Camping, camping, and more camping!

Part 1:
I guess I didn't get my fill of camping after girl's camp, because only two weeks later it was off to Steamboat Lake to camp with my brother and his cute family. We camped for three nights!!! That is quite an achievement for me. We enjoyed our beautiful camping area. Unfortunately, the pine beetle had made it to our camping site before us and killed many of the trees. Subsequently, they had to be chopped down and so it felt more like we were camping in a meadow. Still, looking on the lake was nice - it just made for some hot days. To relieve ourselves from the heat we headed into Steamboat Springs during the days. It was a fun little ski town and we did some shopping and had some good BBQ. We also enjoyed viewing the Yampa River Botanical Gardens





Tanner had a lot of fun with his little cousin Cameron. They both liked to find rocks and play in the dirt. McKay also really enjoyed playing with Cameron and showing him his stories. One morning we decided to take a boat out on the lake. The boys did a little fishing and we were able to enjoy being out on the water. It was an early morning though, so Tanner and Cameron fell asleep during the boat ride.



After boating in the lake we decided to take a little swim in the lake, which was nice and refreshing on such a hot day. It was then up to Fish Creek Falls for some hiking. We did a short hike to the uppper falls and a short hike to the base of the falls. Both were very beautiful. One of my favorite parts about the camp was the food. There is nothing like Dutch Oven cooking. We dined on stew and biscuits, peach cobbler, mountain man breakfast, chicken and stuffing, and apple cobbler. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.




We had so much fun on this trip and it was great to meet Josh and Kyle somewhere in the middle. We have decided to make camping with them an annual trip. Next year we'll see them in Moab!

Part 2:
Our ward campout was the very next week. This was an easy camp. We ate dinner before we came up and the bishopric made breakfast the next morning. Carter and McKay look forward to this camp each year. In fact, we hardly saw them except for sleeping because they were having so much fun with their friends. There was a good turnout and we enjoyed chatting and playing games with friends as well. The YW were in charge of some water balloon volleyball Saturday morning, which was also a lot of fun.



Does that look like a tired dirty face or what? I think that is how we all felt after all this camping. I think it may be safe to say that the camping was great, but I'm pretty camped out right now.

Summertime!

Our summer has been so busy and has been going by so fast. Here are a couple of the highlights:

The fourth of July-
We decided to take it easy this fourth and stay close to home. It was a fun weekend with friends and BBQ's. Since we are not in city limits we were able to shoot off whatever fireworks we wanted. It rained all evening on the fourth, but that didn't stop us...we continued to shoot off some fireworks with the garage as our shelter. Quite a few neighbors had artillery shells that went up in the air. Lamont informed me that next year we are heading to Wyoming for the good stuff. I thought that Tanner might be a little scared of all the fireworks, but he was not scared at all and enjoyed every moment of them squealing and pointing. His favorite was the snap, pop, pops which he is doing below.


We have also been enjoying some family activities like bowling. Carter and McKay got summer passes and it is only $1 each for us to bowl the whole summer. We have been taking advantage of this and have been going about once a week. This is a great opportunity to work on keeping my game consistent - no comment please. The boys have really been enjoying it. We have also done a little more movie watching and took the boys to see Toy Story 3, which all of us enjoyed. Well, McKay is still deciding if he enjoyed it - he was so worried about something happening to the toys that it brought him to tears! Maybe the movie hit a little too close to home or maybe he was just not feeling well!? We also love going to the Rockies games as a family and had the pleasure of attending a game last week on the 16th row. It was even better when the Rockies hit a walk-off home run to win the game!

Swimming lessons have taken up many of our mornings. Carter is beginning to really get his basic swimming skills down. He was very proud to have passed his class as a Seahorse and to move on as a Stingray. McKay is just getting comfortable in the water. It helped to have his friend, Jude in his class. He is doing well on his back float, but needs a little work bobbing all the way under the water.

Last but not least, I survived Girl's Camp last week. Thanks to some wonderful camp leaders, camp was a success and everyone seemed to have a great time. Our theme was Wizard of Oz, "There's no place like our Heavenly Home." It was a fun take on the movie focusing on knowledge, love, and courage and developing these attributes to get to the Emerald City or the temple and ultimately to our "Heavenly Home". It was a lot of work, but a fun bonding time with all the girls and leaders. The YW liked to tease us that they couldn't go to sleep at night because the leaders were up talking too late....sure,whatever. Once it stopped raining on us, we were able to just enjoy the beauty of being up in the mountains.

Walt Disney World

As soon as school got out we were off to Orlando, Florida. We have been planning this trip to Walt Disney World for a very long time. In fact, we got a Disney Visa just after Carter was born to start earning Disney rewards for a future vacation. Finally, it was time for the big trip. It was awesome that my parents and sisters could come with us as well. Disneyland was one of my favorite vacations growing up and one that we took frequently, so it only seemed fitting that they be with us. It was also a big help with the boys and they loved having grandpa, grandma, and the aunts with us. We spent 6 1/2 days in Disney World. Two days was spent in the Magic Kingdom which was definitely a favorite for most, including Tanner. His favorite part of the trip was the Electrical Light Parade. It was pure joy on a baby face. He waved at every character that went by and was just so excited by every moment of the parade. It was so sweet and we were so glad that he was on the trip with us. McKay loved the Buzz Lightyear ride, It's a small world, and tomorrowland speedway.
Cinderella's Castle was Amazing, and it was great to be there together
More than anything Carter and McKay wanting to meet Mickey Mouse - they finally got their chance!
My personal favorite, Mary Poppins
The boys trying to pull the sword from the stone

The next day was spent at Animal Kingdom. We enjoyed the Kilimanjaro Safaris and all the wildlife we saw. The Expedition Everest Rollercoaster was also awesome. However, this day was VERY hot and crowded and it was hard to fully enjoy the park. We left a little early this day to hit the pool back at the timeshare.


We spent two days at Epcot and it was another favorite by everyone. There was so much do to and several fun rides as well. We needed one whole day at future world to ride the rides and see the exhibits. Then we needed another whole day for the world showcase. World showcase was Carter's favorite. We were able to go to all the countries presented and shop, see attractions, eat good food, and do Kidcot (the boys were able to collect paper charms for each country to put on a mask). I think that this is the closest I will ever get to visiting some of those countries like Morocco.

Finding Nemo was a cute ride with a nice aquarium afterwards
Us visiting China

We also spent one day at Hollywood Studios. In this park there were a lot of good shows and some fun rides. We found that this was a day that we really had to organize our time well to get in the things that we wanted to do. Carter, McKay, and Tanner all enjoyed Playhouse Disney Live, and Toy Story Midway Mania Ride was the other favorite. It was a 4D midway-style game-playing adventure. We ended the night with the fabulous show of Fantasmic.

It was such a fun trip and one that we will remember for a long time. It has now become part of Carter and McKay's "play." They "visit" Mickey in the backyard and slide down the slide onto Pirates of the Carribean. We still think of all the fun memories that were made and hope to make it back sometime in the future. I have to say that I think Disney's motto is appropriate, "Where Dreams Come True..."

School's out for the summer

McKay finished his last day of our preschool co-op. He loved every minute of it! He made such good little friends and learned so much. Every Sunday night he would exictedly ask, "Whose house is preschool at tomorrow?" To celebrate the end of school year he received a certificate for improving his name writing. The preschool had a carnival to celebrate with fun little carnival games and face painting. It was definitely a hit and enjoyed by all three boys.



Carter finsihed his last day of school on June 4. He had a great year and I was so impressed with his teacher and school. He also enjoyed every moment. He received a certificate for completion of first grade and also for perfect attendance! Luckily, since his school has 1st/2nd grade grouping, he will have the same teacher for second grade as well. After the last day continuation program, he enjoyed some year book signing and was especially excited that he even got his own Sharpie with his name on it to do all of his signing. Carter with his favorite teacher's aid, Miss Amy

Gone Fishin'

For memorial day we headed down south and did a little shopping at the outlets and then headed up into the mountains for a picnic and some fishing. Lamont has been wanting to take Carter and McKay fishing for a while. They have only been once and did not catch any fish. This time however, we were in luck and Carter, with Lamont's help, reeled in a 12 inch Rainbow Trout. We had already been out there about an hour and the novelty of fishing was beginning to wear off, so the catch came at just the right time. I was helping Tanner get some lunch in the car when Carter came running up very excited to tell me about their catch. The boys liked watching the fish swim around in the bucket that we brought. However, when it was time to go it was also time to gut the fish. Lamont took it down by the water. This ended up being a fairly traumtic experience for the boys. They both exclaimed in disgust that they could see blood. Carter continued to say, "I don't really want to see his digestive system." McKay on the other hand thought about it and said, "I miss him already!" At this point I thought they would not want anymore to do with the fish, but proudly took it to show the neighbor when we got home.

That night when reading in the New Testament picture book, animal sacrifices were described. McKay suddenly exclaimed, "Hey, that's what we did today. We killed an animal!" At least we know that he was listening to the scripture reader.

The next day we cooked up the trout with some garlic, lemon, and butter and had it for dinner. The boys were not sure at first, and McKay wondered where his head went, but both decided that they liked it and wanted second helpings. I think they will now know what do expect on the next fishing trip.

BYU Baseball Game

Yesterday we went with some friends to Colorado Springs to see the BYU baseball team play Air Force. We had a great time even though BYU lost. The best part was being able to high-five all the players after the game. One player even gave Carter and McKay each a baseball and we got several players to autograph it.

Annual flower planting at the temple

Carter told me that this was his very favorite primary activity of the year. We all go to the temple and plant flowers. The grounds are so beautiful and it is fun to be a part of that. We then go to the park across the street for a pizza dinner with the ward. It is always one of the best attended ward activities of the year. As we left the activity McKay said, "Mom, this was a great day!"

Soccer - Spring 2010

This soccer season was plagued by rain, snow, and many cancelled games. So needless to say we are happy that soccer season is over. It was very difficult to reschedule games because the default was always Sunday when we didn't want to play. So, after many make-up games and extending the season for a week we ended with two team parties to CiCi's pizza. Carter and McKay both had great seasons and were able to continue to improve their games. The most imporant part is that they love to play.

Carter with Coach Oxnam. He received the Defensive Dragon Award and trophy
Lamont coached McKay's team and he received the Soccer Superstar Award and trophy

All about Tanner

Tanner (aka: Little T, Tans, Boo Bear or Boo Boo) is 14 months old right now and as busy as he can possibly be. He weighs about 24 1/2 pounds and is an average height for his age. His favorite foods include graham crackers, bananas, strawberries, grapes, and most other fruits cut up. One of his favorite activities is to swing outside on his swing -it doesn't really matter how cold or windy it is outside. He loves watching Baby Einstein, and gets so excited when it is time to put "his" show on. He is quite attached to two blankies and his pacifier. He also loves to dance. This little boy has got the rhythm. Put on any music and he is bouncing up and down and nodding his head back and forth. There is just a small sampling in the clip below. However, I wasn't able to catch him for long because he has an obsession with the camera and gets quite worked up once he sees the camera and until he can hold it. The same goes for the telephone, which is why it is now very hard to talk on when he is around. He follows me around crying until he can push the buttons on the phone. So, if you call me and hear a crying baby in the background this is probably what is happening.

Tanner has also given us some concern recently with his severe eczema. From the day he was born he has had sensitive skin and the past two months it has flared up quite a bit. His feet became totally red, cracked, and blistered. It actually got so bad that we found out that he had a staph infection. We have since been to several doctors, his dresser is filled with ointments and creams, and we had to put him in wet p.j.'s and now wet socks (with dry ones over) when he goes to bed. He is also on antihistamines and more steriod ointments. The frustrating thing is that we finally get one spot under control and then it is another spot flaring up. This is new for me because neither Carter or McKay had any of these issues. Despite all the itching and irritation, Tanner is a happy and content little boy.

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Nothing like a good nap...

Being 4 years old is so exhausting!!!

Carter is 7!!!

Last week Carter turned 7 years old. He was on the count down until 6:20pm because that is the time when he was born, and he felt like it wouldn't be official until that time. We celebrated with ribs and twice baked potatoes, which are Carter's favorite. However, the excitement of the presents was so great that I think he finished dinner in about five minutes. Presents and cake came soon enough. He was excited to receive games, books,a recorder, and clothes. Thanks to all the grandpas, grandmas, aunts, and uncles who made his day special. We were also able to celebrate on the weekend with a dinner to Red Robin -Carter's choice of course.

Carter is such a sweet and sensitive boy. He loves learning and really enjoys school. His favorite subjects are math and art. He enjoys playing soccer and is learning to play the piano. He is a great example and big brother. In fact, McKay said of Carter, "He is one of my best brothers and loves to play with me." Happy Birthday, we love you Carter!