We May Not Have It All Together...But Together We Have It All: Making the Most of Summer

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Making the Most of Summer

Have I mentioned how much I love summer? This week I found out that school is starting a week earlier than usual (where have I been?). So I am kinda mad, and really bummed. I think that families are being pushed aside too much - but that's a subject for another post. As for today's post, I decided that every day of what's left of the kids' summer break is valuable. So this week, Jarin and I went 4-wheeling (already posted), we went to Bear Lake with Amber and kids, and then I got the crazy idea to turn around the very next day and go camping and 4-wheeling again. By Sunday...well, I was tired! But tired with a big smile - we had a great time together.

I feel like I should start every post with an apology for how many pictures I post - but...since anyone who checks my blog are friends of mine, then you must know me well enough to know that that's just me! - I just can't help it! I need to learn from someone how to put several pictures together into one, so ya'll don't have to scroll down all night long.

We mommies with our sweet babies.

I love going to Bear Lake. I love to watch the kids laugh and play. I love that we can have fun together. I really love that the kiddos can entertain themselves (a.k.a. not "bugging" me to take them all over the place, or have the neighborhood over to play) and I can enjoy the company of friends. I could do without the sand in the food...but you gotta take the bad with the good!

I love to watch my baby Kam as he's walking.

Jarin & Kam

Emilie

Brayden

Who needs water with all this sand? Maybe I should have just put a big sand pile in my yard instead of any grass.

They finally found the water!

Jarin, Jaxson, Emilie & Tyson

My beautiful Emi-girl

Next day...camping. Every time we go camping for just one night, I make a promise to myself to never go again unless it's for more than just ONE night. It's just too much work for one night. It goes something like this...

pack, pack, pack, pack, pack, UNpack, unpack, unpack...CAMP...pack, pack, pack pack, Unpack, unpack, unpack, LAUNDRY..........

The crazy part is that we call it FUN...and turn around in a few weeks and do it again!

Jarin saw the sunbeams shining through the trees, and exclaimed, "That looks like Jesus is coming!"

Of course, we brought our 4-wheelers - no camping trip is complete without them.

A rare glimpse of Kam's cute smile/laugh

Jarins my little cowboy at heart

5 comments:

FAMILY FAMILY FAMILY said...: I saw a show on TV of 'hollywood mansions', and one of them, actually had sand imported from australia to place in their back yard. (and what's wrong with california's sand? not sure). But I guess that's always an option!

Looks like great times. Bear lake sounds lovely today.; July 22, 2009 at 8:41 AM
Mark and Adrian said...: How fun. Can I just say I miss your family and you so much. I hope we can see you soon. We are going to a lake today for a while for the first time in many many years. I'm a little nervous. I'm not a big fan of not seeing the bottom. But oh well my kids love it and that is all that matters. Their smiles.

We are coming home August 6 for a few days can you play?; July 22, 2009 at 1:13 PM
Kent and Kathy Moser said...: I for one like the pictures; July 22, 2009 at 9:57 PM
Drapers said...: I love seeing the pictures from there. I really miss the mountains. We didn't make it to Bear Lake this year, but it looks like you had a blast.; July 23, 2009 at 1:58 PM
Smullin Family said...: Don't appologize for the many pictures... we love them!

I agree with camping being A LOT of work. You have to pack everything you need, everything you want and everything you MIGHT need. My least favorite is the unpacking though...the soggy food from the cooler and all the laundry are no fun. But we still do it and call it a good time. :); July 25, 2009 at 3:15 PM

Kute Komments!

Jarin: "I've been waiting all day for Kamden to grow up...when will he grow up like me?"
4-2010

We were driving by a farm which was being fertilized. Jarin sniffs a big sniff and says, "Mmmm...that smells like my strawberry nose" (the strawberry nose was a yummy smelling gas mask from the dentist)!
Jarin: "Is is "fat man or bat man"?
Jarin "My heart is dirty and needs to be cleaned." Then I wash his face, and he says, "My heart is clean!" (He watched me put lipstick on once, and thought my top lips looked like hearts. Now he thinks that lips are hearts). Which makes me wonder what he thinks when he says, "The Holy Ghost makes our heart feel good."
Jarin asked with a great big smile that melts my heart, "Mom, are you being grumpy with me?" (yes, I was - but that started us both laughing instead!)
We were having a family home evening helping Emilie to prepare for baptism. We talked to her about making good choices and right vs. wrong. We were trying to prompt her to give an answer when Ira asked her, "What's opposite of right, (he asked it in the context of right choices), and she answered, "Left." (you should have seen the look Ira and I gave each other - it spoke volumes!)
Same family home evening... we were talking about the Holy Ghost. Jarin (being very tired and very sensitive at the moment anyways), started going balistic on us. Not only did he say he was scared of the Holy Ghost. And not only was he crying because he was scared, but he was SOBBING, and it continued for about an hour (which is when he fell asleep still crying)!! Then first thing out of his mouth when he woke up was that he was scared of the Holy Ghost! We think we are doing the right thing by teaching our children, but really - we have taumatized Jarin! I can only imagine what was going on in his little imagination. Did I mention that FHE finished earlier than planned?
Ira was feeling the baby move at a particularly active time. He said, "Is he moving furniture around in there?" (some days it sure feels like it!)
There was a baby being blessed in church Sunday, and Jarin saw the priesthood men in a circle, and loudly proclaims "Look mom, their playing ring around the rosies!"
Emilie asked me, "Since our eyes are blue, how come everything doesn't look blue to us?" I explained how we see through the black circle in our eyes. She said, "Then the blue is just for decoration?"
Jarin walks around the house constantly saying, and singing "I am a Child of God, and He has sent me here." And when anyones voices get too loud, he sings, "Love at home... Love at home..." I'm not sure he even knows the meaning of what he's singing, but it stops the contention and usually starts a few giggles.
Ira was talking about leap year, and Emilie asked, "What is leap year? Is it when we leap to school?"
Ira asked Emilie if you put plastic wrap or foil over a pan going in the oven. She said tinfoil. Ira said "Good thinking Emilie." She responded by saying, "No, I didn't think...my teacher told me." (thank goodness for teachers, so we don't have to think!)
Jarin asked me if he could have something, and I had told him no. He responded by asking again, then answering his own question as if he were me, "Of course you can sweetheart." (it's no wonder he gets whatever he wants - how cute is that?)
In church today, a half a second before the sacrament prayer was being said, (so it was very quiet in the room), Jarin observed that his dad was sitting on the stand, and calls out in his loudest voice, "That's my daddy up there!"
Brayden said, "I've learned to never mess with a pregnant person."
Today I told Jarin he was a sweetHEART, and he said, "No, I have a beautiful HEART, and mommy is beautiful too." (a comment like that, he can have whatever he wants!)
This one was said a year or so ago, but it was one of the best we've had ever - so it bears repeating! Emilie said to mom, "Someday I am going to marry my prince, just like you married your prince."
Jarin said, "We don't say 'monkey butt' do we?"
Jarin see's a bumble bee and says, "It's a bum-bum bee".
Emilie singing, "Loose, footloose, kick off my church shoes."

Hmmmmm...

I copied this from my sisters blog, but it's just too perfectly perfect to not be reminded of as often as possible!

Hmmmm....
There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and noticed she had only three hairs on her head.'Well,' she said, 'I think I'll braid my hair today!'So she did, and she had a wonderful day.The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head.'H-M-M,' she said, 'I think I'll part my hair down the middle today!'So she did and she had a grand day.The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head.'Well,' she said, 'today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail.'So she did and she had a fun, fun day.The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head.'YEA!' she exclaimed, 'I don't have to fix my hair today!'Attitude is everything. Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

INSPIRATION

"A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation." Joseph Smith

"The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone. The things you do for others remain as your legacy."

"Fix it up...wear it out... make due...or do without!" - Gordon B Hinckley

"In righteousness there is great simplicity" - William R. Bradford

"The most important thing parents can do for their children is to teach them to feel The Spirit and recognize when it is no longer with them."

Elder M. Russell Ballard: "There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. Each situation is unique. Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children...What matters is that a mother loves her children deeply and, in keeping with the devotion she has for God and her husband, prioritizes them above all else."

The adversary would keep us busily engaged in a multitude of trivial things in an effort to keep us distracted from the few vital things that make all the difference."-Ardeth G. Kapp