Twins

Abbie asks me every night what we are doing the next day (in stark contrast to Kyle who never asks anything just goes along minute to minute with whatever is happening). So tonight, as I'm answering her question and telling her that she gets to go to my friend Rachel's house for awhile in the afternoon because her daughters, Emma & Susannah, have asked her to play, she asks me which one is which. I explain to her that they are twins and she will have to ask them to tell her which is which. She answers (word for word), "Oh, like Papa and Nate, they are twins too."

I really didn't know what to say. She obviously doesn't know what twins are or really thinks my dad and nephew are twins. Either way, I just let it go and gave her a love. I really missed the kids last week.

Week Seven - Utah II

As Tripp mentioned in the previous post, he left for SLC during church Sunday and Kyle's mom picked Kyle up that evening for a two week visit. That left the girlies and me to pack for our trip to Utah. We left Wednesday morning and arrived in Cedar City around lunchtime. I stayed for lunch and helped the girls unpack then Daisy told me, "Bye Bye Mama" while she happily read books with MamaThom...no wet eyes in sight with all the excitement of six days with her grandparents. So, I set off for Salt Lake. I met up with Tripp at the hotel and had dinner with some of his work colleagues.

Wednesday evening we were honored to join our dear friends Nikki and Rich at their endowment session. If you've never been through the Salt Lake Temple, go. It truly is more wonderful than the others (in our opinion). Of course, going through with them made it extra special. After the session (by the way, it's longer there...maybe by 45 minutes or so) we headed out for a late bite at the Melting Pot. Just a little cheese and chocolate but it hit the spot. Maybe next time Colette will actually join us....

Thursday morning Nikki and Rich were sealed to each other then to their kids. So lovely. Truly one of the most memorable experiences of my life. The photo above is of George, Lulu and Ruby after being sealed. Darling. Thanks Butlers for including us.
After the sealing we hung around for photos then a few of us went to the Garden Room for lunch. I never lunch with friends so this was a treat. Tripp had to head back to work immediately after the sealing so it was wonderful having Allyson and Colette to hang out with...not to mention that I never get to truly sit and chat with them (thanks for allowing me to steal your photo Colette). Later, we spent the afternoon with the Butler's family and friends visiting and chatting at Rich's mom Dee's house. Thanks Dee for your hospitality!!!!! The entire day was just lovely.

On Friday Tripp had a few work errands to run then we made the short trip to South Jordan to stay with my Aunt Tina and Uncle Gary. We spent the day with family...touring my cousin Michael's home, lunching with his daughter Emma, napping (well, just Tripp & Gary) then driving up to my cousin Jennifer's house for dinner and fireworks. We never actually got to see the Lagoon fireworks but I'm confident they were out there somewhere. Either way, it was fun to hang with everyone (Tina, Gary, Jen, Jason & Kids, Leslie, Ashley, Michael, Judy & Kids, Angie and Jason's parents). Thanks to the entire Gibbs family for the hospitality.

Saturday morning we met Nikki and Rich for brunch. They showed us around their old neighborhood and we checked out a seriously cool bookshop. After breakfast we spent some time with Grandma Florence then off to Sundance for the afternoon.

Sundance was beautiful. Unfortunately, it rained off and on so we couldn't venture too far. But we loved every minute anyway. Can't wait to head back with the kids. That evening we went to the movies with Tina and Gary then out for a light dinner before bed. Tina fixed us a yummy breakfast before we hit the road Sunday morning.

After too many days apart, we were anxious to see our girls. They had an amazing time with Mama and PapaThom and their Uncle Paul, Aunt Laura and cousins Isabelle, Seth and Cooper. Sadly, no photos to share but I know both girls have marvelous pictures of the visit in the minds. We visited for a short while, had a quick dinner then hit the road. Tripp had to leave again first thing this morning so we needed to get home and get some laundry done for his travels. Thanks MamaThom & PapaThom for taking such good care of Abbie & Daisy and making wonderful memories with them.

Summer Break: Week Six - Scout Camp

Day 1, Monday the 13th: 4:30 am

Kyle and I picked up Tim, our neighbor, and then met the rest of the scouts for the drive to camp. Carter and Nick (some boys from Kyle's Troop) joined us in Papa's truck and we were off. The boys promptly fell asleep and I was on my own for a few hours drive. We met up with Papa Thom and Mama Thom in Cedar for a quick "Hello" at CalRanch because I needed to get some rain gear, "just in case." The rest of the day consisted of checking in, getting camp set up, and then familiarizing ourselves with the layout. Oh yeah and a super corny camp fire ceremony. There were some female staff there and one girl gave this long warning about not trying some special martial art thing with this pitchfork things and then proceeded to loose control of one and send it flying out into the crowd. It was truly awful.

Day 2-4, Tuesday-Thursday:

Kyle and Tim had the same scedules so they headed to the morning ceremony and then merit badge classes. I walked with them to their sessions since they were a little nervous on where to be and when. One day they got a little mixed up on their own and some staff played a horrible joke on them and they missed a class.

I think the high light of the week was the daily "hot" shower. If you were lucky enough to go in the morning it would peel the skin off your body it was so hot. At night it would chill you to the bone. However at around 9am when the boys were in their first class it was quite nice, I found that out the first day and so that worked out just fine with me.

The water facilities, lake/pond, or whatever was a 3 mile round trip from our camp site so needless to say it was a "dry" camp for the first years. I did it once but it was a mile straight up hill on the return and it was a bit much. Kyle and Tim did it one day and got a free ride back up, for those of you that know Kyle well enough can imagine how that happened. He either squeeled, begged, or annoyed someone into giving them a ride, but like Kyle says, "Hey we got a free ride, right." You never know with that kid.

Kyle completed 6 merit badges at camp; Communication, Mammal Study, Environmental Science, Nature, Indian Lore and Leatherwork. He also received partials in 2 more; Weather and Forestry, which we should have done in the next week or two. So eight merit badges in all at camp, a troop record, and he has a few on top of that he will receive at the next Court of Honor, Golf, Citizenship in the Community as well as a couple of others I think.

Day 5, Friday

Kyle and Tim did not have classes on Friday so we broke camp and headed into St. George for some pizza. The Scoutmaster was going to try and get the boys into see Harry Potter 6, but it did not work out.

The boys had a good time, I did a lot of hiking back and forth to make sure that their first year mistakes were minimal. The boys stayed up late telling ghost stories and at one point had 6 boys sleeping in a 4 man tent. I heard them from a couple tents over for at least 20 minutes trying to logistically figure out how they could all fit in, I wish I had taped it.
I went to bed around 10pm everynight and tried to get some reading in. A couple of nights were really cool so I ran a heater, I know totally roughing it. I slept on a cot in a tent that sleeps 14. It was really rough...

I had a great time with Kyle (I think he did with me as well), but I hope he will have some of the same memories as he gets older that I had with my dad with Scouts and camping. He is a really great kid and I am proud of him.

We got home Friday late afternoon and needed some rest. So we took it easy.

Saturday, I pulled the kiddy pool out and let Abbie and Daisy play in it for a bit and then Abbie helped me give Kramer a bath, he was "Stinky" as Abbie would say. Later that night Ali and I took Kyle to see HP6 and we had a great time but were exhausted.

Sunday was church and then back on a plane for me to Salt Lake.... Life is truly wonderful, when you take the time to just enjoy all the many things that Heavenly Father has given us an opportunity to be around.

Our Garden

Our garden has been growing like crazy. It's hard to believe the plants were so tiny, or in some case only seeds, when I planted them.

I've been using basil and parsley from the backyard for awhile now and will probably break into the arugula when I get back from Salt Lake and Reno. We have a ton of mint that I need to figure out what to do with (I'm thinking tea) and the chives are doing great but we aren't eating a lot of chive dishes...maybe in the fall. Sadly, the cilantro didn't make it. The pepper plant is growing but we haven't seen a pepper yet.

The tomato plants died, Tripp thinks the crazy zucchini bumped them out. I might try some of those upside down As-Seen-On-TV tomato contraptions. I'm sure my neighbor will love that. Speaking of our zucchini, the plant is growing like a weed. Between the zucchini and the pumpkin seeds I planted the entire side of the house is being taken over. We harvested a couple of zucchini last week and I used them in spaghetti sauce. The pumpkins are still tiny. Our watermelon seeds have turned into a large plant but no signs of actual watermelons yet. Maybe next season?

The peach and lemon trees seem to be doing well. Nothing yet but we didn't expect fruit until next year. We hope to plant full size apple trees in the back next spring. Maybe even a cherry? It's been fun having the plants and Abbie is enjoying looking for veggies (not necessarily eating them). We'll try to plant some more in the fall. Vegas is a tough place for planting so you really can't do much until then.

Watermelon Plant

Zucchini & Pumpkin Plants

Arugula, Mint, Chives & Pepper Plants

Summer Break: Week Five

A lot of the normal this week. Swim lessons, library, work, etc. Kyle spent 90% of the week with a friend at our house or at a friend's house. We had kids coming in and out of the house all day and week long. They played, went to the movies, swam, had later-overs, sleepovers, you name it. A couple items of note:

Tripp & Kyle cashed in on Kyle's Father's Day gift to Tripp, a gift certificate to Texas de Brazil. They had fun at dinner last night and according to Tripp, Kyle really enjoyed the "fancy" restaurant.

Our family provided the sacrament meeting for Delmar Gardens, the care facility that is within our ward. We called it the "Grandpa & Grandma's Home" although I was surprised to see how many younger people were residents as well. I guarantee the opportunity to serve was a much bigger blessing to us than it was to them.

We cashed in on free slurpee day at 7-11 yesterday. It was a nice treat on a way-too-hot Las Vegas day.

Tripp and Kyle leave tomorrow at the crack of dawn for scout camp. Kyle's friend Tim is joining them and both boys are excited but a little nervous as well. Scouts are not kind to the 11 year olds like the young women are to the 12 year olds at girls camp. But I trust the two will have a great time regardless and earn a bunch of merit badges. The girls and I will be up to the normal activities so I'll let Tripp report on "Week 6" of our summer break when he returns. Until Week 7.....

Summer Break: Week 4 - Utah

Tripp left Sunday morning for Houston and Kyle left Sunday afternoon for his mom's house so all the girls, plus Kramer, left Sunday evening for Utah. When we arrived in Cedar City that night it was still light out and the girls were tired of being in the car so they headed straight to MamaThom & PapaThom's backyard for some playtime before bed. Kramer was just glad to be out of the car...I think he gets motion sick.

Although PapaThom is the golf pro MamaThom was in the backyard teaching Daisy how to swing the club. She will check in with her Grandpa when she gets a bit older I think. Both girls worked off some energy with the golf clubs and horseshoes before getting to bed.

Monday & Tuesday - While I shot up to West Jordan for a couple of days with the Torres family, the girls spent two coveted days with their grandparents. Both were jealous that Kyle got to spend a few days alone with MamaThom and PapaThom the week prior so they were looking forward to their special time in Cedar City. While up north, I stayed the night with my Aunt Tina and Uncle Gary. Thank you both so much!!!! It was so relaxing being there...I didn't want to leave! Can't wait to see them again at the end of the month.

Wednesday - We spent the last day with MamaThom and PapaThom then headed up the mountain around 4 p.m. Grandma, Papa, Lindsay, Sam and Nate were waiting for us. Tripp arrived at 10:30 Wednesday night and spent the night with his parents. They drove him up to the cabin the next morning.

Thursday through Sunday - Cabin Time

We all slept some. Sam and Wes made their beds on the deck then Lindsay and Sam took naps on them in the afternoons.

Fishing - Papa rented a boat and we all went fishing. Papa, Sam and Wes left early Friday morning and fished for several hours until the rest of us arrived at 10 a.m. Abbie loved it but we think Daisy got a little motion sick (like Mommy - poor thing).

Nate caught himself....

Firefighter Breakfast - Saturday morning was the annual Firefighter breakfast. Abbie and Nate rode the fire truck with Tripp and all the kids went home with some sweet loot.

Food - as always, we did our fare share of eating on this vacation. The kids enjoyed eating together on the small picnic table Papa and Grandma have at the cabin. Nate is happy to have something smaller than he is and tries to help Daisy whenever he can.

Reading - All the kids and some of the adults got in some good reading time....

ATVs - Papa bought two ATVs and one Rhino/Mule (I don't really know the proper name). Everyone loved them. The kids especially had some much fun riding in/on all of them. Abbie will ride in the mule if she has to but she loves the red ATV and begs her daddy to go "Faster!"

Fourth of July - Tripp made some yummy dutch oven potatoes and a peach cobbler. Abbie was kind enough to share with her little sis (who is a total food thief). We also went to the Duck Creek parade and Abbie and Nate got invited to ride on a float! The rest of us watched from the sidelines and collected candy.

Sunday: It was time to drive home....but not before another ride on the red ATV!

Thanks to all the Grandmas and Grandpas that made this week special.

Summer Break: Week 3

This week started off with MamaThom's birthday. We were able to sing to her before they headed back to Cedar Monday morning. The girls especially loved bringing in something to MamaThom and singing.

MamaThom and PapaThom loaded up the car, and Kyle, and headed out around 9:30 a.m. Kyle was excited to spend several days with his grandparents without the interruption of two small needy sisters.

The small needy sisters and I spent the week doing the regular stuff...swim lessons in the afternoon, a little Cafe Rio with Papa and the Griffeths, a free Rave movie Tuesday morning, some playtime with Ruby and Lulu while mommy went to a funeral (thanks again Nikki), errands, housecleaning and finally the arrival of Kyle and Daddy Thursday night (Tripp left early, early Monday morning).

Friday we all hit the rec center pool, along with Kyle's friend Wesley. We pretty much don't go anywhere without one of Kyle's friends anymore...thank goodness for a large car. Friday night the kids stayed home with a sitter and another one of Kyle's friends, Chris R., and we met our friends Nikki & Rich for a movie then dinner. I brought my camera to take a picture of us but forgot about it in my purse. They are such good friends and we don't have one photo of all of us together...maybe next month in SLC.

Today I woke up feeling like garbage, truly retched. I'm leaving for Utah tomorrow so I went to the doctor this morning and sure enough, sinus infection...although the quack weekend doctor seemed much more interested in the fact that he thinks I'm anemic. He kept telling me "You are really, really pale." Then I guess there were other signs...but not enough to do anything except prolong my visit by constantly talking about it and finally mention off-handedly that I should have my normal doctor run some blood counts. I strongly dislike the weekend staff.

We finished the day at my sisters' birthday celebration. Today is actually Lindsay's birthday but our family was doing the official celebration for both her and Sam. We swam (well, not me...sinus infection), ate Metro, had ice cream cake...the usual Marz girl requests. They are going to a movie tonight but besides not wanting to see "My Sister's Keeper", I feel like I want to keel over and die...hopefully another time. Happy Birthday to my wonderful sisters....it's fun to have two little sisters. Maybe Kyle will someday be convinced.

Tomorrow Tripp heads out again in the a.m., Kyle will go to his mom's for a week and the girls and I will head to Utah sometime after church. Won't post again until we return, Sunday, 7/5. Happy Fourth to everyone!!!!

MamaThom's biscuit with jam and sprinkles - we didn't make her eat it.
Abbie ate the popcorn from the movie Tuesday for days...

The slide/pool set-up on Grandpa's lawn

The sink on Grandpa's lawn

Lindsay will probably post a ton of good pictures from the party tomorrow but I won't have time to grab them so my two will have to suffice....