Yellowstone 2009

Last month we headed up to Island Park for a little vacation with the Leatherwoods before Leslie and Mike and their family took off to live in Arkansas for four years. We dawdled our way up there and stopped at the Idaho Falls Temple for a little bit.


We have been to Yellowstone a few times in the last several years, once when London was a newborn and once when T.J. was a newborn. It was a lot nicer making the drive this time with no diapers, bottles, binkies, or crying. Our kids are good travelers. I make sure to load them up with coloring books, crayons, treats, iPods, Game Boys, DVDs, books, and they're all set. We hardly heard a peep from them. I read most of the way, which was so nice, and Dave drove, which was a nice change of pace since I usually drive and he sleeps. Thanks hon!

We have always wanted to stop at Bear World (just before Rexburg), but the price and the kids being too small to really enjoy it have stopped us. We impulsively decided to go for it this year, and we were not dissapointed. That place is amazing! The kids said it was their favorite part of the trip. They have 40 black bears and 3 grizzlies just wandering around the park, not to mention all kinds of other animals like moose, elk, wolves, etc. You drive through (with the windows rolled up), and the bears just walk right up to your car and all around it. They were particularly interested in the bins of food we had on the trailer on the back! The kids had a great time, and I have to say, even being the non-animal person that I generally am, I really enjoyed it. We drove through the park twice and then stopped by the little petting zoo. I highly recommend it. I think it's worth the money.

We made it Old Faithful just in time to see it go off. I almost missed it due to not being able to find parking. That place is a zoo on the 4th of July weekend! The kids thought it was pretty cool and wanted to know what made it work. Of course, Dave and I had no answers for that. Science is not really our thing.

The cousins found a cool log that worked as a teeter-totter at our picnic spot. They've got a whole boys vs. girls thing going on there.

The kids thought the mud pots were pretty stinky.

I'm not sure how she talked Brian into this, but he carried her for the whole hike.

Too cute!
By the falls - one of our favorite spots.

Artist Point. We had never been to this spot before, but it is beautiful!

London is always willing to pose for a picture. She watches for my hand to make a motion like I might be going for the camera and she starts working on her pose right then. It's like a shoot-out in an old western film - before the camera is out of the holster, she's posed and practicing her smile.

Jackson taking in the sites and making me nervous by hanging over the rock ledge. He loves to make me nervous.

The cousins found a cool slippery slide to play on and got nice and dirty before the hike back up the hill.

Our favorite spot in Yellowstone, overlooking the falls with the yellow stone in the background. Beautiful!
The whole gang at the falls with the yellow stone in the background.

The kids wanted to stop for this mama elk with her baby right across the river.

We had a fun night of skits and singing for our last night.

The kids built a cool fort in the back of the cabin with their cousins.

Duck Creek

In June, Jake and Nicki and their kids came out for a visit and we all met in Duck Creek for a few days with Grandma and Grandpa Tischner and Kati and Randy and their kids. It was quite the group, and Duck Creek is a BEAUTIFUL place. We had never been down there before, but we'll definitely be back.

We rented two cabins and Jason managed to swing a couple of free four-wheelers for the week (he's very good at stuff like that). So we spent three days taking the kids for rides and exploring the trails around the cabin. When you have 14 kids waiting for "their turn," it takes a while to get everyone a turn. The kids loved the four-wheelers and had a lot of fun playing with their cousins. London was especially grateful to have another girl to play with. Her life consists mostly of boys, boys, boys all the time. She had a sleepover with Brooklyn every night in their own little room, and they loved it!

The picture above was after Dave and Dad somehow managed to convince me to drive through this huge mud puddle. It was then that I realized that the whole point of this 45-minute ride was to get me to drive through said puddle and get all muddy, which I did. Ha ha ha.

The picture above is what my brothers (and apparently my husband) do if left unsupervised for very long or actually really any amount of time at all, and the real instigator (Jared) wasn't even here! This is Brady helping London and Cameron shoot Dave with an air soft gun. There were only two air soft guns, so Dave, Brady, and Jake made up this little game where they run around in the forest (with walkie-talkies mind you) hunting each other, chasing each other, and then of course, shooting the one without the gun. The words "idiot" and "stupid" were thrown around freely by the spectators as this whole scenario played out. I was shot in the neck and the leg somehow. Go figure. I wasn't running and I definitly didn't have a walkie-talkie. They spent almost as much time chasing around the four older boys in a game they called "nephew hunting." I'm sure you can imagine how that went.

In the picture above, T.J. will sit on any lap that will hold him for as long as they'll hold him. He had a nice time sitting with Grandma Tischner for a while. He came running up after and told me, "Grandma let me sit on her lap for a long long time." That was nice of Grandma to hold him for so long. He's getting big! I'm glad he's still a good snuggler.

In the picture above, you can't see it, but I am covered in little tiny flecks of mud ... in my hair, on my face/glasses, all over my clothes, on my legs, arms, and feet. I survived.

In the pictures above and below, the kids found a big hole in the ground and because they are mostly all boys, they took a bunch of sticks and turned it into a fort. They spent a lot of time running and hiding in their fort, protecting their fort, building/fixing their fort, and hanging a flag (Austin's sweatshirt) on a stick near the fort to signify they were "home." They had a good time and even agreed to share their fort with the girls.



Whenever the Tischners/Mortons get together, one thing is a guarantee ... there will be fishing. My family is definitely a fishing family. My brothers keep fishing gear in their vehicles. My Grandpa Tischner never passes up an opportunity to fish. My dad enjoys fishing, and we went fishing a lot growing up. Our boys appreciate the opportunity to go fishing when we get together. Dave and I are not big fishers. Actually I don't fish at all, and the reason for that is simple - WHAT ON EARTH AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH IT ONCE I CATCH IT?!! That's the problem. I don't touch fish, clean them out, or "gut" them, and I definitely don't EAT them. I also do not hit anything over the head with anything to make sure it is dead. Gag. So thanks to being with my family, Dave takes my boys fishing every once in a while, and they love it. They don't eat it either, which is funny. There's no point in fishing if you don't eat fish.






It was great to get together and relax for a few days. My cell phone didn't work the whole time I was up there, so that was probably good. It was a well-needed break for sure. We had a great time, so thanks Jack and Nicki for arranging it all! Where should we go next time?

AAAHHHHH!!! I'm so behind ...

Jackson celebrated his 9th birthday on .... yes it was in fact MAY 12th!!! Wow! I'm so behind. Time to get busy. We've had a completely crazy couple of months, but I do want to catch up here and keep our friends and family posted.

Jackson asked for a Rip Stick (aka - a good way to break your neck) for his birthday. It has a bit of a learning curve to it, but he stuck with it and now we're just waiting for the above mentioned broken neck ... so far so good. He loves it and it's good exercise. No complaints here. I tried it once, and that was enough for me. I'm not nearly that coordinated. We loaded him up with pool supplies (goggles, toys, towels, squirt guns) in anticipation of a summer by the pool - yeah! We're making good use of those now.

We had a wild and crazy party with the Morton family (probably due to having double the amount of crazy boys to run around with!)
I can't believe Jackson is already 9! It seems like time has really flown by. He'll be starting the 4th grade here in a couple of months. I remember my 4th grade year really well and have a lot of fun memories from that time of my life. It seems weird to me that he is already there! He is growing up way too fast. He's getting braces on next week ... he'll really seem old then.

For our fun family birthday activity for Jackson's big day, we chose to go to Boondocks. We've always wanted to try it out, and we were not disappointed. That place is really a lot of fun! Dave and the boys played on the bumper boats and got all wet. London and I watched from the sidelines, stayed dry, and took pictures. They had two different slick tracks for bumper cars, and of course, I schooled Dave and all the boys multiple times to the point of risking getting kicked out when I bumped Dave's car (against the rules). It was totally worth it.

They also have batting cages, mini golf, laser tag, a playground and a huge arcade where most of the games were free. The highlight of Jackson's (and Austin's and Dave's) whole night was that Deron Williams (from the Utah Jazz) and his kids were there playing right around us. The boys stared at him with their big eyes and jaws dropped all night. We kept reminding them to just "act cool." They were a little suprised that he was a "regular guy" just there hanging out with his kids. London got all worried as we got our gear on for laser tag and after she couldn't hold in any longer finally says, "Dad, are we really going to get shot?" I guess we didn't go over the whole laser thing too well.

Jackson always makes us laugh. His contagious laugh and great big smile are just enough to brighten anyone's day. We're so grateful for him and for his trying hard to be good and make good choices. He tries hard to be a good big brother and never passes up a chance to tease, tease, tease. He really likes to make people smile and laugh, especially London and T.J. I can always count on Jackson to entertain T.J. so I can get things done. He doesn't just "watch" him, he entertains him and makes up fun games for them to play, and they have a lot of fun together. We're so grateful for you Jacks!

WE MADE IT!!!

Paula and I have been training for the Little Red Riding Hood women-only ride for months, and this last Saturday, we completed the 63-mile ride. Believe me, no one is more impressed with this accomplishment than Paula and I! Who knew we had it in us?!! We rode 63 miles on a bike! We survived and we loved it!

We're going again next year, only next time we're doing 100 miles. So, all you ladies out there who are interested in riding with us, a girls night out is included the night before since we'll go up and stay over night in Logan. They have courses starting at 15 miles and they go up to 100. It was absolutely beautiful up there. We rode all over Cache County, and it was so green and pretty. It was a great course for a first big ride. There were 2600 women riding, but the start times were staggered throughout the morning so it didn't get too congested. Some flat, some hills. You can do it ladies!

I got a mountain bike for my birthday last year and started riding in the mountains near our house with my friend Heather a few times a week. In the fall, Heather, Paula, and I started going to spinning at the gym. Several months ago, a good friend of ours (thanks Bishop!) offered to fix up his two old road bikes for Paula and I to use. We took him up on the offer and have been riding them ever since. We finally made the jump to super-stylin cycling wear a couple months ago and have had quite a few falls (me more than her by at least double) trying to get used to clipped-in shoes. We mostly ride around here on the roads and trails, but had only gone long distances (over 30 miles) a few times, so 63 miles was quite the jump.


The Little Red raises money for women's cancer research, so it felt good to be riding for that cause. You can't see it, but above where we were standing at the finish line with the Big Bad Wolf, there was a huge banner that read "Victory Over Cancer." Very cool.

Paula and I both agreed that we were doing pretty well up until about 48 miles or so. Those last 15 miles were tough. Surprisingly it wasn't our legs or even our butts that were sore. It was my neck and shoulder and Paula's hands and back. Not what you'd think after sitting on that little seat and peddling for over four hours. Also, it was hard to ride without my Ipod (they are apparently not allowed on big rides due to safety concerns). I never realized the impact of music on my ride before. I knew it kept me from getting bored, but I may have overlooked the sheer motivational factor of Pink and Nickelback. It was probably better that I just pay attention to the people riding around me, not to mention the cars, and concentrate on ... you guessed it, not falling.

We had this long straightaway to ride before we rounded the corner and headed South for our last 8 miles or so, and as we rounded the corner, we saw that a pretty steep hill was just ahead. We both just started laughing, I guess to keep from crying, but honestly my eyes were watering a little. It just seemed impossible. We saw several women walking their bikes up the hill on the side and that didn't help either. We made do with a little pep talk and off we went. There might have been a little yelling, but we made it up there on the bikes ... no walking.


The picture above was taken at our last stop at 57 miles (there were stops every 10 miles or so for water, fruit, bike maintenance, and of course bathrooms which was really nice). Honestly, we were just trying to prolong getting back on the bikes, so we took time to pose for a picture. Still smiling though.

Can you tell which picture was taken before the ride ...



and which one was taken after 35 miles? I love the look on Paula's face. Good thing I had sunglasses on. And what is up with that anyway?!! Have I EVER remembered to take them off before a picture?

Anyway, we had a great time. It was a great ride and great to ride with Paula. Her strength is always a great example to me and it was no different on the ride. The weather was cloudy and cool which was nice. We had some serious wind for a lot of the ride which was tough, but we survived. I had a few issues with my chain falling off and my front brake rubbing on the tire (for 8 MILES!!!), but we survived. It was a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to next year. So, if anyone else wants to come with us, get riding now, and plan on June of next year.

The picture below was at the finish line ... do we look happy? Relieved? You should have seen the hat hair under those helmets after all those hours ... scary.

This picture below is upside down, but it is my heart rate monitor. I know "calories burned" is not an exact science, but just humor me here .... I turned it off a while after the ride, but it says 3435 calories burned. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!

Below is a self-shot WHILE riding my bike. Pretty impressive if I do say so myself.

I love this one below. She really is smiling ... I promise. She was admiring my picture taking skills I'm sure. Keep in mind that I was moving at this time. Very impressive I'm sure you'll agree. Just so you know, neither Paula or I fell over the entire 63-mile course. Quite a feat I'm sure you'll agree.

The picture below is for Sharon and Kelly ...

Funny Jackson

So this is how the conversation went:

Jackson: "Mom I need a monkey costume for a play for Literacy Night at school."

Me: "Okay. No problem. When do you need it?" (Of course, I know that with my finely-tuned shopping skills, I can surely track down and purchase for a nominal fee, a monkey costume.)

Jackson: "Tomorrow."

Me: "WHAT?!! Jackson, what is your plan here? We don't own a monkey costume and I don't have time to go to the store tonight."

Jackson: "It's okay mom. You can just make one."

Me: "Ha ha! Ha ha! Ha ha ha ha! I'm sorry ... have we met?"

This is what we came up with and frankly, I'm impressed. It is a brown T-shirt inside out to hide the Hurley graphics and his dark brown Sunday pants. With my superior internet surfing skills, I found a money mask, dug out some cardstock, and found some yarn (that was the hardest part) to tie it around his head. Not bad for 24 hours notice on a monkey costume.

For Literacy Night, they had to switch up classic stories, and his group chose "Little Red Riding Hood" and instead of a big bad wolf they had a big bad monkey. It was pretty cute. Jackson did a great job and was pleasantly surprised with his state-of-the art costume.

Moab With Friends

A few weeks ago, we went on a great trip to Moab with some great friends. We camped Friday night and had a fabulous dutch oven dinner complete with a ridiculously good dessert (peach/rasberry cobbler - yum!!!). On Saturday, we hiked Delicate Arch which was amazing. I can't believe I've never done that before. It was beautiful up there. We also climbed around at Double Arch which was really cool. After everyone else left for home, Dave and I and the kids drove to Dead Horse Point just to check it out, and it was the most amazing view I have ever seen in my life. It was just spectacular. I had never really even heard of that place, but it was just amazing to look at.

The kids had so much fun running around with their friends, climbing all over, and getting so dirty. We all had a really good time. The scenery was amazing and the company was even better. What a fun trip!

London's Big Day

Our baby girl turned 6 on April 17th, and boy does this girl relish birthdays. She gets so excited and anxious and nervous that her special day will never come. And of course we tease her that it won't come or that we moved her birthday and all of that.

London is so torn between her "girl" things and trying to keep up with (and impress) all the boys in her life (3 brothers and 5 boy cousins right down the street), so we tried to help her have the "Best of Both Worlds" as Hannah Montana would say .... and Hannah Montana was a big part of this birthday. London wants to be a "rock star," so the guitar was a big hit. It happens to play three very loud Hannah Montana songs and make a lot of other fun noises, so that's been just fantastic. Good thing it's warm finally so we've been able to push most of the concerts to an outdoor venue.

She wasn't happy when I told here we were not doing a friend birthday party this year since we did one last year, and I'm still trying to recover. Actually it was a lot of fun - I just don't think a friend party every year is a good idea. So we let her pick a fun family activity, and we invited the Webbs along. She picked Kangaroo Zoo. That place rocks! They have probably 15 huge blow-up bounce houses and slides in a big warehouse in Lindon. The kids played for hours and had tons of fun! (The boys were all impressed with her choice).

That night, we had a Girls Night Out with just London and I. We went to the mall to Build-a-Bear, and true to her "Best of Both Worlds" form, she picked out a darling little puppy, declared that the was a boy, and picked overalls, a cowboy hat, and cowboy boots for him and named him Zack. That's my girl. We hit a late showing of the new Hannah Montana movie complete with popcorn and crawled into bed around 11:30. Don't think she even fell asleep in the car on the way home ... no way.

That Saturday we had a fun Leatherwood birthday party at the park for London, Jordyn, and Autumn. We had a picnic (complete with birthday cupcakes) and then went swimming. Lots of fun!



With all of our crazy days, we ended up doing her birthday cake at 8:00 on a Saturday morning after the Webb boys slept over after Friday night date night. Crazy!


London and Kati celebrated their birthdays together with the Morton's when we got together for Easter. She loves blowing out candles and sharing her cake (this time yummy cheesecake) with Aunt Kati!


It's fun to watch London growing up. This girl has such a spark for life. She brings so much excitement and fun (and noise) to our house. She loves to laugh and giggle and be silly and does pretty darn well keeping up with all those crazy boys. She loves her alone time too with her dollhouse and Barbies and loves to read to her stuffed animals. She takes the time to write me little notes telling me she loves me and making special cards and pictures for all of us. I think she's already looking forward to her next birthday, so here we go. Happy Birthday Baby Girl!