a Picture-ful post!

As always on my pictures, just click to enlarge (if desired...)



Howdy, y'all! Following tradition, we spent the 23rd of July at the Ogden Pioneer Days rodeo. All of my children are cowpokes at heart, Phoebe probably being the least, but somehow she ended up on the horse... Brandon thinks his 15 minutes of fame in life is talking to the local Whoopie Girls, and pointing them out EVERY time they ride by. I appreciate the Carter family for putting up with him... :)


The 24th was spent at the parade, with cousins, McDonalds breakfast, and FUN! what more could a kid want?


And then, let me tell you all a little secret about pioneer day. At the little Daughters of the Utah Pioneer Museum behind the Ogden temple is the funnest pioneer activity I have ever attended. Will made a covered wagon and a pioneer toy, all the kids made pioneer dolls, they gave them each a scarf/bonnet, they had demos of spinning and weaving wool and candy making, a fiddler, punch and cookies, and they had all these pioneer dress up clothes to try on and get pictures taken. And guess what else...it's all FREE! Yep, you read that right, a full after-parade activity for the fam, for FREE! The kids had fun, and I did, too...
And one more thing my cute dad did, (is doing) He planted a "pioneer garden" this week to show the kids just how hard it was for the pioneers to start their lives when they entered the valley on the 24th...Will told me we should have corn by Odie's birthday (in October)

We're Back!

First of all, pause my music because my slide show below has music attached...
So we went on a little camping trip to Bryce Canyon over the weekend. We had never been there, and let me tell you, it is absolutely amazing! Our Heavenly Father's creations on this beautiful earth NEVER cease to amaze me! Such variety! And the history of these National Parks is what I really dig. I can't imagine what pioneers and settlers and even earlier the Native Americans must have thought when they came across these places...
We went on 3 little hikes, the first day down in to the canyon, (Lucy was naughty) and the other 2 days we just did some little ones. One of my favorite things to do on Sunday when camping is go to Sacrament meetings when they are held in hotel conference rooms and we wear our camping clothes. (unless I remember to bring skirts, which has actually only happened once in my life.) I feel so spiritual when I am out in nature that has been preserved for so many years, and to go to a humble little sacrament meeting where everyone's purpose is the same, not to socialize or show off a new dress, but to renew their covenants by partaking of the sacrament...well, I wish I lived in a campground so I could attend camping church every week! ok, now i'm done with my little testimony sharing...I'll move on.
That's not the only reason I fantasize about being a hermit in the mountains. I LOVE to just spend time away from the world with my little family. Although we weren't exactly away from the world, in fact, there were more european languages being spoken in the park than english, seriously...we had a very french family camp right next door to us, the mom was the french version of my bff Tara, well actually a cross between her and Posh Spice, and their youngest daughter was the french version of Angie b's daughter Ellie. They had 3 little girls, and it was so fun to hear their little french chatter. Brandon appreciated the fact that French Posh came out of the trailer one morning in a fun little dress. I kid you not. Brandon said "That's a cute little dress she's wearing!" Leave it to the french to look tres chic even when camping!
We had a little lightning storm on sunday night that scared the daylights out of Will and Lucy, but we made it through without being struck! Will got a pocket knife for his souvenir and for the rest of the trip we heard things like "I didn't get this cut from my knife." and "the hot dog stick poked me right here, not my knife" and even "I had this cut before I got my knife"...hmmm...it makes a mommy wonder, indeed!
On the way home we stopped at the Young Living Family Farm to see their Lavender in bloom! Wow! remember my post about lavender? yes, you can smell it in the air, and yes, it is as beautiful as the pictures you see. BUT the sweet lady at the visitors center did not feel the same about our 5 camp-worn kids in their lovely essential oils shop. We didn't stay long once we caught her daggers...but did snap a couple of pictures...they have a 5k down there in late June, Brandon can't wait for next year. (I bet we forget)
Brandon is our camp chef when we go on trips. One of his hidden talents is dutch oven cooking. He made every breakfast and dinner while we were there. I was in charge of lunches, which consisted of sandwiches, chips and fruit every day. Boring! But Brandon, on the other hand, is building up quite a repertoir! A few of his specialties were dutch oven chicken pot pie, (way good!) german pancakes in the dutch oven (or Dutch babies) and a blueberry cobbler that was out of this world! I won't bore y'all by posting our entire menu for the 5 days, but be assured, the man is a master!
I know, I'm making everyone jealous by sharing my oh-so-interesting stories of my oh-so-perfect trip! Right now I can't think of a negative thing to say about it...oh wait, yes I can. Odie didn't like the van ride home and Lucy was an absolute nightmare on the first hike. AND I don't like when you stop at gas stations that are hooked to tire stores and they have workers that come tell you how horrid your tires are while you are pumping your gas. Is there a vehicle that rolls through there that looks safe to him? I say no.
We had fun. Here are some of our pictures. Enjoy.

Fun Tag!

This is a fun tag that is running rampant throughout my bloggy blog world. I want to hear from ALL Y'ALL...even if you have never commented before!

Here are the rules.
1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember! If we're only blogging friends, write about a post that is most memorable. If you don't have a blog and don't know how to sign in, please comment as anonymous.
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll be sure to write one about you... either on your blog, in my comment box, or I will email you back!
3. If the memory happens to involve my husband, please include him!
4. If you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all ☺Okay, let's see what you've got!

The Brighton Cabin

I'm doing another "journal entry" for my in-laws...I promise they read my blog faithfully, they just never comment! We spent the weekend with some of them up at a cabin at Brighton ski resort. It was so much fun! So nice and cool up there...we got there too late Friday night to do much, but after we got the kiddies (and Brandon) to bed we sat up playing Phase 10 and Curses (thanks Angie b)
Saturday morning consisted of Brandon's pancakes (maybe that's why he had to go to bed so early) and relaxing (I relaxed, anyways) and some Double Dutch action.
Brandon thought he was Corbin Bleu.

(Collin in back, Torin, Phoebe and Odie, Lucy, Nikki, Brianne and Will) (Oh, and a bit of Uncle Tyler over on the left)
Saturday afternoon we HIKED!! We went on an awesome trail up there. It was pretty tough, but the end result was worth it. Little Lucy had not gotten enough sleep the night before, so she spent most of the hike either whining or in Owen's backpack on Brandon's back! Not fun! Owen of course wanted to be out hiking on his own, anyways. He just took forever...so I had to fight to carry him alot of the way. Silver Lake is an awesome 1 mile trail, easily accessible for all ages, wheelchairs and strollers included, and then from there we took the Twin Lake trail up the mountain side another mile or so, but very steep. We even came across some snow. Willie was thrilled to throw snowballs in July!!
And guess what else...NO SNAKES! I highly recommend this hike...Will claims it's the hardest one we've been on.. I think it probably was, that he can remember, anyways. It was beautiful, though!
I feel like this post is not making much sense because my 5 little ones are all trying to get my attention as I type, but I wanted to get it out there before the trip was too far in the past! So enjoy the pictures, and thank you so much Arnell's and Nydegger's for the fun weekend. Family times like that are the best, I think! My kids had a blast, too. (We all missed Abby, she was in Texas with my parents) Ok, I've got to go make lunch...
(I just remembered I had decided earlier to just do a slide show of the trip, so you Arnell's that took pictures could add them on...oh well, no time right now...)

My Birthday...again...

I'm about to put ya'll through another birthday post...I wanted to "journal" what we did on my big day, it was such a good one!
One of my favorite things to do is go out to breakfast, so of course, that was a must on my birthday. But first I wanted to sleep in...and I did! Then it was off to the Oaks, up Ogden Canyon. We have been going there for YEARS, breakfast is especially fun. They have seating outside along the river. It's beautiful! But sadly that is about the only thing they have to offer...their service is NEVER good, and hasn't been for years, and the food, well, it's nothing special...although I had a sweet potato pancake that was pretty yum. We enjoyed it, don't get me wrong. The ambiance makes it definitely worthwhile! After coming home and chilling for a while, we headed back up to Trapper's Loop for a hike. We went on the Green Pond trail, but of course didn't make it to the pond. Brandon and I have learned the hard way, that when hiking with children, don't worry if you don't make the destination! Turn back when needed, remember, you have to hike back as far as you came in! And this particular hike is downhill all the way in, which of course means an uphill battle all the way back...we've learned everyone is happier if not pushed to their limit. We want everyone to enjoy hiking! So we turned around at 1.5 miles, which still made for a 3 mile hike...(thanks to Brandon's GPS that tells us our mileage, what a nice addition to our hiking lives!)


We came home and chilled some more, then sent the kids to watch a movie at Tiff's and went on a DATE to Chili's. We are not regulars at Chili's, so neither one of us knew what to order, but we both lucked out with what we got! Another good reason for us to be camping on our birthdays...eating out is one of our favorite things to do, so we ate out so much last week that I think we each gained 10 lbs. for our birthdays! Not the best present to get...

It turned out to be the perfect day. I'm definitely blessed with a caring husband and 5 cute kids that really wanted to make my birthday special...Willie even picked out a special outfit for himself to wear that he thought I would like. And now we have our camping trip to look forward to for next week. So, as Phoebe said in the card she made for me, I guess I am officially "One year older and wiser, too!" (I don't know about the wiser part...)

Back to Reality

Thank you everyone for the birthday greetings! Ya'll made my day! (Brandon's post was a little embarrassing, though...)
We are usually out of town on our birthdays, but Brandon couldn't get this week off of work this year. Hopefully next year we will return to that tradition, and you bloggies won't have to put up with the silliness of the past 3 posts!
We decided our birthdays were definitely better spent out of town. This morning I'm thinkin' it even more...I am paying the price for not having done any housework yesterday. My house is a mess! So today I'm posting my to-do list for the day...

• babies laundry (usually done on Thursday)
• clean my house (may take all day)
• take Odie to swimming lessons
• change sheets (has been on my list all week)
• empty recycle bins
• sample new pancake batter I want to take camping tonight
• get groceries
• clean out van
• clean out refrigerator
• pack for camping tonight!
• help Abby pack for Houston tomorrow
• make yummy treat for camping tonight
• read with Will (his reading has been neglected for about 2 weeks)
• shell peas
• freeze peas
  
• shower :)
• get hair for Phoebe's braids tomorrow
• crack the whip on my kids so they actually do their work today (somehow neglected all week)

So now the question is, why am I sitting here in the blogosphere instead of working away? I have a tendency, when my to do list is overwhelming, to procrastinate, thinking I'll NEVER accomplish it all...where do I start? So here I sit. Plus, Brandon just texted and said he is headed to Richfield for the day, so we won't be headed on our camp out at any reasonable time tonight, anyway. But to see it all out in front of me, I'm thinking I see a few things on there that I can eliminate...maybe, just maybe, it's not quite impossible...

Happy Birthday Becky

hi, This is Brandon. Today is Becky's birthday she is 34 today. Becky is a great wife and friend, and she is an excellent mother. I am so lucky to have Becky, I hate to even think where I might be in life if I hadn't met her. I have always thought that Becky is way hot even to this day I sometimes sit and and look at her and think wow what a babe.
Happy Birthday Babe I Love You!
love brandon
ps.. sorry this is so lame.

MoreThoughts on Bran's Birthday

I guess you could call this a "flashback wednesday"...I always think of the "early years" when birthdays roll around. 15 years ago (yikes!) on Brandon's 18th birthday was the first time I ever heard of him...I had gone to a party with my bff Jodie. The awesome but now non-existent band "Swing Annie" was playing. They broke into the song "Birthday" by the Beatles.

I yelled over the music to Jodie: "Who's birthday is it?"

Jodie: "Derno's"

Me: "Who's Derno?"

Jodie: "You know Derno! Blond, dreads?"

Me: shrug...

Alas, I met another dread-head there that night, and went out with him a few times before I met "Derno"... who's name, by the way, I didn't learn until later. Brandon. I'm sure there are still people out there from those days that don't know his real name.
This is a better post for Brandon's birthday, because he LOVES it when I reminisce about our dating days. He thinks it's romantic....awwww!!

so this is the only dread picture we have at the moment...it doesn't quite capture the effect.

a few years later...cleaned up a little bit!

cleaned up a little more! ah, the good old days!!!!

Who's the Boss?

So today is Brandon's birthday. He is now the same age as me, and in our household that means he's in charge...for a few days, anyways!

This is what the kids said to Brandon for his birthday:
Abby: "I don't know...mine will sound like a kindergarten answer!"
Phoebe: "I love my dad because he gets spiders out of my room. Thanks for looking under the bed for the one last night!"
Will: "I love my dad because he lets me go to Young Men's with him. We made boats."
Lucy: "I love my dad because he rocks me."
Owen: "Happy Daddy...." (he can't really express himself through words, but has been a daddy's boy since day one)

I've been meaning to post this all day, with a picture and everything, but he's home now, so this will have to do...thanks, b. for being such a great husband, dad, team mate and BFF...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

4th of July Campout

This was the 2nd annual campout-on-the-sod-farm-behind-my-parents-house-on-July-3rd for us. Fun was had by all, (well, as fun as a tent in a sod farm could be) except for one minor detail...

OLIVIA!!!!
The rooster with a hen's name woke us up with his cock-a-doodle-dooing at 5:25 a.m, and DID. NOT. STOP...

But Dad's yummy 4th of July breakfast made up for it! He even wore one of the most patriotic shirts I have ever seen for the occasion. Thanks for another fun holiday, family...and here's to many more!

The Fourth

Oh
CRASH!
my
BASH!
it's
BANG!
the
ZANG!
Fourth
WHOOSH!
of
BAROOOM!
July
WHEW!

by shel silverstein

Happy 4th, everyone!

Tuesday Tell All--Touch

ok, ok, the tta is open to my interpretation, right? I went from touch to feel to feelings...but here's what I came up with...

Today I felt silly, It must be the heat. I bought Lucy "spray candy" and left Odie with bare feet. I ate licorice for breakfast and popsicles at night. And after the garden, the kids were a sight!

Today I felt happy, a bit teary, and pleased, with my oldest, beaming Abby, at the temple with me. Her Gram joined us, too, and Brandon made three, and Pop was there running the baptistry.

Today I felt stressed, things got hectic a bit. I want to save gas, but can't seem to do it! I picked up my house. It still isn't clean. I forgot to get ice at the store for ice cream!

Today I felt joyful, my mood was first-rate. Abby went to a swim party, she just couldn't wait! Sun-kissed cheeks were popping, the sun was so bright. Odie played all day long, with all of his might.

Today I felt excited there's so much to do. I was going to make ice cream and popcorn treats, too. I'm ready to braid Phoebe's hair, that's so great, and to camp out on the 4th, I simply can't wait!

Today I felt tired, and ran out of pep. My ankle keeps hurting, I can't run a step. Abby's hair is still pink, did Brandon shave his beard? Abby lost a huge tooth. This family is weird.

Today I felt discouraged and frustrated--see? I got a mosquito bite right on my knee. I really want straight hair, but mine's curly-q. Should I bun it or braid it, oh what should I do?

Today I felt great, like the absolute best, when Lucy and Willie put my "mom skills" to the test. We went on a bike ride, every one of us seven, as we raced up the street it was like a little bit of heaven.

I'd rather feel silly, excited or glad, than cranky or grumpy, discouraged or sad. But moods are just something that happen each day. Whatever I'm feeling inside is okay!

(that was such a cheap rip-off of Jamie Lee Curtis's awesome children's book...I can't take the credit! But it was fun for me, none the less. And I DID personalize it to fit my day!)
Bring on the next tuesday tell all. I'm sick of these sense ones!