Happy UnBirthdays

It's Party Hat time around here. "Happy UnBirthdays" because I am very LATE in posting celebrations to some of my fams. But still haven't forgotten! Obviously my posting frequency has dropped recently and as a result I missed wishing a very Happy Bday to my Dad, Jessica, Randi and Julia. So here it is! Overdue, but here in bright lights for all to see.
I love you all so much and hope you had dandy Birthdays. Happy Happy!

Lotoja 2009

Here we go! Another fun year at the LoToJa race. Scott and some friends (plus my bro-de-bro, Rich) did the relay last year and enjoyed it so much they did it again. Our friend Boyd decided to skip it this time and ride the entire thing again this year (read 'crazy') so Josh took his place. Merideth and baby Ronan came along so it was fun to get to know them better and hang out.
This year Scott designed & made team kits officially declaring them the Space Invaders.
The weather was great, the food was great, and the company was the best! Such great people and some good laughs as always.
I figure now that it's been over a week ago, I'd better get my act on it and post these pics. There will be quite a few, so consider yourself warned.

We decided to try some different things out this year so we made the pre-race dinner reservation early at a new restaurant called Elements. It was tasty yums.



After dinner, it's hotel-party-prep-time. Two of our rooms were joined so we spread out across them both and prepared for the big day. I don't know why but I always like this part of the weekend. Commotion in the parking lot because practically everyone there is doing the same thing. The conversations always end up revealing new things... for some, like how Rich & I are brother/sister (which explained my slapping his butt all the time) or, I learned this year that Shep has a thing for assembling miniature doll house furniture. Who knew! ;)

The next morning we got up early to pack up and send Josh off. Even little Ronan was excited.

Here we are at the first feed zone. Here is Rich, ready to go take the second leg to grandma's house. I downloaded a cool app to track his placement on the route. It was awesome!... when it was working. Maybe next year they'll have the bugs worked out on that, but I was still proud when I watched his little green dot move speedily along the map....

He and Randi were like, mackin' all the time it was like, get a room already....
(so cute)

And thanks to Rich, he suggested we get some Space Invaders stickers for the cars, so I had those whipped up right before we left. Maybe one year some fat sponser will give us each G wagons so we can all look as cool as Josh & Mer.... :) No? Spaceships then!

Here is Shepton waiting to go. Take a good look at his tan now because this boy can ride feee-ast.

Shep & Tracy as we caravan to the end (I thought he would appreciate this picture because it looks like the heavens are opening above his bike). It was getting hot later in the day- I kept trying to look for places to pull over in the shade but found none. ltph.

Here is spaceman Danny cruising along all speedy-like.

Some last team-cheer stops before the end.

Here's my man. He had the last leg and said he felt great. Aww... good job, sweets!

After the long day of riding, there is nothing better than recounting the stories of the day over dinner. So again- we made a reservation at a place that has been recommended to us for a while called Calico. Yummers!

Sunday we all met for breakfast and said good bye to Danny/Heidi & Boyd/Michelle. We went into Jackson and hung out for a while before Josh & Mer left. Away the Space Invaders went. Those that could extend the fun a little longer joined us and we headed to a huge town in Wyoming called Boulder (population 71) where Scott's parent's have a home. Yeehaw! Git yer hats on, the party's not over yet.
Here is the team (plus the Ericksons):
Josh/Mer, Tracy/Shep, Randi/Rich, Scott/Me, Michelle/Boyd, Danny/Heidi

On the way to Waaaaaahhh-omin. People are almost crazy to live in such isolation, but it is darn beeyootiful. Flip.

While settling into the house, Rich spotted this ginormous Owl cold-kickin' it above the front porch. When he looked at us, it looked like he was staring into your soul. This is nature, folks!

After chilling out and eating something lighter for dinner for a change, we whipped out the long-awaited debut of Beatles Rock Band and gave it a good work out. It was so fun. I think a contributing factor was we were all alone in this house in the middle of nowhere. Meaning... we could BLARE the volume and sing as loud (and as badly) as we wanted. Good times. And private ones. I can't sing too well. Look at my face, there... looks like I'm mad at Ringo or something.

And Scott with his Morrisey hair rocking out with vigor from the lounge recliner.


We were going to stay through Tuesday but too many duties were pulling us all away, so after some morning walks and great talks (oooh rhyming!), the boys went for a quick ride before saying goodbye.

Scott and I spent the night at my parents house before driving home Tuesday. Of course.... we had to whip out Rock band with them. I mean, c'MON. They are the ones who raised me on the stuff. Now my Dad is hooked and wants a Wii (wee!). I'm glad they liked it. And, uh, sorry Mom about you losing your voice. You sounded great, though... :)


We had a wonderful time and really enjoyed each other and some great friends. Thanks to everyone who made the efforts to participate & make it happen!

Jam Yums

During the week before Labor Day, I acquired a large box of peaches from California (Thanks, MJ!).
Oh boy- they were so so so so so good. Some of the best ever. I made a few bad desserts (they were actually really good hand pies and things but bad because I practically ate them all myself) but still had many left that were going to be wasted.
So I decided to can them/bottle them. Something I have never done.
I bought some books, did the research and went to work on the real-deal. No pectin or freezer stuff here, the long-simmering, boiling-the-jars stuff. And it turns out it wasn't so scary. I was afraid to take on this little venture because I thought the things would blow up in my face. I want to watch someone go through the process now that I have done it a couple of times and see if I am really doing it right. Otherwise I'll be gifting beautifully jewel- colored peach botulism in a jar come Christmas. Does anyone else reading this do this often enough? Is it spooky to open something months later and wonder if it will be okay?
But it did get me excited to try doing more things. Too bad the garden didn't produce tons of tomatoes. Some friends of mine have been blogging lately about bottling their family tomato soup recipe and it looks so good.
What to try next? Maybe pickled black widows....

Adventure Badge

The Scout bug has bitten my family and all the men have been collecting them. Not little boys sold on ebay, but old 4x4's from the 60's-70's. Poor Marty is still trying to find his very specific preference so he decided to sell his first one....to us. Apparently Scott loved Marty's first International Scout II. So while in Utah over Labor Day (to pick it up), we went on a "Patch Scout Adventure" (so coined by my Dad) while all the scouts were still in one location. We took a long, bumpy dirt road through the back of the mountains. The only person missing was Jess :(.
We grabbed some sandwiches before heading up the mountain and when I turned around to ask the kids if they were ready, Elliet did this:

Here is the fam parked as we get ready to eat lunch. The weather could not have been better for us that day. Nice cloud cover and perfect cool temps.


We stopped for lunch early in the ride. The veiws throughout the day were really beautiful.

Mom & Marty. I like how Marty looks like he's posing for some Land's End jacket advertisement.
And the trees are starting to change colors!


We stopped and took some family pics (but none with my camera) and this was one of them. I like Luke's arm laying in Elliet's lap as an acceptable form of "scoot close together".

The kids kept wanting to hike around. Here is Luke, tired of waiting, after telling me that he was going to go on a hike and headed off into the road.

A little scout-swappin'. The kids all rode with Papa & Nana for a while. Scott and I enjoyed some solo time which was nice. Sadie's little head looked so cute from behind with her little blond pigtails bouncing up and down.

And the final view before descending out of the mountains.

As always, so fun to be with my family. We had a great time and enjoyed each other muchos. The kids loved it and are chomping at the bit to do some exploring in the scout around here. Great idea, Dad!

The More You Grow

As usual, major catching up to do!
The kids have started school and as nice as it has been to have full days back to myself, I also feel a bit like a fish out of water. I need to do some time restructuring.... I'm so used to being limited with time that I feel I don't know what to start on my list first now that I have more. It keeps filling in with little things and I haven't had much to show for it.
But I do have THIS to show for it. I have needed dig into the garden and rip out old/dead stuff and prepare for the fall. I kept waiting 'for school to start'.
So, the first week in, I reserved a beautiful morning to get my hands dirty. Plopped in my headphones and went to work. I think the success rate of my first attempt to garden was about 50-60%. The rest was bumpkus. The tomatoes, basil, garlic chives and hot peppers (planted by accident) were all great. But the carrots (they were dwarfed, bitter nasties) and butter squash/zucchini which grew beautifully, all green, lush and huge... didn't work. I never got ONE zucchini from them which I think had to do with a lizard or other pests. Who knows. Ether way, out all that crap came. I decided to prune the tomatoes because the ends have blossomed again so I may get another harvest. We'll see. It was just niiiiice to work hard for a good 1 1/2 hours without being interrupted.
Also, I got to use my compost!!!!
Look at that muck- ain't it purdy? I am telling you, composting is so cool. This was a big old mess and it has broken down to rich, earthy smelling deliciousness for the soil. I can't believe the process yeilds something like that. I mixed that in with the current dirt and now it's ready for seeds. Woot. I encourage anyone thinking about taking this on to go for it (The kids get into it, too). I am a fan of doing this in the bins or cans because there hasn't been any bug or pest problem.
Though... I can't say that for the garden. Apparently I can't grow zucchini very well but I was able to grow a huge, healthy, glossy black widow just fine. Look at what I found when I ripped out the plants? Too bad for you I didn't have a hidden camera filming my reaction. It's huge! So shiznasty. Even the leaves were disgusted. And if you think you're not afraid of spiders, then click on the pic to full size and touch it on your monitor. I double-dog dare you. (Fine, but I am man enough to admit that even a picture of the thing is yucky enough)

Lake Mead

We recently went with some friends to Lake Mead for the first time. The first time! In all my days of visiting here and living here, I have never set eyes on the place. We weren't sure about the kids... I knew they would have a good time but I also worried they would be bored after a while. Who was I kidding? We all had so much fun and the kids just LOVED it. Which, as a result, made Scott and I enjoy it even more. We've been doing more with them lately and it's really fun to enter this phase in life where we aren't hauling diaper bags and sippy cups everywhere. They are like three mini pals to hang out with and taking in the world is fun to experience with them.
Riding in the boat (for their first time) was great. Elliet sat on the nose in the front with her face in the wind shouting songs, Sadie just looked around and giggled and Luke, my little thinker, kept expressing worry that we were going too far and we would get lost. He needed the plan! And when we stopped for the first swim (the water was a perfect 85 degrees) they were all a little cautious about this bottomless dark abyss.
After small steps of the new experience, we threw them on the tube and pulled them behind the boat until they rolled off like peas from a plate. I have to say that the laughing I heard while riding with them was one of the best parts of that day. I love them so much. They are hilarious.
This is what families are for.... having fun together! (Yes, a little 'Ladies Home Journal' but let me have cheese every once in a while)
Way fun. We plan to go back soon.

Ticket to Slide

Until I get caught up, I had to at least express glee..."Because" 09-09-09 has finally arrived (I've been waiting a "Long, Long, Long" time) and with that date comes,
THIS!

So "Come Together":
HOORAY HOORAY I can't wait to play!

This Is For Real Serious

So.... right now my kids are in this really funny stage where they are very convicted and serious when they tell me stories about where the ant crawled on the tree or if the princess dress is blue or really blueish-greenish. It's all very serious business. I love it. I love having such intense discussions and have wished there was a way to capture it for them to see one day. Well, I don't think it is easy. A video camera can capture some great things, but catching them candidly is an art in itself. Because when kids see a camera, they don't act like themselves.
But I tried nonetheless. I set up our camera last week and did little interviews. I told them to select three favorite toys that they could discuss during their interview and I asked them a bunch of questions. Some normal ones like current interests and then other silly ones to try and capture some of that goofy behavior. Thought I'd share this in case the idea interested anyone. And if you don't have any kids, film your spouse. I bet you'd get an interesting answer when you ask them how big the clouds are, too. (Asking them to sing a song is also a good one for laughs)

Time For Take Off

It's September 1st today. September!! Time goes by so fast. Of course... it doesn't feel very Septemberish since we've been having super hot days lately (ugh).
The long lazy days of summer are done and we are back into routine which is good in many ways, one of which is I am showering on a regular basis again (whatever- pool water counts).
As a last hurrah the kids wanted to sleep in a fort before school started and being the bad Mom that I am, I let them do it the actual night before the first day of school. Hopefully they didn't have slurred speech while introducing themselves due to fatigue.
I pulled out some old blankets and they seemed to sleep just fine. Elliet was determined to sleep under that desk. I don't know how she did it, but she did.

The first day of school was great fun. Scott had the day off which I loved- it was cool to have him there as we sent the kids off and then hang out together all day. I took the twins to their side and He took Elliet to hers. They were all happy and off they went.
They had a great first day, a great week. They like it, their teachers, the 'cold lunches' I've been making, homework, etc. Whew.
But alas, it's week 2. Let's hope that happy song will last. Here we go!