"Spring" Break

What a crazy week!! Our spring break didn't exactly go as we had imagined, or hoped (weather wise), but we had a great time & the craziness only adds to the experience. :)


MONDAY: Sunny, 69 degrees and we went to the zoo with a neighbor. We had the best time! Treyson was so excited about riding the train & the carosel. I, of course, forgot the camera - so "thanks, Michelle" for the use of yours. :) We bought an annual pass so we can go more often. We really did have a great day!
TUESDAY: It rained ALOT on Tuesday. That's alright, we'd already made plans to go see the Hannah Montanna movie with our friends, the Lyons sleep tonight & the Boyacks. We had a ton of fun and loved the movie! Treyson was dancing, singing & clapping along!

WEDNESDAY: It snowed ALOT and we were packing for our annual camping/motorcycling trip with the Larsens & Richins (missed the Richins until Sat.). In between snow storms, we'd run out food & supplies to the motorhome. We put the motorcycles on the trailer and parked it in the garage overnight. With a forcast of more snow, we decided to go Thursday morning instead of Wednesday night. Before we packed up the truck & trailer, we had to shovel snow out of them.

THURSDAY morning we woke up to around 6-8" of snow on the ground. So, we had to shovel out the truck, again. TJay also shoveled snow off the top of the motorhome while the kids played in the snow and sledded! We ended up going camping at 5 mile (between here & Tooele) and it was COLD. At least we had a nice, warm motorhome with a heater. :)



FRIDAY & SATURDAY we had fun cooking outside, playing with friends & riding the motorcycles. Treyson learned to ride his motorcycle by himself. Previously, we've had a tow rope attached to the back of his motorcycle and we ran behind so we could slow him down. I should post video. It's quite a site. Trey learned how to control his speed and use his brakes. He is so cute! He stands up on the pegs to ride most of the time. Now that he can ride, that's all he wants to do. He asked all the time to go riding. So much fun! Kylie & Alyssa & their friends continued the tradition of gathering junk and making tree houses. Ky even had a tire swing in hers.


Alyssa wrecked on her bike & bent the handle bars & messed up the throttle cable, so we're stopping by Rocky Mountain this week for new bike parts. Luckily, she was fine. TJay had a great time riding "dad" rides with his friends, jumping again, and most of all going on rides with his kids. His wife is too wimpy and goes too slow. :) We went on a family ride and I couldn't keep up. :) Kylie was sick on Saturday and spent most of the day sleeping and finishing up some homework. The moms played a lot of games and spent time reading & relaxing. That's what is great about our camping trips with our friends, everyone does things they enjoy. The plan for next year: celebrat spring break in June when it's much warmer! :) But, not give it up, it's too much fun!

Treyson & his friend Joshua. They have so much fun together - even on cold mornings!

I almost forgot the fires! TJay loves building fires. He loves using lighter fluid to make them bigger. We discovered a new joy this trip. If you put tumble weeds in the fire - it shoots out HUGE flames! (Even bigger if you douse it with lighter fluid). The kids would run & gather tumble weeds (there are a ton out there!) and make huge flames after dinner.

WOW! What a week! We returned home around 10 last night and made it to 9am church this morning, although Lyssa & I were a bit late. :) No wonder I needed a nap today! Wouldn't change a thing - ok, I would've changed the weather. But, we had fun & now back to the real world: school & work. :)

Birthday, Birthday, Pumpkin

Treyson's birthday is TODAY! I won't dwell on how my baby is 5! (who woke daddy up this morning with : "Dad, today is my birfday. Sing to me, dad!"). If I dwell on how old my kids turned this month, I'll turn into a babbling ball of mush. I'll wax poetic about my youth leaving quickly with the onslaught of older children (when the BABY is 5, that is bad!).

So, on with the happy. Trey's party was last Wednesday and we went to Vineyard Pumpkin Land. It was awesome! It's all centered on little kids: corn maze, "light alley" (with halloween, thanksgiving & Christmas lights on display), huge pumpkins (see picture), animals (goats, rabbits & fowl), and blow up toys: slides, jumping pit. It was so much fun and so easy to do. We finished with cupcakes and presents back at the house. Treyson had the most fun! He had a great day today and told everyone he saw that today was his birthday. My 3rd grade class sang to him and he loved it.

Alyssa turned 9 on Saturday. She had a late night Friday night with a few of her closest friends! They had a scavenger hunt, watched a movie, ate pizza & cake, played night games & sardines, then presents and home. It was tons of fun. Alyssa is such a fun girl and she has super sweet friends. They made a "dress" for her out of the gift wrapping crepe paper. She layed on the floor, so it wouldn't fall off. Some of the girls are in my school class & so it was probably kind of weird for them at first. But, after all, it was their buddy "lyssa" and they are such a fun close group of girls that we just had a great time! On Saturday, the kids & I went to see High School Musical 3 with Robyn and her nieces and nephew. We had a great time! We love HSM3.
Kylie got to attend a BYU women soccer game with the ward YW/YM (again we're getting close to the blubbering with a daughter old enough to go to YW). She had a great time!

Now to the pumpkins. Anyone who knows TJay, is aware of his artistic ability. Add pumpkins to that ability and you get a "serious" night of jack-o-lantern creating! This year we invited Dave (party pooper) and Robyn to join us for dinner and carving (I did tell Robyn to bring knives, incase we weren't so good at sharing - each of our kids has their own. I told you we were serious!) Dave ended up being a great helper as he was the picture taker and the knife-weilder for Trey. (It saved me from having to interrupt my pumpkin carving time). We had so much fun and have 5 awesome pumpkins to prove it. We love OCTOBER! It's so exciting at our house.

Happy & Sad

I wanted to get online and blog about my awesome birthday yesterday! I had the greatest day. Jewelry from my wonderful family. A 3 hour post-church nap. A little "dancing with the stars" on the DVR (I'm so behind). Thoughtful gifts from friends & neighbors. Dinner and cake at a friend's house with a suprise visit from one of my students and his family. The kids played and had fun. The dads talked. The moms visited. It was a great evening! I loved it!

This morning I was informed that a good friend is in the hospital in ICU after giving birth to her 6th child. It just happened yesterday and no one knows what will happen or when. My heart is breaking for her sweet family. She is the kindest, most thoughtful person I know. She has taught me so much just by being my friend and a great example to me. I will carry a prayer in my heart for her and her family until she can be well again and return home. I love you, EM!