Back to School

It's hard to believe that our summer vacation is over on the 20th of July,

but here we are back in school.

(Rebecca was sooooo embarrassed that I was taking pictures of them outside of the school. It only made me want to take more. I love it. Being a parent is awesome.)

This is the first year that all 4 kids are in school. I can't believe that Joey is a kindergartner. I think I've been more concerned about this day then he has. I wanted to stay with him and show him around, but his response to me was, "Mom, I know where to go, it's okay." Then when school started and the parents began to file out I said, "Well Joey, should I go now." He said, "Yes mom. School's already started." I did get an I love you, but he made it clear that he was a big boy and could definitely handle things on his own.

Here is Joey sitting at his table and visiting with the little girl sitting next to him.

Sara and Jake immediately found their friends and took off.
(At least I was able to snap a quick photo before they were gone.)

Camping at Mammoth Pools

Chad and I approach our time camping a little differently. I am going to label each event by days. He would disagree and say that we were only there 3 days, but I slept in a tent for 4 nights and feel we should count the day we arrived and the day we left as part of the overall experience, so that is how I will write this entry.

Day One:

On day one we drove from my parent's home in Southern CA to Mammoth Pools, just south of Yosemite. For those of you who aren't familiar with CA it was a 7 hour drive north. We arrived around 5:30pm, set up camp, cooked dinner and hung out with the family.

At my parent's house we noticed that the storage hitch we had loaded onto the back of our car had melted through one of our storage bins. (The same storage bin that held all 6 of our propane tanks. . . we were lucky that we didn't blow up.) What we didn't realize at the time was that the area that melted also melted through parts of our tents, so when we arrived, Chad had to duck tape the holes in hopes of keeping some of nature's finest outside. It didn't really work, but he tried.

Day Two:
After a rough night's sleep I awoke on day two convinced that my mother in law knew where we could find a flush toilet and that she was hiding that knowledge from the rest of us. I told her of my dream and she thought I was hilarious. Not convinced I did make Chad drive me around the surrounding camp sites and boat launch only to discover the same outhouses we had EVERYWHERE. Oh well, it was worth a shot.



It was Sunday and so we mostly hung out and ate together. I did a little Sunday School lesson for our kids and we read scriptures. The weather was a lot warmer then we had anticipated and the river running through our camp was high, fast and REALLY COLD. The good news was that we could keep our milk, water bottles, fruit, and sodas chilling in the river.

Day Three:
After two nights of very little sleep and another hot morning, I wasn't feeling really well and so I stayed at camp with Grandma and Grandpa, while Chad, his siblings and all the kids hiked up to a place called DEP. There they jumped off rocks and played around waterfalls. I don't have any pictures, but I heard that it was a blast. Sara jumped off the tallest rock formation with Chad, while Becca, Jake and Joey choose smaller rocks to jump off of. Jake also caught and cooked his first fish and ate it. He was sooooooo happy.

After a long day of hiking, Chad, Rebecca and a few others decided to check out an area they wanted to tube down. After a few trial runs they decided it would be a safe place to take the kids the next day. As the day came to a close, we all ate, chatted, and again enjoyed each other's company on the fourth of July.

Day Four:
I think by day four my inability to sleep in a tent had made me somewhat delirious. I started praying for a serious down pouring of rain so that we could go home, but the Lord only granted me with a few sprinkles and some cloud cover. The clouds did however bring down the temperature and so I was finally feeling good enough to attempt a hike.

We first hiked to where they kids would be tubing, dropped off the inner tubes, and then continued on to a little waterfall area. In the past you could walk under the waterfall, but this year the current wouldn't allow it. When we arrived back at the tubes there was an area called "the shoot" where the kids would make trains and go down several times before continuing on down the river. It was fun to watch the faces of those who weren't able to stay on their tubes. Remember how I said the river was COLD. Well, falling into the river just plain hurt. I don't know how people cut holes in ice and swim around, because just putting my feet in was enough.

Later we decided to get in the car and look for some beach area around the nearby lake. We were hoping to find a place for the kids to play in the water, but there was no beach to be found. In our driving, we went over a spillway that was truly magnificent. I think it scared the kids a bit. You couldn't stand on the bridge without getting sprayed with water. We also saw the dam around the back side of the lake. Mammoth pools really is a beautiful place, if we could just set up some condos, with bathrooms, a shower, and a bed to sleep in I would be set.

Day Five:
We decided to leave camp around noon and head back to my parent's house in So. California. My sanity had expired and if I didn't shower and get a good night's sleep it was not going to be pretty. Everyone else had plans to stay until Saturday but Wednesday was my limit. The kids really had a great time and I think it was fun for Chad to relive one of his favorite childhood vacation spots.

On the way out we stopped to take a picture at the mile high vista. About two minutes after we started driving again car sickness hit and Joey lost his breakfast. I had given everyone Dramamine on the way into camp, but didn't have enough pills for the trip home. Assuming the boys would be fine and knowing Becca and Sara had problems with motion sickness, I gave the pills to the girls. After cleaning up Joey, I sat in the middle row with him and applied pressure to his wrists like the sea bands I grew to appreciate during the first trimester of this pregnancy. It seemed to do the trick. He fell asleep and we managed to make it out of the mountain without any other casualties.

We didn't arrive back to my parent's home until around 7:45pm, but after a shower and 8 hours of continuous sleep I was a new woman. I have decided that I would have never made it as a pioneer. I love the outdoors and when I'm not pregnant, I really enjoy outdoor activities, but I also enjoy coming home after a busy day outdoors, taking a shower, and sleeping in a bed. I guess you can say I am spoiled. I have become so reliant upon modern conveniences I don't often think to be grateful for them. I won't be making that mistake again. We are a truly blessed people.

Catching up on the month of June

I am really far behind on my blog posts and so I decided to get caught up.
June 1st:

My cousin Justin and his family came from the east coast to visit with us on their way to CA. Justin and I were joking about the fact that you can count by decades the number of times we've actually seen each other. Two or three times total was all we could come up with. We only had one full day together, but it was fun to get to know him and his family a little better. These pictures are of Justin, Clarissa (who is pregnant) and their two kids, Liam and Shannon.

Ballroom Dance Camp (mid June):

Ballroom dance camp was somewhat of a last minute decision. We've had a lot going on with swim team, swimming lessons, visitors and preparing for a family vacation, so we had decided not to take on one more thing. But then last minute, Melissa (their teacher) needed some help with her kids during the camp and offered to have the girls take class for free. Well, it ended up being a great exchange on our end. The girls had a blast and Sara was even able to talk her friend Elizabeth into doing the class with her. At the end they did a little performance showcasing some of the new moves they had learned. I am really glad the girls had a chance to do this because it really was a lot of fun and a great mid day activity.

Swim Meets (throughout the month of June):

I have already posted a little bit about swim lessons and the girl's first swim meet, but Becca and Sara ended up competing in two additional meets and so I thought I would post a few more photos just for fun. Swimming may not be the girls long term thing, but it was a good way to get some exercise during the summer and the meets were really fun. The events and the lengths of each event changed from meet to meet and so I don't know if their times improved, but we were proud of them for putting forth the effort and doing such a great job.

Bob and Stacey (end of June):

Before we had to leave for our family vacation on the 1st of July, Bob and Stacey stopped in for a few days. They were planning to attend a friend's wedding in Mesa on the 2nd of July and so we were lucky enough for have them from the 28th until we left for CA on the 1st. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures while they were here, and so you will just have to take my word for it when I say that they are both darling; and Stacey (who is due only two weeks after me) is hardly showing. She can still wear all of her pre-pregnancy clothes. I am just hoping that one day I can return to mine.

Stacey was still experiencing a bit of morning sickness when she was here, poor thing. I am hoping that she is starting to feel a little better as she gets closer to that 20 week mark. Congratulations Bob and Stacey, you are going to be awesome parents.