Every year the Hutchings Museum in Lehi, puts on a Harry Potter Night. It is seriously better than Christmas for us. The boys (and myself) were going crazy with excitement, waiting for this day to come. (I know that's a little pathetic, but it's true.) Right when we walked through the front door, we ran into Rita Skeeter, writer for The Daily Prophet. After she interviewed both boys, and took lots of notes, we headed to the magic show down stairs.
During the magic show, if you answered any of the questions the magician asked, he would give you a chocolate frog. James was the little boy in the back with his hand held high for every question. James ended up with two chocolate frogs, and he got to help in one of the magic demonstrations. He was beyond giddy. (I answered a question too, the only adult to raise my hand....I forget that I am not 12 when I go to these things!)
Next, we headed to Defense Against the Dark Arts Class, where Professor Lockhart (Aka Joseph Smith) was signing Autographs and posing for pictures. 
A trip to Divination Class was worth while. We found out that we were destined to meet many interesting people on our travels throughout the museum.
And Finally, to top off the night, we had to bring home an assortment of sugar. The kids shopped at Honeydukes Candy shop with their Galleons and Sickles and enjoyed blood pops, chocolate frogs, and exploding bon bons. My favorite were the chocolate covered cockroaches!
The next day, we got up and headed to the mountains for a family hiking trip up to Bells Canyon. James loved that the lake was dried up in places and left a swampy bog. Mud is too hard to stay away from when you are seven years old.
These are all the happy hikers. Everyone in my family was able to come except for Jeff and Jill. It was so fun hanging out and talking. I feel lucky to have such a great family.
This is a picture of me, my sister Kait, my nephew Easton, and my big sister Kim.
We stopped and ate lunch on a dried up waterfall bed full of bolders. Jesse's pose is standard for all pictures that are taken of him now. Danny made us a lunch of cheese, crackers, salami, apples, carrots and water. For some reason, the simplest things taste the best up in the mountains.
Henry, my stinkin' cute little nephew, fell asleep on his Dad's back (my brother Clint). He was so good on his first hiking adventure!
My nephew Easton is almost as tall as his mom! Why do kids grow so fast?
For one of our family night activities, we made and decorated Grandma Judy Sugar cookies. They have almond extract in them, and they are sooooooo tasty. Jesse was very serious about the placement of his frosting!
Here is James' creation. (Notice the lack of clothing. My boys do everything shirtless these days.)
And while we are talking about sweets, Jesse and I decided to make a pumpkin pie the other day. I have had an extreme affinity for anything pumpkin with this pregnancy. This was Jesse's first attempt at making pie, and he was a great helper.
Baby bump update: This is my 20 week bump. I'm still growing and so is the wee little guy! It seems like I woke up one day, and my stomach decided to pop. It's pretty amazing how fast your body changes. I'm looking forward to Halloween and spending time with our family! I hope all of you enjoy your holiday as well!
Danny and I had the opportunity to go to Jackson Hole, Wyoming with our friends! We came along as the support team for our friends who rode in the Logan to Jackson Cycling race (Lotoja). Which meant, that Danny and I got to drive the Minnie-Winnie (motor home) and we got alot of quality time with each other and our friends. This is a picture of us by one of the antler arches in the town square in Jackson.
As we were shopping, we came across this Native American Warrior hiding in an alley. I thought he was really great, so I had Danny take my picture by him!
The guys (Danny, Phil, and Garrett) had to try on hats at the Cowboy Shop! I think the lady who worked there was very glad when we left. We were trying on hats and mocking one another. I don't think she appreciated our sense of humor! These hats were hilarious on the guys!
This is Jesse (on the right) and my nephew Carrick (on the left) in Jesse's Jeep. They have so much fun together, and they look like little twins with their blond hair and shaggy hair cuts!!!
This is James and my niece Maple in our garden. James was "looking after" Maple while she was at our house, and he loved showing her the pumpkins and tomatoes in our garden. He is such a great big brother and a great help whenever we have the younger cousins come over. I thought this was a really sweet picture of the two of them! What cuties!
The farmer has finally released the horses into his back field, which happens to border our backyard! Jesse loves to go out and feed "his horses" carrots. The horses are very sweet, and when they see us come out by the fence, they automatically come over for a treat!
The winter freeze decided to come early this year, so we were forced to pick our pumpkins a bit early than I would have liked! But, the boys had a great time setting them out on our front porch. They were so proud of their pumpkins and the work they put into taking care of our garden this year. I love gardening, and I will miss it when the snow falls this year. It is such a stress reliever for me to go out and weed, and see what's growing. 
One of our favorite activities up at the cabin is to play card games with our kids. We love to play UNO, Go fish, and our all time best game is Slap Jack. We've had some great Slap Jack Tournaments. The best by far has been with my brother Jeff. He takes it very seriously, and it doesn't matter if you are four or forty, he is a fierce competitor! On this particular morning the weather was beautiful, and we played UNO out on the deck with the boys.
James and Jess love to go on Four Wheeler rides with their Dad. Jesse calls them "Fo-Lows", which I think is pretty cute. There are many trails up above the cabin to ride on, and quite often you come across the local wildlife like deer, moose, bear, porcupines, and the ever annoying grouse. 
My Grandparents have this adorable tractor for the kids to play on, and Jesse spends HOURS playing with it. He talks to himself while he's driving and makes up scenarios and stories...which are so funny to listen to. He even pretends to run out of gas, and he has to go fill it up at the Gas station!
This picture was taken on the morning of James' first hunting expedition with his Dad. He woke up that morning, pulled on all of his hunting gear, grabbed his bow, and told his Dad, "I'm ready to go now!!!" I think he felt so grown up, and he was super excited that this was something that just he and his Dad were going to do. It's always cool to leave your little brother behind! 
Danny and James rode up and over to the other side of the mountain where hunting is allowed, and spent the afternoon hiding in the bush. Oh, the joys of boyhood!
Our last weekend up at the cabin was spent mostly doing some work around the cabin. We stained the logs on the deck of the cabin, and we also stained the pine bears that Grandpa has.
Danny and I painted the deck, but we let the boys help us paint the bears. I have never seen two boys so excited to work! They wanted to paint the little bear. James told me it made him happy to help Grandpa get some of the work done. I think Jesse just loved being able to get into the paint. He had a ball.
My Grandpa has some stairs that lead down to a woodpile, and we noticed the weekend before, that you couldn't see the stairs anymore! Three aspen trees and a butt-load of other weeds had overtaken the stairs. Danny was happy (as was Jesse) to pull out the chain saw and clear away all the trees. Then, the boys and I trimmed and swept away all the debris until it looked like this!
On the way home, James wanted Lizzy to ride with him. She gets really excited when she is in the car...she can barely sit still. But, she sat for quite a while on James' shoulder and he was lovin' it. It was a great weekend and I hope we can do it again soon!
