Lets go fly a kite!

With just a few more days of undivided daddy attention we decided to hit the park for an afternoon of flying kites. With zero wind Michael and I were not to enthusiastic about the kite getting too much air time, but the boys were SO excited.
First we ate our picnic lunch

Looks delicious. Really it is though :)
Then the real fun began :)
And it flew! There must be more wind higher up then there is at our level.
This little man chilled on a blanket during the activities. He also helped me eat my veggie dish-this monkey loves his greens.
When I flew the kite it got caught in a tree.

But dad saved the day and showed us how it was done!
And this morning I had to go get some stuff from a friends house and didn't have enough arms to carry it all-so the kids helped.


And I couldn't resist snapping their pictures.

Moments that matter

Sounds like the Mormon ad. Our life IS a Mormon Ad :)
I am trying to find the beauty in these kinds of moments. The moments that don't seem like moments at all. Most of the time I focus on the destination of my day and I get frustrated if the journey to get there takes too long. So with that in mind when we went to the park today I followed them around and let them enjoy wandering around aimlessly until they found the stinky dried up river bed. It was SO smelly. Why do people throw their garbage wherever they want? Makes the park smell like a trash can. But the kids loved that there was garbage-because it attracted ants for them to watch. So glad they can find positives in everything.
He kept trying to climb a ladder that twisted. In the end he got it, but it exhausted him in the process and he did NOT want help.

Later we went to throw rocks in the shallow river that runs by our home. Today the water was much lower then usual so they climbed right on in and got nice and muddy. Usually I would refuse to let them get in because that would mean a bath, new clothes and mess wherever they step, but today I went along with it. And yes that means I got muddy too..I need to remember that getting closer then 10 ft. to these boys means I will automatically get splattered with mud.

Seth was jealous. He wanted to get his toes in the mud too.
Oh and MD scraped his elbow at the park. The boys think the only cure for scrapes is a band-aide and an ace bandage.


On the way home-ready for a bubble bath!
Interesting observations for me: The boys had MORE fun when they saw me following them around. Surprisingly they still want me around and involved. They must like an audiance. Also I noticed my stress level was almost zilch. There was a LOT less fighting and since I had already resigned myself to cleaning the mess up later I was able to enjoy the getting filthy part. So that has become my new motto for my days: Enjoying the moments, because they are what makes life sweet.

side-note: Surprisingly, the more boys I have the more girly-girl I am getting....I wonder why that is? Maybe it is to balance out all the testosterone in the house!

whats going on

When we picked up the boys from their Grandparents house last Sunday unfortunately the boys came home sick (Seth had a mild cough when we dropped him off. It morphed into a cold and spread to all the boys) It's still been very mild so no complaints. The biggest issue is the cabin fever that is driving the boys CRAZY! They don't feel sick so they see no reason why they can't go play outside with the neighborhood kids. Sorry boys. Finally I decided we could go do some activities that limited contact with others. Raspberry picking it was! Ok really the kids were probably ok by then, but I wanted to be safe.

A few days later I was going stir crazy (We were finally sick-free :) so we went down to Bridal Veils falls and let the boys run around a bit. When we thoroughly exhausted them we took them out for ice-cream.



Everyone needs a little dairy

As for me I have finally gotten to the point where watching everyone eating all this deliciousness has stopped bothering me- for the most part. Lately my choice of food is veggies over brown rice-and the crazy part is it is starting to taste good...crazy....
And Michael starts school again in a week. Yay for him-boo for me.

Our 4 Day Date!

Michael and I had the opportunity to take off to Henderson NV to visit my sister and her awesome family for 4 days without kids! I have only ever left my kids for one night with my mother ONCE. I was pretty terrified to leave them for so much longer. My Mother-in-law was amazing and let me tell her all my fears and concerns. She kindly made me feel completely normal and not in the least bit psycho for being so crazy and paranoid about leaving them for so long.
The trip was wonderful but I am not going to lie-I really DISLIKE Las Vegas. Henderson is on the outskirts and it was a bit TOO close. There was one point when Michael and I were walking through a casino to get to a movie theatre and the sight of all those people gambling their lives away made me feel sick. However going there made me really appreciate the place we live in now.
We spent a couple of days hanging out with my sister. Hanging out with Shannon, Marshall and Marshall's older sister was a ton of fun though and completely made the trip worth it. We were so glad for the excuse for the road trip!
The first thing we did without the kids was go on a hike. It was SO much harder then I expected-probably because it went up over 900 feet in 1.3 miles.
We found a mountain stream that looked like it was coming out of solid rock.
The cave-The whole reason we hiked that mountain
The spectacular view from the cave
Trying to take a picture with the sun in our eyes
The next day Michael wanted to take me out shooting. Unfortunately the kick from his rifle killed my shoulder and I preferred to throw the targets the rest of the time and watch while Michael nailed them

I was not aware just how EXTREMELY hot Nevada is in August. We drove to see Hoover Dam and after about 10 minutes of walking around I was sick. Of course it was completely my fault since I wore a ridiculous wool shirt in 110 degree weather.
We jokingly wanted to ask if this is where they keep the all spark. (I am sure that is spelled wrong)
And this picture is in front of an enormous bridge that is built over the Dam that you can walk across. We might have made it that far if I wasn't such a wimp.
That night Marshall's sister took us out to see the Little Mermaid in an amazing outdoor theater. The show was awesome and many of the cast had originally acted and sang on Broadway. The reason the pic looks a little fuzzy is because there is a mist coming down to keep us cool while we waited for the show to start. I was planning on getting more pictures but they told us to put away our cameras....

I don't have pictures of the rest of the activities of eating out, going to the movies and the game night with Marshall, Shannon, Kim and Rich. (Marshall's sister and her husband) But those activities were a blast.
It was such a treat getting away with my husband and remembering what it is like to just be the two of us. There is a quote that has been going through my mind that pretty much sums up our relationship "In all of living, have much fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured." — President Hinkley. I really love my life-and I enjoy it to.
As always-as lovely as it is to get away for awhile, it is just as wonderful being home again.

FHE Family Nights

Sometimes it gets kind of wild and crazy over here on Monday nights!