More of Cedar City

We had some great pics come out of our family reunion in Cedar and so I wanted to share some more of them... Apparently we just like taking pictures of our family because we don't have too many of the other attendees... I guess when you spend the weekend chasing the little guys they end up being the only ones photoed.

Anyway, the boys had such a great time riding Ellie's little trike- this is how they ride the one at home, too. At the rate he is going, Emitt will never get to be the driver... his legs are just too short, especially with the All Terrain Tricycle that Grandpa got us!It was nice to see Grandma Ada again. I know her memories of us ( me and the boys, not Kent) are fading, but I really like letting the boys be around her. I am hoping maybe Tyse will remember her.

We had the opportunity to go to Greta and Shane's baby blessing while we were there (we missed it- they must really start that ward on time!) and then join in the festivities at the park afterward. The boys had a blast and here are some highlights...


Ollie and dad hung out together while I tried to contain the beast below. He finally got brave enough to go down the slide on his own! This is him sizing it up before committing either way...
Kent's nephew, Jesse, is apparently very similar to how Kent was as a child- full of energy and always scheming. He had this passion for putting ice down my shirt and kents ( I am sure we weren't the only ones), but Kent was the one that finally put an end to it...

Before we left town, we went to visit Grandma Linda's gravesite and planted a few flowers around her headstone. Not sure how long they will survive the mower, but they looked nice for a few hours, anyway. The boys pulled out their plastic spoons and knife and went to work.
It was a nice opportunity to share memories of her and a good project for the boys. I didn't take a finished product pic (Really? ), but it was a nice thought for as long as they last!

Independence Day

I LOVE the 4th of july. I have learned over time that i think I enjoy it more than christmas and I haven't figured out if I love it more than Thanksgiving or not. Tough to say... BBQ or Turkey and Mashed Potatoes?
Just kidding- Maybe it is the soldier's wife in me that gets me all emotional over the 4th, but I do cry every time I see fireworks or hear patriotic music, especially the more recent country support-your-soldiers-type songs. It definitely is true that you care more deeply and appreciate things more fully when you have sacrificed for it. I am so grateful for those that are willing to sacrifice time from their lives to serve our country and defend the land and life that we love. I am so proud to have a husband that felt the importance of serving our country and sacrificing a big chunk of his life to do so. I am so proud of you, Kent.
On a lighter note, we headed down to Cedar City for kent's family reunion and had a great weekend! We rolled into Cedar at about midnight and we were all exhausted- the kids had slept most of the way, but we did have to concede to Elmo for the last half hour or so. I was so ready to get out of the car and we were driving down Main street when Kent says, "did you see that?" The only thing I had seen was the back of my eyelids, so he quickly flipped a uie (is that the technical spelling for it?) and returned the way we came to show me this...a 2009 Dodge Charger that they had in the showroom of the dealership. WOW. that is all I have to say about that- and tyse is quoted as saying "now THAT is a Hot Runner!" So true, my son.

Cedar has this great parade down main street that has plenty of fire engines, really nice cars (including the charger above with the mayor in it), lots of candy, and lots of people.
The kids were so excited to see their cousins again (all of kents siblings were there with their families) and get the candy. The only downfall was that Ollie hates loud noises (could he have come to a worse family for noise?), so the 4 consecutive fire trucks with sirens blaring weren't well welcomed. After binging on plenty of bubble gum and tootise rolls, we headed back to Ihler Flats (AKA Marlo and Wyett's backyard) to set up the tent for our summer "camp out." Even as I type this I know Kent is dying, thinking we might actually call this camping, but we did sleep in the tent, so it counts. They have this swing in the backyard that was the biggest hit- and now I am wishing we had a tree in our entire neighborhood with big enough branches to hang a swing from...
We spent the weekend with his extended family (it was a family reunion for his grandma) and got to see a lot of people we don't see often, so that was really neat. The kids LOVED the swimming pool, and the owner of the hotel let us light fireworks off in the parking lot, so it was quite a show (some of kent's extended family have a bit of a pyromaniac type streak in them- well manifested when the unidentified cousin was seen teaching his 3 year old son how to correctly light a firework the same size as the son's entire leg)! One thing I was really surprised by? I didn't really think Tyse was afraid of ANYTHING in the entire world (except his closet at night). Apparently he is a bit fearful of being too near fireworks. I had to struggle to get him to even hold a sparkler, which he finally did just so (in my opinion) Emitt could never claim to have done something he wouldn't do. Who knew?

This is how Ollie enjoyed his first 4th of july...


So after a late night with the fireworks and swimming pool, we returned to aforementioned camp ground (sorry, Kent. Backyard.) and retired for what should have been a great night's sleep. The kids were out for the count and didn't wake up at all, but it's a funny thing about camping in an unfamiliar backyard... when you hear sprinklers turning on in the middle of the night, it tends to wake you up QUICKLY! all the windows were open and we hadn't bothered with the rain fly, so we were launching ourselves around the tent trying to close them all up. Luckily, it ended up being the sprinkler on the neighbor's side of the fence (we were still only maybe 10 feet from it), but the catastrophe was a false alarm. Phew! The next problem we faced while our sweet little ones were sawing logs? We took an air mattress that didn't have a cap over the hole meant to let the air out when one is finished sleeping on it. Kent's plan- stuff it with a plastic bag or sock and it will hold wonderfully. I wonder how he felt about his plan both at 2 am and at 5 am when he was huffing and puffing air back into the mattress using his lungs... It really was fun, though, to sleep outside amidst all the trials!
Another highlight of the weekend was a gigantic bbq that M&W hosted saturday afternoon in their backyard. We all know I love a good bbq- and the food was FANTASTIC! It's a funny story- there is this guy that kent's family knows- I don't know if he is a relative or just a family friend- that really likes kent's grandma. Anyway, he showed up at M&W's house one day and said that he has always appreciated grandma and thought maybe M&W would like the meat from one of his cattle he had just slaughtered. An entire cow. Obviously the common person would not have room in their freezer for an entire cow, so he just happened to bring them an extra full size freezer as well! That is so cool... I am so glad that a funny story like that could happen to these guys! Anyway, so they donated about 10 lbs. of hamburger and had everyone else bring the rest. Those that hve bbq'd with me know that we don't often bbq hamburgers- partly because there are so many other great meats out there, and partly because I really just stink at forming burgers and they always fall apart on me. Until this...
Yup- a patty press. OK, it wasn't quite as commercial as this one is (it was plastic and the piece you press with looked like a hamburger bun with sesame seeds on it), but it may have been the best $3.99 that Marlo ever spent- in my opinion! It was so cool... and I flew through those 10 lbs. of meat in about 30 minutes- and they were all the same size- and a little skinnier in the middle so they don't stay raw in the middle and crispy on the outside... don't get me started! It was so cool! So if anyone ever needs to get me a gift, the plastic one at Smiths would be great!
What a way to end a holiday celebration- a new love for a kitchen tool! Happy Birthday America!

Suggestions...

We are preparing for the road trip of the century and I am looking for road trip ides for the boys- mostly for Emitt, since Tyse is easily entertainable.
I am trying to make little carseat trays for them to use that are magnetic, so magnet games or things like that may be great...
just anything to keep them busy! PLEASE! any ideas would be great!

Country Fest 2008

For the weekend we headed down to the South Jordan city park and took in some good old western festivities as part of the cities summer festival. Tyse has been asking since the first rodeo he went to when the day would come that he could "ride a sheep." We relented and let him compete in the muttin' bustin' event. Here he is in all his glory...

It was definitely short lived, and of the experience he said, "yeah, I want to do it again. But only if I don't get that super fast one (sheep) again." The rodeo started with the 8 year olds and went down from there, finally getting to the 4 year olds (the youngest group). I was getting a little worried about the back out when about 80% of the kids that did it came up crying, but he wasn't swayed by the tears. And he shed none- until he found out that he didn't get a trophy. Just like a kid of ours... didn't cry when falling off a speeding vessel, but a basketcase when his 3 second ride (optimistically) didn't land him a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place trophy. BUT... he did get his first rodeo pay check- a whole 2 dollar bill!

Other than the main event, we had a great time- we went to the draft horse pull on friday night and watched these GIGANTIC horses pull over 10,000 lbs! I have never seen an animal that big... at least one that wasn't an elephant!

We also headed over to the free concert and fireworks and had a great time! The city is really good at getting a good performer and then everyone brings picnics and blankets and has a great time! This year it was Darryl Worley, a smaller name country singer that sing quite a few songs that I like- Kent took Tyse up close to the stage for a good look, as he is an aspiring bass guitarist (he decided that since the bass is the first instrument played in his favorite Steve Miller Band song). Emitt enjoyed playing at the playground that was in the middle of the action, and Ollie took a nap while mom sang along. It was also Emitt's first memorable set of fireworks for the year and he didn't disappoint with a chorus of WOOOOOOW!'s and excited pointing and grunting. He loved it... for the first 10 minutes or so, and then the rest of the show was spent keeping him busy with "jelly"- which at present is about his only source of caloric intake, and an occasional fruit snack. Ollie woke up with assistance from his bigger brother, and he also just sat and stared at the sky as the fireworks lit up the sky. It is still such a neat experience for me, especially when they pair the fireworks with patriotic music. It was such a beautiful night with a wonderful celebration!

Campfire with old friends

Our Ohio State friends were in town for a few days so whoever lived closeby from the old neighborhood got together for dinner up AF canyon. It was our first fire of the season and it was so much fun! We loved living close to this group of people and definitely miss the long days outside, the long nights out in the camp chairs with Jamie in her sweats ( when it was 90 degrees!), all those makeshift dinners in the grass, and the playground.
The kids had such a great time being back together and some of the kids that weren't around back in those days got to play together too!

of course, Tyse was obsessed with the fire and roasting things in it. Kent was happy to pass on the torch...or the roaster!
Jadi and Tyse were the best of buddies in the old days. It was nice to see that Tyse hasn't become too anti girl to hang out with her and have a great time- just like the good old days!

Emitt and McCord are only 2 days apart and the same height, but I think McCord has a good 5 lbs on Emitt- at least! They were so cute playing together!

Look how they have changed!
Then....
Now...Marshmallows and dirt haven't tasted that good in such a long time! Thanks for the fun night!

Trip to the lake

On Saturday we took the boys up to the lake for the first time this year and had a picnic dinner and hoped to take out a canoe for a trip. Unfortunately, we didn't know you can't check out a canoe after 7, nor did we know that you have to be over 2 to ride (makes perfect sense, just hadn't though about it), neither of which was going to work. SO.... we just had PB&J for dinner and then let the boys throw rocks for a while before taking a walk and letting Tyse ride his bike. One of the things we love most about our neighborhood is all the sidewalks that we can walk and ride on, as well as the lake for boating, fishing, and throwing rocks. Boys just can never throw too many!

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