Lake Powell Friend

Our last night we moved the houseboat closer to the marina! We were all hiking around and Mark about stepped on the 'little friend'....

Yikes!

Matt came to the rescue, (growin up in arizona, he was snake professional) and killed it..

YES PEOPLE, A RATTLE SNAKE... VERY CLOSE TO THE HOUSEBOAT!
CLOSE CALL! Thank goodness Mark or anyone else didn't step on this yucky thing! I still get butterflies thinking I walked with Jace and Jurnee within 5 yards of where he was!

Lake Powell, Take 3

more fun pics to share!

Lake Powell, Take 2!

Jurnee turned 12 in Lake Powell! We tried to do something fun for her.. but we had limited resources. My mom was sweet enough to bake cupcakes for her before we left, then we snuck them down and froze them. On her birthday we took them out, frosted and decorated them.. blew up some water balloons and did our best to decorate the house boat!
Meanwhile, everyone left so we could do this, and took the kids hiking up to the indian ruins..

Jurnee was so surprised! Happy Birthday Jurnee!

Lovin' Lake Powell

We were fortunate to be able to spend a week in Lake Powell on a house boat with some good friends. We left the friday before Labor day and came home 7 days later! We had a blast! So much time spent in the sun, relaxing, boating, playing cards, games and just enjoying each others company!
The kids had a great time! They were in the water so much, that they were getting sores from their life Jackets! They fished a lot (especially Janson), and played games, boated and ate! We ate so much! I felt like that is all we did! It was crazy!

YUBA LAKE!!!

We were lucky enough to go camping with some good friends of ours (The Skeens) a few weeks ago. We had a blast at Yuba Lake! The campgrounds were so nice and really close to the lake! There was lots of area for the kids to explore right by our campsite. The kids had a blast! It was so fun to see the boys act like "BOYS". Getting dirty, imaginative, exploring, bugs, forts, or 'base' as they called it!



The boys just chillin' eatin breakfast. (Ryan, Jace, Chad and Janson)

Justin and Tracie takin' it easy after a long day in the sun.. okay.. so Justin was totally asleep!

Just hanging out with my girls while the boys were down fishing. Here is a pic of all the kids.. (L to R) Chad, Jenesee, Janson, Ryan, Ashley, Jace, Cole and Jurnee


The four of us!




Our little poser! When we camp we are so "white trash"! Lol.. Dirty, let the Jen run around in a diaper! There is just no other way! When I camp, I have the outlook that its a time to relax, not panic about getting DIRTY!

Jenny likes to camp in the trailer and play in the dirt and rocks.. but she will not play in the sand or water when we go to lakes or the beach! She's a funny kiddo! She definetely acts like a girl! You can see in this pic.



The kids love this freedom to!

Definetely Daddy's girl! She loves him so much! Wow, she is so White next to him!

Tray and I cookin' breakfast! Jenny and I! This is her new face she makes when she knows you are taking her picture! Tray and I relaxing, finally!
Gotta love the camping hair! haha... so SEXY!
The love of my life! I love this MAN!

Jurn and Jenny checking out the campfire!

Me, Tray, Jurn and Jenny posing for the camera! I love these girls!
Roasting marshmellows is one of my favorite things to do when we go camping! I am glad that the kids all love it just as much as I do! I love to Smores, but I hate biting into hard, cold chocolate! The marshmellow just isnt hot enough to melt the chocolate! So I am learning to perfect it! mmmmm.......

Jenny seems to be the luckier child, we are breaking her in early! ... Jurn and Janson got to camp a little bit when they were younger, but I don't think Jace went very much.. Unless of course you count all the fishlake trips we went on and stayed with my parents in their fifth wheel.. but I wouldn't really call that camping, that was a HOME ON WHEELS! What better way to camp then watch satellite TV!




Ashley Skeen! What a little Cutie!

Jason and Justin relaxin' on tubes at the lake! They didn't think they would like it as much as they did!

Now, this is what I call the life! I love the sun and water together! It is sooo therapeutic to me! I could do this everyday! Especially with friends and family!




My little Jace and I! This child loves to camp and play! He makes friends with ANYONE! He made friends with the kids on the beach and played with them for hours..

He even tried to get his sister to play in the sand with him! Yeah right, that lasted about 3 minutes! She hates the sand...
Gettin' dirty!
Jurnee is pumpin' up her floaty!



And this is pretty much where Jenny stayed for a couple hours by her own choice! She wouldn't get down because of the sand! Even when she had shoes on.. maybe someday she will grow out of it!

Tray and I! My BFF! We have been friends since High School! I love her! Two peas in a pod!
Making adjustments on the trailer!

See... she will play lots in the dirt and rocks..


Long day of camping! This is when you know your child has played hard!

Grabbin' lunch at burger king in nephi on the way home! Yikes! We need Showers!

GOOD TIMES! Thanks Skeens for an awesome weekend!

Fun at the Pool!

This past Sunday we just hung out at the pool! It was a lot of fun! We love love love hanging together as a family! Especially because we don't have a ton of time! Jenesee finally learned how to use her tube and floaties and cruise around in the pool all by herself! She was soooo cute when she finally figured it out.. She just kept saying, "mom, i swimmin'"! The other kids love the pool, as well.. they play all sorts of games together! They are so cute! Of course, i just love the sun!

We are so lucky with Jason's job that we can go to the complex pools where it is a little more private! We love it too... because they are not freezing cold!

Off to Colorado...

My wonderful sister in law... who moved so far away... (j/k Tam) wanted to take our 3 older kids for a couple weeks to spend time with their family up in COLORADO! They were so excited to go! They left Saturday Morning and are staying until we go pick them up in 3 weeks... WOW! Just Jenesee and us! It is crazy! It has only been a couple days and it feels so wierd! I can't remember what life was like with only one Child! One word says it all.... EASY!
So for the next few weeks we will enjoy the break that my Sweet Sister in Law has given us! I don't know how I will ever repay her! Hopefully we can return the favor for them soon!

Love Ya Tam!