Birthday Marathon

I Promised myself last year that we would not be doing another marathon birthday for Matayia. But somehow it happened again this year. The Marathon started on the 16th. Matayia and Kaylee (one of Matayia's friends) decided to have a joint birthday party since their birthdays are a few days apart and they both wanted to have a "water slide party" Wednesday was the last day before school started so it seemed to be the best day to celebrate with friends. The party was a hit, rent a slide, add some water and 13 little girls and boys will be entertained for hours!!



Fast forward to Saturday...
Because Miranda was in town we decided to go to Logan for the weekend, so it made sense to celebrate Matayia's birthday with the family. We partied at the Logan pool on Saturday and on Sunday night we enjoyed Matayia's favorite meal of Steak. Grandma baked her a cake, which her and Matayia beautifully decorated. We sang happy birthday and blew out the candles.



Fast forward to Monday (actually the 24th)
Every year we let Matayia decide what she wants to do on her birthday for dinner and for the second year in a row, we have gone to the Mayan. Though Greg and I never enjoy the food, we go there because our kids always have so much fun. We enjoyed a cool dessert that came out on fire!! Wethought it was so cool and the girls fought over who got to eat the firework.



I can't believe my little girl is 7. That seems so old, I often tell her to stop growing up and that I want her to stay little forever. For some reason she just keeps growing up. I love Matayia, I Love her sweet spirit in our family. I(secretly) love watching her grow up. I couldn't imagine my life without her. I love you Matayia!!! Happy Birthday!!!

10 years, but who's counting?

This month also markes our ten year anniversary. The week before our anniversary our sunday school teacher who was teaching a lesson on temple marriage shared this quote from

Sister Hinkley....

"I was just sure that the first ten years would be bliss. But during our first year together I discovered... there were a lot of adjustments. Of coarse, they weren't the kind of things you ran home to mother about. But I cried into my pillow now and again. The problems were almost always related to learning to live on someone else's schedule and to do things someone else's way. We loved each other, there was no doubt about that. But we also had to get used to each other. I think every couple has to get used to each other."

I think she is right on, with this quote, Ironically during the lesson Greg nudged me and wanted me to volunteer to read it during class. I would be lying if I said the last 10 years have been bliss. Marriage is work, Marriage can be hard, but marriage is also the most rewarding thing I have ever been a part of.

The last ten years have brought up and downs, fun times and hard times. We have moved 5 times, have two wonderful little girls and created many great memories. Earlier this year we celebrated our anniversary by traveling through Europe together. While on vacation with just Greg it was so easy to remember why I married him ten years ago. Thanks Greg for the last ten years, I am looking forward to many more!!

Saying Good-bye, Kinda

We have been lucky enough to have great great neighbors. The neighborhood is chuck full of kids, there is always someone to play with. Sadly one of our neighbors moved away this month. Luckily they did not move far, and we will still be able to spend time together. My girls have spent countless hours at what we call "Dee's daycare" and have many fond memories of their friends Oakley and Tayson.



Though Matayia couldn't as hard as she tried turn Oakley into a girly girl she loved playing with her. I hope their friendship can continue to grow, miles could not keep Matayia away. Kaitlyn will greatly miss Tayson, her little buddy. She still asks me if he can play and wants to go and knock on his door to see if he is home. Kaitlyn and Tayson are only a few weeks apart in age and though their friendship started off a little rocky (tayson at times liked to pound on Kaitlyn)we love and will miss Tayson.



All this being said I think I will miss Lisa the most. I will miss the summer days spent out on our lawn. I will miss the fall nights spent on the porch and the waves as she drove past. But most of all I will miss my friend. She truly knew how to be a good friend. She knew when to talk, she knew when to listen and she knew how to give. Though Lisa will never live next door again I pray our friendship can continue. I hope she knows I don't loose track of real friends.

Boating with Teenagers

We have spent a lot of time this year out on the water. All of the times we have been out so far we have been with our kids, so I have had a quite a few leisurely rides on the tube, A few swims in the lake and alot of time spent eating "snacks" in the boat. A couple of weeks ago my Laurels suggested we go boating as an activity, I was definitely up for the idea. The night came, we got a babysitter for the girls and we headed down to the lake with a boat full of teenage girls. Boy, was this boating experience different than all the previous ones this year. I had forgotten how much teenagers like to get the crap beat out of them!! I remember liking this when I was a teenager but haven't felt that urge for a few years.


At first I thought that maybe Greg would take it easy on the girls, no I was wrong. The more they laughed and clung to the tube the faster he went. I am not sure who had more fun Greg or the girls he was trying to kill!! I also thought that Greg would take it easy on his wife and the young women president, nope wrong again. Some girls fell out of the tube some girls jumped out of the tube and I held on to dear life not wanting to fall out of the tube. At one point Greg had me clinging to the tube with one arm half way out when he realized he would be in the dog house if I fell out. He nicely stopped the boat to let me pull myself back in!! Though boating with teenagers is much different from boating with my kids I am not sure which one I prefer. I had a great time, I was definitely sore the next day, but maybe I do enjoy getting the crap beat out of me!!

Photo Shoot

We haven't taken pictures of Kaitlyn and Matayia for a long time and when I heard one of our friends was starting a photography business I was so happy. Here was my opportunity to get some cute pictures that we really needed. Sometimes I think my kids (especially Kaitlyn) smiles better for other people. (maybe she is sick of us always taking pictures of her) The only problem with the pictures are that I can't decide which one I like the best, there are so many good ones!! Matayia could pose for pictures all day long, but Kaitlyn didn't last quite as long. I went to get some prints done yesterday and stood there forever I just couldn't decide which ones!! Maybe I will have to just buy more frames!! Tiff , thanks for the wonderful pictures we had a great time!! Check out Tiff's other great photos @ http://tcarterphotography.blogspot.com

Can you see why I stood at the photo counter and could not decide??

Tortilla Masks

While we were camping after breakfast one morning we had a few extra tortillas. Matayia was complaining that she was still hungry, so Greg grabbed a tortilla, took a couple of bites out of it and made a funny mask with it. Somehow it ended up looking like this...

Of coarse then Levi wanted on on the fun. I think Matayia looks like a burn victim and Levi looks a little like a puppy dog

Austin never joined on on the tortilla fun but of coarse Kaitlyn wanted in. The fun ended when the kids slowly ate their Tortillas. I am often amazed at what simple things can entertain kids.

A quick camping trip

A little embarrassing to admit but we haven't used our trailer much this year and none at all if you don't count setting it up on the RV pad and sleeping out one night. We were talking to our neighbors about our lack of trailer use this year and we decided we better go camping the second weekend in August. Greg took off Friday we headed up to the Uintah's Friday morning. This is our first time primitive camping in our trailer where there was not endless amounts of water to refill our tanks. We had alot of fun. We found a cute little spot with a little creek running past our fire pit.(very tempting for the kids) The weather was not what you would call warm, but once again the kids had a great time. Matayia shot a BB gun for the first time and was quite the sharp shooter. I was amazed to see her hit the pop cans we had set up across the creek. She thought this was great fun and said she was going to ask for a BB gun for her birthday!! Steve took the kids on a few Rhino rides, though they came back dusty and tired, they loved it. Greg and Steve took the kids fishing Saturday afternoon, while Holly and I waited in the trucks. Kaitlyn was asleep in the truck but when she woke up I took her down to the lake for a little fishing when we got there she cried and said she wanted to get back in the truck because she was cold. When we got back to the truck the thermoneter read 41 degrees, she was right it was really cold. But the kids all caught a couple of fish and once again had a great time. We were glad to finally use our trailer this summer it was fun to be camping. I always have a great time camping with great friends and family.

Clump of carrots

I guess this is what happens when you plant a makeshift garden in your flower bed. The ground is really rocky and I didn't bother to dig out the rocks. I guess if carrots cannot grow down they grow together in clumps. They may look funny but they still tasted good!!

24th of July

Over the 24th of July we had some fun boating trips. With the 24th falling on a Friday and Greg having it of it made for a long fun weekend. On Friday we went to Mayfield (near Gunnison) and enjoyed a hometown 24th of July parade a carnival in the park and a nice lunch on the grass. After the festivities we headed to "Gunnison Res" I will have to say this is not one of my favorite places to boat but as always the kids had a great time. Saturday morning we headed to Yuba for another great day on the lake. Derek and Val, Wade and Jenny, Curtis and Marsha and all the cute cousins joined us. The lake was crowded but what can we expect on a holiday weekend. We got a great spot in the sand and the kids had a great time in the sand. We couldn't get Kaitlyn back in the boat she loved the sand so much. Matayia had her first experience on water skis and did quite well. Thanks Derek for the patience and help. All and all it was a great weekend, and once again we wondered why haven't we bought a boat sooner?

Where to even start...

The other day one of my friends asked me if I was OK? I looked at her a little puzzled like "what do you mean?" She quickly added, "I mean you haven't updated your blog for quite awhile, I thought maybe something was wrong" I laughed and replied nothing is wrong we are just suffering from, cram as much in before school starts. Well school has started and now I am suffering from a bad case of laziness!! So I guess I need to spend some time catching up on my blog!!