Word on the Streets

the great escape: summer 2011. . .[part 7: cousin's camp & byu-cousin's reunion]

for the children in our family ages 5-12 my mom hosts cousin's camp each year at the cabin. this year the theme was "ready to harvest" which was based on serving a mission. each brother of mine and brother-in-law came to tell about when they served as an lds missionary. everyone had been to different places so it made it super fun. i attended and my aunt sharon came with uncle dave. we were the girls in our family who had served a mission. my cute sister-in-law who was a teen when her dad was called as a mission leader also sent along a video talking about that time in her life.

the first night we had cousin's camp where my mom introduces the theme and states the rules. then all the campers who have come before give a small gift to the newest campers. it was really sweet. we then did a craft that had to do with japan (where i spent 18 months.) the children all made koi kites from children's day in japan. they turned out so darling and colorful. 

the next morning started with puppy dog pancakes which has become tradition. my mom delegated all of the teaching parts to the dads. this year the camp only ran one night and a full day the next day. it was really manageable! i had a small teaching part in the very beginning which was so much fun to do. equally as fun was to see what each dad had come up with to teach the children. we had learning how to tie a tie. we had learning how to make tortillas and participated in a scavenger hunt activity where they learned how to search out and find the locations of puzzle pieces. rod created that activity so they would have to read a map and plan out a team strategy including riding bikes. since my dad went to australia years ago on a boat we took the kids in a raft down a calm portion of the river. even my dad, mom, aunt sharon and i got to ride in the boat. my uncle talked about germany and my brother-in-law made a full dinner based on brazilian food. my mom ended the evening with a really beautiful presentation on africa. then the boys had a jumping contest like the masai boys do and the girls tried balancing bowls on their heads like so many african women do each day to carry water.

that night everyone was exhausted and no one had trouble going to bed! i think it was so enjoyable this year for my mom because the time was shorter and she was able to rely so much on the men in the family to help with the activities and keeping the children engaged. i loved that the children got to spend such quality time with their dads. it made it extra special for them to see their dads so involved in teaching them important things and then playing with them. it was invaluable. i hope it can be replicated another year or two.

that next morning we all drove north to attend a family reunion with my mom's sister and her family. before the reunion rod and i took jack and morgan to the campus of brigham young university to show them some of the buildings where we attended university. we took them through the art museum. there was the most amazing structure made of books! it was such a creative project and we recognized some of the books as textbooks and copies of scriptures. we took jack and morgan over to the bookstore so they could choose a baseball cap. it was fun to show them around campus a little. there are so many different years of memories on that campus for me. for such a long time it was a huge part of my life. it has changed much and some of the buildings have been gutted and rebuilt into these magnificent structures. but still the soul and paths of the campus are filled with memories of me walking or riding my bike from home to class and back many times a day for years. it is nice to check in with those memories once in a while. i have no idea if my boys will attend that university or not. i have no idea what their own stories will be. but it is gonna be fun for me one day to share my own stories if they are interested. rod too went there for a year and has stories of his own. we never knew each other at university so each of us have a different experience with the place which makes it fun to tour campus and hear what each other remembers. 

the family reunion with my cousins was enjoyable! they kept it simple and easy. at my cousin's home there was an inflatable water slide on which the kids played for hours and we adults could sit on her patio and chat. it was perfect utah summer weather and lended itself to a great time. then we moved over to a near by park for dinner and rocket launching. the kids made homemade rockets and were able to launch them off of an air compressor run launch pad. my aunt borrowed it from a friend and one of my cousin's kids ran the activity for the kids. it was a huge hit. dinner was delicious--their whole family pitched in to make it. then my mom and aunt told memories of their mother and grandmother. it was tender and sweet. i didn't take one photo at the reunion. i think i was just so enjoying being present. that night rod and i drove back to the cabin to spend the night and have all of sunday at the cabin together before he headed back to vegas.

the great escape: summer 2011. . .[part 6: home for 9 days and back again]

in the middle of july i came home for nine days. it was a time to regroup and get some things done around my home. my parents in the meantime were finishing up some things at their new home. they had my awesome cousin, robert, rebuild their fireplace. it was a huge undertaking but it turned out amazing. robert redid our master bath and took our our in-the-way-fireplace. his work on my parent's new fireplace is nothing short of beautiful. the weekend i was home darren & nikki (bro & sister-in-law) came through town. we all met up at mom and dad's for some capriottis sandwiches. 

a few days later my other brother and sister-in-law, stephen and rachel, who live in dallas, came through town. we got to have them here for a day and night. it was so fun to see their kiddos all over in my family room with my kids. we swam and ate, played and watched a movie. then they went on north to salt lake. we all would meet up at the end of the next week for cousin's camp at the cabin. 

one week at home was just enough for me to squeeze in all of my doctor's appointments and get the some of the school stuff we were needing for second grade boys. it was just enough time to crank out a ton of church work and get things ready to be gone for another large portion of time. it is so nice to be home in my own home but i was missing the cool breezes of the mountain. 

my mom, dad and i caravan drove up to the cabin early the following week. we spent a few days getting ready for cousin's camp. i was so glad to have my dad come with us. he having him along just made me feel so much more at ease. i have these nightmares of being pregnant and having my kids in the car along with the dog and having my car malfunction on the desert highway. i do not normally have these concerns but something about being pregnant makes me feel completely out of whack. i would normally never imagine that would happen to me and if it did i would be fine and could handle it. however, i can think of only a few things more uncomfortable and un-nerving than that scenario. so i was more than grateful that my dad drove up with us. he is a huge strength to me. 

back at the cabin my boys got to do things with grandpa. they crawl down in the underbelly of the cabin and find how many mice they've trapped! they played with a garden snake grandpa found in the front lawn. they get to stand in front of him on the ranger and drive--even pulling into the tight parking in the garage! they played tether ball out front after grandpa set it up. they love being up there with grandpa. he makes it such a fun place for them.

in the afternoons you could find my mom planning her time for the children at cousin's camp. you could find my dad catching a nap in the recliner. 

the great escape: summer 2011. . .[part 5: our girl]

i think i've written about how great our rescue dog has become. she had a tough go at first with some separation anxiety and yet now that we've had here for over two years i can't believe how glad i am that we stuck with her during those first few difficult months. she has worked into a really great dog for us. lucky for us because it looks like she will end up being the only other girl in the house. 

this summer she spent all of the time at the cabin with us. she makes me always feel safer when i am there with just the boys. she is always out on the front porch or roaming around the cabin. she lives for the freedom the cabin affords. her long legs welcome the exercise and her keen nose relishes in all of those incredible smells! she doesn't get in the water to swim which tessa (our first weimaraner did) but i am actually happy about that because the river gets really swift at times and i'd worry about her more. 

when we first cut the grass she could not get enough of lounging in it! she'll roll around and scratch her back and squirm in it as if it were how i feel in a super soft blanket! she basks in the sun and takes watch from the front steps.

then we came home for a week in july. and that was a serious shock for her. she took up residence in front of my back door most of the day. she would lay there asleep like she was a depressed dog. or she would sit there and watch out the slats of the window to see if there were anything to see. it made me sad for her. it is too hot to walk her in the day so she really only gets out in the morning with rod for a run. it makes for a long day inside for her. except for her bathroom breaks from which she comes back in panting like crazy she is inside with me for the most of the day. i know she is like me and prefers the cabin freedom in the summers!

the great escape: summer 2011. . .[part 4: the other cousins]

after the weekend my friend larae came up to the cabin to stay with us with her two younger kids, lacey who is 10 and ben who is 5. larae and i have known one another forever. i have always called her parents "aunt" and "uncle" though they are not really my aunt and uncle. it was just a term we used for the family friends with whom we grew up in the cul-de-sac where our parents built their home.

now larae and i live around the corner from one another. our husbands get along great and our kids get along great. little ben loves to be with my boys and play legos! so all week long larae and i had it easy because our four kids would entertain each other for huge parts of the day. we really were able to relax and enjoy the slow pace of life.

the kids played legos, spy barbies (for lacey), did puzzles and painted matching red pj shirts for the boys and a yellow one for lacey. they loved it! we played horseshoes. My boys ran laps around the cabin (larae and morgan did something like 100 laps together!) The kids played t-ball and went on walks with aunt larae looking for a list of things i had come up with for them to spot on their way. larae and i read books, chatted late into the nights and made green smoothies! i have her hooked on those things now! (we use kale in our smoothies which turns them green.)

it was such a relaxing weekend! we drove home caravan style together. it was so nice to have someone to tag behind on the way home since i was by myself with my boys and the heat was upon us. by this time i was feeling more of the effects of the altitude and had a more difficult time catching my breathe. each week i stayed at the cabin i felt a little bit more limited. so it was heavenly to have larae to caravan home with across the desert. we talked about doing that again next year when her older girls are off at girls camp. i'm sold! it was a super week for us! 

later after we got home brad (larae's husband) asked ben who his favorite cousins were. his answer was jack and morgan-jack (because that is how he says the two boy's names.) we all got a good laugh out of that because that is just how we feel about their family--they are our other cousins.

the great escape: summer 2011. . .[part 3: a week for mom and boys]

after the fourth of july rod made his way back to vegas for work. jack, morgan and i stayed at the cabin for the week until rod came back up with his friend, mitch from work and mitch's wife and children. rod and mitch love to mountain bike together. but for the week with jack and morgan i made up some painting projects, outdoor activities and we kept up our school work and journaling. we cut the grass lower and the boys caught butterflies. it rained hard most afternoons which made the river turn into a chocolate milk looking river. it was so fun to smell the rain fresh air and hear the rain pour down on the roof of the cabin. the dog lounged on the deck in the sun. the boys painted boy scout regatta boats to put down the stream behind the cabin when dad came back. they spent almost an entire day just decorating and playing with those boats! i also had them paint pajama t-shirts. we watched movies for down time. i love to see the perspective of jack and morgan small enough to fit in the one lazy boy recliner in the great room. the room dwarfs them! 

we had a peaceful week and it was one of my favorite times because of the ease of being with just them. they are such fun and so helpful to me. they do get on one another's nerves sometimes but it is nothing big and soon they go back to being best of friends. rod came back up on the weekend and went biking down the same sydney peaks trail as the weekend before. but this time there had been tons of rain and it was muddy. he got to the end of the trail and hit a mud patch and went down on his side. he wasn't being crazy or going extra fast but in the mud his front tire went out from under him and it landed him right on his side on a fallen aspen tree. luckily mitch was with him. they made it to the lake and he called me from there asking for a ride home. he was in a good deal of pain and it was bruising quickly. we figured he had bruised or maybe even broken a few ribs. it was a tough night for him that night with little sleep. on sunday night we drove him down to cedar city where he caught a ride home with brad wallace who was driving home from northern utah. that week rod went to get his ribs x-rayed and found out that three of them were in fact broken. so that week he slept in our glider, upright and hardly moving. it was an excruciating week for him! i planned to stay up at the cabin for that week and larae wallace was coming back up to stay with us at our cabin with just her youngest two children while the older girls were at girls camp. there was not much i could do to help rod's ribs anyway so he just took it easy all week doing work and resting. 

on the way down the mountain taking rod to cedar to meet brad for the drive home that sunday i wished he could stay! it is so much more fun with him up with us but i knew he needed to get his ribs checked out and work must go on. wouldn't it be extra nice if he could work remotely? somehow we need to get that to be a possibility! we saw the most incredible sunset that night. sunsets like that one never cease to amaze me. if you painted it, people would think you made it up for the boldness of the colors.

one thing the boys love at the cabin is to pick a hat to wear. there are millions of caps to choose from but each boy has his favorites. 

jack:

morgan in grandpa's sweaty, well-worn cap:

the great escape: summer 2011. . .[part 2: 4th of July weekend]

for the long 4th of july weekend we packed up and headed to the cabin. our friends the wallaces would be at their cabin near ours and we planned to spend the holiday together. it turned out great, low-key and relaxing. 

first though i want to include a note about jack and morgan as travelers in the car. i always think us so fortunate as parents to have these two boys and it is no exception to traveling with them on a road trip. i never stress about traveling with them because they entertain themselves so easily with such a few legos and a book on CD or a movie. they have conversations with us or each other or rod will play one of the c.s. lewis chronicles of narnia books for them. we've been doing books on tape for a number of years now and i think it has really helped. even when i think they are not listening and we turn off the book for some reason, they will ask for it to but turned on. or if i ask what is happening in the story they can tell me. that makes me excited and it shows me that what children hear is just as important as what they see.

they are the easiest children ever in the car on road trips. i don't have a clue why that is but i am soooooo grateful for it. it didn't used to be that way when they were little. they were pretty good but when they were babies we would often be driving for hours and just have crying non-stop. we would look at one another as parents and wonder if it were worth it. when they got to be about three they kicked into gear and figured out how to be good travelers. we are lucky that it takes very little to entertain them. i think they are the most unusual kids. we have purposefully not purchased either boy a DS and they are not allowed to just sit and watch movies back to back. most of the time they are listening to a book on tape while playing with their legos or they have paper and pencils or colored pencils. this trip i even had math facts work sheets for them to do and time themselves on. we sort of made a game out of it. i just know that with a new baby in the car, our peace and ease of traveling on road trips will change dramatically and i want to remember how easy it has been for so many years with just jack and morgan, rod and me.

when we get to the cabin, i feel like i am at home. we have taken to staying in the front two rooms as a family. they are the coolest in the summers for the cross breeze and i love that i can look out at the river and the front yard. seeing the warm light in our ready-for-us-clean room is calming.

one night there i found rod reading the boys a bedtime story. that is one of my favorite sneak peeks into the time they spend together. each boy crowds around a side of his dad and rod gets into reading a fun bedtime story. this book was a perfect book for boys--about a boy and a dragon! who doesn't enjoy a good bedtime story?

one of the first things we took to doing the next day was cutting the grass. no one had been to the cabin in a while long enough to attack cutting the grass so it was a big job to do. but having a ride-on lawn mower makes it less work and more fun. each boy took turns with dad cutting a portion of the yard. it took a long time but was really worth it to be able to drive the mower and then play out on the newly cut lawn.

rod went biking. we drove up and dropped him off at sydney peaks for a bike ride back to the cabin from there. on the way home from dropping him off the boys and i stopped to play in a little stream that was running through the valley. the drive to sydney peak is beautiful and the water was icy cold. rod had a good ride and made his way back to the cabin in no time.

sunday we attended church at the second session at panguitch lake. they always have two sessions of just sacrament meeting on holiday weekends. the first session is sometimes standing room only and the second session is always more open. so we waited and went to the noon session of sacrament meeting. church is always fun at that little meetinghouse that overlooks the lake. we always come away having a good feeling. we decided to try and get a family photo back at the cabin while we were all dressed up. and i took a few funny face ones of the boys. i want to remember what it was like to be just the four of us and expecting another little boy. i felt fine being pregnant that weekend. i had energy and was able to sleep comfortably enough. i do crave a new bed up there and that might happen this year or next if we can work it out. but for that first week at the cabin i didn't feel too set back by being pregnant.

the wallaces spent fourth of july with us. we had a wonderful blueberry pancake breakfast at our place. and later that evening we had a delicious dinner at their place. katie and i tried to make a flag cake. we decorated it really great. katie has a good eye for design. it was fun to do together. later that night brad and the kids roasted marshmallows and larae had some glow in the dark sticks with which to play. we passed on heading over to brianhead for the fireworks. i for one was sort of indifferent about going and a little tired. so we called it a night and rod and i put our boys to bed and watched a movie instead. we've had many a 4th of july with the wallace family and this was probably the first one without fireworks. but i really loved how casual and fun it was to be at the cabins together. and our children get along famously. it is just such a comfort to have long-time family friends like them.

i felt especially grateful for our country this year. maybe it was being up in the freedom of the mountains. maybe it was the blessing of us expecting a new baby to raise in this nation where we as a family enjoy so many freedoms and opportunities. yes, we live in the desert which to many seems barren and wasteland-ish or vegas itself--a city of sin and corruption. but there are so many good things we enjoy here. and we are very close in drive-time to naturally beautiful places. we have good friends and family close and we are employed which at this time is so fortunate. when rod and i stop and count up all the good in our lives we really do have much for which to be grateful. it is good to remind oneself of all the good one has as it makes the worries and inconveniences seem so inconsequential. 

having the cabin to escape to is one of our biggest blessings and rod and i always marvel at how blessed we are to have parents who have created such a heavenly place for our family to be.

the great escape: summer 2011. . .[part 1]

more than the summer's before i think this summer set a record for the amount of time we were able to escape the vegas heat. being 5,6,7, months pregnant this summer has been far easier on me than being 7,8,9 months pregnant during the summer of 2003 with jack and morgan. but this summer i was able to leave vegas much more than before where i could enjoy the cool breezes of the mountain air and afternoon rain showers at the cabin.

i did little to no blogging or journaling this summer. i did manage to take my camera and try to keep my 365 photos for the year project going. however, sometimes it was my point and shoot camera and other times it was my phone. when i was feeling ambitious i used my d700. i just relaxed and soaked up as much as i could of time in the mountains with my boys before we add another one to the mix. rod spent weekends with us and joined us as much as he possibly could. we had reunions and cousin's camp to attend. we had friends join us at the cabin. there were always blog posts being written in my head as i went through this summer. i would dictate a blog post in my mind. yet, when it came to sitting down and actually typing it i was on to the next activity or taking a nap and never caught up.

then i decided, it didn't really matter. this summer i wanted to be more in the moment with my kids. i wanted to just take is slow and really savor this free time before our whole world gets rocked by a newborn. so that explains it and why this series of blog posts will be covering our summer in parts. it is catch up time now that jack and morgan are back in school.

back in may we enjoyed a long vacation in newport beach and san clemente, california. in june rod hiked the grand canyon rim to rim and he took the young men at church on a high adventure mountain biking trip for 4 days. by the time july came we headed north to the cabin and planted ourselves there as home base.

there is one member of our family who loves the cabin more than anyone especially during these hot summer months---chloe the dog. our good dog has worked into being a really good component of our family. she loves to sit on the porch of the cabin and watch over the fields. she takes excursions exploring all the surrounding areas of the cabin, her nose at work on full speed! she plays well with the children and loves to follow my dad around while he is working outside. she doesn't stray too far and really hardly comes in all day long. i never worry about her up there. when i do worry about her and go to check for her where abouts i usually find her lounging on the front deck under the window which is open so she can hear us inside. she is no work for me at all up at the cabin and i often wish it were that way at home in vegas. but the two lifestyles are so different and she is good to be patient with the lifestyle she has to have in the city with us at home. i just know though that her entire soul is at home in the mountain air and space. i think we all feel the same in a way. after enough time however, no matter how much i love the fresh air and green grass and relaxed life of the mountain, i find i crave the city and activity. if only there were a way to have both right near each other or one inside the other.

so gear up for some blog posts to follow this of our summer of 2011. there will surely be millions of photos to share and my hope is that these posts will help our family remember this great summer as a foursome years down the road when we look back.  

two good future big brothers. . .

tonight was such a fun evening that to forget it would be a shame. it actually started hours earlier in the day when rod and i trekked across town to purchase some furniture from a girl off craigslist. we were able to score a really cute and new day bed from ikea and a dresser from ikea in new condition that i'd had my eye on for the baby's room. tonight after our family bike ride (yes, i cruise on my beach cruiser at a leisurely pace behind the boys and dog), this new baby's big brothers and dad got to work setting up the dresser in his room. we also had the crib bedding arrive in the mail today so we ironed it out and made up the bed. 

jack and morgan were so excited to be a part of all of this. they helped wash down all of the dresser parts and put the drawers in. they carried things upstairs for their dad and they helped move the crib around and tie on the bumper ties. they were incredibly helpful and i think it made them feel like big kids.

that is exactly what they are more and more--big kids. they chat us up at the dinner table and sing and laugh. they do funny little dance moves around the kitchen to abba tunes and they talk about what things will change when their little brother comes. they want to assign themselves seats at the dinner table on either side of dad and they don't care after that where i sit or the baby. we get our pick of the rest of the table space! how kind of them to give me so many choices. they are doing serious homework this year and can read on their own for the entire required 30 minutes. they play together without much need of me. it will give me time when the baby comes to tend to him and rest when i need to. i sit and do homework with them because that is some great time i have to see their progress in learning and i get to know more about their day as they talk openly about it over their math worksheets or spelling homework. i feel like i see them more than last year because of our earlier start time. i get to spend a better amount of time after school working with them on school assignments than last year. but after the school work is done they are free to go play. that usually means that they take off for their room or playroom and spend the rest of the night playing legos together. their playtime together has become more concentrated and meaningful to them. 

for a long time i really never wanted them to grow up. i still don't really at all. they could stop right now and i would be as happy as ever. but with this new little man coming soon i am really thankful that jack and morgan are to the stage of life they are. they will be great big brothers and super helpers for their mom and dad. i'm one of those moms who enjoys having her children at home. they have been easy boys for the most part. and with the new baby i will appreciate my older boys even more for i see now the incredible help they so freely give me.