Back to school

And just in time. We were all getting a little crazy. All of us were ready for the routines of school.

I thought Sal might get a little lonely but this is how she spent her first day of "kids in school" freedom:

Hanging out on the back patio eating goldfish. See that big smile on her face? I have the same one with a Dr. Pepper in my hand.

"Look, there's the governors daughter!"

Today we decided to go for a bike ride for a family activity. Rian wanted to fly kites so we threw them in the bike trailer and decided to go to the soccer park to fly kites. By the time we got to the park we could see lightening so we could not fly the kites. About 3 minutes later it started to rain. We all ran under the Bowery for cover and thought we would wait it out. After a few minutes of cloud burst type rain and scared kids we knew we needed to come up with something to take minds off of the rain and pass the time. We decided to play some games that Rian learned on Trek. He taught us "Octopus" and "Ninja". We played those for a while and laughed. The rain was not letting up. Mr. Lucas taught us "King of the Jungle". He learned this game on his mission. We laughed and laughed while playing this game. The rain was slowing down and someone noticed a rainbow. Then Brad said "Look, there's the governors daughter!" and everyone looked at the rainbow and the "King of the Jungle" lost his spot. We laughed and laughed some more and then rode home.
I know many of you who might read this will not understand the games or what is so important about the governors daughter (another story for another day). But it was one of those nights that I hope our family will remember and laugh at for years to come. I picture Rian and Emily talking about in in 20 years at a family party "Remember the time we rode to the soccer park and it rained so hard we had to stay there? And remember the games we played?" It was a night when we all laughed and forgot about everything for a while. Everything, that is, except who was going to be the next "King of the Jungle."

Tutu for Sal

Or entertainment for Emily.

Calories and Tornados

Jake is obsessed with the calorie count of what he is eating and if a tornado is going to hit us. You can ask him anytime how many calories what he is eating has and he will tell you (assuming it was a prepackaged food item).
One day he said "Wow, this has a lot of calories! That is why I like it!" I never knew if he was counting calories to make sure he wasn't eating too many or if he was eating enough. Sometimes Jake gets confused about cold and hot. He will climb into bed and say "I am so hot!" and pull the covers all around him. Or the water temperature of his bath he will say is too cold and then add cold water to it. So I was not sure what he was thinking about calories. I just know he is obsessed about them.

Earlier this month there was talk about the tornado that went through Salt Lake 10 years ago. Jake was already worried about weather related trauma but this just added to his fear. Luckily his fear has subsided.

A yellow shirt, a whistle and a stop watch.....

I am not sure why this was so awakening for me because I am the one who forced him to call the city to see about a job. When Rian came home with new job papers ( w-4, direct deposit bank info) my heart sank. My number 1 child has a real job. I am getting old and so is he.

New job: referee for city rec soccer games

Hot Lava Springs

Our annual trip to "Hot Lava Springs" with the Memmotts was as wonderful as we had hoped for. The Thai food was worth the drive alone. The new over the road water slides were fast and furious. The campground (nicknamed "Tijuana") was as it always is. The hot springs were hot. The nights were cool. The river was a wild ride.
Can't wait for next year. Hopefully we won't find poop in the pool in 2010. Good eyes Em and Brin!

Fun at "The Goon"

For the past few years we go to Lagoon for Mr. Lucas' work party. Every year our kiddos ask why we can't get season passes and we often think "Maybe next year..." until we spend the one anticipated day at "The Goon". Then we remember why we don't get season passes. Maybe another year. :)

Sarah LOVED the merry go round. She would scream when we had to get off until we walked around and she saw we were going again. So her and I spent a lot of time on that ride. It was one of those moments that I wish I could imprint in my brain. She was so happy on the ride. The sweet things that make a baby happy.

In the evening we let her go on some other kiddie rides. Some she liked others not so much. The two boys working the boat ride thought she was so cute. They smiled and waved at her when her boat floated by them.

It ended up a fun day at Lagoon. Except that Rian was sick. He had caught my yucky flu/cold. I think he smiled once, maybe twice the whole day.

Maybe passes next year. Maybe.

Pioneer children sang as they walked and walked and walked...

And apparently so did my 14 year old! I heard that he sang Disney songs. He even requested we purchase "Mulan" because he didn't know the songs from that movie. I guess walking 30 ish miles in the desert will cause you to do anything to pass the time. Even sing Disney princess songs.


When his "Ma" asked him if he would do it again he said "No!". But by the end of trek he had decided it wasn't too bad and would most likely do it again.


One of the things he told us about was the very loud sheep that interrupted the "alone time" when they read scriptures, wrote in journals and read letters from parents. The sheep walked through camp and made a lot of noise. Rian also had a very bad bloody nose during this time. He said it filled up the top of his bucket.


His "Ma and Pa", Craig and Amy Jarman, happened to be some friends of ours. Rian seemed to like his trek family. But we are happy to have him home.

Morning of trek 8/5/09

Safely Home

8/8/09

Snowbird

This year we were able to stay 4 days. We had a room that connected to our regular room so there was enough room for everyone who wanted to go! It was great!

Here is some of what we did:

A trip down the slide.

This is what Sarah did all day while everyone else played.

I watched Sarah do this all day.

Jake climbing the rock wall.

Emily on the trampoline.

Sarah keeping the Cecret.

We hiked Cecret Lake. Rian took a load of Brads back on the way back.

Family photo

The girls

Looking at the Lake. What is the big Cecret?

Hiking around Snowbird.

Swimming

Sarah loving the pool.

Paige riding the mechanical bull.

The fairest garden

We finally made our raised bed gardens. We are really happy with how they turned out and how the plants are growing. We took a class in April about how to make them and what soil mixture to use. It was so fun to take a class together about something we both have an interest in.

We still are learning about our gardens personality. But it is the best garden we have had yet.

Don't you love the pink flamingos? I picked them up in Page, Arizona.

The Fairy Garden

We found this idea in a book and thought it would be fun to make and grow for the summer. This picture is when the flowers were mostly dead. But it makes it easier to see the fairies that way. The girls did a great job making the faries, the secret lake, the pathway, mushrooms, the lights and clothes line. But we were not so good at watering it.

Now the fairies live in the Cosmos that you can see behind the fairy garden. I think they are much happier there.

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

I love my birthday! I love to tell everyone it is my birthday. I love the look on a st angers face when I tell them it is my birthday.
This birthday started out wonderful. We got up at 4:45 am to go to the Ogden temple. Rian needed to do baptisms before he went on trek so Brad and Rian did that. I spent time doing other work while they did that.
Then we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house with our family. It is so beautiful inside. It has been fun to go to two temple open houses this year.
On the way home we stopped at Firehouse Pizza and ate lunch. Then Paige and I went to Park City with Brad. Brad went to a work meeting and Paige and I shopped.
We came home and ate BLT's for dinner and then Brad surprised me with an ice cream cake. It was very yummy. If you look close at the picture you can see Sal getting some frosting and Jake trying to stop her. I love the look on Ems face too.

The big summer vacation

I can't say it was a family vacation because our sweet baby Sally was not there. But I am so glad she did not go with us. Thanks to the wonderful families who took care of her.

We spent a week in Lake Powell with Brads family. I think the pictures will say it all, except how bad the toilets smelled by the end of the week. We just gave up on trying to get rid of the smell with febreeze. The last few days we used matches and that seemed to work the best.

This is one of our favorite places. We called it "Sand Mountain". We found it one of the first days there and went back at least 3 times. Most of the kids made it to the top of the hill. Rian even carried Brock up the hill. Then they all ran down and into the water. The water here was so pretty. I was so happy to see it I jumped in.

Jake had fallen asleep in the boat and was not too happy I woke him up. But it ended up one of his favorite places too.

The "skull cap" crew.

The "Blue Magic".

Our new duck friends. We fed them the moldy bread.

Brad jumping off the top of the boat.

The good the bad and the ugly of Lake Powell:

When we got to the marina at 2:00 AM we could not get to the house boat. We could not put the boat in the water with out it being checked. We slept in our cars for a few hours (if you can call it sleep) and then got on the lake around 5:00 AM.

Saturday Paige and I got sick. I am not sure if it was the heat or what but we spent half the day laying on the couch. Colette was kind enough to spray us with water to keep us cool and bring us crackers and water.

Sunday we spent about 10 hours on the boat. We had a great time seeing "Hole in the rock", hiking the Indian ruins, seeing the cathedral and all the other places to see on the lake. On the way back to the house boat we stopped at dangling rope and got ice cream (yum). Also on the way back I lost my favorite hat. I kept in on all day but it blew off at the end of the day.

We found out that our good friend, Mae Jones, passed away on July 4th (same day as my fathers death in 1996). She was 88. Hope there is rice pudding in heaven for us all to eat when we see her again.

Rian learned how to wake board. Lance taught him and Brad the tricks.

The house boat and the speed boat broke when we moved locations to get cleaner water by the house boat. But it all worked out in the end.

Found a new hat in Page Arizona. Lost a piece of carpet from the boat on the way back from Page. Then found the carpet on the side of the road. Breckens new skirt blew out of the boat on the way back to the Lake from Page.

Jake, Paige and Emily had skin issues from the sun and heat. Found out that Vaseline works on Paiges eczema.

Rian fell wake boarding on our last day and got a concussion. Rian found out how freaked out his mother can become when he is hurt. He fell while going over a wake. We could tell he was hurt but when he got in the boat he seemed to be fine. But after a few minutes he didn't remember getting the water out of the cooler. He had forgotten everything since the fall. That is when the "freak out" mother showed up.

Brad, Jen and Scott trying their best to get Rian, Lance and Brody off the tube. They never were able to get them off.

Sleeping on the top of the house boat and watching the stars at night.

Rian catching fish and the fish catching the pole.

car seat dancer

On the way to Grandma Lucas' birthday party Rian said "We should put her on you tube". She does love to dance, but in her car seat!?! But who can resist John Bon Jovi? (or is it Jon?-Michelle-you will know that question)

For the 2 people who will actually watch this (Deb and Kina). It gets better at the end. I do love it when she spits while laughing. I think she was a little camera shy. Her moves were better before the camera came out.

feeling crafty?

About every 6-8 weeks I get crafty. Well, maybe sew-ee would be better. I just have to sew something. These are my latest creations. I started making babywipe covers. I think they are cute and fun to make. I really like going to the store with a person in mind to pick out fabric for. I like looking to find what I think that person will like.

The bag is a pattern Angela told me about. I thought the girls could use up a few charm packs and make their own bag. But I had to see how easy it was first. I have a feeling it might be one of those summer projects that won't happen. So far our summer has been pretty busy.

For the best cake come see me

For fathers day/Colette's birthday we went to Texas Road House for dinner and then to a playhouse in Ogden. I had been wanting to make this cake for a while and here was my excuse. It was beautiful until I took the wax paper from under it. I was trying a new technique for keeping the plate clean. You put 3 sheets of wax paper barely under the cake then when you are done frosting you just pull out the sheets and your frosting is on the wax paper not the plate. When I did that the cake fell on one of the sides. By the time we got to Ogden the whole side of the cake was sliding off. All the lemon curd on top was a big landslide now. But the other side looked perfect. So we just kept the pretty side out.
It tasted as yummy as it looked. It is defiantly a make again cake.

Best Shake in Bear Lake?

Over Fathers Day weekend we went to the Barkers cabin. It was a little rainy and we didn't get to spend too much time on the boat but we still had a wonderful time. Rian got to play a little "pong" and the other kids were happy to have a friend to play with. The over 18 crowd got a little silly playing Sequence until wee hours of the morning.

One thing you have to do in Bear Lake is go get a raspberry shake. We decided to go to Hometown because that had the shortest line. But while standing at Hometown we decided to do a taste test. So we sent Brad and Aaron to LaBeaus for a raspberry shake while Shanna and I stayed at Hometown. Then we went to some log cabin place across the street from the gas station to get another raspberry shake. The winner.....Hometown. Hands down they had the best raspberry shake and the fastest service. Next time you visit Bear Lake drive right by famous La Beaus and go to Hometown for a better shake.