8 Is GREAT!

I can't believe Marisa is 8 years old!

She is getting baptized in a couple months when we go to Ohio.

Typically we would throw an awesome party for our 8 year old, but she opted to have a party last year instead and I stuck to my guns. I really don't like birthday parties! I know... worst mom ever.

Anyway, she was so glad to finally turn eight.

To celebrate we went to Einstein's Bros for breakfast on Saturday and Jasmine (Thai food) for dinner. I think she has picked Jasmine for dinner for three birthday's now. No complaints here.

On Sunday, we had the cousins and grandma over for cake, ice cream and presents.

 

 

Roman and Marisa having a little fun opening the presents:

 

She got some good loot and couldn't wait to try on her new pajamas and start reading her new books.

Happy Birthday Girlfriend! I can't believe how fast you are growing up!

Spring Break 2015

Shane and Roman decided to head to Ohio for Spring Break this year. I think it's nice for the kids to get a chance to have Grandma and Grandpa and the whole of Ohio to themselves.

Here's a breakdown of their little vacation:

Day 1:

They arrived in Ohio first thing in the morning because they took the red eye flight.

This was the only day that it didn't rain nearly non-stop so the boys played with their toys while they had the chance.

Shane drove his Mustang for a few hours and took Roman on a ride in Grandpa's new (to him) Corvette.

Roman shot baskets and went to the local chocolate shop to score some clearance Easter candy with Grandpa.

Roman also helped make some beef jerky. After seeing what makes it taste so good, he wasn't sure he liked it any more. He has a weird dislike for soy sauce and couldn't believe how much went into the mix.

 

 

He decided he still liked it even after discovering what was in it.

Then the board games came out.

 

Day 2: 

After sleeping over 12 hours, Roman was treated to doughnuts and breakfast at Burger King, his favorite soup for lunch and KFC for dinner.

Roman took advantage of a break in the clouds and rode the 4 wheeler in the mud at the farm. Look at all that water on the ground.  We're already in summer in Utah, using the sprinklers to keep our lawns alive and they just have more water than the ground can even hold!

 

 

Grandma took roman to the movie Home, played more board games with him and then Roman watched E.T. that evening.

Day 3:

Day three brought a day of working on his scouting book. He's trying to get as much done as he can before he becomes an 11 year old scout in a little over a month.

Roman recruited anyone who was willing (usually Grandma) to play board games for hours.

They also fixed some keys on their piano and he played some songs.

 

That night he watched the movie Better off Dead.

Day 4:

Day four brought more board games. Hours I tell you! Grandma is a saint!

Grandpa treated him to some Jimmy Johns and Chuck-e-Cheeses for some games.

They rented Penguins of Madagascar and Shane's brother Lance came down from Michigan to visit.

Day 5:

Day five brought corn bread, chicken sandwiches, Taco Bell, BB guns and MORE BOARD GAMES! The rain did really ruin any outdoor plans but Roman didn't mind. He LOVES games of any kind really.

Day 6:

The last day in Ohio. Roman had hot cocoa and toast for breakfast. They did a quick fire out in the rain, shot the BB guns one more time and played more board games before heading home.

They had fun messing around in the Pittsburg airport:

Poor Shane didn't get to drive his cars because of all the rain, but Roman had a lot of fun doing things with his grandma and grandpa. A trip he will always remember I'm sure.  Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for spoiling him!

Flying over Chicago:

Meanwhile... Back in Springville....

Marisa and Ezra played for HOURS and HOURS un-interrupted and un-pestered. Made me wonder why I ever decided to have three kids.... just kidding... but not... kinda. I love ALL my children. but three is SO much harder than two and it doesn't really matter which two we're talking about.

It was as much a treat for me to stay home and let them play to their hearts' content as it would have been to go on an adventure. For the first three days, about all I had to do was feed them. It was quite the vacation.

Come Friday, I did decide to acknowledge their existence and we went up to Sandy to the newly built Aquarium.

It's a very nice, very overpriced place. Seriously, I would go again if it were an average of $10 a person, but it was $45 for the three of us to spend about 1.5 hours there and it's just not "that" great. So.... we've done that. CHECK!

Then, we stayed the night in our regular little hotel in Sandy. The one with two rooms and two T.V.'s  and a nice pool and free breakfast. So worth it! We swam for a bit then I watched garbage shows about wedding dresses and food and Marisa and Ezra watched some weird super hero cartoon for the rest of the night.  All was right with the world!

And now... I think we can make it to the end of May with flying colors. I hope. May is always just crazy busy with all the school and other activities wrapping up. June will be no different and neither will August if we are being honest. My eye just started twitching. Must be time to end this post. How was your Spring Break?

Easter Saturday with Cousins

My sister came to town over Easter weekend. So we made a plan to have a little Easter egg hunt for all the kids at my mom's house.

I didn't take many pictures but I got a few.

Getting ready to go. Ezra and Marisa each got a 10 second head start.

They all got a bucket of loot and enjoyed an afternoon with my sister's family. We always enjoy spending time with them.

Easter day was also General Conference and my Birthday so we spent it in our PJ's and did next to nothing. Party!

Camping Catastrophe (one of my favorite camping memories)

Today, I'm going to share a camping story from my younger years.

I was 18, just graduated from High School.

My two friends and I decided we wanted to go camping. We didn't have a lot of time, but we were determined.

We stole some food from our parents, a tent from my friends garage, we hopped in my Dodge Dynasty and headed for the hills. I can't remember what I told my parents I was doing. Maybe they knew I was camping. I tend to doubt it though.

We got a late start so we were in a hurry to find a site before it got dark. We did find one and got settled just as dusk started settling in.

We unloaded out tent and food and started setting up camp. First the tent...somehow we had no poles.

We probably should have turned around and gone home at that moment but we decided we would be ok. We found a long branch and stuck it in the middle of our tent and called it good. We tied the rain tarp to the trees surrounding our tent and called it good.

Next we started dinner. I think we had planned on having chili, or spaghetti o's. Whatever it was... it was in a can and we had NO CAN OPENER!  We did have a pocket knife from 1940 that was completely dull and rusted over but we were not going to give up. So we took the knife and a rock and beat the tar out of that can until we got the food out. All the while we were giggling and squealing like most 17 &18 year old girls do.

By the time we had eaten our hard earned food we were exhausted and it was dark and getting cold so we climbed into our "tent" and tried to sleep. It was at that moment that we felt the vulnerability that we probably should have felt before making plans to rough it as three teenage girls in the hills above Provo.  We got scared!

We tried to calm each others fears by chatting as we huddled in under the loose covering of nylon that slightly resembled a tent when along came a truck, it pulled up to our fairly secluded camp spot, shone it's lights at our tent and stayed there for what seemed like FOREVER. We all held our breath while simultaneously getting ready to run and scream if needed. I also readied the rusted knife.

Eventually, the truck did leave and we were free to "sleep" peacefully (with dull, rusty knifes under our pillows mind you) for the rest of the night.

By morning we had done what we had set out to do... we had camped... Alone.... without anyone's help.

We felt awesome! So we skipped breakfast, packed up our pathetic campsite and headed quickly to the comfort and safety of home.

Although it was a complete disaster from top to bottom, it is one of my favorite camping memories. So funny.