Manti, 2011

We look forward to our Manti camping trip all year long.  This year did not disappoint.  I always enjoy the week away from daily distractions and the breath taking beauty that surrounds us.  However, his year was a little different.  The trip happened to fall on a different weekend than we had planned on.  Travis had high adventure and youth conference scheduled for the same week.  The kids were devastated by the thought that we may not get to make the trip.  I decided to step up and do it on my own.  Travis pulled the trailer down for us and was able to spend one night making sure that everything was in working order.  Then he kissed us goodbye and headed to Moab for High Adventure Camp (Moab in July?  Doesn't sound like a lot of fun to me!)  Now, I'm not trying to sound like a hero here, but things actually went really good.  Tyler and Emily really stepped up to help me keep an eye on the little ones.  The kids were really well behaved and made our trip possible!

You never had to look too far for Kate.  She spent most of her time buckled into Grandpa's Rhino (by her own choice!)  She loved pretending to drive!

FOUR WHEELING

 Gavin really enjoyed the four wheeler.  Thanks to Ben for entertaining all these cute boys......

and girls!

 CATCH OF THE DAY!

This is Sam, the Salamander.  The kids captured him from the pond and really enjoyed time playing with him.  At the end of the trip, I told them to release Sam.  Now if you have ever had an eight year old daughter with the most beautiful eyes, you will know that it is really hard to seem them sad.  I told Emily that IF she could find a way to transport Sam home, we would do so.  I have add that this was probably the only time during the trip that the kids were glad their dad wasn't present.  He would have NEVER agreed to that.  I am much softer than their father.  Where there's a will, there's a way.  Emily, being the smart little girl she is, transferred Kate's wipes into a plastic bag, and presto, a perfect little cage for transporting salamanders.  Sam is still alive and well!

 

They even convinced me to hold the little bugger!

FISHING 

We spent lots of time fishing.  Emily proved herself to be the champion fisherwoman once again.  Every time she cast her pole, she got a bite.  What luck!  Thanks to Derek for stepping up to help me.  It is very difficult to try to keep four poles in the water at the same time.  Especially without a fishing license of my own ;)

Gavin and Emma


  

RAFTING

We started the tradition of rafting last year.  Dustin is such a good sport to make sure that each of the kids get a turn.  They absolutely love rafting with their uncle.

Ready to get going!

Emily and Dustin, ready to roll!

Gavin giving me the "Thumbs Up"

We Survived!!!

Dustin guaranteed that Tyler was going to end up in the water.

Before.....

And after! The water was FREEZING!!!

Grandma and all the kids!

SLEDDING?

If you remember this summer, it was a little crazy. The snow just did not melt. In fact, we weren't sure that we would even be able to make the trip because the camp site remained closed until the day before we left. The raft doubled as a sled! Who knew that you could wear your swimsuit on a rafting trip and then turn around and sled in the same day, at the same place!

Cody blazing a trail for the "sled"

Emily was thrilled when she got to drive herself, Gavin and Ben back to camp!

  DIRT

 The kids sure enjoyed the dirt!  There was plenty to go around!

SHOOTING

 Tyler and the rest of the boys spent the majority of their trip shooting BB guns.

WILDLIFE

There was deer and other animals a plenty.  This is one of my favorite part of the trips.  It is so thrilling for me to watch for animals in their natural habitat.  Incredible!  This little deer stuck close to our campsite.  It was so fun to watch for her to make her daily appearance.

BUGS

The bugs this trip were freakishly large.  While fishing I spotted this family of ants (?).  They were HUGE!

 Gavin spotted this gross looking moth (?)  What this picture doesn't show is the yellow goo dripping down the post.  Disguisting!

 FOOD

Camping should not include food like this.  Thanks to our camp chef for making us all of our delicious meals.  This is really roughing it ;)

These are by far my favorite!  Paul makes the BEST potatoes EVER!  He jokes that I need to save some for everyone else.  He says it like he's just joking, but he's probably not!

Absolutely amazing!  Thanks, Paul!

 MOVIES

When the kids wore themselves out, they all huddled around the portable DVD player. 

This is the good life! 

 I cannot wait until next year!!!

Jensen Pond

While Tyler and Emily were busy at school, the rest of us enjoyed being outside.  One of our favorite things to do is ride our bikes to Jensen pond to feed the ducks and enjoy a picnic lunch.

If friends are able to join us, it's even better :)

Last Day of School

No, the last day of school is not in January. That's just how behind I am. I am scrambling to get caught up on all this stuff!

 Both of the kids had excellent teachers this year.  Tyler's fifth grade teacher was Mrs. Shelton.  Mrs. Shelton is an extremely talented teacher.  She makes learning so much fun for her students.  She pushes them to their full potential and doesn't put up with any misbehavior.  My only regret is that she is retiring at the end of next year, so my other children will not have the opportunity to learn from her.

Mrs. Shelley was Emily's second grade teacher.  She was so loving and caring.  Just what Emily needs.  Emily woke up every morning, excited to go to school.  She learned so much from Mrs. Shelley and truly enjoyed her school year.

Thanks to both of these outstanding women.  It's teachers like you that truly make a difference in the lives of our children! 

Kate's Birthday

My baby girl turned three December 8.  I thought I was going to have an anxiety attack the night before her birthday when I laid her in her crib for the last time.  Then I got in the bathtub and cried :*(  It's so hard to see her growing up so fast.

Kate LOVES giraffes.  Not quite sure why she loves them so much, but was so much fun to surprise her with a giraffe birthday cake!  She was SO excited!

It was hard to think of anything that Kate really needed for her birthday.  She is a little young to understand the concept of receiving gifts.  When asked what she wanted for her birthday, she would reply, "a birthday cake".  That's easy enough.  We decided that this would be a good opportunity to buy her a big girl bed.  Here she is for the last time in her crib.  She is growing so fast, as you can see, that it was clearly time for the big switch.

Travis asked me if I could disassemble the crib while he was at work so we could put her "big girl bed" together when he got home.  I told him no.  I'm sure that I could have physically taken it down, but emotionally, there was NO possible way.  Time is flying by so quickly, it makes my head spin.  Taking down the crib for the very last time was really difficult for me.  BUT, she adores her new bed and I love to see her so happy!

 We had a relaxing night with the family. We had the grandparents over for a chicken pasta dinner (one of her favorites), opened gifts and enjoyed our cake and ice cream. If you look close enough, you can see how much Kate enjoyed hers ;)

Kate is so much fun! She is sweet and sassy! She refuses to wear anything but a dress or a skirt. I am finally getting the hang of matching fingernail polish to the shirt she is wearing and which leggings look good with which skirt. I had no idea that such a little girl could have such a big opinion ;) Travis insisted one day that he could get her to wear jeans. He dressed her in jeans, t-shirt and tennis shoes and she cried and cried and cried. Then he put her in a skirt. I have come to accept that if that's how she is comfortable, so be it!

She was so excited to go to sleep. I was a little bit worried that she would be in and out of bed all night. She has been such a great sleeper that I was dreading the switch. She did great! No problems at all! Way to go, Kate!!!

Happy birthday my sweet Kate!  We sure do love you!