan participate in the program. They all did great and were not bashful. They said their lines clearly and confidently. I particularly liked watching Noah sing. He was really in to pronouncing. Erin and I also participated by singing a verse of the family is if God together. I love singing with Erin. We don't do it enough.

Most of our kids went through a phase of liking tommy, but Ella takes the cake. She is always draped over him. She likes to sit on him, but her favorite is sitting between his legs when he is laying down. Today Erin caught her playing pikaboo with him while he was outside. Tommy doesn't really take full advantage though. He seems to talorate her more than love the attention. He should be loving all the cute girl love he gets.

That's right the snow is coming and I.love it. There wasn't enough to stick to the ground though, just enough to watch fall and get me excited for ski season.
Megan had pink eye about three weeks ago. Erin and I thought we had dodged a bullet that the other kids did not get it, well. Kyle yaas had a double dose. Luckily he has handled it well.

Noah's not really into the girl scene yet and that's okay. When he was assigned to sit between two girls and those two girls we're not cognisnet of Noah's personal space Erin was able to catch the moment.

Last night Ella woke up at 11:30. I got up with her and stayed with her in her room until 12:30. Of course after that I couldn't go to sleep. Things from my work day kept me up. I am under a lot of pressure trying to meet expectations. Unfortunately I let that pressure boil over and at 4 AM sent an email that I probably should not have sent. It wasn't really bad, but I think I framed a few people in a negative light. Hopefully this little lesson sinks in that I need to avoid acting emotionally and give my thoughts time to settle down.

We just got back from spending the wet days up in Wasatch state parks chalet. It was a beautiful setting with the changing trees and the open views from soldier hollow. Unfortunately we spent most off the weekend indoors. A record storm hit northern Utah and brought 1.5 inches if rain to the salt lake valley.
The hind family reunion brought together about 90 people, mostly kids. Although all the kids had a great time Ella in particular had a great time. I followed her around must of the time so Erin could catch up with her cousins. She loved walking around and discovering.

I attended a show this week that Lendio sponsored. Of course it was in Vegas. I hate how everything in Vegas is fake. The entire experience. I was grateful to get back to my family. I really miss them when I have to leave.

We took another step in the long process of completing our yard. We bought for trees for our front yard. The aspens and some dark black bark tree with purple flowers. I'm excited to get them in.

Noah doesn't really like homework. Erin told him he needed to do some he said, "homework is the worst". Erin responded, "what about dying?" Noah, "that's nut that bad." I had to sit by him and coax him all along. He is a smart kid he just requires a lot of attention. His teacher has already noticed and asked if he had adhd. I hate it when people always have to diagnose everything and fix it with a drug. I know
there are people who suffer from the problems, but Noah just needs a bit more motivating.

We had a family game night. We played life. The kids love the game and Kyle in particular is in love with it. The kids are always excited about the different steps in the game. Their favorite part is when they get kids. They also liked that mount Rushmore was on the board.

We went to the Ogden temple open house. This was the second open house we had taken Kyle and Noah to. I really enjoyed having my family with me in the temple. It was a great reminder of the eternal covenants that Erin and I have made and the blessings we can realize have an eternal family if we are faithful. I look forward to the day we my family can all go to the temple together.
We went with Erin's parents and the Anderson's. After we got out I at one point I was alone with all the small kids. We went over to a fountain and when I went to take a picture Grant feel into the fountain. A temple volunteer was the first to run over and save him.
That night Kyle thank God for the day and asked that the next day would be just the same as the one we just had.

For our final hike of the week we went down the Grand Wash. It was a perfect hike we took it nice and slow to give plenty of time for the kids to explore and climb up the walls. Noah is our climber. Every time we stopped to take a break he was up climbing a wall. He still needs to learn a bit though he hasn't quite figured out that anything he climbs up he has to go back down, which he's not as good at.
This trip Megan has fallen in the love with Reagan and follows her son's everywhere. Reagan seemed to enjoy the attention too.
We took an extra day off from Labour day so today everyone else was packing up and leaving. It was nice to have lower traffic in the park.

Today is Ella'a second birthday. I love my little big girl. She is so much fun to be around. From dancing to making jokes she loves being the center of attention. Her brothers make sure she is.  They are always talking to her or about her.
Today on a hike I had her on mutt back in the pack. Every person we passed on the trail got a smile and a wave. I could see people's faces light up as we got closer to them. When they said hi to Ella she would tell me about it. "They say hi to me." It made her day. For her birthday she got a fire in the dark wand, a book and two dance streamers (one is for Megan to join in with). Erin made cherry chocolate cobbler in the crock pot.