Happy Birthday to Barb!!

This weekend was Barb's birthday (August 17) so we celebrated by having a girls' weekend. Chei, Barb, Becky, and I started the weekend by staying at Chris and Jen's house and staying up till 3 in the morning taking color coding tests!! Go blue!! The next day we met Debbie, Jan, and Wendy up at Jackson Hole. Thanks to Wendy and her friend, Mark, we were able to rent a raft and go white water rafting and having a great time. The water was freezing but we couldn't resist hopping in anyway!! Barb and I showed we aren't too old to scare ourselves to death by rock jumping into the river off a high (well to me anyway) cliff that we had to do a little rock climbing just to get to. Somehow I put off my fear of heights enough to do it. The real adventure didn't really begin until we got to the end of our river run and realized that we had locked the keys in the car (we really wouldn't have known what to do without some sort of mishap...it wouldn't have been a real girls' weekend). Becky and I waited with the car until the everyone else returned from finding cell phone service to call AAA. That night we stayed at Wendy's apartment thanks to her and her roommate, Chelsea's, generosity. We started the next morning right by having birthday strawberry shortcake for breakfast and were off, returning to our everyday adventures of kids, work, and more kids!! :)

AAAH....is it that time already??

So I dropped Tristan off at the church today for...Girls' Camp!! Yes... she is old enough to start the next phase of her (and our)life! I have to admit after dropping her off and saying goodbye to her for the next 4 days I had to hold back a little tear. I can't believe the stages I am reaching...Tristan is in Young Women's, she will be starting junior high in less than 3 weeks, Jordan will be in 6th grade, Brock in 2nd grade and my babies, Brayden and Connor will be going to Kindergarten! Wow...I think the last week of August will be a bit emotional for me watching my kids move on to the next phases of independence. It really does seem like I just brought Tristan home from the hospital as a little black haired baby....oh well...at least I am still only 21...

Here is Tristan on her first day of school...where does the time go?

Ooh sweet summer!!

This will be kind of a long post...it has been a busy week. But it has been a fun one for the kids and I!! Last Friday, Becky and I took our kids and Barb's kids to the Hill Air Force Base Museum. It was fun!! We talked about Great Grandpa York serving in World War II and just let them look at the planes, uniforms, and atomic bombs!! We looked as scary as the planes...2 women and 10 children...we got some funny looks but had a great time and didn't end up causing any major explosions!

Saturday the kids and I (minus Tristan who was at a friend's cabin) went to the lake with relatives and had a great time. I love the lake and my kids seemed to share my enthusiasm. I got up on wakeboarding for the first time and that was great. I didn't do any awesome tricks like Kurt but I felt cool just because I stayed up for a few minutes!! Jordan knee boarded for the first time and got up on his knees for a minute. I was so proud!! Brayden, Connor, Jordan, and Brock all enjoyed the hot dog tube ride. Brayden was so excited...he is going to be my little dare devil I'm afraid. It was a great Saturday and I felt like I could finally say it was summer after a fun day at the lake.

Woo Hoo! Just don't ask me to move from this spot!! :)

Here is Brayden bouncing the hot dog himself because it just wasn't wild enough for him!!

Brock, Caleb, and I after our great crash!! Caleb and Brock were so proud. They still talk about how cool they are because they crashed first and how crashing is soooo fun!


Jordan just before his fateful time of getting his knees on the board...way to go!!

Wednesday, Becky, Chris, Jen, Dad, Kendra, and I went to Jackson Hole and visited Wendy. We went up to Jenny Lake and enjoyed the view of the river coming out of the lake and lots of junk food! Then we went rafting down the river with the Mad River Rafting Company which Wendy works for. It was a beautiful day, perfect weather, and the river was so relaxing and pretty. We saw bald eagles, pelicans, and even a vulture waiting for us to drown...we disappointed him-thank heavens. So thanks to Wendy for making such an adventure possible. I feel as though this week has really brought in the vacation part of summer as most of my days are filled with kids, kids, kids and the messes that go with! :)





Well back to real life...for now!!

Tagged

Joys:
1. Watching my kids play with each other and getting to know their fun personalities.
2. Spending time with my wonderful hubby who now has a job with normal hours and reasonable expectations (finally!!)
3. Serving and friendship...I think the two go together more often than not.
4. Of course the gospel and the savior...what greater joy is there.


Fears:
1. To echo what has been said in many other blogs...to lose a loved one...even if it is for only a "blink of an eye"
2. That I will not teach my children all they need to know to fulfill their divine purposes on this earth.
3. That I will not do all I can to fulfill my divine purpose on this earth...that I will have any serious regrets at the end of my life.
4. Heights


Goals:
1. To raise my children to the very best of my ability.
2. To be a good wife, mother, and person.
3. To become a spin teacher although I am feeling a little chicken on this one. :)
4. To serve others, to be a good friend, to make people laugh, and to lift others and help them see the good they have to offer.


Current Obsessions:
1. Gardening (see below pictures), it is amazing that someone as black thumbed as I am can actually get things to grow!!
2. Blogging...and why can't I get the spacing to go right on my last paragraph
3. Reading...Twilight...reading
4. Sugar...mostly jellybeans, gum drops, and swedish fish...but really any kind of sugar!!

Random Surprising Facts:

1. I have killed a cactus (proof of above "black thumb" comment)

2. I love peanut butter on cheddar cheese (not singles...the real stuff)

3. I LOVE math. I took Calculus in college just because I thought it sounded fun.

4. I couldn't stand chocolate until I was pregnant with Brock and the twins...now I find myself actually craving it at times...although a plain old Hershey bar still sounds repulsive!

I now tag Chris (I know not fair but I really want to know his list!!), Cheilah, and Debbie

The villain, the heroine, and the hero.

Here is the wonderful story I was able to go see at Brock's school. It was so cute I HAD to post it!!

Just Hanging Out

For all of you wondering what life is like with five boys in the house here you go. For fun they wrestle, play video games, play ninja (don't ask just picture bruises, cuts, and tears!!), and now have learned a new way to just hang out. To all the boys out there-play away!!

A Well Balanced Diet

Last night Tristan performed at her last concert for orchestra. She did great and looked beautiful...much better than her blurry pic shows!! :) As much as we got used to having the cello around, she decided it is not for her...oh well, maybe another child will make great music around the house! We have high hopes for Brayden who can be seen jamming to hymns in the middle of sacrament meeting. :) Afterwards we decided to go out for dinner to celebrate (Tristan's performance...not the fact she is quitting!!) We took one look at Connor and realized he has the idea of a balanced diet down. Now that is a diet we can all handle!! By the way he ate it all and topped it off with french fries!

Turn left here...no, wait, right...no wait left...

There is nothing quite like womens conference...lots of laughter, long lines, the best brownies, really sore feet, amazing service and the spirit that can only come from the presence of tens of thousands of women, united by purpose and the love of God. The only thing that is even better is going with family who is also attending, hoping to become better wives, mothers, and individuals. Womens conference is a time to reflect, reevaluate, and remember who we really are and what we are really here to accomplish. Just days before we left I was telling a friend how overwhelmed I was with my inadequacy and my lack of influence on the world. I felt that I wasn't making any sort of difference for anyone. After Women's Conference I had a renewed vision of the importance of motherhood, sisterhood, and service. I realized that I was doing exactly what I was supposed to be doing. I may never be in the headlines or win the nobel peace prize but in the eyes of my family I am a hero. We, as women of God, do have purpose- greater than we realize most days. Changing diapers, doing endless laundry, teaching our children their divine worth, being an example to friends, standing firm in our beliefs and not apologizing when much of the rest of the world thinks that only women in the spotlight and the news matter....these are the things we do daily to make our portion of the world a better place. To all mothers, sisters, daughters, grandmothers, and friends...keep up the good work...nothing is more important than the work you do.