Knotwell Kids February 2010

President's Day was a very good day for shooting these little ones. Taking pictures of these three kids is one of my most favorite past times. The clouds and rain made this shot for me. They were so good too, which always makes it more enjoyable. William looks like a young man in his close up, Charlotte has that glimmer in her eye and Emily is a woman but grown.

Where have I been?

I know that I have 2 followers on my blog and I have really let you down over the past 6 months. I will be updating slowly but surely so you can see the happenings of the Knotwell family.

August 2009

Miranda came to live with us in August and its been so great having her here. She is the biggest help and loves to play with the kids. Our lives have changed forever having her here and we wouldn't change this experience for anything. Side note: This is also her first day of being a 12th grader at Riverton High.

I decided that is was time for William to be a big boy and so we took down his crib and made him sleep in a toddler bed. He wasn't so sure at first and had a few rough nights, but he managed to tough it out and now that is his bed. Unless he is on our floor.

Emily started her 4th grade career this year and was so excited to learn that she was in a portable. She loves her teacher and has alot of her same friends in her class. She is so fun to have around and its a quiet house when she is in school.

I know, we are the biggest dorks and took pics of her waiting to go into her classroom. I'm sure in the next few years she will be running from us and hiding.

Char was born with a small murmur type thing in her heart and we needed to have her 3 year check up.... or 4 year check up. She was so brave and loved all of the attention she got. She got to wear a sweet gown and of course at PCMC she made out like a bandit and got loads of crap to bring home.

This is her getting ready to have her heart looked at.

Can you tell she really hates this? Her little heart is perfect and there is no need for us to go back in the future.

You all know that the Knotwell family is on a quest to visit as many National Parks as possible in our lifetime. John has a great love for the National Park system and has spread that love to our children. They now ask each time we go on a trip if they need hiking shoes for the park we are going to visit.

We decided to stay close to home this time and go to Timpanogas Cave. I haven't been up there for a while and thought it couldn't be that bad for the kids to hike. Uh, I was wrong. As you can see, William was done maybe 20 minutes into the hike. But thanks to the backpack and Miranda and Hercules type muscles, we made it to the top.

Once inside we took the tour and saw all of the natural wonder in the cave. This is the "heart of the cave" and it was breathtaking. It was a fun morning and we're ready to do it again.

See, we did survive the hike!

July 2009

For my birthday my sweet husband took me to Phoenix and we saw Wicked with my brother and his wife. It was so fun and the show was awesome! The weather was so hot and I now know why we don't live there and only visit.

The kids took swim lessons from a long lost friend from an elementary friends who's kids go to our school and her daughter is really good friends with Emily. She does it in her backyard and the kids learned so much.

William really started to love the water and can't wait to get in whenever we are around a pool. He loves to jump in and swim to whoever is there to catch him.

Charlotte is so brave in the water. She loves the diving board and thinks she can swim all by herself.

Emily had a refresher course in swimming and really improved this summer. I really hope Alicia teaches again this summer.

Emily had been begging me to sleep out on the tramp for as long as the snow had melted. I finally gave in and we made our beds on the tramp. I was very uncomfortable and just waiting for an excuse to go inside. I saw some lighting over Rosecrest area (south of our home) and just watched for a while hoping it would creep its way over. Well I closed my eyes and all of a sudden, there was a flash of lighting right over our heads and thunder was rolling its way over too. I grabbed all of our gear and we headed inside for safety. Only 5 minutes after we got inside it started to pour rain. Man were we lucky!

Crafter's Group

I just posted my next craft for Crafter's Group. Check out www.vinylgirl.net and you will find it there!

Getting to meet an Apostle

My brother, Steven, brought up about 56 boys from AZ to see the church sites and have a fun week in Utah. My dad ran into L. Tom Perry at Hale Centre Theatre and asked him if he would be willing to speak with some young men from AZ. Of course he said yes and I went with my parents to listen to him speak. It is always a great experience when you are in the presence of an Apostle and get to hear him. Thanks to my dad for NEVER being too shy to speak to someone with importance.

La Caille

John and I went up to La Caille and took some pictures and man it is gorgeous up there. We loved the flowers and the different textures they had there. The peacocks were out with a vengeance and they wanted everyone's food. The white peacock had her babies with her and she was going from table to table asking for hand outs. It was really cute. The turquoise peacock just walked around looking cool and nonchalant.

Fourth of July

When we go visit the cabin it is almost certain that we head up to Sundance. It is always fun to get a sucker and go sit by the small lake and people watch. We play in the water and run around on the grass and just enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Then morning of the 4th I ran in the Freedom Run 5k. It was fun and pretty warm at 7am. I finished under 30 min (which is always my goal) and met up with Johnny at the finish line and headed over to the parade. Did you happen to notice the hideous race shirts my $25 got me? Will NEVER be wearing this shirt in my life or the next.

We have had the tradition to go see the Provo City Parade and we always sit in front of Prove HS. Our good friends Dayna and Sienna come with us and my parents.

On Sunday we were just enjoying our books and what have you and someone came and told us there were two moose in the camp. We ran down to the next cabin and low and behold the two moose were walking down the creek looking for food. They walked through yards of cabins and walked across the creek to the road, but ended up staying on our side of the water. It was really fun to watch them and have them so close.

We have church up there and during the meeting the moose came into the big field and played on the swing set.... J/k. They sauntered over to the back of the highway and I'm sure they climbed the mountain back home.

Another stamp on the old Passport

We decided to head over to Vernal, UT for a fun weekend of Dinosaur hunting. John, my Dad, and I got up early on Saturday and did a session in the temple while my Mom played with the kids. After the temple, we got in the car and started our hunt.

We were at the Quarry and Charlotte wanted to be a Jr. Paleontologist and a Jr Ranger at the Dinosaur Monument. She had a packet of activities she needed to complete before she could be sworn in. She got two badges and a certificate.

After the Quarry, we drove the museum with the bones and other displays. They had a movie to watch and they had digging stations for the kids to play in.

All around the museum, in and out, they had prehistoric mammals displayed. We all loved to see how life like they really were.

Get my Gippy

William LOVES his gippy (aka blankie) and he found a way to get it himself. He isn't able to get out of his bed yet, but I am sure that will come with time.

Emily's biography on Nancy Reagan

In third grade the students have been working on their biography's. Emily chose Nancy Reagan. She was so excited that she was the wife of John's favorite President. She had alot of fun preparing her presentation in class and preparing herself for the Wax Museum. The students got to dress up like their subject and prepare a 20 second speech for the parents and other students. She did such a great job and I'm sure she got a perfect grade on it.

Learning about Butterflies

This week in Preschool the kids have been learning about butterflies. They talked about how they become butterflies, what they eat, and they talked about the different types of butterflies. She came home with her face painted and she looked so cute. I just LOVE her preschool teacher, Miss Amy, and highly recommend her if anyone is looking.