Sisters '11

{Our First Camping Trip!}

My kiddos and I took off on our first camping adventure together, just the five of us. Our destination was Moose Willow Creek (Fish Lake) to enjoy a week in the great outdoors with family and friends...no husbands allowed. I've never driven that far ever! But following our friends I didn't give it a second thought.

We shared a trailer with the Rowley clan and had a blast! It was one ginormous sleepover for my kiddos. We had a crazy good time and my munchkins didn't want to come home early even though we had to... family reunion at Crystal Springs!

Our drive home through the mountains, all alone, was a little scary...and my GPS was seriously lost...it wouldn't admit it though - I think it must be a man cuz it sent us down all sorts of unmarked roads! We said a little prayer and followed the tiny voice in my head. We made it to the freeway in no time! Can't beat that for a faith promoting experience!

Here's a ton of pics from the amazing time we had on our fabulous camping trip called "Sisters"!

{Tanner, Me & Shaylee Walking Around The Lake}

{A Little Dirt Never Hurt! - Shaylee}

{Concentration Is The Name Of The Game - Shaylee}

{Connor & Tanner Hangin Out In The Trailer}

{Hunter, Parker & Tanner Diggin For Bones}

{Shaylee & Emilee Painting Away}

{Hunter & Shaylee Showin' Off Their Self- Made Visors}

{Woo Hoo! Camping...Shaylee & Me}

{The "Men" Brought Back A Load Of Firewood...Parker & Justin}

{Hunter, Shaylee, Ethan & Connor}

{Mmm...Dirt Pie! Shaylee Spit It Out...
Maybe It Needed More Twigs!}

{Silly Shaylee At The Campfire}

{Yay! Shaylee Went Potty In The Big Girl Potty - 1st Time!}

{Tanner & Connor Snackin' On Smores}

{Banana Boats & Face Paint.
He May Not Look It...
But Hunter's In Heaven}

{Justin & Parker Showin' Off Their "Halo" Faces}

{All The Kids, Including Shaylee, Got A Paint Job}

{Tanner, Hunter, Emilee, Brooklynn, Parker, Shaylee, Gavin, Justin, Connor, Bekah, Brucklyn, Zakk & Brody}

{Tanner & Me}

{Connor, Parker, Shaylee & Tanner Throwing Rocks In The Lake}

{Parker Pickin' A Clue}

{Hunter - My Little Romantic}

(Parker Helping With The Play Tent}

{Shaylee & Ethan Playing With The Games}

{Tanner - My Serious DS Addict}

{Parker, Justin & Hunter Strikin' A Pose}

My Brave Little Girl

Poor little Shaylee Bug is having a rough go. Yesterday evening she wanted to play with grandpa. She said, "Get, me Grandpa!" then turned to take off and tipped over instead.

She cried and cried telling me, "It's bleeding, it's bleeding" for several minutes without letting up. I didn't see any bruising or swelling and couldn't imagine a broken bone from tipping over, but I guess anything is possible so I called the Dr.

Did you know elbow dislocation is extremely common in young kids? They told me to hang tight for about an hour to see how she did. She fell asleep soon after, but woke up shaking and crying telling me it hurt. We got ready and headed out to the after hours doc.

He checked out her arm and sent us to Orem Community Hospital for painful x-rays. They ended up taking two sets "just to be sure what they were looking at". That kind of scared me a little. They let me hold her the entire time and she cried for my friend Christine and Grandpa. I reassured her we'd see them both when we were done.

After a long sit in the waiting room the doc finally called with the results. They saw nothing...nothing at all. So my next question... what's wrong with her? My answer was, we're not sure, perhaps she pulled something. He told me to make a sling by cutting a triangle piece of cloth and keep her in it for a few days. (I pulled out her pink bandanna and she was thrilled) He said if she doesn't get better I need to take her back in. My kiddos are with their dad this weekend so he OKed waiting till Sunday afternoon.

After we left we stopped by my old church building to visit Christine as promised, it was volleyball night. Shaylee was super excited to see all of her old buddies were there too ... Ryan, Cassie and Dan. They all helped put a great big smile on her face.

My poor little baby has been sleeping a ton ever since we came home. Grandpa will be giving her a blessing very soon, when she wakes up. Such a brave little girl.

The Magic Touch

Hunter was jumping on the tramp yesterday when he heard a loud pop and his back started hurting. I gave him some ibuprofen and laid him on the couch to watch a few cartoons telling him if it still hurt in the morning to let me know.

Our morning was a little crazy and he didn't say anything. By mid-afternoon my little guy told me he was still in pain. I text Dr. Baker to see if he had an available slot. Not soon after he told me to come on in.

He took us back to a room and explained to Hunter he was going to adjust his back...and it would sound like "popcorn". Being his first time to a chiropractor, Hunter looked a tad bit nervous as he hopped up on the table. But soon his nervousness disappeared as Dr. Baker rubbed some warming stuff on the sore spot making Hunter's day. He was thrilled cuz he was getting a massage! LOL

He made a few quick adjustments putting everything back where it belongs. Hunter had a smile on his face when he said the pain was gone. I said,

"See, I told you he was magic!"

On our way out I decided to get my kiddos power balance bands just like mom who swears by them. Not only are they showing them off to everyone they come in contact with, they all believe they're super strong!!!

A ginormous thanks to Dr. Baker for fixing my little man and for putting a smile back on my kiddo's face!

Testing At Primary's

For a few months now, my little Shaylee Bug's been coughing, choking and frequently stops breathing at night. We tried everything and finally the decision was made to take her to the amazing and wonderful Primary Children's Hospital for a barium test.

Each of the boys had play dates so it was just me and my Shaylee...and the dreaded freeway. Anyone who's anyone knows I'm deathly afraid to drive the freeway and will avoid it whenever possible, but this was for my daughter and I'd do absolutely anything for her.

Salt Lake and my sense of direction are in no way a good combination. I started to panic when my GPS refused to accept that the address existed. Then my friend told me to program it for the University of Utah Hospital next door. It accepted it so we took off with fingers crossed we wouldn't end up in some other state. We did get lost, but only for a minute and made it on time.

I love Primary's because they are geared to the happiness and comfort of my kids. While we waited Shaylee had a blast watching the fish, cooking up plastic burgers and coloring a pretty picture.

The testing part was horrible, but as always I was allowed to stay with her and hold her through it all. The doctors are amazingly patient there. She had to lay flat on a table with a crazy looking video x-ray machine just inches above her body. She was given a tiny bit of the nasty chalk like barium with a syringe. Then she gulped down a ton through a straw and started crying. We had to get 6-7oz of the disgusting stuff down her and only managed about 4oz before she started throwing it up. Because we were at primary's and the child always comes first the testing was stopped. He said he didn't see anything wrong, but we may have to repeat the test if my doctor wanted more information. They told me next time they'd sedate her and put a tube in so she could be comfortable.

The nurse left the room for a minute and came back with the softest little teddy bear and told my little girl how wonderful she was and how great she did. She cleaned her up and we actually left with a smile on her face...see Primary's is absolutely AMAZING!

On our way out we stopped at the fountains and played for a minute then headed off for her promised McDonald's chicken McNuggets. By the time we made it through the drive thru she was out and slept with her well deserved little bear the entire way home.

Little Entrepreneurs

Since the day Parker could talk his little mind's been trying to come up with ways to earn money. His newest inspiration came from his recent purchase of a pocket knife at scout camp and all of the people hiking through the back yard (next door to Rock Canyon).

Without my knowledge,Parker gathered together his team of brothers and headed out to find sticks...then carved them to make walking sticks. When he was done he proudly showed them to me and my family announcing they were $10.00 each! Being from a business oriented family, and having one myself while married, I knew I had to give him the run down.

All of my family gave him the talk about supply and demand, the value, how much potential buyers may have with them while hiking, time vs. earnings ... he dropped his prices way down to $2.00 all by himself and gave Uncle Todd the "family deal" of .50 cents!

The next day the boys got up early, put together some boxes, wrote up a sign and stacked their wares in front of the house. Honestly, I didn't think they'd sell one, but didn't want to squash their amazing ingenuity and drive so I cheered them on...after all if my brother and sister could sell rocks way back in the day my boys should be able to pull off a few stick sales.

To my surprise they sold all 8 and made $8.40!!! It must've been the "cute factor". . . Gotta get me some of that!

Not Wet

It was a beautiful blue sky day, not a cloud to be seen and suddenly out of no where it starting pouring! The kids were all outside and didn't want to come in so I let them stay out on the "covered" back porch. I had no idea the rain could come through the slats from the porch above.

A few minutes into the storm I opened the back door to let the smell of rain in and to see how my kiddos were doing. To my surprise they were soaking wet! My little Shaylee looked straight at me and said, "mommy, I not wet...see?" Laughing I took off for my camera and came back to find Tanner and Shaylee both giggling and standing under a steady dripping stream of rain water. . . "Look mom! We're taking a shower!"

Shaylee Bug's 1st Hair Cut

I took the boys to Cindy's Salon, Clipitz, today. They were so way over due for haircuts. Kind of last minute Cindy and I decided to give Shaylee a haircut too. Good thing my camera was in the car! She sat so quiet and still in the chair with her little smock on watching Cindy in the mirror as she trimmed away. Don't panic yet, she only had a tiny trim. There was no way I was going to cut off her beautiful curls ... she loves them waaaay to much.

Then Cindy styled her hair so darn cute! She did all sorts of fun, fancy stuff and told me her hair should stay in for up to a week. I can wash it and everything! I could tell my little Shaylee Bug felt so grown up sitting there in that chair with a professional doing her beautiful "puzzle" (Rapunzel) hair.

It was a fun afternoon, but at the same time a little sad. No more first haircuts until I have grandchildren ...
my little one's are growing up.

Summer Sundays

The thing about Sunday is the peacefulness of having to do nothing, but spend time with family...and maybe wash a few dishes. Talking and laughing, playing games, visiting with friends and eating dessert what could be more enjoyable?

Summer Sunday evenings are the best! They're the ones that seem to etch themselves into our memories as the happiest of all. Being able to spend an amazing afternoon in the backyard with the cool mountain breeze, my kiddos and grandpa playing Frisbee, jumping on the tramp with friends and playing in the kiddie area is truly a blessing.

Sleeping Spot

{Shaylee Bug's perfect little sleeping spot 6/03/11}

As I was going through pictures tonight this one of my little Shaylee Bug caught my eye and made me laugh. Not only cuz I love the memory, but she's wearing her all time favorite furry boots with shorts!

Shaylee was always Daddy's little girl and couldn't go to sleep without him laying next to her. If he wasn't ready for bed when she was she'd lay down on a stair going into the family room and fall asleep. Lucky for her she happened to be just the right size to fit there and be comfy. I'm not sure why she chose a stair over a couch, but I'm thinking it's so her daddy would have to pick her up on his way to bed. Soon after Mota left she started falling asleep on the kitchen set of stairs when I was cleaning it...that's where this priceless memory was captured.

4th Of July

I'd like to give thanks to all those who've served and or given their lives for this amazing country. Without them we would not be free and would not be celebrating on this day. A special thanks to my grandpa's, dad, and friends too many to name who have served and also thanks to all my friends families who've gone without their dad's for me and my kiddos...thank you for the gift of our freedom.

Usually, well for the past 14 years, we celebrate the 4th with a camping trip. This year things were different all the way around...it was the first time Mota was taking my kiddos for the weekend, so despite it being a holiday I let them go. Being Utah he had them for the big Stadium of Fire fireworks display.

Me and my kiddos celebrated the 4th in a different way this year. Today Parker and Hunter got up with Grandpa and Grandma Susie at 6:30am! They went to the church for their annual flag ceremony which included lots of doughnuts and chocolate milk. Not really being morning people the rest of us slept in.
Towards the middle of the day we packed up the boat and headed out to Utah Lake. It was Tanner and Shaylee's first time ever being on a boat! Hunter had his first experience last Friday. The kids laughed and giggled as the boat suddenly sped up after leaving the wake free zone.

We cruised out to the middle of the lake where we ate chicken sandwiches, Cheetos, grapes, lemonade and red, white and blue doughnut holes. The boys were so excited they hardly ate a thing.

Parker did a belly flop in the water and Hunter just jumped right in. Tanner slid in with a little help from Grandpa. The wind had kicked up and the waves were huge! Shaylee wanted in so badly, but was way too scared.

All in all my kiddos had a blast! They were completely worn out by the time we got home. We finished off the day with showers and baths, then had some of Grandma Susie's fried chicken and topped it off with her famous cherry apple pie...what's more American than that?

















{Parker - proud as can be & Hunter - Thrilled to be wearing pink!}
















{Tanner-lovin' the water spray in his face & Shaylee-ready to go!}















{Jenn & Tanner . . . . . . Shaylee & Grandpa}