Disneyland!

Five years ago we went to Disneyworld with Jer's family.  At that time Luke was still three and Seth was a baby.  Cindy said we were going to Disneyland in 2012 for her 55th birthday, and we did.  This time we had 7 kids between TJ's family and ours, and it was a blast.  We crammed as much as possible into two days in Disneyland and a day at Sea World with some swimming on the side, and we were all pretty much exhausted by the time it was over.  The kids all got along so well.  No major meltdowns and lots of fun cousin time.  Jer's parents were so gracious to plan and organize this trip.  It was really fun.  Thanks Boyd and Cid!  

Now on to lots of pictures.   (I don't often use my point and shoot camera, so I couldn't figure out what was going on with the settings.  On our camping trip over Memorial Day and the beginning of this one it took such terrible pictures.  TJ discovered for me that it was set on 1 mega pixel.  I'm pretty sure I have Seth to thank for that.  So the quality of the pictures gets considerably better as the trip goes along!)  For a Disneyland vacation I only took pictures in a few spurts—most of the time kids and parents were too busy for many photo ops.

 And we're off!

 Leah got to know this stroller well.  She was very good though and managed to get some naps along the way.  All the kids were quite sleep deprived the whole trip.  We got up early and went to bed late!

 Seth is notorious for wandering off.  Actually it's more like running ahead.  He is always on the move, checking something out, disappearing...so this was Jer's solution.  He told Seth if he truly got lost to find a mom and have her call us!  Luckily we didn't have to resort to that but I bet the phrase "where's Seth?" was uttered no less than a hundred times.

 It's a Small World after all!  Repeat.

Seth is also known for his immediate physiological response to sugar.  He ate this cotton candy faster than I've ever seen it done and within minutes was bouncing off of everything.  As we walked around the park you would have thought he was practicing parkour—jumping off of things, running into things, full speed bursts with mid air spins..it was exhausting just watching!

I think that's officially a mullet—business in the front, party in the back!

 Our first day included Star Tours, Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad several times, a parade, and the big fireworks extravaganza just to name a few.  Leah absolutely loved the parades.  She was on her feet clapping, dancing to the music, and waving to all the performers.  Watching her was one of my favorite parts.  It was truly hard to believe that three months ago she lived in an orphanage.  I know she won't remember, but I'll never forget the look of pure delight she had on her face.

 Day Two began early in Toon Town.  The kids loved it.  They got all the characters' autographs, checked out the houses, and rode the little roller coaster a few times.  Meanwhile, half of California was lined up at California Adventure waiting for the opening day of Cars Land.  Needless to say we walked through there (while our two little Cars fans were sound asleep) but didn't venture the 240 minute wait for rides!

 Grandma Cid got everyone a hat and this beauty is what Luke chose!

 Day 2 we got wet several times—Splash Mountain and then the much preferred Grizzly Rapids one in CA park.  The kids loved that one (excluding Addison).  TJ and I took the brunt of the water on this one.  It dumped down our backs, and I walked around in cold, clammy undies the whole day.  Seth was such a trooper and rode every ride that Luke did.  I do feel bad though that he was a little freaked out by Indiana Jones.  It wasn't the motion, but the realistic effects and dark...he was temporarily scarred!

 Waiting with the littles outside Soaring California.  That was a big hit with everyone.  Day 2 ended with a trip back at night to use our fast passes for two rounds of Tower of Terror—can't get enough of that one!

 Day 3—Sea World here we come.  We were blessed with nice, cool weather throughout our trip.  Sea World was surprisingly crowded so we didn't do any rides, but we did see all the shows and the kids played in the big Sesame Street park.

And then of course there was swimming.  My kids would be happy with any vacation that includes swimming.  In fact, Luke has often asked me when we're going on a trip to the Marriott in south Logan—you know the one that's about 15 minutes from our house.  Leah loves the water!

 Grandma and Grandpa were so awesome.  They spoiled us, chased kids, and were total troopers.  They definitely need another vacation after this one!

That's a wrap.  I'm too lazy to write more so let's just say it was awesome.  Enough said!

Simple Pleasures

We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful place.  I can't think of a better area to raise a family.  The outdoors are an important part of our lives and the fact that we live so near the mountains and within driving distance of a ski resort seals the deal for me.  We have our own little canyon only minutes away, and we headed up there with the kids a few weeks ago for an evening together. We truly decided to do this at the last minute so our dinner consisted of hot dogs, watermelon, and s'mores...it was delicious.  Watching my kids play and have fun and enjoy each other is one of those memories I'll always have imprinted in my heart.  Cheesy I know...but true.  Prov Canyon has also become my new favorite place to run now that there is an awesome single track trail up there.  I can run a mile from my house and be on a shady trail...so much better than pounding the pavement!

I snagged some pictures of the kiddos as they played, and we waited for coals to cook our gourmet dinner.

 I think Leah felt a little bored waiting for dinner.

 This picture is a little out of focus, but it captures my Ian so perfectly.

 Seth is always "working" on some sort of project.

 The s'mores brought on the smiles.

 Our attempts at a group shot weren't too successful.  "Yittle Miss Yeah" as Ian calls her was particularly uncooperative, but at least they are all together.

And she's done!

Eight is Great!

Luke turned eight on Monday! This is quite the exciting birthday with his baptism coming up next month. So here are a few things about Luke at age 8.

Luke is a great big brother.  He and Seth are either best of buddies or fighting like cats and dogs, but he loves his siblings.  He told me just the other day that he would never want to "trade" his family.  Good thing because I'm pretty sure that's not an option.  He has become quite a good helper with Leah and often with Ian too.  The other day at the bank he got them both suckers and threw away the wrappers, boosted Ian at the drinking fountain, played with them both, and even wiped Leah's spit up for me.  He does have quite the soft spot for his baby sister.  Yesterday he told me that he thought Leah's Chinese mom and dad were probably really sad to leave her, and he wished they could see how happy she is here with us.  Ahhh...if only that sweetness was there when one of his younger brothers even looked at his Legos.

Luke did a great job at his second grade program "Seasons of Service."

Luke had the most awesome teacher this year.  We will miss her a lot.  Mrs. Mills went above and beyond to say the least.  Luke's school doesn't have any kind of structured A.R. rewards program but Mrs. Mills surprised them on that last day with A.R. reading trophies that she got herself.  Luke received one for having 150+ points (the next stop was 300).  He has done such a good job in school this year.

Luke played rec soccer again this spring and had such a fun season.  He had friends on the team and really had a good time.  He is a great little player when he hustles.  He's still working on really getting his competitive juices flowing.

I did an awful job documenting Luke's birthday.  I will have to redeem myself at his baptism festivities. He begged for a friend party and since it's a milestone birthday I agreed, but we're definitely back on the every other year plan now.   On Saturday we went up to Preston to grandma's house with all of his grandparents and cousins for a family shindig--no pictures!  For Monday he invited 8 boys to mini golf at the Willows and then back up to the house for treats and games.  Luke served a USU cake and Aggie Blue Mint ice cream.  Some of his BYU loving friends had to close their eyes.

The one group shot I did take was horribly overexposed because I had my camera in manual still and didn't notice.  It was super hot so everyone got a water gun, and they spent the rest of the time at "war" with each other.  It got a little crazy at times but everyone lived to tell.  A note should be made about the shirt Luke is wearing in the picture above.  He loves those tight Under Armor type shirts and would wear them everyday if I let him.  He has a short and long sleeved one and attempts to live in them.  We tease him to no avail and if for some reason he can't find them his next preferred shirt is a muscle-T.  Sad.

You can't tell in these shots but Luke finally lost his bottom two teeth with his big teeth already coming in.  We had an appointment to get them pulled, but they suddenly came loose and he was spared the extraction.  Finally after two years of never making the tooth loss chart at school my eight-year-old has lost two teeth!  Now he's just waiting for those six-year-old molars to come in.  Seriously, he's that slow with teeth.

Happy Birthday to Luke!  He is a funny, smart, clever, active kid.  He's up early, goes all day, and has a hard time getting to bed at night.  I wish I had his energy.  He can torment his brothers (especially Seth) with the best of them, but he's rarely truly mean.  One of these days he'll reign his kidding in, or Seth will realize his size, or both!  It has been amazing to see how much he has grown up this year though.  He has always been my most dependent, homebody of a child and he is slowly gaining independence.  He is also becoming aware of the existence of other people's feeling and needs.  Several times lately he has sincerely apologized to me for misbehavior and then gone out of his way to make it up with extra chores and helping with his siblings.  That does a mother's heart good.  He is so excited to be baptized, and we are so proud of him!

Desert Fun

Since I was in college almost every spring I've headed south to the desert. When Jer and I were young and kidless they were backpacking trips. Over the years as we've added kids and craziness they've become car camping trips with day hiking. This year we postponed our trip just a bit and headed out over the Memorial Day Weekend with our friends the Snyders to Escalante. We used to hike and backpack with Kristy and Spencer back in the day and this is our third annual trip with the kiddos together. It is so fun, and I really look forward to it each year. Yes, we took four small children camping...in a tent...in the sand!

The first day was so stinkin' windy.  Very annoying!  The kids didn't seem to mind much.  We drove the mini van on a very bumpy road out to Devil's Garden, and the kids had a blast climbing around.  Jer and I last drove that road about 10 years ago in the dark en route to a little backpacking adventure sans tent (not planned).  It was our first trip in our little white Subaru, and we just threw out our sleeping bags and slept on the ground before heading out the next morning.  My how things have changed.  This trip we took just about everything but the kitchen sink!

Miss Leah liked the backpack for the most part.  Something she does not like is riding in the car and she lets you know.  Have I mentioned it's a long drive to Escalante?  I can't say I blame her though.  She still has to ride rear facing like an infant.

Later this first day we were going to hike Upper Calf Creek Falls, but the wind was blowing so hard it was impossible.  It could have picked small children up in the air and tossed them around.

We did spend the afternoon hiking and playing along the Escalante river though.  The wind was much calmer, and the kids loved it.

Our second day in we hiked to Lower Calf Creek Falls.  I can't believe with all the obscure places I've been in Southern Utah I've never been here.  It was absolutely beautiful!  The hike is 3 miles each way, so it was a journey for seven kids but we made it.  Ian got ousted from the backpack this year, so he's lucky he's so darn cute and I was willing to carry him quite a bit.  The poor kid was really struggling with the sand.  It was constantly filling his shoes up to the point they would get pushed off his feet.  He was getting irritated to say the least!

The hike in was hot but at the falls it was breezy and chilly.  I would love to go back and swim sometime.

Ian preferred to hang out in the boggy water with black mud.  At one point he fell in up to his neck and was then sporting around in just his undies for a while.  It was classy.

Seriously freezing water--I felt like it was paralyzing my legs.  It didn't phase Seth though!

Seth was a trooper on this trip.  As part of my efforts to win "mom of the year" I took Seth in for his kindergarten shots the day we left on the trip.  By Saturday he had a rock hard, hot, red area on his leg that was a good 5 inches across.  By the next day it was twice that size!  He started to cry the last 0.5 mile of the hike, and I basically told him to suck it up but I felt bad when we got back and I saw how huge it had become.  He's a tough cookie!  I called the doctor and they said it was probably the varicella shot.  He survived on Ibuprofen and Benadryl and had a great time anyway.

Leah was filthy the entire trip.  Bum scooting and camping are not the best combo, but she didn't seem to mind.  She was up to her neck in sand and rocks the whole time and seemed to enjoy it.  At one point at the falls I looked back to where our stuff was and poor Leah was all alone!

Not to worry though--all the kids loved her and were so cute with her, and she got lots of attention the entire trip.  Miss Stella and Luke were such good helpers with her.  Here's the only shot of all the kids back at our totally sweet campground in "downtown" Escalante.  Cute kids, fun trip!