A trip to the Zoo

Kamryn thinks she's one of the monkeys.

Jared was scared by most of the animals.

Checking out the elephant encounter.

Day Trip

On Tuesday I was able to get away for the day to Phoenix (we had flight credit that was going to expire and I couldn't let it get wasted).
One of the best things about getting away on my own is the chance to read. I finished two books while waiting at the airport and on the flight.
I met my good friends at Cheesecake Factory, one of my favorite places. We had a great time visiting and catching up.
After lunch I did a little shopping and it was so nice to be in and out of stores quickly and not have to chase down little ones.
I did some more visiting and then it was time to head back to the airport. It was a great day and probably the last one for a long time.
Thanks friends.

It's been a bad day

It's been a bad day -
*first of all I was insane enough to tell my exercise buddy that I would still be going this morning even though I knew I'd be getting to bed late after arriving at the SL airport at midnight (more on that later). So I got about 3 1/2 hours of sleep but I still got up and went walking this morning and I'm glad I did.
**second, I had to go to the dentist again. I don't think I've written about my woes of going to the dentist but long story short - I didn't go to the dentist for 2 1/2 yrs and know I need 2 root canals, and about 6 cavaties filled. I've been meeting with the dentist weekly for all of September and I don't think I can take much more. Today he filled two cavaties and the whole right side of my face was numb, including my nose! I've never had that happen before. The only good thing about going to the dentist was the I was able to listen to the whole Wicked soundtrack while there.
***third, my best pair of pants got ruined in the dryer today. It was the first load of the day and I noticed when I was getting clothes out of the washer that there was a big black spot on the inside of the washer. It was INK!!!! Now, I'm not the best at checking pockets but this load I thought was innocent enough - some towels and my pants and my favorite new white T-shirt and 2 of Paul's dress shirts. It was his fault (he owned up to it when I showed him the pen). I thought it was going to be okay because I noticed this before stuff went in the dryer and I checked everything before I put it the dryer. But my nicest pair of pants (that will probably be impossible to replace) came out of the dryer with ink stains on them! So frustrating!!
****fourth, all of my kids were in trouble for something today. Justin left after school and didn't tell me where he was going or leave me a note. Taylor has his big county report due at school tomorrow and he asks me if he can watch a movie when he has not even practiced his oral report once. Brooke didn't do her dishes job this morning so we're behind all day.
*****fifth, I've had a headache all day due to the lack of sleep and the visit to the dentist. So I'm going to bed and hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

Potty training for the 4th and 5th times

I can't believe I've actually begun one of the most awful tasks of motherhood - potty training. And this time it's with 2 toddlers at the same time - talk about insanity.
I guess we officially got into it today. We've been talking about it a lot but we actually got out the potties (notice the plural use, 2 of them sure take up a lot of room in a somewhat smallish bathroom) today. Jared and Kamryn love sitting on them and trade potties every 3 seconds. I'm not sure how that is really go to work when we really get serious.
My plan is to have them sit on the potty in the morning and at night for now, and before bath time. So tonight after I stripped them down they both went in the bathroom and sat on their potty - one looks more boyish with primary colors and one looks more girlish with purple and green coloring. Ready for the shocker - Jared actually produced! I couldn't believe it! We did some real celebrating and hi-5 ing.
Maybe it won't be so bad.

Favorite Movie

We watched one of my favorite movies last night, The Fugitive. Justin and Brooke had never seen it and we thought they would like it. And indeed they did. Justin liked it but said it wasn't as good as "Bourne" and Brooke liked it better than "Bourne." I still really like it even though I've seen it several times. I vividly remember going to the theater to see it with my friend Charri and being exhausted and physically ill after it was over. I went again with Paul and the same thing happened to him - physically ill when it was over. All these years later (it was released in 1993) and it's still a great suspense/thriller.

Nice Night

I've had a very nice night.
It started out with going to YW volleyball, which I quite enjoy. One of my friends is the new coach and she's great, perfect for the girls. And the girls are getting better every week. They won their first match in 2 games and just barely lost their 2nd match in 3 games. They are great sports and play to have fun. Luckily Justin was very nice to tend last week and this week so that I don't have to take Jared and Kamryn and I can concentrate on the girls.
Then I got to go to book club. Something I look forward to all month. We had a great discussion tonight about a book written by a woman who grew up in a polygamist family. It was a very interesting read. And of course I love our tradition of everyone going around and sharing something about what is going on with them and then the yummy dessert and chatting afterwards is always enjoyable.

Famous people

There are several "famous people" in the muscle up class I go to (which is at 5:30 am on Tues and Thur, you can clap now!)
They aren't really famous but they look like famous people.
We have Jenna Elfman (if you check out the link you'll notice she's just had a baby and named him STORY! who names their kid story??)
and Stephanie Zimbalist (does anyone out there know who that is)
and not Hollywood famous, but Brighton high school famous, Stephanie Capener (not actually her but someone who looks a lot like her).
It's a strange thing I've always done is think people look like other people. I can't help it.

Happy Birthday Taylor

Taylor turned 10 today!

Taylor is my one child who lives for his birthday. He usually starts planning for it months in advance. This year he didn't really start until just this last Sunday when he told me we need to get his cards out. I wasn't sure what he meant by cards and finally figured out he meant invitations for a party. I explained that we don't have friend parties every year (even though he has managed to do that) and that they cost a lot of money. He was pretty depressed about the thought of not having a party and suggested that he could just have his friends come over to our house and they could just play tag and hide and seek. I still said no but formed an idea in my head to give him a surprise party. So he still thinks his birthday is going to be the most boring day ever! And then tomorrow - SURPRISE! Hopefully it will work out.
Taylor is a great kid and full of life. He loves to have fun and thinks everything should be fun. ( I wonder where he gets that from). I can't believe how fast his first 10 years have gone by.
He is becoming a very good soccer player and basketball player. He just finished reading the first Harry Potter book - his first long "real" book. He loves to help out with Jared and Kamryn (when they'll let him).
Happy Birthday Taylor and I love you!

Biology

Do you remember having 9th grade biology? I do - not a lot of details but I do remember dissecting a worm and a frog. I didn't really get into the worm but thought the frog was fascinating.
Well, my oldest son is in 9th grade biology and his science teacher is the same teacher I had in 7th grade.
His first big project for biology is to make a collection of different insects - 15 I think is what is required. Being the very nice and supportive mother that I am I have actually been helping him on this project.
Just the other day I was outside cleaning up after the big storm and I noticed a katydid (leafbug, but not official term) just sitting there on the patio waiting for me to catch him. So I got a ziploc bag and scooped him into it. The worst part was putting him alive into the freezer to preserve him. I also caught a bee for him, for which Justin was most grateful because he readily admits that he is scared of bees. This was also very big of me since I had just gotten stung the week before.
Yesterday we made a trek up to Silver Lake near Brighton Ski Resort. His friend and one of my YW, Mackenzie came with us, since she is also in the same biology class. They were supposed to collect some water species and get some larvae. It was a crack up watching them walk around the lake with their home made bug catching nets, backpacks filled with gear to catch these insects.
The most exciting thing was watching those two catch dragonflies. Dragonflies are worth 5 pts of extra credit since they are so difficult to catch. At first it seemed impossible and it was so funny watching them run all over trying to catch one. But when we got closer to the lake there were a lot more of the DF and Kenzie caught one. They were both so excited. Then she caught another. And another. And another. And another. AND ANOTHER ONE! In all she caught 6. She split them with Justin since she caught them in her net but he got them into the containers. What freaked me out were the dragonflies buzzing around frantically in the containers.
All in all, it's been quite an experience. Now for the yucky part of sticking pins through the insects onto styrofoam and labeling them. YUCK!

Happy Anniversary

Paul and I celebrated our 16th anniversary on Saturday (the real thing was on Friday, the 31st).
We went golfing at the U, which is "our course" - it's where we always go and it's where he proposed. I was really quite nervous to go because I haven't been golfing in about 3 years. It started out pretty rough but I got the hang of it and had a great time. It's a great date for us. It's beautiful up there on the hill overlooking the city and watching the sunset.
Then we went to one of our favorite places to eat - Bajio! Yum-yum!
Then we went to see Oceans 13. Paul didn't like it and I thought it was kind of dumb but still worth going to considering who's in it.
It was a wonderful evening with a wonderful husband.

A Good Book (with caution)

I just finished reading a very controversial, compelling book. My Sister's Keeper was one I didn't want to end and I keep thinking about the characters and I've talked with several people about the subject and what they would do in the same circumstances. I would pick it for book club because it would create great discussion. But I can't because there is way too much use of that very bad R-rated word. Why do authors do that?? It is so frustrating. I'm writing her an email today to ask her why. She's a great author and I've enjoyed other books by her but same frustration - bad language! So I recommend it if you can handle some bad language.

3rd day of school

Just to report on the school year so far
**all 3 kids say they are happy and have good teachers and good schedules.
**Justin is going to have a lot of homework this year.
**Brooke is having home study during 7th period for the 1st semester. We had a much better meeting with the other (now permanent for us) counselor at the school. She spent 45 minutes with Brooke (while they were several kids waiting to see her) trying every option to figure out what she could do during 7th period. We finally ended up with home study during 7th due to "volleyball practice". I guess it's better than taking a class she's not at all interested in with a terrible teacher.
**Jared and Kamryn seem to understand that it's back to school time and don't really ask about their siblings much during the day. We've had a good two days so far.
** I haven't accomplished as much I'd like to but that's okay.

Twas the night before school

You would think with a title like that I would have some clever little poem about school starting tomorrow but I don't. I'm just not clever.
I can't believe we're embarking on another school year. It is just amazing how each summer seems to just fly by and each year flies by faster than the last.
I have a good feeling about this year. Justin is in 9th grade and actually looking forward to the year. When his dad asked him class he thought he would enjoy the most and Justin said all of them. He's got a pretty tough schedule and I hope he survives all right.
Brooke is in 8th grade and her schedule is also a good one - except she's short one semester elective class and due to schedule conflicts may end up taking an online high school class. I'm meeting with one of the school counselors tomorrow to figure it out.
Taylor is in 4th grade and seems to have a wonderful teacher. We met her at back to school night last week and I was very impressed. I've already set up my volunteer time in her class - every Tuesday. I didn't volunteer at all last year and I missed it.
And this is the first year that I'm not feeling all depressed, panicky and stressed out having my helpers leave me. Jared and Kamryn are 2 now and life is a lot more manageable with them. Right now they are playing downstairs in our newly created play room/family room and they are getting along very well (for the most part). It's now that I really realize how great it is that we had two together at the end. Thank goodness for a built in playmate.
I made a list of projects to work on this week (and a long term list too). I really hope to be organized (or get that way in the next couple of weeks) and accomplish a lot this year.
Now, I better get these two little tikes to bed. They napped until after 6:00 so they weren't ready to go down at 9:00 like everyone else. Taylor has already been out saying he can't sleep. Do you remember those nights before the first day of school?

Tagged

I know these go around a lot but they're fun. I was tagged by Ashley. I tag Janice, Paige, Melinda and Michelle.

Jobs I've had

1.Waitress at Marie Callenders - loved it!!

2. Marketing assistant at Raging Waters - fun summer job right after my mission.

3. Secretary for Student Affairs at the College of Nursing at the U.

4. Cashier at Bakers de Normandie - first job!

Getaways:

1. Cabin

2. Camping

3. St George

4. San Francisco - most recent

Movies I put on Repeat

1. The Fugitive

2. Return to Me

3. Wedding Planner

4. How to Win a Guy ...

Guilty Pleasures

1. Milky Way midnight

2. Chocolate/Vanilla pudding swirl

3. Blue Bunny Bordeaux Cherry Chocolate

4. Snoasis - Orange Pineapple with cream

Places I've lived

1. SLC, UT

2. San Diego, CA

3. Tucson, AZ

4. Phoenix, AZ

Places I've been on Holidays

1. Playa del Carmen for Thanksgiving

2. Cabin for 4th of July - every year

3. Cabin for Christmas - only once but it was great

4. Cabin for New Years - favorite place to do new years eve

Favorite Foods

1. Cafe Rio salad

2. Bajio sweet rice and green chile chicken stuffed quesadillas

3. Paradise Bakery's fire roasted tomato soup

4. Citris Grill's grilled cheese sandwiches and yummy sweet potato soup

First Kiss Location

In the guy's car, stopped at a red light - don't recommend it.

What I've Been Meaning to do

Well, it's been too long since I posted last. I've been meaning to post every day since we got back from our camping trip and just haven't done it.
I sat down late one night to post some pictures from our camping trip and just as I was loading the pictures from the camera onto the computer we had our flash flood.
And then life has continued to be super busy -
**I spent the better part of a week cleaning out our storage room. This was a MAJOR project and one I've meant to do for years and have finally been forced to do it because we are getting new windows in the basement and the window in the storage room was covered up with shelves which were filled up with STUFF. I did some major runs to the DI and the recycle bins and that room is in much better shape.
**We spend last Saturday and Monday cleaning out our garage. There was stuff in the "attic" area from when the house was built, I think. It was so nice to get rid of all that junk. This project was spurred on because the county clean up dumpsters will be here this Thursday and we want to make full use of them.
**We're trying to cram in as much as possible these last few weeks of summer. School starts next week so we're trying to get work and fun in.
**Watched two movies recently - one in the theater and one on DVD. The first one was Becoming Jane - new movie about Jane Austen. I really liked it but the daughters with us didn't like it - too sad. The one on DVD was Miss Potter - about Beatrix Potter. Very sweet movie that I really liked and highly recommend.
**Also took a couple of nights last week to watch The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy so that we can go see The Bourne Ultimatum. Now we're just trying to figure out a time to do that.
Hopefully, soon I'll update about our great camping trip.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

Changed Summer

Well my summer has just been changed.
Jared was playing on the trampoline last night with one of my Beehives (this was about 9:00 pm). She was doing ring around the rosies with him and when they went to fall down at the end she said Jared kind of fell on his leg and she heard a pop. I was busy with the youth activity at the time and Paul had his back to them while he was watching Kamryn, so neither one of us saw what happened. Jared was crying and Paul brought him to me. He had a couple scratches on his right shin and we couldn't really see what else was wrong. Jared cried for a long time and wouldn't put any weight on his right foot. I gave him some Motrin and he feel asleep for a few minutes. When he woke up he was much happier and seemed more himself. He tried a couple of times to get off the couch and play but as soon as his foot touched the floor he climbed back up on my lap.
I may be a bad mom but there was no way I was going to the ER at 10:00 pm. He wasn't hysterical and he didn't seem to be in much pain. So I thought it was better to get some sleep and see how he was doing in the morning. He went to bed just like normal and slept through the night.
When he woke up he was happy (for a minute) and sitting up in bed. He wouldn't stand up like normal when I went to get him out of bed. I picked him up and took him in the living room. He kind of felt apart at that point and wouldn't get off my lap. I knew right then that I was taking him to be X-rayed. I just had to decide where to go. After calling the pediatrician, instacare and the closest hospital, I decided it was best to go to the ER at the hospital. Luckily they weren't too busy (so we were only there for about 3 hours). The worst part of the whole experience was trying to get Jared's blood pressure taken. He hated that and wouldn't hold still so the nurses could get a good reading. He did pretty well through the whole xray process. He was really good waiting forever in our little room - ate his candy and cheetos from the vending machine. Played with the TV, changing the channels as fast he could with the remote over and over, pushing the nurse call button only twice. Finally the doctor came back with the report from the radiologist and he has a spiral fracture on his right tibia (shin bone). They put a splint on and wrapped his leg up to his mid thigh with ace bandages. He fell asleep soon after that and slept the rest of the time that we had to wait at the hospital.
He came home and spent some time watching The Lion King and Curious George on PBS before going down for a nap. He cried a little at first when I put him in bed but then went right to sleep and has been asleep for 2 1/2 hrs. He gets a cast on on Monday so it's going to be one LONG weekend. And an even longer summer. Wish us luck.

Kid games

Our activity for mutual tonight was a combined activity with the boys and girls. We had a BBQ over here at our house - out back. We knew we could have basketball - but that would mainly be a boy thing. We borrowed my friend's volleyball set up but I knew there were some kids that wouldn't want to play. So I went to FamilyFun.com and looked up outdoor games. I found a few that sounded fun and not too little kiddish. The kids looked at me strange when I made them all line up and count off for the games but I think they all ended up having fun. We played:
*"Icebreaker" game
*Catch the Dog
*Steal the Bacon
*Red Rover
The kids ended up having a great time with the games and didn't want to quit. We ended the evening with some volleyball games. It was a great activity and didn't cost us too much (just the food for the BBQ).

I've been tagged

NSTRUCTIONS: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so:

College

Random Thoughts

Melz World

Superpaige’s Pad

Double Trouble

Next, select five people to tag:

Ashley
Michelle
Susan
Cynthia
Julianne

What were you doing 10 years ago?
Let’s see. 10 years ago I had two kids and was pregnant with the 3rd. We lived in Tucson, AZ and had no A/C. We stayed at the pool so long, Justin and Brooke would beg me to go home.

What were you doing 1 year ago?
One year ago we were enjoying Father’s day! We had a super fun Shingleton family party where we played baseball. We were planning a trip back East to visit Paul's brother and his family and I was getting ready to go to girl's camp.

Five Snacks You Enjoy:
Cottage cheese with Ruffles Cheddar and Sour Cream to dip into the cottage cheese
Chocolate, esp Milky Way Midnight
Green Apples - sliced with the skin off
Veggies and Dip
Toast

Five Songs That You Know All The Lyrics To:
I don't know all the words to any song but can sing along for most of the words to a lot of songs.

Five Things You Would Do If You Were a Millionaire:
Redo my kitchen and enclose the patio
Take my family on a vacation
Hire a personal trainer who would make me work out every day
Hire a Alice, from the Brady Bunch
Get regular pedicures

Five Bad Habits:
Yelling
Saying negative or critical things when I should just hold my tongue
Not putting things away right away
Starting a project and then moving on to the next project without finishing
Not flossing

Five Things You Like To Do:
scrapbook
read
watch movies
go for walks as a family
eat out with friends

Five Things You Would Never Wear Again:
leggings
clothes that make me look pregnant but aren't maternity clothes
maternity clothes
sweater dress
bow tied in my hair

Five Favorite Toys:
The computer
Portable DVD player - it's great for road trips and soccer games
Cameras - both kinds
Jared & Kamryn's cars that we take them on walks in - best purchase ever!
Toy flip phones bought at Disney store in Orlando airport - has saved us many times.

Your turn now!

Trouble makers

I have two little trouble makers. You know how it is with toddlers - on their own they don't get into too much trouble but together they spell disaster. Well twin toddlers is like having a little friend over 24/7! Every day it is another disaster and sometimes it is the same disaster all over again.
On Monday, I was in the kitchen washing the dishes and Jared & Kamryn were playing on the patio. Soon I couldn't here there cute little voices and went to check on them - they had gone in the front yard and pulled out half of my flowers in the front flower bed. They're just petunias and were only planted about 2 weeks ago so they pulled up the whole root bunch of about half the flowers. I couldn't believe it and how fast they did it was amazing. I started telling them how naughty that was and Jared turned to Kamryn and told her "you naughty." So while I was replanting the flowers they went back to play on the patio. When I was finished with the flowers I went to check on them (my big mistake was letting them go again unsupervised) and found that they had taken cupfuls of the red sand and dumped them all over the living room! I lost it at that point. They both got spakens and had to sit on the steps on the patio and couldn't leave until I finished cleaning up that mess.
And that was just Monday.
Yesterday they did the flower bed AGAIN! I was making dinner and they were watching George on PBS in the living room. Taylor came and got me and said come look. I'm thinking they are doing something cute like watching TV with their arms around each other (this has happened in the past) but I was SO WRONG. I look out the window and they there are again pulling up the flowers. I open the front door and start yelling and they ran away! I'm not kidding about the running away. They took off in the direction of their grandma's. I had to yell to Justin and Brooke to go get them because I was in the middle of cooking dinner. Pure craziness.

Summer

I love summer!! It's my favorite season by far (maybe that is why I liked Phoenix so much, since it is the longest season there by a long shot). I love the laid back pace and I love having my kids around more (the downside of that is feeding them more but we handle it).
I love the sounds of summer - the kids at the pool, the birds, my kids playing nightgames with friends in the neighborhood.
Today was pretty laid back - laundry day but only had to do 4 loads this week. Didn't quite make it to the ironing yet. Taylor and Justin are both doing Blue Chip basketball camp. Brooke had piano lessons - at 12:30. I've been so worried that we would forget so I've made Tues stay at home day. Justin had soccer practice from 2-4 in the afternoon and survived.
We only lost Jared and Kamryn once today. Half of our fence is down in the backyard and they have started to wander out of the yard. I took the kids to the outdoor pool right before school got out so now they know about the pool back there and constantly look longingly at the pool. Guess I need to take them again.
Well, late this afternoon Jared and Kamryn were playing on the basketball court. They have a great time out there together and I enjoy spying on them from the bathroom window. They were playing fine and I had to go change the laundry. Just gone a couple of minutes. I go back to the window and can't see them. So I go out back to look for them and when I get out to the court I can see that they are at the top of the grassy hill behind our house by the tennis courts. How in the world did they get up there so fast? So I walked out farther in the field to see what they were doing and when they saw me they started back down the hill. But at the bottom they got distracted and headed off to the park. I kind of just watched them to see what they would do. Kamryn kept cruising away from me and every time I called her name she looked back at me, smiled and kept on going. So we had an impromptu park visit. We stayed for a few minutes and they took turns in the toddler swing (why can't there be 2 swings like that?) and then I had to convince them to go back home so I could figure out what Justin could make for dinner (it was his turn to cook and he came up with pancakes, great dinner but it worked out).

Happy Birthday Brooke

My oldest daughter turned 13 today. She was born at 1:42 am a week after her due date. She was born on her uncle's birthday (Susan's husband, Dale) and he predicted when I first told them we were expecting that she would be born that day.
During the middle of the night I woke up at about 3:30 and started thinking about when Brooke was born. I love remembering those great moments of a new little baby coming into the world.
It's been an amazing 13 years with her. She was a bit of a challenge as a baby - she cried whenever we went in the car at night. We finally decided she was afraid of the dark. She cried a lot - I didn't ever really consider her collicky, just a high needs baby. But she was beautiful and we loved her in spite of the crying.
Today she is happy young woman, most of the time. She is friendly but shy at the same time. She is a very good friend - agreeable and gets along with everyone. She is a good student and it's so nice that she very capably takes care of herself and gets her work done.
She is a wonderful pianist and surpassed me a long time ago. I love listening to her play and I NEVER have to talk to her about practicing.
It's been fun to watch her develop her talents in volleyball. She was a great sport to attend all the practices and tournaments and not play a lot but still have great team spirit.
We gave her an outdoor volleyball set for her birthday and we look forward to lots of fun games out in the back this summer.
I love being able to share Brooke's experiences in Young Women. She doesn't seem to mind that I'm there and I try not to get in her way too much or inhibit her. I think mostly she is just embarrased about me being obnoxious and silly.
Brooke is a great big sister to Jared and Kamryn and its great knowing that I can leave them with her and they will be well taken care of. It was cute watching them go in her room this morning and tell her happy birthday - in their own little way.
I love Brooke very much and I happily look forward to the next few teenage years with her.

Great weekend

All 13 of the Young Women that came down to St George with us.
(Our 2 Laurels couldn't come and we missed them).

Having fun in the fountain.

Before going into the St George Temple to do baptisms.

I'm back from what turned out to be a "fantabulous" weekend (new word made up over the weekend - mixture of fantastic and fabulous).
My worries of Justin getting to his tournament were ended when one of the mom's I know from school and previous teams volunteered to get Justin up to Brigham City on Fri and Sat (and also took him to see this movie in between games on Sat).
I really enjoy being with the Young Women. Some people view it as a punishment or death sentence and would never want the calling but I think it is the greatest calling ever and want to do it forever (well at least as long as Brooke is in there and then take a break and go back in when Kamryn is in there).
We had a blast with those girls. We went swimming at the neighborhood pool, went to the St George temple to do baptisms, went boating at Quail Creek Reservoir. The most fun things ended up being very impromptu, not planned things. The first night there we had "spa night" and did each others pedicures and manicures, did massages and hair. Very fun and relaxing and great bonding time.
The second night there we ended up doing our own version of "American Idol." The girls took turns lip synching (mostly songs from musicals) and then other girls took turns being the judges. So funny and man, do we have some talented girls in our group. I fully expect to see at least one of them on the stage.
We also fit in some spiritual time with scripture study and journal writing.
It was just too bad that it was such a short trip. I definitely could have stayed longer.

Off again

I'm leaving in the morning for a YW getaway to St George. It's a quick trip - down Thur morning and we'll be back Sat afternoon. We're packing a lot in that short time - baptisms for the dead, a hiking trip in Zions, boating, swimming, stamping, scriptures, etc. We have 13 girls going and 5 leaders and 2 priesthood going. It's going to be fun but it's been a little stressful getting ready to go. My biggest glitch just happened this evening. Justin has a summer select soccer tournament this weekend in Brigham City and I thought I had a ride all lined up for him to get there on Friday afternoon but that just fell through. Now what am I supposed to do? Beg for a ride for him through our team email. Hopefully someone will be able to get him up there. One more thing to worry about while I'm gone. I love getting away and having a little break but I'm not sure this one's going to be worth it.

Family Party

We usually get together with the Shingleton family on fast Sunday. It is usually at my parents but us kids try to take our turns when we can. So last night we were at my sister's house - outside for a BBQ. It was the most beautiful evening and we had a great time. It was especially fun watching most of the grandkids (the teenagers included) play Duck,Duck, Goose and Red Rover. (I'll add pictures later). A pleasant summer evening spent outside with family is definitely one of my favorite things ever.

Movies

One of the things we do at our weekend away at the cabin is "watch" movies. I say that in quotes because we really mostly listen to movies we've seen more than once and we do this while scrapbooking. It's fun to watch your favorites again. This year we "watched"
*Beaches
*Selena
*Wedding Planner
*How to Lose a Guy in 10 days - after the last 2 we decided we should have made it Matthew weekend. Maybe next year.
*Pursuit of Happyness
*50 First Dates
*Dream Girls - this was the only one that we hadn't seen before. I'd seen the second half on our trip so it was good to watch it from beginning to end. I really liked it and want to get the soundtrack.
I wish we could go up there for a week so we could really take some time to watch some movies. Maybe next year.

Primary story

So, while I was gone, Taylor was supposed to give a talk in Primary. His teacher sent a note home last week with the assignment but I never saw it so I left for my weekend away knowing nothing about the talk. Paul didn't get a reminder call about the talk. So when Taylor was in class on Sunday the secretary stopped to ask him if he had his talk ready. He said he hadn't remembered about it. Instead of saying that was okay and just skipping the talk or having him just say his testimony she went and found a story out of the friend for him to read. Now she would not know that was a bad idea! Taylor is not a very good reader, especially in front of people and with something he'd never read. Unfortunately his teacher was busy with their lesson and didn't really look at the story or say that's probably not a good idea to the secretary.
So they go into closing exercises and Taylor goes up to read this story. It ended up being quite long and he really struggled with it but made it through and didn't get too upset. When he was finished he came and sat down and said "Holy Crap! That was long."

I'm back

I'm back and I must say I'm not too happy about it. A weekend away is just not long enough. I know I should be grateful for that but I needed a couple of more days. I did miss my kids and was proud of how they survived and took care of each other. I loved spending time with my sister and my aunt. It was like going back to college days (although I never did this in college). We stayed up until 5:00 am two nights in a row and then slept in until around noon. We ate good food, watched great movies and did LOTS OF SCRAPBOOKING! Of course, I wish I'd gotten more done but we did our scrapbooks from our recent Disney vacation. It was good to do it now while it was still kind of fresh in our minds. We had to call Susan's friend at one point and have her look up some details on the rides at Disney World for us. It was very gratifying to come home and have Jared and Kamryn and my parents enjoy looking at the scrapbook. It will be fun for Jared and Kamryn to have it to look at for the next little while. Hopefully they won't wreck it.
Now I must go to bed and try to get back to a normal sleep schedule.

Weekend Away

I'm so excited for my weekend away. Dale started this several years ago by giving Susan a weekend away at the cabin as a gift for Mother's Day and her birthday. I was lucky enough to benefit from that gift. That was the beginning of an awesome tradition. We are going to the cabin from tomorrow until Monday sometime. It's such an awesome thought - no whining, no one needing you, doing whatever we want for a whole weekend. I told Brooke "No offense, but I don't think we're going to be ready to come home on Monday." She asked how long we'd have to stay up there to be ready to come home and I said at least a week.
I actually was up to the cabin for the day today with my aunt Sandra. We wanted to get our scrapbooking stuff up there and get set up. So we went up in her truck and took Jared and Kamryn with us. That really made me realize how nice it will be up there without them for a few days as they were whining and then getting into all of my stuff. For the most part they were very good up there and had fun playing and watching a movie.
I'll report next week on the big event.

GUILT

Yesterday I was overcome with the hugest amount of "mother guilt" ever.
I was at lunch with my friend, Cynthia, and she was looking at the pictures I had just picked up at Costco. She was looking at this picture

and asking me about different kids in the family. And then she said "where's Taylor?" (Now, she is his 2nd mother and also his primary teacher, so she would naturally ask about him). I say, "He's in there somewhere, probably by Jadon." She scans the picture and can't find him. I get a little stressed at this point. Now it's just a picture but I have that same feeling when you can't find one of your kids. What really stressed me out is at the time the picture was taken I didn't have that feeling. MAJOR GUILT! So I think, he must have thought we were done taking pictures and left, since this was the last picture we had taken and it was with a different camera.
When I got home I took out the other picture and look at it,

no Taylor. I couldn't believe it. Where was he? So I think back and remember that after the picture when we were gathering up our stuff to go on the ship he was sitting on a couch watching some Disney cartoon. He must have been there the whole time we were taking the pictures. I feel so bad. Mostly because I hadn't noticed he wasn't with us while we were taking the picture and then for not noticing he wasn't in then after we'd studied it quite a bit. Thank goodness for Cynthia noticing my son.
Later, we were at my mom's and she has an 8x10 of this picture on her kitchen counter. Taylor came in and looked at the picture. I'd decided not to say anything to him and try to scan him into the picture (with help from some great friend who knows how to do things like that - hint, hint). Anyway, first thing Taylor says is "Where am I?" I tell him he must have been watching TV and he says "No one told me we were taking a picture." How sad! The poor middle child that I can't keep track of.

Journal

Ever since I started blogging I have neglected my regular, hand-written journal. I haven't meant to, it's just happened. Last Sunday our lesson in YW was on Journals and our secretary taught the lesson and did a great job. She called us all to repentance and I vowed to write in my journal. The very disturbing thing was that when I opened it and looked at my last entry I couldn't believe it - March 2006! Yikes. That's a long time ago when it comes to journal writing. It really made me sad to think of all the things I had missed writing about - Jared and Kamryn turning one and all the growth they've had over the last 15 months, our trip back east, my walking days with Cynthia, etc, etc. At least I have my blog entries, which I have printed and put in a binder to save. So I wrote in my journal yesterday - for 17 pages! And that was only about our trip to DisneyWorld and Jared and Kamryn's 2nd birthdays. I'm really going to try to do better about writing in my regular journal on a regular basis. And keep up the blog. Wish me luck, or better yet, remind me to write.

IKEA

Thanks to an invite from my great friend Michelle, my aunt Sandy and I joined her and several others to go to the Friends and Family day at IKEA. It was great fun. Others disagreed with me, but I thought it was fun when we walked into the store and all the employees were clapping. I went straight to AS IS and picked up 2 lamps and a small table for the playhouse. We bought our items from AS IS and took them out to the van and started over again. FUN FUN! I didn't get much but it was sure fun to look and get ideas and make a mental list of what I want to come back for. I do love their little plastic dishes - they are great for the kids.

Go Jazz!!

We've got Jazz fever at our house. Thanks to Paul's work we were able to go to the first playoff game against the Warriors. (For that game we sat in the 4th row behind the basket - don't you feel bad for me. Justin hated me for it but only for a little while). We'd been to a regular season game the last week of the season (also for work and we had to sit in the Layton, too bad). So I've gotten into the playoffs and know all the players names and am reading the paper about the games. Couldn't believe the Jazz pulled off the win in CA on Sunday and really hoped that they would win last night. We watch most of the games at my dad's since he has cable. It's nice that he shares with us (we return the favor and let him use our internet anytime he wants). So glad the Jazz won last night! But then we have to start a whole new series and that means more games, more late nights and more time not getting anything done around our house. We're really hoping the Suns win their series and then it will be fun to have that match up after having lived in PHX.

When in need ...

My sister called today in a terrible bind and asked her I could help out. She is the team mom for both of her boys' baseball teams (she has 4 boys, only 2 play baseball so far) and tonight was the night for her younger son's team to man the snack bar. The parents are supposed to sign up for shifts of 2 hours and they need 6 volunteers at all times throughout the 5 hour night. She couldn't get anyone to really sign up and those that had volunteered were backing out. Her husband is swamped at work and wouldn't be able to help her at home or in the snack bar. So I took my youngest two to my mom's, took Brooke, her friend Emily, and Justin to my sister's to tend and then I helped Susan in the snack bar. This is more than a snack bar really - they grill burgers and dogs, cook pretzels, churros, chili, BBQ Beef sandwiches, nachos. And then there are all the drinks and chocolate and candy and really sticky messy snowcones. It was such a crazy night - the recommended amount of volunteers is six at all times - there were 3 of us in the snack bar and the coach was out at the grill. It was actually fun in an insane way. I felt like a teenager again working at the 49th Street Galleria. I was glad to help her out and it was actually easier than dealing with Jared and Kamryn, who are very much acting the part of the terrible twos.

Happy Mother's Day

On this mother's day I would like to pay tribute to my mother. She is the most selfless person I know. Her children and grand-children come first in her life - at least she certainly makes us feel like that. She is always there to help out and she has certainly helped me survive the first 2 years with twins. She has really made my life easy in many ways but most specifically lately by volunteering to be one of the nursery leaders while Jared and Kamryn are in the nursery. It was the easiest time I've ever had leaving my children in the nursery and them not crying. My mom helps me keep my sanity by watching my children for a few days at a time so I can get away and have a break and regroup. My mother never really complains and is always happy to serve and help others. She is a great friend. She is the greatest example I have.

Happy Birthday Kamryn

Kamryn with Jared and Taylor at the food court at our hotel in Disney World. That girl loves her food.

One of my favorite pictures from our trip. Pretty happy for a very early morning.

I cannot believe it is Kamryn's 2nd birthday already. Sometimes it seems like just yesterday that I was going to the hospital after finding out a doctor's appt that I was 6-7 cm dilated and it was one week before I was scheduled for the C-section.
Time has flown by and she has grown up and changed so much in the last year. I call her princess but it doesn't always fit. She's tough and strong-willed and likes to have things her own way. She can also be very girly and likes to wear pretty dresses and look at herself in the mirror after I have done her hair. She loves to play with dolls and is a cute little mommy.
Kamryn is very ticklish and has the cutest laugh. I really love it when Brooke or Taylor get her really giggling. It just makes me laugh. Kamryn is usually more outgoing than her brother Jared but lately she is more of the shy one and hides from strangers.
She still loves her blankies and binkys and I just can't stand to take the binky away. She's so happy and anxious to go to bed at nap time or night time. She will talk to Jared in the morning and try to wake him up. She calls him "la-la" and I'll hear her say "La-La up!!!!" Then they will spend up to an hour in their cribs (which I plan to have them use them until they can climb out themselves) talking, jumping, playing and cuddling with their blankies and binkys until I come in to get them out of bed. Even then they'll sometime want to stay in bed awhile longer while I talk to them. Kamryn is almost always the first one to want to get out and then runs away so I can't change her diaper.
Kamryn loves to go for a walk but she has to be ahead of Jared. Several times this has caused her to fall. She also has a cute little walk which is hard to describe. She kind of run/walks and while doing this swings one arm back and forth and the other arm kind of flails around randomly. It makes for a pretty funny sight.
Kamryn loves dogs but is afraid if they get too close. She LOVES to go outside and can get out even when all the doors are locked. She has no fear and loves to swing high and go down the slide by herself at her grandma's. She also loves to swim and it quite the fish. She may be swimming on her own by the end of summer.
Kamryn's favorite foods are cereal (of course, she's an Adams), toast, JUICE, chicken, FRIES, hot dogs, crackers, yogurt (sometimes), applesauce, strawberries, almost anything I'm eating, most vegetables - especially cooked broccoli and green beans. On the cruise, the waiter brought her a plate of chicken nuggets, fried and broccoli and guess what she ate first? The broccoli. On the cruise she was also introduced to corn on the cob. She loved it. It occupied her for a long time. She would pick off one kernel at a time and eat it.
Kamryn has a gruff voice (like her sister's was at this age) but also has a very girly high pitched scream. She talks a lot yet isn't quite as clear as Jared. I'm sure she'll catch up and overtake him. She gets along with him most of the time but does her share of hitting and pushing him.
She is full of energy and quite the monkey. She is always into things she's not supposed to be and is always climbing.
I love Kamryn dearly and cannot imagine life without her.

Happy Birthday Jared

It is officially May 12 and I wanted to wish Jared a very happy birthday. (I know I won't have time to do this tomorrow).
I cannot believe he is 2 already. The last year has just flown by and he has grown up so much. As his dad put "he thinks he is so cool." Jared has this very boyish walk where he almost marches and his arms are bent at 90 degree angles and he just marches along. We were at the mall today and so many people got such a kick out of him and his walk. Unfortunately there is no way to describe it accurately.
Jared is all boy but at the same time very sensitive (very much like his big brothers). He loves to play with cars and all kinds of sports balls. He loves his siblings and frequently asks me where they are during the day.
He loves Kamryn about 90% of the time. He will give her a hug when she's sad and pat her on the back. And then turn around and hit or pinch her. They definitely deserve each other.
Jared loves to be outside and loves to "play" basketball with Justin and Taylor. He tentatively tries out the trampoline for a few minutes. He loves to play on Grandma's play set and will go down the slide if I hold his hand.
He talks a lot and is more clear than Kamryn ( I think that is due to the many ear infections she had). He calls her Kamryn now but used to call her La-La. She also calls him La-La. I have no idea where that came from. He points out birds, planes, dogs, stars when we are outside. He has a comment on the weather every day. He knows sunny, windy, cold, snowing, raining, dark. We're trying to teach him warm and hot now, considering our weather of late.
Jared is very loving and loves to give out hugs and kisses at bedtime and to grandparents when they are leaving our house or he is leaving their house. He loves his "bln" (blankie) and his "doodle doo" (binky). I was really going to try hard to take away his binky a long time ago but I just can't do it. He sleeps so good and wants to take a nap and go to bed at night. Why would I want to mess that up?
Jared loves to read books and watch Disney movies and shows on PBS. He loves having a bath but can't stand having the shampoo washed out.
His favorite things to eat are cereal (of course, what else do you expect from an Adams boy?), toast, hot dogs, FRIES, juice, hamburgers, my sandwiches, yogurt, applesauce, spaghetti, corn, burrito casserole, and "nandy" (candy). He thinks he likes gum but whenever someone gives him a piece he chews it for a second and then spits and says "guck".
I love Jared very much and can't imagine life without him.

Jared snuggling with Justin on a very early morning on our trip to Disney World.

















Jared playing with his cousin's lion after going on the safari ride at Animal Kingdom in Disney World. I think he thought it was real. It was fun to watch him growl at the lion and then attack it.

Trouble with Two Two-Year-Olds

The trouble with 2 Two-year-olds is they go in different directions. Yesterday I was out working in the yard and hadn't finished before they got up. So I figured I'd get them up and they could play outside while I was finishing up. Well they weren't happy with that - they wanted to go on a walk in their cars.














I wanted to finish so I brought their little ride on cars they use inside outside hoping that would appease them for a little while.

I went back to my weeding mound and soon I couldn't hear them. I knew where they were headed - to their grandma's. I went out front and could hear Kamryn inside calling for me. I got her and Jared was nowhere to be seen. So I put her in her push car and headed out to find him. He had ridden his little car out of our circle and across the street - BY HIMSELF! Scary. Taylor used to do this too but he was more like 3 at the time. I tried to convince Jared to go back home but he would have nothing to do with that. He was headed to Grandma's. So we went there and played for more than an hour and then came home.

Life Boat drill

Memories of the life boat drill from when we went on the cruise 7 years ago were still vivid in my mind - Taylor bawling and all of us being confined in those huge orange life vests for what seemed like forever. So needless to say I was really dreading the drill - this time with TWO toddlers. I guess when you dread something it usually isn't as bad as you expected it would be.

This time around they had infant life jackets for Jared and Kamryn - they were more like rain coats and Kamryn actually liked wearing hers, as you can see.

It was another story for Jared though - he hated it and was bawling, just like Taylor 7 years before. Luckily if they cry enough, one of the Disney employees comes over and tells you to take the life jacket off so we can all have some peace.

So, we all survived and it seemed much shorter this time around.

Can you stand some more pictures?

Most of the 20 grandkids that were on this trip.

The Shingleton family (minus Kyson who was asleep and baby Meaghan who didn't come) in front of the model of the Disney ship.

Even more Disney photos

My family in front of building where our room was at the Disney Port Orleans Riverside Resort. Very nice place and would like to have spent more time there.

My mom and dad at the bus stop waiting to go to Animal Kingdom on our last day at the parks. Thanks to them for providing this wonderful family trip.

Jared with Mickey at the Restaurantosauros in Dino Land at Animal Kingdom. He actually was much happier than he looks. He loved seeing the characters and would give them big hugs.

More Disney photos

So here are some more pics from the Disney trip:

Paul with Jared and Kamryn on the carousel at Magic Kingdom.

I have never had two kids so sensitive to the sun - they freak out when we leave the house and it's sunny. So I got them sunglasses for the trip and they wear those hats most of the time at home. They always wanted their hats and glasses on during the trip.

And Disney World can sure wear them out. Thank goodness for a double stroller that they could lay down and nap in.

Disney Photos

I just went through my photos from our Disney trip - over 400 and narrowed them down to 55 (for this project I'm working on and probably for the scrapbook too). I won't bore you with all 55 but here are a few:

Our family in front of the Orlando Temple.

Me and my husband

Our kids in front of the Nemo ride - the very first one we went on at Epcot.

More to come later.

We're Back

We actually got back late Sunday night but it's taking me awhile to get back into the swing of regular life.
With the wonder of digital cameras, I ended up taking over 400 pictures on our trip and I've been in the process of sorting them out and getting them on the computer. Hopefully I'll post a few later today. I've got to narrow the over 400 down to about 40 for a project my sister and I are working on.
So Typhoon Lagoon was AWESOME!! I would fly back to Orlando just to go there. Jared and Kamryn had so much fun and we loved watching them have that fun. The rest of us also had a great time. The best part was going on this new slide "The Crush 'n Gusher" - basically a water rollercoaster, quite a thriller. I went 4 times in a row with Paul and Taylor. That day was worth every penny we had to pay ($200 for 5 admissions, quite a disappointment and frustration to find out that our 7 day hopper pass did not include the water parks!).
The cruise was fun but challenging. It was actually easier to be at the parks with Jared and Kamryn. There isn't a lot for 2 yr olds to do on the ship and dinners with them were pretty much a nightmare. But we still managed to have fun. The big disappointment on the ship was that Jared and Kamryn couldn't go in the mickey pool - and that was what I was so looking forward to doing with them.
We boarded the ship Thursday afternoon and after dinner my sister's kids went swimming, even though it was very windy. Paul and I were out for a walk with Jared and Kamryn and went by the pool. Kamryn immediately wanted to get in. So we put a swim diaper on her and let her get in just like that. She had a great time and LOVED it until the man dressed like he's in the navy (ship officer) came up to me and told me she couldn't be in there in a swim diaper! I looked at him like he was crazy and said WHAT?!! He told me they didn't allow swim diapers due to 2 girls dieing in Atlanta because some child had some diarrhea leak out of a swim diaper. I couldn't believe it. The one thing that I thought would be so fun and great for Jared and Kamryn and they weren't going to be able to go anywhere near the pool. The officer pointed out that they had a splash area for children in diapers on the other side of the water slide. But that wasn't going to work - all my two would want to do is climb out of there and go in the pool. So we had to stay clear of that whole area the rest of the time. I was very upset about this whole incident and complained but that got me nowhere!! (You can tell I'm still bitter about it).
So the day at Nassau where we didn't get off the ship because we were just going to hang out at the pool all day was kind of bummer day. Brooke and I took Jared and Kamryn into the kids club for awhile and we wandered around the ship and just hung out. I watched the last hour of Dream Girls and Jared and Kamryn loved having disney movies on the TV 24/7.
The shows were really good and Jared and Kamryn loved them. They loved seeing the characters and everything was made worth it when I watched them hugging and kissing Mickey and Minnie. So cute!!
Justin sprained both ankles playing basketball on the ship - one the first night not too bad and then the other ankle much worse the second day. We had to buy him an ankle brace and carry him around the ship (no wheelchairs available).
The food was fabulous and I'm sure I gained back (and more) the weight I lost while we were tearing around Disney World. I even tried Escargot (Justin could try it and get extra credit in French, so I told him if he tried it I would too). Not too bad - just don't think too much about what you are putting in your mouth.
We had awesome service from our waiter and his assistant and I wish Christina could have come back home with us - our stateroom hostess.
It's nice to be back home but not fun to have to get back to all my chores and list of things to do. Very overwhelming.