Trip to Uncle Sam's

This past weekend we took a trip to Wyoming to visit Uncle Sam.  The kids had been dying to go, and we decided to take Shoji to visit her friend, Mojo.  Mojo is Sam's dog who comes to stay with us when Sam goes out of town, and they have become great friends.  This time Shoji was on Mojo's turf, and she loved it!  She was free to roam around and go wherever she wanted, with no leash!  That's how a dog should live.

We were very impressed by Sam's work.  He and his partners built this house, and they're building another huge one down the road.  The bigger house will be used for weddings and other events.  I can't wait to see it when it's all done.  It is beautiful! 

The house Sam lives in is one that he and his two friends built, and is on the same property.  It's in a little valley with a view of the mountains.  It has a little creek running through it.  It's a really nice piece of property.  I love the porches on the house, the hardwood floors and open floor plan.  The front porch is awesome!  Here are some pictures:

This is the big house they're still working on:

This is inside Sam's house.  It's really beautiful!  Nice job guys!

Matt had to check out the kitchen.

This is Adam, another builder and the kids' new friend.  He was so nice to humor them with a game of Operation.  The kids really enjoyed his company!

We took a walk on the property over to the big house, and stopped to look at the shop and barn.  Grace had to hold on to her Sam.

Matthew was trying to immitate the boys throwing rocks.  But then his hands got dirty and he didn't like that.  He's trying to clean them off.

Here's Shoji enjoying herself.  We're going to have to buy some land so she can run free again.

There were some old buildings built into the side of a hill.  The boys decided it made a great slide.  Good thing they dressed in their newest jeans!

This is the maze of doors the kids loved.  It was in the back of the barn.  Sam and his friends had set them all up to stain them.  They almost all got tipped over from the kids running through them, but all survived.

After riding on the 4-wheeler (no pictures, but I got some video) with Sam, he took the boys up on the hill behind his house.  That was one of their favorite parts of the day, after the 4-wheeler, of course.

Sam took us up to this great spot in the mountains that had this waterfall.  There was a walkway, bridge, and some lookout points.  It was really a beautiful waterfall, especially with all the changing colors.

This was just a weird rock out in the middle of nowhere, so I snapped a picture.  Right after this rock, we got to Shell, WY, and Sam bought everybody ice cream.

The kids were tuckered out!  It was a great day, and we'll do it again soon.  The weather was cold, but we have plans to go back when there's snow.  We scoped out some really great sledding hills.

Thanks for all the fun, Uncle Sam!  We loved visiting you and seeing the great work you do.  See you soon!

Woodbadge

Ben returned from his last day at Woodbadge last Saturday.  He was home for a couple hours, then I went off to play for the Rimrock Opera.  Woodbadge is a Boy Scout Leader Training Program.  He had to go a couple weeks ago for three days, then last week for three more days.  It was held at the same camp that Haley and I went to for Girls' Camp in June.  Ben had a good time with his friends Russ and Remington, but he's really glad it's over!  (So am I.)

This is the only picture Ben took the first time he went.  It is of the crazy set up of the outhouse.  I can't imagine sitting right next to someone doing your business, or doing your business while having someone do theirs standing right in front of you.  I think maybe a man designed this.

This is a picture of the main area at camp.  That cabin up on the hill is where I stayed in June (Ben wasn't so lucky -- he was banished to a tent).  The cabin right in front there is the mess hall, where I spent the majority of my day from 5 a.m. until 10 p.m.

It is a really pretty area.

Here's Ben and his friend Remington.  They had fun and didn't get into too much trouble (I hope).

My Son, the Plumber

That little butt is so cute, I might just have to pinch it!

Some Stuff I Missed...

I had forgotten about a few things we did this month.  I guess my brain cells never grew back after I had kids.  I knew that a woman's brain shrinks 8% during pregnancy, but I don't think mine has ever reconstituted.  I guess that means I'm 40% dumber than I was 13 years ago!

We took advantage of the nice weather last Saturday, and washed both cars in the driveway.  The kids had a blast, and I mean BLAST!  That water hose is fun!  Even Matt got in on the action.  He has recently decided that every substance he gets on his hands needs to be shampoo, because he rubs whatever it is into his hair.  I've been cleaning out carrots, apple juice, spaghetti sauce, boogers, garbage, etc. out of his hair.  At least when we washed the cars, it was soap he was smearing around up there.

Joey amused us for a little while by taking a teeny bit of time away from playing with Andrew to scrub a tiny spot on the van.  We used our cleaning socks (old socks that I drew smiley faces on) to clean the car.

Andrew had decided to have his birthday party at the corn maize (bring back memories, Mandy?!).  He wanted to invite everybody he knew, but I decided I could only keep track of 6 little boys in the tall corn.  It was perfect weather, and even though it was a Friday night, we got there before the crowds and were able to enjoy the maize and all the fun stuff they have there by ourselves!

Haley and Kalin took a break from pushing the little ones on these go-carts to have a little race themselves.  Those things were heavy and hard to steer!

The birthday boy had a great time racing!

Ben challenged me to a race, and of course I had to do it!  He cheated though.

We had a fun hay ride pulled by a really old tractor.

Group photo.

They had this huge play set with a really big slide.  I think the kids would have played there all night.

We had a rubber duckie race.  Here is Joey concentrating to get that water pumping!

It was a really great time at the Corn Maize.  Joey was the only one who didn't want to go back in for the second half, so we sat out together.  Can't say I was sorry, although I did have a great time!  And thanks, Grandma and Grandpa, for watching the little ones.

We went to the Zoo yesterday and saw some of our favorite animals.  I think my kids have our zoo memorized.  We're looking forward to the SLC zoo in a few weeks.

Visiting the River Otters, who were wrestling right by the window:

Grace caught me taking a picture of them walking.

"Horsey races":

Matthew went over to the playset, and then turned around to tell me a long story.  I love his jibberish.  He tells the most interesting baby stories!  This is him looking at me after his story was over, making sure I understood him:

September was fun, and we're looking forward to our travels in October!

Andrew's Baptism

On Saturday, September 19, 2009, Andrew was baptized by his daddy.  It was such a special (but very busy!) day.  Andrew started the day at basketball camp, then was whisked home to shower and get to the church.  He was very excited and happy.  We had a great program.  I played the piano (Andrew had picked "How Firm a Foundation" and "I am a Child of God" for his hymns), and Aunt Jill was the chorister.  Lita gave a great talk on baptism, and Grandpa Fred and Uncle Anthony were the witnesses. 

Then after he was baptized, Grandpa Fred gave a great talk on the Holy Ghost, and then Andrew was confirmed by his daddy.  Sister Bruyere welcomed him to the Primary, and Bishop Cherry welcomed him to the ward.  Grandma Nan and Haley gave the prayers.

After the baptism, we changed clothes and then met at the park for a picnic with the family.  It was 95 degrees, but still enjoyable!

This is the food:

We are so proud of Andrew.  He is such a good and special boy.  He makes each day happy for us, and gives us so much love.  He is a great example to his brothers and sisters.  We are so happy that he has made this choice to become baptized and follow the example of his savior!

Mother/Daughter Nerd Night

Haley and I had a great time last night at our YW Mother/Daughter Nerd night.  We had been planning our outfits all week, and were really looking forward to it.  We had some left-over 3-D glasses that Haley popped the lenses out of (because I couldn't do it -- but I'm really not a wimp), and we added the classic tape in the middle.  We did our hair -- I had a side pony tail, ah la "Deb" in Napoleon Dinomite, with a big bow hanging out and my bangs poofed to the roof.  Haley's bangs wer also poofed, and she had pig-tails with a sparkly crown in one, and a doily rubber band in the other.

Our blouses were mostly tucked, with one corner hanging out, LOTS of pens in our pockets, our pants rolled up and pulled up above our waists, and we had funny socks and wore flip flops (that was hard!). 

Our makeup was hideous, complete with freckles and lipstick above and around our lips, and on our teeth. 

Haley wanted to die riding in the car, for fear that someone would see her.

I threatened a trip to the grocery store, but I was afraid she would run away.

Our fearless leader, Sister Taylor, Queen of the Nerds:

Our cutest nerds of the night were the mother/daughter nerd team of Colleen and Emily:

Our coolest nerds were the Ostlers.  They put us all to shame.

Our Suspender Queens:

Haley and I were the champions of three nerdy games.  Man, we look bad.  I might have to destroy these someday.

That was a very fun evening that we won't soon forget!  We found out just how competitive we are.  We also found out that we're pretty comfortable being nerds!