A drive in Logan Canyon

Debbie is my mother-in-law. She is one of the most beautiful women I have ever met, with a tender and sweet heart –who always wants to help people. Debbie actually volunteered with CAPSA for a while and received a recognition award from the state for her work. I love spending time with her. Well, she and Donny decided they want to go camping this weekend. “Donny wants to go high” she told me –which means FARTHER AWAY for me (the runner to and fro with babies, getting forgotten items, etc.). We took a spin up Logan Canyon yesterday afternoon looking for a good site. We drove pretty slowly, checking out every sign, turning into different grounds and scouring the tags posted at each site for dates and availability.... NADA!
After driving through Tony Grove (one of the prettiest parts of the canyon, in my opinion),

I was pretty nervous about gas (had just under 1/8th of a tank left), so we couldn’t go much “higher” –they were considering Sunrise Campground –at the top of the canyon before you begin the descent into Bear Lake. Well, we found some that were available at Guinavah-Malibu
but I guess Donny refuses to go there. *We can’t figure out why, I love that place! Oh, well. I think that after our 3-hour excursion, there will probably be no big family camp-out this weekend. It’s all for the best, though, as I have lots o’ plans with my family and Rachael’s chickfest birthday bash! It was awesome to spend the time with Debbie, though. We listened to a TON of my tunes and regardless of potential criticism (there was none) I was belting out the songs as I drove. I actually find driving therapeutic. As I looked at the 60K miles on my trusty Corolla, and knew I put pretty much every mile on this car, it’s all been quite enjoyable. I like to drive. Thanks for a great afternoon, Debbie, even if we don’t make it camping this weekend!

What the heck, Lexie?!

No pedicure with the girlz? Where's the love for your toes, schweet cheeks?!

A better camera!

Lance got us a new camera off of ebay -it actually takes some shots with eyes open! Here are our fun tester shots!

That's one-a-spicy-meatball!

Confession: I’m not much of a cook. I have a few recipes that I cook quite well, and I guess you could say that when instructed (and when I have the energy to pull it off and when it’s simple enough) I can cook something, however, it’s not my strong suit.
We didn’t grow up on gourmet food, and didn’t know it either. I’m quite satisfied with a casserole that includes rice, cream of mushroom soup, and maybe a can of tuna. It’s strange now, how I’m seeing that cooking is no great joy to me, and it’s a huge chore. Honestly, I’d rather be cleaning than cooking something.
Now, this is not to be confused with BAKING. I love to bake –cookies, banana bread, etc. Perhaps it’s because I prefer the end result (mad sweet tooth), but I haven’t really figured out why I can’t seem to embrace the love of the cooking art. Maybe young kids are a contributor to the chaos that makes being in one place for an extended period of time hard to manage… But alas, I know too many excellent mothers who make excellent meals.
Regardless, I have a few signature dishes that get me by. Pictured above is my famous lasagna –YUM! I can do biscuits and gravy, spaghetti, home-made mac-n-cheese (although Lance doesn’t agree with me that it’s a main course, and he prefers a mac-n-cheese with a tomato base: hense: my “Italian casserole”), and the new chicken pockets. I might be able to fit each of my recipes on 1 to 2 pages of “The Joy of Cooking”, which looking at the limitless possibilities (and not relating AT ALL to Remy from Ratatouille), doesn’t much constitute even a drop in the bucket.
My apologies go out to my dear little family, who will have the same meals served time and time again throughout their lives. Eh, at least I make up with it by being an excellent social schmoozer, snaggling us a dinner appointment here and there with other chefs much more talented than myself.

The Mommy Who Stole Uglier Frog!

Every kid in my home likes toys a lot, but the MOM, who picks up all the toys, does NOT.
As I sat with my Mommy feet nervously rubbing: I must find some way to keep Ugly Frogs from coming!
For tomorrow I know, Ella will wake bright and early with thoughts about toys –and then all the noise! All the noise for toys… toys made for BOYS!!!
It was quarter of dawn, both the girls still abed both the girls still asnooze, when I found Uglier Frog sitting outside.
His vulnerability struck me, and we took a short ride. Off to the trash heap the Ugly old toy, and I said “Buh-bye baybee, say land-fill, ahoy!”
Ella puzzled and thought, how could it be so? He left without warning! He left with no good-bye, he left in the night; did Uglier Frog die?
And what happened next? Well in my home they say, that Mommy’s toy-loving heart squoze out NO REMORSE that day!
And now that my burden didn’t feel quite so tight, I delighted in the knowledge that Lance should see my plight: no more Ugly toys, and we’ll all have peace, and me, Rebecca –herself, her mind will be at ease.

RIP: Ulgier Frog: 2008-2008

4th of July Weekend!

We had a fantastic weekend! The girls were dressed in their 4th of July best! We went to Lance's parent's home to watch the fireworks, we had a great dinner, and some even better family time.

Max the dog was excited to watch them too!

We went to the Boy Scout Breakfast the next morning and met up with Rachael and Lily (who was also dressed in her 4th of July best!). Lance went golfing, we hit the Hyrum parade, it was a great weekend! I love summertime!

Independence Day

Independence Day, 2008: What an amazing gift to live in this country. I can’t imagine life without the beautiful freedoms that we know. To the soldiers out there, thank you thank you thank you for your service. Thank you for fighting for our freedom from oppression, from terror, from tyranny. To the families of these soldiers, thank you for the sacrifices you make each day they’re gone. I have family who have served, but am not someone who has a loved one out there right now. However, I love each of them, and hold each in a sincere respect. We live in a choice land, and the freedoms I personally experience are a blessing I humbly recognize. God bless the USA.

Hookey Camping

Lance called in absent on Tuesday night and got a bit of a wild hair… With the 1st load of laundry in the washer, we decided to head to our favorite campsite and see if we could find a cool place to camp for the night! We wound up at #34 –which was fantastic…when we first got it… Later the mosquitos were CRAZY. I wound up heading back for bug spray (I should have packed it from the start!) and cd's, as we kind-of rushed out the door. We picked up Chaedon (Lance's son -11 years old) too! Here he is building the fire!

Chaedon and Ella have a BLAST together! I can't figure out why Ella made that face, but it's worth publishing. Those kids cracks me up!

Mia had a lovely time in the crib that we set up outside. She's got a bottle, a few fun ball toys, her diaper bag, and a mag-lite. What more could a kid ask for?

Took this sitting at the campfire. I thought it was cute :)

We LOVE camping! It's such a fantastic family-time activity. There's no TV, no cleaning, no phones, no distractions that pull you away from some great quality time. I think that the good Lord made Logan Canyon as fantastic as it is for us to enjoy... So enjoy, folks!

Excellent weekend

The fam got together this last weekend in celebration of Lily & Dad's birthdays. Here are some of the highlights:

Seuao, Lily and Rachael with the very adorable home-made lady-bug cake!

Lily would only eat it with a fork! Crazy kiddo!

Noah got some chocolate action.

Benny was adorable as ever (here with Mary, his mommy)!

My girls looked freakin' fantastic!

Mia had such a great time she checked out.

Noah brought her back to the party...

Dad turned 57 years old! YAY Dad!

Nothin' like time with the fam. I love you guys!

Somedays

Somedays I miss my family. We have amazing nights -like when these pictures were taken- where we all hang out and just talk and talk and talk. The kids play, we all exchange babies, we plan events, we tell funny stories. I love the family I was raised with -and wouldn't trade what we have for anything.
Somedays I get headaches and wish I could close my eyes for a long long long time.
Somedays I look down in the shower and see things like a leaf from Ella's froggie game, a plastic horse, a ram, a lizard, a spongebob, and 1/2 of a truck and wonder what happened to my life... :)
Somedays I wish Lance hated beer.
Somedays I want to take my girls to the mall and get them something cute to wear.
Somedays I need to be told I'm beautiful and am a good mom.
Somedays I wish my job were more simple.
Somedays I spend some extra time reading and counting with Ella because she's so darn smart and she amazes the heck out of me.
Somedays I boogie down to "The Office" music, and Ella joins me.
Somedays I wish Lance and I had more nights together.
Somedays I have friends come by and am grateful for the adult conversation.
Somedays hearing Mia spitting and knowing the drool is soaking her clothes makes me smile.
Somedays my life and the plan for me makes perfect sense.