Date Night at Lake Pleasant

August 22, 2008

Eric and I had plans to go up North for the night but it fell through, so it was perfect when we were invited to go to the lake with 3 other couples (which ended up being 2, we missed you Stubbs!) to have dinner and play on the water!
It has been a WHILE since either of us has been on the lake so we were really looking forward to it!!

We met at the Atkinson's loaded up the boat and headed to the lake. The water was perfect and so was the weather it felt so nice being on the water. We started off tubing which is kind of funny to me for some reason. I felt like a little kid! Eric jumped on first, we whipped him around a bit and then being a show off he stood up and stayed up for a good minute before wiping out!! Brent was next and we got a couple good laughs at his expense!! (thanks Brent).
Chalee and I jumped on together and I think they were having a good time trying to throw us off! They managed to lose Chalee but it was probably more due to the fact that my legs had a death grip on the edge of the tube and I was big time hogging the tube, sorry!

Chalee, Eric and Mitch did some skiing. I have to admit I was impressed how easily Eric got up out of the water and how comfortable he was skiing considering it's been about 6 years since he last did it.

We parked the boat in a cove and enjoyed a really nice dinner while the sun was setting. It was perfect, good food, good company, gorgeous scenery. We kind of cruised for a while, drove up the river and parked again swam a little and were just down right goofy!! We laughed so hard at our crazy husbands, they are truly nuts and thats why we love them. It was sad to have it come to an end but I really didn't want to sleep at the lake so till next time.....

(what happens at the lake stays at the lake!!!)

I'm sorry babe, but this picture is so you and it makes me laugh out loud!!

Show off!!!

Holdin on for dear life!!

Wipe out!! (Mitch dumped me off the tube just to be fair!!)

Lookin good!

This was a pretty good wipe out..

Nice foot work Mitch!!

Mcleods

Atkinsons

Perkins

Glutten For Punishment!!!

August 21, 2008
Ya so I have a big "SUCKER " sign on my forehead, it's mostly invisible to the naked eye but the kids know it's there and they know how to work it to their advantage!!!

Thursday was the first early release day for the kids. But it's only the second week of school you say? Yes I have no idea why the school insists on torturing us parents like this!! We haven't fully adjusted to them being back yet!
Any way I walked up to the school to pick them up at 11 am only 3 hours after getting them out the door, and came home with 11 kids!!!! My four, Kiley had 2 friends, Malerie had 2 friends, and 3 other cute little girls (I was watching for a couple friends). Good times!!
I grabbed Little Caesar Pizzas cause honestly it's the cheapest, fastest way to feed 11 kids. After we had all filled up we went swimming, I was a little nervous being the only adult with that many kids but this is the proud mom moment!

The older kids were all great swimmers and all of them were playing together nicely in the pool, but the 2 younger girls I was watching (both 5 year olds in Keaton's class) were not quite as confident. My 13 year old son without being asked took one under his wing carrying her around the pool, playing with her, helping her play whatever the big kids were playing without being asked. It was so dang cute to watch and she just adored him.The other kids were so helpful and sweet to the other younger kids. After a while Kiley would take over or even one of the other girls. These kind of moments are somewhat rare and it really made my whole day to know what nice kiddos we have!! All in all it was really quite a chill afternoon and they all had fun and were safe!!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!!

August 11, 1008

Back to school!!! Oh ya baby!

It's always nice when the kids are as excited as the mom! It is just time to get back in a routine. Keaton has been waiting for the first day of kindergarten for a long time!! Sunday you would have thought it was Christmas... every 10 minutes or so it was " I wish it was already tomorrow" or " I wish today was school" ! Love that.

The older kids were almost as anxious, Monday morning there was a round of alarms sounding off from their rooms, 6 am!!!! By 7 they had eaten, had breakfast and packed their own lunches, woohoo!!!! I came down to make Keaton's first lunch and they had already done it. So here's to looking forward to another good year. We love their amazing teachers and I just want to give them a shout out and tell them how much we love, appreciate, and respect all that they do!!!Braydon is in 8th grade this year (heaven help me!!)
He really has a good group of teachers and I think that makes all the difference.
oh and apparently it is not ok to smile any more??

Kiley is in 6th grade this year and loves school! Everything about it. Thank goodness!!
She loves to learn and is very social, she makes friends every where she goes!

Malerie is in 4th and has a darling teacher. She is a hard worker and keeps at it even though she struggles a little. She to loves her friends and is happy to be reunited with them again!
Bring on the drama!

My baby, Keaton started Kindergarten ! ( I'm still a little shocked!)
He loves life, loves learning, loves making friends, and is excited about P.E.!!

I'm not going to lie it bums me out a little that this picture didn't totally turn out (sorry Mal).
I was hurrying so they wouldn't be embarrassed I was taking their picture as kids were walking past. I may have to do a quick retake???

Memories

I again stole this from Sammy! Thanks

Everyone needs to try this!!! It could be fun ---

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember--it can be funny, weird, awkward, random, etc.!


2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

I look forward to your comments!!!

I am Ariel

Which Disney Princess are you?



Headstrong and fiesty. You have a mind of your own that's full of romantic dreams about the world around you. Exploring exotic places is your ultimate dream, and although you can be a little naive you'll realize that there is something to be gained from your family's wisdom.



I stole this off Sammy's blog thought it was fun!!

Africa At LAST!!!

July 25th to August 9th 2008
For some of you it might be unfathomable that I could "let" my husband travel half way around the world to hunt for 2 weeks, and then to bring back 7 animals that could potentially be hanging on my wall, well let me break it down for you!!! When you you have a man as awesome as mine it's a no brainer!! One of the biggest reasons I don't have a problem with it is he has just showed myself and our 4 kids that is possible to make your dreams come true and it is possible to set a goal and make it happen!!! That is huge for me, he has planned and saved to be able to do this for 2-3 years so I say way to go babe! Next I really couldn't ask for a better father or companion. We are truly team mates working towards the same goal and most of the time we enjoy it. Eric is such a get in and get it done guy, works hard everyday and pretty much never complains. He gives me the same love and support that I show him and encourages me to set goals and reach them so how could I begrudge him his. I am so proud that he was able to do this and so are our kids. I hope it is everything he wanted it to be and look forward to setting and reaching our next goal!!

It was kind of a personal thing for me to. I am such an independent person I loved proving to myself that I could manage for 2 weeks on my own and we did!! The kids and I had a good last 2 weeks of summer and we were quite productive!! While he was gone I kept the pool clean, we took the garbage out all by ourselves, kept the yard work up without killing the grass, straightened the garage, got the carpet cleaned, got his car fixed, had the truck detailed among all the daily stuff!! I think the hardest part was not being able to talk to him whenever I felt like.

I plan on some how posting a link of the video we made of his trip but for now I am going to just post some of my favorite pictures. I asked Eric what his favorite part of the trip was and he said all of it!!! Experiencing a different culture and just all of it!!
Personally I thought it was awesome that he was able to shoot a cheetah. They are gorgeous animals and it's such a rare thing to get to do. We are a little sad that it doesn't get to come home but at east we have pics.

This is the Gems Bok one of my favorites!

I absolutely love the zebras!!

and the Kudu is beautiful as well!This is the Stein bok and they are about the size of our beagle!!

this one is a Hardebeast (spelling??)

This one I could live without!! Ugly stinky warthog!!

The giraffe were every where! I love these but am glad he wasn't so inclined to shoot one!!

Happy Birthday Malerie

July 6th, 2008

I can't believe your 9.!!! You've been baptized a whole year now! I'm pretty sure you were just a baby the other day..... and now you are into jewelry, music and friends. I'm afraid to blink anymore for fear you'll be grown up and moved out tomorrow!!
Malerie you are such a sweet spirit and we our so blessed to have you in our family.You keep us laughing and we wouldn't be complete without you. I hope you know how much we love you and want the very best for you!!

Happy Birthday

4th of July Celebration

July 3rd, 4th, 5th, 2008

There is nothing like being in Utah to celebrate the 4th of July. The patriotism is EVERYWHERE. We love the parade, family cook outs, fireworks, cooler weather, all of it!

We spent Thursday and Friday night at the Rowe's along with the Corbins (5 adults and 12 kiddos, what a houseful!!!). Their neighborhood has the biggest annual 4th of July bash ever, it is usually 3 days of food, fun, and festivities. Thursday was the big block party where they close down the street and the entire neighborhood comes out for a bbq, dance party, games, water fight, wagon rides, socializing, fireworks, and the infamous rocket chic!!! We did a big seafood boil, with 2 tables full of shrimp, crab legs, sausage, corn on the cob, potatoes and onion man it was good!!! We were in heaven, good food, good friends, GOOD TIMES!

YUM!!!

Our sweet girls

This picture doesn't begin to do this bash justice!!

Rylee and Keaton ridin the night away...

We went to the freedom festival for a bit and checked out the festivities at Colonial Days, the kids did the slip and slide and water ballon toss, Keaton and Rylee rode the tractor wagon about 2 dozen times. The girls were having a blast dancing in the street!! When it was dark people were setting off fireworks up and down the block and rocket chic made her appearance (it is unfortunate I don't have a picture of her, words cannot do it justice!!!)

One of the neighbors shows movies on the side of their house all night long and anyone who wants can bring a blanket and lay out under the stars and watch the movie!!

Friday morning it was up early to get ready for the parade. Stacey's sister lives right on the parade route so they manage to get a killer spot along with the other neighbors every year and we are fortunate enough to be invited to sit with them . I love the parade and have since I was little. It makes my heart happy to be able to sit and watch it with my kids now.

We love you Glenn!!! (pretty sure that security guy wanted to hurt us!)

My personal 2 favs this year were of course the LDS missionaries walking down the street singing Armies of Helaman (where else but in Utah do you get to see that??) and GLENN BECK!!! Stacey, Rachell and I decided to chase down the car he was riding in and get a pic with him. We looked like total fools running 2 or 3 blocks to catch up and when we got there, one of his security detail was not happy with us but Glenn (and his wife) were good sports and we got a good laugh out of it!!!
By the time the parade was over we were all pretty wiped out. We laid everyone down to rest and watch a movie. That evening the kids and I went to my brother Mikes for another BBQ. It was a good turn out 3 of us from Arizona 2 siblings from there, our parents, my Uncle Tadd and his family and a few friends!!! We really had so much fun spending time with cousins and siblings that we don't get to see near often enough! We did MORE fireworks and then headed back to the Rowe's for the night. I honestly don't think the kids could get much more tired, having fun is exhausting!!!

Saturday we planned to celebrate Mal's birthday (since it falls on Sunday). We went and saw Kung fu Panda (LOVED it), did some birthday shopping, and went to lunch. Another full day.

That evening we headed back up the canyon to spend one last night with great grandma and grandpa. It was nice to get up there and relax. Sunday was low key, we went to Sacrament meeting in Midway. Grandpa Wright planned a really nice birthday dinner for Malerie and all my siblings, and their kids (Mike, Missi, Carli and co.) came up for dinner, cake and games. It was the perfect ending to a fun week.

Sunday night we loaded up one more time and headed to Deer Valley to hang with the Pottles till it was time to head home! We love Deer Valley and the Pottles are amazing hosts, it was so nice of them to include us. We went to Park City one more time, played cards, the kids relaxed in the jacuzzi and played till their little hearts content! It was really hard to go home, we hadn't gotten our fill of the mountains and perfect weather, but we missed Eric terribly and as they say all good things must come to an end!!!

Tuesday- Driving home

I was thankful to caravan with Charlotte and Catherine. Again we were blessed to have a safe drive and we were so excited to see dad and sleep in our own beds!

Annual Utah Trip

Saturday June 28th, 2008

We have taken a family trip to Utah almost every year in the past 7. We weren't able to make it last year and weren't planning to go this year in lieu of everything that we had planned!
When we picked the kids up from Eric's parents after our cruise late Saturday night the first question out of their mouths was "are we going to Utah?" We told them no, which in turn resulted in a chorus of moans, groans and but last summer you promised we could go because we didn't go last year! Dang those kids and their good memories! After much debate we decided to go ahead and make the trip! I had been feeling really anxious to see my grandma and the kids truly were getting the short end of the stick this summer. So here I am again with less than a week to unpack and unwind from our cruise, switch gears and repack to go to Utah for a week and a half. NO PROBLEM!!!

I packed and loaded up our little Nissan and the kids and I headed out early Saturday morning.
We had a very safe, non eventful drive to Utah thankfully and I am truly grateful for 4 kiddos who are good travelers. I barely knew they were in the car and I am pretty sure Keaton and Malerie slept half the trip!!
We stayed at great grandma Wright's cabin in Midway Utah from Saturday to Tuesday. We love it there, its like a little piece of heaven. The kids love their big rope swing and being able to be outside all day and play without roasting to death. For mom it is quiet and peaceful and absolutely picturesque! We thoroughly enjoyed getting to stay with and visit great grandma and grandpa! We did some of our usual activities, a shopping trip to the Park City Outlets, our annual BBQ picnic and fishing at Vivian Park with the Corbin's and Rowe's (man I wish we had mountains and parks like that in Arizona!!!) We had a traditional Wright's Sunday dinner at Aunt Colleen's house and got to visit with cousins we don't see very often. It was an unexpected treat to have my Aunt Joanie and most of her family in town from Montana. Even though my cousins are quite a bit older than my kids, my kids adore them and have fun hanging out!!

Kiley flyin high on the rope swing!!

Fishing at Vivian Park

Wednesday evening we headed down to stay in Provo for all the 4th of July festivities! That evening we met up with my sister Missi and her 4 kiddos and my brother Mike and his wife Kelliann and their 2 kiddos. We went to the Spanish Fork reservoir to swim and play. I have to admit I didn't know this place even existed and I was a little leery from the description I got but we had such a good time. Mike brought a canoe and made who knows how many trips across the pond giving all the kids rides. They played on the beach area with shovels and pails and just had a good time playing with all their cousins.

Cousins at the Spanish Fork Reservoir
Camery!!

looking good Kiley!!!

Halley and Jace

Abigail and Kiley

SHH don't tell anyone but Bryce is the kids favorite cousin!!!

Dyson, Keaton, and Jace

It doesn't get cuter than this!!
Kiley, Malerie, Halley, Brookley, Kenlee, and Abigail

I Love these guys!!!!!