First Day of School

Fall is rapidly approaching, but my flowers are still blooming and the weather is still pleasant. I guess that means it's time for school to start!

Nathanael- First Grade

Kate- Third Grade

Ethan- Fifth Grade

Elijah thought the pictures were all good and fun, especially when he got to be in them. But when the kids went to school and he had to come home with me. . . not so fun.

Don't they look thrilled? They all have great teachers (that hasn't always been true). We're looking forward to a great year!

Aspen Grove

Oldroyd Family Reunion
Aspen Grove, August 2009

The Whole Fam

The Original Six

The Ellsworth 6 and 8/9ths

In August we went to Aspen Grove for my family's reunion. It was in the planning stages long before I knew I would be nearly 9 months pregnant at the time of the trip! There was a bit of hoopla right up until the day I left as to the wisdom in going, so close to my due date, but I did my homework and was prepared for anything. Had our baby been born during that week it would have made quite a story! And yet, he baked for another month! More on that later. . . I had the luxury of flying to Utah while Jason drove 11 hours with the kids. They spent the night in Burley with Bonnie Z and Co. while I had a little reunion with some long-time, fabulous friends at the Cheesecake Factory and later spent the night in Park City with my parents. I felt pretty spoiled.

Aspen Grove was a ton of fun. Everyone got a vacation--everyone. We ate in the cafeteria so all meals were prepared and cleaned up by the staff. That was seriously one of my favorite parts of the trip- no food prep or clean up for a week! There were activities available for all kids (ages 0 to 18, set up in age groups) for six hours or more each day. They went swimming, hiking, made stuff, climbed on the rock wall, sang songs had just had a ton of fun. It was awesome for the cousins to have so much time together doing so many fun things. For adults they had lectures, crafts, pottery, paintball, high ropes course, geocaching and sports tournaments to name a few. There are trails everywhere if you wanted to hike. In the evenings there were more activities. There was never a dearth of entertainment.

We lodged in the rustic cabins, bathrooms and shower up the trail just a short walk. Jason and I thought it was great. Other members of our family thought the cabin/bathroom down the road thing was like real camping. In the end we all had a really great time. On the way home our kids were begging to go again next year.

Our Rustic Cabin, 12A, came complete with carpet, a heater, two bedrooms (ok , so saying two bedrooms is being a bit generous. . .) and a loft, sheets and blankets for the beds, a dresser, a desk and a rod for hanging clothes. Rustic? I think not. Well, maybe rustic in comparison to the Marriott.

Birthdays

While there we celebrated Elyse's 18th birthday (she's the oldest grandchild) and Mom's 70th birthday with a few gifts, good company and a Costco cake. . . Yum.

Aspen Follies

The Aspen Follies were pretty darn fun. Lots of games for the family to do together. I mostly waddled around, watching the fun. But even that was fun.

High Ropes

The high ropes course was not as easy as it looked, unless you were under 18. The kids who were old enough to go made it look like a piece of cake.

Other Good Stuff

Next to the high ropes course they have a rock wall for younger campers. All of our kids are scared of heights (I believe they inherited this from their Dad) so about half way up the wall they would look down and decide that was plenty. I'm not sure that Kate got three feet off the ground.

The pottery area is set up over the river that runs near the camp. Just sitting in the room is relaxing! I made a little salsa bowl that is now waiting patiently to be fired in a kiln. It's on my list of things to do. That very, very long list. . .

Frontier Night

Frontier night was super fun. They had all-you-can-eat snow cones which put huge purple, blue, and/or red smiles on all the kids faces. They also handed out some old time candy, had face painting in the village, stories in the teepee and archery in the woods. Jason caught a candid photo of our own semi naked archer. Pretty sure his attire isn't up to BYU dress standards. . .

Hiking

Some members of my family thought it sounded like good clean fun to hike Timp while we were there. On Wednesday those brave souls headed up the mountain, Jason and Ethan among them. Ethan was wearing his last years school shoes that are so well loved that they have about as much traction as a banana peel. And lets not mention Jason's non love for heights. All day I was fighting the little devil on my shoulder telling me to worry, worry, worry. Jason and Ethan took their time, whether that was due to their fitness level or their desire to smell the flowers and watch the mountain goats I don't know. Jason decided they would stop just below the summit (less than a mile from the top) because of the steepness of the trail and Ethan's lack of decent shoes. Ethan wasn't very happy but he got over it and they had a good time. I was glad Jason kept his promise of bringing Ethan back alive and well. ;)

The pool was a nice attraction when we had warm afternoon weather. But it wasn't quite as warm as we had anticipated since Utah had a cold front come through during the beginning of our week there. They had lap swim in the mornings that I really wanted to do but each morning I chickened out because I didn't want to walk over in the cold to swim and then be really, really cold walking back to 12A. So I was totally lame and didn't lap swim once. But we had some good clean fun in the water while the sun was shining. The kids' activities involved swimming almost every day so our kids got their fill of the pool.

Family Dance

On our last night there was a family dance (which at 9 pm turns into a teen/young adult only activity). I wasn't sure if we even wanted to go. I knew Kate would have a good time and probably Nathanael. Ethan was Mr. Cool- I don't want to dance! It didn't help that Jason told him that if a girl asked him to dance he had to say yes and go dance. The thought of dancing with a girl was a little too much for him to manage. Elijah was exhausted and was losing what little self control he possessed. We went in thinking we would stay for a few minutes and leave. The dance turned out to be one of the funnest activities. It seemed like every other dance was a line dance. The BYU student staff were really great dancers and entertainers and we had a great time watching them. It has been years since I've heard Macarena and it was so fabulous to watch all the kids do their best to learn the dance and jump right in with everyone. Of course no dance is complete without the old standby, YMCA. Even my mom got into that one. There were lots of songs that I have never heard, proving I am old and out of touch. Oh reality bites! It was a great end to a fabulous week.

Red Fish

Little Red Fish Lake 2009

We had another fabulous camping trip to Red Fish Lake, just south of Stanley, ID in the Sawtooth National Forest. We love that place and hope to spend a week there each summer for years to come.

This year we had a plethora of pals to hang out with and it was a blast. We spent a lot of time lounging on the beach and hanging out with the Johns, the Browns and the Lloyds. Sherri was very generous with the use of her jet ski and Ryan and Roxanne were constantly taking people for rides on the boat or tube. We loved it and it's all our kids talked about for weeks afterward. Thanks for a great week guys!

Morning in the tent

Eli content with sand, rocks and bucket

Nathanael and Kate

Roasting marshmallows

The kids tired of posing for pictures

Ethan and Jason

Ethan, Nathanael and Kate

Jason and Jayson

Phoenix, Ethan and Kate
Following this ride the boys were on fire and Kate was shaking.

Good Friends
Roxanne, Tierra, Lisa

Some of the kids at Lilly Pad Pond
Nathanael, Phoenix, Landon, Kate, Gavin, Gabriel

All of us at Lily Pad Pond
Elliot, Tierra, Jayson, Landon, Ethan, Nathanael, Kate, Sophia, Ryan, Gavin, Phoenix, Roxanne, Gabriel, Jason, Lisa, Elijah

ELEVEN!

Ethan W. Ellsworth

2000

2002

2004

2007

2009

On July 24th Ethan turned 11! He waited very impatiently as June and then July slowly passed. He was SO happy to finally see his day arrive.

Some bits and pieces about Ethan. . .

Ethan loves soccer, swimming, basketball, camping, reading and playing the piano. I really love that he loves piano- I don't have to remind him to practice. And I don't have to make him stay at the piano for the allotted time. Occasionally I have to tell him to get off the piano to get other things done! This year he'll be in 5th grade- his last year before middle school. I'm not sure if I am ready for that, but he is. He constantly reminds me that "soon" he'll be taller than me (he's now about 5'1") and that since he's over 5' and 100 lbs he's safe sitting in the front seat of the car or van even though he's not 13.

He had a swim meet on the night of his birthday and he won his heat in the 100 IM. It made for a great birthday present. This is a big accomplishment considering when he swam this race for the first time last year he was super ticked about even having to swim it (and lets just say he didn't have a very good race). He pretty much hated it. This year his strokes are better and he is faster and he's loving this race.

butterfly

breast stroke

Fourth of July Weekend

On July 2nd we went camping overnight (Our anniversary- who goes camping with the family on their anniversary? We love each other, we love our kids and we love camping so it was all good) for our "let's-figure-out-what-we-need-to-do-to-get-ready-for-the-big-camping-trip" camping trip. It's a good thing we did and that we were only gone over night- we forgot a lot of stuff! We went to Emigrant Springs and stayed in a little cabin. It's about an hour from here. The next day we drove to Wallowa Lake to see if it's a place we want to frequent. We decided it's not, even though it's a pretty lake. It's no Red Fish, that's for sure!

Hiking at Emigrant Springs

Wallowa Lake picnic area

We got back late on the third and the kids were thrilled to be home on the fourth so we could watch the fireworks over the river at Columbia Park. Jason hates going to the river because there are TOO MANY PEOPLE and it takes a while to get out. But we went with good friends and had a good time despite the late night, crowds and traffic. And Jason got a nice shot of the sunset over the river and I think that made him happy. :)

June

I'm feeling a little bit of pressure to document our lives before this baby is born, since once that happens I will be RESTING. Is that laughable? September is looming over me and my to do list gets longer as the time gets shorter. So here's a briefing.

In June, school finally released its grasp on our schedule and we were FREE! We actually ditched the last few days to join Jason in Idaho before the big Zollinger family reunion. We won't do that again though. The kids were so bothered that they missed the end of the year assembly and class parties. They made us promise that we'd not miss the last day again! I think my fingers were crossed during that promise. . .

Here's a pictorial recap of our month

End of the Year Piano Recital

Kate

Ethan

Zollinger Family Reunion
Happy 90th Grandma!

This included all kinds of fun (even though it rained a lot and we brought home sickness) like fishing, pinewood derby, shooting, horse riding and chat-chat-chatting.

Ethan painting his derby car

Nathanael and Miller

Uncle Cody helping Kate with her fish

Jason and Eli on Aunt Kathryn's fabulous swing set

The fabulous remake of the family picture from so long ago. Sorry I don't have the original, but if you are dying to see it, check Jason's facebook, he has both the old and the new posted.

L-R: Jarom, Becky, Patrick, Julie, Bryan, Joe, Jason, Emilee

I turned 36. Not really momentous, but it happened.

Ethan attended his LAST cub scout day camp

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit for a week!

We had a great time. We didn't do much and that's sure to bore anyone to tears, but they endured it well. Dad even survived without Fox News. If you know my Dad, that's quite an accomplishment!