Sam's birthday is coming up next week

and i've got plans in the works for his birthday party this weekend.  But as scatterbrained as i feel right now, i'm posting what i WANT to do for his birthday here.  Actually results will most definatly vary.

from here:  pleasant-home

I've got this great idea of making this kind of cake for Sam.  Only make it a double decker and put a train on it (yup, still a train (and Lego) freak!).

I've also thought about doing a ice-cream sundae bar.

EAK! i can't wait!

40 looks pretty darn good

We celebrated DarRell's 40th birthday yesterday.  It was nothing big, just a little family get together.  I had this huge idea of making it some kind a big bash but when it came down to it, dreaming it was a lot easier than actually doing it.

I did make sure that we celebrated though.    We invited family, because it was just a small bash... and when you invite family, small is actually large.  I did the whole "over the hill" stuff complete with 40 black balloons and black cake with the 40 black candles. 

All in all, it was good. I hope he enjoyed it. And personally, I'm SO glad it's over with... talk about pressure!

And, I thought I'd never say this but...

40 looks good.

REALLY good!

Yes, I think it does!

what we did over summer vacation...

...and then some

Science Camp for Daylon

Visits to Capitol Reef

4th of July

another visit to Capitol Reef

Daylon's 11th Birthday

Pudge - May he rest in peace

day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 of our annual Fish Lake Reunion

and the 24th of July right in the middle of that

Daylon's Arrow of Light

Fremont Indian State Park

Back to school for Daylon and Rianne

garden goodness

Fremont Indian State Park again

and again

The New Harmony fire that darkened our skies for a few days

Western Governors UniversityWGU - I'm a college student again

Labor Day vacation

Sam's first day of school

and inbetween all of that, there was
family, more family, even more family, and even more family... and more and even and more

and inbetween all of that, we managed to have time for:

movie night

and pool time

WHEW! it's been a heck of a summer. I'm actually glad to have the school year back again.

Fish Lake - Day 3 & 4

July 23rd and 24th were the busiest for us by far. Most of our time these two days were spent away from Fish Lake than at it. Kaye and the kids had to leave early on the 23rd. Some time over the course of all the excitement, little Hunter ended up sick. I hated sending them out the door with Hunter feeling so rotten but knew that Kaye had to go back to work that night. All my pleading and begging couldn't change that.

I headed back up to Fish Lake after sending Kaye on her way. It was a bit of a lazy day on the 23rd. I was greeted by the kids and Uncle Gary with a "Happy Birthday". We headed out on the lake to do a bit of fishing, which was a bit of a bust with only two fish caught that whole day. We lazed around the rest of the day at camp and headed back home before it got too dark.

The 24th was filled full of 24th of July festivities and fireman duties. I was over the firetrucks for the parade and DarRell had his usually duties of firetruck rides at the park and fireworks that night. It was non-stop from sunrise to sundown. DarRell was up early with six o'clock salutes with the fire department to start off the day. Off to the parade and park activities. Home for a double birthday party for Kole and Tucker. And DarRell was off with the fire department for the rest of the night with firework duties.

We took Daylon out on the boat and taught him how to drive it.
The view of the Lodge from the Lake. I can't wait till fall when the aspen leaves start to turn. We are definitely going back if only for a day trip.

I told the kids we could let off fireworks in honor of my birthday the night of the 23rd.
Being kids, they didn't forget and after getting home from a lazy day up at Fish Lake, we set off a package full of firework we had laying around from a few years ago.

My hottie of a fireman during the parade

The evening of the 24th turned out to be a bust. It was windy and rainy that evening when it was time for fireworks. The two oldest kids were wiped out from a day of running. Daylon never even made it to the start of the fireworks before he crashed. Rianne gave up half way through it and went to the back seat to lay down. Sam wanted to get out and run around in the rain. Needless to say, it was pretty much a bust.

We all went home and crashed hard. Another 24th of July over and done with FINALLY!

Daylon's 11th Birthday

Boy has he ever grown up.


We had a really small get together Pool Party for him on his birthday which ended up being even a MUCH smaller get together than we had planned for. I guess that is one of the hazards of having a weekday birthday party.

He didn't ask for much this year and we were able to fulfill all of his birthday wishes this year:

*Hiking in Capitol Reef - we enjoyed it the weekend before his birthday

*Go to the afternoon movie to watch Monsters vs. Aliens - It turned out that they had the matinee on his birthday so it made his day a little bit extra special

*a lava lamp

*Bedtime Stories DVD

He also got $25, a "Got Dirt" John Deer t-shirt, and a few books.

...and not once did he complain that he wasn't having fun or that it wasn't the best party ever.

You gotta love that kid

Capitol Gorge

One of Daylon's birthday wishes was to go hiking back up to Capitol Reef. I have to admit, it was as much my wish as it was his. I love Capitol Reef and have plans to go back and do as many as the hikes as i possible can with the kids in tow, and then do as many as i can when they aren't.

This time we went on the Capitol Gorge trail.

I had hear a lot about this one and since it was one of the easier trails, we thought we could tackle it pretty easily. However, it was HOT and there was NO shade at all. It was still quite amazing anyways. Sheer rock walls on either side. Petroglyphs if you were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of them. The Pioneer Register was interesting but the modern day graffiti over the top of it all really took away from it. But the highlight of the trip and the reason why we went on this hike in the first place was the "tanks".

They were REALLY cool.

And they would have been more amazing if the tanks were really full.

There were three tanks in all (or at least that was all we could find).

The first tank we came to was almost dry. It was sustaining life for a few tadpoles.

Second tank we came to was fuller and deeper.it took a little tiny bit of scrambling around to get to the top part of it.

This tank was chuck full of tadpoles. The kids LOVED looking at them.

Third tank we came to we had to climb down lower to get to it.

It was harder to find but was completely amazing. It would have been even more of an awesome sight if they were all completely full.it was an awesome sight to look down into them

(and i would have loved to have jumped in them if they weren't so gross and could actually find a way out of it once you got into it)

Looking down into the lower tanks from above.

(top is the lower larger tank, it emptied into a smaller tank and then ran through a bridge into more crevise like tanks)

DarRell climbed up to the lower tanks from the bottom of the canyon since we couldn't get into them from the top.

All in all, it was an ok hike. It would have been SO much more enjoyable if it weren't so hot. Obviously July and August are not the months to go hiking up there. However, come September when the orchards are ready to be havested, we are going to go up for another easy hike with the kids and then get our fill of fruit.

Next hikes on our list:

*Surprise Canyon

*Headquarters Canyon

and then, if there is ever a chance to go without the kids:

*Sulpher Creek

*Cassidy Arch Trail

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY

i know i've been slacking major big time on the blog front.

No excuses... just not feeling it lately.

...but i couldn't NOT blog about my baby's 3rd birthday.

So, here's a big shout out to my little guy....

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY SAM!!!

7 years ago...

... this little beauty came into our lives.

Today she turned seven.

It's hard to wrap our brains around how fast the time has flown.

She's grown into quite the cute young lady don't you think?













This morning she woke up this:

We snuck into her room late last night and decorated her room while she was sleeping.

She was so excited when she woke up and saw it that she went and woke up her big brother. And as much as he said he hates when she does that, he had the biggest grin on his face too.


Our biggest wish for Rianne is that her birthday doesn't get clumped up with Christmas.

This year i really made it a big deal not to combine anything Christmas with today. Today was her day.

Tomorrow is the big celebration day. Daylon had basketball all evening long so we were unable to do her party today. Tomorrow we are going to throw a birthday party for her at the Fire House.

We were hoping to at least have her birthday dinner today but that was a bust too. As much as it sounded a drag, today wasn't a total bust. Together, we made cupcakes for the party tomorrow, and our little bug learned how to crack her first eggs!

She got a few cute gifts already.
*We got her a charm bracelet kit where she can make her own charm bracelets.
*Her teacher gave her a book for her birthday.
*Jody got her a cute set of penguin pj's, a Tinkerbell book and the cutest little penguin beany baby.
*Her big brother was even thinking of her today, and made her a bracelet out of staples.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUG!