We Say Oink!

This is Ben on his Not-So-Happy Birthday with our guinea pig, Sonic. Ben has swine flu for his birthday. He just wanted to sleep and snuggle his piggy. We have a very friendly guinea pig. He loves to be held. Spencer is sharing the swine flu experience with Ben. Carter is on the tail end of it, and Brian had it last week. I don't care what anyone says, it's not anything like the regular flu. Do whatever you can to avoid it! The people who say it's no big deal haven't had it! Just when you think it's gone and the fever has been gone for 24 hours it comes back to bite you with a vengeance too. So, here's your fair warning. BEWARE! By the way, most of the underlying causes they say are causing the H1N1 deaths are pneumonia. Which ironically enough is caused by the swine flu. So, now I'll step off my soap box and go comfort my oinking family.

Learning to Can

I remember so well, when I was about their ages, being in my grandma's kitchen. I remember canning peaches, pears, tomatoes, apples, green beans, deer meat, chili, salsa, and more! I have found that since I have become a mom myself I kind of like to do a little canning on my own too. Only now I have helpers! We had a bunch of apples. It was time to do something with them before the went to waste. So, I got the food mill out and boiled down the apples. Tyler's job was to make sure the apples fed down into the food mill. Carter had to turn the handle to grind the apples. Lauren used a spatula to scrape the sauce down into the pan. Then Spencer filled the jars. I thought of my grandma and my mom a lot this evening. Amidst all the sentimental thoughts, I felt like my grandma would be very happy to see her great-grandchildren learning a family tradition. I am very grateful to my mother for letting us do jobs in the kitchen when we were young so that we would have an appreciation for canning.

Spencer Goes to Preschool

Spencer went to his first day of preschool today. He was so, so excited! They didn't have room for him at the preschool at Daddy's school, so he goes to the preschool at J.R. Smith Elementary. His teacher is Miss Martin. He said he got to have a snack, play with toys, and his teachers(there are 3 including Miss Martin) drew a picture of him the 'whole size' of his body. They then colored in the pictures. He was wearing a Batman shirt today, and his teacher even drew a Batman on his shirt. There are 8 students in his class. He goes Monday through Thursday. Monday is 12:45pm to 2:30pm. Tuesday through Thursday is 12:45pm to 3:30pm. Ben sobbed when we had to leave Spencer at school. He wanted to stay. He also said,"My don't want to play with you Mommy! My want to play with Spencer!". I told him we would go home and clean the playroom and play "Mommy Preschool". He eventually gave in to that.

Blog Barfing

I did it. I blog barfed. I published 4 new posts tonight. So, for those of you who follow our blog you may want to check out the past posts to see all the happening stuff.

Summer/Winter Wear

I am very lucky to have such sweet, yet hard-headed children. Spencer is no different. It's 90 degrees outside so he wears shorts. He tells me he is wearing the sweatshirt just in case it suddenly gets cold. He even goes so far as to pull the hood up over his monster-sized bike helmet.

Boots go with...well....everything!

At least according to Ben and Spencer, boots go with everything. Ben has not been letting me help him in the getting dressed department. When I try to help he screams,"NO! My do it myself!" As you can see the red shorts are paired with the orange and blue pajama shirt. Add a bike helmet. Then, to top it all off - boots! Boots make a great carrier for your phone. You can just see his little phone sticking out of the top of his boot. Such an independent little soul.

Pinewood Derby 2009

Carter was our only Pinewood Derby entrant this year. Ty is now a New Scout and is too old to participate. Carter wanted to make a "flat car". So his car looks like a green arrow. It seemed just like his kind of car. It also seemed like he had a lot of fun. He didn't win any races, but having fun won out. We were very proud of him and his good sportsmanship. Carter is such a caring kid. We are very glad he is part of our family!

First Day of School

The kids all went back to school on September 1st. They were very excited! Lauren is in 2nd grade. Her teacher is Mrs. Smith. I asked her how her first day of school was, her answer was,"It was awesome!". Carter is in 4th grade. His teacher is Mrs. Crook. We are very lucky to have her. She loves Carter and he loves her. Tyler has moved out of Elementary school. He is now in 6th grade. He goes to school on the other side of town at Timpanogos Intermediate School. His teacher is Mrs. Fausett. He says they are currently talking about single cell organizisms, and he thinks that's pretty cool. Life is starting to get back into a normal rhythm since school has been in for 2 weeks. The weather is starting to get cooler and so it's fun to spend the days outside. Spencer starts preschool on September 14th. He is super excited! The deadline for kindergarten was Sept. 1st, and he turns 5 on Sept. 16th. So, he will get to wait until next year to start kindergarten. Ben and I will have to adjust to just the two of us all afternoon.

Getting Wood - A Fall Time Tradition

Getting Wood. It seems to be a Fall Family Tradition. I remember going to get wood for, well, as long as I can remember. I don't even have a wood burning stove, but I love to go get wood. It's just so exciting every time they cut a tree down. Then we form a 'fire brigade' line to pass the wood up to the trucks and trailer to be loaded and stacked. If you are old enough to walk you are big enough to help. Even the tiniest ones helped load. We had an extra special trip this year. All of my sister's families, my parents, my grandparents, one of my aunts, one of my cousins and her boys, and even a few friends came. My parents were really excited to have all their kids and all 16 grandkids together at the same time. We cut about 9 cords of wood in one day. A cord of wood is 4'x4'x8'. Trust me, that's a lot of wood! After we were done with all the wood Brian and I, and our friend Mallory decided to take any of the kids, who wanted to go, geocaching. We found 3 caches. One of those caches has been there for 8 years. It's the second oldest cache in Utah. The amazing part of this caching trip is that the total number of kids who chose to go was 22. So we loaded 22 kids and 3 adults into my pickup truck and headed out. The kids were so good. We had a lot of fun!

Our New Baby!

We welcome our newest addition! Her name is Jasmine. She was born on June 9, 2009. She is a Shih-Tzu. The perk for our extended family is that those who have allergies should have no problem. She has hair instead of fur! These are allergy friendly dogs. She does not wake up for 3am feeding, just 3am potty breaks. She is so tiny and cuddly. We have waited so long for just the perfect addition to our family. The kids love her so much. So far so good on the house training. The kids fight over who gets to take her out to go potty. Much easier for me! All of our kids are big enough now that they don't play in the dog food too. Another perk! She arrived at our house on Brian's and my 12th Anniversary, Sunday, August 16th. Sunday also marked one year since we moved into our house. Now we are anxiously awaiting the beginning of school. Brian starts next week and the kids start on September 1st. Tyler will be in 6th grade, Carter in 4th grade, Lauren in 2nd grade, and Spencer in Preschool 4 days a week(afternoons). So, Ben will be super glad for our new baby. That gives him someone to play with while all the other kids are at school!

Cataract Canyon, Colorado River, UT

After waiting 15 years I have finally been able to do the Cataract Canyon river trip on the Colorado River in Southern Utah. It was so fun! Thanks to our good friend Mallory Herring(who stayed at our house and watched all 5 kids) both Brian and I were able to go on the trip. We left Wednesday and came back late Saturday night. This was Brian's first time rowing what is called a Flyer Cat. It is a metal frame with two inflatable pontoons. One on each side. This was also his first time rowing through all of the rapids in Cataract Canyon. This video is of Brian rowing through Big Drop 3. It is the most dangerous and technical of all the rapids on this run. At the top of the rapid Brian's oar came out of the oar lock. He figured that was the end of his life. Somehow he came through the rapid perfectly. More perfectly, in fact, than all the seasoned river runners. All with one oar! This is the only rapid I didn't ride with Brian. I rode down earlier with my parents. When I went through my dad hit a HUGE rock. My mom has lots of bruises from the experience. We don't know how she was able to stay on the boat. The force of the impact should have knocked her off, but she was able to hang on. We went down just over 100 miles of river. The scenery is overwhelmingly beautiful. I took lots of pictures and none of them really came out bad!

Geocaching Anyone?

You might wonder why I would even take a picture of us like this. You might also wonder why we would be doing this in the first place. The short explanation is: geocaching. Almost exactly a year ago my brother-in-law, Jake took us geocaching for the first time. We had so much fun we decided to get our own geocaching accounts. As of this afternoon I have found 240 geocaches. Brian is in the 300's and the kids are really close to me. Our one year anniversary is Aug. 7th. We will be attending a geocache event that day at Whiting Campground in Mapleton Canyon. I heard this quote that sums up geocaching so well,"I use million dollar satellites to find tupperware in the the woods. What's your hobby?" If you want to try it sometime let me know. We are more than willing to share the joy! Happy caching!

Fourth of July Fun

Brian and I woke up at 5am and went down to Provo with our friend Mallory. We went to a geocaching event down by the balloon festival. Then we found another 12 geocaches. I found my 200th geocache! When we got home the kids were just getting up. They spent the day playing in the pool and relaxing. Later that night we had a BBQ and lit fireworks. We had a very nice day. I spent a lot of time thinking of our friends and family who can't be with us this year. I am so grateful for their sacrifices to ensure our freedoms and the freedoms of others. I can never hear the Star Spangled Banner without tears. Freedom isn't free!

Stewart Falls, Alpine Loop, UT

So after our adventures at Cascade Springs we decided to drive home past Sundance. We stopped to walk on a hiking trail. The trail said it was two miles to Stewart Falls. We decided to walk as far as we felt like on the trail then turn around. We didn't expect to make it to the falls. Well, and hour later we made it to the falls. Ben rode on Brian's shoulders most of the way, but all of the other kids walked the whole way! I couldn't believe Spencer made it. He is only four. He didn't complain at all. It was four miles round trip in addition to the mile or so we had already walked up at Cascade Springs. I highly recommend this hike! It is so worth it.

Cascade Springs, Alpine Loop, UT

I finally got Brian and the kids up to Cascade Springs. I went here a lot when I was a kid, but Brian, Tyler, Carter, and Lauren had never been here. I took Ben and Spencer last fall while the others were in school. When I was younger we would go to Kentucky Fried Chicken, and get a bucket of chicken. Then, we would go for a ride, usually in the mountains. So, in keeping with tradition, we got the bucket of chicken and went up the canyon. My aunt and uncle were married on this bridge, I believe. We loved looking at the fish in the super clear water. There are little waterfalls all over. It is just such a pretty place where you wouldn't expect to see it, even though the mountains around are also very pretty.

Confessions of a Two Year Old

Ben is a pretty honest kid. He can't help it he's only 2. Pay close attention to the end of the clip. His answer to the last question I ask him will have you rolling!

Summer Came to Visit!

Remember when we were kids, and we practically lived in the sprinklers during the summer? We also had a ditch that ran in front of our house that we played in. We also liked playing in the ditch by my Grandma Ainge's in Spanish Fork. As a kid I used to love summer. Now I just dread the heat. Today, while watching my own kids run through the sprinkler and giggle, I had a thought. Maybe I just forgot how fun summer is. Maybe I just became too adult.

The Graduate Moves On

Tyler is in the middle, on the second row, in a blue shirt. I can't believe my first born has finished his elementary education! Next year he moves on to the Intermediate School. He will turn 11 in June. It doesn't seem like enough time has passed. We are so proud of him though. He works so hard to do the very best!

Cherry Creek - Memorial Weekend

See this dirty little boy? He was laying down in the sand at Cherry Creek digging for potato bugs. Which is a few steps away from his first comment to Grandma when he stepped out of the truck upon arriving. He said, "Grandma, do you have somewhere I can wash my hands? They are dirty. And my flip flops are really dirty!" I had to break it to the kid - you are going to be dirty for the next 4 days, so enjoy! The top picture is Carter holding a lizard he caught. It is the biggest one we have ever seen down there! The kids caught so many lizards. They were all over this year.

3...2...1...Blast Off!

Tyler made rockets in his GATE class. His teacher is Mrs. Gina Mason. She was training to be an astronaut before she became a GATE teacher. She is so good at what she does. She has so much energy and love for what she does. The kids love her. It was so exciting to watch all the kids launch their rockets. The wind was blowing kind of hard, but it still worked out well.

Carter's Third Grade Program

Carter is such a little ham. He had a good time at his program! The big shocker was when he played the xylophone. I didn't even know he was going to play. He played really well too. It wasn't even just a simple easy pattern either. Who knew!

A Day at the Farm

The picture of Carter at the top is him showing off his big "wad" of sheep's wool. Unfortunately they encouraged the kids to bring home a whole bunch. Carter was a taker on that idea and has now washed his wool. He is currently waiting for it to dry so he can card it. The machinery around Carter's head in the other picture is the milking barn, where they milk the cows. That's always an exciting place to visit. Luckily for us it wasn't milking time. I think the kids' questions would have been a lot harder to answer if it was! We also thought Uncle Jason would love to see Carter with the goats at the farm. This is at Kohler Farm in Midway, UT. The third grade classes from the entire district went today. It was a bit crazy, but a lot of fun. We got to make butter while we were walking around learning about all of the animals and farm jobs too. Yummy!

Our Aspiring Young Cellist

Ty has been learning to play Cello this year. His teacher says he has a natural feel for it. He actually does pretty good. This picture is from his concert last Tuesday. They did a combined concert with grades 5 - 12. Tomorrow he is going to play at an assisted living center in town.

Quite the Master!

So, eight years after graduating with his Bachelor's Degree he gets to graduate with his Master's Degree! Some days I never thought we would never see the Bachelor's degree and now here we are at a Master's. Brian did the graduation walk on Saturday morning. President Monson was the speaker for Commencement Exercises. I stayed with the kids at the trailer and watched via webcam. I did drag the kids to the part where he did the walk though. It was a long day, but a good day. We had some pretty excited kids! We also took our nephew, Jordan, with us. We told him if he would go to college there we would help pay for it. ;) Now we'll see if the bribery works!

Home Again!

We made it home. It felt so strange to be in my own bed. The house felt so...big. On the way home we went to Houston to drop off Brian's mom. We stopped to see the Houston temple before we dropped her off. It is such a pretty temple. After we dropped Marilyn off at the airport we went to the NASA Space Center. We walked around Rocket Park and got to see Saturn V(a space rocket) It is HUGE! Then we drove down to see the Gulf of Mexico. We ended up staying in San Antonio that night. The next morning we saw the Alamo. I loved the Alamo. Utah is in debt to the men who fought and died at the Alamo. On Friday night we slept in Carlsbad, NM. We didn't get to see the caverns. That will have to be another trip. We ended up replacing the drive line and universal joint on the truck in Roswell, NM. We were certainly watched over and blessed in that event. We ended up sleeping in Albequerque, NM Saturday night. I really like the Albequerque area. I can't believe how much it has grown over the years! We were able to make it home at about 1am Sunday night. We had such a good trip. This is one to remember for a lifetime. The picture I have inserted is of a daisy on the side of the highway in Texas. The wild flowers on the sides of the roads are so pretty.

Easter Sunday

The Easter Bunny came Friday night. The kids got tons of candy and some fun little toys. We got to go to an Easter egg hunt over at the college, where my brother-in-law teaches. It lasted about 30 seconds! All the kids had a good time. Today we went to church to see our niece blessed. She wore a white dress that I crocheted. It looked pretty cute if I say so myself. Especially considering that I really didn't have a pattern. I also made loopy booties for her which Brian's sister called clydes dale booties. We had a really nice Easter dinner this evening. We had ham and brisket and I have learned that my brother-in-law can make a mean gravy! So, to all my family: if you want good gravy call Jason. We're still hoping to go for a ride over into Louisianna. Maybe tomorrow or Tuesday. We are still too exhausted from driving. The kids are still having too much fun playing in their cousins huge yard and forest. It rained today. We also had tornado warnings. This morning while we were in church it was so dark it looked like night time. Now the sun is shining and it's clear. The weather is so different. The kids made quick work of finding a nice mud puddle. The bigger problem is that the mud is red. Lovely!

Nacog...Where?

That's Nacogdoches. I had catfish dinner for my birthday that I am still fantasizing about. I love the soft lilting East Texas accent. There are a million trees. The kids love playing in the bamboo. The kids are having a really good time with their cousins. They just want to play all day. It's nice because the energy gets used on cousins and then they sleep at night! Wow! What a place. The humidity might kill me, but we are having a good time so far. We got here around 8pm on Wednesday night. We had a good time in Dallas too. Brian got to see the old and new Texas Stadiums. We saw the Dallas Temple. We will head back West next Thursday. We are going to go the southern route to get home. We are going to drop Brian's mom off at the airport in Houston then go home across Southern Texas. All kinds of new things to see!

Amarillo, TX to Dallas, TX

I can't believe how much the wind can blow. One local in Amarillo said the wind wasn't blowing bad today! I didn't even know how to respond to that comment. We are staying in Dallas tonight. We will reach Nacogdoches tomorrow afternoon. Brian is very excited to see Texas Stadium before it is torn down. The terrain has changed a lot the further East we have gone. Dallas has lots of trees. We passed several cotton fields on our drive today. It took me a while to figure out what all the white cottony stuff was. All of the fields had been harvested and plowed, but little bits of cotton were still all over in the fields. Many of the fields were red sand. It surprised me to see sand in an agricultural field. These farmers seem to make it work really well though. We found a couple geocaches in Amarillo. We visited the Big Texan, where we found a geocache and took pictures in front of the BIG cow. Then we went down to Cadillac Ranch.

From Cortez, CO to Amarillo, TX

After leaving Cortez, CO we stopped at Four Corners. We all got souveniers and pictures in all four states. The sun was shining, but the weather was still cold. We drove to Aztec, NM and walked around the Aztec Ruins. I highly recommend stopping to visit these ruins if you are ever nearby! We were able to make it to Albequerque, NM last night. When we got up this morning we grabbed a geocacache and went over to the temple. The temple is closed for maintenance, so we had the grounds mostly to ourselves except a few workers getting ready to lay carpet inside. It was so nice and quiet. Once again we were on the road. We finally made it to Amarillo, TX this evening. I have never see land so flat in my life. Texas puts Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas to shame for how flat it is! Tomorrow we are headed to Dallas. Brian wants to see Texas Stadium before it's torn down. It's so warm and we are having such a good trip!!

From Heber, UT to Cortez, CO

We left Heber last night. We drove through Spanish Fork Canyon to Price. The snow was really bad. There were a couple of times the truck and trailer was sliding a bit. It scared me to death! We slept just outside of Price. We stopped at about midnight. On the way to Moab we found a couple of geocaches. Moab was our stop for lunch. There was quite a bit of snow in Monticello. We got into Cortez about 5pm and decided to stay. We are at a KOA tonight. Cortez really isn't a place to camp off the side of the road! Tomorrow we will stop at Four Corners and then sleep in Albequerque, NM. By then we should be out of the snow. Thank goodness for our trailer and the heater!

Carter's Photo Shoot

While we were up Center Creek Canyon on our picnic Carter decided he was cold. So, he went to sit in the truck. As you can see he found the camera and decided to do a little photo shoot of himself. This kid really makes me laugh! Love you Beans!

First Picnic of Spring!

We decided to spend Saturday afternoon in the mountains. We drove up Center Creek as far as the snow would let us, then stopped for a picnic. Luckily we had a tube for sledding in the truck with us. We had a really good time. I love when it starts drying up so we can go for rides and picnics up the canyon!

Thank You Grandpa!

My grandpa came to school on Friday for our Artists in Residence Presentation. He brought several of his carving projects and talked to the kids about using their minds and imaginations. He told them there is never an excuse to say they have nothing to do, because all they need to keep themselves busy and have a good time is right in front of them. He did eight presentations to 19 classes. It was really good. Many kids said it was their favorite of all the artists.

King Ailshie and his Royal Pains(I mean subjects)!

Brian does a program at our school called Knights of the Math Table. It helps the kids in passing off their math facts. He does it for all of the 3rd, 4th and 5th graders at our school. Each month they have a "feast". McDonald's provides cookies and punch. Then Brian does a fun activity with each class. Spencer and Ben never miss a "feast".

One More Update

My friend Mallory told me when you don't go on your blog for a long time, then suddenly post tons of things it's called, "blog barfing". Okay, so I did it. At least with this type of "barfing" I didn't have to be sick or wet my pants from "barfing" so hard. (Most of you who have kids know I'm only telling the truth).
So, on to the next item of business. We have expanded our family by 12. Twelve hamsters that is. They were born in the wee hours of March 21st. They are actually quite cute. It has been a fun experience for us. The fun part is that they aren't nearly as messy and as much work as puppies or kittens. Plus, they get to leave their mom on April 21st. Puppies and kittens take twice as long!
Finally, only 10 more days until we leave for Texas!!!! Can you tell that I'm exceptionally excited? It has been way too long since we had a vacation. We get to be gone April 4th through April 19th. We even get paid days off. Yay Brian for not getting sick so we can convert them to personal days! I have always wanted to see Texas. Brian's sister lives in "Deep East" Texas, so we get the opportunity to travel across much of the state. I know many of you think I'm crazy, but that's okay - you don't have to come! I'll make you jealous though when I post all my fun pictures!

Spencer enjoying life!

Remember when you would go to the park and roll around in the sand or gravel. Especially on a nice warm day, it just feels so good. I'm thinking I should follow in a four year old's footsteps.

Ben's first time on the big kid swing

He was pretty scared, but he felt like too much of a big boy to let it show too much. Wow! Where did my baby go? Big boy swings and potty training - so many things all at once. Ah, the magical age of two!

Lauren Turns 7!

What do you do with 23 first graders? I don't know. I'm just amazed we made it through the birthday party. Luckily it was only an hour. We had one of the kids that was allergic to eggs, so no cake at this party. I learned how to make good Rice Krispie treats though. I know, how hard can Rice Krispie treats be, but I can never seem to get them to set right. Luckily, I learned the right recipe. Just in case any of you find yourself in the same predicatment here's the recipe: Melt 3 Tbs. butter and 4 cups mini marshmallows in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 2 minutes, stir and microwave for 1 minute more. Add 5 cups Rice Krispies and stir. Press out in a 9x13 pan and allow to cool. I found I had better luck with a bowl, spoon and pan greased with Crisco.