Summer Fun

Cherry Days Parade on the 4th of July.             

The Splash Pad at the Gateway.         

1st trip to Lagoon, FINALLY!    

chicago sweet chicago

Every couple of years I treat myself to a little trip to Chicago, my home town. This year I decided I would share it with my family & we turned it into a 2 week trip. After all the house drama, we needed to get away!

We spent the 1st week visiting with my sister in Orland Park, IL.

Hanging out at her neighborhood park.

Spending a day at Six Flags Great America. Unfortunately, it was so crowded we only got on 4 rides. Booo… The highlight of this day was having Combi pee in a water bottle while we were in line for a ride. After waiting 40 minutes we were NOT getting out of that line!                                                         

We started  our 2nd week in Nauvoo. This was our favorite part of the entire trip.

Inside Carthage Jail          

 

This was the view from our room. So beautiful!

Playing pioneer games      

After 2 days days in Nauvoo, we headed off to CHICAGO & stayed with my other sister. I have to say that in our desire to relax, we took it to the extreme. Sleeping in until 10, not leaving until 12. Taking an hr to get anywhere. Needless to say, we didn’t do all the wonderful tourist things you would expect. But we definitely relaxed which is hard to do when you’re in a city like this!

Science & Industry Museum, my all-time favorite museum.

Legoland Discovery Museum

I sat here for an hr building this house just so that it could break when I put in the last piece. Stupid house!

The Lincoln Park Zoo. It’s a free zoo right in the heart of the city. The ONLY free thing we were able to do.                            

Dinner with an old HS friend @ “Rainforest Cafe"

I had such a great time sharing some of my childhood memories with my family & letting them see what it was like living in such an amazing city.

Most memorable  moments:

• Culligula courageously walking down a gang-way.
• KB saying, “Hurry up guys! There’s a car coming down the alley!!”
• Of course, the pee in the bottle incident
• getting caught in a crazy rain storm @ the zoo
• catching fire flies
• having pizza delivered @ 1am.
• Combi getting on his 1st upside roller coaster
• JaJa constantly asking about the gangs.
• eating only 1 slice of pizza & being full
• driving down Lake Shore Dr.
• parking a block & 1/2 away from Nelly’s apt.

A Visit From Our Favorite Friends

We got a wonderful visit from our best friends, the Taggarts.

We have been friends with them since we 1st got married, which was 13 years ago. We were in the same ward & lived in the same neighborhood. At the time, we lived in a condo  & they lived in the houses that surrounded the condos. Culligula was dying to see the inside of one of those homes so he kept asking me to make friends with Jen Taggart.

One evening, we were out for a walk when we ran into Jen. We talked for a minute & she invited us over for dinner. Yes! We we’re in! Culligula could finally get his wish & he could stop trying to make me talk to her.

Well, we had dinner as planned & it was an instant friendship for all 4 of us. After that, we were inseparable. We had video game/scrapbook sleep overs, we’d play basketball frequently, go for walks every morning… It was a time the 4 of us will always cherish.

3 years later, Jen had Dani & the following year I had JaJa. Then she had Lexi & I had Combi & so on & so forth. You get the picture.

We’ve been through a lot together. We’ve laughed a lot & we’ve cried just as much.

Since our move to UT & their move to TX, we don’t see each other as much. We did meet in CA one year & then we spent a week together in Hawaii. Best time ever.

Fortunately, they both have family here so they do come here on occasion. This year we got to see them twice which was such a treat.

The 1st time, my boys were too shy & didn’t warm up to their girls until the end of their stay.

The 2nd visit was much better & they were all instant friends. It was awesome to see the instant bond they all had to one another. All 6 were in their own little special world (minus Morgan cause she’s always in her own little world!).

Dani 9, JaJa 8, Lexi 7, Combi 6, Jordan 6, KB 4, Morgan 3

Both in animal heaven. I’m not sure if anyone loves animals as much as they do.

 

We love you Taggarts! & we look forward to creating many more memories with all of you!!!

Cabin 2010, A Look Back…

 

We’re at the cabin right now, & as always it’s a great time. No internet (I’ll have to post this when I get back), limited phone service, no TV….. it’s nice to leave the world behind sometimes.

Sitting here, it’s made me think of the early years when JaJa was a baby & we would bring him here. Or even when we would come here before we had kids & see everyone else’s little ones running around & being glad & we didn’t have any of our own. Now most of them are teenagers & it’s our turn to create those special memories with our little ones.

Before we came here, I’m ashamed to admit that I really had a bad attitude about being here. I kept dreading the packing & food shopping & the cooking of the food. Ugh! Just the thought was exhausting me! I just kept thinking about all the work that goes into coming here.

But then we get here & I remember why we come here. To re-connect. This summer has been CRAZY with moving & everything else so it’s nice to sloooowww down for a minute or 2.

I think of the things they’ll remember when they grow up. Going to the dam, seeing shows at the Playmill, driving through Yellowstone, Eating pizza at West, Catching minnows at Mack’s Inn, buying candy at Pond’s Lodge, looking at the fish at Big Springs, going to the Waterfall, watching their dad fly fish at the Buffalo River, playing in the woods, endless talks at bedtime & picking new Yellowstone shirts. We do this EVERY year & as monotonous as it may sound, they look forward to it. The sad day will be when they no longer want to do these things. I pray they never outgrow it.

So for now, we’ll continue enjoying these moments & adding to their memories.

Phases of Life

It seems that throughout our marriage we have gone through many different phases.

Before kids, we ALWAYS grocery shopped together, went to the temple twice a month & were ALWAYS  together. Christmas was a chance to spoil each other & taking trips was easy. We had 4 glorious years of that.

When we started having children things began to change. Groceries were done by me & the kids, going to the temple went from once a month when we had one child to once every 3 months after having 3 kids. Christmas was about our kids & trips had to be planned out.

My days consisted of naps & doing everything under the sun to keep the kids busy & me sane. Like every other overwhelmed mother, I had many days where I just sat & cried, feeling hopeless. 

I looked forward to having a date night or a girl’s night out. I started taking trips by myself every other year, to get away from the chaos. Trips without the kids were a necessity. I loved it  when Culligula would surprise me with a trip to the spa or to the mall by myself.  I felt like I was in constant escape mode. Whether it was going out, watching TV or napping. I was constantly looking for a break.

The last couple of months Culligula  & I have noticed that we are  now entering into a different phase. A phase that I’m still trying to understand & wrap my head around.

This summer it is once again my turn to take a trip by myself but instead I have chosen to share it with my family. I’m also going to Vegas with my sisters in February & all  I can think about is how quickly I can get home to my family. I’ve lost interest in shopping trips to the mall by myself. In fact, I want my kids to go grocery shopping with me. Basically, it is very rare that I want to do anything without my kids or husband.

This weekend is a perfect example of how we prefer to spend our time these days. On Saturday, we went to the Car Show & then out to dinner. Today, Culligula offered to watch the kids so I could go to the mall by myself. After a family vote, everyone decided we would all go & they would just hang out at the Planetarium until I was done. We then went out to dinner & just talked. Those are the moments that we both value above anything else.

Now don’t get me wrong, my family isn’t perfect. My boys fight & cry at least 8 times a day. They don’t put things away & they pee on the toilet. They don’t always listen when they’re asked to do something & getting them together to read scriptures every night well, let’s just say I’d rather poke my eyes out.

For right now, we are  really enjoying this phase of life. Sleeping in on weekends, playing games with the kids that I actually like, staying out late with the kids &  vacations without play pens & formula.  We are realizing that this time is precious & it won’t last forever. We don’t want to look back & wish that we would have done it differently.  Therefore, we are choosing to make the most of  it. One day, they will have their own things going on & I can return to the mall by myself & grocery shopping with Culligula .