July

Can I just say Wow! July was crazy! I don't think I could have fit anything more in if I tried.

Week 1: Camping at Ponderosa Pines with the family for Chasey's birthday. Little sleep, lots o' dirt. Really what more could you ask for except for someone falling into the creek.



Wait! That happened too, except it was Scott instead of one of the youngsters. Those rocks can be pretty slippery!



Week 2: Girl's Camp
Yep, I had the ummm great opportunity to attend girl's camp this year. Honestly I was not looking forward to it. Camping...bad...giggly girls...bad...no sleep...bad bad. But I survived with earplugs and a plethora of sleeping agents available to me. Our Ward has a tradition of doing a gangster walk after testimony meeting. Say what? So they invited me to do my "gangster walk" down their catwalk lined with all the YW by chanting my name relentlessly until I did. I am proud to announce that I have been labeled the whitest girl at camp. Thank you very much.

Week 3: Camping with the Larsens
The following weekend we took off down to Fremont to do a little camping and Razoring with my parents. I have labeled it the dirtiest, but fun camping trip ever! See pictures in previous post!

Week 4: Camping with the Kimballs
And just to make sure that I get my camping fix for the month, we went camping again with Scott's side of the family. Have I told you how much I adore camping? Thanks to Aunt Linda, queen of all things cub scouts, the boys were entertained by

making bracelets and boondoggles



using marshmallow shooters and making rockets



performing skits that included props



building an enormous sand city with the cousins



and just hanging out with the family.



I found a slightly less dirty spot, stitched away and watched the entertainment. All of this within a 24 hour period.

Week 5: Hiking to Stewart Falls.
Scott and I loaded up the boys on Saturday morning, took them up to Sundance and hiked up to Stewart Falls. The weather was still cool, the waterfall pretty and the hike was just the right distance for little kids.



Welcome August. I predict it will be just as busy with slightly less camping....I hope.

Dirty = Fun

I think last weekend was our dirtiest camping trip yet. But we also had a great time, despite the whole camping thing. We went with my parents down to Fremont Indian State Park and rode on the Paiute ATV trail.


Scott after riding behind one of the Razors on a dusty road. Scott, you must remember to stay further back and let the dust settle!


Chase spent his entire trip rolling in the dirt, playing in the dirt and stomping in the dirt. When we wasn't doing that he entertained himself by falling into the fire pit full of (cold) ashes and playing with the metal grate.


They don't look that dirty do they?


Here's a close up. Streaks of dirt on his face and down his arms.



And when they weren't playing in the dirt they thought it was pretty funny to get whipping cream on their face and pretend they were rabid squirrels. Huh? Apparently I missed that high quality movie.


And on a completely different vein, have you ever seen a modesty tag on a pair of jeans? Well now you have. This isn't the first time I have seen this tag do its job.



It takes a pretty good photographer to get a shot where most of the people in the picture are looking at the camera. But is takes a highly trained photographer to get all the bodies, but not one face.



Note to self. Must get out from behind the camera once in awhile. Dirt and all.

Time for a new one

Back when I was ohhhh... thirty plus pounds heavier and carrying my firstborn inside me, I decided to tie, my soon to be Taylor, a baby quilt. I tied it up and my mom bound the edges for me. Here it is.



Well of course back then it was red instead of pink and it had more material than holes. But when you love something so much, this is what happens. Up until about a week ago he was still taking it to bed and wearing it around his quickly expanding shoulders. There is no way it can go through the washer now. I'm confident it would all end up in the lint catcher.

A few months ago I talked to Taylor about the possibility of retiring it to the cedar chest and making him a new one. He thought that was a good idea. I even thought it would be fun if he tied it himself. So after several trips to a few material stores and trying to decided between BYU and camo, he opted for camo.



On his night up, with only mom and dad we had a tying party and tied away.



And here is the finished product. Although he doesn't look like it in the picture, he is quite happy with it and so am I. And the old one is resting comfortably in my cedar chest.

Glitter Toes Anyone?

The other day I was envying someone's glitter toes. You know the ultra uber sparkly toes that you can only have if you pay the $20 bucks to get them professionally done. I am kinda cheap when it comes to my toe nails, preferring to just do them myself and spend the $20 on something else. Then the thought occurred to me that I should visit the Sally Beauty supply store and see if I can buy the stuff and do them at home. So that is what I did.

When I asked the lady at the store she pointed to some professional expensive products that I would need to get the look. I zoned out. I then asked if there was a cheaper way. And this is what I got.

You buy this "Gelous Advanced Nail Gel Coat" and apply it to your toes.



While it is still wet you sprinkle on the glitter in any color you want. I choose blue. This even comes with little shaker holes so it doesn't clump up.



Wait for a few minutes for it to dry and then put on another coat or two of the Gel Coat. And voila! You have ultra uber sparkly toes. It cost me all of $7 bucks. And if I want another color I just have to spend .99 cents.

Now I debated showing your a picture of my toes because who really wants to look at someone else's feet? Plus for some reason I couldn't get a decent picture to save my life. Flash on. Flash off. Just didn't work. The sparkles didn't look right either way. But here you go.



The downside to this? It was a little messy with glitter. Because glitter is just messy period. Doing it over the sink helped keep the glitter in one place. Also I thought the color of the glitter would be more bright. My toes are certainly sparkly but it is a pretty soft blue color. I am wondering if I went and bought a different color nail gel instead of the clear if that would help.

But all in all, I am pleased. For 7 bucks sparkly toes are mine all summer long!

Happy Birthday My Little Cub!

My baby is 2 today!

I hope you enjoyed our camping trip just for you!


I hope you liked your Boston cream pie "Happy Birthday Cake" made just for you!


I hope you liked your new lawn mower bought just for you!

Tale of the Stockings

I have been distracted lately. And lately I mean for about a month or so. You see I have been working on this. This is Chasey's elaborate Christmas stocking that I am cross-stitching. I wouldn't be doing this at all, especially now, if it wasn't the fact that everyone in our family has one except him.



Years ago, when I just had baby Taylor I foolishy decided that I wanted to cross-stitch him a Christmas stocking. I found one at the store that I liked brought it home and got to work. What I didn't realize when I purchased this was how difficult it was and how long it would take me to finish it. But I stitched away and several hundred hours later finished it I did. It looked great and I was happy with it.



Well when baby Bennett came along, instead of hiding Taylor's stocking and pretending I never made him one, I foolishly found another stocking that was part of the same collection and made him one. I remember this one as being the hardest and most time-consuming to complete. This was stitched on white aida cloth, not navy.



After my cramped hands and beat up fingers recovered from Bennett's I again foolishly decided that I might as well make one for myself and Scott and make it a family thing. What was I thinking?

So I found this one that I liked for me. I remember starting this one, getting about 10 hours into it, putting it down one day and saying to myself "I'll finish it some other time. I'm too burned out." But I really hate unfinished projects. I must finish them. So a few weeks later I picked it up again and plowed through it. Well I don't know if plowed is the right word, considering each one takes me at least three months of constant stitching to finish. But I'll go with plowed because that is how I felt when I was working on it.



And then I was on a roll. Hey I'll just squeeze Scott's in too right?



Then I smartened up. As soon as I found out I was having boy #3 I immediately got online, found another manly stocking, ordered it and had it finished by the time he arrived. I knew I would not have time to finish it after he made his grand entrance. Nice huh?



And then we get to my Chasey love. After I found out I was have a boy I fully intended to get to work on his. But it didn't happen. He arrived and I thought to myself I must start on his. But it didn't happen. We started building a house, moving and all the other things that can distract a person and I didn't get around to it. But that little, very annoying voice in my head kept telling me I must complete it. So about a year ago I started looking online for his stocking. The problem was, that I had made all of the cute ones in the collection. There were some cute girly ones, but that wouldn't do. So I found one that I liked (but was discontinued) and ended up chasing it over and over on ebay. I don't know how many I lost.

Finally about 2 months ago they released another one. I loved it, bought it and got to work. I now stitch every little moment I can find. Swimming lessons, lacrosse games, doctor's appointments. Every evening until I forget how to count and my eyes go crossed. I am very close to being halfway there. But not quite. I won't let myself believe I am over the hump yet. Hopefully by fall it will be complete. Just keep stitchin', stitchin', stitchin. What do we do we stitch.

Red Neck Entertainment

Last weekend we went with the Larsen clan to the Bluffdale Demolition Derby. Watching not-so-bright men repeatedly give themselves whiplash in an attempt to be the last car running is pretty entertaining. Especially when you have 4 boys that love nothing else than to watch the cars crash, smoke and occasionally light on fire. Hmmm does that mean the Larsens are rednecks? Most likely. Good fun nonetheless.