Our Laguna Love Trip

Two weeks ago Ren and I stole away for a "love trip" in California. Aside from the fact that Ren was sick and his eardrum ruptured three days before, requiring us to cancel our flight and drive there, it was lovely to get away from it all. (And everyone knows that my "all" is a LOT of people!) We stayed at a gorgeous Bed and Breakfast with an ocean view called Casa Laguna. One morning while we were waiting for our gourmet breakfast to arrive on the patio, I decided to snap a bunch of pictures. I just had to show everyone this little piece of heaven! There were courtyards and bricked walkways and oodles of flowers everywhere!

Our only complaint...it was COLD! Now, I'm the last to complain about  being cold...especially coming from triple-digits in AZ, but I've  never seen the beach like this in late July. The clouds and mist  didn't burn off until very late afternoon, if at all, and I soon  discovered that I had not packed well for temps in the high 60's.  Luckily, I did pack warm, fuzzy socks and wore them whenever the  occasion permitted. :D It was a perfect way to spend my birthday!  Thanks for the wonderful trip sweetie. I love you!

Hannah's Turn to Camp

It seems only fitting that I dedicate a post to my ONLY DAUGHTER leaving me for a WHOLE WEEK to go to camp. *sniff, sniff* I have to admit I sent the boys off with a little happiness in my heart to have a quieter, cleaner house; but sending my Hannie off makes me sad. There will be far too much testosterone here with only me to combat it!

We had to laugh as she prepared for camp...Zach noted as he watched her packing construction paper, cute signs, fun notebook paper for writing letters and adorable little gifts for the campers that: "Girls sure pack differently for camp than boys do!" (or something like that) Then she told him that they would be water-proofing matches using melted crayons in the YW Value Colors. Hahaha! How can she leave me here with all these barbaric boys who just don't understand the need for cuteness?!

This year Hannah is a YCL (Youth Certification Leader) so she gets to play big sister to all those younger girls. She'll be awesome. She's so excited and happy and I think she remembers what it was like her first year when she missed home and felt so out of place. But just in case she gets a touch of that homesickness herself, I wrote her a note for each day she'll be gone. The boys and Ren wrote her notes too, since she sent secret letters in their bags when they went off to camp.

So, here's praying that my Hannah has a great week, doesn't have to evacuate because of forest fires burning in the area and gets to shower a couple of times. We'll see her on Saturday morning when we drive through Flagstaff and pick her up on our way to a family reunion in Idaho or Wyoming or something like that. Hannah calls it Wyomingaho. I'll finish with the limerick I wrote for her to read on Day 4 of camp:

Ode to Hannah

There's a girl named Hannah I know

Who off to girl's camp did go.

Now I'm alone with the boys

and the stink

and the noise!

Well, I'll see her in Wyomingaho!

The Intrepid Campers Return

They survived!!!! (Mostly.) Late Saturday afternoon, three extremely filthy boys with grins on their faces and stories bubbling forth from their mouths, arrived on my doorstep. They unloaded grimy sleeping bags, mud-caked tents, well-used rain ponchos, and tons of other camping paraphernalia on my front porch and... left it there. Thanks boys! I made them pose for a picture to document just how dirty they were. The picture definitely does not do it justice. Jonah's face looked like he'd survived an explosion with only the area around his eyes looking remotely flesh-colored. I was afraid to inhale through my nose, so I cannot attest to the smelliness thereof, but I'm sure it was spectacular.

Their report consisted of manly anecdotes of fire and farts, snoring and spelunking, pouring rain and puking, and rifles and ricocheting bullets (Zach actually got hit by a bullet that ricocheted off something from the firing range). He proudly displayed the bullet for me with a big grin on his face. Jonah and Cody both ended up getting a little of the stomach flu we had here at home and threw up sometime late in the week. Reports from their leaders warmed my heart when they explained how Zach embraced his little brothers to help them feel better when they were sick and scared in the medical tent. Awwww.

They also participated in the "Man Up" challenges, racing with car tires attached to them, flying on zip lines, building human walls, and lots of other things I'm sure they related to me, but they didn't stick in my brain.

Ren stayed for two days (and one night) and came home relatively unscathed. He did complain that he was freezing all night long (poor man) and that while he was awake in the night he heard a myriad of sounds. Snoring of course was the main melody of the night symphony, but the harmony consisted of numerous passings of gas, sleep talking and the screaming and swearing associated with nightmares. While he was there, Ren had a chance to have a few heart-to-heart talks with Hannah's "boys". When he got home she asked him how her boys were and when he started to give a report on her brothers she said, "No! My BOYS." Oh, all her guy friends. He gave her the report she wanted and I couldn't help but think, if she ever marries any of these guys, at least Ren knows them pretty well now.

I'm happy to have the boys home, even though the house was amazingly quiet while they were gone. I wish I could have had a glimpse of them up there camping and dealing with getting up at 6:00 a.m. every morning, working through physical challenges, getting supported by other boys and men around them and suffering through heat and downpour without too much complaining. It does seem to bring out the best in them. I really need a hidden camera on these trips so I can understand all about this male bonding thing. I know they need it and that's why they leave the women behind, but I think we'd all appreciate our boys more if we could catch a glimpse of what moves them on a primal level. (Besides flatulence.)

Gordon and Sherman and the Juiciest Watermelon

Note: In case you don't get the Gordon and Sherman reference, you can refer back to this blog post.

They might grow up with a complex, but it can't be helped...I adore taking photos of my two littles! In those rare moments when they are happily engaged in something so incredibly full of personality and photographic potential, how can I not hover over them and capture as many slices of that moment as I possibly can?

Way back in May when the weather was suitably summery and we could still hang out in the back yard (this post will explain all about that Arizona hot thing), I looked at the back window and beheld Gordon and Sherman eating endless slices of watermelon and relishing every minute of it.

Unfortunately, once they realized I was taking pictures of them AND discovered my frustration when they closed their eyes, they took full advantage of that information. Most of the shots I got of them they are either closing their eyes to provoke me to squeals of frustration and mock anger or hamming it up big time for the camera. No longer candid but still cute.

Their Dad decided to offer his aid and introduced a new element to the situation...

After 15 or 20 minutes of this, they were STILL eating watermelon! It is highly doubtful that anyone else got more than one piece; more doubtful still that they ate any dinner after this marvelous hors d'oevre.

What more can I say -- I adore these little guys and am thrilled they keep me young and supplied with quotes and great pictures. And thank heavens, of course, for watermelon!

The REAL Graduation

I have to laugh a little bit when I see so many posts on Facebook and blogs about Junior High/Middle School Graduation, Elementary School Graduation, Kindergarten Graduation and yes, even Pre-school Graduation. I of course participated in these wonderful events with my children just like everyone else, but this year I get to boast being the mother of a High School Graduate! I'm not sure where he came from, I'm certainly not old enough to have a child going to college in 3 months, but I'll take him.

This is the first time I've participated in an outdoor graduation ceremony. We were warned to get there early and to sit on the side of the football stadium that was in the shade (it was 97 degrees at 6:30 pm) but being genetically incapable of punctuality, getting there 20 minutes ahead of time was up there with parting the Red Sea in my mind. It was still not early enough and after wasting time looking forlornly at all the people on the west side of the bleachers, smugly sitting there packed shoulder to shoulder in the shade, we gave up and headed around the track to join the steaming hot losers on the east bleachers. It was also packed. With 10 minutes to go before the ceremony started, we felt a little miffed that people were saving seats, and Ren good naturedly pointed this out to a man who responded, "Well, we got here EARLY sir." Luckily, I spotted some kids who were lounging on more than their two cheek-sized section of bleachers in the highest, farthest corner of the stands and we were able to squeeze in. I'm so glad we left the three little ones at home, they would have hated the heat and the hard seats. Their whining would definitely NOT have improved things.

Squinting into the setting sun we gazed at the stage set up in the distance and realized it didn't matter if the sun was in our eyes, we couldn't see the little ant sized people down there anyway. I managed to get a very far distant shot of Zach walking in after taking several pictures in a row and them digitally zooming my camera until I found him. (It took me a while to locate him in the shots).

After a while though, as the sun was setting, I realized that we were witnessing a spectacular sunset that the uppity west side completely missed, so I comforted myself by taking no less than 40 pictures of the sunset. (I'll only subject you to a few of those -- it just kept changing and getting better and I couldn't put my camera down lest I missed something!)

The ceremony was mildly entertaining, though a little heavy on speeches (five I think) and loaded with propaganda about how amazing High School was and how prepared they are for their futures. It seemed a little insipid and shallow to me, but we all went with it because it's part of the ceremony. Then they called names for a long time and we strained to see our son down there on the 5 yard line on the other side of the field. He seemed perky as he crossed the stage. =)

We snapped some pictures afterward and basked in the glow of finally being done with High School. I'm very proud of Zach for working hard to get good grades, really improving in his musical abilities and in battling his natural shyness to become a funny, sweet, tall kid who still lets me hug him. He finished number 8 in his class which is something to be very proud of!

We had to get a few pictures of Zach with his little brothers too. They all took turns wearing his cap and Gid adopted his gown as his own.

Gid just kept wrapping himself up in all that blue, silky fabric, until I finally had to hide the gown so he wouldn't mess it up.

We had a big family party afterward and showered Zach with presents and cards from Grandparents (thanks Grandparents for your generous checks!) It made a pretty big impression on the twins who said they might have to go back to public high school, just so they get to graduate.

I'm sure that when Zach graduates from College, we'll realize how insignificant this graduation is too; but it won't matter, we'll just enjoy where we're at just like we did when he was one and wore his first graduation cap and gown at his parents' graduation from BYU.

My Scouts

Well, I sent the boys off to scout camp this morning. True to form,
only one neckerchief and slide could be found between my twins, so
they'll have to share. Ren is going for two days...I hope he survives
all that male bonding. As they left we waved from the porch and
called, "Return with stinkiness!"