Memorial Day Camping

Friday we made it out the door to go camping at Anderson Cove by Pineview Resevior (east of the mountains next to Ogden) It is such a beautiful valley, and campground. Getting ready to go is a LOT of hard work, but I am always soo happy to be on the road. We camped with Jimmy's parents, and Jimmy's brother Jake with his wife Nattalie and their 1 year old son, Cooper. We each had our own campsite and trailer. Weather only became an issue on Sunday, when rain storms blew in, but it didn't last all day. During our camping trip, we enjoyed good food, keeping track of children, bike rides, walks, naps, Sunday car ride, hair cuts, a trip to the beach, Nattalie's parents' boat, and just enjoying being with each other. It was a nice camping trip. Saturday night Jimmy's mom, Connie, slept in a tent with the girls. The girls loved it! The water level was HIGH, and it was very cold. Jimmy & Jake tried to ski or wake board, but the cold water made it very hard. Ahh, after this baby I wanna get out on the lake-or even just on a boat!

Here are some pictures from the trip. Sunday, when we got some rain, we headed into Jimmy's parents trailer (aka the Hilton-its a nice trailer). We started the generator and watched some movies, so there is a cute picture of the 4 kids together. I am sure that moment didn't last long, but it was cute.

We left the camp ground Monday afternoon. All three kids fell asleep on the way home, and it was good to be back home & get showered and cleaned up. Now time to unpack & do laundry!

Going Camping......

Ahh, Friday night we are leaving to go camping for the Memorial Day weekend! Ahh! I can't wait to be on the road, but I hate getting ready. Jimmy's spent a lot of time trying to get his share done-while I have not thought or done anything about my part-the inside, clothes & food. so I am excited, but dreading getting ready. Guess I should be doing that instead on the computer. I can't wait until we are on the road (and that's when I think about what I forgot....)

I had a check up-things are fine. Tummy is getting bigger. Baby & I are fine so far.

One Year

Ahh, One year ago I started this blog! Post #92! Cool.

And one year ago this weekend, I was running in the Ogden Half Marathon! Being pregnant now, and not exercising much, I miss the experience and journey I was on last year.

It began when my sis in law asked me to run it with her. Then one of my uncles said he would do it to. In January I paid for the race, and began training for it. I was lucky to have two women in my neighborhood to run with, and met up with my sis in law to do a few runs too. Lots of good times running, good memories!

Prior to the half marathon, I had only run a few 5K's, and I did track in high school, but never thought of doing something like this!

Our family has taken many camping trips around Pineview Resevoir and driven the Ogden Canyon a few times, so it was great to be running around part of the lake and enjoying the beauty of the canyon.

I am still proud to say I've accomplished this, and hope to run another one next year. Maybe a marathon in a few years, but its not my time in life right now as a mother of young kids. I finished in 2:11 or so. I ran at the pace I wanted, and it was hard, but it felt good. ahh, really, I enjoyed the race, and sense of accomplishment and personal achievement. But I couldn't have done it with a husband that supported me, & friends & family to run with me.

Mrs. Cavanaugh's Chocolate Factory

I am part of a small preschool/play-group with 3 other moms. My turn came up to host preschool and it was FIELD TRIP TIME! I scheduled a tour of Mrs. Cavanaugh's Chocolate Factory in North Salt Lake. It was easy to schedule, and just long enough-3o minutes. We learned about how some of the chocolates are made there, watched a video about the history of chocolate and how chocolate is made, and then saw some of the factory and got a sample. I was really impressed at how much chocolate is made my hand there. And I never understood the process of getting cocoa beans to chocolate. It was cool to learn that stuff. We got a sample at the end, and then I bought a few things from the store. It was fun. Here we are-Ashley was at a friends house, so she missed out!

Go Jimmy and {Scream}

I am happy to report Jimmy earned a B out of his Macroeconomics class. Whew. We are both happy with that! Next class starts May 18th.

Ahh, Ashley has been off-track since May 4th. Woods Cross Elem is on a year-round school schedule. There are soo many students attending Woods Cross that not all of them can be in class at the same time. 3/4 of the school is there at a time, so 1/4 is always off at home or off track. It is our turn to be off track, and AHH! I want to scream daily! Both Ashley & I are out of our element being home all day together! She is driving me crazy and I am sure I am the meanest mom ever. She gets soo bored, and I get nothing done around the house, so I am grumpy too. Poor charlie has not had regular nap in the afternoon so he crashes around 6 or 7 pm. We are surviving, and only have a few more days! Next year we will attend Woods Cross, and because a new school is opening up, Woods Cross will not have to be year round, we will be "traditional". Normal school year.

Baby is growing and I am starting to slow down, or maybe its back to the Ashley thing-being off track..... but we are doing good. Life is busy but good.

Why did it take us 3 years?

It is Monday morning. The class Jimmy is current class is on Tuesday nights. (last session of class tomorrow night then back to Monday classes) Jimmy usually has an individual assignment, and a portion of a group assignment for homework every week.
I am not too stressed right now because his homework is 93% complete! What! I don't have to (help) work on it Monday night or during the day on Tuesday? What?
I am proud of my husband to sit down Thursday night to work on homework, a few hours on Saturday, and Sunday afternoon to get it all done! Even more amazing, we didn't try to do homework in front of the TV. (okay, we aren't the smartest.......) We sat at the kitchen table, and got it done. The kids behaved and played nicely. We took a break from Sunday homework for a short walk, and JIMMY COOKED DINNER while I typed. And I am a happy wife on Monday. We just have to make a slide or two for a power point presentation, but that shouldn't be hard! ahh. I am happy!
It took us 3 years to figure this out.....1) do homework on the kitchen table and 2) do it before the night of class. Oh well. November! November is the finish line!

While You Were Out

I did have computer access and time while Jimmy, Sarah & Charlie were out of town, but the computer I used would not let me log onto my blog-hence no updates! So here is a summary my time with Ashley while the other 3 were gone. We kept busy and had fun, but we missed our family, and Ashley got bored with her siblings gone.

Saturday, April 18th was the best day! We woke up early and caught the first front runner train into town. At the Gateway, we watched people finish the Salt Lake Half Marthon, 5K, and Marathon. It was exciting to me, but not that exciting for Ashley. We picked a spot on the sun, sat on the curb, and watched people run by us. We saw Fox 13's Big Buddah finish his 5K-then we waited for a friend of mine to finish the half marathon. I did see a neighbor while waiting, cheered for her, then saw my friend run pass. Once they ran past, Ashley wanted to do something else! So we walked around the Gateway, got our movie ticket for later in the day, did some shopping, and saw the excitement as the first marathoner finished. We went up to the University of Utah (on Trax) to see the Spring Red & White football game. I was excited for this! We found a seat, and enjoyed watching some football. I saw some friends, and they came & sat next to Ash & I. I had fun talking some football with some guys. really! I didn't get a picture of Ashley & I together at the game, but we got pictures of the game, and both of us outside the stadium. We left at half time so we could catch our movie-Hannah Montana, the Movie. LOVED the movie! We both had fun at the movie-we even ran into some other friends there-crazy! Ahh, busy day! We finally caught the train home! I was exhausted! But we still had to go to the store and check on Grandma. It was a good day!

The rest of the week was spent babysitting kids during the day, my "clients", running around to a few stores, making a nursing cover for this baby, cleaning, some laundry, doctors appointment for me, and HELPING my husband do his homework. Ashley & I were VERY bad-I didn't cook much, so dinner most nights were from a variety of places......don't make me confess where we went-but the checking account knows! Oh, I am almost done with the first Twilight book! My little brother came by two days and helped with a few projects: mowing the lawn, clearing part of the flower bed, hanging two shelves, and fixing a light. It was nice to have him come by! I took Jimmy's truck for a drive (my second time EVER) to get Keva's, and found some friends to come with me. That was kinda exciting. We went to church, Ashley had some play dates, and checked on Jimmy's grandma and great Aunt Mary.

It was a good break from full time motherhood. The trip was a day or two too long. I really missed my husband & other kids, but it was good for us all. I was SO happy to see them when they got home on Sunday!

BYE!

Bye Jimmy, Sarah & Charlie! Have a good time in California! DRIVE SAFE! Be good kids, and Jimmy, have fun with our kids! I will miss you guys! Call or text me when you want!! Take lots of pictures PLEASE! Ashley & I will miss you, but we will find some fun things to do while you are gone! See you on the 26th. 700 miles to go! Sarah-no potty accidents, Charlie-no car sickness! Thanks Nana & Papa Burns and Aunt Jody! Have a rockin' time together!

Blog updates will continue! I hope to stay busy, and I have my camera, so as long as I can tolerate the other computer (Jimmy's taking his labtop) I'll still be connected to the Internet! Visitors are welcome next week! :)

Swimming at the Recreation Center

Okay-I wanted to blog about SOMETHING. So I thought I was brave to take my three kids to the Bountiful Recreation Center to go swimming! We went on Tuesday night. I didn't have any kids to babysit during the day, so it had been a nice, fun, quiet day. Jimmy was just starting a Tuesday class, so he wasn't going to be home until 10pm. We want spring to come SOO bad. The girls got new swimming suits, and at least a few times a week they change into them. So, I decided to go swimming! Thanks to a friend, Trisha, I had a maternity swimsuit to wear, so I even felt okay with going out in public. I surprised the kids, told them to get ready, which they did. (You don't need to tell my girls twice to get their swimsuits on!) We had to stop at Grandma's to get the life jackets. If they wore them even part of the time, I felt I could manage. We got dinner to go-hamburgers at McDonalds. We ate those outside of the rec center then went it.

It was actually really fun! I enjoyed myself and the time with my kids! It took a while for Sarah & Charlie to get completely comfortable in the water. Oh Charlie-he doesn't like his face wet, so every time he would get a drop of water on his face, he would get out of the pool, walk over to our towels and dry off his face then come walk back in the water. We moved away from the towels so he wouldn't keep doing it. We went in the river thing, and walked over the bridge, and went under the bridge. That was fun for the kids. It was just a good time. We spent over an hour there! We got out, (Charlie didn't want to leave-of course!) and eventually made it home, Got the kids in PJ's and in bed, but it was a really fun time!

Here are a few pictures. I couldn't take more cause I didn't like leaving my kids alone in the water! I am happy no one drowned and they had fun!

Next week, half the family is going to California. Jimmy's parents have their condo in Newport Beach for a week. We just went to Disneyland in November, Ashley has school, and being pregnant, you can't ride too many rides, so we decided Ashley & I would stay home. The plans have changed a little, so as of now, 1 week away from leaving, here is the plan: Thursday night Jimmy, Sarah, Charlie, Jimmy's parents, and Jimmy's sister are driving down to California. They are going to meet up with Jimmy's other sister and her family. They will do Disneyland a few days, San Diego, and hang around the condo, then drive back on the 25th. So Ashley and I will enjoy 9 days of US! I babysit/watch (work at home) kids, so I will still have those little people to watch as normal, but the week should be GREAT! (ashley tells me we can do this:) GIRL TIME, she can sleep in my bed, or sleep down stairs as much as we want! We will go see Hannah Montana the movie then and some other things, we've made a list! So I gotta get the three of them packed and ready to go! YEAH! So look for some good blog posts then. Life will be great! Anyone want to come help surprise my husband by getting some projects done!?! Paint? Weeds? I hope the weather is good for me and them!