Lake Tahoe Trip Part 1 (Yosemite National Park)

For family vacation this year we journeyed 10 hours away to Lake Tahoe.  We left St. George at 4:30 am on July 19.  While we were on our way we realized that we would only be about 20-30 miles from Yosemite so when we got to the turn off around 1:00 in the afternoon we took it.  We didn't make it the additional 50ish miles into Yosemite Village (where the really iconic stuff is) but we did go to Yosemite!  Very exciting. Since it was last minute and unplanned we didn't have Chap's national park passport with us but we stamped a postcard and mailed it home to him.   The little visited corner we went to was incredibly beautiful so I can't imagine the rest.  And since the drive there really wasn't too bad (Chap was AMAZING) I anticipate going there sometime in the next few years.

4th of July

The 4th of July was amazing as usual.  We went to the parade in St. George.

 Then we came back home and set off some smoke balls.  This was a big hit with the Chap-man

 That afternoon we went up to Kanarraville to spend time with Logan's cousins.  They host a BBQ every year and for the past two years Logan has been making homemade yeast root beer for it.  This years turned out awesome!

 Chapter posing with his giant bigger-than-he-is pack of fireworks. That night we went to Logan's office to watch the fireworks.  We didn't take the camera because we went up on top of his roof.  His office is in a 3 story building in downtown St. George and we climbed the ladder from the mechanical room to the roof.  We had our hands full getting me and Chap up there without carrying a camera:)  It was amazing though!  We'll probably do it again next year.

 Then next day we went up to our friends the Graff's and set off fireworks.  Chap absolutely loves their boys Romney and Wesley.

Chap having a little homemade root beer:)

Gunlock

While I was at girl's camp and Chap was with my sister, Logan spent his long lonely evenings fixing the boat.  So when I got home we took it for a spin at Gunlock.

 This picture was taken shortly before Chapter got brave and fell face first into the lake.  It only took a second for his life jacket to flip him face up but he was pretty mad about it.

He got a really cool hairdo from it though!  

Father's and Son's

Way back in May Chapter attended his first Father's and Son's campout with our ward.  He did great!  And while they were gone I got to catch up with my good friend Jessica and go out to Winger's (which Logan hates)!

With Romney and Wesley

Memorial Day Weekend

Logan had to work 4 ten hour days for two weeks in a row for this 4 day weekend, so we thought we should make the best of it.   We borrowed a 4-wheeler and went to my mom's house up in Elsinore.  Then we drove down to Escalante to see my sister and her family and play down there.

The Elsinore section of our trip is mostly undocumented.  Just a couple really bad cell phone pictures, but it was fun.  We asked my brother to draw us maps to see a few of the best pictrographs in the area.  It turned out really hard to find them. We went to find "The Blanket" on our way to clean graves in Junction and were unable to find it.  So we decided to go over the hills the back way into Marysvale. The weather was pretty bad most of our time there.  We went back to look for the blanket and we were able to find it thanks to some old men we found.  But of course we didn't have our camera.

The second part of our trip is where the fun really kicked up a notch.   We took the back way to Escalante through Widtsoe.  My dad drew us this map but it wasn't much better than the ones we got from my brother.  Then we got some bad directions from a man on the road and then we finally found a map.  Haha.  We did get there eventually.

When we got there we all loaded up in my brother-in-laws Bronco and went exploring to the "Double Mocqui" that we'd been hearing about.  It was only 50 miles away so we thought we'd be back by dinner.  But that is some pretty rough terrain and it took about 4 hours round trip (we left around 5:00).  Luckily my sister had grabbed some hamburger buns at a gas station on our way out of town for lunch the next day.  We snacked on hamburger buns and caught tadpoles and finally made it to our destination.  It was AMAZING!  And very much worth the crazy ride and dinner. I just realized that I made it sound like we ate the tadpoles, but we didn't.  We just caught them:)

The next morning we went on another 4-wheeler ride just up around the hills and saw a bunch of petrified wood.   Then after lunch my nephew Jaxon took us down to this cool arch.  Only Chap was asleep in the car so Jaxon and Logan went and then when they came back Jaxon stayed with Chapter in the car so Logan and I could go.  It was so awesome and we will definitely take Chapter back someday when he is awake!

 And our trip was capped off with going to see the "Circle of Friends" just outside Escalante.  Crazy long weekend but it was really really fun!

Big Boy Bed

Chapter has always hated his crib.  He would never go to sleep in it, we always had to hold him or take him into bed with us and then make the transfer when he was deeply asleep.  It was exhausting.  I'd been toying around with the idea of getting him a bed for a while but everyone said that it was a nightmare to transition them into one.  Getting a bed for Chapter was literally the best thing we could have done.  In fact, I wish we had done it months ago.  He has only fell out of it 3 times in the past month.  He sleeps so much better in there and it is amazing for me and Logan to be able to sleep at night.  I think Chapter must have hated the confinement of his crib.  I guess he's just a free spirit:)  And I must admit that my heart melts a little every time I see my boy all snuggled up under the blanket I made for him.

This is Chapter demonstrating the toy holding capabilities of his new bed.  The drawers are amazing!  They hold so many toys and it's really easy to clean them up now.  

I threw this in just to showcase the awesome sign that Santa brought Chap.  And, yes, the crib is still in his room.  And, no, that doesn't mean that I'm pregnant.  We just don't have the desire to disassemble it and take it downstairs to clog up the spare bedroom.  

 I also wanted to highlight the AMAZING print that my friend Katie Gish made for Chap's room.  We're a little obsessed with Seuss at our house.  Plus, I think that no truer words were ever spoken:)

Mother's Day

This year I spent Mother's Day Saturday as I have for all of my actual Mother's Days, working on the Young Women's fundraiser.  This year we made Oreo truffles and chocolate covered strawberries.  It was a huge success as always and pretty delicious if I do say so myself:)  While I was up slaving away at Sherry's house Logan went and bought me two rose bushes and planted them.  They don't have any flowers on them right now, or I would have taken a picture, but I am really excited.  This brings our rose bush count up to 10.  Someday I may have enough to be satisfied.

I must admit though, that having a kid that can make stuff is awesome on Mother's Day.  Chap made me something in nursery that absolutely melted my heart.  It is literally the best present I have ever been given.

Being a mom is something that I think about a lot, and something that I worry about a lot.  Am I loving him enough? Do I hold him, talk to him, tell him I love him enough? Do I truly "nurture" him as God intended? The list is endless.  I have learned so much from being a mom.  

Am I the only one that has deep thoughts before falling asleep and then can't remember them when they wake up in the morning?  One night as I was trying to sleep I started thinking about it, about motherhood, or parenthood really.  And I had profound thoughts that I can't quite remember.  But something along the lines of how parenthood is a gift that was (at least I think so) designed to teach us about our Heavenly Parents, and about their love for us.  Everyone says that you don't understand love until you become a parent.  I believe that is true.  I love Logan, don't get me wrong, but the love I have for Chapter is all encompassing, it's consuming, and it's beautiful. It's incredible to have a love that would make you want to give up your career, and your wants, needs and desires, your very identity to trade it in for a little man who is beautiful in every way.  A little man you would gladly die for, the little man that you  live for his smiles and hugs and kisses.  Being a mother changed me in ways I never expected.  But I'm a better person, I'm more loving and more open, and I'm pretty sure my heart has grown at least a couple of sizes.  

Easter

We didn't do a lot of the "traditional" stuff we normally do for Easter this year.  For instance, dyeing eggs just didn't make it on the schedule, but we did have lots of fun.

The Easter bunny brought Chapter a basket full of goodies including some new shirts and lots of treats.  The bunny even made Chapter a set of animal finger puppets and a hooded "woof woof" towel that Chap loves.  

Logan's work hosted an Easter breakfast and egg hunt Saturday morning which was a blast.

 Chap had a tantrum because I wanted him to unwrap the Rolo before he ate it.  Silly me.

The sod farm was BEAUTIFUL and the perfect place to host an egg hunt.  So much gorgeous grass!  Each kid got 10 eggs and a special prize.  He didn't really "get it" but it was a nice low key hunt for his first time:)

Zion

On Conference weekend we took off and headed up to Zion for some much needed fun.  

 We did the Hidden Canyon trail with Chap on Logan's back.  It was really fun and the weather was a little chilly but nice.

 Family picture under the arch.

 Thirsty boy:)

And this picture just makes me smile!

Little Cat C came too:) Always getting into mischief:)

18 Months

This handsome boy turned 18 months on April 2.  We didn't do anything very special but we did get a haircut.  

And looking back at the pictures, apparently we suffered from violent mood swings.

This little one is such a blessing in our lives.  He loves everything.  His favorite foods are tomatoes, noodles, and cheese.  If we make something that happens to have all three he is in heaven.  He likes reading books, playing outside and he thinks everything says "woof, woof".  He says mama, dada, thank you, woof woof, happy, ball, bum, and poop.  haha.  He's so silly and loves to get tickled.  I wouldn't change a thing:) We love you Chap monkey!

Funny Stuff

 Chapter fell into the laundry basket and I was so mean that I a left him there while I grabbed the camera. Haha.  Ignore my messy bedroom.

Sometimes when we are doing dangerous things outside (like cutting something or sharpening something, etc.) we put Chapter in the car.  He likes to pretend to drive and this time he even got daddy's sunglasses.

Muddy

St. Patty's Day

 Such a cutie looking sassy with a kiss on his cheek:)

This year we celebrated St. Patrick's Day by wearing our Irish shirt and making green playdough.  We also ate green jello.

Jumpin' Jacks

We got invited to go to Jumpin' Jacks with the Manis fam to celebrate Noah's birthday.  It was $4 Thursday so we'll definitely do that again.

He didn't "get it" at first but he warmed up to it.  When Logan got home and asked how it went I told him that I could see ALL of Chapter's teeth the whole time because he was smiling so big.  We went down a couple big slides but it seemed a bit treacherous to climb up them holding a toddler.  You have to wear socks (so it's slippery) and the toe holds really aren't designed for adult feet.  We only did it a few times but Chap liked the slides a lot.

Valentine's Day

This is me being a slacker and staging Valentine's pictures today, the last day of February.
We had a lot of fun though, we went to lunch with Daddy and we had a scavenger hunt and a giant heart shaped rice krispie.  Chap also looked extra adorable in his V-day Tee:)

Chap got lots of goodies.  Mommy and Daddy got him a Lightning McQueen fork, spoon, and twisty straw.  (Not that he knows who that is, he just needed cutlery, haha).  He got the Little People Valentine's set from Aunt Kristy, Aunt Katie got him heart shaped noodles, a pillowcase, and a Valentine Postage Stamp bear.  It's super cuddly and cute.  Grandma M sent him a card and a whole box of goodies.  So many goodies that we haven't eaten them all yet.  

And I just threw this one in because it's a great representation of his eye color.  Still not sure what they are but they sure aren't brown.  He has a cute green hoodie that makes them green as grass.  Is this what Hazel eyes are?