My computer is having issues!! I’m totally irritated. I don’t have the patience or the time to fix it. I really wanted to get a template off for you all… it’s been so long.

I’ve just recovered from all of our travels but it’s time to hit the road again.

I’m headed to girls camp. There will be no technology there.

No kids to tow, no diapers to change; just a bunch of teenage girls to watch over. I’m a bit anxious for some reason. It should be fun but I’m not exactly tight with all of these girls. I start having issue about how old I look. Silly I know, but it’s real.

I’m their leader.  Is that hard to grasp? I just know I’m going to get comments.

Anyhooo, it might be adding to my grouchiness today.

Isn’t it always nice to come home after a long trip away? I certainly missed my bed as well as having Isaac in his own room. My shower seemed absolutely lovely but I was reminded how grim the inside of my fridge can be. We had a relaxing day today and sat outside to watch the thunderstorm roll on by.

Here are some photo highlights from our trip.

At the beginning of our trip we stayed a few days up Odgen Canyon near Eden, UT for an extended family reunion. Playing at the beach with Isaac was probably the easiest place to watch him. There wasn’t really anywhere that he could go. The sand was too hot for him to run away and he totally preferred the water anyway. He was happy as a lark all day long.

A day at the lake is always fun. We had a boat and 2 jet skis to share with an enormous group of family but surprisingly everyone got a turn although Isaac would have loved to have multiple turns one right after the other. Once he was playing on the wave runner and figured out how to turn on the machine when know one was looking. Luckily I ran over and pulled the key out before he had time to take off. Wooo.

After being in Odgen we headed up to Ashton, ID for a reunion with just Jeremy’s family. This picture is at Mesa Falls. It’s totally gorgeous. Too bad the kids were fussy and the weather was pretty hot. We left there all feeling a bit grouchy… ya know how traveling can be.

One another day, we went to explore some caves near by, the Civil Defense Caves near Rexburg, ID. It was super fun and the kids thought it was pretty cool. Actually it was pretty cool… inside the caves. I had forgotten that small detail and had no sweatshirts for us and the kids. That is why there is a towel draped around Jeremy’s shoulders and Emma is wearing her life jacket– it’s all we had in the car. Isaac fell asleep and carrying that heavy body kept me plenty warm.

After the caves we checked out the sand dunes. Note to self… do not visit the sand dunes at 1:00 in the afternoon. Talk about a temperature change from the caves. The sand was burning our feet so we didn’t stay long but the site sure was amazing.

Our cabin was right along Henry’s Fork of the Snake River. It was a beautiful place and when there wasn’t much to do you could find us out floating the river.

One of my favorite things about the place was the sunsets. Jer and I went mountain biking one night and rode back to the house with this as our back drop. It was amazingly gorgeous. The pictures doesn’t do justice.

One of our favorite things to do in Yellowstone is go swimming at Firehole River. We were so bummed when we arrived because it was closed due to high water. We joked around about swimming anyway and risking the hefty fine. However, we opted to go up stream for a picnic and stick our feet in the river instead.

I thought this was another cute picture of Emma. The lower falls of the Yellowstone river are in the back ground. This was at the end of the day and by this time the kids were pretty sick and tired of driving around the park looking for wildlife (one of Jer’s favorite activities.) We would say “Look, Emma, an elk!” and she would reply “I already saw a bunch of elk” not bothering to look out the window. So that was the end of that. Everyone else came home with tales of seeing bears and all we saw was a bunch of unexciting elk.

Oh well, we are home safely and now I have a ton of photos to scrapbook. Yippee!

We are still having a great time on our trip. There has been a flu bug traveling around the extended family and we have been fortunate enough to avoid it so far. Perhaps we have some sort of immunity or maybe it will just hit us when we are home and unpacking.

I have not come away unscathed though. I have managed to get so many bug bites on my ears and in my hair line that I feel pretty close to death. I can NOT stop scratching. My ears are hot and swollen. It’s insane and ridiculous! I thought that they were from biting flies but my MIL said they were “no see ums.” I’ve never heard of the little buggies but I think I absolutely hate them now. I was up in the night scratching and trying not to scratch. Arggg…

On the bright side we’ve had a blast exploring Yellowstone, riding ATVs, and floating the river. I may give you more details later but for now I will leave you with a cute picture of Emma by some awesome 197 foot waterfall in Yellowstone.

We are having a pretty good time on our trip. We are finally to stage 3. I’m looking forward to this week. Should be full of floating the river, checking out waterfalls, horse back riding and maybe some white water rafting. Totally stoked!

My dear sweet Isaac is totally wearing me out though. Without my locked down house he needs to be watched 24/7. He never wants to do what he should be doing. There is always something more appealing to him. It generally involved being outdoors, involves unsafe water or expensive electronics. He is such a little stinker.

One time he was slowly trying to sneak away from some boring family reunion meeting. I called after him and he put his hands over his eyes and kept walking. Occasionally he’d turn around to check if I was still wanting him to come back (with his hands still over his eyes.) I’d called after him and he kept walking. What! Did he think I couldn’t see him if he couldn’t see me? Was he not responsible for his disobedience if he wasn’t looking where he was looking? He eventually got far enough that he took his hands off of his eyes and took off for the hills. I’m sure he was trying his best to out run me.

Fortunately I am faster then the little tike.

More good times ahead!

Yes, we just began our summer vacation. We are going to family reunion heaven. We are hitting 3 or so. I’m currently on Jer’s iPhone so you may be lucky enough to receive updates.

Fun, fun, fun, in the summer time sun. Later!

So in the mist of the all of the summer fun, family reunions and family that is in town, I decided that my house needed some painting. My great room was badly needing a fresh coat of paint. I didn’t even change the color but I can’t tell you how much better it looks. My dear Mom in Law helped me out and we were able to cover a ton of square feet in one afternoon. I decided to tackle my bed room on my own during nap time. It took a lot longer than one nap time but I’m finally done and very happy with the results. This picture doesn’t really do it justice. It’s really not so bright green.

Here is a shot of my freshly painted great room. I was thinking of getting new curtains. These cotton panels just aren’t doing it for me. I’m not sure what I want though. What color would look good in this room? What style- traditional, modern, maybe country? Something heavy? Something light? I guess I just want something classy. Nothing I’ve seen has tickled my fancy. Any suggestions?

My dad received an email from an old friend. The old friend had come across some old photos and thought it would be fun to share. My dad in turn forward the photo on to us. I had fun making a page out of it so I thought I’d share. I’m the blonde one.

Last night Jeremy was out to dinner at Rumbi Island Grill with some family while I was busy doing other stuff. He caled me and said that he was going to make another trip to instacare. Emma had accidentally pulled a table down on to her and cut open her head.

It’s a pretty good gash. She now has 6 stitches and wants to show and tell everyone her story. The nurse said she was so brave and didn’t even cry when they were stitching her up.

This morning she is not feel quite so happy though. Obviously the numbing shots have worn off but she told me that she doesn’t want everyone to be worried so please… no worrying.