California trip!

Well.... this is a little look at our trip to California to visit Grandma and Papa!

Brynn and Justin meeting Molly for the first time! Surprisingly they all fell in love with her considering they don't have a love for dogs!

An awesome camping trip at the Sequoia National Forest. 

Those trees are huge!  I remember doing the same thing when I was a kid when visiting the park! We even saw a mama bear and her cub!

This is what you do the morning after camping at the 3 rivers! Diet Pepsi cans do come in handy when making a river of your own!

Enjoying the sun and jumping over the waves at Santa Monica Beach with Papa and Dad.

The girls loving every second of the beach! Brynn got a kick

out of the waves that kept "chasing" her!  Grandma, Justin and Mom were smart and stayed under the shade and enjoyed watching everyone else!

After a fun day at the beach, I surprised Tyler and we had an overnighter ALONE! I know... shocking that I actually left my kids! Thanks Mom and Dad!

CRAZY day!

So after today I'm thinking being cheap isn't so cool! Here's why.... we finally got the boat registered in Utah and ready for boating.  We thought we would take it out on the lake before heading to California just to make sure it's all running right.  Plus, we were told to break in the new engine.  Perfect day to do it!  We rushed out the door early this morning to fit it in so that Tyler could make it on time to work today by noon!  As you can tell by the pictures we were all loving it!  Tyler was taking us WAY out on the lake just to enjoy the ride.  Only about 5 minutes into the ride the boat slowed down until it came to a stop far, far, away in the middle of the lake.  We were the ONLY boat out there that early.  Hmmm... what could it be.  Those dang mechanics didn't fix our boat after all!  After sitting there contemplating who would swim and who would row, we decided to call good old Brett and Richelle hoping they could bring their boat out for a search and rescue party!  Luckily they were kind enough to do that for us!  Tyler asked him to bring some gas just in case, doubting that was the problem.  He put some gas in the tank, but by that point it was overheated.  Brett began towing us and we hear a scream from Tyler, "it started!"  Um.... we had run out of gas!  It's not so cool to be so cheap!  Next time we will top off the boat no matter what! Thank you Brett and Richelle for the rescue!

Mr. Persistent

So everyone knows the saying "when it rains it pours."  Well, it's been pouring rain.  Tyler went to start his car after lunch last week and it wouldn't start.  Being the Mr. fix-it that he is, he purchased a new battery pretty positive that that was the problem.  Well....no.  Battery was fine. Luckily after screaming at the employees, they returned the battery that he just purchased even though sales are final with things like that.  Determined to find the problem, he spent 2 hours taking the starter out of the car to get that tested.  Very positive that was the problem.  Well... no again.  After getting it tested at Checker we were told his starter was just fine!  Grrrrrr.  Fried at this point he gave up and decided to call the good old insurance to make sure we had towing so we could tow it to a mechanic.  Of course NOT!  We pay an arm and a leg for NO TOWING! He refused to pay to get it towed!  After tracking down a very kind neighbor mechanic of his Dad's, he was positive it was a $4 fix.  Off to checker again.  Guess what!!!  His car is officially up and running! I'm so thankful for my persistent and cheap husband and for awesome mechanics who are kind enough to make house calls!  Now can I go to California for my vacation and get away from the drama life brings?!

School's out!

I know.... crazy!  Most of your kids are just starting school or haven't even started yet and mine are going off track already!  I'm so excited!  Now our summer is beginning!  Tyler has been working so hard to restore Dad's boat and it's finally done!  (well, it's running.... doesn't mean it looks pretty yet!) We're hoping to take it out a few times before the season ends!  Next week we are taking our summer vacation to California. YIPPEE!  Can't wait to soak up some sun.... well, I learned my lesson though.  I will use sunscreen! 

Twilight

I started reading Twilight 2 1/2 weeks ago.  I know.... a lot later than everyone else!  But like everyone else I became hooked!  I am officially done with all 4 books now that my kids have been neglected and I have a marriage to work on (kidding of course)!  I'm going to get out of my house today and do something now that my face won't be stuck in a book!  Bring on the Diet Coke Chick-fil-a!

Head control!

I have been working so hard on strengthening my neck muscles. I'm not sure if it's because I enjoy being cuddled so carefully or if I'm a little on the lazy side, but Mom is making me work way too hard. Mom was pretty proud of me!  I lasted a whopping 10 seconds in this position today!  I decided I was pretty tired of hearing Mom say, "good job Justin!", so I rolled over pretty quick and cried really hard!  Guess what..... Mom ended up cuddling me so carefully just the way I like it!

Fun with Playdough

I can't believe the girls are already in their second week of school.  I'm not sure if I'm sad because it's just getting too expensive, so I can't keep MYSELF entertained during the long school hours, or if my heart is aching for Brynn because she's having a hard time entertaining herself while big sisters are gone.  After multiple puzzles, reading the same books over and over and over again, and listening to Diego's adventure.... we decided to pull out the playdough.  Not only did we have a fun time making spaghetti and baby food, but what a stress reliever!  I highly recommend playdough.  Who needs to go out shopping or out to eat when you can mold playdough through your fingers.  Ok... I'm pushing it, but I did have a great time with my little Brynnie!

I WILL do this...

Look... I'm trying to figure this out.  Someday I might have something on my "blog", but for now, be patient!  My poor kids are in desperate need of attention, but I'm dying to prove to myself that I can do this!  I WILL do this....