Albion Basin

We went camping up to Albion Basin above Alta Tuesday night with some friends. We had a great time! We had great tin foil dinners and hung out by the campfire that night. Despite the lack of sleep, we managed to hike up to Cecret Lake the next morning. T-man did great and loved the hike. Little princess wanted carried and I had a hiker back pack that the little one slept in on the way up, it was great. Camping is a lot of work and we only stayed one night, next time we will have to do it when we have more time. It was absolutely beautiful up there. The wildflowers were in full bloom and the lake was breathtaking.

The Trouble with Being Bored

My husband keeps complaining about how bored he is. He isn't used to the everyday, mundane tasks that I have to do to keep the house running. I just don't understand how he can be that bored. In the week that he has been off, he has managed to go to Midway and go golfing, play, and play some more. One day alone consisted of 2 movies, swimming, hanging out with friends. The day that followed was just as packed with a bbq, badmitton, and a little Tiger Woods Golf on the PS2. And today, golf followed by a camping trip. He even has managed to do a little yard work, clean out the garage and the basement. I don't know what he thinks "bored" is, but apparently we have different ideas. He definitely is a play now, work later kind of guy, and I definitely am a work now, play later kind of girl. It must make him bored to watch me. Oh well. Maybe I will just have to make my honey do list a little longer. Then he won't think to complain again. We might even have to throw the rematch in there to help him realize that his life is exciting.

Another Step

Brett is taking a new job with Washington Mutual, which means he quit his job with Integrated Title Services. The timing of this job opportunity couldn't have been better, but I guess he wouldn't have had to worry about it if the market was doing well!! Things at ITS were just a little slow as they are everywhere. This other job came up and Brett started to put his toes in the water. It is just another chance for him to widen his resume. We are having fun developing his career, but hope someday he might find something to settle down into for good. Until then, he is jobless for the next week and doing a great job of keeping the kids entertained. He has next week booked out for us and I think there might even be a camping trip in the forecast. It will be fun, if any of you are up for it, let us know.

The Many Looks of Brett

FULL BEARD

THE BRIGHAM

THE GOATEE

CLEAN AND SMOOTH

Brett, his brothers and dad decided to have a beard growing contest while in California. It was kind of hairy around the house. I am pretty certain the winner wasn't Jeff (no offense) but for reasons to do with the current trip quiz, I will not put the winner on the blog. Brett thought it would be fun to take pictures of himself of the different looks while attempting to shave the thing off. He wants everyone to vote for which look they like the best. The poll is on the side. Sorry Brett if I stole your thunder by doing this before you can get your 2nd official post on the blog.

Done With the Family Vacate

We spent a great week in Newport Beach, California boogie boarding, playing in the water, and hitting some of the amusement parks. The kids had a great time and loved being with the other kids. We did hit a snag when Kid 2 came down with a high fever on Monday night. The girls missed Disneyland because of it!!! I felt so bad because we then passed it through to the rest of the families. We are recovering from the sun and heat, and are glad to be home. Thanks Gramps for a great trip!

Some Time Away

This is just a public service announcement that I am going on vacation and won't be back for over a week. I will try to post some fabulous pictures of the beach when I get back. Until then, adieu.

Camera Op

My kids love to take the camera and run with it. I usually try to delete most of the images, but sometimes I am not even aware that they have been playing with it. Some of the pictures are funny, some a little inappropriate, most just pictures of different things throughout the house. I thought I would share their artistic abilities. My favorite ones are the ones where they set up their stuffed animals and their trophies and posed for pictures with them. Just recapturing what their mother makes them do.

A Week Late

We went to the local City Parade for a great advertising show. The parade did have some good floats but it didn't help that the horses dropped a load right in front of us-the horses at the very first and it didn't get cleaned up until half way through the parade. We had to discourage the kids from trying to get the candy that was in the midst of it all. The next day we had a ward breakfast where the kids got to decorate their bikes and have a little parade. We all managed to take naps that day and even saw Wall-E. That night we hit up fireworks at the park. It was actually a great show and even better cause Kid 3 slept through them all. I love how she really does think she is one of the big kids and just get right in there with them.

A Birthday Celebration

We were lucky enough to get to celebrate grandpa's birthday with him this year. We went to dinner and then had cake and ice cream at our house. The kids love to blow out the candles, like any kid and managed not to blow to much spit on it this year!!!

Close to Dumpster Divin'

I was getting made fun of for not "BLOGGING" as of late. I haven't been around the computer, and haven't really had much to blog about, until tonight. I just wish, wish, wish I had my camera. We went to see Hancock tonight, and our friends had bought our tickets and we were meeting them out in the lobby to get them. By the time we got there, Hondo had lost the tickets. He stood up and checked his 5 gazillion pockets (cargo shorts), his wallet, under his seat, under his popcorn, etc. but to no avail. He then decided he left them at the counter when he got popcorn, so we tried that route, but nada. Next thing I know, I see him looking in the garbage can and then his head full on disappeared. I really was trying to decide if it was more humorous or shocking. The next sequence of events sealed the deal, definitely more shocking. He took the lid of the garbage can off so he could look even deeper, and I mean he was in there. Nothing. I could tell he was a little unraveled about the whole thing, but I didn't know what to do to help other than look where I had seen him walk and sit. I decided to ask the ticket lady what to do if you have lost tickets, and Whoola-she had the tickets. Some one had turned them into her. The greatest thing about the whole thing was that it didn't slow him down from just going back to eating that popcorn. Thanks Hondo for giving me something to write about.

My Little Firecracker

I finally loaded 4th of July pictures on to my computer and this is what I found:

T-man obviously got a hold of my camera, which he often does (I will have to show more of his artwork later) and took some pics of Kid 3. I am sure she wasn't so happy when he took the camera away from her. I am sitting at the computer, probably blogging, ignoring the whole thing (you can see me in the chair, but the best is her face!) . I just love that he caught one of her tantrums on camera for me. It is just hard to believe that she can go from that to this: