Hewitt has learned all about Greek Mythology this quarter. The third grade held an "Olympic Day" and he was supposed to come dressed in an ancient greek-style toga. I put most of the costume together while the boys were at school. Tosh was the first one home and so I used him as a model for the finishing touches. His blonde curls were so perfect for the look, I couldn't resist. I'm hoping to convince him to wear this for Halloween (I doubt it will work).
Ahh, here is the official Olympian. He didn't want to show his braces because "braces are not authentic to Ancient Greece."
Liv was thrilled to get to go to Hewitt's school and class. She was a great audience member (and looked adorable too!):
After the awards (and juice and otter pops), we went inside the classroom for presentations. Hewitt did a great job. He presented on Socrates.
I brought a picnic lunch (including Subway sandwiches which thrilled Hewitt) for the three of us to share. I couldn't resist packing these grapes still on the vine for Hewitt to eat. :)
School got out the very end of September and the kids had almost two and a half weeks off for fall break. We stayed close to home and spent the first week of October just outside of Payson, AZ at Kohl's Ranch (17 miles from Payson). It was nice to only have a two hour drive. We stayed in our own little cabin (it was actually quite big with two bedrooms and a nice big kitchen, dining and living room). The place was right on Tonto Creek and it was great to enjoy the mountain climate. The weather was gorgeous!
We arrived on Saturday night, and attended church the next morning in Payson (all three hours--I was grateful we had done that after hearing the conference talk the next week about that. Ha!). We couldn't find Rob's church socks anywhere (found them on Tuesday in Burke's bag) so he went "European" with the white socks:
The bishop taught the combined third hour about callings and touched on several points including "what if I feel too old (busy, etc., etc.) for a calling?" The lesson was excellent. There seemed to be quite a few seniors in the ward. Our four kids attended class and then spent the last hour in a combined, small primary. When we went to pick them up, we had a touching experience when we observed Tosh visiting with his primary teacher. She was an older sister (oxygen tank under her chair!) and Tosh was looking at her so sweetly and respectfully as she spoke to him. When he came out of class he was so excited to tell us about his class and said, "My teacher told me she would miss me!" Rob and I got slightly emotional over this (maybe you had to be there to get it), and I wanted to write it down so I wouldn't forget this simple act that touched our (often rowdy) son. It certainly was a great reminder that we are never too old to serve (especially in primary). I think of both Patti and Helen that serve willingly wherever they are called (as well as Martha Proctor) and others. Thanks for the great example.
Sunday afternoon Tosh and I went for a little walk along the creek. We stopped to swing for a bit:
In front of the lodge:
The little visitor's center there reminded us of Rog. He would have loved to read all of the pamphlets and information.
So, it turned out that Rob hadn't forgotten socks, but had forgotten his swimming suit. I asked him if he wanted to drive the 20-25 minutes into town to buy one and he didn't (as I'm sure you are not surprised). He hadn't brought any athletic shorts either so we started to consider our options. He was physically able to get Burke's athletic shorts on (can you imagine?!), but settled on my running shorts. Do you see a European theme here? We were laughing so hard. I asked Rob if he wanted to buy shorts the next day and he said, "Nah. I'll just keep wearing these." What can I say, I married a confident man that doesn't really get embarrassed... Nice legs, babe!
We enjoyed playing soccer and wiffle ball:
Hewitt turned nine on the 2nd of October. He was NOT excited about being away from home on his birthday. He finally seemed to relax when I assured him that I was packing some presents! We hung out the morning of his birthday and played around the resort.
Burke wanted to play tennis as much as possible. I thing we played at least two hours every day. It is getting really fun to play him; he is starting to use some backspin and has good control. I would start out winning each game for the first hour and a half and then he would start winning some as I got tired. I would like to continue to play a lot this winter as it's really fun for both of us.
A game of horseshoes:
Hewitt requested KFC for birthday lunch. Dining with the Colonel:
We found a park by a lake in Payson. Fun on the tire swing:
After swimming and the hot tub it was finally time for some presents. Hewitt is on a bit of a Ninja kick and got several ninja-themed toys including a costume for Halloween.
Make a wish, Hewitt!
We sure love this great kid!
We decided to come home a couple of days early from our vacation. Rob has been swamped at work and had some deadlines to meet. We packed up after lunch on Thursday and headed to Tonto Natural Bridge State Park. I have never been in the Payson area at all (the boys are up that way every year for the Father and Sons camp out). The park was so pretty and had lots of different trails to hike and explore.
(Not a very good hiding job, Burke:)
By some falls:
Such a great photo of these two cuties:
The kids can explore for hours. Rob made a comment that he thinks the boys probably enjoy crossing a creek to any other activity:
Monkey in a tree:
At the bottom of the bridge:
Sweet Petes!
