Camping at Pine Valley

We took the boys up to Pine Valley for a little camping & fishing. It is about a 40 minute drive from here but the great thing is the temperature up there is about 15 degrees cooler! I was a little hesitant to take Ethan on his first camping trip - not sure how well he would sleep in a tent with all of us in there together. But we decided to go for it anyway especially since it was just our family, I figured if the boys were rowdy or took forever to fall asleep, it wouldn't really bother anyone but us. Kade kept suggesting that I call up to Pine Valley to make sure we could camp up there but I thought, what's the point, I know there is camping up there so it should be no problem (plus, I was too lazy to look for the number). Well, the point my friends, would be to reserve a campsite! Duh!! Needless to say we got up there Friday evening and all the campsites we already reserved or full. Ugh I hate when I'm wrong. So, we ended up in the "overflow" campsite which is basically a big parking lot. There were three other families camping in the parking lot with us and the ground was gravel & rocks. To make matters worse, I didn't pack the air mattress (again, I was too lazy) so we ended up sleeping with rocks digging into our shoulder blades most of the night. But, despite the setbacks because I am a slacker, we had a great time. We cooked hot dogs and smores on the grill and told ghost stories in the tent as a family. Ethan had a hard time falling asleep, but it was hillarious because he would keep rolling around the tent, jumping over us trying to find the perfect spot. He couldn't decide if he wanted to sleep by mom, dad or Kellin so he just kept moving around. Finally, I settled him down by singing some of his favorite songs to him and rubbing his tummy for a while. Once he was out, he was out and slept through the whole night. I wish I could say the same for me and Kade, but we were up most of the night trying to find some position that didn't include a rock in the back or chest or leg. We got up pretty much first thing in the morning and headed over to the lake for some fishing. Kellin is our master fisherman (trained by the best of the best, Pops) and was the only one to catch a fish for the day. The funny thing was that Kellin & Ethan were fighting over the fishing pole and I was over trying to resolve the dispute when we felt a big tug on the line. Kellin reeled it in and Kade took the fish off the hook and dropped it in the bucket. While we were baiting the line mischevious Ethan dumped the fish back into the lake! We had to go in after it! Luckily we caught it again and the boys pretty much entertained themselves for the rest of the day playing with the half dead fish in the bucket. Seriously, boys can be so gross. Ethan kept bringing the fish over to me trying to get me to kiss it and then he would lick the fish and say "de-wishish". Yuck!! Kade took the boys on a hike around the lake and then I did one with Kellin, trying to keep them entertained since there weren't a lot of bites from the fish that day. We had a picnic lunch and then decided to head home and take naps. The boys koncked out in the car on the drive home. All in all I had such a great time with my little family. Sometimes we get a little lonely down here not being close to family and it was good to do this little trip and remember that really, if all I ever had was this little family, I would be so blessed and grateful. The boys can be a handful most days, but they are also the sweetest, cutest, most loving boys we could ever hope for. Kade was so great about the camping trip (it's not really his thing) and didn't even say "I told ya so" about the campsite or the air mattress! Love ya babe! Thanks for being my best friend. I know that no matter what, I will always have you and that is more than I could ever hope for.

Happy Fourth 2009!

For the 4th of July this year we broke tradition and instead of going to California we stayed local and spent the weekend with some great friends, the Gilberts. We'd had enough traveling during the first two months of the summer that we really couldn't get ourselves to pack the car one more time and hit the I-15 South. Luckily, Aimee called and invited us up to Cedar City to spend the weekend with their family. It was a good break from the heat and we got to enjoy a good old fashioned Fourth of July, small town style! And for a small town, Cedar City actually has a really big parade! It just kept going, and going, and going...and the kids loved it! By the end, they each had a bag full of candy and were already on their way to a good sugar rush. After the parade we went back to the house and had a BBQ with Aimee's family while the kids had a great time swimming in the hot tub, playing on the slip n' slide, and having a water balloon fight. It rained off and on throughout the day, but it didn't matter, we all had a great time hanging out talking and eating. That night, while the adults played a hillarious game of Mad Gab the kids ran around watching fireworks at the neighbors house. Then we all went over and lit off fireworks - I think we had enough fireworks for three Fourth of July's! By the end of the night, Kellin was exhausted and actually asked to go to bed, which is a very rare request from my energetic little guy. It was a great Fourth of July and we are so glad we got to spend it with good friends. Thanks Gilbert Family!!

Kellin Turns Five!

For Kellin's birthday this year we did a "Ben 10 - Alien Force" party. We started at Jumpin' Jacks and then came down to the house for cake, games, and presents. Unfortunately, in all my planning & preparing, I forgot to charge my camera so the only pictures I have are the few I could get with my phone. So here are a few not-so-great pictures of the kids playing at Jumpin' Jacks.

Week With G-ma & Pops!

The boys spent a week in Springville with grandma & pops, and their three cousins, Koby, Kyson, & Kameron. Needless to say they had a great time fishing, shopping at Toys R' Us, going to the park and doing all kinds of fun stuff kids get to do at their grandparents house. Here's a collage of some pictures Aunt Lonny was kind enough to send our way.


It was so nice of Kade's parents to have the kids for the week and Kade & I enjoyed the together time. We saw two movies, the Proposal and Transformer II and jus trelaxed and hung out. The days felt a little lonely at times, and by Friday I had pretty much run out of things to do to keep myself busy while they were gone. It made me realize how much of my social life revolves around play dates & the kids. I was really happy to have them come home on Friday, as the saying goes, "absence makes the heart grow fonder" and it sure did! Sometimes I get a bit overwhelmed with having kids around all day, every day, especially since we don't really live near much family. It was good to have a break, to miss them, and to appreciate them when they came back. I did feel a little guilty enjoying the time when they were gone, but I think a break is good for all of us, every now and then.

Michael Jackson Memories

In memory of Michael Jackson, I have to tell a few of my most treasured (and weird) childhood stories about the King of Pop. The first it quite weird, but also completely hillarious! When I was around 12 years old my parents had to go somewhere (can't remember where) on a trip and thus hired a babysitter to stay with us for the few days that they were gone. I think they knew her through our Uncle Jay (maybe she babysat for them? Can't remember) but anyways she was a Michael Jackson FINATIC!! One night when she was babysitting us she had rented the biography of Michael Jackson and forced us to watch it with her. My sister and I kept laughing (I think because she was singing and dancing to the movie and because we were completely freaked out by her and thought her Michael Jackson obsession was hillarious). Well, about twenty minutes into the movie, when she apparently could not stand our laughing any more, she got up, walked up to my sister and I, grabbed ahold of Emily's shirt with her fist and yelled (yes YELLED) in Emily's face, "shut up you little brat!!" Emily & I were so freaked out that we watched the rest of the movie in silence and prayed for our parents to come home early from their trip!! I'll never forget the crazed look on her face (or the awful singing & dancing to Michael Jackson's ABC-123)!
My other memories are much more pleasant. I remember the days when Michael Jackson would come out with a new video and they would actually premiere them on the major network chanels like ABC or NBC. This never happens anymore! It would be a huge event and everyone around the world would tune in to watch the premiere of the video! I totally remember the premiere of "Black or White". Our whole family gathered together in the living room to watch it and we were all so excited. I remember how amazed we were with the face morphing scenes! And "Thriller"! I remember how awesome we thought that video was and how we loved to watch it on Halloween and how we knew every scene!
I also remember that my dad had a Weird Al Yankovich CD (I know) and I think it must have been one where he made fun of all of Michael Jackson's songs. It had "I'm Fat" (instead of I'm Bad) and somehow I remember that video too. Weird Al dressed up in a fat suit eating food and dancing around like Michael Jackson. Hillarious! So, in memory of Michael Jackson I would like to dedicate this post to all the good memories of his music and the great childhood experiences I had listening to his music.

Friends...

This is really quite an embarrassing post. Even as I'm writing it I am considering keeping it unposted. For some reason I have a really hard time making friends. I can't really figure it out aside from the fact that maybe I don't really ever put myself out there as far as initiating friendships with people. I know a lot of people now that we have lived here for three years and I do say "hi how are you" etc with the people I know and have no problem making small talk but for some reason I really really really have a hard time saying "Hi so and so, would you like to blank sometime?" Even with the few good friends that I have, I usually hope they call or text me to hang out rather than initiating it myself (thanks Aimee for always texting me to hang out! You're the best!). This problem has been exasperated this summer as a few of my friends moved away (I miss you Heather & Aja!). I keep thinking, ok, I really need to get out there and make some more friends but then I feel so pathetic & desperate scoping for "new" friends. How does this whole making friends thing really work anyways?! When I worked full time, I had plenty of opportunity to make friends and it really came pretty easy. We'd go to lunch together and since we saw each other all the time it was easy to transition from co-workers to friends. But now, I don't have that built in friend system. Now it seems like it takes a lot more effort and RISK to make a friend. I'm sure this comes easy to a lot of you out there (Emily, Brittany, Char, Kat, Aimee, Heather, to name a few) so I need your help. How do you go about making new friends?? Maybe I could get a shirt that says "Hi my name is Mary, would you like to be my friend?" What do you think??

Disneyland With the Smoots

We had a blast on our vacation this year with our good friends the Smoots. We spent Tuesday at Disneyland and Wednesday at California Adventures. On Thursday we met up at Newport Beach and enjoyed the sun, water & sand. Kellin & Braeden are just six months apart and they get along great. The were seriously attached at the hip almost the whole time. Kade & I loved the twins, Ethan & Ammon and had fun trying to tell them apart. It was such a great trip with such good friends, we can't wait to do it again!