Hell's Canyon

Our summer "vacation" this year was the trip to Hell's Canyon.  Last year we couldn't go, because Garrett had just been born, and so we were all-too excited to spend an extended weekend away from home to do some camping and water skiing.  Parker was very excited to get to do some fishing as well.  He doesn't get out much to do that anymore.  

Our first day brought on a crazy rain/thunder storm.  With those high canyon and mountain walls on either side of the reservoir, the thunder echoed louder than anything I've ever heard before.  It really was quite spectacular.....except for that fact that it was POURING RAIN and we were in a tent.  Anna and Alex let us wait out the rain in their camper.  By the time it had stopped, we had a river running through our camp.  But it dried up soon enough.  

This year at hell's canyon was a little different, because we didn't quite have as much heat to deal with.  In past years, we've dealt with temperatures in the upper 90's and it really does get difficult to have any fun once it gets that hot.  Thank goodness we didn't have the heat this year, but we did have some winds and so the water wasn't always glassy/flat like we wanted it to be.  I only skied 3 times this trip, and two were on the same day.  Oh well.  I got nice water when I did. 

 

Another challenge that hell's canyon brings, is that every year there are MORE KIDS!  This year we had 11 grandchildren, the youngest of which was my Garrett.  He actually did very well and was able to take his morning naps in our tent before it was too hot.  And most afternoons, he fell asleep on the boat.

We spent a lot of time taking the kids to the beach so they could cool off and play in the sand.  The older kids also brought their bikes, which was really good.  They rode all over the campground on those things.  I even worked with Angie on learning how to ride her bike without training wheels.  She's close!  But it gets very tiring running along-side her.  I have no doubt she'll have it down for next summer.  She's growing so fast.

Caleb caught a bass with Alex's fishing pole!  In Parker's attempt to fillet the fish (with his pocket knife) .....lets just say it didn't get cut right and we ended up using the bass as catfish bait.  Alex and my dad were kinda disappointed.  The fishing in the reservoir was not so great this year.  Maybe I just don't have the patience for it anymore.  I remember coming to Hell's Canyon when I was a kid, and we got crappie and blue-gill biting our lines with almost every cast.  It wasn't like that this year.  So I didn't catch any fish.

One of the highlights of our trip was the drive to the Hells Canyon Dam.  The country becomes a lot more rugged as you get closer to the dam.

We also made a stop at the visitor's center, and I made a discovery that I've never realized in all my years coming here.  The REAL beauty of Hell's Canyon can only be seen from the hiking trails.  I picked up a trail map while I was there, and saw just HOW MANY hiking trails there are!  And a few of them, give you the spectacular canyon-rim view that you don't get to see from the campground.  Hell's Canyon is the deepest gorge in North America.  But it doesn't seem quite as spectacular from the road.  But I'm realizing that if you take some of the trails, there are views to be seen that you don't get from anywhere else.  

At the top of the dam is a set of stairs that takes you down to a little area at the base of the dam called "Deep Creek."  Apparently deep creek is also a trailhead, because once we were down there, a boat came right up to where we were fishing and dropped off a hiker with his backpack and poles.  He said he was spending 4 days exploring the trails at Hell's Canyon.  Below is a picture of Deep Creek.

I learned a few lessons from this trip to the dam.  First of all we went in the late afternoon/evening.  The stairs ARE A WORKOUT!  I had baby G on my back, and Parker had Angie in the backpack on HIS back.  Parker also had a backpack with snacks and water hanging from his front.  AND he was carrying his tackle box.  Caleb was able to walk himself, but the hike was still pretty tiring.  We made it to the bottom and found a patch of shade.



Then Parker and Caleb started fishing.

 



Pictured below was our little "patch of shade."  It really wasn't much.  But it was enough to give us a spot to let us cool down for a few minutes.

Eventually the sun went behind some clouds and it was a lot more comfortable.  Having a baby down there was....difficult to say the least.  The kid wanted to crawl.  But the ground was all boulders!  There was nothing flat or sturdy for him to climb on.  And Angie struggled getting around a bit too.

She eventually made her way down to the side of the creek, and entertained herself by dipping a feather into the water and then running it through her hair.  She completely soaked herself.  But it was actually good, because it was so hot.  

As far as the fishing goes, it was actually quite amazing.  Parker found a spot where he got a bite with every cast.  Trout.  And they were good!  We pulled in 3, threw back one, and lost another.  We were never able to revive the 3rd, and so we ended up keeping it. 

 



Unfortunately, we were not able to stay that long.  Baby G started to get fussy, and we still had to prepare ourselves for the difficult hike back up the stairs to the top of the dam.  It was not easy.  I felt bad for Parker. He just wanted to fish.  And just when things started getting good, we had to leave.  I reminded him that this is why "old men" fish.  It won't always be like this, and next time we won't bring the little ones.

 

Another reason we had to hurry back was because it was our night for dinner.  I had to get back to camp to start cooking.  Once we arrived, we found out that David was doing some pretty intense wake-boarding (with 2 boats following him just to watch) and he hurt himself pretty bad in a fall.  We're pretty sure he broke his ribs. 

With all those kids, and all the fun we had through the day, I always thought to myself that once we got the kids down to sleep that maybe we'd stay up and play some card games, or at least sit and talk for a while.  It really never happened.  By the time the kids were asleep, the rest of us were so tired, we never lasted more than another 30 minutes before going to bed ourselves.

The 4 days went by much too fast.  And then Sunday came, and it was time to pack-up and go back home.  

The kids made all kinds of arrangements about who would ride home with who.  We had Mycah in our car, and Caleb and Dejah rode with grandma and grandpa.  Apparently they were crazy and obnoxious the whole drive home, and my mom was ready for them to get out of the truck by the end of the drive.  Angie and Mycah watched a princess movie.  

I really enjoyed the time spent with my family.  It seems like there's never enough time to do all the things you want to.  But we made some good memories with our little family, and the kids are already telling each other how excited they are to come back next year.  Just yesterday I heard Caleb tell Angie that he was going to move to Hell's Canyon when he grew up.

Hah!

Caleb's Birthday



Caleb's birthday seems to become a bigger deal every year.  I guess that's how kids work.  But he's been so excited ever since summer started to have his birthday.

 

Caleb's birthday (July 25th) I DID take the day off work.  Several weeks ago, Caleb said to me, "Mom- I don't want to go to daycare on my birthday."  And I don't blame him.  He shouldn't have to.  Luckily I had planned ahead, and actually scheduled this day off over 6 months in advance. 

 

This year Caleb wanted a Lego birthday party.  I stayed up late the night before and decorated the dining room for his party (a little tradition I've been doing since his 4th birthday), so that he could see the decorations when he woke up in the morning.

I actually got up about 6:30 that morning and made a quick trip to Walmart before Parker left for work because I didn't have enough sacks for the party favors.  And I wanted to make a poster for Caleb.  I must say, it's a lot easier to not HATE Walmart if you go at 6:30 in the morning.  No crazy people.  No lines.  Full shelves.  I seriously considered the possibility that maybe I should do my grocery shopping on Friday MORNINGS before Parker leaves for work instead of bring all 3 kids.  It was a very peaceful morning.  And although there's not much that I like about 6:30 AM.....the sunrise, and the cool morning air, plus knowing the fact that I was accomplishing things before I am usually even awake.....made me feel pretty good.

 

Angie was the first to wake up that morning.  And the sight of the birthday decorations brought on some serious excitement.  Her face lit up with a huge smile and she said, "Oh mommy! It's so BEAUTIFUL!!"  She was skipping and singing to herself about Caleb's birthday, and then Caleb walked in.  He stopped in the dining room, and said (with a smirk on his face) "Nice decorations."  I could tell he was excited too...but he didn't want to show it.  So cute.

A few days ago I asked Caleb what kind of cake he wanted.  I was expecting some typical answer, "Chocolate."  or "a lego cake".....but do you know what his answer was?  "I want a lemon cake."  I was like, "seriously?"  I looked at Parker and he said, "that's what he told me too." 

Ok.  I guess I need to find a recipe for a lemon cake.

I found one on pinterest called, "Lemon Zest Cake."  And let me just tell you....it turned out FABULOUS!  I felt so awful serving it to a bunch of 7 year olds, who would have been happy with a cake-mix.  This cake was so good!  And I made a lego-man head with some frosting and wax paper.  Then I found some lego candles at Target.  Definitely the most creative cake I've ever made.  

I also used another pinterest idea for some party favors.  I spray-painted some baby food jars and drew a lego man face with a sharpie.  I filled them with m&m's.  The kids thought they were awesome!

I threw a party for Caleb at our house.  We invited neighbors and friends.  We had about 13 little boys in the house....it was absolute CRAZINESS!  I planned a 2 hour party, and it timed out just perfectly actually.  I made this poster so the kids could play "pin the head on the lego man."  And the kids thought it was pretty cool.

Caleb got lots of legos!  Lots of little sets (which is perfect for him) and I also got him a random lot of legos I found used on craigslist.  

After serving the super-amazing lemon zest cake to the kids, I looked up at the clock and realized it had been 2 hours and TIME WAS UP!  Whoo hoo!  I sent all the neighbor kids home, and the rest were gone in another 15 minutes.  After the party was over, Parker got home, and spent the rest of the evening helping Caleb with his new legos.  I'd say the theme was a hit.....for the little boys and for daddy.  

Caleb is getting so big.  I can't carry him anymore.  Like.....at all.  Which is so crazy to me.  he's still my boy.....I should be able to carry him to bed when he's fallen asleep.  But he's just too heavy.  And when he sits on my lap.....he only has minutes before I have to ask him to move because he's actually starting to squish me.  He's so smart and such a good big brother.  He helps take care of baby G, and most of the time plays pretty well with his Sister too.  I'm so proud to be his mommy.  Happy birthday Caleb!  These last 7 years have been wonderful having you in our lives!

Garrett's Birthday



Garrett's birthday was on a Monday this year.  You read my post that I wrote earlier that I actually wrote on his birthday.  Lets just say I was a little bummed for having to work on my baby's birthday.  It's true, he didn't know it was his birthday and so I might as well have.  But even so.....I was thinking about him all day, and missing him. 

A year ago this beautiful boy came into our lives.  To remember that story (it's actually pretty short) click HERE.  Some things that I remember, that were NOT written in that post.  When Parker finally arrived home to take me to the hospital, I remember the drive to the hospital.  I actually remember feeling so calm.  It was so different from my drive to the hospital when Angie was born.  First of all it was in the middle of the night with her, and I remember feeling panicked.  my body was shaking so un-controllably and having fought the labor all through the night, I was pretty worn out and it a lot of pain. 

My labor with Garrett moved so quickly, that I felt so calm and peaceful.  And to top it off, as we walked into that hospital there was the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen.  And when we finally got to my room, the windows gave us a PERFECT view of that beautiful sunset.  I thought Parker took a picture of this, but I just searched his old phone pictures, and he took a video of the room, but not the sunset.  Oh well.  I remember it.  I think it was all a small glimpse of the peace and love that this boy would bring into my life. 

Some things about Garrett at 1 year.  He is still crawling.  Caleb and Angie both started walking at their first birthday.  Garrett is still not quite there yet....and I don't mind.  He's bigger than my other 2 kids were at his age.  He has always been in the 90th to 95th percentile for his size, so even though he's a BIG baby....he's still MY little baby.  And he can just keep on crawling for now.  But don't let him fool you....he's FAST at crawling.....and if you think you have time before he gets to his destination of climbing or trouble-causing....think again.  He's there before you can blink an eye. 

This boy is just the most perfect creature I have ever seen.  I love his differences.  The things that set him apart from the other kids.  The thick/reddish-blonde hair.  The curls behind his ears.  His blue eyes.  His chubby cheeks and thighs.  His perfect little teeth.  I really can't get enough of him.  He just brings me so much joy.  And he's so happy.  Garrett has recently learned something from his daddy.  Parker pretended to be shooting a toy gun once, and Garrett thought it was the funniest thing ever.  Now he does it himself.  All the time.   Here's a picture of him shooting his "gun."  I think it's almost good enough to consider it his first word.  Because he knows what it means, and will do it whenever you ask.  It's SOOO Cute!

After I got home from work on Garrett's birthday, I made him a cake.  I made a white scratch cake, and I topped it with this:

Oh my gosh!  The frosting made a good cake into a FABULOUS cake!  I topped it off with some toasted cocoanut

I made half the batch into a 9X9 cake and the rest into cupcakes.  For family night, we let the kids decorate the cupcakes and then we sang "Happy Birthday" to Garrett. 



I love this video because it captures the genuine smile on his face as he watches his family sing to him.  Garrett loves attention from his family.  Especially Caleb and Angie. 

Garrett has also started playing with Angie a little bit.  I think she likes it because she can be the boss.  And Garrett just thinks she's funny and copies whatever she does.  Last night I took Garrett into her bedroom, and the two of them played together without a fuss for over half an hour.  And I could hear their giggles from the other room. 

 

This boy is such a joy to me.  I just can't imagine life without him.  Happy birthday Baby G!

Power Outage

 July as brought lots of fun.  Including thunderstorms, and power-outages.  One evening I got home from work and realized it was hot in my house.  I checked the thermostat, and discovered that the batteries had died, and so the AC didn't run all day.  It was about 80 degrees in the house.  Ick. 

 

So I changed the batteries, and then discovered that I needed to re-program the thermostat.  After doing that, the temperature started to go down.  We got to about 78 and then a thunderstorm rolled in.  Complete with lightning, and rolling thunder.  We heard a loud crack of thunder, and then out went the lights.  I took a cute video:

 

 

After about an hour, I decided my house was too hot.  And not to mention....I couldn't exactly cook dinner with no electricity.  So as soon as daddy got home, we headed to Burger King.

Then we went to a little park (actually it was a pretty run-down elementary school playground in Twin Falls) and let the kids play until we heard news that the power was back on. 

Mostly I just took a bunch of really cute pictures, and my kids are so cute.

 With all the thunderstorms rolling around, it started a fair share of fires, so we had a smoky red sunset that evening.

High School Reunion

The middle of July was my Eagle High School class of 2003 reunion.

I thought it'd be fun to attend the adult dinner (even though I think it was a little over-priced).  My close group of friends included people from 3 different classes (2002, 2003, and 2004) but I was quite disappointed that most of my close friends from 2003 were NOT there. 

Kaila

Lauren

Kim

Johnny

Scott

I was SOOO happy that Pat and his new bride, Marissa, decided to come.  Having them there was definitely the highlight of the weekend.  It's so unfortunate that I didn't get to see my super close friends.  The biggest bummer of it all was missing Kaila.  She even lives in town, but could not attend the reunion because she was having her own family reunion.  I am just so relieved to know that since she DOES live so close, I can go see her any time I visit my parents.

 

I've decided my high school class itself is just too big.  With around 600 class members, I think it's safe to say that I didn't know most of those people then.....and I don't know them now.  But there were a few people who attended the family picnic on Saturday that it was nice to catch up with.  Mostly my old choir buddies, and others from the Eagle Stake.

 

I spent a huge majority of my spare time in High School just hiding from the crowds.  My close friends and I would eat lunch in the Seminary building, or in the Choir Room.  I know that keeping close to my friends helped me to make good decisions and to stay on a path which has made me who I am today.  Even though I didn't get to see most of these people, my reunion helped me to remember how special each of my friends were, and why I love them all so much.  Even now, when I never get to see them. 

 

Kaila is my oldest friend in the world.  We were in Mrs. Clark's class at Eagle Elementary for Kindergarten.  It was during that year that I had my first friend over to my house to play, that was NOT a family member. That friend was Kaila. And I still remember what we did.  We played with my paper dolls, and she told me her favorite color was purple.  I remember her being so quiet, but always kind.  Over 20 years have past, and she's still the same.  We both transferred to Star Elementary in 3rd grade, and were friends all through every grade till Graduation.  She wasn't the one I had over for EVERY sleep-over, but she was there for many of them.  And even though I had so many other friends come and go over the years.....she was ALWAYS there.  And it didn't matter that we went through periods where we didn't talk as much.  I was never mad at her.  She never hurt me.  And I knew no matter who else would come and go, she would always be there for me.  And so, as we celebrate 10 years since graduation, I can't help but think that the REAL thing I should be celebrating is a friend like her.  Even now, as we are adults with children of our own, I can still call her to talk....regardless of how long it's been.  She is such an example of the Savior to me.  One of the most frequent conversations we had when we were young, was about what we would be like when we grew up.  Kaila would ALWAYS say her greatest desire was to be a mother.  I've never forgotten that.  She told that to everybody.  And everything else she planned in her future, was second to that.  She has become an amazing mother.  And I have seen how one of her strongest qualities (patience) has been brought to the test.  The Lord's timing is so different from our own.  But I know that because of her patience she has been blessed.  Kaila is like my north star.  She never changes.  Our relationship never changes.   I share a huge majority of my childhood memories, with her in them and I will always love her.

Lauren came into my life at a critical time.  We were acquaintances during our first few years of High School, but when Senior Year came along, my closest friend went off to college, and I was left feeling very alone.  Lauren and I had 1st period English together, and she quickly filled the void.  I felt like I could relate to her in so many ways.  We liked the same kind of music, and books.  During our Sophomore year in choir, I remember thinking our voices were so different.  But as we spent more time together, and singing together, there came a time (for Pat's baptism actually) when we sang a duet together, and people said they couldn't tell who's voice was singing which part.  The more time we spent together, the more alike we became.  I remember her scriptures.  Completely marked over in RED.  And how she would trace over her letters.  I think she had a mark on every page.  She was such an example to me.  And she always had the right things to say when I thought my life was over because my older friends were going away to college.  She is such an accomplished musician.  Her technical skills on the piano blew me away.  I remember thinking "She's so much better than me."  And it's no wonder.  She practiced so much harder than I ever did.  We were never able to share clothes or shoes because she was so much smaller than me.  But her heart was so big.  Today she lives far away, but there are times when I still really miss her.  We used to analyze those books we read in English.  Fahrenheit 451, and Night.  She is now the most gifted photographer I have ever met, and I find myself comparing all of my family pictures to the ones she did for me 2 years ago.  Nothing has been as good.  In her adult life, she has suffered through some trials that I can't even imagine.  Her strength astounds me.  I admire her for her persistence and long-suffering.  She is such a beautiful person, and even though it seems like such a short span of time that we were so close; I cherish those moments and hold them close to my heart.

Kimber was the busy one.  She managed to be involved in EVERYTHING.  She was constantly at meetings for this club or that organization.  She was the EHS seminary president, and just seemed so BUSY BUSY BUSY!  All the time!  But she never seemed to be discouraged.  I never saw her cry (that's not to say she didn't....I mean she was a teenage girl after all).....but I cried about everything.  Kimber always had a huge smile on her face.  And long, blonde hair that would curl at the ends.  She had high standards, and boundless energy.  One year I invited her to come with me on a family camping trip to Owyhee reservoir.  She helped out more than I did.  And one morning, even decided to hike to the top of a hill by herself.  I worried about her the entire time thinking she was bound to get bitten by a snake.  (I know....what kind of friend was I that I didn't actually go WITH her?!  I really can't explain myself on that one....I don't know what I was thinking.)  But she was like that.  She'd climb this mountain, or scale a brick wall. Always proving to us that she could do anything.  And she's the one that introduced us to "apples to apples."  Her smile was so contagious.  I feel fortunate that I was able to get to know her as well as I did (which....doesn't feel like much in comparison to my other friends).  But it just goes to show....she only filled her time with things and people that were of value.  I guess I made the cut. 

The picture above is Kimber, and also Johnny.  My relationship with Johnny was pretty unique.  I think I spoke to him less than anyone.  I think you could easily count the number of words we verbally exchanged with each-other.  (It wasn't much).  I did most of my communication with Johnny over e-mails and passing notes.  If you ever met a "Peter Priesthood"....this guy was it. He carried his scriptures with him everywhere he went.  And had a quote or scripture to add to every conversation.  He always said things like, "God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts." and he signed his name with "ETTE, Johnny"  ETTE stood for "endure to the end."  He read general conference talks for fun.  And that was mostly what our relationship was about.  He was like a testimony coach to me.  He was always challenging me to study this scripture or that talk.  And I always took his challenges.  We spent a lot of time writing e-mails or exchanging instant-messages over the computer.  But it was always about church stuff.  I didn't know how to talk to him about anything else.  But he helped me to learn that my testimony is my own.  And that I have to earn it, and build its strength.  He taught me how to study my scriptures better, and helped me to learn that I could open the windows of the Spirit when I wrote in my journal.  He was such a good example to me.  I've spoken with him once since we've been married (once again, through instant messenger actually) and he said to me how he is embarrassed about how he acted in high school.  He said he was too up-tight.  Too strict.  And looking back, I suppose it may be so.  But I always admired him for his high standards.  And although he was a bit of a "goodie-two-shoes" I always knew he was an example I could follow.  I hope he doesn't regret what he was like too much.  I never met another person like him.  Even today. 

 

Scott didn't enter our circle until Senior year either.  His dad was the Eagle stake president, and even though he was in my ward for almost my entire childhood....in some ways I still feel like I hardly knew him.  He was always so quiet around me.  But Senior year, he started to come out of his shell.  And some of my fondest memories are of rolling on the floor laughing at whatever Scott was doing.  He was a talented musician, but NEVER a show-off.  He was a great piano player, and although he tried not to admit it, he could sing too.  We finally convinced him to join choir for the 2nd semester of our Senior year, and he was able to go on our choir trip to Disneyland.  That trip was so much fun! And Scott always seemed to have the inside-jokes that made everybody laugh.  He also had a burning testimony, and extremely high standards.  I remember when I asked him to "Sweethearts" my Junior year, and as we were walking away from taking pictures, he whispered in my ear "Thank you for wearing a modest dress."  I've never forgotten that.  Teenage girls get the "modesty" lecture from parents, and young women's leaders all the time.  But I remember how great it was to hear it from a young man.  One that I admired.  His words that day helped me pick out my dress for every dance following that Sweethearts Ball.  Most of my memories of Scott are ones of laughter, but he also stood as a beacon for standards.  His parents had some rules that were more-strict compared to the rest of us (which I thought was odd.....considering he was the youngest of 7 children), but he never complained or spoke ill of his parents.  Today he is the one I communicate with the least.  He's my only friend not on Facebook, and even though I've seriously considered deleting my own profile many times.....it has been nice to keep in touch with these old friends.  I hope I will get to get back in touch some day.  He was an awesome guy.

High school seems so long ago, but when I read my journals, or look at those old pictures it's like it was yesterday.  I'm so grateful for the friends that I had, and the imprint that they made on my life.  I hope I never forget them.

 

Below is the only picture I got from my reunion weekend.....there's a couple faces that I'm not sure I could tell you the names.  But Pat's face is there....even if it is a hairy one.....and I'm so glad I got to re-connect with him that weekend.  

I've decided that since the High School reunions are just too big, that maybe I should try a reunion of my own.  One with just my close friends.  A lot like the one we did back in May.  I'm thinking we'll do it at my mom and dad's house, after my sister and her family have moved out.  Maybe in a couple years.  It was so good to take the time to remember these people.  I only hope next time a get-together is scheduled, we are able to see a few more faces.