Some pre-Halloween "dressing-up"

So, apparently Ashlee changed her mind and wanted to be a pirate instead of a princess this year for Halloween. While I was at work and Dad was ...? Ashlee had a great time doing a pretty darn good job making a mustache and beard on her face with my eye liner. Oh, this little angel.... I know if I haven't seen for for more than a minute or two she is up to something!! In the last week or two alone she has managed to squirt Purell in her eyes and mouth, bite open a glow bracelet that we were handing out for Halloween (I would have called poison control on that one, but I have been there and done that with Andrew when he was this age-- despite how it looks, that glowing stuff is non toxic), she dumped an entire bottle of frog food into the small fish bowl and an entire bottle of fish food into the large fish tank. (She also drank some insect repellent while we were in Hawaii a few weeks ago, did call poison control on that one and again- no worries!) Hopefully she and Mommy survive this "phase"!

Check out my Precious Prints photocard site to see what my sister and I have been up to. As my sister put it "we've been busy little elves". Hard to believe that Christmas is really just around the corner!

Palm Trees to Pine Trees

I feel like we've hit all extremes in the last week or so. Conference Sunday we took the moment and drove up near Snow Basin Ski Resort. It was beautiful! The pine and aspen tree covered peaks were freshly snow capped and the leaves were brilliant colors. Even Andrew said they were "butiful". It was a perfect interlude between morning and afternoon General Conference. I thought conference was especially recharging this year. I appreciated Elaine Dalton's thought: "In the Lord I can do hard things!" I'll have to remember that when the "back breaker" 3rd child comes.

An autumn outing wouldn' t be complete without a few snapshots of the family and the leaves:



While yesterday we were bundled up in coats and jackets, a few days earlier we were roasting in the sun on the coasts of O'ahu Hawaii admiring palm trees and crystal clear blue waters. Justin's parents are serving as LDS missionaries at BYUH and the Polynesian Cultural Center and of course we couldn't resist taking the opportunity to visit them. The kids anticipated it for weeks and after shopping for seemed like Christmas (for things to occupy the kids for the 6 1/2 hour flight), we made the plunge.

The flights went amazingly well, however, I was surprised at the challenge of jetlag for the kids. Ashlee was up around 4:30am for the day, everyday! So that made for early trips to the beach (Justin's parents condo was right on the beach),



lots of great sunrise pictures,


mostly taken by Justin as he took the kids out so I could catch a few more moments of sleep. Justin's parents were amazingly patient with our "jetlagged" kids and just loved them to death. They were real troopers! We were in a studio apartment, so when the kids were up, they were up and the same at night.

Justin's parents also made great tour guides. We checked out the famous Waikeikei beach, Pearl Harbor, the Dole pineapple plantation,


the Polynesian Cultural Center,


several beaches for swimming and surfing--go Justin! (Unfortunately 6 days in the sun wasn't enough to help our skin blend in a little better with the locals.)



We also had many wonderful homecooked meals back at the condo. Most meals we enjoyed eating out on the lanai listening to the waves crash just yards away.

Some of the highlights of the trip included watching Justin catching a wave surfing, Andrew overcoming great fears of the water and playing for hours in the waves of the ocean,

seeing Andrew and Ashlee adore their grandparents (and vice versa),



doing a session at the Honolulu temple,


eating at the famous Ted's Bakery (actually famous for pies)-- the only hamburger that has come close to In 'n Out Burger, watching the kids fall fast asleep on the red-eye flight home and sleeping even through the landing (not to mention luckily getting on the flight, flying stand-by with 50 other stand-by passengers!)

It was paradise! Thank-you Grandma and Grandpa Hogge for everything!

"Somethin' in your eyes makes me Smile"

This song (Smile, by David Gray), caught my attention as it was playing on my ipod and my sweet and so spunky little girl came and gave me a big hug and smooch on the lips and said "I wu oo" (I love you), mid twirl as she was dancing through the kitchen. I couldn't help but smile big. What a perfect moment! She just started returning the "I love you". I forgot how sweet that was when Andrew started doing that. Although my family doesn't always bring a smile to my face, there have been several moments over that last few weeks that have:

Andrew's first day of preschool:


Ashlee posing for the camera in her princess dress-up that Grandma made for her 2nd b-day:


My hubby canning lots of peaches with me...Mmmmm! (Here are a few of them)


One thing to not smile so much about.....


...our new pet "spiderman", a taranchula that my hubby caught and lovingly brought home as a pet for Andrew. Man, I'm a good wife to put up with that! He's staying until next week when we go out of town because I'm pretty sure we won't be able to find someone to feed this scary creature! (Then we will be let go very far from our home!)

Tag, I'm it!

So, I haven't done a tag in awhile and thought this one looked fun and that I might have something interesting to share:

I am: Pregnant!!
I know: that this is a weird way to share the news
I want: (hoping for) a singlet (not twins, I am a twin and it definitely can be a genetic thing!)
I have: 31 weeks to go (I'm nine weeks. My first appt is tomorrow)
I hate: morning sickness- it sure is here
I fear: having twins (refer to above)
I feel: a little sick to my stomach
I crave: salsa, pickles and gazpacho
I search: for pickles in my fridge often
I wonder: if it's a boy or girl or both
I regret: nothing, here we go again!
I always: go early (nearly a month early has been the norm)
I believe: that these little babes are a blessing from above
I can usually be found: at the computer, half awake, or napping on the couch
I wish: April 8th didn't sound so far away (my due date)
I forget: constantly-already have placent brain. I just bought a day-planner to hopefully help in this department
I am scared: of having twins-- you're probably getting that feeling by now.
I am happy about: my life!
I tag: anyone who wants to do this, or make a similar announcement!!

**Update: I had my first appt this morning and looks like I am having ONE healthy baby!

The Great Outdoors

I was going to combine the Flaming Gorge post with this one, but as you can see, Flaming Gorge alone got VERY long. So, this summer has been a fast and furious one and here's a recap of some of our other outdoor adventures.

In efforts to finally start using our tent trailer, we took the short ride up to Pineview Reservoir to camp and LOVED it. We fished up at Causey dam and then spent some time at Pineview Reservoir at the beach. We thought about renting a canoe to play in, but opted against the steep price and in the end found this floating plank instead that provided great entertainment.




One evening we made to trek up to donut falls. The surroundings were beautiful! It was a short hike, perfect for the kids. Unfortunately the river was a little high still so we didn't make it across to actually see the donut falls, but the way up was so pretty and worth it. Next time hiking with the kids, I'll remember to bring the first aid kit. Andrew fell (a couple times) and cut his knee pretty good and rubbed against stinging thistle. Poor guy.


We loved going to Pineview so much earlier this summer so, we took the kids up to Causey dam with my Sister Emilie and her family and camped near the river on the lawn of their friends cabin. (It was the 24th of July with no reservations. They took pity on us when they saw my brother-in-law at the store getting ready to go and invited us over.) There was green grass to play on and a bathroom to use!

I love this face, even when it's filthy dirty!The cabin by where we stayed was always swarming with humming birds. It's amazing that there little bodies can stay so still while there wings are flapping like mad.

We spent one afternoon picnicking and playing at the beach at Pineview. It's actually really nice sand and water to play in.

Summer's almost over. Kinda sad, but I'm looking forward to getting everyone back on schedule. Andrew starts preschool 3 days/week. It will be kind of weird to have him gone (nice too). I know he'll love it.

Flaming Gorge

Last year we stumbled on the beautiful area of Flaming Gorge and found an awesome campground and made it back again this year-- so I think we have a new annual tradition with my sister's family (we're still trying to recruit the rest of the Todd gang-- maybe next year!) The campground is part of the Red Canyon Lodge area. It has a private lake with paddle boats (the highlight of the trip for Andrew) and canoes to rent for fishing. It also has a small kid's pond that they restock every year. Here are some pics around the campground.

Justin and Andrew paddling the paddle boat. Andrew's terrified of the water and boats, but somehow he completely forgets about that when he's on the paddle boat.

Justin's first catch of the trip (and only one unfortunately). The fish were swarming around the dock when kids were feeding them and Justin actually hooked the back of the fish-- ouch!

Here's Andrew at the kids' pond. He became pretty independent with fishing this year. He could have fished all day, every day!

Here's Ashlee on the paddle boat. She's darn busy on land, but luckily on the water she's just along for the ride.

The next day, I mustered up all the courage I could and we rafted down the green river with our kids. Justin assured me that it was a very calm river and we would be fine. The river was pretty calm--mostly-- and we had an amazing time. There we a few rapids larger than I imagined and then we came to a sign along the river that said,

"Caution, Mother-in-Law rapid ahead"

At that point I began to panic. We had been on a couple of large rapids and any bigger was, um, pushing it. I braced Ashlee between my legs and moved Andrew to the middle of the boat. In the end, the anticipation was worse than the rapid.

Of course we only got some pics of the fam while the waters were calm. We tried to do a little fishing while we were floating, but decided that sharp hooks weren't the best thing to be dealing with when you're depending on FLOATING down the river and suddenly you have to reach for your 2 year old that's leaning over the edge or quickly paddle around the sharp rock that appears out of no where. Ashlee learned quickly that her cue to come to me and brace herself between my legs was "Ray, paddle harder!!" because a rapid was ahead, or 'waterfall' as Andrew called it.

Lunch, mmmm. It really tasted really good along the way. We found a rock to picnic on and did some fishing too. There were actually some nice beaches along the way, but somehow we missed them all.
On our last day we decided to go for the tour of the dam. It was a little freaky going down the elevator, wondering if you could really trust the walls of the dam. However, it was an interesting tour to learn about how they build a dam around a river. I could tell Andrew was a little apprehensive getting out of the elevator, wondering where he was.

There were a ton of fish at the base of the dam, waiting for tour goers to feed them. And, of course we did. They say that the Green River that flows from this dam has enough fish to fill 2 fish per cubic feet!

Here's the fam!

The cousins!The lizard that Justin chased and caught for Andrew that became part of the fam for a day until it died while we were out buying food and a "home" for it the next day when we got back home. Andrew was devastated and couldn't part with the dead animal. I had to throw it away one night while he was in bed, hoping he would forget about it.

These pics are from a look-out close to our campground. The water looks like glass from here. Now we just need a ski boat!

Can't wait until next year!