Micah's 4th Birthday

Micah was lucky enough to have both sets of Grandparents here to celebrate his birthday.  The night before the party we went to the hotel that Grandma and Grandpa were staying and went swimming.

 

The hot tub was really hot!:

Conner making a flying leap to Dad:

Brooklyn was much more cautious:

Micah really likes ninjas so that was the theme of the party.  We paired one child with each grandparent and they worked together to make a bad guy ninja out of a helium balloon.  They based their ideas off the Stone Army from Ninjago. 

Alan and Grandma Pitcher:

Conner and Grandpa Bassett's balloon popped but they didn't get discouraged:

They just dressed Conner up instead:

The birthday boy working with Grandma Bassett:

the finished product:

Brooklyn and Grandpa Pitcher:

Then we went outside and tied the balloons around the yard:

Then we gave the kids a nerf gun and let them try to shoot the balloons.  Love this picture of Micah!:

Brooklyn even gave it try:

Then we opened presents.  Micah told me the only thing he wanted for his birthday was nunchuks, so he was super easy to please. 

Giving Dad a hug:

Micah hugging the nunchuks:



Now he has a variety of weapons:

He got a ninjago backpack:

And a catapult (he likes knights almost as much as ninjas)

Silly boy:

Micah wanted a Ninjago cake.  He chose a Jay cake (Jay is the blue ninja).  I added a couple of lego pieces, made out of the extra cake and marshmallows:

Make a wish!:

 

We had a great day!



Our little getaway

In September my parents took the kids for the day and Reed and I had some time to spend with just the two of us.  We went to the temple and when we got out it was the middle of the afternoon.  We decided to go visit Waterton.  We got there right before the ranger station place closed so we hurried and asked what was the best hike to go on.  The guys said to try Bertha lake.  I had been to Bertha falls before but I hadn't gone any further.  We weren't sure if we would have enough time to make it up and back before it started to get dark and cold but we decided to at least start the hike.  I'm glad we did - it was beautiful!

Climbing up the trail - you can see Waterton lake in the background

We made it to Bertha falls in record time so we decided to keep going:

The trail up to the falls is pretty easy.  After that though it becomes much steeper.  There were so many switch backs.  Luckily the scenery was amazing and the day was cool - perfect hiking conditions:

We booked it to the top - we were so impressed with ourselves.  Seriously - record time.  Here we caught our first glimpse of the lake:



Bertha Lake

We only spent a short time at the lake.  It was kind of chilly after you stopped moving.  Here is Reed on a bridge at the lake:

The scenery was breathtaking.  I have never been up in the mountains like that in the fall.  It was so neat to see the splashes of gold leaves mixed in with the darker evergreens.  We tried to take some pictures that captured the beautiful colors but they didn't do it justice:

My eyes are closed but you can see the colors in the background:

 

Then we headed home to meet up with everyone and hear about their day.  It was a great time!