A Sunny State

Cruising with Mickey!

2012-01-30T20:58:00.000-08:00

Play hard Sleep hard

2012-01-04T20:45:00.000-08:00

Another nice day in the winter! We went to the library and played at the park in January, like we lived in Cali or something!

Seb played so hard he fell asleep in his highchair while he was eating his lunch.

Happy New Year!!!!

2012-01-01T20:50:00.000-08:00

Wild and Wacky Maxwell Party! We danced and sang and ran around outside to bring on the New Year. Earlier that day we went to Gmas and played games and had a yummy brunch.

No Snow? Let's go hiking!

2011-12-30T20:37:00.000-08:00

It was in the 50's so we decided to go up the mountain by our house. Linc loves hiking mainly bc he loves throwing rocks down the mountain to "get the mean animals". I am grateful for all the days we can get before the snow and cold trap us indoors.....

Good Friends, Cousins and Dinosaurs

2011-12-29T20:24:00.000-08:00

We got to spend some time with Smith cousins at "Jump on it". We had so much fun flipping jumping and going crazy!

Sus was in town so we met up with her at the Dinosaur museum. It was great to hang out with her and her kids. I feel so close to her even though we don't see each other very often.

Lincoln could play in that sand and water for many many hours. He LOVED that place.

Sus came over later that week and we took the kids swimming at the rec center. Later that night we tried to catch Julie in Clinton and ended up seeing her for 10 minutes at her house. I love being with my girls! We then went to dinner and talked for hours.

Christmas

2011-12-25T12:31:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve was celebrated in the day so that families could do their own thing at night. We went to Gma's and had waffles, played burn the house down and acted out the nativity.

Lincoln fell asleep during the nativity. I loved having him snuggle, those days are few!

We had a nice evening just our little family. We watched Joy to the world, read a Christmas story and had a yummy dinner. Daddy made ribs and mashed potatoes and some bubbly! The kids opened their PJ's and Batman was in full gear the rest of the night.

We told the kids they couldn't wake us up until 7am and we put a sheet over the door so they couldn't peek. I woke up at 6 and was so excited (and I remembered I forgot something).

Cami, the event planner was here for a few days. We had Cafe Rio, went to movies hung out at Gma's and went bowling.

Week of 12/17

2011-12-18T20:04:00.000-08:00

We had to go see Santa, thanks to Dick's we didn't have to go far.

Hayley did a wonderful job at her piano recital. She loves Julia, her teacher and she's learning to love piano.

Lincoln sang with his preschool class at a care center. He loves Miss Staci and tells me often that he thinks she is pretty.

We went to Sizzler this week and Lincoln fell asleep in the car so we had a quiet dinner while he took a nap.

G-Bread Houses

2011-12-12T14:46:00.001-08:00

We don't just do houses. We had a train, an igloo, an Ewok Village, a sled hill and all around candy mayhem.

Everyone is so focused on the project at hand. Lincoln is just trying to get as much candy as he can in his hand.

Some happy times...........

And some sad times. Brooke's house came crashing down and she was very upset.

Until Uncle Logan saved the day!

The Great Tree Disaster

2011-12-01T16:53:00.000-08:00

12/1/2011 Over 100 mph winds came through our part of the state and took down many trees and power lines. This is our neighbors tree that fell across our driveway. We are so grateful it did not land on our house. We were without power for 2 days so we headed to Gma's. As we walked in Greg says, "Well I'm happy to announce our emergency plan works very well, we got here just fine!"

Thanksgiving in Park City

2011-11-30T12:22:00.000-08:00

We spent a week in Park City in a big house that Lisa's Aunt owns. It was wonderful to all be in the same house and having fun all week.

Mimi with all her grandkids. Lincoln is getting mad....

and madder......

and MADDEST!!

All of us graduated BYU.....some took longer than others.

Talent shows, dance parties, game nights, movies, stories, skiing, shopping, soccer, tennis, what didn't we do?

Janae came and brought stuff for everyone to make turkeys out of candy and oreos.

Truman was so funny flying down the hill.

Hayley flew over Uncle Matt! I can't believe he trusted her!

Uncle Matt was always willing to take the kids hot-tubbing!

Brookie loves to snuggle Grampa with a mustache!

Amanda, Matt, Logan, Cole and I taught Hayley, Sierra and Skyler how to ski. I was so impressed with how fast they picked it up! They were going down blue runs within an hour! I had a special moment flying down the mountain with my daughter at my side thinking here's my new ski partner! Cole was especially patient and helpful teaching these kids.

Halloween Peter Pan Style

2011-11-13T19:34:00.000-08:00

We have Tinker Bell. Hayley and I had a fun time making her skirt and she stenciled TINK on her shirt.

Here's our sweet Wendy! Brooke was proud to say I made the dress myself out of a sheet. Just call me Scarlet!

We started the night off with Dick's trunk or treat and put all that candy in front of our house and headed off to Gma's for dinner and Trick or Treating.

The school parade.

Lincoln's Preschool

Lincoln's preschool performance.

He said a joke "What do you call a witch who lives at the beach? A sandwich!

It was homemade Halloween this year! I loved the creative process of making their costumes and the girls did too. Linc's costume was made by Katie for Hayden a few years ago.

I did not make Seb's costume he was supposed to be the alligator and refused to wear it :(

Smith family tradition--donut on a string!

Halloweeen!

2011-11-04T13:13:00.000-07:00

We carved pumpkins. Lincoln really liked his pirate costume he was in character most of the month:)

Seb was just happy to be around.

The Zoo!

2011-11-03T11:35:00.000-07:00

We had a fabulous time at the zoo with Katie and her kids. We rode the train and the carousel and saw all the animals.

This picture represents Lincoln's demeanor throughout the day.

Linc Rock Climbing and FireTrucks

2011-11-03T10:49:00.000-07:00

Linc loves to play on the rock wall when we go to the gym. He is getting pretty good!

It was the week of Fire Trucks. Story time at the library had Firemen and the next day he went to the Firestation with preschool.

Soccer Girlies

2011-11-03T10:31:00.000-07:00

Hay and Bro had so much fun playing soccer this year! It was Bro's first year and she looked like a pro! Hayley's proudest moments were when our friend on the other team told us that her coach warned them "look out for #11!" (Hayley's #11) AND that awesome goal from the corner AND that goal from almost midfield........She had a lot of goals:)

Donut Falls Conference Weekend

2011-10-01T21:18:00.000-07:00

The drive up Big Cottonwood Canyon was beautiful! The boys were sleeping, we were listening to conference and all the leaves were breathtaking in all there colors.

Brooke was our little mountain goat leading us on the trail.

Lincoln was excited to see the falls and throw rocks in the river.

Hayley took Seb up most of the way!

Then Daddy took over.....

Hayley and Brooke were so adventurous, maybe too adventurous.

2011-10-01T20:42:00.000-07:00

Lincoln's Birthday Week
4 years old!

They celebrated at his preschool on Superhero day.

We made spider cookies for Spiderman! Chocolate Grahams, frosting, M&Ms and Twizzlers.

He chose to go bowling. He is a VERY passionate bowler. He yells and screams and gives everyone Hi-5s when he hits just one pin.

Gma came to celebrate and snuggle with Seb. Seb would get upset when the pins were knocked over.

Oh no will it hit the pins?

A Batman cake! Hayley was just excited as Linc because she got a day off of no sugar, per the rules for her getting $30 if she went a month without sugar.

Happy Birthday Lincoln! We love you!

Photo Shoot

2011-09-22T21:34:00.000-07:00

Aunt Amber

2011-09-22T21:22:00.000-07:00

Amber and I have been friends since I lived in Ohio, the summers in College. She now lives 10 minutes away and we have adopted her as our Aunt. She is wonderful to us. She comes and does crafts and remembers everyone's birthday. We just cheered her on while she did her first triathlon. She did awesome! She recently came to spend time with us and give Brooke a bday present. We love Amber!!

Ice Cream and Football

2011-09-12T20:53:00.000-07:00

Today we got some ice cream because they were so "good" at the store. I looked back and found the looks of utter enjoyment so I thought I'd hose them off when they finished enjoying themselves.

Daddy left us for 4 days to go on a trip with his buddies to Texas and watch BYU play UT among other things. They played paintball, soccer with 2 balls, (Greg has talked about amping the typical boring soccer game up with 2 balls for years and finally lived his dream) ate a lot of BBQ, and I'm sure talked for hours about what BYU should/could do to win that game. It was a sad loss, I even watched the game--on FF. It's nice to have him back there were a few times I needed a "time out" and no one was there to give me one, poor kids. Single parenthood is REALLY hard! We did have some fun though. We got a movie from the library, pizza, rootbeer (always with pizza) and ice cream one night and went to Layton Surf and Swim for that LAST outdoor swimming day of the summer!! They had to close early bc of lightning.

Master Bathroom

2011-09-08T21:42:00.001-07:00

This is the bathroom downstairs with the porta-shower and sink in a room with carpet??
These were pics taken and sent to HGTV to apply for any and every show that might have pity and come do our bathroom on TV............Didn't happen so I did it myself, well I called a great company who came and did it. I did do the floor tile.
Here is the after. This space was unfinished and the toilet stayed in the same place in it's own room (I believe in total privacy for some things).
My idea from the start was to have the master downstairs. Greg did not like that idea until he talked to a friend and saw his master downstairs. Modern Family did a funny episode on that very subject.

Renovation

2011-09-07T15:59:00.000-07:00

This is what our kitchen looked like when we bought it in 2007. We didn't really understand what we were in for! Greg has said a few times now that we should have bought a house that we didn't have to "work on". And a lot of work has been done!

This is a different angle of the kitchen after the "first reno". We took out all of the countertops, old appliances and changed the layout without taking out the cabinets.

Good thing our kids take random pics with our phones bc I didn't get very good before pics so I will resort to a fuzzy pic with Greg doing his fav passtime in the background. Notice the wall to the left and the terrible church ceiling with swamp cooler vent. The table was a cute nook bench that I made by screwing 2 long sides of 2 separate nook benches together and then having a top made that was twice the size of the original top and fit right on top of the table.
This is a fuzzy pic of the living room. When we bought it it was carpeted with white paneling. I love the paneling and thought of ways to keep it, but in the end we went with drywall with some beadboard.
This was the corner where the table was.....I ripped those babies out myself and tried to sell them, they were destroyed so I took them off KSL. I saved a couple hundy doing it myself!
The upstairs bathroom wasn't even a shower so we had to do some plumbing and we tiled walls and floor. Then for the second reno we had to do a lot of plumbing. We moved the toilet over to where the sink was and as I was demolishing the built in drawers I found a pipe! So Drew rerouted that dumb pipe and we were able to have a sink with counter space. Good thing I found a deal on KSL for a 42" sink, granite counter and cabinet for $100 NEW!

So here are the wonderful AFTER pics!

Darren was the construction GENIUS on this. If you notice the peak of the ceiling it gives the room such a large sense of space. Darren built each truss one by one while the roof to our old living room was still in place. The beam that was in between the kitchen and living room he raised it and made the transition seamless. He was amazing, he took such pride in his work I felt like he was working on his own house.

I'm thinking of adding a large clock, mirrors and art work.

Oh how I loved dreaming, planning and working on this space! Greg teases me and asks what I'm going to do now? I have more projects don't worry.............

Summer and School

2011-09-01T21:25:00.000-07:00

Summer was WONDERFUL!

The girls started off the summer with their dance performances. They both love to be on stage!

We left school 1 week early and headed down south. We hung out with the Heizer's and they took us rock climbing. We had a blast with them! We kept traveling south until we hit Mimi's and stayed with her for a week.

Mimi came to spend a few weeks to play and help me get the house back together. She is a Davis marching band groupie, so she goes to every parade along the Wasatch front.

You gotta have shades!

Brooke insisted on riding the bull at Texas Roadhouse even though here bday was a month before. The waitress was so nice to oblige.

St George hangin with the cuzins.

Grease Lightnin'

Ahhh Summer!

The Cave at Bear Lake

Lincoln can go to sleep anywhere and his brother wants to wrestle!

Brooke's soccer coach

Linc doing a craft

Prince Eric and Ariel

Gpa with the mustache came to visit the last weekend of summer and was here for the first day of school. The night before we had a FHE about routines and goals for the year and Daddy gave each of us father's blessings. Brooke has decided to read the B of M before she gets baptized in July just like Hayley did. We read and have fam prayer before school.

First day of school.

I miss the girls! I love having no responsibilities and a whole day to plan what fun things we can all do together. We had a fun summer. We started off with leaving school a week early to head to Cali bc of renovation madness, much to hay and bro's teacher's dismay. I think M. Simon was very upset she didn't have proper closure with Hayley. She gets Brooke this year so maybe she'll understand this year when I take them out early again....the last week is just fluff anyway-let the summer begin already!! We then stayed at Gma Maxwell's house for a few weeks while renovations were still going on. The kids had fun at there "summer camps". Brooke realized she loved soccer, Hayley was the only girl in the bball camp and "schooled" them all each day (she actually one the semi finals which means she beat all the boys except for one. (who she could've "schooled" any other day) and Lincoln had a wonderful time doing crafts and playtime. We finally moved back into our incredibly disastrous house and set forth cleaning, painting and organizing. Mom came at just the right time and saved me from insanity. We worked hard! It is now the beautiful dream I have had in my mind for the past year or more.
Other activities this summer

Bear lake twice. One with my fam the other with Greg's.
Hay and Bro's summer camp. Hayley insisted to Mimi that while she was with us they were to do a summer camp. They each made $20 or so! I loved seeing them try to take control and telling the kids what to do (especially when they got frustrated when the kids didnt do what they were told.
swimming, swimming, swimming
school time and jobs in the morning. It went so smoothly, I loved the structure (AND having slaves clean the house for me, only to mess it up again later)
Slip n slide and baby pool at the bottom of the playground slide in the back yard with all of the kids spraying and playing with each other even Seb. Now that's summer!!
Walks to Dicks
Cousins play
Hay, Bro and I "ran" the pioneer pete 1k and had the pancake bfast. MMMM!
Girl's camp was super awesome!
St George with cousins and Mimi at an awesome house with a pool in the backyard. Saw Little Mermaid and Grease. The girls watched the movie Grease before and memorized all the songs. I often hear them singing still.

Now for the next vaca.......Thanksgiving in Park City with the whole fam damly!

School is great and the girls love all of it. Soccer has started and so let the chaos begin!!

2011-07-12T19:57:00.000-07:00

2009-2010

2011-07-12T18:28:00.000-07:00

Prayers are answered

2011-04-26T21:13:00.001-07:00

Hayley gave the family prayer this morning and blessed Daddy to have fun at tennis or work and Seb to be good while mommy cleaned the house. I felt like I was obligated to clean so I tackled organizing the junk drawers. Luckily Greg decided to fulfill the work option. The HVAC guys finished today and the brick guys got all set up and then it SNOWED!! OOOH I am so mad at the weather. I was freezing all day. I'm gonna leave if it doesn't get warm soon!
Brooke's 1st grade class did an amazing opera and she was wonderful. She sang so loud and new exactly what to do, in fact she would make sure the kids around her were in the right spot.
We had a great "wedding" week. We drove down to provo or draper everyday and hung out with cousins, Mimi, Gpa, L&L, and Adge. We went to the temple for Christy's endowment and for her marriage. We ate a lot of good food (Hayley lets me know how disapointed she is bc I am eating sugar) Lincoln's funny thing lately is kissing us on the lips and laughing so hard about it. Big Hayden is his fwend. Easter was nice. The easter bunny left a note saying he would leave them something while they were at church. HWen they got back they had to hunt for their presents. Hayley and Brooke got bathing suits and fruit leather and Lincoln got a fourwheeler and fruit leather. The easter bunny had too much candy the day before at the egg hunt at Janae's. In YW Andrea showed a "silent" easter slideshow. I had the girls say one word describing how they felt. I said "grateful". I am so grateful that Christ died for me and suffered so that I am able to repent, to feel the spirit and feel peace. I am grateful he did this for my children as well. My favorite part of the endowment session is when my posterity is mentioned. I remember the first time I went through and I was overwhelmed with that statement and I thought of those children who would come to me, and now they are here- all of them I don't know......

Crazy Weekend

2011-04-17T18:56:00.000-07:00

Blacken Fish is still alive, barely. I haven't seen him eat any of the food we have given him and he barely moves. Lincoln still talks to him and "plays" with him.
Greg was out of town for a few days in Texas. I had to rely on Hayley and Brooke to watch the boys for short times while I took kids to dance, soccer and piano and went to a YW dinner.
Friday I watched Natty, hung out with Karmen went to McD and the girls spent the night at Karmen's. Greg came home late that night. I picked them up from Karmen's at 8:50 got Hayley to soccer and went to Target to get Christy a shower present, buy meat to make for the talent show that night and buy a cute outfit for the girls to perform in the talent show. Greg dropped Lincoln off at Target bc he went to play tennis. Then we picked Hayley up and went to the church and I practiced with friends for the funny dance we made up for the talent show to "I will survive". WE jumped off the stage and did the congo:) Then we hurried home to get ready to go to the bridal shower and start the meat in the crockpot. Hayley and Brooke slept the whole way down to Provo. I loved having them with me. Brooke won one of the games. They had a wonderful time. Aunt Marilyn and Janae were impressed that we would come all the way down for the shower, anything for family and such a wonderful occasion! Right when we came home we all got ready for the ward party, curled hair and gussied up. We went to the ward party and had a blast. Hayley and Brooke made up a dance to Disturbia and shined. They are such natural performers. I was so proud of them. Sunday we went to Lydia's blessing and hung out at Gmas all day. I had BYC and a leader's mtg that the whole stake YW pres came to. It went well. They told us we should be doing PP along with the girls. I thought that was a great idea. Now if only we can get the mom's to do it with there daughters....
This weekend Darren and Hayden worked hard! The floors were raised and the door moved up and the spout capped. I hope this week the vents will go in and the cabinet guy comes and Darren puts in the sliding door and electrical.
This week is going to be so fun. Mom, Dad, Adge and kids are in town for Christy's wedding and we are having party after party all week! Too bad the house isn't done bc they have to stay at Logan's house in Am Fork.

Back to Blogging

2011-04-13T19:41:00.000-07:00

I was writing in my journal last night the funny things the kids have been saying lately and Greg told me I should blog instead. I think I should really make this my new hobby and then we will have all of the wonderful things that we experience recorded. These kids are growing so fast and I know this time of life is so precious.
I took Lincoln to buy a fish yesterday and he decided to name him "blacken fish". He loves this fish and talks to him, like he talks to most things that don't talk. I usually give voice to these things and we have funny conversations. Linc-Are you hungry fish? Fish-No I only like to eat every other day. Are you hungry Lincoln?......etc.
Seb is getting is first front tooth. It makes me sad not only because he is in so much pain but also he is getting so big and when a baby gets teeth they are not such a baby anymore. He is the sweetest little boy. He really loves his mommy. Anytime he sees me he reaches for me and gives me the biggest toothless smile (soon to be toothy). Hayley really wanted him to share a room with her so she gets up with him at night and makes him a bottle. It's been 3.5 months that she has been off sugar. She is so determined to go the whole year. She refuses sugar everywhere she goes. She has inspired me to stay off sugar and I just have to think of her when I am tempted.
Brooke has come so far this year in school. Her teacher M. Thomas has taught her so much. She reads very well and is learning so much. She makes friends easily. I find her playing with new friends different places we go.
I am excited for 2 before and after occasions I am waiting for. They are both in the works and are very promising. I have lost 30 lbs since february and have 10 to go. The kitchen and living room that I have been dreaming about is in the process of coming true. We are currently living in a plastic bubble and hope to be done in a month. I am so happy with life and my wonderful family. I am so blessed and lucky. Whats more is that Mimi, Gpa with the mustache and Adge and the kids are coming this weekend!
We took the kids to Moab and Las vegas over spring break. I thought it was a lot to take on and a little crazy to to do so much driving but it turned out to be so fun and the drive wasn't bad because we drove at night while they slept. The night in Moab was hard because it was so cold and Seb wanted his warm bottle and he cried most of the night. It was BEAUTIFUL there we got to stay in the park and woke up to an arch right in front of us. Vegas was so fun. We swam, went shopping, had a movie night, and rode rides at Circus Circus. I love being all together away from home. Great memories!

Farm Stand

2009-09-23T21:02:00.000-07:00

We are friends with the Bangerter's who own the farm that is right behind our house. I love to work at the Farmer's Market in Salt Lake with them or the stand in front of the farm. One day I took the girl's to the stand and they sold cookies (made by Mimi) and icee's--I think they made 1 icee. They each made $4 which was a lot to them and it was so fun to see them in the salesgirl mode. It is hard to resist a cute little girl with big blue eyes asking you if want to buy a cookie.

Picture Day!

2009-08-20T21:58:00.000-07:00

Trek August 2009

2009-08-17T11:35:00.000-07:00

We did it! It was so much work and a lot of stress (responsibility for the salvation, or growth of testimony rather, of 12 youth). Our kids were amazing! We felt a bond from the start and they all contributed so much to our"family".

July 24th Parade

2009-07-24T22:01:00.000-07:00

We were in the Bountiful 24th of July parade with our stake. Brooke and Hayley loved waving to the people and spraying them with their squirt guns. Brooke timidly squirted people until she realized how fun it was and that they didn't get too mad at her.

Trip to California

2009-07-17T19:36:00.000-07:00

We drove to California. To break it up we stayed in Las Vegas for a night and swam in the pool before we left the next day. The kids slept for a few hours as soon as we left Las Vegas. It was nice to chat with Greg and have an intermission of my "one-woman entertainment show". The kids were so excited to see Mimi and Grandpa with a mustache. First off Hayley usually asks Mimi "So what's the plan!" She knows when she sees Mimi there is fun to be had! We went to Disneyland on my birthday so I could get in free. (I always have to have a deal!) It was wonderful to run around with just Hayley and Brooke, Mimi was wonderful and stayed home with Lincoln (she took him to work b/c she brought cake to a friend and Lincoln apparently put on quite a show). THANKS MOM! We hit so many rides right when it opened and did the fast passes for the rest. Brooke REALLY wanted to see the princesses so we waited in line for almost 3 hours! Cinderella was awesome(she asked Hayley about her fairy godmother and if she gave her her necklace, she told them not to be shy like gug-gus, and she showed them all these different poses), Snow White was ok, Jasmine needs to be fired (she didn't say a word). The fav ride was autotopia. I remember loving that ride when I was young. They loved driving their own car. We didn't have to wait in line the first time and they wanted to go again so we had to fastpass it and that was still a very long wait. Greg was yelling at the adults passing underneath, "Don't ride this ride, go drive your own car!" He couldn't understand why adults would "clog" up the line to drive a car. Yeah he wasn't feeling the "magic" at that point. One of the coolest things there was the Jedi training. Kids were able to fight Darth Vader! Greg was so excited for that one but he wasn't chosen. The fireworks were spectacular and we were all pooped (especially Brooke). It was a great day.
The next day we went to Santa Monica pier with Charles and cousins. We had a fun day at the beach. These kids could stay at the beach all year. It was very enjoyable hanging out with Charles and family. The rest of the week we stayed at Matt and Amanda's. The kids had a blast together. We rode our bikes to the beach a few times, went shopping, played at the beach and watched fireworks at a monestary. It was a wonderful week with family!

2009-06-20T20:56:00.000-07:00

We are home from a wonderful 4 days in St. George. I don't like unpacking or cleaning the car after a trip....so I didn't. Greg won the gold medal in tennis for the Utah Summer Games! We all were going to run the 5k that we thought was on Saturday, but Greg got the days mixed up and it was last Saturday. We decided to run our own .5k instead. We had a blast staying at the wonderful wyndham resort courtesy of Clark and Kari, who owned the timeshare that we stayed in. Thanks guys! The pools were great and the room was very spacious. I love having a kitchen, it makes vacations more economical and easy. We were going to leave on Thursday and decided to leave Wednesday so I got a great deal on priceline for a hotel in Cedar. When we got to the Best Western the lady at the desk said "you look so familiar", it was a sister from my mission! (J. Johnson) She was awesome she gave us a bigger room! We watched Greg slaughter his first opponent the next morning and headed to St. George. We had a bbq and movie night thursday, went to the Iron County Rodeo friday and swam everyday. I love vacations. The thing that I love the most is that we are always together, there are no other plans or activities that take anyone away (well except for tennis). It was wonderful! This week I am going to girl's camp and then we leave Sunday for Cali! I love the Summer!

Trek

2009-06-14T21:11:00.000-07:00

Greg and I are a "Ma and Pa" for trek this year and we are so excited. We had our training last weekend at Deseret Land and Livestock in Wyoming. We essentially were the kids and went through what the kids would experience when they go in August. I was surprised when Greg and I were split up into different groups for the weekend. I was looking forward to being with him and having him around, I think of it now as if my blankey was taken away. This is how the kids will feel when they can't be with their friends. I really enjoyed my group and had a wonderful experience even without my blankey :) The hiking wasn't bad. I feel like I put a lot of effort into pushing the handcart and I was fine. I do believe the 80 lb girls and video gamers will have a rude awakening. I thought about the pioneers and the struggles they went through and felt a strong connection and love for them, especially on the "women's pull". Of course, I was bawling as soon as I saw the "General" further up on the trail. My heart was full when our leader sad, "General are you asking us to fight for a country who has not stood up for our rights, who have persecuted and driven us from state to state and harmed our people?" General responds, "Yes". We as the pioneers decide we will send our husbands, sons and fathers to war for our country and they leave us to pull the handcarts on our own. And we pulled them to the top of that hill with tears as the men sang "Come Come Ye Saints". This is a special song to me ever since serving on Temple Square and growing to love the pioneer's sacrifice and telling people about it everyday. The next day on the trail Helaman visited us and told us, in a powerful way his story of the Stripling warriors. It makes it so real to have someone act it out in front of you and you can imagine the feelings and what really happened back then. I had so many ideas of what I want to do with our "kids" I hope we can make Trek a pivotal experience that strengthens their testimonies. Greg told me as I reached the top of the hill on the woman's pull that I would have been a great pioneer woman. I think I am pretty tough physically, however, burying a child or watching a husband walk off to war leaving me behind with 3 kids, I wouldn't be so tough.

2009-06-02T16:12:00.000-07:00

Consider yourself lucky to be reading this, Greg has been very clear that he doesn't want any crazies having an insight to his family's whereabouts. If you are a crazy please do not look at this blog.

Park City May 2009

2009-06-02T15:40:00.000-07:00

We decided to do our first "timeshare presentation" and it wasn't so bad. I am glad we got it over with at the beginning of our stay. We walked up to our room and the key didn't work so the maid let us in to a spacious beautiful room. When we walked back up after the presentation I realized there was a "B" at the end of our room number. We were in the "b" suite which was the little room attached to the "A" suite. It was pretty squished with all our kids. The pool was awesome and the girls LOVED it. We hung out in Park City the next day, ate at a cute cafe for b-fast, rode the trolley and the Alpine Slide. Hayley had a traumatic experience because the slide shut down due to lightning right before we got on the lift. We had been waiting for almost an hour for Greg and Brooke to go down and Hayley was so sad, as was I. Luckily, we only had to wait another 15 minutes and then we had the ride of our lives!

The Hospital

2009-06-02T15:27:00.000-07:00

Thought I would document the most traumatic event of the year thus far. Lincoln fell and split his skin open, it got infected with strep and we had to spend 2 nights in the hospital. The bills keep coming- up to this point we have paid $7000!! We could've done a lot of things with that money, but I just can't think that way. Lincoln HATED the hospital. It was so hard on us b/c each time a nurse poked him or even take his heart rate he would point to me and cry, like he was saying "why aren't you saving me?!" The hospital didn't believe in letting him sleep for more that 2 hours at a time, which made him even more of a mess. I am so glad that is over. I am cleaning every wound now REALLY well.

2009-06-01T22:26:00.000-07:00

We went to Liberty Park today to "watch" Greg play in a tennis tournament. Of course there wasn't much watching of Greg because each child was off in a different direction in this huge park. It was nice getting out of Bountiful and seeing a different crowd of people. Lincoln makes friends by throwing sand and saying OW when a nice little girl pets him--repeatedly. Greg won so he gets to play again tomorrow. Then maybe the next day, which will cut into his softball game.......that boy plays ALOT!

Finally

2009-06-01T22:19:00.000-07:00

I have been so impressed with everyone's blogs and I feel like I need to join the crowd. I thought I should spend my free time documenting our lives rather than scrolling through facebook.