Summer camping

Nothing like doing a little camping over Memorial weekend. Each year Aimee's family decides a nice warm place to go camping, and we all pack up for a little fun. (Going to a warm location is memorial weekend rule number one. In a previous year her family decided to camp in the Unitas and it snowed all weekend). So we decided that we would head down to Goblin Valley, since I had never been there before.













Mollee had a lot of fun playing in the dirt since it was a little to windy to really get the hang of playing badminton.

Maybe it was a little too much for her to handle. She was pretty wasted just after a few minutes of diving for the birdie.

So we decided to do something a little easier

"Hey Mollee....let's go on an 8 mile hike through some really challenging canyons in the hot sun"....

She was totally excited to go.

So we got in the truck and drove a few miles to Wild Horse Canyon for a day of hiking.

At first the canyon started wide and flat but after a mile or so it got pretty narrow.

No problem. Its just an easy slot canyon.





Well it got even narrower and steeper. At one point we had to climb up a 20 foot cliff, so I had to take off my pack with Logan in it and climb up part way and hand him up to some hikers up on top so I could make it up the rest of the way.







































After about 4 miles of hiking we made it out of Wild Horse Canyon and continued the loop back down through Bell Canyon which is mostly downhill and certainly not as narrow.

After the hike, we went back to the camp to rest that night before setting off the next day to go play with the Goblins at Goblin Valley State Park.






It was fun to watch Mollee run through the Goblins and have a great time.

We got a lot of sun and had a blast!!

Too bad it had to end

Dental Woes

A few weeks ago Jon, Mollee, and I went to the dentist. I have been going to the same dentist since I was Mollee's age so I was excited to show Mollee how much fun the dentist's office is and squash any horrible lies that she has heard about dentist's being scary.

When we got there, I willingly volunteered to get my cleaning done first to show Mollee how much fun it was (Jon is scared of the dentist so I also had to show him that the dentist's office can be fun!) The hygenist ("Grandma" Barb) cleaned my teeth and then gave me the bad news, the x-ray showed that I had my first cavity!! What????? I've never had a cavity. I asked her if she was sure and she grabbed the dentist to take a peek; yep, a cavity and a half! No, I wanted to scream, but I couldn't because I was being brave for Miss Mollee.

Next, Mollee was up . . . the bad news . . . she had a cavity too!! Finally, it was Jon's turn. He came out of the room with a grimace. No, it wasn't a cavity . . . he had to have a bad crown replaced. So, we all made returning appointments.

I was worried about Mollee and didn't think that I could stomach first watching Mollee have her first cavity filled and then having to have mine done right after that so I told Jon that he was going to have to be the moral support rather than me since he is a cavity expert. He volunteered to go back first so that he would be done before Mollee had to go back to get her cavity filled, but he didn't return before Mollee had to go back so I had to be the brave supporter. We passed Jon with his mouth full of purple gunk and he did not look like a happy camper.

The dentist was so cool. He told Mollee to open wide like and alligator so that Mr. Whistle (the drill) could clean out the cavity bug. Mollee was such a trouper and they didn't even give her novacaine. It only took 15 minutes before it was my turn. Mollee ran off to eat fruit snacks and I thought, no problem, Mollee was a trooper so I can be too.

Then the dentist began to pull out tools that didn't look like Mr. Whistle. Then, he was jiggling my mouth and soon pulled out a shot!!! What??? All kinds of crap went into my mouth that I know didn't go into Mollee's and I wanted to cry. I was wringing my hands so hard that they were white, but I refused to be upstaged by my 3 year old. Finally the dentist ended and we all got to go home. Jon and I had numbed frowns and Mollee was happily downing a glass of chocolate milk. Go figure!!

Hiking with Mollee at Red Ciffs

Hiking with your family, especially with two little kids is a much different adventure then when I was in scouts or just out on a trip with friends. I used to see how fast I could hike to a destination, stopping just to see some of the really big sites and take a few pictures. On our anniversary trip a few weeks ago we went to St George for the weekend and decided to do a little hiking since Aimee and I love it so much. We found a nice trail at Red Cliffs recreation area that had no change in elevation and was only .75 miles long one way. We should be able to knock this out in an hour or so I thought as we drove up there.

I knew it would be more of an all afternoon adventure when Mollee discovered hundreds of little green furry caterpillars crawling everywhere in the parking lot. They were all over the ground, rocks, trees, and cars. Mollee wanted to catch every one of them and put them all on one big rock so they could all play with each other. It was fun to kinda slow things down and enjoy the hike from Mollee's perspective. After 15 minutes of caterpillar catching we decided to start our hike.

Mollee really enjoyed seeing more caterpillars as we started but got really excited about all the little things along the way. We saw lizards and birds and cactus and big huge rocks. She thought it was "pretty cool" that there were stairs out in the middle of the desert. Logan slept pretty much the whole hike so we kept him bundled up in a blanket so he wouldn't get sunburnt.

After a half mile we came across our first pool of water with a little mini waterfall. Mollee had a blast playing in the water even though it was "pretty cold". nothing like throwing rocks into the water. After hanging out for a little while we decided to head up to the end of the trail to see a bigger pool and waterfall.

We found this place at the end of the hike. You could go on but it was tricky with these little footholds carved out in the rock with a rope to hold onto. We decided slipping and falling in the water with kids wasn't a good option so we stopped and relaxed for a while.

It seems no matter where we go, Mollee always finds herself a good stick to play with. The stick usually finds its way back to our house to be added to the collection of sticks in the coat closet.

We thought it was a great hike, but then the entertainment arrived. Several families packing swimsuits and beer showed up at our little sanctuary and began some backwoods cliff diving for our entertainment. We we sat back and enjoyed the show!!

I really enjoyed slowing things down and hiking with the kids. Mollee was really cute and Aimee and I really enjoyed the hike

Happy Mother's Day

The very first year that I was a mother I was so excited for Mother's Day. I just knew that my wonderful husband would sense my excitement and I couldn't wait for breakfast in bed, a cute homemade craft that my little 7 month old would make with her daddy to suprise me, and some bling that my husband would lovingly give me for being the most awesome mother of his children. I woke up and I waited. . . .

And waited . . . .

And waited . . . .

Then I thought, the bling was over the top and breakfast in bed is messy, maybe just a cute crafty card and a Happy Mother's Day . .

I kept waiting . . .

Hello?? . . .

Finally, at the close of the day, I asked Jon why he didn't recognize that it was Mother's Day. He looked straight at me and said, "Oh crap, I forgot to call my mom to tell her Happy Mother's Day!"

'Nough said. This year I planned my own Mother's Day. I set the day to have Logan blessed. He looked like such a cute little peddler!! I love being a mom. My two little ones are more than I could have ever asked for. Having Logan blessed on Mother's Day was so special. He is such a sweet boy who smiles at his imperfect mom like I can do no wrong. Mollee is my little shadow. She always cheers me up when I've had a rough day and can find the happy things in the rainstorms.

I have a huge struggle getting my little ones here. Pregnancy is a bear for me and c-sections are difficult to recover from, but it makes me appreciate motherhood that much more. Outside my window at work sits a mother duck on a nest of eggs. As I watch her, I realize that mothers are outstanding and selfless. She shifts her weight uncomfortably, battles rainy weather and cold temperatures, and confidently stares down threats to her nest all because she too, desires to become a mother.

Anniversary

Jon and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary on Earth Day. We spent a romantic weekend in St. George gazing into each other's glassy eyes . . . at 3:00 am as I was feeding Logan in our kid friendly motel after we had spent a long day driving 4 1/2 hours with two kids with our windows down in the 30 degree weather because it was better to have snow whacking us in the face then to be stuck with the stench of vomit from a 3 year old who gets carsick.

Okay, so our anniversary wasn't anywhere near the classic romantic movie, but we did have a really good time. Every year, we choose an activity that has to do with the traditional or modern gift/theme of the year. This year was our 6th which is iron or sugar. So, we visited Preston and his fiance Melina in Cedar City in Iron County and played at the Iron Mission State Park and then stayed in St. George and hiked Sugarloaf Rock (the rock that has Dixie painted on it) and ate ice cream.

The weather was fantastic once we got to St. George. We ate, and hiked, and swam, and played. Mollee's favorite part about the trip was making new friends at the pool, Logan's favorite part was spending time with his mommy and daddy, Jon's favorite part was the hiking and my favorite part was having the cleaning crew clean up after us in the motel.

I got a Golden Ticket (I mean egg!)

Last year, Mollee and I watched as cheaters ran out onto the field to snatch the revered "golden" eggs. We didn't know the importance of the golden eggs until we saw kids walking around with huge easter baskets after turning in their golden egg at a work truck nearby.

This year, we were not going to leave empty handed. We positioned ourselves right in front of the golden egg. My dad works for Murray City so I totally thought that he might give us an edge on obtaining a golden egg, but alas, my dad likes to play fair, so I knew that Mollee and I were on our own to capture the prized possession.

I whispered to Mollee our plan of attack. She tried to tell me the she wanted to pick up a green egg on the way, but I told her there wouldn't be time to grab the green egg first, but that we could grab green eggs after the golden egg. She then overheard the little twins next to her talking about grabbing the golden egg. She started to panick. I told her not to worry.

When the fire engine's horn sounded I swooped her up and ran her over to the golden egg. I tried to coax her into picking it up, but she was too stunned from my lightening speed so I had to break a "little" rule and pick it up for her. VICTORY!!

I told my dad who was hiding his head in shame afterward that the competition was really easy and he informed me that it's not that difficult for me to beat a bunch of 4 year olds. Hey, who wouldn't have come through for their kid?? After all, we only have one more year to attempt to grab the golden egg before I have to compete with the 5-8 year olds . . . I'm not quite as sure that my egg-grabbing skill level is good enough to beat them!!