donuts for days

our annual family-sized george's bakery glazed donut from the duvall farmer's market:

since the boys seemed pretty intent on polishing this one off by themselves, maybe next year it's time to spring for two. 

last year's deliciousness here.

afton at the library

There is a land -

A marvelous land -

Where trolls and giants dwell;

Where witches

With their bitter brew

Can cast a magic spell;

Where mermaids sing,

Where carpets fly,

Where, in the midst of night,

Brownies dance

To cricket tunes;

And ghosts, all shivery and white,

Prowl and moan.

There is a land

Of magic folks and deeds,

And anyone

Can visit there

Who reads and reads and reads.

--Leland B. Jacobs

Clyde Lake Backpacking

Earlier in August, we loaded up the car and headed to Utah for a couple of extended family events. While there, we went with part of the Young clan backpacking to Clyde Lake. Over two days, we saw over a dozen lakes at elevations greater than 10,000 feet. Summer and Afton's favorite parts included our stargazing (the Milky Way, shooting stars, and satellites were all visible) and not getting eaten by bears (Summer later confided that all of her wishes upon shooting stars were that we would not be eaten by bears). 

Note: our outdoor camera had gotten a smudge on the lens that wasn't visible to me at the time, but was obvious when we started processing the photos. Blurry pics aren't our favorite, but they'll do in a pinch.

An unamed lake below our campsite.

The entire crew: Owen, Danton, Beka, Matt, Summer, Emme, Afton, Bryan. 

 A competitive game of hearts (score was kept on strips of bark). 

 Awaiting the bear bags in the morning. 

Flower crowns courtesy of Aunt Emme.

cereal killers

#brothers

dallin goes to nursery

today was dallin's first official day in nursery:

truthfully, he has been attending illicitly for several weeks -- thanks to his merciful nursery leaders -- so today was really nbd for dallin except to celebrate that he's half-way to three! (and a total hunk in that sweater/shorts combo, amiright?)

and just for fun, here's a little side-by-side-by-side-by-side of all our little wheeler eighteen-month-olds (can you tell who the baby smilers are?):

bonus fun fact, dallin and caleb are in nursery together for the next five months. the only set of our four kiddos to overlap.