Back to the cabin

You worn out yet? I think we were. Here's some more from the trip. The weather was beautiful. We made a quick trip back to Sugar City on Saturday morning to help pick raspberries (3 1/2 gallons that we got to bring home with us -- thanks for sharing Mom and Becky and Dad!), then drove home. We had a lot of yard work and gardening to do upon our return...

Paint jobs at Lance's house

So for Kaitlyn's Christmas gift and Nicole baptismal gift, we offered to do some painting in their rooms. Nicole wanted hers done with a rainbow (not my best work, but what can you do with a limited amount of time) and Kaitlyn wanted hers pink.

We worked like mad (thanks to Becky, Derek, Lance, and Katrina for all of your help, as well as Jared who watched L&L at the cabin so that we could do it all ...) and painted to walls from neon purple and a crazy jungle scene to their repective light blue and pink show in the picures above. We crashed at Derek's that night (Becky, K&K and I) and finished the paint job the next morning before heading back to the cabin. Becky helped the girls clean their room too. Don't forget our deal, ladies! I'll be calling soon so see if the room is still looking nice and clean!

More cabin

Just more from the cabin. Layne loves water. She could have splashed in the river for the entire day. Some of these were taken in Teton Canyon. We drove over for a quick visit after we returned from painting Nicole and Kaitlyn's rooms at Lance's house.

Cabin

The next few posts will just be pics from the trip. Hope you enjoy them as much as we did our time there. Thanks to all those who visited while we were up there. It was great to see you all. Becky was able to spend the whole week with us which was great! We enjoyed four-wheeler ride, playing games, adventures around the valley, etc.

Tink

We made a trip up to the cabin during the first week of August and managed to squeeze in a few painting jobs while we were up there as well. Elise wanted me to paint Tinkerbell on her wall in her bedroom, so I did my best within a two or three hour timeframe. Here she is, with Cade and Elise standing by. The flowers are some that are in Mom's yard in Sugar City from the next morning. They look beautiful as always.

Layne's Leg Braces

I don't think that I've put a picture on the blog yet of Layne's leg braces, so here they are. She had two therapists here this morning, one for vision and the other was her physical therapist. Here she is, standing up at the table with her braces on. They help stabalize her leg muscles and hold her ankles in their proper form. She's doing better all the time. Wish she was going to be walking by her birthday, but she's progressing at her own rate. Right now she really enjoys pulling herself up to the table and ripping magazines to shreds. We've resorted to putting old ESPN magazines out for her to destroy. Just doesn't feel right to let her rip the Ensign apart ....

Jared discovered this on Monday. He had the day off (24th of July in Utah is a holiday), so I drove up north to Utah Valley to do school shopping for K&K and birthday shopping for L&L. Bought a bunch of clothes for myself too, and watched Harry Potter (highly recommended -- best of the series, if you ask me). Jared manned the fort all day and I arrived home at 11 to find all well.

Tuesday night, a group of friend from the ward and I went out to eat together in Price to celebrate my birthday. We had a good time.

Jared took off for SLC early on Wednesday morning for work meetings and should get back late tonight. Busy as usual around here.

And that's our week so far.

(Here's an extra happy birthday wish to Dad on Monday too! It was great to wish you one on Skype on Sunday. We love ya!)

Cleaning out the garage

We put it off every year, but yesterday I decided that I had had enough. I drove the kids into Price for the morning and we played at the Dino Adventure park there for a while before grocery shopping at Walmart. After a quick lunch, we made it back home and put Luke and Layne down for the nap. Koria, Kimball and I set to work on our garage. They helped me take everything out first, then helped me sweep it all out, pick up trash, and rearrange it all back. No before shots, sorry. Here's what it looks like now. Much better, if you ask me. Our neighbors called me up to tell me that I could come and clean their garage out too if we were bored. Uh, negative Houston.

More from Potter's Pond

Just a few more shots from this weekend at Potter's Pond.

Potter's Pond

Here's a look at what happened on Friday as Jared was securing our camping load into the back of our truck before we took off. One of the bungie cords broke loose from the opposite side that he was securing the cord from and smacked him in the face. It was so deep of a cut that I told him that I thought it needed stitches. After some annoying persuation from me, he went into the clinic and had to get 4 stitches to sew himself back up. Ouch is an understatement, poor guy! We took off for our weekend adventure when he returned from the clinic.

Thousands of dragonflies surrounded the shores of the lake where we were camping, as well as loads of wildflowers.

This is where we camped, a place called Potter's Pond, up Huntington Canyon. It was a beautiful area up in the mountains that had two small ponds with lots of fishermen and several campsites. We enjoyed roasting hotdogs and taking a hike around the ponds. Koria and Kimball really enjoyed throwing rocks in, scaring away all possible catch for those fishing nearby.

Despite the lack of sleep and energy, we had a great trip. There's a lot more to it, but refer to the last sentence as to why I am not elaborating. Glad to be home and doing 5 loads of laundry!

B&W

One more, black and white this time.

Self-portrait

No, I do not like pictures of myself, or taking them. Today, as her way of thanking me, the woman that I did the before/after Mary Kay Makeover shots for asked if she could come over and do one on me .... uh .... not my thing, but whatever. I agreed. She suggested that I get before and after shots of myself (no thanks again) to celebrate. Jared happens to be in Green River today for work, so it's me and two five-year-olds and two one-year-olds.

That left good ol' me to do it.

I set up the tripod on the back lawn and made an attempt at taking some pics of myself. Nothing makes you look like more of a fool than when your neighbor drives by in a backhoe and you are sitting in the grass with a camera set up taking pictures of yourself. Wow.

Anyway, here are a few of them. The tripod and I did our best. I ended up cutting off my eyes in most of the takes, and the others were a bit blurry, but "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit" as a wise preschool teacher told my children. Especially when you are doing it yourself.

Wall Art

I'm a big fan of homemade art. Koria puts out some masterpieces, if you ask me. I decided to make her a special showcase for some of her artwork to hang on her wall that she can change out whenever she wants. I picked up this display case at (where else...) the D.I. several years ago thinking that we would display some objects that Jared brought home from his travels in Asia, but never got around to it.

I used some decorative paper as the inspiration for the walls that I painted in Koria's room, so I picked out some of the inspiring prints and made them the background in the art case, then hung up a drawing that she did on Tuesday of she and I (she's the really tall redhead) in it for display. It's magnetic, so it's really simple to hang and change out. I think that it will be a great addition to her room.

How about that big head of mine too?

Fresh Peas

Tuesday I went out to the garden and yard to do some more weeding while the babes took a nap. Koria, Kimball, and I picked our first peas of the year from the garden and saved a few for Jared and the younger two. Luke's not a fan, but the rest of the family could eat these bad boys like they were candy! Even better, if you ask me!

Front Room

(view of the dining room from the front room)

Took me all of Luke and Layne's naptime and then all the time I had after the kids went to bed, but I was able to rearrange all of the furniture in the house other than the bedrooms on Monday. I love a clean house. Nothing like it ... just a feeling of peace. Jared installed a drip system for some of the flower beds in the front yard while I worked on the inside.