Light Reading

I think I got a little ambitious at the library this week.

(So far I am not recommending any of these books since I haven't read them. Read them at your own risk.)

Kid Stuff

Little Einsteins. Can it be any cuter? I just love it. I love that Ellie loves it and she loves the music. She sings the songs all the time. Classical music with words? Yes! Just too cute! My other kids won't probably admit it to anyone else, but they will sneak in to watch it with her too. Gotta love it! So many kids shows are so annoying and kids actually get dumber watching them, but not Little Einsteins! Go Little Einsteins!

On another subject, how lame is it that I pretty much know all the words to all the songs on Radio Disney? Pretty lame. But I don't mind that my kids listen to it!



The kids are back on track today! Phew! I don't think we could handle another day of "family bonding!" And now it finally feels like I can get back on a schedule and a handle on life again. (I hope, oh I really do hope so!) Ellie starts Preschool in 2 weeks! I am giddy! 8 fabulous hours a week all to myself. All by myself. I like the sound to that.

Homestyle Camping

Images of a campfire, dutch oven cobbler, hiking, games, tents and nature had filled our heads. We were going to finally go camping in the great outdoors! We made the reservations at Golden Gate State Park. We made the (long) list of supplies and food that we needed to go and have a great time. I was actually excited! So were the kids! So was Taft! But what the heck? It started to rain, rain and rain some more. The weather forecast said it would only be in the 40's where we were going. Um, no! We would not camp in that. Can we said mud and ick and "family bonding time" in a 14x14 space. Not so fun. So we decided we needed to stay home. Booo. We thought it would be okay enough at home to roast the hot dogs and make peach cobbler and s'mores in our backyard. That wasn't even going to happen. I think it has been raining for like 36 hours now! Where do we live? This can't be Denver weather. We always get to see the sun. So we did the best next thing. We ate dinner at Olive Garden (doesn't that just say camping to you?) and came home to have a family movie night.

We watched College Road Trip and it was actually pretty cute for all of to watch. For our intermission we made indoor s'mores and they actually looked like the real thing! We just broiled them up. And yum!


We set up the 4 man tent (who are we kidding, how would you fit 4 MEN into that thing?) and we let Brayden, Kennedi and Carter dream happily and pretend they were in the mountains.



And how nice for me, I got to sleep in my comfy king bed and not freeze. But I am still sad we didn't get in a camping trip in this year. We will just have to make it first on our list for next summer. Here is to next year!

Family Family Summer Trip

Hanging in the shade at Bear Lake, ahhh.

This has taken me long enough! I have been home for 1 1/2 weeks now and need to document our Utah/Idaho trip. It was wonderful, wonderful, wonderful to see ALL our family! I loved that we got to see every single person from both my family and Taft's. We headed out early Friday morning so we could make it to Bear Lake to play for a few hours before heading back to Logan. I love love love Bear Lake. It is just beautiful and shallow so far out, so it is perfect for kids. What could be better than blue water, nice sand and cousins? One thing I could do without is the wind. But it wasn't too bad. My family was all there and had already been there for about 3 1/2 hours already so it was all set up with shade and fun. I was wishing we could stay in a cabin like we had the last 2 years, but it was too crazy this year for everyone.

Pretty in Pink- Ellie, Grandpa and Juliana


Cool Dudes- Brayden, Josh, Jace

We got to stay at Kristen and Phil's newly remodeled house. It is so nice! I got a little kitchen envy ;) but I think I didn't step over the coveting line. Karen and Doug are working hard to get their house built and it is looking so nice! I am excited for them to get done, they have had to work so much, but have done a great job. We celebrated Jace's and Nick's birthdays with a yummy steak BBQ. We got to go to church with the Hales and it was nice that Kristen is the nursery leader so Ellie would go. Later that night is when we went to Josh's Eagle Court of Honor with the whole family.

All 16 of the grandkids! 7 girls, 9 boys

I love my neices and nephews they are so great. They are so great with my kids. The older girls treat Kennedi so good! They will play with her and make her fit right in. They also are so cute with Ellie and keep up with her antics. I don't even have to worry about her.

Ellie made me laugh when she was around Baby Tyson. She wanted to help out so bad and would push Patrea's hands away so she could change his diaper and help him with his clothes. One day when he was fussy she said "He is a little bit creepy." Huh? I finally figured out that I think she meant he was a litte bit cranky.

Monday morning after my quick stop to Hair Product store (Kristen has a license and we can get product cheap, thanks!) and after Taft golfed his best game we headed out to Cascade Idaho. We were lucky enough to meet up with Todd and Kat so we could follow them up. Taft and Todd got to talk on their HAM radio's to each other so that made them happy. We had to go through quite the windy roads to get to the cabin we all rented by Cascade Lake, but it was spectacular scenery.

Grandma handing out her fun gifts to the kids

Crystal did an amazing job finding the cabin for all of us. It was perfect. So close to the lake and so big to fit us all. It was so fun to see all of Taft's family and to play and hang out together. We miss them all! We finally got to meet cutie pie Talmadge and see Mackenzie for the 2nd time only. Such cute kids. The cabin had a theater for fun movie viewing and a ping pong table and air hockey table. There was lots of grass in the back too. Perfect for kids playing all over. And the adults too! I think one of the funnest things we did at the cabin was to play the Newlywed game that Dianna set up for us. It was just wonderful for all of us to get away and spend time together.

We spent a little time at the lake and played around. Drew was the fun uncle and would toss the kids into the water. Kennedi was a fish and was swimming all over the place. She didn't want to get out. Ellie and Paige were cute and matchy matchy. (Gotta love Target!)

I need to steal some pictures from Todd and Kat. They have all the big family photos that turned out pretty good! Good to get a new pic with all the family again.

The time at the cabin went by so fast and we wished we could stay for longer. We will definately have to do something like that again. Taft's family was so nice and planned all the food for us traveling folks. Yum! I felt bad not helping out more though.

Ellie found the dress up earrings!

We went back to Boise and got to stay at Grandma's house. The kids had fun and love her dog, Baxter. The kids just played played played. The adults took shifts and got to see the new Batman movie. It was good, but I guess I am getting more sensitive, the violence almost got the best of me. But it was nice to go out to the movies since I don't think I have been to the theater for over a year!

Larry and Sherri invited us over to their pool and it was fantastico! It was so fun to have everyone in the pool and the kids had a blast. Ellie finally got a little more comfortable and actually would let me hold her and walk around the pool. She loves to swim ONLY if her feet can touch the ground. She HATES to float in the pool so it was nice that she got better about it.

Andra and Kennedi- The great 8's.

We went to Kimberly and Matt's house one night for dinner. They had a little blow up pool and Ellie dove right in, clothes and all. So we just stripped her down to her underwear and she had fun. It was funny to see Mackenzie and Ellie interact. Ellie loved her a little too much! Poor little girl. :) She was strong though.

Dianna and I stayed up until almost 3 one night! I miss our late night talks. And it made me miss family even more. She shared some plant starts for our yard and so far so good! Thanks! We had a wonderful time and loved spending time with all our family. We miss everyone even more now though. The Arnell's and Grandma were sweet enough to let Brayden stay for an extra whole week and Brayden and Austin bonded even more. That was so nice for Brayden. How lame is it that I don't have any pictures of them together? If I did, you would probable see Mario Kart or basketball playing in the back. (I thought I did have some pics of them playing basketball... I can't find them, I hope I didn't delete them!)

Well phew! I think that is about all I will write! It is plenty long! Just one more thing,

Our Whole Family Rocks!

8-8-08 isn't it Great?

I love this date! I have said before how I like cool numbers and this is one of them. But today is even more special. Hello Summer Olympics! Today is the start to 17 days of feeling patriotic and proud. It is so amazing to watch the athletes compete. I wasn't that excited to have the Olympics in Beijing, but it has been awesome to see what they have done with their buildings for the Olympics. It is always interesting to see a different culture. I really need to start traveling the world. I have been in such a sheltered life it would be amazing to step out into the world and see how others live.

So far the Opening Ceremonies are spectacular! They really know how to spend their money!

How cool is the Bird's Nest Stadium?

And what about the watercube? Wowza!
I would love to swim there.

Good luck USA athletes! I will be cheering you on!

Good Bye Hot Tomale Train

So I have a guilty pleasure. It is watching "So You Think You Can Dance." Well I guess it WAS a guilty pleasure. The season finale was last night. Booooo. It was the only good thing to watch all summer and now it is gone. SYTYCD made me wish I was a dancer. Or at least have a big stage to jump and leap and twirl all over. Man those guys are in shape! The only problem I have with the show is that I would love to watch it with my kids, but the costumes are so dang provocative that I don't dare to have my kids watch. Dang Hollywood.

So patiently I now wait for "Lost," "The Office," and "Heroes" to come back into my life. I live a sad life. :) (Not really, but those shows are awesome!)

I Love Corn on the Cob

I do, I admit it, I love corn on the cob. We got the first batch of yummy buttery goodness when we stopped through at my parents house. The corn is still a little early but it was oh so yummy! So now when we got home I tried some fresh corn from the store. It was yummy but not the same as fresh from the garden. I loved Ellie's reaction to it. "Mmmm, delicious!"

A few summers ago we tried to grow corn. It was ummmm, interesting. Our soil is still kind of lame and the corn grew pretty small, but there was cobs on it. We were excited to eat our own grown corn, but one morning I went out to check the garden. The corn stalks were all smashed to the ground. At first I was mad at the kids thinking they had wrecked the garden. But upon further investigation I noticed the cobs had been ripped off the stalks, opened and eaten. What the heck! They weren't even ready. We finally decided that rascally raccoons had gotten into the garden. Dang rodent raccoons! The next year the raccoons didn't get to our corn but we probably only got like 4 cobs to eat on our small stalks, and you know what? They were delicious! I was too lazy this year to plant. But I think I will have to try again next year. Hopefully those varmints are gone for good.

And that is my ode to corn on the cob. The end.

More Scouting Greatness

Phew! I am back. We have been out of town visiting family and having fun. I will post about that later. But back to stuff that happened before we left.

Brayden made a great scouting step. He finished his Webelos and received his Arrow of Light. I am proud of him and everything he learned in Cub Scouts. He is a Boy Scout now and doing great. Sometimes scouting is a pain, but it really is a great program and can teach the boys so much. So a cheer for scouting, yeehaw!


While we were visiting in Utah, my oldest nephew received his Eagle Scout! Go Josh! It was really great that we were all there to see him at his Court of Honor. He is a great example to Brayden and I think it will help Brayden to want to earn his Eagle too. What is funny is that my Dad and all the bro-in-laws never got their Eagle. Josh's uncles and grandpa on the Hale side didn't get theirs either. So he is the first in hopefully a long line of Eagle Scouts.



We have missed a lot of important events with family members over the years since we have moved away. It always makes me want to live closer to family when we are visiting. All the nieces and nephews are such great kids and I love their examples to my kids. I miss all the family! Love you all!