The Hobble Creek Pioneer Trek 2018

Getting two kids ready for a Mormon Pioneer Trek reenactment is also not cheap, but I wanted them to have this amazing experience and so I choked up the cash.  It was indeed an amazing experience for Reagan and Cade.  They grew spiritually, socially, emotionally and physically. I'm so grateful to all those who put it together and made it happen.  It is no easy feat.  We went up to meet them at the end of their trek and I can't put into words how neat it was to have so many people come up to me and say good things about my sons.  What beautiful testimonies they bore, how hard they worked on Rocky Ridge.  The greatest thing you can tell a mother is that her sons are praiseworthy.

Here's Cade carrying buckets up Rocky Ridge

He went up and down many times.

Libby ran up to walk the last part with Reagan 

Cade (in front)

It was worth all the prep time and money.  And they can't wait for the next one!

Fun Summer Stuff and a Soap Box

As usual, my plans for, well for anything, never work out.  I planned on lazy, relaxing summer days with the kids, lots of time swimming at Derek and Penny's pool, lots of time reading to the kids.  I planned to do a fun day trip somewhere in Idaho with the kids every week.  None of that has happened.  We've managed to fit in one day trip and a few swimming hours.  Our summer started crazy and has not slowed down!

The first week of summer I ignored the littles so that I could get Reagan ready for working up at Scout Camp as a counselor all summer.  The boy needed so much gear and scout uniform paraphernalia that we actually spent almost as much as he will MAKE this entire summer just buying gear.  And do not get me started on scout uniforms, their exorbitant costs, or the uppity ladies at the scout shop who tell you that it HAS to be worn a certain way with all these certain patches and badges and belts and no, you can't wear that belt with that uniform and yes you HAVE to have those pants with that shirt and it can't be worn with any other shirt, blah blah blah.  We won't discuss how many times I have had to go back to said scout shop and deal with said ladies either.  We are practically on a first name basis.  I know where everything is now and could work there myself if it weren't for the fact that my rebellious streak has reared its ugly head there and those ladies wouldn't hire me.  They duck and cover when they see me coming now.  I am quite ready to be done with the whole scouting program at this point!  Love the values, hate the cost and arbitrary rules and regs. But, I have a little boy who actually cried when I told him the LDS church would no longer be doing scouts soon.  He has been counting the days until he could go on camp outs and earn merit badges.  Sigh.  So, we probably aren't done, even if the church is.

So far Reagan is having a great time and he gets to work with his Grandpa!

Reagan spent only a week and a half at camp before we had to go pick him up mid week to bring him home for our stake youth conference and then Trek.  Alli came up with us and we made a fun day of it in McCall.

The Payette River

Can you see our Mountain Goat?

Paddle Boarding with Alli and Grandpa

Levi Flying/Paddling Solo

Playing at the pool with the cousins

Liberty and I walked out of Target one day and looked up in the sky to see this!

Ya don't see that every day.

We got a hammock!

The Littles had a great time at their 3rd year of Farm Camp where they get to play with bunnies and goats and chickens and kittens and do science projects and climb trees.

We rented a bunny for two weeks and though I was initially nervous about it, it has gone fairly well.

Liberty has been in heaven.  She named this bunny while at Farm camp.  

Meet Cocoa

Stay tuned for more summer adventures!

Flags, Finales and Old Farts

At the end of my last post I said this blog would continue as normal after our winter plagues had finally ended.  But that was not to be.  Our bad health year has continued!  On April 18th, I was supposed to have a small routine laparoscopy to remove a benign cyst.  At age 26, the same surgery only took me a day or two to recover from and that was with a toddler and newborn! But this one was NOT the same.  They found two very large cysts instead of just one and the recovery was almost as bad as having a hysterectomy!  The end of April and much of May was a total blur for me and no blogging took place.  End of May craziness hit and summer has been non stop until now so here is yet another catch up blog post. (several, actually.  :-)

May Madness

Liberty had her end of year dance finale.

And the performance itself:

Liberty says she wants to try gymnastics next year, but this girl still dances wherever she goes, always on her toes, and her hands are permanently in dance pose!  (I really didn't try to make that rhyme-it just happened.  lol)

You can take the girl out of dance, but I really don't think you can take dance out of the girl in this case.  

Cade and Liberty both had their piano finales:

Cade

Liberty

Levi's Honor Choir Finale: 

Skip to minute 3:60 for a REALLY cool song worth the listen.

Levi is third from left front row.

My dad had his 70th birthday this year!  He is now officially old Vintage. 

Here is the card Liberty wrote him:

Dad reading the card:

Dad's birthday is often on Memorial Day weekend, as it was this year.

 

And last but not least we had the big school finale on June 1st!  

Yay for Summer!

Levi had friends over the last day of school and they burned all their school papers in our fire pit to roast marshmallows on.  How's that for ringing in Summer?

Stay tuned for our summer adventures so far!  

Really-they will come this time, barring any unforeseen health issues!

Arches: Outmanned Four To One (written by Rock)

As you all know, we have four kids. When Kami and I both take them all on a vacation, they have us outmanned 2:1 at all times. We've found that splitting them up, while it doesn't change the ratio, does change the dynamics. With all four in the car, or at a touristy location, there are a lot of relationships that can become explosive. But if each of us just takes two of them somewhere, it's a far easier job, even though, as parents, we're going it alone. So, for the last few years I've taken two of the kids down to see Grandma and Grandpa Hymas in Colorado over spring break. The other two stay home with Kami. We've rotated through the kids so they each get both opportunities, and it makes for a fun spring break for everyone.

This year, as I prepared for our annual spring break trip, I looked at what everybody needed and wanted and decided all four kids should go, and Kami would stay home and focus on some personal things. So now I was going to be outmanned 4:1 and with all of the relationships to be managed throughout.

Ok, after all that leadup, it really wasn't all that difficult.

I loaded the kids up early one morning, got in the car, and drove. We did the full trip from Boise to Grand Junction in about ten hours, with one stop for lunch and a few quick bathroom/gas breaks. The kids all played on their devices (which is a rare treat for them), managed their own snacks, and didn't fight at all.

Reagan doesn't like the bright sun

It was a beautiful trip.

We arrived just in time to clean up a bit before going to hear Grandma perform an amazing version of the Flower Duet from Lakme. Afterwards we had stew for dinner, got the kids settled, and made plans for the next two days.

Beautiful Music

On Monday we started the day off slowly, on purpose. We did get to go visit Great Grandma, which was awesome. She was in good spirits and had fun identifying everyone's eye color. 

Great Grandma and her cat

Then we had some lunch and went for a hike up Devil's Canyon.

Devil's Canyon

Scramblers

Not Scramblers

Our scramblers, Reagan and Levi, did their best to find new and interesting trails, while Cade and Liberty were content to walk the marked trail and hang out with Grandma and Grandpa.

Steak is Happiness

Ribs are too

That evening, we started a game of Settlers of America with Grandpa, and planned out our trip to Arches the next day.

That trip began with us all getting up at 6am. We made it out the door by 6:40 and this time the kids were split up between my car and the grandparents, so the drive to the park was even easier. Once we got there, we all loaded into the van and had a great time.

Driving with devices

Delicate Arch

The Whole Crew

Closer in

The kids all joined us on hikes to Delicate Arch and Landscape Arch.

Squinting Hymas Boys at Landscape Arch

Happiness

Liberty especially was a trooper and had a great time hiking with Grandma and Reagan.

Like Brother, Like Sister

After the two hikes we had lunch and then drove to see other arches, and stopped at Balancing Rock to enjoy the view.

Squinty Lunch

How high can you get?

Balancing rocks at Balancing Rock

Find the Hymas'

We got done in the park with enough time to hit Dead Horse State Park on the way home.

Top of the World

Levi chased the lizards, Liberty danced on the rocks, and we all enjoyed the breathtaking views of the cliffs, the canyon, and the river below.

Enjoying the View

When we got back that evening, we had some pizza, finished our game of Settlers, and crashed for the night.

The next morning, we packed up, and took off for ten more hours of driving. Another enjoyable, relatively quiet and conflict free drive. We have definitely arrived. The kids took care of themselves, I enjoyed some good music, and we even got home and started unpacking before mom did.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip.