Remember those saying that you'd hear your parents reiterate as a teen? Especially the ones about how time only speeds up and life only gets busier? Man, it's all so true, and if I think I'm busy now, I can't even imagine what the next couple of decades holds for me! Life's been good, getting back in the routine of Anthony in school and getting Connor ready to start on Thursday. I feel like I've done a lot of thinking and growing as a person and a parent the last couple of weeks, and I'm working on incorporating the lessons learned into my daily life.

In a couple of weeks, we will have officially lived in Bountiful for a year. We still love where we live. I feel completely safe about 99.9% of the time, and after talking to some neighbors, I think we're the target in the end unit for some weirdos. I had a guy come to the door the other day, and our blinds were all open, so I felt obligated to answer the door. He spun some tale about his nephew being stuck at a summer camp in Colorado because he didn't sell enough children's books. Weird. I gave him the three dollars I had in my pocket just to get him to go away. Anthony thinks I just gave him a reason to come back, but whatever. If you come over to my house and I don't answer the door, now you know that if I'm not expecting anyone, the door stays closed. Despite the occasional odd solicitation, I love being on the end and having privacy on our side, even if that means dealing with the road noise. I love the little park in our complex and how in the evenings, it seems like all the kids are sent out to play. I like that most of the families know each other and watch out for others' children. I'm really REALLY bad with names and faces since I meet so many new people at my job every day, so I'm really considering making a directory so that my kids and I can know who lives in which number. I love our light kitchen, our big bedrooms, our hot water heater that ensures LONG, HOT showers. I love that the maintenance guy comes on a moment's notice and that the lawn guys keep everything looking nice.


Since we can't have pets here, the kids have taken to adopting bugs as their "fwiends". The dragonflies love the hostas right outside our door and often rest on the sidewalk or in the lawn. They're fearless and let you touch their wings.


Sometimes they're a little TOO fearless and let you pile grass on them. And then they get squished by a bucket. Next lesson plan for the kids: animal cruelty, even if it's just a bug. If it's in the house then you can kill it. If it's outside, let it be.


We've been busy attending some family functions, and yet again, Janet outdid herself. What a fantastic party planner she is! I need to take some lessons.




I had my dad snap this picture of our family, and when I saw it in my camera, I had to laugh. In my mind, Alaina is still a little baby on my hip. Um, no. She's 3/4 my size!



Aaaarrrr!!!


Digging for some treasure!

Alaina with Kimball and Alton, showing off their booty!


Best blooper ever.






Here's to another busy week!

Yesterday we spent the day up at "our waterfall". I love that place. I used to skip classes in high school on the rare occasion that I had the Buick to myself (sorry Mom and Dad) to just go and enjoy the sounds and sights of nature. It's a little bit hidden, so running into people there is rare, but close enough to a parking lot that it requires no real physical exertion! Perfect!

I took Anthony here on his first ever visit to Utah in 2004.

We celebrated my 24th birthday there in 2009.


Last year, we took the kids up in late August, and Connor has been talking about it ever since.


My kids have learned to be much better subjects. This is last year's sibling attempt.


And this year's success!


I'm not sure exactly why I'm so attached to this place. Perhaps it's the familiarity and seeing how it changes year to year. I love the deafening roar of the somewhat wimpy waterfall. I love feeling like it's my own little piece of heaven.

The kids love throwing rocks into the deeper pool at the base of the waterfall. You can hear Connor's "YEEEEAAAAH!" after he got a big splash from "the biddest wat eva"!




In true Anthony fashion, he found a little bit of shade in a tiny cave. He was relaxing there when Connor decided he needed to rest with Daddy while eating his raisins.


The Alaina crawled over and ambushed him, too. :)


Oh, by the way, this kid NEVER stops eating. I've heard of growth spurts before, but this is ridiculous. For breakfast this morning, he had two large peaches, an entire pear, a granola bar, and a Nutrigrain bar. Then we had lunch an hour later.


Alaina loves to collect little things like rocks, berries, leaves, and sticks and calls them her "little fwiends". She gets upset if she drops and loses one. Here she's looking for a lost berry. She found it.




I love taking pictures of nature, but let me tell you, it is hard with a 4-year-old around! I have soooo many photos where I'm framing a macro shot, and right as I press the shutter button, a certain little boy's shoe enters the frame. :)


My favorite part of the day was taking the kids on separate tiny hikes, then sitting and having a conversation with them one on one. Connor was actually the one to initiate these "time-out"s. We talked about school and friends and nature. It was wonderful. <3


Connor wanted to sit in the sun for part of his "time out with Mommy". He likes to fry like me, while Alaina seeks out the shade like Anthony.


When Alaina and I had our time alone, we talked about rocks, bugs, and dirty feet. Go figure!


I think we'll have to make this an annual tradition!

Phew! It's been a whirlwind of a summer for us! We are offically homebound for the next 4ish months and all of us ready for the routine of fall. Anthony starts school on Monday, and Connor starts at his new preschool (right around the corner and in the mornings...hooray!) September 5. I'm really looking forward to the structure that being in school brings while still being able to enjoy warm days and fun outside for a while.

Last weekend, I took the kids to Bear Lake with the Eyrings and my mom. We arrived early Friday afternoon and spent the day at the north shore. It was beautiful and the kids loved it!






After a fun afternoon, we went back to our lot for some bubbles, dinner, and a campfire. Thrown in the mix was an epic dinner battle with Connor...three hours later he finally took 2 bites of his sloppy joe!




Why is the ashy sand around the fire pit the most fun to play with?


I like to call this picture "The Peanut Gallery", since Connor had plenty of advice for Uncle Sean on how to correctly build a fire.


Chris plays so well with my kids. He can be a crazy boy with Connor and gentle and kind with Alaina.


That night was COLD. REALLY COLD. The Eyrings were very kind and let us camp in their new behemoth of a tent, and I even got a cot off of the ground! Thank goodness I bought the kids 0 degree sleeping bags because when I finally checked the temperature at 6 AM, it was 38 degrees. I was FREEZING in my 20 degree sleeping bag! Connor wiggled out of his around midnight and woke up crying, so after that I was too cold and too worried about the kids to fall back asleep. I dozed off and on due to many reasons...only half of my work schedule had been posted and I couldn't connect to the rest of it, so I was worried that I only had one shift this week. I had weird dreams from 10-12 because I had taken some melatonin, and whoever said that less layers in a mummy bag equals warmth should be kicked in the face. I'll know better next time! I took a lot of detail shots with the help of Janet's ideas of how we want to remember Bear Lake. Everything could/will be different in the years to come, so I think with time, these photos will be invaluable. Goodbye, trailer. You are loved!

We're back! The summertime visit to Colorado is always my favorite...hot days and warm nights, evening light that just begs to be photographed, kids who are more than happy to spend all day riding bikes on the driveway. I was introduced to the Windsor beach for the first time, and we spent nearly the entire visit relaxing by the water and playing in the sand. The biggest highlight of the visit was spending more time with Daynarae and getting to know her better!

I have high hopes for these two to be best buds in the years to come, but with both of them vying for Papa's attention, who knows what will come of this little rivalry? :P


Daynarae is smitten with her crazy cousin and kept saying "Nonner!" in reference to Connor or Alaina.




I swear this child will grow up to be a motorist of some sort. He will sit still on his bike and make revving noises, then peel out only to stop as quickly as he can after he reaches max speed.



Sweet girl has been so good lately to stop and smile at the camera. <3



My children have taken to saying, "I'm hungry outside," letting me know that meals in the kitchen are out of the question. It's summer...I'm all about it.


When the fun was over and Daynarae had to go back to her mommy, she threw her arms around Anthony's neck. He loved it. :)



Now THAT'S a smush!

After a couple days of just playing in the sand at the beach, Anthony bought the kids some floaties. Best $2 ever spent! Connor loved to swim out as far as we'd let him go, and Alaina liked to float along, relaxing to the point of almost falling asleep.




It was so nice to finally have the cousins all play together.



Now believe me, I was tempted to clone out the guy's head in the background, but there's a story here. Maybe not one appropriate for a picture of two adorable little girls, but a memory nonetheless. To all the creepers out there: you're conspicuous and people with zoom lenses take pictures of your license plates. Just sayin'.

Connor had been asking to go on a water bike for days and Nana took him for a half hour ride! I'm looking forward to getting her closer range photos! *ahem!*


On our last day at the beach, a bluegrass band played at the park. The kids loved running around while the band played and the people-watching was sublime. These old dudes doing interpretive dances were hilarious.




Love this photo.


Our visit came to a close far too quickly, and while I was packing up, Papa took the kids to the bank. We usually get one sucker for each of them, but Papa wants to be remembered! Three suckers at once? Why not? :)