Brigham City Temple Open House

Waaay back in September we made it to the Brigham City Temple Open House. It was a spur of the moment decision and the last weekend it was open, but I was so glad we went. There was a lot of people there, but luckily we didn't have to wait in line. The hardest part was keeping Halle moving and she definitely did not want to wear the booties. Even though it wasn't perfect with the kids I think they felt the spirit of the temple and it was a good experience. Since we talk about the temple so much it was great to be able to go inside and show Tucker what it was like. Of course the kids would probably tell you their favorite part was the cookies at the end. The shuttles buses we took to the temple after parking were also an exciting part for Tucker and Halle.

Halle 19 Months

Halle is at such a fun stage, she has become our little parent and I love hearing her try and say everything. Last month she had her 18 month check-up and she cried the whole time. We get into the doctor's office and she just knows what's coming. She is also having a little bit of stranger anxiety lately. On Sunday I tried to take her to nursery, and while she has never loved it at least she would stay for a little bit. But on Sunday she wouldn't even let me walk in the room without crying. I think we are going to try going to a different nursery (We have 3 in our ward) to see if we can remedy the situation. Her stats from her appointment show as usual that she has a really big head.

Length: 32.3"  44%

Weight: 23.7 lbs  55%

Head: 19.3"  95%

This is one of our favorite videos of Halle saying her ABC's. 

Mills Trip to Zion!

So I think I am all caught up on August, now I just need to catch up on September. Over Labor Day weekend we went to stay at a cabin down by Zion National Park for a quick Mills Family Vacation. It was great to be out enjoying nature and we really had perfect weather at Zion. A little bit cloudy so it was cooler and it only rained once in the park on us.

The kids loved the little rocking chair in the cabin. The cabin was pretty old but still nice. Although it did feel like the whole house was leaning and I made Sheldon sleep on the lower end of the bed because I was afraid I was going to roll out.

Lots of lizards around to catch. Halle as fearless as ever just wanted to grab the lizard.

The first day we just did a few easy hikes and I really think Halle's favorites part was the buses. She still gets excited any time she sees a bus.

 We saw some deer really close to us and lots of mountain sheep.

 Sheldon was pretty tough and spent a lot of his time carrying two kids. Halle was happy to ride in the backpack which is good, because I think I've mentioned before what a slow hiker she is.

 Any time we found sand and water the kids had so much fun playing around. Halle didn't even mind the cold and would probably go swimming if we let her. Next time I will remember to pack a swim diaper, because Halle would always sit down in the water and get all wet and then have this huge diaper.

 Sheldon's mom planned a fun pirate day for Sunday when we stayed around the cabin. Halle didn't want to dress up but we did get one picture of her looking cute in a bandanna.

 Tucker and Claytin made such cute pirates. I loved watching them run around in their bandannas. I was actually surprised Tucker wore his bandanna, normally he doesn't like hats or like to dress up. I guess he really likes pirates.

 Sheldon's parents brought their rafts up and we had a lot of fun floating in them at the pond by the house. It's funny how fearless Halle can be sometimes, but she doesn't like sitting in things that move. At first she was not a fan of the boats, but eventually she got used to it.

 We also had a fun little treasure hunt that ended with the kids finding a chocolate treasure chest that Sheldon's mom made. I love Halle's face, I think she really wanted to eat the chocolate and not take a  picture. 

THe next few pictures are from Sheldon's parents. They really got some cute pictures of Halle. I love this picture of Sheldon and Tucker holding their shorts up while they are walking in the river.

 Love this picture of Halle. And yes, her diaper is huge in the next picture. She  had been playing in the river and we changed it soon after this picture.

The whole family on pirate day. We make a good looking crew of pirates. On the drive home we decided to stop at Cove Fort. We always drive by and think about stopping. It is actually a really nice place to stop. We watched a short video about the history of cove fort and then took the tour. They are open every single day of year, I recommend it if you ever need a place to stop!

Cousins! And other fun events...

We were so happy to have cousins come visit us in August! We had a lot of fun playing at Thanksgiving Point. The kids all loved this awesome spiderweb in the children's gardens. Tucker climbed all the way to the top and I'm sure Halle would have too, but she was just a little too short to reach some of the ropes.

Sammy and some random kid in the background. If I ever edited my photos I could crop it because it is a cute photo of Sammy.

Blowing bubbles and Halle would dance to the music her cousins were playing.

The next day we did the dinosaur museum and of course the part with the sand is always the most fun. Tucker loves to bury his dinosaurs and turn them into fossils and Halle likes grabbing the sand and dropping it in another part of the sandbox.

We all had dinner over at Dahlia's house one night and had awesome chocolate fudge dipped ice cream treats. Tucker really loved it and somehow managed to still eat it all even after it was falling off the stick.

To get ready for our trip to Zion over Labor Day weekend we decided to do a little practice hike. We hiked  up to Donut Falls and discovered a few things that was good to help prepare us for Zion. Halle is the slowest hiker ever. She has to stop and look at every rock, flower, bee, leaf, and of course climb on everything. She spent most of her time in the backpack or on shoulders, or else it would have taken us hours to hike. Tucker is a pretty good hiker and good at moving along, although eventually he does get tired. For some reason, he only likes to ride on Sheldon's shoulders. I try to give him rides on my shoulders, but they must be too bony or something. So Sheldon often has Halle in the backpack and Tucker riding on his shoulders. It is pretty impressive that he can carry two kids. Technically I carry two kids as well sometimes, because I am carrying one in my belly.

Picnic when we made it to the falls! They weren't very big waterfalls, but Tucker loved throwing big rocks in the water.

Halle saying cheese with a bunch of food in her mouth. Kind of gross, but also kind of funny.

Someone was nice enough to take a picture for us at the falls and amazingly I think it turned out pretty good. Everyone is looking and smiling, that doesn't happen very often!