Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Friday, September 18, 2009

Monday, September 14, 2009

I'm Back!!!! 'Bout Friggin Time!

Wow, wow, wow....I cannot believe that it has been three months and an entire season since I last posted. Well, I take that back, I absolutely can believe it because my life and our summer has been one incredible ride. In the past three months I have seen a lot of wonderful, a lot of fun, a lot of sorrow, and a whole lot of growing. Through a lot of personal heart ache I have been able to reach deep inside and find out some things about myself as a person, and as a mom. And through my trials I have found my place as a mom so rewarding and have enjoyed my time with my kids more than I have in a very long time. I was able to find time and the focus to do more with my kids this past summer than ever before and I have loved it. I also found some great new personal loves and passions, and that's pretty great also. I have been trying to figure out the best way to share of my favorite moments, and I can't think of any real way other than to just list those moments and ask you to join me on the walk down memory lane!

1) Like every summer, it began Memorial Day weekend! This was the beginning of some really bad times for me and my family, but it also had some good traditional moments. Luckily my parents were there to keep my mind off some intense moments, and we spent the beginning of the weekend taking care of my grandparents' grave sites and my sweet uncle's. I love my dad for his dedication and all that he has always taught me about this great holiday.

The weekend also brought about our first ever campout! We didn't go anywhere further than our backyard, but boy was it an adventure. We used our fire pit for some pretty awesome tin-foil dinners, and it was a total blast sleeping outside listening to the typical Memorial Day Weekend rain storm! Chris didn't like it so much, but the kids and I faired quite well.
2) For the first time in two years, we made plans to actually utilize our Park City timeshare! For 10 truly glorious days we, well that is, the kids and I, and actually even more specifically, Jaxon and I vacationed and relaxed like never before. Cyd and Chase only were able to stay the first few days with us, so Jaxon and I had some great quality, Mommy and son time. Chris' new kitchen at the U of U opened the weekend before, so unfortunately, we only saw him in the evenings. He was able to get one day off the second weekend there, and that was great for him. Since I was on my own, I was able to have a great day with my sisters, a couple of days with some of our closest BFF's, and time with my nieces! We swam and laid out under the sun constantly! Jaxon FINALLY overcame his fear of swimming, all thanks to his magical Spiderman goggles, and I haven't seen him have so much fun before. I loved having this time with Jaxon so much. This was the summer of falling madly in love with my little guy all over again. He is absolutely at the funnest age, and I am loving every minute of it. We snuggled every night, and every morning. Watched all his favorite movies, and of course spent hours at the pool. This little guy saved me this summer! I love him with all my heart!



3) July 4th weekend found us apart from Chris for the first time in our marriage. Until the opening of the new kitchen I have been truly blessed to not feel like a Chef's Widow. But this new piece of Chris's career has brought about that obstacle, and it has been one major hill to climb for all of us. With Abbie and Connor gone for the entire summer, it was just me and my kids for the festivities! I was so excited and so happy to have Mel and her kids, Wayne and Maritza, and my siblings come and spend the evening with us. Mom and Dad were unable to join us for the first time ever also because of Mom's knee surgery. But we managed to have a great evening nonetheless. After great food, a great parade, and of course a killer fireworks display, Mel and the kids, and all my sibs headed out to my place for some fire pit fun! We laughed and talked and laughed some more until 3:00 AM. It was a great night for me. I really loved having everyone around!
4) July is a big month for us in terms of birthdays...three in one month! We had to wait until August to celebrate them all due to Abbie and Connor being gone, and well me traveling for work. However we managed to have a great celebration once everyone was together again. We allowed Abbie, Connor, and Chase all invite a friend to our home for the day. We took all the kids, and my sisters, Hayley and Samantha to a brand new waterpark here in town. The kids had an awesome time at Cowabunga Bay, as did I. Later that evening we had the rest of the family, including mom who was out for one of her first outings since her surgery, out to the house for cake, ice cream, and presents! It was a great time for everyone!!!!



5) With Connor turning 12, that same August weekend found us traveling to Springville to see Chris ordain him a Deacon. It was a really great day for Chris and Connor. I was happy for both of them, and was glad to have my family there to share the day with us.



6) The last big event of the summer was my first ever, solo mom road trip! The kids and I drove to St. Helens, OR to go camping with Tiff and her family on the coast! I rented us a nice big vehicle that was so fancy, I couldn't even figure out how to turn the stupid thing on. I wasn't sure how the kids were going to fair in the car for a straight 12 hours, but they actually did extremely well! The drive to Portland was absolutely beautiful! The kids didn't complain one minute the entire drive. But of course as soon as they had an audience (Tiff and Paul) all the descriptions of how it was the worst drive of their lives came pouring out. Hilarious...but so typical as well! Camping with the Erickson's was a TOTAL blast. It was incredibly fun having all of our kids together for the first time ever. Tiff and I just laughed looking at where we were today in comparison to the 18 years ago when we were single and at BYU. My kids of course had never seen the ocean and were beyond thrilled to be at the beach. Well it took Jaxon quite some time to even get his feet wet, but once that happened and he realized it was okay to get his feet wet, all was good. The weather was a bit colder than we had planned on, but a shopping trip later and the kids were bundled up nicely. Tiff's parents came up and camped with us and that was great fun seeing them again. It was such a wonderful trip and I can't wait to do it again next year!



Now the kids are back in school, and well, it was just one incredible journey for us all. Cyd has started the 6th grade, Chase has started 5th grade, and my little guy has started Kindergarten. I just cannot believe it! I'll post about school another day! I thought I would end with just a few of my most special moments with the kids....one's that I don't want to ever forget.

*Cydnee and I having a mommy/daughter Spa day in Park City. I loved watching her enjoy being pampered, and having massages together was so much fun! Yep, I'm teaching her young just what a SPA is.
*Walking up and down Main Street Park City with Pookie. We went to a great little book store, and had a lot of good story times together!
*Flying a kite with Chasers on the beach!
*Walking hand-in-hand with Cydnee at night, looking at millions of stars, the last night of our camping trip.

*Visiting the Twilight movie location with the kids!

*Watching my kids play on the beach and in the Ocean! I've always wanted to do that!
*And last but not least, I would be completely remiss if I didn't mention my love and new found obsession with Sookie Stackhouse! 9 books in two months! What is it with Vampires that have a first name that start with an "E"? Edward, Eric,...Oh My!