Spontaneous Adventure

...2 of my favorite words. They didn't used to be, but I'm learning if I want my kids to want to spend time with me it usually starts with a Spontaneous Adventure and this year we've been doing more and more of those and they are always 10x more fun then anything that is pre-planned! Today is Labor day, which marks the end of summer, which is sad in some ways, and exciting at the same time because it's FALL! The most wonderful time of the year!!!

We had to come home a day early from out camping trip because Brock was going hunting with a friend so by this afternoon our trailer was cleaned, the house was cleaned, the car was cleaned and it was a beautiful 75degree day so I decided we should go on a hike! It was a hike we've done but it was a secret hike that ended in a different water fall then the one we usually go to. So we quickly packed up and headed out the door to Adams canyon to see if we could find this secret lower waterfall. And sure enough we found it, and it was fairly easy for the kids with just the right amount of challenge and a great reward once we got to the end! It was a great afternoon, then we went and grabbed food at Zuppas (our favorite) and then we went and visited the animals at petsmart (Luke thinks he's getting a turtle for Christmas! (We'll see about that!) ) and then we grabbed kiddie cones from McDonald's and headed to the park to enjoy the amazing weather! It was a great evening, celebrating the last day of official freedom. Now school starts for good tomorrow (well until November when we will be off for 3 weeks) So it feels like we're in it for the long haul now! I love my children so much! I Love spending time with just me and them. It feels like we can accomplish anything when we are all together! We do miss Daddy though...hopefully he will bring us home some delicious elk meet to feed us for the winter:)

Love that chubby baby hand! 

Worth it all for the view at the end! 

The Bow Hunt 2016

Lyla Rose 

At this moment I was thinking, can't I always have a 20 month old to sit at my table and keep me company!?!

This year the bow hunt felt different. Usually it's me alone camping with quick visits from Brock during the day to replenish his food, and take a nap. This year it rained, and rained and then was sunny and then rained and rained. So Brock only went up the mountain a few times. It was still fun though, and even in the rain, there is no other place I'd rather be then Willow creek!




The weekend before labor day we decided to spend Friday night- Saturday night up at willow creek (the corrals anyway) and drop the trailer off so that we wouldnt be worried about getting a spot during the Labor day weekend. Since we were just going overnight we thought it would be fun to take Aurora And Audrey with us! 6 kids under 8 and only 2 adults was a bit crazy but so worth it to get to spend time with those cute girls! They had a blast! Isaac also made his first kill shot, shooting at a pot gut. He was pretty proud! After he fired the first shot the poor creature ran toward the girls and I, lets just say there was a lot of screaming and running away!! It was a fun weekend!

The next week we went up Thursday night and stayed until Sunday night. My parents were there along with Dallen, Colt and Kate and Wyatt and Dakota showed up the last day too. It was a fun camp to have so many people there! It kept us entertained anyway!

Lumberjack Colton Showing off his mad chopping skills 

Rain, Rain you can stay, you keep all the dust away! 

green eyed baby girl 

fire dance 

double dimples! My L's

Pancake breakfast, yum

I love being in the mountains with my family! Every time we spend time up in those mountains I just think in my head, this is right, we are doing the right thing. This is exactly what these kids need! Time to disconnect from the day to day stresses we all face, and time to reconnect to what matters most....Our family!! 

I used to blog...

...its been a few years since I posted anything. A few months ago I needed to look something up that I remembered blogging about. As I was searching for the blog post I needed, I was able to re-read some of the posts from 4,5,even 6 years ago. And I LOVED it! There were so many memories and stories that I used to post on my blog, many of them that I had forgotten. It was like opening a time capsule, and I began to remember those days when I just had 1 baby, and then just my 2 boys, and the crazy days when I had the 3 kids under 3. All of that seems like a long time ago. And it was only 4 years ago.

 I realized how much of the day to day you forget when you are in the middle of raising all of these little kids. And even though I wouldn't want to go back necessarily, it is really fun to visit! And I'd really like to keep those memories alive. Im tired of Facebook, and yet I feel like that is the easiest way to store memories. But I want more stories, and Im not comfortable sharing all my life details on Facebook. So Im excited to come back into the blogging world.

 Although, I used to blog for others, for the comments, for the likes, for the attention that my blog would get. Now I'm blogging for myself. For my future self anyway. I feel like my days right now are perfect, I love every day, I love my children, I love the ages they are right now. Everyone is healthy and happy and I know all too well how quickly that can change. I feel like Im just trying to grasp every  moment I get to to be with them and the more I want time to slow down, the faster it goes.

 So I'm excited to blog, and post pictures of the adventures me and my family go on. And hopefully they will be a source of comfort to me one day, because I know how quickly life can change, and I know that before I know it, my kids will grow up and live their own lives, and sometimes that thought can be so terrifying for me, maybe one day I will find comfort in these memories.

Family Room and Kitchen Reveal!

I finally put pictures of our family on the wall! It feels like we officially live here now, and it only took 6 months. Now my next goal is to get the boxes unpacked in the basement! All in good time:) Here's a little before and after of the projects we've been working on all summer. And finally we are getting a few things checked off our list!

Kitchen 

{ Before }

{ During }

{ After } 

{ After }

{ After }

{ After }

 In the Kitchen we painted the walls Studio Taupe (Behr) and put bead board up in the dinning room. Because it was such a small area we decided to just do the real deal. It still cost under $100 and the end result looks so good! The curtains are IKEA and they were only $15 for both! (Ikea I love you!) The EAT sign was just cardboard letters from Hobby Lobby spray painted with the same metallic spray can I used on the knobs in the kitchen (originally they were gold). The Chalkboard was a cheap serving tray originally all silver from a party store. I aged the silver and painted the middle with chalkboard paint.  Still have 1 main project left in here which is a back splash but that will be another time. And also eventually new appliances. But for now I love how everything turned out!

Family Room/ Living Room 

{Before}

{ During }

{ After }

Gallery wall 

We painted the back wall Studio Taupe (behr) and the side wall Gallery Taupe (behr). My mom made the piece of wood on the wall from some old fence in her backyard and I bought the P from hobby lobby. I put a few fall decorations out and the room came together great! Still have 2 big things to work on in this room 1.staining the fireplace and 2. getting a bigger T.V. stand. But for now I love how it's turned out!

You know who is crazy talented?

My mother that's who. Seriously. All of the stuff I do is because I've grown up watching my mom decorate, and re-decorate the house. She made me my kitchen table! She made her own kitchen table, she does many other things as well! She started a blog, and it's just getting started but if you want inspiration decor, parties, awesome places to travel (in Utah mostly) follow her blog!

www.redcreekchic.blogspot.com

Pantry and Office Reveal !

Finally! I am going to post some pics of our big remodel project! So it started with the moment I realized I just bought a house without a pantry! My fabulous handyMan whipped up a plan to make me one and I was thrilled:) Basically within days of moving in to our beautiful new home we were smashing walls down with a sledge hammer! It was great fun! So pictured below is my view from my front door. We had a sitting room/front room and we decided we didn't need one quite so big so we knocked a hole into the kitchen and built our pantry into the front room.

Before/during construction.

I don't have an "actual" before picture but just imagine a plain white wall there instead of 2x4's.

This is the view from the front door. The front room.
After

This is the view from the kitchen side. Into the pantry.

Then Brock put dry wall up and mud and built me some fabulous shelves.

 I decided I wanted something special in my pantry so I decided to stencil the back with this fab stencil I picked up for 1.99 at Hobby Lobby!

Stencil process. It took a while but I didn't mind the work. 

Ta da! Pantry complete! 

And here is the door to the pantry! All complete! 

So we decided we didn't really need a front sitting room (plus we didn't want to buy a couch we would never use!) So we decided to make the front room an office:)

View again from the front door right when you walk in the front door.
BEFORE 

After! 

And my handyMan built me a book shelf! I feel like I have my own library! Heaven!

So there you have it! 2 projects actually mostly complete! We only have about 7 other ones that we've started and haven't yet finished but when they get done I will be sure to post them!

4th of July!

We had a blast on the 4th of July this year! Probably one of my favorite 4th celebrations yet! We slept over night at my sister's house in No. Ogden which was great fun! Then we got up and went to the Huntsville parade, which is a super cute, small town parade. The boys LOVED it! Sitting and having people throw candy at you is a dream come true for them! Then we went back to Ari's for a delicious BBQ, huge water fight, and a way fun afternoon. Then we headed home and rested for a few hours so we could make it through the fireworks, which were awesome! All around great day of celebration! Here's a few pics:) 

Waiting for the parade to start!

Sadie giving Brigham kisses:) Cousin love! 

Sadie and Brigham! 

Nana and Brigster

Ari, Nathan and KT watching the parade.

Big girl! I can not believe she is 18 months already! 

Me and Lukey

The whole group of Family watching the parade.

Ari and Brig

It's a miracle everyone was looking in the area of the camera~! 

Waiting for the fireworks to start. 

 I loved that the 4th was on Thursday so we had Friday, Saturday and Sunday to be together as a family! It was great! We saw Despicable Me2 and got a lot of projects done around the house! Including the Kitchen! It looks fabulous!! Stay tuned for some great before and after pics!