Ensign Peak

On Friday, we went out with the elders quorum for a date night activity. We hiked Ensign Peak. It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the time that we got to spend with our friends. Not too many people came but I didn't mind, since we were able to spend more time with the ones who did come. It was fun to get to know Ben and Carolyn better. As for everyone else, it was the same crew as usual. I loved it and love hanging out with them. We were only going to hike to a little look-out point due to the ugly weather we've been having, but everyone was willing to go up in the mud. It was incredibly muddy but I think that made it more fun and it definitely made it more memorable. Afterwards we went to dinner at the downtown Chili's. We were hoping they wouldn't notice the amount of dirt and mud we were tracking in. I had a great time at dinner. The food was great. I obviously don't have much to say but it really was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it.

There were a ton of deer up on the ridge of the mountain. At one point I think we counted over 20. It was really cool.



Our muddy muddy shoes. And this picture doesn't even do it justice!





Ryan kept throwing snowballs at everyone. It was funny when they weren't expecting it, they would jump.


The view from up top.
The sunset was very pretty. I ended up having to give the spiritual message which wasn't much of a message on the spiritual side.
The hike down. I'm not sure if it was a hike or a slide with all the mud but it was very fun.
We kept walking off the path since it was only mud and making our own trails in the snow. I would have felt bad if I was stepping on the flowers and pretty green grass but I figured we couldn't have done too much damage with the foot of snow on top.

Ryan and I. (obviously)
Haley and Russ

Kevin and Leslee
Scott and Cheryl

John and April
Ben and Carolyn (thanks to them we all have pictures. Thanks again guys!) It was a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to more activities with friends and neighbors.

A Week of Fun, well mostly just Thursday!!

This week has been lots of fun. I was asked to watch Alyssa and Brooklyn (Ryan's nieces) on Tuesday. It was a lot of fun to have someone different for my kids to play with. On Wednesday, I watched Gavin while Cammie went visit teaching and I wish she could have been gone longer. I just laughed as Gavin and Braxton were playing Batman. They were so funny. On Thursday, I had the privilege of having Oaklee come over for a couple of hours. Well, knowing I was going to be home all week watching other kids I wanted to do something extra fun with her. (She's a pre-earth favorite- what can I say!) So, we went to Jumping Jacks. I had never been there, I just heard it was fun and hoped that Braxton and Chloe would not be so scared and not play. Well, we had a blast. They have all these blow-up slides and "racetracks" as Braxton kept calling it. The idea is that they would go play and I would sit and watch, not so much the case. After all three kids (Oaklee, Braxton, and Chloe) climbed to the top of one of the slides and then got nervous, I realized that I would have to go up there to get them down. They ended up having a lot of fun and they gave me the work out of the year. I think they were just trying to prepare me for the beach in a few weeks. At one point they made another kid cry. I just laughed knowing that they need to learn some things on their own. The kid (I think Brittney and I decided it was a girl, but I'm still a little not sure) wanted to come play and the girls were in this part that looked like a castle and Braxton was outside. Braxton told "her" that she couldn't go in there and he was protecting the princesses in the castle. It was actually really cute until the "girl" ran away crying that she wasn't allowed in the castle with the other princesses. Here are some of my favorite pictures.


Up we go again, and again, and again and oh, I'm getting tired thinking about it!

The girls "sleeping" in the castle.
Braxton guarding the castle.
Braxton beating up the soldier/guard.
Again, Braxton defending his space. (Not the girl he made cry!)
Fending off the dragon. Woo, I was a little nervous there!

FAIR FUN

The other week we went to the safe kids fair. It was a lot of fun and the kids really enjoyed it. Braxton's favorite part were the Star Wars characters. Which is really funny knowing he has never really seen Star Wars. He just wanted to keep going back to them. Chloe's favorite was playing in the back of the police car. One place we hope she never ends up. Also Jaclyn was in heaven with her being able to sit in cop cars and on cop mortercycles. I think she was more excited then te kids.

Sometimes I wish I weren't the mom!!!

Do you ever wish you weren't the one responsible for your kids? Well that has been my week. We'll start with Tuesday. Braxton woke up super early and well I had had a late night so I really was wishing I didn't have to get up with him, but I'm the mom! So when Chloe woke up, I went to go get her out of her room. Well, she had decided to paint and explore with her poop. Poop is everywhere!! Where to start? Do I change her diaper first or clean the poop out of the carpet while I still can? Am I really the one responsible? Later in the day, Braxton comes upstairs and tells me Chloe stole his crackers and dumped them on the floor. So I go downstairs expecting to find about a small bowl of crackers on the floor, right? No, apparently the bowl of crackers I gave him was not enough, so he decided to get the entire bag. Crumbs and cheddar cheese dust everywhere. The picture does not do it justice. (Don't worry, the heater vent is also full!!) I come downstairs to find Braxton playing cannonball with all his toys, you guessed it, into the toilet! There is toilet water everywhere. When I'm about to clean it up, the doorbell rings. Just what I always wanted visitors when my bathroom is flooded! Well, Tuesday couldn't get much worse, right? Wrong. We all have had this terrible cough and cold. For Braxton that means throwing up all the time. (If you didn't know, Braxton has a very sensitive gag reflex.) So as I am making dinner, Braxton walks into the kitchen and pukes...everywhere. I'm covered, Braxton's covered, Ryan's covered! Good news, he's not done. Who knew a four year old could have so much puke in him when his is "sooo hungry"? So, yesterday I wake up and my cold and cough are worse. I feel like crap and do NOT want to be the mom. I just want to sleep all day. So last night we went out on a double date. It was so nice to get away from my kids. (Thanks Mom!!) If it weren't for the break, I would have killed them today! So last but definitely not least, is the best story of all!! This morning when Peyton woke up, I went downstairs to go make her a bottle. While I was there I got the other kids some drinks of Countrytime Pink Lemonade. And get them situated so I can come back upstairs to change baby P's diaper and feed her. Well partway through feeding Braxton starts yelling he needs my help. Annoyed that my 4 yr old can't do somethings without mommy or daddy holding his hand, I just keep feeding Peyton and ask him what he needs. He insists he needs me and can't do whatever it is on his own so I go downstairs..... I wanted to kill them. They have dumped the entire can (5 lbs worth) of pink lemonade everywhere. I didn't realize that powder could cling to the walls like it did. Nor do I ever think I'll be able to enter my kitchen and leave without someone helping to unstick me from the floor. Note: don't put anything on the counter tops, it'll probably never come off. They have broken my little "let it snow" jar. There is money down the sink (I hope I got it all out). The toaster is full of lemonade. So I hose them off in the sink and start the cleaning process and I very loudly ask them to leave the room..."NOW"! (I kept my cool long enough to get some pics for ya.) There are powdered footprints leading all the way up the stairs. It does not just end in my kitchen. Anyone else want to be their mom? I think by the time this day ends, they'll be wishing for a new mom!!! If you look hard enough, you can see my computer power cord in there!!!!!

Lemonade anyone????

Yes that is one of the footprints!!!

Please feel free to share any of your "I wish I weren't the mom" moments.