Cave Lake

Yes, Paul finally talked me into going camping. I only relented because I've been putting it off forever, but I knew my kids would enjoy going. Seriously, I'm not a camper. The whole woods and fishing thing just isn't my idea of fun, but I braved it and was ready to go. Aunt Pam and Uncle Ray were going with us so we were taking two vehicles. Paul, Jaxon, Ray, and Tanner in one car. Pam, me, Camryn, and Maddie in another.
We left on a Friday evening headed toward Cave Lake which is on the outskirts of Ely, Nevada. It's about a 4-5 hour drive from Vegas. Our plan was to make it to the campsite in the evening and set up camp, but our plans didn't quite turn out that way. Jaxon hadn't been feeling well (remember I had the flu, then Camryn got it, and then Anna had her turn). We were a half hour from Vegas when Paul pulled over because Jaxon was puking in his truck. Nice! Paul cleaned him up the best he could and we got back on our way. We kept on going until we realized that the highway was closed due to an accident so we had to turn around and go another way.
Now, I'm thinking maybe this is a sign and we should just go home because then Madison starts complaining about her stomach hurting so we stop again to take restroom breaks. While stopped Paul informed me that he left Jaxon's shoes on the side of the road while he was cleaning up the puke so now I'm searching the hick town store looking for a pair of shoes since I only packed one pair. I finally found some fluorescent green Crocs that fit him perfect.

We get on the road and soon Maddie starts complaining again so we pull over. I end up giving her to Paul to deal with and he gave me puke child Jaxon (who smelled oh so fragrant!) Soon Jaxon starts puking again so Pam has to pull over again so I can clean him up. A half hour later Paul pulls over again because Maddie is now puking. It's now 9:00 PM...we left Vegas at 4:00 PM and we're still not in Ely. We've pulled over who knows how many times and I'm done! Paul made the wonderful decision to stay the night in a hotel so we can do some wash, clean Jaxon's car seat, and have a good night sleep. Oh happy day! Jaxon puked again before the night was over, but it was nice to sleep in a real bed and not be traveling.
The next day we made it to camp, fished all day, made some great meals, laughed when Pam fell down, and just enjoyed ourselves being out in the woods and being together as a family. I slept great and actually had a really good time. The highlight of the trip was definitely the toliets and hot shower that they had at the campsite. No one was sick the rest of the trip and we made it home quick, safe, and sound.








Spending almost two days in the woods with family....somewhat enjoyable.
Dealing with pukey kids just to make my hardworking hubby happy...valuable moments.
Watching Pam trip and fall on her face....hilarious.
Catching a fish, degutting it, and watching the blood ooze down my arm...a rare feat.

Finding Jaxon's shoes on the side of the highway on our way home....PRICELESS!!!

My Mother's Day Fun (Sorry No Pictures)

The month of May wasn't a great month for me. I was a good girl and had my flu shot last October, I take a multi-vitamin daily, and I have really tried (notice I say really try) to exercise at least four times a week. Plus, I cut out soda and only drink water. This probably helps since I haven't had a head cold or anything else in way over a year and I'm surrounded by kids daily, yet May was the month for other fun things.

It started when we took Camryn to Disneyland and on our second day there I got food poisoning from eating at Denny's. Imagine being at the happiest place on earth sicker than a dog! I kept guzzling water and walking until finally poor Paul bought me some liquid Imodium AD since that was all the park really had for sickness. I think I swallowed half the bottle. I felt much better by the afternoon, but how sad to ruin my pleasant thoughts of Disneyland with horrific nauseating ones of me running to the bathroom every 15 minutes. Big thanks to my fam who waited patiently for my many trips to the john.

Then, big weekend for Madison since she's been preparing for a dance competition and it was Mother's Day weekend. My back started feeling achy, yet I associated it with that time of the month until the big pain hit and after three hours of pure torture I finally went to the ER to get some pain medication to help relieve the pain of a kidney stone that was stuck. If you've never had a kidney stone attack, be grateful. I would never wish that trauma on anybody. It is excruciating, mind blowing, and the type of pain where you kinda go into a state of shock. Let me tell you, the feeling of a knife coming out of your hoo-ha is probably the worst thing I've ever had to experience. The pain is so intense it literally makes you vomit and you can't sit because of the pain. Finally, I was given morphine which immediately relieved the pain. So I told the nurse I loved her and she was my new b/f. At that moment she was! I was told that my stone was stuck in my urethrae tube, yet it was almost to my bladder which was a great thing. Yea, right! Plus, it was too small to be surgically removed so I had to wait for it to pass. It must have since I've been pain free since.

During this time Paul had to take Maddie to her dance competition. Now, Paul usually is just a spectator and supporter with her dance so actually trying to get her ready with full makeup, hair, and costume and then getting her to the location was very trying for him. While I'm dying in the hospital he gets to play Super Dad! He did great and Maddie did pretty good.

The Doctor at the ER gave me some pain meds and other stuff to help with the stone and sent me on my way. The next day was Mother's Day. Yea for me! I layed on the couch all day while Paul made all of my favorite foods: salsa and chips, steak and corn, and watermelon with fruit dip. What a great day. Until 2:00 AM when I started puking my guts out and continued to do so until 9:00 AM. Every 15 minutes I was up puking. So everything I loved on Mother's Day I'll never eat again. I went to my family doctor to see what was up and he determined I had an allergic reaction to the morphine,I think he was wrong since throughout the rest of the week four other members of my family had the stomach flu so on top of dealing with kidney stones I get the stomach flu.

So now it's June and finally everyone is well. I'm doing great and actually went and saw a urologist about my frequent kidney stone attacks. I'll be having a bunch of tests done to see why my body keeps forming them, plus making some changes in my diet to not offset any stones since the doc informed that there is a 90% chance that I'll have them again. Why me?

San Clemente

It seems I'm getting so behind on my postings and that's a big pet peeve for me. I'll try and catch up.

Yea me! I was able to go to San Clemente, CA for the weekend and share the wedding festivities of my darling niece Heather and her new handsome hubby Taylor. I flew there on a Friday and came home on Sunday with no kids AND no hubby. Pure bliss!
On Friday evening I attended the rehearsal dinner that was held at a cute little Italian restaurant. It was hilarious because the windows of the restaurant were facing a Metro link train track and it came right in front of us with only about 3 feet between the train and the window so it looked like the train was coming toward you. It was so fun to meet up with family, especially my brother in law Gary who was married to my sister Patsy. I haven't seen him for years.

Heather and Taylor were married in the Newport Beach Temple on Saturday morning which was so gorgeous. That evening their reception was held at her parents backyard. It was beautiful and their backyard looked amazing.

I went home on Sunday which was with great sadness since I was returning back to reality, but I'm so glad I went and was able to share such a fun weekend with my family.

Me, my brother Curtis, and my sister Laurie. I'm standing in front of the window where the Metro link train came rushing toward me and scared the crap out of all of us.


My brother in law Gary, Anna, and Laurie. Who knows what's so funny.



Gary and Carol



Anna, Laurie, and Randy.

Laurie, Curtis, and I again. Curtis is Stake President in San Clemente, California so it was funny to hear people call him "President Reese"


Yes, that's Anna acting crazy with Gary. We love him sooo much. He was married to my sister Patsy and is still such a huge part of our family. They were holding sparklers while the bride and groom rushed to their awaiting car.


Again, my favorite people acting silly.


My darling niece Heather and her new husband Taylor. It was a beautiful wedding and I was so fortunate to be able to go and be a part of such a wonderful weekend. Thanks Heath!

More of Camryn

For Camryn's 5th birthday Paul and I took her to Disneyland. Yea, pretty cheap on our part since we have annual passes. Camryn's Aunt Pam and cousin Jen joined us for two fun days at our favorite place in the world.

My new favorite place is the Celebration BBQ that they now have in the back of the park by Big Thunder Mountain. It's pricey and you have to pay before you can see Woody, but the food was yummy and tons of it. All the BBQ you want to eat and the characters come up to your table to see the kids. Woody's horse (I call him Pokey) loved Camryn and took a lot of time with her. For dessert they bring out this concoction holding waffle cones with cupcakes baked in them. So so delicious and something I plan to do each time I go.

Camryn is a daredevil and the fuzzy picture shows her riding Tower of Terror which her mother will never get on again. The picture where she is frowning is because she was told she still wasn't tall enough to ride California Screamin.' Poor girl!

Camryn Turns 5

Maddie holding Camryn for the first time.


Camryn 6 weeks old.



Going to her first princess party. (2008)


My favorite picture ever of Camryn! (2007)


One year old!




How many messes can this child possibly get into?



Camryn and Jaxon (2007)


Kissing a dolphin in Puerto Vallarta (2008)



My baby girl is now 5 years old!
Five years ago on April 28 Camryn came into our lives and we've been kept on our toes ever since. She was a month early and my water actually broke while I was sitting on the couch watching The Baby Story (eating a plateful of brownies too, but..) I actually thought I was peeing my pants and after changing my pants three times realized that it wasn't urine. Stress began to set in when I realized that Paul was working in Yuma, Arizona and was a good 6 hours away. Luckily, my doctor was able to stop the labor until the next morning so Paul could be there to see his baby girl born. Our tiny 7 pound bundle of joy was perfect and we were elated.
Camryn has the funniest personality and is a bundle of energy. She also has a heart of gold and when she hugs you she really hugs you. Camryn loves roller coasters and is always disappointed when she hasn't grown tall enough yet to ride California Screamin' at Disneyland. Her favorite line is, "put your hands up" whenever anyone rides a ride with her.
Camryn has gone to preschool for the past two years and loves it. Everyday she asks if she has school. Camryn also enjoys swimming and learned to swim without floaties when she was three. We call her our little fish. We tried to make Camryn a dancer, but she only lasted two weeks. She informed us she wants to be a baker instead.

We love our little girl and constantly crack up at the things she says.



Meeting her new brother for the first time.


Love this child!

Cuties

Since we didn't get to wear our cute new Easter clothes on Easter the kids wore their outfits on the following Sunday. They looked so cute and bright. Jaxon and Tanner were just thrilled to get their pictures taken. Of course, Maddie is never not smiling for the camera.





Jaxon REFUSED to get in the photos. Can you tell?

Easter

This year at Easter it was really relaxed and fun. We colored eggs which I very much HATE to do because of the smell, mess, and stains galore on little bodies and furniture. Yet, the kids do enjoy it so we always do it. I even thought I was increasing my load by buying 2 dozen eggs for them to color. My friend Kim outdid me by saying that her family dyes 8 dozen eggs! So much for that...I think 2 is all I can stomach without tossing them in the trash as soon as we are done! Yes, it was a horrible mess and we were all stained green, plus we had many broken eggs, but the kids loved it which is what counts...right?

The Easter Bunny found our house and left his paw prints. I was informed by Camryn that I forgot to leave out a carrot for the Easter Bunny and he probably took some of her candy. I guess my 4 year old realized that the baskets were a little small. I decided to not go all out for my kids this year and only bought some candy and a swimsuit for their baskets. I felt it was getting extremely commercialized in my household when certain children are wanting to write a list of what they want for Easter!For some reason Tanner was never around when I had my camera out, but yes I do have a 4th child!




We played hookie from church and took the kids to breakfast. On holidays it's very important to me that my children spend a lot of time with their dad and we do things together as a family. Madison was miserable at breakfast (tonsils) so we made a mad dash to get back home. We did drive around our old stomping grounds and showed the kids where mom and dad grew up and where our first homes were. It was such a reflective moment for Paul and I to see where we started so many years ago and to now see what our life has become. I was almost sad to view my old neighborhood and remember how I couldn't wait to leave the 'hood, yet I never ever thought that I would so desperately want to go back and live that way again. I was actually homesick for old neighborhoods! I've really had some good years and am quite blessed for what I have. I guess just seeing how you lived really puts things into perspective of how your life has become.

Anyhoo...Later that afternoon Paul taught Camryn how to ride her bike without any training wheels! She was so proud of herself and I was surprised by how quick she learned. Jaxon was loving every minute of riding his scooter and always made an effort to give her a high five every time she fell. Of course, he won't touch his bike.



Sometime during the day the Easter Bunny hid eggs in our backyard. The kids loved it which made me feel better since I had major guilt for not taking them to any community hunts which I always do, but this they loved.



I did no cooking for the day and we all snacked and ate pizza leftovers from the night before so it was a great day. I'm so grateful for my family, friends, and life. As Camryn would say, "This Easter was the best Easter Day I've ever had." Thanks mom!!