Adams Canyon Hike

So I did it! I went on my first "official" hike. David finaly talked me into it. i decided since it was a busy path that our chances of meeting a bear or mountain lion were pretty slim. And i am ashamed to admit it, but i really did like it. In fact i'm planning on going back and doing the same hike again without the kids. That was one of the problems i had on this one. There were quite a few parts to this hike that made me nervous with the boys. Tom had no problem, but some places everyone had to hold their own to make it up, and sam couldn't quite do that. David was carrying Ben on his back the whole time so he was busy enough. So that left me to help sam, which i was not that comfortable with. But we did it! We did really good for our little family. These are just a few of the pictures, they do NO justice to the views we enjoyed. We had a ton of fun!!!!

Lagoon Day!

Davids job has a big party at Lagoon every summer, everyone gets in free and they feed us till we explode, its hot and lines are long. All around great time. But our kids love it, and this is what parents do right? Especially when its all free! So, I forgot that blogger loads the photos backward, so you will see our day backwards, from end to beginning. At the entrance/exit they have this great fountain that just beckons children & adults at times to play. It had been a pretty hot day, and we had already got wet on the log schute, so why not?

I don't do big roller coasters and rides that take me in circles very well. in fact, if i turn my head to quick it makes me wanna puke. But what i love and can do over & over are the water rides. this was fun!

My sweet boys were very patient cause we did a lot of this today. Waiting in a hot line with very little shade, is pretty hard for little kids, but they were great!

Ben did a good job too, we brought his leash, so he did some walking, but was pretty happy riding around in his wagon. What a good sport.

Sam & Tom surprised us this day. Their normal personalities are

Tom: shy, safe, reserved

Sam: wild, adventerous, no fear

But this day, quite the role reversal, this little whale was more of sams pace, but tom was ready to ride the biggest fastest ones around. He was still too short of course, but he thought he was ready. He did get to go on some of the bigger rides with David while Sam and I kept our feet firmly planted on the ground.

Like I said earlier, this was toward the beginning of the day. The tilt-a-whirl used to be a pretty safe ride for me, i had fun while we were spinning, we were all laughing, but when i tried to stand and walk, the world kept moving for some reason!

This was the first ride they got on for the day. David and Tom loved it Sam, not so much, boy after my own heart!

House of Joy

Our home has truly been a house of joy this month. We have been so blessed with visits from extended family, reliving old memories and making new memories. As we speak David and his brother Paul are heading out for their hike up Kings Peak. David has been looking forward to this for so long, i'm glad its finaly here. We had nice BBQ with his parents last night before the mountain men headed off into the wild.

Sam celebrated his 4th birthday this month as well. Thomas hung the decorations and we all enjoyed the spiderman cupcakes. Nana & Papa are such goood sports wearing their birthday hats.

Grandma & Grandpa came for a visit as well. All you have to do is look at this picture to see the joy they bring to my children and home when they come.

Uncle Loren & Aunt Teresa came as well. Their beautiful children are growing so quickly. My boys were in 7th heaven having their cousins here. Friends sleeping over and being here three days straight, they didn't know what to do with themselves. They had such a good time.

Beauty All Around

We had rain storm come through and i couldn't help but marvel at the beauty that was left behind. of course this picture does no justice to it's beauty, but what a gift from our Father in Heaven.

Our Little Adventure

I have known for awhile that there was a mall down in Sandy with a Carousel, but i have been far to lazy to take the kids down to it. Sandy is about a 45min. drive from our house so it would call for a "whole day" to take them down there. So, finaly yesterday i took them down. And now i am regreting every minute of it! OH, they had fun of course, but acted just terrible when they weren't doing what they wanted to do. They showed their evil little selfes to the whole mall. With the screaming and hitting, they truly gave me a run for my money. of course it was mostly sam. tom just wouldn't leave me alone about getting ice cream. it wasn't enough that they got to ride the train and carousel, no, he needed more! sam just was being sam. and ben was very tired of being in the stroller. it was huge mall and i had no idea where i was going!!! anyway, here are the pictures of them while they were happy and getting their way, but i don't have any pics of the red devil eyes they were showing at all other times!!!

72-hours& 3 weeks

Isn't that the cutest face ever, but its that cute little cast on his arm that gets me. What a tough little guy he is. If you read my previous post you know what happened last saturday. I had to take him back to the dr. on monday and they put him in this little cast. he has been so brave through this whole thing. the only time he has cried was right after it happened. but once we got to the e.r. he quit crying and has been his normal wild self since. even with a broken radius he is still a hard core boy. he has to wear this for three weeks. It hasn't slowed him down once. he still climbs the hill in the backyard, runs and plays with everyone, and rides his bike. and you will be glad to know that it has most certainly not slowed or tempered his patience at all!!!!

Now, as for all this mess on my bed, and i'm embarressed to admit it, but i finaly got our 72-hour bags organized and ready to go. i had a terrible dream the other night that there was a catastrophe and i was not prepared. so that morning i got up and got it done. it took all day, between taking care of three kids, but well worth it! i did have to go to the dollar store and get a few trial size items. but most everything we already had at home. so really it only cost me $25 to get these ready! my next goal is to get larger 72-hour kits ready. i read online somwhere to use those lock on lid trash cans instead of totes. at first i wondered why, but then i got to thinking how much sense it made. one, they hold more, and two, you or your kids can pull them. i started picturing the pioneers crossing the plains pulling trash cans and thought how much more sense that made than everyone trying to carry a tote! of course i have no plans to pull those crazy things, but you never know if you might have to. (no access for car travel or somthing) anyway, it is a huge relief to have those done.

E.R. visit on Pioneer Day

So, the day started out wonderfully. David arrived home after spending a week at scout camp. it was so nice to have him home again. We then decided to get together with his folks for the day. it was pioneer day so there were a ton of celebrations going on. the plan for us was to go to the "Riders in the Sky" concert later that night, but plans soon changed. Before we went there we decided to go wonder around the Newgate Mall in Ogden for a while. They have a great play area that the kids really enjoy. Thats where it happened. I had just gotten into Sears and i hear Sam screaming. i think nothing of it cause he does that all the time. then david calls on the cell and tells me to get back cause we might need to take sam to the E.R. and sure enough thats where we ended up. After about 2 1/2 hours there, it was determined he had a fractured wrist. Nothing major, but it had to be splinted. i have to take him to the dr. again tommorow so they can possibly cast it. but who knows. we were thankful davids folks were there to watch ben and tom while we were in the e.r. with sam, that was such a blessing. also we decided to skip the concert that night. we'd had enough excitement for one day. but as you can see from the picture of ben, his day was not bad at all. he still managed a smile and to have a good time.

But sam on the other hand, was pretty upset with me that i "tried" to make him sit still and rest his arm. that lasted all of 10 minutes then he was outside playing with the boys again. He looks happy in this picture huh!!!

Trip to the Park

We went to the park the other day to feed the ducks! It was soooo hot, i could barely stand it! But the boys had a great time and thats what is important, i guess. Only one thing was missing thoug, my sweet little Thomas. He is still at Grandma & Grandpas house being spoiled!

This little digger is Sams fave toy at ths park.

Ben obviously has no problems just using his hands.

When it was time to feed the ducks, Ben preffered to

eat the bread himself instead of sharing.

Sam loved throwing the bread. And getting so close to the

waters edge.

David is such a sport to drag our boys around on all

our adventures! What a great daddy!

And this is one of Sams favorite trees to climb

at this park. I like it too, it is so close to the ground

I don't get scared if he falls!

"Junk in my Trunk"

Well, it is a saturday, and i HAD to go out "junking". It's kinda crazy, i go through phases that force me to purchase dust collectors! anyway, it was a great hunt today. i took Ruby with me and we had a blast! I found a ton of great stuff (i think anyway) for $30! My favorite place was an old ladies house. her husband recently passed :( and she had to get out of the house ASAP. And it wasn't that she had a ton of great stuff, even though i found a few things, but a lot of it was still all wrapped in boxes and newspaper fresh from storage. It was so much fun unwrapping things-not knowing what you would find next. I had a blast there! But now its time to come home and find a place for all my "great stuff" somewhere in this little house! I have found a few homes for my goodies, some are still looking. but i'm having fun!!!!

So, here are a couple of pics of my treasures...so lets try and find them a home!

These little chickens look happy here.

What do you think about this cute tray on the shelf here?



Now, this vase was supposed to go in the kitchen, and i had another place in mind for the ivy ball, but they looked so cute together, they insisted on staying together here in the entry.

I know it is summer now, but this aphghan is so soft, i can't wait to snuggle up under it on the window seat and watch the snow fly this winter. And then one of the boys can rock in the chair next to me with the cute cushy pillow!

taking a break!

Well, if you read my last entry then you know that we have been making over the kitchen and going crazy! since then the new countertops have been put in and the first coat of stain on the outside of the cabinets. Just this morning i have put on the first coat of varnish on the doors & drawer fronts. with the quick drying varnish i will get those all done today. tonight the second coat of stain will go on the outside of the cabinets. then i will varnish those when i get back from my moms house after the fourth of july. things have turned out great so far. in fact they have turned out better than i thought they would. yesterday was the sabbath so we took a much needed rest from the kitchen. after church and lunch we headed up to the mountains for a drive. we found a little place by the river to pull off the road and let the boys out. we had a great time shooting wrist rockets first and then the boys found their way into the water. but they had a great time splashing and getting super wet. ben loved just hanging out with dad and watching the other boys play. it was a great break and was a lot of fun. hope you enjoy the pics.

I hate cabinets!!!!

We have been planning for a long time to makeover our kitchen cabinets. It has taken me forever to decide for sure how i want them done. Once that choice was finaly made it was time to get to work. but i have been putting it off for so long. i knew it was going to be a HUGE pain and i was right! i got all the doors off the hinges today and got them all cleaned. david is sanding as we speak. i'm already about to call someone and just get all new ones installed. it is taking all my will power to resist. i just keep reminding myself "one day, in your next house, but not today!" On a brighter note our new countertops are being installed tommorow. that will make me feel a little better at least. i'm just glad that we have had the opportunity to learn on this house, that home improvement work is not for us! i have hated every minute of the things we have been doing. i hate how things are out of place and there is chaos. my life is already chaotic enough, adding more to it doesn't help. i won't know what to do with my time when we finaly have all these projects done. well, here is a pic of the before and i'll post a completed one as soon as i'm done pulling my hair out and get it all done.

Fishing with Dad

So, David took the boys fishing on Saturday. Sam obviously loved the worms and tortured them most of the time. Thomas found a cozy spot in his chair and was happy to sit and relax with snack now and then. I love that I have such a great husband that takes his time to do things like this with the boys! These are memories they will have forever! Benjamin and I stayed home and cleaned house. He napped most of the time so I actually got quite a bit done. So that was great. Today has been great. Fast Sundays are so wonderful. I love the opportunity to fast and contemplate on specific things in my life. I'm very selfish though and always fast for ways that I can be improved. My thoughts today have been on strength. I need a lot more strength in so many areas. I also got to go do my visiting teaching this afternoon. I love my sisters. They are sisters that are the same age as my mom, and I love the wisdom I glean from them every visit. Now it is Sunday evening and David is busy making us all chocolate chip cookies, they smell so good. ISN'T LIFE GREAT!