Beautiful Utah Mountains

While in Utah we spent an evening up in the Canyon-

- just 15 minutes from my parents home.
We enjoyed horseback rides, Grandma's famous friend chicken, gorgeous scenery, the cool mountain air and lots of cousins!
The perfect way spend to spend a summer evening!

I went with Mindy to her Dr apt just hours before to find out what she is having this December! Have you announced it yet Mindy? That was so fun to be there! That little one looked adorable already!!

Coleman goofing around with Uncle Matt's crutches...
Two of the '3 Amigos'(three boy cousins born within weeks of each other)
--we missed you Gabe!

The only way I could get a picture of little Jack--he had to sit still sandwiched in the saddle with his Daddy! That darling boy is BUSY!

And here is evidence that the 'apple doesn't fall far from the tree'...Wesley packing around some of his Daddy's Louis Lamour cowboy books!

Grandpa--loving those boys "big as the sky!"


and one last shot....My baby (who hates being called that) holding a baby:)
Isn't that little Logan a doll?!

oh how we miss ya'll!! XOXOXO

Hiking the Y and some Y fun facts

Little did I know what I was in for when I took this picture at the base of the famous Y Moutain in Provo Utah. Let me just say that it was MUCH harder than I remember it being when I hiked it as a freshman at BYU.

It was very steep! A couple of times I had to rescue the children

(Just Kidding Grandmas:)

Seriously I was exhausted! I think I need to start running again. The boys had me at a very fast pace--I kept "suggesting" we slow down to "enjoy the views" and take water breaks!

Look at that view!!

We were so proud of ourselves until we met this seriously old guy who does it for his daily exercise. He says it is the fountain of youth. He also told us that you burn 1000 calories on this hike. I am not so sure about a 1000, but...


with that in mind we treated ourselves to BIG ice cream cones at the BYU creamery (home of the BEST ice cream west of the Mississippi). OK I am not sure if that is true--but it is REALLY good!
As we ate our ice cream the boys informed me that it is now a family tradition to hike the Y everytime we go to Utah--summer or winter! I guess I better start getting into shape!




Fun Y Facts
*In 1906 the Junior class at BYU wanted to paint a big 07 on the Mountain. This of course upset the Seniors and so the Y president suggested painting BYU on the mountain instead.
*By Spring of 1907 the letters we "mapped" out on the mountain and a line of high school and college students and faculty made a bucket brigade to get buckets of lime, sand, and rocks up the mountain to fill in the letters. After 6 hours of hard labor only the Y was filled, so filling in the other two letters was postponed and later abandoned all together.
*The large white Y on the side of the mountain has become the nationally recognized insignia for BYU and the reason why BYU is often called "the Y". It is made of concrete and is 380 feet high and 130 feet wide (116 by 40 m). No other college in the United States has a larger symbol, in fact, the Y is even larger than the letters in the "Hollywood sign" in California

Fine Summer Days

I am realizing that the best things in life are the small and simple stuff.

One morning my crew was eating their bowls of Life cereal when they got a crazy idea. Next thing I knew they were all jumping on the trampoline and running around with the sprinklers on, throwing their t-shirts to the wind and laughing it up!

I went to pick up my Coleman from our old neighborhood one afternoon and found the most lovely sight.
A group of children were gathered around in a circle chatting and laughing together. They had found a perfect spot in the cool shade to escape the heat of the day. They were so content in each others company on a lazy summer afternoon, I wanted to join them--Cannon did!

One of the happiest evenings for me was a night with my two little puppies--Bridger and Cannon. My older boys were gone enjoying late nights with friends.
So the three of us jumped on the tramp, played silly games in the yard, stopped by the snow shack for yummy cones with "buried treasure" (gummy worms) and ended the night with a warm bubble bath. As I tucked in my two sweet smelling boys all slathered with Burts Baby Bee lotion (my favorite) I knew that even though there was nothing too special about this day, I would always remember it. It was simple but so sweet!

My little "twins" seem to get closer to the same size everyday!

They grow so fast--too fast! I feel like I need to savor my time with these little toddlers while it lasts.

PS We are on the road home again to beautiful TN. Pray for us...this is a LOOOONG drive with five boys, let me tell ya!

a Seriously FUN game

(Please ignore the face my new teenager is pulling. He all of a sudden hates pictures and loves to torment his Mother with weird faces whenever possible)

I love LOVE to see my boys playing happily together. My older boys rode their ripsticks to Kohlers (local grocery store) and picked up Powerade and Airhead treats for an afternoon of "Take Two". A pretty sweet sight for me.
And, let me tell you that game is SERIOUSLY fun! Wanna play?

Directions for Take Two:
1. Lay out all the scrabble tiles straight on the table (leave the board in the box)
2 Turn them over and shuffle the tiles
3. Each player takes 7 tiles.
4. When you saw go--everyone turns over their seven tiles and tries to combine their own seven to make words--the same form as scrabble. Up and down --words sharing letters etc. Same word rules apply as in No names etc.
5. When a player uses all their given tiles to make interconnecting word they say "take two" --or take one if you have a big group playing.
6. Everyone then tries to use their two new letter tiles. When a player does he yells "take Two" again and everyone takes two more word tiles.
7. Game is over when someone uses all their tiles in words and there is not enough tiles left for everyone to take one. The tiles that you have not used count against you --just add up the numbers on the tiles.

Our Temple

A trip to Utah is not complete without a day at beautiful Temple Square.

Sweet cousins--one cute girl and six boys! My goodness, boys must run in the family!!

In the Joseph Smith Memorial Building the boys were standing in awe of the huge statue when one of the guides told them that Goliath is believed to be 3 inches taller. Grandpa had just told them the story of David and Goliath a few days earlier and he is master storyteller!

I had to get a shot with my boys in the very spot their Daddy proposed to me almost 15 years ago. Look what we have done!!

I think the boys favorite part of the day was riding the train (really just the public transit TRAX)

We went with Grandma Beth and Aunt Judy, but somehow they managed to stay out of all the pictures. Thanks for the happy day--we love you!!

4th of July Celebrations

Our Fourth of July celebrations started with a pancake breakfast and bike parade in our old neighborhood. Seriously FUN!

Coleman borrowed a bike from one his old buddies and Bridger hitched a ride with his bud McKay.
Grandma and Cannon waiting for the show to start:)

That night the boys opted out of going to a big fireworks show--for the "Street of Fire" with all of our old neighbors. We enjoyed a fantastic show while passing around a big bag of salt water taffy and lighting millions of sparklers for the little people. Good times:)

Off to Scout Camp...again

( Connor ready for scout camp in TN last month)

My oldest is a true scouter so when he was invited to go to scout camp with his old troop here in Utah he jumped at the opportunity.

He looked so spiffy this morning in full uniform. In Tennessee his troop doesn't ever require the boys to wear their full uniform--so I enjoyed the sight of all these cute young men looking so sharp. Too bad Connor did not want me snapping pictures:) not cool, ya know?

Two scout camps within a month is a little crazy but he was so excited,

and that makes me happy! This camp he has signed up for a wilderness survivor merit badge--which requires one night out on their own. I am a little nervous about that , but not Connor. He can't wait.

I really LOVE scouting. This is the mission statement from the Boy Scouts of America website:

The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law.

Scout Oath
On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.

Scout Law
A Scout is:
Trustworthy
Loyal
Helpful
Friendly
Courteous
Kind
Obedient
Cheerful
Thrifty
Brave
Clean
Reverent

Who wouldn't want that for their boys? I hope that all 5 of my sons will embrace scouting and earn their Eagle just like their Daddy:) Hopefully, I can make it thru all those stinky smelly boys coming home from campouts! Ugh!

The Best and the {worst} of Vacation

THE BEST:

It fills me with JOY to look out the kitchen window to this happy scene... My boys were having so much fun jumping with Grandma and Grandpa and several of their cousins the other evening. When I went out to snap these pictures, Cannon came running up to me saying "Dis is sooo fun!" while punching his chubby little fist in the air with exclamation!


Inside Coleman and several of his Aunts and Uncles were gathered around Logan while he ate his jar of sweet potatoes.
It made my heart ache just little that this wasn't a normal everyday occurence to be surrounded by lots of family that love you so much! Just hanging out together, kissing each others babies and laughing at all our' littles' running around.

Sweet, and then..

THE WORST:

When out of no where your perfectly sweet children turn into serious stinkpots for no real reason. Ugh I would like to blame those embarrassing melt down and moody moments on the excitement of being here, and the lack of sleep from staying up too late having fun.

What is it about vacation that brings out the worst behaviors?

Maybe they do the same thing at home, but there it just seems normal and they get those lovely timeouts or the behavior gets ignored and chalked up to being a kid. When you are visiting people that you only see once a year, I think I expect my children to be perfect little angels ALL THE TIME.

Uh, yeah, I think my expectations are maybe a bit too high.

Oh well, that's life -the best and the worst-and I'll take it!

Hopefully we will all remember {please}the happiness and not the tantrums:)

Happy Anniversary to us and the Zermatt

We celebrated 14 years together on the 29th by sneaking off to the Marriott in Downtown Salt Lake City for a night. We had a view of the temple we were married and sealed in, right out our window!

To learn more about the temple click here.

Brad called it "Kid Detox" after that LONG roadtrip! It was fun to get away, have a nice dinner, sleep in and enjoy each others company.

We came home to pick up the boys and head up to Midway to hang out with my brother's family at his townhome at the Zermatt. It is beautiful up there!

We especially loved our company!

(Bridger and baby Logan)

Uncle Matt insisted on taking Connor and TJ fishing even though he just had major surgery on his broken ankle (8 screws and a plate in there) ! What a great Uncle!

While fishing with his broken leg fresh out of surgery Uncle Matt got a nice big hook stuck in his finger while getting the boys set up. He had to go get it cut out at an instacare. I am telling you, that guy has had the worst luck this week! We sure love you Matt! Thanks for sharing your awesome place with us and taking the boys fishing! XOXO

PS

I was just thinking... I know he was in a lot of pain--but I really never heard my brother complain. He has always been like that. He is one tough guy and chooses to have fun and be happy no matter! I love that about him.

Ok I must go to sleep now! I am enjoying my daily little accounting of our trip in this blog though! It is a nice way to end the day:)

Next up: Coleman turns eight tomorrow!!! We have big plans!