Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Next week..

will be my one year blog-iversary. Ill have a new look. And Ill need a lttle of your help. Keep your eyes open.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008



Bright and early on the 21st of August we headed up north to Bear Lake. It is about a 3 hour drive not to mention what ever stops have to be made. We couldn't check in until 3pm so to make the most of the day we stopped at Tony Grove about 30 miles outside of Logan, Utah and went on a small nature hike. It is a beautiful little spot,one I would like to visit again. The kids had a great time though there wasn't much more than cows to see because they were all to noisy with excitement.

Bear Lake straddles the border of Utah and Idaho. It is a beautiful blue color because of the minerals in it. The water is so clear and blue that you can see down pretty deep into it. The beaches are soft sand. If you didn't know better you would think you were on an island beach. While many parts of the lake are very deep, the shores are shallow. We had to walk pretty far before it even was to our waist. This made it nice to not have to worry so much about the kids. They loved every minute of it.
When we first arrived at our camping spot it was impossible to keep them from the beach. Our spot was a quick five minute walk to the shore and they remembered that from last year. They were all sad they couldn't get in that day. They made up for it the next day spending 7 hours of pure joy in the mud, sun and water. Now the high for the day was about 77-78 and the water temp is about 68. I didn't even take my sweater off until afternoon. They didn't care and barely complained about being cold.
Olivia washed her head in the mud for about an hour. A couple of time I just had to make sure hadn't fallen asleep. Everyone just really enjoyed a relaxing day.
That night we celebrated Garin's birthday with some dutch oven peach cobbler and later hot cocoa and an amazing view of the milky way.
Of course with kids it wasn't all peaches and cream. I was proud of how well they went to bed every night because they were exhausted. My kids never go to bed. But there was plenty of dirty messes and crazy behavior. Our friends had to make a trip to the medical clinic because their 3 yr old shoved a shell up his nose. And clean up lasted a little too long for their patience. But overall they were good and we all had a great time.
On the way home we stopped at the Gossner's cheese factory in Logan. A place that the Free's loved to go to when they lived there. We got yummy samples, great deals on cheese and ice cream. Then we made the long trip home and back to reality.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

I should be packing right now but I'm procrastinating. Its probably because our fridge finally came today and I am so excited but....it won't fit!!! thanks to a crooked wall. We have to remove part of the door frame to get it in and because we are leaving tomorrow and my hubby will not be home at a decent hour today I have a beautiful, working fridge right in the middle of my already cramped kitchen. In fact to get to my laundry room I have to use the garage. Soooo anyway I'm not really complaining because it is very nice to have this modern day convenience back in my life, I'm just, well... *sigh*

Have a nice weekend! We will, relaxing at the Caribbean of the Rockies.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Happy Birthday Riley

So this post is a little late, Riley's 9th birthday was on the 5th of Aug. I've been waiting to post about it because for a birthday present this year Riley and Amellia (who's birthday is in a few weeks) got their bedroom decorated. It took us a few weeks to get it finished.

To celebrate Riley's birthday we went to see 'Journey to the Center of the Earth'. That is a really fun movie! We had a good time. The next day we had cake and Grammy and Grandpa over for dinner. She also got a package from Marme and Papaw with the movie 'Nancy Drew' in it. This is the current favorite and she loves the Nancy Drew books as well.

Riley and Amellia have been wanting a 'Francais' room for a while now. Finally we found just the right set to inspire the room. My friend Gretchen and I (and baby Jack) worked hard at painting the walls and furniture.

It was taking us along time with all the kids and distractions so last Saturday Garin and I just busted it out and had an Extreme Home Makeover style reveal for them- complete with screaming. We are all happy with how it turned out.




Around the top of the room is a french translation of the first line or two of the poem 'How Do I Love Thee?' By Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Happy Anniversary to us!




10 years today, we were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. Beautiful memories from a beautiful day. We celebrated our anniversary big last year because we thought we would have a little one this year. Needless to say that is not the case and so we are having a quiet little night with dinner and a movie while our kiddos hang out with our wonderful friends *thanks Free fam*. We like to take a picture of our family on our anniversary so I will add that to the post after this evening.
Just for a bit of interesting info- the traditional gift for a 10 year anniversary is Tin or Aluminium. Sounds a little weird until you hear the symbolism. Tin and Aluminum are malleable metals, they serve to remind us that we should be flexible in our marriage and that even though somethings may get bent it doesn't mean they are broken or beyond repair. For this year we are going to get a little tin box and make a time capsule to be opened on our 50th anniversary. When it is put together I'll post how it turns out.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

GRRRR

My refrigerator died to today!! We went and ordered a new one and it won't be here until the 20th. We begged them to sell us the floor model. It is very frustrating to think that I will be living out of coolers for the next two weeks. Our frig will arrive the day before we go on a camping trip to Bear Lake- just in time to keep living out of coolers.
*sigh*

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

If you have not read Breaking Dawn, this post isn't for you.

It was breaking dawn when I finished this book this morning. I'd been counting the days to its release. Now I think I'm almost in shock, I'm going to have to read it again. It was certainly nothing I expected. I liked it but I'm not sure it is my favorite of the 4, but a good read for sure. My favorite part of the book aside from always Edward was Renesmee (I'm so glad Bella sounded it out for us). I haven't been a fan of Jacob's but he redeemed himself to me in this book. I do not like Bella as a vampire. While she whine's a lot less it gets boring when she isn't needing to be saved as much. What did you love or hate?????