Boulder, Colorado!

This is all about the trip I just took with Paige to my sister's house in Colorado to just get away and let the cousins have some time together. We had a fantastic time. Since I consider this blog my "journal" - here's the day by day highlights of what happened.


The day after we got to Colorado we made Valentines cookies together. It went something like this: dip the knife in the frosting, spread it on the cookie, lick the rest off, dip the knife in the frosting, spread it on the cookie . . . and on and on. It was also Laura's birthday and her neighbor sent her a tiara and earrings to wear, which Abigail later wore to the mall.


Thursday we all went to an outdoor mall in downtown Boulder. The kids played and walked and just had a good time being together outside. Here are Paige and Abigail playing in a kids play area. If you look close you can see Collette down in the bottom right corner maybe eating the rocks? No - just playing in the sand.


Friday was an interesting experience for Paige (as was most of this trip). She went to a mall for the first time in her memory (except for once when she was 1 1/2). The girls were pooped long before these seasoned veterans (thanks Mom!), so they stopped to watch tv in a store and looked so darn cute as they cheesed it for the camera!


We did a lot of running around to different places, not all of which did I take pictures. We did however make to Outback Steakhouse on Saturday night - which is my favorite. It was hilarious watching the kids run everywhere. My kids never get to go anywhere, so again Paige looked a little like a deer in the headlights.


Paige loved that Outback gave out free coloring books, so she went to town while everyone else chatted. Of course, Abigail is always on the ready for that camera - looking good!

On Monday we decided to go to the city pool and let the girls play. It was a great place complete with fountains, slides and toys. I think this short trip was one of Paige's favorite experiences. They had to wait for some people to come out before they could get their turn, so they were trying to be patient.


On our last day Paige and I went to Google. My sister's husband, Joel works there. We went to have lunch with him. It was a lot of fun with some really great food! We did not however have the time to climb on the climbing wall, play pool, ping pong, the Wii or get a massage. What a great place to work!


This is Paige on our way home. She was sad to leave, but also really happy to go home and see her "Bubba" (Hyrum). She was ready for some serious wrestling with her brother and Dad.

This was a much needed vacation for Paige and (especially) me. Laura and I got a lot of time to talk and giggle and watch stupid movies together. It has been too long since we have done anything like that and I hope we can all get together again soon. So thank you Laura for having us and to Joel for putting up with us :) But most of all, thanks to my sweetheart, Cameron, for taking the two babies for a week so we could go. You're the best!

What a great week!!!

Saturday Sleigh Ride

Last Saturday morning I finally convinced my husband and father in law to get the sleigh out and hitch up the team (it only took me 4 weeks!) In their defense, it is a lot of work! But they finally did and we had the best time! They threw on a couple of hay bales and some blankets and off we went. I love the snow and it has finally snowed enough that the sleigh could go all over town. It has been too long since we've had it out - and it had a lot of wear that needed some repairing before it could go, so I guess it's a really good thing I married into a very handy family. We rode around for only a couple of hours, but that was more than enough to wear out Bonnie (on the left) and Penny (right). I love having a family that is so knowledgeable about horses and an old way of life. So here's another great reason to live in Lund!

20 Ways To Tell You're In Lund

As an outsider, I have noticed some things that make Lund different from other towns - here are 20 of them:
1. You don't have a fence
2. Your Cabela's magazine sits next to your Ensign
3. You ride a 4 wheeler to school/ work
4. Playdates include riding horses in the yard
5. Your family can't make it home for Christmas, but can come for the "Rabbit Hunt" on New Year's Day
6. People don't recognize you by your truck, but your dog
7. You pull a truck hood behind a 4 wheeler and call it sledding
8. Your entire Bishopric wears cowboy boots and announcements from the pulpit include comments about community brandings and hay being put up
9. You don't have a stoplight
10. You don't even know where the keys to your house are
11. Playing in the irrigation ditch in the summer counts as swimming
12. Shopping includes driving more than 3 hours each way
13. You can shoot off your back porch
14. Your 2 year old knows the difference between a combine and a trackhoe
15. You own a trampoline and your dog jumps with the kids
16. You have at least 5 guns and one is always in the truck
17. Your 4 year old has outside chores and can catch their own horse
18. Your kids go to the same school for K-12
19. You own a "farm truck" that is probably not registered, is never washed, and always has a chain, a shovel and horse shoes in the bed.
20. You can't imagine living anywhere else!

Brad Paisley

Cameron's birthday is just around the corner and I thought I would surprise him with Brad Paisley tickets. We finally got to go last Thursday night and had a total blast. He put on a great show (especially for a country concert). I have figured out that I am really getting old and not only do I not enjoy concerts like I used to, but I don't even go to the same kind of concerts that I used to. I have seen some amazing shows in the past like Lollapalooza (a couple times), The Steve Miller Band, The Grateful Dead, Pearl Jam and a bunch more. Country concerts are just not the same. Every one is sitting down and there are kids everywhere. I really like it, but my first country concert was Chris Ledoux - he put on amazing shows! Another huge difference I noticed was that we used to use lighters during slow songs -now they use cellphones! I really am getting old! Here's a couple pictures from the show.

Scripture Study

This is Hyrum ready to go to church. I think he looks just like a mini missionary! We were just about to walk out the door when he ran back to get "his" (they are really Paige's) scriptures. He loves to have them with him as he's wandering around the house. Now his blanket and scriptures are his best friends. (He sleeps with both!)


I think my children have become obsessed with scripture study. We are trying to do it more regularly and Paige and Hyrum are in love with it. They are always reminding us to have it and when we aren't doing it, then they will. It's really cute because they just make stuff up as they go. For Hyrum it's usually something like "and it came to pass" and then just a bunch of nonsense followed by "and then they fight". I think he will like the wars in the Book of Mormon when he gets older. Paige recites the stories she's learned with a lot of detail. When we read together as a family, Hyrum usually holds them upside down, but he will say the words we read to him for his turn. Paige is starting to read in school and is getting pretty good, but she is really learning a lot from our family study time. She has even made a goal to be reading at a first grade level by the end of the year. I know reading the scriptures together will help that to happen.


This is the song Hyrum made up about scripture study. I know it's hard to understand him, but he is saying "scripture study" over and over again.

Listen to my beautiful dryer

Pictures of kids

We were trying to get the kids to cooperate.