The Stooph

After our big trip to the homeland I decided I take too much for granted here on the homefront. So without further ado, I'm to blog about the things I love about living in Utah.

{Stooph}
We LOVE this girl. This is my youngest sister Stephanie. We are 11 years apart--so when I left for BYU she was 7. Needless to say our relationship has evolved over the years! She was always such a sweet little thing, & now its been great living by her in Utah. (She's about 20 minutes away from us.)



My sis is studying to be an RN and likes working on the shock/trama floor of a local hospital. {I don't know how she does it--the stories she tells are great though.} She's playing on a soccer team with a bunch of friends from work...we went to her game on Tuesday night and that's where I took this picture. What a cute gal.

Lately we've had so much fun BBQing hotdogs & checking out different pools around. She is so great to swim with Ethan & take him down the slides going super fast. The boys LOVE her.

I also give her credit for trying to keep me "hip". (My crazy dancing at the Kenny Chesney concert doesn't count...I didn't know how bad it was until after.) And even though she likes to poke fun at me (she can't help herself) she is so fun to have around. The other day Ethan told her not to get married...I think he wants to keep her to himself. She is such a great friend to me & aunt to the boys.

We {heart} Stooph!

{TT} "Free" dryer sheets

Can you believe I haven't made a post in 3 days?! Yes, I'm settling back into my usual routine, and I'm trying to get back to my {TT} Toad's Tips on Tuesdays. I don't even know if anyone reads or cares about these little tips, but its fun to for me to do.

My latest excitement as the "keeper of the laundry" is that I found Bounce "Free" dryer sheets!

These are dryer sheets without any dyes or fragrances! This is huge for us since our little family are the masters of the itchy, scratchy, eczema ridden dry skin. If you or your kids have sensitive skin you know what I am talking about. Bob and I both have super dry skin and Ethan has a topical prescription ointment that he's had to use since he was tiny. Since we live in a dry climate & our water is hard (I swear it comes right out of the great Salt Lake.:) our skin really takes takes a beating.

We've used the "free" detergent since I can remember, but haven't been able to use dryer sheet because they can be pretty hard on the skin. So, if you have tender skin in your family or just want to avoid the smelly "toxins" that can come from the dyes/perfumes this is your lucky day!! Or maybe I've just been in the dark...:)

Rodeo: Check!

Just checking another thing off my summer list of things I wanted to do & this was so much fun!

I guess I'm on a little "country" kick these days. I actually always thought I'd marry a farmer. Suprised? Most "farm" boys I knew (or dated) were always such hard workers, but also knew how to have a good time. My hope is that my boys will one day have a job for at least one summer bucking hay. (Those of you who have ever done it or know anyone who has will understand why.) So my goal to take the boys to a rodeo was really kindof for selfish reasons. Maybe plant a little seed...;)

And let me say, I was not disappointed. I actually found out that the Tooele County Fair was having a a "youth rodeo". It was perfect...since its always fun to spend time where my 93 year old Grandpa (& Aidan's middle namesake) grew up! Oh, and it was free!:)

On the way I explained to Ethan was a rodeo was, and that there would be kids riding horses, racing, etc. He then asked me if he would be riding a horse or chasing a cow. I told him not this time, but maybe we could ask grandma and grandpa if we could chase their cows next time we are in Oregon.:)

I must sound so cheesy, but I couldn't get enough of these mini cowboys. And they were the real deal too. Wranglers couldn't be cuter. And I was so proud of what these kids were doing!

Here's Ethan turn with the camera & we are actually centered in the middle!

{Disclaimer} Okay, I was taking pictures of random kids...so if you know any of them please let them know I mean no harm. I just thought they were darling. I tried to post the picts where you couldn't really see the who the kids were. And I promise I'm not that much of a weirdo!!

Highly recommended.

Confession

Okay, I have a confession. Leaving Oregon wasn't easy, but something helped ease the pain.

And no, it wasn't coming home to this...

But it was coming back for this...

And yes, it was worth it.

Most "30 somethings" Edward/Jacob = My Kenny

Anyone else a fan? Let me know your favorite KC song in the comments!

Farewell to 5232

All good things must come to an end...well, at least vacations do. But that's what makes them vacations right? Yeah, I'll keep telling my self that..:)

Here are some picts from 5232 that you might enjoy.

{5232}
This is where I grew up. My parents bought this property from my grandparents when I was about 7. (My grandparents were off serving 4 church missions so having the land wasn't necessary anymore.)

{Sidebar: They've had 19+ grandkids also serve missions...me & 4 of my siblings included.}

Sunday I just laid under the oak tree in the backyard, and watched the green leaves blow with the blue sky as a background. I'm so grateful that the Lord has blessed us all with such a beautiful world.



{Cows}
The kids will never get tired of feeding the cows. I can see the fun...I guess. But since I always had to pick up all the apples and pears that had dropped off of the trees and feed the cows, it got old really fast!:) Grandparents can give the kids back at the end of the day, and I'll give the cows back!:)





{The "new" garden}
My parents created a "new" garden area by moving back the back fence. The garden is now right where the cows (and all their manure) used to be. You can only imagine "how their garden grows!"









{A look around}
All you cousins will remember his beautiful hydrangea. Its been there forever.







{Sky high sunset} As we were getting ready to land last night, I could resist this picture. I just snapped it out the window. It was a beautiful sunset over the great Salt Lake. A good ending to a good trip.

Don't Blink

"Don't Blink. You just might miss your babies growing like I did." -Kenny Chesney

Don't worry. My blogging habits will be back to normal when we get home. But until then, I can't help myself. You know those moments you never want to forget? (Thank goodness for cameras.) Here's a few of mine...

{Sunset on the beach}

{Marion Berries}

{Why didn't I think of it?}


{Just park that stroller!}

{Ethan's favorite}

{Baseball Camp}

{Snaggletooth}
His teeth have come in so randomly. We call him little snaggles.

{Grandpa & Ethan}

{The swing}

{End to a great day}

{See you soon}

Bob. He came out with us on his vacation for a week, and then flew back to support the family. Little did he know when he married an Oregon girl that he'd be spending so much of his vacation time out of state! And now, 2 1/2 weeks later, we'll be back on the plane to see him again. We've miss you honey. XOXO

Time Flies

'Tis true: Time flies when you're having fun. And we've had fun! Soon we'll be back home sleeping in our own beds again--and hopefully working on some new fun little crafty projects! (I've got a few ideas floating around in this head of mine!)

Here's a few more picts that I liked from the trip. Since I'm using this as my "picture journal" and will be "slurping my blog" (putting the blog into book form at the end of the year) I didn't want these to be left out.

{The County Fair}
Watch Greyson's eyes...







{Waiting & Watching}




{Elephant Ears}
Since I haven't found an elephant ear in UT, I thought I'd give everyone a heads up as to what I'm talking about. These are a fair favorite.



{Treasure Hunt}
Tanya always has something fun up her sleeve for these kids! This time it was a treasure hunt when we were camping. It was so great!

It started with a note from one eyed Willy that was found stuck (with a knife) to a tree in our camp!




They followed the picture clues all over camp to find the treasure!







The final clue led them to the treasure out in the lake!



Although some were a little apprehensive...



They were very brave.



Uncle Peter took them to find the treasure...it was in the crawdad floaty boat! And they were excited to find it! (I love Trey's face in this one:)







{Grandpa's Magic Show}
My dad is own throughout the family for his little magic shows, and he surely didn't disappoint while we were here this visit! He did a little show at Trey's family bday party and even did a show when cousin Crystal's kids came over for a "camp out"!







Looks like this post will go forever...we'll have to save some for tomorrow!:)