Life at the speed of light.....

This whole summer has been a blur....

literally. I don't even know how we have managed to keep up. It started in March when I discovered that I was dredging through some major burnout, got life in order at home to drive down to Arizona for the month of May. Helped my mom recover from back surgery, which she has done extremely well, thank you Lord. Helped my parents get through my Dad's Honey Do List to get the house ready to sell.

They sold their home in THREE days!

My mom came up to Logan to look for a rental until they buy a home....which I had already been looking for three weeks and hadn't found anything. Kirk worked for WOW in Tennessee for a week painting murals for a huge church there in their children's area. At the end of July, the boys left for Wyoming for Scout Camp, while Kirk left for somewhere, which I can't remember where for workshops for work. It could have been either Seattle or Sacramento. Remember...I said this summer is a blur!

 The plan was for the boys to go to scout camp, while Kirk left on the plane the next day for somewhere....and the girls and I would keep up with everything. I had to write it on the calendar which day to put out the trash. Last time Kirk and the boys weren't home, the girls and I forgot about the trash. It is not good to forget trash and have to live with a full garbage can for two weeks. Not good.
We had to remember to water the garden...which meant that I had to run the sump pump out of the irrigation system. Uugh!

I was really happy for them but a little stressed with everyone leaving us. This was only the beginning.
On Friday we were expecting Kirk to return on the plane in the evening....the girls and I headed out at 8 am to Wyoming to pick the boys up from Scout camp a day early. It was only the beginning.
After an 8 hour round trip to pick up the boys, and driving straight to the garden to water, we headed home to meet Kirk, pack bags, and load the van for our 14 hour trip down to Arizona. It was time to help my parents move to Logan. WOW, at this point it was only the beginning!

 We managed to finish packing their kitchen, load two 26 ft trucks, swim, visit with our dear friends in only two days! It was a whirl wind expedition. Everything was going as planned. A little emotional for the kids knowing that it might be some time before we saw our friends again but worth the short time that we had together. I had to really try hard to keep my chin up and just not fall apart.

These three have been together since they were just babies. I was at Hannah's birth. She was just as beautiful then as she is now.

 The Dart girls stayed very late. It was so good to hear the laughter.

We started out early with my Mom's truck pulling a trailer, our van loaded with fragile things, my Dad driving a Penske truck pulling his car and Kirk driving the other truck. We each had a kid riding with us so that they could work a phone if needed. I was to lead which I was really worried about but it boiled down to the fact that I was the only one who had driven the route the most AND I wasn't pulling anything. I was a little stressed out knowing that wherever we stopped, it had to be a place that everyone could fit and not get themselves trapped, not able to turn around.

 Well, just 2 hours into our journey the truck my Dad was driving started having problems. SO.....here we are stuck in Kingman, Arizona in 100+ degree heat for about 4 hours.

 Until this tow truck showed up to tow the truck to a repair shop in Las Vegas, Nevada.

 We had to disconnect the car and play chase to the tow truck until we realized that we weren't going to keep up.....AT ALL! It was horrifying to think that the load inside the truck was going to shift with the rate that the tow truck was hauling. We made it into the repair place in Las Vegas only to find out that there were some pretty huge things wrong with the motor. Oh...did I mention that we had 3 dogs with us on this trip? Our two and my parents little dog? Yeah, we did. The guys at the repair shop let us hang out in the drivers room with the dogs where we ate pretzels, apples and soda for dinner. Not much but we weren't really hungry anyway. Some of us tried sleeping out in the parking lot in very hot weather even for midnight. It was horrible. They managed to get the truck repaired by 3 am where we started once again hoping to get near St. George where it would be a little cooler. We did manage to make it quite a ways and slept in a parking lot of a casino. I felt like we were dangerously tired. I am so thankful that God was watching over us. Did I mention it was horribly hot?

We spent 38 hours driving a 14 hour drive. I am amazed that we managed to get up to Logan safely. With 4 drivers, we weren't tired at the same time but would stop anyway to rest all along the way. At one point we pulled into a rest area with wonderful green, cool, lush grass. I pulled a sheet out of the van and spread it on the grass. We all lined up on the sheet and literally fell asleep. I slept so good. I think I even heard some snoring going on. We were so desperate for sleep after the heat the day before and lack of sleep.

It was quite an adventure....one that now feels like a blur. It was a true testimony of how families stick together through thick and thin. At one point my parents were thinking of having us go ahead of them and they would come later when the truck was fixed but we all decided that we wanted to stay together. 

Oh, we never found a place for my parents to rent so they are staying with us until they find a house to buy. 8 people in one house with two bathrooms hasn't been too bad. We have enjoyed them being with us so far. I think it will be a happy but sad moment when they find a house to buy and move out. It is hard to believe that they really are staying. We are excited to be able to have family so close by.

How beautiful is THAT?

Assistant Scoutmaster

Jared, at the age of 18, is

Assistant Scoutmaster.

We are really proud of him. He has ideas from when he was Senior Patrol Leader that he still wants to achieve to improve how things are run with the troop. He has become a wonderful mentor to the younger boys. They look up to him. They heckle him quite a bit too and give him a run for his money. It is all good.

I love my Son.

I know this picture probably doesn't make a bit of sense to you but it does me. Since the day we moved in to this rental the oven door has had fuzzy stuff between the glass. It has been disgusting to look at. We have spent the past three years trying to find a way to clean it.

Well, Jared was home alone for a few hours with nothing to do. He managed to take the door apart and CLEANED THE GLASS!

 I cannot believe how beautiful the glass looks. He did an incredible job!

I love my Son!

Visitors

My Mom is visiting from Arizona, looking for a place to live and Kathy is visiting from Malad.

Can't get any better than that!

Independence Day

We spent our 4th of July celebration in Malad, Idaho. 

Our family enjoys the small town feel, sitting along the parade route with my cousin Kathy 

and my Aunt Carol. I can't imagine not spending it with them. 

Along the parade route, they throw lots of taffy.....Lots of it. And because everyone knows Kathy, they throw extra our way. Victoria scored on the taffy. Enough to share with everyone.

Victoria took a dip in the pool.....country style.

There is just something about being at Kathy's house. It is so peaceful being away 

from the hub bub of life.

 Kaleb is always making me smile. He is always entertaining us in some way.

 Jared be Mr. Cool.

We spent the whole day outside enjoying each others company and into the night,  We all still think that Malad has the best fireworks. I love having family so close to spend wonderful days with.

Mantua Lake

So, how would you pronounce Mantua?

Can you believe that it is pronounced Man-a-way?

I know....it doesn't make sense.

Ever since leaving California near the beach, Kirk and I have been searching for a place near water that we could spend our time as a family. We never found a place in Arizona that we could easily get to.

We love Cache Valley. We have found many places to visit that are practically in our backyard. We enjoy our time spent at Mantua canoeing, kayaking and sitting on the beach reading books....or taking naps. I love being outside, and I'm glad my family does too.

The first time we went to Mantua, the kids and I left Kirk at home to work on freelance. Just minutes after we staked our claim on the beach the boys took off in the canoe and Daphne in her new kayak to row the perimeter of the lake. I didn't know of course and after a while I lost visible contact. I didn't have a pair of binocculars and couldn't call them on a cell phone. They were gone three hours which made me really worried. Only because I wasn't sure if Daphne could get make it that far. So now we have this.....

A waterproof box for Jared's phone. So now I can use the binoculars to watch who ever is out on the lake and they can check their phone to see how long they have been gone.

We have made many trips this summer to the lake and have mentally refreshed upon leaving.

I love that my boys are such great brothers. They have their moments though..... I think I like the kayak better. I like to do my own thing.

Mr. Smarty Pants modeling his mother's sun hat, speaking in an English accent. Sigh...

Backpacking Temple Fork

We have been waiting 9 1/2 years to backpack as a family and it was well worth the wait. We were going to attempt to hike the Grand Canyon when Victoria was just 5 years old but decided that we had better wait. We might still do that some day....from the north end. I hear it is greener on that side. 

Anyway, we put the trip on the calendar....which got changed twice and set our focus on gathering the supplies. I think the hardest part about this trip was making the time. I am so glad that we did it. We managed to piece together what we needed and found a backpack that would fit Victoria. Her pack weighed 12 pounds with her sleeping bag,pad, jacket and water. We dispersed the remainder of her supplies with the rest of us. She begged to bring her beloved Bolt (stuffed doggie) with us. I made her promise that she would carry him the entire way or he was going to have to walk on his own.

The owner at Campsavers in town told me about the Temple Fork trail. He said that it was beautiful with water and wildflowers. He was right. We hiked along a river the entire way, past beaver dams.

 The dogs were completely ADHD with all the new smells to smell. They marked every blade of grass until nothing came out. Anyone who has a male dog knows what I am talking about. It was great because we were able to trust them off leash until they went gallavanting through the tall grass chasing a ground squirrel. Sammy almost caught one and freaked me out. I yelled at him just in time for the squirrel to get away.

 We only hiked 4 miles in. We could have easily gone farther if we knew where the trail went. It was so overgrown that we decided to camp in the clearing where an old sawmill once was.

In preparing for this trip we all decided that we didn't want to eat freeze dried meals. For one, they are horribly expensive when you have to buy them for six people and second, who wants to eat freeze dried meals. The though kind of grosses me out. I have no idea what I will do if we go on an extended backpacking trip. I guess I will deal with that when it comes. We packed three compact stoves so only three of us cooked for two people. It worked out great. We had hamburger, potatoes, bell peppers and carrots. It tasted great.....in fact it is making me hungry right now. We even packed in eggs for burritos the next morning.

Once we established where we were to camp we put up 6 single tents. I wasn't sure how Victoria was going to do in her own tent in the middle of the night. I guess I didn't need to worry, she loved having her own tent.

I saw Kaleb resting with his hat over his face using his pack as a pillow and thought of all those years we spent jeeping with my dad. My dad used to sleep just like that when we would take a break from bouncing over rocks or splashing through creeks. It is freaky wierd how much my boys remind me of my dad when I was growing up. 

 

 We went for a walk.....like we hadn't just hiked with a 35 pound bag on our backs. We jumped across this creek. We hadn't seen Jared get across so I made him show me where he jumped. I remember my dad jumping across a creek with me on his shoulders one time in Monanche Meadows as a kid. I don't think Kirk could jump across holding any of our kids like that. No one is that little anymore. My legs were kind of tired when we did this. I wasn't too sure if I was going to have the strength to make it back across.

 We woke to a beautiful, crisp morning. It is hard to believe that we needed jackets when the sun went down. I love it here. Of course Jared refused to wear anything more than a sweatshirt. The girls and I brought extra layers. We don't like being cold. Jared on the other hand is a minimalist so he will do whatever it takes to not bring extra stuff. On the other hand, Kaleb will pack the kitchen sink if he can. A true boy scout at heart. Always wanting to be prepared.

Daphne's tent was the only one that attracted this cute little caterpillar. We found it ironic because she absolutely hates caterpillars. She thinks that they are the grossest things in the whole universe and will let you and anyone willing to listen know how much she hates them. She called us over about four times to get rid of a caterpillar.  We aren't quite sure if it was the same one or a different one.

 Hiking out was much easier on the girls than hiking in. I think I actually pulled my neck back into alignment. It actually felt great afterwards. We were all tired but felt excited that we had actually done it. We didn't want to go home. We would have loved to have gone further but we actually only had two days that we could fit this trip into.

I love that our family enjoys eachothers company and that we all love to be outdoors. 

I love that they don't complain.

I love that we can count on them to want to participate in a family outing.

I love that my husband will agree to our crazy ideas.

I love making things happen.

And most of all, I love to exhaust two highly energetic dogs!