Yellowstone and No Bears?

For the 4th of July we went to beautiful Yellowstone. It is such an amazing place. Even the drive to get there is beautiful. We saw a ton of buffalo, an eagle, deer and no bears.

Zion Ponderosa Camp

In May (I know, I know....this is old news now) we took the kids to Zion Ponderosa Ranch. This was one of the best little trips we've had. We got a good deal on a little cabin and stayed for a couple of nights. The girls and Mark and I were able to try the zip line. I'll admit, I was so scared, I thought I might wet my pants. The kids also went mini golfing a couple of times (hilarious to watch Luke scoot the ball until it fell in the hole), played ping pong, went to a little petting zoo (which was quite lame), tried the trampoline bungee, and Aly went horseback riding with Mark. There was so much to do there. After a few days at the ranch, we tried out some hiking at Zions. No such a big hit with the kiddos. We made it through 2 short hikes and they looked half dead. So, we headed off to St George and spent the evening cooling off in the pool. That's really all the kids care about when we stay in a hotel anyway. We had a lot of fun though. If anyone wants to go next year, let's make plans.

The Nerd Herd

The kids and their friends had a fun night of dressing up like nerds. We were also treated to a few plays that they put on for us. It's fun to see the kids play and use their imagination instead of sitting at the computer playing plants vs. zombies.

Chocolate Dipped

As always, I bought wayyyy too much food for Mark's birthday party. Although the kids love fruit, it seems like we can never eat it fast enough. So on Saturday, we broke out the chocolate chips and dipped the rest of the strawberries and some grapes. They were delish and oh so easy. All three of the kids took turns and they turned out beautifully. Ok, some weren't beautiful, but they still tasted great. We used 1/2 bag semi sweet and 1/2 bag milk chocolate combined with 2 T shortening. I just used a small sauce pan and melted it over low heat. Give it a try. And can you believe it? None of the strawberries went to waste.

Surprise!

It's a surprise party! Amazingly, I pulled off a total surprise party for Mark's birthday. First off, I'm a horrible liar. And second, I am terrible at keeping secrets. I knew in order for it to work, I would also have to keep it a secret from the kids (which is hard when you are lugging them around to buy the food for the party). I got a great deal on a room at Noah's and tricked Mark into thinking that he had a dj gig at Noah's. Unfortunately, he showed up early to set up for his gig and we only had a few guests there to surprise him. More people showed up as the night when on and the party was a big hit. He LOVED it! Thanks to all that came. You are all great friends to Mark (and the rest of us too).

Marlie

The other day Marlie and I were getting ready in my bathroom. Out of the blue she said, "Mom, 10 seconds ago, this was the future." So deep and so true.

Debate of the Day....

Someone in this house thinks that it would be a good idea to sit down the 6 and 8 year old girls and teach them some swear words and tell them not to say those words or play with people who say those words. Someone else in this house thinks "what on earth are you doing to the innocence of those girls." The first someone says if we don't teach them those words, other people will. Someone #2 asked the girls if they had ever heard anyone at school say "hell" or "damn". They said no. So what do ya'll think? One daughter heard a bad word in a movie and said it a few times before I heard it with my own ears. Then we taught her not to say it and she stopped. So what is it? Be proactive or reactive?

Luke

Anyone who knows Luke knows that the kid NEVER stops talking. Sometimes my ears get tired. He loves to say the family prayer and it would last forever if someone didn't help him wrap it up. My favorite line in the prayer is "please bless us to not freak out when it rains." He is terrified of the rain, especially if it wakes him up at night. He really does freak out and that's when I'm glad that he has a big bed to share. He's my little buddy. We get to spend everyday together. I love him a lot. I'm glad that he's here to keep me company and chat with me all day.

My Luke has been a very good helper today. He unloaded the dishwasher for me. Then I asked him to go clean his room. He was finished in no time at all. And there was nothing left on the floor. (This is the after picture.)

Aly

Isn't she pretty?

Marlie Funny

Over Labor Day weekend, we took the kids to St George. We went with my parents, who always go to church when they are out of town. This time the kids and I went with them and they told me in the parking lot "Oh by the way, this is an old folks ward." That would have been nice to know when I left Mark back at the house all by himself. During testimony meeting I said, "Marlie, I dare you to go bear your testimony." Marlie said, "No way. It's too scary with all these old people." I told her "Don't worry. They can't hear anyway." She responded, "Yes they can. They all have big ears." So I didn't make her go up.

Aly's Baptism

Alyssa got baptized on Sept. 4th. She was so excited. We had a lot of support from family, friends and her primary teacher. It was a beautiful day and I'm so proud of her decision to get baptized.

Happy Birthday Aly!

Aly turned 8! She is such a good kid. She is a really good helper. She's kind and very obedient. She loves to play barbie still, which makes me happy. I want her to stay little forever! She has the most beautiful long hair. She is quite proud of it. She was really excited to get baptized. She also got scriptures and a case, a shirt, bracelets,a few little things and undies. I bought the undies about a week before her birthday and was going to give them to her then. Mark told me to wait for her birthday, which I think is horribly mean to give a kid undies for a gift. Then, 2 days before her birthday came, she told me that she wanted new undies for her birthday. Since Marlie had the present treasure hunt, Aly had to have one too. We found things in the tub, on the swing set, in her closet, in the van and in a couple of other spots. We had a lot of fun celebrating Aly's big day.

Happy Birthday Marlie!

Marlie is 6! Marlie is the funniest, hyper, lovey, entertaining, dramatic kid around. She loves attention. She also loves to snuggle mom and tease her brother. She was so stoked for her birthday. She started asking me how long it would be until her birthday when there was over 100 days to go. She is easy to please though. She has been asking for a scripture bag for a while, so we gave her scriptures with a new scripture case, earrings, bracelets, a webkinz, and a pez. I started giving the kids a treasure hunt to find and open presents. The love it and the hunt takes off some of the presure of have lots of big gifts.

Happy 4th!

Mark really wanted to have a party this summer. I put him in charge. We had lots of yummy food, karaoke and fireworks. Luke especially had fun since his best friend and girlfriend came to party.

Luke and his girlfriend, Islay. Mark and Jon singing to Neil Diamond.

Aly and Marlie singing Party In the USA.

Luke and Lincoln. These two are so funny to watch.

Who can hit the dead fish with a rock?

This summer, we took the kids camping a few times and to Yellowstone. The highlights were fishing up in Midway at Wasatch Mountain State Park (we didn't catch anything, but all of the kids touched a worm. They were all really grossed out!), watching Mark catch his hook in the tree while fishing, seeing a few bears and tons of buffalo at Yellowstone, getting mega rained on at Payson Lake (which by the way is the dirtiest dirt I've ever seen), playing hit the dead fish with a rock at Payson Lake, eating raspberry shakes at Bear Lake, playing in Bear Lake, and roasting marshmallows at Wasatch Mountain State Park.

Update on fart disease

I forgot to mention in the previous post that according to Marlie, Mrs. Bishop thinks that her story is hilarious. And that orange thing by the puff is fire coming from the girls bum.

Fart Disease

This is Marlie's most recent story that she wrote on fairy tale Friday. I'll translate for you. "There is a girl who has fart disease. She farted everywhere she went." Notice the puff near the rear of the girl in the picture. Heaven help me....

When I was little, I was terrified that Spiderman or Batman was going to come out of the heat vent at night and get me. I was also afraid that arms from under the bed would grab me when I got out of bed. I would jump off of the bed as far as I could so that my feet didn't come down on the floor right next to the bed. Then the arms wouldn't be able to reach my ankles. Last night, Marlie came into the family room shortly after I put her to bed. "Mom, I had a bad imagination". That means she's thinking about something scary. I know cause I had those same bad imaginations about Batmand and Spiderman. "What's the bad imagination about?" Her reply was, "Elvis is going to come out and get me." "Where is he going to come from?" I thought she might say the heat vent. That's where all the scary people hide. Not Elvis though. He's under her bed. I assured her that Elvis is dead and that if by chance he did decide to come out from under her bed, we would take pictures and make lots of money. And she went back to bed.

I just tucked Marlie into bed. She had a few extra blankets on her bed tonight. She told me, "I'm going to be hot tonight. And I don't mean the kissy hot, I mean sweaty hot." I just told her to kick off a blanket if she gets too hot. Where on earth did she learn to say that?!