My Nemesis! LaUnDRy... YUCK!

Why can't I figure this out! My worst enemy keeps getting the best of me and I cannot figure out how to get over it! I HATE LAUNDRY! I constantly have piles every where; piles to wash, piles to fold, piles to put away, piles of Ryans clothes that he wants to wash himself, piles of clothes that he wants to put away himself, piles of clothes that the kids leave around everywhere. This really is my worst thing that I cannot get a grip on! What is the best way to tackle this problem? Should I do it once a week? Get it all done from washing to folding and putting away? Should I wash one day and fold and put away another? (which is what I am doing now and it is driving me crazy!), Should I just try to keep up on it all week? I guess I am alright at the washing of clothes... but then it just sits in a big pile for me to fold and put away until I literally cannot open the door or it is just to ridiculous to find anything! Or then I do fold and it sits in those piles! Maybe I am just too lazy and just need to get over it and stop wishing for the laundry fairy to come at night and rescue me! Should I decorate my laundry room really fun so I like to be in there? Do I need a better organization of things so its fun and cool to look at? I just need an overhaul! So if anyone out there really does read this and has any advice for a laundry hater like myself...please help!

ThE UlTiMatE SmORe

So this weekend The UlTiMaTe SMoRe was discovered! Of course we were up at the cabin for most of the weekend... Friday was a work day for Ryan of which they got a lot done; most of the roof on the pump house, ripped out cabinets and reframed the kitchen! It was really exciting! And ryan worked so hard! Anyways, that night after a hard and yet fun day we created the ultimate treat! We have recently switched from graham crackers and Hershey bars to the E L Fudge Fudge Stripe Cookies for less mess and fuss. Which turned out to be a great switch. So we used those with a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup and the perfect toasted marshmallows (yes I have a roasting marshmallows gift) AN AmAziNG combination! I don't know how we will go back to just the basic smore, we have been spoiled! We went back up to Sunnybrook on Saturday for more fun with dad since he got all his jobs done the day before... Ry and Mason built a boat that we floated down the canal and even the river was low enough that we sent it down from the bridge and caught it, well Lisa caught it, what a great aunt! Ryan also built a dam in the river so the little ones could sit and play. That was one of my favorite memories as a kid. This time of year the river is low enough so you can cross it and just play... the kids played and played their frozen little buns off. And the dogs chased sticks and rocks until their poor paws were raw. I can remember doing that a lot this time of year when I was little. Of course we 4-wheeled. Claire even fell asleep while on the 4-wheeler with me. It was so cute, she was out like a light! One unfortunate thing that happen was Ryan's transmission went out on him while coming back from golf on Saturday! YUCK!!! So he had it towed back to Salt Lake and will get the diagnosis on Monday! That was upsetting! And one other thing I was we would have caught sooner was the firework show over DeerCreek Reservoir on Friday night. We were about 20 minutes late getting down so we caught the show as we were heading back down into Heber, so we pulled over and watched from far away. The firework show is awesome if you can get a spot by the lake! All the colors reflect off the water, it is amazing! But at least we caught some of the action! What a great weekend! As I have said before, that place brings me so much peace and joy. What a blessing to have this in our family! Happy Pioneer Day!

A great night with some old friends!

Yes... its been 4 years since we have all gotten together. What! Crazy! And in that 4 years families have exploded... kids are now everywhere. We didn't even attempt to get the "kid picture" of them all together because it really would be just madness. But so fun to see everyone! A little background; all the guys new each other in high school and a few of us girls who were around back then were all friends too. Since then everyone got married and started families and recently over the past few years moved to various areas which made it tougher to all get together. A few of us would get together at a time in the recent past but it has been too long that we were all playing together. We all started having kids at the same time, and lucky enough they were all boys to start off. Soon after girls started trickling in and now families are just grown and absolutely beautiful. So lets see if I can go through everyone and get it all straight... We have 3 (obviously), Alan and Jen-2, Marsh and Bree-2, Josh and Mel-2, Jeff and McCall-2, Rick and Ambur-3, Bob and Deb-4, Matt and Kami-4, Troy and Misti- 2 TOTAL=24 kids! YO! But what fun it is to catch up and pick up right where we left off! Lets hope the time in between this time and next is a lot quicker! So Thanks Josh and Mel for letting us use your house and putting it all together! What a great time and memory! Ry and I have been so blessed over the years with great friends that have stuck by us and that we really care about! Friends are a big part of our lives and we are so lucky to be surrounded by so many great people is so many areas in our lives. I think the Lord knew we would need to feel the comfort of friends in our lives because they truly surround us! What a great blessing!

More St. George Fun!!!

This last weekend we took some friends, the Walkers, down to St George for some more hot summer fun before football was totally under way. It was so hot! Never below 90 and would reach 115 during the day! Yikes and we were out in it all day every day! How is it that kids don't really even seem to notice how hot it is... they can just go forever in it. Me, on the other hand, after just sitting in it for a few hours is wiped out! But by the end of the day I think we did our job because the kids were exhausted! We hit the three splash pads, a couple of parks, played tennis, and baseball, played in the back yard, went shopping ate a lot of awesome vacation food. In-N-Out was hit 3 times, the Pizza Factory, and of course Toblers Bakery (a large amount of cookies were consumed!) We hiked the Petragliphs hike (of course Ella told me the whole time that she hated the dirt and rocks) and also drove through Zions only being able to stop at some look out points. Unfortunately we didn't have the time to do any of the hikes... but it was so gorgeous and I can't wait to go again and hike next time! The boys camped out in the living room and stayed up late watching movies every night and were up early ready to go as soon as their feet hit the floor! Ella struggled with sleeping and seemed tired a lot but she also had a good time and loved playing in the water. Claire was an angel, slept great, played great, easy in the car! I missed Mason by the end of it all... him and Cade played the whole time so well I hardly felt like I saw him! They had a great time! We did make a new friend while we were down there... We found a kitten that has made a home for herself in my parents back yard... Ella was obessed, of course, my little snow white! She loved and hugged on that thing constantly. We made the mistake of feeding her (it was so hot and she looked so hungary) so she stayed around the house and would not leave. Ella carried this poor kitty around a ton. I tried calling a shelter to come and get her but nobody responded so hopefully someone else will take pit on the little thing! What a blessing it is that my parents are so generous in letting us go down and take friends and play so often. It is a quick and fun get away that I am always needing a re-coop day from when I get back because we play so hard and I usually gain weight because I eat too much vacation food but so so so fun and well worth it!
PS I forgot my camera down there! AGGHHHH but luckily Melissa didn't so as soon as she emails pictures to me I will get them on here!

First name basis!!!

Yes, that's right, Ryan and Deron Williams are on first name basis, he really knows who Ryan is! What a spoiled guy! Thanks to Ryan's sister, Jen and her awesome job, and the fact that she is too good to her brother, Ry and D-Will are well acquainted! This last Friday Ryan was able to be Jen's plus 1 at a fundraiser dinner at LaCaille that her company Vitamin Water was sponsoring! So once again he was able to schmooze with the big dogs! He had good chats with Paul Millsap, of which he begged to stay around, and Ronnie Price, who was really nice to him. He also begged the President of the Jazz to pay whatever he needed to keep Millsap with us, he said he would love to but there is a lot of $$$$$ out there on the table for him and he wasn't sure what is going to happen-(don't like the sound of that!) Bolerjack and his wife were very nice, he saw Dee Brown, and of course talked with the big man and his wife a little bit, congratulating them on the new addition of their baby boy. This was the point where D-Will came up to Ryan and Jen and said, "Hey Ryan how's it going?" I guess Jeni needs to find a new date! Just Kidding! we are so grateful for Ry being able to to attend all these things with her and see a glimpse into the glamour life. He has been to golf tournaments sponsored by D-Will, birthday parties for Ronnie Brewer and CJ Miles, Sundance parties- A lot of fun things. The food was of course awesome and the atmosphere was incredible. We bought him a new shirt and tie, so of course he looked way hot! And he finally asked if he could have a picture taken with him... YEAH!!! He has been afraid to sound like the stalker fan if he asked for one, but he did this time for me! What a great night and fun memory to have! Thanks Jen!

Claire is 10 months

Wow this baby is growing up fast! I love seeing her little personality develop and grow... so I just had to sit down and write a quick bio on my Claire bear! Yes she totally reminds me of a baby bear from her solid yet soft and squishy body and her growling and barking. She makes the funniest noises, she can do a mean little growl at you and this little bark rahhh rahhh when she is mad. She also has this voice that has the ability to go to the very core of me when she screams, yikes. She definitely knows how to get my attention! She is in love with her daddy right now, they love to play. He flips and throws her around and she loves it. She kicks her legs and arms and laughs and can't wait for more. Every morning Ella goes in her room when she gets up and Claire gets up so excited to see her, it is so cute. And if Ella isn't there quick enough she yells "ALLLA!" not mommy but "ALLA". Mason and her love to play and wrestle. She lights up when he comes in the room. She is intense and wants what she wants, does not like to be alone and play by herself, she needs somebody there to entertain her. She loves being outside. Loves to go for nature walks and just look at things. She would sit in the backyard all day. She is starting to like Sammy, animals are something that she is having to learn to love, I don't think it is quite instinctual. Horses and kitty's have definitely not made the list yet, she is scared to death of them. She smiles so easy... just look at her and her whole face smiles, its my favorite thing. She now has 5 teeth and is getting ready to pop another one through, its been a little rough on her but she has been a trooper. She is the best sleeper, especially at night... goes to bed around 8pm and I don't hear from her until the next morning until 7-8am. Naps have been great, except i think she wanting to start the transition to 1 nap a day instead of 2 but I don't think she is quite ready. A way fast crawler and walks around furniture. She is starting to be brave and take a few steps when you hold her hands. She has the kindest eyes that light up, she is so sweet and happy and just a fun baby! She loves her mom and still has a hard time going to anyone else if I am an option in the room. Which is so sweet and yet can be tough at times but overall what a compliment! She brings a happiness to her daddy like none other, they just have fun together! She still will not hold her own bottle she likes to be catered to in that area and only takes a Binky to fall asleep. A ball of energy yet a little shy when it comes to new things. She takes a minute or two to warm up to new situations but after that the game is on. I can't imagine my life with out her... what joy she brings to me and her family! we love her so much... I just had to sit down and write a little bit about her so I never forget what an amazing a joyful baby she is! LOVE LOVE LOVE HER!

4tH oF JuLY!!!!

What a day... what a day! We jammed packed as much fun as we could into this day! And by the end of it all we were exhausted! In fact I think I am still recovering! We love this holiday... Fireworks are my favorite! Ever since I was a little girl I get this giddy excited bubbly feeling inside whenever I see a firework show. They are so fun to me! We went up to my "happy place", the cabin, for the afternoon and spent some time with my family! Poor Ryan didn't play much at all, he spent most of the day working on the inside with my brothers and dad putting up some sheet rock in the new bathroom and sitting room. Bummer for him but we are so grateful, I can't believe how much work my dad has done on the cabin to up date it, we are so close to having an indoor bathroom! Wahoo! Speaking of updating... my parents bought new couches for up there and surprised us! So exciting and what a relief! We have been sitting on I swear 100 year old couches FoReVeR that are so uncomfortable and awful! So they finally broke down and got some awesome couches! YEAH!!! I got to spend the day 4-wheeling with my kids(Claire first time... she would kick her arms and legs the whole time, she loved it) and fishing, nature walks and just sitting around and chatting with the family! Totally wonderful! We left there around 4:00pm and hurried down to get ready and go to the Stadium of Fire with Ryan's family. We have never been before so it was exciting! SHeDaisy and Jonas Brothers preformed... blah blah blah. We could have done with out that. But all in all it was okay! Claire did amazing, I was totally worried whe would have a melt down with it being so late but she slept through the Jonas Bros. (something we all wish we could have done) and didn't freak out during the awesome and long firework show. She got a little nervous but nothing Ryan couldn't calm her down with. What an angel baby! Mason and Ella enjoyed sitting with Nana and Papa and watching the show. I enjoyed a flag ceremony that was preformed. A flag that had been flown in the Salt Lake area for 13 years in various events had become too tattered and worn to fly so they burned it in a giant kiln type thing to retire it. It was a beautiful and moving, a respectful and reverent scene to watch and helped to renew my love for this wonderful country! The crappy part of the night was getting home 1 1/2 hours later from Provo to Lehi! YUCK! But Ry and I got goofy in the car and just sang and laughed and ate candy as we tried to come up with new shorter ways to get home... I think we failed but we made it fun and the kids quickly fell asleep! Happy 4th!
QUOTE OF THE DAY: Trying to be the fun mom... I tried to stand up and dance during the Jonas Bros part at Stadium of Fire, Mason quickly grabbed my arm and pulled me down and told me I was not to dance to this group mom... you are so embarrassing!

Oakley Rodeo

Love, Love, Love the Oakley Rodeo! I look forward to it each year! I actually just love this time of year... celebrate freedom, cowboys, BBQ's, family, friends, fireworks, summer nights! The list could go on and on! This year the weather didn't quite cooprerate with all of our plans... dumb rain. We were going to spend the day in Park City at the Alpine Slide or swimming and playing but instead we just ate and goofed off at the outlets 'cause of the rain. Ryan's mom was really sick and wasn't able to come so Mike stayed home with her, and Ally wasn't ready to bring out the new baby out so we were short a few people and we missed them. By the time the rodeo started the rain stopped and it ended up being a great night! Claire was awesome! I was afraid the late night would send her into a melt down but she was having too much fun! She even enjoyed watching the fireworks, she wasn't scared at all! Mason brought a friend this year, Cade, they had fun together and entertained eachother! I can't believe how much crap they ate...I swear they ate an entire bag of cheetos, red vines, and a box candy each! Ella was attached to her aunt Jeni all night! It was lots of fun! Love this yearly tradition! Happy 4th of July... more partying to come this weekend!