Geode Hunting

one of Gemma's finds

These are a few of my favorite ones that I won't let James open.

We went Geode Hunting about 2 weekends ago. Ever since I saw that there was a place to do that pretty close by (by close i mean 2.5 hours on totally dirt trail ) I really wanted to take the kids and go check it out.

It was so much fun! The pictures don't really do it justice because I was too busy looking for them too.
Opened one
Down in the pit digging out the geodes...
At first when we finally fot out to the sign that is quite mis leading by the way, it seemed like a bust, there were holes everywhere where people had previously dug, and after digging for a while, and finding nothing we figured it was all played out. So James decided to do a bit of 4-wheeling since we were already out in the hills... boy stuff you know ;-). Gemma was worried and said "we can never find our house cause it's too far now"
So we were just out riding and we crested a hill and saw an old excavator, we decided to go see why there would be one just sitting there because people don't usually ditch heavy equipment like they do with cars.... anyway we came upon the actual geode beds it was so Awesome!!! We spent a few hours looking and came back with a huge bucket full and I cannot wait to go back! Thank you James for a great and memorable day!
So the reason for the digger is that man that owns the property goes out 2 times a year and digs up some of the beds and then he allows people to go look for the geodes.

Student of the month!!

Jade was chosen to be 4th grade student of the month by her teacher Mrs.Harper because she is very helpful, obedient and on task and so sweet! Way to go Jade!

Peaches

My dad gave me two bushels of peaches Jade thought it was great and helped me put them up, Jade thought it was so fun to pack the jars. She was a great helper and we got a ton of peaches!

Camping

Jade has been asking to go camping for quite a while so we finally got everything together and went for Labor Day weekend. we went up into the High Uinta Mountains. It was very nice weather not too hot and not too cold, (although it did get a bit nippy in the middle of the night). Normally our camping is going up to Grandpa Rays Property in Duchesne but that includes running water and electricty. This was Jade's first experience with camping in a tent. She Loved it!
We also took Sampson, He had a good time( I think)but ever since we have gotten back he doesn't race me to the car anymore, I guess he's afraid we will go camping .... Sheesh take the dog camping one time....
James and Jade made a hammock out of a tarp and they thought that was quite funny. We did the usual things roasted marshmallows, played in the river, and had tinfoil dinners over the campfire.

The Lake

We decided to go for a drive and find a lake last Sunday, we ended up kind of by Delta and found a fun reservoir that we let the kids play in for the day. It was really quite a nice day, minimal wind and no bugs! Apparently we missed the microburst that roared through Salt Lake and Eagle Mountain that day.
Jade had a blast swimming around Gemma was more happy closer to the edge. I had realized that Gemma hadn't been to a lake and been old enough to remember it. We also took a scenic drive and saw Topaz mountain, and the spot that you can go hunt for geodes. So that is on my list of things to do. I have to say it is nice that Jade and Gemma are getting old enough to start doing some of these things. We are even going camping this weekend (Jade is so excited she has never camped in a tent)
I am not a hot weather person, so when it starts cooling off a bit that's when I like to get out and enjoy outdoor recreation.

4th grade

Yesterday was the first day of school for Jade she's in 4th grade this year! Her teacher is Mrs. Harper. We had a small situation where we had to have her switched from the first class she was placed in, due to a personality conflict between her and another child. i won't go into deeper specifics here, but we have had to do that before. Anyway at first Jade was a little upset because she wanted to be in the same class as her best friend Alaina but I told her we didn't have any control over that. So she went to Mrs. Harpers class and Loved it, made a new friend saw some of her other friends and ran into Alaina during recess. Also the teacher she was supposed to have was sad that she didn't get Jade in her class (Jade previously had said teacher in 2nd grade)
Well it turned out to be a good first day for Jade. Gemma however was another story LOL

sad day

So a couple of weeks ago James was coming home from work when some idiot who was texting hit him on the freeway in a construction zone. took out the whole passenger side of our/my pathfinder.
Plus side no injuries save for the car :-(
negative side the insurance opted not to fix it because my car is older (99)
So James will fix it for me to drive, until early next year then I will get a new car :-) I kind of want a sports car haha that's what the rental agency gave us to drive and I really like it (pic to come)