Logan - August/September 2014

Well Loger, prepare for another picture dump, but at least it's something!

This summer Great-grandma Hillier made a trip to Hurricane for the first time since your dad and I were married 8 years ago.  We took some 4 generation pictures in which nobody but Great-grandma and Grandpa look good in and pictures of everyone who was there including your Great aunt Diane and Great aunt Joyce and had a good visit.

We made a few last trips to the pool in August before it closed.  You became obsessed with goggles at some point and, like always, the fad spread to the younger kids too.

I took half your toys away this summer when I took you and Tessa's toy boxes away.  You HATE to clean the toy room, and it really was just WAY too much stuff for you guys to take care of.  That turned out to be one of the best moves I've made as a mom because for some reason ever since then you and Tess have played together SO well.  You play a game you created called Lego Pet Shops Star Wars Mystery Incorporated (and add on to the end the name of whatever else you've watched on TV lately like Ninjago).  I don't understand the game, but you and Tess love it and still play it.  Bad move on your part since you may never get your toys back now! (The first shot is fuzzy because I'm pretty sure Ty is behind the camera on that one.)

We took a trip up to Big Springs one Sunday afternoon to join dad and the crews up there for a barbecue.  We thew grasshoppers in the lake for the fish, played in the spring, and you guys even got to sit on the big fire dozer.

You were walking along when you jumped sideways and yelled that you saw a snake.  Dad caught it and you and Sam thought it was the coolest thing ever.  Somebody decided it'd be fun to see him swim, so dad took him over to one of the ponds.  Ty yelled at him to not throw him in and as right as dad did he told Ty that the snake could swim and would be ok.  Well, the poor thing COULD swim, but the fish swim faster and no sooner did he hit the water than a hungry fish caught him in his mouth and swam away!  It was pretty funny.  You and Sam did a little exploring up by the seasonal's cabins and even found a bat hanging upside down!

We headed up to Pass Creek on a whim on week when dad had a few days off to go camping.  We stopped in Panguitch to take a ride on Grandpa Rob's new tractor.

We had a fun time camping the first day and then the second day the entire city of Las Vegas moved in RIGHT next to where we were camped.  Not really, but within 24 hours we went from being the only ones in our spot to having 10 trailers within 100 yards on either side.  It was CRAZY.  We still had a good time after I relaxed and quit yelling at the trucks pulling in, and we took a fun ride over to Hatch on the fourwheelers and ate lunch at Cafe Adobe.  It was a quick camping trip, but a fun one.  It's always nice to get out and camp with dad when we have the chance.

You started second grade this year, and you were pretty excited to get back to it.  You talked me into letting you get a Skylanders shirt even though I try my best to stay away from "character" stuff, but you've been a pretty good sport about me just buying the shirts I like that I felt I owed you one.  Of course you chose to wear it on the first day of school.  It's been fun to take these pictures and see how you have grown from your preschool days to now.

Ack!  You kill me.  Look how adorable and squishy you were!  I have to back up a lot further these days to make sure I get the full-length shot to judge how tall you are compared to the door knobs.  So cute.  How did second grade happen??

And then there's this, that shows me that you really are still a goofy little boy still.  I love it.

You surprised me at Peach Days in Hurricane this year when you decided to take a crack at the climbing wall.  I love when you do things that are pushing your comfort zone a bit.  It is fun to see you grow that way just as much as it is to see how you've changed in your first day of school pictures.

And again, back to the goofy Logan.

And this, this is what happens when I go to Sister Barber's house to drop Tessa off and end up chatting with her for ten minutes or so while you and Ty are in the car with my phone.  I have about a million pictures like this and about 25 of Tyson.  Thanks dude!  (Check out those teeth!  They make me laugh!)

We signed you and Tess up for soccer, and I don't know about you but I LOVE it.  Just kidding, you seem to love it too.  You've only played 2 games so far - one was super hot with no subs so you guys ran a LOT, and the second was after a huge rainstorm where you guys sunk in puddles and face planted in mud the whole game.  The atmosphere though is AWESOME.  I like it so much better than T-ball/baseball/coach pitch whatever.  You tend to like to be the "goofy" one on the team and fart around and kick the ball almost to the goal and then dramatically turf it, which makes me CRAZY, but all that matters it that you have fun.  I think I could really like this soccer mom thing kiddo.

I have guilt that I haven't done more personalized letters lately.  It's been a long time, and these letters are a far cry from what I started them out as and what I want them to be, but it is something, and I hope you guys can cut me some slack and give me credit for that. I said it in Tessa's letter, and I'll say it in yours, I'm so glad I get to be home with you guys every day - to run you here and there and do homework and go to the library and schedule afternoons with friends, etc.  While you and I haven't seen eye to eye for a while and continue to have some pretty good rounds, I am SO grateful for you and your kind heart.

Love you bud,
Mom