i want to mow!

mike was out mowing the lawn yesterday and the boys were out playing. max decided he wanted to help. so help he did. i was surprised at how well he did! especially with mike helping steer!


and here is luke's cheese.

brothers

they don't always get along, but there are those scarce moments when i think they may really love each other...

like when we go through the car wash. luke is terrified. (max used to be as well). max is always ready and willing to hold luke's hand and reassure him that it's ok, it's almost over, and talks luke through the entire experience.

or when they take the time to build a fort...together...and pose for mom's camera.

and then the other day as max was riding the baby bike around the driveway and stopped for a second. luke grabbed the opportunity and jumped right on the back.

these are 2 of the sweetest boys i know. they, like all boys, have their not so great moments. but it's the good that keeps me going! i love them so much!

random max

this afternoon i was working on the computer when max walked upstairs with the door to our tv cabinet from the basement. yes, just the door...which, until now, was attached to the cabinet. i asked him what happened. he simply stated, "my body made me do it. my body took control and made me do it." i asked how? did you hit it or hang on it? he said, "i don't know...by body made me do it. it had control." um...ok. then the kicker. "when i eat broccoli my body has control over me, but when it's cooked broccoli, it doesn't have control. so we need to have cooked broccoli...like in broccoli cheese soup." woah. i guess the kid is needin' some green veggies, huh?!

green trip #2

WARNING: EXTREMELY LONG DETAILED POST...FOR OUR POSTERITY.

i'm exhausted...in a good way. sometimes i get exhausted from doing something not very fun...like not getting enough sleep or from scrubbing the bathroom for the twelfth time this week, or from putting kids to bed. well, this exhausted is from having one of the best times of my life! i'm talking about the much anticipated trip down the green river...with just me and mike. what a fun time! it began thursday night - we headed up to the cabin in manila and had a good night's sleep. except i swear it was 100 degrees in there! after about 45 minutes of tossing and turning because it was so blasted hot, mike ventured out to the shed to drag in a huge fan to get some airflow going. what a good man. that was the first of many many many acts he made to make sure my trip was fabulous. i love him!

so, we slept at the cabin and then up bright and early to load up and head to the flaming gorge dam where we would start our journey. wait. we first had to go to little hole to reserve our campsite for friday night, then back to dutch john to arrange for a shuttle service - they drive our car to our final destination so it's ready and waiting for when we get off the water. good idea, huh? ya, and they charge a pretty penny for it too!

so, after all the necessary stops, which included getting me a current fishing license we were at the boat ramp. wait, before we actually made it to the ramp we had to stop at the parking lot and pump up the boat. while pumping and loading it started to sprinkle a bit. that sprinkle turned into a slight downpour and i wasn't sure what we were in for! it cleared a bit and we were back to the ramp. mike put the boat in the water and tossed all of our gear in only to get a few strange looks from others. one guy asked if our boat was the supply boat for the HUGE group loading at the same time. mike informed him that it was for us to float the a and b section. he smiled, 'oh.' then some kid asked, 'where are you going to sit?' haha. it was true. you should have seen the boat before mike got it all organized. i had the same question! here's the boat ready for us to load:

and after a bit of floating, here's where we stopped for lunch:

and the storm we were trying to outrun - or is that outfloat? either way, we didn't have a super relaxing day friday...trying to stay out of the weather. it was thundering quite a bit and sprinkled on us a little. the wind was freezing and i was happy when the sun finally came out!

and here is somewhere on the river...
and mike stopping to fish a little. he let me fish along the river while he manned the boat. mike is always making sure those around are having a fun time, even if it means he doesn't get to fish or do what he wants. there were a few times where i took over rowing so he could fish a little. and i gained much appreciation for that task! it's much harder than it looks!!

we stopped at little hole to change our campsite. because we were making such great time, and the weather was clearing we decided to head down the river a little further and enjoy the afternoon on the water. here we are at the little hole boat ramp:

and back on the river after a quick potty break. here is one of the many many fish we saw...but didn't catch. don't get me wrong. we had our fair share of catches, but saw tons of fishies swimming.

and another very cool tree along the way...

and here, well, it'd be a funny story if i told you that mike was having his own type of potty break, but that would be a lie. he actually saw an anchor or something under water and was trying to get whatever it was. funny.

and here we are. we got to our campsite safe and sound.

and mike began unloading the boat. here may be a good place to mention the gear we brought. well, mainly the clothes i brought. being the only girl in the family, i am known to pack heavy...and to my credit, i usually use all that i pack. i like to have choices. well, mike told me that i probably only needed a pair of shorts and a pair of long pants if it got cool at night. i could just wear the same stuff both days. so, i left the capris i had brought along back at the cabin. well, as mike began unpacking i realized the INSANE amount of rope the man had brought. so, in place of me looking cute in clean clothes, we had enough rope to have a tug of war with every other camper along the river. glad we were prepared, just in case.

we got the tent set up and i had to try it out. then mike caught us some dinner! actually, we had planned for fresh veggies from our garden at home and steak. the fish was just an added bonus!

mmmmm. it was so good!

we had a roaring fire with lots of mallows and cookies for s'mores. then it was time for mike to go see a man about a horse.

and the scenery. it was beautiful.

and for some readon i love these huge dandilion puffy ball things. so fun.

and snake grass. it looks so cool!

i had my first experience with a wag bag. no details here. mike was a good sport!

we had some fun laughing with each other...or at each other. either way, it was a fun, healthy laugh! at least we know we still like each other!

after a good night's sleep we loaded up the boat and headed out saturday morning. after, of course, mike got up early to cook a breakfast of sausage and eggs, which he brought to me in the tent...breakfast in bed. wonderful.

we were headed to the biggest rapid we would go through and mike got out of the boat to scope it out and make sure we didn't hit any big rocks.

there's my oarsman!

we made it through safe and we're still smiling!

more amazing scenery. much of our trip we awed at the beautiful world we live in. and wondered how it could be so amazing.

and it got really really hot on saturday. hot enough for mike to jump in! the water was freezing!!

and here is one of the ducks we saw along the way. the other ducks were a cute mama duck with a bunch of little babies following her. i don't have a picture because i was too busy fishing. well, trying to fish. mike was teaching me how to fly fish and apparently a fish was biting my fly and i was too busy gawking at the cute baby ducks that i missed 2 fish within 1 minute of each other! whoops. guess i better pay attention next time!

land ho. here's our final destination. indian crossing.

and here's mike unloading the boat...with all of that rope.

if i had a picture of one of the thousands of horseflies that drank some of our blood i'd post it here. trust me when i say we were fighting off those suckers.

and now we are home...it was so great to come back to our boys. we had a fabulous time and loved being together! thanks to nana sue for helping.

and now, i 'm sorry...i'm sure you are exhausted too.

can you say camel toe? why is it called that anyway? wait - maybe i don't want the answer. max was quite proud of his look.

new

today was mike's official first day on the new job. and here he is with his new car. lots of 'new' around here lately!

pops

i heard a bit of giggling - ok, a lot of giggling - and then it got way way way too quiet. i had to investigate and here is what i found...
corn pops everywhere. nice to know the boys had fun with this one!

yay mike!

mike's not used to working for somebody else. not used to reporting to a boss - besides me. because afterall, i am the ultimate boss woman around here. (ya, right.) a new opportunity came up...sort of by accident and well, mike is starting a new job tomorrow! i'm not sure of his official title, but he will be doing what he has been doing - financial planning/asset management - for washington mutual investments. he covers the salt lake valley which includes 15 or so branch locations. he gets to do what he loves and has numerous people helping him along the way. i am excited for this new adventure and for what it means for our family. mike is excited for a change and i know he will hit the ground running and not stop with this one! good job mike. i love you. thank you for working so hard for us!

a day at the park

saturday was 'free day' at this is the place heritage park so i packed up the boys and thought we'd check it out. what fun! i'm a sucker for pioneer history and had a great time roaming the streets of the village. max and luke loved seeing and petting the animals in the corral... and taking a ride around the pond on a kiddie sized train. i tried to explain to max some of the buildings and reasons for the monument and my emotions always seemed to get the better of me. this place is amazing. it was so touching to be in a place that flooded me with appreciation and gratitude for my ancestors.

i have recently been able to be a part of something that allows me to share this feeling with others. stories by me is a small business owned by lauri hyer. lauri and i met last fall when i was introduced to her block puzzle kits. i thought they were so neat and made one for everyone in my family for christmas! you really should check it out! (and visit our new blog here. we'd love to share your story, too!)

anyway, lauri must have seen something in me - maybe my desire to be involved with such a neat thing - and asked if i would work for her. so, these past 7 months i've been able to help share the story of stories by me and show others how to preserve their past as well.

what i love about what i get to do is that it is all about capturing memories and creating fun, unique and easy ways to remember and display those memories. my sister-in-law's mom, shelley, wanted something fun to take to her family reunion to auction off. she had seen a memory candle i made for lindsay and wanted to give those a try. she brought over lots and lots of pictures...and we had a blast scanning them into the computer and laughing at silly old faces. (and shelley, i didn't mind staying up until after 11pm doing that with you!!) it was fun to see these pictures come to life and know that i was helping shelley to preserve her history. the candles she made turned out fabulous - according to lindsay!

that's what i love. i love helping others. i love learning their stories. i feel like i am helping these ancestors be remembered. and when we remember it is easy to be grateful. and when we remember and are grateful it only makes us better.