Vacation in pictures

Here is a quick look at our wonderful vacation (Just be glad I didn't put all 275 pictures on this post!).

LD with his grandpa, Papi O (DH's Dad).

LD with Z (DH's Sis)

DH's Two sisters

Me and my grandma (almost 93!)

Me with two of my brothers (S and A).

DH's parents with the kids.

Me with all three of my brothers (S and J and A)

Old Friends C with C and J

More old friends: K with B

Even more old friends: Me with S and S

C with cousin, CR

New friend: Blogger meeting

Picnic with the cousins

Cousins again

C with cousin, S

Me with my parents

Me with old friend

Very Best friend since High School and me

My little tree climber...she LOVED it and climbed everywhere we went! She even fell 6-8 feet, but was not really hurt and, after a brief break, kept climbing.

It was a great time and I'm so glad to have pictures to remember it by! :)

Home, Sweet Home

I am home. Very Tired. Very Hot...It is hotter here than Colorado. But, I'm here! :)

Back in Colorado

We're back in Colorado. Saying goodbye was so hard. It will be a fun couple of days coming up, but we are all starting to be ready to go home. LD is having a difficult time. He is Daddy's Little Boy and this separation has been really hard.

Speaking of Dads...Happy Father's Day. Since we knew that we would not be there on Father's Day with DH, we videotaped the kids telling him Happy Father's Day and sending him on treasure hunts to find their presents (wrapped and hidden before we left). It turned out very cute and DH appreciated it. He actually would have been just fine with celebrating after we return, but....I am a stickler for the actual day of an event. We will still take him out to dinner when we get home.

Sorry for the pictureless posts. I'll post pictures about the trip when I get home.

Almost Gone

I leave this morning to go back to Colorado. I am so sad. I have the best in-laws ever! :)

We didn't do any sight seeing....but we did a lot of people seeing. It was so fun.

We have seen:

• My parents and brother
• DH's parents, two sisters, two brothers-in-law, and seven cousins.
• My Grandma, aunt and uncle, my other two brothers, and one sister-in-law.
• Two wonderful old friends, their DH's, and 10 kids
• A blogger friend I'd never met

Hasn't the drive (and the gas money) been worth it? I think so!

Pray for our drive today. :)

Vacation Update

We are having such a great time! It is so nice to see family. We are staying with my awesome sis-in-law and her family and much of the time my other sis-in-law and her family have been here. I don't even see my kids. They are off playing/bonding with their cousins. How fun! It makes the drive so worth it.

I have also gotten to spend a couple of afternoons with my dear grandma. I love her so much and she is the main reason I made this trip...she will be 93 this summer and I never know which time I see her will be the last. I do know that if this happens to be the last I have an awesome memory of her and I waving and blowing each other kisses goodbye. When I get home, I will post the photos.

Tonight, I also got to see two of my dearest friends (Sh and Sa) that have moved here. It was so awesome (those of you that know them should be soooooooooooooooo jealous! :) ). We talked, ate pizza, talked, roasted marshmallows, talked....it was as if we'd never left. K and C had so much fun with their best friends that had moved away. They both cried for 20 minutes when we left tonight...even though we stayed 2-3 hours longer than I'd planned. So worth the drive.

I'm Here

Quick Update:

I am here in Utah! :) After 15 hours driving Saturday and 9 hours driving yesterday....we are here at my sister-in-law's house! It is so awesome to be here! :) Thanks for all your prayers for my safe travel!

I'm Leave-in' on a...

ROAD TRIP. Don't know when I'll be back again.....

Am I crazy or what? 4 am tomorrow the kids and I head out for a 24-hour-ish drive! (No, DH is not coming with us...he is working.) Luckily, my parents live somewhat in the middle and we'll stop and go to church with them before driving again on Monday.

I don't know how often I will have access to the Internet or time to update my blog. I will miss you all. I have such good blogging friends! :) "See" you in a couple of weeks! :)

Last Day of School-parts 2 and 3

Part 2: Saying Goodbye

I went up to the school this morning to take final pictures of the kids with their teachers and classes. As exciting as it is for it to be summer, it is always sad to say goodbye!

Part 3: 1st Annual Waterfight

I read about this idea in the Family Fun magazine. It sounded very fun. I asked the kids. They loved the idea, so we did it. A couple of us moms waited for the bus with water guns aimed and ready. Prior to the bus arriving, we'd put out sprinklers, had buckets of water for reloading the guns, and filled up around 100 water balloons. They got off the bus and the fight was under way. It was so fun! :) I think we'll make it a tradition. My sister and her kids even came down and that made it more special.

Last Day of School-Part 1

I can't believe it! It is actually the last day of school. We never used to get out this late, but...even so, I can't believe it is here. Here are the kids with their teacher gifts getting ready to go out the door. The teacher gifts turned out so cute. They made plates (which I can't show you...their names are all over them). Then we made yummy cookies and muffins. Then we put them in a big cellophane bag and tied a mini-chalkboard around the top as the thank-you card. I was impressed at how darn cute they turned out. Thank-goodness one more thing crossed off my list. Now if I could just get ready for the trip I leave on in less than 48 hours! AYYYYY!

The Game of Life

Life sure has its ups and its downs. The last few days have been really difficult for me. Yet, I realize that this is like what I tell my children when they are sick, "You would never appreciate being healthy if you never got sick." I know I would not appreciate my wonderful life if I didn't have a down day or two to make me realize how truly blessed I am. Thank goodness for a Savior, upon whom I can always rely! :)

Late Post-Six Flags-Last Monday

This post has been delayed---I've been busy (but my Relief Society lesson is over! :) ). Late last week, DH's cousin called to say they were driving here to go to Six Flags over the weekend. We love them and were happy to have them stay. Then...they wanted to us to with them on Memorial Day. I think we are wimps. We thought it sounded, hot, crowded, and not much fun. But, she offered us going as a special gift and we couldn't refuse. We also love seeing them, so it was a good excuse to be together.

We went. It was HOT! It was crowded. Her DH loved to ride rides, so we set a pace the adults could barely keep up with, let alone the kids. LD got very sick. By the time we got home he had a fever and was really out of it. We were pushing water down him all day, but it was just too much for that little body. We had some fun moments, but...let's just say-we probably won't be doing this again any time soon!

Wide Awake and Frustrated

LD and I have been awake since 3:30 am. LD is tired, but not sleepy and I'm the lucky one that gets to be up with him. I even tried putting him back in his crib and letting him cry it out...after 35ish minutes, DH was begging me to get him so he could sleep. Lucky him. I didn't even get to workout...LD was still awake and DH was still asleep. I'm even more frustrated since between my calling and the end of year school stuff...and throw in unexpected company over the weekend and leaving to visit relatives in a week...long road trip...by myself...three kids, there is so much that isn't getting done. How Frustrating! Thanks for letting me vent. Have a great day, y'all!

Food Storage----What works for ME!

I have been storing food for years. But, in the last couple of weeks I had a wonderful idea that really works for me and my space I have to store. Today, I carried out the final step of my plan and I love it! It is perfect for me. I guess I realized that I have to store food as it works for me...not everyone else.

I have a long hall closet and that is about the only place to store food. I do have staples like beans, wheat, rice, etc. I also have amassed a collection of cans of soup, chili, tomatoes, peanut butter, rice, etc...., but it, to me, is all just a chaotic mess. Without having a room or location that I can easily view what I have and rotate it, it just wasn't working for me. I probably have 1-2 months worth of food, but it would be rather interesting to see how it could get thrown together.

So, I sat down, created a "Week 1" menu and shopping list. Then I went to the store, purchased all the items and a big, cheap tote. I placed all of week 1's items in the tote. Before storing the tote, I took note of all the expiration dates so that I could be sure to rotate items in a timely manner.

I am so excited. This works so well for me. The whole week is there, in the tote, and planned out. When I need to use this week, it will not be haphazard meals thrown together. My goal is to have 16 weeks of food this way (just over three months). Because I am not rotating in the traditional sense, these totes can be stored in the back of the closet, hidden away, until time to rotate and/or use! After the 16 weeks, I will continue to add to the staples part of the long-term storage.

An unexpected benefit is that I realized if I ever felt prompted to share in my abundance with those less fortunate, how easy to thrown in a tote and some recipes in my car and give a week of food away.

I am so excited. I just sit and look at my tote in awe. It works so well for our family that I am surprised I didn't think of it sooner! :)

Addendum: I just went out to my garden and picked our first zucchini of the year! :) We've already been enjoying onions, radishes, and cilantro, but...it just seems more like a harvest to pick a zucchini. We also have 5-6 pink tomatoes and a ton of blackberries! :)

Since I'd already posted about food storage, it left me in awe of the wisdom of God. He tells us to store food and He tells us to grow a garden. What a perfect combination. If we had to, we could live with our stored food and supplement with fresh fruits and veggies for a much healthier and more palatable combination! How wise! :)