The Mom's Day

Every now and then Mom's need a day off- probably more often than we actually get. But one day one of my friends decided we really needed one and organized a trip. We all hopped on some sort of ATV and we were off. It waas such a NICE day. No "MOM!", no changing diapers, just fresh air and great company. It was much needed for all of us and we all vowed to do it every year!!!!

We went to the Escondida Ranch that is owned by some friends in our ward. They have a huge damn up there and a zip line that we went on, it was so fun.

I was admittedly a little nrevous and was proud of myself for doing it. I even went twice.

We are tough stuff!

Shauna and I - looking really good after the dusty trip up to the ranch.

Some yummy watermelon.

Good times! See ya next year!

A Sunday morning mud puddle

Greg came in one Sunday morning and told everybody to get their boots on and come out to the puddle. A rather large puddle. I thought we would just see the puddle, but no, I wound up doing baths all over again. It was all right, they were so excited.
At first they just jumped...

Then they decided to dip...

And they were totally drenched by the time they were done.

Here's to Sunday morning mud puddles.

Mowing the Lawn

Alan learned how to mow the lawn a few weeks ago. He was pretty proud of himself. His lines were a little crazy, but he did pretty good. Our yard is huge so I am sure he won't be so excited in a few years when it is all his job. Good job Alan!

Ward Campout

We went on a ward campout the first week in August. It was beatiful and we had a great time!
Here is the last picture I took of the kids as we were hiking out of the waterfall that we went to see. It is a bad shot, oh well.
Parrot Falls, the waterfall that we all hiked to. It was beautiful, loud and cold.

Alan, Greg, Anna (Greg's Sister that was visiting from Utah), Rebekah, Me, and Lydia.

Lydia and Greg checking things out.

Greg and Molly.

This was the first truck that tried to cross the river to get to Parrot Falls. It got stuck right after I took this picture and had to back up to get out. Kind of scary with a ton of kids in the back. The next truck made it across and didn't get stuck.

Molly's Plant.

It doesn't get any better than dirt.

She is a dirt magnet.

The Rope swing.

Lydia ws tired after the hike to parrot falls.

Alan on the rope swing.

He had lost a tooth a few days before the campout- first one!

Shooting the bb-gun.

Pyromaniac.

Primary kids listening to scripture stories.

This little stream turned into the perfect play spot for all the kids to swim, but not deep enough for parents to worry about. It was fun.

The little stream turned into a big stream after in poured rain for about 4 hours the first night. People had to get up int he middle of the night and move thier tents cause they were being washed away by the water. It was a mess, luckily we were on higher ground and My Main Man is an expert camper and we were dry as could be.

Aland and Lydia.

This was when we first got there, it had strarted to rain and Greg got to work trying to keep us dry. He was clearing rocks to set up the tent.

Anna being a tent holder - she was good at it. =)

Greg up in the tree getting the tarp secured. I forgot to take a picture of the final set-up, but it was huge and involved lots of big tarps. And we were oh so dry.

Sweet Lou- she fell on this rock right after I took this picture and got a huge scrape/bump on her nose and forehead.

We had a nice time and are ready to go again next year!