Anderson Cove Camping

Things I learned this past week: Family is very important, you never get sick of S’mores, family is very important, kids don’t burn with sunscreen, I love my family, doing homework on a vacation is a bad idea and I REALLY love my family.

Wow did we need this week mini-vacation! (Our first time camping at Pineview for the year.) We got there early afternoon on Sunday and had plenty of time to set up and let the kids play before anyone else got there. After a couple of hours there it was really hot so we decided that we needed to cool off in the water. After an hour of swimming we went back up to the camper and got ready for dinner. Gary had planned family dinner for that night so we had spaghetti. The Ludlows came up and so did Steven’s brother and his wife and her nephew. Roy, Emily and the kids came up for S’mores. My wonderful husband is the assigned fire starter now and he does it quite masterfully. It was a great night the kids had tons of fun playing with the cousins and roasting marshmallows. More chocolate was eaten than marshmallows. That night Julia and Connor stayed the night with us in the camper. They went to sleep without any major problems but Matthew, Jeffrey and Christopher had huge problems. By the time we got everyone settled down it was about 11 pm. Matt and I were exhausted!

Matt woke up with Mike at about 7 am and went fishing. Julia and Connor woke up about 7:30 but stayed quiet and in bed until 8:30 am. That’s when Connor woke up Christopher and that was when Christopher woke up Jeffrey and Matthew. We ate breakfast and got dressed. We were getting ready to turn the generators on and watch a movie when Matt and Mike walked up. They didn’t catch anything but small fish so they were tired and bored. Mindy was sick the night before so she came up when she woke up. When she got there Mike and Matt took the big kids on the boat to fish and jump in the lake. Mindy and I took the babies down to the water to swim and play in the sand. After about an hour in the water Mindy and I came back to the camper and cooked lunch and waited and waited and waited for the others to get back. Finally about 12:30 pm they got back and ate lunch.

We put the babies and Matt down for a nap and took the kids to get ice cream at the “ranger station”. The kids played until Matt and the babies woke up. Then we all went down to ride in the boat and the inner tube. The older kids loved the tube! Christopher not so much and Jeffrey is very cautious. Matthew couldn’t get enough. Matt and I rode and so did Mike. The cool thing was that Gary had a dr.’s appt. so he let Matt and Mike drive the boat. That was fun! They were great drivers and very cautious. We rode until past 6 pm and had to force the kids to go back for dinner. Another night of dinner and S’mores but still the same amount of fun. The Ludlows went back home and the boys were a lot easier to settle down. Cindi came up and spent the night with Mike and so we told them they could have the couch if they didn’t want to share the couch of my parent’s camper with the dogs.

The next day was great. Emily and the kids were coming up after lunch and so before lunch we just basically lounged around. The first thing was that we needed gas so all of us drove to get gas and then we went to Eden for some more S’more stuff and ended up getting some squirt guns and cookies for the kids. After that I was trying to do homework but the kids were making it very difficult. Wesley and Sherriann showed up and wanted to go on the boat. Cindi said that she would take Jeffrey and Matthew down too and Matt and Christopher would take a nap and I could get homework done. Wow that was a good idea. I got all my homework done and about 30 minutes of a nap.

Emily and the kids showed up so we all went down to the boat and went for tube rides. Little Ana is Emily’s niece and she is a daredevil! She wanted to go fast and lots of bumps. She only egged the other kids on to be daring. It was cute. At the height of the riding Matthew stood up and said he had to go potty. We threw him in the water and told him to go. This is a shot of him going. He was so cute, he concentrated very thoroughly. Mike was making fun of him so this is Mike “peeing” in the water.

After tubing we went back to the beach and swam for a bit then went up for dinner. It was great Mindy and the kids were there, Mom and Gary, Mike and Cindi, Wesley and Sherriann and us. It was like the good old days just missing a few more family members. We roasted S’mores again and ate hot dogs and chips. And alas the fun was over we had to go back home that night so we left the camper and went home.

Date Night!

Oh what a night! (lol) Tonight we had a total blast with my sista and my sista from another motha. Oh yeah our spouses were there too. Carrie, Dave, Mindy, Steven, Matt and I all went to dinner at Roosters and then to see the movie Hancock. It was a good movie and had some twists that MOST of us didn't see coming. It was good but I think the best part of the evening (I may be wrong and can be contradicted in other blogs) was the ride home. We all rode in the Larsens van and so Mindy and I were in the very back along with all of our left over food. Ok about a block from the theater I had to get out of the van and breath fresh air. I felt like I was going to pass out so I sat down on the sidewalk. DRAMA! Anyway getting back in the van I was laughed at and Dave says my new nickname is Secondhand seafood! It was a blast! Thanks to Dave and Carrie who have children who are willing to watch 7 crazy kids so their parents can go have a night of fun. Hancock 12 thumbs up, Space Chimps 8 thumbs down! Mamma Mia AWESOME(even the 2nd time)!!

I am a Child of God

Ok so Jeffrey is finishing his bath and all of a sudden we hear singing. He is singing I am a Child of God in the bathroom. So Matt and I scramble to get our phones to catch him singing. By the time we do it he is done. But.....he yells for me and Matt to come in there and hear him sing. Wait it gets better. He says that he needs daddy to play the piano while we record him. Oh yeah! So now I present my big boy (sniff, sniff) Jeffrey singing I am a Child of God.

Not to be outdone by his big brother Christopher sings for us (I am a Child of God).

We love our kids!

Sophia's baptism

Happy birthday Sophie! We got the invitations for Sophie's baptism and Emily asked all of the kids going to sing a song as part of the program. I was excited because it sounded so cute but I knew that Matthew wouldn't sing in front of people he didn't know. I asked him if I went with him and helped him sing if he would do it. He cried but said yes. Jeffrey then decided that he didn't want to sing either. I was so worried. We worked on the song all week and by Friday they were singing it great! It was so cute. Saturday morning came and we practiced the song on the way to the baptism and they remembered the words better than I did. They whined about having to sing it in front of people but I told them I would be up there with them. When it came time to sing they went up there and sang better than the girls! I was so happy and excited for them. Even Christopher and Connor went up there and sang the ends of words for me. It was beautiful.

Mamma Mia!

LOVED IT!!! We went to go see it for our girls night out. Jenn from high school came and Ann from nursing school and my mom. It was laugh out loud, sing along, clap along and dance along fun! I watched Sunday Morning on CBS and the critic said it was horrible and painful to watch I couldn't believe it. He is an idiot! It was a great movie and everyone should go see it. I can't wait to watch it again.

Reunion

Oh how time flies! We got to see our old friends from the days of Hyrum, Utah last night. It was great and a kid fest. The Micklesons were there: Brad, Melissa, Rachel, Hannah and Adam. The Findlays were there: John, Misa, and the 5 A's. Trisha and Jeff were there and Ron. The McKinneys: Jon, Tamara, and their 4 kids. The Ludlow's: Steven, Mindy, Julia and Connor. We ate pizza and chatted. Then Ron took some of us up to the top of the Wells Fargo building to see the helicopter pad and the view. It was amazing. Lets do it again soon.

New Job!

I am now an employed member of society again! I got a job at Davis Hospital and Medical Center in Layton. I go to orientation on Aug. 4th but can start anytime before then. I am so excited! I will let you know how my first day went when it happens. Its PRN so only as needed and they know I am in nursing school so it won't be much.

Pocatello, Idaho

This trip was a blast. We had reservations to stay at this site next to Idaho Falls but decided half way up there to stay at this KOA in Pocatello. Boy am I glad we did. We had showers and bathrooms and the site we stayed at was great. We got there a little after 7:30 pm so we had to set up the tent rather quickly. The tent proved to be a little harder than we thought. Jeffrey said he had to go potty but we tld him we had to put up the tent so he needed to wait. (you will see why this is important later) We had to buy a new tent so we didn't know what we were doing. We finally got it up and we threw the kids in there to keep them busy.

The first night was rather difficult. The kids were tired and could not go to sleep so it took us until midnight to get them to sleep. About 1 or 2 am Jeffrey woke up crying and rolled over. I asked him if everything was ok and he said yes and went back to sleep. A couple of minutes later I smelled something strange and asked if Jeffrey had had an accident. Everything was wet. Wow that sucked! The Christopher who was getting a cold kept waking up barking like a seal.

We woke up at 9am and ate breakfast and waited for Ben and Shannen and the kids to get there. We decided to go minature golfing about a mile away. It was a blast the kids golfed ahead of us which I am sure bugged the other people around us but the adults were having fun watching Shannen and Matt kick out hides. The kids found out the hard way that hole 18 means your ball goes away but after that they stayed by us better.

After golf we decided to go to the Pocatello Zoo. It was neat because it was area animals in natural habitats. It was small but they had really good exhibits. They also had a treehouse and petting area that the kids could play in which they loved.

After the zoo we went back to the tent and showered and got ready to go to the play. We ate dinner at Perkins and then tried to explain to the kids we were going to see a play. They kept thinking we were going on a "play date" and wanted to know if Xander or Michael would be there. Matt explained it this way. We are going to a movie but they have real humans in it instead of pretend. They were intrigued.

The Wizard of Oz at the Mystique was AMAZING! Our friend Ben and Sara Jensen were in it and they were excellent. The kids were so excited. They loved all the characters and kept asking if the Wicked Witch was going to be nice or stay mean. They loved that the characters came right next to us in the aisle every once in a while. When they saw Sara they were excited and pointed and yelled. Matthew was jumping up and down and clapping. Christopher who hadn't had a nap at all was wide away and clapped longer then anyone at the end of the scenes. Jeffrey was a little apprehensive but he loved the "robot"(tin-man) and lion. The singing and acting were amazing. We had to order The Wizard of Oz from Amazon because the boys wanted to watch it but no one sells it.

Anyone interested in seeing a good quality and demanding performance and are in Idaho should go there. They will not be dissapointed.

The next day we called Ellen and Darrell to see where Darrell's dad was buried and it turns out they were in Lava Hot Springs and were going to the site that same day. We met them there and once again had to explain to the boys what we were doing there. I think they understood a little. Then we headed home. On the way we stopped at Willard Bay so the boys could swim and it turns out that in a life jacket Christopher knows how to swim. We are going to have to watch that boy! He is not afraid of anything.

RS Activity

Ok I am so wishing I had a camera for what went on last night at the Haights pool. I can't believe that we were so crazy. To set the scene a little. It was a RS enrichment activity, a swimming party at the Haights. I was a little apprehensive because I have never gone swimming with all the RS. When I got there it was Tiffany and Sister Haight sitting at the side of the pool. I thought ok I can do this. Then Chalyce, Julia, Mary, Irmgard, Roma, Sara, Jen. and Kim showed up. The fun began! Holy cow those girls are crazy fun. We jumped off the diving board, slipped down the slide and rode the dolphin! G0 Julia!!! We even played Marco Polo which apparently I am a mad woman about. Tiffany is stylish on the diving board and Chalyce learned how to dive, yeah! We ate good food and talked a lot. After we had bugged the Haights long enough we went over to Julias house and sat in their hot tub for a bit. That is where we got to talk to Mary about quiting her job. I am so excited for her. It is so much fun being home every day and seeing your kids learn and grow. Its also crazy (i.e. Matthew is sitting next to me bugging me for him to "write some words". I love it!

I haven't been to church in a while because of camping and its been even longer since I went to an activity but I have to say by far this was the most fun I had in a long time with my sisters! Love ya all!

Ok here is matthews: wall-e EVE (hmmm can we guess what movie is his favorite right now?)

Happy 4th of July from Lagoon

As our usual tradition we camped at Lagoon for the 4th of July. It was fun. We got their early Friday and met up with Grandma and Grandpa Cole and went to the beach. We all went to the river except for Grandpa who was designated chair watcher. He was fine sitting in the shade and sipping soda. We played in the river for a bit and then ate lunch. Grandma and Grandpa offered to take Christopher back for a nap so Matt and I played with Jeffrey and Matthew at the beach more. We then went to ride rides while we waited for Grandma and Grandpa, oh I mean Christopher to wake up.

When they got back we rode the Odysea together, that was a great ride. We tried to ride the Rattlesnake rapids but it closed as we were waiting in line. We ate dinner and rode a few more rides and then went to the camper to watch the fireworks. Mike, Cindi, dogs, Wesley, Grandma, Grandpa, and us were all their. The boys loved playing catch the football with Mike and Wesley.

The next day we rode more rides and Matthew was feeling good because he rode the Spider, Colosus, Wicked and the Mouse with Matt!!! He loved it and was so excited he wanted to ride them again but we had to go. I am so proud of my little guy.

I took history all through school but I really couldn't remember the reason we celebrated the 4th other than the fact we gained our independence. So I asked Matt and of course he knew and was aghast that I didn't. I knew but just needed a reminder. We first came here under British rule and then we decided we didn't like that anymore so we told them, Decleration of Independence, that we were through. Of course Matt made it more descriptive and beautiful. So thanks guys for givings us a place where we can do what we want, when we want and how we want!

Idaho Falls Temple

I'm addicted! Ok this picture is one Matt took on our quick trip for Sara Jensen's baptism to Idaho Falls, ID. It's amazing!

For Sale!

We are trying to sell our house forward this website to everyone you know!

http://www.utahrealestate.com/811213

Wall e...... again

Ok not to be out done by my sister but I took Matthew and Jeffrey to see Wall e again today. We went and saw it the first day it came out but Matthew could not handle the fact it wasn't on DVD yet so he had been bugging me nonstop since then to go and see it again. Finally after all attempts at someone else going to take him to see it were exhausted I took them. I am so glad I did it was a fun outing. They saw the big Wall e and so they made me take their picture in front of it. Matthew sang the opening song loudly and Jeffrey kept telling Matthew to be quiet even louder. It was very cute and made the movie more enjoyable. I am not sure if the people behind us thought so. Thanks boys!

Take 1

Ok lets see how this works! Carrie came over today and asked if I had looked at her blog and I shamefully said no. So upstairs we went and I am now blogging. I will try to keep up with the pros. So we are trying to sell our house and move up north a little so I will let you all know. 4th of July is coming up so we are going to go camping at Lagoon Friday and Saturday. Come see the fireworks with us. Ok thats enough for now here is a picture of Me, Audrey and Kelly in China at the Forbidden Palace. Love ya!