Camping!

It's not that I hate camping - I don't. It's just that camping is NOT a vacation. It is a lot of work before, during, and after. Everything is more complicated when you're camping: Cooking, cleaning, eating, sleeping, and dressing just to name a few. However, I love being in the mountains and I especially love spending the time and making the memories with my family, so off we go. Our destination this time around was Salina canyon where Jeff's dad has some cabin property.
We rode 4-wheelers, hiked, got really dirty, roasted marshmallows, and went exploring. One day we rode down to Salina to drop a saddle off at Burns' Saddlery for repair. The kids loved the 'cowboy store.' We got ice cream at the local drive-in before heading back to camp. The weather couldn't have been better and we all had a really good time. Because his cousins have a cabin there, this is Jeff's annual hunting destination so he knows the trails really well.
We stayed with Jeff's parents in their trailer, which was great. Grandma even shared her makeup with Daisy! It was Craig's birthday so we had birthday cake and sang. Jeff's sister and her family came up from Green River for the celebration. The biggest highlight of the trip may have been when Jeff discovered that my camera has a timer! I was ecstatic!
Jeff and his dad worked on clearing the ground for a trailer pad. Levi's favorite part was riding in the 'tracker' with his dad. We ran into Jeff's cousins which ended up being so much fun. Paul and Stacy and their family joined us for dinner and roasting marshmallows. The next day Daisy could hardly wait to play with her new friends. We can't wait to get together again.

3rd Time's the Charm

When I heard about the Pioneer Day 5K in Levan I told Jeff I'd like to plan on doing it. Then, with hectic summer schedules I was going to bed late and not getting up to go running. I thought I probably wouldn't go do the race. Then the night before I decided I would regret it if I didn't. So at 5:30 this morning I was off to Levan. The race was awesome! It was my third 5K race, but my first time running all alone and I was a little nervous. Even going solo it turned out fine! I got my best time yet and I even took second place in my age division...complete with a medal!

Oh Yes He Did

Yes, Levi wore this outfit to church on Sunday. See, he has this obsession where he wants to be exactly like his father, which most of the time is a really good thing. Not such a good thing when we don't have any ties Levi's size. The best part was that Levi was totally serious about it. He didn't play with it or anything. He left it on and left it alone for the entire block of church. He just thought he was being like his daddy. We tried to talk him out of it, but he was not budging. We did manage to convince him to give up his cowboy boots. As far as the tie, I decided you gotta pick your battles, right?

Ute Stampede

The Ute Stampede is one of my favorite times of year. You could say I almost consider it a holiday. I totally look forward to it and I am sad when it is over. This picture is us at the rodeo on Saturday night, but all the festivities start on Thursday with the Western Parade. Jeff rode in the parade and we watched and took pictures.
That night we took the kids to the rodeo.
My family came up on Friday...hooray! It is so much fun to have them here. This is my mom and my sister, Jamie, doing chores with the kids out where we pasture the horses.

Jeff was the hottest cowboy in the Western Parade!
We celebrated our nephew, Ross', 10th birthday before the big parade on Friday. This picture is of Daisy and her cousin Easton having birthday cake. There are three parades for the Ute Stampede, and Friday's is called the Mammoth Parade because it's the biggest. The kids love to chase the candy and wave at all the 'princesses.'
Friday night we took the kids to the carnival, which is actually my least favorite part of the Stampede. You know, the 'carnies' just totally gross me out. The kids had a blast, though, and they were so cute on the rides.
Bright and early Saturday morning my mom, dad, and I ran the 5k. It was great! It was my dad's first and my mom and I's second. My mom and dad each placed in their age divisions! After the 5k we went to the Chuckwagon Breakfast in the park, which is actually one of my very favorite parts of the Ute Stampede. After that we went to the car show - Daisy's least favorite part.
We celebrated my mom's birthday Saturday afternoon. Happy Birthday mom! Then it was off to the rodeo! Saturday night is the best. It was a sold out crowd and the weather was perfect. The kids loved the clown, the princesses (Rodeo Queen Royalty) and the hot dogs (especially Levi.) I loved being there with my family. It is such a fun tradition. On Sunday we went to church and then took our time doing the chores. Monday morning we headed up to check out the new Harley Davidson shop in Lindon since my dad is now a biker dude (in case you couldn't tell from the 5K pictures.) If you get a chance to stop there, do it. It's worth it. After shopping around for a while my parents headed back to Cedar City. I was so happy to have them here for a few days. It's so fun when we actually get to spend some time together. I'm so thankful that my kids have them for grandparents. The 2008 Ute Stampede was a great success! Yee-haw!

Mom of the Year

Daisy, Levi and I nap nearly every afternoon. On the rare occasion that Daisy doesn't nap, she has 'quiet time.' Yesterday was one of those days. She was in her bedroom playing with her dolls and I fell asleep. Soon I heard her go out the back door so I got up and saw her riding her bike around our (fenced) backyard. I went in the office to check my email. A little while later she comes in the door carrying the phone.

Me: Hey sis. What have you been doing?
Daisy: Mom, I want to play with Oakley but her mom said I have to ask you first.
Me: (confused) When did you talk to Oakley's mom?
Daisy: I called her. Brayden's brother helped me.

Brayden is the little boy who lives across the street.

Me: You went to Brayden's house?
Daisy: Yup. But it's ok because no cars crashed me.

She knows she is not allowed to cross the street without asking me first.

Me: Did you ring the doorbell?
Daisy: Uh-huh. Brayden's brother answered and I said, "Do you know Oakley's number?" He didn't know it so he called his mom to ask her. Then he telled me the number and I said, "I can't know that big number!" so then he pushed the numbers for me.
Me: And you talked to Oakley's mom?
Daisy: Yeah, I telled her I want to play with Oakley and she said ok and then I telled her that my mom is asleep and she won't get up so she has to come get me. She said I have to ask you first so can I go play to Oakley's?

Yeah, so I'm dying at this point. I called Meagan, Oakley's mom, right away. She said that at first she was a little worried and wondered if everything was ok, but was laughing for sure. I haven't talked to our across-the-street neighbor yet. Who knows what she told them? I can't imagine if one of Daisy's little friends showed up on our doorstep unannounced holding a phone and asking me for a number. I've always known Daisy was independent, determined, and creative. I just didn't know it could be this embarrassing.

Independence Day

To celebrate the 4th of July we headed up Cedar mountain to go camping with my family. This is the first year since we have been married that we have not spent the 4th in Nephi. While I must confess that, for me, camping is more of what I'd call an adventure than a vacation, I was really looking forward to taking my kids to the property. When I was young we would go up Cedar mountain where my grandpa owned nearly 500 acres of amazingly pristine forest. The property has since been divided between my dad's siblings so all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins surround our property. It is beautiful there with wildflowers, natural springs, ponds, thousands of quaking aspen trees, and abundant wildlife. We rode four-wheelers all over the place. Daisy always wanted to drive all by herself. Sometimes grandpa would let her steer.
We caught (or attempted to catch) frogs and watersnakes in the ponds. Jeff was the only successful frog hunter.
Levi wasn't feeling well for the first part of our trip with a fever and vomiting (which wasn't fun at all) so he didn't spend much time in the pond. Daisy, on the other hand, was fascinated.
The night of the Fourth we drove down to the "C" which is a lookout over all of Cedar valley. We arrived just in time to see the fireworks show. It was a little different watching them from above rather than below, and the sound delay made for some interesting audio visual effects. Grandpa helped Daisy do sparklers when we got back to camp.
We rode horses each day we were there. We got to see some beautiful wildlife while on horseback. There were giant butterflies, woodpeckers, squirrels, and deer, including some pretty big bucks. The kids had such a great time, especially after Levi got feeling better. They were so dirty the whole time! It was so much fun to be with my family - even the hoards of mosquitoes didn't ruin our fun. My parents had such a fantastic camp set up complete with a firepit and tiki torches. We made it home and now I am just trying to find my way through the mountains of dirty laundry!

Our First ER Visit

The day began like any other day. The kids and I had just finished running some errands and stopped at Kandi's house to drop some things off. Suddenly Daisy comes up with her eyes watering and says, "Mom! I put a penny in my nose and I can't get it out!" I was thinking she can't be serious. Kandi grabbed a flashlight and looked up Daisy's nose. And there it was. A dime shoved clear up her little nostril. Kandi went to get some tweezers and I had Daisy lay down. She started to cry when it hurt and she was scared. I was telling her to hold still or we would have to go to the doctor and that would hurt even more. Her sobbing caused her to suck the dime even further up her nose until we couldn't see it. I called the clinic. They told me to take her to the ER. So off we went. I have never been to the Emergency Room before and Daisy was totally freaking out. By the time we got to the hospital she had settled down for the most part, but she wouldn't let the doctor come near her with any of his little tools. So he had to sedate her. That part was a little creepy. She was laying on the gurney totally non responsive but her eyes were wide open staring at the ceiling. She looked dead. Finally I asked Doc to close her eyes for me. After she was sedated he removed the dime. He couldn't believe how far up her nose it was. He gave it to me for a little keepsake. Just what I wanted. He told me the sedation could last up to an hour but the attending nurse said it usually takes 15-20 minutes. So THREE HOURS later she finally came to. They had to monitor her the whole time. I was starving by the time we got out of there. As they discharged us the nurse gave Daisy some stickers and a popsicle. She thought it was a great time. Me, not so much.