engaged

its official...Isaac and Linh are engaged! Exciting stuff. They will be getting married pretty soon...September sometime. I went 10 years without getting a new sis-in law and now I get two in three months. Yeah!

Jones Family Reunion 2007

So we just got back from the family reunion. It was a lot of fun. It is a 6 hour drive to Bend from here so of course that is stressful with kids that two days earlier drove 13 hours. They were good though...I can only say that because we put Robbie and Grace in Mom and Dad's car so the trouble kids were gone. Not only that but since none of our kids had to have their car seat touching another carseat all of the kids slept. Our kids are seasoned travelers. They really are so good...they don't have a choice...we drive home all the time. On our way through Bend I saw that the place I used to work was no longer there...a parking lot was over the top of my old tax office. Only later to find out that the house we lived in was also no longer there....a new house built on the lot. WEIRD. Driving through I started feeling super homesick for Bend. We had a great time there....of course that was pre kids so anything sounds like "so much fun", in retrospect and pre-kids. It is really beautiful there though and I found my way around with no problems...I was proud of myself for that. We stayed in Sunriver at Sunriver Resort. We rented a 3 bed, 3 bath house it was awesome! Perfect for us...a million closets to put kids in cribs in to sleep, nintendo for the boys, a hot tub, grill...it was great. Fortunately the place was as nice as it was because, Cali and I with 6 kids, we didn't leave the place very much. It mostly seemed like a Cali and Ashley reunion because we spent a lot of time together. It was funny because there was one 2nd cousin-in law (like once removed or something) that was there with his son (sans wife she was at a wedding). He hung around the house a lot during the day too so it was actually a Jacob (that was his name) Cali and Ashley Reunion. He was really nice though and we didn't mind having him around.

On the second day there we went to take our kids to go swimming only to find out that it was closed due to "mechanical problems". We had six kids dressed in suits...what a pain. We headed in to Bend I wanted to drive around and see things. The problem was that as cute and quaint as Bend is there is an annoying amount of roundabouts and as we were heading home all of the kids were getting really car sick. They were all starting to cry and say they were going to throw up. Oliver was so scared that Jack was going to throw up on him he kept freaking out and trying to get him to move over. It was CHAOS. When we got home we got them all calmed down and got them in the hot tub. As Cali was putting Carolina in she felt her stomach rumble. She as quick as she could (Cali's kids throw up a lot so she has great reflexes), took Carolina to the woods and poor baby threw up a million times. We then took her inside and layed her down and she threw up again an hour later. So sad. Poor Cali spent the rest of the time there...not sleeping and helping sick kids. We hoped it was just car sick kids but it ended up being the flu?? Who knows.
So that is that. We spent a total (Cali and I) of 40 minutes around the Jones's. 20 minutes each night at a BBQ only long enough to feed our selves and for our kids to FREAK out. The kids did swim in the hot tub a whole lot. We turned down the temp as low as it would go and they had a ball. Cali went out to get them out and Jackie was standing on the edge peeing right into the hot tub. Like he was some kind of statue...or like the hot tub was one enormous toilet. It was so funny...and of course gross. (that is what chlorine is for right??)
Here are the kids and Grandparents...we walked to the river...it took a lot longer than we expected.
Poor Robbie (and Grandma Jones) were so tired.
We saw sooo many deer while we were there. You can see one at the very top of the picture.
We kinda felt like a circus act everywhere we went. And we kept thinking....where are our HUSBANDS???
A deer up on our porch.
Oliver, Tyson and Rob playing frisbee. I love watching my little guy run.
Grace...oh her legs are sooo yummy! She had just eaten a little avocado, thus the green face.
Ty, Oli, Dad, Carolina and Jack. So cute. The kids had a great time and thought the place was amazing. Special thanks to the Doogie Dog for financing the trip (the cabin was pretty expensive).

I will say that it made me really miss Cort....ahhhh. I am not someone that is usually cheesy but every once in a while I allow it. Bend is the first place we lived when we moved from Rexburg. We didn't know anyone and all we had was each other. It is our town. So I missed him. I am not good at being alone. Anyone that really knows me knows this. It isn't good for me. So being there made being away extra hard.

YaYa's

So I have been reading The Divine Secrets of the YaYa sisterhood for this month's book club. It has really made me think of my YaYa's. My sisters and friends that I have had through out my life. I feel luckier than most to have the friends I have...and the sisters I have. My friends though really to me are sisters, I have known them my whole life and would do anything for them...I know they would do the same for me. As I have been here at home I was looking for some pictures of me and Laura and Amber. My parents don't have any. And...since I don't have a scanner I can't post any of my awesome ones. I did however find this one it is filled with some of my greatest friends.

Starting L-R Laura lei, Cherie, Amber, Tiffany, Samantha, Cali, Celeste, Me, Shane Lybbert ??, Chrissy Waller, Matt Hardy, Keri Lybbert and Alisha Waller. Those were the good old days. I love this picture and I love all of the people in the picture.

I was talking to Laura a couple of months ago on the phone and she said something about how she thinks maybe there are only so many "soul mates" out there for you...only so many GREAT friends...and that for her in her life she already has met them all. I'll have to say I agree with her. I always make new "friends" but it will never be like it is with the friends I already have. How can anyone even compare to friends I've had my WHOLE life that know everything about me, and love me anyways. I always hear about people growing up, and all of the problems they had with cattiness...and girls that would be their friend one day and not the next. I never felt that. Through thick and thin my girls were there by my side. So that's that...this book, talks about the sacred bond between friends. I feel lucky to read the book and TOTALLY get what they are saying. I will say that there are a couple of friends that I had that I have lost contact with. Most of the ones that aren't Mormon. It isn't because they aren't mormon though...just because my parents are friends with theirs. So I can't ask my mom..."hey what is going on with so and so". It makes me sad. I miss them sometimes. Maybe I will see them at the 10 year reunion and get their info...and maybe then I will be better about staying in touch. Anyways...I love my girls...

Why is it we don't all live in a cul-de-sac together???

I am leaving to the JONES family reunion in BEND OREGON (one of my favorite places in the world). I will be back on sunday.

Good morning Baltimore...

First I must say that I love being part of a family where, a number of my cousins posted on blogs about the up coming episode of "so you think you can dance....dance...dance". It was great wasn't it. Ohhhh...I don't want anyone to go home. I just want to watch them dance forever. It was really good. I REALLY loved neil and Sara's Disco. I loved every dance but I think I clapped the hardest after that number. (yes I clap...the sad part is last night I watched it all alone because Cali went to Tri-cities to see her sis in law...so alone and clapping.)

We also went last night to HAIRSPRAY. Ohhhh I loved it. I am a little embarrassed to say that I am IN LOVE...with Link Larkin (Zac Efron). Hahaaha. Okay, I know he is only 19 (I keep telling myself...I am sure he is almost 20) but he is oh so cute. And since I am a mom, I have seen High School Musical a BUNCH of times, so he is a bonus. But still I feel funny since I am 7...okay 8 years older than him. But it isn't like I am going to try to get him to ask me to the prom. Anyways...enough rambling about him. The show was greatAfter long deliberation this is the picture I am posting. There were lots of good ones but I thought I might seem a little MORE crazy if I posted a bunch. It was just one of those movies that you laugh and smile the whole time. (can't wait for High School Musical 2...hahahaa)

stretch

So...a great thing has happened. Luv's diapers are now stretchy where the tabs are. I know this is a very boaring topic, but it is something I have been waiting for forever. I personally love luv's. I think they work really good, my kids hardly ever leak through and they don't leave that gel residue that some diapers do. I also like the smell of the diaper. Cortney however doesn't. He refuses to have diapers that don't stretch. And since he does A LOT of the diaper changes at our house I usually buy the costco diapers instead. But now Luv's diapers stretch. Very exciting indeed.

safe and sound

So we made it here safe. We left Utah at 4:30 a.m. (it always takes a little bit longer to get the 6 kids all buckled and ready than we think it will). It was a great day. The kids were so good. We stoped only three times the whole day (not including once for Jack to pee on the side of the road). The kids didn't sleep much but they didn't cry either. I was surprised. I always am. Cali and I are road warriors. It is hard to be raised by my parents and not be. I love an open road and gas station stops. It was a great day.

We pulled into Moses around 4:15. I always get a nervouse feeling when I drive in. I love this little town. We came over to my Grandparents house for swimming in the evening. (all of the uncles were over painting my grandma's fence...what did I say before...great family!) Right when we got there Tyson jumped off the diving board and started to drown. I was right there and I started screaming for my cousin Ryan. He dove in all baywatch style (I am not kidding it was one of the coolest, bravest things ever) and saved Tyson. I almost started crying. Drowning...as most know is a sensitive subject for me. Ryan was fully dressed. I love him. I really do. I have so many great memories of him and he still to this day is always so nice to me.

Needless to say...I am so tired. I am so happy to be here. My happy place. I will post more later.

leaving

So I am off to Moses Lake. I leave Monday morning at 4:00 a.m. I will post while I am there I am sure...but if not you know why.

the big day...

Well ladies and gents...the day has come...my brother Justin is off the market. I can't believe it. It was the best day.

We started out the weekend with a BBQ at my sisters house on Friday. There were like 50 people there. A lot of my cousins and Angelique's parents and brothers and sisters. It was fun Cali's house is great for entertaining that many people. Let me just say that I LOVE MY FAMILY!!! I love being around them it is so fun. Seeing my cousins I just felt like the old days. We have a pretty awesome family. Justin and Angelique were married at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. Cali and I got some of my miamaids to baby sit during the wedding and the luncheon so that was AWESOME. I loved not having to worry about my kids the whole time. The wedding was performed by my Great uncle Floyd Packer. He did such a great job. I could barely breath the whole time. I was crying like crazy. The spirit was just so strong. I always think of my grandpa's that are gone when I am in the temple. I could definetely feel them there. It was one of the best weddings I have ever been to. Cortney did their photos so that means that I have to run all over the place and tell people what to do.
Here they are coming out.
I love this picture I love how they are helping each other. Cortney caught this picture from super far away.
here I am waiting for them to come out (it took forever and was SOOOO hot)
Isaac and his girlfriend Lihn (spelling??) she is awesome...I will post more about her later, She cooked AMAZING vietnamiese food for us tonight.
Some of the wedding pics...obviously.
There were so many people at the wedding! We all had to scrunch together to fit. I love seeing all my friends and family in the temple. It gets me every time. Ohh...notice Cortney running into the picture. He didn't quite make it. The sad part of him being the photographer is that he isn't in any of the pics.
Here I am directing people. I yell the whole time and tell people where to go. Cortney isn't mean enough to get 50 earls in a line.
Justin and Angelique across the street in a field.
I love this one.
At the reception we had KNEADERS. YEAH. So good. I ate so much these last three days.
Here we are the Cortney Boice family. We had the boys dressed so cute but the reception place had NO good lighting. Ohwell.
My whole family. We were all there. I love them so much.
Justin and Angelique at the reception.
They totally pushed the cake into each others face. It was so cute. I will say I think Angelique smooshed it first.

We had rice to throw at them, and sparklers. I love this picture.
Here they are driving off in Justin's car.

I could write for days about the wedding. It was great, it was fun. I am glad it is over. I was soooo tired by last night. We went non stop from 11a.m.-11p.m. Angelique's family was great, there was food in abundance, and I had a babysitter. What more could I ask for???

blank.

I have been drawing a blank these last couple of days. It could possibly be because I haven't left the house and nothing has happened. Usually though a million times a day I think..."oh I better put that on my blog".

Oliver did learn how to do a cartwheel today...which is actually more impressive then it looks (it is a very hard thing to catch on a crappy camera...I was using not our regular one). I tried to show him how they are done but...I couldn't do one. I am so scared to. When my RA was bad my wrists couldn't hold my weight and my mind won't believe they can now. So I had to just tell him how to do it. He lands on his feet and everything. As soon as the school year starts I am going to enroll him in gymnastics. When we first got married cortney could do a front flip just standing on the ground(I don't know if he still can...I doubt it...well maybe). I would always tease him and try to get him to try out for the Ricks College Cheer squad. Boys that do gymnastics are cool right??

After we did cartwheels Oli thought it would be cool to jump over this ball. Here he is in action.


It never ceases to amaze me how athletic my kids are. Oli can do anything. A couple of months ago, we were at the park and Joey was throwing some baseballs for Oli to hit with a wooden bat. He hit almost everyone and he hit them far too. I am SOOOOOO not athletic. Infact tonight we had family dance time. We always put on some great music and me and the boys dance, dance, dance. I do my crazy mom dancing...I am not trying to impress anyone. Tonight though Cortney thought it would be good to get some video footage. Oh my...I looked like I was 7 feet tall and so lanky. It took me back to my younger days when I was a total spaz. I wish I could post a still shot from the video. Maybe I will figure it out. If anyone saw it they wouldn't believe that athletic kids came from that.
Rob's surprise face. He does this all the time. At church on Sunday he didn't cry in nursery. Either Cortney and I have to go with him...but at least now he isn't bawling while sitting on our laps. During singing time they would ask..."should we sing the monkey song" and he would tense his whole body untill it was shaking and with his hands in fists scream "NO". Every song he did that on. Oh my oh my. At least he didn't punch any elderly people like he did last week. That was a relief. I see people that say..."we try to teach our kids not to hit...but to use their words, at our house". It just makes me sigh. I always want to say..."ohh...at our house we think that fighting is the answer." Of course I say nothing. He did find his match though...the smallest (and youngest) girl in nursery. He walked over to her and her mom said..."Careful she is pretty rough". She hit him right on the head like 3 times and he just stared at her in awe. I really think he has found his first love. I still felt really bad when he tried to kick her in the back. Hahaaa. No I make him sound like a terror. Well he does like to fight way more than Oli but Oliver was a first child. And he could totally talk by now so he didn't have communication problems. I just know that Rob is SPUNKY like me. I can live with that.

Well that is all. Justin's wedding is on Saturday. YEAH! After that Cali and I are going to Moses Lake for like ten or so days. I love Moses Lake in the summer. It is my happy place. Plus I had so many great summer times there growing up. I always spend a lot of time remembering that.

i wish

OIiver today made himself a wishing well. I went into the kitchen and he had a cup full of water and it was filled with coins. As I walked by I heard him say "I wish I was tall".

Last night Cortney and I went on a date. It has been FOREVER since we have gone out together...with no kids. We dropped off Oli and Rob at Cali's at 7:00 then we headed to Sandy. We had already gotten tickets to the 10:30 show of Harry Potter. I have never been up to Jordan Commons before. It was crazy there were soooo many people there. We put our names on the list to eat at The Mayan. I have never been there before...they have a diving show and people dressed like Mayan indians...and Jaguars and there are drums beating and bird noises. The restaurant smells kinda like a ride at disneyland...kinda like pirates of the carribean. We waited 1 hour to be seated. I couldn't believe it Cortney and I never wait at a restaurant to eat. We'd usually rather find somewhere else. But...heck we didn't have kids so waiting was kinda nice (besides the fact we were STARVING). As we sat there for that hour I just thought about the times we had before kids. And how much having kids changes everything. I don't think people realize how different having a kid is before you have one. I love having kids but it definetly makes moments such as this one (waiting in peace) few and far between. Of course the whole time we were eating we kept thinking...I wish the boys were here they would love this.

After waiting we were ready for our "adventure to begin", as they said when our table was ready. I was plesantly surprised. The restaurant is under new manangement...so I guess it is supposed to be way better than before. Since I haven't been before I don't know. Anyways...the salsa and chips were delish. I loved the little show. I also totally expected for the food to just be slopped on there like in most mexican restaurants. But our dishes were plated beautifully. It looked like fancy food.

After eating Cortney and I headed over to the Mega theater that is at Jordan Commons. It is pretty unbelievable how many theaters they have in there. They grossed the most money of any theater...harry potter only...on opening night. Anyways we watched the movie on the IMAX screen. It was awesome and we were both so excited for it to start. Cortney kept saying how he always hopes the movies never end and how much he loves Harry Potter. HAhaaha. I am sure he would appreciate me writing that. Anyways it was amazing. On such a huge screen such a great show. I kept telling myself...I am not going to blog about this I have been blogging too much. But...Oh it was good. I have only seen nature shows in IMAX. This was better. The last 30 minutes were in 3D which was awesome. We got out at 1:00 a.m. It was a great night.

i know

I know, I know too many posts in one day. Cortney hid behind the door in the bathroom and jumped out at me. I screamed the highest, loudest, longest and most embarassing scream one could do. I couldn't believe how girly it sounded.

We watched Cali's kids tonight. It was crazy because a truck hit the electricity pole (what are they called??) and the power was out for a couple of hours. So to entertain ourselves we put together some legos jack got for his birthday. I love legos. I seriously could build all day.

barney

Rob is really into barney right now. I sat by him as he watched it today and he watches intently the whole time. Like it was the most important show he'd ever seen. He's like me watching So You Think You Can Dance. (which by the way....oh I love...have I said it enough??)

Last night I went with KaeLynn and Cali to Angelique's bridal shower. I am so excited to get a new sister in law. It has been 10 years since we have had a new sis in law in the Earl family. She is our second. So it is very exciting. I really consider all my brother and sister in laws actual sisters and brothers. I hope she will feel that and feel welcomed. It was really good to see her around her friends. She seemed more comfortable and outgoing then I had ever seen her. We had a great time at the shower and of course we always stay the latest. 8 days untill the wedding. I can't believe it is so soon.

***Oliver lately has been wanting to go around with no shirt on. Today I asked him why.
ash: "why don't you have a shirt on??"
Oli: "because its cool"
ash: "what??"
oli: "I want to be like a rockstar."
ash: "Oliver...who have you seen that is cool that doesn't have a shirt on?"
oli: "Remember when we went to get bread bowls...dad didn't have his shirt on."
ash: "?????"

I don't know what he is talking about getting bread bowls and Cortney with no shirt on. He knows exactly what he means though. I wish I could see in his little head.

i smell something burning...

Three times now I have burnt something I was making on the stove top while blogging. I always think..."this has a while before it is ready to flip I will just go and check my email real quick". Sure enough I get sucked in and don't realize the passing of time. When...I start to smell something. Today I was making poached eggs for Robbie. Ohhh. I hate when I burn things. I never realized that blogging could be so dangerous.

luv

I really want to start doing something I luv. I don't really have anything that "I" do. By that I mean, something i do all by myself. Last week I read 7 books. This summer I have been reading. Probably 30 or more books. But I want something else. I wish I was someone that LOVED to run. Someone that didn't have a good day unless she got out of bed and ran for an hour. I wish. That will never happen. But for now I am looking into hobbies. Something I can love. What should it be?? Maybe I will start painting, or drawing again. I put off doing any thing artistic for the last 5 years because I didn't see the point. I thought my hands would be too crippled for it to be useless. But now that I have my hands back I want to do something. Sewing...maybe. I don't know. Why can't it be running. Then I could be oh so skinny and its free. I would though love to have something that I close the door and do, by myself.

happy birthday jack

Today was a long day! I usaually get to sleep in kinda late (usually I get up around 9 or so). My kids sleep in so I usually just get up when they do. But today Cali and I had a lot to do so I was up at 7:55 and she came and picked us up at 8:30. It is amazing how nice and cool it is in the morning. haahaa.

Today was my nephew Jack's birthday party. We had another Star Wars birthday party, although this time it was only about the good guys. Oli loves everyone on the dark side. I keep telling myself it doesn't mean anything but sometimes I wonder. Anyways, Cali's kids only like the good guys. So we got a whole bunch of decorations in blue and green. Plus Star Wars banners, cups, napkins you name it. The party was outside at a park and we just planned on decorating the pavillion to the nines. Jack really rates how awesome parties are by the decoratations. Anyways, the first stormy day in the past month rolls in and our decorations were flying everywhere. I am not kidding it was SOOOO windy. Ohwell. The kids still had a great time.
Here he is...Jack...5 years old.
Joey played games with the kids forever. He had all sorts of things planned out. It was really cute watching him with them.
Here all the kids are running to the base (the tree)...some how Eliza missed out when they were saying what the base was. She is still having tons of fun though.
My Oli running. When we spend the day at Cali's house, he changes into their "cool" sports clothes. He changes as many times as he can because he wants to wear it all. Sometimes I worry, he totally has an idea about what is "cool" and loves clothes. He is going to drive me nuts when he is a teenager. I guess though I will know how he feels (since I always had to fish my clothes out of the trash after my parents threw them out).This picture is from last week. Poor Cortney he is always sooo tired. From where I was sitting in my Lazyboy reading I could just see all three of their round little heads. I had to have a picture.

huge blessing

i wrote earlier that cortney got a $1,000 ticket for having idaho registration still. i was so stressed out at first and after a lot of praying i was finally comforted. yesterday though cortney had his court date. he got all dressed up and went way early. when it came to his turn. he went up there told the judge he was "guilty" and told him the car was now registered in utah. the judge dropped the fine from $1,000 to $27 dollars. ohhhhh what a huge blessing. i am so happy.

just a cute picture of Robbie falling down a hill. We were all in salt lake city because Cortney was taking family photos for someone.

caught red handed

ohhh. I had one of those days. Those days when something happens and you can't believe it was your kid that did it. Cali and I went all over town today. We have to get our kids outfitted for Justin and Angelique's wedding. They are supposed to wear black and white...good luck finding that though in the middle of summer. So anyways. We went to burlington coat factory where they had all sorts of guido looking suits and other assorted (mostly with a gangsta pin strip) sunday clothes. We had the kids try on a million things and then as we were going to leave. Tyson and Oli were acting weird. They were trying to go to the car without us. I didn't think too much about it, especially since I was busy trying on sunglasses. But once we got out to the car, ty and oli had something they hadn't paid for. They both "snuck" out old spongebob easter eggs filled with candy. Tyson put his up his sleeve and Oli had his in his pocket. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that he would STEAL on purpose. They both seemed pretty sorry for what they had done. It would have been awesome if the alarm would have gone off. Haahaa.

collection

So...Oliver has always been someone who collects things. Pacifiers, golf clubs, he has had all sorts of collections. Now he has decided to collect money. Now I can get him to to ANYTHING for a dime. It is awesome. He cleaned almost the whole house today for a dime. I have never ever seen him hurry so fast. It was awesome. He also ate all of his dinner for me to find his "collection" (he keeps it in a ziplock bag and loses it once an hour). I tried to tell him that everyone collects money but he didn't get it. He also doesn't get that a dime doesn't really buy much.

ohhh also last night at 1:48 a.m. Robbie woke up. He sleeps downstairs but I can hear him plain as day over the monitor. Anyways. He didn't cry at all but he sang and sang so beautifully for about 10 minutes and then went back to sleep. Ohhh I love that. He loves to sing (he can't talk at all so his singing isn't anysong youv'e ever heard). He gets this real serious singing face on. He looks just like my dad singing a Beatles song on our Karaoke machine. I love it. I hope he will always sing even when he is big.

callie's cafe.

One of my favorite places to eat here is Callie's Cafe. OHHH I love it. We went there tonight for dinner. We took the kids which was a bad idea. My Oli used to be so good when he was younger but they kept crawling over the table, throwing stuff on the floor, and trying to get out of our booth.

Callie's Cafe is a total greasy spoon. A place where everyone has mullets. But the food is oh so good. They have something called "Killer's" which is basically hashbrowns topped with green peppers, onions, mushrooms, cheese, bacon, ham, sausage, and country gravy. Ohhhhh. We always order that and pancakes. So tonight we got a double bonus. Bonus 1 killer's, bonus 2 Karaoke night. That's right Karaoke night. I love Karaoke. I wanted to sing so bad (there was probably a total of 8 people in there) but I knew my kids would be going crazy and I would have to stay up there and sing for 3 minutes. I am so getting a babysitter for next Saturday night so I can go and sing my heart out. Two guys sang before we left. The both sang country songs. They looked like regulars. Usually friday is Open mic night. But the guy that ran it was sick. Saturday...the place to be, Callie's.
Cortney loves to take pictures...he of course never has time. He took his camera down to work so he could take some this morning. I would love to blow this up huge and put it on my wall.

so excited

Cortney and I are going in November on a Book of Mormon tour. My mom and dad go all the time, and they want all of their kids to go at some point. It is going to be 16 days long. We will be traveling all throughout Mexico and Guatamala. NO KIDS. I can't wait. I just booked the airline tickets, and it has gotten me so excited. I love to travel. I cannot wait. Cali and Joey have already gone...so has Justin. Both of them travel all the time. They have been all over the world and they said this is a trip of a lifetime. Awesome company...Really nice hotels. Mom and Dad and Justin and Angelique will be on this tour with us. I wish it were tomorrow.

july 4th

Well, we are back from camping. We actually got home today at 10:30 a.m.I wanted to post this picture because shane planned our whole campout and didn't make any of the pictures on my site or on his. Good job Shane. Thanks for going up early and getting us a spot.

We rode up in Cortney's Samurai which was an adventure all in itself. His jeep has no doors and no top, poor little Robbie was getting so wind blown. Once we got into American Fork canyon though it was shady and so beautiful. Rob kept yelling because he was so excited. It is amazing how much a part of nature you feel when you are driving in a jeep with no top (I was going to just write with no top on...but that would be obscene). I loved driving up there. I love Cort's samurai. We got to our camping spot around 7:00 and I immediatly started getting dinner going. Cooking while camping...or should I say eating while camping is MY favorite part. I love eating something delicious while being outdoors. I don't know why. We had dutch oven potatoes and BBQ baby back ribs. Yum. We were joined by my sister Cali and Joey and their 4 kids, our friend shane (supercords), his sister and brother in law and Celeste and Darren and kids (Celly and D only came for dinner...they weren't up for the sleeping part...I think they might have been the smart ones). It was so fun and perfect weather...the kids were running around and playing all over the place. The down sides were that we were right off a pretty busy road and it was sooooo dusty. Rob kept trying to go up to the road and I was so worried he was going to get run over. Also there was a beautiful river running through camp. This was a plus and a minus. It was scary because obviously a kid could drown. It was a plus because since it was so dusty it made for a nice place to get cleaned up...also it was a great noise blocker for when we were sleeping.

After dinner (i am trying to do more paragraphs...my friend shane said I needed more paragraphs...I think when I don't use paragraphs it is more the way I would actually tell the story...with no pauses or breaks) we just sat around and talked it was really nice. Then came the interesting part. Cali and I and our kids and husbands all slept in the same tent. I have a huge tent and I figured it would be better than setting up two. So we had 6 kids and 4 adults. Not only that but Cali and I slept on Cots and the two babies slept in porta cribs. It really was a sight. (i will post pictures but I will have to do it tomorrow because only Cali took a camera). We started but first putting baby Grace to bed. After about an hour we snuck the boys (oli ty and jack) in to sleep. They surprisingly went to bed super fast. We tried to put Rob and Carolina to bed at the same time but took them out after a couple of minutes because they just kept jumping on the boys that were trying to sleep. At around ten Carolina said she wanted to go to bed so we took them in and this time they stayed. YEAH. So the adults had about 40 minutes of time where there were no kids bothering us. By this time we were out of firewood. (somehow we overlooked assigning someone to bring firewood oops) So we just went to bed.

Of course that is the part that always becomes interesting...going to bed. I love camping so much I just don't love the sleeping part. Right after we came in Jack started throwing up. Yep, throwing up. Cali luckily had some plastic bags (moms are somehow prepared for their kids throwing up) and he did't wake anyone up while he was sick. Besides Jack the kids slept great. Baby grace didn't wake up once. It was awesome. Poor Cortney got sick in the night and he kept having to leave the tent and run down the road to "take care of business". I felt so bad for him. We woke up at 8:00 Oli was screaming he was going to pee in his sleeping bag (which was funny because he was in Cortney's super expensive Sierra Designs bag and I specifically said I had to have someone sleep in it who wouldn't pee. Oli never pees.) Anyways I scrambled as fast as I could to put on pants and get him outside to go before he woke up the whole tent. Luckily he didn't wet the sleeping bag and we made it okay...we did however wake everyone up.

Breakfast was cereal, the kind that come in their own tinsy boxes. I wanted to make scones or something like that but there were no fires allowed on the 4th. So that was it we left as soon as we finished. Cars were coming up the canyon non stop all morning so we knew we had to get out of there before it got too crowded. We made it home by 10:30.

Was our 15 hours of camping worth it?? I don't know. It is so much work getting everything gathered up to go. And of course washed when you get home. The kids had a blast though. So I think that makes it worth it. I had fun too. I would have liked to stay another night but being the 4th of July it was just too crowded. But it is nice to have such beautiful mountains so close to our home. Plus we have tons of pictures so someday the kids will look at them and think, "yeah, my parents always took us camping."


After we got all unpacked and cleaned up. I put Robbie down and Cortney and I took a nap. I think that is one of the things I miss the most about not having kids. NAPS. I never ever ever get a nap now. And for Cortney and I to take one at the same time is unheard of. Usually it is me letting him sleep or vice a versa. I always hear couples without kids talking about their naps and I always think "I hope they realize how lucky they are". Cortney and I used to take a nap every time we had a day off together. Yeah...I miss napping. Now when my kids are sleeping I have so many other things to do that I don't even want to nap. I just want to enjoy not having someone hanging on me.

Then tonight we headed over to the knowles for a 4th of July BBQ. I love their parties. The kids swam and I just sat and ate and ate and ate. Yum. Cortney threw his back out or something like that (he doesn't really know because that has never happened to him) getting Rob out of the pool. We ended the night with a bunch of fireworks (that we didn't pay for which makes them even more awesome). It was a great night. I have to say since it is the 4th. I LOVE AMERICA. I don't know if it is because I have lived in another country, but I try to never take my freedom for granted. People always complain about paying taxes and such but I don't know if they would if they had lived in Peru for a time.

So shane...enough paragraphs for you. For me it feels weird. I like how one big block looks. I know, it isn't correct to write without paragraphs.

Pictures coming tomorrow I promise.

Here is Cortney and Oli in the samurai, the kids love going for rides with Cortney. I don't really. I always think we are going to crash...or tip over or break down. I need to learn to trust him, he is a really good driver. But I can't help it. He mostly goes without me. hahhaa OH also the smoke in the air is all of the dust. It was REALLY dusty at this campsite.

Rob and Carolina at dinner...they were the dirtiest by far. What could be better than a bottle and a hotdog. Oh and a little camp chair. Yeah yeah I know he is too old for a bottle.
Celly (with weston), Jack, Joey, Me and Rob.
Here Robbie and I are sleeping. Well...I am actually just closing my eyes, but Rob was actually sleeping. The 3 little boys slept in the entry room of the tent. It was just perfect size for them. They didn't wake up at all. (well of course except for Jack's throw up times...there were 4 I think)
Our boys are such good friends. I am so greatful that Oli and Rob are able to have cousins near by. I loved loved loved growing up with cousins as my best friends. This picture was taken in the morning.
Cort and I
Gracie having her morning bottle.
Here Carolina is crying because her bottle was too cold. Joey is trying to explain that this is a camp baba and that it is supposed to be cold.
Cali and Joey slept just across from us. It was awesome.