Spearfish Canyon!

Sunday was predicted to be a gorgeous day and we had heard that the trees in Spearfish Canyon were at their peak. We decided to load up the boys and a picnic lunch and head on up for a drive to check it out for ourselves!!



I think we all would agree that the scenery was absolutely beautiful with weather to match. The first stop, of course, was Bridal Veil Falls.




Dad and the boys walked down to the creek to get a closer look. I, however, stayed on top as my flip-flops were not exactly "hiking grade"...that and I was a bit cold as the temperature was a crisp 55 degrees when we started out!

I'm not quite sure how Aiden can see from under that hat of his, but it goes with us wherever we go. It actually has become his "security hat" if you will; as he wears it everywhere and if we are ever around a lot of people he doesn't know....the lower the hat goes!!

Hey, there he is!!

We drove all the way up to Roughlock Falls...beautiful!!!

Aiden is going through this phase right now where he hates to have his picture taken...that is unless he decides it's a good idea. That, however, rarely happens; so instead we find ourselves trying to sneak up on him to catch a picture. It unfortunately means that the whole posing with his brother or with us almost never happens! Hence, I give you the following pictures.....

Tyson was so kind to take Mom and Dad's picture together. He did an awesome job, if I do say so myself! Note the baby waterfall just to the right of us.

Aiden got a kick out of feeling how cold the water was...Brrrrrrr.....

Tyson collected a few leaves to bring home for a souvenir.

Aren't we sneaky....caught ya!

Gee, I wonder where Aiden is? Oh, that's right, he would be running as quickly as he can away from the camera yelling.. noooooooooo.....

Not to fear...Dad told Aiden to look at the leaf he found to get him to turn around, then quickly snapped the picture....got ya again!

We are persistent and always give it our best try...usually to no avail.

Tyson hung in there with Dad. Thanks Bud!

The boys had so much fun running down the hill to the next water fall. I just knew Aiden's legs were going to get ahead of him and he'd go rolling down the rest of the way. Somehow, amazingly he made it safely down with big brother by his side the whole way!

By the time we were driving back in to Spearfish at 11:00 am the road was getting very busy. Everyone apparently thought it was a perfect day to enjoy the hills!

With scenery like this, it's easy to see why! Trust me, the pictures don't even come close to doing it justice!

We took the boys to the Fish Hatchery when we got back into town. They both thought it was the coolest thing ever!!

Aiden.....is that you under there?!

The favorite part for all the boys was feeding the fish!

Here fishy fishy!!

After the fish were fed we walked across to the park to enjoy our picnic lunch we had packed and play at the park. Dad and I set up the table with the food while the boys ran in to try out the park quick.....here marks the end of a perfect fall day!!!!

To be continued.....

Wedding Bells are Ringing!!

This last weekend we got to celebrate Aunt Amy and Uncle Terry's wedding! They had asked Tyson to be the Ring Bearer, and he was up to the challenge!


He looked so handsome!


The pictures were probably the hardest part of the whole night. I think he was tired of them after about 2. He hung tough, though and made it through them!

Cousin Rachel was the flower girl! They looked so sweet together!

Check out those 2 handsome men! Uncle Terry and Tyson.

Amy looked absolutely stunning! She sparkled in her beautiful gown! She made a very beautiful bride! You are an awfully lucky man Terry...but, of course, you already knew that!

The pictures were finally over and it was time for the "Big Show"! Rachel was a bit nervous to see all of the people, but she toughed it out and they both made it to the front of the church.

Just waiting for the beautiful bride!

The ceremony was wonderful. Tyson was pretty tired by the time it started, however, and found it tough to stand still at times! He was either yawning, shuffling his feet back and forth, waving his hands over his head, and squatting down as he told me "I'm tired!" I quickly became like a coach trying to get him through the "big game!" mouthing back that he was doing good and to try and stand still just a little longer!

During the lighting of the candle Tyson tried his best to catch a peek at what was going on! Cracked me up!!

"You may kiss the Bride!"

"Thank goodness it's over...notice the hands over the head. This was a frequent position throughout the wedding! Oh well, it added for a little comic relief, I guess!!

No wedding is complete without a dance, and the boys could hardly wait for it to begin. Aiden kept asking if it was time to "dan" (dance)!

In the meantime, there was plenty of M&M's and pretzels to snack on! Aiden even shard his punch with Great Grandma....so sweet!

CHEEEEESE!

They did the big introduction when Terry and Amy arrived. Again, Rachel and Tyson were a bit overwhelmed so the Mom's got to be there for back-up!

Mr. and Mrs. Terry Beers!!!!!!!!

Tyson even got to sit at the head table. He was so big, and actually sat up there to eat his supper before coming back to our table and sitting with all of us.

Grandma and the boys! Don't ya just love Aiden's expression?

Gettin roughed up by cousin Collin!!

Finally, it was time for some dancing! The boys were ready and made sure to pull out all their best moves to help impress the ladies. Aiden ruled the "chicken wing"! Yep...he would take his left arm bend it up tight and flap it just like he was ready to take flight. Just the left arm, too. The right kinda just hung out and did it's own thing! Too cute!

Grandma and Aunt Di cuttin a rug!!

Check out that left arm!! Finger-lickin good!!

Tyson watched cousin Sara and Josh Jitterbug and thought it was super cool, so we had to give it a try!

The boys gettin down! Tyson's favorites of the night were the "Hokey-Pokey" and the "Chicken Dance". He rocked em!!

Get your groove on!!

Tyson and Aiden literally did not leave the dance floor until we finally carried them out of there at 11:30 pm!! They had a blast!!

The wedding was wonderful, and the whole night was a blast! Uncle Terry and Aunt Amy sure know how to throw a great party!! Congratulations to you guys! We love yo so much! Here's to many many happy years of marriage together!!!

First Day of Kindergarten!!!

I can't believe the day arrived when my baby would go to school! The past 6 years flew by, and it was time for the next big step! He was excited up until the night before the big day, and that's when the tears started! I felt so bad for him! He just kept saying how scared he was to go to school and not have "my Mom and Dad with me!"

Thursday morning started with tears as well. Every few minutes he would be OK and we were able to make his lunch and get the last minute things packed into his school bag! We were also able to sneak a few pictures in between the tears!

Then it was time to get to school. You can see the anxiety in his face, but he stood for the picture anyway....trying so hard to be strong for his Mom and Dad.(mostly Mom since I shed my own share of tears that morning....Gee I wonder where he gets it from?!)

Doesn't he look like such a big boy?!

The parents got to play with their kids on the playground for a while until the bell rang. Then we went into the gym where we got to meet the 2 Kindergarten teachers. They had the kids sit on the floor with all the parents sitting behind them in bleachers.

They read a quick story about the first day of Kindergarten, and then they had them split up into their classes and follow their teachers to their classroom.

I was trying so hard to keep it together, but Tyson turned around one last time before walking out of the gym and burst into tears! I probably broke every rule there was, but I jumped out of the bleachers and ran over to him and gave him a big hug. I asked Mrs. Anderson (his teacher) to take extra special care of my boy, and she assured me and Tyson they would have a good day! Carsyn (the daycare gal's daughter and Tyson's good buddy) put her arm around him and they walked out of the gym! Thank goodness they are in the same class, so he at least knew someone that first day!

A few hours later after thinking about him all day at work, I left early so I could be there to pick him up after his first big day!

My heart almost burst when I saw him walk out of his classroom! He caught a glimpse of me and gave me a huge smile and wave that let me know everything would be OK!

He could hardly talk fast enough about all of the "fun stuff" they did throughout the day! In his words: "It was an awesome day Mom!!" Whew!! My baby is growing up, and I am so proud to be his Mom!! He proved to everyone, even himself, that no matter how scary something may be to do for the first time it can be done...and you come out that much stronger in the end!

We love you so much buddy! We are so proud of you, and know you will have a great first year of school!