MEMORIES of Moab

Our Spring Break family vacation turned out to be even more fun than I thought! Quite a few families from our ward and surrounding wards went out to run the half marathon. We ended up being able to stay in these cabins with everyone and not only had family but friend time too. Our kids had a blast and I'm thinking this will be an annual event for us.
Here are the top 6 happenings of the trip:

• Got to sign up (late) to run in the 5 mile race! It was a fun race to run in, & the weather was perfect.
• Learned just how much Katrina talks in her sleep. Just about every hour she was shouting something out. She seems to get out her frustrations in her sleep.
• Treated rashes on 3 of 4 of my kids from the hot tubs. Turned out that quite a few other kiddos got them too. Neosporin and Benedryl did the trick to fix it.
• Hiked Delicate Arch and listened to Sydie cry about climbing up the trail the whole way. She did get distracted by a lizard or two which was lovely. Once we hit shade she felt a lot better.
  
• Visited a place called Hidden Arch which is a MUST-see. It's basically a .5 mile walk down to this really soft cool sand that's enclosed within these rock walls and towers with a cute little arch within that kids climbed on top of. Our kids favorite spot for sure. We tried to revisit it the next day but that day happened to be a lot colder and WINDY. And I mean Windy. It was a like a scene from Hildalgo. People had wrapped themselves with blankets where you could just see their eyes in order to not get the sting of the sand hitting you from every direction. Not worth it. We basically got back into the car and ended up sitting it out in the cabin until the winds let up.
• ATV-Monday. Everyone either rented (like us) or brought up their ATV's and we basically went out all day to a couple of different spots and had a total party. Favorite place and most beautiful scenary was by far Onion Creek. Loved loved loved it.

It's My Dad's Birthday!

Today my Dad is officially 80 years old! He was born in 1929. That's getting up there!
Here's a few of the fun things my Dad says and has always said while I was growing up. I will call them Dadisms.
"Check your tires"
"Dumber than a doornail",
"I don't smoke and I don't chew, and I don't go with girls who do"
"Drive it or Milk it" (He'd say that if someone in front of him wasn't going fast enough--that's my all time favorite)
"Little things bother Little People"
"Great things come in small packages"
"Be a leader not a follower"
“I read it on the plane back from Toronto.” (he seemed to get all his information that way)
“Never mess with mother nature” (He'd say that as a weatherman in Canada)
"Be careful!"
"...(singing) Put your shoulder to the wheel move along...we all have work, don't be a jerk..."
(At Taco Bell) "Can I have a large malt, heavy on the malt?" (Uh, sir this is TACO bell)
"There is a front coming in from the west" (whenever the weatherman came out of him)
“Slicker than snot on a doorknob”
“Go blow your nose”
“He wouldn’t recognize a ____if it came over and sat on his face!”
"But.....what do 'I' know?"
"Howdy partner" (John Wayne style)
The phone rings and Dad ALWAYS says, "Who could that be?"
"That's the American way"

So Happy Birthday Dad! In your honor I'll try to say a few of these today to my own kids. I will also try to whistle all day like you. You can whistle like nobody's business, but I'll do my best. I will also rub some VIX on my throat as to keep away all sickness like you do nightly.
I love you!

Middle Child Syndromes

I heard a one cute & one disconcerting comparison from my kids yesterday.
Here's the cute--
Sydie: (trying to wake her up)
"I feel like a bear that is trying to hyberate (that's how she said it) and it's not spring yet and someone is trying to wake me up!"
Here's the disconcerting one---
Katrina: (after getting in trouble for being mean to Sydie)
"I feel like I'm the dirt and Sydie's the flower. "
This is not the first time Katrina has had this issue. As she was watching Fred Claus she paused the movie and said. "That's how I feel! I'm Fred Claus and Sydie is Nicholas!"
Maybe we should stop telling her to be more like her sister! (kidding).
She's got some issues evidently. She went on to accuse me of forgetting to wish her happy birthday last year and not making Christmas Eve very special. Wha? This girl has memory issues as well.

Or maybe this is a classic middle child syndrome because Coby is saying this sort of thing on a regular basis. Like on Sunday. He told me that if I had only one cinnamon roll left and had to share it with one of my children I'd share it with Ace and not him. He apparently always gets the raw end of the deal as does Katrina.

So this week I'm going to focus on the middle children. I'll let you know if it works.

Happy Birthday BWD

BWD's birthday is February 23rd. I am late publishing this, but didn't want to miss out on a little birthday tribute in his honor.
Here are a few of the many things I love and admire about him:

• He is a funny guy. He can totally crack me up.
  
• He keeps his bod in good shape. He's athletic.
  
• He brings me flowers from the store on a pretty regular basis for no reason.
• He helps me clean. He'll clean without me asking all the time.
• He is always trying to improve himself.
• He can fix almost anything that breaks.
• He plays/wrestles around with the kids. They can always count on him to play, even if he has only one minute, he won't turn them down.
• He takes care of me if I'm sick.
  
• He is a wonderful example for our kids.
• He smells good (that's really a big one for me).
• He tries to look young and has a youthful personality.
  
• He doesn't watch sports or play video games for hours on end.
  
• He makes the most of his time.
• He is driven.