First Camping Trip

Last weekend we went to Cherry campground up Hobble Creek Canyon. There are only a few campgrounds open at this time of year and this is one of them. It is a first come, first serve deal. So I drove up there at 2p to make sure we got a spot, since with waiting for Jon to get home from work, all the sites would probably be full. It was a good thing I did that, because all the other spots were occupied with trailers, tents, and fires when we all got up there about 6:30p. Lots of people drove through hoping to find a spot, but alas they had to move on.



Max was hanging out here, leaning back and making noises. His personality has really started to come out in the last month. It is so fun to see and to play with him. We went to the store a couple day before the camping trip to make sure we had everything we needed. Max needed a sleeping back and we needed a tarp for our bigger tent. A few years ago I got Zac a little lantern and I knew Max would need one. I was very happy to find one very similar to Zac's. I gave to Max to hold at the store and he LOVED it. He knew it was for him and he was so excited to have it. Then when we got home he loved to carry it around.


Oh, did I mention, Max is walking now as his main mode of transportation. It is so fun to watch. I know lots of people would prefer their kids to start walking a little later because they stay out of stuff. But I personally like when my kids walk. They have more confidence and are more mobile and self-sufficent to a point. I love to just watch him walk in from the other room with a big smile on his face-its so cute!


We had beef stew for dinner-easy and pretty good.

S'mores-yum
This is Max's first s'more. He loved it!
I was surprised at how warm the evening stayed-but the morning was VERY cold. Before I get to morning. There was night. . . We brought the port-a-crib hoping Max would sleep soundly. Last year we went to the ward campout and he was all over in his little spot and wouldn't keep blankets on so I expected the crib to help with that. And I think it would have if he were asleep...

We put Max to bed about first. It wasn't very dark. He wouldn't lay down as he saw us out of the tent. So Jon went in to play with him and cuddle. After 10 mins or so he was ready to go in the crib. And he fell asleep pretty quickly. Then about 30 mins later we had Zac go to bed. He didn't fall asleep right away. And a few hours after falling asleep he woke up crying b/c he had to pee.
(Its nice to have boys, just hold him outside the tent with his pants down. . .no going to the outhouse in the middle of the night :D )

Then he went back to sleep and was quiet for the rest of the night. I really felt like I was only half asleep up to that point. Then shortly after that, Max started to toss and turn and whine. I didn't want him to wake up Zac and I was worried that he was cold so I brought him in to my sleeping bag. But he didn't go to sleep. I have NO idea how long it was. I was in and out of sleep while Max laid by me awake. It seemed to take FOREVER for the sky to get lighter to show some sign of the morning that I longed for. Finally, it started to get light and Max fell asleep just before I started to smell pee and realized that he had leaked out of his diaper, and his 3 layers of clothes were all wet. So I decided rather than have him sleep in the pee next to me, I would wake him up and change his diaper and clothes. All better...except he didn't fall back to sleep. Then Zac woke up and they wanted to play, while staying in the sleeping bags because it was sooo cold! Max got out of the bag and crawled around the tent and quickly realized it is much better in the sleeping bag! So I cuddled him to warm him back up and he fell asleep in like 2 mins. But that was short lived as Zac woke him up like 15 min later? I don't really know again, I was in and out of sleep the whole time, trying to keep Max warm while staying down in the sleeping bag and continually adjusting Zac's sleeping bag so he would be warm. Jon was trying to sleep through all this with his lower back in a hole.

Then Jon got up and made us a fire, and boiled water for Hot Cocoa and Cider.

This is our tired and cold family. Luckily, the sun didn't take too long to come over the mountain to help keep us warm.


Max is very wiggly. Always climbing all over things and figuring things out. But not this morning. He was sooooo tired and this is how he spent most of the morning.


Zac helping Daddy make pancakes
Zac enjoying his handy work

When Max saw Jon after getting out of the tent. He wanted his daddy so bad!! He would not have me! It was so weird at how upset he was. When Jon wasn't holding him.

Two years ago, 2007 we happened to be at this exact same camp site. This is a picture from Zac during that trip. I was in my first or second trimester with Max. I remembered about this pictures so I attemped to recreate it.

2007
2009
It was really funny. Because the beany Max is wearing was Zac's. But Max wanted to wear it and Zac didn't so when Zac got cold I told him to wear this one. Which he did not want to. But when I told him that I wanted to take a picture of him like that last time we were there. He was all excited about it. And then proceeded to pose funny faces for me to take more pictures. They are pretty good faces!




Then we went on a walk around the campground and went to look at the river

Max is soo tired!!

Even though the night was hard. We still had a great time. I really like to be out in nature. I love camp fires and ironically enough I like eating camping food (even though I tend to be particular about my food). As long as I have enough padding under my sleeping bag and I am warm, then its not too bad to not sleep well. It just fun to be outside too!

Sorry for the eternal post, but I liked a lot of these pictures! I hope it wasn't to boring.

And thanks Callie for letting me borrow your camera ;)!

A Pilot

We bought a Honda Pilot! This has been my car of choice for the last few years. Jon does not like SUVs, but after a few years, he warmed up to the idea ;) And since I will be the main driver, the car fanatic let me choose. Isn't he great :)

We have had a hard time fitting in the Civic. Its ok for staying around town, but if we ever want to go camping or go out of town on the weekend, or even take anyone with us, or buy something at Home Depot we struggle to fit.

One time we went to buy a hose reel, a latter, rake and some other home supplies, and forgot that Jon's snow tires were still in the trunk. In trying to fit it all in we moved Zac's carseat over to the smaller fold down seat, folded the 60% of the back seat down. Put the passenger seat all the way up where Jon sat while holding the hose reel, while I drove with the steering wheel slighly pushing in to my 7 month pregnant belly. But we made it home safely with all our stuff.

And it happens to be the color I wanted! Its a 2006. Sorry the pictures aren't the best.



Now to sell the Bimmer. . . Anyone interested? Its great looking car!

Mother's Day

I have a tendency to talk about all the hard things about being a Mother, but I just want everyone to know that I love it. There isn't anything else I would rather be doing with my life right now.

Here are some things, just off the top of my head, that I love about being a mom:

*Watching the boys try new things and learn new things
*Watching them have success with those new things and being the first to applaud them
*Watching them sleep
*Being able to comfort and cuddle them when they get hurt
*Reading children's stories and looking at picture books
*Sharing my favorite kids' books with them like, "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs", "Love You Forever" and the "Little Critter" books
*An excuse to have Disney a part of our home and entertainment
*Getting to buy little kids things, that would be pure indulgence if it weren't for them (a frog lantern, bug catchers and cute little shoes)
*Giggling with them
*Having talks before bedtime about whatever is on Zac's mind
*Getting to know their personality
*Having a baby's room in the house
*Laying out all day next to the kiddie pool
*Going to the library-story time
*Going to the park and teaching Zac how to use the monkey bars and the fire pole
*Cuddling with Max before putting him to bed
*Singing to them and knowing they don't care or know how bad I sing
*Not feeling childish for buying snack puddings and goldfish
*Always having a toy car in my purse
*How date nights and girls nights are SOO much more fun because I know what a break it is
*Going to the pool 1-3x a week in the summer
*Shopping for their clothes, toys, and room decor
*Being able to go to lunch and not be alone, and eat a kids meals

This Mother's Day was so enjoyable! The boys made me the perfect breakfast in bed and got me flowers, and this cute mug, and an electric toothbrush (which I have been wanting for months).






Then at church the youth and priesthood took over all the primary classes, so I got to enjoy the Gospel Doctrine Sunday School class and Relief Society. It was perfect.

Then we went to my parents for steak dinner and homemade Lemon Ice Cream (my mom loves all things lemon) and we got to talk to Elder Kolb on the phone. It was really good to talk to him. He is doing great! Keep up the good work Elder! We love you!

Blogging is tricky without a camera. My mom let me borrow her camera for all these last posts. Thanks Mom!

More Jumbo Clothes Pins

This year, with my Reunion trip and reconnecting to my life after I finishing babysitting, Mother's Day really sneaked? (how about snuck.. but that isn't a word is it?..sneaked just sounds off...) sneaked up on me.

I didn't get a package out til the Tuesday after. So I wanted to wait to post this until after the package arrived.

I also made the jumbo clothes pins for my moms.


These are what the backs look like.


This one is double-sided. The back side is designed upside down so it can hold a music book open while playing the piano.


The backs

These were a lot more time consuming than I anticipated, but they were fun to make. I especially like the mirror birds.

Last Day of Preschool

Sorry for back posting. I really have no excuse, except I forgot I had pictures for this.

Zac went to preschool this year and LOVED it! He only went from January through April, but it was something he looked forward to every week. He always did his homework and enjoyed it. He seemed to like the math stuff more than the letters. He made some friends and enjoyed the independence.

Since his Birthday is in August they celebrated his Birthday on the last day of class. He got to bring his favorite toy and book for show and tell. He brought a remote control car, and the book, "Where the Wild Things are". He also got to bring treats, chocolate pudding!

They also had a pizza pajama party on the last day. These are his favorite pajamas :)


Also for his special day, we made a poster about himself. It was fun to put it together and look back through his pictures.

I have seen these cute, jumbo/oversized clothes pins and have wanted to make them for a while. This was the perfect reason to jump on that. We gave these to his teacher as a thank you gift.


I love the ruler ribbon! The red one has cursive upper case and lower case letters on the paper. It was really fun to pick out these supplies.

Girls Weekend Reunion

This weekend I went to a reunion with girls from my Freshman year of college. It was a blast! This is the first time I have ever done anything like this, and gone on a trip with no kids or husband. It was sooo much fun! I did miss my family, but it was so nice to just be me. And not have to worry about all my other responsibilities.

We all met during Y groups after moving into the seventh floor in T-Hall of Deseret Towers on BYU campus. It was one of the best years of my life. Twelve of us have stayed in contact over the years. Once or twice a year whomever is close will get together for a girls night or for lunch.

(I stole these stats from Lisa's Blog. I hope you don't mind Lisa . . .)

Some stats about the 12 of us:
We all graduated with a bachelors degree
1 is in the process of getting her doctorate
1 has her masters (I think)
1 is almost done with her masters program
1 served a full time mission for the LDS church
5 of us have kids (2 each)
2 are pregnant with their first, both due on the same day, both having boys
1 is starting the adoption process
10 of us are married (all in the temple), ranging from 6+ years to less than a year
1 has already retired from a successful career
1 is starting her own business
5 live in Utah
2 in California
1 in Texas
1 in Idaho
1 in Maryland
1 in Washington
1 in Arizona

We all met up in Arizona where one of the girls lives. I flew out on Thursday evening and happened to be on the same flight as Reina. It was so nice to have a "flying buddy". I was a little anxious about seeing everyone and hoping it wouldn't be too awkward since it had been so long since we'd all seen each other. But seriously there was nothing to worry about. It was like we hadn't been apart. We just continued on as if no time had passed. It was so fun to see everyone and catch up.

We stayed at a Marriott Resort. I had never stayed at one before. It was soo nice! After settling in we all headed to the hot tub.

Top row: Karly, Meredeth, Natalie, Reina
Bottom row: Me, Shauna, Lisa, Emily, Jennie, Rachel
Maren is taking the picture

Then the next day we spent a lot of the day at the pool. I got a bit sun burned. Doesn't that always happen on the first day?!

I LOVE eating at the poolside. We had a light lunch at the pool and the other half went to lunch off the resort.

Then we all got ready and went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. We met up with 2 more girls from Freshman year too. Brooke (my roommate) and Gladriel (Maren's roommate). It was so fun to see them too.

Left to Right: Brook, Me, Maren, and Gladriel

Brooke and Me

The next morning we decided to wake up very early, 6a, and go hike Camelback Mountain. It's just over a mile up, but I was surprised at how rigorous it was. There were a couple places where it is so steep that there are railings to help you up.

And other parts where the rocks were easier to climb by just using your hands. I would say if this was anymore rigorous it would be rock climbing! There were some crazy people that would hike it 3 times in a row, 6 days a week! And others that went as fast as they could, jumping around like a mountain goat! We saw a couple different guys on the way up and on the way down when we saw them they were going up again!

We all made it. It was challenging for me. But it felt good to conquer it :)

There were GREAT views-360 degrees!
I think this is looking out to the Phoenix area.


Then after the hike we went to spend the rest of the time before check out at the pool.

This is all of us, minus Giselle who couldn't make it. We missed you Giselle!

Pinacoladas by the pool

After check out 3 girls headed home. And the rest of us went to Meredeth's house for another day. We went and got Golden Spoon frozen yogurt and then some of us got pedicures, we got take out from Rumbi and ate and chatted by the pool, until it got dark and then spent and hour trying to decided what chic-flick to watch. We were all so tired and couldn't make decisions, it was pretty funny! :) Then Sunday morning I flew home.

Did you know they have R.O.U.S.'s in Arizona? Otherwise knows as Javelina's...not pigs...


It was a super fun trip and I can't wait til the next one! Thanks girls!!

And thank you Jon for making this all possible. Thank you for taking on the stay-at-home parent role.

Jon also went to the nursery and bought flowers and completed the planter in the backyard, it looks great! He took the boys to the mall where Zac got to meet McGruff the Crime Dog. Zac got his picture taken and fingerprints done. Then Jon picked up his brothers, Dave and Jason for a guys night (with the kids). They listened to music, watched the NBA playoffs and ate junk food! I'm glad Jon got to have a little bit of fun between running all over town and dragging the kiddies along ;)