A little of this and a little of that

Maui, day 5

2012-02-02T06:30:00.000-07:00

Our last real day. Sob. We spent the morning listening to the time-share pitch and then raced over to Kahuli for our re-scheduled helicopter tour with Air Maui. Today- no wind. Hallelujah. In our guidebook, it says the best tour to take is the "West Maui/Molokai" tour so that's the one we did. It recommends sitting in the front or back left. When we went on Tuesday, we were sitting in the back right. Boo. But today, today was a great day because we were in the front row! Awe yeah baby. I sat right next to the pilot and Travis sat right next to me. Just the 3 of us in the front. Best views! Our pilot was Al, he was a crack-up. We put on our head phones as we were taking off and the "Star Wars" theme song started playing. Loved it. Okay, see the clouds in the picture below? We are headed in that direction.

Here we are, in the clouds. Crazy!

First stop, flying over the mountains. Our pilot gave us a lot of history, Hawaiian folklore and told lots of corny jokes. He mentioned that there are vertical caves on the tops of the mountains here because the land is so extremely porous. You have to be careful where you walk or you could fall in.

Below are some pineapple fields. He told us the smaller the pineapple, the sweeter. And to always smell the bottom and pick the one that smells the most pineapply. So now you know.

Then we turned and headed out over the ocean to the island of Molokai.

He did a good job of talking and playing Hawaiian music to distract us as we flew over the ocean for about 10 minutes. The only time I was nervous. ;)

Once we got over land again, I felt better. We toured Molokai and saw . . . you guessed it, waterfalls!

Sorry for the glare from the glass. Most of the time it wasn't a problem but sometimes we were at a funky angle.

Here we are leaving Molokai headed back towards Maui.

And what did we see? humpback whales!!!!! totally amazing!!!!

these pictures really don't do it justice. It was so cool, so much better than a whale watching boat. To see them in the water, their whole body, swimming, blowing water through their spout, slapping their flippers against the surface, it was one of those experiences I will freeze forever in my memory.

Over and out. Last day was great. We went back to our hotel and had delish cheeseburgers by the pool. We just relaxed and enjoyed doing absolutely nothing. I can honestly say we came home relaxed, refreshed and rejuvenated. Our kids had a great time with grandpa and grandma and the house didn't burn down. Victory!

Maui, day 4

2012-01-29T13:54:00.014-07:00

Here we are. My favorite day of the whole week. Without further ado, I give you . . .

The Road to Hana.

What is the road to Hana? It is the crown jewel of scenic drives in all the state of Hawaii. And that's saying something. The actual road itself connects the main city on Maui, Kahuli (where the airport, costco, kmart, etc. are located) to a small town on the east coast of Maui called Hana. Its only 52 miles away but it is at least a 3 hour drive, that's with no stops. If you plan on stopping, which, by the way, is the whole point of the road to Hana, its an all day affair. Why so long to cover such a short distance? Because of the many MANY curves and one lane bridges. According to wikipedia, there are 59 bridges, 46 of which are 1 lane bridges. There are over 620 "turns" in the road. The town Hana really isn't much. You take the road to Hana to enjoy the experience, not because you're in a hurry to get to Hana. Our guidebook said, "Not to be like a cheesy fortune cookie, but the treasure lies in the journey, not the destination." That my friends, is the road to Hana, a journey. We packed a lunch and were in the car passing Kahuli by 8am. Perfect weather. I mean, postcard bee-you-tiful day. Be very jealous.

There are so, so, so many waterfalls. We decided to follow our guidebook's advice and just stop at the ones that they labeled "real gems."

This was our first stop. Totally hidden and not visible at all from the road. We hiked a few minutes back on this path into the lush landscape and saw this awesome waterfall.

A few minutes down the road was this little beauty.

A peacock was hanging out right under the bridge.

At our first stop of the day, we saw another couple holding the same guidebook we had. We joked that we were following them. Little did we know when we said that that we would actually decide to spend the rest of the day with them! Best decision of the day! Michele and Scott from North Carolina made our day so much fun. We had them take our picture at every stop and we took theirs. Perfect set-up! We ate lunch together. We hiked together. We explored underneath bridges together. We talked and talked some more. Turns out she is a pharmacist too. They were so nice and fun. We had the exact same places highlighted in our book. They had been to the Olivine Pools just the day before. They were even staying at our same hotel! Small world.

The brown stripe in the mountain was the road. Very much reminded me of highway 1 in California. Right on the coast and gorgeous!

Next up: Ching's pond. Look at that water!

Doesn't it look like a scene out of "Fantasy Island?" Definitely a favorite of mine!

We hiked down and could have even gone swimming if we had brought our swimsuits. We settled for rock hopping instead.

Sadly, this unflattering picture is the only one we have our of travel companions.

Next up: Three Bears Waterfalls. The big daddy waterfall, the medium mommy waterfall and the little baby waterfall. Awesome!

Here we are on the bridge on the road. This is the view you get from your front seat. But we went down for a closer inspection.

See the bridge Trav and I are sitting on in this above photo? And here I am under it.

Much better!

Great view!

Garden of Eden, anyone?

Next stop: another waterfall! This one was off the road quite a bit. We followed a hunting trail back into the woods and after 10-15 minutes of walking were rewarded with this wonderful view.

Next stop: a detour from the main road to the tiny hamlet of Nahiku, about a 2 mile drive down to the water's edge. The drive down was sooooo green and tropical. You felt transported to a jungle.

This is the "ugly" side of Nahiku cove. I know, I know. How can this be the "ugly" side?
Oh just you wait.

Ta-da! Here's the beautiful side.

Green grass, black lava jutting out into bright blue water under a bright blue sky.
Ahhhh, we've arrived in Paradise.

Life doesn't get much than this right here folks. Possibly my favorite spot in all of Maui.
I could sit there and watch the waves for hours.

For my m-i-l, Janet. She is always taking pictures of flowers on her trips so now I do too. After we drove back up to the main road, Hana was only 10 minutes away. We stopped for some cold beverages and turned around for the long, leisure drive back to our hotel. Fantastic day.
The Road to Hana is an absolute MUST-DO.

Sunset on another amazing day.

Love this guy. He's a pretty fun travel partner. I think I'll keep him around.

Maui, day 3

2012-01-26T06:30:00.000-07:00

My darling husband scheduled a helicopter tour for us. He scored a sweet deal from costco travel center, half of what we would have paid if we bought directly from the company. We flew with Air Maui. Very nice company, I felt safe the whole time. Speaking of feeling safe, of course, we said a word of prayer before we left our room in the morning. I specifically prayed for our pilot to be safety conscious. I can say my prayer was definitely answered. We were up in the air about 10 minutes and he said he got word on the radio from another pilot to turn around, the wind was too strong. So that's what we did. We turned around and in 10 minutes, we landed back at the airport. My first helicopter ride was 20 minutes. BUT . . . they very nicely rescheduled us for Thursday. I'll save you some suspense and tell you now that Thursday's flight was very successful, zero wind.

Here are the pictures from our mini-tour. The wind was rather strong and Travis and I both had the "swimming head" sensation for about an hour after we landed. Fortunately some fresh, hot off the conveyer belt, krispy kremes helped us feel better. We perked right up after that.

After we downed our donuts, we headed over to Iao Valley State Park. Bryce and Lisa (and our beloved guide book) recommended doing this scenic hike called the "Needle." And its called that because, ta-da, it looks like a needle.

It wasn't too strenuous, it was very green, the breeze felt good and it wasn't too crowded.

We read about the Hawaiian historical significance to this particular place. It was here that King Kamehameha conquered the Maui warriors when he was uniting all the islands under one kingdom. It was a very bloody battle and legend has it that the King even killed all the women and children who were hiding. The Hawaiians are not proud of how King Kamehameha united the islands, just the fact that he did unite them. Also, learned that the "needle" is a large phallic symbol representing Maui's god of the underworld. Nice.

It was very lush and tropical. We're glad we came, it was great to walk around and see more of the island.

After we had a little siesta and dip in the pool at our hotel, we hit LaHaina's Front Street again. This time we wanted to sample a local treat, shave ice. Note, its not "shaved" ice. The stuff we have here on the mainland is more like frozen ice chunks compared to how soft and smooth the shave ice is in Hawaii. We had it "Maui style" which means a little scoop of vanilla ice cream on the bottom and then the ice, then the syrup and then a drizzle of cream. Heaven sent, my friends, heaven sent. This picture below is off the Banyan tree park right across the street from the shave ice shop.

Best shave ice in all of Maui, Local Boys West.
I opted for my new favorite flavor combo, lava flow. Sooooooo good.

Then we strolled up and down the tourist shops. We ended up having dinner at Ruth's Chris. Travis was very excited about this, its one of his fav places to eat. Costco had a killer deal on a gift card so we bought it. Great steak and saved some pennies too.
End of another day of blissful vacation.

Maui, day 2

2012-01-24T06:30:00.001-07:00

Day 2 started out with us heading up to see the Olivine Pools. Before I get any further, I must tell you about this book. The book that made this trip so fantastic. The book that told us all the hidden gems and how to get there, literally step by step.
Its called "Maui Revealed" by Andrew Doughty. For some reason, blogger isn't co-operating with photos or links right now, so you can just google it if you're interested. He was so precise, for example, "Between mile marker 10 and 11, approx 9/10 past mile 10, there is a dirt pullout on the left hand side of the road. Pull over and walk approx 15 feet north to the telephone pole where you'll see a worn dirt path leading off into the trees. Take the path, walk 5 minutes and then turn right, there will be an amazing waterfall completely hidden from the road." If you were driving without his book, you would NEVER have known it was there. All his instructions were that detailed, so thorough and easy to follow. I felt like we had our private guide with us, showing us more of the island than most other tourists ever see.
He's been writing guidebooks for quite some time, make sure you get the latest edition (pretty sure its the 5th) because he updates his restaurant reviews, hotel reviews, and includes any changes made to the roads, signs, etc that would be different than his previous editions. Again, I can not over-hype this book. Its the real deal. Thanks to Rob and Tara for lending it us!!

Here we are in our hotel before we left exploring for the day.

View from the lobby.

The beach right off our hotel property.

The view from the front seat of our car. I had a lot of "Lost" flashbacks while in Hawaii. This was one of them. I could have sworn I saw Hurley and Sawyer walking through the jungle.

Here we are, we've reached our destination. The Olivine pools are basically tide pools. But they're so cool because they're protected by the lava rocks so you can enjoy being thisclose to the ocean without being in the ocean. And the pools are different depths, sizes, etc. There were a few small fish and quite a few small black crabs but no big fish and best of all, no sharks! ha!

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were really windy and cloudy days. The water was quite choppy. Another tv reference for you, Travis and I kept quoting George from Seinfeld. "The sea was angry that day my friends. Like an old man trying to return soup at a deli."

Below is the rocky mountain side we navigated down to the pools.
Yep, we started at the very top of that there big rock pile.

Loved the colors of the pools. So beautiful!

WARNING: 30+ yrs olds in swimsuits, look away!

The place was huge, awesome and we practically had it all to ourselves. But luckily for us, there was a nice family from Oregon who was there also so we asked them to take our picture. Then they left and we really did have the place to ourselves. It felt like our own private resort.

Notice how big this pool is that I'm standing in. According to the book, if the pool is all the way full, its as deep as 25 ft. The water is a little murky as well. You can bet I jumped right out after Travy snapped this picture, I don't like being in deep water that I can't see through. I'm more of a crystal clear swimming pool kinda gal than an ocean/lake kinda gal.

After a fun day climbing rocks and playing in water, it was time for some local refreshment. Travis was in the mood for some kalua pork and we had read in the book that Kimo's in LaHaina had good food and a great ocean view. Jackpot! The best pork AND the best calamari AND the best beverages. Ahhh, I'm wishing I had one again right now. Its called a "lava flow" and its a pina colada with strawberries. Best drink of the whole trip right there folks.
Hmmmm good.

Here's our ocean view. Notice the huge wall of clouds, totally blocked the sunset but at least some of the top clouds turned a pretty pink for us.

And what's a trip to Hawaii without some hula pie? Not much I tell you, not much. Chocolate? check. Macadamia nuts? check. Vanilla ice cream? check. Whipped cream? check. More chocolate? check. More nuts? check. Vacations are diet free, didn't you know?

Aloha

2012-01-23T09:20:00.006-07:00

In 2011, Travis got a special offer in the mail from Westin hotels. 9 or 10 years ago, he had signed up to be a member of their free rewards program that sends out emails, special offers from their hotels, etc. We receive stuff from them all the time. But this time, the deal was too good to pass up. So we didn't pass it up. We said yes. And boy, are we glad we did! We needed some R&R. We needed some kid-free time. We wanted a little Hawaiian get-away. A HUGE special thanks to Grandpa and Grandma J for watching the munchkins. We couldn't have made this vacation happen without their help.

We hopped on a jet plane.
(great experience with Hawaiian airlines on the flight over there. Beautiful new plane, loved it. Miss Hawaii from the Miss America pageant was on our flight, I said hi as we were going through security together. The pageant was the night before in Las Vegas. She was cute and tiny. The plane home from Maui wasn't as nice as the one going over but it was still a good flying experience. No complaints here!)

We flew to Maui.
On the far left hand side, there's a town called Ka'anapali. All the best beachy resorts are on that side of Maui, the west. The middle part of Maui is agricultural where they grow the Maui onions, for example. And the north and east are more tropical rain forest-esque because they get more rain on that side of the island. Anywho, according to many people and many guide books, we stayed on the best side of the island. True dat. Travis' 2nd time to this island and my first.

We stayed here, at the Westin Ka'anapli Villas Resort.
Yep, its a time share. Nope, we didn't have to buy in. Yep, we did listen to their pitch for $100 credit to spend at the resort. Yep, its a nice place and I liked having a full size fridge, dishwasher, etc. Yep, it was a beautiful place to be.

Also, a shout out to Costco where we stopped immediately after we got our rental car. We stocked up on chocolate covered macadamia nut clusters, sun chips, honey bunches of oats and passion fruit/mango/guava juice, you know, the essentials.
That saved us a bundle.

Day 1 Sunday, January 15.
We left for Vegas around 6:30am. Got into Maui around 3:30pm local time. Hit Costco for shopping and grabbed a bite at the foodcourt. Stopped at Safeway in LaHaina for some sunscreen. Found our hotel and walked around it for awhile. Went to bed early because we were tired! Too bad I coughed for hours as soon as I lied down. Stupid cough.
But we didn't crash into the ocean. Our luggage didn't get lost. And we had a nice, clean room waiting for us with those famous Westin heavenly beds. Day 1 was a success.

Goals for 2012

2012-01-11T08:54:00.004-07:00

My goals for this year:

make more smoothies (especially for the kids before school)
start planning earlier for holidays, vacations, meetings, lessons, life in general (read previous post about underestimating)
keep my RS presidency meetings under 1.5 hours (this is actually harder than it sounds)
send out hand written cards and letters (I have this one every year)
host more blog give-aways (perhaps one this month!)
update my poor, neglected, red-headed step child of a food blog once a month (that really shouldn't be hard, its just once a month, I can do this!)
read every book club book (again, this a goal I have every year)

and our big family goal for the year is FAMILY PRAYER. We're pretty good Monday - Friday during the school year. Weekends, vacations, days that we don't leave the house before noon, we are not so great with. In an attempt to reward positive behavior, we told our kids if we have family prayer every day this year, we'll do fun things together as a family. Our first mile marker is in March during spring break. If we have FP every day starting from January 1st than in March, we get to go to . . . drumroll please . . . . Chuck E Cheese! We'll have to come up with another reward sometime in June or July, and one in the fall too. But I like the idea of several rewards scattered throughout the year in stead of only one at the end. This way, (at least this is how I made the stretch between Chuck E Cheese and family prayer in my head) they'll associate family fun time as the reward for family prayer. We'll be proving the old adage,
"the family that prays together, stays together."

So far, we're 100% on track for our goal. Go team Jackman! What are your goals?

10 things I did in 2011 that I've never done before

2012-01-10T10:44:00.002-07:00

1. Taken my family to the Grand Canyon
2. Been to Michigan
3. taken my kids hiking inside Yellowstone
4. slept in a tent with my husband and 3 children
5. had a flat tire AND a dead battery in the same night
6. sent my twins to separate classes at the same school
7. been called to be the Relief Society President
8. been to Chuck E Cheese on my actual birthday
9. made Pioneer Woman's baked french toast (to.die.for.)
10. owned a trampoline

Books I read in 2011

2012-01-07T18:18:00.000-07:00

Time for my annual list. I've been criticized by some (cough cough Jen and Kristine) that while I list the books I've read, I don't mention whether they were good/bad/worth your time, etc. So here goes. My comments about each book are in red.

A Bride most Begruding by Deeann Gist good book, chick lit
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford great book, love the decades it spans and the story that connects all the characters throughout it all
Time is a River by Mary Alice Monroe breast cancer survivor story, chick lit, good book
My Name is Asher Lev by Chiam Potok very intense, everyone should read it once but I don't want to read it again, his writing is so profound and moving
The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore quick read, young adult sci-fi, my guilty pleasure, great book, sequel to "I am Number Four."
In the Heart of the Sea: The tragedy of the whaleship Essex by Nathianel Philbrick true story, very intense, very interesting about that period of history, good book
Michael Vey: Prisoner of cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans young adult sci-fi, good book
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead short book, great read, highly recommend
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck loved the universal truths, good book
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card young adult sci-fi, brilliant ending
And There Was Light by Jaques Lusseyran true story about a blind French resistance hero during WWII, he is so inspirational, loved it
The Out of Sync Child by Carol Kranowitz great book about kids with SPD
The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham deep thinking book, good read
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell loved it, super interesting
The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman young adult fantasy, good book
I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore young adult sci-fi, great book
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell loved it, super interesting
Beyonders by Brandon Mull best Brandon Mull yet, young adult fantasy, 1st in series
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand best book ever, run out and read it now!
Riding the White Horse Home by Teresa Jordan true story, her memories of life on a farm
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell loved it, super interesting
Abhorsen: Book 3 of Abhorsen Chronicles by Garth Nix young adult fantasy, good book
Lireal: Book 2 of Abhorsen Chronicles by Garth Nix young adult fantasy, good book
Sabriel: Book 1 of Abhorsen Chronicles by Garth Nix young adult fantasy, good book
Escape by Carolyn Jessop true story, very informative, good book
The Imperfectionist by Tom Rachman stupid book, do not read
A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean, loved this book, more of a short story
The Diary of Anne Frank true story, loved this book and love her

Confessions

2012-01-02T13:59:00.000-07:00

I am an under-estimator. I have recently discovered this about myself. While this a) might not be earth-shattering for you or b) you already knew this about me, I love that I now know this about me. Because now knowing, its possible to change.

So what is, exactly, an under-estimator? Someone who underestimates on how much time it will take to do something, and underestimates how complex or multi-step a project actually is. Here are a few examples from my life. I underestimate how long it will take to get myself and the kids out the door in the morning. I underestimate how much work is really involved in making handouts for RS. I underestimate how long it takes to get someplace. I underestimate how long it will take to get dinner on the table. I underestimate how long it takes me to check my email. I underestimate how many steps there are in getting ready to go grocery shopping. I underestimate how much time it takes to fold millions of pairs of little boy under-roos.

Why do I do this? Many reasons. One is I don't *want* it to take that long. I don't want to spend more than 5 minutes helping Mason get dressed and make his bed in the morning. Yet that does not change the fact that it really takes 10 minutes. I need to allow the right amount of time for that activity and then I won't be so put off that it took that long.

Another reason is I've been lured into a false sense of how long that activity really takes. I will take the ideal situation and make that the norm when in reality, that was the exception. Yes, it really did only take me 2 minutes to fix Marissa's hair before school that one day. But that was because the brush was in the right place, her ponytail holders were in the right place, I didn't get interrupted 50 times by Mason or Joe, and it was a simple hairstyle. That is definitely not the norm round here folks. I should be glad when things work out faster and easier than expected but not get my hopes up that it is now a permanent thing.

In the article Staci was telling me about (because, surprise, surprise, she's an under-estimator too, maybe that's why we get along so well) she said one of the "cures" was to time yourself doing something. That is brilliant because then you have reality and not fantasy in your brain.

I don't want to be hyper scheduled and uber- rigid running around with a stop watch. I want to be easy-going and low stress. But the opposite ends up happening because I didn't allow myself enough time so then I get stressed out. I can be flexible, low-key AND live in reality about how long things take and how easy/hard they are to accomplish. It is possible. And speaking of possible, that brings me to our 2012 Relief Society theme in our ward. Here it is: "BECOME" and the accompanying scripture is Mark 9:23, "All thing are possible to him that believeth." To repeat, it is possible for me organize my time better. It is possible to be less stressed. It is possible live in reality and not with my head in the cloud.
I can BECOME better than I am now.

Christmas finery

2011-12-29T13:47:00.000-07:00

Here's the gang all decked out in their Sunday best, Christmas style. I cheated and knew the BIG day would be a crazy rush to take photos before so we did this little photo shoot the Sunday BEFORE Christmas. This ain't my first rodeo kids, I've learned a thing or two along the way. ;)

What's up with his hand? Funny kid.

Christmas fun

2011-12-28T09:45:00.006-07:00

The weekend of December 17-18 was a bit hectic round these parts. Saturday night was our ward Christmas party that the Relief Society was "helping" the High Priests Group (one of the men's organizations in our church.) Our bishop wanted an old fashioned turkey dinner with all the fixings. There was a lot of work that went into that party, let me tell you. But . . . it was a success! We had a great time. Travis had to work but me, my parents, the kids and Marissa's friend Ashley enjoyed ourselves immensely. Santa Claus even came to the party! Mason and Joe were interested enough but Marissa wanted nothing to do with him. She told me that she knew he wasn't the real Santa because they already saw the real Santa at the Dickens Festival. I love our ward and it was a fun evening to spend together!

On Sunday the 18th was our Relief Society Christmas message. We've been working on this for several months. It really came together and I think it turned out very well. We took our message from President Uchtdorf's 2010 Christmas Devotional talk "Can you see the Christ in Christmas?" We divided it into 3 parts. Tina (our RS secretary) did the 1st part, then we had a musical number by a quartet of RS sisters. They sang "Once in Royal David's City" and did a lovely job. Then Claire (1st counselor) did the 2nd part. She was followed by Rob playing the guitar while Chantay sang "Mary's Lullaby." It was so moving and powerful. I LOVE the guitar and I LOVE Chantay's voice. Touches my heart every time. Then I spoke and I was followed by a mens' quartet singing "Silent Night" a capella. Travis was part of the quartet, along with Dallin, Marty and Rob. They preformed this in sacrament meeting a few years ago for the ward Christmas program but I had forgotten how beautiful it really was. There was nary a dry eye in the room when they finished. It was a special meeting and I just wanted the sisters in our ward to feel our love and most of all, the Savior's love for them. There's nothing like feeling the spirit together to bring you closer to each other. Like I mentioned, putting this lesson together was a lot of work but it was definitely a labor of love. We had close to 50 people in attendance! I felt 20lbs lighter as I left church on Sunday because the weight of the program had been lifted from me. The Lord takes what we have diligently prepared and turns it into something more, something worthwhile, something spiritually edifying. He does this because He loves us. I am grateful for Him.

Gingerbread Houses

2011-12-27T09:56:00.000-07:00

Two Houses.
Two Grandparents.
The math just adds up folks. One team was Mason and Grandpa.
The other team was Marissa, Joe and Grandma.
And all I had to do was take pictures (insert smug smile.)

They had a good time. There was only minor cursing, fit throwing and gingerbread breakage but after my dad calmed down, they continued on their merry way. ;)

My dad is famous for his camel rides. Joe never really sits upright on the camel's back, he always smashes his body flat down on my dad's back and hangs on for dear life. To each his own. My kids have had a ball being with their grandpa and grandma. One night, before my dad arrived, Mason climbed in my mom's bed, snuggled under the electric blanket and pronounced it "The best Christmas ever!" Right you are, Mason, right you are.

School party fun

2011-12-26T17:00:00.001-07:00

The title of this post about sums it up. We went to the school. We had a party. It was fun. The end. Okay, for posterity sake I guess I can add a few details.

My mom read one of our family's favorite stories, "Santa Mouse." We always left a piece of cheese for Santa Mouse every year growing up in my house and now we do it with my kids too. Its a fun tradition. My mom read one day to Marissa's class and another day to Mason's class. She is a born storyteller, adding voices, gestures and facial expressions. The kids were eating out of her hand.

This is my dad, Joe and my mom during Marissa's class party.
We were in charge of the cookie station and "someone" was a frosting hound.

Good times had by all. My parents LOVE coming and being involved with the school. They like to meet the kids' teachers, the kids' friends, see where they sit, look at their drawings on the wall, etc. Its so great for my kids too, they love showing off Grandpa and Grandma from England. Mason even got to use his teacher's pointer to show where England is on the globe. Proud moment when he instantly AND correctly found it. My little geographer.

The Big Day

2011-12-25T09:42:00.001-07:00

Santa came to our house! Funny story- Christmas Eve the kids all sleep together in Marissa's room. I gave a nice long speech about staying in bed, Santa can't come if you're awake, etc, etc. I said they couldn't wake up until 7:15am. Blah Blah Blah. What I failed to mention was "Don't come out of this room until an adult comes to get you." This was probably due, in part, to exhaustion, and secondly, to me erroneously thinking they'll remember that fact because that is how we've done it since they were born. So in the morning Travis and I are asleep in bed and the next thing I know, Travis jumps up, looks at the clock, says its 7:15 and the kids are in the living room. Ahhh! Go go go, grab the camera!!! This year we did not get the "first look" when the kids spy their Santa gifts for the 1st time. The kids were still very excited and smiley when we stumbled upon the scene 5 minutes later. Next year, I will remember to include that in my little bedtime spiel.

Highlights for Marissa: barbie doll house, new clothes, new boots, new Magic Treehouse books, barbies to play in said doll house, finger nail polish, lipgloss, and headbands.

Highlights for Joe: a lightening mcqueen big boy bike, a cars 2 geotrax train set, new clothes, a super high bouncy ball, trucks, a toy story watch. Joe was so cute pulling things out of his stocking. Everything got equal attention from him. Toothbrush, underpants, gum, stickers, etc, all was met with a super excited, "Look what I got!!!!!"

Highlights for Mason: the Harry Potter Lego Hogwarts Express, a hot wheels race track, a football, the Harry Potter lego Knight Bus, science books, a build your own volcano kit, glow in the dark ceiling stars.

Grandma and grandpa got lots of clothes and books.

Here's Mason with his Harry Potter lego Knight Bus.

tee shirts that say Big Brother and Little Brother. Precious.

Dinner was great! Christmas day itself was little weird. We woke up and it felt like Christmas. Travis left for choir practice at noon and we got everyone ready for church. That made it feel like Sunday. Church was fantastic, I wish every year we could attend church on Christmas day. The music and the narration was absolutely beautiful. I love that Travis sings in the choir. Then we came home and ate a turkey dinner so it felt like Thanksgiving!
Its my dad's birthday on Christmas day and we always ask him what he wants for dinner. I asked him if he wanted ham, roast beef, pizza, etc. He said he wanted a repeat of Thanksgiving. My mom and I were happy to oblige! In addition to our turkey, we had shrimp cocktail, stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, jello-fruit salad and yams. Cousin Dave, Mindy and Miley came over for dinner too. Its always great to hang out with them. Dave made his mom's famous green bean casserole, (mmm bacon) and brought some delicious bubbly to drink and croshaw pies to share. I'm licking my lips reliving this feast. We topped it off with birthday cake. My dad wanted vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream frosting, so that's what I made. I am a believer that you can have whatever you want for your birthday cake but in my brain, I was horrified it wasn't chocolate.

I'm glad he could celebrate his special day with us. I hope he felt loved and spoiled. Its not easy sharing your b-day with someone else let alone sharing it with The One. We loved having my mom and dad here with us. So much fun and so many good memories. My kids, especially Joe, kept saying "This is the best Christmas ever!" It really was a terrific Christmas. We are so blessed.

A few hours later, here's Mace with his completed Knight Bus. He's our lego super star!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T13:40:00.000-07:00

Christmas Eve I danced the dance of joy!
(10 points to anyone who catches that obscure 80's TV show reference)
I was able to celebrate with some of my very favorite people in the whole world:
my loving husband, my happy kids, my wonderful parents, my bestie and her cute fam and my Grams Doty. It was a Festivus Miracle! All the people that make my Christmas Eve merry and bright were there. The house was warm and welcoming. The people were jolly and fun. The food was scrumptious and bounteous. A very merry Christmas to me!

Christmas Eve Part 2: After the shindig with the Shaws, we came home and did our traditional Christmas Eve rituals. This always includes getting Santa's milk and cookies ready (Mason was ready to complete this assignment at 6:45am but cheerfully agreed to wait until later,) reading "T'was the Night before Christmas" and concluding with the biblical narration/acting from the original nativity found in Luke chapter 2. We do our readings and re-enactments via tree lights and candles. I love the cozy feel of candlelight! Our Joseph and Mary welcomed a little shepherd into their play. The shepherd took his part seriously and wandered the hills of Bethlehem while the story was being read. Grandma and grandpa being here for Christmas was so fantastic. I am so glad they were able to make all the effort to come be here with us. It made all the difference.

Coloring Champ

2011-12-24T11:04:00.004-07:00

Every year we go to the Dickens Festival. Every year I cut out from the newspapers the pictures to be colored for the coloring contest so we can get the kids free admission to the festival. This year was a little different though. Marissa won! We got a phone call around 8:30pm on Friday night. I had just finished song and prayer with her and was leaving her room when my mom came down the hall with the phone. She said it was for Marissa. I immediately thought, "Who is calling my 7 year old on Saturday night?" My mom mouthed the words "Coloring Contest Winner" and passed the phone to Marissa. She was so excited, she smiled the whole time she was listening the nice lady on the other end. She won $50 to spend at the Dickens Festival! Her eyes popped out of her head!

Here she is with her winning entry taped to the ticket booth right above her head.

After the PTA's Breakfast with Santa, Marissa, my mom and myself headed back to the Dickens Festival. We elbowed through the crowds and stopped inside 99% of all the vendor booths. She was so cute, she was determined to buy presents for other people. She bought our family 10lbs of fudge, she bought her brothers presents (they're loud and annoying, we'll see how long they last before Travis throws them away!) and ended up getting herself a really soft scarf, hat and mitten set. Are you surprised its pink? Congratulations to my girl. She worked very hard on her picture and I hope she continues to develop her artistic talent.

Live Nativity

2011-12-23T15:32:00.000-07:00

One of my very favorite parts of the whole month of December is attending Tuacahn's Live Nativity. It gives me a huge dose of Christmas spirit! We grabbed our friend Jackson, who just flew in from Michigan, grabbed our winter gear and blankets and headed over.

Real men wear hats and scarfs. You can't feel the Christmas spirit very well if you're freezing!

The hat twins, Jackson and Mason. Jackson's toothless smile is classic. I love that these 2 boys get a long so well. Amazing what a little growing up does.

On the very row we walked down was Marissa's friend from school, Bre-Ann. What a fun co-incidence! They shared a blanket and had a great time.

Jackson did a GREAT job taking this picture. He is his mother's son. Tuacahn was a huge success, all we could talk about on the drive home was how much we enjoyed the show. The music is always so beautiful. But really, the 3 camels were the highlight for us, especially Joe. He talked about them for days after. I love this Christmas tradition.

Jacob Drive Dinner

2011-12-23T10:10:00.000-07:00

Its that time of year again when we get together with our dear friends from Jacob Drive. This year we were missing a few. Big Mike had to work. Elder Sam Wilde is currently preaching the gospel in Japan. Dyle and Margaret couldn't come because of health problems.
Each one of them was missed!

Above, Marissa and Madalyn. Cute girls!
Below, Grandpa chillin' with JoeGees.

We had enchiladas, beans/rice, chips and homemade pico. Num Num Nummy. My favorite is Heidi's dessert. Its tradition that she brings peppermint ice cream pie with homemade hot fudge. Oh sweet heaven above. If I ate as much as I wanted to, I would be 300lbs. No joke.

Above from L to R, Ollie, Bridger, Harrison with Joe in front.
Below Heidi, Avynlee and DeNise.

Above, Ashley and Lauren. Below, Taylor with Chantay. It makes me feel so stinkin' old every time I see any of these 4 beautiful ladies. I remember when Ashley and Lauren were 7 years old! And now they're dating, driving teenagers. When did that happen? And Taylor and Chantay were my baby-sitting staples when we had 2 little twinnies on Jacob Drive. They were pre-teen miracle workers, those 2. Here they are college girls now! I hope the men they marry know how lucky they are.

I love parties!

Feliz Navidad

2011-12-22T09:37:00.001-07:00

A visit with my parents wouldn't be complete if we didn't eat at Don Pedros Mexican Restaurant. And we always try to get together with our good friends Jon and Cyndi in December. This year we hung out with Jon and Cyndi AND enjoyed our favorite fajitas at the same time. Yep, we're that awesome.

Jon and Cyndi spoil us and our kids rotten! We are so lucky to friends like them. We had a great time talking about USC football, pharmacy land, international travel and all the animals that live at Jon's place. They have quite the menagerie. I think we need to go visit their goats again soon.

Later that night, me, Trav, my mom and dad went to the new Sherlock Holmes movie. We enjoyed it immensely. Just reinforced my desire to visit England this year. I better start looking for the portkey to take me there!

Cookie Party

2011-12-21T10:44:00.000-07:00

For years I've wanted to do a little friend/cookie/Christmas party for my kids. And every year, I think to myself, "AHHHH! There is no way. Not enough time. Not enough energy." So the party gets scrapped. But this year, I had a little conversation with myself. And it went something like this. "Self, your mother is here. And she loves things like this. And your kids would love this. And you would feel really good about yourself because you're gone a lot now so this would be something Christmasey you and your kids could do together. Self, pull the trigger and get this party started." Without further ado, I bring you the Cookie Party 2011!

The boys: Jacob, Hayden, Austin, Adler, Mason and Joe. The girls: Marissa, Emma, and SJ (Ashley was in Hawaii)

SJ decorated her cookie and had to leave early for Nutcracker rehearsals. That's why she's not in the group picture. Glad she could come for a little bit though!

My 3 kids made the sugar cookie dough with me the night before. I rolled them out, cut them, baked them Friday morning. We had red, green and white frosting; lots of candies; and of course, hot cocoa to drink. They're a fun group. And I was thinking about it, I've known their families since before they were born. Except Hayden, they moved into our neighborhood when he was 1yr old. Still, these kids have grown up together. I think that is so cute. They act almost like cousins instead of friends, they know each other so well. The party was a success. The kids had a lot of fun. My 3 chitlins were so happy. A big THANK YOU to my mom for making this happen. Without her, there would not have been a party. It really is the most wonderful time of the year!

Christmas time is here!

2011-12-19T17:00:00.001-07:00

Breakfast with Santa

2011-12-14T09:36:00.003-07:00

Hold onto your Santa Hats kids, Mama's got some bloggin' to do! Here we go! The 2nd annual PTA breakfast with Santa Fundraiser was a great success. The sausage was donated from McDonalds and it was delish. (Anne fun fact: I worked there the summer I graduated high school and the next summer also when I was home from my freshman year at BYU. I still think they have the best fast food breakfasts.) Moving on, I did pancake patrol for 3 hours and my mom, Travis and the kids got to visit and schmooze with neighborhood friends. The second grade was our musical entertainment. They did a GREAT job! Here are my little singers belting out
"Have a Holly Jolly Christmas."

Marissa on the right and her friend Hallie on the left.

Christmas Jammies

2011-12-12T21:33:00.002-07:00

First Monday in December that Buddy the Elf always seems to find us! He left new jammies and this time added 3 new fuzzy blankets. Score!

Turkey Day

2011-12-06T07:22:00.002-07:00

The big T-Day was fairly lackluster round these parts. But that's okay. I was telling Travis a few days before that I was a little disappointed that it wasn't more holiday feeling, only the 5 of us. And he told me that he was so excited it was going to be just the 5 of us. So he got his way for Thanksgiving, I get my way for Christmas. insert smug smile here. I enjoyed putting my turkey in and running out to Old Navy with Christy, as per our tradition. The kids actually watched some of the Macy's parade and enjoyed it. Here are the only pictures we took that day.

Again, our table looks a little sad. On the menu was turkey (duh), mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, stuffing, from scratch cranberry sauce, and from scratch yams with marshmallow topping. That's it folks. No green bean casserole, no jello salad. I had intentions of corn making it to the table but that didn't happen. We did have sparkling cider which added a festive flair to the meal. For dessert, we were invited over to the Westons so we grabbed our toffee pumpkin cheesecake and chocolate cream pie and headed over. (I made Travis a coconut cream pie that was for his own private fatty consumption. Gotta keep him happy!) Mason and Marissa went hot tubbing over there too. While Marissa was enjoying a piece of Sarah's famous fudge, dripping wet in her swimsuit, she declared it "the best Thanksgiving ever." Move over turkey, you've been out-shined by chocolate.

Where's the laundry fairy?

2011-11-29T09:23:00.000-07:00

Jubilee of Trees

2011-11-28T09:03:00.000-07:00

Every year our local hospital does their annual fundraiser in November, called the Jubilee of Trees. They raise money for different causes. One year it was a life flight helicopter, one year the Jubilee House where out of town patients' families could stay, etc. This year it was to support our NICU we've had for several years. Funny enough, they didn't even have the NICU when my twinnies were born 7.5 years ago. I know that had the it been here, my 2 would have been in it because of their gestational age. Anyway, glad to see lots of advances in medicine and technology make their way down to southern Utah. And we're glad to support good, charitable organizations. Plus, it kicks off the Christmas season!

They have something like 40 different theme trees that are sold to the highest bidders. We had a great time strolling around and I let the kids take pictures of some of their favorites.

Candy, anyone?

This one of the kids in the above picture is for me. A friend of mine in the ward, Rosalie, is one of the head honchos at the Jubilee and in addition to planning the whole big thing, she personally always does a tree too. I loved that it was a Christ centered tree.

This one was Mason's favorite, he wanted his picture in front of the Harry Potter tree! He asked when his Hogwarts letter would come and he would get to ride on the Hogwarts express.
Some day buddy, some day.

Somebody sacked out in the cart at Costco.
What kind of parent drags their obviously tired kids around? Tsk tsk.

Attitude of Gratitude

2011-11-24T20:00:00.003-07:00

Here it is, my 10 & 10 list.

10 Things I'm grateful for that money CAN buy:

1. Amazon Prime
2. Honey Crisp Apples
3. a trampoline in my backyard
4. hulu/roku/netflix streaming
5. double ovens (especially this time of year)
6. fuzzy blankets
7. mascara
8. books
9. earrings
10. Our Best Bites cookbook

10 Things I'm grateful for that money CANNOT buy:

1. family; my immediate, extended and in-laws, the whole kit and caboodle
2. my healthy body
3. the ability to read
4. the view of the red mountains from my deck
5. my friends, even the ones who left me and moved away
(you know who you are)
6. prayer
7. a good night's rest
8. being a mother
9. my personal relationship with my Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ
10. the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and my membership in His church

Michigan

2011-11-23T14:42:00.005-07:00

Making his debut on my blog, here he is, the star of the show, Bennett!

Back in July, Travis planned his golf trip and I planned my Michigan trip. So this was on the books before school started, before I got my new calling, before life got crazy. And I'm going to say that I'm really REALLY glad that it was because #1- I needed it and #2- if it hadn't already been scheduled, it would not have happened. I left on a Friday and came home Tuesday. It was marvelous to play hookey from my life.

Lets play a little Q & A, shall we?

Q: What did you do in Michigan?
A: stayed inside Staci's house mostly. We listened to Christmas music, watched 4 episodes of the new tv show "Once Upon A Time," made and ate colossal amounts of delicious food, snuggled a baby and talked, laughed and ate some more. Saturday we went to the grocery store, Sunday we went to church, and Monday we went out to lunch at the "Jolly Pumpkin" in downtown Ann Arbor. That's it. And it was wonderful. We even had a name for our vacation.
Douglas dubbed it the "Fat Friends Festival."

Q: Can you tell us more about the yummy food?
A: Yes, yes I can. Drum roll please . . . we had shrimp and grits and homemade biscuits Friday night. Saturday morning was crepes, dinner was Italian meatball subs on homemade hogie bread, guacamole, pumpkin hot chocolate for a late night treat. Sunday was pumpkin cinnamon streusel pancakes, chili cheese dip with fritos for a post church snack, marinated flank steak, mashed potatoes, chopped autumn salad with feta, pears and pecans for dinner and a pumpkin toffee layered cheesecake for dessert. Monday we had chocolate peanut butter cake balls, and chicken and wild rice soup in homemade bread bowls. It was all sensational. We cooked and ate our little hearts out. Being in the kitchen with my bestie is my idea of good time, folks.

Q: Can you tell us about Staci's new baby?
A: His name is Bennett and he's 100% adorable. He's a sweet, sweet boy who makes 1 million grunty noises and red faces a day. His nicknames include and are not limited to the following: Benito Burrito, Benny Boy, The Grunt Miester, and Mr. B. He likes his bath, his post bath lounge time by the space heater while he's being lotioned and dressed for bed, his Auntie Anne, his binky, his bouncy seat, his Auntie Anne, his bouncy seat on vibrate, his brother and sister, his Auntie Anne, being held, being swaddled, his Auntie Anne and I guess he likes his mom and dad too. But I'm his favorite, just so we're clear.

Q:Did you stress about your family or your calling while you were away?
A: No, no I didn't. I talked with Travis often and knew my family was having a good time too. They got to go eat inside McDonalds and play in the play area which is something I NEVER do with them. The weather was nice so they rode bikes and jumped on the tramp a lot. Travis even let them have a breakfast picnic downstairs Saturday morning. He's a cool dad. And as far as my calling goes, I really was able to shut my brain off. That was a miracle. I didn't lose any sleep or worry one wink about things while I was gone. Even planning a funeral via texts and emails didn't stress me out. That's a tender mercy right there.

Q:Was it that cold?
A: Not really. I was anticipating temps in the teens and twenties but it wasn't that cold. It stayed in the 40's, low 50's during the day which wasn't bad at all. I did have a nice, new winter coat I brought with me and I enjoyed wearing it immensely.

Q: Are you planning another Michigan trip?
A: Nope. Staci and gang are coming out our way for Christmas. They're going to stay at her grandma's house. Then, when school's out next summer, they're packing up to St.Louis, Missouri. Douglas has been offered a great position with Peabody, a nation wide coal company.
That's it in a nutshell.
I came home happy, rested and about 10lbs heavier.
Isn't that the sign of every good trip?
A big shout out to my awesome host and hostess!!!!

Chop Chop

2011-11-17T11:26:00.000-07:00

A short new do for Miss Marissa Sue! Less shower time, less de-tangler time, less styling time. Its a win we can all get on board with. She's been wanting to do this for quite some time and I finally said go for it. We all love it!

Grandma and Grandpa visit

2011-11-12T06:30:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Grandma J came down last month and we had a great time. They stayed from Wednesday to Monday morning. And if you know them, that's the Marley equivalent of 2 weeks! They helped Travis with projects around the house, helped watch kids while I did a million Relief Society and PTA things; and in general, were so much fun to be around. The kids loved showing off their bike riding skills and playing go-fish. I loved talking books, food and hearing about their fall church history tour. But the real highlight of the visit were Janet's caramels. I bought all the ingredients, pulled out her recipe and voila! The caramels were made. Be very jealous, they were soft, chewy and out of this world delicious. I love you Janet!

On Saturday morning we had a "Day of Service" ward activity. Travis and I went while G'ma and G'pa were on kid duty. That was SO WONDERFUL that T and I both could go and participate. Thank you so much Janet and Marley!!!!!!

Saturday night was our neighborhood Halloween party. Where? Oh, right in our circle. I actually loved having it here. I was a wee bit fierce about making it clear that my bathrooms were not for public use. People, I spent all morning cleaning someone else's house, my own bathrooms were a tad neglected, mmmmkay? But no worries, it all worked out. Bounce house and cotton candy machine were big hits and dinner was great. My only beef with the whole night is that I got ZERO of my own chili. I made a big double batch in the crock pot and my mother-in-law added her own special touch and everybody told me how good it was. sniff. sniff.
Oh well, glad they all enjoyed it.

Sad story about our little lion. He cried and cried and cried some more. He didn't want to be in his costume. He didn't want to play with his friends. He didn't want to eat dinner. Isn't he pitiful in that picture? All he wanted to do was stand by Travis while he was cooking hot dogs. Luckily, Halloween night was a complete 180 for the kid. He was so excited to get in his costume!
Kinda backwards to see the finished product first but I'm too lazy to change it.
Ta-da, the Jackman jack-o-lanterns of 2011!
Mason had to have the biggest pumpkin, of course. Travis helped him carve out this face.
Mace had to do some of the "gut scooping" or else we wouldn't carve it for him.
We're mean like that.
Marissa loved having Grandma help with her pumpkin. And since I carved the face on it, she called it the "girls pumpkin."
Mason felt the need to go change out of his other shirt into this shirt for the occasion.
No one can say he's not festive.
Grandma with 2/3 of my kids. Guess who was refusing to come out of the bounce house?

Somehow Mason thought his beat up light saber added to the pirate theme of his costume.
He *insisted* on toting it around all night.
I love his mustache. Basically, I want him to have a costume every year that involves facial hair.

Snow Canyon field trip

2011-11-11T06:30:00.000-07:00

I love field trips. I love spending time with my kids. I love Snow Canyon state park. Imagine how in love I was when I learned that the 2nd graders have a fall field trip to Snow Canyon state park?? Very. I was a chaperone in Mason's class and me and my buddy had a great time. It was a gorgeous day, perfect for a hike. Half the second grade hiked Hidden Pinion trail and the other half listened to a presentation from a naturalist. Then we switched. We learned about lizards, mountain lions, birds and my personal favorite; the yucca plant and the yucca moth. They have a symbiotic relationship and one can't survive without the other.
Here are some pictures from our fun day.

This is Marissa and her friends that we saw starting on their hike while we were just finishing ours.
Mason's class all tucked inside a cave.
Mason and these 2 cute girls hiked right next to each other and I brought up the rear.
(insert your own joke at my expense)
Love this picture, looks like we're forging our own trail in the vast wilderness.

They were all good listeners . . . surprisingly enough!

Mason and Austin checked out the cool (dead) gila monster.
After lunch, Mrs. Mangus organized some fun games.
The kids had a blast playing "Tossed Salad."
Marissa with Mrs. Thomas.
Mason with Mrs. Mangus.

Winner

2011-11-10T14:11:00.003-07:00

We've got a winner right here in River City, ladies and gentlemen! Her name is Marissa and she's a pleased as punch to be a Reflections winner at school this year. The theme was "Diversity means . . ." and she choose to enter the photography category. She arranged different colored crayons in a design of different shapes on the floor and took a picture of the design. She titled it, "Diversity means different shapes and different colors."

She was VERY proud of herself. At our school they don't award 1st place, 2nd place, etc. They just announce the top contestants in each category that will advance to regionals. All the winners were honored at a special assembly. Her trophy says her name on it and is on display in her room. She worked hard on her project, trying lots of other things before trying the crayon/shape/design on the floor. It was a long night before the entry was due. But . . .she stuck to it, figured out what she wanted to do and did all her own work.
We're very proud of her!

Should I tell you it was the ice cream party for all reflections participants that motivated her?

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T16:40:00.006-06:00

Yep, I have a lot of catching up to do from the past 2 weeks but I'm starting out with Halloween. Here are pictures from the school parties. I officially helped in Mason's class but I peeked in on Marissa's class occasionally too.

Mason's class finished a few minutes before the bell rang and we hung out in Marissa's class. He was excited to see Hayden and Jacob. Cute photo of some cute boys!
Marissa is working hard on her word search. She's such a smiley vampire.
Cowgirl Lisa roped her a keeper! I love that baby Brady, he's my snuggle buddy. I love squeezing his chubby legs and making him giggle. And he likes to eat my hair. We each get something out of the experience.
Mason's class played some fun "Minute to win it" games. They're intently watching the face-off for the m&m straw/cup game.
Good thing Hermione's around, she knows a spell or 2 if a vampire gets out of hand!
More of that handsome Brady.
Mason's class during the parade.
Marissa's class during the parade. Excuse her white sneakers with her vampire dress. Mom forgot the other shoes. Ooopsie!
#1- yes, I actually dressed up.
#2- I am wearing the skirt that my beloved Cindy made me when I was in high school. still fits.
#3- love that Christy and Lisa dressed up too.
#4- I look 10 feet tall. seriously.
Cute game in Mason's class. The kids brought pictures of themselves when they were little and they played a guessing game. I don't know if the kids fully appreciated it, but I enjoyed looking at all the kids when they were little.
My game was also a "Minute to win it" one. There were 8 Halloween cereal boxes (Mason's addiction to Boo-berries paid off!) that I cut into puzzles. It was fun but my puzzles were a tad too hard. It took everyone over a minute to put them together! I was worried about making them overly simplistic but ended up making them more complex than the 7/8 yr old crowd needed!
The last game started with an oreo on everyone's forehead. Then you had to work it down your face WITHOUT using your hands and get it into your mouth. Lets just say it was a hoot to watch!
Our pirate, vampire and friendly little lion are ready for Trick or treating! The kids demanded that dad be the trick or treating parent this year. So I brought out my camp chair and parked in front of our gate, read my book, ate donuts from the Westons and passed out candy all night long. Good fun had by all. It was a tad chilly but I enjoyed seeing lots of familiar faces in their cute costumes.

Who's that old hag?

Spooky fun

2011-10-28T10:49:00.004-06:00

The Halloween craft bug bit me and I made these last weekend. We've enjoyed dining via candlelight a few times. Here's the link. If I can make them, ANYONE can make them!

How I'm surviving

2011-10-23T18:53:00.005-06:00

I get asked this question a lot lately: How are you surviving? Let me tell you.

good friends- you know who you are. And yes, Travis fits into this category. Good friends are my saving grace. The phone calls, the texts, the "I'll watch your little boy while you're off gallivanting around the neighborhood," and the plates of home baked goodies REALLY help. You are kind and thoughtful and I'm extraordinarily blessed to have you in my life. I don't know why you put up with me but I'm so glad you do.

pumpkin milkshakes- is this where I admit to my pumpkin milkshake addiction? it is? oh, okay. well, I make them for myself almost every night. I mostly follow the Our Best Bites recipe and top it off with a broken up graham cracker. Pumpkin Perfection. and then I sit in bed and watch TV with my husband. which brings me to my next point.

Friday Night Lights- I can't remember and I'm too lazy to scroll through older posts to see if I've mentioned anything about FNL. If I have, forgive me. Travis and I decided to start watching this series and boy, am I glad we did. It is such a great show. In fact, I'll go on record and say its one of the best TV dramas ever. We just finished up season 1 and are 5 episodes into season 2. A few things. #1- apparently under-age drinking is illegal everywhere but Texas. who knew? and #2- I didn't think I'd like a sports based drama as much as I have. Because I'm really enjoying it. Good stuff. And Tim Riggins doesn't hurt the ol' eyes either. I'm just saying.

So to sum up . . . good friends, milkshakes and TV on DVD. The keys to my sanity.

Fall Break continued

2011-10-20T12:31:00.002-06:00

All during Fall Break the kids begged me to make sugar cookies. Oh how they love to roll out, decorate and eat sugar cookies. We made the cookies on Saturday and frosted them Sunday morning before church. Glad Mason was able to be a full participant during this project. They got out the sprinkles and went.to.town. Of course, I don't pictures of the cookies in all their glittery, sparkly splendor. Way to go mom. Here they are with just plain ol' frosting.They each decorated 12 and are turning into quite the competent frosting artists. Proud of them. And what does Joe do while they're decorating? He's on frosting patrol. Whenever I get out the mixer, he starts to push over the stool and tell me in his loudest voice, "You need my help mom!" Notice its not a question he's asking, he's making a clear statement. He knows that if he's nearby the mixer, chances are very good he gets one (or both) of the beaters. Smart kid. So he was busy getting frosting all over his hands, chin, cheeks, eyebrows and occasionally, in his mouth.
My cute M&M twinnies. Getting bigger all the time. How does that keep happening?
Lastly we have our Monster Pudding Cups. I made these for our Family Home Evening treat this Monday and they were a huge hit. My "crafty" fun projects are food related because I don't sew or decoupage or make wreaths or cards. I saw this quote on Pinterest and really liked it.
"There is no way to be a perfect mother.
But there are a million ways to be a good one."

Thanks to creepy eyeball cupcakes, pumpkin and ghost sugar cookies and monster pudding cups for helping me to be a good mom while my hubby was out of town for 5 days.

A boy and his dog

2011-10-19T06:30:00.000-06:00

After "sharing" his yogurt with the dog, (read- flinging his yogurty spoon around in the air) I told him to tell her he was sorry for getting it all over her back and beard. He did and he also told her this:
"You're the best Squirty in the whole world."

melt my heart precious.

Creepy Eyeball Cupcakes

2011-10-18T06:30:00.000-06:00

What do you do when its fall break and dad's gone on a vacay to Florida? You make creepy eyeball cupcakes, of course! The *best* part was the white chocolate covered donut hole. Mmmm, that was tasty. We're glad Adler could come over and do this fun project with us. Friends make everything more fun. And, aside from me operating the mixer and oven, the kids did all the work. Yes, yes, that was the master plan.

This is the link to the cupcake tutorial.

We ate them. We gloried in their creepiness. We shared them with neighbors.
Triple win.

Where's Mason, you ask? He was resting downstairs on the couch. I don't know if he gets sun stroke or migraines but if he plays outside too long he complains about his head hurting and wanting to throw up. When I called the kids in from bike riding, they all came in excited about cupcake time. Except Mace who ran downstairs and said he needed a nap. Who am I to argue with that? And true to form, after an hour of resting in a quite, dark, cool room, he emerged feeling rested and looking refreshed. Hooray.

My handsome boys

2011-10-17T20:23:00.001-06:00

Saturday Hike

2011-10-12T16:33:00.005-06:00

Last Saturday was such a postcard perfect Southern Utah day, that I said forget the chores and lets go on a hike! We packed a lunch and headed over to Snow Canyon State Park. We did the "3 Ponds" trail. That's a 3.5 mile roundtrip hike but the kids and I did it with flying colors. It took us 4 hours but even the 3 year old did a great job. Fun way to make memories and avoid housework at the same time. Sweet. Enjoy the pictures!

Go Warriors!

2011-10-08T16:42:00.005-06:00

In September, Marissa participated in a cheer clinic at Snow Canyon high school. She brought home a little paper in her backpack and begged me to sign her up. So I did. Every Wednesday from 5-6:30 she was at the high school learning the routine. Then on Friday the 30th, it was show time.

I think that whoever came up with this fundraiser is a genius. Each girl pays $30 and gets a tee-shirt, mini pom poms and free admission to the football game. Guess how many girls participated? If I remember the announcer at the game correctly, there were 225.
That's a lot of mullah. And the stands were JAM PACKED with all the families supporting their daughters.
In the above pic, Marissa is on the far left, standing up, row 3, not looking at the camera. Its a group shot of all the girls in her age division, grades 2-4. They did a routine to the song "Like its Dynomite." Very fun. The below one is all 225 girls at the gym where they practiced.
I ripped this 2 pics from the SCHS cheerleaders blog.
Here we are at the game!! One of the reasons this was so fun for Marissa was because so many of her friends were doing it too. And why it was fun for me was so many of my friends were there too! ;)
Too bad our team stinks. Cedar beat us up that night. I hear the head coach is terrible and all the parents are hoping for a losing record this season so they have a reason to fire him.
Go team!
Brianne, Ally and Marissa. Cute girls! and they're not wearing a pound of make-up like so many of the other little cheerleaders. I almost felt like I'd walked onto the set of "Toddlers and Tiaras" when we first got there.
Here's my close-up of Marissa preforming at half time. I had to zoom way in and there were millions of people jostling around me so its a little blurry.
But she's on the left if you can pick her out.
Being at the game was fun. Brought back a ton of high school memories. Many a Friday night my friends and I could be found in the student section cheering on the Highland Rams at the mini-dome in Poky. We'd dress up in black, red and white and paint our faces. And unlike the Warriors, our team was really good. State Champs baby! Anyway, Marissa loved it and I'm sure we'll be doing this again next year.

Bits and pieces from my brain

2011-09-29T15:06:00.002-06:00

I enjoy the cathartic exercise of blogging. Its nice to take those jumbled thoughts that are running amok in my brain and during the process of typing, have them organize themselves and become semi-coherent. Here are a few I'll share today:

I have a new normal. Quite different from the old normal. New normal involves more meetings and more phone calls and more people and definitely a lot more prayer. A lot. But new normal is good. I like people. I like visiting and talking. My husband can personally vouch for this.

I am very happy as long as I can make yummy things in my kitchen. The second my sacred baking time starts disappearing, is the second I will crumple on the floor in tears. Food makes me happy. Trying new recipes, perfecting old recipes, and finally, sharing the goodies with friends . . . its what makes me tick.

Joe is the best little trooper. So glad he's as calm/patient and easy as he is. Because he's spent a lot of time in the car while I drop things off at other people's houses, time in the clerk's office while I'm working on the computer there and time with me while I canvas the neighborhood doing "Pennies by the Inch." Yeah, I'm that lady right now too.
The "Do you have any spare change?" lady.

I wish I had Hermione's time turner from "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban."
How awesome would that be?

sometimes . . .

2011-09-28T20:47:00.002-06:00

you just need to sleep with a dolphin and green bear stuffed in your shirt.

A little news

2011-09-23T07:47:00.002-06:00

First- aren't these the most gorgeous flowers ever??? They're taller and heavier than my 3 year old! My wonderful adopted grandma sent them to me. Yes, she's a generous, sweet lady. I love her so much! And sometimes she doesn't even need a reason to do those sweet generous things. But Grandma Doty actually had a reason this time. She sent them to say Congratulations on my new calling.

Drumroll please . . . . . . . . I'm the new Relief Society President.
Goodbye free time. Hello big, fat responsibility.

Some of you are gasping in shock. Others laughing hysterically. Others of you are questioning the very essence of right and wrong in the universe. I know because that's what I did. Its going to be a learning/growing/stretching/ kind of experience. I'm most excited to serve and get to know the sisters in my ward. If you are not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you are probably puzzled right about now. Relief Society is the organization for women in our church. All women 18 and over are part of it. We provide meaningful service to our own church members and also to the community, locally and internationally. We learn how to strengthen our homes and families and draw near unto Jesus Christ.
Our motto is "Charity Never Faileth."

I've just purchased an essential piece of equipment for this new calling.
I bought a tele-marketer headset. Bring it on.

The summer of Mason

2011-09-20T13:57:00.000-06:00

I should put out several disclaimers right here and now.
(be warned- long post)

#1- I print my blog and already have several blog books. So someday, this very post will be in such a blog book and Mason will read it. Keep that in mind.
#2- There are some people in the world who would argue that children are overmedicated and that they should not be medicated at all, that parents are shirking their responsibility. I would contend that yes, MANY children are over-medicated and it is due in a large part to parents not being willing and/or able to parent their children responsibly. HOWEVER, the right medication, given correctly, can make a huge difference. As in the difference between failing and succeeding, the difference between self loathing and confidence, and the difference between a negative relationship with your child and a positive relationship with your child.
#3- I am not an expert. I am not a child psychologist. I am not trying to diagnose other children. What I am doing is telling of you my experience with my child. I do this because maybe, just maybe, there are other families dealing with similar issues in their homes. Having a special needs child is not easy and parental support is crucial.

Mason has ADD. No hyperactivity, just the attention deficit part. He's on medication for this. It helps tremendously and makes his life better. But, his 1st grade teacher and I discussed that we felt that there was perhaps more going on than just ADD. We talked about the way he sometimes covered his ears in the classroom, the way he obsessed over the tiny bits of paste on his fingertips, the way he seemed visually overloaded while reading. This past summer Mason received a diagnosis of "Sensory Processing Disorder." What is that, you ask? Its a physical problem with an under-developed nervous system. It is not a mental or behavioral problem. It is not autism. But that doesn't mean that your child can't also be autistic or have mental or behavioral problems in addition to SPD.

"Sensory processing (sometimes called "sensory integration" or SI) is a term that refers to the way the nervous system receives messages from the senses and turns them into appropriate motor and behavioral responses. Whether you are biting into a hamburger, riding a bicycle, or reading a book, your successful completion of the activity requires processing sensation or "sensory integration."
Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD, formerly known as "sensory integration dysfunction") is a condition that exists when sensory signals don't get organized into appropriate responses. Pioneering occupational therapist and neuroscientist A. Jean Ayres, PhD, likened SPD to a neurological "traffic jam" that prevents certain parts of the brain from receiving the information needed to interpret sensory information correctly. A person with SPD finds it difficult to process and act upon information received through the senses, which creates challenges in performing countless everyday tasks. Motor clumsiness, behavioral problems, anxiety, depression, school failure, and other impacts may result if the disorder is not treated effectively. "

This info is taken from a great website www.sinetwork.org

What SPD looks like: Sensory Processing Disorder can affect people in only one sense–for example, just touch or just sight or just movement–or in multiple senses. One person with SPD may over-respond to sensation and find clothing, physical contact, light, sound, food, or other sensory input to be unbearable. Another might under-respond and show little or no reaction to stimulation, even pain or extreme hot and cold. In children whose sensory processing of messages from the muscles and joints is impaired, posture and motor skills can be affected. These are the "floppy babies" who worry new parents and the kids who get called "klutz" and "spaz" on the playground. Still other children exhibit an appetite for sensation that is in perpetual overdrive."

How did they know Mason had SPD? Many reasons. Number 1, I filled out a questionnaire. That provided them with info like the fact that he hates having his hair fixed. I would spritz water from a spray bottle and gently style his hair and he would ALWAYS tell me how much it hurt. I would tell him that it didn't hurt, it was just wet. Turns out this over-sensitivity to touch, particularly on the head is a classic symptom of SPD. Also, Mason has problems with bilateral coordination. Bilateral coordination is the use of both sides of the body to work together to preform a task like tying shoes or cutting or writing. Number 2, he met with a pediatric Occupational Therapist who diagnosed him. Mason has problems with motor planning also. That means that he has to actually stop when encountering new physical challenges instead of "figuring it as he goes" which is what the rest of us do. Kids with SPD don't have smooth, fluid movements. They're not the natural athletes. They CAN get to a level of proficiency with sports (Mason is good at catching/throwing a baseball) but only after MUCH more practice than other kids. Coaches, teachers and especially parents have to be very patient.

All this summer, in between our vacations, I have taken Mason every week for services from the OT. It has been fantastic. Utterly fantastic. Don't be mistaken, Mason is not "cured" but it has helped a lot. Knowledge is power. Knowing he needs "movement breaks" is great. He can't be expected to sit still for long periods. Rhythmic activities like bouncing a ball or jumping on a tramp help a lot. Swimming is also excellent therapy. He's having to work all his muscles in the pool. Even things like eating crunchy or extra chewy foods help because they're giving his jaw a workout.

I'm also grateful to my sister-in-law Kim who has been thru the journey of SPD with her daughter (Mason's cousin) Emily. Kim recommended a TERRIFIC book called "The Out of Sync Child" by Carol Kranowitz. I bought 5 copies. No joke. I gave 1 to my parents, 1 to my in-laws, 1 to the school, 1 to a friend and 1 for myself. If what I have discussed in this post sounds interesting, go out and buy it. If what I have discussed in this post sounds like your child or someone you know, run and buy it. Its worth saying again, knowledge is power.

I'm so glad our journey of discovery took place over the summer when he was out of school. Imagine checking him out of school every week or having to schedule all the appointments during dinner time. So glad we had the summer to take care of it. And you know what? Mason loves his OT. He loves going to therapy. Its like the most fun playtime ever in that OT gym with a ball pit, rock climbing wall, different swings, obstacle courses, etc. He leaves feeling great about himself and his progress is noticeable.

I love my son.
I am grateful he is part of our family.
I feel blessed that we were able to learn and grow so much this summer.
I have felt the Lord's hand in my life.

Hello September

2011-09-08T10:16:00.002-06:00

Reasons why I am glad to see you here:

August was not the healthiest month for our family. Joe had stitches, Marissa had surgery and Mason puked all over the van. I am hoping to not repeat any of those experiences any time soon.

Cooler weather. I love opening the front door every morning and it actually doesn't feel like I've opened the oven door instead.

No fall sports for us this year. Kicks is playing their games in Little Valley and I refuse to drive that far. I am such a giving, supportive mother, I know. But we do have Marissa is signed up for a hip hop class starting next week and she will also do a little cheer-leading clinic this month. She is already uber excited. I am leaning towards signing Mace up for Friday afternoon tumbling but therein lies the problem. Friday afternoon. That's not an ideal time but we'll see.

Fall food. I have already made a large, hearty pot of cream cheese chicken and vegetable soup. Comfort food at its finest. Bring on the pumpkin bars slathered in cream cheese frosting!

the return of TV- yep, September 19th is already circled on my calendar. The new season of Castle starts that night. Can't wait.

Chipmunk face

2011-09-03T10:24:00.002-06:00

My poor little girl had to have surgery last month. During a routine dentist visit in July, they discovered that her 6yr old molar had never come in on her left side. They did a panoramic x-ray and couldn't even find the tooth on x-ray! So we were referred to an oral surgeon. At his office, they did a 3D x-ray and found the tooth. It was still way up high in the sinus cavity. The x-ray also told him that the roots were splayed which meant that the tooth had pretty much taken up residence and would NEVER come down on its own. Great. Marissa had a permanent tooth pulled to give access to the disobedient molar and then the molar itself was pulled. Instead of 32 permanent teeth, she will have only 30. But there won't be gaps or problems with braces in the future, etc. Because she's so young, her other teeth will gradually move together and fill in the space where the teeth were pulled.

She was very excited to have surgery. She was proudly telling anyone who would listen that she was having surgery soon. I think she thought it was a grown-up thing to do. She had a bit of a rough wake-up from the anesthesia and it was one of the strangest things I've ever seen. She looked like she was stoned out of her mind. She would look at her hand and it was like she was seeing it for the first time. Then she would turn and look at me and try to smile but then her eyes would roll back in her head and she'd be out of it again for a minute or two. It took quite a while for her to really wake-up and be ready to come home. She missed 2 days of school and was a wonderful little patient, taking her medicine like a champ and slurping jello like it was going out of style. When she came home from her 1st day back, she told me she did not like surgery and never wants to do that again. Lets hope we're done for a long time!

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

2011-09-02T10:45:00.000-06:00

Well, we're minus the tigers and bears BUT there was a lion spotted round these parts!
He looks ferocious!

Winners!

2011-08-27T08:48:00.003-06:00

I'm a rule breaker. Did you know that about me? Yep, I live on the edge. I drive 35mph in a 30 zone. I keep buttermilk past the expiration date. And there was that one time I left my shopping cart by the car and didn't return it to the designated spot. See, I'm a rebel. In light of this confession, it should come as no shock to any of you when I announce that I'm throwing the give-away rules out the window. Completely.

YOU ALL WON!!!

Thanks to Lisa, Jen, Staci B, Mary Ann, Sydney, Heidi, Andrea, Staci S and Mindy for playing.
You all win the baked goodie you were playing for.
Congratulations!!

Giveaway!

2011-08-24T06:30:00.002-06:00

In the spirit of celebration, (what are we celebrating you ask? Why Back to school, of course! tis the most wonderful time of the year!) its time for another giveaway!

Up for grabs: a loaf of coconut bread, sour cream blueberry coffee cake or a plate of Tim Riggins brownies. There will be 3 winners!! woot woot! Each winner picks one of those three delectable delights. Whatever. Your choice people.

The rules: One entry per person please! Leave me a comment telling me #1 which treat you are playing for and #2 why you love this back-to-school time of year. It can be that you are finally able to keep a clean house for longer than 30 seconds. It can be that you can run errands without being a 3 ring circus. It can be you love school supply shopping. It can be that you can catch up on your blogging again. Or, like me, say all of the above.

The contest ends on Friday, August 26th at midnight MST. Winners will be randomly generated and announced on Saturday. If you live locally, your treat of choice will be delivered the following week. If you live out of town, they'll be popped in the mail. Good luck!

First Day of School

2011-08-23T06:30:00.000-06:00

I felt a little like Marlin in the movie "Nemo" when I woke up my kids Monday morning. They were still in bed and I jumped on them while chanting "First Day of School! Wake up! Its the first day of school!" Oh happy happy joy joy. Marissa and Mason are in separate classrooms this year. Cue the stunned silence. Yep, time to split them up. Marissa especially needs to be her own person and not Mason's personal secretary, making sure he turned his homework in, changed his take-home books for the day and remembered to bring home his lunch box. Not that I won't miss her doing those things, no, that is not the case. But the poor girl stresses about her brother too much and needs to be free to be herself. And Mason also needs to learn to be himself and figure things out without his helpful (read bossy) sister there too.
Marissa is at a table with a favorite neighborhood playmate, Emma M.
Super excited!!

Mason loves that his teacher, Mrs.M, is originally from Idaho.
He talks about moving there when he grows up all the time.

Soar at school this year my little birdies!

All banged up

2011-08-22T06:30:00.000-06:00

We'd been home from Provo about 1.5 hours when we heard a thud followed by wailing. Marissa was running from the scene of the crime and I grabbed Joe. He had banged his head into our living room coffee table. While holding him against my chest, patting his back to calm him down, I walked into the computer room to see Travis. He turns around, sees us and says, "Blood. There's a lot of blood." We all jumped in the van and drove to Instacare. Luckily, our neighbor, ward member and most of all, friend Dr. Dan was there that day. Joe only cried for a few minutes and then slept the rest of the procedure. 10 stitches later and Joe will have a cool scar with which to impress the chicks. Isn't that what being a boy is all about?

Highland Fling- part 2

2011-08-21T06:30:00.003-06:00

Day 2

How is it that I've never taken my kids to Thanksgiving Point before? I mean, we only drive past it several times a year on our northern trek to Idaho. For some reason, I thought it was just shopping/eating and golfing. Why did I think that? Who knows. Anyway, we are the newest big fans. And we haven't even been to the dinosaur museum yet! The farm area was awesome. We stayed and played there all morning. Travis and Jeron golfing . . . again, so it was just Heather, Austin and me and my chitlins. Spencer, Heather and Jeron's oldest son, stayed in Florida so we didn't get to visit with him on this trip. It will be fun to see him next time they visit.

Mason thought it was HILARIOUS that the cow licked his shorts.
Checking out all the the many goats.

Heather and Austin trying to pet the goats through the fence. You wouldn't catch me doing that. My germ-meter was already working overtime. Be proud of me though, I did pat a cow on the head and I did help Joe stroke his pony's mane. And that was followed by a thorough dousing of hand sanitizer.

Five bucks buys your admission, a pony ride (if you're under 12) and a wagon ride. Great deal! Marissa was very excited to ride a horse again. When she got off, I asked her if this was the best day ever because she got to a ride a horse. She gave me the "look" and told me in her best pre-teen voice, "Mom, this wasn't my first time. I've ridden a horse before, remember?" Oops, that's right, I forgot that her last month's first-horse-ride-in-her-whole-life now made her an expert. Silly me.

Austin is such a nice boy.
The kids got along so well and had fun with each other.

Mason was in his element. He told anyone who would listen (and even those who who were done listening) that he was a cowboy and he rode the BIGGEST horse today.
Joe rode the smallest pony. Oh sweet sweetness. The cutest thing ever. My little Big Boy rode all by himself. Sniff Sniff.

I'm thinking we need to visit as many farms and petting zoos as possible each year for Mason. He fancies himself quite the "animal whisperer."

I couldn't help but take a picture of this baby bunny. So small. So adorable.

Help! We're locked in!

What? Super models at the farm? Oh my gosh!

Needless to say, we all had a Gggggggggreat time at the farm. We followed it up by a delish lunch at the Thanksgiving Point Cafe and 50 cent ice cream cones. Good deal!
When the guys were done golfing, we met them back at my Aunt Carolyn's house. Travis and Jeron were on kid duty while Heather and I hit the Gateway. Ahhh, retail therapy how I love you! Fun afternoon with one of my favorite friends. We always have great conversations and basically, I could listen to Heather with her lovely Georgia accent all day long.
My Aunt Carolyn not only was a great hostess but also was a gracious baby-sitter for us on Thursday night. Of all the restaurants in the greater Salt Lake City/Provo area, Jeron chose Pizza Factory in Lindon. He loves the no carb veggie noodles and can't find any in Florida. And really, how can you go wrong with a breadstick dipped in creamy pesto. Its my newest fatty pleasure. Thanks farmgirl, you've made me a believer. Fun dinner with the Stokes. Made me sad they live so far away now and visits like this aren't so frequent.

Highland Fling

2011-08-20T06:30:00.000-06:00

Our last trip for the summer was fun, fun, fun!

Our good friends, the Stokes, used to live in Highland (northern Utah) but moved to Florida last year. When they said they'd be back in Utah and Idaho for a vacation before school started, we knew we needed to get together. My Aunt Carolyn was a lovely hostess and our trip was a success.

Day 1
Dropped Travis off in Provo for golf. Drove to Lehi to my cousin Heather's house. This was the trip of 2 Heathers, Heather R, my cousin and Heather S, my friend. In Heather R's neighborhood, they have a pretty sweet summer set up with kiddie pools, sponges, buckets and squirt guns in the front yard. Neighborhood friends and cousins galore enjoyed the cool down/run around/wet and wild time. My kids especially loved it after being in the car for 4 hours that morning. I voted not to get wet and instead had fun chatting with Heather, Brandon, Carolyn and John. My 3 monkeys played with Haley, Taylor, Emma and Elise. Great afternoon!

Taylor and Emma squeezing in the buckets.

Watch out, he's got a gun!

When Travis and Jeron finished golfing, we headed over to a fun place called Good Wood BBQ. Its good food and their portions are BIG. Travis and Jeron both ordered the ribs. What's funny is that Heather and I both took pictures of them. I have a picture of Jeron while he's looking at Heather's camera and she has a picture of him looking at my camera. Neither one of us got him looking where he was supposed to!
While we were visiting in the parking lot after dinner, Heather had Joe in a fit of giggles. He was a silly, silly boy. So good to visit with the Stokes, love their family.

Three

2011-08-19T14:47:00.003-06:00

All about Joe-

He is in love with the Little Einstein's episode, "Instrument Dinosaurs." He requests this multiple times a day. He'll be a sad boy when it gets bumped on disneyjunior.com to make room for other episodes. I can hear him growling or clapping or patting while he watches his show. Precious.

I am remembering how age 2 was magical for our twins but 3 was a lot more work. A lot. So it seems now we are repeating that pattern with our newest 3 year old. In one day he peed his pants 3 times (due to laziness/playtime) and went to timeout each time. Another day before that, he went to time out because he was hitting and while bawling, peed all over the tile. Nice. Where oh where has my sweet boy gone? Because this little guy is throwing fits and can be super whiny. (Insert Staci Shaw laughing at me, telling me its about time)

He loves to go to nursery on Sunday and comes home telling us, "I'm a great singer!"

His favorite color is blue.

If its on your plate, he wants a bite.
If its on his plate, he could care less. its quite possible he gets that from his mother because my mom tells me I was like that for years.

He loves all things from the Cars movies, dinosaurs, fire trucks, balloons, bubbles and riding his scooter.

Balls. He's all about throwing balls. And he's dang good at throwing balls. I'm going to be *that* mom for a minute and brag about my child. He's got fantastic aim and a great arm. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbors, complete strangers, lots of people have commented on how good he is at throwing a ball. Bursting buttons over here folks. Okay, bragging mom is going away now.

He still naps every day. I should rephrase that. He naps when given the opportunity. Quite a few times this summer, the opportunities haven't been there and he survives without a nap. BUT he is so much happier with one. I don't anticipate him dropping his nap for quite some time.

He loves to know where we are going. When I got my purse and told him to put his shoes on this morning this was my response: " Where we going mom? Is it the grocery store mom? Or the wash-car? Lets go to Target. Lets go get the kids from school."

Despite his becoming a bit of a tyrant lately, he's still dang cute and the apple of our eye.

Happy Birthday Joe-gee, we love you!

You say its your birthday

2011-08-18T13:21:00.004-06:00

Party pictures are here!! Troy, Carrie and their 4 youngest kids were on their way to Arizona and overnight-ed at our house. So we had a big fun family birthday party, of course! Cake, presents, balloons and cousins . . . he loved them all. Enjoy the photos. An "all about Joe" post will be forthcoming at a future date.

Breaking up is hard to do

2011-08-15T21:33:00.002-06:00

That Staci, she's a heart breaker. She left broken hearts all over Santa Clara. Shame on her. And now that I've publicly shamed her, I'm doing a one-eighty and giving you a "Best of Staci" list.

It was at her house that I was introduced to the amazingly tasty combo of milk duds and popcorn. I can't imagine how I survived so long without it! Watching reality tv, eating good treats and Staci go together like white on rice.

She is always up for fun. Anyone for a trip to the park? joining the PTA? a round of wii party? the splash pad? signing the kids up for soccer/basketball/baseball? Marv's? cafe rio? late night movie? Benja? girls night? girls trip? Yes please.

We married twins. Well, they didn't actually share a womb but our husbands are pretty darn similar. They golf. They religiously watch Lakers basketball. They golf some more. They play fantasy sports. They make some time for golf. They go on golf trips together. They complain about house/water problems. They talk about science and medicine. And did I mention golf? Its very nice to have someone who understands my life. And that would be Staci. Because Bill and Travis share a brain.

She is upbeat. I can't hear a Taylor Swift song without thinking of her. Say what you will about Taylor but I don't think anyone would label her music "melancholy." Staci plays upbeat music because she's an upbeat person. Fun to talk with, laugh with and hang out with. Whether we were squealing over the royal wedding together, or agonizing over our kids' latest shenanigans, it was a fun time.

What I will miss most though, is our "wall time." It was just me and her standing over our back wall, nothing special. But whether we were venting about our frustrations of the day, or swapping dishes or sharing goodies or boosting kids over, it was our time together. Laugh if you will, but I loved our wall time. Sometimes you just need a friend and hello! one shows up in your backyard. How stinkin' awesome is that?

And now my dear friend has moved. Another one. Because I am Santa Clara repellent. Just ask Heidi, Staci S, and Mary Ann. They'll tell you. Even though we won't have wall time anymore, we'll still have lots of fun times together. Now that she doesn't live here, guess what that means? Sleepovers!! Can't wait!

Idaho vacation- day 8

2011-08-08T10:56:00.002-06:00

Thursday, July 28

The last day. Time to head back to reality. Sob.

Disclaimer- you're here at my blog because you're my friend and you like me right? You won't judge me, right? And you'll extend that same curtsey to my friends, right? Because I need this to be a judgement free post. Mary Ann and I are looking . . . well . . . not at our best. She just returned from a 5 day camping family reunion and I . . . well . . . I was on the tail end of a 7 day vacation. You still like us both, right?
Ahhh, to be young again and look as fresh as a daisy when you wake up!
Cue the blonde girls in the next photo.
A trip through Cache Valley IS NOT complete without stopping at Gossner's dairy. We first stumbled upon it when my cousin Rebecca was married in the Logan temple over 10 years ago. There was time to kill between the wedding ceremony and the reception. Being the childless, carefree couple we were at that time, we headed out exploring. Then we found it, the cheese curd mecca. Hello gorgeous. All this time later, we have not forgotten. A visit to Gossner's was on the agenda Thursday morning. Cheese curds were obtained. And lets not forget the chocolate milk boxes, colby jack and swiss cheese pakages we also brought home with us.

Now I'll do the home stretch wrap up. I want to mention that despite the many mosquitoes we encountered at every turn, we were victorious and the kids and I remained bite free! Ha ha HA, take that you pesky pests! Another thing- this license plate game was the funnest thing I've bought in a long time. Its a Melissa and Doug product, I always like their stuff. Found it on amazon. Best money I spent all trip. No pieces to lose, you just flip the state name over to show the license plate when you see it. Drum roll please . . . . . . . . . we saw 43 states!!! We even saw Alaska and Hawaii! The kids loved it but I think the adults enjoyed it even more. Travis and I became expert state spotters. Even Troy and Carrie's car joined in the fun. We pulled off to get gas one time and they ran over to us, "We saw Missouri! Flip it on the board!" Some states travel more than others because we saw tons of Texas, Michigan and oddly enough, South Dakota. We didn't see Mississippi, Vermont, New Hampshire, Lousiana, West Virginia, Delaware or Rhode Island.

To sum up-
great vacation. great family time together. great experiences out in nature.
great to be back in our beds at the end of it all.

Idaho vacation- day 7

2011-08-07T06:30:00.001-06:00

Wednesday, July 27

Time to head out. We were awakened at 6:30am to the lovely sound of vacuuming followed by the melodious chain saw at 7:00am. Aren't you jealous? It was a fantastic wake-up call. After breakfast, the cabin got scrubbed down, hugs given out to all the Jackman fam and we hit the open road. Here are a few more interior/exterior shots of the cabin for posterity sake. Sadly, I don't think its going to be around when my kids grow up so all they've have are memories and photos.

This is the big open room where all 5 of us bunked. Its also the same room where I puked my guts out as a newlywed while Travis cleaned it all up. We had been married 3 days, were on our honeymoon and I was sicker than a dog. Next day drove to Twin Falls and had an emergency gall bladder-ectomy. Good times. Moving on . . .

I was standing on the dock when I took this photo. Gives you an idea of distance, how far from me to the trees. On Tuesday morning, I wanted some alone time so I got up at 6:15 and headed out to the dock. While drinking in the glorious mountain air and contemplating life's mysteries, lo and behold, 2 moose came out of those trees across the water and swam towards me. They came out of the water 2 docks over from me and sauntered on their way.
IT WAS AWESOME!
best present ever. Highlight of my trip. Did I have my camera with me?
Nope, no I did not.

Taking the scenic road, we decided to stop at Mesa Falls. I had never been there before and for Travis, it had been 15-20 years. So glad we stopped! Have I mentioned how beautiful and green every place had been so far? No? Maybe I should gush a little more about the natural beauty. This was as beautiful as anything we saw inside the national park.
I never thought I would say a part of Idaho reminded me of Hawaii, but I'm saying it.

On our journey south on I-15, we thought we'd spend a few minutes walking around the Idaho Fall temple where Travis an I were married. As we pulled up, we learned that the grounds are under construction. Walking around was a no-go. But we did enjoy the visitors' center and snapped this picture from in front of our car.
And where was our destination you ask? The big city of Preston! Shout out to Napoleon Dynamite. My Farmgirl. My sweet, wonderful Farmgirl whom I have dearly missed. Oh how good it was to be with her!! Here's a shot of Double Diamond Dairy in all its glory. I have a confession to make. I love the smell of cow manure. This comes from my mother. Who got it from her father. Who grew up on a diary outside of Malad, Idaho. To quote Mike, the dairy smells like manure, milk and iodine. And that combo just might do a number on some of ya'lls digestive system but to me, it was a great smell.
The kids had a simply marvelous time. Loved every minute of the farm life. I think we could have slapped on boots, a hat and said we're moving in next door and my kids would have thought that was the best thing since sliced bread.
Here we are meeting some of the newest members of the dairy. Gosh they were cute.

This is in Ma Nelson's backyard. Look at the fields. Look at the mountains. I get it. I get why she loves it there. I have figured out Farmgirl's inner workings.

We had the best hosts and hostesses! Miss Elsie was pleased as punch to show Marissa around. And it was Marissa's first time sleeping in a real bunkbed, you bet she was excited.
Mr. Mason was playing cars in Adam and Grant's room and did not consent to a photo.
Joe was asleep and couldn't tell me to go away. He had a rough day of playing on the farm.

A few things need to be said. #1 Best fresh strawberry milk shake of my life at Big J's. Travis and I both agreed that we would daily regulars if we lived any closer. Best. ever. #2 Raw milk is pretty great. I was slightly nervous at what to expect but imagine whole milk even better without being thick like cream. There you go. downright tasty. Especially with a pan of warm brownies at 9:00 at night. While you're visiting with your friend and catching up on all the bits and pieces of her new life. Can I tell you something? She's happy. Very happy. Her husband is happy. Her kids are happy. Her dog Penny is ecstatic. Life is good for the Schoenfeld gang. They've got a beautiful home. Preston needs to move to the top of your "to visit" list. If you're lucky enough, you'll get mountain man breakfast, pancakes and bacon. If you get cold cereal, know that she likes me better.

Idaho vacation- day 6

2011-08-06T09:00:00.001-06:00

Tuesday, July 26

*Disclaimer. I am going to wax poetic here for just a moment. Its my blog and I can do what I want. So there.

Yellowstone. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. There is something truly healing about being in nature, surrounded by God's beautiful creations. I think you breathe deeper, more cleansing breaths. I love the smell of lodgepole pine trees. I love driving along and all of a sudden seeing everyone in front of you pulled over to the side of the road so you know there's an animal up ahead. I love looking out in every direction and thinking, this will never be a shopping mall or apartment building. I love driving through Hayden Valley. I love playing the license plate game in Yellowstone parking lots. (more about that in a future post) I love taking my kids. I love the memories I have when I went as a kid. Its very nostalgic for me.

Also, we watched this AMAZING 3 part series produced by the BBC.
Its called "Yellowstone: Battle for life."
Everyone run out and watch it now. We watched it as a family several times this year.
It put YNP in a totally different light. Here's a clip from the episode "Winter."

First up, a hike! I found this great site that listed a few kid friendly hikes inside the park. We chose the Cascade Lake Hike. I am really looking forward to the day when we will be able to complete a hike that is longer than 1 mile. But that is not this day. Kids legs are not long enough. So while the hike to the lake is 4.5 miles round trip, we did not make it to the lake. BUT, we still had a great time enjoying some fresh air and exercise. There was a sign posted at the trail head that said we were now entering bear country and to make lots of loud noises. Point well taken, there was lots of clapping and singing on our hike.

After our hike, we ate lunch there at the Cascade picnic area. Very nice and not too crowded. Speaking of crowds, the park was PACKED!!! July is always the busiest month and it was still close to the 24th, which is a Utah state holiday. I think the entire state of Utah was there with us. I checked online a minute ago and just read that there were 900,000 visitors July 2011, the 2nd busiest month ever on record. Believe me when I tell you we felt it.

Next up, my favorite photo spot in all of Yellowstone.
Behold, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.
Isn't it spectacular?

One thing strange about this trip was that we didn't see any herds of buffalo. There was the lone bison here or there but no herds in sight. Usually, you always some in Hayden Valley but not this time.

Thar she blows! Old Faithful! On the way to this prestigious geyser, Mason complained of an upset stomach. The minute we pulled in, he got of the car and ralphed. Nice. So he and I spent our time in the bathroom and in the lodge buying saltines and gatorade. Everyone else saw the eruption in person. Oh well. At least I had time to shop for souvenirs. And BTW, he was a one hit wonder, didn't puke again the rest of the trip.

This picture is interesting because if you look closely, the trees are actually in the middle of the water, not on the other side of it.

Sacked out little boy.
Long day in the car in the park. We voted not to drive the 45 minutes back to the cabin but have dinner in West Yellowstone. Which is in Montana, incidentally. Most of Yellowstone is in Wyoming. Our cabin is in Idaho. And we ate dinner in Montana. It was Jade's 20th birthday so she got to choose where we ate.
We've been to Canyon Street Grille before, its a fun place. Great burgers/fries joint.
Nice pick Jaders! Thanks for celebrating your birthday with all of us!
We can't come to West Yellowstone without stopping at Arrowleaf Ice Cream. Its sooooo good. And I'm an ice cream snob. Its really good. So many flavors to choose from, I would say at least 40. One of them being moose poop. Never tried it but contemplate it every time. Maybe next time I really will order it. Marissa and I shared a turtle sundae; vanilla ice cream over a brownie with hot fudge, caramel, pecans and whipped cream. Yes, heaven on earth.

Idaho vacation- day 5

2011-08-05T08:53:00.001-06:00

Monday, July 25

I should note that the weather the whole trip was PERFECT. The highs were in the upper 70's-low 80's and at night it got down to 40. That cooling off was magical. Every morning was fresh and cool. Like I said, perfect. Also, I want to note that due to the very wet spring our region had, the water level was unusually high. Read-the wettest spring in decades. That means that every lake, river, stream, brook, and creek was filled to capacity. I have never seen more water! Even the drive from Twin Falls to the cabin, every time we drove over the Snake River, the water level was outrageously high. Unbelievably high. Water levels normally recede as summer stretches on but not this year! Everything was so lush and green.
It was a wildflower explosion! This is the *most beautiful* I have seen the cabin.

above- Coulson and Janel on the tube.
below- Payton and Kate. everybody loves the tube!
above- Uncle Trent helping Aly and Marissa get ready for their turn. This was Marissa's first tubing experience. She liked it . . . just okay. She was leaning too far forward and kept getting all the spray in her face. Next time will be better.

Here's our little family at Big Springs. It used to have so many HUGE fish. They would all hang out by the bridge and wait for people to feed them. But they are all gone. Rumor has it, several years ago, some people illegally ice fished here in the winter and caught all the big fish. Goes to prove how stupid people ruin everything.
We wanted to float the river down at Mack's Inn but it was so stinkin' busy, their floats were booked for the day. Hindsight is 20/20. Next time, we'll try to float in the morning instead of the afternoon.

Dinner was hot dogs over a fire.
Now, I'm not a big hot dog fan myself. But I will gladly enjoy a well roasted hot dog.

Teejack ripped into his s'more. I'm sure he's happy I'm posting this picture.

Water is like a magnet for small children. A super strong magnet, actually. It has a good hold on all my kids, especially my youngest. Joe started wandering away after he ate his marshmallow and I followed him. He went down to the dock, went over to the boat and climbed right in. Got himself up to the drivers seat and called out, "Mom, take a picture!"

Captain Joe at your service.

Group shot. Paige had sports camp so she stayed in Jerome. Troy picked up Jade in Poky. So glad we got have at least one of his big girls enjoy the cabin with us.

Crazy face time!

The original Jackman 5.

A rare silly moment for Marley and Trav.
Good thing I captured it, I don't think it will happen again in my lifetime!

I sacrificed my hair for the sake of entertainment. Yes, Mason is right there in the mix.
He loved brushing my hair.

We watched one of my favorite musicals, "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." The songs in there are so classic. Oh they say when you marry in June . . .

Another day of fun filled family vacation!

Idaho vacation- day 4

2011-08-04T14:10:00.008-06:00

Sunday, July 24

Technically this first picture is from Saturday but it seemed more "cabin" than "family reunion" so I grouped it with today's post. We left the reunion around 6pm and headed out for Island Park. DVD players are the only way to travel with children. It made the 4.5 hr trip very pleasant. We pulled into the cabin around 10:30pm. Let me provide a little back story here at this point. When I say "cabin" I literally not figuratively mean a log cabin. So many people today say "cabin" and what they really mean is a second house. A house with siding, insulation, and many modern amenities that happens to be in a wooded, semi remote location. Our cabin is a real log cabin built from scratch by Grandpa and Grandma J in the 1960's. No insulation. Yes electricity. Yes plumbing (one bathtub/shower, 2 toilets). Yes fridge, oven and microwave. (But I think the microwave is from the early 80's because it took 6 minutes to do a bag of popcorn.) Yes big ol' fireplace. Yes scary stairs with no railing. Yes spiders. Yes mice. No satellite, phone, or cable tv. I love that part! They mixed their own cement. They used carpet remnants. They built every inch with their own hands.
Its very old and very well loved.

Travis and the kids with his Grandma at her house in Blackfoot. Its always nice to visit with Nana. She's such a positive and spiritual lady.
Troy, Carrie and their kids also headed up to the cabin that same night. They pulled in around midnight. It was fun Sunday morning to wake up and find cousins there with us. We went to church in Island Park, my first time. There were roughly 700 people there, 2 huge church chapels full to capacity and more on the lawn listening through the open doors and windows. There were 50 young men helping with the sacrament. I have never attended a "regular" meeting of that size before. Sure, stake conference and regional conferences are big but this was just a regular ol' Sunday. It was wonderful to go and feel the spirit. Travis even saw someone he knew from his Ricks College days, 15 years ago. This guy, Curtis, stopped him in his tracks and remembered Travis's first and last name plus Travis' roommate Jeron Stokes. Small world.
Love the Island Park Cabin connection.
After church it was free time. Mason did a lot of fishing. A lot. We also had a fun scavenger hunt. Janet and Marley came in the early afternoon. They picked up cousins Kate and Coulson in Pocatello on their way! Fun! Trent, Kim and Emily came just in time for dinner. No one remembered to let them in at the gate so they hiked a mile to the cabin from their car. Ooops, guess we were too busy relaxing away from our cell phones.

Another cabin "must-do" the peddle boat. A cousin obsession!

I love it here. It is peaceful, serene and breathtakingly beautiful.

We divided up the meals and Travis and I were in charge of Sunday dinner. We decided on dutch oven and it was awesome. What is it about dutch oven and every recipe calling for soda pop? Whatever the reason, it works. We had cheesy potatoes and bbq chicken. MMmmmm good. Thanks to Troy and Carrie for their dutch ovens and all their help!

For dessert, it was peach cobbler. Called in the professionals for this one. Mike and Mary Ann know what they're doing peeps, that's all I gots to say. In addition to the peaches, cake mix and soda, a generous helping of brown sugar and butter make it all the more sinfully delicious. While the cobbler was getting all peachy keen in its dutch oven, I had the kids do a little project, ice cream in a bag. I heard about this from Staci Shaw and it was a winner with her kids. Here's the link from Family Fun magazine. Everybody loved squishing their bags and eating their own ice cream.

Of course, since we are at the cabin, there's always the dessert after dessert, s'mores. No matter what else you've eaten, the last thing you eat for the day is a toasted marshmallow sandwiched with a square (or two or three) of chocolate in between graham crackers. Those are the cabin rules. Who I am to argue with the rules?

Joe followed Jade around like a little puppy. Cutest thing ever. He LOVED fishing with his big girl cousin. He asked her to fish with him at least a dozen times a day. At least. She was so sweet and always made time for him.

Idaho vacation- day 3

2011-08-02T15:41:00.002-06:00

Saturday, July 23
Seamons' Family Reunion in Jerome

Today was a fun FUN day. Travis went golfing with his brothers, uncle and cousins. He played a course that used to torment him in high school but he finally got some revenge. While he was golfing, I had the distinct honor and privilege of packing up our stuff from his parents' house AND loading the van AND buying and packing our cabin food AND getting us and all our stuff over to Joel's before 2pm. Truly, there is no rest for the wicked.

Travis' mom Janet has 2 younger brothers and the three of them take turns hosting reunions. This year was Joel's turn. He is a farmer and a real outdoorsman. It was great to be out in the country. My kids rode a horse for the first time! HUGE hit. Better than Christmas. And I got a wedgie from Travis' Uncle Danny. Yes. I am 32 years and thought my wedgie years were behind me. Apparently, I was wrong. You never know what to expect when all the Seamons are together.

Here's a group shot of the Jackmans. We're missing Troy's oldest daughter Chelsea and her cute family, and his next oldest daughter Jade. Missed them both. From L to R: Kim, Trent, me, Travis, Janet, Marley, Carrie and Troy. the kids middle row: Marissa, Janel, Mason with Joe in front of him, Kate, and Paige. Bottom row: Aly, Payton, Alek, Emily and Coulson.
Here we are showing our true colors.

The original Seamons, Joel, Janet and Danny. To ruffle their feathers, just tell them they're turning into grouches like their mother Elna. Ha Ha Ha!

Troy with Travis and Mason. Can't miss those bright shirts on the golf course!
Marissa and Aly. I'm surprised they stopped long enough to have their picture taken!
Brothers Stan and Roger. Acting like they're 12 years old.
Because that's how they roll.
Aunt Kathy with her niece Ashley. Kathy is the nicest person on the planet. Period. The end. When Joe was born, they sent a super cute gift. He loves his Buzz Lightyear swim suit! Ashely is SUPER talented and thinking about all her projects makes my head spin. We both love food blogs and are big fans of Our Best Bites. And she likes my food blog so you know she has class. ;)
Group shot of Danny's gang. We were missing his oldest, Stephanie and her cute family, and his youngest, Kristen and her cute family. It wasn't the same without them. But the 3 remaining siblings, Richelle, Stan and Roger represented. Holla! Back row from L to R: Kami holding Riley with husband Roger in the blue shirt, next to Roger is Danny in the yellow, with wife Kathy giving daughter Richelle a squeeze, next to Richelle is her son Jackson and husband Ryan holding baby Chase. Jen is in the red shirt with husband Stan in the middle and friend Crystal next to Stan. Front Row kids: Garret, Landon, Paige and Alexa.

Cousin Roger and Marley. Rog was affectionately known as "Scar Face" at the reunion because he had recently had facial surgery. He had the largest basel cell carcinoma the doctor had EVER seen removed from near his nose. They even had to take cartilage from his ear to help repair the area. If you want a testimonial for sunscreen, here you go!
A group shot of the Jackmans/Seamons. We can be a chatty bunch. Travis was telling some good Trent stories from their childhood. I think Carrie is damaged for life after hearing about the poop knife. And no, that story will not be shared publicly on the world wide web.
You're welcome.
Here we have a super gal, Travis' cousin Richelle, holding her newest addition Chase. She came out of the blurking closet at the reunion.
(blog lurker= blurker)
So let this be the official "A little of this and a little of that"
WELCOME RICHELLE!!!
Glad to have you on board! We had a lot of fun catching up and talking about everything under the sun, especially Donny Osmond chills. ;)
Wish you lived closer and we could hang out more.
Janet, Emily, Trent and Travis talking with
Carrie (back of head with hat) and Kim (back of head with sunglasses on top)
I walked over to this rough looking group and said I needed to take their picture and I hoped I wasn't interrupting anything important at their "Man Meeting." Stan (black shirt, green shorts) got excited about the idea of a "Man Meeting" and decided he needed to pose super tough.
Well done Stanley.
Kate with Mason and Aly with Marissa, enjoying ice cream cones and a horse ride with Uncle Joel in front. Thanks to Kate for taking Mason with her, he was a little nervous. He ended up doing great but one ride was enough he said.
He much preferred the swings and water activities. He was in his element.
Lots of people. Lots of games. Lots of independence.
It got a little crazy on the barrel swing at times, but boy was it fun!
Paige (age 16) and our spread of good eats. Joel and his immediate family did dutch oven chicken, beef kabobs and barbeque ribs on his pellet grill. I love being a carnivore!
Crazy Uncle Danny with Crystal and Jen and Riley.
Jenna guiding Marissa and Payton on their horse.
Joel guiding Alexa and Paige C. on their horse.
Payton and Marissa are inseparable.
Joe finally got a turn on the barrel swing when it wasn't so wild.
Kate and Joe with Jenna. Don't you love the green field and blue sky?
Perfect summer day.
Baby Chase. He's an absolute darling. I could have snuggled with him all afternoon.
The reunion was a giant success. So glad to be part of that family!

ps- It turns out I don't have a Joel group family shot so if any of you relations reading this blog have one,
email it to me please!

Idaho vacation- day 2

2011-08-02T06:30:00.000-06:00

Friday, July 22

Trav took Joe and Marissa for a ride on the 4 wheeler. They loved it. Mason was addicted to the trampoline (you can see it to the left of Travis in the below pic) and to "fishing" in the irrigation ditch that ran under it. I say "fishing" because it was a stick that Grandma tied some string on one end. He drug that string all through the water and relished every second of it.

We ate at Papa Kelsey's in Twin Falls, always high on our "to-do" list. The garlic bread is worth the 8 hour drive alone. Seriously. Its a secret family bread recipe. I heart PK's. While there for lunch, we ran into Sam Kelsey, the manager. "Papa" of Papa Kelsey's is Dale, Sam's dad. Travis and Sam have been friends for many, many years. I think its in the neighborhood of 25-30yrs. Anyway, its always fun to visit with Sam. We've tried to get together with his wife Sarah and their 4 boys in the past but it hasn't always worked out with our schedules. But this trip, we were finally able to head out to Buhl (another tiny suburb of Twin Falls, opposite of Kimberly) where the Kelsey's live and visit them in their beautiful home.
The above photo is the view from their front door. How sweet is that?
Its the peaceful country life.
Here are Joe and Max. Max is their youngest and turned 3 in May. These two became fast friends and had a blast. The rest of the kids in the below photo also had fun. Wii is the universal kid language. From L to R, Zane, Jackson, Mason and Marissa.
And last but definitely not least, is Kaden. He's their oldest, age 11. Such a nice boy.
It was great visiting and getting re-acquainted with old friends.
Another fun Idaho day!

Idaho vacation- day 1

2011-08-01T14:35:00.004-06:00

Thursday, July 21

Headed up to good ol' Ideeeeho. A full day of driving and tis the season for lots 'o road construction. The kids were so excited to get there and play outside. You see, we live in a backwards vortex. When most kids have summer vacation, they can spend all day outside. But here, its too flippin' hot to send them outside. What's that you say? That our summer is like other people's winter with the kids cooped up indoors? Yes, that's true. Our kids can play more outside during the winter months than other places. BUT . . . and this is a big but here folks, the kids go to school in the winter. So what if they can't play outside, they are in school. Here, in the summer, there's no school and no playing outside. Are you following me here people? Insanity. So can you now appreciate how excited my kids were to play outside?? Yep, it was that big of a deal. And take a look at Grandma J's beautiful back yard and you'll even appreciate it more.

They are busy enjoying a frozen key lime pie Janet made. And the magic ingredient is sweetened condensed milk. I'll be making it soon and posting on the food blog, make no mistake, it was tasty.

Her garden is so beautiful. She has a green thumb for sure.

We made it to Kimberly and enjoyed Grandma's backyard and Grandpa's barn full of cows.
Good day.

Jackman Cousins @ Tuacahn

2011-07-31T10:14:00.002-06:00

Earlier this month our Pocatello cousins came to visit. Emily (age 13) and Kate (age 11) are part of a dance group that came down to Tuacahn for a workshop. They came Sunday night and stayed til Wednesday afternoon. Monday night, the kids and I went out to watch their dance group do the pre-show before Little Mermaid. They did a great job! Travis's brother Trent took his son Coulson (age 7) and my 2 boys home while us girls stayed to watch Little Mermaid. It was awesome! Loved it! The special effects were incredible and "Under the Sea" was a dazzling combination of lights, water, dancing and music. Wow. Marissa and I really enjoyed it.
Here's Kate and Marissa with Ariel and Prince Erik.
This was the highlight of the evening for Marissa.
Emily, Marissa and Kate with Ursula. She was the perfect villain-ess.
Marissa and Kate thought Scuddle was so funny.
In addition to Trent, Kim, Emily, Kate and Coulson, we also had 2 more of their dance friends stay with us too. Amy is in the yellow shorts and Holly is in the gray sweats. They were cute girls. We turned the downstairs theater room into a dorm with 2 air mattresses and it was prefect for the 4 girls. Glad they could come visit. Despite the heat, they had fun shopping, swimming, dancing and attending a workshop at James Royce Edward's (Prince Erik in Little Mermaid and Kinicki in Grease) house. They said he is super nice and learned so much from him. Its always fun to visit with cousins, come again next summer!

Happy Days

2011-07-30T06:30:00.000-06:00

finger painting with chocolate pudding on tin foil. Licking is encouraged.

That's what July has been full of, happy days. Staci, Jackson and Paige flew out from Michigan and were here until the 19th. We had SO much fun. The kids played and played and played some more. We swam in our neighbors' pool every day for a week. How awesome is that? Thanks Broughs! We had a girls' night out at Benja's with our local besties and Staci's mom Tina too. We had fondue night at Jen's. Mmmmm. Fondue. Seriously so delish. We went to the Washington City Pool, Jumping Jacks and Red Robin too. Tons of fun. I think Mason, Marissa and Jackson logged many hours with MarioKart on the wii. But hey, its summer, its all good. Plus, its a million degrees outside, playing a video or two (or twenty) is just fine. Paige and Marissa were in dress-up heaven. They played very well together. Miss P is at a fun age.

Staci and I had a great time in the kitchen, doing what we love we to do; baking, eating, talking about all the recipes we want to try and then eating some more. Chocolate Strawberry Nachos? Good. Mini Cheesecakes? Good. Grilled Pizza? Not so good this time around. But that's okay. We invented our first recipe together for an amazingly yummy summer salad/salsa. Inspired by a recipe off Mel's Kitchen Cafe, we got creative and ended up with something fantastic. Check it out here. We even got to see Douglas for a few hours! He was able to fly out and we had a terrific Sunday dinner at Grandma Doty's. Being with Staci was like old times, like she had never left. It was hard to say goodbye all over again. But I'm so glad she came to visit and like I said, this month was full of happy days.
I will leave you with the Shaw family's most recent family photo. They're a good looking bunch.

You spin me right round baby, right round

2011-07-29T19:54:00.004-06:00

(Staci- don't hate me forever for sharing this photo with the world. I simply couldn't resist!)

Now is that song stuck in your head? Good. (cue evil laughter) Everyone needs a little Dead or Alive to perk things up a bit. And why the 80's song reference? Because St.G now has a carousel!! Sweet. Its a whole lotta fun. Go check it out, its down by the splash pad/stream next to the Tabernacle. Parents of very small children, beware, there are NO straps. So adults plan on standing next to your child while riding. But its a good time and then you can great up close pics. Win/win.

Prisoner of Summer

2011-07-20T14:50:00.002-06:00

Help!
Its me, organized Mom.
There's this woman who lives here and she's locked me away. The kids call her "Fun Mom" but I just think she's lazy, irresponsible and worst of all, disorganized. The laundry should be done on Mondays. When does lazy mom do it? Whenever she gets around to it. I can't even tell you how often she's been mopping the floor this summer, its downright appalling! And she didn't even change her menu board from June to July. Its the middle of July for crying out loud. I am losing sleep. I am pulling out my hair. In short, having a nervous breakdown. But does she care? Nope. Just keeps on letting the kids survive on bowls of Cocoa Puffs and fruit snacks by the dozen. Ugh. I hear she is planning on leaving the week school starts. I can not wait!
Oh, to have a clean house again, happy day!

Just Because

2011-07-16T16:16:00.002-06:00

because he works very hard for our family
because he doesn't get as much attention on this blog
because he understands when I've had enough of the situation and comes to the rescue
because he and I can down coconut cakebites like they're going out of style
because he's a fun dinner and movie date

wanted to share that with the world today.

love you!

Count down

2011-07-13T21:59:00.002-06:00

3 days until Harry Potter
(wish I could sneak a treacle tart and some butterbeer into the theater)

5 more days until Tuacahn with cousins
(a mommy/daughter date, fun!)

6 more days with Staci and her chitlins before they head back to the humidity that is Michigan (so not ready to say good-bye again)

8 days until our Idaho trip
(I'm already thinking about the car snacks)

practically 1 month until school starts
(yippee for school! ugh for getting everybody out the door in the mornings)

a little over 5 months till Mom and Dad come for Christmas
(let the goodie plate extravaganza planning start!)

Happy 4th!

2011-07-09T06:30:00.000-06:00

My facebook status on the 4th of July:

Proud to be an American. Grateful for the freedom to worship. Grateful for our forefathers who crafted the inspired Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Grateful for patriotic music that stirs my soul. Blessed to celebrate this wonderful day with my family!

Finally!

2011-07-08T14:43:00.002-06:00

Guess what? I finally learned to french braid! Thanks to many friends who have attempted to teach me over the years. It was this video on youtube that helped my lame brain figure it out. Now I'm a french braiding junkie, can't get enough!