Utah

Mandi and I packed up our three boys and three girls, loaded them into the suburban and drove the eight hours (9 1/2 for me) to Cedar City for a week. It was a great week. The six kids were angels on the drive up.

During the week we drove another hour north up to Beaver for a cousin picnic. And also to get the brood of ten children out of the house so that a Realtor and prospective buyers could take a look at it in peace.
My gorgeous niece Andersyn, and her new child Caleb. I think she should come live with me and take care of this boy always! What do you think Andee? I'll pay you in motherly love! Maybe not, that's stretched kind of thin, how about in chocolate? Hmmm.

The boys. Talin, Crew & Collin.

The twins.

They are always together.

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One of the highlights was visiting the property to feed the animals. JoDee and Shane are proud parents (I hope I get the numbers right) to 9 rabbits, 10 (?) chickens, 3 donkeys, 2 goats, 4 pigs, and one yellow lab puppy. Did I miss any??

Andee introducing the kids to the animals.

Nothing scares this boy. He loved the animals.

My boys hanging out with Burrito, who might become a father to two this fall. Let's see, that would make five donkeys.

Cool.

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When the brood of children were not outside playing in the water, riding bikes, or scootering around the yard, they were to be found playing legos. One afternoon they played for four hours straight. It was really neat. It's a love hate relationship with legos, for me.

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When they weren't playing, which was not often, we put them to work. Shucking corn was one chore. Cleaning up the backyard was another. Cleaning up their "Cousin's Club" they created was another, and a nightmare for Jo and I who had to empty their bucket which was used as the toilet and which they all took a turn peeing in. So gross.
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Us adults spent our time on the back porch monitoring the kids and playing cards. Intense games of cards. During these times we would sit Caleb at the table while he was hooked up to his g-tube eating. And this is where we found his amazing talent of cup stacking. Madalyn was his assistant and in charge of setting up the cups, and Caleb was king of taking them down, in the suavest way possible. He was so obsessed he even napped while clutching his stack of cups.
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It was so sad to come home. We loved all the time spent outdoors and letting the kids run wild for a week.

I think Mandi and I knew that the stars were stacked against us, there was no way the kids could duplicate the calm, wonderful behavior for the ride home that they had for the ride there.

They are lucky they all survived. Reagan slept and London pretended to sleep. The kids fought. Screamed. Cried. Complained. Walked into a truck stop bathroom barefoot (Talin!!!).

The most classic of all is when we stopped for lunch at Jacob's Lake and sat down at the table. Our waitress approached and brought coloring sheets for the kids and a mug full of crayons. She then said,

"Be sure you put the crayons back into the mug when you're done coloring, I really don't like to pick them up from off the floor. It's annoying."

And Mandi still tipped her.

This is one of my favorite views. After hours driving on the reservation you catch a glimpse of the mountains and you know you're close to Flagstaff and pine trees and a beautiful drive.

Can't wait for our next Utah trip!

Thank you Adair's for putting up with us.

The extent of my insanity dawned on me this evening.

There I was, 6:00 at night, alone with my three children, at the mall, on a Friday, buying them hamburgers, and sitting at a table between oversexed teenagers and an interesting lesbian couple.

Then I looked down.
There were my feet, wearing Tom's flip flops.

Huge flip flops, that my feet only cover half of.
How could I have walked out the door like that? And then I thought, how could I be at the mall, alone with my kids on a Friday night with no purpose in being there?

Certifiable.

International Wildlife Museum

While Cyndee & Mandi were visiting we took a trip to the International Wildlife Museum, where...

...my children were eaten alive!!

One at a time.

While I took pictures.

There were a lot of close encounters while we were there.

Collin was attempting to ride the boar...why?? This picture was taken after I had said at least three times, "Collin, don't straddle the boar, you're only suppose to touch it, not ride it!"

Collin, Savannah and London with their best dead looks. It might have been more convincing if they had been laying down, with ketchup and protruding bones.

Tom had Monday off and was able to come on the museum adventure with us. Lucky.

Wow, all three of them are looking at the camera, smiling and not being silly.

Miracle!

Entering the cave of wonders. It's not really called that, I totally made that up. But it would be a good name for it.

Aren't they cute?

Seriously can't wait for them to go back to school. I love them, but it's been a long summer!

Tucson

We are here and settled in Tucson.

It's been a weirder adjustment than I thought.

Tucson is brown and shrubbery and prickly and bright.

Only an hour and a half away from Mesa, but it makes the valley seem lush and green.

That's not right.

For the first time I appreciated the Tucson beauty last night. The sky was overcast, the sun was setting, the mountains appeared to tower over our city, it was breathtaking. And then this morning the heat and sun hit again.

It's been lonely too. I'm adjusting to not being around family all the time, to not having nieces and nephews storm the house and stay for sleepovers. I'm adjusting to not seeing adults other than my husband for days. But I'm also excited to become involved in a new ward with new opportunities. It will come. I'm hoping that when the weather becomes tamer that the social aspect of life will pick up a bit.

To cheer me up Mandi, her girlies and my mother came for a visit last weekend.

It was just what I needed.

Adults.

Women.

People.

It was nice to have them around again.

We celebrated the 4th by decorating cookies on Sunday.
What a patriotic bunch.

We also spent the weekend chasing these two around. Reagan and Caleb are either best friends getting into the best of trouble, or they are the worst of enemies with Reagan screaming at his approach and Caleb making sure to get the most out of her screams by kicking or hitting her. It's horrible. We're working on it.

Happy (belated) Independence Day!

The BIG Three O

Today I am mourning.

Mourning my twenties.

Because tomorrow they are gone forever.

The thought of it makes my insides twist with fear.

This transition scares me.


But honestly I'm trying really hard to be accepting of the frightful thirty. Learning to embrace the tiny lines around my eyes, the sun spots and the ruddy complexion I possess.


Aging is beautiful? I'm telling myself. I think the beauty in it comes not from the aging but from the accepting and rejoicing in the process.

I'll try. I'll try.