Spring Break in Sunny Southern Utah

After watching it snow all day today, I'm missing being in the warm weather we had last week during Spring Break.  We went and stayed in the St George house with some of our cousins and did a bunch of activities outside while soaking in the sun.  Our first adventure was the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  This was not my idea of fun, to go look over a sheer drop off that went down thousands of feet.  But, Paul went here years ago with Bryson and Garrett and was anxious to take the rest of the family. 

I wish I had a picture that would do this place justice, I seriously couldn't even get close to the edge.  We let the kids crawl out to the ledge to look over, I was freaked out the whole time.

On the way to the Grand Canyon, we stopped at this old school house to have lunch. I seriously can't believe that people actually had lived out here in the middle of nowhere.  

Here we are with the boys (minus Bryson, plus our cousin Ritchie) driving along the bumpy rough roads to the North Rim.  We listened to a lot of Sponge Bob singing alongs, then luckily Paul and I got control of the i-pod.
One night we went over to the Parkers (Paul's sister's house) and had a little swim party in their new pool.  The boys were in heaven, finding all sorts of crazy things to do.  After watching my kids with fear at the Grand Canyon, jumping off this fence didn't even make me nervous.

Logan wanted so badly to get the pool, so I got his swimming suit on and handed him to Bryson, only to hear Logan cry to get out.  Bryson really tried to help him, but he only wanted me, and I wasn't about to get in the water (it wasn't that warm). 
Here we are just playing at the park.  We had a blast just be in the warm weather, Tanner loved climbing trees and Garrett and fun tossing the ball back and forth with his Dad.

Logan had fun playing miniature golf in the backyard with his Daddy.
One day we went to Fiesta Fun (this was the highlight of the trip for the boys).   The boys had a great time playing on the bumper boats and the bumper cars.  Mckay wasn't too sure about getting all wet and shed a few tears, but as soon as he got off, he was begging to get back on.

It was fun to get away for the week and just play.  Now we are trying to get back into the groove again - i.e. homework, bedtimes, piano, and soccer.  I actually am excited for summer, just to have a little break from the routine and have more playtime with boys.  Ahh, summer, it seems like forever away today with all the snow out there.

Its great to be 8!

I can't believe my little Tanner boy is 8!  I guess he isn't little anymore.  I haven't seen anyone so excited to be 8, Tanner is thrilled to be baptized soon and to be a cub scout.   We had a great day.  I checked Tanner out of school to take him to lunch at Dairy Keen, then we went and got doughnuts to take to his class.  Later that night, we made homemade pizzas with Grandma and Grandpa Edwards and Ryan and Karen. Yum, I haven't had homemade pizza for a long time.
Here are the boys singing to Tanner, they take singing the birthday song very seriously (not). Oh, and this is my very fist attempt to make cheesecake, at Tanner's request, it was pretty good. 
Tanner could hardly wait to open presents until after dinner.  He was excited when he saw he got his own cub scout shirt, Tanner was working on his bobcat the very next day, and is ready to get it now.
Logan didn't realize that all the presents weren't just for him, he was right there to help open the presents.

Scott and Natalie called to sing to Tanner for his b-day, here is Logan, once again, beaming while listening to the Edwards' sing.  Easton, Maddie, Parker, you guys have incredible voices.

Garrett in the UTAH Program

After listening to Garrett sing for months about Utah, we were finally able to watch the whole program (and Mckay and I sang along quietly).  Here is Garrett with his teacher, Karen Edwards.  Wow!  We know three Karen Edwards and they are all skinny and cute.
Garrett doing his square dance.
Okay, if Garrett marries Summer, I have so many pictures for their wedding video.  Summer's Mom and I are good friends and we have fun getting pics together of them, just in case...
Garrett and his class getting ready to perform.  Go Garrett!  Cory and Kristen, let me share of little bit of the song just for you (if you want to call me I'll sing it for you, but here are the words...)  

Utah, people working together

Utah, what a great place to be!

Blessed from heaven above, its the land that I love, THIS IS THE PLACE!

(just a little hint)

A CrAzY dAy fOr LoGaN aNd Me!

I decided it would be nice if once in awhile we just wrote about how crazy life can really get, so here it goes...

6:45 Slept in too late because I had a crazy night and was up and down all night with my leg that was hurting (I just had surgery on some painful veins I've been dealing with).

7:15 Got Bryson out the door for school.

Started getting ready, got all the other boys up and ready - Logan poops in the bath and starts crying.

8:30 Send Garrett and Tanner out the door for the bus, only to realize they were late, but luckily the bus driver stopped and picked them up.

8:45 My friend drops off her daughter that I was watching today.

9:00 Visiting teachers come to visit (with a yummy treat!)

10:00 Take 3 kids to preschool - Mckay is so excited about turning the ipod on in the car, that he slams the Suburban door right on Logan's hand.  I have to try not to faint and open the door and pull out his poor little hand.  

10:05 Take Logan over to my Mom's house to see if she thinks I need to take him to the doctor. I leave him with her for awhile so I can go help in Tanner's class at school.

11:00 Pick up Logan, decide to not take him to doctor, but realize not only is his hand all swollen, but he is pulling on his left ear again and his nose is running (Logan has another ear infection I'm sure)

11:05 Go to the store with Logan (and buy the most expensive SpongeBob fruit snacks- that he is screaming for- to let Logan eat while I shop) 

12:00 Pick up kids from preschool and have my two, plus three other little friends over.  Feed them lunch, eat some Mac & Cheese while I am putting all my groceries away.  

Let the kids pull out Halloween costumes from downstairs to play dress up with.  Logan starts crying, I run downstairs to find a huge goose bump on his head, only no one knows what has happened.

2:00 Logan takes a nap.

2:30 Two kids leave.

Try to start registering kids for Spring soccer, karate, and BYU sports camps on line.

4:00 Pick up Bryson from piano.

4:10 Send Tanner to rock climbing wall class.

4:15 Start dinner - Logan wakes up from nap very unhappy and wants to be held.

4:40 Pick up Garrett from piano.

Finish dinner, help kids with homework, try to get Logan to settle down, pay some bills, make some calls.

6:30 Paul comes home -we eat very quickly.

6:50 Paul and Bryson leave for scouts.

7:00 - 8:15 Do the dishes and try to pick up the kitchen and family room area with help from the boys.

8:15 - 9:00 Get boys ready for bed, clean tub finally that Logan messed in.

9:00 Paul walks in and helps tuck boys in bed.

I am exhausted, I can't wait to put my legs up with an ice pack on them and just relax while watching American Idol!

Tonight I think Mckay could see I was tired and he said, "Mommy, I know your shots in your legs will feel better soon because my Kindergarten shots hurt really bad, but now they don't hurt anymore!"  

I love my boys and Paul and that is why I will get up and do it all over again tomorrow.  

A Scouting Family

I guess it a given that when you have 5 boys,  you will work in the scouting program.   I am the Cub Master (for boys 8 -10) and Paul is the YM 2nd Counselor - Deacons Quorum Advisor/Assistant Scout Master (for boys 12-13).   I have only been in for a couple of months, but am truly loving working with a bunch of high energy boys.  I get to plan a party every month for the scouts and their families!  Garrett was one of four boys this month getting his Bear badge and so I wanted to do something special for these boys.

So, after talking with other Cub Masters, I was able to come up with some fun ideas for our Pack.  This is what we did for the boys getting their Bear... We first had the boys come up with me and lead their families and the rest of the scouts in the song "Going on a Bear Hunt".  I seriously don't mind acting crazy with a bunch of kids, but with all the parents, it feels a little weird, but oh well. We sang the song with all the actions and then we had the boys walk across the bridge, where they were greeted on the other side by my assistant who scratched their face with a bloody bear claw.  The bear claw was a "bear" to make (hee hee).  I am definitely not a seamstress, but the boys loved their bloody claw prints and Garrett wanted to wear it to school the next day.

Paul has been working with the scouts for almost 6 years now.  Luckily, we now have a son who is 12.  Paul seriously loves the calling and has come a long way in his camping abilities.  We love to tease Paul about his first overnight backpacking campout as a scout.  Paul showed up with his frozen pizza for dinner and a gallon of milk and a box of Captain Crunch for breakfast all in a big cooler to carry on his 14 mile round trip hike (7 miles each way). Now, he is a pro and is still trying to convince me how great it is, which I haven't bought into yet.  

The boys had a campout just this weekend, they average one a month.  It was a great weekend to go camping, the weather was incredible.  Paul not only took Bryson, but Garrett and Tanner as well.  Apparently they all stayed up until midnight playing capture the flag and had a blast!  I hope that Paul can stay in for a couple more years as our younger boys are all coming up.    

Now for our next scouting project:  Pinewood derby cars... we have two "official" ones to make this year:  Garrett and Tanner, but Mckay has convinced his dad to help him make one as well.  Don't worry, we have already figured out the fastest style and how to place the weighs exactly in the car for maximum racing speed.  1st place two years straight!!  We'll see if we can make it three.  

Escape from Reality

Paul and I got to "escape from reality" for a few days in San Francisco with our friends, Jason and Lindsey Danley.  We had a blast, we did a ton of stuff in just short time.  I have learned from Kristen that you must take advantage of every minute you are on a trip (especially without kids), you don't want to waste any time doing something you could do at home (like go to a movie).  Kristen, you should be proud of us!

If you look closely at this picture, you can see the four ladies in front doing their little aerobics routine.  Within minutes, there were dozens of little old chinese women gathered at the park to do their workout.  We were sitting across the park eating breakfast at the very popular breakfast restaurant, Mama's.

My brother, Cory, met us here for breakfast the first morning of our trip.  We were one of the first in line to eat at Mama's when they opened their doors.  The food was amazing and it was fun to talk to our own personal tour guide before we started all of our adventures.

 
Paul and I had our first sushi on this trip.   I can say that I do like Japanese food, but don't think I can say the same for sushi.  However, I did love the California rolls.  

We went to Alcatraz Island and did the whole tour.  It was fun to just be out in the warm sun after being in Utah's cold winter weather.

We all wore earphones while walking around the prison, Paul had fun keeping us entertained during the boring parts.

Aren't these tulips beautiful? I love seeing Spring in the air!  We had fun walking around fisherman's wharf trying all sorts of yummy treats from fish and chips, crepes, and of course Ghirdellis' chocolate.

This is in China town, we were watching these ladies make fortune cookies.  It was really interesting!
Ahh, the highlight of our trip was seeing WICKED!  I loved the music and wanted to sing along.  It was so fun to get all dressed up and have a night out on the town.
Here we are on our biggest adventure...biking across the Golden Gate bridge.  What a blast!  I seriously loved it.  
Once we got to Salsalito (about 8 miles from where we left)  we stopped and had lunch then took a ferry back to San Francisco.   Notice the nice scenery behind Paul and I in the picture?  The sights of San Fran...
Paul and I just cruisin' along.  I was so happy to just enjoy some time with Paul without any interruptions - no work, no kiddos, no phone.   Now I'm back to reality again.  Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Edwards for watching our boys.  We missed them, but knew they were having a great time playing with Grandma and Grandpa.

Our EventFULL Saturday

After a weekend away last weekend for Paul and I (which I will post soon), we were ready to just hangout with our boys.  We drove from Sandy to Draper then to Provo and were gone all day long and didn't get one Saturday job done, but we had a blast.

Our first stop was to see our newest cousin, Halle Ritchie (Ryan and Jessicas's 5th), she is precious and so pretty in pink (a color we don't see much at our house).  Mckay and Logan loved holding her and we would have taken her home if our cousin Maddie would have let us.  

Our second stop was to the Draper temple open house where we met up with Grandma and Grandpa Edwards.   The temple was beautiful and we were happy to have a chance to talk to the boys about the significance of temples.  
When we were leaving, I asked the boys what was their favorite part of the tour.  Most of the boys agreed that they loved the sealing room with all the mirrors.  But Mckay was quick to tell us that the bus ride was the best part, especially the part when we were really squished and had to stand up while the bus was going.  I love his 4 year old comments!

After a quick change of clothing, we piled in the car again to head down to Provo and eat at Brick Oven.   I love that place!  The kids were so excited when a man came around making balloon creations for all the kids.  The guy said he could make anything, and the boys were creative in their request, Tanner - a sumo wrestler, Mckay - an alien hat, Garrett - a BYU football player, and Bryson - a football field and ball.  We loved having Grandma and Grandpa with us too.  

We then left Grandma and Grandpa and took the boys to something they have been wanting to do for a very long time...go to a BYU Basketball game.   The boys were so excited and the Cougars were awesome!  We had so much fun.  Logan was extremely good, given the fact he only slept 20 minutes all day.  I was very grateful for popcorn in the 2nd half to keep him occupied.  
We didn't get home until about 10:30 last night and all the kids were sound asleep when we pulled into town.  Even though I came home to loads of laundry and an empty fridge, I was so happy to have had all day to play with my boys.  As we piled in the car after the game, all the boys were saying thank you and Bryson said, "Mom, I think this was one of my best days of my life so far."  I'm learning that sometimes I need to let things drop and just enjoy the moments.