Hawaii!!

Hooray!!! We had an absolutely fabulous time in Hawaii the past 6 days. For the first three days, we were on Kaua'i. Then we headed over to Oahu to stay with my dad for the remainder of the trip. It was so fun! We hiked, kayaked, zip-lined, saw loads of sights, watched sea turtles, ate tons of really good food, and relaxed. Oh, and we came home sun-burned, mission accomplished.
Here are a few pictures to enjoy!
This is my dad and I, on the beach at Turtle Cove.

Steve and I, again in Turtle Cove. We saw a least 6 sea turtles.

Here we are at the top of Diamond Head in Honolulu. Wow, it was hot, humid and way too many stairs. I was crying like a baby until we passed an 81 year old man who was hiking up the hill like he was strolling in the mall. The view was beautiful, honestly it was worth the quivering knees and jello legs.

While we were on Kaua'i, we did an excursion to the Princeville Ranch. They took us kayaking, hiking and zip-lining. I think this was the highlight of the trip. Steve managed to stay upright in his canoe, and we both went across the zip-lines like we were old pros.

Me, on the zip-line.

The start of our hike. This mountain is usually covered in clouds. It's the wettest place on Earth, but we lucked out and had a beautiful dry day!

Funny quotes from the past month

I was suffering a wonderful bout of PMS, dealing with lots of people, doing way too much, and coming down with an awful cold (that's my defense), when Steve warned my dad "don't poke the bear" (for clarification- I'm the bear in this scenario). It wasn't funny then, but it is getting funnier as time goes on. I think I'll get that printed up nice and big, frame it and nail it to my bedroom door as a warning to my children. DON'T POKE THE BEAR (and the bear doesn't go away until 8:00 AM).

Steve and I were having dinner with a couple of friends, who are both recently divorced. They were comparing notes on how long they were married (15 years and 12 years). I looked at Steve and told him "well, I guess we better not get too comfortable". What I meant was, there is no such thing as a safe year in marriage, what he heard was "start packing". Now, when he's being a brat I look at him and repeat myself "don't get too comfortable".

Ayden acted up in school last week and earned himself some time in "skills" (the elementary equivalent of detention). He spent his recesses picking up trash. "Mom, it was fun!! I even found a cigarette". Hmm, do I have an aspiring trash truck driver on my hands? And, what are they doing over there at South Elementary with the cigarettes? Granted, if I had to deal with 600 children under the age of 10, I would probably be doing much worse than smoking!!

Jade and I were playing pretend. For those of you who are not familiar, this is a game where we act like different people and do various things together like shop, cook, eat, etc. Jade tells me "mom, you pretend to be nice, like my teacher". Yup, I really need a vacation.

A Decade, Really?

Tomorrow, October 9th, we celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. I remember not long ago thinking 10 years seemed like a REALLY long time. Now, I'm wondering what happened? How did we get here so FAST?? In honor of ten years, here is a list of 10 random things you may not know about Steve and Jayci.
1. We still use the majority of kitchen accessories we were gifted at our wedding.
2. I finally won the argument of whether or not to get a dog. Steve told me the other day, "good choice Jace, Ms. E's a great dog for our family". No, I'm not making that up, he really said it (and I needed to document it somewhere).
3. We love our kids more than we could have ever imagined. When we were first married, we did not want kids. A not so gentle urging from a power greater than us forced our hands and we are grateful every single day for the two little people who are sharing in this life with us.
4. We often want to strangle those same little people.
5. Especially today.
6. So far, we have met our goal each year of going on one big trip, just Steve and me. I can't tell you how much this strengthens our relationship. We have been to: Tahiti, Hawaii, The Bahamas, Jackson Hole, San Diego, San Francisco, Sedona Arizona, Portland Oregon, Springdale Utah and we leave again for Hawaii in 4 days.
7. A hobby we have found to love together is gardening. To my amazement, Steve loves to garden as much as I do!!
8. Steve and I are polar opposites in many, many ways. Most days this works very well, other days, well, not so much.
9. I can still count on just one hand the number of times we have been truly angry with each other.
10. The commitment we made to each other 10 years ago, is just as strong today as it was then, if not stronger. Neither of us could have imagined the challenge a successful marriage and family would be, and I'm still in awe that we have managed to get this far. 10 years is nothing, compared to what lies ahead of us. But, from the bottom of my heart, I have loved every minute of the last 3,650 days.

St. Jude's

I'm sure I won't be blogging again for a while, so I'm reminding you now. This month, Chili's is working on their annual fundraiser for St. Jude's Childrens Hospital. Chili's is amazing and so generous in doing this for St. Jude's. When you go and eat at your local Chili's ask your server if you can "create a pepper", then color your pepper and donate whatever you can. You can even purchase tee-shirts to decorate and the proceeds from the shirts go to St. Jude's. If I get a minute, I'll post a picture of my rockin tshirt!!
On Monday, September 28th, all profits from all sales at Chili's go directly to St. Jude's.
So, times are tough for a lot of people (but hopefully getting better), and it may seem pretty crazy to take your family out to dinner. I say it's crazy not to. I am so thankful that my children are healthy enough to take to dinner! I am so thankful that I am not in debt up to my eyeballs with health care bills due to fighting my child's cancer. Thousands of families would give anything to take their kids out to dinner and celebrate their health. And, hopefully by working together with Chili's, we can make that a reality for those families!

I'll take "Worst Friday Nights" for $1000, please Alex"

Spending two hours in Instacare, getting diagnosed with yet another Strep infection, filling not one, but TWO prescriptions for Amoxicillin because when you're family you share everything including strep, and not getting to bed until 11.
Jayci Bash's Friday night. WOO HOO, we have a winner!
It's not all bad, I know it could be much worse. I got to spend a whole sick day with Jade today watching movies, making a pie (because our butts were tired from sitting down so much), and catching up on this here blog!

Cedar Breaks with 120 kids, 12 adults and 2 busses.

Ayden still thinks I'm cool!

He's pretty cool too.
The ants go marching........

You'd be amazed how hard it is to get kids to form a line.

I went with Ayden's class to Cedar Breaks this past Friday. It was so fun, minus the one puke incident. Really, with 60 kids on a bus winding up the canyon, you expect a little vomit, right?

We listened to the park ranger explain "deposition", learned a new word- "OHWOW", hiked for a mile (listened to a lot of "I'm tired", "are we there yet?" and "I need to pee"), had lunch at Woods Ranch, then got to come home early for the day! It really was fun and I'm so glad I got to go with him. Huge thanks to my mom for taking Jadie so I could spend this wonderful time with Ayden.

Preschool!

Isn't she beautiful?
The official pose of preschoolers. Really, she's just showing off her new shoes (they make her run fast)!

Camping Trip #3, a few weeks ago.

Fun tree by our campground, it bounced at least 4 kids onto their heads.
Mighty men, cutting wood. Before you call DCFS, Ayden was closely supervised when using the saw, and he attended a 4 hour training on safe saw operation. He is now a Certified Bash Tree Cutter (CBTC).

For this trip we went with two families we are great friends with here in Cedar. They have kids pretty much the same ages as our kids, although Ayden is the only boy. We went to Navajo Lake on Cedar Mountain. It was beautiful and loads of fun as always.
While we were camping, the infamous Mill Flat Fire raged out of control. Sunday morning, our whole campground was covered in ashes and reeked of smoke. It was only upon returning home that we found out how serious the fire really was. Subsequently, Jade, Ayden and I all got yucky colds from all the smoke and junk in the air.

1st Grade!

This is the official pose of first graders. Can I get a Hi-Ya?

We are complete.

Meet Ms. E, she is our newest and most wonderful family member. We Lurve her!

Maybe Airplanes don't belong on Main street, just maybe.

This was entertaining. On July 24th, Cedar had a little parade. In the parade was an airplane. Pretty cool, right. RIGHT. Well, apparently no one took the 30 seconds to ask themselves if airplanes should really drive down main street. Otherwise, they may have realized that while Main Street is awesome, it is NOT a run-way. Don't worry, they made it, and I got the most memorable picture of the parade!!

Camping trip #2, sometime in July

Mmmm, he smells good.
That is lake water mixed in with mountain dirt, she also smelled divine.

The mighty mini-van.

Kent's Lake on Beaver Mountain was our second camping adventure this Summer. We went with two of my brothers and their families. To protect the innocent (or majorly guilty), I'll refrain from posting their pictures here. But, take my word for it, their kids were just as filthy as mine! We stayed for three nights (the longest trip this Summer). It was so much fun, certain to become a Summer tradition.

So Fresh and So Clean

You should smell this. I wish you could smell this. This smell is absolutely intoxicating. Better than fresh baked cookies, better than dryer sheets, better than a spanking new car. This smell is one that only Mother Nature can create and it is DELICIOUS!!!
We had one whopper of a thunder/rain storm today, complete with lightening and some hail. Combine that storm with my beautiful backyard filled with pine/cedar/ juniper trees and you have THE. BEST. SMELL. ON. EARTH.

One Word...

WHY???

Fishin'

This lasted for 2 minutes.

Tee hee

Note that I am blogging about my messy house, instead of actually cleaning it :)

**Update: my house is now clean(er). I am rewarding myself with potato chips and a coke. Wow, I'm full of guilty confessions today!!

Keepin' it Real.... for my girls

A while back, I hosted a girls weekend at my house for my 5 best friends from high school (yes, we still actually like each other-a lot). During that time, I heard the comment "I can't believe how clean your house is" at least a dozen times. And every time I heard it, I cringed a little. Because the truth is, my house is never clean. Ok, maybe every now and then I get a little manic and clean all day long, but those days are few and very far between. When everyone went home, I felt overly guilty, like I'd just swindled them out of any piece of mind they may have had about being a good housekeeper!!! So, to make it up to them, I am posting these pictures. Girls, this is how my house looks right now. And most days, it's a little worse! I hope your self-esteem gets a huge boost from these!!
Being a mom, a good mom, means so much more than having a tidy house. My messy house will one day be spotless, but now is not the time for that! Now is the time for playing. My kids won't remember the state of my kitchen, but will certainly remember my state of mind. Enjoy the pictures, and feel my pain as today, unfortunately, IS cleaning day!

A Camping We Will Go!!!

We just finished our first camping trip of the Summer. It was so fun!! Our Spring has been so cool, we didn't dare camp until this last weekend. We went with another family up to Pine Valley. It was awesome! The weather was perfect. We are tent campers, so we really rough it!
One funny story from the weekend: The kids and I were in the tent and Steve had just got out. He snuck around the side of the tent, jumped up, rattled the tent and roared. Jade was right by the wall where he attacked and she screamed, flew across the tent (literally flew), and her eyes were the size of tennis balls! We all laughed so hard, even Jade (she's a good sport). We leave again for another camping trip soon. Loving Summer!!!!

A perfectly roasted marshmallow

She was showing me her sticky fingers.

Walkie talkies- the kids' favorite thing about this camping trip.

All of us at the reservoir.

Chop, chop, timber!

Ayden jumping off the diving board.
Jade's turn.

Waiting for class to start.

The kids just finished their first session of swimming lessons. They were in the same class and both passed on to the next level. I'm so proud of them. Both of them are so brave. Jade was the first in her class to go off the diving board. She just walked up there like she'd been doing it her whole life. Their favorite game was "chop, chop, timber". They would pretend to grow like trees, then their teacher would chop them down and they would fall into the water. We are going to do one more session before Summer is over.

Woo Hoo, here are some pics!!

For some reason, these pictures downloaded in the exact wrong order, sorry. I'm too lazy to fix them tonight. So, if you are trying to put them in context, the top picture is the most recent. This is a pic of us in Vegas last week. We took a mini vacation and stayed at the Monte Carlo for a couple of nights. We visited family, friends and spent a lot of time at the pool.

Here are all the kiddos at the river about a month ago. Wow, time goes fast. Anyhoo, we had a great day swimming, catching tadpoles and getting downright muddy. Obviously, you know Jadie and Ayden, the other adorable kids are my nieces and my nephew. Oh, Jade did her own hair this day (note the bright blue bow on the top of her head).
Here is Ayden at his Kindergarten program. Now, on to 1st grade!!! He looks pretty freaking handsome, doesn't he?

And, here is Jadie poo at her preschool program. She did such a great job- singing, counting and dancing. She's 4 now. I'll post pictures of her birthday sometime this century, maybe.

We are still knee deep in landscaping our back yard. Tomorrow, the topsoil will be delivered, then, after way too much shoveling and raking, we'll get to lay the sod. Holy cow, I really didn't imagine the amount of work needed to finish a back yard. SERENITY NOW!!!!

Random

1. Pictures are still trapped on my camera and PC (trust me, they are awesome).
2. Finished reading Wicked -absolutely loved it. Seriously, how did I not know about this book?
3. Kids are done with school. Ayden celebrated his Kindergarten graduation at Maggie Moo's.
4. Jade is SOOO Happy to have her brother back with us all the time.
5. Our yard is 20% complete. We have tons more to do. But, my backyard paradise is slowly becoming a reality.
6. I am completely infatuated with Cedar right now. We have had afternoon thunderstorms every day for over a week. The smell is downright intoxicating. Really, is there a smell that is better than mountain rain??
7. Ayden's newest sarcastic remark: "You go do that" as in I say "I'm going to get our stuff ready for the lake" and he says "you go do that". It's not as nice as it sounds, but sure is funny.
8. The lesson I learned today: Jade doesn't take it too well when I rip the 5 day old bandaid off her hairy legs without warning. Many tears.

Busy, busy, busy

So, it's been a while since I posted anything. I'm a slacker, but I do have a couple of good excuses and a couple of really lame excuses for not keeping this more up to date!
In the last couple of months, we have been super busy! The weather is getting better and better, so that means more and more time spent out doors which means less and less time on my computer.
At the end of March, we traveled to California to visit my younger brothers. I have loads of great pictures to prove it. But, you'll have to just take my word for it because the pictures are all trapped on my PC (long story). We had a wonderful Easter in SLC with my Murphy family.
My mom bought a house last month (hooray!!), and we have been spending as much time as possible helping her get it fixed up. My back yard is in the process of being landscaped. Steve and I are going to do as much of the landscaping work as we can to help keep our cost down. My garden is ready for planting and my kids are still alive.
Today, we are celebrating my brother Blair. He has finished his Master's degree in Social Work!!!! Not, only did he get his degree, I'm pretty sure he got near perfect grades too! Oh, and he kept his family alive, and loved while working full time and going to school. He absolutely amazes me. It's hard not to feel like a slacker in comparison! I love him, he is the best big brother a girl could ask for!!!

Soccer in Cedar City

Our soccer season has ended. It feels like it just began, and Ayden was certainly not ready to be done. We had such an amazing team this year. I was the Team Parent again (so much fun). The major set backs we had this year were weather related. Two games were rescheduled due to snow and two more should have been cancelled (but were not) because of hurricane strength wind! Ayden was a stand-out player on his team, I think he scored about 6 goals total. Jade was an awesome cheerleader for the team (except on the freezing cold, windy days- then she was just a whiner).

My favorite time of year

Margarita Madness!!!!
Yes, folks, it's that time of year again. The time when we gather with friends and family, load into the van and head to CHILI'S!!
It's the annual Margarita Madness, when you can have a few and feel (really) good about helping your sever win a contest.
Oh, they have a new wonderfully sinful appetizer. I'm not sure of the name, but it consists of deep fried onions and jalapeno peppers. Top that off with a couple of Presidente's and you'll be set!
Just remember to bring your DD along, because one margarita is never enough!!!
Cheers!

I think 10 years was a pretty good run, right?

Our lives have changed drastically. Nope, not because Ayden is 6. Not because I am a very happy stay at home mom and we are going to live on one income for a very long time. Not because Obama is president.
Nope, our lives will forever be changed due to the ownership of a Wii. I have long said that I will NEVER (you know what they say about saying NEVER) have a "video game machine" in my house.
I surrendered. It's ok to lose some battles right? I have to admit that my change of heart may have a little to do with my mad Guitar skills. I rock. Ok, I don't rock. I sound a little like Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future when his hand is disappearing into time travel oblivion.
Ayden is super happy with the Wii, the only person happier than him is his father.
Wish me luck and if you don't hear from us in a week, we've become zombies who think they are professional snowboarders, or world famous rock stars.

The Camera

"I think the camera is broken. I can't get the shutter to open"
"Let me see it"
"I don't think I dropped it, I can't imagine what happened"
"oh, hmmm, did you happen to look at the last picture taken?"
"No, why?"
"I'm pretty sure I know how the camera got broken"
"AYDEN!!!!!!!"

This is why I am now $250 poorer than last month and why you are reading a month's worth of posts in one day. Oh, did I mention he was grounded for a week?

The Hair Cut

Before

After

Yes, we're Irish

There is an awesome celebration in Springdale every year for St. Patrick's Day. The town has a parade, kids activities (which were free this year), music, food and of course, beer. It's become a family tradition to attend the festival. Here is Ayden climbing the rock wall (I'm below him having a small panic attack- he's only 5!)

Here are the kids begging for candy at the parade. They didn't have to do much begging- there was candy galore!

Our Happy Irish Family.

The kids, acting like Leprechauns (I'm not quite sure they've got the idea).

Sand Dunes

We recently spent a day in Snow Canyon at the Sand Dunes with some fantastic friends. It was another beautiful day in Southern Utah. The only thing that sent us home early was the wind. But, it is Spring. And, Spring in Utah also means "batten down the hatches". In the picture above, we had buried the kids in the sand. They are actually standing straight up (they were some deep holes)!!

Beautiful Jadie.

This is the smile I love.

Hiking with Kids

Hiking with Kids is kind of like herding cats. It's easier as they get older, but with the range of ages we had, it was still an adventure. 5 kids, 4 adults. Ages of kids: 6 (two of them), 5, 4, and 3 years old. The thing about hiking is that there is SOOOO much to distract the kids. And, for whatever reason, they are all infatuated with rocks. Yes, rocks. 5 minutes into the hike, all children had handfuls of rocks they were trying to stuff into the pockets of the adults. Well, that didn't fly (hiking with two or four pockets full of rocks? No, thank you.) So, the next thing that got their attention and resulted in major anxiety was looking for coyote tracks. Jade was especially upset about sharing this hike with coyotes (if you've seen Barnyard, you'll know why). With much persuasion, we finally convinced them that if there were coyotes on this trail, we had definitely scared them away by now. Now their attention turns to sticks, next on the list of distractions is lizards, then bugs. Finally, we reach our destination and they get busy looking for arrowheads (much more productive than hunting for coyotes, I might add).

It was a fabulous day. Anasazi Valley is beyond beautiful. It's quiet (minus the 5 kids and the 4 adults trying to keep those 5 kids alive) and full of things to see. We survived, the 2 mile hike took us 5 hours to complete, seriously. But, it was great. We will certainly do it again soon!

Cool Website

In an effort to trim our grocery bill, I've been using the Pinching Your Pennies website to create my shopping lists.
So, I make a list of what I need at the store, then go online and see where it is on sale. I can check all of my local grocery stores at the same time.
Another thing that is cool about this site is the ratings. They give every sale a rating based on how good of a deal it is (which is VERY helpful for me because I have a hard time knowing how much I pay for things- but I'm getting better).
Check it out if you have a minute. Sometimes their site is a little slow, if you're a little patient, it's well worth the wait!
www.pinchingyourpennies.com

A Natural

Steve took Ayden boarding for the first time this past weekend. It was a complete success. Ayden had a fantastic time as did Steve. No broken bones, or sprained knees. Just awesomness! Ayden is really good, kids learn so fast!