October 2009

6:53 PM Saturday, October 31, 2009

October is here and now the snow I'm sure is going to start flying soon. Before it did, we spent a weekend at the cabin with the family. Char got a fishing pole for her birthday and had waited all summer to go fishing with Papa. He finally took her and she is hooked. They walked up the street where our cabin is and started fishing behind one of the other cabins in the creek. I think this next summer, she will be begging my Dad to take her every day.


October is Knotwell Family Vacation Month. We always take our big trip this month with it being "off seaon" for the vacationing folks. We decided to go East and take the family to Hilton Head, SC. WE LOVED IT! We thought it would be a good idea to fly the red eye to Atlanta then switch planes at 6am to fly off to Hilton Head. Don't think we will do that again. I had no idea about this but, Char was up all night keeping John company. She helped him order his drink, and get his snacks. I slept like a baby and so did the rest of the family.
John's parents drove from Missouri and met us there to partake in the beauty of SC. The thing to do there is rent bikes and ride them all over the island. Everyone does it and it is worth it! The kids had a blast and the scenery was amazing. We would come along lakes and see Alligator eyes or see them sun bathing on the grass. Now when the kids see green water it has Alligators in it.


At the Marriott Vacation Clubs, most of them have a Kids Zone where the kids can do activities and make things. This day they did turtle races and let the kids pick them up and hold them. On other days they made sour powder sticks, frames, and they had movies and game nights as well.


The bike riders. I was with Sally in the car driving to the Lighthouse while the Fam rode their bikes.


At the end of the paths they have for the bikers there are shops, a beach with a marina, and a lighthouse. Very beautiful!


The beach was right off the property and there was one day that was absolutely perfect for the beach. We all headed down and played for most of the day. The water was warm and shallow and the sand was soft and fabulous.








I really wanted to go see one of the Plantantions in South Carolina. I didn't get any pictures, but it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. John and the kids walked through a swamp on the property and got some cool shots.

Having a picnic in the park after a day of shopping and site seeing was just what we needed. We did drive into Savannah and Charleston and had a wonderful time in each spot. I highly recommend anyone going to visit Hilton Head.

At Charlotte's Preschool she has a Halloween program called the Hooky Spooky. Her teacher, Miss Amy, has the children either tell a joke or do a trick for the parents. This was seriously the cutest thing I have seen. The kids sang songs and did such a great job telling their jokes and doing their tricks. Charlotte's joke was, "What do you find in a ghosts nose? ..... Boogers!"
Ha Ha Ha Ha


Since the schools out here don't do the Halloween Parade anymore, we always head up to my Mom's school and parade with her class. The kids love this and have so much fun seeing all the kids in their costumes. Afterward, the 2nd grade puts on a program that we stay and watch.


John took the kids Trick-or-Treating this year and they got a TON of candy. Not to mention the load they got at John's work Halloween party.



September 2009

6:26 PM Wednesday, September 30, 2009

September was a full month like every other one. I volunteered on the PTA for our school and was on the Reflections committee. I, of course, strongly encouraged Emily to enter in the contest. The theme was "Beauty is.." and when asking her what she thought she said, "Freedom". She and John then headed up to the Capitol Building and took some snap shots of the flag, the grounds, and of the building. After judging took place, she was a finalist. She was so excited and we were so proud of her. She didn't make it to District level, but it was such a great memory for her.

Labor Day is ALWAYS a favorite of mine. Growing up we went to Swiss Days in Midway every year, and now my family goes every year as well. It is the best tradition and each year it ends, I start counting down to the next. On Labor Day this year we headed up to Deer Creek and did some boating with my sister and her family and some dear friends. The kids enjoyed the beach and some time on the boat, while the adults enjoyed the sun and either knee boarding or skiing. It was windy as usual, but a fabulous day!






John has always wanted to visit Mt. Rushmore and I wasn't about to take the 12 hour drive with the kids for a 3 day trip. So he went alone. He had a wonderful time and was able to visit some amazing sites.



John surprised me again and took me to Denver for a weekend jont. If any of you have been there you know that a weekend is plenty of time to spend there. It was a beautiful city, but not much going on there. We visited the Temple, shopped on the main street, saw a movie, and had a delectable dinner. It was awesome to get away and spend some time with my sweet husband.


We went to a Botanical Garden while visiting and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. They had different climate plants there, with amazing water features and gorgeous flowers. What a treat!


August 2009

1:45 PM Monday, August 31, 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

1:11 PM Friday, July 31, 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

10:46 AM Saturday, July 25, 2009

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

4:40 PM Tuesday, July 14, 2009

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

1:37 PM Friday, July 10, 2009

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

10:47 AM Monday, July 06, 2009

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.