I Have a 10-year-old

There is nothing that makes me feel older than seeing how old my kids are getting. Austin turned 10 on August 11th, and even though he has looked at least 10 for quite a while, it still got to me when people kept asking him how old he was that day, and he kept saying 10. Weird. I guess it takes a while to sink in when your "baby" is that old. I'll be in real trouble when he turns 30 ...

He got some fun Lego sets to spends hours and hours putting together. He loves that kind of stuff. Just the site of everything that comes out of a Lego set box makes me a little dizzy, but he gets all excited and jumps right in there and goes to work. A few hours later, he has some amazing contraption all put together with hundreds of little pieces. Amazing. He also got an Indiana Jones computer game which he is now obsessed with. I guess it must be a pretty fun game, because he talked Dave into playing it with him and Jackson the other night, and I had to threaten to turn off the power to the house before they'd quit playing and get to bed (it was a school night - HELLO?!!). We got him an Ipod shuffle too, and he loves it, but I think I've used it more than he has .... comes in handy on my bike rides. Thanks Austin!


We let Austin pick between having a friend birthday party or going to a place like Seven Peaks or Boondocks or something like that. His choice was Seven Peaks, and his reason for not wanting a party was "I don't like all the attention to be on me." He is definitely my most sensitive and tenderhearted kid and gets embarrassed pretty easily. He's definitely not one for large crowds. The choice was fine for us, and we had a great day at Seven Peaks. I forget how fun that place is. Next year we'll have to go a little more often I think ...

Austin lucked out and got two cakes - a cupcake one after Seven Peaks and brownie sundaes with ice cream a few days later. Lucky kid. I guess that means he got two wishes too ... that could come in handy.


Austin was really interested this year in my time being pregnant with him and the fact that he was over a week late. I mentioned to him on August 3rd that he was supposed to be born that day, and he was all annoyed that he had to wait 8 more days for his actual birthday. Of course, I shared with him that 10 years ago I had those very same feelings ...

It was fun to share with him about how I felt when he was born and some of the stories from his first few days. He's never really asked about it before, so that was kind of nice to remember that time and talk about it with him. Austin was born via an emergency C-section after 16 hours of unproductive labor and a rapidly sinking heart rate on his part. There were complications for me with the anesthesia during that procedure and additional complications with the pain relief following the surgery. Austin wasn't doing that great himself, so I didn't get to see him or hold him after he was born. He was born at 12:18 in the morning. Around 4:00 a.m. I woke up from the anesthesia and still hadn't seen or held him. The nurse who came in to move me knew I hadn't even seen him or touched him yet and felt so bad for me that she caused a big scene and likely broke a few rules to make it happen. While wheeling me down the hall to my room, she steered my big old bed right into the nursery and right up next to his little incubator. I was so groggy and out of it, so she lifted my arm up and into his little incubator and put his foot in my hand and just let me hold it and feel his little toes. I was so touched and so grateful to her for that moment. I had been through so much that day (and night) and was so grateful to feel the reward of all my efforts. Just holding his foot made it all worth it.

Austin loved hearing that story, and I love it too. I remember it so well. I guess it hasn't been that long after all. We are so grateful for Austin. He is such a peacemaker in our family and reminds us all to be kind to each other. He has such a kind heart and truly cares about others. It is fun to see his talents emerge and develop and to watch his progress in school and scouts and sports and everything he does. He is a big help to me and spends a lot of time entertaining London and T.J. and even Jackson with his wild imagination. He comes up with some crazy stuff to do, and they love it. He is an amazing brother. Way to go Austin. Happy Birthday!

Fun Times At Lagoon

In July we went to Lagoon with the Webbs. The kids had a great time, and the parents survived Lagoon with 9 kids, and let's just be honest .... that is seriously impressive. The picture in the right corner above is the result of us having trouble keeping track of them at Lagoon-A-Beach. Melanie was willing to hold all five of them just so we would know where all the little kids were while the big boys were off playing on the slides. What a good sport. So, there's a funny story about that ...

That is Jason behind her steering her around the lazy river. A few minutes later I got a tube and took London and T.J. with me. Dave was then pushing/steering Melanie with Chase, Cameron, and Dallin on her lap. Well Dave got a little over-ambitious with his push, and dumped Melanie and all three little boys into the water. How rude. She managed to keep them from drowning while Dave and Jason scrambled to rescue them all. It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

You gotta love Kiddie Land ... 14 different versions of the exact same ride. The kids had a blast!

T.J. takes his driving very seriously. We couldn't even get him to crack a smile for the picture.

T.J. and Chase were so brave going on rides all by themselves. I don't remember any tears all day. Just a lot of silly giggling. It was really fun to see them having such a great time. I'm not much of an amusement park person, and I come by it honestly. There's a long story behind that ... actually several of them. I'll have to tell you about that some time. But, I really enjoy going with the kids and seeing how excited they get. Amusement parks are a whole different place with kids. Dave usually gets the job of taking the older boys on all of the vomit-inducing spinning nonsense or freefalls or the never-ending rollercoasters that all feel the same. And I get Kiddie Land. Considering Dave LOVES rides and I really .... well let's just say they're not my thing, I'd say this arrangement works well. And I get to spend a lot of time on park benches in the shade hogging all the snacks while they spin around in circles surrounded by flashing lights and loud music. I snap a few pictures and sit back and enjoy. Not too bad.

We were wondering who would give into the overwhelming exhaustion first - no surprises here.

This is Dallin's first Merry-Go-Round ride captured on film for your viewing pleasure. Could he get any cuter? You should have seen T.J.'s mad dash to get this giraffe to ride on. It seriously looked like a segment from The Amazing Race. He got it. Everyone was happy. London is really shy around the camera. We'll have to work on that with her. I need to work on my self picture taking skills. Next time all of both of our faces will be in the picture. We had a great day at Lagoon, and I'm sure we'll be back next year.

Be Impressed

This post is totally out of order, and I promise I'll catch up on the last month or so later. I just have to share about our amazing bike ride yesterday. I realize some super bikers (Kendall - that's you) might be reading this, and they might even snicker a little, but I expect the rest of you to be impressed. Yesterday Dave took me on a 30-mile bike ride. Did you hear that ?!!! I rode a bike for 30 MILES. I know, you're all shocked. I understand. I am too. My record before that was nine miles, so that was a big jump for me, and I'm really happy about finishing and still being able to walk today. Really, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, and we had a great time riding together.

We started at Utah Lake and followed the Provo River up past the beautiful Bridal Veil Falls and on a couple more miles up to Vivian Park in Provo Canyon and then of course we rode back. It was a paved trail the whole way and a lot of it was in the shade (good thing since it was about 97 degrees when we started). I only had one near mishap with a Chinese guy who rode a motorized scooter into a tunnel under a road just as I was exiting the tunnel. The tunnels are barely wide enough for a bike rider to get through and definitely not made for scooters. He bumped my tire, but we both escaped without injury. That definitely scared the tar out of me. I was envisioning "death by scooter" there for a second. I guess he missed the sign about NO MOTORIZED VEHICLES ON THE TRAIL.

We really had a great time, and the trail was beautiful. I loved riding with Dave. He let me set the pace and we just talked and laughed and had a great time. Dave was all happy about being on a "real" bike ride together. I got it out of him on our way home that he had his doubts about how I'd do before taking that ride, but now he says he's impressed. Good thing.

So my goal is to be ready for the 67 mile ride from Thanksgiving Point around part of Utah lake next year and maybe the 111 mile ride all the way around Utah Lake after that .... we'll see.

Currant Creek

Before I go on about our camping trip, I thought I'd share a before-and-after example of why I should always be warned before a picture is taken. I think we'd all agree.

Okay, so in my defense, there was smoke blowing in my face and I was trying to keep T.J. from taking off ... hence the scowl.

So after a several-year hiatus and armed with a brand new humongous tent (sleeps 11), we went camping to Currant Creek Reservoir with Dave's family last month. We used to go at least every year with either my family or Dave's, and honestly I was a good sport about it. I have taken very new babies camping and spent quite a few sleepless nights holding a baby in my arms and trying to keep them warm while they slept and I lay wide awake. I have also packed up my entire house and half of a grocery store only to spend hours setting up camp that will be taken down a mere 12 hours later.

I do enjoy the mountains and the campfire and the outdoors and the break from my cell phone, but I do seriously hate camping with a baby. Too much work, too much preparation, not any relaxation for me, etc. Basically, not worth it ... not even close.

So after a few camping-free years, our "babies" are finally old enough to understand things like fire is hot, don't throw rocks at people or things, stay out of the water, don't poke people or things with sticks, stay out of the water, be quiet or you'll wake up a bear and he will come and eat all of us, etc. So off we went to Currant Creek reservoir with the Leatherwoods. I had camped along Currant Creek when I was a kid several times and had some good memories up there, like playing Scrabble with Grandma Tischner under a card table in the rain and getting lost with Melanie and Brady. Good times. I had never been to the reservoir though, and it was beautiful up there.

The kids had a great time with their cousins, and with a few of the cousins being old enough to keep an eye on the little guys, the adults had plenty of time to visit and catch up and relax while the kids played and played and played. It was the most relaxing camping trip I've had in a long time.

We were in charge of dinner one night with Leslie and Mike, so we did BBQ spare ribs, a yummy potato/vegetable concoction, and for dessert this chocolate cake with a brown sugar/cocoa sauce on the bottom and marshmallows and chocolate chips on the top, and then you serve it with whipping cream. Are you kidding me? It was really good. I've done dutch oven before, but never in a very efficient way, and I hate cleaning them. Mike was a great dutch oven coach. He taught me several new tricks, especially for cleaning, and I'm so glad. I'm actually looking forward to cooking dutch oven style again now that I know what I'm doing. Thanks Mike!

We brought our bikes along, and took turns going for rides. Angie, Leslie, Laura (my sisters-in-law), and I went for a bike ride first, and after we were riding for a few minutes, we realized we were going pretty fast and that we were probably dropping some serious elevation. Turns out we flew down almost 400 feet in elevation in just a matter of minutes, and then we spent the next hour riding back up. It was tough but fun, and it felt good to accomplish that climb. Of course, if we would have had cell phones ..... I can't guarantee we wouldn't have called for a ride back up the hill!

So it turns out our huge new tent makes all the difference for camping. There is plenty of room so we're not climbing all over each other and all our stuff all the time. We have three rooms, so Dave, T.J., and I slept on one side, London, Austin, and Jackson slept on the other, and we still had a whole other room for stuff. It was so much less claustrophobic, and I loved it. It was all organized and separated and spread out. Love it! Even better, I got the tent off Ebay brand new for $150!

Summer of Bike Rides

So Dave and I have been married for almost 12 years, and he's been waiting at least that long for me to "get into biking." This summer, it finally happened. In my defense, I have had one crappy bike after the other for 12 years, which appears to be my problem with biking in general. We have always ridden some here and there, but I have never liked it and definitely would not volunteer to go. So this year for my birthday, I got a nice bike and it makes all the difference in the world. The gears actually shift, and with my gel seat addition, it is actually marginally comfortable to ride. So now we go whenever we get the chance. The boys keep up great, and Dave pulls London and T.J. in our trusty bike trailer that has served us well since Austin was a baby.

We love to ride along the Jordan River Parkway, and there are a lot of trails right by our house too. Dave and I went on a bike ride up Lake Mountain a few weeks ago for our date night. I didn't realize when we set out that he intended to ride to the top of the mountain. We didn't exactly make it that far, but we did go about nine miles. It was a really fun ride. Our city is working on completing the trail between the city center of Eagle Mountain and the Ranches, which I am really looking forward to. One of these days we'll have to go to Moab. Dave's been asking me since we got married to go to Moab, and my response is usually "what for?" To which he responds "biking of course." I somehow got around it for all this time, but now I'm thinking .... maybe.

After riding from Willow Park (off SR 73 in Lehi) to Thanksgiving Point, we stopped for a quick photo op with our law abiding citizens.

Fun at the Airport

One of Dave's students was doing his first solo flight a few weeks ago, and Dave had to be at the airport, so we all came along. The kids had fun sitting in the airplanes and "flying," and Dave loved teaching them all about the airplanes. We had a really fun time. They are working on filling up a jar of tickets for "good behavior" to earn a real airplane ride with daddy. Sounds fun!

Very Cool

We heard about this very cool DVD player called ClearPlay from Melanie and Jason. It edits movies, and it will literally take EVERYTHING out. Honestly, I had my doubts about how we would like it, but it seems like every movie out there has "something" in it these days. How annoying. With our boys getting older and wanting to watch more "family" movies instead of "kid" movies, we have been taken by surprise several times with movies Dave and I had watched (and loved) as kids or had seen recently and thought would be fine. Unfortunately, once we sit down as a family to watch them, we realize we simply had not remembered the swearing or "that one scene" and it becomes a mad dash to turn off the TV or give instructions on not using that "word" under any circumstances and especially not at church, in front of grandma, etc. It was just not worth it anymore. So we got one ($60 at Seagull Book and Tape) and ... WE LOVE IT!

So far, we've seen five movies on it, and we're hooked. It is so nice to not have to worry about naughty words or scenes or violence or really anything. You download the filters off the ClearPlay website onto a little USB drive and then just stick that right into the DVD player. You can pick how strong you want the filter to be (maximum, medium, or low). It is choppy with some of the editing, but honestly I don't care. The editing is really thorough (from what we've seen so far), and really takes out everything questionable.

I can't tell you how nice it is to have movies all cleaned up and ready for family viewing. I love not having to worry about what the kids are seeing or hearing. I also love that it opens Dave and I up to a lot of movies we wouldn't normally watch. When you can edit all of the garbage out, there are lot more movies "available." So anyway, if you're considering getting one, we highly recommend it.

I Just Had to Share

I just had to share the "cute photo of the week" from our house. When I first saw T.J. doing this, I actually thought for a minute that he might not be alone in the tub, but after a little investigating, it turns out he was definitely all alone. We knew he was flexible, but woah!

I Think I Get It Now

So I have to admit that all of this talk about Ronald Reagan lately was a little over my head. It seemed to come out of the blue a little, and I was wondering if I missed something. I knew he was a good president, and I've heard my dad and others say things about the "good old days with Reagan," but I didn't really understand a lot of the almost "Reagan worship" if you will that has been in the media lately among conservatives (we've been in the car a lot this month - Sean Hannity, Rush, Glenn Beck). I think I'll read up on Reagan a little more and try to understand it since it looks as if he is a bit of an iconic figure for conservatives, and that seems kind of important. So anyway, I got this link in my e-mail the other day, and I think I get it now. How inspiring. This is exactly what we need. Check it out:

http://www.texasstartupblog.com/2008/07/30/why-cant-we-find-a-leader-like-this/