Our UT trip

This hammock swing was the hit of the trip. We would have to give the kids 10 pushes each so they would share. If we had trees, we would totally get one!

Brooklyn loves the baby swing!

The classic North Logan 24th day parade. Not too busy, lots of candy and a fun park full of activities afterwards. Thank goodness Joanna was able to help me man the kids!

We found this great park with a splash pad. The kids had a blast both times!

Playing with Grandpa Chambers. Throwing sticks in the canal and seeing which one comes first.

Aren't these girls so cute? Tina, Anna, Brooklyn, and Amy (along with cute Melanie - Amy's mom) enjoying Aggie Ice Cream cones.

So our 3 week adventure has ended. We did have a lot of fun, and these are some random pictures taken from our "backup" camera. We started off the fun with Kari and enjoyed a "redneck water park" created by Grandpa Gary. It was completed with a slide attached with a slip and slide down a hill. We loved the BBQs with the family, the amazing fireworks compliments of Mont, and the hike, bowling, and feeding the ducks. The kids enjoyed the backyard more than I can express also. I came back wanting to garden and learn how to operate a weed whacker. I also have to give a big thank you to the chambers for boarding us for the entire time. We also made a few meetings and they came to the rescue in helping watch the kids for Braden's Dr. appointment. We also had a blast at the Children's museum in Salt Lake, but I think we were all worn out after that!! It's amazing how fast kids can disappear even with 3 adults watching them!

Our Daines time was especially fun when Devin and his cute family came to join us. We went to the fun park, splash pad, and Lava Hot springs. Lava has a fun tubing river that was quite dramatic. Tina went with Paga Daines, Joanna, Jeff, and Stephanie - my cousin. They tipped over and lost flip flops, confidence, and glasses. My trip down the river wasn't quite so scary, but very fun. I can't forget the slurpee run and learning the game "Telestrations", school shopping, and a DI adventure. Cole celebrated his 2nd birthday there, and I ran out of batteries unfortunately, but he had an extended birthday at home with Daddy.

In looking back, it was a very eventful fun time...but we all missed Daddy, and I think next time we will cut it shorter for everyone's sanity. Dave's co-worker said she was glad we were back because now Dave could return to normal. I'm glad we have a positive effect on him:) We feel complete again too. Thank you to everyone who had fun with us!! We sure love you all:)

Mesa Verde

The cliff dwellings. I think it's amazing that people could live there with kids. I'd be constantly worring about them falling off!

Our family at the cliff site.

Our new tent tested out - we like the room!

We had a "staycation" for the 4th of July weekend. We camped out in our backyard and went to Mesa Verde to check out the close attractions. I went there when I was little and remembered loving it. The kids did fall asleep and so we didn't venture out too much, but it was fun to take a trip down memory lane. We also went to Bayfield to see the fireworks with some friends and had a fun time with them. Happy 4th everyone!!

Saying Goodbye...

A beautiful view on the way to Silverton. A pilot told me that this was the most beautiful part of the country he has ever seen. I'd have to agree. It takes my breath away!

The quaint little town of Silverton nestled in the middle of mountains

Our visit to the "Handlebars" restaurant. The kids were very well behaved!!

I'm saying good bye to my funny 3 year old! I can't believe she is 4 already. Well, sometimes I can. She imitates her big sister any way she can. She informed me on her birthday that she was going to stop sucking her thumb. I swear I didn't put that idea in her head, but I'm glad she had it! We'll see how easy it is:)

Playing a princess dress up game...don't they look cute?

Daddy is always so good at making the birthday cakes:)

A visit to the Albuquerque Zoo,

And to the aquarium

Can you believe this is in an elevator??

Here are the long awaited pictures of my new haircut as I'm riding a "high wire bicycle" in Albuquerque's Children's Museum - a must see if you're ever in Alb. We spent 4 happy hours there over Memorial day weekend.

Here is the updates: We went on a road trip to Silverton (the train ride is a little too pricey for us - $60 a ticket!) And enjoyed getting to know the surrounding area to where we live. Brooklyn celebrated her 4th birthday at the end of May, and that weekend we took a trip to Albuquerque (I am learning how to spell it??) It was Memorial weekend, and Dave actually had that Monday off, so we thought we would take advantage! It was a lot of fun and I'm happy to say we did it as frugally as we could. We cooked a dinner in the crock pot one night and the children's museum was free thanks to the membership I purchased in Feb. I'm sad to say that those were the last pictures taken from our now broken camera, so farewell my friend! Hopefully your replacement will honor us as well as you did! :)

Desperation!

It seems like any time we get comfortable financially, things happen to drain our savings. We just had to repair our vehicles 3 times in a week! I am thinking I need to start working to help us get out of the hole, but I feel so limited with 4 kids and a husband who works 70 hours a week. Does anyone have any good ideas? Also I accidentally ran over the camera, so I won't have pictures for awhile:( When it rains it pours right?

Change!

Goodbye old green house...

I'm finally getting to posting our move! We learned about it and 2 weeks later, we were done. I think we are getting more efficient, but I always think we have too much stuff every time:) Our new home is quite a bit smaller but has some perks (the bathtub!!), walk in closets, a "bumpy" driveway - the kids love that, and a great big yard. The scenery is amazing and the pictures don't do it justice. I'm so grateful for everyone who helped us move, babysit, clean, and pack. I couldn't have done it so fast without all that help.

In other change news, the kids will be going to a different elem. school (I'm really excited, it's smaller and everyone raves about how good it is.) I also

cut my hair shorter than it's ever been - pictures to come - and as you can see Brooklyn decided to try her hand at cutting hair also. Tina had a piano achievement day festival the day that we moved, and did so well she earned a medallion with her name engraved on the back. I was so proud of her accomplishment. She worked very hard and learned all her scales in 2 months!! All thanks to a great piano teacher, Mika Lambert.

Daines family visit.

Sorry I don't have pictures...it's lame because I just need 2 new batteries for the camera...so that's my excuse.
My family came out for my birthday!! It was so fun. We watched conference together on an air mattress. We introduced them to Serious Texas BB-Q, but I don't think anyone will eat that again (except Dave) because we all got sick! We showed them the riverwalk, which is gorgeous! I had to take them to the library to show them the cool self-check out feature, and we went to the Durango Mall, which although very small had everyone's favorite stores: Christopher and Banks for my mom, Claire's for Tina, and Maurices for Joanna, and Vanity for Melissa. I discovered Bealls: found a shirt on sale that I really like!! Best of both worlds.
I just want to tell my family how much I love being with them! It was so good to see my cute sisters, and my niece and brand new nephew. And I think I talk my parent's ears off whenever I get the chance. I learn so much from them, and enjoy telling them everything I am learning. I gave them the Dave Ramsey CD's from the class I took. I hope they enjoy them:)
I'm excited to go there this summer. We are still ironing out the details, but we may be there for 3 weeks depending on the visiting circumstances...In the meantime, we are looking for a new place to rent. The house we are in has sold so we need to be out by June 30th. It gets a little tricky to find a place big enough for the 6 of us, without breaking the bank, but I have faith something great will work out. Maybe this will give me the boost I need to take some pictures!

Dave's Parents Visit

We were lucky that Dave's parents got to stop by on the way home from their mission in Florida. It was so good to see them! We had fun at the children's museum, games of tackle and they joined us for our weekly "family movie night." We watched Alice in Wonderland - the new one. We also had to introduce them to "Serious Texas BB-Q" a restaurant out here we fell in love with. We also got to hear some amazing mission stories. Gary helped us get a budget put together, and to pay him back, we are STICKING TO IT!! They got to see our Sacrament meeting, and then had to take off for UT. Thanks for the visit! Don't they look great? We sure love them:)