What an Adventure Today Turned Out To Be

Today started out like any normal day. Slept in a little too late and had to run to Costco. As we were getting ready for Costco Farren was teasing me and I squirted him with a spray bottle I was using on hair. That meant war and soon it was 4 vs. 1 (all of them against me) I ran and locked myself in the bathroom and they got in anyways. Lots of water later, I ended up getting the shower turned on me and my bathroom was under water. I grabbed Kyson and tossed him in the tub and soaked him, teaching him NEVER team up against Mom!! LOTS of fun, but a huge mess!!!!!

On the way home from Costco I decided I wanted to go on a "scenic" drive through the Alpine Loop. For those unfamiliar with this, it is a long drive through a steep and winding canyon where you end up no where near where you started. BEAUTIFUL drive.

RING RING Kyson's friend Jace calling to play, so we checked him off of the list of attendees for the day. Husband needs to sleep; check him off too. It is just the girls and myself. Off we go. About 10 minutes from home (and nowhere near the Alpine Loop) I chicken out at the thought of doing that drive alone, though I don't know why since even if there were another adult, I'd still be the one driving.

Hmmm... where to go, where to go.... I decide to go up Emmigration Canyon and connect to I-80 and go into Park City for an Ice Cream Cone from Rocky Mountain Chocolate. I jump on the freeway and head toward Emmigration Canyon. The kids are just sure we are heading to the zoo, and they were not very excited about it. (We use to do the zoo weekly when they were smaller, and our zoo, well, it just sucks) We pass the zoo and the girls are now very curious as to where we are heading. I tell them Park City for Ice Cream and all is good in the world.

We have a game we play, where we point out houses and see who would like to live there. Sometimes they are giant houses nestled in the trees, other times they are tiny little cottages, and sometimes a tin box. Sometimes we would all like to live there, and sometimes none of us would. Sometimes we are split half and half on the decision and we decide even though it isn't wonderful or even well built, living in our house, all together is the best place to be.

I have never driven all the way up this particular canyon before, so I purposely miss our turn-off and continue up. Higher and higher we climb, I had no idea there were homes up so high back there. We get to the dead end and turn back around, this time making sure to take this turn off that I have HEARD leads toward Park City, but I really don't know this for certain. After a few minutes we see a "Scenic Turnoff" and pull into it. A beautiful view of a small reservoir. We get out and take a few pictures. Aspen mugs for the camera and we are off again, this time winding downhill.

We come to a T in the road and this water is right in front of us. Left or right?? Well, I know Park City is left, so let's head left. Very quickly I knew I should have gone right, but I figured why not? Lets keep going. So we did. We kept going, and going and going. Climbing up a winding road. I see a pull off, and we turn into it. The view is beautiful. I see a sign for a trail head, and we were at "Mormon Pioneer Trail" The girls wanted to hike, but I was in sandals, we had no water, it was hot out, and we have been having some big storms over the last few days so we made it a very short hike.

On our way back to the van there were some other people who had turned in. I asked them if they knew where the road lead if I were to keep following it. They said we were almost to the town of Morgan and then the freeway was right there. We thanked them and continued on in the same direction we had been going. (almost to Morgan my butt) We drove and drove and drove and started a decline. I passed my camera back to the girls and they had a blast taking pictures of all sorts of things. These are some of their shots.

We were all thirsty and I saw a sign saying "Old Country Store" so we kept an eye out for a store. It wasn't just a store, there is a whole resort up there that I had no idea existed. East Canyon Resort. It looks like SO much fun. I grabbed a pamphlet and unfortunately it appears to be a timeshare property, but I would LOVE to take the kids up and spend a week there. We grabbed our drinks from the store (yes, I gave in and let the girls have a drink in the car, but it had to be Sprite so it would clean up easily if there was a spill) Off we go again.

Up ahead was a huge reservoir, East Canyon Reservoir. The girls asked if we could go there next time, but it looked like their beach area was all rock and it is more for boating then sand castles and swimming. Shortly after passing the reservoir we came upon this house. Or, what use to be a house. I think it is beautiful, but we all voted NO, we would not like to live in it.

WELCOME TO HENEFER UTAH-POPULATION 702

Henefer? I had NO clue where we were, and I certainly hadn't seen Morgan which we had been assured was super close (that was LONG ago) We continue up this road, passing the Rodeo Stands and some houses. This road comes to a T as well. It is a GOOD thing the van has a navigation system in it. At this point I had no idea if I was facing North, East, South, or West. After checking it, I see we are facing North. I figured we were pretty far East so we turned left, careful not to run over all the ATVs driving around town. I don't think we passed an actual car, but we passed plenty of people on ATVs.

Quickly I saw a sign for the Interstate and we hopped on that. Soon we started seeing signs for Morgan (ya know, that town we were "super close to" ) We passed Morgan (or maybe it was before Morgan) and I saw another sign for a "scenic view pullout" This pull out was only about 100 feet long and narrow, so I was nervous pulling into it from the highway, but we did. Just as I tell the girls I have NO clue what we are looking for I see it. It is called Devil's something. We hop out of the car to take a quick look (there is a sidewalk) Just as I am thinking this would make a really cool waterfall, Aspen says that exact same thing. Another car is pulling in, so back into the van we go. We are OFF.

Just Moments later I hear from the back seat, "Mom, that sign says Rest Stop 1 mile. Can we stop?" It is Aspen (Sage was abnormally quiet today) I ask if she REALLY has to go because rest stops just gross me out. She says she does so I pull into it and we all go in together. That girl locked her stall door and couldn't get it undone. I would explain how to undo the lock (they are hard to move and tricky also) and she just couldn't get it. We do this a few times and she gets the lock free. After LOTS of soap and water we are on our way. Again.

Now it is starting to look familiar. I see the turn off we take when we go to Pineview and I know exactly where I am. The girls recognize it too, so our "adventure" is now just the same road they have taken too many times to count. They ask to pop in a movie, and they turn on Pooh's Heffalump Adventure (a Winnie the Pooh Halloween movie) They are content and I know it is definitely smooth sailing from here.

We arrive home at about 715 pm. We left our house about 245. We have a quick dinner and I go to pick up Kyson. We come home and the four of us go for a walk in the neighborhood. We stopped and chatted with neighbors, and a quick jaunt through the neighborhood took an hour. The kids got ready for bed and after a loud reading of Where The Wild Things Are (we always ROAR with the Wild Things) and a sweet reading of Love You Forever the kids were tucked into bed. It was a long day.

And I loved every minute of it.

Friday, July 30 2010

Yesterday we had so much fun!! The day started off slow, but ended great!! I had plans to take the kids to Cecret Lake or to Silver Lake. We headed out the door with plans to stop by my Mother's house for lunch with my brother, Victor, and his family, and also my sister Kristine and her two youngest kiddos. My Mom grilled steak and we had that along with salad and baked potatoes. (Kids enjoyed Turkey Dogs) Thanks Mom, it was DeLiSh!!

Zane, Sage, Kyson Aspen

But, my favorite part was snuggling the two newest additions to the family. Gretchen Sophia and Zander Jonathon. They are only a few weeks apart, and both just adorable. After lunch we all hung out and just spent time together. Sage and Aspen LOVED playing with their cousin Zane again since we don't see him as often as we use to now that I am not his daycare. It was lots of fun!!

Aspen with Zander

Zane loving on Zander.

Sage and Zander

Aspen and Gretchen (I promise she isn't dropping Gretchen)

Sage and Gretchen

Zander and Gretchen

After everyone else left, my kids were still playing, and I had a headache, so we opted to stay and play at Grandma's House rather than head to the lake for a hike. The kids went out on the tandem bike, and when they came in they STUNK. Poor Sage, you put her outside in the summer and she smells like a wet dog. So, my Mom and I ran to Walmart and bought them all clean clothes so I could toss them in the tub at Grandmas. We ended up getting them new jammies.

I bathed the kids and decided to put the girls hair in rags. Looking back, Aspens was a bit too short still, because the back rags just wouldn't stay in (and I have no after pictures because I forgot that also)

For months my Mom has talked about how much she loves the movie Julie and Julia. I hadn't seen it (shocker I know for all of you guys who know how much I enjoy a movie) so we popped it in. I liked it. Mom says that Meryl Streep should have gotten best actress for her portrayal of Julia Child instead of Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side, stating that Meryl did Julia perfectly, but, I am not familiar with Julia Child in any way other than knowing her name, so I can't compare. Maybe tonight I will find some old footage online and watch.

What started out as a quick stop by Mom's house was an all day affair. We didn't get home til 1130 last night!! Thanks Mom for having us for so long!

This morning we did our "Saturday Chores" and then I got in the mood to bake. We made a Lemon Chiffon Cake for dessert. (I made Santa Fe Chicken and Spanish Rice for dinner. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Lion House Cookbook. It ROCKS) I found these old pictures from a few months ago that I realized I hadn't shared, so I figure I will add them here as I write about our adventures in baking. The girls love making rolls. It is one of their favorite activities!!

After dinner we went back to my Mom's house for a game night. First we played Clue with everyone, then had a slice of my Lemon Chiffon cake for dessert. After that, the adults played Ticket To Ride. LOTS of fun and if you don't have it, I suggest you get it. I have the North American version, but I have heard that people enjoy the European version better. LOTS of fun!!

So I'm a Wee Bit Behind...,..

And I won't even go into details. If I come across pictures I will post them, but just so you all know we ARE still alive, I will give you a quick run down of the last 4 months.

April-
April 10 was Savannah's 3rd Birthday. So odd to imagine that it was 3 years ago that we said both hello and goodbye to our little girl. I remember every detail and every smell, it seems like just yesterday.

Aspen broke her elbow and had to have surgery. (well, actually just a hair above the elbow) She was jumping on the neighbors trampoline and got bounced off. OUCH. As often as I am taking pictures, I dont hve one picture from the whole time she had her cast on. (she chose orange by the way)

We got season passes to Lagoon, so we went a few times this year, not as many as we usually do with Apsens arm, but we still got lots of whirling twirling and sliding in!

May-
Farren, Kyson and Aspen all had birthdays!! It was also the start of the track season, and this year, all three kids ran track. They all did incredibly well, and at the all county meet (in July) Aspen took first in the 800 meter. That girl is a distance runner. She should give her Mama some lessons!! Luckily she got her cast off in time, she did NOT want to miss track!

June- June was incredibly busy with PTA activities at the school. The year end always is, and because we are year round, we do it all twice.

June 25th my adorable neice Gretchen was born. She is so sweet!

Farren and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. CRAZY to think it has been THAt long!! Love ya babe!!

July- The kids got out of school July 2 and we have been running ever since!!

July 3, Saturday afternoon Aspen fell asleep and basically didnt wake up til Tuesday morning. She wuold wake up and take a few steps, but that would exhaust her so much that she would lay down, right where she was and sleep for hours, even on the kitchen floor. She walked into the wall, but didn't seem to realize she had. We took her to the hospital and she was admitted. They ran every test they could think of, but could find no anwsers. Her only other symptom was a fever. She was still sleepy after Tuesday, napping 3 or so times a day, but soon got back to that silly little girl we know and love.

Kyson attended a Football Camp at BYU where all the coaches were past BYU players who had gone onto play in the NFL. He had a marvelous time and is already counting down the days til next year. Kyson is all about football, so this was perfect for him!

We have made quite a few trips up to Pineview REsivior this month, and that is ALWAYS a blast. We love playing in the sand and swimming in the lake. We have plans to go up next week and rent waverunners. We always pack a huge picnic (that hardly gets touched since we are playing so much) It is one of our favorite places.

Farren decided that our minivan that we had for the last 6 years was "on its last leg" So, the search began. We drove all sorts of vehicles, but we kept coming back to the same one. I know have a beautiful 2011 Toyota Sienna in my driveway. I love her, and especially love having seating for 8, where all 8 seats are real seats (lap only belts don't count as seats at our house because I don't let the kids sit there, so a lap only belt is really just wasted space) I wasn't wanting another minivan, but, considering we have plans to go to California numerous times in the next year, I needed something with better gas mileage than a fullsize SUV, and we couldn't find any midsize SUVs where we felt the back seat had adequate leg room for our growing family. (growing as in growing up, not as in growing by how many people)

The dealership we bought it at carries the name of an ex-Jazz player, karl Malone. He was coming into town to do a promo, and Kyson wanted to go so badly. I did NOT want to take him (bad Mom I know) Luckily, the kids slept at my Mom's house the night before he was to be here, and our friend Bill took the kids to meet Karl. Kyson proudly displays his signed bsketball. Thanks Bill!

July also brought about another new baby!! My little baby brother had a baby of his own! Zander Jonathon was born July 17th and is just so snuggly. His birth brings the total for Farren and I to 15 neices and 10 nephews.

Yesterday we took the kids to Snowbird to do all their summer activities. It was so much fun!!!! They had a wonderful time doing all the activities available!

We have also gone swimming many times, enjoyed the local parks and the Splashpad. We have really enjoyed our Summer so far, and all the good friends we get to spend it with!!

I have a hike planned for Cecret Lake tomorrow, but, considering it is already 1123 and Im usually in bed by 9, I'm not sure that will happen. Maybe we will have a game day or drive up to the park we love in Heber.

I will try and do better about updating this, more so for myself than for anyone else; I like looking back and seeing the fun things we have done over time.

A whole bunch of stuff.....

Because sometimes it can be a hassle to upload new pics from my CF to the computer, I don't do it very often!! So, I have quite a few things to tell about!

First, Sage started Kindergarten. She loves it, and we are in so much trouble with her. She always tells us what boys chased her that day, and there is one little boy in there who often tells her that if he walks past her just one more time he might have to hold her hand and that would make Sage his girlfriend. Oh boy she is 5. Here are some pictures of her that day with her best friend Jesi.

My sister Kristine planned a "family reunion" to plan future ones. She and her husband Joe brought up their rock climbing gear, and both girls climbed up the mountain in their harnesses. They did such a great job. Aspen wanted to go much higher, but we were worried since she doesn't weigh much that she wouldn't be able to repel back down. Kyson was too busy playing with Jaden so he didn't climb, but my cousin's kids climbed also. It was lots of fun, and I think we settled on Jackson Hole next August for a big family trip.

Kyson and Jaden

Aspen

Sage

Jasmine

Tri and Sage

Saturday night is usually "Family Movie Night" at our house (today is an exception) Sometimes we switch it to game night, but lately it has been movies. 2 weeks ago we decided to watch Pirates of the Caribbean. So I surprised the kids and for dinner I made pasta that was shaped like shells and homemade cheesey garlic bread. I cut the bread into slices and turned each slice into a sail boat. They were really cute. We drank Matey Milk, all on a bright blue tablecloth so we could be in the ocean. After dinner I gave Aspen a clue, and off they went on a treasure hunt. They were SO excited to figure out where the next clue would be hidden, that when they got to the treasure (snacks for the movie) they grabbed the paper out of the treasure and ran off to read it. No one even noticed the treats. It was hilarious, however, as Farren reminded me, now the kids want fun creative family nights each week, and watching bedtime Stories in jammies isnt going to cut it anymore. So, I will have to get creative and see what I can some up with!

The next morning I got up bright and early and started making applesauce again. We went to the Farmer's Market and bought 66 pounds of apples. This time I had an attachment for my Kitchenaid and it made it SO much easier!! Aspen was a trooper and stayed in there the whole time, feeding the apples into the machine, while I cut and cooked them, prepping them for Aspen to do. We have a LOT of applesauce. Even though it was easier, it was still a lot of work and very time consuming. However, with how fast we go through applesauce, it was well worth it. I also love the feeling of accomplishment that I get when I know I made something. Silly I know, but I still feel like I accomplished something.

Kyson cutting apples

Aspen feeding the machine

Sage feeding the machine

Cooking apples. See all that dark around my burner?

Well, that is all over now from the big pot you do the canning bath.

I have tried bleach, Mr Clean erasers, everything and I can't get it off.

HELP!!!!!!

All done! Red apples make for pink applesauce!

Today was the Walk To Remember, and I will post more about that later. Hope this catches us up a bit!

Catching Up

So I realize that I have been slacking on updating our family blog. Things have been SO busy, I guess it took a very small accident on my part to slow me down. I dont have any pictures because my camera is up in my closet and I just can't climb the stairs one more time today. However, we have been very busy and had lots to do.

Kyson is doing very well in school and LOVES catching all sorts of bugs to bring to his teacher. Tonight they found a snake, but when he came back from getting a jar to catch it, he was gone. Im sure Farren is VERY grateful that they didn't find the snake. He isn't too fond of them! Kyson had a sleepover with his cousin Jaden, and they had a blast.

Aspen is such a great helper and I just adore her. She excels at all she does, and always wants to try more things. At our Family reunion a few weeks ago, she rock climbed up the side of the mountain in a harness with her Aunt Kristine and her Uncle Joe. She has such a crush on Joe, it is adorable, and he is so sweet with her. I think it started at DisneyLand when she decided she wanted to hold his hand, ride things with him, and have him carry her when she was worn out. I just love this picture.

Sage is doing very well in Kindergarten and is beginning to read more words. She loves to help with the babies I have during the day and have tea parties. Her tea set is the best thing the Easter Bunny ever brought!!! On Thursday I took her and a lil guy I watch to the pool, and they had so much fun! She was so very proud of herself that she has grown enough to walk all around the pool (they have a separate lap pool) without her head going under. She loves the monkey bars, and her hands are torn to bits to prove it!

Farren is still looking for a job, and we hope the interview he has this coming week goes well. However, we are well aware that he is competing with over 6,000 other applicants.

I am doing well also. PTA and kids keep me busy. Thursday I had a small fall and badly sprained my ankle, but I can finally walk again. Kind of. It finally made me sit and do nothing for 3 1/2 days, though I read a good book and cleaned out my DVR. Thursday night my dear friend Tiffani kept the kids while we were at the doctor and also made us dinner. It was SO yummy, and as soon as I get a recipe from her I will share it. She says it is SUPER easy. All the kids were begging us for our portions. The kids also had peas, which I have never made because I don't like them. I need to be better about serving my children foods even if I don't like them. Sage apparently loves peas. She says Tiffani makes the BEST peas ever because she adds a little bit of salt. She also said she ate them with her hands because Britton (tif's adorable toddler) was. Tiff, I promise she has table manners!!!

I am starting to prepare for the Holidays, and they will be like no other we have ever had. Something tells me that will be a GOOD thing though!

I have also been more "domestic" lately. I made and canned strawberry jam (which is SO yummy a jar only lasts a couple days) and I also made and canned Applesauce with my Mom. She has all the pictures of that though. We had SO many apples, but they sure didn't make very much applesauce. We are going to pick more apples and make more sauce hopefully this week. It always seemed like so much work, and it is a lot of work, but the feeling of accomplishment when you hear your jars pop is so worth it!! I also am anxious to try a few other types of jams, and possibly canning my own spaghetti sauce. We shall see how adventurous I get!!