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.

Isaac is still loving his mow-mow. When ever we get home from somewhere he’ll run outside saying some gibberish sounding something like “Bye bye mamma, gung gung moawn moower.”

I wanted to remember this cute little boy mowing the lawn so I made this template and had fun putting these pictures of Isaac on it. It was scrap lifted from Jessica Sprague’s You Can page in the Creating Keepsakes magazine. Her girl is so cute and even has wings on.

I completed this template awhile ago, not knowing if it was the kind of template to share, but life has just been too busy lately so I thought you might like it more than having nothing from me. Enjoy. Download here.

I feel like it’s been weeks since I’ve sat down to blog. So much has happened… and still happening. It’s a crazy summer but it’s tons of fun. I hope you all are having fun too.

Here is a quick update.

I had a great birthday. I’ve been giving Jeremy the business about not getting too great of presents in the past. I told him I thought I’d rather just purchase my own gift. He assured me that he was going to step it up this year. I had my doubts and offered to write a list of options but he refused. (I threaten him to not to buy any clothes. There is no possible way he’d be able to find something I liked as well something that fit well too.) He stuck to his guns and despite all my fears, I have to say, he really came through. He bought me a long board. It’s super cool and I love cruising around on it. It’s such a nice smooth ride. I have yet to try a big hill but I have cruised around my neighborhood a number of times. Isaac loves coming with me too. He just stands there looking so big and occasionally wants to help me push. I love it. Thanks Jer! It is something I would have never bought for myself but something I’ve always wanted.

We also went on a fun date for my birthday. We went to a Japanese Stake House where I watched the chef toss a shrimp down some ladies cleavage and then we went off to climb. We explored a new area which turned out to be a bit advanced for us but had a great time hopping around all the giant granite boulders. We happened upon a rattle snake that almost gave me a heart attack but Jer was loving every minute of it poking it with a stick. Yikes!

We finished off the night by going to Iron Man. He surprised me with this yummy ice cream cake from cold stone too. Woo Hoo. I’m such an ice cream fan.

We’ve been trying to do a lot of climbing lately. We discovered this new place just up the canyon. This water fall is right by the climbing wall. It was gorgeous and just a few steps off the road. It is totally hidden by the small canyon and by the trees, thus the name Hidden Falls. The waterfall made climbing difficult though. The loud crashing water made communicating hard and the belayer had to practically stand in the river. The climbing was hard and was I was so tired after the first climb that I couldn’t complete the second climb. I’m going to have to go back to conquer that one.

For the Fourth of July we went up to Park City/Heber to stay with some friends in the cabin and go wake boarding at the lake. It was super fun. While we were there we took Emma and Isaac down the Alpine Slides. That is what this picture is from. You have to ride the ski lifts up to the top and ride these blue sleds down a giant slide. So fun!! Perfect for the kids. Emma was grinning ear to ear the whole way down. They loved it. I don’t have any pictures from the lake though. Oops. We got a little rained on and headed home a bit early.

We also went to the Stadium of Fire in Provo, UT. Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) performed as well as the Blue Man Group. Emma was so excited to see Hannah but then during the actually concert she was tired and grouchy. I had to make her get up and dance with me during Girls Night Out. My favorite part of the whole thing was this super giant flag carried by soldiers. Wowzers!

We have a new favorite place to go when there is nothing else to do. It’s the Temple Quarry Trail in Little Cottonwood Canyon. The place is covered with lizards so Jer and the kids have a blast trying to catch them. They are pretty quick little suckers (the lizards, I mean.) We’ve had picnics, bonfires and hikes up there so far. Super fun. If your lucky you can see Mountain Sheep.

So driving home from my moms Emma saw this little traveling carnival. She begged us to take her so we went and spent way too much money on these little dinky rides but the kids loved it and could have rode them all night. Jer captured a bunch of blurry dark pictures with his iphone. None of them worked out but it will help me remember how important it is to have spontaneous fun with the kids.

So how cute is this picture?? Ahhh, siblings.

Hello everyone. I’ve been feeling happier and so has Emma. Emma’s “blues” from the other day turned into a fever and a sore throat. No wonder she was feeling so sad… she never told me she wasn’t feeling good. Poor little thing. She was worried that she would never feel good again but we are now all back to normal and so far no one else has caught her little bug.

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Wow, is it really July? This has got to be my favorite month of the year. I love the 4th of July festivities!! and well, it is also great because my birthday is this week too. Woo hoo!

Now when I say how old I am people will be even more shocked. “What? You look so young,” they’ll say. I’ll roll my eyes and they’ll follow it up with a “You’ll appreciated it when you are older.” I usually reply with a “Ya, that’s what they all say. ”

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The busy life of summer has picked up and events are starting to pile up around me and fill up my calendar. I think every weekend from now until the middle of Aug is going to be booked.

I’ve got climbing pictures to share and a template to get ready but it will all have to wait until later. Today is going to be another fun filled summer day. I thought I’d say a quick hello before I took off.

Ta ta.