BYU

On our trip to Utah, Josh got really infatuated with BYU. He wanted me to tell them a BYU history/heritage/folklore/"how I met your dad" story every night. After I told him about how they light the "Y" for home games and how the ROTC builds a fire and camps overnight on rivalry week to protect the "Y," he wanted to climb it.

The morning we decided to climb the "Y" we also decided to sleep in. By the time we started our hike it was 95 degrees. But we brought one bottle of water, so we'd be fine, right? I had a feeling we wouldn't make it far, especially since I didn't have a backpack to carry Tali in.

The Beginning - lookin' good!

5 minutes in - Liz is already sweating and has that "look."

10 minutes in - Josh's shirt comes off.
11 minutes in - Tali's dress comes off . . .
and the water is GONE.

The Top - well, halfway. We made it to a lookout where you can at least see the "Y." This is the view looking down.

The End - Shirts and dresses made it halfway back on for the auto-timer picture. No one was there to hold the camera for us. It's like people who live in the desert know it's a bad idea to hike at noon on a 100-degree day. I think I remember learning something like that when I lived in Vegas for 15 years.

We had fun, but we were roasting, so we went to the Scera mini water park.

Happy #9 Josh!

I had a vision of Josh waking up this morning to a room decorated with streamers, a Happy Birthday banner and balloons covering the floor. So, last night at about midnight I quietly opened his door, decorations in hand, to find . . . the floor already covered with stuff. So, I quietly shut the door, hung the decorations in the hallway, and vowed not to bug him to clean his room on his birthday. Maybe I'll clean it for him.

In his defense, I think the only thing I ever have to bug Josh about is cleaning his room. I guess that makes him a typical boy. In his further defense, he's not usually the one making the mess. It's his two little sisters, who he is SO sweet to.

Here's a list of the coolest things Josh did in the last year:

• He got baptized.
• He set the school pull-up record at 26 and then upped his PR at Scout Camp to 39 pull-ups! Watch out Huffman Elementary. He's ready to really re-set that record in stone!
• He rode all the scariest rides he was tall enough for at Disneyland, CA Adventures, Lagoon, and even the "sling shot" in the Dimond Center parking lot.
• He rode a freefall "DerStuka"-type ride at 7-Peaks Water Park.
• He climbed Mt. Marathon and to the "Y" in Provo.
• He won a Snickers bar for being the only kid in his Mighty Bikes group to ride up a super-steep hill without putting a foot down.
• He started reading Harry Potter in May and is almost finished with #5 now.
• He learned to vacuum, clean bathrooms and babysit for money.

Josh makes me happy everyday. I'm so lucky to have him. People tell me how kind he is and I just can't take credit. He came from heaven like that. He's been the sweetest kid ever since he was born.

I don't know if his sisters realize it, but he's the best big brother they could ask for. He will feed Tali breakfast and put her bowl in the sink for her. He'll help her get dressed and even help her go potty. Josh lets Liz tag along with him all around the neighborhood without telling her to find her own friends. He held Liz's hand at the bus stop for months and sat next to her everyday until she found someone better to sit by.

Josh is also very kind and considerate of me and Matt. Whenever we take him somewhere, he says, "Thanks for taking me." He even said that last night when I took him to Fred Meyer with me at 10pm to buy ice-cream for his party.

Sometimes his room is a mess and sometimes he smells like a "boy." Usually he finishes his homework without being asked and then leaves it sitting on the table or on the garage floor for two days. But, at the end of the day, I always wish I had more time to spend with this cool kid.

Blessed

We made it home. I hate to be cheesy, but I feel so blessed to have been able to do these things:

• go on a totally fun trip while Matt stayed home and worked for us (no complaints),
• take the kids to visit SO many family members (2 Grandpas, 1 Great-Grandpa, 2 Grandmas, 3 Great-Grandmas, and innumerable aunts, uncles & cousins),
• borrow Grandma Bird's car, then Grandma Evans' car,
• occupy every bedroom and closet in Grandma Bird's house for two weeks and eat more food and create more dirty dishes than she uses in a month,
• enjoy the absolutely beautiful weather,
• drag Papa, Brady, Kaylee, & Ben to Lagoon with us,
• wait out a thunderstorm at 7 Peaks water park,
• go to Kaylee's beautiful wedding with family members I love, who let me dance without giggling and shoo Tali off the golf gren when I'm not paying attention,
• travel for a total of 24 hours (plane & car) and in the end think, "my kids are awesome!"
• come home to a clean house, full fridge, mowed lawn, watered flowers and a new member of the family . . . he has 4 legs and huge paws.

More pics coming soon . . . as soon as I finish unpacking.

For now, love to you all. We miss you tons already! Thanks everyone for coming to see us, driving us around, taking us to dinner, letting us borrow your stuff, taking my kids on awesome adventures or watching them while I went on awesome adventures.

The whole trip I kept thinking, "My family is so cool." You guys know that I love you, but I really like you too. Can't wait to visit again! . . . with Matt next time!

Trip Log - Cedar City & the Cabin

The kids and I drove to Cedar City to see my mom and Dennis.

Our first stop was Grandma Evans' house. She let us take her car for the weekend.

We stayed at Grandpa Jensen's house in Cedar City. . . but he wasn't there. He has a girlfriend :)

On Saturday we drove up Cedar Canyon to Uncle Ken & Aunt Linda's cabin. We had a great time, especially the kids. We saw tons of chipmunks, all colors of birds, and humming birds. The kids had a blast feeding the chipmunks (and themselves) peanuts. Aunt Linda whipped everyone in a game of Wii bowling. Her Wii name is "Mean Linda." I assume because she plays a mean game of bowling and doesn't ease up against little kids :)

We also saw a deer in the front yard,

went four-wheeling,

and had a triple birthday celebration.

Oh, and I forgot to mention the nap I took on the couch. I couldn't keep my eyes open! It must be the altitude - 8600 ft!

Trip Log 2

One of the things I miss most about living in a hot place is going outside at night or early in the morning. One of my favorite memories of this is from the summer before Matt and I got married. I was working in Las Vegas and he was working in Anchorage. When I got off work, late at night, I would sit on the back porch and talk to him on the phone. I'm sure it was still 90 outside, but I loved it.

Our Nighttime Adventure:
I took the kids on a nighttime walk from Grandma Bird's house the other night. I was glad they discovered some of the things I remember from when I was a kid.


Sprinklers

Hot air, cold grass.

Lots of kids at the park at night

Even a cockroach - ew!

By the time we got home it was dark, but Grandma's neighbor was outside enjoying the evening also . . . and she gave us all a cookie.

My Morning Adventure:

While the kids slept and Grandma babysat, I climbed "Y" Mountain. The "Y" is for BYU - go Cougars!! Getting to the "Y" was quick, but not totally painless. It's pretty steep. I climbed that a few times while I was going to BYU, but I've never attempted to reach the summit fo "Y" Mountain. Above the "Y" the trail continues to the right and around those gnarly cliffs in the pic. Apparently it goes into the canyon, clear around the back, and up to the top. I climbed until the trail started getting pretty overgrown. Then I went for another 10 minutes and finally turned around when I started itching and getting slimed by weird looking plants. I might have to consult a local climber to see if the trail is do-able if I wear pants and long-sleeves. Either way, I think I'll go back and take Josh and Liz to the "Y".

The "Y" from the trailhead (power lines in the way and a couple people already on the "Y")


Provo from the trailhead. I forgot to take a picture of the Valley after I got down and the sun had risen over the mountains.