Yellowstone 2010

Last weekend we headed up for our annual trip to Yellowstone. Always good fun. I love this trip. Why?      

I love watching little kids make fascinating new discoveries. Like Old Faithful.

For some reason ice cream tastes better when you eat it at the Old Faithful Inn.

 

You never know what you might discover in a tree you have seen year in and year out.

Like a black bear having a little nap!

 

I also love watching and listening to the big Elk at Mammoth.

 

If you are lucky a new experience might come your way. Like a bear looking into the car?

I also love the endless beauty of nature. Beautiful waterfalls, trees, animals, fresh air, and sunshine.



And best of all, I love spending time with family and having fun experiences and memories to share.

Jace's new song

This is so I won't forget:

 Jace came home from preschool telling me he learned a new song:

The Farmer in the Dam

Then he started to sing it: The Farmer in the dam, The farmer in the dam, high five the dairy-o, the farmer in the dam.

I tried to tell him the real words to Farmer in the Dell, but he told me I was wrong.  . . . . I love preschoolers!

Herriman Fire

On Sunday afternoon a fire started at Camp Williams. They were doing machine gun practice and started a small fire. They thought they had it contained until the winds picked up. Some gusts were over 50 mph. It quickly got out of control.

Our girls said they saw some smoke on the other side of the mountain on the way home from church. Shane and I never saw it. The girls weren't worried because it happens every summer and they always put it out quickly.

We went home, had dinner, and sat down to enjoy an evening as a family watching Harry Potter. I wanted some uninterrupted family time that we rarely get. I turned off the phone. Oops. The movie gets done and we are sending our kids to bed, when we see we have 4 messages on the machine. Weird. We aren't that popular. We check the messages-frantic worried messages- about our welfare because of the fire. What fire?  We go outside and see this:

Aren't we aware!?! So we spent a while watching the fire with the kids and wondering if we were in danger. I took these two pictures from our front yard. All the houses you see across the street and farther up the hill had a mandatory evacuation. We didn't have to leave. Which turned out to be great because the people evacuated didn't get to come home for 3 nights! I stayed up until 3:30 am watching the fire that you see at the ridge of the hill. It started to quickly come down the side towards our house. I was so worried for my friends houses that back up to the hill. Luckily none of them burned down. 3 houses burned in the fire. All farther west. I don't know any of the people who lost their home.

This picture below was taken farther out and shows how bad it was. It makes us look crazy for staying. Somehow the smoke was always blowing over us because even during the height of the fire we could hardly smell a thing!

The photo below shows the hill Monday morning. It shows how blessed we are and how hard the firefighters worked to save so many more homes that could have been burned. What a crazy experience. I am so glad all our friends are safe and their homes are unscathed!




Many lessons were learned during this adventure: Like how strange and nerve wracking it is to pack up your important documents, photos, and some clothes as you prepare to leave your home. You realize how few possessions are important. Really none.

You learn that as long as you know where your family and friends are that you are going to be fine.

You learn how strong you are in a crisis.
 
You learn that it is good to keep important things close together in case you have to leave.

You learn that if you do leave you should turn off your gas line (never even occurred to me). 

You learn how grateful you are for a beautiful home to live in and for a wonderful community that will work so hard together to keep everyone safe.

You learn how quickly cell phones will be jammed and how easy communication can break down in an emergency. This was a relatively slow evacuation. You could watch the fire and see if it was coming your way. It was hard to get through on cell phones and land lines. I can't imagine how bad it would be during an earthquake or something that hit everyone at once.

You learn that life can change in an instant and you never know when the change could come.

I can't imagine all the things my friends could add that have been evacuated for a few days. I need to get with them and find out what they learned so that I can better prepare us for emergencies in the future.

We are just grateful that we (family, friends, neighbors) are all safe and sound and in our homes. Yea for fireman! Yea for winds that calmed and changed direction. Yea for the blessings we all received these past few days.

Size 12 isn't fat!

The other day I heard about a book titled Size 12 Isn't Fat. I haven't read it. I just know it has a sequel or two. I perked right up at the title. It was funny. I thought I should read it. Then I got annoyed. It really got me thinking. Why? Because size 12 ISN'T fat. And the fact that a book is using this as a gimmick is just plain sad. I was almost sucked in. So many people worry too much about what they eat and how much they exercise, in an effort look like people on tv. Or people that spend half their life at the gym. Or the lady that looks like the barbie doll who lives in their neighborhood. No seriously, a barbie doll. And she has had a ton of kids. Something is seriously wrong there.


Why do we do it? Why is thin crammed down our throats? Why can't we all just embrace our looks and our lives for what they are. (unless you are totally unhealthy, then you need to work on it, but that isn't what I am talking about here) Where along the way did our lives become so self absorbed? I think our great grandmothers would be rolling over in their graves. They didn't have time for this crap. They were busy, cooking, cleaning, sweeping(not vacuuming-didn't have the luxury), hand washing and mending. They were busy getting by and surviving.

How is it that we don't wisely use all the time we have gained through modern technology? We waste it trying to become a glamorized, impossible ideal. Or we waste it feeling bad that we will never be that ideal. Ever. So what? We all have tons to offer. Let's pursue what we are good at.

 I just want to raise my kids to feel good about themselves no matter what. I want them to know there is so much more to life than how you look. As a mom of 3 girls I just want their focus to be on good things. Not trivial things. They have been told, since kindergarten, by people at school if they look good or not. Daily. That is just wrong. It needs to change.

Ok, since my one day of ranting won't change much, I will move on. I will still probably read the book. I'm always looking for something. I'll just pretend I didn't over think the title and what it represents to women everywhere.

My Funny kids

Here is Nat getting ready for crazy hair day at the jr high.  She called her look "Flowery Medusa." There are a bunch more flowers and pony tails in the back. She won a doughnut.

And here is my funny half dressed boy playing cars. What is funny about that you say? Because as he played he sang: "Don't go breakin' my, don't go breakin' my, don't go breakin' my heart."

For the love of TV!

Let it be known that I watch too much tv (have I said this before?). When I was young I of course loved things like the Cosby Show, Family Ties, Dukes of Hazzard, but I didn't see them very often. My parents banned tv during the week. Oh the agony. They wanted us to study and be smart or something. This made sleeping over at Grandma Jaussi's house extra fun because we could watch the Love Boat and (ha ha mom and dad!) Fantasy Island.

The real love affair started in during college. Not my first year. We didn't have a tv. We had to write in our journals for entertainment. Or call the radio station with a list of songs we wanted to hear. This sadness needs to be documented so that future generations will see how unspoiled I was. Oh, and so my younger siblings know. They had it good. Me and my roomies watched things like Melrose Place-during which, talking was only allowed during commercials. No boys allowed during that hour. We knew our priorities.We also watched almost every minute of the OJ Simpson trial. Skipped classes and everything. Didn't want to miss it.

Then came the Thursday night lineup. Starting with Friends and ending with ER. Shane and I were newly married and poor, but we saved our money to make that night pizza night. Good times, good tv, good food. Winning combination. When my sister came to BYU that night turned into family night. We were following the prophets council. We are righteous like that.
The obsession grew to an extreme when my kids were really young and we would put them to bed. It was around 8-just when the good shows were starting. Seattle tv starts later than here, which was nice. We got hooked even more. We had shows pretty much every night that we had to see.

The love has continued. And with the blessed invention of the DVR my life was changed! Even as my kids have gotten older, I still have the ability to watch the shows I love. When they go to bed. In silence. Or with a pause button when they come out for drink number 567. Brings a smile to my days.
Is this pathetic? I don't know you tell me. I like to think it is just an escape from the mundane. A small respite from the things I have to deal with each day; from the stress of college way back when, to the arguing of children in the present.
I will say, and you should be impressed, that for the past two years I have refrained from making a calendar to plan out each new season of tv. The calendar told me when my favorites started and when the new shows I wanted to try would begin. They also informed me when stupid networks changed their lineup and two or more favorites were on at the same time (gasp)! Ok, I only skipped last year and this year it's not too late. . . .
Do you share the love? Tell me about your obsession. We can rejoice in it together.

Memorial Day redo- for Labor Day!!

You might recall that I took my kids to Silverlake for Memorial Day. It didn't work out. So I decided to try again. This time I invited Dana and her family to come with us. So the Saturday before Labor Day we headed on up.

It was a beautiful day and a perfect idea this time.

Here is a picture I stole off Dana's blog so it is a little fuzzy, but aren't we cute! Always fun to get together!

Everyone had to climb logs.

We also climbed rocks, looked at ducks, fish, and tried to find frogs.

We also had a picnic at the end. It was a really fun day and the cousins had a blast together like always!! We had a great time. On the actual Labor Day we went to lunch and the aquarium with Maria. I forgot my camera but we had fun just the same. It was a fun weekend. Shane had to work. A ton. Like from 8 am to midnight. Stupid Labor Day sale. We missed him and we are grateful he works so hard so we can have fun.

We need a little kindness around these parts!

I don't know how many families are having this issue, but I like to think there are many and not just us. I think that after spending a lot of time together this summer with a lot less structure to our day we started to slack on a lot of things. The way we treat each other is high on that list. My sister had a back to school dinner with a theme. I had to copy it and implement in our house. KINDNESS BEGINS WITH ME. Brilliant. Thanks Dana. Our last family home evening was inspired by you!

We posted our theme on the fridge. With a list of things to work on. It is a lofty list but we can try. We need to. We want to share the love around here. Not the hate and annoyance. Most days we get along great. We just need to be kinder in what we say and the tone we use.

Wish us luck in our endeavours to be kind. It has been three days. There is a noticeable change. I hope we can make it permanent. I love these kids of mine and I want them to always love each other. Nothing is greater than brothers and sisters who truly love each other. I know first hand. I want my kids to have that. I think they will. We just need reminders once in a while.

Jace is off to school!

My baby is off to Preschool!!! Yesterday was his first day. Just like the other 3 he was so excited and wouldn't even let me walk in with him. He had to prove how big he is. I am glad they are all so confident. Better than having someone clinging to your legs and begging you not to go. I always feel bad for moms that have to deal with that!

He is my 4th and final kid to go to Shining Star Preschool and the ever sweet Mrs Johnson. We are driving past several preschools to get there, but I think it is worth it. She is awesome and they love going everyday.  He came home yesterday loving himself and loving school. He told me "everyone thought he was so cool because he looked so awesome!" If only we could all have that kind of confidence everyday. It would be a good thing.

It is so crazy to me to have some time without kids. I never thought that day would get here. Now I realize it got here quick and they will be gone before I know it. I better start loving every minute I have to cuddle them. Now to get myself to the gym while Jace is at school. Can it be done? I sure hope so. Maybe I can lighten the junk in the trunk. And around the middle.

Herriman Children's Play

We did the summer children's play again this year. The kids have so much fun learning songs and performing. It is a great thing for them to do to keep busy!

This year it was called "We built this city on Rock and Roll" it was fun and full of 80's songs. It has been so funny to hear my kids walking around singing many favorites from my childhood! They did such a great job! It was so fun to have the three girls do it together. There aren't many things they can all share with their age differences. It was fun to go watch them perform every night. Abbie's dancing is the cutest ever. I giggled to myself every time I watched her. She is so small and she did so great! Hallie got to do cartwheels across the stage during one song.

Natalie got to sing a solo on the first verse of "Take on Me." She did a great job and she was excited for a solo because it is the last year she can participate. She is too old to do it next year.

I love that my girls like to try new things and have the confidence to get up and sing and dance and have fun in front of people!!! Great job girls!!

Who wouldn't love three days of birthday celebration!?!

Hallie got pretty lucky this year. We celebrated her bday 3 different times!! One night most of our family came to see the play that the girls were in so we had cake and ice cream after to celebrate Hallie's upcoming 10th birthday!

My parents, Shane's parents, Jean, Jane, Reed, Gma and Gpa Headman, my cousin Jantaya, Brandon, Sara, their kids, Dana and Russell and Jack were all here! So nice to have so much support for our kids!

Then on Sunday we had our own family celebration. Shane had to work late on Monday (her actual bday) so Hallie planned the day. Pepper Steak and Cheesecake for dinner, opening presents, and watching Newsies! A fun family day!

She was so happy to get a digital camera. It was high on her list. And that list was long and ambitious! I think she was happy with her new red camera.

She has also been begging to have a pedicure. I don't think I knew what they were when I was 10. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to take her. The two of us bonded at the salon and Hallie was loving every minute.

Here is the finished product! We had a great time! Happy 10th Hallie! I can't believe she is in the double digits!! She is really growing up a lot lately. That is for sure!