Timpooneke

Last Thursday through Saturday we spent camping at Timpooneke with almost my whole family. Not everyone could get out of work on Friday but the evenings and Saturday were a blast with everyone there. Lucky for Gabe and I, we got to spend every day up in the mountains with my parents and Mel's older boys. The nights were a different matter...after our nightmarish experience with Gabe screaming all night last weekend, we opted out of the sleeping part of camping and drove home each night. Luckily it's only a 20 minute drive home - perfect! (Eric actually chose to sleep over with Denali on Friday night - what a diehard camper!) Mom came home with us to sleep each night too since she is recovering from yet another surgery. She is such a FUN mom and such a good sport to want to camp after all she's been through! Dad set up a screen tent for a shady, relatively clean spot for the babies to play and the adults to read and hang out...it was great!

*Here is a pic of the girls relaxing in the screen "playground"! Then Mel, Cannon, Gabe and Bridger. Then two of just the little guys: Wesley, Gabe and Cannon - the second pic in their smaller, yet even cleaner "playground"! :) The last is Mom relaxing in the tent trailer with Gabe and Bridger.

Timpooneke equestrian campground is awesome. Matt brought the four horses again and we had so much fun riding...I had forgotten how much I love the feeling of riding through the mountains horseback. It's exhilarating! I hadn't been for over a year since being pregnant and having a newborn aren't very conducive to horseback riding! I'm happy to be back in the saddle this year! :) The trails there are breathtaking...literally! One ride was along the ridge back of a mountain so you are pretty much riding along this narrow trail that feels like you are on top of the world! There were extremely steep, wooded slopes on either side and the views were gorgeous... Mount Timp towering over you and mountains as far as you can see in every direction. It is impossible to explain how beautiful it was...and how nerve racking to be up so high! As long as I didn't look down the slopes on each side, I was fine though!

Gabe loves the horses too...he points as soon as he sees them (pic with Connor) and wants to go pet them. He was doing great as we went down the row letting him point and pet each horse until we went past Chief... Chief is very affectionate and kept nuzzling the back of Gabe's head as he was trying to see Coal Train and Rio. Or maybe he just loves Gabe because when Gabe would move on, he would strain his neck as far as he could to get to Gabe! Either way, Gabe did not appreciate it! :)

...and here are two more cute pictures of our weekend adventures...

Daniels Canyon

This past weekend we went camping up Daniels Canyon - it was absolutely beautiful! Matt, Amy and little Wesley joined us...we had a blast! Matt brought their horses as well, which made the entire trip 100 times better too. We all LOVE horseback riding...including Gabe! He got his first ride last weekend - yahoo! Matt has Missouri Foxtrotters, which are gaited horses so riding them is smooth. (Not like riding a quarter horse that is so bouncy you feel like your insides are shaken loose. :)) We took the horses up into the mountains without even a trail so they had to pick their way over deadfall and rocks but the country was gorgeous. It felt so good to be up in the mountains with all that fresh air, surrounded by forests of quaking aspen and pine trees. It was a wonderful break from the scorching, dry heat around here. Scott and Cami, friends from our neighborhood, joined us on Saturday with their two little girls. We had a lot of fun riding (albeit poor Scott was violently allergic to the horses), shooting clay pigeons and having a target contest with Matt's trusty, old .22 rifle! Everyone there were really good shots, although no one beats Matt...he's a real gun slinger! (no seriously, it's scary how good he is!) Too bad I didn't get any pictures of the shooting contests - they were a lot of fun.

Denali was having the time of her life! She absolutely LOVES the horses. As soon as she gets around them, she gets so excited she jumps up at their faces and won't leave their sides for the duration! Luckily for her, they tolerate her and a few even seem to enjoy her company. When we aren't riding, Nali will even lay down under where they are tethered. Once I looked over and one horse was leaning down and nipping (with lips, not teeth) Denali's ear as she lay below him - it was pretty funny. Denali's even been stepped on (by accident of course) while we were riding but she still sticks to those horses like glue. They are her pals for sure!The night before we went camping, we went up the canyon for a campfire and hotdog roast with Matt, Amy, Mindy, and Griff. We had planned on going camping that night but couldn't find a spot so we decided to have a campfire anyway. Here are some cute pictures from that night. We were sad Mindy and Griff couldn't join us camping but Mindy had to work and poor Griff was recovering from a dislocated shoulder. (He dislocated it at our softball game the previous Wednesday - what a dedicated player, sacrificing his body for the team!)
And here are our cute boys... loving every minute outside in the mountains!

Lake Powell!!

Like they say, a picture says a thousand words! :) Does that look like one happy baby or what?! Gabe looked a little hot on the boat so I soaked his hair and let the wind have it's way with it...and he loved it! :)

Eric and Gabe both got to experience Lake Powell for the first time! Yahooooo! We had such a blast! Mindy and Griff invited us to join Griff's family on one of their many trips to Lake Powell every summer...what a great family Griff has! We had SO much fun playing, playing and playing some more! There was so much to do...hanging out on the house boat, flying off the slide, playing games, boating, swimming, the Launch Pod, the water weenie, tubing, the air-chair, knee board, skiing, and of course, most importantly...wakeboarding! :) And no, we didn't actually have the time or energy to participate in every one of those things ourselves in our 3 short days there- but believe me, we did most of it and every one of my screaming muscles can attest to that!

Go Eric!! He had so much fun showing us some leg while he ripped up the wake! :) What a jokester! The water weenie was Eric's favorite but I never got a picture of that, dangit!

Gabe was such a good sport. He didn't look too comfortable in his life vest but he didn't complain about it - what a sweet baby!

It was Mindy and Griff's baby's first time at Lake Powell too! You are so cute pregnant, Mindy!!

I brought this floating crab for Gabe thinking he would love it and never want to get out...well that's not exactly how he felt about it! As you can see he hung on to me for dear life screaming like I was going to push him out into the lake as fish bait! Needless to say, that poor crab got about 1 minute of lake time!

And here is Gabe sleeping with his fat little tummy hanging out if his jammies! Since it was still hot when he went to bed, I would unzip his jammies then zip them up later when it cooled off. Gabe slept on top the house boat with everyone and for the most part did great. It took some adjustment to be able to fall asleep with all the talking and noise going on but our little man is a trooper!

Spring flowers

I just love plants - especially flowers. Unfortunately they haven't loved me! I haven't had much luck with plants in the past. Sometimes they would last for several good weeks and then either suddenly die for no apparent reason or else slowly start ailing...leaves starting to droop then drop until the poor thing is a lanky bunch of naked stems. Other times they stay nice and green and healthy but don't grow an inch all season! It has been so frustrating and not a little sad! Well, all that has changed this year and I am thrilled!! (I'm not counting my sad little vegetable garden that is hanging on to life by a thread right now) Anyway, my flowers are thriving and I couldn't be more proud of myself! :) I had SO much fun going to the nursery and picking them out - I couldn't narrow down all the choices so I bought at least one of all my favorites. Fellow shoppers were laughing with me about how, even in the checkout line, I kept grabbing more! There are just so many pretty flowers! I love all the different shapes, colors and textures...hence the craziness of my flower pots! I love it that way, though. Planting day was a blast as well. I remember telling Eric how happy it made me feel! Sounds silly but it's just exactly the feeling I had all day as I was digging around moving dirt and mixing together all those pretty plants I had brought home. My parents both have bright green thumbs and just seem to have a knack for mixing all different kinds of shrubs, flowers, trees, and ground cover to create the prettiest gardens. Now I believe there is hope for me to someday be like them when I grow up!! So here are some pictures of my flowers...all you big time gardeners, don't laugh! I'm aware that they aren't that special but for me they are perfect! :)

This last picture was a few weeks ago when the snapdragons were blooming. I wanted to wait for the red flowers to bloom before taking pictures but I just couldn't wait! (I hate to jinx myself but I never know how long they are going to look like this!) So of course now the petunias and tiny red flowers (my favorites) are blooming but no snapdragons. Oh well, I figured this way you could see both!

Congrats Caitlynn!

Eric's little sister Caitlynn graduated from high school last week - yeah! (I know, I'm so behind with blogging. So many fun things have been going on-I've been taking lots of cute pictures with no time to post!) Unfortunately Gabe and I weren't able to attend the actual ceremony, hence no cool pic of her in her robe, but here are some cute pictures from our celebration lunch
afterward.


Caitlynn is heading to ITALY in one week for one awesome graduation vacation!! (Crystal is going along as well...lucky girls!) That's a grad trip that is certain not to disappoint. :) Have a blast, we love you Caitlynn!!

Ready or not, here I come!

Gabe has finally figured out what legs are for...he doesn't crawl but he does scoot around on his bum! At first it was mostly using arm strength and looked SO awkward but now he uses his legs to pull...still awkward, though much more effective! I must say that it is so fun for me to watch him get around on his own now. He has always been pretty content to stay in the same place and play with whatever toys were within reach! (My goodness, he has gotten pretty darn flexible - an invaluable skill for those that stay put!) Now he is scooting around like crazy, all business - it is so cute! It's slow going and not too smooth but he sure looks determined when he's going to investigate some new and fascinating object... like the doorstop for instance! It's ironic because I never crawled as a baby either and actually did the exact same bottom-scoot. My parents still talk about how funny it was that I did this funny crab crawl - Mom said I had a big callous along my calf from using it to pull myself along. Well, Gabe has only been scooting for a week and he already has a little rash/callous forming...poor kid! Like mother, like son, I guess. Since it is hard to describe how cute Gabe looks cruising around, I just had to put on this video clip so you could see it for yourself...

Birthday Bash

It was Mel and Connor's birthday party this past weekend...what a blast! My parents hosted the festivities and we celebrated with a Caribbean Islands theme garden party. It was so fun and the food was delicious! It felt great to be outside hanging out together. Our family is getting so big and FUN! All the boys were having a grand old time playing ball while the women talked and played with the babies. It was so relaxing and invigorating to me. I just love times like that. Here are some cute pictures I took. The little kids LOVED Gabe's b-day car...someone was driving it around constantly all evening!

This book is amazing!! I read it for book club in about 4 days...I could NOT put it down. I had heard from my sister, Melanie, that it was good but I had no idea how good! I was surprised at how much I loved it since it is so different from most of my favorite books. It is written as a journal which at first I didn't think I would like. However, Sarah (the main character) has a way of writing that brings her experiences to life and has a way of making you feel what she went through. I was crying by page 15! It's amazing how easily you get wrapped up in her life...her hopes, fears, dreams, and triumphs. It also made me realize how incredibly blessed I am and how much I take for granted. As I read I was feeling guilty about the small things in my life that make it so easy... like disposable diapers, indoor plumbing, and electricity. But the big things were what really stopped me in my tracks and humbled me when I realized how blessed I was. Things like knowing the purpose of life and that I will see loved ones again, having the gift of medical knowledge and expertise available now, and having the incredible opportunity to receive an education! Things I know I absolutely take for granted on a daily basis. This book was definitely an eye opener for me - it had the same effect as looking into a mirror that reflected my own life for me to see and helped me understand that regardless of what we have been given in this life, what really matters is what we do with it. I want to have the same indomitable spirit that she exhibited in her life... the same sense of humor and resiliency, strength and compassion. I know that her life was fictional but I also know that she represents so many women throughout history with similiar stories. I am so inspired! :) Bottom line...read the book!!