Happy Halloween!!!

We enjoyed another happy Halloween!
Emma was a Fairy Princess. Like her favorite book: "Alice the Fairy" by David Shannon.
Isn't she darling!? I made the tutu and her shirt. So fun!

Does this mean....?

Does this mean it's time to move to a toddler bed?????? I walked in on her boycotting her nap (which is becoming more and more common) and saw her trying to get out and of course...grabbed the camera. She has never tried this before and this attempt wasn't successful... but I am not ready to move her out of the crib. I need her to stay in bed when I put her down! Mama needs her to sleep!!! :)

Our Summer is over...

Our summer blog posts wouldn't be complete without a couple of honorable mentions of our experiences.

Labor Day weekend we also went camping with Tyler's Grandma and Grandpa Groves and family. When we were leaving the campfire to go to bed, Emma walked by the Colman Propane Lantern touched it accidentally. She was just playfully swinging her arms as we walked away and just got too close and barely touched it. It scared her too. NO FUN. You can barely tell from the picture, but she got such a big blister on her pointer finger. Thank goodness she was so tired, because after the ice and Tylenol did all it could she finally just fell asleep. I haven't felt so helpless as a mother in a long time. But she was so brave. And she knows to stay away from those lanterns!


We have a new addition to our house...a ceiling fan in our bedroom!!! With this hot summer and trying to save some energy and money, this was a lifesaver. I was sleeping so horribly until we got this and hooked it up! The first night I slept the whole night through! No uncomfortable hotness! LOVE IT!!!



We got Emma completely potty trained by the end of this summer also! We took that little potty with us to every camp out and it worked great! She is doing so good! YEA EMMA!!! And Yea to no more buying diapers! We aren't quite dry all night long yet...but we'll get there! (Love the Pampers Night Jams - they are the best - FYI) Emma has her Disney Princess Panties, courtesy of Grandma Young and she is loving being a Big Girl now!


And Last but not least...I have a few things I need to say about some encounters with some unfriendly neighbors this summer. The Bee Family. We got bombard by bees and wasps this summer at our house! I don't know if it was the beautiful flowers we had in our flower beds or what, but it was miserable for... ME!!!! I got stung 3 TIMES in a months time!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hadn't been stung by anything since I was a kid and I barely remember it! I have never feared bees but now I have a brand new fear. I hate them! The first one I was just walking up the steps to my front door and a wasp just landed on my foot and stung me! I wasn't doing anything! Thank goodness for my neighbor Janna and her Sting Ease!
The second time, a week later mind you, I was outside again in my PJ bottoms with my friend April and our kids and one got up my pants! YES!!! PANTS!!!! It was horrible. April and Trent may be laughing at this for the rest of their lives but I did a little dance when it stung me and dropped my pants and ran into the house screaming! It was awful! I tried so hard to not let Emma see my emotional stress of Bees because I didn't want her to be scared of them too, but it just kept happening!!! She isn't really afraid of them, but she knows how to mimic mom screaming and telling the Bees to "GO AWAY!"
The third time was while Tyler was at Scout camp. I was trying to be a good mom and so Emma and I had a picnic outside in the backyard. All of a sudden one bee showed up and then another and another. Soon there were at least 5 bees all around us! I gathered our stuff and calmly went inside and came back out to get Emma and her plate and as I walked across the grass, I had one again sting me on the top of my foot! They would just hoover on the top of the grass. This one was probably more traumatic than the one up my pants, because I could see it in my foot and it wouldn't get off!!!!!!! Janna and her Sting Ease weren't home, I was all alone and in a lot of pain. (I'm a wimp I know, but they HURT). I concocted some mixture of Baking soda and water and then meat tenderizer and water, but nothing helped but ICE. So word for the wise = ICE when you get stung and you don't have any Sting Ease! Thankyou to Delena my other wonderful neighbor who's husband saw me crying outside as I came back from Janna's house and sent her over to see if I was okay. She almost cried with me. She hates bees more than I do! :) It was nice to have someone else understand how frustrating this was! There are no missing Bees in the Groves' yard this summer! Let's hope for a less bee yard next year.


So, there was our summer! Never a dull moment!

Lagoon!!!

For my mom's birthday we all got together and went to Lagoon! Thank you! to Stephanie and her discounted tickets! We sure are glad Eric married her! :) It had been forever since we had been. I couldn't even remember the last time I had been to Lagoon. James and I started talking and we figured out it was at a Institute Lagoon Night and that was the first time he met Vicki!!!! She was there with her family (Her Dad was an Institute teacher). It made us laugh to remember that and look how life has turned out! So it was at least 6 years ago!

It was one of our "Fun" goals this year to take Emma to Lagoon. She loved it! We knew she would. We all had a good time...minus going on the Wild River Rapids ride right when we got there and getting SOAKED and being wet for a long time. I will never do that again. :) Tyler was smart and stayed behind and took pictures. :) This was part two of our Young Family Vacation together. Camping last weekend, Lagoon this and celebrate Mom's birthday.

Here's a little slide show of our fun!!!

Young Family Campout!

For the first time we all got together and went camping with my brothers and sisters this last weekend. We just went up Weber Canyon and spent the night. I have no pictures, because my camera is DEAD. Did any of my siblings take any? Let me know, then I will know if you even read my blog. :) Going so late in the year it was super cold, but we managed alright and stayed warm by our campfire. We popped popcorn with my nifty camping popcorn popper! Ate good food made by Tyler and enjoyed everyone's company. In the morning we braved the cool air and even took 3 runs down the Weber River in tubes! Someone I know took pictures, and I can't wait to see them! It was so cold and the water low, we kept hitting our bottom's on rocks! OUCH!
It is definately a tradtion, and next year we will go when it is warmer and I will have a camera! :)

Groves Family Campout

Last week we went on our Groves Family Campout. We went up into the Unitas to Smith and Moorehouse. We had a great time. It is so beautiful up there! We saw lots of wild life and relaxed. Emma loved it! Here are our memorable pictures!

Emma and Rulon relaxing in their chairs by the fire.

All of us chillin' by the the fire...pit. Don't you love Emma with her leg over the arm of the chair?
This is the only way that we can get Emma to take a nap when we don't have her bed. A walk in the stroller. This tree was perfect in the shade and propped back.

Emma and Peyton. She sure loves her little cousin!

The kids got sooo dirty! Here's Rulon showing us his dirty hands and Emma just looking at hers. "What? They are dirty?"

Emma went fishing for the FIRST time with her Grandpa!! She was sooo excited!!

Wading our feet in the cool water, waiting for the fish to bite!

Holding the fishing pole with Grandpa!

Just waiting for the fish...come here fishy!

Emma loved to throw rocks into the water. Waiting for fish to bite can be quite boring for a 2 year old. :) Thank goodness this didn't bother the fish!
Here the fish comes! Reeling it in!
There he is!!

Here it is!!! She wanted to hold this so bad, but as soon as she did she was DONE!

Labor Day Weekend and Happy Birthday!

Yesterday was my 31st Birthday! Wow! Where did the time go? Thank you to everyone and their well wishes on my day. You made it very special!
It was a very nice day. My cute sweetheart loves me and made my day very special. We went to breakfast with Tyler's dad that morning. Thanks Kevin! And then I had a nice picnic with some of my girl friends. Tyler let me take a nap. It's been a long time since I had one of those. I also got to take a HOT long shower with no interruptions or visits from Emma. That was the best present that day. :) We then went to dinner - Cafe Rio - surprise, surprise, I know. Then had the family over for cheese cake that Tyler made himself! He did SUCH a good job! It was sooo yummy! And there was even some left over and I can't wait to enjoy some tonight! It was a very nice day. I love that Tyler can take the day off and spend it with me. He has actually been off of work since Friday and we have had a great weekend camping, shopping, and just being together. He went back to work today and we are back in the swing of life again. We have a bunch of tomatoes we are going to freeze and that has to be done tonight. And we both have other projects and assignments that need to get done. And we are going on our last camp out of the season this weekend with my family. So we have that to prepare for too! Busy Fun Busy! We'll keep you posted!
PS
We went kayaking a couple of weeks ago also. SO FUN! And we took our camera, Not so fun, it got wet and it just isn't the same. It takes pictures, but that is about it. No zoom, no viewing previous pictures, it is like an old point and shoot. :( Bummer...so pictures are going to be few and far between for a little bit. It's just not as convenient anymore. :)

Cafe Rio - eat your heart out!

Dear Adam and Krysta,
This post is for you! With our wonderful coupon it only cost us $5!!!
Wish you were here and yes, it still tastes great! :)

To Everyone Else,
We really like Cafe Rio and with a coupon we LOVE Cafe Rio!
And Emma's "Casidilla" (Napolian Dynamite) is FREE!
YUM!!!!

Pioneer Trek 2008

"Maybe it was for us to come here and remember the faith of our fathers?
Maybe it's not a story of suffering but one of rescue?"
- Michael Spainhower

I just read an article that Tyler's non member boss gave to him from the Salt Lake Tribune about Pioneer Treks. The author, Jessica Ravitz went along and documented her experience and found out "What the heck is up with trek?!" She hit it dead on. After reading the article I really felt like I needed to update this post. I still haven't gotten pictures yet, and that is okay. I will add them when I do. But that quote above from the article hit home for me. Why did all the suffering and tragedy have to happen? I don't think there was one answer. But after what I experienced on my Trek Experience, I couldn't be more grateful for their legacy, their faith and how they endured to the end. Period. I don't think it was a story of suffering but a story of rescue. They found God in their experiences. And in mine I did too. I don't have the words to even express what I felt. But I am so glad I got to go, and if you ever get the chance, do it! It isn't that bad, and even if it is, you won't remember the bad parts. I had countless experiences that kept me going that I will keep forever in my heart. I learned about what sacrifice really is, what love really is, and what it means to know your Savior. The stories and places I visited have touched me for the rest of my life. I hope I can be as faithful, and show love and sacrifice for others as the pioneers did and how our Savior does for us. I have been still devouring pioneer stories since I have been home, they mean so much more to me now. I just cry as I read them. Amazing faith. The Pioneer Trek I experienced for me was definitely one of rescue. My rescue.
Did you know that the Rescue party from Salt Lake came upon the Willie Company first? They were ahead of the Martin Company. But not in any better condition. They were starving, they were cold, they were dying. The kids were licking the inside of the flour sacks for anything. The fact that the rescuers even found them in the winter storm was a miracle in and of itself. And when they did, they killed all their cattle and ate and found hope that it was almost over, the rescue party was just ahead. And then they told the rescue party to go on and help the Martin Company. As awful and hard and as miserable as they were, I cannot even comprehend, they showed love and sacrifice and said, no go on, we'll be fine, help the Martin Company, they are worse off then us. In so many ways that touches my heart. Being on the banks of the Sweetwater river where that occurred was so sacred for me. What an experience and one that I hope I never will forget. Pioneer Trek 2008. I don't have any other words to describe but...amazing. 8/28/08

Day 4 - Home again

Sunday morning we went to church and watched Matilda be blessed. It was so good. Emma played with Leah next to us and it was one of the more enjoyable Sacrament Meetings I have had in a long time.
I neglected to get a picture of the cute Matilda (Shelley and Cory's little one). Shame on me! Or I would post it here.
Our last night there, we put in a movie for Emma to watch and she was out in no time at all. She slept pretty good on our drive home Sunday. But boy were we all happy to be in our own beds that night.