Fishing with Grandpa...

I took the kids fishing this summer along with my parents.  Jason had to pull an all-nighter at work so we went and spent the afternoon and night with them.  We went to some lake, I can't remember which, and didn't have any luck catching fish but the kids had fun anyway.

Kyson being a poser...

Camden just being cute.  He had no interest in fishing, all he did was throw rocks in the lake, which I am pretty sure is the reason for not catching fish!

Kaysia had to pee REALLY bad and at the time I wasn't aware of any bathrooms around.  There of course were but I didn't find out until after.  I decided instead of trying to help her squat in the bushes I would build this....

an outdoor toilet for girls!  It actually worked great.  Boys are so much easier in the wilderness, but if you ever have to take a little girl out in the bushes, I highly recommend building one of these!

Living Planet Aquarium...

I finally took the kids to the aquarium this summer.  I don't know who liked it more, the kids or me!  I am so fascinated with marine life.  I couldn't take a ton of pictures because the lighting was horrible but I did get a great picture of this ugly little guy!

My FAVORITE part of the aquarium was petting the the sting rays.  Most of them stayed deep in the water but there was one who LOVED being touched.  This sting ray would go up the side, jump at you and would just sit there so you could touch it.  Kaysia and Kyson weren't fans at all. Camden put his hands in the water and looked further down the tank and when he noticed one swim under his hand he pulled his hand out of the water so fast!  I finally got him to touch one and he thought it was pretty cool.  He was more interested than the other two for sure! 

It was a pretty cool place and although it was pricey, I think it is something we will do once every summer!

My Grandpa's...

I have been VERY fortunate in my life to not only have a relationship with ALL my grandparents but to also know my great-grandparents.  They are all so special to me and I love them very much!  My grandpa's have taught me a lot about life. Their infinite wisdom is something that I will ALWAYS cherish and keep with me.    
     My grandpa Linton has not only taught me, but shown me so much on how the gospel can bless your life and there isn't any question I can ask him that has to do with the gospel that he can't answer.  He is my spiritual guide in this life.  He has the best attitude and just loves having fun with all of his great-grandkids!  If I remember right he and my grandma have 24 grandchildren and 23 great grandchildren with 5 more on the way all due within 3 months of each other!  They are pretty diligent about showing up to anything they are invited to!  My kids love them so much and so do I!  My grandpa has a pretty bad back that causes him to be in pain, but that NEVER stops that man from playing with the kids and rolling on the floor with them!  Here is a picture of him giving Camden a shoulder ride which he was obviously enjoying!

My grandpa Whetman has always been a special man to me.  He seriously is the wisest man I will ever meet on this earth!  He knows everything from gardening to grocery shopping, from websites that can get you  the best deal on things to cooking a gourmet meal off of next to nothing, from building ANYTHING, to financial planning.   He has been someone that I seek advice from on almost everything.  He too has the most amazing personality.  He never complains, EVER.   Right now he has lung cancer, pulmonary fibrosis, and emphysema.  He is on 100% oxygen 100% of the time and when you call and ask him how he is doing he ALWAYS says, "I have nothing to complain about!"  Even though he is very sick he still goes out on his 4 wheelers, mows his and his neighbors lawn and just enjoys life.  NOTHING will stop him from living the fullest life he can.  In what would be a scary time for most of us his attitude is positive and uplifting.  He is realistic and knows that his time left on this earth is short, but he continues to live and live well and as happy as possible.  In my conversations with him it seems to me that he isn't scared to leave this earth.  He knows that he has been good to people and after this life, he will be in his words, "alright".  I KNOW he will be more than "alright".  He will live in a place with gardens that he couldn't even DREAM of!  His favorite smell of decomposing grass freshly tilled in the dirt will be all around him!  As for now, I will enjoy him while he is here as much as I can!  He continues to teach me something new every time I am with him and his advice is the best I have ever gotten and it is never ending!  He will always be an example in my life.   My kids love him and Kaysia especially seems to have a special place in her heart for him.  

I am a very lucky person to have these men in my life.  They will continue to guide me in directions that will always be good for me and my family, both spiritually and temporally.  

Playing in the Rain...

I LOVE summer rain storms especially the kind with GIANT rain drops that fall when the sun is still shining! We've had a few really great ones this year and I let the kids play in one. They had a blast and I loved taking the pictures and smelling the cool rain hit the warm pavement! Of course I was under an umbrella, I couldn't get the camera wet!

My favorite thing about rainstorms are the rainbows!

Big news....

Today we had some big news to share with the kids. I am so glad I grabbed my video camera because Kaysia's reaction was PRICELESS!!





It is a little premature for sharing this news with others but I had to share this video! Baby brown will make his or her appearance in this world some time the begining of March.

RAGNAR....

I ran my very first race last weekend and it was a BIG one to be a first one!! I ran the Wasatch Back or RAGNAR relay race. It is a total of 188 miles starting in Logan and ending in Park City. I didn't run the whole thing, I'm not quite that amazing, but I did run my parts of the race rather well (when I say well I mean I did my parts within the time estimated for me to finish them). I was part of a team of 12 people and basically we each had our section of the race to run, at the end of our section a team member was waiting to start their 'leg'. Our team was called the Duodecads, the meaning of it is "a group of twelve things". We got creative and if you notice our shirts we are each a 'thing', like Dr. Suess. I was runner number seven so my shirt said "thing 7".


All in all it was a good time! I loved hanging out with the ladies the most, as for the running it was very hard both physically and mentally and I would LOVE to do it again! I am officially addicted to racing and signed up for my first 10k today!! Unfortunately I forgot my camera so I didn't get any pictures but there were 5 other cameras there so I am sure somewhere down the road I will inherit a few more pictures!

Today the kids and I ventured to the zoo. They always like to see the animals there. We got to see Zuri the baby elephant, she was ADORABLE! They were trying to train her and she would come outside run to the trainer and then turn around and run back into the cave where her mommy was caged up. The trainer said that was the first time that she had been out there without mommy and that she kept running back in there to make sure it was ok for her to be outside alone...so cute!! Finally she decided she wasn't going to be outside without her mommy so the both of them came out and put on a show for us! They were feeding the elephants strawberries and the mommy elephant would pick them up with her trunk effortlessly and put them in her mouth. The trainer pointed out that the baby elephant (who is 10 months old) wasn't as coordinated with her trunk. It was fun to see how she clumsily tried to get the strawberries off the ground and roll her trunk up to her mouth.
Every time we have been to the zoo the tigers in in a coma like state from the heat, I have only see them so much as lift there head for a second and then lay back down. Not today!! They were playing with each other in the water and jumping all over the place. It was so neat, I couldn't get enough of it, they were so close and so beautiful!


While we were looking at the rinocerouse I could hear this really loud grunting noise coming from around the corner but I didn't think anything of it. We just moved on and when we came to the turtle exibit I realized that was where the noise was coming from and this is what I saw...



Try explaining that one to the kids!! Kaysia asked me why that turtle was on top of it's baby (the turtle on the bottom was a little smaller) I told her that isn't the turtle's baby, but the zoo will probably have baby turtles the next time we visit!!