Summer Fun: Just Add Water

Last week a Mama Pam came to visit after her trip to see some friends in Eastern Idaho and Northern Utah. Unfortunately we did not take any pictures of the visit except this little gem; our outing to Costco for food and gas.

After a few days of lounging, reading, tv watching, and a lot of coffee cake consumption (Costco quantities) we capped off the visit with a drive to Kaysville for dinner and swimming with the Smiths and Izatts.

The first thing we did upon arrival is hang out on the shady porch and spoil Clyde's appetite with a ring pop (my candy bribes go a long way).

His poor teeth. As soon as I got it on his finger it was gone in 3 minutes.

And just looking at his longing stare you would think little Wilbur wanted some too, but he didn't. Strange little guy doesn't even like candy.

After spoiling Clyde's appetite we headed into the house for some conversation and playing before dinner.
A little hammock fun. I was tempted to lay in it, but decided falling out was more embarrassment than I could take so I opted to just stand by it.

And here we are trying to figure out a way for all of us to climb up the rocks; needless to say it did not work too well.

And then before we knew it, it was dinner time...
At dinner there were two tables, and Sam and I were lucky enough to sit at the "cool table" with Jana, Chuck, Heidi and the little boys. Unfortunately, we were all rather quiet while we ate and listened to the other table talking and laughing up a storm. Thankfully, after a few short minutes of Jana trying to count to three and have us all fake laugh in unison (it may have worked eventually) Sam came out of his shell, told a few jokes, and well ... you know the rest.

After dinner we hit the pool. Since my legs were still peeling like crazy I chose to not let my gross skin ruin the pool and became the photographer instead. Luckily Sam and Chuck kept me very busy getting shots like this...

and this...

after every landing he was getting dunked all the way into the water (Sam blamed the sunscreen making his little body slippery) and I was amazed that he popped up every time laughing and asking for more. Then he would count to 3 and get launched again. There was one front flip, a few belly flops and so much high soaring I was amazed to find out the little guy did not appreciate the roller coasters at Lagoon.

Thank you so much Smiths for dinner and a fun evening. We had a great time and it was good to learn now not to let Sam and Chuck come anywhere near my children in the pool :)

Dinkey Creek

The rumors are true; I actually went camping for almost a week. Granted there were cabins with bunk beds (that closely resembled 6th grade outdoor school), toilets (that had bugs around, but were definitely squattable and beat the hole in the ground any day), showers (that required sandals, but were spacious and provided extremely warm water), and a full size kitchen for gourmet meals every night (which I mostly did not have to cook or clean up); despite all the luxuries I am stamping my passport for putting up with the dirt, bugs, spiders and walking 100 feet in the cold to go to the bathroom.

We got to Thousand Oaks mid day on the Fourth of July and got to spend the next few days eating Mama's delicious cooking, sleeping in and relaxing (which I guess is not too abnormal in my lazy life), and hanging out with the family (and the most recent addition, my first nephew on the Galeria side: Rex).


Then the luxury of clean bathrooms and dirt-less days disappeared as we made the four hour drive up the mountains in central California towards Dinkey Creek. We passed the Lancaster turn out and thought of Quinn (and were especially sad because it was our first trip back to Cali that we didn't pay our favorite Elder a visit).


As soon as we got out of the desert and up to the mountains we started driving up the windiest roads ever. I was trying my best to not get snappy at Sam or Craig in the car because they kept talking to me while nausea city was brewing in my stomach; luckily Rachel was the weakest in the bunch and we were forced to pull the caravan over so she did not barf in the car. Unfortunately for me she chose my pillow and seat to lay down on as a retreat from all the taunts she got from us while standing on the side of the road to get some fresh air.

If you think her face looks green you would be right. Just like the idea of slipping on banana peel, a green face when you are feeling sick was one of those things I thought only happened in cartoons, but here is proof that it can actually be a reality as well.

When we were about to pull into camp, the first thing that came out of Sam's mouth in a somewhat whiny voice was that he really just wanted to watch some tv (which is kind of ironic since he usually gets mad at me for watching too much television). But seconds later he was over it as he and my little brother started to spot all the sites in the camp; like for instance "the dinkey dumpster" or "the dinkey basketball hoop" and "the dinkey bridge." Unfortunately for me this went on way too long, especially since it got old about the third time something "dinkey" was reported.

Here are my Dad and I checking out Dinkey Creek, which according to Sam and Craig was really funny because it was in fact a "dinkey creek."

We were trying to search for fish swimming around with no luck. We did however see a dead one that a few kids were playing with.

Our nights were spent around this campfire (and one morning while I spent a few minutes waiting for the shower to open up.)

It was funny to watch all the kids talk to each other and us. Unfortunately the benches were a little painful on the behind.

This is what our sleeping arrangements looked like. I will be honest, I was not thrilled when I first saw them, and by the last night I was ready for my soft comfy bed at home, but that little bottom bunk definitely served its purpose of keeping me warm, somewhat comfortable, and bug-free; all necessary components of keeping me happy.

It may have been from the fact that Sam lined our beds with bug spray every night, or that we were just lucky, but we had no problems with our little dormitory; and it wasn't because they did not exist. The other cabin had a rodent problem which we consistently got the daily play by play on how the mice catching was going from the scared little kids that got their candy eaten. We also saw the biggest spider in the world in the cabin next door. (So large that there may have been a discussion on catching it and sending it to Quinn, but both of us were way to scared to go near it; lucky Quinn)

Dinkey Creek also offered plenty of things to do and a beautiful scenery.

My Mom, Dad, and Rachel climbed the rocks right outside our cabin.

These folks (minus my Mom) also braved the horses and rode them for an hour along a trail by Shaver Lake.

I don't like to ride on animals that could potentially throw me off and step on me so I didn't want to go. We had 45 minutes for these guys to wait their turn so walked around the trail and right as Sam was trying to convince me to go with them we heard a guy screaming so we ran towards it. About ten seconds later, when we got to him he was on the ground (obviously in a lot of pain) and his large horse was just staring at him (facing the opposite direction from what it should have been). I decided to not go.

This was probably the horse that bucked that other guy off, and ironically the horse they let my Dad ride.

It was not impressed with people. As soon as the cow girl tied him up to the post he used his teeth to untie the rope and started walking off. Luckily Sam was there to save the day and capture him before he trotted off into the sunset.

We also found a lot of very large pine cones around Shaver Lake and Dinkey Creek.

Sam wanted to take a picture of one so he could remember how big they were/are.

This is the end of the hour long ride. Don't they all look so happy they went?

They wanted to take a smiling one to prove they had fun :)

And call me a party pooper, but here I am smiling because I did not ride a horse.

I spent the hour reading my book, not getting a sore bum and legs and not being scared I was going to get bucked off like that other guy I saw.

After the horses and before dinner on Wednesday Sam and I decided to try our own little adventure and went for a little walk. We ended up on the opposite side of the creek from camp, and instead of walking back the way we had come Sam decided it would save time and be fun to just cross the creek.

Now from the picture you make think "oh, there are plenty of rocks so he was probably right about it being easy to cross." Well you are wrong. It took us probably three times as long to cross the creek as it would have to just walk back around. But I guess all that needs to be remembered was that we eventually crossed it; I was completely dry and Sam just a little wet when he stepped in to help me make a big jump (don't worry he had his hippie shoes on that he retrieved from California hidden in the same spot he had left them the last time we were there).

This is a small glimpse of what our dinners looked like each night (and I guess breakfast each morning).

Deliciously made by one or two of the families at camp.

Thursday we spent the day at Shaver Lake. Sam woke up at 6:30 so he could try his luck at wake boarding. I passed because it was a little too early and cold for me.

The rest of us headed over to the lake around 10:00. We spent the afternoon boating, jet skiing, sun bathing.

And by sun bathing I mean this is how white I looked when I started. I look like I am glowing because I am. Even kids were asking how I was related to the Galeria's because I did not fit in with my little brother and sister's super tan skin. In my defense, when I was their age I was also that tan.

And if you would like to know the color of mine and Sam's skin now I will tell you. Imagine a pink/red firetruck, tomato, or cherry. We got fried. The drive home yesterday was full of two whiny adults fighting over who was in more pain. And I am sure that those people in Nephi thought I was the weirdest person on the planet as they watched me hobble run to the bathroom as quickly as my burned stiff legs could go.

We also got to ride these for awhile. This one went super fast (60 mph) and was a ton of fun.

This one and the one just like it were not our friends. After we rode the red one we had fun and wanted to ride again an hour or so later. The only one available was the yellow seat which everyone said was really temper mental. Thinking nothing of it we were off riding around and as soon as we started going faster, I was panicking. Every time we moved I felt like we were going to flip over and every time we stopped it felt like we were sinking. I begged to go back so as Sam started turning around we leaned wrong and next thing I know I hear the "scared Sam voice" yelling at me to jump off because we are tipping and then he flies into the water. Alarmed I jump ship as well and land in the freezing cold water, half laughing half irritated.

We slowly ride back to camp and I decided right then I am not going on that one again for sure. We explain what happened and are told that only one person should really ride that one at a time. Great. That would have been nice to know about ten minutes before I got soaked. A few hours later, after we are dried and happy again cute little Jacob wanted to go for a ride. We decide this one above is the jet ski to go on. We start going out to sea, only to start feeling the same way we felt on the yellow one; only this time we have a three year old that we can't replace accompanying us. We test the water for a little while, decide its not worth it, and then I beg to be taken back to shore because I don't want the ulcer I would get if I stayed out. After the jet ski fiasco I decide I have had enough sun (and my skin was pretty sure of this too) so we packed up, dried off...

said goodbye to our thousands of friends still hanging out at Shaver Lake...

and headed back to Dinkey Creek so we could shower and start making dinner (not at the same time)...

We cut some fruits and veggies, BBQ'ed the hamburgers and hot dogs...

and then hung out at campfire for the evening, trying not to cry as the fire inflamed our red skin and little kids sat on our laps and irritated our awful burns. Then before we knew it we were packing up that next morning and heading out on the longest drive ever, twelve stinking hours.

I would not have called it from the beginning, but we had so much fun and were a little sad to leave. Thanks Mom and Dad for inviting us. Even though our invitation got lost in the mail for that Hawaii trip we are grateful you let us come on the camping one :)

Funny Friday

Roughly a year ago we were living in Portland. My brother Robby convinced us to come sell security, and next thing we knew we were in Oregon doing just that. I was bored stiff most of the days (jobless and home alone), while Sam worked way too many hours in a week. However, there were occasions where we had good laughs.

One Sunday morning Sam decided that he needed his hair cut. It had grown way too long and his wild curls needed to be tamed. As luck would have it, we had his clippers so I pulled them out, and after a brief photo session went to work.



I was nervous because I had never cut anyone's hair before and I did not want to be responsible for ruining anything. Sam assured me it was easy, but after three buzzes on one side of his head I decided I wanted nothing to do with his hair cut anymore; so I put the clippers down and walked away. It was a good thing (for Sam) Robby was present so he was able to finish what I had bailed on.



After just a few minutes Sam's hair was cut perfectly and his curly locks were scattered all over our small balcony. Since we had no broom to clean it up I had the brilliant idea to get my blow dryer and let the hot air do the work for us. Unfortunately for the people eating pizza, Mediterranean and Japanese food on the patio four floors below us, the hair was air born when I took cover inside realizing a bit too late about the wrong thing I had just done (oops). On the bright side, maybe I got some people some free Sunday lunch because of all the large hair balls falling from the sky into their food.

Funny Friday

The good thing about bangs is that they look cute; the bad thing is that while you sleep they tickle your face and are quite troublesome. This is easily remedied by two bobby pins...if you have them.

This past Monday night Terri and I were up in Salt Lake and at bedtime she discovered that she was bobby pin-less. Not a big deal, nothing a quick trip to Smith's Marketplace could not fix. The only problem was that, as you may know by now, I have a nasty habit of forgetting my wallet. $1.38 was all that the self checkout kiosk requested. Terri was a good sport and ran out to the car to raid the ashtray while I stayed there avoiding the annoyed looks of the people waiting in line. When Terri returned with only 93 cents we weighed our options.

First we discussed how probably nobody would notice if their pack of pin shad was missing two bobby pins, but quickly decided not to use the five finger discount. For some reason driving all the way back to the hotel (three blocks???) seemed quite unappealing, and so we were left with one final option; spend the next hour walking up and down every aisle and all around the parking lot looking for loose change. At first we were mostly joking, but when I spotted that first dime under the Doritos display at the end of the greeting card aisle something changed (no pun attended). We were starting to become discouraged 21 cents later and we were running out of our scavengers drive when we found the quarter that made our bobby pin dreams a reality.

Anniversary: Take Two

Our two year anniversary definitely came up quick. I can't believe it has been two years (but I also have a tough time believing I can be tried as an adult, vote, and drive, so my judgment is a little off).

We started our little adventure on Monday afternoon. After a relaxing morning we got ready and headed up to Salt Lake City. We checked into our hotel room at the Little America and then walked downtown to the Melting Pot for dinner. We were a little early (and very hungry) so to preoccupy our attention we played a little game, and all that needs to be remembered is that I won :)

Dinner was delicious, and worth the year that Sam made me wait to eat there...

Unfortunately, after we were done eating, I felt like I was going to die. Way too much food.

I literally gained three pounds. Our hotel room had a scale in it so I weighed myself before dinner. After dinner we walked around temple square and downtown for almost three hours, and when we finally made it back to our room I weighed myself again and I was three pounds heavier; even after all that walking. Oh well, I still weigh less than Sam and that is all that matters.

The next morning, our real anniversary, Sam was a gem and packed up our room.

And then so lovingly agreed on taking me to Cheesecake Factory for lunch instead of his world famous Jim's Restaurant for delicious pancakes. Thanks Sam, Love You.

The remainder of the day was spent writing a paper and attending institute, a little bit of Yoga, some television (I had to catch up on what was going on with Jon and Kate Plus 8 and the bachelorette) and then we ended the day with a red box movie: He is Just Not That Into You.


Sam, thanks for always being patient, loving and the best person that I know. You are so good at always keeping up on your ONE JOB (you know: the dishes, trashes, turning off the lights and locking the doors, cleaning the bathrooms, as well as anything else that makes me gag for that matter, fetching things either upstairs or downstairs, searching for my cell phone, and all of those other things that I think of). You have me constantly laughing, and I could not have asked for someone more perfect for me.

Love you forever. Happy Anniversary.

Jana's and Wilbur's and Clyde's: Oh My!

We had a fantastic few days last weekend when the Izatt's came to visit. We started the fun off by meeting Jana and the boys up in Alpine to finish off the parade of homes tour. We chased babies around the crowded home and even made it to the garage before one of them threw up. That was some fast running Jana! After the tour we drove up to Salt Lake for a Shannon Hale book signing. There was pie (which kept Sam extremely happy), authors (which kept Jana very happy), and cute nephews (which kept me happy).

Here is Sam paying more attention to his pie than the kids...

after five pieces I would have thought he would stop going back for more, but he didn't.

A little bit of off roading in the double stroller...

I guess whatever makes the babies laugh, right?

And you would never believe how much a little snail could entertain even the grumpiest of kids...

We even found a few more kids along the way and their mom was thrilled they were playing with it, oops. Its a good thing that she didn't hear Sam saying how soft it was to pet.

After the book signing, Saturday night turned into a late nighter. Sam had to give a talk in church the next day and enlisted Jana's help in writing the talk (and by enlisting her help I mean she wrote about 90% of it). He did a very good job and the babies were half cooperative with letting us listen to it.

The rest of Sunday was spent making/eating these:

And taking rides on this:


On Monday we spent the morning hanging out (aka I slept in while Jana woke up at 6 am with the kids) and then headed off to Hogel Zoo.

We looked at lots of animals

And despite all the signs telling the patrons not to feed them, Sam thought it would be funny to pull a little "Steve Irwin."

The group walking away from our favorite friends, the giraffes.

We popped our heads into the gopher cage and if I thought it was claustrophobic at this point...

I should have waited until we all tried to squish in.

We rode the little train around the park.

And here we are growing old together in our little rocking chairs.

Finally, for once, my eyes are open and his aren't.

On Tuesday we headed up the canyon to bridal veil falls...

Sam and Wilbur trekked up closer to the waterfall. I stayed behind because the water was freezing and I hate getting wet.

And Jana was kind enough to take this picture of us in front of the pretty landscape.

It was quite impressive to see her take the picture while holding one baby and trying to keep the other one out of the flowing river. Mother of the Year.

Thanks so much for driving down to visit us. We had tons of fun and can't wait to do it again.