Labor Day in Lake Powell

Joey and I were invited to spend Labor Day weekend (actually 6 days over Labor Day) in Lake Powell with a bunch of friends. Joey had never been and I hadn't been since I was about 10, so it was almost like my first time too. We all rented a houseboat that was straight out of the 70's and rode lower on the left side, and found a cozy little cove to stay in for the week. My sister, mother-in-law, and parents kept the kids for us, so it was just adults with nothing to worry about! We had a fantastic time!!! Really, for about 99% of the time we just layed around or rode on the boat, I don't think I've been able to relax that much since before I had kids, maybe even before I was married and had a job! You know, sometimes you go on vacation and have so much to do that you never really relax? This was NOT that type of vacation, all I had to worry about was not getting too sunburned and hanging onto the tube for dear life.
We had only met 3 of the 10 people before we went, so I have to admit I was a little nervous that we might not all mesh and we were all sleeping in the same small space, kind of like a reality show! Everyone was so friendly and fun!!! We are all looking forward to next year's trip already!
To sum up the week: there was wakeboarding (a bunch of nasty wipeouts), tubing (5 girls on one tube!), fishing, swimming, eating great, campfires, dance parties, sightseeing, laughing (lots and lots of laughing), studying, nicknaming, eyebrow plucking (Joey included), sunbathing, hiking, photo ops, shaving of heads, bruising, and a whole lot of doing nothing!
Thanks so much to Justin (aka Dagger) for inviting us, our family for keeping the kids, and Jessie (Keg), Emi (Poca), Lynny (Iron Fist), Laura (Delta), Nate (Ham Fried Ri), Jonny (Muscle Hamster), & Malina(D.I.) for making it such a great week!

Fairs and Trains and Swimming, Oh My!

I've been bad! Has it really been over a month since I last blogged? I can't even believe it, I guess that's what happens when I get ready to go back to school. Hopefully I can be better about it again now that I'm starting to get back into the school routine. As always, we've been doing lots of fun things and I have some pictures of some of those, but not all. These are pictures of us at the Davis County Fair, Roy Aquatic Center, the Frontrunner station, one from Roy Days, and some random fun at home and "Gramma and Papa's". Duffy was in heaven at the Davis County Fair, there was a crocodile show that he watched, rides (he chose the most grown-up one, of course!), and even a TON of soldiers. He just loves anyone in uniform: police officers, firemen, soldiers, etc. He also got to brush and milk a cow, my little farmer boy.
Another pic is of Duffy "hunting" in the backyard with my dad's binoculars. He thinks he's so awesome and big now. It used to be that he was "birdwatching" but now he goes hunting in the "jungle" in their backyard. (Lots of quotes on this post, isn't there, but I love his wording for things!)
One morning I went up to get Maisy out of bed and she had pulled her arm out of her nightgown so she was sporting this one-shoulder look. I just had to take a pic of my little fashionista and she was more than willing to smile for the camera!
We also went on a ride to Ogden and back on the Frontrunner, just something free for us to do since my sister and I have ed-passes. Duffy really enjoys it and the ride was just short enough for Maisy to be pretty good too. I grabbed a couple of quick pics at the station: Maisy in the stroller in her green outfit and Duffy standing up and smiling in the striped polo.
I love my kids so much and love my life staying home with them. I know I've said it before but I just feel so blessed right now!

More Summer-time Fun

We have such a great time during the summer, I just wanted to post some pictures of our many activities: Fishing at Jensen Park, picking out grandpa's new machine, swimming at grandma and grandpa's, and just hanging out. I just love my kids and can't imagine my life without them! I love to expose them to new things and fall in love with summer all over again through their eyes.

I LOVE Yard Sales!

I've decided yard sales are a great American pastime. I love to go out on Saturday mornings and see what kind of junk, or treasure, people are trying to sell. This year my family decided to clear out the basement and have a gargantuan yard sale. The kids and I got up at the crack of dawn and headed out to help. We had SO MUCH to unload it was insane! The kids were so good and Maisy cooperated even better than I thought she would, until it started to get really hot and then she had a total meltdown. A lot of people stopped by and my parents got rid of a lot of stuff, so I think it was a success!

Luminaries

During this year's Syracuse Heritage Days we came across a booth that was recruiting for the Relay for Life that is put together for the American Cancer Society. Unfortunately there was only a week until the deadline to have teams together to actually participate which was definitely not enough time to get one together, so we settled for luminaries this year. These luminaries raise money for cancer research and are also a way to honor those who have fought cancer. One is for my dad who has beat muscle cancer, and one is for my father-in-law who passed away in 2004 from brain cancer. Next year my sister and I are getting a team together, and we can't wait!

Our Big Birthday Girl!

We had an All-American Girl party for Maisy's first birthday. We went to the park and had burgers, homemade root beer, potato salad (thanks Cody and Erin!), and lots of fun. My sister/party planner was a HUGE help - she made these fantastic little cupcakes I really wanted that were red, white, and blue inside and were frosted with her yummy buttercream frosting and decorated with sprinkles and foam stars(non-edible of course). She also made the most amazing birthday banner that had pictures of Maisy throughout the year and said "Happy Birthday Maisy!" She really is the best aunt ever! I made Maisy a tutu to match her onesie and Aimee and I made red bows which she REFUSED to leave in so she ended up with mad scientist hair for the remainder of the day.
Joey was the activity coordinator for the day :) He brought a basketball for the guys and filled up water balloons for almost the entire afternoon so that the kids could have a blast for about 30 seconds! He pulled the Jeep up and put on some tunes and made the BBQ complete.
Maisy really enjoyed her little red, white, and blue cake once she knew what to do with it. At first she just sat there, which is exactly what Duffy did with his first cake, but then she really dug in. She enjoyed it so much that she even had it in her hair. Actually, she enjoyed it too much because later that night she woke with a killer tummy ache and I had to make an emergency trip to Smith's to grab some gripe water.
Thanks to everyone who came: Grandma and Grandpa Great, Grandma and Papa B, Grandma O, Cody & Erin and the kids: Derek, Cheyenne, Connor, and Rylee(I spell her name wrong I think!), Jeromy, Shari and Shae, and of course our big brother Duffy. I think that's it, hope I didn't miss anyone!

It's Parade Season

Not much to say about this other than we LOVE LOVE LOVE to go to parades and city, county, and state fairs. Especially my sister and I, we go to any one we can find! These are just some pics from Syracuse Heritage Days and Layton Liberty Days, I'm sure there will be more to come, in fact Clinton Days is this weekend, see ya there!