Staying busy...staying sane.

At first I thought we were out of our minds deciding to shut the cable down for the summer. After a few weeks though I am noticing that we hardly miss it. With all of the sports we have going on and all of the running around that we do every day it is nice to look around and see THIS when we have some down time:

 The boys were setting up their own "mini golf course" in the front room this morning. They even added a small water feature.....or a bowl they added green food coloring too an sprinkled a little paprika in it as well. Creative or strange....I'm not sure. ☺

No cable in the summer.....a surprisingly good thing! ☺

Back to the sports we've been so busy with. The oldest 2 boys had tennis lessons right before we left to go out of town. Parker and Dallin love to play tennis which is a good thing since it seems like EVERYONE plays here in Idaho Falls. I like that Dallin has a nice NO CONTACT sport that he enjoys and excels at. ☺

Landon and Parker have been playing baseball as well. Thank heavens Dallin decided to "retire" from baseball this year. It would have been too much having 3 going at once!

Please pardon the proud mommy moment but Mr. Parker is the ONLY 6 year old on a team of 8 year olds and one 11 year old. He hits better than most of them and yes...I am that strange mom in the stands BEAMING! He refused to play another year of t-ball and I don't blame him at all. After 3 years of t-ball he was more than ready to move up to machine pitch. It is SO much fun watching this teeny tiny guy step up to the plate and knock one to center field! It makes watching baseball a LOT more enjoyable for me anyway. Sidenote: Parker plays for the Braves which is fun to cheer for since that was my high school mascot. Yelling "Let's go Braves!" Yeah...it takes me back to the ol cheer days.

Mr. Landon plays for the Lightening Bolts. Is there anything cuter than watching a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds playing t-ball? I think not! Kids running the bases backwards, chasing butterflies, laying down in the outfield. Love it.

We've been so busy so far this summer. It's a good thing since I feel like I still don't have any really close friends here in Idaho Falls. It's just different here and even though I try so hard to make the best of things sometimes it gets kind of lonely. In Boise I had my family and friends who were ALWAYS going and doing fun things and here I feel like everyone kind of keeps to themselves. Whenever I think, "we should go to a movie, or the zoo or meet up for lunch" I can think of a dozen people I could call up in Boise but not so much here. It's a little disheartening since we have been here over a year now. I kept thinking that things would get better but I'm realizing now that it just is what it is. It makes me so grateful for my own little family....for my boys who are best friends with each other and for my sweet husband who puts up with my whining. It also makes me so grateful for my good friends who call me on a weekly basis to check up on me. So for now....we'll just keep playing hard and staying busy. Just me and my boys.

Alright...enough ranting! Positive thinking.....positive thinking. ☺

LP 2011

Lake Powell was so great this year. We had a smaller crowd which made it a little more laid back and quiet. I was able to read a couple of books and everyone could ski, tube, board, chair, surf, or skim to their hearts content! It was relaxing and enjoyable....or course there are always those very TENSE Lake Powell moments that go hand in hand with every Lake Powell adventure.

TENSE MOMENTS:
-A bat flew into the kitchen one night...my brother and his friends were screaming like a bunch of girls....no worries though, Staci stepped up to the plate with net in hand and removed the tiny bat without delay.
-Another night at about midnight and huge breeze came up from no where and blew the entire houseboat off of the beach, tangled the ropes in the motors and suddenly we found ourselves with the engines in the sand and the front of the houseboat was where the back was SUPPOSED to be! It was very intense and the adrenaline was pumping. Luckily within an hour and a half we got everything straightened out. It was crazy! --On our way back to the marina to leave the small boat (that my dad rented because he didn't want to take HIS wakeboarding boat down to Powell) wouldn't go into gear. We were out floating in the channel for 2 hours while the guys fixed the engine. It's a really good thing my dad can fix ANYTHING. He is incredible.
-Landon tripped on a rock and smacked the back of his head. Blood was everywhere but he survived without stitches.

PROUD MOMENTS:
My tiny Parker boy got up on skis the first time he tried and got up on a wakeboard on his 3rd attempt! This mama was SCREAMING her head off! It was AMAZING! When this kid gets his mind wrapped around something nothing will get in his way! I'd post the video but my out of control screaming is quite embarassing.

Both Parker and Dallin swam and climbed the crack this year!

They also climbed the famous "Hole in the Rock" where the pioneers came down with their handcarts and oxen. It's a 3/4 mile and not one person died. Pretty amazing.

My brother finally landed his back flip he has been working on for some time. He has been able to throw tantrums for years but the back flip has eluded him until now! He is so much fun to watch!

I officially became the very FIRST FEMALE ever initiated at Lake Powell. This is HUGE people!

And I actually surfed without the rope this trip! Oh so fun! I had to make my California husband back at home proud!

We caught or first large mouth bass EVER at Lake Powell!

And of course there were MANY fun fun times. We went scorpion hunting, cliff jumping, boat riding, had our Hawaiian party night, played the 3rd annual Red Rock challenge, swam, and skied and boarded until the sun came down! We had or usual initiation night and the boys were thrilled to finally become OFFICIALLY initiated!

25 years of Lake Powell...it's hard to believe. We've been coming here since I was a tiny girl and some of my all time favorite memories have been on this lake. I love that my children get to have those same memories. It was a great trip! I missed my husband but at the same time I didn't want to come home! Nothing better than being in a beautiful place with the people you love! ☺

We're baaaaack!

Whoa. After a whirlwind 2 weeks we're finally home! I was SO excited to get back home to my husband. That last night before our final stretch of road I could hardly sleep because I was SO excited to see him. I'm cheesy and I know it. 2 weeks seems like forever to be apart. Unfortunately his trial wasn't dismissed so he was stuck at home while we were off playing in the 90 degree temps. Poor Nate was stuck here dealing with horrible weather...and that included an afternoon of SNOW. In JUNE?? SERIOUSLY??

Let's go back...WAAAAY back. Our first leg of the trip took us down to St. George. En route we stopped at Kolob Canyon where were immediately attacked by bugs as soon as we stepped out of the car. These crazy flies were all over us...in our hair and buzzing right in our ears. Gahh!

Needless to say we drove in, got out of the car, snapped this pic and ran back to the car slamming the doors behind us.

When we got to St. George we went swimming at the condo before getting ready to meet up with the Starnes fam to see the Little Mermaid.

The show was absolutely positively AWESOME! I want to go again it was that good! It had water and fire effects, flying, people zipping all around on wheels so it looked like they were swimming underwater. It was fun as always to hang out with Nate's family. I love this crazy family I married into. We have such a great time together.

The next morning EE and I started on our adventure down to the Grand Canyon. On the way we made a pit stop at the National Monument Pipe Springs. It is a place rich in American Indian and Mormon pioneer history. A natural spring comes up out of the ground and this water was a necessity for American Indians, Mormon pioneers, plants, animals, and others who depended on it in the dry harsh desert. We took a tour and did some worksheets so the boys could all became official "Junior Rangers." While we were there we met up with my uncle and his family as they were on their way to St. George. It was fun for the boys to see their cousins!

After our stop we continued up the mountains until we reached the glorious Grand Canyon! My Grandma worked there during her High School years cleaning cabins. It was fun to be there with her and relive some of her favorite memories. When we pulled into the parking lot Dallin says, "Hey Mom, can I just look at the canyon from the car?" I should have been clued in then that we were going to have a problem.
We had a delicious lunch overlooking the canyon walls and then we started hiking up the VERY narrow little paths to the incredible look outs.

Everything was going well until Dallin started getting nervous about how incredibly high up we were. He started complaining and whining and then he had a full blown melt down.

He cried and cried the entire time we were there. The other 2 boys loved it though. Its so funny how DIFFERENT each of my boys are.

It was very beautiful and majestic. It felt like we were on top of the world. I'm glad we went.....height fears and all. ☺

After the Grand Canyon we headed to the Kanab to stay the night. We stayed at this fun little lodge called Perry Lodge. Lots of famous people have stayed there over the years as many of the classic western movies were filmed down in Kanab.

Here is a pic of the little house we stayed in:

 And of course we had to cool off in the pool right in front of the house:

The next day we went over and toured some of the original movie sets:

Then we drove all the way back to Salt Lake.

I am SO done blogging for the day....this has taken FOREVER! I'll start working on the Lake Powell section of the trip tomorrow!

One more post for the road......

I know I know...I've already said goodbye.

 We've leaving tomorrow but I couldn't resist posting what we did this evening..........

♪♪ Happy Birthday to Jack

We had a party for our cat

We've turned into weird cat people

and that is a fact. ♪♪

The boys insisted we throw a party for our furry brother a few months ago. We have no idea how old the cat is or when he was born. We decided June 1st would be a great day for a birthday party..little did I know it would be on the day before we head out of town...a CRAZY day to say the least. SO...we whipped up a cake, made a hat, wrapped up some cat food and cat litter and turned the sprinklers on. A couple of friends heard the commotion and came over to join in the fun.

Easiest party ever.

This cat had NO IDEA what he was in for when he decided that he was going to bail on his original family and join ours. Hey....he chose us! Happy Birthday JACK! You're annoying, sweet, funny, furry, and sometimes a bit dumb. We love you!