Sunday, July 29, 2007

Camping

We're heading early Tuesday morning on our annual camping trip to Washington Lake. Tomorrow will be a very busy day getting ready to go and also going to 2 doctor appts. One is to get Jared's cast off (hopefully) and the other is for Justin to see about this awful and huge plantar's wart on his heel.
We're all interested to see how Jared copes without a cast on and how long it will take him to get walking again and if he is hesitant about it.

Mandy Moore

A couple of weeks ago I was driving along and heard a new song. It turned out to be Extraordinary by Mandy Moore. I really liked it and went to download it from iTunes. Turned out I liked a lot of the songs from her new album Wild Hope and I ended up buying it a couple of days ago. I highly recommend it.

Flash Flood

The other night I was sitting here at the computer in our basement while the kids were watching a movie. All of a sudden I hear this noise of rushing water and look over at the window and water is pouring in. The window well was full and and the floor was soaked all along the wall about 3 feet into the room. I ran upstairs and woke up Paul and told him we were having a flood. He had to go out in the major downpour and bale out the window well and dig a trench in front of the window. While he was doing that the kids and I moved the school desks, all the toys and the entertainment center out of the way. I also went to a friend's to borrow their wet vac and big blower fan. Paul spent the next hour sucking out the water.
We count ourselves lucky that we were home and downstairs at the time. It would have been such a disaster if it had happened while we up at the cabin or gone camping.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Quick Trip

Paul and I were able to get away last weekend for a quick little trip to San Francisco. We just went overnight but it was 2 full days and we packed a lot in.


We were able to see the Oakland Temple and its very beautiful grounds.














We drove down the coast on highway 1 and had lunch sitting on the beach.




















We watched what I call "kite surfers" for a long time.














We drove across the Golden Gate bridge and went to Muir Woods National Monument (a giant redwood forest on the coast).

On Saturday we went back to the bridge and walked almost 1/2 way across. It was really freaking me out to be out on the bridge so we turned back.


We went to Pier 39 and saw the seals and had chowder in a bread bowl and fish and chips for lunch.
It was short but fun to get away. The weather was great and it was nice to feel the cool sea breezes for a change.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Lagoon

We just back from Lagoon. We go almost every year - it's just a tradition for me and has been since I was little. It surprised me when one of my YW said she had only been there ONCE in her life.
We had a great time even while it rained most of the evening. I loved watching Jared and Kamryn have fun on the little cars and boats and the merry-go-round. I went with them on the kiddie coaster and Jared survived that. Put Kamryn on the little animal ride next to the coaster and liked it for a minute and then started bawling. It was so sad watching and her not being able to do anything for her. After dinner I went with them on the mini tidal wave and the swings for kids. And then I watched them go on the cars, the carousel and boats over and over. It would have been a lot easier if Jared had been able to walk but it was our stake lagoon day today and this was the only day this summer that worked out for us to go.
What was really fun was the last hour of the night. My mom and dad were very nice and took Jared and Kamryn home so that I could go on the rides with the teen gang. Justin, Brooke, Taylor and several of their friends had been hanging out together all day and I got to join up with them and went on the Rocket, the Swings (my very favorite out there), the Tidal Wave and WICKED. That is a great ride.
Our only disappointment is that I thought it was bounceback and when we got there we found out that it ended yesterday. BUMMER.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

HP Coma

I've been in a sort of Harry Potter coma or trance since last Friday. I am a fan of the books and the movies and have been enjoying the build up to this last book in the series coming out.
I admit, I didn't really like Book 5 for various reasons so I didn't really rush to read book 6. When I say rush I must explain that I just started reading book 6 for the first time last Friday on the plane. (When it came out Jared and Kamryn were only 2 months old and I didn't read anything for months after that). So when I heard about the 5th movie coming out and then a couple of weeks later the 7th book was being released I figured it was time to read the 6th book. So we saw the movie last week and then I read book 6 on Friday, Sat and Sun (all while I was on short trip with Paul to San Francisco and I had to speak in church on Sunday). I stayed up until 1:30 Sunday night finishing book 6. I got up at 9:00 the next morning and promptly started book 7 and proceeded to read all day and late into the night and then all day today. I finished the book about 5 minutes before my sisters got here to go to the Butlerville Days parade. I felt like I'd just finished a marathon. Justin read the book starting at 1:00 am after the release party at Barnes and Noble and finished it in 12 hours. Brooke finished it last night after starting it on Sat evening. It's fun to read a book at the same time as my kids and their friends and then to talk about it. I'm just sad it's over.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Book Club

I love going to book club. I really hate to miss it and try hard to make it each month. I went tonight and found out that I was the only one to miss last month. I felt really bad that I made it so that for the first time in forever we would have had everyone there.
We had a great discussion tonight of The Kite Runner. I always enjoy everyone sharing their latest news and of course, dessert is always good.
I'm grateful for my book club friends and hope that we continue our monthly salvation nights forever.

Another update

Life continues to be super busy. Although the last two days have been a little more laid back and like I envision summer days should be - some chores, some free time to read, a walk around the neighborhood which ended when it started raining for a few minutes.
We spent a week at the cabin which was the longest we've ever stayed up there. We had a great time. We did chores up there and played a lot of games, watched movies, went on hikes, and enjoyed the parade on the 4th.
While we were up at the cabin, Justin had his first 2 driving lessons. He can get his learners permit in Nov and it's perfect place up there to learn to drive. He did great and we only had one close call (the other driver's fault).

Youth Conference was a lot of fun but HOT! The youth loved it and Justin and Brooke are already planning to go EFY next year due to their experience at Utah State. I enjoyed hanging out with the kids and the break from home duties.

Jared is faring very well with his cast. He has adapted very well and gets around almost as easily as his sister. While we were at the cabin he was scooting around outside on the wood deck and wore a hole in his cast at his heel. So we had to go down to the doctor's and get a new cast on - a red one this time and 3 times as thick. He's starting to pull himself up to a standing position but hasn't started walking on it yet. Only 10 more days to go.

A good book

I just finished reading, in my opinion, a very good book. The Kite Runner. I've had it on my list for a long time and thank goodness it was our book club choice this month. It has some rough content but overall a very interesting and thought provoking read. I recommend it. (definitely rated PG-13, bordering on R, unfortunately).

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Update

Life around here is crazy!!

Jared got his cast on and is coping very well. He thinks everything is green so we were going to get a green cast but when the nurse put out the swatches for him to pick he picked blue. It actually goes with almost everything he wears (so nice to coordinate)
Children adapt much better than adults. It's like he's always had a cast on. He's happy at home but does have a hard time when we go away from home. Unfortunately he wasn't in the mood for his picture to be taken. And with Jared out of mobile commission Kamryn has really cut down on getting into everything and taking off on her own, since she doesn't have her partner in crime.

Girl's camp was awesome. It's a ton of work and I was super exhausted when I came home but I loved it. Sometimes it's easier to be there than at home.
The stake theme was Hoedown to Heaven and our ward was the Hallelujah Honeys (hence the longjohnsand cowboy hats and bandanas).

We're getting ready to go up to the cabin for a few days. Once we're there it will be great but it's sure a lot of work to get there.

I just spent over 2 hours ironing !! I HATE to iron and I let it pile up and then finally give in and do it. At least I listened to good music and then enjoyed catching up with a good friend. Now it just needs to get hung in the proper closets.

Next week is Youth Conference at Utah State for our stake. Since it is for 14 and up, Justin gets to go and Brooke gets to stay home and babysit while I go along as a chaperone. It sounds like a lot of fun.

Contest

So my friend Paige is having a contest on her blog. Go check it out.