The Best Day of Ryan's Life (almost)

Zack is learning to mow the lawn. Yay for Ryan!!

Mary's Lake: The Saga Begins

We love to go up in the mountains. And, a little while ago, we decided to hike up to Mary's Lake up Big Cottonwood Canyon. It started out a little rocky. And, I don't mean that literally. Things have changed quite a bit since Ryan used to hike up there with his friends in high school. So, we couldn't find the trail head. We looked all over. We were trying to go up by some cabins and some some lady called out to us, "Are you guys trying to go up to Mary's Lake?" And we told her we were. She said that we were in the wrong place and that we needed to just head East a little ways and we would find the trail entrance. So, off we went. Did we find the trail head, you ask? Well, no, of course not. That would not make an interesting story, now would it. Ryan thought that we found the the right spot and we started hiking up. But, this trail was like 6 inches wide. I was pretty sure we weren't where we should be. But, we kept going. The trail got steeper and steeper and and more obscure and foresty. We did see a couple deer, though. That made the kids day. So, after hiking all over, crossing a couple of streams, and a little swearing (not too loudly, for the kid's sake- we're not horrible parents!) we finally found the trail to Mary's Lake!! I would say that it was a relief, but we had already been hiking for a couple of miles. But, I was very glad. We followed the trail and finally reached the top. It was so beautiful up there. The kids loved it. We would have stayed longer but we took so long already and we had to get back home. We'll definitely do it again, though!



Avery was such a trooper. She wanted to hike with everyone else. She Would Not let us hold her.


Maycee put us all to shame. This girl is amazing. She really never got tired.









So pretty, huh?



This is the "Yay, we finally made it up here" picture.


Maycee's Queen of the World!



The whole fam. Should this be our Christmas card picture? No, maybe not.



The whole fam again, but with out sunglasses (and makeup I might add. Although, I got a wonderful facial that day so I have an excuse!)


When we finally reached the bottom, we came out at the right spot, which happens to be right at the ski area. The kids had to hop on the ski lift for a rest. Kick back a little, Maycee!

Sorry no post for a while...

I've been reading Breaking Dawn. 'Nuff said.

Another reason it's good to be a mom...

Around noon today I walked Maycee to the corner by our house to meet her ride to kindergarten. Avery, my two year old, was watching a movie downstairs, so instead of interrupting that, I decided to just go and leave the front door open a crack if Avery needed me. So, Maycee and I were standing at the corner when I hear, "Mom? Mom?" Avery was calling to me from the house. I waived to her and said, "Come over here with us!" She ran over and says to me in the cutest little voice, "Mom, I's worried 'bout shou. Shou not in my house." (I'm not sure why "you" is pronounced with a "sh", but that's Avers!) Isn't that so cute? She told me she was worried about me. That's a good Mom moment. I know now that she does listen to me occasionally (at least some one does!). Ahhh! I love this girl!

Surprise!- You're and idiot!

Not you! This is my mind talking to me. Yesterday was a day full of surprises. Not all good, mind you. It was Sunday and our church starts at 1:00. At about 11:45 I was in the shower, getting ready when all of a sudden, like a bolt of lightening hit me, I realize that I AM SUPPOSED TO TEACH THE YOUNG WOMEN COMBINED today. Not just the Beehives, but everyone, and all the leaders will be in there, too. CRAP. So, needless to say, I got ready pretty fast, so that I could get preparing. Ryan was working, so the kids and missed sacrament meeting. Oh well. However, (surprise #2) while I was getting ready, I was trying to find a certain necklace to wear with my outfit. I couldn't find it in the normal place, so I had to look around a bit. So, I opened the top of my jewelry box, the ring section, and looked in there. Well, it was there! And, so was MY WEDDING RING that has been missing for about 3 weeks!!! I had looked everwhere for that ring, searched the whole house. Everywhere but my jewelry box, in the RING SECTION. I'm such an idiot! But, regardless of the idiotness, I am so glad to have found my ring. I would get so depressed just thinking about it being gone. So, Hallelujah! However, this brings me to surprise #3, which is not so happy. When I got home from my parents for dinner, there was a message on our machine from Stake Pres. Linnell asking me to call him back. Seriously? I'm supposed to call the Stake Pres? I could not think what on earth this could be about, but I had to call him back. So, I did. He was very nice and friendly. And, he very nicely and friendly asked me to speak in Stake Conference on Sunday. Boo. And, to top it all off, Elder Nueswander (I know that isn't spelled correctly) will be here, AND I do not have an assigned topic. What is up with that? So, there you go. Day full of surprises. But, the good one: I found my ring!!!!

Memories....

I've seen this on a few blogs and I really like the idea. It goes like this...

1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, repost these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Happy Memories!! (I hope your memories of me are happy!)

The Fourth of July: We had a great holiday! We went to another family reunion in Springville in the afternoon and then came back home for the "Culdesac of Fire". It was really fun. We played kickball with all the neighbors before, had tons of snacks and then, of course, did fireworks. It was a ton of fun. I think we're doing a repeat for the 24th of July.

The Canyon: We also went up the canyon a few times. Usually we go up Big Cottonwood- it's probably the most convenient, and the kids love it. This time Payton, Isaac, and Heather came up with us.



They climbed on all the rocks. No casualties, even!







And then...they started to find bugs. But, it kept them busy for a long time. Cool caterpillar huh!




The best part, though, was the cave. We were prepared and brought a flashlight, and surprisingly, everyone went in. It doesn't go back very far, but it's still kinda spooky.












Memorial Day:

On Memorial Day we traveled down to Mapleton for my family's annual Family Reunion. Fun. But, actually the kids loved it. This year they got to get their faces painted. They looked so cute. These pics don't do them justice- I think by this time, most of the paint had been rubbed off.


What a cute little Meoweee (that's Avery talk for cat)!

A pretty pink butterfly!



















And, the camo army guy. What a tough guy!