St. George road trip

At the end of February, I decided to take a road trip down to St. George to celebrate our last week of being off track in the winter. Brock has been working in Wyoming the past 2 months, so he leaves Sunday night and comes home Friday night. This routine is rough during normal circumstances but being off track really messes up with my routine and schedule, and when you throw in no dad coming home at the end of the day to mix things up a little, lets just say the days were dragging by! I truly try to enjoy the times when my kids are off track, and we try and do some fun things and create fun memories, but I do start to miss our school day routine. All I wanted and was craving was some sunshine! Some time at the park, walks, maybe a few hikes and I suppose some swimming would be nice too, so I booked a hotel and drove down to St. George! I didn't think too much about what it would be like driving for 4+ hours with 4 kids by myself (they did great by the way), or about checking in the hotel, or doing activities by ourselves, we are always by ourselves anyway I just thought about the sunshine and how good it would  feel to change up the routine for a few days! And it was great! Grandma & Grandpa ended up joining us for a few days and it was fun to go to Snow Canyon, and let them show us some of their favorite spots down there (like Veyo Pies So Good!) They ended up having to leave early though because of flooding in G-town, so we were on our own for the last couple of days. My favorite thing about getting away is that I have the ability to focus completely on the kids. I don't have any of the usual in and out worries of running a household that are huge distractions for me. Every waking minute of our getaway was focused on just being with the kids, just living in the moment. I am so glad we were able to take this road trip, I am so grateful my kids are 'mostly' well behaved so I can drive with them by myself for 4+ hours, and take them to restaurants and know they will be good. It really was a great breather for all of us, and the best part is when we got home Friday evening, daddy got home just minutes after us and we got to spend our weekend with him! My main goal as a mother is to enjoy the moment and be present and this trip helped bring that back into perspective for me! I truly love being a mother to these little rascals.

The hotel had an indoor play area, my kids had never been in a "ball pool" before they thought it was awesome! I was trying not to be grossed out by the thought of the germs in there!

Jenny's canyon up Snow Canyon love this cute girl

Lyla and grandma hiking

Trying to get a picture in the slot canyon. It was fun to have Grandma and Grandpa with us.

The kids loved this hike, 

My little hikers were obsessed with climbing up to see the pioneer names. 

She wanted to hike just as high as her brothers!

Lyla and I stayed below while the others hiked up high. 

Sand dunes were the highlight!

Why is sand so much fun?!

We even got to swim outdoors one afternoon! 

They would have been happy with swimming all day, every day

Splash area at Thunder Mountain, our favorite park!

It was not that warm but they didn't seem to care.

Riding the train was a highlight!

He loves taking care of his little sis

naps at the park were my favorite part of the trip! 

Zeppes' is our favorite! Wish they were open all year in No. Utah too!

Spent an afternoon at the children's museum 

Sadie lost her first tooth on our trip while we were having dinner at Texas Road House. She was so excited! 

Right before heading home we went and road scooters, it was a little chilly this day. 

Enjoying the sun before we headed back to the snowstorm that was waiting for us!

I am so grateful for these memories, and am so grateful this trip was possible, it was a great week!

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!