"Practicing My Tan"

I am almost at a loss for words and just want to giggle.

The Diva liked "practicing her tan" (as she would say) while camping.

Aunt Timaree sure moved up as one of Avery's favorite people when she set up this pool.

Crafting or Nesting?

I have been out of the crafting mode for awhile now.  Too hot.  Too tired.  Well my hormones and a sweet friend have pushed me back into it.  I wanted some more Halloween pumpkins to go with my other fall pumpkins that I made.  These are so super easy and it is still beyond me why they charge so much in the boutiques.  All it takes is some cute fabric, pinto beans, a little poly filler on top, some upholstery thread and then a great sun bleached pumpkin stem glued on top.

These are the ones I did a year or so ago.  The fabric for these was purchased from goodwill and was from a pillow and a skirt in their former life.  It's tons cheaper to get thrift fabric that is something else than to get it at the fabric store.

I saw this wreath at a boutique and it was $159.  No kidding.  Maybe they took into account all the third degree burns they got from the glue gun or the itchiness of the burlap that would soon cover your entire body and want to make you scream.  A grapevine wreath, tons of burlap folded into fourths, a glue gun and you're good.  It was time consuming but always more fun to craft with a friend.

These have gotten me started on a bunch of other crafts that I finished and will post later.  Now back to our regular scheduled programming of the Stephens' summer.

Motor Boat'n - Stephens' Reunion

 

We went out one day on a pontoon boat that we rented and went fishing.  The lake was a little choppy but it was a beautiful day.  Poppa, Grandma and Aunt Timaree came with us.  The rest stayed back at camp and went later.

 

Trey and Avery sat up front and were the navigators.  They loved it. 

 

 It didn't take Logan long before he caught a fish.  Not long after that he got another one but yelled for Avery to come over and had her hold the rod and reel it in with a lot of his help.  She was sooo excited that SHE had caught a fish.  What a sweet brother to let her enjoy that moment.

Grandma helped Trey and they had a fun time together.

 Grandpa and Avery drove the boat for a little bit until Grandpa wouldn't listen to Aaron's directions on where to go.

So they got booted and Aaron took over.

 

We found the cutest little store right next to the lake that had the best ice cream and cold drinks.  We stopped in after our fishing adventures and got a treat and visited often for more drinks and ice cream.

It was such a fun, relaxing day.  We were nestled in the mountains where there was no cell phone coverage so the bishop could not be reached.  We enjoyed having him to ourselves as our dad.  Life just seemed to slow down and it felt so good to enjoy my family.

Horses and Annie Oakley

I give myself a big pat on the back for not only going camping but going camping pregnant.  A camper I am not.  In all honesty this was my style of camping and I surprised myself that I actually enjoyed it as much as I did and would love to do it again.  Granted there was a nice bathroom that had electricity and flushing toilets and a running sink.  It was nicer than some of the bathrooms at Walmart.  So that made a huge difference.

There were so many different activities planned for the reunion and we all had a great time.  Avery was in love with the horses and also her cousin Riley.  Trey loved going on the horse trails and Logan was able to ride by himself without a guide.

There was an Annie Oakley competition.  Which is basically like speed in basketball but your shooting clay pigeons instead.  The men lined up in a row with their guns, you could literally see the testosterone floating in the air.  As the clay pigeon is thrown the first person gets a shot.  If they get it then their turn is over and it moves onto the next person.  If they miss then the second person can quickly take a shot and try and get it, if they do the first person is out.  If they miss then the third person can take a shot and get both of them out and on and on.  It was so much fun to watch those grown men act like little boys getting excited about getting someone out and trash talking each other about who had the best aim.

These cute kiddos came along but were too young to go out in the field and compete.  Avery loved playing with Savannah.  She's just as cute and spunky as Avery and Avery misses her.  They played in the back of the truck and then their dads helped them shoot one on one when the competition was over.  I don't think Avery was prepared for the kick and it about knocked her over.  Trey loved walking through the fields looking for treasures.

Logan was right out there with all the grown men having the time of his life and holding his own.  He has a really good aim and has earned the nick name "dead eye" from my dad because it usually only takes him one shot.  Aaron has a really good aim as well and was known in his family growing up for his good aim.  But.....Logan is right on his heels and even got Aaron out during this competition.  It cracks me up that it gets under Aaron's skin a little bit that he has taught his son everything he knows and now at 11 he can rival his dad.  Keep it up Logan and give dad a good run for his money.

They competed in a couple of rounds and then it came down to Logan and his Uncle Derek.  Uncle Derek won which Logan was totally fine with.  He was just excited to be out there doing what he loves to do and spending time with his dad.

The Start of our Vacay

The summer of '12 will probably be known as the year we had the Stephens' family reunion and also the year that the children broke the hard drive on my computer.  What a day-month or mourning that was. (The hard drive, not the reunion).  Even now just typing it makes my stomach tie up in knots and puts a lump in my throat. It's the pictures that were lost that kill me and also the fact that it was quarreling children that caused it.  I'm trying to move on from it and when we have an extra couple thousand dollars lying around without being flagged for something else (when does that happen?) I'll try and get it fixed.  And until the children are moved out of the house, which is the soonest that I see that most likely happening, Aaron has made the computer "make do" and I'm thankful to him for that.  It's taken him quite awhile being as how he usually only has short increments of time to work on it.  But it's finally up and running and now I can get caught up.  Funny how I went without a microwave for nearly a year and it didn't bother me one bit but the computer did.  And I'm not even a facebooker.  I'm also thankful for my dad coming and taking the kids when I was in hysterics.  The only question he asked on the phone was "are you ok?"  I said "no" and his response was "I will be right there", he didn't even ask why.  I love my dad.

So back to the Stephens' reunion.  It was better than Disneyland for the kids.  Or at least what they imagine Disneyland to be like since we have never been there.  It was talked about and prepared for months prior and then the arrival day of departure came.  I don't know how Aaron managed to fit all our luggage for a week in the car plus all our camping gear.  Everything and everyone was compartmentalized into it's own space.  He has talent for sure.  We decided to split up our drive this time which we have never done.  We stayed in a hotel in Kanab along with a slew of orientals touring the Grand Canyon.  I didn't realize being pregnant how uncomfortable driving for that long would get, I'm sure the varicose veins were not helping.  Logan was under strict instructions from my parents to "walk" me.  Yes "walk" me around like a dog at every rest stop we took.  As Aaron waited in the car with the other kids, Logan would pick a destination or a route and we would walk it and then head back to the car.  Circling the gas station multiple times was the most common routine.  It got the blood pumping back through my legs and helped but by the end of the trip the veins had spread and bulged and gotten more painful.

When you stay in a hotel you just have to jump on the bed for a little bit.  The kids were so confused when I told them this.  It's creating a memory and locking it in your brain.  If it's just a boring hotel visit we might forget it so we need to jump on the bed....softly.....so that we can always remember this time together. It didn't take long for them to oblige.  I could just die at Avery's cute little girly jumps.

And Trey had some sweet ninja moves with facial expressions included.

Um...no jumping for you big boy.  We don't want to pay for ceiling repairs.

3 little monkeys snug in a bed.  Trey fell off and bumped his head.  Still wondering how that happened or if he tried to wiggle out on his own.

He spent the rest of the night on the floor with a blanket and was happy.

We managed to get back on the road again.  We had lots of fun and lots of treats on the car ride there but the kids favorite was tin foil creations.  I bought a big box of tin foil before we left.  We would have contests to see who could create the best hat, the ugliest glasses, the most creative sword and so forth.  The kids loved it and got super creative.  It kept them busy for hours.

Knowing that his mother and father will not buy it for him, Trey had been saving and saving for a Nintendo DS especially for this trip.  He has wanted one for so long and it has taught him many important lessons.  First of all mom doesn't cave.  Second money doesn't come easy.  Third get resourceful to earn your own money.  He sold a lot of his pokemon cards and toys on Craigslist.  Obviously I helped him out a little bit but it was his idea.  He earned $40 and as luck would have it, just before we left he checked the ads and they dropped the price on the DS.  Which was another thing that he learned, to find a good deal and be patient.  So the stars alligned and Trey purchased his DS before we left.  We got to listen to him narrate his game the entire trip.  His favorite game was Indiana Jones Leggos.  He would exclaim "yes I got another corn dog".  What in the world is a "corn dog" doing in an Indian Jones game?  It took us the entire trip to realize a "corn dog" was actually a "torch".  We got a good laugh out of that and decided to call them corn dogs after that.  Funny kid.

Not sure what this creation was that Logan made but it kept him quiet.

And then we finally arrived to the beautiful land of Utah.  Where things actually grow in the summer.  Like grandma's garden her grapevines and potato bush.

Where you can actually go outside in the evening and enjoy beautiful sunsets that make the grass change into all sorts of beautiful shades of green and gold.

And where there are always family and unexpected friends to welcome you.