People of Walmart

This morning I decided to go run a couple of errands before I jumped in the shower. I figured it was no big deal since I could go to the drive up window. I also figured since I wasn't going to get out of the car we could take the dog for a ride. Unfortunately, my second stop wasn't open and happened to be next to Walmart. To kill the last few minutes waiting for the place to open I decided to run into Walmart and pick up a couple of things. So after unloading the kids and trying to walk into the store we had to turn around and get the yapping dog out of the car so that non one would panic and call the police on my frantic puppy. I tucked the dog inside my fleece jacket I was wearing to pretend I wasn't wearing pajamas and took my three kids (Bekah's still hadn't been done) into the store. Not my proudest moment, but an interesting morning no less. Hope no one took pictures and posts them on-line.

.....and then we went to our last stop and returned home and finished getting ready for the day. No more people Walmart at our house today.

Our State is on Fire

There have been a lot of fires in our state this summer, burning thousands of acres of land and several structures. Several of them have been within 20 or so miles of our house. We were able to watch smoke clouds and even flames from our house in several different directions.

One weekend in June this was the view from our back patio in the late morning, and I am not zooming in. The fire became worse as the day grew on and by late evening we were within five miles of the evacuation zone. It really made me think about what our priorities would be to take with us if we were to be evacuated with the potential of everything else being lost. Definitely made me realize how prepared (and unprepared) we are for such an emergency situation. Thankfully, we weren't evacuated and the fire behind us was put out by the end of the following day. And, no one lost their home during this fire.

Family Fun Day

Our kiddos had a blast at doing crafts, getting their faces painted, going for rides, and climbing on the inflatable after the parade back in June. I definitely got my workout in packing Ryan up the steep steps of each and (almost) every slide they had there.

Why am I on the Computer?

Every log onto the computer to do something specific and find yourself doing something else and forgetting why you logged on in the first place? Happens to me ALL of the time. I will log on to update my blog, check a balance, find a recipe, or look up something important (like event info or direction) and instead find myself browsing through pictures on Pinterest, checking Facebook statuses, or playing games. When I remember I got on to do something else, I continue doing silly things until I remember what it was I wanted to do in the first place.

Chillin' with Big Brother

This is what our boys like to do on Sunday afternoons while watching animated scripture videos. I think they like each other.

The Absence of Phone Calls

I used to be really good at making phone calls. I enjoyed talking on the phone for hours. Now that I have small children I dread phone calls. The simplest things like making appointments feel like monumental efforts in between feeding, protecting, caring for, and talking to my little ones. I love them so much, I just don't have as much time for talking to other people as I did before. For those of you I don't call, it's not because I don't want to talk to you, it's just not a task I am good at right now. Maybe in a few years I won't have to lock myself in my room so I can sound like a civilized person on the phone instead of having every other sentence interrupted. That's just life right now and I'm okay with that.

Museum Discoveries

My children are fascinated with the local history museum. And when I say 'local,' I mean the history of our town, area, and natural discoveries found in both. We only go once a year during Round-Up Week when admittance is free. This year it was Military Appreciation Day as well so we drew pictures to send to soldiers in addition to playing with magnetic rocks, getting our faces painted, climbing in a cave, banging on a Native American drum, touching a bearded dragon and bunny, making Obblek, and coming home with balloons.

Up in the Night

Last night I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. My mind kept churning over my 'To-Do' list trying to determine the most effective order to do things tomorrow. After laying awake for a while I decided to get up and do some work on the computer since it is not really polite or reasonable to mow the lawn at 3 a.m. I reconciled our accounts, updated the blog, index a few hundred names, and realized once again that even though I do not accomplish everything I would like to in a given day I still accomplish a lot and I spend time with my children.

Rodeo Days Parade

Neighborhood Bike Parade

We finally made it to our neighborhood 4th of July celebration, after living here for 4 years. The kiddos had fun riding in the bike parade and playing games while Mom and Dad visited with friends and listened to some fun musical numbers.

A Good Place for a Nap

Bekah needs a nap almost daily. Bekah does not like naps, and often fights them. One day a couple of weeks ago I went in to see if she had taken her mandatory (meaning she was tired and whiny and Mom said to take a nap or else) nap and I found her sound sleep like this. Silly girl!

Paint My Toes

Bekah and I were painting our toes one afternoon and Ryan wanted to join us. I pulled my gold fingernail polish out and painted his toes too. He was delighted and you can't even tell we painted our baby boy's toes. Silly kid.....

Discovering Splash Pads

Apparently there are about 13 known splash pads in Utah. Most of which are within an hour or so of our house so we decided to do some splash pad discovery this summer. Here are some pictures from the first two we visited.

Water Fun in the Sun

I found some pictures of our first water adventure of the summer on my camera. Cute kids!

R.I.P. Little Camera

My camera has died. It has been dying for several months, but most of the time I have been able to revive it. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case. My little camera will turn on, but the screen will not and since it is a point and shoot I can no longer take decent pictures. So until I decide to start packing around Michael's giant SLR camera or I get a new one all of my pictures will be taken with my phone.

Cousin Daniel

My sister, Mary, had a baby in February and in April we were able to meet him for the first time. Ryan was quite fascinated by his tiny little cousin.

Benjamin's 7th Birthday

Benjamin's Birthday Party

For Benjamin's birthday we had a Harry Potter theme. The boys played Quidditch (soccer), made wands, visited the sorting hat, attended potions class (they made volcanic eruptions with baking soda and vinegar), made toilet paper rolls into animals in transfiguration class, and had dinner at the Leaky Cauldron. I am so glad we have a huge backyard to contain their energy!