Island Park

A month or so ago my grandma mentioned she was going up to Island park to watch my cousins. I mentioned Jade loves it up there and she said we were more than willing to come up. Scott couldn't take off work so I decided I would take the kids. I mentioned it to my sister and she decided to bring her family as well. Then- I went to the family reunion and we all know how well that went with Jax. I started re-thinking taking him with me and in the end decided to leave him home with Scott. I felt bad to leave him, but it was a good decision in the end
Jade and I packed up the car and headed out on Sat. We made a few stops (including Build-a-bear for a free bear) and then headed up. Jade was REALLY anxious to get there and asked the famous "ARe we there yet" several times. Besides one GIGANTIC meltdown at a gas station stop (which she ended up scoring an ice cream from Joe the cashier-who paid for it for her himself) the ride was pretty nice. She watched movies and I listened to a book on tape. It was really nice.
We got up there and headed out to a Rodeo-I forgot my camera which was ok. It was not very exciting and even though we paid $23 for the rodeo and dinner we didn't stay long. The kids were all antsy to get back and ride horses. We didn't get back till about 8:00 though which only left us time for a quick 4 wheelin ride to the pit.
Sunday was my bday. We went to church and then headed to Yellowstone. We didn't see much wildlife (one elk) but we did swim in the hot springs and that was fun. Jade rode horses, my sister cooked a great dinner and cake for my bday, and then Ryan took all the kids swimming and my sister, niece and I took the 4wheelers out. It was lots of fun!
Monday we went on a long 4wheelin ride. Jade stayed behind because Caroline had gotten home and she wanted to stay with her. We headed out in the afternoon to float the river. Isn't really my thing. It was pretty but I think it's boring. Jade felt the exact same way! That night we had a bbq out on the deck. The weather was perfect!
Tuesday we went on another long ride. I love riding the 4wheelers! We went to a place called Big Springs. The water there was amazing. IT was the clearest water I have ever seen. We walked through some cabin and then headed back. Jade played with her cousins and rode horses in the afternoon and I read and slept! We watched the moose in the backyard for awhile. He was not in any hurry to leave. Rode the 4 wheelers again that night and then started packing up to head home
Wed morning we were up and out the door by about 8:30. The ride home was soooo nice. Jade was still tired and just totally relaxed and I listened to my book again. We stopped in Malad to see where my great-grandparents are buried. I laughed and realized I am getting old. I was so excited to find their grave and see it and Jade said she would just stay in the car! Too funny.
We stopped at Lagoon on the way home and met up with Jax and Brand. Jax had not talked to me once since I left. Scott would talk to me on the phone but Jax never wanted to! But....he was very excited to see me and gave me lots of love! Within the first hour he was having a meltdown over something and I realized what a great vacation in was! :)
The kids with the moose in the background
Jade and Caroline on the horse

Riding with her cousins

Big springs water

Everyone feeding the fish/seagulls/muskrats

Jade before one of our many rides!

Seth and Jade with the Rhino

Waiting to ride. Gotta love the outfit!

Jade, Sam and I with my bday cake! YUM!!!

Jade and Zach at Old Faithful
I thought this was cute
Swimming in the hot springs
The kids ready to ride

Jade at the Cemetary. (p.s. If she knew I posted this she would be VERY angry. She didn't want anyone to see the picture of her in her pajamas! Silly girl!)

Thanks to Scott, my mom, scott's dad and Belva, and Brand for watching Jax while I was gone! I had such a good time and it was nice to be able to relax WAY more than I would have if I had brought Jax with me!

Going Private

Alright.....I have been thinking about going private on my blog for awhile and I think I am going to do so again. If you read my blog and we have never met I am ok to add you to the private listing, just leave your email so I know who all is reading. I think I will go private in about a week. In the mean time I have LOTS of catching up to do. Just got back from a vacation and it was soooo nice! Thanks....love ya all!

Lucky to be alive

Camping was great. The ride home.....not so much. Due to the fact I write this blog for journaling sake, I am writing this down. Otherwise I wouldn't-mostly because I think Scott would prefer I didn't. But the few of you who read my blog know that Scott is not one of you, so we are ok. And since the majority of people we know already know the story, I might as well write it down.
When we were getting ready to leave camping I decided I didn't want to drive home (I drive 95% of the time we are all together). Scott was totally fine with that and then joked with Cheryl about the reason he doesn't drive: I am a bad backseat driver. So we got in the car and he was driving. We made it down the canyon-all was good (1st good thing). Scott got in the straight lane and then said he should get on the freeway. Since we were already in the straight lane I told him just to go straight (next good thing-and maybe a little backseat driving too). We made it through 2 lights. As we were sitting at the next red light Scott said "I don't feel very good". I didn't really respond just figured he was tired or something. The light turned red and we started going. Up ahead I could see the next red light. Scott wasn't slowing down. I was going to say something but decided against it right then...ya know, backseat driving. A second or two later I finally said "Are you going to slow down?" I didn't get a response and he didn't slow down. This time I hit his shoulder "Are you going to stop" When I didn't get a response then I realized something was VERY wrong. For a split second I thought he had dozed off but quickly realized that was not the case. The next 30 seconds are all a blur. I started SCREAMING at him and then grabbed the wheel as we were now behind all the cars that were STOPPED at the red light and Scott's foot was still on the gas. I yanked the wheel to pass on the right so I didn't hit the stopped cars. We went on the curb and then THROUGH the red light. Right after the red light was a hill. At the bottom of the hill was an EXTREMELY busy intersection and all that I could think about was how we were accelerating and that we were going to go right into that busy intersection and die. I continued to scream and after trying to reach down and move Scott's foot off the gas (all the while screaming and trying to steer the car and not hit anyone else) I finally was able to scoot over to the middle and put my leg over his and slam on the brakes. I jumped out of the car shaking and was thinking I needed to call 911 because he still was completely passed out. I couldn't find my cell since all of my crazy driving had moved it. I had probably come within inches of hitting about 5 cars....all of which had realized there was a problem and pulled over. I started crying and shaking, Jax was in the car crying, and Jade had got out of the car crying. Everyone was asking if I wanted them to call 911. Scott came to about then and I said "What in the world are you doing?!?!?" He got out of the car and then proceeded to pass out again on the grass. A guy came up and was mad saying how Scott was all over the road and should't be driving (in my head I was thinking "Duh. 1- he wasn't driving, I was and 2-I'm not about to let him get back behind the wheel) But I could understand as we had almost hit him. I am not sure why no one called 911 right away but after about 2 min of Scott passed out on the grass he came to so I told them we would be ok and that I would call Cheryl (who is a nurse). I called her but was crying too much and it took her a minute to figure out what I was saying. She said she and Kevin would come to where we were. Everyone drove away and we waited for Cher. It took me about 10 min to be able to calm down. Scott was pretty out of it....and very confused. I told him what had happened but he didn't really understand what was going on. Cher and Kevin came and after Cher talked to him for a bit we realized he hadn't had anything to drink (besides a coke) for about 36 hours. Why...good question. She thought he was probably dehydrayted and caused him to pass out. We got him some water and then she said to go home and rest and then see how he felt later and if he was still not feeling well to go to the ER. So we got back in the car-I was driving-and went home. We went right in and amazingly all of us (kids included) slept for about 4 hours. By the time Scott woke up he was feeling better physically but had realized all that had happened and was pretty shook up. We decided to continue with what we had planned for the night and took the kids to Toy Story and then watched fireworks at my grandma's. It was a nice relaxing way to end the crazy morning.Scott went to the Dr Monday morning and he agreed with what we had thought: Dehydration. He did some blood work but it all came out ok.
Looking back it is so clear how blessed we were that day. Had it happened a few minutes earlier we would have been going down the very curvy canyon and would have been off the cliff or hit a biker before I even realized he was out (he had his glasses on and his head was still up). Had we gotten on the freeway we would have been going MUCH faster and would have hit someone before I realized he was out. Had it happened 30 seconds later I would have been running a MUCH busier red light and there would have been no way we weren't hit. It's crazy. It was the scariest moment of my life. I truly thought we were going to die. It was awful. I am so glad we were not hurt and that we didn't hurt anyone else.

Mothering

I have seen this on a ton of blogs. I love it. I should probably listen to it EVERY morning. I love Elder Holland. I also love being a mom. What a blessing it really is. And knowing we have others working a long side us each day while I mother....? Well that is pretty awesome!

Camping!

When I was trying to decide what we should do for his birthday I decided that rather than having a party we would go camping. I knew Jax would love nothing more than to spend and entire day outside-in the dirt. So that's what we did. We went up with my friend Cher and her family which was nice because there were extra kids for my kids to play with. I will admit it is the first time we have been tent camping with Jax and Jade! The good news is that we had a great time and the kids did really well sleeping in the tent so I am sure we will try it again soon! I can guarantee Jax enjoyed camping more than any party I would have had!

They loved having their bikes up there!

This was Jax's favorite thing to do: Throwing pine cones in the stream!

Jade and Makay were such good buddies up there...even sharing ear buds!

This was so great! Cher's dad was telling the kids campfire stories. As you can tell, the kids loved it!

Gotta have smores!

Dear Jax,

You made it! I made it! :) I am late writing this-but not because of time, or forgetting. It's really because I have wondered what to write. It's not a secret that you and I struggle. We seem to but heads most day, but when I wrote about you turning 3 and the last year I didn't want to post about that....yet it is a part of the past year!
So I am going to re-post something that I posted from Dec. It couldn't sum up your year of being 2 any better. At the end of the day I love you to pieces and when I tell you I love you, you always say "I love you too" in the cutest little voice. That is all that matters.....

You woke in the morning in such a bad mood

then sat at the table and fussed with your food

But then you blew kisses and waved from the door.

I love you, I love you, my dinosaur.

Out in the sandbox you threw lots of sand.

You ran from the slide after slapping my hand.

But you suddenly turned with a smile I adore

Oh, I'll always love you, my dinosaur.

You moped through your nap time and slept not a wink.

You flooded the house when you played in the sink

But you got out the mop and then cleaned up the floor.

I love you so much, little dinosaur.

Off in the car you kept kicking my seat,

and when we got out you were dragging your feet.

But you held my hand tight when we walked in the store.

I'll love you forever, my dinosaur.

Dinner disaster!You made such a mess!

Would you stay up past bedtime? The answer was YES!

But when you smile sweetly and hold back your roar,

when you kiss me and hug me once, twice, even more...

that's when you give love, and I know this is true,

because that's how a dinosaur says I love you!

I love ya Jax. You are definitely full of energy and determination. I am sure it will get you far in life! Now we both just have to have the patience to get you there! Thanks for loving me even when I get mad. Your daddy, "shay shay" and I all love you very much! We are so happy we have you in our family!

Love, Mom!

Jadyn...The photographer???

I love when I go to upload pictures and see 20+ random pictures like these. Nice to see the world from her view!

Her pet society page

Deoderant?



Sippy

The inside of her mouth!

Let me clear it up....

Someone from Australia commented on my Memorial day post. She felt I put Jax in danger by allowing him by the water when he can't swim. Let me make it clear....I was watching him on the side of the pool. He in no way could have drowned as I was standing right there and was obviously totally fine with jumping in after him....Just wanted to make that crystal clear. Done.

Sleepovers with Brand

Jade loves sleeping at Brands and gets EXTREMELY spoiled when she is there. Reminds me of all the sleepovers I had with my nieces in the past!

Memorial Day 2010

We had such a fun day today. Scott and I woke up early to clean...boring, I know, but it needed to be done! So we were both up at 7:00. He cleaned downstairs and I cleaned upstairs. It made for a late start to the rest of the day, but nice to get the house done. And the great thing-carpets get cleaned tomorrow. YIPEE!!! Anyway....We then went out for our 2nd annual bike (rollerblade) ride to the cemetery. Jade rode a little on her bike and then jumped in the stroller. We were going into the wind the entire ride there. It was a little rough.

I enjoyed being at the cemetery for a little while. It is nice to be able to take my kids to Grandma Carla's grave. Jade understands who she is and that she died. Jax doesn't. We picked out a little turtle to leave at the grave. I told him when we bought it we had to leave it at the cemetery. But-when we left it there, he was NOT happy. It's good to go to the cemetery but hard at the same time. Makes me just wonder what life would be like if she was here. She would have been a VERY loving grandma to my kids. They are definitely missing out by not having her here. I am grateful for Memorial Day. To remember her, my grandma and grandpa Warner and all those that have died for our freedom and are still serving our country. I truly feel VERY blessed.

The ride back to the car was great. We made it back in 1/2 the time. We rushed home, grabbed some food, and headed up to a BBQ at Scott's aunt. Jade loved playing with baby Xander, Jax and Damian had fun running around together, and we had fun visiting with his family that we don't see very often.

Jax fell asleep on the way home and we headed to my grandma's to swim. Our pool opened this weekend but the water is usually pretty cold and there were a lot of people there earlier in the day. Jade played in the water and Scott stayed in the car with Jax. He woke up after we had been there for about 30 min. I got him out and in his swimsuit and then I told him he needed to only play on the steps until Aunt Brandee brought his life jacket. I explained probably 5 times he can't swim without it so he needed to stay on the stairs. I was standing on the side of the hot tub and he was on the steps while I was telling him to stay there. So what did he do when I finished explaining? Jumped to the middle of the hot tub. It took about 1 second for him to realize that he really couldn't swim and about another 2 seconds for me to realize there was no way he could paddle back to the side. His eyes got really big really fast and so I did what any mom would do-jumped in fully clothed to pull him out! He was upset. Definitely scared him. I explained to him again that he needed to wait for Brand. I took him out and we went over to the pool. He sat on the stairs for about 2 seconds, grabbed a paddle board and started kicking away. He wasn't turning around and was getting too far into the deep end so I jumped in again-and decided it was best to just stay in-fully clothed-until brand got there! Brand couldn't get his shark life jacket out of Scott's car so she brought a normal life jacket. We put it on and Jax was not fond of it "It's too big (or too small). This is not for me. This is for big kids" but after a few minutes he got used to is and was good to go! Seriously have to keep an eye on him!

The kids swam for about an hour and a half before we headed home. It was a great day. So fun to spend the day together as a family!

Our weekend in Ogden!

Wow! I am so behind! Seems to be the norm around here!

The middle of may we spent the weekend up in Ogden. I was running the Ogden marathon. I have run it the last two years and LOVE the course!

Brand, the kids, and I left Friday morning. Our first stop was the Hill Air Force museum. We have been a few times but the kids like it. This year we realized there is a little kid play place there too, so they had fun playing there.

We headed to lunch at Pizza Factory. The kids were pretty hungry and were both so good....which I am always grateful for! There was a bowling alley attached to the Pizza Factory so we decided to bowl! After bowling we headed down to the Train depot where I needed to pick up my race packet information. Then (gosh, I am getting tired just reading all of this!) we went back to the hotel and I think the kids swam. At that point they were pretty exhausted! We ran to get subway and Jax fell asleep! Woo hoo! We hung out for a little while and then were in bed by 10:00!

Jade showing off her awesome bowling shoes!

Sat we planned on leaving the hotel around 6:00 and having Brandee drive us up to the start line. Brilliant right? Well as we got closer to the canyon we realized we had a HUGE problem. The canyon was closed. It was not 6:30 and there was no way we were going to make it on time by turning around. MOST of the cops could have cared less about us but there was one....he asked how many runners we had. We said 2 (melissa had met me at the hotel). He yelled to another runner he had just turned away and then yelled to another cop and asked him to take us up the canyon in the cop car! One of the other cops was sooooo mad that he was taking us! oops! So we jumped in the cop car and SPED....and I mean SPED up the canyon. At one point he was going 120!!!! We made it to the start about 10 min before it started! Whew!!!!! I love getting there just before though because you can just start instead of sit around and wait for an hour! The race was really awesome! I LOVED it. The first 10 miles in the canyon was enjoyable. The last 3 are always rough, but it was still fun. I finished in 2:02. I was VERY happy with that! Jade ran the end with me again-love that! The best part of the race.....I DIDN'T GET SICK!!!!!! YAY! so my last 2 half's I haven't been sick. I attribute it to drinking A LOT more water than I used to and also not having dairy the day before!

After the race we decided to go to Lagoon....yeah, crazy. We only ended up going for about 3 hours. Jax fell asleep on the way back to the hotel so we were able to all take a nap for awhile. Scott came up about 4:00. When Jax got up we went to the Dino museum and then grabbed take out for dinner and went back to the hotel....followed by swimming! It was a great day-but I was def tired when it was over!

Sunday Brand and I walked on the treadmill while the kids swam with Scott and then we got ready and checked out. It was a busy weekend but we had such a fun time!