Holy Grapes

We finally made it to Santa Rosa where our hotel is. Some crazy long drive! We left Thursday afternoon and drove about 5 hours to Banning to stay the night. We stopped for pizza on the way and Jake wasn't feeling well. We were worried about him having a fever and being well for the race. He felt better the next morning, but still not great. He seems fine now so let's hope he stays that way.

We got up and started driving Thursday morning. I felt like my kids in the car. I was so antsy to get out. I could see how if I wasn't as mature as I was, I might start doing really annoying things in my boredom and desires to GET OUT of that car. Luckily the end of the drive was beautiful! Napa Valley, wine capital, is amazing. I have never seen so many miles of grape vines. What's more amazing is to think that all those are harvested by hand. My mind cannot comprehend how that is possible. Once we got to our hotel, we put on WARM clothes and walked to a nearby diner. It was called Willie Bird's. What we didn't know was that the only thing they served was turkey. I like turkey, but turkey shouldn't be in all dishes. I really wanted to stroganoff, but I was a little weary of turkey stroganoff so I went with a turkey sandwich. It was very interesting.

The boys are getting a little nervous and counting down the hours. This morning it's totally overcast and a little chilly. The boys are out riding and will be back soon to pick us up for a morning run. Jenny and I have already located a movie theater and outlet mall to keep us busy while they are doing the race. We do have 13 hours or so to fill! There is a link you can go to to follow their progress, but I'm not sure what it is. When I find out, I'll come back and post it. Ta Ta for now!

Napa Valley, Finally!

We have done so many little jaunts this summer and it's been really fun, BUT....the most long awaited is finally here! Glade and Jake are doing the IronMan in Napa Valley, CA this Saturday. Jenny and I are tagging along and making a getaway out of it. We leave today and don't get back till Monday. Six days! I have really been looking forward to this all summer. It really is perfect timing as well. My big kids started school already and the other s start shortly after I return. It will be a nice "battery recharge" before real life begins.

Stephen and Nick have done great at school so far, no swirlies or wedgies or anything like that. They were both a little anxious going in without knowing very many kids, but it turns out they know more people than they thought. I'm excited to see them make new friends and get involved.

Yesterday we went to register the younger kids, basically just verifying info and getting teacher assignments. I don't know any of the teachers we got this year. They are all plenty excited to go back regardless! We also got their AIMS test results and I was pleasantly surprised at Dalin's. He doesn't do great in school, but his test results were all just a few points from exceeding. Now I know I can expect more from him. The others all exceeded in Math but did barely average in the others. I guess I didn't pass my love for English and writing on very far!

Well, off to help at a funeral and then leaving for the race. I'm nervous (Chelsey is staying with the kids this time) and excited and SO ready for a few days away. BTW, highs in Napa Valley....78!

Want a Ride??

I've been riding the roller coaster of myself lately. Most of it is strictly self inflicted. I have so many plans and goals and things I want to accomplish and so little energy to get it all done. My mind over matter function is seriously broken. Somehow I need to drag myself out of it and get my butt in gear. I know that so much of it stems from it being the end of summer, by end I mean my kids are almost back in school. AND that it's so far from the end of summer, I seriously can't take the heat. Then throw in the "my baby's leaving for college" factor and now you have a recipe for insanity. Yes, I feel insane right now. One minute I feel so "with it" and the next I just want to cry.

I really just want Chelsey gone already. Not in the way of "get out!", but the anticipation of it all is killing me. I'm trying to treat her like an adult, but she doesn't always want to act like one and it's hard to keep it all in balance. Lots of changing of rooms needs to happen but can't till she's moved on. I know when the time comes I will be a wreck, but waiting is making me a wreck anyway!

Running is a huge frustration for me. I ran so great in San Diego, seriously...so great. I just can't handle the heat. I have tried early morning and it's still just too hot. I have a treadmill, but I can't seem to will myself on to it. It's so easy to push the STOP button. The other night, Glade and I went for a run at 9:30 pm. It seemed like it was cool till we started running. I felt like my head was going to explode. We went 5 miles (with lots of walking breaks) and by the end, I was in tears. I might cry right now just thinking about it. Then this morning, I got up and was out by 6 am and had a fantastic run! Even had my fastest mile. I might cry just thinking about it! So goes the roller coaster of my life. Our race is in 5 weeks and I am totally excited to go do it.

Today is the 20th anniversary of mine and Glade's first date. We did it up right, too. He also informed me that this very day puts us together longer than we have been apart. He quoted the number of days, but I don't retain that sort of info. I love him dearly! The plan was to be on a cruise right now, but his Ironman is next Saturday so we couldn't work it out. It's all good!

In speaking of the Ironman, we leave Thursday with Jake and Jenny to head to Napa Valley for the race. We get to spend 5 days together as a little getaway. I'm very excited for that. My kids start school on Monday and thankfully Chelsey isn't gone yet cuz she gets to play mom while I'm gone. So many things on the horizon and yet all so far away!

4th of July 2010

Since the 4th was on a Sunday this year and in hopes of keeping the Sabbath, we decided not to go to Payson as we always do, but go to Heber instead. They held a Saturday celebration. We went up on Friday with the Johnsons to Boca Meadows at Black Canyon Lake. The van gave me a little overheating trouble on the way up, but we managed.

On Saturday, we got the kids cleaned up and went into Heber for the parade. The kids enjoyed that, saw lots of fancy cars. Rhett and Whitley were left behind for different reasons, but a good friend brought them up on his way to meet his family. We were so happy they got to join us! Then we went to the park where the activities were. Quite disappointed when we got there. The park is just like the forest. No green grass and playgrounds. It was like sitting at the campsite, but with lots of people around. They didn't have free activities either, everything cost money and was mostly bouncy toys. We only stayed long enough to lose Katy and let the kids all do one thing. After finding Katy on a bouncy ride, which she just got on with no ticket, we left and headed for Dairy Queen. That was our bribe to get the kids to leave. We spent the rest the day at camp and then came back in for dinner and fireworks. We sat in a big field right off the road from where we were camping. By then lots of family had shown up as well.

On Sunday, we held our own little church service. Some of the kids gave talks and some did musical numbers and some just wanted to bear their testimonies. It was nice and the kids behaved far better than I would have imagined. Late in the day Glade had to head back home to be at work. We stayed another day.

Monday, we took the kids to the lake. Most swam, but some just fished. I think the only thing caught was a bunch of branches. There was a little island not too far out that was the goal for the swimmers. They found an old fallen log and rode their way out to the island.

Kimball, Dalin, Stephen and Rhett riding the log.

Stephen actually swam to the island. He was the first.

Dalin made a solo trip out by himself, so proud!

Rhett Daniel

Bo had his first experience fishing. Since there weren't enough poles for everyone, Jake and Jenny rigged some sticks to use. They had a blast.

Stephen finally decided to try some fishing. That's all Nick did, but came up empty. Saw a few crawdads but nothing else.

Brooklyn and Becca took over the log and made a loooonnnngg, sssslllooooowww trip out to the island. Brooklyn was really sunburned on her back from the long swim out there.

I was lame and only took a few pictures the whole weekend. We usually have our cute matching red,white and blue clothes on and do a family picture but this year we didn't. Here are some quick glimpses of camp on our last day.

Whitley and McKenna

Bo, Becca and Brooklyn having lunch in the camper.

Stephen

This is clean Katy. Most of the time the rest of her body was the color of her hands.

Becca and Brooklyn doing a trash sweep.

Rhett cleaning up horseshoes. I love horseshoes!

Katy was always yelling "take a picture of me now!" So I did.

This is how I know the pioneers could actually build log cabins in a matter of a couple of days. The boys threw this together the first day here. They tried to sleep in it the first night but ended up in the van. Poor Whitley was left all alone to defend herself against wild animals.

The way home was way more eventful. We decided to come home Monday instead of Tuesday because everyone was dirty and bored. The Johnson's had left just a few minutes before us. All we had left to do was crank down the camper and hook it up. We spent 45 minutes trying to get that stupid thing down. We have done this a million times and never had a problem. I called Glade and he said to just leave it and we would come back and get it later. I didn't like that idea, but didn't know what else to do. So we left. Glade and I had several calls here and there, most were cut off due to bad reception. He had mentioned that he was coming up that night. I didn't want him to because it would be late and dark. I offered to meet him and give him the big boys for help. The last thing I understood was that he had to go to work so he wouldn't be coming.

When we got to Payson, we stopped for pizza and called Glade to let him know where we were. Turns out he was already past us and half way to Heber. What?? He said he had to work. Ok, whatever. We got home, unloaded the van and SHOWERED! Then the call from Glade came. Where's the hitch? Well, it's on my van, duh. Apparently somewhere in the dropped calls he told me to leave the hitch. I didn't get that. Now he was there with no hitch. By the way, he was able to crank that stupid thing down with no problem. Very frustrating. Now he had to drive an hour to get to the closest Wal Mart to buy a hitch. I felt really bad. So he got his hitch, hooked it up and headed back to camp. When he got there, the hitch was gone. It had fallen off somewhere along the way. He retraced and found it. By the time he was done and back to Payson, it was about 2 am. He pulled over and slept for awhile before heading back home. One big stupid incident caused by poor communication. I offered to sleep on the couch.

traveling

We have done lots of little trips this summer and I have pictures to prove it. Unfortunately, I'm too lazy right now to spend the time uploading them. This is the last week before my big kids go back to school so we will be busy doing all the last minute things we waited too long to do. (eye appts, etc.) Still trying to catch up on laundry from our last trip and next week I'll be taking another. Glade's Ironman is in less than two weeks. I get to go hang out while he kills himself. It will be a nice little getaway. This weekend we accomplished a lot outside and hopefully we can get our yard back to looking decent. It's still so stinkin hot to be outside that no one really wants to do anything. The boys have even gone out to do airsoft but come back right away saying it's just too hot, and that's at 5:30 am. I really need to start running more consistently as well. Our big race is in about 7 weeks so I need to get on it. My weight has gradually gone up these last few months and that's due largely to my lack of running and my laziness of doing nothing else. I'm definitely ready for some order around here. Not really looking forward to a schedule, but order. Gotta get my trips blogged before I forget all the good stuff!

i'm goin back to cali

On a last minute whim we were invited to go camping on the beach with some friends. After a stressful couple of days trying to decide if we should go, turned out the spot was taken. Whew! I was feeling like we should go just because we weren't doing anything else, but not really wanting to. Glade wouldn't go so that would mean another trip by myself. I was relieved to have to not make that decision. Later that same day, Glade said he talked to Jake and now he wanted to go and we would just squeeze onto their campsite. Really? Glade's big race is in 3 weeks and training is really hard right now because of the heat. He thought San Diego would be a good place to go have one more big ride and run before the actual event. So now we are going.

We decided to leave on Monday, which was 2 days away. AHHHH! I was able to convince Chelsey to come along and then she wouldn't be alone on her 18th birthday. Everything was going well until we got a call from Amy and Tyler (they borrowed our van to drive to a family reunion and were coming back late Sunday night), the van was not working well. Crap. Now What? We hmmm'd and haw'd and decided we would take two vehicles and still go. Then we got another call saying the van seemed to be fine once they dropped down in altitude. Ok, then it's the van. Now we are off to Cali in our van that seems to be doing fine and excited for some beautiful 70 degree weather.

Once we get back, it's only 10 days till the big kids start school. I guess that mostly takes care of summer! Two days after they start back, Glade and I leave for Napa Valley for his race, when we get back, it's only 10 days till the other kids start back. THEN just three weeks after that, we have our Red Rock Relay in Utah. I really better get running!

Cows and Vampires

Today was pretty fun, first we went to Chick Fil A for free lunch. Dress up like a cow and get free lunch. Nice! That went well, but no one wanted to go home, so we went to the library. I couldn't resist taking this one. We texted it to Whitley and told her she should have come. For some reason, she thinks this is a cardboard statue, what?!?!? Funny.

Giving our best "mooooo!"

Summer so Far

I'm still alive. Kickin? That's a whole other story. Summer is half way over. I'm doing great with my kids but the MESS of summer is about to do me in. Even when it's clean (which is rare) just having all the bodies around makes it feel messy. I'm definitely ready for some quiet time. I'm not ready, however, to start getting up and doing homework and all that stuff yet. My highschoolers start in three weeks. Crazy. I'm mostly done school shopping and they are definitely ready to go back. I guess that's a good thing.

We went camping over the 4th which I will do a separate post about with the very few pics I took. Other than that, it's just been hanging out. I have read a lot, let my laundry pile up (literally), finally mopped my floor last night, and haven't run in a week. How's that for lazy summer? Disclaimer: My apologies to anyone who has stopped by or visited in the last couple of weeks, my house is a wreck! I have no desire to clean it, a desire to have it clean, but not to actually do the work. This morning, after I just cleaned it well, there were already two spills that had occurred. Why bother?? So until they all go back to school, I will keep my eyes focused up high and deal with it.

We have seen a few movies here and there. Of course, we saw Eclipse, twice. My mom and I went to a special showing that was free and got popcorn and soda for nothing to boot. That was fun, then I took the girls and Stephen and that was good too! I'm almost done reading my book, then will have nothing. Gotta start doing some research on what to read next.

I have avoided blogging like the plague. This is definitely a whiny time of year for me, not just the kids home ALL day, but I really really really hate the heat. It makes me a little grouchy. So in the spirit of not being a complainer all the time, I have just decided to keep most of it to myself! I said MOST. Off to Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-A. Will have pictures to share of that!