Time flys when ur having fun

BJ and I celebrate 9 years this month! I can't

believe it has already been 9 years! I feel old! I feel so lucky

to have such a wonderful husband who is also my best

friend. I was barely 18 when we got married! Thinking

back, I can't believe I was so crazy, but at the same time

I wouldn't change anything. Being so young and naive I am

truly blessed that I was smart enough to know he was the

one! I can't wait to see what happens in the next 9 years!

Our anniversary isnt officially until the 24th, but we celebrated

a little early. last weekend was the only weekend we didn't have

something going so we decided to go camping without any kids.

We haven't done that since before we had kids so its

been a while! My parents were nice enough to watch

the little rugrats for the weekend. Thank you soo much

mom and dad!! We decided to go up to Kaibab, we camped

near mile and a half, which is where they do girls camp.

It was the perfect weekend, no rain! Plus we only saw a

few people drive by our camp so it stayed nice and quiet!

We did some four wheeling and sight seeing at the Grand

Canyon. We hadn't been there since Zander was a baby.

My dad delivers bread to the north rim so he told

us that there were some wild buffalo up there right

before you go into the park. So first thing Saturday

we drove up to see the buffalo, but of course they had

moved into the park. We hadn't planned on going

in the park, but we decided to just pay to get in and then

we could do some trails while we were there. I'm

so glad we did. It was so fun!

This is the Cape Royal trail at Angels window.

It was so beautiful there, you could see the colorado

river through that hole in the rock, "Angels Window"

Everyone probably know all this, but I for one had

never been on this trail before so it's new to me.

This is at the end of the trail, a picture really

does no justice to the spectacular views!

Just one of the many deer we saw. I actually got a

picture before our dog chased them off. She sure

likes to chase things!!

Series of Unfortunate Events

This post is a little late, but I finally got a chance

to post our memorial weekend happenings!

I've decided we should never go camping on Cedar

Mountain for memorial weekend! Everytime we

either get rained out or its so windy and cold

you can't do anything. This year we got rained out!

We headed up the mountain friday morning and

it was so nice! I was super excited, our first camping

trip of the year and even though we didn't get to camp

in our favorite spot because all the roads were closed

we still found a great spot and it was beautiful weather!

Some friends were coming up to camp with us, and

my cousin and her boyfriend from California were coming

too! Well we stayed Friday night just fine, but then by

2 or 3 o'clock Saturday it started drizzling and then turned to a

constant rain that turned everything into a muddy

slippery mess! We started packing up camp and by

the time we were done, we were soaking wet and muddy

up to our ankles. Luckily we had a friend that had just

got there to camp, and instead of setting up there

camp stuff they helped us clean up ours! We finally got

out of there and started down the mountain just before

dark. The kids had so much fun on friday and saturday

morning while it was still nice. They found a pet horny

toad, they named Louis. We went for a few 4 wheel rides and

did a little fishing. So at least it wasn't all for nothing!

It turns out our misfortunes weren't over yet. on the

way down the mountain. Our friends that helped

us were in front of us and some rocks had fallen into

the road from the rain. Well he hit one and got a flat tire.

So BJ and Sean were stuck changing a tire in the dark

and freezing rain. Sean didn't have a coat so he was

just in a t-shirt and soaking wet. Luckily they got

the spare on and we made it home without any more

incidents!

This is what it looked like while they were changing

the tire!

This doesn't happen very often! SO NICE!

Since we only stayed one night camping we still had a

couple days of our long weekend left. My cousin

from california wanted to go hiking so we took her

up to red cliffs on Sunday afternoon. I of course forgot

my camera so sorry no pics of that. I have to say though

its much better to go up there in april when there is still

a lot of water run off. its so pretty and not so hot. We still

had fun though. Then on Monday we went out to Sand Hollow

for some fun in the sun! We had a little tailgate bbq and did

some fishing and swimming. Our series of unfortunate events

hadn't ended yet, BJ got a ticket for parking in a no parking

area when they went fishing! We also got another ticket, but

we won't get into that! lets just say we got into the lake just

fine, but in the end we got a ticket for failure to pay!

Zander and Tag with their sand star fish

Calista and her turtle floatie. She likes to carry it
around and sit on it in the shallow water, but she absolutely
will not let me take her out in the water. I don't know
why, but she's such a little stinker!

Calista helping sean set up his umbrella.
(by the way she has a huge crush) ; )

My cousin Tisha and her bf Jared

She got so burnt that day! That's what you get

for thinking you won't get sunburnt just because

your from sunny California!! he! he! he!

a fun filled weekend isn't really a great weekend unless

you have some fun stories to tell when its all said and

done with, so all in all we had a great time!

Hot N' Cold

It's been kind of crazy around here lately with the

weather getting hot and the school year coming to

an end. Taggart finished up his last year of preschool,

so he's on to kindergarten this fall! He has come so

far since he started two years ago! He was struggling

with some speech his first year, so we put him in speech

therapy. He progressed so quickly that even

his speech therapist was amazed! He finished

all the steps in just 5 months. He is such a fast learner

and I am so proud of his accomplishments! Also

even though his last day of school isn't until tomorrow,

Zander graduated from kindergarten last week.

I can't believe it! It seems like just yesterday that I

was dropping him off for his first day! He has come so

far too! he is growing up so fast, its just weird

to think he will be in first grade.

I think its officially summer! It's been so hot lately, the

kids and I have been taking every advantage! Of course

I have also been losing my mind and have forgotten

my camera everytime!! We went hiking up to red cliffs

about a month ago, and with all the snow melt off, there

was a lot more water up there than normal. My friend

Annie and I decided to be a little crazy and went cliff

jumping into that icey water! I don't think I have ever

been in water so cold! It literally took my breath away!

We have also spent a couple of days playing at the river,

and a couple of days just this week swimming at Sand

Hollow Reservoir. The kids have so much fun playing in

the sand and water, I feel so lucky to live so close to these

fun places!

Mothers Day

I have to say that I think I have the best husband in the
whole world! no offense to all those other wives who think
the same thing! ; ) Well BJ let me sleep in on mothers day,
and him and the kids made me breakfast in bed! French toast,
and they were really yummy! BJ is always doing sweet things
like that for me. He really likes to cook, and his favorite meal
to make is breakfast, so I guess I'm really lucky! Plus I didn't
have to clean up the mess either! Zander and Taggart were
super excited to give me their gifts they made. Zander made
me a flower with his handprint for the flower and BJ helped
Taggart make me a card. He drew a picture of me and him
and a tree, so we could pretend to climb it. I love the way
kids think! Zander and Taggart kept saying they loved me
and wanted to give me hugs all day, they said it was because
it was mothers day. later that night when everyone was
getting ready for bed, Zander asked me if I had a good day.
Sometimes I forget how thoughtful he can be! Being a mom
is a tough job, most days! Even though I want to scream at
them or pull my hair out sometimes. But when they say I
love you or give you a big hug, just because it makes it all
worth it! I wouldnt change the way my kids are for anything.
I love my family more than anything and I appreciate all the
wonderful things they do for me! I feel so blessed to have such
great kids and husband!!

Taggart and the White Sox

The anticipation has been like waiting for christmas

morning, I honestly didn't think he was going to make

it! We signed Tag up for T-ball a couple months

ago and ever since he has been asking,

"Do I have baseball yet?" The wait is finally over, he

had his first practice lastnight! He had so much fun!

He really likes his coach and the other kids on the

team. His team ranges from 4 to 6 year olds.

Taggart is such a friendly little guy and it cracks

me up everytime someone asks him his name.

His coach asked him lastnight and he didn't just

say Taggart, he says, "Taggart Brown". Most of the

time people have to ask again because they aren't

expecting him to say his first and last name so they

don't understand him. So all through practice his

coach kept calling him Taggart Brown. His first game

is in a couple weeks and he is way excited!

I just love watching him learn and I can't wait

to watch him play in his first game!

GO WHITE SOX!!

BJ was helping with first base. A lot of the kids are

first time baseball players and so some of the dads

helped usher the kids from base to base. The kids

didn't really need much help though, once the coach

showed them one time where to go,

they caught on really fast.

Easter in Kanab

We went to Kanab this year for Easter. Even though

It rained a lot! We all still had lots of fun. My brother and

both my sisters were there with there kids so all the cousins

got to play. My grandpa Hunt also stopped by I don't get

to see him very often even though he lives in Fredonia.

We got a picture with him and all his great grandkids, if you

notice in the pic there are a lot of boys! My parents have

13 grandkids but only two are girls! I guess it just kind of

makes up for my dad only having one boy because he's got plenty now!

It got a little crazy with all those kids running around and especially being

cooped up in the house most of the day saturday since it rained

almost all day! I bet my parents were happy to see us go!

I love bringing my kids to Kanab, they have so much fun there

and it just makes me thankful that my kids get to live so close to

there grandparents and cousins like I did growing up.

Family is so important and I'm grateful for all of them! coloring eggs with Uncle Ryan

Calista and her cousin Carson just wanted to eat them!

The Easter bunny stopped by and left a bunch of

eggs for the kids to find.

All the kids waiting so patiently on the porch.

we had about a 10 minute break from the rain and

as soon as all the eggs were found it started raining again.

spring break adventures

This last week has been full of fun times and cool

adventures! My friend Sara planned a really great week

of activities for spring break, my kids and I were lucky enough

to join her and her kids! Monday we started out with about a 4

mile hike to 3 falls in hurricane. Calista of course wouldn't

walk, so I carried her the whole way! She is getting soo heavy!

The weather was so nice last week so It was perfect to be

outdoors! The picture below is almost halfway, we took

a break and let the kids roam around the caves. Sara and I

together have 8 kids, plus a couple of sara's neice's and nephew's

came along too.

This is the end of the hike. The boys were pretending to be

cave men, so they look pretty barbaric! Over all this was a
really fun hike, we had a picnic about halfway through the
hike and it took a few hours to get there and back. The younger
kids were tuckered out, but they still had fun!
Wednesday we headed up to Zion. We originally were
going to do the riverwalk hike and go to the emerald pools,
but sara couldnt stay long cuz her son had scouts. So
we just ate lunch on the grass by the giant screen. We took
some pictures and went on a little walk by the river to kill some time
before our movie started. We went to Dinosaurs alive in 3D. All
kids all thought that was pretty cool! Even Calista sat through it!
She doesn't normally sit still for movies so I was pretty amazed!

Thursday we just packed a lunch and went to

the park to relax a little and let the kids play. Friday

we headed to Snow Canyon to do some more hiking and

explore some caves. We left earlier in the morning that day

so it was so nice, but it got pretty dang hot by the time we

started hiking back to the cars! Calista even did pretty good,

she walked on the way to the caves, but then I carried her

all the way back. You would think my arms would be super

strong after this week!

The cave was pretty cool, I had never been there

before. Its pretty sad that I have lived in southern

utah my whole life and had never been to Snow Canyon

State Park! We all had flashlights and made our way to

the bottom of the cave. After everyone sat down we had them

turn off all the flashlights so they could see how dark it was

in there. Zander was a little skeptical about it, but he did

great! We used the night vision on sara's camera and took

a couple pics in the dark. They turned out pretty good, since once

the flashlights were off, we couldnt see where the camera was.

I had a blast this week hanging out with sara, since we usually

only get to see each other on special occasions, this was

pretty amazing to see her 4 times in one week! Thanks for

inviting us!