Our UEA Weekend

This year for UEA we decided to leave town and head towards sunny San Diego. I love San Diego and always hate to leave. This trip was no different. We were there 6 days and, of course, were not ready to leave when Monday came around. We had a great time playing at the beach, surfing, searching for seashells, and catching up with our friends the Waites, who just happened to be in San Diego the same time we were. We also went to LegoLand, rode the rides and were amazed by all the Lego creations, went to Sea World, had dinner in Old Town, and walked through the GasLamp Quarters. Whew! No wonder the vacation flew by.

It was so nice being able to spend time with family (Grandma, Grandpa McGee and Kevin came too). The kids loved it and we all had great time! I think my favorite was either the beach or Sea World. I love going to Sea World and seeing the whales and dolphins up close. We even got to pet a dolphin, hold a starfish, touch an anemone, and pet sea rays. How cool!

FHE

We have been trying, successfully I might add, to hold family home evening on Monday nights once a week. Okay, so we just started three weeks ago, but who's counting? Anyway, thanks to a book called "Short and Sweet with a Treat!" by Mary H. Ross and Illustrated by Jennette Guymon-King, FHE has been made really easy. Thanks Mom for winning the book at GNO at Deseret Book and so kindly passing it on to me! There are 52 FHE lessons already put together including a CD that provides you with the handouts. How easy and cool is that? It has really made us start holding FHE and it has been fun being with the kids. Even Adam did the lesson last week. Great job!

Alex and I were in charge of the treats, so we made yummy fudge brownies with chocolate frosting. They were delicious... but I think Alex had much more fun licking the batter off the spoon!

Things I love about being a Mom

• The giggle behind a locked door while your standing in your pj’s in the front yard
• The rustle of a diaper butt in footie jams
• The sweet goodnight hugs and kisses
• The roaring laughter that only the tickle monster can elicit
• The sweet notes of love left on our bedside table
• The jokes that come home from school – the ones that are still circulating from when I was in school
• The sweet innocence
• The bed head hair do
• The snow boots worn everyday even though it is the middle of summer
• The cuddle time while watching movies and eating popcorn
• The toothpaste art projects found in bathroom sinks
• The joy of unrolling an entire toilet paper roll
• The belief in Santa Claus
• Singing to the radio in the backseat
• The smell of brand new playdough
• Opening a brand new box of crayons
• The unconditional love of my children
• The fingers under the bathroom door
• Going to DisneyLand and reliving your childhood through your own children

Cornbelly's

This week for Family Night, Grandma and Grandpa Marshall took us to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point. What a fun night! The kids loved all the activities available including the Gem mining booth, the pig races, the pumpkin canon, the bouncing pillow, the big rocking chair, the water duck races, and of course, the David Archuleta corn maze. A big "Thanks" to Jon for helping us find our way out of the maze.... I think we still might be in there.

The kids had a great time and we loved spending the time with Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Rich.

The Great Outdoors

Last weekend was spent high in the Uintas camping and hunting with friends. Although camping was never really my thing growing up, I am making a effort to take my kids camping. An effort made even easier since the purchase of our new travel trailer. I think Aaron knew it was the only way to get me out in the great outdoors.

Anyway, we all had a blast. The weather was great and the trees with their colors blazing were amazing. Adam loved being able to shoot his BB gun and even got a few grasshoppers. Abbi was happy as long as she was riding one of the Jones' 4-wheelers, and all Alex needed was pile of dirt to keep him happy. Lucky for us, dirt is abundant in the mountains.

And, yes, Aaron got two deer while we were there. One, using the Expedition, the other was killed using an actual gun. Explain? On the way up to our campsite two deer jumped right in front of our car. The doe was able to get out of the way but her fawn was not so lucky. It was very scary but luckily we were all okay and no damage was done to our car. As for the 2nd deer, Aaron was quite the shot. Kevin scouted it out and Aaron made the final shot. He was very proud. We should be getting the meat back this week and since I have never had deer meat but heard it is not good... I am not looking forward to it. I'll let you know!

All in all it was a great camping weekend. Oh, did I mention I made my very first dutch oven treat? I made peach cobbler - it was very easy- and everyone said it was a hit! Go me! I am such the camper!

Adam having fun with his BB Gun

Abbi on the 4-wheeler

Alex digging in the dirt. He was so dirty but he had a blast!

Cheese! and crackers

Aaron with his catch - a 2 spike!

Aaron and Kevin - The mighty hunters!