Beaver Mountain

We had a great time in St. George, although it was hot, hot, hot! I'll focus on the cool, cool, cool!

Jeff had planned a camping trip with the boys, but once he got up to Beaver Mountain, he called and asked me to come and to bring Allie. We got talked into it when my sister said we could leave Kyla behind.

Damon and Jeff spent the first day hiking and fishing. They hiked the highest peak in Beaver County (and sixth highest in the state), Delano Peak. Damon snapped this shot of Jeff at the top.


They saw a herd of mountain goats at the top and got pretty close to them. My dad was jealous.


Then they went fishing and caught about 20 fish! Jeff thought he had died and gone to heaven. Damon was pretty happy, too.


Allie and I drove up with my BIL, Wayne, and my dad. We drove around looking for the mountain goats (no luck) and tried fishing again (no luck). Allie did manage to fall into the stream and cried for the next hour or so until we got back to camp and out of her wet clothes. You can see in this pic she is wearing Damon's t-shirt and her clothes are "roasting" over the fire. By this time she had cheered up. Jeff had everything set up, and took care of everything, including all the food. He cooked up four of the trout he and Damon had caught and we had a yummy dinner.


The night was rough. We were in the middle of a deer migration (as Jeff claimed) and were awake for several hours listening to the thumpety thump of our deer visitors. At one point we heard a hissing sound, followed by the quick retreat of a deer. That's when I started to get a little scared. I had to pee, but tried to wait it out as long as I could, as I didn't want to face whatever was hissing (do racoons hiss? What else would've been capable of scaring off the deer?). Finally, when all was quiet, I ventured out. It was a little spooky, but I didn't encounter anything out of the ordinary. Damon and Allie slept through it all, which was great, but Jeff and I didn't feel very rested in the morning.

The kids got impossibly dirty for being there such a short time (Damon didn't change once in the three days he was there), and, although Allie didn't have a bad night sleep, she was still pretty tired.

Camping is fun. But it sure is a lot of work. I have been working on getting this mountain of stuff put away. My hair still smells like campfire, but it was definitely worth it. As Damon said, "I love camping because I can get away from home and see the pretty things in nature." He sure must have a lot of pressure here at home if he can't wait to get away.

Excitement

I know it's been a while since I posted (REALLY posted), and I have a lot of things flying around in my head. First, some excitement.

Things I am Excited About:
1. The Olympics (just 11 days!). In HD. Can't wait!
2. Jeff told me Saturday that he only has to work today and tomorrow and has the rest of the week off, and he wants to go camping near St. George, which means I get to go visit my family for 5 days!
3. The fact that Jeff has a real job and gets days off. That's sure nice!
4. It's nearly August, which means Breaking Dawn is oh-so-close to being in stores!
5. Damon is already in St. George (he went down with my sister last night), so I only have two kids to take care of!

Second, the kids are doing great.

DAMON: Latest loves include: High School Musical (he told me the other day, "I wish Vanessa's real name was Gabriella."), Sugarland's "All I Want to Do," collecting rocks, hiking (he hiked the Y again last weekend with Jeff), riding his bike, playing with legos, and watching Tom and Jerry.


Jeff's list of things he wants Damon to avoid: High School Musical, songs by women, watching So You Think You Can Dance, combing My Little Pony's hair, using words like "pretty" and "beautiful" when describing anything, and wearing Allie's dancing dresses. We sure love our Damon and hope that he continues to be "well-rounded," as opposed to Jeff's term, "sissy."

ALLIE" Latest loves include: Care Bears and ponies, "Bleeding Love," "Should've Said No," helping me cook dinner, and looking gorgeous.



Allie has gotten much easier the past couple of months. She still has her fits (like when I comb her hair or for no reason at all), but is such a pleasant, happy girl 75% of the time. I can't believe I am actually saying this, but it is true. She is night time potty trained finally, and is getting better at obeying. She has discovered that she can "read" books and asked today to go to the library to get some "reading rainbows." We love our Allie!


KYLA: Latest loves include: eating, bananas (she loves them so much they are a separate category), dancing, animals, getting into everything, and eating some more.


Just as Allie has gotten easier, Kyla has gotten harder. She suddenly has an attitude and throws fits when she doesn't get what she wants. She cries MUCH more than she ever has (I told Jeff that she is such a happy girl when she isn't tired or hungry. She seems to be tired and hungry all the time!). She has five teeth, but they are taking their sweet time coming in. She signs a little, but has started talking more. She now can say, "baby," "Allie," "all done," "hot," "more," "me," and "kuh kuh." She is now trying to run, as walking isn't fast enough, and I love to see her getting those little (well, big) legs moving. She has grown very attached to her cow and cries when it's time for bed and he can't be found. She knows a few body parts, but routinely sticks her finger in her ear before guessing elsewhere. We love our Ky Ky, but hope her crankiness is due to teething and that she'll go back to being our sweet little girl soon.


Lastly, I am excited for the fall tv schedule. Particularly, I am excited for The Office, Pushing Daisies (the best new show from last season), and The Amazing Race. Plus, in January we get American Idol and the last 13 episodes of Scrubs. Awesome! Jeff can't wait for college football. Seriously. If that was all that was on tv, he would be happy. He's easy to please. I need to take some pics of him. Look forward to that!

Memories

How many times do you have to see something before you decide it's time to join in? I have eight blogs on my google reader with this on it, waiting for comments from me. So, play along it you'd like...



Here's how it works:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember, good or bad but be nice please! ;)



2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments. Come on all my blog followers... I want to post something about you, let's see this on your blog!!!

I wouldn't...

I've often wondered what I would be doing if I weren't a mom. I doubt I would be teaching elemntary school (what I got my degree in) because, although it was very rewarding, it's a lot of work and you get paid so little for it. If I knew I would never get married and have kids, I would have thought long and hard about being a doctor. I always wanted to be one when I was younger, and my fascination with the medical profession hasn't subsided as I have grown older (proof: I love doctor shows on tv). I wouldn't be a surgeon or an ER doc, I know that for sure, but I could see myself enjoying a career as a doctor.


It's just as likely that I would have gone into education anyway, and tried to get a job coaching basketball (or another sport). I'm sure that's no surprise. I love sports. I think I would be a good coach. Sometimes I tell Jeff that when our kids are older I would like to volunteer my services at the junior high or high school. Who knows..


I actually haven't given it a lot of thought. It's hard to say exactly what I would be doing if I wasn't currently "employed" as a mom. But I do know what I WOULDN'T be doing:


1. I wouldn't be wiping the same high chair tray eighteen times a day.

2. I wouldn't find myself singing songs made famous by The Backyardigans.

3. I wouldn't be performing the "smell test" on clothes that weren't my own (you know the test, where you sniff an article of clothing to see if it is clean or needs to be washed).

4. I wouldn't find myself using made up words like, "kuh-kuh (meaning yucky)," "num-num (meaning food)," or "night-night (meaning bed time)."

5. The names Damon, Allie and Kyla wouldn't mean anything to me.
6. I wouldn't eat fish sticks more than once every six months.

7. I wouldn't know that nystatin, benadryl and motrin can cure most anything.

8. I wouldn't dig through nostrils not belonging to me to pull boogers out.

9. I wouldn't know how to get baby poop and spit up stains out of my clothes.

10. I wouldn't appreciate Jon and Kate Plus 8.

11. I wouldn't spend half my day in the kitchen.

12. I wouldn't wake up to the sound of little voices long before morning.

13. I wouldn't be doing laundry every couple days.

14. I wouldn't look down at my chest and try to remember what it was like to have one.

15. I wouldn't envy the animal world and their lightning quick pregnancies.

16. I wouldn't get to read "Little Miss Contrary" over and over and over again.

17. I wouldn't get to watch "High School Musical" over and over and over again.

18. I wouldn't have a reason to go to Chuck E Cheese.

19. I wouldn't get nearly as much free candy on Halloween.
20. I wouldn't be having nearly as much fun as I am now...
What WOULDN'T you be doing?

Changes

Not sure I'm going to stick with the new look, but it will do for now. If you're in the mood for a new look, it's gotten super easy. Check out THIS SITE. Awesome! Also, scroll down to the bottom of my blog for even more fun. My favorite is Allie in her CTR-uh (tiara) and dancing dress.

Trapnell Orthodontics

Did you know there is a Utah Valley Magazine? I didn't. But we learned about it in May when Jeff and his brothers were contacted and asked to be featured in a little article. I guess five brothers practicing orthodontics is a little unusual. For those of you who didn't get to see it, here is a scan. And no, we're not bitter that Jeff got the smallest paragraph and some of his info wasn't correct (he didn't do ortho at Ohio State, but in Jacksonville). I mean, it's only Utah Valley Magazine.

We're havin' us a weddin'!

Tonight, Kyla and I were witness to one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. I knew it would be good when Damon announced that he and Allie would be getting married, but I didn't know the treat we were in for once the "wedding" actually happened.

Damon and Allie changed into their wedding attire. Allie faced a problem I'm sure we all had to deal with on our own wedding day--the purple dress she had wanted to wear was giving off a "uriney" smell, and she had to go with her second choice, her beautiful blue dancing dress. She wiped some of the spaghetti sauce off her face, and put flowers behind her ear so she could look "beautifuller and beautifuller." Damon talked her into wearing sandals, as she had decided to go barefoot after only one of her pink sparkly flip flops was located. She picked several flowers from grandma's garden (don't tell!) for a bouquet and waited for instructions on how to proceed.

Damon chose to wear a long-sleeved blue shirt and blue pants, and was mildly frustrated when he learned that his ties had been left in St. George. He managed to get over it, though, and excitedly put on his own belt, socks and shoes. He was heard to say, "I love marriages!" I hope he feels the same 20 years from now. He was ready well before Allie was (imagine that!). I was shown to my seat, camera in hand, anxious to see what the "wedding" would entail.

Then, the fun started. Because I had been deemed photographer, there was no one to act as minister (or justice of the peace, or whatever they were going for). I gave minimal direction, but most of this was straight from their imagination.

Damon waited for his bride

She came down the aisle

They faced each other

They told each other they loved each other and kissed

They hugged

They kissed again

They held hands and walked past me

And that was that. I wiped tears from my eyes (from all the quiet laughing I had been doing), and thanked them for letting me be a part of that. Damon assured me that they were "really married" and then they proved it by fighting with his new "bride" only minutes later.

Reunited!

We're back together. Our family, that is. We were reunited on July 3, and my body celebrated my contracted pink eye. I'm sure Jeff found that very attractive, as I could barely open my eye, and when I did, it oozed and watered continuously. But a quick course of antibiotic eye drops cleared it right up, and I only had to endure three days of wearing Jeff's glasses (explanation: we have the same prescription in one eye and the other eye is pretty close. Neither of us have gotten a new pair of backup glasses in at least four years and mine were broken beyond repair. Jeff's are missing one arm, which I taped back on with masking tape.). It was a good look. But I'm glad to be through with it.

Damon got to do something he had been dying to do since he learned it was a possibility: he hiked the Y. Jeff said he did great, and even asked to do it again when they got to the bottom. I love that he is old enough to do fun things with his daddy, and I'm sure it made Jeff happy, too.

They are on the Y--that's not snow.

Jeff started his first day as an orthodontist yesterday. I am so proud of him, I can't even begin to describe the feelings I have inside. He has been in school since we met nine years ago (minus one year when he worked for his brothers making teeth models, and made a whopping $12,000. All year.), and has finally come to the end of his education. Now things get real. And real scary. The stakes are higher now, as he gets ready to buy an ortho practice (his plan is to buy the Provo office from his brother in two years), as we start the process of looking for the house we will raise our kids in, and student loans start coming due. It makes me a little sick inside when I think about all the money that entails. But I am optomistic that we will be alright. It's probably a good thing that we are both nervous. Hopefully that will help us be smart and careful in our decisions.

It's great to be back together, and back in our own space. We even have internet down here in the basement, which will make life so much easier. I am itching to get a library card, but the one piece of "official mail" that I got has disappeared and I don't know if I can get one without something else coming. Hopefully that will be soon. I'll have more later (including Damon's sixth birthday) when I get some pics from the Esplin fam.

It's good to be back!

Summer Heat

After a whirlwind trip to Temecula, CA for my uncle's wedding, we're all back home and safe in Utah. Including Jeff, who made it to Springville today. After we celebrate Damon's birthday tomorrow, we will head back home and be reunited for the first time in months!

Here are a few shots of the kids at the wedding (which I must admit, was beautiful and the place to get married if you're not going to the temple).

Damon was infatuated with the butterflies. We were handed boxes with live butterflies inside and released them at the end of the ceremony. Many of the butterflies were reluctant to fly away and Damon couldn't let them out of his sight.

Allie was infatuated with the flowers. And the leggings. Hard to tell, but they are there under the dress.

Kyla was infatuated with the food, but we didn't get any shots of that. This was a cute one of her with grandpa.

I found the pics from Jacksonville. They show exactly how Kyla has become. She is NOT going to be pushed around (she enjoys telling all of us "no no"), and she's NOT going to be distracted from what she wants. She and Tyson fought over this dump truck and neither one was backing down. Like all good parents, we stood back, laughing at them.

And one more random shot of the kids, enjoying the heat.

Apparel

I was telling my mom the other day that I have chosen not to fight with Allie (much) about what she chooses to wear. If I did, we would be fighting every day.

Allie has a few choice things that she likes to wear. Everything else, she doesn't care for much, but tolerates if she is in a good mood. If she's not, it's tears, tears, and more tears. Here are a few of her favorite outfits.

1. Her favorite jammies: the ice cream ones. She would wear these every night if they were clean. Unfortunately for her, she sometimes doesn't make it through the night dry and doesn't get to wear them nearly as much as she'd like. This was taken one morning when we spotted a hot air balloon on the horizon and watched it land a few hundred yards from us.

2. Her dancing outfits. You already saw the purple one in an earlier post, and I realized we haven't gotten a good picture of her in her new blue one (thanks Daisy and Romy!), but here she is wearing it (the kids were watching a show on the littlest tv in the house). She also wore it when we went to Cafe Rio a few nights ago. Like I said, I'm not willing to fight it.

3. Her Leggings. She has two pair of these and will change into them when she gets tired of dancing. One day Kimmy and Heidi helped her get all done up with curly hair and accessories. She did look cute.

For those of you who have boys and girls, it will come as no surprise to you that Damon has worn nothing but a swimsuit since swimming lessons started last week. It's either the orange one or the white one every day. All day. Which is why he doesn't have a shirt on in the picture with the kids or this one with Malakai.

Beach Friday

It's hard to break tradition. We have gone to the beach on Friday as often as we could. So even though we were in St. George, we tried to continue our tradition. We loaded the whole crew (my sis, her twins, another sis, two cousins, my bro and my three kids) and headed to Sand Hollow Reservoir today.

It wasn't the Atlantic Ocean, but it was still fun.

This was our setup. Everyone else there had a canopy. We had an umbrella, and it was missing the bottom pole. If you look closely, you can see Allie lying under it. She had a bit of a struggle at first. She had left her swimsuit at Subway and we didn't realize it until we got to the "beach," and she was left with some unfavorable choices: she could either get in the ocean in her leggings and shirt or take them off and get in in her undies. She hated both options. So, she cried. And cried. And CRIED.

Finally, Kimmy convinced her to put on a tanktop and get into the water. After that, we had a different Allie. A fun Allie. She even sat by me and posed for a picture with the other kids.

Damon spent most of his time hauling rocks out of the water into a big pile (and then made a firepit out of them). I was especially impressed with this big rock. It took him quite a while to get it across the sand, but he was awfully excited about his accomplishment.

Kyla loved it most of all. She is such a water baby, and has stopped eating sand, which makes her diaper changers very happy. She sported a faux hawk long enough for me to get a few pics.

I didn't put her in a swim diaper. Those things are precious! I was willing to risk infecting everyone with crypto and kept her in her regular diaper. She decided to impersonate J-Lo and we all thought she did a fantastic job.

You can imagine how sandy we all were, so we stopped at the bathroom on our way out to rinse off. I loved this picture of Kyla as she sat in the sink with Allie.

We all had a good time. I do miss Florida, but since we are now Utah residents, we will have to learn to make do.

Mom's Gone?

Six weeks is too long to go without seeing your husband. Right? I found a way to get back to Jacksonville for one last visit and only had to make minor sacrifices to get there (red eye flights, Kyla on my lap, arms about to fall off from hauling Chunky plus car seat through three different airports...). It was such a great visit. I took two pictures before the batteries in my camera died, so I will post those later. But I found these pics on my mom's of the fun that happened here.

I left Damon in Tara's care. When I told him, he said to Allie, "Tara is the best." He has always loved her (maybe more than he loves me). Tara told him he didn't have to go to bed at 9:00 (our bargain for the summer, provided he doesn't wake up until 8:00 am) while I was gone, and he said, "That's what I'm talking about!" He had a great time with her. He has been on an artwork kick lately and plastered the fridge with his recent creations.

He also was very sweet with Maddux and Malakai (most of the time, from what I hear). He got to go to chemo with my mom and was much nicer to everyone after that personal attention.

Allie stayed with Heather (a tough job, I know), and only annoyed her occasionally with her constant chatter. She showed off her tricks...

...and got her toenails painted again by our good friend, Holly. She was so excited.

They didn't seem to miss me at all. And honestly, I didn't really miss them much, either. It must be because I knew they were in good hands and I didn't have to worry about them. Probably not because I'm not a good mom. Right?

Do we really have to eat?

Here's what's on my mind this morning:

As soon as my kids wake up in the morning, and make their way bleary-eyed into my room, they want to eat. Kyla starts signing "eat" or "milk" the instant I get her out of bed. Allie, who rarely wakes up happy, is asking for a bowl of cereal and a drink of milk. And Damon, who is usually far more patient than the other two, is not usually far behind. Feeding my kids is a full time job. And it's one I disdain.

Allie, who claims to be starving, will routinely take between 6 and 8 bites of her cereal before deciding she's done. She'll spill her milk as she tries to get down from the table and halr-heartedly clean it up. About 30 minutes later, she will return to the kitchen, hungry again (what? 6 bites of Cheerios isn't going to get you through until lunch?), and will ask for another kind of cereal. I will remind her that she is more than welcome to have something else to eat. Provided she finishes her (now soggy) Cheerios first. Nearly every day we follow this little script, and at this point, Allie will do one of three things:

1. Throw a fit and come up with an excuse why she can't finish it (today it was, "I'm really getting sick of it.")
2. Throw a fit and refuse, resulting in a very sad and miserable girl until lunch.
3. Throw a fit and finally choke the soggy cereal down, resulting in a second bowl for her.

Fun, huh? Kyla will sit in her high chair eating all day long. And when she finally gets sick of something, she'll just toss it on the floor and go back to signing "milk" and "eat." All day long.

Damon appears to have learned a lot from Allie's morning ritual. He skips most of the drama. But he still wants to eat.

It's not long after breakfast ends, the dishes are cleared, the kitchen cleaned, when it's time to start again for lunch. Some days I give in and let them have peanut butter sandwiches. But most of the time I encourage them to "broaden their horizons" and let their body try something else. This usually is met with some more whining and/or impatience, but eventually we make it through lunch, and get it cleaned up. Kyla still sits in her high chair, eating.

Then before I even blink, it's snack time. I scour the cupboards for something healthy to go along with the crackers they demand, and after seconds and sometimes thirds, I finally convince them to stop eating so they will be able to eat dinner.

Dinner is either eaten quickly and very well (depending on what it is and how many crackers I've actually let them eat), or filled again with complaining. "This makes me sick," is something Allie has been known to say often when she doesn't like the meal I have prepared. I remind the children that they can choose not to eat, but that often times that choice means they will be hungry until breakfast. It's not often that they choose this, but it definitely does happen. If there is dessert involved, dinner seems to go over much better. Most of the time, though, it is a fight I am tired of fighting.

Can't we just stop eating for a while? Is that too much to ask? I think the planning, preparation, eating, and cleaning up of meals is one of my least favorite things about being a mother. I propose that we do away with lunch. Breakfast and dinner should be enough. And then I wouldn't feel like I am a slave to the kitchen.

Good ole SG

I haven't lived at home for an extended period of time for ten years. But some things never change. Here's how I know I'm home:

1. My dad saying, "just one more thing and I'll be finished" at FHE. I can't tell you how many times I have heard this in my life. It didn't take long to learn that "one more thing" usually means about 10 more minutes. Allie actually fell asleep during FHE this week. Not that the lesson was boring (it wasn't), but it was probably a lot longer than she's used to.



2. "Sunday music" playing every day of the week. Another thing we all are used to, but my kids have made many comments about it. Usually it's "Turn that off, it's not Sunday."



3. You can see the heat coming off the asphalt, and if you stay outside too long, you feel like you're baking (still better than the feeling of melting I experienced in Florida). Also, the nights cool off and it feels so delicious in the evenings, I wish the sun would never go down.



4. Buffy (our sheltie) still chases rocks (although she does tire out more easily than she used to). She was shaved recently (not because everyone else was shaved to show support for my mom, but because she had a skin infection that required it), so looks a little different, but she's the same old girl we've had since I was in high school.

5. The trampoline is still in the front yard; the park is still in the back. I have more memories than I can possibly write about the park (climbing up on the basketball hoop to tape a square on the backboard, having a snowball fight in high school the one day school got cancelled due to snow (ice, really), several movie nights with dates, night games (pump), rollerblading...the list goes on and on), but it is the one reason my parents will never move. Plus, my mom has a view of the temple from her kitchen window and she doesn't even have to sneak out at night to cut branches of the trees that block the view anymore.

6. My family still loves ice cream. We heard Blue Bunny was having a 50% off sale today and my mom came home with two tubs of ice cream. Three gallons each. That should last us through the week...

I really have enjoyed being home. It's fun to relive old memories while watching my kids make memories of their own. I am anxious to visit Jeff next week, but I have been far less "homesick" than I thought I would be. And that's probably because, in a small way, I feel like I am home.

A few pics from NYC

"The loving mother holds her daughter's head toward the camera." I don't even remember doing this, but judging by Kyla's interest, I think something must have happened right before this. We did enjoy some yummy hot dogs and chicken kabobs from this lovely vendor.

"The kids try to blend into the crowd by acting like they know what they're doing on the subway." Safe to say everyone knew we were tourists.

"Wow, that's a tall building. And a boy who needs a haircut." Damon in front of the ESB. Our best layover ever...