APARENTLY WERE NOT THAT GOOD AT CAMPING...

So, we went out for another camping adventure. It was Nick's first time camping in the canyon! He was so excited! He loved every part of it. One of his favorite things was just walking up and down the steep hill. He has mastered uneven ground. He is such a brave and daring little boy. So, here we go... Camping round 2. Well, went went to the exact same camping site we did last time. Since we had Nick with us, we went to the park that they had up there, and went of a few walks. Now, the last time we went camping, we brought tin foil dinners and those did not turn out, so this time we thought we were being so smart by bringing hot dogs! How can you mess up hot dogs, right? So, around 6:30ish Clark starts working on getting the fire started... An hour 1/2 later, it was just not happening for us. We hadn't though much of the rain that had come the day before. Everything was damp and was just not gonna cooperate. So... we were off to IHOP for a nice camping dinner :D. When we got back, it was quite chilly. Last night was like 38 degrees! So we brought Nick in the tent and he was sooo excited! He kept running all around inside, and dragging the lantern to the dark sides of the tent. Lucky for us, when we all laid down to sleep, he conked out in like 10 min! He slept better than Clark and I did. Anyway, it was so fun having Nick with us this time. It will be fun to bring him again next year when it's not so cold!

Nick loved walking up and down the hill.

Watching Dad work on the fire.

My brave boy!

I just think he's so smart! :)

Mama and Nick chillin'.

PAUL NEWMAN 26 JAN 1925 - 26 SEP 2008

Well, Paul Newman passed away a week ago today from cancer. Sad day.

~FAMILY PICTURES~

We went out recently and got our family pictures taken. My Dad has taken them for the past two years. He has done an amazing job. Thanks Dad!!

Our Family shot.

Cute one of Clark and I.

And many of Nick.

Love this picture!

More of Nick.

And of coarse, he was happiest running around. :)

25 THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW...

TAGGED by Emily!! It's been a while since I've been tagged. So here we go! I tag... Jessie, Carrie, Nicole and Jasmine. :) Have fun!

1) MIDDLE CHILD SYNDROME~ I totally have the middle child syndrome!! What middle child doesn't??

2) PAUL NEWMAN~ I get teased relentlessly for having a crush on this guy. But how can I resist? Yeah, huge Paul Newman fan.

3) DRIVER'S ED~ Okay, couldn't pass this one up... Tribute to Emily for taking the wrath of the teacher... And I can hardly believe I'm posting this on my blog for everyone to see. First off, I'm just gonna say I'm a natural at driving... now :). Emily and I had driver's ed right before lunch time. It was my turn to drive on the practice range and Emily was in the passenger's seat. I was driving along, and somehow got confused about which was the gas and which was the break. And drove right into the fence (missing another car by about a foot...) Smooth. The best part was when the teacher swore over the intercom and came running down to see the damage. But who got in trouble?? EMILY!! Love ya, girl!

4) LOST~ I was born in Minnesota. And when I was 3, I went to Dayton's Department Store with my Mom and Sister. It was a huge store, 12 stories high. My Mom turned around to fix my Sister's bow. When she was done, I was no where to be found! I can't even imagine the fear that went through her mind. Long story short, she found me safe and sound.

5) SOUR DOUGH BREAD~ I absolutely love sourdough bread! Especially in San Fransisco.

6) KISSED~ Truth comes out... I have kissed 14 boys in my life. And along with that, was voted biggest flirt twice in Jr. High. **BLUSH BLUSH**

7) TENNIS~ I played tennis in high school. I had a lot of fun. One year I did singles, the next I played doubles.

8) COMPUTER NERD~ Clark has got me hooked on computer games. I never would have dreamed I would be the girl who puts her kids down for naps and plays WoW, but I am. Hahaha.

9) WRITING~ I love to write. More so when I was younger. I had a very creative mind and loved expressing myself with a pen and paper. In Jr. High I was big in writing stories. They were actually really corny now that I think back at them, but it really enjoyed it.

10) NOT CRAFTY~ I worked at Roberts Arts & Crafts for 4 years. Funny thing is, I'm not that crafty. I was over the seasonal department and loved it! Although I do miss the discounts on oil painting supplies...
11) SAN FRANSISCO~ This is the funnest place I've ever vacationed! I always have fond memories of San Fransisco and hope to go there with Clark-o and Nick in not too long.

12) PERSONAL SPACE~ I need my personal space!! I get overwhelmed easily with people who are not the same way.
13) 4 PROMS~ I was lucky enough to be asked to 4 proms. Once Freshman year. Twice Junior year. Then once Senior year. I was spoiled!

14) PSYCHOLOGY~ I have always been interested in psychology. How the mind works, why people do what they do. Understanding people. I drove my family nuts with the Color Code. Just ask them!! I think my Mom hid it once of twice. :D

15) DON'T LIKE DRIVING NEW PLACES~ I'm overly cautious when I don't know here I'm going. I'm much better in the passenger seat.
16) MARRIED CIVILLY~ Clark and I were married at the White Willow in Provo, Ut. It was a beautiful place. Then we were sealed one year later in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple.
17) OIL PAINTING~ In college I really started enjoying the arts more. I took an oil painting class, as well as a drawing class. They both were so much fun. Some day when I get a bit more time I would like to keep them up.

18) LETTERS~ This one will take some explaining. I met Clark while I worked at Roberts. We worked with each other for not quite 6 months before he left on his mission. We became friends during that time. We wrote consistently the whole two years. It was really fun to get to know him like that. And about 4 months or so before he came home I knew I loved him. And when he came home everything just worked out. I fell in love with Clark-o through letters.

19) NOT A FAN OF BIG CARS~ Love the looks, but I don't like driving them. I feel much more in control with my tiny sedans.

20) HAIR CUTS~ Have this strange love for haircuts. I put it on my calendar and count the days.

21) GLASSES~ When I was a Senior in High School. I was convinced I needed glasses. So my mom took me to get my eyes checked. Strangely enough, my eyes were almost perfect. But I wanted glasses so badly that I talked my mom into buying me some. Not a complete waste, I use them a lot still. Especially in church and night driving.

22) COOKING~ I absolutely love to cook!! I can do anything on a stove, but ever ask me to bake anything!!

23) SPRING TIME~ I love everything about the spring. I love lilacs, rain, Easter... The freezing cold of winter is gone, and it's not too hot. What better time of year than spring?!!

24) ENGLAND~ Ever sense I was in Elementary school I have always wanted to go to England on vacation. Clark was so lucky to be called there on his mission. Someday we will get there!!

25) NO BROKEN BONES~ Although I have had many unusual emergency visits... I have had stitches above and below my left eyebrow for two different occasions. Knelt on a rusty badge needle which disappeared underneath my knee cap, and had surgery to get it out. And was once attacked by a swarm of bees when I walked into a bees nest as I was hiking with my family. That was a fun one...

PATCHING FOR NICK, GETTING CREATIVE

Nick was thinking he hadn't patched yet today...

So Mom and Dad decided we should probably do it before it got too late. Nickolas didn't quite feel the same way....

So to distract him from his patching, we made another hut. Nick helped us make it.

He had fun running behind the couch. But soon lost his interest again.


So we added a little more, and a little more...

Until our living room looked like this!! Quite a mess but sooo worth it! Near the right side of the picture you can see a black hole... That's where we come in and out. But Nick really liked the back way, which led him along the wall in back of the couches. He had a lot of fun chasing Dad, and having Dad chase him. Just underneath the blue blanket, there's a secret look out. We brought 2 night lights and put them in the hut too. This is the coolest hut we've ever made so far. I'm sure there's many more to come.

The back tunnel. :)

Dad in the hut with Nick.

LONG OVERDUE...

Anyone who knows me could tell you I'm not a clean freak, but once in a while I get in these motivated cleaning moods. Now that Clark-o is working graveyards again I have been much more productive than I normally am. So I have been thinking for a month now that I need to go through Nick's closet and organize the clothes he's grown out of. We had clothes everywhere in that closet!! So I eventually got it all sorted out and packed up in bags. Now the trick is putting it back in the closet... Anyway, good to have that project done. Next, the other closet with holiday stuff, oil painting supplies, easels and who knows what else! WOO HOO!!

ME AND MY BOY

I finally got a cute picture with Nick and I together! (And a good shot of my bangs too.)

~BEFORE AND AFTER~

Before...

And after...

So I finally chopped my hair off again. We cut 5 or 6 inches off. This was the first time I really was thinking twice about it. It hasn't been this short since Nick was born. But it looks really good! (Thank you Shayla!)

MAMA'S SLIPPERS

Nick has been walking around in my pretty pink slippers all day. It's so cute!!

THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS

So I was talking to my sister a few weeks ago and she told me I should see this movie. I've heard lots of good things about it, so I finally got around to watching it. My sister was right, I cried and cried and cried. Will Smith did an amazing job playing this role. And the boy in the movie is his son in real life. It just make the whole movie that much more touching. Every minute your heart is just breaking for this little family, it just makes you realize how much we take for granted. Life is not that hard for us. And it especially made me appreciate my wonderful husband!! I know he would do anything for his family. So thanks to all the men out there who work so hard. It was a really good movie, I highly recommend it.