Lake Powell

The kids and I went to Lake Powell this last weekend with some friends of mine (Cole was supposed to be hunting with his dad, but ended up working all weekend)....anyways... it was our first time and it was SOOOO much fun!

The kids were SOO good and loved the water. The second morning we were there, the first thing Shyler said to me when she woke up, "Mom, can I go play in the sand?"...and out she went in her life jacket to play in the sand and swim...at 7:00 in the morning!

Easton was hilarious and I have to capture some of the things he said before I forget:

We were swimming out in the middle of the lake and he says to me, "Did someone fart?" I replied, "Why do you think someone farted?" "Because I farted!" he said, followed by a giggle.

He got bounced off the tube and as soon as we got the boat stopped, we yelled for Shyler and Chris (the other little boy with us) to jump off the tube and go get him so he wasn't scared. When we pulled the boat around, we all said, "See, you didn't sink!" and he replied, "Yea, but I did do a backflip!"

The last day before we headed home, they took one more swim...we had already drained the sewage on the houseboat, so when he said he had to pee, we said, well swim over there and pee... so we all watched his face as he pulled his "pee face" and then let out a little sigh... we all laughed and I said, "Did you pee?" and he yelled, "Not anymore, I'm already done!" haha

And my favorite... I came out of the water after wakeboarding (or my best attempt at it) and Easton looks at me and says, "Mom, you look really cute"... melt my heart...

Playing Catch-up...Prepare for Photo Over-load!

We have been busy this summer!! I'm not even going to attempt putting these pictures in any certain order... But I will try to at least give captions :) Last weekend we took the kids up to Sundance and rode the ski lift. It was a really fun to do with the kids, they thought it was almost as good as a Disneyland ride...Even if mom was freaking out about them falling every time they moved...


A few weeks ago we hiked to Timpanogos Cave. It's a mile and a half up and pretty steep. The kids did AWESOME!
Below: This is the "heart" and there is a whole story/legend behind it... pretty fun to listen to the tour guides tell the history of the mountain and cave.

On the way up... Shyler needed several breaks and encouragement

We also went camping with Cole's family to celebrate his Grandma and Grandpa's birthdays...

The cousins having a snack

Fishing at Payson lake

I think Cole must have spotted a girl in a bikini floating on the lake...

Grandma Miriam really wanted some stumps to take home and put on her porch, so Cole and Jeff helped her out.

Grandpa Orson waiting to start a card game

Shantel, Natasha and Orson

The kids were having a "meeting"

Shyler and two neighbor friends put on a "circus" one summer day...Zoey was their lion, and she even jumped through a hoop!

We took a trip to the Grand Canyon & Bryce Canyon, which I already shared pics from..but these ones were on Cole's camera.

Below: The day we came home was May 21, 2011, the day that Harold Camping and his followers had said Jesus Christ would return to the earth... When we were driving home, I caught this and joked to Cole that it was the cult being "lifted up"...writing it now, it probably isn't that funny to poke fun at someone's beliefs, but at the time, the coincidence was too much to not take a pic.

Below: Bryce Canyon

The North Rim of The Grand Canyon

Our stake puts on a "triathalon" each summer and here is our ward group that participated this year

Just done with the walk portion, about to take off on the bikes

The final stretch... Jill, myself and Andrea

And there you have it...

Words of Wisdom...

I finally got around to sharing this with all of you.

For Mother's Day, Shyler's class did books....they were given the beginning of the sentence and told to finish it, and draw a picture to go along with it...

And that my friends is Words of Wisdom, by Shyler

The Day Has Come...

My baby... he's officially in Kindergarten. I just can't believe it...

First Day of School

Shyler's First Day of 2nd Grade...

She was so excited, she's got a great teacher this year and some friends in her class already. :)

Easton got to wear new school clothes too, even though today was just Kindergarten orientation.

Yesterday I decided...

...to chop off my hair. If you know me, you know that I like to change my hair. A lot. Color, cut, curly, straight, you name it..
Back in 2009, I had this cut and color:

I actually LOVED it...

Recently, I've been trying to grow my hair out so that it will look better when i want to wear it curly (natural). But with all the coloring and styling damage, I was afraid it was not looking it's best and i was getting SICK of it! So as usually is the case, I made a rash decision to chop it again to the above cut.

I decided I for sure needed to color my hair. A month or two back, I went brown from being blonde...but over the weeks, it's faded A LOT. So I hit up the local Sally's Beauty Supply and bought some temporary color. A warm brown. I also picked up a new blow dryer- this time I splurged on a ceramic ion one that the sales lady said should be much better than my cheap-o walmart one...

I applied the color last night, deep conditioned while I slept...and this morning I used my new blow-dryer and a round brush...

WOW! The color really gave some life back to my hair and the dryer truly was AMAZING! I was able to round brush my hair straight, and virtually frizz-free!!! That NEVER happens! Typically I am blow-drying and using a flat iron!

I'm so happy...I think I'll keep my long locks a bit longer. :)

The End

This morning's conversation with my 7 year old

Rrrinng rrringg...
Me: hello?
Daughter: mom, where's the straightener?
Me: I brought it with me
Daughter: *irritated groan* but you have two!
Me: I know, I brought them both
Daughter: *even more irritated groan* why!?
Me: because I needed both
Daughter: *beyond irritated, bordering on end-of-the-world groan* Now I'm going to have a bad hair day!!!
Me: *laughing, full out guffaw, that my 7 year old just said that*
Daughter: *Click*
She hung up on me! Hahaha