Florida: part 1

It's been so hectic that I haven't been able to blog our trip! I have a few moments this morning, so I'll get started. We went to Florida with some of our favorite friends a couple of weeks ago, and MAN it was so fun!!! We went because the boys ran a half marathon in West Palm Beach. I would totally post photos of that, but I was still in bed when he got home, so pretty much missed the race. They loved it though. We left West Palm Beach, and our super duper deluxe hotel, and headed down to the Keys to camp for the next several days.

Bahia Honda Key

The water was clean and clear and warm, and the sun was heaven sent. We had the best time ever! Almost everyone that we told that we were flying across the country to go camping thought we were nuts, but it was so fabulous, we'll for sure do it again.

Happy Halloween!

bike ride in the canyon

We have a trail by our house that goes all the way up the canyon. The fall leaves are amazing right now, so we decided to take a ride up the canyon and take it all in.

As a matter of fact, you can fit 4 bikes into a minivan. You just have to make sure the kids are buckled really well, and drive with all the doors open.




Why yes, that is a snowboard helmet she is wearing, she was WAY to embarrassed to wear her bike helmet because it has stars on it! There you go.

The Pumpkin Patch

My neighbor planned a trip to a local pumpkin patch and invited us along. It was such a fun night. We got to take a wagon ride out to the pumpkins, then grab some up and take the wagon back. It was a great time. We have the best neighbors ever. I love where I live so much.

Labyrinth with the Little Paynes

It is my favorite thing in the world to be on the river with all of my family. I think we've decided not to do any more multi-days without all the girls. It's just too perfect. We had intended to do the San Juan, but there wasn't enough water and as none of us had done Labyrinth Canyon on the Green River, we decided to do that. Fabulous choice! It is among the most beautiful places I have ever seen. "No Rapids" was a bit of an understatement, I think we may have been rowing upstream for all the current we had, but the scenery!!!!! Oh my, I can't wait to go back. The Paynes as always, were perfect company, can't wait until next year!

cousins

These little cousins were born all in the same summer. They have another cousin who was born with them that lives toooooo far away. These girls love each other so much, and we feel so thankful that they have one another. I wish all 4 of them could be together more often. I took a some pictures of them for #1's new room. Oh, I still need to post that don't I? Tomorrow, or next week sometime.

Westwater

We had a great time on Westwater as always. I was so excited that my brother came with us and brought two of his kids. I love the river so much, and I loved being able to share it with them. A baffle on our boat blew out at the put in. Thank goodness for fabulous friends who can bring you a boat in the morning, all decked out to go for the day. Great day, river, and company. My synchronizing swimming partner was totally missing. Thought about you all day Megs. Didn't even get in the water. Oh well, good times ahead.

Caving

We did this beautiful hike up to a cave in our area. The hike is super steep, but not to long, the girls did great. The cave is a little bit claustrophobic for my taste, but I'm glad we did it. We were all limping for a few days afterward, but it was fun to go.

First day of Kindergarten

So excited and nervous at the same time! I miss my girls so much when they are at school, it hurts, and now my tiny has joined the big girls.

Soccer Rocker!

This tiny so loves soccer. She tries her little heart out, and just melts mine all over the place. She wants to make a goal more than anything, but the child does not have an ounce of aggression in her. Oh well, she sparkles anyway.

And seriously, when you get a treat at the end of the game, it makes it all worth it in the end.

First Day of School

I hate the first day of school. End of summer, end of hanging out, end of free time in general. I miss my kids like crazy, and while most moms skip home from the bus stop, I bawl, and continue bawling for about a week. Oh well, I'm un-healthily attached to my offspring. I'm glad that preschool starts in a week and I'll have a dozen kids here that I can love up.

Cupcake party

I found these cutest ever cupcake charms online and decided that they had to be the theme for my little's 10th birthday! They turned out to be as cute as I hoped, but an honest PAIN in the neck to put on. Everyone left with quite sore fingers, but a fab charm bracelet. We also decorated cupcakes. The girls got to mix their own frosting colors and we got some good ones! Happy Birthday Girlie!

the days of 47

We had a really fun Pioneer day with our neighbors that we love so much! Parade, bbq, fireworks, sparklers and all the fixins. It was a fun day.

Ladybug Ball

Our darling daughter is 7!!!! Wow, too darn fast. She wanted a ladybug ball for her birthday party.

I made ladybug tutus for each of the girls and my neicey made the darlingest antenna for them. We had a scavenger hunt, a little ball, face painting, cupcakes, and played ladybug games. It was so fun. Happy happy my little pretty!!!

Uintas

We spent the best week in the Uintas with our river friends. We really have the best friends ever and we had so much fun telling river stories, and laughing until we couldn't breath. The cabin was one of those that's twice as big and three times as nice as our house. The kids had a total blast and were sad to leave.

We went on the most beautiful hike in the Uintas. We hiked in to a little lake and ate and fished and played some more. The barbie fishing poles did not serve us as well here as they have in the past. Didn't stop the men from trying though.
This little turned 7 on the trip. What a fun place for a birthday. Thank you everyone for making this happen. We absolutely loved it.

For the Love of $$$$$

I'm not sure where it comes from, but this little is a little bit obsessed with money! She is constantly trying to earn money, or otherwise come by it (like, say, tearing her teeth out??). When her older sister pulled a tooth, she prayed in her prayers that night "that the tooth fairy will find us and bring lots of money so we can have everything we've ever wanted, and both have DS's." There you go. Any way for a couple of days, this is what she came up with.
Gymnastics classes:
She came in the house and asked "Are people still driving home from work?" I told her they were and she all of the sudden got sad and asked "Then why aren't they stopping to sign up?" I went out to investigate and found this sign on the door, and there she was sitting pretty with a registration sheet and pen in hand, just waiting for people to come.

The next day she came in the house all sorts of sad. I asked her what was wrong, and she said "I'm trying to sell gravel for only a dollar a piece, and no one will buy it!" I told her that people wouldn't pay that much for a piece of gravel, and that maybe gravel wasn't the best thing to sell because there was SOOOO much of it in the side yard. Then, positively fighting back tears she said "but I picked out the pretty ones." Oh, how I adore this little thing.
Her little friend was getting all that she could and shoving it down her jammies just as fast as she could. She knows a good deal when she sees one and man, if this stuff is worth a dollar a piece she wasn't about to miss out on that. She went home about 10 lb's heavier.

4th of July

I realize I'm going backwards, but I have so much to put in. We've had such a super fun and all sorts of busy summer. I am uploading 450 pictures from the last two weeks alone!!! So we'll start with the fourth. We went with the Little Paynes down to their Moab house. It as always is so fun to hang out with them. We all went together to Blanding for the best ever fourth of July Parade (more candy than Halloween), and my SIL's Cabin for fun on the lake, escape from the heat and a fabulouse bbq. Always great! Then, back to Moab for fireworks, swimming, and bed. It was a marvelous weekend.

MBA - muy bueuno amigo!!

Our boy just finished his MBA from BYU. He did an executive program at night so that he could still work during the day. He works so hard for our family and we love him so much and are all sorts of proud of him. Now we will have a dad at night and on the weekends; something we haven't had for a while, and we're quite excited about it!

beautiful night

We are all together with family and friends this weekend for the

4th of July!

So far we've had a tooth pulling, and watermelon, and presently are watching swarms of dragon flies. Life is so good!

The Wedding

My niece got married over the weekend to a really fabulous guy. It was such fun day! So great to be with all of our family and extended family, and cousins. I took a billion pictures, these are some of my favorites.

The Cabin

Our SIL's family has a cabin on a lake, in the most beautiful mountains ever. They were kind to invite us to spend father's day weekend there with them. We had so much fun. The place is incredibly beautiful, the lake was lovely, and the fish were abundant. The kids got Barbie fishing poles, and seriously caught a ton of fish! They loved fishing, and hanging out with cousins, the whole weekend was all too much fun.

goblin valley

I'm pretty sure this is one of my favorite new places. We've never taken the girls here, and so on our way home from visiting relatives, we took the long way and did some fun hikes and saw some way super cool stuff.

lots of inches!

My little has been wanting to cut her hair off so that she can match her cousins that both have shorter hair. I told her she had to wait until she didn't need it in a bun anymore, and so yesterday she followed me room to room with the hair scissors until I finally hacked it off. Not too bad. I think I'm getting better.

Our dad is HOME!!

The boy of our house went on a trip with school for 2 weeks!! He went to China, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, and Thailand. We are SOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy to have him back! He brought the girls these gorgeous silk pajamas, and silk elephants.

Cinderella

Our dance recital this year was Cinderella. It is such a beautiful ballet. The girls have progressed so much this year, it has been fun to watch. So, #1 was a clock, #2 a cat, and #3 was a palace maid. It was a marvelous show.

Ducks: take II

So, my parents got rid of the land ducks, and bought some for sure water ducks. Well, ducklings. So we had to have a welcoming party and bring all the kids over to play with the ducklings. They are so stinking cute. The kids were going down to the pond and bringing up handful after handful of delicious bugs, and those teensy little ducks were inhaling them. We will for sure have an introduction to the water party. I'll let you know. So the ducks have been named, Paloma, Lela, and Blue, and interesting duckling facts that we found with all these little kids "loving" up the ducks: 1. ducklings bounce better than you might have thought, 2. if you "love" a duckling a little tooooooooooo hard, it squirts what-not out of it's bottom and 3. giant poodles can get jealous of ducklings, and try to snack them down.

last day of school

Our last day of school. We had a neighborhood party, said goodbye to teachers, and welcomed in freedom and togetherness for the next three months! Halleluja!! I love having my girls home!

like a professional

My cute little girl had to teach herself to ride a bike because her mother never really got around to it! She was so determined, and so she practiced and practiced, and I would run with her until I was too tired, then she'd go by herself again. Bless her heart, she is so focused. She also gave courage to her older sister who hasn't cared one way or the other to ride a bike. That one just jumped on and went like she'd been doing it for years. All sorts of good times. Summer is for sure off to a fabulous start.

Beauty

"Mom, let's beauty me up today. I'll go get my make-up and some jewels."
Oh how I love this little girl

Live wElle

There is a super fun 5k in our neighborhood every May. It is a scholarship run in memory of a cute little girl called Elle, that was killed in an auto accident a few years back. Her incredible family started this scholarship program in her memory. It is well attended, and all sorts of cool. This year, my oldest and I ran in it. She did the 1 mile race in her age group and rocked it I must say. I ran the 5k with my great friend. It was cool morning. After the race, and awards and everything, they handed out pink and white balloons to all the kids and we let them go all at once. It was very cool. This family has turned their own personal tragedy into something amazing. It was fun to be a part of it, and we look forward to next year.

Spring Break

We had the best spring break this year. We went hiking down south with some great friends. Beautiful!! It made us all the more excited for summer.

the ducks

My parents have a spring fed pond in their back yard. To keep the algae down, they have ducks. Two years ago, they had three ducks that before long turned into around 30 ducks. The pond can feed about 2. So, we got a gargantuan dog kennel, and my nephews, armed with sheets, nets, and all manner of duck-intimidating what-not, gathered the ducks and took them to a local business that has a huge pond and other ducks.
The next year they got two more ducks that got into the adjoining creek and now live down stream a bit. This year, they have the yard fenced so there can be no escaping ducks, they bought two ducklings, raised them in the greenhouse for a while, and finally were ready to introduce the ducks to the pond. This is always quite funny as the ducks go sort of crazy when they get in the water for the first time. So, I went overboard as I usually do and called a bunch of my friends and neighbors to come to the duck party.
They all showed up with cameras, and lots of anticipation that it was going to be an AMAZING event. My parents got the ducks herded in their cage, caught them, put them in the pond, and . . . .
they swam around lamely for a little bit then got out. My dad called the place where he got them and found out that they are not water ducks?!? They live on dirt and bugs, and don't spend time, or feed in the water. Who would have guessed? So, we'll try again, I'll for sure let you know.

Easter

We had a super fun Easter this year. Our amazing neighbors did their annual Easter Egg Hunt, complete with Easter Bunny. A little bit of rain didn't stop anyone, it was a great time as usual. We got to have a sleep over with cousins which is always the best, and see my sister and her husband and another cousin who were driving through town, sadly moving waaaaaaaaaay far away. It was a very fun weekend, I can't wait to have my kids home for a week! Spring break coming up. Yahoo!!

Late Night

We have the coolest neighbors EVER!! To kick off spring break, we had a late night, complete with dancing, movies, popcorn, brownies, pillow fights, and an awesome hut! YAY!!!! no school for the rest of the week!! Bummer that it's going to snow on us, but all is well, we'll play hard inside.

haircuts

This is for my darling sister who does not think
1: I update my blog frequently enough
and
2: I'm ultra super mega cheap because I cut my kids hair

Both are true. I love you.

Broken

So, we weren't able to get through childhood with no broken bones. Little chicken got her hand shut in the truck door, and it's broken. She is so "put out" at having to have a pink cast and all. Our little middle girl is doing everything she can come up with to break something, and finally resorted to asking "When they cut your cast off, do you think I could wear it for a few days?"

Let's play Star Wars!

So, this is how little girls that don't have brothers play Star Wars.  They know about Star Wars, sort of, not really, but they know some of the names.  So here is how it went, more or less.

#1 Hey do you guys want to play star wars?

#2 I get to be the girl Yoda

#3 I wanted to be the girl Yoda

#2 You can be my little girl Yoda

#1 ok, and I'll be Princess Leah

#2 Princess Leah, will you tend my little girl Yoda?

#1 Sure, how old is she?

#2 I don't really know because it's hard to tell when she's kind of a monster, but she's probable 3 or something.  She doesn't have her own life saver yet.

#1 I have to go in my spaceship to a party, do you care if she comes?

#2 No, I'm going to girls night out with my friends, so just bring her back when your party is over.

#3 Hey, I don't want to be little, let's say that I'm a Preschool Teacher Yoda, and you guys can bring your pretend kids to me for preschool.

 

Later in the game

#3 Princess Jedi, (in her best British accent) the Dark Lord is here, what do I do??!!??

#2 Just punch him in the face, that's what I always do, and it works pretty well.

and so it goes.  I adore my little girls.

Disneyland 2009

With our dad's crazy work and school schedule, getting time in for a family vacation has been difficult. We finally threw together a whirlwind 3 day Disney trip. It was so fun! Our aunt and uncle came, and a couple of cousins, and we had a great time. It rained every day, and it was cold enough to see your breath, but we were prepared for it, we had the place to ourselves, and we ran like crazy for three days. Here are a few highlights. Not to be too vain or anything, but MY HAIR!!! Do I need to say again, IT RAINED EVERY DAY!!!! Short curly hair and rain are just a bad combination, especially when you only have about 6 peices to work with. Enough said.

Winter Dance Show

Our dance studio does a winter show for the families, at the studio. It's a chance for parents to come and see what we do during class, then we do a Nutcracker dance that we've practiced. Our dad came and took the best photos. Here are the littles classes.

martha's snowman

Tell me that this snowman would not make Martha Stewart proud.  I had nothing to do with making it, I was pulling the kids on the sled, but is totally deserves to be published.  I love white winters.