It's Official!

Yep. They did it. My parents are officially true blue -boot wearing -horse riding-country folk now. This means big changes for all of us. Their house has become somewhat of a destination resort with all sorts of new wonders for my children to experience and explore. It's taken me a few trips to realize that frilly skirts and sandals don't cut it in the country. Nope. You gotta get down and dirty and my kiddos love every stinking second of it!

So our "agenda" while in Logan has taken a slight turn. Now on the list...

FEED THE CHICKENS

GATHER THE EGGS

RIDE THE HORSES

And spend COUNTLESS hours exploring the great outdoors. Still can't believe they made the move? Well, maybe the next picture will help...

With a view like that who wouldn't move??? With a river to fish or float down, a pond to kayak in, the trees to build forts in, an abundance of wildlife, and a beautiful house to rest our heads in we are pretty much set. No need for Disneyland. We'll just head to grandma and grandpa's house!

A Big Day

Today was a BIG DAY.

This morning I felt hammered. Not at all recovered from my BIG weekend that included a girls overnighter Swiss Days shopping extravaganza, Troy's birthday, teaching a RS lesson in church, and hosting a bbq for 50+ people as a "Happy Birthday/Labor Day/end of summer celebration!

It was a BIG day for me to send not one, not two but ALL three of my girls to school for the very first time. { Don't mind Hope's shirt. She spilled half her breakfast on it and we had to do a little scrub down at the last second}.

Caymbree and I had a BIG day as she anxiously anticipated 1:00 to come around so she could finally go to preschool. I smiled all day long watching her. I came down to breakfast this morning to find her packing her backback with a treat and a water bottle just like her older sisters. I didn't have the heart to tell her that her preschool teacher may not be on board with that idea.

Then we headed to the gym. Caymbree loves the gym when her sisters are there but without them she throws a serious fit! The entire way there she kept saying "I's NOT going to the gym mom!" When we finally pulled into the parking lot and I got out she quickly locked the doors and yelled through the glass, "I's not going Mom!" So funny. I finally got her out only for her to work her magic. As we walked past the cafe she declared, "Kay, Mom. I won't kie (cry) if use buy me a moothie (smoothie) when we all done kay?" What the what??!?! Did my three year old seriously just bargain with me?? {Um, yes she did get the smoothie}.

Her little back-to-school outfit has to be my favorite!! After weeks of watching her sisters get new clothes I finally took her to pick out an outfit. Of course the first thing she picks out is an Angelica the mouse ballerina t-shirt. So not me. So her. As I tried to talk her out of it she found the fluffy pink skirt. Just about the time I was ready to put my foot down we spotted the boots. Now we're talking. When we finally put it all together I couldn't say no. She was SOOOO excited! In fact, I'm not sure Troy and I have ever seen her so excited about something. I think she showed and tried on the outfit for half the neighborhood. Anytime someone would stop by she would ask them if they wanted to see her "pee-skol" outfit.

Finally the clocked ticked down and it was time to go. As excited as she was I couldn't help but wonder if she would have a melt down once we got there. When we pulled up there were a few cars ahead of us and she realized that moms were not getting out of their cars. The teacher just comes out to the car and gets them. Soon I heard from the backseat, "You don't stay wis me Mom?" Me: "Nope. You are so lucky you get to go all by yourself just like a big girl." (Oh crud is what I was really thinking.) Caymbree: "So use just leave me here?" Me: "Yep but I'll be back to get you really soon. (Bracing myself for the melt down). And then the door opened. And there stood her teacher. And....she was off. Didn't even look back until I yelled and said, Bye Caymbree!!!"

To which she turned around and waved enthusiastically. What's that I feel? No. not a tear. Never. We have both been SOOOO looking forward to this day. But that's my BABY!!

Yep. It was a BIG day.

Shopping...A serious business

Most of you know of my love for shopping but you may not know where I acquired that love from. Let's just say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. When it comes to my mother and shopping you DON'T mess around. So if you thought Swiss Days was about a relaxing girls weekend you would be sorely mistaken!! My mom had us up at 6:00am in order to have breakfast and be at Swiss Days before the booths opened. She was in a sheer panic when we didn't pull into the parking lot until 8:05 (five minutes after booths opened). The rest of us got a good chuckle out of it.

For years my cousins/aunts/sisters have talked about a girls weekend over Swiss Days. This year we actually did it! Unfortunately, work got in the way for a lot of them and we ended up with a party of six. We had a blast and did our part in supporting Swiss Days...

We started off the day FREEZING followed by some intense HEAT and ended with some serious EXHAUSTION! We ate super yummy food all weekend, stayed up late, laughed continuously spent lots of money, but most of all we just had a blast. And just so you know you don't even have to be family to join our little weekend. Any takers for next year????

Bear Lake Round 2

We couldn't let summer come to an end without one last trip to Bear Lake. This time with invited my family to tag along.

I'm not sure why we always feel the need for photo opps up there but that view just can't be beat.

So just how many kiddos can you fit in the front of a boat??? Apparently 10!

While on the boat my brother stopped in the middle of the lake and jumped out. He then told the kids he would pay the first one of them to jump out $1.00. They all looked at him like he was crazy. Finally, with a little encouragment Hallee jumped! (Picture taken on the second time around with dad) Troy and I were shocked! I think she was a little shocked herself! She must have really wanted that dollar!


*Cute cousin moments*

Adi and Hope

Bridger and Caymbree

Caymbree, Kate, and Bridger

Caymbree and Kenzie


And Hope just wouldn't be Hope without a funny moment like this. Seriously. She cracks me up!

Summer Fun

{POOL TIME}

With summer winding down I realized I have a lot of catching up to do. We tried to soak up the sun as much as possible and had many outings to pools, lakes and splash parks. So here's just a few picts to recap....

Brigham City Pool
Hallee was determined to learn how to dive off the diving board and after a number of painful belly flops she finally mastered it.

{RAGING WATERS}
One of the highlights of the summer was Troy's summer work party at Raging Waters. We had so much fun!!

The night before Troy's work had an awards banquet up at Snowbird resort. They provided a wonderful evening with dinner, games and hotel room included! It was fun to have an opportunity to get all dressed up and enjoy an evening at someone else's expense :)

I'm so grateful that 1) Troy has a job 2) he enjoys his job 3) he is being blessed with success at his job and 4) he has a job that takes the time to thank their employees and families!

Back at it...

Our three weeks of summer are officially over and we are back at it again. Hallee started 3rd grade last week and Hope followed this week with her very first day of Kindergarten.

Hope has been dying over the fact that kindergarten started a week later than the other grades. I think she asked me at least five times a day how many more times she would have to sleep before she got to go to school.

The only downfall is that she ended up with morning kindergarten even though I requested afternoon. With Caymbree starting afternoon preschool soon I anxiously anticipated two days of child-free time. Just think of the possibilities... grocery shopping with no kids, running errands without whining, cleaning your house and having it actually stay clean for a few hours, lunch with friends, volunteering at school without having to arrange babysitters... Um, ya. I spent a lot of time thinking/dreaming about it. I guess it just wasn't in the cards for me. So now my days will be spent shuffling the kids around with SIX different start and stop times just for school!! Not quite what I had been dreaming about but whadda ya do?

Hope Moment

Yesterday we took the kiddos to the movie Toy Story 3. Afterwards Hope came up and said, "that little girl has almost as many toys as me!" "Yep." I agreed. "So do you think all your toys are home having a party right now?" "Noooo", she giggled and then her face was priceless. I would have given anything to capture it. Her eyes shifted elsewhere and her thoughts began to take over and her face changed to something between awe, wonder and horror. I think it took Troy and I a good three minutes to compose ourselves. Thanks for keeping us laughing Hopers!

Trekking it Pioneer Style

Our ward had the amazing opportunity to do a Ward Trek. 18 families signed up for the excursion which broke down into about 88 people, with 36 adults, 6 of whom were pregnant women (2 within a month of their due date) and the rest of them were children!! Our family flagWe partnered up with another family and took turns pulling the cart Well. Most of us did. Princess Caymbree found it quite enjoyable to be in the cart. Hope walked about five steps before she decided that she "needed" to be in the handcart. I think I may have gone into this experience with somewhat unrealistic expectations. I thought my children would be perfect angels with the whole experience humbling them into reverence. Um. That didn't happen. Hope had a rough trip and whined about any and everything she possibly could. Caymbree woke up in the middle of the night with a night terror and screamed bloody murder for about five minutes waking up half the camp. On our walk (without handcarts) up to Martins Cove (in afternoon heat and a steady incline) Caymbree decided that she could walk no further wanted to be carried the entire way up and back down (about a mile) by nobody else but me. It was then that I felt myself fighting the frustration and questioning our decision about the trek.

It wasn't until later that evening at Rock Creek Hollow that it all started to fall into place for me. A sister missionary shared the story of a widowed family that came across with the Martin Hand Cart Company. The oldest brother was crippled so the mother and another son pulled him in the handcart throughout the entire journey. This left the 11 year old brother to take care and watch after his four year old brother. When the four year old could walk no further the 11 year old picked up him and carried him the rest of the way. By the time they reached the rest of the camp at Rock Creek Hollow the 11 year old safely set down his brother and then died with his mission fulfilled. I still can't tell the story without choking up.

I think it was at this moment that it hit me. We didn't bring the kids for their sake we brought them for ours. It may be years before they are able to truly understand and appreciate the pioneer experience but for Troy and I it gave us just a small glimpse of what it was like for those pioneer parents who watched their children cry and plead for help from starvation and the elements. It was truly a humbling experience.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was right here. We stood on the exact trail the pioneers came down after enduring through Rocky Ridge. You can still see the markings. It was amazing!

It is also here that a number of marked group graves are found with a pile of rocks as the marker. I thought it tender that through the rocks this single red flower grows as if to say "All is Well. All is Well."

They warned us we might see a snake or two and that we did. This little guy was right where we were getting ready to set our tent. We also ran into a couple of rattlesnakes along the way. One we stumbled across right as it jumped out to strike a rabbit.