It's Been Awhile Update

I see it has been awhile since I have posted. Rather than feeling completely over whelmed with trying to catch up and write about what has been going on for the last six months. I will just a post a few of my favorite pictures and move on. I am hoping to keep things more up-to-date and document what is going on in our crazy busy lives. School takes up most of my time and can be overwhelming.

 

 

July Vacation to Red Fish Lake, Idaho with Kyle & Misty's family

 

 

Craters of the Moon

 

Fishing at Massacre Rock in Idaho

 

Parker walking in a parade behind BIG BLUE.

 

Thanksgiving with my kiddos. I am very thankful for the joy they bring to my life.

 

Kids are easily entertained. Thanksgiving.

 

Thanksgiving on the farm. All the Vea 2nd cousins.

 

Decorating the Christmas Tree. Kind of nice I didn't have to do much.

 

Maisie celebrating her birthday at Grandma and Grandpa Julander's.

 

One of my favorite pictures of me and Maisie. Shopping in Kohl's.

 

New Year's Eve fun. 

 

I Love watching Parker read. His favorite books right now are Geronimo Stilton.

 

Parker and Tyson enjoying their first sleepover. They were both so excited.

 

Celebrating Leap Year.

Bryce Canyon Vacation

We left Thursday, June 11th at about 8:00 a.m. Eric worked graveyards, so as soon as he got home we finished the last minute stuff and was on the road by about 8. Sallie came with us. Our first stop was in Payson, for a quick fill-up and potty break. Then we stopped at Big Rocky Candy Mountain. I had researched things to do before we left and one of the things I found was renting a ATV/UTV for the day. I wasn't sure if I could talk Eric into it, but threw the idea out there. I figured that we might run out of things to do in Bryce Canyon, so wanted to be sure I had a back up plan. We ended up reserving a six passenger Ranger for Sunday. We arrived at our campground, Paradise Rv Park, just outside of Panguitch at about 2:00. There was no body around, so we wanted for about a half hour before the guy showed up. Eric was getting very irritated. After all, he was going on no sleep and just wanted to set up camp and relax. Once we got situated we just hung out in the trailer and watched a movie.

Friday, June 12th, we cooked breakfast and then drove to Bryce Canyon, which was about 30 minutes away. We jumped on the shuttle bus that took us into the park. We hiked the Navajo Loop/Sunset Point hike which ended up being 2.9 miles. It was a great hike and the weather was perfect. I don't think it got hotter than 75 degrees. After the hike, we rode the shuttle back to the truck and had lunch and than walked into a few little shops. Then we headed back to the trailer. We cooked dinner and just hung out. We met a really nice couple, Brian and Nancy, that stay the whole summer at Paradise RV Park. I think they have convinced us to come back again next year. We will see if we can get our schedule to work out and come back for the Balloon festival.

Saturday, June 13th, we went to the tractor pulls in Panguitch. Sallie had never been to the tractor pulls. It was fun to attend a small town event. The sled broke towards the end, so we didn't get to watch the last couple of tractors. Then we went back to Bryce Canyon and went on the Mossy Cave trail. It was only a .8 mile hike. It was a perfect little hike that went up to a Mossy Cave and then to a little waterfall. Eric and the kids hiked up a steep hill to look over the hill. On the way down, Maisie was crossing the river and lost her flip flop. Thankfully it got stuck in a little cove before going down the waterfall and her dad was nice enough to retrieve it for her. She was a little upset and went storming off down the trail. I think she realized she should have listened do mom and dad and wore tennis shoes. Oh well, live and learn. On our way back to the trailer, we stopped at the little shops in Panguitch and walked through them. Not too exciting, but kind of fun to look at. They have a lot of antique shops. We hung out at camp, had dinner, and visited with our new friends.

Sunday, June 14th, we got up early, at 6:00 a.m. and cooked a quick breakfast and then packed up the trailer. We decided to move the trailer to Marysvale, since we were going to be renting the UTV and it was right there. Got is an hour closer to home too. We got the trailer situated and then went and picked up the UTV. Once we got lunch and drinks all packed, we headed out on the trail. We headed towards Monroe mountain. It took us about 2.5 hours to get to the cabin. We cooked some hot dogs and had lunch and then headed down the other side of the mountain. Along the way, we went to Monroe Peak and Fitzgerald Park. We filled up the UTV with gas in Monroe and then went to the park to evaluate the map and see where we wanted to head next. We still had five hours left before we needed to return it.

Memorial Weekend in Grace, Idaho

It's become an annual tradition to go to Grace Idaho for Memorial Weekend. We camp at the Caribou RV park. It's a smaller RV park/golf course with only 10 spots. We go as a group with my co-worker Shannon and Kyle and Misty's family has always joined us. This year there was five trailers in our group. There's not a whole lot to do, but it's a nice place to get away. Eric had to work the whole weekend, so I was brave and pulled the trailer all by myself. It's actually not too bad as long as I don't have to back it up. Saturday we went to Lava Hot Springs for a couple of hours. It was a little rainy, which was nice to soak in the hot tubs.

We cook meals as a group, so we end up only cooking one meal. We definitely don't go hungry the whole weekend. I cooked taco soup for dinner. Everyone loved it. We watched a few movies and just hung out.

Sunday, we let the kids hit golf balls. It was quite entertaining seeing the kids who have never golfed before. Lots of practice shots.

We left Monday about 11:30 and Kyle was nice enough to follow me home and back the trailer in. Thank goodness for nice brothers. 

Girls Trip to Vegas - October 4 - 7, 2013

Friday, October 4

A couple of months ago my good friend Michelle said she wanted to plan a girl's weekend in Vegas to celebrate her 40th. It ended up being Michelle, her sister-in-law, Heidi, Sallie, and me. We left Friday, October 4th after getting the kids off to school, so it ended up being about 9:00. Michelle arranged for us to stay at her timeshare condo, which was very nice and roomy. We got settled into our room and then headed into Vegas. We ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, a first for me, and it was yummy. Then we went to the Bikefest. We mainly went to the Bikefest to see the country singer, Joe Nicols. Entry into the bikfest got included the concert. We walked around and checked out all the biker get-up and then enjoyed a nice concert by Joe. It was a bit chilly, but we enjoyed it. Then we decided to go to Fremont Street. Not sure what was going on on Fremont Street but it was crazy. Each time you crossed the street you had to wait in line again to be searched and ID'd. We heard roomer that the first Friday of the month was gang night and so there was a lot of security going on. Wasn't the funnest, but we made it through and decided we had enough and left to go back to the room. It was probably about midnight, by the time we got back. 

Saturday, October 5

We took our time getting up. We fixed breakfast and then planned what we wanted to do for the day. We decided we would start on the south end of the strip and then just walk. We walked into a lot of the shops just browsing and checking out things. We went to the top of the Paris Hotel which was really cool. While we were up there we got to see the Belagio fountains go off. It is so fun seeing Vegas from a higher point of view. It's amazing how big it really is. Later that night we went to the Cirque du Soleil show Mystere. It was a lot of fun. The acrobats were amazing. It is hard to believe that people really can do that. We then went to a buffet for dinner. Which didn't end up being very good. I think it was because it was so late and they were about to close. We learned our lesson that buffets are not worth the price. To expensive and you don't eat enough to make it worth it. 

Sunday, October 6

Again we got up and took our time getting ready and fixing breakfast. We then planned our day out. Michelle and Heidi wanted to go play bingo so we dropped them at a casino so they could play and Sallie and I went to the Bodies Museum at the Luxor. That was amazing. Kind of gross at first, but very interesting. Learned a lot about the body that I did not know. Sallie and I then enjoyed a nice frozen yogurt. We went and picked up Michelle and Heidi and then went to Bubba Gumps for lunch/dinner. Bubba Gumps was also a first for me. Very yummy. I love most seafood. Then we went to the Mentalist. I was blown away. I am not sure if you would consider it magic or just plain amazing. He was able to guess people's names, children, spouses, out of the audience. The things he was able to guess was crazy. We had a lot of fun at that show. Then we went to Napoleon's Piano Bar in the Paris. Eric and I went last year to the piano bar and had such a great time I convinced the ladies to check it out. It was a lot of fun, but the crowd there wasn't too exciting and people were having a hard time requesting songs for them to play. We left there and decided we would try and make it to the Stratosphere, but when we got there it was closed, so we headed back to the condo. It was a long and exhausting day.

Monday, October 7

Again we were a little slow getting up and getting going. I went to pay for Michelle's gas to head home and my card was declined. Apparently, they got a little suspicious with my purchases in Vegas. Go figure it would be the day we were trying to get home. I called the credit card company and they were able to reactivate it. Good thing we were dependent on my card to get us home. Michelle's car also died while parked for gas and we had to get a jump start. Her battery is very sensitive and if you live the door open even for a minute the battery dies. We decided we would take a little side trip and go to Hoover Dam before heading home. Sallie has never been to Hoover Dam and really wanted to go. We were then on our way home. Other than gas stops, we drove straight through until Bountiful when we stopped for custard. Another first for me. I have never had custard ice cream. It was yummy and a great treat to end the weekend. We didn't get home until about 8:45 p.m. The kids were already in bed, but they got up and gave me a hug. We had a great time and I am so glad that I got to do it. It's always nice to be able to spend time with good friends.

Vacation Day 8 - Driving Home

It is hard to believe that our vacation ended so quickly. We had such a great time. I wore my pedometer the whole time and we walked 35 miles in 6 days. The kids were amazing. We were exhausted and ready for a vacation from our vacation.

We had high hopes of getting up early to head home, but we slept in. We didn't leave Vegas until almost 9:00 Vegas time. It was hard going from semi-warm weather to freezing cold weather again. The first time we stopped for gas, we had to put our jackets on. 

We got home about 5:00 p.m. Then it was unpacking and doing laundry time. 

Vacation Day 7 - Monster Jam

We ate breakfast at Denny's again and then headed to Sam Boyd Stadium for another day of getting autographs and seeing trucks. Saturday is open to the public and we were expecting it to be a lot more crowded, but it actually wasn't bad. Friday we had gotten tickets to get Dennis Anderson's (Grave Digger driver) autograph. He is the most popular one to get and they handed out tickets. If you don't get a ticket early, you won't get his autograph. 

We were there pretty much the whole day. We took a little break in the parking lot by the car and ate some snacks before heading in for the big show. Eric and Parker were in 7th heaven. They couldn't ask for a better time. Every jump, every flip, every move, is just the best thing ever. Eric has big dreams of owning one one day. 

The show didn't get over until about 10:30 and we sat in the parking lot until all the cars had thinned out. By the time we got back to the hotel, it was about midnight. We were exhausted.