Gin gan gooley gooley gooley....

I mean who makes this stuff up?
Of course it was scout camp, where old, fat, men in shorts, tell tales of Indians and sing songs of travelling in bean tins and bras. Much to the delight of our 10 year olds who really went to shoot something!!
BB Guns,
Bows,
and
Boats
Oh My.








So if you want to see Ronan get excited, hand him a gun.

In search of snow.

No I'm not done with the summer sun yet but when it hits 100 degrees outside, it's fun to go in search of something rare. SNOW!!
We took the Snowbird tram, usually reserved for die hard, skilled and dumb ski/snow boarders. I only dropped off this mountain once before realizing I was none of the above. I think my descent was mostly butt to ice whilst praying but on this lovely occasion we went the civilized route. On foot :)

The Tram itself (or cable car to those who need translation) goes straight up the mountain. It's just over a mile and takes about 9 minutes to get to 11,000ft.


So these pictures are real not an airbrushed back drop and yes we did find real snow which is just as cold in July as it is in January.

We had dinner at a little Mexican Joint and yes I am wearing a hoodie, I mean 75 degrees is pretty chilli after you get used to HOT!!

Sometimes I feel a bit guilty sharing the pleasures of my life but today I just say, I have a guest room if you want to visit :)

HAPPY 4th of July

No really it was fun :)
We drove to Idaho, Sun Valley for the special little blessing of Cordell Washington Hill, (what a cool political name and appropriate time of year to be blessed)

A road trip is not my first choice for the day since all around me I hear of balloon launches, fun runs and parades. I'm not sure who came up with the term "funrun" seriously? is there such a thing?
Anyway, when we arrived up there we had an immediate change of heart. I mean how can you not.
2 boats, many toys, a beach and food.





It was so worth it, we had a blast with family and Maren's extended family.
Let the party begin:)


I know it may come as a shock to some but despite being raised and growing up in England, I have done allot more growing up in the US and so I celebrate today with my fellow Americans. I am grateful to be in a free country where I can worship as I choose, where I can work and achieve and ultimately choose for myself and my family. I pray this country will stay true to the values it was founded on and we will continue to strive for freedom from government intervention.

Chillin' at the beach

Well this is as good as it gets when you live hundreds of miles from the ocean.
A little sand, allot of heat, throw in some water and one of the coolest climbing structures.




Seems like an alright place to hang for free close to home.

And yes I do play with my kids, not just watch :)

Color Splash.

On a not so recent (hint, we need to do that again)day out with my longtime buddy, I got a dreaded, gasp, oh no, phone call. No it wasn't an accident, speeding ticket or death in the family, although I've had all of these this year. It was a full on sweaty palms "I NEED DETAILS" call.
Curtis and Asha are switching bedrooms and we are painting and we are...........I don't remember the rest as I interrupted with "WHAT COLOR?!!!!!!
My calm, collected, sweet heart, husband who is thinking "I've got this all under control and you are off on a day out relaxing, why do you need to know" nicely replies "It's a surprise"
Seriously? The queen of HGTV watchers is being told to chill and have some patience. Which of course I DIDN'T as my friend could attest.
So this prompted today's blog when she told me she still hadn't seen the color choice.

9am when I left, Asha's room looked like this

I returned around midnight to this being Curt's room.
They gutted it, the DI made out in a big way that day. They prepped painted and had the whole room put together before I got home. Both kids slept peacefully in there beds and the floors were vacuumed an all.


This was there color choice. They did a flat gloss split of the same color so when the light hits it looks really cool. They even mounted everything and changed out all the plug thingies to look industrial. He's still waiting for the John and concrete bed, well it does look a bit like a cell in this picture. We believe in helping our kids transition into adulthood. Actually, I meant a shelf and some picture frames to go up. It actually looks very lofty which was the plan.
This was what his room, now Asha's room, looked like when the holes were filled.

If you can't see there was a hole just about every 4inches.
Anyway, we have finally started Asha's room. It's a big deal since we are building a loft bed with a stage and lighting and curtains that open when you pull the string and an escalator to get up to the bed..... jk. This is Asha's request and since she drew a quite detailed picture, I feel at least obliged to execute some of that plan. (bed, curtains, lights :)


She chose the color and even enlisted a buddy to help. She asks everyday when will it be done (HINT DADDY) so who knows maybe when curt's shelf is up, maybe when we finish our garden project, maybe when monkeys fly out..... you know what I mean.

What was your favorite part?

Since our big boys are off in the land of eternal moisture (no not Utah)England. We decided to take our littluns on a fun trip also. You sometimes get the bum deal when your the youngest because all activities as a group tend to lean towards the older, harder to please peeps. I mean picture how much fun a picnic at the park would be with say... a 17 year old. Actually, depending on the hour, anything could be considered rubbish by a teen whereas, putting lunch in a bag and eating it on the tramp could be quite a thrill for a 7 year old. Ya feel me ?
So when I asked each family member there favorite part of our trip, I got a different response but all had an awesome time.
Can I just say my whole family is blessed with the travel gene. Not a single complaint and we didn't even have a tv or game boys in the car. I suppose after flying to England, 6 measly hours is no biggie. Even with a dog on your lap.

So Asha's favorite was the Dragon ride at Legoland and swimming, (sometimes twice a day)

Ronan said, Lego land, getting soaked at seaworld and riding the NY NY in Vegas.



For Boyd it was R&R although he too enjoyed legoland, he's a big kid at heart but our Hotel was on a bay that just happened to have a great trail around it and tons of people doing outdoor workouts everyday so he made use of that.

Me, well I loved it all.
Staying at the Excalibur, The spa resort, The MGM Grand, no chores, great food, of course a trip to the Puma store, I loved Shamu but my most favourite part was a tour of the USS Midway, a retired aircraft carrier. They gave us headsets and everything had a number so you could listen to info on that item and hear even more if you wanted to. This of course made me want to watch Top Gun for more than just ripped guys playing volleyball now, but seriously I am in awe of anyone in the navy. Definitely a life I couldn't live.



So that was our trip, now the laundries done, the fridge is bare and my scale seems to have broke but it's back to reality for me.
I can't wait to go to Southern California again, definitely a playground worth picnicking at.

Commencement

I know I have the "clueless mum" act down, but I actually know that the word commencement means, the beginning, so why does it feel like so many things are ending.
Of course High school for Curt has ended. We are proud of him. It's a big deal to be up at 5 every day and get yourself off to class sun or snow. He only missed one day last year because his wisdom teeth were being removed, that's a big deal.



Yes they really do chuck there hats which was very exciting for me since I've only seen it on TV.(I know small things please small minds)
He also graduated from Jordan Technical Center and received an outstanding multi media award and graduated 4 years of seminary which is also impressive as there is no credit given for that at all.
Volleyball ended.

soccer ended.


School has ended for the other 3 kids also.

Jordan's ability to avoid the camera has not ended but rest assured he got his moments of glory also.
He received awards for most improved student and 3 quarters on the honor roll to go with his National honor society award.

Jordan has also been awarded a student government place in charge of publicity. He's excited to be involved in school activities.

I can't mention ends without recognizing the end of an Era in our family.
Boyd's Grandpa passed away in his 90's. He was a genius in engineering and has passed so many qualities on to Boyd, including his ability to solve problems, quietly and methodically. He has passed his snails pace on to Ronan and his love of all things motorised to Jordan. I will post sometime about Grandpa as he truly was a great man but for now, I just honor him with gratitude for all the love he has shown my husband, he didn't love freely so it was a big deal for Boyd. Till we meet again grandpa.


So here's to the end.
Now to the beginning, SUMMER!!! Here we come :)