Abby's Visit

Around mid-October my mom came to UT for a visit. I has so happy to have my mom here.
Her friends also came for the General Conference for the LDS church. I had the opportunity to attend Conference with my mom.

We had a really good time.
Maya also loved having my mom around. While I was at work, my mom would take care of Maya.
Funny story. We call my mom Aby as in ABuela and GrannY. She named herself that. And we call my dad Lito, as in abueLITO (grandaddy). Maya for some reason really liked the name Lito, so she called my mom Lito. Other times she would call her Aby and other times she even made up another name: Yba.

It was really fun to see my mom interact with the children and to have one on one time with them.

Lake Blanche Hike

Early October we went on one of the prettiest hikes around, Lake Blanche.

The leaves were changing color and the view was magnificent.
We went with our friend, Matt. We got up quite early, hopped in our car, and started to hike.

This is from a website: "Lake Blanche is a fun and popular hike. Lake Blanche, Lake Florence and Lake Lillian are all located next to each other in the upper reaches of the South Fork of Mill B. The trail to Lake Blanche is 3 miles one-way." Also, it goes about 2000ft in elevation.

I must make a confession. I haven't been working out and the hike felt a bit hard. I bet if I would have been in better shape, it would have felt easier.

Now that I'm done complaining, the hike was worth it. The view was amazing and we thoroughly enjoyed it.


On the way back, Newel carried a rock for his mom, so I carried Maya on the backpack.

Another proud momma moment: As we hiked to the top and back, I noticed that Arden was the only young person hiking. My kid is so tough!

Oh, and as Arden and Grandma were descending from the hike, Grandma fell flat on her face and had a concussion. We were not aware that she had a concussion until about a week later.
It's been about 2 months, and it appears that some of the symptoms are finally going away.

This is a really cute photo of Maya. I found a grasshopper with a broken leg and caught it. I was saving it to show it to Arden, since I know he loves his 'rickets'. However, Maya claimed it hers and there was no convincing otherwise. She loved having a grasshopper of her own. She sees Arden playing with them all of the time, but this grasshopper was all hers.

Has her own mind

Two-year-olds are definitely in their first adolescence. They are temperamental, absolutely adorable, you can't tell them what to do, or how to dress.
On this particular day in October Maya picked out her outfit: Orange and black (Halloween bow), yellow and white dress, purple, gray, blue and green stockings, and white shoes. She was quite proud of her outfit. And I just had to let her win this battle.

Snuggles con Daddy

We are so lucky our children are such snugglers. Every morning whenever they wake up, they come to our room, climb on our bed, and snuggle. Mayita usually snuggles with me and Arden snuggles with Newel. Usually Mayita doesn't snuggle with Newel that long. However, on this particular day, I caught her snuggling with her daddy for longer than, say 30 seconds. We love how our children are so snuggly.

Maya's 2nd Birthday!

It all started as a play date. The Friday before Mayita's birthday, we were going to have my little nieces and a friend over for a play date. I had been trying to figure out what to do for her birthday and when to celebrate it. So, it all came together. A few days before the play date, we called our friends and relatives and told them we were celebrating Mayita's 2nd birthday. She picked out the theme...princesses? No...Elmo!

Yes, it was a fun Elmo party. Since, the idea came to me a couple of days before the party date, I got to work. We bought decorations, made party bags, etc.
Friday morning came and as Mayita walked over to the dinning room table, she found a three tier Elmo cupcake cake, the room decorated in red and yellow, Elmo plates and cups. She couldn't help herself and began her birthday day with Elmo cupcakes for breakfast.

In the afternoon, it was party time. Our guests arrived. We ate lots of yummy food, played pin the nose on Elmo, and opened presents.

Maya was thrilled with her birthday party.

She totally got it. Since I had told her we were going to celebrate her birthday, she had been singing the 'Happy Birthday' song.

She loved playing with her friends and cousins.

I was so glad she enjoyed her birthday. I had felt bad that on her first birthday, we didn't do much to celebrate it.

Beginning of Sept.

The last days of summer. I love these photos of Arden and Maya. The little sister following his big brother around and trying to do all of the things her brother can do.

They have a pretty neat relationship. In these photos Arden is looking for 'bugs' so Maya very carefully observes her big brother.

Maya often doesn't let me do her hair, but on this occasion she let me put her hair in piggies. I just couldn't resist taking her photo.

Buckskin Gulch

"Buckskin Gulch is alleged to be the longest slot canyon in the world. The canyon is exceptional because of the length and depth of its ever changing narrows. The narrows extend uninterrupted for nearly 15 miles. A trip through the dark, narrow canyon is a unique experience you will never forget."

The total hike distance: 21 miles

Days to complete: 2

Arden, Newel, Manuel (first time slot canyon hiker), Tonya, and Craig all set out to hike one of the prettiest slot canyons in the world.

Once again, Arden never ceases to amaze me. I stayed home with Maya while Newel took Arden on this adventure. This hike was done the weekend after they had hike Mt. Olympus.

Can we say 'tough'? Or 'super leveled up'? Arden hiked without any assistance.

He loved walking in the mud and there was a lot of it.

Arden also has a really good talent for catching 'rickets.' He found plenty of grasshoppers to keep him distracted.


He also feasted on power bars.

Speaking of feasting... a couple of weekends ago, our children woke up early as usual, snuggled up with us for a while, and then ran around the house. A little while later, Arden came back to bed with us. We asked him what was Maya doing. He responded, "She's feasting on some yogurt."

He had prepared breakfast for her. I loved it! Feasting on yogurt.

These photos don't do any justice to how beautiful these canyons really are.

They did a lot of walking...

And more walking...

Through lots of mud...

Since this is a long hike, the group camped at a designated camping area.

I was told the stars were gorgeous.

The following morning, the group ate a delicious breakfast and continued on their journey.

Newel recalls as they were hiking they could hear birds in the canyon and could even hear the wings flapping...it was a neat experience.


They also ran into a small rattle snake.


And saw the bats flying around.

When they got home they were tired, but very satisfied with their big accomplishment.

Mt. Olympus

Distance: 6.4 miles (round trip)
Walking time: 6 hours
Elevations: 4,200 ft. gain/loss • Mount Olympus Trailhead: 4,830 ft. • Mount Olympus: 9,026 ft.
Trail: This is a very popular hike. The trail is well used and generally easy to follow. The last 0.1 mile below the summit, however, is very steep and rocky and some scrambling is necessary.

Yes, this little man and his daddy climbed Mt. Olympus. I guess a little guy with so much energy can do it.

I'm proud of my little man.

First Day of School

The anticipated day finally came... Arden's first day of school. He picked out his clothes the night before and in the morning he very excitedly got ready for school .

Part of me was a bit sad...my little boy is growing up.

I was unable to be there for the moment he actually got in the bus, since I had to go to work. However, Newel was there to witness this new chapter in our lives. I feel a bit bummed that I partially missed out on this event. It almost feel like its a right of passage for me as well. But in the years to come, there will be other right of passages I will get to experience. I'm glad Newel was there to record this day.

He was really happy to get in the bus with his friends from church and neighbors.
Once he arrived to school, he played in the playground. Newel followed the bus to school and waited until Arden was somewhat settled in class.
We wanted to make sure Arden felt comfortable. Sometimes he has a hard time with changes.
Arden really likes his teacher. We also like her.

She's really good with the kids.

As he entered the classroom, Arden was immediately attracted to the plastic insects...the bug station.


He also picked out his seat. Once Newel saw Arden somewhat settled in, after a short meltdown because another student had taken his seat and taken the insects, then Newel waved bye and left our little boy at school.


After school, I hurried home and waited for Arden at the bus stop to ask him about his day.

He reported that he had a good day.