Maple Canyon ...

... is where we went for Karl's birthday. It has become kind of a tradition to go someplace fun on that special day. I have realized that I am not good when it comes to presents but I love to plan and go on trips. So we left the boys with Grandma and Grandpa, enjoyed a delicious dinner at Rooster DNB, and headed down south.

The drive was actually enjoyable. It helps when you don't have to entertain two toddlers in the back seat. Just sitting and talking to Karl was nice. I even had time to take random pictures of my feet and the landscape.


Our itinerary: late night trail run, early morning trail run, mountain biking, and, of course, rock climbing. This canyon is famous for its awesome climbing routes and conglomerate rock. It was so much fun.


Since we did not know much about the climbing routes, we asked a family that looked like climbers. They were camped across the road and we had noticed their brand new Audi. Who drives camping on a dirt road in an Audi? We also noticed that they were in their spandex. Who wears spandex to go climbing? You might have guessed it already: they were Germans. Surprise! We ended up climbing on the same wall as them and had fun talking to them in Denglish (Deutsch + English = Denglish).


A few minutes later another couple in spandex walks down the trail and ... they were Austrians. There was still space on the wall and so we had a German-speaking party! Maple Canyon is definitely internationally known among climbers.


When we were not running, biking, or climbing, we were eating. Naturally. That is my kind of life: eat, train, sleep. Repeat.













Thank you, Karl, for being an amazing husband, father, and friend. We love being with you!

Max in the Pool

I am proud to report that we have made it through the summer so far without Max drowning. And that is not an easy thing to accomplish as the movies below will show you. Not that he was not close at times, but we always fished him out before it was too late. The funny thing is: he does not mind, not at all. Sometimes I think he actually likes it. Why else would he do it over and over again?



Sometimes I think I am crazy for taking them to the pool by myself so much. You can imagine how that goes. But the fun definitely outweighs the craziness of it all. And I definitely prefer craziness over boredom.



PS: In case you are bored by these movies, I know they are not great. But there are more to come. It is the best I can do to show the boys 'in action' to my family in Germany. We have not seen them in over a year.

Noah in the pool

We have been spending quite some time at the pool this summer and have all been loving it. Maybe I should use the past tense, though, since it is coming to an end soon. Why can't the pools here just be open as long as it is hot and not only until school starts?

I decided to skip swim lessons for Noah this summer since it was not going so well during the winter. I also figured, at his age, the main thing is to just be used to the water and play in it a lot. So that is what we did and he definitely made some progress.

Here he is diving. This is not his best dive but the only one I have on video.



Noah thinks he can swim, of course. He thinks he can do anything. The confidence of a 3-year-old... It might not actually be a bad thing because we signed him up for his first triathlon. But more on that later...

Little Sam

Noah has two cousins named Sam. Big Sam is almost 11 and lives in Logan. Little Sam is 5 and has been living in Connecticut. He is moving to Brazil in a few weeks though.

When little Sam came last summer, Noah and he were not too interested in each other. They were more rivals than friends. This summer, however, they hit it off and loved being together. Sam taught Noah how to play Sorry in Grandma's attic. They rode long-boards together.


At the family reunion, Horse-shoes was one of their favorite games.




Thanks for being such a good cousin and friend to Noah, Sam. We will miss you even more, now that we will see you even less. But we are trying to save some money to come see you and your wonderful family.

Max had fun with Sam's siblings Lazarus and Sarah. Lazarus was wondering why this little dude was always right in his face.


Sarah thought he was oh so cute.


PS: Thanks for the great pictures, Amber and Adri.

Family Reunion

At the end of June, we ventured up to Logan to hang out with the Lowry Family for a few days before the actual Family Reunion at Bear Lake. All of us love hanging out at their house and especially in their back yard. Their yard is big, beautiful and lots of fun. It has a go-pick-whatever-you-feel-like-eating garden, a tramp, two goats, a play set, and now also a cute yellow lab named Wilson.



Max and Noah love to play with Sam and Toby. Karl loves to talk to John. I love to run and bike with Brenda. Everyone is happy.


Here we are: the whole Jarvis clan.


Our house was right by the shore and we had a beautiful view of Bear Lake.


The days were mostly spent in/at/on/by the lake.

There was lots of digging in sand


building castles, motes, and craters


bathing in all types of water


sailing with Captain Ty


boating with uncle Matt


riding in the duckie


hanging out in the sun


playing the guitar


walking on the beach


At night we were busy acting out family history stories, showing our talents,



and singing with Grandpa.


We sure had a great time. We love all the aunts, uncles, cousins, and especially Grandma and Grandpa. Thank you for two wonderful days!

Thanks also to Don and Amber for sending us some of their pictures. Our camera died after the first five minutes. That seems to always happen to us.

Hip Hip Hooray

Yesterday afternoon we received a beautiful phone call. It was from the shop in which our car has been for about 10 weeks altogether now. I was starting to forget that we actually own another car. A pretty nice one. One I don't have to worry about my bike falling off because the rack is homemade. One I don't have to hold the trunk open with a stick and hope it does not accidentally close and chop my head off. One with key-less entry.

Anyway, the guy on the phone said:

We fixed your Subaru Outback! Come, get it!


He was at least as excited as we were. He had been working hard on it for a long time. Finally, he figured out that the manufacturer of the new timing belt marked it wrong and thus, he installed it wrong. Or something like that. I was not quite paying attention when Karl was telling me, because I was so happy about our car coming home.

Karl went and got it the same night and today we drove it up the canyon to Jordanelle Reservoir. No 'Check Engine' light came on. Sweet!


On the way home the car started overheating and the A/C stopped working. Not so sweet! Karl says it should be easy to fix but I am getting a little impatient and frustrated. A lot, actually.

Nevertheless, Mandy and Melissa, get ready! We are coming for sure this time. A/C or no A/C. Oh wait, we have to drive through the Nevada desert? Let me rethink that one. I hope we are coming for sure this time.

Toddler Max

Max is walking! He has been for about 4 weeks. Finally, we got a video of him wobbling around.



I am really excited for him to be a toddler. Babies are fine and all but toddlers are so much more fun. He is just busily toddling around everywhere and exploring everything. I just sit back and watch him get into mischief and trouble. When things get out of control, I run over and save him. I run and save him a lot. Probably every 2 minutes. I don't mind.

Keep up the good work, Max. We love you!