Memorial Day Weekend 2010

Memorial Day weekend was a non stop party and it's taken almost a week for me to recover. Becky, Larry,  Sydney and Gordan Jordan arrived Friday evening and we started things off with a few hot dogs and marshmallows and sleeping out on the tramp.

Saturday we hiked the incline...I'm not sure what I was thinking, maybe that Bingham was a little older and he might actually hike some of it on his own?????

Nope.

At least this time Becky and Phil did a little of the Bingham packing. Seriously though, I'm pretty sure the kid was holding out on us because I chase this kid around every day and I know he's got more in him than a few steps up the incline. I forgot my camera so I'll have to wait for some pictures from Becky.

When we got done we went to the gravity park and had an added bonus of  "the big O"....that's what the kids called the fountain by the park. It felt so, so, so good to dip our hot sore feet in the cool water. Very refreshing. But of course, if we hadn't just hiked the incline, it would have just been an ordinary fountain.

Sunday after church (yes Dad, we went to church :)) we went up to the reservoir for a splash peaceful walk. Sydney kicked a cactus...and didn't even peep when I pulled the thorns out...and they were in deep...tough girl. That night Syd and Eve slept out up on the club house so they could see all the stars, and made it all the way to 4:30 in the morning before it got a little chilly and they came in. When the boys tried it the next night, they made it about 2 minutes....I guess the stars weren't worth it.

Monday we hit the trails again, but a lot less intense, but still so pretty. We shot some guns, picked some flowers and made it home in time for a big water fight where life lessons were taught...."if you want it, go get it", and "once your drenched you've got nothing to lose" were two of my favorites, but we also included "to stay dry you must be cute like Bingham or own a camera like Becky".

At 4:28 am on Tuesday, I said good by to two smiling kiddos in the back seat of Becky and Larry's somewhat broken in SUV. It was so good to have family here, but I think we could have gone anywhere, or done just about anything and enjoyed ourselves. Family is good.

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Sand Dunes

The weather has been so wonderful lately we've been checking out all the hiking spots we've heard about since we've been here. A week ago Saturday we went to The Great National Sand Dunes....or something like that, but they are the largest sand dunes in North America. It was a whole lotta sand. In the spring there is a river that runs down across the valley and eventually just sinks down into one of the largest aquafers around, so even though it all looked completely dry, the kids were able to dig down just a foot or to and find water. Austin dug really deep down with one hand and pushed through to a complete water pocket.....I was just waiting for them all to go sinking down and float away.

Austin and Phil hiked to the top and I stayed back with the rest who were completely content to slide and climb over and over....except Bingham who would slide and then have me toss him back up a little at a time like a frog. We saw a lot of people there with slides or boogie boards but nobody seemed to actually be able to slide down a dune. Then right as we were leaving this little family came up and showed us the tricks of the trade so we will have to bring sleds when we go back in the spring.

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High Dive Hoopla

I put this together a while ago, but never quite finished. This was back in June when we stayed with Becky. We went swimming and had lots of fun.....my biggest thrill was taking cool pictures of the the kids and Phil as they went off the diving board (while Becky played with Soni and Bingham...thank you). As Jordan and Austin jumped off the high dive they would say different things....most of which I didn't understand, but once, Austin jumped off and when he got out of the water Jordan said, "That was rockin', you were like 'Subway, eat fresh!'" Funny kids.

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The Tree

This tree has something for every age, from 1 to....well, I know Grandpa has enjoyed more than one nap in it's shade.
I love this tree.
I love seeing my kids (and neices and nephews) playing on it the same way I did when I was their age. Maybe one day they can lay in it's shade and take pictures of their kids......

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Memorial Day Camping

This week....or has it been two....has been CRAZY! Anyway, while I gather my thoughts, here's a little ditty about our Memorial Day camping trip. It was lots of fun, but I just kept thinking how much more fun it would be to have some of YOU there with us....

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What's a Scookie Anyway?

I'm finally catching up on some of our trip pictures....many more to come.

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Climbing mountians and smelling flowers

Saturday we went for a hike up Phantom Canyon. We started out hiking up a dry stream bed, but of course that didn't satisfy Eve and Austin's need for height, so they take off up the side of the mountain. Soni and I started up after them with plans to just go to the first big bolder. Soon Phil and Bingham were following and we all just kept climbing. It was pretty steep and nothing felt very stable. My kids are pretty adventurous, so I encourage them to stop when they feel nervous....that was quite a bit higher than where I felt nervous, but I was proud of them for coming back on their own. It was a fun little hike.....once we got the little ones down. By that time, Eve and Austin had started up the other side, so I stayed at the bottom with Soni and Bingham and Phil whet with them. After a while, I hear what sounds like a huge rock slide and Austin screaming. When things settled a bit I could still hear him yelling....happy yelling. Aparently he had a fun time sliding down the side of the mountian because this is what he was yelling: "I feel like angles are lifting me up....I think I need a diaper!" I'm not sure if that was faith replacing fear or vice versa, but he came down with a smile. I took pictures as he told me of his adventure...most were too blury...it was a very exciting story. Eve was a little upset for being left behind, but wiped her tears enough for me to take some cute pictures of her too.

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Friday Funnies

After I made Soni clean her room, we were having a little chat in the kitchen. She said she wished she had two moms. One who would let her do everything she wanted and one who wouldn't. So I asked her why she wanted a mom who wouldn't let her do what she wanted. She lowered her voice and said, "Because that's you."

Oh how sweet....I felt so loved that even though I wasn't perfect in her eyes she wasn't about to get rid of me...phew.


Here's a smilebox of what Eve and Austin have been up too...."proudoused" by Eve.

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Fancy Sonya

Have you ever read "Fancy Nancy"? Pretty funny book. We read it over a year ago, but today I lived it in real life. Soni spent all day planning a fancy party for us all. We were all supposed to wear fancy clothes. She told me my wedding dress would be fine. I talked her down to Sunday clothes, and then luckily, she forgot. She had several games planned and everything matched and setup perfectly (small melt down when we couldn't find the matching purple plate). I didn't think the kids would be too excited about eating dry oats, so I suggested we make brownies to help entice.

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Slip Slidin' Christmas

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The Bucket

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Crazy Halloween

Every year, the days leading up to Halloween stress me out...trying to figure out costumes, planning parties, and the surety of my kids consuming their body weight in candy. I was in charge of the ward Trunk R' Treat this year, but before that, I talked my way into a full day at the school carnival. I put a lot of work into being organized...not something that comes naturally for me...so I could fit everything in. It was all a lot of fun and I was happy everything went smoothly until I was tucking my sugar coated kiddos into bed, and I realized that in all the craziness I had forgotten pictures. What? Being the camera happy person I am, I was devastated. So today I bribed my kids (not with candy) to dress back up for a photo shoot.

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My Boys

i think i'm addicted to smilebox...more to come, i'm sure

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Sunday Afternoon

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Red Cliffs

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