Happy Events around the Kitchen

Wow, so much has been happening! I hope you have patience for a novel!

First off, our anniversary was Tuesday, July 1. Congrats to us, we made it 10 years! (And big raspberries to those who were soo convinced we wouldn't make it a year ;P ) Actually, it was wayyy more laid back than we'd originally planned. But all thanks to Steve and Sarah Richins (you guys are becoming our regular champions!), we were able to go out sans kids after all. We ended up going over to the Logan Aquatic Center (where we were informed that we couldn't kiss because there were kids present...don't ask me why, this is the only time we've ever been told that after spending the last few years of summers there with our kids and still acting the exact same way every time), and then up Logan Canyon for a quick weiner roast. We found this really great spot called Wood Campsite that has several sites but is much more private than a lot of more popular or commonly found campsites. Plus it is literally right on the river, so the sounds and smells (not to mention the plant life) are gorgeous and soo incredibly peaceful. If we are lucky enough to ever find someone willing to take our kids for a night or two, I know just where we'll be heading!



This is the picture I could take from my chair at the fire.


Just for proof, if you look above John's head you can see the bank.


This is a quiet little spring that we found that was right across the river from our site. It is much easier to enjoy this picture if you click on it to enlarge it a bit.

The other major thing that happened has been (of course) the 4th of July. Thanks to the fact that we live in Logan, of course the big fireworks show is the day before, which just happens to be Ashley and Dad's birthday. So whole holiday activities sort of get stretched out. But it really was a ton of fun! First, Ashley came down from Rexburg and came with the kids and I (John had to work, of course) to a BBQ up in good ol' Aggie village with the Prows' and Richins'.


This is Steve entertaining the kids while Sarah (and Carmel, though she made me promise not to put up the pictures) got to work cooking the meat.


This is (of course) the new adult Ashley with Tia the hugger, Caelen the watcher, and Kieran the busy britches.

Then we jumped down to the stadium to join up with Garth and Jaron's families for the concert and fireworks. By the way, a HUGE thanks to Cindy for getting everyone the tickets! It was a lot of fun, and my kids loved it!


Here's a picture of the whole gang (plus if you look carefully you'll even find Jaron's stash...yum, more sugar to keep the kids going!), and there is a picture of Caelen's fascination while Tia is just cute...

Then we went back up to the Prows' for homemade ice cream while we waited for the traffic to die down. Out to drop Ashley off at Garth's where she was staying for this trip, and then to revive my car which decided to slip the battery cable just enough...fortunately Jaron was still up and he came to my rescue and saved my car from the severe beating that was about to commence. Let's just say that the kids were more than sound asleep in the back seat and didn't know a thing!

The next day it was time for the parade in Hyrum so we grabbed Ashley and headed out. My goodness but the kids had fun chasing all that candy!


Just look for yourselves!

Then we hopped over to my aunt Jean's for her annual BBQ and visit with the family. Thanks a million Jean! I can't begin to say just how fun it was to see most everyone of the cousins I spent the most of my childhood vacations with! Kind of fun seeing what we are all like now that we're all the grown ups in the family and the kids now outnumber us! Then later that night I took the kids back up to Jaron and Garth's apt complex for sparklers. (If you really want to see more pictures, let me know. I have them, I just wasn't sure you all wanted even more from the same entry!)

The next day I made Ashley's cheesecake (I would still love a detailed critique on that by the way Ashley!), and Johnny taught her about the fluids in her newly 'inherited' car. Unfortunately, by the time Ashley left we only had about 30 minutes we could have spent interrupting everything at church before we had to leave again to get Johnny to work, so I basically just set the kids to playing in their rooms and died for the rest of the day. What a week!

Now it is just a matter of clearing out the rest of the boxes and such...anyone needing some fuel for a ward camp out or something? I've got a terrific idea for you! ;)

New Home

Well, we are finally moved and settling in! We checked out of Aggie Village Wednesday (with glowing reviews of how clean the place was, I'm pleased to say), and have been trying to stay at home as much as possible so that we can start to clear away all the boxes and find homes for everything. A HUGE thank you for all those who helped while we packed, loaded and unloaded the moving truck, finished moving things, and just cleaned. We haven't felt so loved and supported during a move since we were married! Not to mention the blessings that have just been pouring down! Between all the help that we have been given (thanks to the Aggie Village Elder's Quorum, and a couple of new neighbors!), all the many times of babysitting (thanks a million to Garth and Laura, Sarah and Steve Richins, and Mandee Black; you guys can't believe the difference you made for my kids!!!), and the way that we lucked out in finding buyers for our appliances so we can afford to buy a new dryer (long story)...I can't stop saying thank you! When I realized that we were actually completely moved and cleaned and settling into the new place 5 days after we started filling the truck...well, let us just say this is a new record for us.

So thanks a million guys! You've made more of a difference than you can imagine in how we are feeling right now!

Thank you Dad!

Ok, I know I just posted. But I can't really let this day finish off at all without recognizing all the wonderful daddy's I know. Even (or especially) the granddaddy's! I have been so incredibly blessed. I know that everyone says that, but in listening to people talk about their parents it has gotten me thinking a lot about my life and relationship with my parents. Especially my dad.

When I was little, I don't think I cause my Dad too much grief. Well, not anymore than most other kids anyway. But then I got to be a teenager, and then things blew up...especially with my dad. But we managed to survive all the blow ups, and all the midnight philosophy sessions, and then I was really mean. I went to college and decided to marry a kid that scared my folks to death (admit it guys, it is the truth!). Fortunately this time at least, I really did know what I was doing (thank heavens for prayer!!!) and things have turned out great. But through all of this, my dad has been the one that I think I've picked on the most in many ways. Yet he has still been there for me (rather than giving up on me like I deserved), and now I can have a 20 minute phone conversation with him with out either of us getting bored, not to mention all the other conversations that I've been lucky to have with him where he slips back to our 'late night philosophy' conversations when we get to try and answer all the unanswerable questions out there. And thanks to all that, I've found that when I have a problem that I can't answer all I've really needed to do is look back at the things that my Dad has talked about and the way he taught me to look at the world...and in the blink of an eye I'll know either where to turn for the answer or what the answer itself should be! I can find my answers thanks to Dad. Even when I was the most awful to him, I could still be myself with him.

And thanks to all that Dad has shown and taught me, I know that above all I have a Heavenly Father that I can look to...especially when I can't get in touch with Dad. Through my dad, I've learned about what a Father does to take care of and love his kids. And now I get the incredibly amazing experience of watching as my husband does that same thing for my kids in ways that I as a mother am completely unable to do.

So thank you Dad!!! All of you!!!

Nothing like escaping via the internet...

Ok, it is a hot night, we are moving in less than a week, my house is currently filled with boxes and stuff waiting for boxes, and I've just decided that I need to take a break! After all, it is Sunday and Father's Day and Johnny was stuck working 12 days straight and...ok. I know; excuses, excuses. I just basically figured that since Johnny was asking for a day off (and he doesn't have to work tomorrow so he can help make up for having the day off), I would take some time as well. At least while I can since my oldest two are pretending to be asleep (while whispering back and forth, of course) and John has the baby while he screams himself to sleep. Bedtime has really become a relative thing around here...at least the whole concept of "routine" anyway. It all basically boils down to a matter of how long Kieran decides to scream since he just doesn't want to sleep. So we all wait him out, hoping that things will get better and he'll start to fall into more of a routine soon. One can only hope, though I'm not holding my breath anymore.

Moving day approacheth...

Well, it is official as of today! Ok, I know that I've been telling people for weeks now that we are moving to Hanbury Manor. I can only say that it has taken them forever to finish all the financial qualifying paper work so that we could be officially approved. Then again, once we found out about what was going on with our credit (and that it wasn't really our credit), I wasn't worried.

So as of June 21st, we will officially be living in apt H104 rather than in Aggie Village. The great side of things is that the place is made of regular wood frames covered with dry wall, there are about 3 times the amount of indoor storage, we have been able to get a garage with our apt (that has an outlet) so Johnny has a way to escape the family without going to work plus we have sooo much more storage, the apt itself faces east/west so we'll be able to have lots of sunlight on our porch, the is central air (hooray for air conditioning!!!), and above all.....there are 2 bathrooms!!! Now I know that God is looking out for us as I've been wondering how Mom and Dad made it all those years with all those kids and only 1 bathroom. Especially when the twins were being potty trained! And I only have one kid at a time being trained...though the way they fight over who has to 'go' the worst you'd think it were different. Now they can both go at the same time, and hopefully when Kieran is getting trained we'll have a little more peace on the home front. Now I just need to figure out a way to have a garden...

Oh, well, beggars can't be choosers.