Round-up Part 3, or, Celebrating our 10th

As noted in an earlier post, Ron and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in August. We'd been talking for a while about going away somewhere to mark the occasion....places like Hawaii, Cancun, Bahamas, and even Peru were mentioned. Alas, because we have the responsibility of young children that need to be cared for, those locales will be saved for a later time. :) So instead, we decided to take a quick weekend trip to California. We made our final destination San Diego when we found out that one of the touring companies of "Wicked" was playing there. I have been wanting to see "Wicked" for years, but it just hadn't happened, and when it was in SLC earlier this year, there were no tickets to be had.

We flew in Friday morning, picked up our car, and made our way to San Diego(we flew into Long Beach). We went to the Newport Beach Temple and walked around the grounds as it was closed for maintenance. We had a hotel in Old Town San Diego, so that evening we strolled around there. Went to where the new and improved remodeled Mormon Batallion visitors center is....now I need to plan another trip back down in January to check it out when it reopens! That night we saw Harry Potter 6......yeah, it takes us a while to see movies! The next day was our "Wicked" matinee. It was better than I ever could've dreamed! So well acted and sung by all the players. I never expected it to be so funny, and yet I (of course) cried at the end. I could have sat through another performance right then. :) Too bad they kicked us out! That night we enjoyed fabulous Old Town mexican food, and then walked along Mission Beach at sunset. Sunday was spent driving back up the coast as we had an early flight out on Monday morning. We stopped off at a couple of beaches and enjoyed the tide pools and waves. That evening was dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company...I've never eaten so many shrimp in one sitting! The weekend was fabulous, so relaxing, and a wonderful way to reconnect with each other....we haven't spent that many days with just each other since our honeymoon, and it was so refreshing to just be able to talk to each other without the constant interruption of our (wonderful) kids.

Mission Beach



Aliso Beach

Round-up, Part 2.....

We ended July and began August with the dreaded 20th High School Reunion. But any fears I had were quickly erased with all the fun I experienced that weekend. What a fun time to see and reconnect with old friends, some of which I hadn't seen since graduation. Lots of laughter, and it felt like we all just picked up where we left off 20 years ago. It was amazing to get the 30+ of us that went to the same elementary school all the way through HS together at the reunion for a picture. Lot's of laughter, and just a very good feeling of friendship. These are all the people that we went through the ugliest, zittiest, most immature, and some of the BEST years of growing up with - of course we are still friends!



We also got a visit from Riley's Grandma Judi in August. It had been a few years since we had seen Judi, so the kids were very excited to meet her again, and it was fun for Riley to reconnect with her Grandmother again. During her time here we visited the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point, went up to Park City, and got a lot of school clothes shopping done. Riley and Judi took off one day and got most of Riley's done then. On the way home from Park City, we went to Cascade Springs. I tried to get some pictures of the two of them together.....apparently, when you get two people together that don't like their pictures taken, it's hard to get some winners, but I managed to get a couple!



You can definitely tell they are related, can't you?! I was surprised at how much I thought Riley has started to look like her grandmother.

The rest of us were there too:



**If any of you are wondering what is up with the collages....I playing around with the wonder that is Picasa3....I now need to try and figure out how to print some of these out!**

Round-up, Part 1.....

So yeah....it's been a month...

I've had all sorts of plans for posts to catch up the rest of our summer.....but, they obviously haven't materialized. So, I'm just going to throw everything together here in a big mish-mash post, or posts!

The rest of our days in Duck Creek (July....):

Along with lots and lots of 4-wheeling, we also went to Bryce one day. I had never been, although I'd heard much about the beauty found there, and wasn't disappointed.

I read the funniest thing on a sign at one of the overlooks. It was talking about the first settlers around that area. He was (not surprisingly) named Bryce, and was a Mormon settler that had his home and ranchlands at the eastern base of the canyons later named after him. There was a quote from him about the canyons that he lived near, and it was, "It's a hell of a place to lose a cow." I absolutely busted up! Maybe because it reminded me so much of what my ranching uncles and grandfathers would have said about it!

After being in the quiet of the mountains in Duck Creek though, the major busloads of crowds at Bryce were surprising. We went to a couple of overlooks, and did a hike down into the canyon on the Navajo Loop trail. Something I'll have to remember for next time I go....the beginning part of the hike is easy, with a lot of switchbacks all heading downhill.....it's the hiking of switchbacks UP to get back to the car that STINKS! I think we should get some of that government stimulus $$ to Bryce and install a ski lift or something to get you back up out of that hole! ;)

Top of the Trail....

The bottom of the trail....at the base of the very, very tall and tenacious Douglas Firs that grow in this quite small and almost constantly shaded slot canyon.

The 4wheeling at Duck Creek was fabulous. There were hardly any people there in the middle of the week, and the trails were a lot of ATV-only trails through the forest. OUR FAVORITE KIND! We saw so many deer(including adorable twin fawns), and beautiful scenery, and the smells of the ponderosa pines and douglas fir made my week. :) We took a long ride out to a cave that was created from a lava floe that was very cool to explore around. It is called Mammoth Cave. It was open to exploring when we were there, but in the Fall they close it up as it is the home of hibernating bats (including a couple of endangered species) in the winter. We also found a fun creek to ride through and see how high we could get the water up around us...always a favorite thing for the kids! We will definitely visit Duck Creek again.

Here's a video we took of our little creek crossing. You don't see Riley since she doesn't like to get wet and muddy....we like water crossings for that exact reason!

Four - three = one, and a SMILE!

Back to school today for the three oldest! I'm left with my little one at home, and so much more peace and quiet that I can't help but smile. Don't take me wrong, I love and adore my children, but how can you miss them unless they leave the house?! That, and too much together time for them equals more and more arguing and fighting, which frankly, drives me bonkers! But onto the point of this post:



Riley entered the world of high school this year. It literally seems like yesterday that we were walking her to 1st grade, so it is just so weird to think of her in high school. She was nervous, but excited. I hope everything goes well for her! I caught this picture as she was waiting for her friend to come pick her up...lucky Riley has a friend that is a junior and has access to a car. :)



Here's a look at our newest 2nd grader, sporting her new hairdo. Nicole and Jared are back at the charter school, and Nicole happily got the teacher she was hoping for. :) The only thing that could've made her happier was if she'd ended up having more of her friends in her class.....but no worry there, she'll see them at lunch and recess, and she'll make new friends in 5 minutes flat anyway!



Jared was so excited this morning he woke up all on his own, and came out all dressed and ready with even shoes on before he'd even had breakfast. First grade. I will admit, I will miss him. All day is a long time to be gone! He is very excited about three recesses and taking his lunch to school though. He told me this morning how he was going to organize his desk as soon as he got there. He is a funny kid! :)



So now, it's me and Ellie. I'm glad I have my little princess here with me for a couple more years! When we were out school shopping, Ellie decided she needed a lunch box. So we let her pick one out. She brought it with her today as we dropped the kids off. Then she asked if it was time for her to go to ballet. Nope, not until Monday! When we got home, she asked that I pack her lunch box with, what else? Lunch. So I did. She then put her cereal spoon down, and ate her lunch. At 8:30 AM! Ellie and I are doing a co-op preschool here in the neighborhood, but that doesn't start until September, so we have to figure out how to fill our days until then. But I'm liking the quieter and peaceful mornings just fine! :)

Ten Years

Today marks my and Ron's 10th wedding anniversary! Wow! Congrats to us. :)



Ten years ago today, my dreams came true. I married the man I love, in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple, surrounded and supported by people I love.



One home purchased and moved into. One career placed on the backburner by me for a later time. Three different career/position changes for Ron. Eight cars. Four motorcycles. Putting in a yard. Finishing a basement. Kitchen remodel. Painting. Furniture changes. Three beautiful babies welcomed into our family. Three baby blessings. One baptism. Temple blessings. One goodbye to a parent. Vacations. Disney. Colorado. Arizona. Laughter. Tears. Joy. Happiness. Best friends.

Thank You John Hughes

Mr. Hughes,

Thank you for making some of the best , and funniest movies to grow up watching, and continue enjoying! Bless you for the soundtracks....not only classic 80's music, but I think I could use a couple as the soundtracks of my teenage years. Thank goodness that through the magic of technology, we will have these to enjoy for years to come...

Obviously, my very favorite film of his was "Pretty In Pink"....oh my....I even changed my name to Andie for a while when that film came out!




And last but not least, my other fav, "Some Kind of Wonderful". Best kissing scene just about ever in this one.....

Duck Creek 1...the digs

We took our annual family 4-wheeling adventure the end of July. A little different from other years, as we didn't go to Colorado. *gasp*! We were sad about it as the time got closer, but had so much fun where we went, that it's all good!

We decided to stick a little closer to home this year, so after finding out that the Duck Creek area in Dixie National Forest had lots of ATV trails, we found and rented a cabin there for a week. It was a great choice! In Colorado, we are limited to a few trails (because of age restrictions and difficulty level) so we really just do the same ones when we are there. We usually put about 50 miles on our ATV's in a weeks time. At Duck Creek.....well, when I tell you that we put about 170 miles on the ATV's, does that tell you how many trails we found and how fun the riding was?! And we didn't even do 1/3 of the available trails! Most of it was our favorite type of riding as well, just ATV tracks through forest. :)





The cabin was beautiful. Ron was excited about the pool table there, but then we never ended up playing! Which is good, since he now realizes his wish of having one in our basement is certainly not needed. We had deer in the meadow behind us, including a doe and her little twin fawns, and lots of chipmunks, which were quite irritating by the end of the week. We had rain a couple of afternoons and evenings, which was perfect for cooling things down, wetting down the dust on the trails, and making the forest smell divine.







We went fishing, which the little kids hadn't done before. They had fun although we didn't manage to get even a bite. As we sat there with our fishing poles we watched the fish jumping for the bugs above the water....I guess the waterlogged earthworms and powerbait weren't as appetizing. We even moved over to where the fish were jumping....yeah, not a bite! The ducklings kept coming over to investigate though....so cute!

Now, on to picture overload:

Get it right!

sigh.

Nicole. The girl loves music and loves to sing, but she can't carry a tune to save her life! Even worse is when she puts headphones on and the sings along, loudly, with the music. Quite painful and frustrating for the rest of us in the car with her. :) Ellie was quite certain that she didn't have the words right....oh my, if that was her only problem...in her defense, she was a little more in tune than an earlier song that we didn't catch on video.

Or how about this one:


Jared joins in and really helps out the beauty of that one!

We love Nicole. She keeps us on our toes!

Birthday Fun

Favorite game at the birthday party: DodgeSponge. DodgeBall with a twist....no balls used, just wet sponges. No surprise that it was the favorite, considering that it was over 100 degrees out! UGH.



The cake was supposed to look like SpongeBob's home, Bikini Bottom.....hmmmm....didn't turn out exactly at all like he pictured it!



He was SO HAPPY to get what he asked for....as he called it, "a big boom"!



The gift I was talked into...an airsoft pistol. He was excited about it, once he figured out what it was! The one rule that is already being drilled into his head is that this is a gift that he only gets to use with parental supervision. We also found one that shoots at a much slower velocity, and we are putting it away in a secure location so he can't break the rules! :)



Birthdays and the passing of another year usually don't signal "losses" until you are older. Unless you are Jared! He decided that a great way to enter into a new year was to lose his 1st tooth! What are the odds?

The big 6

It's Jared's 6th birthday today! Happy Birthday son! I couldn't ask for a cuter boy. He calls himself my cuddle-bug, and he is! He is a fun brother, and can be nice to his sisters....when he wants! ;) You have so much ahead of you Jared! Stay happy, try hard, and there's nothing you can't do! We love you Jared.

*Thanks to Heidi for the picture!