Family Nights

Where can you have this much fun with your family? Only at home when you plan to have the evening set apart for family time!!! I love family nights. I love that my kids are sad if we happen to skip one. I love it that they get excited for an activity or treat or to plan a lesson. Now, I know that these days may pass, but for now I am cherrishing the time that we do have to spend together.

FALL

Fall is definately my favorite time of year. We went for a hike behind the new Draper temple just as the leaves were changing. It was so pretty.
We went up to Park City and I tried to get some of the beautiful scenery in the photo, (no, not Dan and Luke), but the photo didn't give the foliage justice. It was so nice up in the mountains.
One of my favorite parts about this fall was a visit from my friends the Skeens. The BYU homecoming game brought them down from Seattle. I love spending time with them. Their visit was WAY too short, but at least they squeezed me in on Sunday. We weren't too good with the self-timer, but we finally got a good photo. :)

Thanks for the visit----We love you and your family. See you soon (I hope)!!!

Hunting Season

WARNING: These photos are not for the weak stomach. But I do have to say that my nieces ROCK. Two of my nieces drew out for the antelope hunt near the ranch. So, they drove up to Utah with their dad and went hunting and got their prize!!! We were down for conference weekend and were able to witness their skills with a gun- (I guess it runs in the family)!! Their oldest brother and sister got the much loved job of skinning the animals. I know where I am going if this economy gets so bad that we all have to live off the land-They have SKILLS!

Birthdays, Birthdays, Birthdays

Josh is 4!! Can't believe that my baby is 4 already. He is such a bright spot in our lives. He has such a fun personality. We didn't do a traditional party for him, but he was able to choose 2 friends to go swimming with us.
Our even numbered birthdays are for family, so Josh got to pick what he wanted to do for his activity. He chose the Alpine Slide-so we went to Park City and went on the slide and then did the Coaster, which we highly recommend-If you ask Josh what he did as he went down the coaster, be ready to plug your ears because he will literally share with you the exact sound he made all the way down....AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH.
My cute Luke turned 6 on our anniversary:) Those of you that think that it was such a great anniversary present, well lets just say that it was such a great moment, then in the years to follow, not so fun to have both on the same day. We don't regret having Luke in our lives-he is wonderful. (We have been waiting for 2 years for the front teeth to come in....)
For his family birthday, we took one friend (and his sister) to Chuck E. Cheese, (his choice). Wow what a party that was. We celebrated later with cake and ice cream. Love my boys. Fall is a busy time with birthdays at the Sampson house.

Birthday Boy

Joe just turned 9 on August 4th, so on September 4th, we decided that because his birthday is always celebrated at the ranch without his friends around, this year we would have a party for him in Draper! We invited some of his friends from the neighborhood and school to come swimming with us and have a PARTY!!! It was a lot of fun for him.
This picture was taked to get most of the kids in the picture with the cake, but apparently something was going on between Luke and Joe at this moment, no, really, is was a fun party.

This is the Baby Joe Joe that I still picture in my mind. They grow too fast and I forget how little they used to be. We love you Joe- and here is to many more years to come:) xoxo

Back to school.....again

Don't we all love it when school starts again? I love this time of year. The kids are so excited to go, the smell of the classrooms, new clothes and the anticipation of what the new year will be like. This is usually true for me, but this year was a little different....
My 5 year old started kindergarten AND
my 3 year-old started pre-school! I was in a little bit of a shock when everyone was gone. Now, I know that it is only for a few hours for a couple days a week, but still it was really strange having everyone at school. I know it will be another change when they will all be in school all day, but for now I will take this little baby step before huge changes start to happen. Love my boys---

Post camp activities

Just before camp ended, Joe had a birthday, he is now a big 9 year old kid! For his birthday, he wanted to go for a horseback ride with his family. So, we rode up in the mountains to a lake and had lunch. It was a beautiful day and Joe had a huge smile on his face.
Josh doubled with Dan and Luke doubled with me. Josh was pretty much doing the splits the whole way, but he loved it too.
Another big event....my nephew (the boys cousin) Parker came home from his mission to Russia. It was so much fun to see him and my boys were so excited to have him come home. (isn't he handsome?)
After camp was over, we needed a break from our summer adventures. We went up to my brothers condo in Park City and enjoyed a much deserved weekend with our family. We went boating on Jordanelle...(just a hint, NEVER go to Jordanelle on a sunny Saturday, everyone else has the same idea). It was so dang crowded we could barely turn around, but the boys had a blast tubing.
At least it was a nice day. :) The Alpine Slide was one of the big hits of the weekend. We all had races, don't ask Dan and the 3 oldest boys who won:) We had such a great time hanging out, swimming and watching the olympics. Thanks family!