New Do's

We finally got around to having Chels (our resident hair expert!) give the girls their back to school hair-do's. Man - after a summer of lots of chlorine and sunshine we were due. The hardest one to keep moderately healthy is my poor Kassidy. She came into this world with no hair and hasn't grown a ton since. This would be my husband's fault. All of the genetics point in that direction. I love her cute little pixie hair cut but she is wanting to grow it out. The problem is - it naturally grows into a mullet if I do that. Her hair on top does not want to grow. We gave it a pretty good trim and cute Chels worked forever on getting all of those yucky ends off. Our solution to her crazy hair is to put lots of very expensive hair product on it. Nano works and some other stuff that I can't pronounce let alone spell! Well - her hair does feel so much better and yes- we still got some pig tails in this morning. Saydi wanted the same haircut but with swoopy bangs. Again - our hair expert hooked her up. Then Jordyn decided she needed a haircut because it just seemed like the right thing to do. They all turned out great! Except for Trav, poor guy. We took too long doing the girls hair and Chels had to journey on to Weiser. That really is a place. I have no idea who thought up that name! Here are the results. I should have done before and afters but you know - who would have thought of that?

There are no pictures here of my Kendi. Two reasons - she didn't get a back to school haircut because she is only 2. Although we did give her a pretend one. Second - until she decides to let me do her hair I am boycotting all pictures. Just kidding - sort of!

Camping

Since we decided to buy a camp trailer this year we thought that it might be a good idea to actually use it before summer was completely over. Although the trailer does look mighty good in my driveway, it is destined for sure to be in the mountains. We have affectionately named it the Sunchaser. It's a real bute. However, when Trav pulled it around front he found himself a little surprise left over for him in the freezer. It was a bag of chicken that had been left in there since our last camping trip which was in June. No seriously, I couldn't walk within a 20 foot radius of our trailer without wanting to hurl. Trav said it was my fault but I am holding my own saying it was his because, well it just is. Anyway, the two of us (mostly Trav due to my hurling issue) spent the entire day trying to rid our camper of this horrific smell. We did pretty good. Used a whole bottle of Clorox bleach, lit candles, the works. The smell was minimal, but still there a bit if you stood in just the right spot. We opted not to use our refrigerator because as long as it stayed shut we could survive.

So off we went. Happy Campers. As usual, by the time we got to our designated camping spot none of us were speaking much. We decided to find Tyler and Netter down at the river to take a little float. The river was low this time. You actually had to lift you kiester off the tube to keep from hitting rocks. It was slow and easy. Way different than our previous experience. There were tons of people, again much different than last time, which I am thinking may all be related to the speed and depth of the river. For sure! It was way fun. We left to go back to the campsite where Travis and Tyler managed to jerry rig a bridge to get us across to the optimal campsite. I couldn't watch. Secretly I may have been hoping that the stinky sunchaser would take a dive and we could claim it on our homeowners insurance. We all made it! And the campsite was great. We had a blast up until Sunday afternoon. We were having our little Lava mountain sacrament meeting and we just about got blown off the mountain. We weren't even sinning. Then the rain came. It rained, and rained, and rained! In fact, the rain even started a little river at the base of our camp. Not a problem unless you are trapped inside a tiny trailer with four restless kids. I really was worried I might go insane. Finally Kendi, Kassidy and I went to watch Nemo in the truck. Kendi and I fell asleep and next thing you know it was dark and freezing cold. We put Kendi to bed and I really did try my hardest to stand around the campfire but I was shivering so much I was afraid that I would fall in. In my defense this was a wimpy fire which was not very warm by the way! Trav's parents came up Sunday night just in time for the rain. They were the only ones who did get stuck on the bridge! Oops! They decided to stay down a little lower than everyone else which was a good decision. Their trailer is new and they probably wanted to keep it dent free on it's maiden voyage. Monday morning was very cold but at least not raining. We ate breakfast and then slowly packed up and headed out. Here are some pics. Notice that yes, Kendi is still in either her pj's or her swiming suit. We did make her wear her clothes over the swiming suit, but it was usually her pajamas. Oh well!

Back to School

Ready or not here we come! School seemed to come way too fast this summer. We were totally enjoying the relaxing mornings without having to wake up at 5:30 a.m. UGG! Well, the girls looked so darn cute. They clean up alright I think! I made the girls get up early this morning because I thought that we had better get a day in before our crazy week started. Jordyn actually had to go in on the Friday before school started (totally crazy) so she was all primed and ready to go. Kendi was so cute. When she woke up as the girls were getting ready and decided that she was way to big to miss out on this action. She ran into her room, threw on her flip flops and a clean pair of pajamas (since these are all that she will wear lately). Then she brushed her own hair and came out to announce to me that she was leaving. It actually sounded more like leafin but I just used my superior mother translating skills to decipher. I said, "Honey, you are not quite big enough yet. You get to stay home with me." She gave me a determined look and said,
" No mommy, I am leafin. I am big. Bye!" She was heartbroken when the bus came and I really didn't let her get on. We've had fun though. Good bonding time for the two of us. I miss my girls but love the structure and I must admit I love my house a little cleaner. Bittersweet.

Sweet Lacy Jae

My heart is so full today. Full of thanks and love for my family. Full of gratitude to my Heavenly Father for his plan. And SO thankful for the knowledge I have that families can be together forever. This is my niece Lacy. She passed away last night at about 10:00 p.m. after struggling for over a year for her little life. She was born in a body with a heart and lungs that didn't function right for whatever reason and so we watched her fight as hard as she could until the very end. Lacy is such an ispiration to me. This sweet little girl would hardly ever cry. She was so loved by her Mom, Dad, and two brothers who will be very anxious to see her again some day. I sat with her yesterday and watched her family love her while her mom held her ALL day. Her dad rocked her to sleep last night and sang I am a Child of God to her as she passed away.

Sorry for being so personal, but I need to write what I am feeling right now because I really feel like my heart might burst. What I really want to say is that Lacy is a Celestial Spirit. She is literally in the company of her Heavenly Father right now. That is so amazing to me. She just needed to get her little body, however challenged it may be, so that she could get back to where she came from. I came home last night and just wanted to hug and kiss my kids to death. I felt so grateful for their health and strength and for all of my many blessings. I am thankful for Lacy, that I had the chance to know and learn from her. In times like these more than ever I am grateful to know that familes can be forever.
I sat in the Twin Falls Temple this morning during the first dedicatory session and I was overwhelmed with the spirit that I felt. It hit me like a ton of bricks what a blessing the temple is to us and why. It seals us together as forever families. What an amazing blessing! I am so thankful for my family.

Bear Lake

So...It really has been forever since I blogged. So sorry! I have been summer crazy. You know, like the rest of us. I did just get back from Bear Lake where I had tons of fun with the girls as a last hurrah before school starts. Yuck!

My girls are always up for anything that involves water and sunscreen. We had so much fun just being lazy and hanging out at the pool and the beach. Well, I guess that there always has to be a little drama!

Here is little Miss Kaidence. She is not one of mine, although she is cute and blonde! Jut kidding, she is my friend Jamie's. Well, she was running and tripped over a big huge metal grate that was sticking out of the ground and the rest is history. Three stiches. She was SO proud of them! After the fact that is!

Playing in the sand is just the best. They even buried themselves and lived to tell! We had such a blast. I guess a little drama never hurt anyone right??

Independence Day...ROCKS!

Happy 4th of July! I love the fourth. It is always such a fun day to hang out, eat lots of food, and get sunburned. Today we started our festivities by going to the famous parade! It was great, not as hot as usual so we'll take it! Here are my girls with grandpa. He grumbles every year about going to the parade but is always the first one there and this year even wore his fancy dancy shirt that made him look just like a flag! No more parades whatever! He'll be back for more next year NO DOUBT! The girls ate candy and managed to score more than their share of Otter Pops!
Now to the river to play! Here is one of the few pictures that I got because I was chasing this crazy kid around most the day. She is quick as lightening and is never to be trusted near large bodies of water! She played in this little pool all day. In fact, she even almost fell asleep in it but I, being the ever observant mother that I am, picked her up with closed eyelids and took her home. She has been asleep since 6:30. Can't wait until 4:00 this morning!@#*@!

Then there were fireworks!! The kids can't get enough. I love to see their little faces. In fact, the fireworks are still going on. I can hear them outside, but I came home to be with the little sleeper. Trav went back. I hope all of you had a GREAT day. Happy 4th!

Happy Campers

Doesn't the dirty face say it all?

So...It has been a while since I have updated and I thought that I had better write about our recent camping adventures. For our family reunion last week we went camping up at Lava Hotsprings. It was a total blast! There were a few death defying experiences but other than that we all did pretty well. I have to say that I think that my life tends to be a comedy of errors! Or is that just being a mom?? As we were getting ready to leave my Saydi says , "Mom, my cheek hurts." I look over at her and sure enough she looks like a chipmunk. We had to freeze everything, call the dentist and hope that we could get things taken care of quickly - which we did. She had an absessed tooth. I am thinking in my head REALLY?? Of course. Everytime I am walking out the door one of my kids gets hurt, throws up, or ..... gets an absessed tooth. Anyway, we did get her taken care of and the rest of the trip was great. We camped in cowpies, jumped off rediculously tall platforms, and almost lost a few going down the Lava River. Just so you know - YES!! you do need life jackets if you are going to float this river!

Only Jordyn would think to do a toe touch while plumeting to the great water below. Crazy girl. Takes after her dad!