Hike along Russian Gulch!

On the first day of our camping trip we hiked the Fern Canyon Trail up Russian Gulch in Mendocino County. The trail was 2.5 miles one way, so we were a little nervous about how the boys would do, but decided to give it a try! They were so excited, because they knew there was a waterfall at the end of the trail!
Ty in his pack!
Here we go!

Ryan ran ahead with all of the grown ups, but Austin was a slower hiker, so Justin and I were taking our time with him!

Silly boy! Austin always has to have something in his hands!
He made it about 1.5 miles, and jumped on Dad's shoulders for the rest of the hike!
There it is!
The waterfall!!!

So pretty!
We were all sooooo sweaty! Justin decided to shower off in the freezing cold water!
Ryan went through this "peace" phase1 Don't ask me, but he's still cute!We had so much fun hiking as a family!
All of us together on the giant log that had fallen over the falls!
Justin being a goof!
Ready to head back to camp!
We hiked back out together and the boys made it the whole way!
We had so much fun hiking! We need to find more places to hike and explore!

Labor Day Weekend Camping!!!

Over Labor Day weekend we held to tradition and went camping in Ft. Bragg, even though there was a killer on the loose in the mountains! It was soooo nice to escape the heat of the valley and get to some cooler weather!
We enjoyed a fun bike ride down the beach!

Then played in the caves...and on the rocks!One of the days while camping we went to Sand Dollar Beach and enjoyed playing and hiking around!Ty had a great time playing in the sand! He eventually ate it, and didn't love it so much anymore!Aubrey and I on the giant rock/mountain we tried to climb!It was really hard with no shoes on!
Justin and Ryan found some other rocks to climb!We walked to these beautiful arches that were partially in the water!Justin found out just how deep it was by trying to walk through it!
We had a lot of fun that afternoon!
I love how much these two love each other... most of the time!!This is Tyler's favorite spot! On Daddy's shoulders!

Here we are!

We were joined on this camping trip by Eric, Holly and Warren!Ashley, Steve and Tyler!
Megan, Allen, Natalie, Aubrey and Allen's sister Emily all also joined us! We had so much fun and ended our fun with a trip to Glass Beach on our way out of town!We had so much fun and can't wait to camp at MacKerricher again!!!

6 Years Old!!!

I don't know how it happened, but somehow my baby boy is 6 years old today!!! Time has sure flown since the day Ryan joined our family!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY RY RY!!!
We sure LOVE this face!!!
Ryan is such a sweetheart and we love him so much! At 6 years old Ryan...
1. loves planes, trains, trucks, cars, basically anything that goes!
2. plays 20 questions without even realizing it! (He is so curious and asks questions about everything)
3. gives the best hugs, when he really wants to!
4. is learning to read and sounds out words all the time!
5. instigates problems with Austin, and Daddy and Mommy just to laugh about it (usually annoying, but funny after).
6. plays soccer and is getting better every day! (Scored 3 goals in his last game on Friday, October 14th)
7. makes the cutest pouty face, which he really needs to grow out of!
8. loves learning about Jesus and his gospel, then teaches us all about it!
9. is such a worry wart! He is so concerned about everyone and everything all the time.
10. is SOOOOOOO LOVEABLE!!!
Happy Birthday Ryan!!! We love you so much and can't wait to see what the next year holds in store for you!!!

Soccer Family!!!

This year we have taken on the fun of being a soccer family!!! In the spring, Ryan was on his first soccer team The Firecrackers!
And Mommy was his coach!
He had so much fun that he wanted to play again! So, we signed him up for fall league which is a much bigger deal and way more competitive! He was sooo excited to be on the Green Dragons!!!
Ryan improved A TON over the summer! I think he matured more and became more coordinated! He also got a lot more aggressive and better at defense!
Offense as well! He scored his first goal on August 26th!!! Right before! I was cheering so much that there isn't a picture of him actually scoring!
Go Buddy!!!Our little Giant! He's about a head taller than everyone else on his team, and on the other teams as well!Good Game!We have loved watching Ryan learn and play the sport that I loved as a child!!! We are sad the season is ending, but look forward to next fall when Austin will likely be playing too!!!