Lake Powell Part 2

In July we went on our annual trip with my family down to Powell. It was an especially fun trip this time, probably because everyone was there the whole time and my dad decided to build us an AWESOME water slide.  Who knew how much fun you could have with a 100 ft piece of visqueen (sp?), a lot of digging in the sand, a fire hose, and a water pump??!!?!!  It was SO much fun!  I'm not sure who had more fun, the adults or the kids. Jury is still out on that.  Thanks to the men who scouted us out a picture perfect beach to park the boat and a few good hours of setting up the slide for all of us to enjoy while we were there.  I'm sure we looked a little hill billy playing on that homemade slide, but we couldn't have cared less.  In fact we had many people drive by our beach and just stop to watch us play on that slide. Some even tried it out for themselves.  This trip will go down in the books as being one of the best.  I'm very thankful to my parents who provide such a fun trip for all of us to enjoy.  I'm so glad my boys get to be apart of it, and have these memories to remember like I did when I was their age too.  Here's some of the pics from the trip. Unfortunately I did not take any pics of people using the slide, except for my dad.  I guess I'll have to get those from my sister in laws and sister.

Dad about to catch air on the jump.

Prepping for the slide.

The boys digging, they did this a lot.

Darren, Brian, and Kelli getting the pump to work.

William hated the water this trip and would cry and cry anytime we would try to take him in the lake.  So we just let him do this a lot. Play and get super dirty in the sand.

The kids jumping off the top of the houseboat.

Darren being himself.  He is wearing his speedo and my sister's tank top that says "Carlsbad, California" (Her husband's name is Carl)  So Darren put on the tank top and surprised Carl by running toward him calling his name. It actually was really funny.

Darren running towards Carl yelling his name.

All the kids dancing with Thomas on the front deck.

Uncle Thomas, the dance instructor.

Cute picture of William on the ski boat.  He loved taking rides and driving the boat with grandpa.

The kids in the bow of the boat.

Thomas and Brian showing how its done.

Brian best side.

My dad.

William and I.

Connor and William.  William liked to tease Connor on this trip.

Ben, Rachael, and KC.

The view of the beach, slide, and boat.  Such a fun trip.

Lake Powell 2012 Part 1

I am very behind on blogging, but really wanted to get it done before all is forgotten.  Back in June, right as the kids were getting out of school, we took a trip to Lake Powell.  This was not our ordinary trip that we take though, we took our good friends the Milner's and the Alleman's and beach camped there. My dad was VERY generous and allowed us to take not only his boat but also his truck to pull the boat with. Thanks so much dad, we are very appreciative of him letting us borrow such valuable equipment! We had so much fun with our friends and they too had a blast!  None of them had ever been, so it was really fun introducing them to the Lake that I grew up on every summer since I was like 4 years old.  We wanted to take this trip because it was one last hoorah before our dear friends, Alex and Jamie Alleman, moved to North Carolina for graduate school.  When Tom told me of his idea of this trip way back in March, I rolled my eyes at him.  I wasn't too keen on the idea of beach camping (I have been very spoiled with my parent's house boat), and I also didn't think that my dad would let us borrow his boat and take it clear to Lake Powell.  I mostly thought the idea of the trip would fizzle out, like other ideas in the past have, but as the date of the trip grew closer and my dad surprisingly told us we could take the boat, I knew that I couldn't back out of it.  And BOY, am I glad that I didn't!!  It was such a fun and memorable trip for us with such close friends that we have had over the years.  I think my biggest hesitation about the trip was simply just borrowing my dad's stuff.  I was extremely nervous about being responsible for such expensive things and I was nervous about the safety of everyone there.  In fact, I couldn't sleep the night before we left, because I was freaked out of my mind.  But once we were there at Powell, my nerves were calmed and I was able to relax and have so much fun.  I also gained an appreciation for Lake Powell again,  I think because I've been there so much, I've just taken it for granted all this time.  But I was able to see it through our friends' eyes and realized how really awesome that place is.  We took our kids, except for William, (left him home with grandma) and they all had so much fun playing on the beach, swimming, and just being the goof balls that they are.  The big kids had fun too, meaning the 30 and older age range.  Probably more fun the little guys.  And I also have to admit that I didn't mind camping on the beach either.  It was a lot of work and a little messier, but very fun!  I would do it again in a heart beat!  We are already planning our next trip.

The BOYS!!

                               

Jamie and Aria tubing.

                                                         Andrea and Shiloh tubing.

Captain Thomas.

                                              Me and Xan Man!

The boys watching the girls tubing from the back of the boat.

       Alex and Scott showing off their warrior dance    before jumping off this rock.

Carter and Xander playing on the boat.

                                               Shiloh and KC.

Andrea, Mac, and Scott.

      The kids in the bow of the boat, a favorite spot.

Me and the cute captain!

                                        Swimming at the beach.

The kids wanted to be buried, so we obliged.

The dads did not want to be buried, but we obliged anyways!

A shot of our camp.

The Milner family.  Tom has known them since middle school, and I'm so grateful to have such great friends. Love them.

The Alleman family.  Tom has been best friends with Alex since middle school. We love them and miss them a lot!

         Our cute family, minus William, who got left at home because mommy didn't want to chase him around the beach.  Next year baby Will.

The whole group. Such a fun trip.

I'm to lazy to post pictures post...

I've been neglecting this blog.  And I feel kinda guilty about that.  Not guilty that my readers can't keep up with my life, because I know there aren't any readers out there who really follow this blog, except for my sister who lives in St. George and whines when I don't post often enough, but doesn't keep a blog of her own...hmm.  I feel guilty because I consider this blog my journal and a way to record my children's lives.  I'm a horrible journal keeper and scrap booker.  Each of my boys have a baby book of their own, but not much is in any of them.  One day I will make that a project.  Our life is so busy lately, and I get nervous that life is passing by me so quickly and I really don't want to forget these little moments and memories that we are making with our children.  My baby will be 16 months old in a week, and I will have a nine year old this fall. A nine year old.  Wow.

Thomas and I will celebrate ten years of marriage this weekend and I can't believe this milestone has come so quickly.  We have had ups and downs and it hasn't always been a bed of roses, but I can say that I would not change anything.  Our marriage has been mostly ups and not downs.  We have had a really good life, and I can't wait to see what the next ten years bring us. Thomas is my rock. My best friend.  I turn to him when I am scared. I turn to him when I need to make decisions that I feel can't be made with out his help.  He is my person.  I love him. He makes me laugh every day.  Even when I don't feel like laughing, he gets it out of me.  These last two years have been rougher for me.  I have had to share him a whole lot more with people.  He is very involved in his church calling and is gone a lot.  I have taken a back seat.  I am home with our children by myself more.  There are times when I don't mind sharing him, and others when I get frustrated with it. Those are times that I know I am feeling weak and not close to my Heavenly Father.  Yesterday was one of those days.  Thomas came in from being at the church all day.  I was in the kitchen trying to hold it together and clean up the dishes.  He immediately came in and wrapped his arms around me.  I cried and he just understood.  Not much was said, but we knew what each other was feeling in that moment. And then I felt better.  Immediately.  Thomas is my best friend.  We just get each other.  I will always be grateful that I picked him.

We have had a busy summer so far.  The first week the kids were out of school, we took a trip to Lake Powell with our friends, and had so much fun.  Then had a quick weekend getaway to our friends cabin up near Heber.  Next Thomas and I went to our ward's Youth Conference. I really enjoyed that because it was at Snow College campus, which is where I went to school. And this last trip was spent back in Lake Powell again with my family this time.  Pictures to come soon, when I'm not feeling so lazy.  Last week Thomas spent a few days at scout camp and then this weekend we will get away to Salt Lake for an anniversary getaway. Hopefully August will slow down a little for us before the kids have to go back to school. That's about all I have for now, I just wanted to get some thoughts written.

William's Birthday

Our sweet baby keeps growing, and has reached his first birthday.  I can't believe it's been a whole year. It seems like just yesterday I was at the hospital, in labor and so excited to meet my new baby.  We didn't find out what we were having, so it was extra exciting to be there that day and anticipate if we would have a girl or another boy.  Both Thomas and I had a feeling, as we waiting during contractions, that we were having another boy.  It was probably the fact that the baby's heart rate was so low.  Both KC and Xander had low heart rates also.  So, while I labored, we debated over a name for our new son.  Thomas was watching Sports Center, or some show like that, and they were talking about some athlete and his name was William. We both liked it and agreed that would be his name if he were a boy.  I have to admit, my heart dropped a tiny bit as the Dr. announced it was another boy.  But as I held my 3rd son for the first time in my arms, and as he gazed up into my face, I felt so proud to be the mother of 3 sons.  I love it.

William is such a joy to have in our home.  He is always so happy, especially in the morning when first waking up.  He greets us with smiles and cuddles.  Tom usually has a hard time getting out the door in the morning for work, because William is usually grabbing all of his daddy's attention.  I think that he is leaning on towards being a daddy's boy, which I'm okay with.  Here are some things about William:

He no longer nurses.  He is drinking 100% from the bottle, whole milk.

He is small!!  Only the 5 to 10% for his height and weight.  His head size is in the 90%.  I always have to laugh when people say that he is a big boy, because he surely is not!  It must be the large head and all the hair that throws people off.

Some of his favorite foods are: peas, carrots, mac n cheese, noodles, mandarin oranges, strawberries, bananas, marshmallows, cheese, jello, pancakes, and crackers.  Just to name a few.

He does not give kisses. Ever. Which makes me a little sad, but he makes me feel good when I pick him up out of his crib and pats me on the shoulder a few times.  He mimicks what I have done to him.  It always makes me feel extra special when he'll lay his sleepy head on my shoulder and give me a few pats on my shoulder.

He LOVES his big brothers.  LOVES them to pieces.  Thomas and I are always saying to each other that he will want to grow up way too fast, so that he can catch up and compete with his brothers.  There is a 5 and 7 year age difference between them, so that's a lot of growing up that I'm not quite ready for.

He is very active and wants to get into almost anything that he shouldn't be getting into.  He keeps me busy and I am constantly baby proofing things around the house.  He loves stairs and most of the time is not allowed to climb ours because they are hard wood with no carpet.  When he is able to climb them though, he literally squeals with excitement.  It's pretty darn cute.

He babbles a lot.  The only recognizable word he says is Dadda.  He has said Mama before, but only when he is crying and needs something.

He started walking about 2 weeks after his birthday, and he loves this new freedom of his, and I do too.  He especially likes it when we are outside and he can roam where ever his heart desires.

William has taken a real liking to balls, of any kind.  He loves to throw them and then chase them and pick them back up again.  He recently decided to try and join his big brother's basketball team and try to play with the big boys.  Sorry buddy, you have a good 5 or 6 years to go before that happens.

He loves our cell phones, and manages to push buttons and change browsers and settings on them.  It leaves Thomas and I baffled, because he can change things on the phone that we have no clue how to do.  If he can't get his hands on one of our phones, then he will pick any object, toy, or piece of garbage nearby  and put it up to his ear and babble at it.  He sure is a funny boy.

We celebrated his birthday a couple weeks after his actual birthday, due to painting our home and then Thomas' grandma passing away.  I don't think he knew the difference though.  We had our family over and the Alleman's over too.  I made some monkey cupcakes, I found the idea on the internet and had to try it. Some of the pictures are a little blurry, not sure what was going on with my camera.

 Opening presents . . .

 Presents . . .

 Presents . . .

 and more presents!

 Pushing around his new toy.

 He got this big grin when we started singing to him. It was so darn cute!

 Not sure what to think about that candle.

 Pulling it apart.

 Really enjoying it now!

William and Auntie Em.

I love this boy so much!  He is a our little ray of sunshine. Happy first birthday William!