aspen grove

I really don't know why I was skeptical of this gorgeous place! I love BYU, I love the church, I love their programs, and they (especially together) do things really well. (Yes, I am biased as a BYU alumnus and a former EFY counselor.) I guess the cost made me the most nervous, because, let's be honest...it isn't cheap.

Well, after being here just one day I realized what a treat we were really in for. Not only is the setting gorgeous, at the base of Mt. Timpanogos, but there are constant activities for everyone. Tanner even had a class (the Rompers) to go to every morning.

Emma and Tyler would come back completely exhausted, and would sleep at night like never before.

Each age group had different themes every day. Emma had Avenger Day, Cowboy Day, etc. Tyler had Harry Potter Day, Spy Day, and Star Wars Day. They swam with their groups, they played dodge ball, they did crafts, they climbed the rock wall

they learned cheers, they hiked, and they had a complete ball. Tanner went kicking and screaming to his class but really liked it once he was there. The best part was picking him up...I got to see him having fun and when he would see me he would say "Mom! I missed you!" or "What's up?"

I did crafts, went to lectures, did some serious water aerobics, hung out, and did laundry. When our kids went to bed we would play games like reverse charades (FUN) or go to the store for BYU ice cream or mint brownies.

(Spencer has commented a few times since coming home that he really misses the BYU ice cream...he's big into ice cream).
Some highlights:

Minute to Win It night. If you saw my previous post, you know how into this our family is. Well, the version at Aspen Grove was pretty lame but Tyler wanted so badly to be in it and he finally got picked at the end for a really hard game. He got 2 of the 4 balls before knocking over the 3rd. Pretty good if you ask me... (I love how his tongue is out as well, as the face of the guy behind him.)

All the family time. I love when my kids can be with their cousins. (or dancing with their grandma)

(Papa and his 3 "baby" grandsons)

Tyler having another Tyler in his group. (My) Tyler lost two teeth while at Aspen Grove, so these two were the toothless Tylers. And...Grandma pulled both of them out, sparing me the nastiness. Because of that, Grandma gave him a dollar each time, in addition to what he got from the tooth fairy.
(sorry, there's a bit of blood in this pic. he's a bleeder!)

On the topic of missing teeth...Tyler, for some reason, was holding his tooth in his hand while he went through the breakfast line. He dropped it into the bin of waffles! Luckily my mom was there and was able to get it out quickly before someone had a serious problem. Can you imagine the possibilities?? So so gross...but it still makes me giggle every time I think of it.

Our hike to Stewart Falls. My kids were in their classes so Spencer and I were childless (though the big kids hiked to the same falls with their groups on the same day), and my mom and Michael, Carly, and Matthew joined us. It wasn't an easy hike, but it was fun and it was a very do-able 4 miles. I love nature, and I love hiking, and I am glad we got to do this. Next time we will take on Timp for sure.

The food! No, it wasn't always that great, but most of it was actually pretty good, and I didn't have to cook or clean up for an entire week. And now I am struggling getting back into it.

Emma being in the talent show. She is my shy/reserved one, so I was shocked when she wanted to try out. She nailed "Praise to the Man" just like she has the million other times I've heard it. So proud. I only wish I had caught her extravagant bow on camera.

Not a highlight...
See this huge ball?

It contributed to Spencer's dislocated shoulder. He is awaiting a MRI. I have to laugh that something called "water frolics" caused him to have a dislocated shoulder. I should make up a better story...like he got into a fight with a Ute. That might be more believable. :)

We loved it! What an incredible place.

 Michael totally slaughtered Spencer in basketball...

Tanner's happy place.

We ♥ New York!

This family reunion was relatively last-minute, but it ended up being my favorite one yet on this side of the family. I was "in charge" this time, so I heavily delegated to those who were willing and it all came together so nicely! I definitely couldn't have pulled it off if I was on my own.

We had lots of outdoor time. Because there are now 9 families and 25 kids (at this moment), I just couldn't find a house big enough for all of us that was even close to affordable. We all stayed in our own locations, which ended up being great! The kids were rested, there was minimal chaos, and our time together was that much more valuable.

We had a JDawg's bbq...

Minute to Win it games

 a hiking day (Tanner and I had to miss because he was throwing up)

 an outdoor game night up the canyon in an incredible park...with kick ball, volleyball, dancing, a campfire...

a program about Grandpa and Nana's lives, and a musical presentation by the grandkids

indoor swimming/watersliding

an adult temple session/Mission President setting apart/yummy Chinese dinner

and family pictures. It was a miracle everyone ended up being able to be there for some part of it, especially as we grow and spread even more across the country. Grandpa and Nana had to leave for the MTC at the end of our week and are now in NY for 3 whole years. So glad we got to do this!
(Emma is sentimental and sensitive...she made all the rest of us cry).

summer!

Finally! Our turn after almost 10 long months in school!

Looking forward to lots more of this over the next few months!

and that is why i don't read books

The title of this is totally ironic, because I read hundreds of books in high school and college. I love to read. And that is exactly my problem. When I pick up a good book (and I don't waste my time unless I am certain it will be good), the only thing I do for a day or two is read that book. My kids somehow get by, my house is trashed, and then I suffer with extreme guilt after the fact. I want to be one of those people that takes a week to read a book, reading a few chapters every day, and savoring it all. But I am not that person...I just can't take my time (unless it's the Book of Mormon...)

I read The Help last summer when I flew out to see my sister. Two long plane rides made it possible, and I didn't have to live with guilt about anything (except for kinda ignoring Emma on the airplane...who was lost in her own book). I decided I would finally give in and read The Hunger Games on our cruise...afterall, I wasn't going to feel guilty about ANYTHING while I was on the cruise. I didn't love the book, but it was a captivating read and I was done in two days. I did take a pause from my book to watch the men's hairy chest competition - gross. I didn't have the rest of the books in the series so I started on Dan Brown's latest (The Lost Symbol). I didn't finish on the cruise so I had to finish it when I got home, ignoring the house and the kids for a day or two in order to just be done already. (I did like that book...but it was long.)

I realized that my kids will be out of school soon, and living with the guilt of ignoring 1 as opposed to 3 sounded like a good idea so I bought the other two Hunger Games books (on my phone) and read one at Gualala and then the last one after we got home. I didn't feel too guilty reading while camping but the last one I managed to finish on Memorial Day while Tanner was making it clear that he wasn't happy with me staring at my phone all day. But phew, I was done! And I am making a promise to myself to NOT read any books for a couple of months (except one book I read a bit of every day).

My thoughts on the Hunger Games? I hated the premise (seriously, how do people think these things up?), but loved that there were some redeeming characters. I didn't love the first book though I was interested, LOVED the second book, and really didn't enjoy the last one at all. So now I can be cool and know what all my younger, hipp-er friends are talking about. And maybe I can even go see the movie now.

camping tradition

Oh Gualala. My friend summed it up well when she said, "You come once, and you can't stop." It's true. We went for the first time 5 years ago, and it was rainy and cold and I was pregnant...but my kids still made those phenomenal memories and we returned again. And again. Last year it rained most of the time, and I whined and complained but we still went back. It's unavoidable. Emma even sobbed huge tears this year as we pulled out. It is SO MUCH WORK on the front end and on the back end, and some other unforeseen events beforehand made it even more chaotic to get out of here. I do loads and loads of campfire-smelling laundry when we get home, and it takes days to get the house back together. But...

This year was arguably the best because we had the motorhome. For me that made SUCH a difference, but not so much for my kids. We were only in it to sleep. The kids (minus Tanner) disappear all day long, into the giant trees and off on their bikes, and into their pretend, make-believe worlds where everything is pure happiness. They return when they're hungry (or Tyler returns when he's tired...often)

and we feed them and they are off once again. The scenery simply can't be beat. We have been to lots of campgrounds, especially in the last year, and none can even come close to the splendor of the thick, lush redwoods, ripe with mosquitoes, raccoons, squirrels, and bluejays.

This year Emma surprised us all. Friends, please remind me someday that I should pay for Emma to go to business school. She is a wheeler-dealer entrepreneur, and with her friends set up a "shop" near the campground playground. Now, some people (including me) might argue that she was selling junk, but she sure found a way to market it right. I mean, who doesn't need an extra Barbie head? Really, it makes sense. Nails and coins found on the train tracks? Sure! Food erasers? Sold. They raked in the money and then she relished in her rewards, from the camp store of course. She even shared with Tanner.

We ate it all up (literally) for those three days, with Spencer mastering his dutch oven peach cobbler, and returned to piles of laundry, lots of cleaning, and hair that still smells like campfire. I guess that's part of the experience. We managed to leave all the rocks by the river at the river this year, and none ended up in my dryer. Next year I can see Tanner starting to stockpile them in his pockets.

And... can we stand waiting 2 more weeks for school to be out???

cruise, part 3 - the end

First of all, if you think cruising is for the rich, think again. In fact, it's quite the opposite, especially if you are deal-saavy. I couldn't believe what a great deal we got. Couple that with our free flights (sky miles), and it really wasn't expensive at all. But I'm now certain it is the way to travel. The food wasn't my favorite, but it was still way better than me having to cook! So I'll take it.

Friday was our last full day, and it was a day at sea. We carefully chose our itinerary, and chose the 7 night cruise with only 2 days at sea - Monday and Friday. Spencer and Brian got more and more curious about the boat itself during the week, so they signed up for an on-board excursion. It was 4 hours and took them through all the parts of the boat no one else had access to. It was limited to 16 people.

Apparently it was a really neat tour. They got to go on the bridge (watched every second by a security guard), into the "servant's quarters," into the engine room, etc. It was probably like Christmas morning for engineer Brian. They found out all kinds of details; perhaps most interesting to me was how much their lowest-paid kitchen/laundry workers make. $700 a month, for 70 hours a week. It made me a little bit sick at first but I was reminded that all of these people are foreigners and in their countries that is a LOT of money. They can never get off the boat in port, though, and work straight through with no time off for months (4 months on, 2 months off). I guess labor laws don't apply in "international waters." However, they seem so happy! They sing and dance every night at dinner and are happy to have a job. So that's that.

Camille and I were just fine up on the deck, reading our books, while the guys were learning everything they wanted to know about ships. It was HOT this day, so we had to take lots of pool breaks. But I had finished my first book and was starting my second and I loved every second of it. I just can't find the time to read when I'm at home - there are always too many other things to be doing. On the cruise, it WAS my priority.

That afternoon there were games on the sport court. On Monday the boys had gone up to play and Spencer had won two medals in basketball games. This day it was dodge ball...and perhaps we should have stayed away. But we needed one more medal.

There was one other LDS group there (10 people, from UT) and of course they knew how to play dodge ball. It was an elimination-type game with all the teams that were there. Spencer and Brian's team knocked several teams out quickly and this other Utah team was very good as well. Needless to say, it came down to these 2 teams for the championship. Camille and I kept joking that obviously the men had had lots of YM callings in their time, in order to be so good at dodge ball. As soon as the game started the accusations of cheating started flying (by the other team). It got heated and at the end Spencer and Brian came out the victors. But one little dude with a "U" on his hat wouldn't let it go and chose to get in Spencer's face (he must have forgotten for a small second that he was tiny compared to Spencer). I missed a lot of the confrontation but could see the blood boiling inside of Spencer. I think that ruined the rest of his day. Oh man, so competitive... But they won fair and square, and each of our kids got a stupid ship medal. :)

On Saturday our flights didn't leave until 3:00; Brian and Camille's didn't leave until 6:00. Our goal was to get off the ship FIRST, get to the airport, rent a car, and drive to the Keys. We realized that it would be tight for us, so we rented separate cars. Thankfully, we timed it perfectly and were off the boat by 8:00, with cars rented by 8:30. We drove down to the Keys (even though I was SO done, and ready to be home), partly through the Everglades, and it was really interesting and quite fun.

We first went to this place where we could feed the tarpon fish - these huge, ugly beast-like fish. It was sorta cool. We then wanted to see a beach, but there really aren't beaches along the Keys. We stopped at a "beach" anyway but the tide was too high. Spencer and I then had to turn back but Brian and Camille kept going, past 7-mile bridge (think "True Lies"). It was weird to be separated from our week-long travel buddies. But I am glad we can say we've been to the Florida keys.

We did a little souvenir shopping and got back to the airport with almost 90 minutes to spare, where we waited to go home. We even got to Skype with the kids.

I am so grateful for everyone who made this trip happen...it's amazing to me how much busier life gets as the kids get older, and it wasn't easy to organize everything.

One last shout out to all our towel animals...