Our Vacation Spot

My poor mom, every time Aaron leaves on a business trip, we go to Grandma's. It's not really that I'm scared of being alone or that I don't think I can handle it. It's more of getting a change of scenery and knowing my kids would have a lot more fun. This last week we went to Grandma's for pretty much the whole week. My head kept telling me to stay home a couple days and then go... but when Whitney found out she could be at Grandma's that is all I heard about. So I forgot what my head was telling me and listened to my kids. As always, my kids had a blast and I probably relaxed a little more than I should....no cooking or cleaning is always sooooooooo nice. Even though it was bad weather most of the time so we had to be creative with our entertainment it all went well. The best part is that the kids slept good, except for Whitney's early mornings which super Grandma covered. I am so thankful for parents that are so willing to be a part of their Grandkids life. When I returned home and Whitney was ecstatic to be playing with her friends again I realized that to her Grandma and Grandpa are her friends. They play with her about as much as the other kids and Whitney adores them. Although it was nice to get away, sometimes for me it is nicer to come home rejuvenated. I don't really think about Aaron much when he is gone because I don't want to be a sob story, but when he comes back it is rubbed in my face even more how much I love him and how empty my life is without him. So thanks to Grandma, Grandpa and Lindsay for our celebration of the first week of summer - despite it feeling like March outside we still had fun. Thanks for the memories and of course Red Robin! I think my kids ate 50 popsicles while there.

This is a usual picture of Grandma's house - the kids attacking Grandma

Whitney went out to the store one night with Lindsay and Grandma and came back with a Snow White dress. The kid is freakin' crazy about princesses!! To the point that the only way I can smother it is to tell her that her dresses need to be washed. After getting the dress she wore it to bed that night (I wasn't about to fight that battle!), the entire next day, I finally made her wear her pajamas to bed so that her dress wouldn't break :), and then the next day - shocker - she wore it again. It is currently in the being washed process:)

Even though Travis has seen me mow the lawn countless times, I guess Grandpa made it look cool. The second we got home he headed straight for our neighbors play lawnmower. He actually has a pretty good stance....maybe in a couple years..... If you look closely - yes, Whitney is in her Snow White dress after church. She wanted to wear it to church but I told her it would make the other kids feel bad that they couldn't.

While Whitney's obsession was Snow White here is some video of Travis' obsession.....besides eating popscicles all day.

The great outdoors

Friday I was getting pretty excited for summer. The weather was warm and I was ready to start "The summer of Melanie." Aaron didn't get home from work until a little later so we revamped some plans. We decided to camp in the great outdoors.....being the backyard. This way we could see what we were really in for camping with our kids and maybe learn from our mistakes without loosing too much sleep! We did tinfoil dinners and banana boats in our little campfire outside. When it was time to set up the tent the kids went crazy. They thought that was a pretty cool playground. Whitney especially was pretty excited to sleep out in the tent. Things went pretty smoothly until it was 10:00 and our kids still didn't want to go to sleep. I tried with Travis - but as our neighbors will testify he didn't like the idea of sleeping in a separate wing in the tent, and showed how strong his lungs really are. Finally we got the kids asleep - Travis finally fell asleep cuddling me. It was great until about 11:00 when our bed became uncomfortable and I couldn't move for fear of waking the little one. I toughed it out until one in the morning and then me and Travis ditched out and got a good night sleep inside. I'm impressed Whitney did really good - she got cold mid-way through the night and cuddled with dad, but she toughed it out. It was really fun, we learned from our mistakes and look forward to perhaps actually venturing out of the backyard next time....maybe.

I am just absolutely loving life. I love the stage my family is at, I love our neighborhood, I love my health and freedom, I love that summer is here, I'm just so content with life right now!! How do you beat great family, friends and weather! It's one of those times in my life when I want to make every day count. Everyday make a memory and grow closer to my kids and husband.

Flowrider..... round 3

Last Saturday we went up to my parents house because Aaron couldn't handle the thought of not going anywhere for memorial day. He really wanted to try the flowrider in Ogden (indoor surfing) since I had been twice and he hadn't ever tried. Of course I had no objection to that idea. All I can say about Aaron is he is just WAY to coordinated. I know it's not good to secretly want someone to struggle to learn something or be humbled a little bit......especially if it's your husband! But ever since I've known him he makes everything look WAY to easy. For example just in the last year we have gone water skiing, snowboarding, skim boarding, and now indoor surfing - and at all these events which he has either rarely or never done, he picks up on it like a 2 year old could. I really figured this flowrider stuff was the one thing to get him, that I might have an edge on, but once again, he picked up on it pretty darn fast. I will say that I had an absolute blast though - I guess there was something about magical time #3 that it finally really clicked with both me and Lindsay. We both were finally able to feel in control and turn on the wave - which is an amazing feeling after 2 previous attempts/hours of being humbled. I can't wait to go up and do it again! Thanks mom and dad for being amazing - we are so lucky to have parents that our kids beg to go see.

Monday was our project day. Aaron made shelves for our garage and I redid a dresser. And that was pretty much our day in a nutshell. But I will say that while I had some time to think while sanding and painting, I thought about all the people that paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Men and Women who mostly had their whole life ahead of them, some leaving a wife and kids. I feel I don't show it enough but I love holidays that celebrate our nation because, yes our country has some issues - like paying my left arm for gas, but I think we forget how blessed we are just to be free. To have a government meant to protect the people, for the people. That we can live in a land were truly you have endless opportunity. I love our nation and I thank all those who gave their life so I could enjoy mine with my family. HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY.

Lindsay came to play!

This last weekend since my parents went to Cleveland for Bryan's graduation, Lindsay came down to play. She was going to go play with some friends in Provo Friday and then come down - but plans changed last second and she came down Friday Evening. Aaron - who's golf got cancelled last second also ended up coming home early too - so our weekend got off to an early party! Since Aaron was home and it was gorgeous weather outside I decided it was perfect timing to pull out my Mother's Day Present. I know once again my playful side comes out and many of you will laugh or shake your head when you hear what I asked for - but it's awesome. Aaron jokes that he just needs to look for toys with the ages 12-16 label on it to give to me. Anyway it's a Banzai skimboard slide - what is that? Well in a nutshell it's a deep slip n' slide that you can skimboard (kind of like surfing) down. It really is a blast!

Friday night Aaron went to a Father and son's camp out, which left us with a girls night out. We rented 27 dresses and ate way to much candy!

Saturday Morning Lindsay was nice enough to watch my kids for me so I could play in my soccer game. Aaron ended up coming back by half-time to save her. Right after the game me and Lindsay went for a run - which kicked my trash!! I was so tired and hot by the end of our run that I made Lindsay stop by the river so I could get in and throw numbing cold water all over me!! That afternoon we pulled out the skimboard again. It was like a constant party outside with all the kids playing in all the water toys. Here is some footage of Aaron and the kids skimboarding.

Sunday was my recovery day - I am still incredibly sore from soccer, running, and skimboarding. Whitney whispered in Dad's ear that she wanted to build a fort - so Aaron did. He built a multi-room fort, even though we pretty much just vegged in the main room. I made some popcorn and Whitney would not just put a little in her mouth - but fill to extreme max capacity - I'm talking about shoving it in with fingertips!

Travis was lucky - he could walk around the fort without even ducking :)

Lindsay looking hot.

We survived church and had a sweet BBQ and our best dutch oven dessert yet! Thanks Linds, for coming and playing - we had a blast. Whitney even asked first thing this morning where you were.

Change

As of yesterday we are now about an hour away from any family. This past week we said good-bye to three siblings we are going to miss, but are excited for their adventures ahead. Last Wednesday Neal went into the MTC. He was definitely ready to go, which made saying good-bye easy. On Monday Jeff and Selly moved to California. A big part of me wanted to jump in the moving van just to go to the beach again! I'm very excited for their adventure of law school ahead of them. Here is Jeff getting set in the big truck for their move.

Yesterday Bethany went into the MTC. It was hard to say good-bye even though I know 18 months will probably go by fast. She has helped us out so much, pretty much she was our kids' second mom and our only go-to person that we could ditch Travis on and allow me and Aaron to get away. Even though I'm going to miss her I am really excited for her and know she will be an amazing missionary - she is such an example to me in so many ways.

With Neal and Bethany going on missions, and Jeff & Selly, Bryan and Amy taking on new adventures in California there is a lot of change taking place. I like change - and look forward to everyone experiencing new things. It's a good thing my kids don't fully understand what is going on - if they knew all their playmates where leaving they would throw a fit.

As for us... the only change we are really experiencing is Travis' new haircut :) I buzzed him a couple days ago and am just finally getting used to it. I love the stage we are at and look forward to a "SUMMER OF MELANIE" or I guess I should say a "SUMMER OF THE HOOPES'" (it's a saying from seinfeld). This summer we are determined to live it up to the fullest since our kids are at a stage that we can go and do. I'm looking forward to rodeos, vacations, hikes, camping, bonfires, rollerblading......and warm weather!!

Here is a picture of Travis' newest haircut.

It's......mostly done

OK... I know I thought that this project would be done months ago. Boy have I eaten my words! We have mostly finished rocking our archways. Well, I guess you could say we were done with our part over a month ago, but we paid a friend to do the finishing touches (grout between the rocks). So, most of it is done.... enough for me to show some pictures and call it good for a while. This project has tried my patience, I consider a week project long, little alone a 2-3 month project. Anyway, here are some before and after pictures, you can judge how badly we hurt or helped our house. I love it.

I love this stage!

As crazy as this last week has been getting back into the swing of things - I have just been reminded how much I really love my life right now!! I have so much more freedom! It is so nice to be able to play with my kids or sit and watch Travis discover the world instead of holding him ALL THE TIME! I love watching his cute little body maneuver over things and attempting to hold a conversation with him. Whitney is at a great stage too - old enough to watch Enchanted with us and when Prince Edward tried to awake Jezell from her sleep with a kiss.... and she didn't she yelled out "IT DIDN'T WORK!" It's fun to see that she still has such a zest for life. Although sometimes it takes every fiber not to freak out when Whitney ignores me or when most of the food on Travis' tray purposely ends up on the floor while he laughs about it, I wouldn't want it any other way.

For memories sake I just have to share something funny my kids do all the time now. Whitney has always been pretty creative on what she can stand on to reach new heights. Currently her choice has been one of Travis' play tables. It enables her to do one of her favorite hobbies - look at all the different Video covers and decide which she likes best. She honestly will just pull them out and look and the cover for a minute and then figure out how it fits back in. Apparently Travis thought this looked fun because he has started in on it. So when I hear all the different music the table plays go off, I know they are on it. When I hear Travis' attention getter scream.. I know he is stuck and can't figure out how to get down.

On Friday and Saturday Whitney got to go to her first princess birthday parties. She was so excited to have a reason to get all dressed up.

Also on Saturday my family had a get together since Matt and Lacy were in town. It was fun chaos. I love my family, I love how everyone wants to have fun and we can kick back and enjoy ourselves. Thanks mom for hosting - we had a great time, Whitney is already asking when we can do it again.

Here is some footage I've been trying to capture for a while. Travis has an obsession with phones. Funny thing is this last week he has been saying something on the phone and then laughing...... he must have been watching Grandma talk on the phone when she was here :)