Vander Linden Musings

This year for our vacation, we decided to do a “Staycation”. We stayed home and took in the sights around us.

We took the opportunity to visit Mt. Timpanogos and its incredible cave. The boys were truly impressed with the beauty and wonder of the cave. The hike up is about 1.5 miles, on a paved path. You’d think it wouldn’t be that difficult, but we had to make a few stops along the way. The view was beautiful up on the mountain looking out to the Salt Lake valley. Once we made it into the cave it was about a 30 minute trip through the three separate caves. There are some really incredible views of rock formations within the cave. Some that you can’t see anywhere else in the world.

We visited Antelope Island and the herds of Buffalo and Antelope. The interesting thing about visiting the island is that because of its isolation from the rest of the valley it has remained as the pioneers would have seen when they first entered the valley. There is a ranch on Island that has been around since the mid 1800‘s. It has obviously changed over time, but it was interesting none the less to see all the tools, pictures, and buildings. The boys really seemed to enjoy themselves. We saw a number of buffalo and antelope as well.

Finally, we took an early morning trip out to the Dugway Geode beds. It’s only 95 miles away, but takes almost 3 hours to get there. For the first 40 miles of the trip we were on small highways. However, thereafter we turned onto the old Pony Express route. We left early that morning, around 6:15 AM, so we reached Lookout Pass just as the sun was coming up. We got out of the car for a bit to enjoy the sunrise before continuing on.

When we finally got to the Geode beds we spent the first hour digging in a spot that was void of our treasure. We were getting ready to leave and decided to check the notes that we brought with us. We realized we needed to drive another half mile in from the sign. Once we did that, we found hundreds of these cool rocks. We dug up a number of whole stones up while finding many, many other pieces. It ended up being a very successful trip.

All in all, it was a good week. We spent a lot of time together as a family and created some good memories. It was definitely time worth spending.

Well- my second oldest is eight!  I don’t know how that is possible since I am still 25.  He got to go bowling with Papa, Grandma, Kayla, Sean, Gerritt and Josh on his birthday.  Uggg…. I can’t believe he’s 8!!!

Christmas was great!  After opening presents and eating a big meal, we all went to see Bedtime Stories.  That was a funny movie!   As opposed to the sad movie I really wanted to see- Marley and Me.

Yesterday Jake was baptized.  He and Dad did great!  No toes popping out of the water!  Gerritt and Katija gave the talks on Baptism and the Holy Ghost.  They did awesome!  And in the hustle and bustle I forgot to thank them!

One of these days- I will get pictures of all of these events posted!

Oh- and we are buying a house in the neighborhood we live in!  So excited!!!

So- it’s flag football season.  All three of the boys are playing this year.  Gerritt on one team and Jake and Josh on another.

Gerritt’s team has won both of their games.  He’s been able to play quarterback, running back, and he’s done well blocking.  He scored a touchdown in his first game.

Jake and Josh’s team have also won both.  Jake has scored 2 touchdowns in each game.  He’s doing great.  Because Josh is younger, he plays on the line mostly.  He’s does very well blocking.

They all say they want tackle football next year.  I don’t know if Mom is ready for that.  Maybe Gerritt.  But don’t quote me- I’m a pushover.  If we find a league that allows all of them to play tackle football- I’m sure they’ll be doing it.

It was a fun trip- I’ll just put in a few pics…

Well- they went back to school on Monday.  Actually Gerritt and Jake did- Josh just had an appointment to meet the teacher.  He was very moody all day because of that- so he and I went grocery shopping and met BJ for lunch to cheer him up.

Before school BJ and I took the boys to McDonalds for breakfast to celebrate going back to school.  After MickeyD’s we walked to school…

When I picked the boys up from school- Gerritt came running out screaming “I LOVE my teacher!!!”  So I guess he had a good day.  Jake came out saying, “My teacher is so nice- she will never yell at us!”  So I guess he had a good day too!  Josh came out of school yesterday and said he liked his teacher.  So- so far we’re having a good year!!!

The boys invited friends over to have a last day of school get together.  We’ve decided it will be a tradition.  I decided after spending the afternoon with 6 boys, 8 and under, alone that it will be BJ’s tradition to ask off and participate in the last day of school party!

The boys had a water balloon fight which lasted 2 minutes (I took about 2 hours to get all those balloons filled while they were in school).  Since the water balloons didn’t last long we drove to Arctic Circle to eat some ice cream shakes.  The people who worked there didn’t look very happy when I walked in with 6 boys 8 and under!  Guess I should have tipped them.  Here’s a few pictures of the boys’ get together.

Jake was chosen to be on an All Star team.  He got a bunch of hits in his 2 games that he played.  He had a BUNCH of fun!  Here’s a couple of pictures…

Josh was an all-star this year!  He loved every minute of it.  Here’s a couple of pictures of him at play…

There’s a knock at the door and some man has flowers in his hands.  I’m expecting he is at the wrong house, then he asks if I am Jennifer.  Ok- so he’s at the right house.  Weird.  It’s not my birthday.  It’s Father’s Day on Sunday- not Mother’s Day.  Hmmm…  What did my hubby do wrong?  He swears nothing- just wanted me to know that all of my boys love me.  Hmmm…  Maybe I’ll find out another time what these were for…

Josh favored us with his singing while sleeping on the way to PA…