Snow!!

So, this was not our first snowfall of the season.  Actually, it was like our forth or fifth.  But the kids loved it none-the-less.  We were waiting for Bekah to  pick the kids up for church and I thought it might be a good idea to shovel my drive.  The kids thought it was a great idea.

I told the kids to only walk on the parts I already shoveled so their shoes don't soak up the snow.  That lasted a whole five seconds.

This is the wreath that my Mom made and I love it.  It's filled with her personality: Simple yet elegant.

After the kids had been picked up and I was able to finish shoveling the driveway, I noticed that everywhere the kids stepped, it left a footprint I couldn't remove.  I thought it was cute.

Another trip to Denver.

Our second trip to Denver this year was not as smooth as the first.  For one thing, the drive was much more difficult and for another, I forgot I had a camera until the second day there.

So, the plan was to depart Tuesday night, arrive in Denver Wednesday morning, have Thanksgiving there Thursday, shop Friday, and head for home Saturday night.  Yes, this was to be one of our longer trips.  Well, we made it all the way to Brigham City on Tuesday night when I realized that I had left my insurance card at home.  I knew it would be very dangerous for me to drive all the way to Denver without it, especially knowing the way I drive.  So, we drove back home and decided to leave for Denver the next day.

We were more successful in departing on Wednesday evening and it was a good thing I went back for my insurance because I actually did get pulled over in Wyoming.  The nice lady officer let me off with a warning when she saw my sleeping kids in the back seat.  The winds in Wyoming were SCARY!!  I didn't need to drink my Red Bull because I was wide awake, trying to keep my car from blowing off the road.  But we made it to Denver in one piece Thursday morning.

We had our Thanksgiving feast @ Katie's in-laws' place and it was so very tasty!

I kept hearing strange noises like gurgling pipes or a faulty radiator or something and after a while I realized it was the dogs.  I don't have good pictures of them but you get the idea.

I don't remember their names but I'll never forget the noises they make.  I wonder if Mom ever thought they had Down's Syndrome.



After dinner was the after-dinner-chaos.  There really weren't a lot of children there but between the children and the grown-ups, there sure was a lot of noise.  Booboo* (or Lulli) and her cousin Hobbes (which their grandma so lovingly calls "Weiner") had a contest of who could be the most destructive as this video demonstrates so well:

  Actually, now that I think about it, the grown-ups were louder than the kids.  The other kids played with Play-doh or played Hide-and-Seek.

Judd sported his super hero cape all day.  It was awesome.

Kalvin attempted to play with the toys at one point but gave up after his creations repeatedly became victims of the wrecking balls named Booboo and Hobbes (Who happens to be named Hobbes Robert Angelo and who's father is named Michael Angelo.  I just wanted to add this little bit because I found it so...interesting.).

And I just have to share this video because I think it's funny.  I was video taping Kalvin and Maki and they just stood there like I was taking a picture.  I told them I was video taping but I guess they didn't hear me.  And then, a child pops out of a bench. (sorry for the crappy quality)

Ok, so Friday, Katie and I do the whole shopping thing, which is always an experience and I decided pictures would be dumb, so there are no pictures of our annual shopping trip.
Later on that day, we went to the Museum of Natural History.  I don't know about the others but my kids and I LOVED it.  I guess you can say that we are a family of geeks.  Ha ha ha.  Erika is really into rocks and minerals (like I was when I was her age) and Kalvin is really into dinosaurs (like I was when I was his age).

Don't worry.  Those wolves are behind glass... And they're fake.

On Saturday, we went to Roy and Betty's house again (Katie's in-laws) and we had the best tasting bean soup I've ever had.  I really need to get the recipe.  Then, we attempted to take pictures of the grandchildren and such.  Here are some of my attempts:

Attempt #1:

Attempt #2

Attempt #3:

Attempt #4:

(probably the best one so far...)

Attempt #5:

I just gave up after this one.

Just before leaving their place, Booboo and Hobbes did the cutest thing.

But you know, it was all for show.  The kids will do anything for an audience.  I actually think Hobbes and Booboo are mortal enemies.

*A funny side note about Booboo's name.  She has many nicknames.  There's Boo, Lulu, Lullie, and I called her Booboo.  but a couple times I got here names mixed up and I called her Boobie.  Of course, I would look around to make sure no one heard me and then silently laugh because it was funny.

Don't Get the Hash Browns. Yuck!!

So, I decided to join in on a big adventure this year and test out my endurance and physical strength in the Wind Rivers of Wyoming.  I was very surprised at all the different things I would need to endure, including long, strenuous hikes, millions of mosquitoes, ice cold nights, and gross food.  But, the trip was 100% worth it.  Just look at the beauty that constantly surrounded us.

We started the trip on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011.  The plan was to hike to Glimpse Lake the first day, then to Trapper Lake and on to Borum Lake on Thursday.  Borum Lake was our final destination and where we set up base camp. Then, for Friday and Saturday we'd take a few shorter day hikes around Borum, then hike all the way back home on Sunday.

Unfortunately, nothing went as planned.

We drove to the trail head on Wednesday.  The other half of our group, consisting of Luke, Holly, and Logan Smith, came a day early.  The first time I hoisted my large backpack, I felt my spine compact.  Even though I had the lightest pack, it was still a good 20 to 25 lbs.

The picture didn't turn out so well.  This is the group I hiked in with.  Landon Smith, Devin Hepner, and Pat Smith.  Oh, and don't forget Abby, our "watch dog".  The reason I say "watch dog" is because that is the reason Pat gave for bringing her in the first place.  I loved that Abby was there. But to give her the title of "watch dog" may be giving her too much credit.  For example, one evening we were all at the camp and sitting around the fire.  Abby was sleeping off to the side.  A smallish deer came walking into our camp (this deer hung around a lot) and sniffed around.  Abby never stirred.  In fact, Abby only noticed the deer once.  It was the next morning and Abby was fully awake and happened to catch site of it out of the corner of her eye.  She bounded after it and came back all proud that she chased away our "intruder".

So, day one, we took the wrong trail.  We had a map, but it didn't show any of the trails from this trail head.  We ended up hiking to Trapper Lake on our first day which was apx. 8 miles.  And it wasn't 8 easy miles by any means.  The majority of the hike was up hill and a lot of that was steep.  And, I must say, the down  hills were worse.  I've learned that I would much rather hike up hill than down.  Needless to say, my feet, knees, and especially hips were extremely sore by the time we reached Trapper Lake.

But the scenery on the way to Trapper was breath taking.  This is a picture of a burnt forest.  The contrast between the blackened tree trunks and the beautiful purple flowers covering the forest floor was awesome (not "cool" awesome but "leaving me in awe and wonder" awesome).

A lot of my pictures are slanted a bit because I'm standing on a hillside and my pack would make me stand lopsided, if that makes any sense.

The next day's hike was quite a bit shorter.  But the last ridge into Borum Lake would have killed me if Luke and Logan hadn't come looking for us and took my pack to camp for me.  I was VERY grateful that they did that.

This is a picture of one of the many lakes we passed on our way to Borum Lake on our second day.

Since we were half a day ahead of schedule when we made it to base camp, we all watched Logan fish.  He was the only one who brought up a fishing pole.  I was probably the most anxious for him to catch a fish so when he did finally catch one, I was all sorts of excited.

Unfortunately, he only caught one.  They allowed me to cook it on a stick over the fire, something I'd wanted to do practically my whole life, and we all shared it with a little soy sauce.  Gotta love fresh fish.

The food that we lugged in was...less than pleasing.  We ate freeze dried and dehydrated food from various makers.  Some of the food was tolerable for the most part but the Beef Stew and Hash Browns were, well, gross.  Very gross.  If there is a next time, I may try to survive off of powdered milk and dry cereal.

On day three (Friday), we decided to hike a peak called Glover.  I was like, "which peak?"  And they were like, "that peak" and I was all "THAT PEAK???"  Yes, THAT peak.

So, we started hiking to "that" peak.  The hike to the base of the peak was cake.  Once we got to the base, however, we all had to decide on a game plan.

The plan was, we go for it.  If we break off into groups, just make sure we gather right back here at the base. There was a pretty lake at the base called Summit Lake.  That was the meeting point.
So, we all set off for this seemingly impossible hike.  Of course, I only made it like 2/3 of the way up.  Logan called it bouldering and I don't boulder very well.  There was a smallish glacial lake where I finally stopped and ate lunch.  Landon went up to the next glacial lake then came back to keep me company.  Luke and Holly made it up a little further before turning around.  Pat, Logan, and Devin made it all the way to the peak.

This is a small waterfall we encountered on the way back down to Summit Lake.

Here, we're cooling off our feet at the "beach" at Summit Lake.

On Saturday, Luke, Holly, Logan, Pat, and Abby headed back home in the morning.  Landon, Devin and I had decided to go on a day hike up to the waterfall and bridge by Twin Lakes.  Then, we planned to hike down to Glimpse Lake and camp there and then home on Sunday.

The waterfall was GORGEOUS!!

We had lunch here, took tons of pictures, then hiked back to base camp.  We then packed up all our gear and started our trek down to Glimpse Lake.

One of the things we did several times a day was pump water through a water purifying device to fill up our water bottles.  The water actually tasted okay and even though we brought things to flavor the water with (like Crystal Light and such) we didn't really need it and we didn't used them very often.  I actually used mugicha on the last day. It was glorious.

So, after we made it to Trapper Lake, we realized it wasn't all that late in the day.  My feet and knees were killing me but the idea of having to go dig holes to go to the bathroom in or spend another ice cold night was not very uplifting.  After conversing for a bit, we decided to hike all the way out that night.

The scenery, of course was amazing.

These are some lily pads in a creek just past Trapper Lake.

I had the privilege of hiking through this beautiful wild flower meadow TWICE.  I could have happily spent the whole trip in this meadow.

We finally made it out of the mountains pretty late that night.

This sign was posted a good 6 miles before we made it out. Ha ha ha!  The stinkers got my hopes up.
It was dark by the time we made it to the trail head.  Landon and I ended up hiking about 18 miles total that day.  Devin, who ran ahead to get the truck to pick us up, hiked around 21 miles.

Though it was a tough, strenuous adventure, I would have to say it was completely worth it.  I have a new respect for nature and also for those who do this often.  I found out what my physical limitations are and I think I need to be more in shape if I were to try something like this again.

Summer 2011 Trip to Denver

This July, my kids and I decided (or rather, I just decided.  My kids had no part in this decision) to visit the other half of our family in Denver, CO.  I admit I was nervous about the long 9 hour drive with just me and my kids.  I'd never made the trip without another adult with me before. I decided to leave later at night so that my kids would be sleeping for most of the trip.  It actually turned out really well.  It only took me 2 Red Bulls, a Jone's Soda, and some random snacks to make it to Denver.  Oh, I did have to pull over for an hour nap, but all in all, it was a very easy and smooth trip.

Our first activity with the cousins was a trip to the Library.  Erika wanted to push LuLu's stroller so Kalvin was put in charge of Judd and Ellie.  Judd insisted that his hat covered his eyes while he walked in and out of the library.

The Library was really nice.  My kids really enjoyed it.  We borrowed The Apple Dumpling Gang but Katie and I were disappointed to discover that what we thought was a hilariously funny movie back when we were little, is not so funny to kids these days.

Our second activity was a fun, yet very stressful and chaotic adventure at Pirates' Cove.  At least I think that's the name of the water park we went to.  Even though it was a Tuesday, it was very crowded.  Apparently, we went on Field Trip Day for about ten different summer programs.  The place was swarming with kids and very few supervisors.  But the kids had a great time and the only time we lost anyone was when we attempted the lazy river.  We lost Erika, who was smart about it and found a spot to wait for us to find her, Kalvin, who was completely oblivious to the fact the we lost him, and Maki, who didn't seem to care either way because all the boisterous teenagers surrounding him were annoying the snot out of him.

When asked to smile really big, all the kids did THIS.  I was waiting for them to compose themselves and pose in a somewhat normal fashion, but they actually HELD this pose until I finally realized they were serious.

Erika and Kalvin took to LuLu pretty well.  Erika was very attached to her and followed her everywhere.  LuLu seemed to like Erika as well.

I asked Kalvin to read to LuLu to keep her occupied while I did laundry.  It was really cute to see Kalvin being all dramatic with his reading and trying his hardest to keep LuLu's attention.

The last day we were there, Katie and Jake took us all out for Sushi at Mikuni.  Katie said it wasn't the best sushi and if she really loved me she'd take me to this other place.  Obviously she didn't love me enough.  But Mikuni was better than anything we have here in Utah so I was perfectly happy with it.  My kids even loved the food there.

After sushi, the kids wanted to wander around and look at the fountains for a while.  It was a beautiful night and a beautiful area so we decided it would be a good idea.

All the kids made a penny wish into the fountain.  Maki wished to come to Utah.  Maybe his wish will come true soon. ;)

LuLu was making sure her Dad knew who was in charge.  I think maybe Jake forgot for a minute and tried to make LuLu do something she didn't want to do.
There was a beautiful sunset that evening.  Unfortunately, we were standing in a parking lot when I saw it, but it was still very beautiful.

On the way home, Ellie made the perfect comment to end our trip.  She said, "Mommy, Mommy!!  I made a rubber ball out of slime!!"  Katie and I were speechless. 

Camping with the kids: Attempt #1...

The kids, Landon, and I went on a camping trip to Currant Creek in the Uintas.  It was a 3/12 hour drive from Logan.  Thank goodness for Nintendo DS's.

This is Kalvin's pose for whenever you pull out the camera.  I haven't figured it out yet.  We stopped at all the  "View Areas" on the way including Devil's Slide.  The kids' attention was devoted to their games.  :(

So, Walmart sells these HUGE marshmallows now.  My kids have been begging me to buy them but I've been avoiding them all summer since they look like a nightmare.  However, one of my cousins had brought a couple bags of them to the camp out and so I had to let my kids try them.

Yes.  They were a nightmare.  Not only were they HUGE but they were sweeter!  I know it's hard to imagine something sweeter than a marshmallow but it was.  It was a HUGE marshmallow that's SWEETER than a marshmallow.  Ick.  My kids only ate one each.  It was even too much for them... and eating one was like eating four.

Erika and Kalvin met one of their second cousins (?) at this camp out.  His name is Jack.  He's Erika's age.  They all got along so well it was amazing.  When we took them on a very steep and strenuous hike, a different side of them revealed itself:

Erika powered ahead and wanted to leave everyone in the dust.  Jack was a germ-a-phobe according to himself and he doesn't like getting assistance for anything.  Kalvin doesn't like hiking.

All in all, it was a really fun, adventurous, stressful, worth it trip.  It was great to see my family members that I haven't seen for at least a year and now I know how my kids will behave in a camp setting.  I learned to pack less clothing and more baby wipes, kids will get hurt in the way you don't anticipate (Murphy's Law) and they can catch a stomach bug anywhere so you should ALWAYS be prepared for a little throw-up.