What'er Ya Gonna Do - Two

When it came time to take Harper's two-year photo, there was no way she was going to let go of her snuggly or blanky and she was not going to take off the fairy wings. So what'er ya gonna do, but take the picture anyway. What a wild two years it has been. What was once a screaming little bundle of joy has now turned into a little charmer. Harper has a caring personality. If you cough she will quickly pat your back and ask if you are o.k. and if you sneeze she's the first to say bless you. (Even strangers at the grocery store get a bless you.) We're so happy to have had these two years with Ms. Harper and we are looking forward to many more.

Good vs. Evil

For the first time in a very long time, the whole family dressed up for Halloween. The theme was Good vs. Evil with a Superhero twist. Finn as Batman, Harper as Super Girl, Brad was The Riddler and I was Poison Ivy. We had a great time and of course the good guys won.

Knives and Other Sharp Objects

Pumpkin Carving. It's great family activity, large knives, goop filled gourds and fire. What more do you need?

Pumpkin Patching

We came. We saw. We picked some pumpkins. There was a hay ride and a corn maze. We made some memories to last a lifetime. And it's a good thing because our pumpkins were stolen off our porch and smashed into the neighbor's mailbox. All that remains from our triumphant pumpkin pick are these pictures and a few loose stocks of hay still stuck to the bottom of our shoes. But never fear, Smith's Market Place is here and they sell pumpkins too.

C is for Cookie

Four little Cookie Monsters sitting in a row.

The Ladybug Haiku

Ladybug in a bag

Black, red, spotted and so sweet

My little ladybug

Put Me in Coach!

I am a fan of trying new things and I think it's important for kids to get experience doing new things. So when I noticed Finn really enjoyed kicking the soccer ball in the back yard, I thought, "what a great idea. He'll love it." Well...I was wrong.

Finn apparently loves playing soccer everywhere except on the field during the games. Then he hates it. Pregame at home he would kick the ball run around and then we would start getting the soccer gear. That would start the change and by the time we got to the game we were using bribes, threats, trickery. Anything to get him to go in. It worked a couple of times.

The funny thing is that somewhere mid-season, when we would play soccer at home. He changed from player to coach. He would pull a chair up and tell Brad or myself where, when, how to kick the ball in to the goal. He even had Harper running drills. No wonder all of our efforts to get him into the game failed miserably. The Coach doesn't play. After all he's the Coach.

Farewell Good Friend

As our good friend summer comes to a close we would like to say a sincere goodbye. We will remember you fondly as the snow starts to fall and we have to bundle up in 18 layers of clothing, hats and gloves in order to go outside. Before you go, here are some of our favorite moments together. Come back soon...we will miss you.

Day One for Two

Sharpen your pencils teachers, The Rutledge Kids are in the house! Finn and Harper started preschool last week and luckily I've been studying up all summer on how to take a fast photo, because we only have one shot (if that) to get both kids smiling at the same time. (Exactly two seconds after this photo was taken a complete melt-down ensued.)

When I dropped them off and got into the car I definitely felt like something was missing. The car was so quite I could actually understand what was being said on NPR. Now I just need to figure out what to do now that we have twice as many art projects coming home. I'm thinking it might be time for a storage unit.

Drive, Bike, Swim, Run, Drive

This summer Brad and I completed our first Olympic Triathlon, which was an accomplishment. But the real amazing feat was taking our kids on a week long road trip from SLC to the Oregon Coast and back via Boise, Bend, Yachats,Portland, Boise, Sun Valley and Pocatello. I can safely say that through it all we had fun and live to tell the tale.

It seemed like a good idea...

This summer Brad and I trained for our first Triathlons, which required some bike time. We really tried to make it a family affair. We would pack up the kids with toys and snacks and head out on the road. It would go really well for about 30 seconds. Then it would start...and for the rest of the ride we would threaten, bribe, beg, plead, yell and finally we would lose our minds. On this particular ride we decided that stopping at a gas station and buying the kids Popsicles was a good idea. As we peddled our hearts out to get home while the kids were quite, we thought we were brilliant. When we got home we found out we weren't.

Camp Kids

Kids and camping go together like marshmallows and stickiness. We finally took our kids camping this year and had a great time. We were lucky enough to bring the tent that my parents had when I grew up. (Shout-out to Spring Bar - the tent is almost 40 years old and in great condition. Thanks Mom & Dad for passing it on to us.) We took a short hike where Finn searched for wild Crocodile (luckily we didn't find any) and Harper negotiate the trail on her own.

We had a campfire and S'mores and only burnt a few marshmallows along the way. We are really hoping to get at least one more trip in before the summer ends and many, many more in the next few years.

Take Me Out to the Bees Game

We recently spent the evening with the Salt Lake Bees. The kids had a wonderful time and I'm pretty sure they got in more "runs" than the Bees. While we didn't get much baseball watching done, we ate plenty of ice cream and even stayed awake for the post game fireworks. (A small miracle by most accounts.)

Road Tripp'n

We took our longest road trip with the kids recently. We went to Denver and it went pretty well all things considered. (We only had one throw-up incident, one trip to the doctor and four ear infections.) The kids had a great time with their grandparents and loved getting a chance to play with their cousins.




Family Road Trip Photo Opp.











Story time with Grandma Linda










Fun with the Cousins and Grandpa Terry and Grandma Jenny