Five Guys Goodbye

About a month ago, our good friends who lived right across the street from us got the wonderful news that her husband had been offered an awesome job as CFO of a hospital in their home town. I think they had been wanting to move back home for some time now, so it was wonderful news for them. For me? It was NOT so wonderful news! Every since we moved up here it seems that all the friends I make move away! It was tougher this time because we were really good friends for almost three years. They also have a little boy who Taj LOVED to play with. In fact, while saying prayers with Taj the other night, he said he was thankful for this boy and this boy's house and his toys. (When we say prayers with Taj, either Brannon or myself will say, "I'm thankful for..." and then Taj fills in the blanks with one word responses that summarize the events of the day in his little mind. Papa's jeep, Papa, and Papa's house are always on the list:)) I was really good friends with this boy's mommy Erin. I remember getting in the car to go to church on Sunday and looking across the street and seeing the "For Rent" sign up in front of their duplex. I told Brannon there's no way it was them that were moving out, but when we got to church, I cried when they told me of the sudden job offer and that they were moving in a few weeks. They will definitely be missed, but we were so happy that they scored such a good job and they bought their first home too. We have many good memories with the Toolson family and I'm just glad they only live a couple hours away!

Pipin' Hot Heber Creeper

 Taj and Livy tore up the backyard a little bit the day before the train ride, aren't they cute?!

 I think Brannon's mom and her friend were the only ones (besides Taj and Livy) that didn't complain about the heat.

 These two melt my heart. I really wish we lived closer because I know they would be best friends.

Cameras can never catch what the human eye really sees. The sun was a more more vibrant red. There was a forest fire off the side of the highway and the air was thick with smoke and ash.

About three weekends ago, well I guess it was precisely three weekends ago, Brannon's mom took us all on the Heber Creeper. "This will be a grand day out!" we all agreed, that is until we boarded the train and realized that there would be absolutely no A/C for the entire ride. Nope, our only hope of a breeze was jamming an old, creaky window up through the rafters and praying for a crosswind to blow the sweat off our upper lips. I wore my hair down, what was I THINKING?! I changed seats, back and forth across the isle, desperate to get some kind of breeze in the 93 degree train car. I was on the verge of a heat-crazed frenzy and was ready to ambush a family next to us and tear the lids off their ice cold drinks and dump it all over my head and down my gullet. Taj and Haivi's cheeks were blooming red, as were mine and everyone looked, dewy and hot and slightly miserable, well at least the adults looked that way! Taj and Livy quite enjoyed the two hour ride. Haivi did not enjoy it so much. I think she too was like her mama, hot, sweaty, and a little more than slightly irritable. While on board, to distract us from the heat, we were serenaded by a fiddle playing, department store cowgirl and we were ambushed by "robbers." The kids didn't mind the fiddle playing, but the robbers scared the living daylights out of them. Livy started screaming and it took us nearly 20 minutes to calm her down after they had gone. Note to Heber Valley Railroad: If you are going to have robbers ambush the train, at least tell them NOT to wear bandannas over their faces! So you can imagine we were even MORE hot and sweaty after the robbers left. I believe that I would enjoy this same train ride in October. We all agreed that next time, we would go in the fall, BUT at least the kids enjoyed it for the most part and watching them enjoy the ride helped me hang onto my last shred of humanity for that long, hot, sweaty ride on vinyl seats that tried to claim one's rear-end every time one stood up.  So if you are ever up in the area and are cold-blooded, definitely book a ride on the Heber Creeper!

Family Pics

My sister (Marci Dawn Photography) took these beautiful photos for us. I absolutely LOVE them! I especially love the ones of Taj and Haiven together because they show how absolutely protective he is of her. She is one lucky little sister to have a big brother who loves her and cares for her so much and we are VERY lucky parents to be blessed with such adorable kids. Our world really does revolve around these two and we are so thankful EVERY day for them. There is not one SINGLE day that goes by where both Brannon and I don't look at each other amazed and comment on how much we love these two and how it is possible that WE get to be THEIR parents. We are so blessed and we are so thankful for temples and the covenants that allow us to be with our babies after this life too. Check out mormon.org if you want to know more about what temples can do for you.

Temple Fork Sawmill Trail

 I felt so ripped off when we got there! I was expecting to see a big sawmill that we could walk into. The only thing still standing on the site is what is seen pictured behind me and Taj and a few other odds and ends strewn across the ground. That hike was not easy and I have no idea how those people hauled lumber in and out of there, ESPECIALLY in the winter time! I told Brannon, "I'm pioneer stock in spirit, but definitely NOT in body!" The lumber was for the Logan Temple. We read that the hike we did took pioneer women one full day in the winter time to go see their husbands. Yikes! I'm so thankful for modern conveniences!

 Good thing the scenery was pretty while we hike or I really would have been a big whiner.

 This was taken on our way back out. As you can tell, Haivi was SO done with hiking!

You see the mileage for the sawmill site on the sign? That is ONE way. That is ONE way in 93 degree weather carrying either a 32 lb toddler or a 20 lb baby and/or a backpack FULL of water bottles, Sobe Life Water, Vitamin Water, diapers, wipees, and a camera. We faced obstacles such as large, feathery, buggy bushes taller than me covering the trail (the sign should have said "Whatever you do, take a machete!). We we didn't have a machete and as I was hacking my way through the bushes not only did I have all sorts of bugs jumping on me, but I froze mid-step when I heard a loud whirring sound. It sounded like a hovercraft coming in for a landing and not until it got even louder, did I see it, a great BIG BIG BIG flying black beetle thing with a wingspan the size of my head coming in for a landing right on my forehead. Well it landed. A loud scream, scuffle, and much flying of dust and dirt later, I emerged victorious from those overgrown, bug-infested bushes. Who knew flying beetles could be such great motivation? We also faced hundreds and hundreds of "scawwy gwasshoppuhs" Those things kept both Taj and I skipping and jigging the two step down the trail. I think there must be some kind of signal I give off that only bugs can read that tells them I don't like them, so why not gang up on me? Those grasshoppers followed us the whole way in and the whole  way back. We hiked almost 6 1/2 miles and it took us FOREVER! It took us almost three hours! Taj enjoyed it for about the first 10 minutes and then he wanted to be carried the rest of the way. Haivi lasted on the way in and the whole way back she cried. I wanted to cry too. It took everything in me to shuffle one dusty foot in front of the other and move my out of shape self down the trail. When the truck finally came back into view, it was all I could do to not cry out for joy, for civilization! Brannon rewarded our efforts with Mexican food for dinner. Well, I should say he rewarded me. I'm the Mexican food lover in our family. Brannon likes it too, but I could eat it every day, no problem. Love those rice and beans! Anyway, even though it was a super hot and super hard hike, I bet it will be one of those memories that we think back fondly on someday. We will not however be frequenting that trail anytime soon, at least not until the kids are old enough and strong enough to walk on their own!

The Naked Cowboy

Isn't there one of these in New York? I never saw the naked cowboy while I was there, but I've got one right in my backyard. Man I wish I had his confidence! This picture will be added to Taj's growing collection of blackmail photos that I will make sure to have handy as soon as that teenage attitude starts to kick in! This boy continues to have the energy of (what's something that NEVER stops running?)...our central air in the summertime! That thing runs nonstop pretty much every day and Taj does the same. It really helps if we can get outside at least once a day and let him burn that energy off. This age is so so hard to manage, but I know that I will definitely miss little moments like the one pictured above-running through the sprinklers sporting only his hat and boots:)

What we do on a hot day

Taj snuck this pool into my cart at Target. I was going to put this back, but I'm glad I didn't. These two love it and it's perfect for little ones like Haivi. It spouts a little water and it's shallow and small. Taj would not get out of it even though he practically filled up the whole dang thing. It only took me 25 minutes and one million brain cells to blow it up. It was worth it for them though!