Utah Vacation Day 3

 On Monday morning we went bike riding up American Fork Canyon with my Dad and Step-mom and Brother-in-law Aaron. It was SO beautiful with all the fall leaves and it felt so good to get out and enjoy the outdoors. The recreation and family are the main reasons we love Utah so much. The weather was just perfect too.

Me and my cute hubby!!



Color didn't turn out great, but here we are, nearly 8 years married!



Look at that handsome fellow!



Well, I said the bike ride was enjoyable and IT WAS, but we didn't leave without injury. Blake, Aaron and I were pretty far ahead of my parents near the end of the trail. When we reached the bottom we were surprised it was taking my parents so long!!! (We should have brought walk talkies!). Eventually they showed up and above is what my dad looked like. He had fallen down a cliff after losing his balance. Luckily he ran into a tree, stopping his fall. He had a nice hole in his shirt and some battle wounds to show for it too. We were so thankful he didn't get hurt worse!

 That evening all of my family, both on my dad's side and mom's side showed up at a park to celebrate me and Mylee's birthday. The weather turned cold and a little rainy, but we still had a great time. It was nice to see some family I hadn't seen in years.

Utah Vacation Day 2



Mylee coloring in her General Conference Activity Book

  The next day was Sunday and General Conference weekend so we went up to Temple Square to listen to the prophets! We met up with some of Blake's family there. For most of the time we sat on the lawn near the Tabernacle on temple square and listened. When our kids behaved we took them into the tabernacle to listen and watch on a big screen. That afternoon Blake and I had tickets so we left our kiddos with family and enjoyed a wonderful session together. It was especially exciting for me because I had never attended General Conference before in the Conference Center. It was a neat and special experience.

 My favorite talk of the whole conference was probably the talk given by Neil A. Anderson appropriately titled, "Children". It talked about the blessing children are in our lives and that it is a woman's highest honor to bear and rear children. Here are some quotes from this talk that I enjoyed:

Many voices in the world today marginalize the importance of having children or suggest delaying or limiting children in a family. My daughters recently referred me to a blog written by a Christian mother (not of our faith) with five children. She commented: “[Growing] up in this culture, it is very hard to get a biblical perspective on motherhood. … Children rank way below college. Below world travel for sure. Below the ability to go out at night at your leisure. Below honing your body at the gym. Below any job you may have or hope to get.” She then adds: “Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for.”7

This story particularly touched and helped me feel good that Blake and I had made the right choice to not wait to have a family. It definitely has NOT been easy, but is has been SO worth it!!

Elder Mason had another experience just weeks after his marriage that helped him prioritize his family responsibilities. He said:


“Marie and I had rationalized that to get me through medical school it would be necessary for her to remain in the workplace. Although this was not what we [wanted] to do, children would have to come later. [While looking at a Church magazine at my parents’ home,] I saw an article by Elder Spencer W. Kimball, then of the Quorum of the Twelve, [highlighting] responsibilities associated with marriage. According to Elder Kimball, one sacred responsibility was to multiply and replenish the earth. My parents’ home was [close to] the Church Administration Building. I immediately walked to the offices, and 30 minutes after reading his article, I found myself sitting across the desk from Elder Spencer W. Kimball.” (This wouldn’t be so easy today.)

“I explained that I wanted to become a doctor. There was no alternative but to postpone having our family. Elder Kimball listened patiently and then responded in a soft voice, ‘Brother Mason, would the Lord want you to break one of his important commandments in order for you to become a doctor? With the help of the Lord, you can have your family and still become a doctor. Where is your faith?’”

Elder Mason continued: “Our first child was born less than a year later. Marie and I worked hard, and the Lord opened the windows of heaven.” The Masons were blessed with two more children before he graduated from medical school four years later.9

Daddy and his baby girl Lanaea

They'll go there someday

Daddy with his two oldest girls, SOOO CUTE!!

Later that evening we enjoyed spending time with my mom's family along with my step-dad Roland's family that was there visiting. I wish I had gotten some pictures of our time there. It was a pretty full house and I must have been distracted :(. We were able to get this family picture that evening too. It turned out nice.




Left to Right: Lanaea, Blake, Cami, Kelsey, Mylee, Spencer, Mary, Abby, Roland (Dad), Polly (Mom), Lizzy, Megan, Aaron, and Brighton.

 

Vacation to Utah Day 1

 In the fall time we travelled to Utah for a family vacation. The first day of our travels we stopped in Farmington, New Mexico and stayed with my Grandpa and Grandma McGee. We had a wonderful time visiting and even got to watch a BYU football game with them, which was a real treat!! My Grandpa and Grandma are MEGA fans!! The next morning we set off for Utah and stopped in Moab along the way to take a hike to some dinosaur footprints. Blake and I biked this trail shortly after we were married and we thought it would be fun to take our family. Looking back it was fun, and actually getting to the footprints was fun, but it was MUCH farther away then we remembered!! I guess it goes a lot quicker when you are on a bike! The girls did great though and we managed.

That night we stayed at my mom's house and had a girl party making wreaths out of coffee filters with my sisters, Grandma Astorga and Johnson and, Aunts. We had a great time!

Photo Shoot for Mylee

 We decided to doll Mylee up today and get some shots of her. Let's call these her 4 year old pictures. She's so pretty!!

This one shows how big her blue eyes are and the funny expressions she makes sometimes.

Mopping the Floor

Want your kids to help you clean your floor? Then pull out their swimsuits and let them slip and slide and go to work. It worked like a charm and saved me loads of time having to do it by myself!!

Made in China!

Lately Kelsey has been noticing the phrase "Made in China" on many of her toys and various items we have around the house. This was our conversation the other week:
Kelsey: MOM! Look this is made in China too!!
Cami: Yep.
Kelsey: Mom, does China make everything?
Cami: Just about....
Kelsey: They make BEAUTIFUL things
Cami: Yes they do.
Kelsey: Mom, do they have a pattern to make all these things?
Cami: I'm sure they do.
Kelsey: Oh.

Ironic huh!?

Mylee's 4th Birthday


<><><> Last year the girls and I started a tradition of eating at IHOP during our birthday week because they send us a coupon for a free meal. I took Mylee and Lanaea while Kelsey was at school. Mylee was giddy happy! We hardly eat out, so when we do it's a real treat. I had a coupon for a free meal too because my birthday is only a week after Mylee's. We all had a great time and the food was yummy!

 Mylee Enjoying her FREE Rooty Jr. Meal from IHOP



I experiented with fondant for Mylee's birthday. She and I sat down at the computer for a while trying to pick out a cake she wanted me to make her. I was thrilled when she picked out a simple pink cake with pink fondant and a crown on top. Theirs was much prettier then mine, but I thought I did a pretty good job for my first attempt with fondant. I made marshmellow fondant from here. It was surprisingly easy!! I'm definintely making it again. I learned that I need to form my cake underneath a lot better--as you can see the lumps in the cake (it's okay Mylee didn't notice, phew!) She LOVED it as you can see below.



For her birthday she got a new doll and a dollhouse puzzle. She LOVES her new doll!! Her name is Sydney.



She also picked out some presents for her sisters for her special day. She got playdough for Lanaea and a jump rope for Kelsey. Both were thrilled.

Kelsey and Mylee Playing with our new dollhouse puzzle

Mylee is such a special and sweet little girl. Lately Blake and I have been in awe at how much she has grown up. She is so articulate in her questions and so fun to watch her pretend with her dolls. She's definitely a big tease and will push her sisters' buttons until they cry. Her favorite things to do are to watch movies (her favorite is Tangled), play with playdough, play family with Kelsey, go with Sister Cammack (her adopted grandma here in Texas), go out to eat (She favorites are: IHOP, Sonic, Chick-fila, and McD's), have Mommy School, dress-up (always as a princess), do puzzles, read books, and sing songs. Her hair is auburn brown and has a slight natural curl to it. I should also note that her hair is thicker then mine!! She has large beautiful blue eyes and a contagious smile with adorable dimples. She's a great older sister to Lanaea. Lately she has been helping Lanaea say her prayers at night and it has been a special sweet experience for all of us. She's a special part of our family and we LOVE you Mylee!! Happy 4th Birthday!

UPDATE:

This is how I found Mylee when I checked on her last night. So sweet :).

Where's Your Shoe

Last night Blake and I were in charge of our ward party. Our turnout was okay, the food was good, and people seemed to enjoy themselves. The only problem is that we had TONS of extra food. I guess it's better then not having enough. The party was at a city park. As we were packing up to leave, Blake and I noticed Mylee was missing her shoes. I searched around the playgroup and found one shoe, but couldn't find it's pair. I asked Mylee where her shoe was and she innocently looked at me and said, "I digged it Mom." I brought her over to the playgroud with me and asked her where she "digged" it. She then showed me about 10 different locations, not finding her shoe in any of them. Oh well, I knew I shouldn't have sent her with her nice shoes.

I should also note that Blake had asked her to change her clothes before we went to the party. I knew that was going to be trouble, but sort of ignored his request and finished packing the car with the items we needed for the party. As I got in the car I looked back and Mylee and wasn't surprised to see her wearing something that looked worse then what she had on before Blake asked her to change. I didn't have enough time to go have her change before the party, so I let her be. Oh, how I've relaxed on some things.

BYU vs. UT

Last weekend we went to Austin, Texas as a family to cheer on the cougars at the University of Texas. We left early in the afternoon on Saturday and arrived with just enough time to drop the girls off at a babysitter we had arranged and make it to the game. Blake's brother Trevor and his wife Amy flew in for the occasion and met us at the game. Trevor and Amy had been staying at a friend's house. We utilized their teenage daughter to watch our girls. It worked out perfectly.We lost unfortunately, but it was still a good experience and we are glad we went. It was a 7 hour drive for us and the tickets and babysitter weren't cheap, but I'm learning that great memories often come with a price, whether it be expense, time, energy, etc. and I'm okay with that--phew that's a big breakthrough for me! Plus I was studying in the Proclamation to the Family that successful marriages and families participate in wholesome recreational activities. The drive wasn't bad at all and our girls behaved, yea! After the game Trevor and Amy came with us to pick up our girls and together we drove back home to Lubbock. It took us a little over 7.5 hours and we didn't get home until 5:30AM in the morning! The drive was a little nerve racking with countless deer sightings along the highway, but Blake and Trevor kept us safe. Amy and I had intentions of sleeping, but ended up with our eyes glued to the road after a close encounter with a deer. We went straight to bed when we got home and woke up around 10:30AM in the morning. We got ready for church and went to a different ward at 1:30PM.

It was nice to have Trevor and Amy here. It's always a special treat when we get visitors. Kelsey became great friends with them both. In fact since they have been gone, Kelsey has been making pictures for their whole family to give to them when we go to Utah in two weeks. It's been really sweet. Thanks for coming Trevor and Amy!!

Max our Pet Turtle

Well I thought we were done with the whole pet thing, but when Kelsey found a turtle in our driveway on our walk home from school one day we couldn't resist adding it to our family. I think it was someone's pet that got loose because there was red paint on it's shell. With that said I felt a little better about having a turtle as a pet, but was still very cautious about the girls touching it and if they did I made sure they washed their hands really well. We took Molly the lizard's old cage and made it into Max's home. He (well Kelsey assumed he was male, so we went with it), immediately started eating the lettuce we gave him. They girls were screaming with delight when they saw his big mouth open and try to eat the big pieces of lettuce.

Update: We let Max in the garden for a day to roam around and eat (our garden is enclosed by a cement ledge) and now we can't find him. Either he got out--which if he did, that's pretty impressive--or he dug in the ground somewhere in there. Kelsey and Mylee have been going out there nearly every day to see if they spot him. I'll let you know if he shows up.

Our Weekend

On Saturday Mylee was invited to a birthday party at the Science Spetrum. Normally I'm not one to support birthday parties on the weekend, but Blake was working and our pass to the Science Spectrum expires in a couple of days so I figured we would go. We had a good time. Kelsey ended up joining the party and had a great time. I did my best to keep track of Lanaea--she's fast and easy to loose!!

Later that night Blake was home from work and we invited a family over to watch the BYU game with us. It was nice having a family over--we don't do that enough! With Blake's schedule it's hard to coordinate parties at our house. The game wasn't too exciting, but at least we won!

Sunday was an adventure in itself. Blake was working, so I was on my own today. I had to take Lanaea out during the sacrament meeting, which right before I did, my cell phone timer reminding me that Blake was on call went off right during the prayer!!! I need to get rid of those timers, trust me, I DON'T forget when he is on call, especially on Sundays!! Thankfully one of my friends went and sat by the older girls and they behaved just fine.

After dropping the girls off at their classes I went to the library to make some copies of flyers for our upcoming ward party. As I was copying and cutting them, I heard Lanaea screaming in nursery. She NEVER does this, so I went in there and got her and just brought her back to the library with me. She found a stapler and I thought she couldn't do much damage to that. Just when I thought everything was fine and dandy I turned around and she was dumping GLITTER, yes GLITTER all over the library floor!! I went in panic mode and dumped her off at the nursery again--she started screaming again. I found a friend and we sneaked a vacuum out of the maintenance closet and hurried it down to the library. We shut the door and got the mess cleaned up--it looked better then ever!! Phew!!! Lanaea spent the rest of church with me. Who knows what set her off in nursery today.

The rest of the day went pretty well. I even found the energy to make a cinnamon coffee cake--no it doesn't contain coffee, Kelsey was very concerned about this when she read the recipe. The girls enjoyed watching it cook in the oven. The BEST part of the day though was this evening during scripture study. I just started reading with Kelsey in the "real" scriptures instead of the children's scripture reader for scripture study. Today she read the testimony of the 3 witnesses. When she finished reading she said--with no cues or anything, "Mom, I feel really good inside!" She really meant it too. It was a tender sweet moment and something I needed to hear as a Mother today. I love you Kelsey and I hope you always remember just how important the scriptures are.

Summer Comes to a Close at Palo Duro

We closed our summer this year by going camping once again to Palo Duro Canyon. It's only 2 hours away and it's the best that this landscape here in West Texas offers within that time frame. It reminds me a lot of Moab, but Moab is WAY better--I'm spoiled. Palo Duro is the 2nd largest canyon in the United States (that was very surprising to me; it seems a little wimpy to me!!) and is considered the Grand Canyon of Texas. The largest canyon in the US is of course The Grand Canyon in Arizona. Overall we made a lot of memories. There were some hick-ups with "attack of the fire ants, flies, bees, and spiders," but we (or I should say I) did our (my) best to smile and laugh through it all. When we arrived at the canyon, we went to hike to a small cave and let our pet lizard Molly go where we originally found her 3 months prior. It was an exciting day for all of us--I think especially for me!! No more trips to the pet store for crickets!!! Molly was really reluctant when we first let her out. She stuck around for about 10 minutes until she finally ran off. It was as though she had gotten used to us. While she was lingering, Kelsey even caught her again which we were all very surprised and excited about. See the video below to see her in action!!

After our little hike we arrived at our campground. Originally we had reserved a more expensive campground with bathrooms within walking distance, but we decided to save $10 bucks and reserve the cheaper one instead. When we arrived at our campground to find the picnic table provided for us covered in cobwebs, I wondered if we had made the right choice. Blake went to inspect and noticed in one corner that a Black Widow resided with two newly formed eggs and other corners also had scary and ugly spiders!! He got our lighter out to torch them, but it didn't work!! Then he got out his flip flop shoe and tried swatting at them. It was pretty funny!! He got the Black Widow's eggs down, but didn't succeed in killing the Black Widow until later that night. We were never able to get the big brown ugly one on the other side. SO we stayed far far away from the picnic table which wasn't always easy to do with a little invincible 1.5 year old running around--but we succeeded! Once we were settled down, Blake went on a ride which we had planned on him doing prior to our coming. I took the girls to a playground within the canyon. We played had a good time and played until nearly dark.

By the time I got back to camp, Blake had the tent all set up and had put all of our bedding and blown up our air mattress--what a guy huh?!! We had fun making smores, but learned if you want a roasted marshmallow you have to get regular marshmallows not flavored ones--me and the girls had gotten chocolate and vanilla marshmallows, they were yummy, but wouldn't roast.

We all went to bed around the same time. We were all very tired. Blake was excited to sleep in his hammock from his boyhood he recently acquired again, but showed up in the tent with us late in the night, finding it to not be as comfortable as he remembered it being before. The girls slept soundly through the night---heaven!! We all woke up happy the next morning. Blake left for another bike ride before the rest of us got up. We all slowly woke up some time after and got breakfast. All was fine and dandy until the girls started to spill their cheerios and we had "attack of the ants" again coupled with "attack of the flies, biting horse flies, and bees". One bee was particularly attracted to Kelsey's white shirt and chased her around the campground for about 10 minutes. She was running around the campground yelling "Shoo, Shoo, Shoo!!!" I started laughing and she did too until about the 10 minute mark when she cried in tears to me, "Mom, I'm tired of running". I quickly sent her to the car. Then Mylee was dancing around the camp because she was about to wet her pants. So I loaded all the kids up in the car and drove down to the bathroom. Ahhh....no flies, no bees, no ants!!! The car was nice!!

When we got to the bathroom we had to use the men's side because the girl's bathroom floor was covered with giant fire ants and spiders were under the toilets and around the stalls. I stayed there for a while getting the girls' teeth brushed and such, monitoring the outside to make sure no males showed up to use their bathroom. When we arrived back at camp, I left the girls in the car and got their clothes from the tent. I dressed them all the in car and got them lathered in sunscreen. I then moved them all back to the tent to have them help me roll up the sleeping bags and to keep them away from the ants, flies, and bees again. As we were walking back to our tent I noticed our neighbor just coming out of her tent, she had been "sleeping" still during our whole morning brigade!! Opps!! Welcome to family life Miss! Blake arrived shortly after from his bike ride. We packed up camp and drove to a place to take a small hike with the girls.

Our hike was nice and short. We visited a replica of Charles Goodnight's dugout from the 1800's. He settled there and raised cattle for many years. We then hiked along a trail and collected leaves of different plants and talked about the different rocks found in Palo Duro Canyon. We ate lunch and then we were out of there by 11:30 AM. Our ride home was pleasant.

Kelsey's First Day of 1st Grade!

Today was Kelsey's first day of 1st Grade and of course she LOVED it!! The morning was a little rough when I dropped her off because of some mix-ups of where she was supposed to sit. She went directly to the place her teacher had her information on back-to-school night and took the breakfast ticket at that spot (the school provides free breakfast to all the students). Well, come to find out it was another little boy's spot and she took his breakfast ticket--opps. We eventually found her spot and I got her school supplies put away in a bag that her teacher provided us. The little boy showed up and I gave him Kelsey's ticket so he could get breakfast. The next hang up came when Kelsey came back with her breakfast. Lanaea saw the cheese stick Kelsey got and stole it. Kelsey then grabbed it back and Lanaea screamed. I then took the cheese stick back because I couldn't control the screaming and was still helping unload all of Kelsey's school supplies. Then Lanaea was biting through the plastic into the cheese stick and Kelsey wasn't happy about that so grabbed it back, then Lanaea screamed again. Ahhhh!! By that time I had finished helping Kelsey and got out of there really quick. I was so embarressed that Lanaea was making such a scene! Little stinker.

After school Kelsey told me they sorted all of the school supplies all day and worked on a workbook. She also got to go to PE after lunch and had a good time. Once again she has her clothes set out just right. Kelsey's a keeper for sure!!

Before our walk to school with a picture Kelsey drew for her teacher.

This is her breakfast--a breakfast pizza, looks like pizza with saugage, whatever!

Kelsey after school.

1st Grade School Supply List:

2-Crayola Crayons 24 Ct.

1 Crayola Markers Thick Classic 8 Ct. Washable

1 Binder View Hardback Vinyl 1" Asst.

1 Folder Pocket and Brad Blue

1 Folder Pocket and Brad Red

1 Folder Pocket and Brad Green

1 Folder Pocket and Brad Yellow

10 Glue Stick .21 Elmer's Washable 1 Cnt.

2 Facial Tissue 160 Ct.

2 Clorox Antibacterial Wipes 35 Ct.

1 Index Cards 4x6 unruled 100 Ct.

1 Reclosable Slide Bags 22ct.

1 School Box 8.5 x 5.5 x 2.5 Space Maker

1 Scissors 5" Sharp Fiskars Left/Right Handed

2 Pencils #2 Wood 10pk

2 Eraser Pink Bevel

2 Hi-Liter Pen Style Fluorescent Yellow

1 Expo Dry Erase Chisel Asst. 4 Pk.

1 Story Tablet

1- 1/2 inch ruled tablet

2 composition books.

Kelsey All Ready for School!!

Tomorrow Kelsey starts 1st grade. She is SOOO excited. She went through some of the new clothes we got her and this is what she picked out. Don't you love how she layed them out!? She even picked out the shoes she is going to wear and tucked them in her shorts. So cute!!! She also drew a picture for her teacher that reads, "I am so excided I'm in you,re class!!" Spelled just like that. I was impressed that she got the you're in there even though she had the apostraphe as a coma and it's really "your". We'll let you know about her first day tomorrow!!