Yellowstone Trip

OK, so i guess it has been long enough. I should start posting again! I have quite a few posts to catch up on. It always feels good to take a little break, but then i regret it once i realize how much i want to record and have posted here. oh well. you'll get 'em when you get 'em.

But, it has been so long, i've almost forgetten what i wanted to post about of our trip. There are definitely a TON of pics. I won't feel badly if you don't look at them all. they are mostly for my family to see.

For our trip we rented a house in the smallest town i have ever stayed in. There wasn't even a stoplight. it is called Emigrant, Montana. It is about 30 miles outside of yellowstone national park. It was a spacious, beautiful home that fit us all perfectly. us being- my older sister amy, her husband, christian, their five kids- ethan (10) aiden (8) preston (5- almost 6) keenen (3- almost 4) and lily (1); my mom and little sisters becky and rachel; my grandparents (my mom's parents) and me and my crazy boys.
We started our drive up on a saturday- me, my boys, and my grandparents all drove together. we spent the night in rexburg at my mom's cousin's house. It was very gracious of them to let us stay there- but man, i didn't sleep that night! they have in-door animals. i think that is all i need to say about that. (though the experience did help me realize that jared has mini asthma attacks when around dog hair)
sunday morning we went to a quick sacrament meeting and then took our time driving all the way up and through the park. The speed limit in yellowstone is 35-45- depending on where you are. we drove about 20mph. we weren't allowed to check in until 4 - and i wanted my boys to sleep. needless to say- it made the day VERY long. we were all ready to get out of the car by then.
Now, don't worry, i'm not going to give you a play by play list of the entire week. Let's just recap, shall we?
Pretty much, me and the babies all hung out at home a lot with the grandparents. it was relaxing and nice to be out in the middle of nowhere. i couldn't leave spencer to go and do all the day activities- but they did do some rafting, horse back riding, fishing, and hiking. We did go and spend a day looking at all the fun stuff throughout yellowstone.
though, next time we need to remember to bring walkie talkies 'cause cell phones don't work. we did loose amy and christian for about half a day- until we both got to places where our phones worked and we could meet somewhere.
Jared LOVED (and i dare say that is an understatement) seeing the animals. Every time we got in the car he asked for the buffalo, elk, reindeer, and eagles. he still is talking about them half the day. everytime he talks to jason on the phone, he talks about those animals (oh and seeing the water shoot high in the sky- old faithful)
not too far from our house is little resort that has a natural hot spring mineral pool. we got passes to it and went almost everyday of the week. jared is a water boy! he would swim ALL day long if i let him. it was all the entertainment he needed all week long. spencer even got to swim. most of the time he was sleeping when we swam. or, i just couldn't hold both of them. a BIG THANKS to my mom and grandma. they watched my little baby the entire time. i just had to be there to nurse him, then i would go play. the one time i left them together with just a bottle, spencer refused to take it. silly boy!
while home with the younger cousins, jared was just in high heaven. he has never spent that much time with so many boys. he learned to sword fight, shoot play guns, hit people with bats.... what else? you get the idea. such a boy.
the traumatic part of the trip was the night he got 12 splinters in one foot. i think it was more traumatic for me than him- just because he won't let anyone else touch him when he is in pain, so i had to do the digging and the consoling at the same time. no fun. note to self- remember to put shoes on your kids especialy when they have just gotten out of the tub and their skin is soft and the deck is not.
overall, the trip was just what i expected it to be. we had fun. jared got to know my family better- he talks about them all the time. and he got to see animals.
i'll be the first to admit it though- i had a tough time being there and not having my husband with me. i missed him more that week than i think i have the entire last 7 months. i don't really know why, but that is how it goes sometimes. hopefully my family still loves me- even if i was a beast some times!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZ

i have over 500 pictures taken in the last 2 weeks to sort through. all i want to do is SLEEP!

Happy 4th Weekend

What a great weekend we had! We drove down to ST George on tuesday and jason flew in to vegas on wednesday. I drove down to get him. We decided it had been too long since we had been on a roller coaster, so we went for a ride at New York New York. it was fun- a little rough around the edges (or am i just getting old?) but we had a good time. we also got some good 'ol in-n-out and drove back to st george.
thursday we went to the lake- thanks dee and dave for sharing and bringing your boat up!! it was HOT- but the water was perfect and the lake was pretty empty. fun stuff! jared loved swimming with his daddy. he is a water boy! but i think i need to invest in some good ear plugs. i can't even jump into the water anymore without it killing me.
friday we had a flag raising ceremony in the morning. the kids did a great job. then we went and saw Wall- E- cute but political. afterwards we went and did some fun games at the park- bubble blowing contest, egg toss, water balloon fight, pie eating contest. sooo fun- though after finding jared throwing eggs in my laundry room today, i've decided that maybe teaching him to throw eggs wasn't the best idea! that night we did fireworks outside and ate ice cream cones. the weather was perfect. jared just LOVES being with all his older cousins. (the doughmans, bradys and wilsons were there with us)
saturday the girls all went to little farmers market. then everyone went down to the river to play while i stayed and let my boys have a much needed long nap. it gave jared the energy to go swimming later that evening. spencer was even awake and got to go with us!
sunday we took jason back down to vegas. he ended up missing his flight- but got there eventually. kind of a stressful way to end a trip, but it all worked out.
on the way to the airport jared was just sobbing saying- "no airport, jared's house" it about broke my heart. only 37 days to go!!!!!! (i know, my ticker is off!)
here are A LOT of pictures! enjoy!

She's Gonna Make it

Last night we left ST George at 7pm to make the drive home while the boys were sleeping. I was getting a little tired and needed some music to sing to, so i put in an old Garth Brooks CD. When this song came on, i couldn't help but cry.
My wonderful cousin is getting divorced right now, after 7 years of marriage. I ache for her. It kind of came out of nowhere, taking her by surprise. But she strong- stronger than him. And even though i'm not the one to judge him, i know that if he keeps making the choices he is currently making, he will not make it. he will keep going down- and it might just be that he has to wait until the eternities to get to that point- one day, he will realize what he's done.
So, this one's for you Marce. You ARE gonna make it. you're already almost there.

** don't mind the anime video that is playing. i don't understand what it has to do with the song- this is just the fastest way i could find to post the song. Maybe my sister's can explain it? they love this stuff!