Our second celebration.... for anniversary number 12

This is LONG without pictures... if you get bored easily just skip this.

A lot has happened recently... some good some bad, and some I'd just rather plain forget about.

We went as a family to celebrate our Anniversary of becoming a family (meaning our marriage anniversary) on the 26th of June.

We decided that after Thomas's t-ball game that morning we would head up to Salt Lake area and hit up some of the "baseball" card shops that Chris had looked up a while back. We had a mapquest map and everything, and had planned to go to a certain restaurant for lunch with the family.

You see this restaurant used to be in Orem just 10 minutes from us. Up until the place closed several years ago. This of course, made our family sad because we couldn't frequent it very much anymore.

Yeah, we still went but only when we were driving 40 minutes plus in the car to do other things... and well, just not as convenient to drive home that far after eating.

The place was/is called Super Salad... if you like Salad this is the place to go!! Not kidding!!

So are day started out with a t-ball game that Thomas played in, followed by coming home and Chris doing a few things and within an hour or two we were ready to leave.

First stop was to go to the restaurant that was shown to be near all the card shops we wanted to check out. No such luck. The place had gone out of business or moved, whatever the case it wasn't there anymore.

Now I'm dealing with 5 children saying how hungry they are and need to eat right now or they would DIE. Oh the dramatics of those creatures.

So we decided to head to Sweet Tomatoes instead, I had a coupon in the car and it showed that within a mile from our current location was a store. We found the store no problem... only we did have a problem. The parking lot was EMPTY. Notta car anywhere... Strange. Because it was lunch time.

Found a not taped to the door that said something like.. Closed for Emergency repairs ...please enjoy visit our other location (one we've been to before, but not really close). Great Strike 2.

So we proceeded to head to the other location, which we knew how to get to. Got there and were able to eat no problem.

The girls noticed a guy that looked like "Robby Ray" from Hannah Montana, sitting in the restaurant and were getting all girly about it... they were kind of funny.

I had to go to the bathroom area, and unknown to me, as I was standing up this guy was getting up from across the room and we started walking in the same direction.

Now, don't go getting all crazy -- YET. I knew what my girls were thinking about this guy, and couldn't help but start giggling, and then he bumped into me as we passed. Accidental of course, but I couldn't stop laughing. Needless to say the girls thought it was funny. And so did I. (Sure wish I would have taken a picture DANG!!)

So after lunch....

We headed to the first card shop... NO LUCK... Second one.... out of business.... third one.... (I can't remember...oh wait, it was in the basement of someone's house, so we weren't going to stop there) Found the 4th one, but they already closed for the day. Found the last one, and had a hard time finding it... call the number and find out the business is still a viable business, except the owner was out of town for a family emergency for a few weeks....

Can you say BUM DEAL???

Although, we were able to go and visit with his sister and her family for a few minutes. So it wasn't a complete loss.
We would have visited with some other friends but knew they were out of town, so we didn't even try.
So we stopped at Target near Chris's work and looked at baseball cards there instead. And of course, he bought a few packs.

My trip in hind view...

I know it's been a few days since I've posted, and that would be because we're on our "vacation" this year in good ole TRONA, CA. Okay, not that it's that great here, but this is where I grew up and just happens to be the dwelling place of my parents and most of my siblings. It's almost been a bit of a family reunion, except that one sister isn't here and is in Utah instead.

We've been here since June 5th, and the temps are excruciatingly HOT!! Something I did not like very much when I was younger but somehow survived it long enough to move away from.

Here's a synopsis of the trip so far.

• Thomas takes this trip to learn to "Be a MAN", meaning stopping on the side of the road to stand and pee behind a bush. 
• But only after he started to wet his pants in the car.  And this happening not too long after we started traveling. 
• Got to attend a baby blessing for my niece, and the kids went swimming the same day. (Come on, it's vacation 100 plus temps... it was HOT,  it was at the home of the person hosting the get together, and it was so inviting. So the kids were in the water not ME!!) 
• I had my first LARGE group photo shoot on Monday the 7th.  Prayed for clouds, I got them. But I also got WIND, which I didn't pray for. 
• While I was at the photo shoot 30minutes away. Kaylee was at Grandma and Grandpa's house with her dad and everyone else, and managed to take a chunk out of her foot with an exercise bike.  YUCK is all I'm going to say.
• Tuesday... I walked 2.7 miles, cleaned out my van, vacuumed it and then drove the 30 minutes to Ridgecrest, to have my sisters nurse friend take a look at Kaylee's injury. It was cleaned, and suture stripes were applied, and it was rewrapped with an ace bandage.  Great no beach swimming for her.
• Wednesday -- 4 car caravan, turned a 3 and half hour trip into 5 hours, and joined a fifth car in Oxnard, Ca at Hometown Buffet for lunch paid for by my parents.  (That's a lot of people)
• After dinner we turned into a 5 car caravan for a 30 minute drive up to Carpenteria State Beach Park for some fun in the sun.  People getting wet, and falling down, tide moving in, and things getting wet.  It was LOTS of fun!!
• Thursday... we're all tired, and having a nice lazy day.  And I'm feeling the itch to go back home to Utah.   It's pretty up there!! 
• Friday... will be our last day here... what to do?? 
• Saturday ... our drive home with a few planned stops in Vegas, and Mesquite (Are you ready for that Cluttered Brain??)

I can go into more details that make these short synopsis more funny and will probably answer a lot of questions. But those stories will come, after I return home.  (Thank goodness my parents have internet at least or I'd be going crazy!!)
And Pictures will have to wait till I'm home as well. It's not working on this computer.  

Love my Nieces to Pieces....

I had the chance to go and visit my sister the other day. She lives up in Roy, Utah. Which is about a little more than an hour drive away from where I live. I don't get the chance to see her very often while I have kids in school, but Friday was an exception trip. See she had at least 5 bags full of clothes she cleaned out of her son's closet and stuff she had stored that he has already outgrown. Bonus for me I get to go see her, AND I got clothes for my son. A lot of which, we will have to store for a few years, but when he can fit them cha-ching... we have clothes for our growing boy!! But in addition to going and visit her, I get to see her adorable little girls. One who is in Kindergarten, but goes to the afternoon class, and wasn't at school yet when I arrived. The other one is about 19 months old. They are both really cute kids, and so I decided to take a few shots of them, and see what I could come up with. Here is the younger daughter.

BEFORE:
AFTER: Not a lot changed in the editing, but I really loved the lighting that came in from the huge window in my sisters house, and couldn't resist getting this shot.

Now I have my older niece, who had just finished getting ready for school.

Before:

After:

Before: Here she is with my two boys.

After: She is so darn cute!!

This week, I want to get up the canyons close to where I live, and try to get pictures of my kids with the fall leaves. Not sure if that will pan out, since there is a storm brewing starting Tuesday. But if I can find shirts that coordinate between all of them, then I'll just head up hopefully tomorrow, and get some pictures taken. I haven't gotten a decent picture of all my kids taken in a long time. But hopefully they will behave so that I can get them individually, and as a group. If they turn out good, I'm going to venture out to others, just so I can practice. Of course, I'm just doing these with a digital point and shoot, but I'm still learning all the other elements of the photo shooting process, like the composition, working with the light, framing the picture, etc... So in the future I can upgrade the camera and hopefully make a little extra $$ on the side.

So do tell me what you think???

What is something you are passionate about, or want to get into a little more?

Being a mom, I get to learn a lot of things about traveling with Young Kids

Okay so I'm feeling the need for a bit of trip randomness.....

seeing how the summer travel season is now upon us.

I've just recently discovered that I hate LONG road trips with kids, but

I have found a few things that made them more bearable for me.

We like to save $$$ whenever we can, so on trips we try and resort

to eating food in the car while we're driving and we just have a

water bottle for each person in the car. We carry a thermos jug

which we keep ice and water in to refill our bottles when needed.

We also carry an ice chest and keep a block of ice in it to keep all the

food cool. We cut up veggies ahead of time and place in Ziploc bags

for ease of snacking while on the road. We like celery, carrots and cut

up cucumbers. YUMMY!! (I also carry a jar of peanut butter

for use on the celery and carry a disposable knife for spreading)

We've tried the ritual of making sandwiches in the car while driving and

with myself being the mother I find it makes the trip more chaotic for me

when I have to do this in the car. So we've changed things up a bit and

find a way to make the sandwiches ahead of time and place in Ziploc sandwich

bags and write names on the bag, so we can identify who they belong to.

So when the designated "meal" time arrives it's just a matter of opening the ice

chest and tossing back the sandwiches to who they belong to.

I just wish that I could have taken a picture
of the food stuff we had on our last trip before we

started to devour it all.

And as a rule thumb having something sweet in the car is ALWAYS a must. This can be apple slices, washed grapes, cookies, candy (like jolly ranchers) anything to help break up the boring food routine you sometimes run into on a trip.

I also like to make sure that I have some kind of bite sized snack, like cheese crackers, dry cereal --- something easily eaten by the one driving so that you have something to "concentrate" on and help get you to the next stop.

And keeping empty grocery bags on hand for trash helps in the cleanup when the trip is over. So if you can throw away as you consume, less to take care of afterwards.

We always take binoculars on our trips, and we'll even pass them around and let each person have a 5-10 minute turn, using them to look around and see what there is to see. And as far as packing goes, I don't mind doing laundry while we're gone if we'll have access to a facility of some kind. That way we can reduce the amount of clothing to be taken. Because let's face it, when you have a family of 7 and drive a mini van without a car top carrier of any sort or capabilities for a trailer on the back of the van... well you run out of space QUICKLY. So we've learned to combine several kids clothes in one bag, and then only let them carry their small blankets with them up front and shove the sleeping bags into the back for safe keeping.

Which brings me to the point that EVERYONE needs to have a ROAD ATLAS with them. Especially if you are driving in unfamiliar territories and don't know your way around, this will allow you to have back up routes to take and help you plot your course. Of course, Mapquest is a good source for the very specific directions from the main "freeway/highway" to the business or house you are locating. But don't solely rely on them, they don't always give you the best way. And if you are lucky with the Atlas you get, REST AREAS are usually marked out so you can try to plan your "potty" stops accordingly.

A little caution about shoes. Especially if the owners of said shoes happen to be children, who if they are anything like my own travel with all sorts of "CRAP" at their feet and love to take off the shoes. When everyone gets into the car, grab their shoes and put them into either a 'Bag' just for shoes, or right under the seat you sit in or some designated spot just for the shoes. That way when you need to get everyone out AGAIN, because someone forgot to GO last time which was only 20 minutes earlier, you will most likely cut down on the "find the shoe" time. It's totally helped with our car trips, because ALL my kids enjoy taking of their shoes in the CAR.

Another tip I got last year from a friend was that if you are making a cross country stretch,and are traveling with lots of little kids and/or people in the same family, you can pack one bag for everyone the first night and then you just have to grab the one suitcase for the night and not need to unpack the entire car, for only a one night stay that might only last 9 hours maximum.

That helped us out a lot last year when we trekked across the country from Utah to West Virginia over the period of a few days.

Always travel with your camera HANDY and with fresh batteries and "FILM" or a fairly empty memory card. You never know when you'll wish you could get to it.

These are just some lessons I've learned while traveling with my wild brood!!

What great ideas or tips do you have that I haven't mentioned. Does anything make your trips as parents more of a BREEZE and cut back on the stress that seems to naturally come while on a trip with several young children?

Rock of Revelations .... Part 2

So after all the siblings and families had finished eating their various lunches,

we all started getting ready to head over to the church where the service would be

held. Once there I immediately tried to locate cousins I knew were going to be there, and

hugged them. It really was great to see them, and all the Aunts and Uncles too, just something

wasn't quite right... someone was missing. Yep, it was Grandpa. Sure they had pictures of him up and around the room, but it just wasn't the same. I knew he was gone, but I just couldn't

really connect to the fact he was. I guess it's probably because I didn't get to see him one last time. I'm probably better off anyway. At least I had my letter read to him. (Thanks Angie, for printing it off and giving it to Aunt Kathy to read to him).

The service was great stories were shared about the type of man he was, how he enjoyed being with his family. Just everything I'd come to know and love about him being my GRANDPA!! I was doing okay until my Dad went up to share some of the "EULOGY" about what he was like as a dad, and such... I started losing the control of the tears then, but quickly dried them up and away. And then they had some time for random people to come up and share something about him. I of course, being the "WEIRDO" I am -- GOT UP!! That's right, I decided to get up, and share what he meant to me. What did I say?? Well I reflected about how I was grateful that I got to see him last November. Because that was the last time I got to see him alive. And while at the reception how Grandpa got up to dance and was totally being silly. I loved it. And that is the last MEMORY I have of him, and not one I'll soon forget either.

Once I started to sit back down, I met up to my Dad, who embraced me and gave me a hug, and then I lost it again. I really tried not to, because this was to be a "CELEBRATION OF HIS LIFE". Then they played the video -- (great job on putting it together by the way James and Des) -- I couldn't keep my eyes cleared enough to see all the pictures. But I'm glad that there was a picture of him with my grandma -- one I hope I can get a copy of, and soon!!

There was a get together with TONS OF FOOD!! And we had a great time visiting with family and being with them, all the while trying to keep my kids from falling into the pool because I wasn't willing to dive in after any of them.

My Uncle was a big help. I was able to eat (and take pictures) while I TRUSTED him,

to watch my kids around the water!! The kids were getting quite upset at us.

After the get together was done, and we said good bye to those we wouldn't see for a while. We headed back to the motel after we stocked up on food for our 13 hour car ride home. With 5 kids that can be a VERY LONG TRIP. So food, helps!! That way we don't have to stop to eat, we can just make food while in the car. We visited with my parents and those siblings that were left for a little while and then headed back to my Uncle's house an hour away. We followed him home, and managed to take freeway back all the way instead of having to make all these turns all over the place to travel the "back roads". It made for an easier ride home.

Once we got back, all the kids were pretty much asleep in the car driving home, so we just had to transport them into the house to their designated places to sleep. So here again, little Man was a breeze for getting to sleep. Thank goodness. Once all children were in the house and tucked into their beds for the night and all fast asleep. The adults, which included Chris (my husband) myself, and my Uncle George and his girlfriend Melinda, we ate some Papa Murphy's pizza and talked for a while. It was really nice to visit with them and get to know Melinda a LOT better. We were playing the part of the young college students again, and staying up till 1 or 2 in the morning. Which resulted in the crazy start of the day we were attempting to come home.

We woke up later than we had hoped. Okay so it wasn't too late IT WAS ONLY 8am, but in Utah it would be 9am (we had to keep this in mind since we would be arriving home and the time is 1 hour difference)

So after Chris and I had taken our turns with getting showered and dressed I was busy folding clothes that we threw in the wash the night before, and packing up the bags, while my uncle was busy downstairs making food for the kids, well not really making but, getting the cereal out and pouring milk into the bowls. Still it was one less thing I had to do. So as I'm busy getting all the things cleared out of the room we were using for our stay, he wanted to take the kids on a walk. I thought, no big deal, 10 -15 minutes and he'd be back. Well an hour went by and he was still gone. By this time, we're starting to freak out because we don't know where the kids are and the van was ready to leave. Melinda tried to call his cell phone but the man, didn't take it with him. So Chris gets in the car and drives around the neighborhood to see if he can spot them. NO SUCH LUCK. So now I'm really starting to PANIC.

But remember, I do TRUST him.

Melinda was about to grab the keys to his truck and start looking around when what to my wondering eyes do I see but a tired old man, and five red and hot grumpy kids walking up the way. They get back and he had promised to let them hose of their feet and cool down somewhat and then... we said Good bye, and backed out of the driveway and didn't get two feet away and

POP !!

PSHHHHHHH The tire was quickly going FLAT !!!

OH GREAT!!

NOW WHAT!!??

So we drive the van back into the driveway, and my uncle had Chris place it so that he

could see the hole in the tire with it being parked. Well, I'm starting to really PANIC. HELLO, we live in UTAH, and we have a 13 - 14 hour drive ahead of us and we don't have time for this. So talk about your ultimate OX in the MIRE situation. My uncle was jinxing us the whole time. He kept saying that we shouldn't leave on Sunday and that it was bad luck and we should stay until Monday. Well, my fears quickly went away when I noticed a crazy dude driving like a mad man and pulling into the driveway right beside us. It was my brother David. He works on tires for a living and knows what he's doing. I felt like it would all be OKAY.

Lessons we learned from the ROCK!!

• We now know how to access our spare tire, we knew where it was but didn't know how to use it if we needed to.
• That a spare can lose air, so check it as often as you check your regular tires.
• After having two tires replaced on the front of the van, we discovered we didn't have breaks to make it to Utah.
• My Uncle is very kind, and bought the breaks for us, and between him and David they replaced our breaks for us. Saving us about $150.00 in replacing them.
• So what we saved in hotel expenses we were able to put into new tires.
• And we broke down in front of his house, where the van could be fixed and we could let the kids hang out at his house still.
• We learned that if the two of us hadn't BOTH listened to the prompting we got and try to head home Sunday instead of attempting Monday ... well this would have all happened on Monday without a day to spare and not have Chris miss work again.
• We had some Mountain passes we would have need to use our brakes on, and if we didn't have the blessing of the ROCK, we'd never have known about the lack of brakes.
• Since the repairs were taking most of the day, we decided to wait till the next morning to leave.
• And with all the delays we experienced, made it so that my brother David showed up just within a minute of the tire POPPING. He was a big help, and he felt that he needed to come us also, and I'm glad that he listened to the prompting that he got.

We were truly blessed to have our lives and vehicle spared serious damage and I know it's because the Lord was watching out for us. I know that he loves me and my family, and that if we desire to do what he has asked us to do, we can all be entitled to these same kind of blessings and more.

And that takes me to part three of this trip....

ROCK REVELATIONS.... part 1

Okay so let me preface this by saying that this last weekend (May 8th - May 11th)

was anything but a "BREEZE". I know I have several other things

I want and need to post about.. but I want to get this weekend

down before I forget EVERYTHING that happened. This is the first installment of at least

two episodes.

1. Our scheduled time for the trip Friday May 8, 2009 - Monday May 11, 2009
2. Destination --- Concord (East Bay) area, and Manteca all in California.

3. Reason -- My Grandpa Hill passed away on May 5th, 2009 and the memorial service was scheduled for Saturday May 9th, 2009.

4. Mode of Transportation --- Our White Mini Van.

5. Length of Travel Time -- Roughly 12 - 14 hours

6. Number of Miles -- about 850 to my Uncle's house.

7. Number of people in the car -- 7 ....... 2 Adults 5 kids.

8. Days of school and worked missed ... 2 (Friday and Monday)

9. Health condition of passengers ... Sunshine has a hurt wrist, and all the kids are taking meds since the day before because of STREP ! YUCK~!~ And my throat started hurting Wednesday morning as well. (But I don't think it was strep)
10. Oh yeah, make sure one of my children hurts there arm and complains about it the whole weekend. But make sure this happens late Thursday evening and don't go to the doctor until I return.

11. Did the trip go smoothly without incident....

12. Were we extremely blessed because of such incidents.....

READ ON TO FIND OUT:

On Friday we were able to leave Provo, and get on the road.. all the while, as with any trip, hearing the beginnings of "I'm hungry", "When are we going to get there?" "I've got to go Potty" and many other noises of laughter, and screaming, and occasionally complete SILENCE. Aw.

We traveled I-80 and stopped at the Salt Flats Rest Area to do a potty break, which was just before Wendover, on the Utah, Nevada border.

No problem here, as all parties involved were able to go and

thus avoiding any accidents in the near future.

We start driving again, and go through Wendover and about 15 minutes later, T-man hollers that he has to go to the bathroom, of course we're in a barren desert and nothing around for miles. Luckily we found a sign for a "rest area". It was disgusting but better than having a wet boy, right?? He REFUSED TO USE IT!!! All the while, grabbing at himself, because he apparently was telling the truth. So I tried to make him sit on the darn thing, and attempted to pull down his pants so that he could go and avoid the accident, HE SCREAMED!!! I was in there for at least 5 -8 minutes trying to get him to sit, and he wasn't having it. (If he didn't have to go so BAD, I wouldn't have tried so hard) but alas, no such luck. So we load everyone up again, and get into the car. About 10 minutes later he cried because he had peed himself in the car. We said, TOO BAD, you'll have to wait to get changed.

** I know we're MEAN

We come upon Wells, Nevada and found a gas station to use. So I dug out clean clothes and being the "DUMB" mom I am, grabbed another pair of underwear for him. So I attempted to change him, and we made everyone else "TRY" even though it was less than an hour since the last time. I used a plastic grocery bag to put the wet clothes into, and we laid a towel on top of his booster so that he wouldn't get his now dry clothes wet, too.

The details of this part of the trip are fuzzy to me right now, but before we reached Fernley, Nevada where I was able to visit with my cousin and her family for a few minutes, T-man had peed one other time in his clothes. SUCK!!! But, I quickly overlooked that, and enjoyed the visit with my Cousin, whom I haven't seen in about 7 years. So that was refreshing at best. I feel jipped to not have more time, but we had further places to travel.

We stopped again near Sacramento somewhere to use the potty once again, from here we were only about an hour away from my Uncle's house, only problem --- we ran into traffic at like 9pm at night. So it slowed us WAY down. My uncle had to go to work in order to have Saturday off, so he was leaving shortly to put that time in. Of course, I'm using the map to navigate, and finally around 11:30 we arrived at their house to SLEEP!!! Chris was TIRED!! I only drove about an 80 mile stretch, and he was EXHAUSTED.

The baby was asleep when we pulled up so we didn't have to get him to go to sleep, but the other kids were bouncing off the WALLS!! Pent up energy, I guess. They started saying how they were hungry and Melinda got busy helping them, find things to eat. Finally we settled in, but we didn't get to see my uncle that night because he was at work.

And before we had gotten to his house, Chris and I started feeling like we should just head home on Sunday morning and use Monday as a recuperation day, since he had it off. So we let Melinda know about that, and that we wouldn't stay till Monday. (Although, I know my Uncle was secretly sabotaging us to stay till Monday) .

Saturday was the day we would drive to Manteca, about 1 hour away, because all of my family was there, and that is where the Memorial service for Grandpa would be. We woke up, and got to see my Uncle for just a few minutes before he went to sleep. He had just gotten home right before 7 and had been up since 4 am the day before. He was TIRED!! So we helped ourselves around the house and feeding the kids because Melinda had to leave for a test, and my Uncle needed to SLEEP. We ate, and got dressed, and packed up what we needed for the day. We followed the directions that we got through mapquest to get to the hotel where my parents were staying. We were driving on side roads and had lots of turns involved and finally about a little more than an hour later we arrived.

It was great to see my family ALL 8 of the kids were there with their families along my parents. It was crazy to say the least. But fun TOO!! We still had about two hours before the service was going to start, so we took our family over to In N Out for lunch.

I LOVE THAT PLACE.

So we grabbed our food and

headed back to the motel rooms to eat.

After we finished eating we cleaned up the trash and threw it away,

and then told my kids to change into thier church clothes.

All the while, the other sibs were coming and going, and watching the babies,

and others getting food to eat as well.

The room had the aroma of several good smelling things,

but all together they STUNK, but with the door opened it quickly aired out.

Once upon a Saturday.

I didn't manage to get the family shot that I wanted which would have included all of our spouses and kids, but at least I did get this one which is all of my childhood family. Wow, how time flies. I'm the oldest and the bride is the youngest.

Here are all the relatives that were at the wedding, so this is the closest thing to the shot that I wanted to get.
My sisters and I with our parents.

My sisters with our Mom, and Grandma's

Me with my sisters.

One of the only family shots that we got this trip. And you can tell that the kids weren't wanting to cooperate. But it still is cute.

My Dad walking the bride down the isle.

The Bride and Groom right before they were husband and wife.

My Checklist

For the last five days this has been my checklist to be sure I didn't leave anything out. Curious?? Well I was too!!

Here is the checklist of things to do while in California this last week - or rather for three days, and spending two days traveling - one there and one day home.

• Keep Sleeping Beauty home from school on Monday and take her to the doctor. (CHECK)
• Have a Strep test come back positive for Sleeping Beauty ( CHECK)
• Have Little Monster whine and cry on the entire trip unless I lean back between the two front seats and hold his hand so that he won't cry. ( CHECK)
• Have T-Man hollar numerous times that he wants to go home while we drive and then make sure he says it repeatedly on the trip. (CHECK)
• Make four pink skirts while on the trip before the wedding on Saturday. (CHECK, CHECK, CHECK, CHECK)
• Have Sunshine laying on the couch with a fever and throwing up the first day we're there, and not get to have any sort of fun. (CHECK)
• Have Sunshine resemble similar symtoms to Sleeping Beauty and then call the DR. in Utah while visiting California to call in a prescription. (CHECK)
• Have Little Monster not sleep during the night so that I don't sleep longer than an hour and half at any given time. (CHECK)
• Attend the wedding on Saturday (Check)
• Help clean-up and have fun dancing to ICE ICE BABY (Check)
• Go to a few stores before Sunday to buy food for the trip home and gas up van. (Check)
• Experience seeing a family member totally wasted/drunk. *CHECK*
• Have Smartie Pants throw up the last night we're there. After I witness the effects of alcohol on a family member who has a little LOT to drink. (CHECK)
• Have Little Monster run a fevor on the last night we're there and really not sleep all night long. (Check)
• Start to feel sick on the day to drive home (CHECK)
• Once back home on Monday take T-man to the doctor for an infection on his hand and find out that not only does he have that but strep as well. And leave the office with prescriptions for 4 PEOPLE, and I count as one of them. (CHECK)

So as you can tell I think I accomplished my to do list for my trip.

Summer Vacation Pictures

I never really posted any of our vacation pictures but here are a few that I really liked. And Chris wants to use one of these for our Christmas cards this year. I said "Sure, go ahead" -- Less stress on me later.

Here we are at Carthage Jail On Monday the 28th, of July. We had just come from visiting in Nauvoo. Which the kids were kind of cranky about already. I think it was the humidity that they aren't used to that help trigger there fits they tended to have.

An old prison near Moundsville, West Virginia that I thought looked really neat and then the only sightseeing we did was basically from the car so of course, it was raining and then you get all the water spots -- but I think it adds to the effect.

My Ultimate Favorite: They would climb up this hill just to get to the top and then turn around and run all the way down. The kids had such fun playing in this yard and having a great time being together.

My Three favorite guys!! Ethan was just excited to be outside of the car and not strapped into the carseat!! Thomas was a little grumpy I think.

We were all waiting around and checking out the site across the Freeway

This was the scene aross the road. I didn't think I'd be able to get the clear enough but I guess I was able to get them enough to see what they were. I love the green pasture all around him and the fact that there are cows in the background, it would have been a lot cuter had I brought some overalls and snapped some with just overalls on, maybe next time.


One of my favorites of Thomas while on vacation -- this was near Elkins, West Virginia at the Rice Family Reunion that we attended. There were little creeks and streams everywhere back there. It was so great.
I was standing up on a bridge that seemed to be very unstable but someone that lived there rode across it with a four wheeler. CRAZY!!!
Sitting on a rock in the middle of the creek that was being played in.

One of the coolest bridgest that we crossed while headed to Steubenville, Ohio to visit with a distant cousin of my father in law. (And my husband for that matter) Chris wants to use this picture for our Christmas card this year. Of course, I don't think that I'll make a big one to hang on my wall. I still will try and get a nicer one before we do our cards.
Check out the COW!!! I couldn't stop laughing. My husband took this picture because he went to help on a cemetery headstone restoration project while we were there. But that cow, just .... is so worth this picture being taken. (And the cow is why he decided to take the picture)

Some cool SPIDER WEBS!! The dew that collected on these just made them look so mystical

Here is the Columbus Ohio Temple. It was so pretty there.
Our Last West Virginia Sunset --- SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL!!

The girls loved this little stream right on the Temple grounds for the Columbus Ohio Temple. It was nice and refreshing for them to play in.
There are a few of the high-lights from our Summer Vacation. It was so much fun, and we can hardly wait to go back. Well at least I'm not looking forward to the drive. But the fact that we got away from the normal stuff, to see things we've never seen before was a nice change to my days that I was gone. Now I just need to take a MOMMY VACATION --

UTAH STATE FAIR TIME!!!

So we've made a family tradition of going to the Utah State Fair every year. It's been really nice the last few years now, because my kids earn their tickets to get in for FREE!! And then I go and 'prepurchase' the tickets for DH and I to get in and I save us a few more bucks. So not counting what it costs to drive up to SALT LAKE for the fair -- I've spent $12.00 for the tickets for DH and I to get in and then we have to pay $5 for parking. All the kids will get in for FREE basically and we're bringing an ice chest with us this year and making sandwiches for "dinner - time" - which ends up being about the same time as the "PRCA RODEO" because it's included with our gate admission and it is the only rodeo that we can ever afford to go with the entire family. The kids love it, we love it, and yes -- we do get home kind of late -- but I think it is SO worth it. So we're off to get everything together and (heck, I still need to get a shower - YIKES) head up to the state fair and I hope that everyone behave themselves.

Today marks exactly one week before school starts for this year. I'll have a 4th grader, 3rd grader and a 1st grader. And once again Katherine has Kaylee's previous teacher from the year before. It makes it kind of nice to know who they are already, but I can't help but think if some sibling "comparing" goes on with these teachers. This, of course, is only the second time this has happened -- so I guess I can't be too judgmental yet, besides I loved Kaylee's 3rd grade teacher and hope she works out nicely for Katherine as well. I was just talking the other day to a friend who made the remark something like this " isn't it funny how we think we'll get more things done once the kids are out of school and we don't have to take care of the school stuff in between our doing things around the house and taking care of errands and such. But then when the end of summer comes we can't wait for the kids to get back to school because we can get more done with them gone. " How true I find this cycle to be. I always wondered why my mom, was so anxious for school to start and now I think I finally know. Not that I don't love my kids or anything but, I find it the only thing remotely close to getting a "break" that I thrive on it. Yes, it's true that I've never been a morning person ( And I even had early morning seminary) but after my vacation this last week -- I think that I can finally start getting up early. Because if you think about it was waking up at 7am there and it was 5am here in Utah. So I know that I can totally do this. I just need to DO IT!! I am ready for them to start school despite the fact that I have to drive them everyday because they always had so much to do, and friends to play with and came home telling me about all the fun stuff that they did that day or how they hated lunch. And it gets me one step closer to getting them "out of the nest". Let's face it, I eventually want to have a life AGAIN!! Too bad it'll be when I'm much older, Like nearing 50! But hey, at least then my husband and I will be able to afford the trips we want to go on, and the remodeling to our home we might want to do and upgrading all of our furniture. It'll be fun, but for now I really like to enjoy my kids and the funny little things that they do. I just hope that while they live with us that they can learn all the things needed to be contributing citizens and know right from wrong.

One of our many pictures from vacation, in Boone, Iowa at my friend Sarah's house. You can obviously tell how happy they were to be taking the picture. I do have a lot of funny stories to relate but that will come later.