Red Butte Gardens

Getting a group picture with small children where everyone is smiling and looking at the camera is not an easy task. I remember an old black and white photo my parents had of a group at a family reunion. We used to laugh at it, because there were kids smiling, crying and some moving so much they were just a big blur. Back then you really only got one shot.

Lucky for us, we are now able to take multiple shots. The only problem is kids are still kids.....Very unpredictable.

Ryan's mom bought the grandkids all matching outfits for the Fourth of July and wanted to get a picture of them all together. So on Monday we took trip to Red Butte Gardens.

The group picture did not start out on a good note,

But in the end we got an OK picture. At least everyone is relatively happy and their eyes are all open. That counts as success to me.

Emily and Joe were both happy to see their baby cousin, and each wanted to have a turn holding him.

Later on our walk through the garden, we took a few pictures with Grandma and Grandpa. Valerie was a lot happier with this arrangement and I think it turned out really cute.

After our walk around the garden, we ate lunch. The day was getting really warm, so after lunch Grandma and I took my kids to the children's garden to play in the fountains before we headed home.

I didn't think Valerie would get too close to the water, but after a few minutes she walked right through the middle of the fountain.

Emily Joe and Josh always have a great time playing in water, and this was no different.


They were soaked in just a matter of minutes.

It was a fun way to spend a hot Summer day.

My Little Bikers

Summer is in full swing and we had yet to go on a real bike ride. So Ryan's mom and I took the kids to Jordan River Parkway for a ride. Yes, we knew it was supposed to be 90 plus degrees that day, but we thought it would be cool enough in the morning.

We were really proud of ourselves that we were able to load the bikes into and onto Grandma's SUV by ourselves, and get them safely to the parkway.

Emily was sporting her new biking outfit Dad and Grandma had found at the outlet mall for her while we were out of town.

We had one technical problem, Joe's chain fell off. We were able to get it back on without too much difficulty.

At first Joe tried to keep up with Emily, but Josh was sad because he wanted to ride with Joe. Joe was a nice brother and waited for Josh to catch up and then rode with him.

Everyone did really well on the ride, and it didn't get too hot until the end of the ride. Then we were all ready for a cold drink and a nice snack of cheese and grapes before we headed home.

Valerie did great. We are going to have to get her use to wearing a helmet though. She got it off pretty quickly on the ride, and did not want it back on. It is a little too big for her, but it is the smallest size they make.

While we missed Grandpa and Dad on the ride, it was nice to know that Grandma and I can take the kids on our own if we want to. I love going on bike rides with the kids, and biking is something they love to do. Hopefully this will be the first of many more rides this summer.

Father's Day Ties

The "Two Tie" fashion statement returned to our ward on Father's day, because the primary kids had made special ties for their dads as a surprise a few weeks before.

When the kids gave Ryan their Father's Day gifts they told him he had to wear them.

BOTH OF THEM. (Joe and Josh made the feather tie and Emily made the other one)

He is a good dad and decided not to wear his suit that day so everyone would be able to see his beautiful ties. (I think he was relieved when we walked into church and there were other dads with two beautiful ties on.)

Valerie did not get to be in on the tie making, but she was happy to help dad eat his Father's Day Dessert.

We love you Ryan. You are a great Dad!

On A Jet Plane

I know you thought I was done with my vacation posts, but I have one more.


When I decided to jump in my parents car and hitch a ride to their house with them the biggest question was how would we get home. At first my dad said they would just drive us back in a couple of weeks. A few days later he must have realized what that meant for them, so he started looking into other ways. I offered to follow them in my car. I would still have extra help with the kids, but my dad would not even talk about that idea. He decided he would rent a van for my mom and I to drive back, and then he would fly my mom home. When he looked at what it would cost to rent a van, he changed his mind and started looking at plane tickets.


This seemed like a much better and cheaper option to my dad than any of the other ones, (and I was not complaining) so lucky us, we got to fly home. Thanks Dad!


Saturday marked the end of our vacation and it was time to head for home. This is always the worst part of the trip when we go to visit family. We had such a great time and we love them and wish we could see them more, but we are tired and so ready for our own beds. So it is always a happy sad time for me.

My parents took us to the airport and helped me get as far as they could. Which means the security gates. I miss the old days when my mom could come sit at the gate with me and visit until we actually boarded the plane.



The kids were all very excited. Emily and Joe have flown before, but it has been about 6 years since our last flight. Joe was a baby.



We arrived at our gate in plenty of time. The boys loved looking out the big windows at the planes and other airport vehicles. They loved watching luggage get unloaded and loaded from a flight. At one point Josh was worried because we had not gotten on a plane yet. When a plane pulled up to the gate next to ours he said, "Come on that's our plane." He was mad that I wasn't getting on it. I had to explain to him that we did not want to go to New Mexico.





Our flight had been delayed 20 minute, so the kids and I walked over to a little play area they had in the airport. It was mostly for younger kids, but there was a T.V. playing cartoons, so they were all pretty happy.

When we boarded the plane we headed to the back so we could find two empty rows next to each other. Emily was going to sit on a row by herself, and wanted the window seat. I wanted to be able to see her during the flight. It ended up that two other kids sat next to her.



Joe and Josh sat by me. Joe loved looking out the widow and wanted to take pictures of what he saw. My favorite one is the top of Mount Hood sticking up through the clouds. Valerie and Josh both took naps on the plane and it was a very peaceful ride home. I woke Josh up for the landing so he didn't miss it. It was fun for the kids to fly in an airplane, and they were all really good.


The kids were so excited to see dad at the airport. Joe ran and jumped into his arms. We all missed him so much and we hope he will be able to come with us next time. It is good to be home.

A Few More Fun Times

There are a few more things we did on our vacation that had I been home living my normal not so exciting life, probably would have gotten their own post, but since we have had two very full weeks, I have decided to do one big post.

Bethany was happy to see that Baby Valerie had come to see her at her house. She loves her and made sure Valerie got lots of love and attention. Valerie seemed to love it. Bethany also decided that because Emily was now at her house, Emily could be promoted to Bethany's Big Sister.

Gabriella

In 7th grade my family moved to Washington for about 6 months. While I was there I met Stephanie. We have stayed in touch all of these years, so while I was in town I went to visit her. She had her first baby in January and it was so fun to meet Gabriella. She is a cutie. It was great to be able to go visit, play with her new baby, and see Stephanie as a happy mom.

Salmon Creek

On Sunday, after church, the kids needed to burn off some energy, so Grandma suggested a walk. There is a creek by their house that has a great path that we have visited often. It was the perfect place for our walk.It was beautiful, and there was lots to see, including turtles camped out in the pond. We even stopped at a spot where the kids could throw rocks.

Kalama High School
(if you don't recognise this school from the picture, then you might want to skip this next part)
Our leaving on this trip was such a last minute decision that I did not tell some of my friends I would be gone. Thursday I received a text from a couple of my friends after discovering where I went, accusing me of using my family as a cover. They asked if I was really in Forks looking for Edward. Of course I told them I was.

The Ape caves were only 5 minutes down the freeway from Kalama High where the Twilight movies are filmed, so my mom and I decided to go and get a picture for my friends. We got there about 20 minutes after school let out, so there were still students hanging around. I told Emily she had to get out with me and act like she was really excited to be there. Joe and Josh gladly accepted the invitation to get out of the car.

When my mom was taking the picture I heard one of the students in the background say "Dude they're taking a picture." I guess there are not many people who do this........At least not when the students are around. Unfortunately the sun had come out so Edward was not there.

The Fort

If you go beyond the shrubs in my parent's back yard you will discover a whole different world. At least my kids did.

My nephews have carved out the black berry bushes behind my parents yard to make a fort. The bushes go back quite far so the fort is actually very big. (The part they have cut out was not an area good for berry picking) The kids loved going in there and playing their imaginary games. Whenever Emily walked out the door to the back yard she quickly disappeared into this world.


It was a little muddy, but that just added to the fun. It was very hard to go out into Grandma's yard without getting a little muddy anyway.

The Kitchen
Valerie had not paid much attention to the stairs at our house. I had been trying to teach her how to do stairs, but she would always just cry. But at the top of the stairs at my moms house is a little girls dream.

Valerie quickly developed the talent of crawling up stairs and when she would disappear from the main room I would often find her up playing in the play kitchen, and sometimes Bethany would be there with her having just as much fun. Valerie still had no interest at all in going down the stairs, when she was done she would just cry until someone brought her back down.


Helping in the real kitchen is something Josh loves to do. Grandma had the kids help her make bread sticks one night. It was really fun for Josh and the bread sticks were yummy.

We had a really great time visiting. Thanks for all of the fun adventures!

Beacon Rock

Friday the weather was beautiful, so we decided to hike Beacon Rock.

My brother's son Brevin took the day off of school and joined us for this hike. He is such a great helper with the younger kids. He even offered to carry Valerie in the back pack. I thought he would be sad if he did, (he is not quite big enough) so I kept the pack on me, but it was really sweet of him to offer.

The hike was a bunch of switchbacks up the side of the rock, so even though we were going up, it was not too difficult.

All the way up the side of the rock the view got better and better. Josh kept looking down at the train tracks. He could hear train whistles, but usually the train was on the other side of the river. When we were just about to the top a train finally came on the tracks that went right by the rock. Josh kept asking if that was the train who's whistle we heard. Then when I said maybe he said, "I know it is." A few minutes later we heard another whistle and Josh told everyone that it was the train we just saw.

The hike was about 1 mile long. When we reached the top, the view was amazing.

A Day At The Beach

As I said in the cave post, Wednesday was supposed to be a nice day. So we planned to go to the beach. Tuesday the forecast changed and it was supposed to be rainy. We decided to take our chances and head to the coast anyway. I am glad we did because it turned out to be a great day to go to the Oregon Coast.

It takes 2 hours to drive to the beach, so we got there just in time to have lunch at Mo's. It is right off the beach, so the view and the food is great. The kids got nice and full, and were ready to go play.


We thought it would be cold so we had the kids dress for cold weather, with the ability to get wet just in case. My mom took us to Indian Beach because there are tide pools there. That way if it was cold and rainy the kids would still be entertained without going into the water. Lucky for us the day was perfect for the Oregon coast. It was a little overcast, but there was no rain and when we went into the water I was surprised how warm it was.


Ellen's kids stayed home from school and came with us too.

Emily was born in Utah, but lived in San Diego for 5 years and loves the beach. She has no fear of the water and does not mind cold at all. So it was no surprise to me that she ran right into the water. She and Scott headed over to the tide pools first and immediately started finding sea life.

Joe loved the beach. He started looking for seashells and found a bunch of broken ones. At the tide pools he was able to find a couple of good ones, and a starfish.

Josh also loved the beach, and shadowed Joe most of the time. He did go his own way every now and then, but always ended up back with Joe. He really liked digging in the sand, and running from the waves.

Valerie started out her visit to the beach sitting with Grandpa, enjoying a bottle. When she finished, she played with the rocks, having fun banging them together. When the other kids and I got back from the tide pools, I brought her down to the sand to see what she thought of it. She acted like she wanted to go towards the water, so I eventually let her stand in the tide. I thought she would cry as soon as the water touched her feet, but she laughed, and thought it was great. It didn't last long though. After the 5th time she was done with the water, and went back to play in the sand.

In our family a trip to the beach also means a trip to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. So on the way home we took our usual detour to Tillamook.

Josh was 2 the last time we visited and has no memory of Oregon. He also loves cheese and would eat it 3 meals a day if I would let him, so he was very excited about the cheese factory. When I was young there used to be real cows in the viewing areas, but now the milk is shipped in from the local farms and the processing and packaging is done at the factory. When Josh saw the big blocks of cheese he got as close to the window as he could and would not look away for me to take his picture. He was even happier when we got to the sample area.

We stopped in the store to get a pepperoni stick and some squeaky cheese. Then of course we got ice cream cones. We all left Tillamook tired and happy after a big day of fun.

The Ape Caves

All last week the weather report had said it was supposed to be dry Monday,Tuesday and Wednesday. Monday was a beautiful day and the kids spent a lot of time outside. We decided that we should take advantage of the good weather on Tuesday and go on another hike. My mom thought the kids would like to hike to the top of Beacon Rock. It is the spot where Lewis and Clark realized they were almost to the Pacific Ocean.


So Tuesday morning we got ready and packed our picnic. Then as we were loading the kids in the car this started.........
Rain. and not just sprinkling you can ignore. Buckets of rain.



But instead of unloading everyone and going back inside for a rainy day, we just changed the location of our hike to Mount St Helen's Ape Caves. 99% of this hike is underground, so rain or shine you can hike it.

The cave is really cold and dark, so we went back into the house and got warmer clothes and a few flashlights. Then we were off.


By the time we got to the hike we decided we better eat lunch first. It was still pouring rain, so we set the picnic up in the back of Grandma's Vehicle.


The chipmunks were not afraid of us or the rain and came right up to us to get the crumbs that fell on the ground. By the time we finished eating the rain had slowed to a sprinkle, so we headed to the caves.

I had never been to the ape caves before, so I really had no idea what to expect. At first I wondered if there were formations shaped like apes, but my mom told us that they are called Ape caves after a Scout group who first explored the caves who called themselves the Apes.

There are two parts to the cave. The upper cave and the lower cave. My family have been on both hikes and said the upper cave is for people 9 years old and up, because there are some tricky parts, but the lower cave is perfect for little ones.

The Lower cave is called the Lava Tube, and it is not hard to see why. It is where the lava carved out a big long tube in the mountain. The cave is
3/4 of a mile long. As we kept going further and further into the cave I wondered how far under ground we were. There were some parts where the cave was really wide and others where the ceiling was very high.
After finding the cave on our last hike the kids were very excited to get to explore a cave. They also loved that it was so cold we could see our breath if we held our flash lights near our mouths. At one point they were pretending to be dragons.

One of the scenic parts of the caves is the meatballs.
(This photo came out too dark, but I lightened it a little just so we can see it, so the quality is not that great.) As we got to the end of the cave it got smaller and smaller. I did not go the last few feet to the end, because with Valerie on my back I was worried I would hit her head. So I waited while the kids went on.


The hike back was a little eerie to me, just because I was not sure when we were going to get out. Going in you know it is all underground and there is no exit, but coming back I kept wondering where the sunlight was. Towards the end I felt like we had hiked long enough, but then we would round a corner and still not see sunlight. I have to say I was happy when we spotted the sunlight coming into the opening. This hike is definitely not for the claustrophobic.


Valerie slept for most of the hike. I guess it got dark and cool, it must have been time to sleep.


It was a really cool hike and the kids loved it. They felt like real explorers with their flashlights.