Conference Weekend Fun

For the weekend the whole family went up to the cabin from Thursday to Sunday! It was so fun! Friday we played outside and did some work around the house while the boys went and fixed the spring and yes, we now have running water and can take a hot shower or bath. Now that is spoiled for sure! Thanks to Mari's ideas we had plenty for the kids to do. She brought dinosaurs to paint and we painted pumpkins as well. Jaxon was totally engrossed by the painting, our friend Jana is a painter by profession and came up for the weekend to hang out and touch up some things around the cabin and Jaxon wouldn't stop asking her questions. I'll bet he painted his dinosaur with six thick coats of paint. Ryan and April came up with their kids as well as Jason and his dad and Cole and Cami. It was so much fun to talk with everyone. Much to my dismay though what could you expect with 8 kids running around, we could only get to actually pay attention to conference when the kids were sleeping. Thank goodness for DVR! We were fogged in all Saturday day and it rained, I finally know the feeling of cabin fever!!! We woke up to snow the next morning and I don't know who was more excited, Jaxon and me? I guess I get it from my dad. I love the snow, though I will miss my flip flops and shorts. Thanks everyone for such a fun weekend!

Our first attempt at paint
All the kids painting pumpkins!
As you can see, Jake's focus- Chocoalte cupcakes!

Jaxon's focus- Painting again!
Our snowy morning! Isn't it beautiful!
Painting the pants with Jana

Lake Powell in the Fall

Nothing better than relaxing at Lake Powell

Posing for the camera
So funny, look at my face! It looks just like my mom's faces she pulls. Too funny I just had to laugh!
Forcing Jaxon to try the slide again, the first time he did it alone and wouldn't go again, so I kind of talked him into it. He wasn't too happy afterwards.
Our future striper fisherman, on a funny note, we lost that pole. Jax caught a catfish and Jeff was holding it for him while Jax got the net and the fish dove down and ripped it out of Jeff's hands. Jax was a really good sport considering. Talk about butterfingers!
Classic before bedtime movie faces.
Just so you know I am posting a lot of pics now and writing a ton because this is now our family journal/scrapbook, because I am awful at scrapping consistently. Just a forewarning of things to come.

More Lake Powell

We went out to the Lake finally a few weeks ago and it was the perfect time to go. Still warm outside, no one was there not even at Lone Rock. All to ourselves, just how we like it! The first night we got there we just hung out and played with the kids. The next morning we decided to find a good beach for the kids to play on, so we headed over to Sand Mtn. Who knows why we decided to climb that thing, but we did and it was worth it just like always. Jaxon climbed the entire hill all by himself! No joke, I didn't even push or pull once and he only asked once while I was swinging Jake up the mtn. It seriously twice as big as the last time I climbed up it which was like seven years ago! It was a great time. We drove back to the houseboat and waited for everyone else to come. Not much swimming at the dock was done after 3 or so because it started to get chilly. The next day we drove over to Lone Rock and played there all day, we made sandcastles, played frisbee and did some wakeboarding, which is always fun. If only I could get the guts to clear the wake, which I probably never will considering with every child I have gotten to be less daring. Whatever happened to my 2000 flushes cliff jumping and rock climbing self, I'll never know, gone with my skinny jeans I suppose. It was a great trip like always! Can't wait till next year!

Jax wouldn't wait for a family picture
Jeff and Jax bellying it down the mtn.
A little kayaking
Does it get any better?
Jake, putting his life in his mom's hands! What was I thinking?

Lake Powell in the Fall

This is at sand mountain, it was a great place to swim
Jumping off the back of the boat
Sand castles and sand mountain
What a climb, Jaxon did it all by himself, no joke!
Proof we all made it!
(Jake, Jeff, Jaxon, Jayme, Cooper, Logan, Jadyn, Nate)

Kokopelli Triathlon

Ahh! It feels great to finish! We finished and we did it the PR time. It felt great, loads better than the last one! I was pretty nervous for the swim but I used a wetsuit without arms and it was so much better. I feel so constricted when I can't move my arms. I did the swim in 18 minutes and was so happy! My bike was slower than last time which as a bummer if I could just get it to under 45 I would be happy. The run was in the dirt like the St. George tri but it was down the sand hill instead of up which was nice. My run was slow I was feeling the heat and I had forgotten my watch which always makes me run faster because I can judge my distance and know my time so I know when to kick it in. A personal best though and it was fun which is all the matters right! I didn't even panic like last time. Maybe practice makes perfect! The whole race was so fun. Jayme did her first one and did so awesome! It was so fun to have her there! We had some other friends from our ward that did it as well and that was fun too! Jeff had his best time. I just love triathlons, everyone should "TRI"!

Getting pumped up!
Run Run as fast as you can
Please no pictures!
Go Jayme

(this was taken by Jaxon, cool huh!)
We finished and in style too!

Hunting Together

I'm a little more excited, as you can see.
What a hottie hunter!!!
Wild Horses
Sick ride, eh?!?

For the first time in a while I went hunting with Jeff for a night and day. It was kind of a sporadic decision and thanks Grandma and Grandpa for babysitting, we really appreciate it! Well we left right as the kids were going down for naps and drove out to the notorious Nevada. As we are driving there are huge dark clouds rolling in from all sides and we just kept watching the mountain we were headed towards praying that it would move and it did, just long enough for us to get our gear loaded and on the four-wheeler. Jeff had nothing on but a long sleeve shirt and I luckily was wearing a rain jacket thank goodness. We saw and elk right off the trail as soon as we started up the mountain. I love seeing animals in the wild, they are just amazing! Needless to say the ride up was far worse than awful. It was honestly pouring rain the whole time and it takes 30 minutes to get to the top. We saw louds of deer which was the only highlight. The trail was almost too rocky for a wheeler to get up I had to get off and walk twice! Once I got off and what happened next, it was hailing on us!!! WHY you ask? Good question. We finally made it to camp and it stopped, we found a nice camp right in the trees which had a perfect lookout at where the elk feed in the night and morning. This mountain was beautiful, and if you know me I love the mountains. We went to bed fast because it was cold and what else do you do when your soaked through and its dark and you have to wake up at 5 am. We got up early and as Jeff would say, "Got our sneak on!" We were no less the 50 yds. from the elk! So exciting for me. We hunted and in my opinion saw some great deer, but I am far from an expert. It was fun to get to close. We even got to see wild horses which was what a dreamt about as a little girl. It was a fun time even in the rain it was a great adventure. No deer killed this trip but hopefully soon. Thanks hon, I love you!

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Balloon Chasin

So Friday morning a few weeks ago I was putting the dishes away and Jake was out on the deck and started yelling, Bawoon, Bawoon!!! So Jaxon went outside and yelled at me to come and looked. I walked outside (in my pajamas) and there were hot air balloons everywhere in our neighborhood. The kids kept watching them and telling me when they got close to the house. Finally I changed and we went out front to see how many more there were and there was one right above us. The boys as well as myself were pretty excited. I have always wanted to get in one of those. Well I saw one had landed at the church and it looked like this one was on its way too. We ran down the street with Connor in tow to watch. We didn't know we were going to be so lucky, but they let all the little kids get in and ride twenty or so feet over to land. The boys loved it. Well, Mari showed up with the girls and we went balloon chasing. The smiley face one was what we were after but we soon found another closer and they tethered the balloon and we all got to go on a ride up about 30 feet or so. Needless to say my funny dream has come true partially, thanks Mari for the picture taking and the good chasing!

Right over our house!
Getting ready to deflate the balloon
It was pretty loud in there when they pulled on the string!
I look like I am having more fun than the kids!