Family Fun in the Canyon!

One of my favorite things to do in Utah is spend time in the mountains and up the canyon. For Family Home Evening, we took the kids with Mom, James and Lisa for a picnic up A.F. canyon.
Savannah, Logan and Makayla posing by the river. After which we threw plenty of rocks in the river since they posed so nicely.

Makayla and her Grandma Jackie
FHE and KFC in the canyon. Need I say more?!
It was really fun to get to spend some time with my brother James and his new wife, Lisa, while we were visiting. They are so cute together and Lisa is great for my little brother. It was nice to kick back and relax in the canyon before all the busy wedding stuff.

We spent another trip up the canyon to Cascade Springs with Mike's parents. We hiked around the springs and had Subway for dinner.
Makayla and Logan with Grandma Eileen. The kids loved that Rocco got to come with us too!
Mike and the kids with Mike's Dad and Mom
After dinner, Mike and I took the kids offroading in uncle Jimmy's Jeep over the mountain into Heber valley. Of course we stopped in Heber for shakes at Granny's! Yummy!

Summer Vacation in Utah!--Roadtrippin' Here We Come. . .

We finally made it! Utah county--looking over where I grew up. Notice the Mount Timpanogoes Temple. I love the view!

A few pics along our road trip to Utah. A 22 hour drive. We cheered as we passed the Utah sign!!!
Bedraggled car riders.
One of our favorite places to stop along our journey to Utah is Roswell, New Mexico (Alien town). The kids think it is the coolest little town with all the Aliens everywhere. They always have to collect a little alien souvenier each trip.
We love Moab! Another favorite place to stop for lunch.

Edward Returns!!!

I am happy to announce that I was able to find a copy of Breaking Dawn today in Utah! For those of you not obsessed with Edward, this is Stephanie Meyer's new book. My friends had warned me that it was a madhouse here last time trying to buy her book, but Costco must have been prepared because I walked right in and found a copy waiting for me. I can't wait to begin my journey into Bella's vampire world.

In other news, we are having a nice time in Utah. The kids love to be here with all of their cousins and grandparents, and I just love to be here. One of these days I will have to blog some of the fun things we have been doing while we are here. Until then, I will be happy reading!!!

Happy 4th of July!

We celebrated the 4th with our good friends the Barlows, Millers and Gordons. We are so lucky to have such good friends in Texas! Holidays would seem pretty lonely without them, missing out on all the Utah Family Fun. We headed off bright and early to the Fredericksburg Parade. The kids had so much fun watching the parade together. We all had a great time. I love the 4th of July!

All of our girls. The boys are outnumbered and MIA.

Patriotic Makayla

Savannah loved looking for the princesses and waving to them.

Logan liked sword fighting with his flag almost more than waving it.

Logan and his buddies, Holden and Cameron

Kathryn, Brooklyn and Savannah

Mike B., Jared, and Mike

Good Friends: Kristin, Susie and me

After the parade, Jared's parents invited us out to their place for a BBQ and to play in the river on their property. We had such a nice time. It felt like we were home with our families.

Loading up to ride down to the river.

Lauren and Makayla riding the "rapids." They screamed the whole way.

Relaxing in the river was such a great way to spend the day! The kids had a blast

and we all had fun visiting and soaking in the sun.

I loved this part of the river. It was a beautiful day!

After playing in the river all day, we went to watch fireworks. It was so nice to sit back with Mike and the kids and watch the fireworks, that I didn't get my camera out again. This is probably a good thing because I don't think I need to add any more pictures to this post.

Spinach for dinner?

"Why didn't you make the spinach ones for dinner?"-- direct quote from Logan.

Mike and I had to laugh out loud at dinner tonight when both Makayla and Logan began complaining they didn't like the cheese raviolis because there wasn't any spinach in them. Makayla complained, "Where's the spinach in these Mom?"
Logan follow that up with, "Why didn't you make the spinach ones for dinner?"
Then, Savannah started in on it. "I don't like these Mom!! I like the spinach ones!" She doesn't even know what the spinach ones are, but she likes to join in on ganging up on Mom. Who has ever heard of kids wanting spinach for dinner? I agree that the spinach tortellinis I get from Costco are much better, but I thought the kids would like the plain kind more. Who knew? I guess I'll be heading to Costco next time. . .

Tagged Trauma!

OK so I guess I'm still learning about blogging. I started My Favorites post last week, but it stressed me out so I quit and saved the draft. Then when I posted it today, it posted it in order of the date which is down a couple posts. If you're like me, and you've already checked my blog, you will see the same pictures on the top and skip to someone else's blog. If you want to read it scroll down and enjoy. If you don't care, well there you go. You got to read that I get stressed when I have to think too hard. I did want Jeanette to know, Yes I finally finished your tag--and Linds I'm working on yours.

A Day at the Beach . . .

These are some of my favorite pictures I took of the kids at Corpus last Saturday. I had fun playing photographer. If you want to see some more pictures of our day at the beach, I updated the slide show at the top of my blog.

We had such a fun day at the beach last Saturday! The kids pretty much entertained themselves, swimming in the water and playing in the sand. Savannah said her favorite part of the beach was twisting and dancing in the "quicksand." Makayla found a perfect spot in the sand where once you stepped into it, you immediately began sinking. Logan and Savannah thought this was hilarious, and they all spent quite a while sinking in the sand and then trying to jump out. I filmed a short clip of them "Doing the Twist" in the sand below.

I Love the Lazy Days of Summer . . .

I love everything about summertime! I love the lack of routine, the lazy mornings, spending time with my kids and actually getting time to play with them. I especially love living close enough to the coast to slip away on a Saturday morning and escape to the beach. We had such a nice weekend at Corpus Christi. It was so relaxing spending the day playing in the water with the kids and getting some time to talk to Mike on the drive and on our family stroll down the beach. The kids love it too, which makes it especially nice for me because when they're happy . . . I'm happy! : )

Tagged!

My First Tag. I'm really into blogging now.

What was I doing 10 years ago?

Mike and I had been happily married for 3 1/2 years. (Life seemed a little easier back then. Maybe kids are a factor??! : ) Mike had begun his quest for a PhD in Biomedical Engineering a year earlier and I had just graduated from BYU in English that April. Mike was working as a research assistant at the University of Utah and working for my Dad at the farm on the weekends, and I was managing 50+ hours a week at Taco Amigo. We were renting a tiny little white house with kitchen carpet and pink shag. That was a sweet house!


5 years ago?

We had just moved to Texas that February for Mike's new job. We moved on a snowy day in Utah and arrived in Texas to an incredibly hot humid day with rain, rain, and more rain. The first couple of months we lived here, it rained. I was worried that was all it did here. We jumped head first into a world where we knew no one, Mike traveled all the time, I had a new fussy baby who cried A LOT and a very busy 3 year old who needed my attention too, and we were crammed into a little apartment with no yard for the kids to play in. Good Times! On the upside, we did have a pool. We swam a lot that summer and spent many days at the park. By the fall, we had found a house and many new and very good friends!


1 year ago?

Last summer, my kids still seemed little. Savannah was my cute little toddler, Logan was getting ready for Preschool in the fall and Makayla was finishing 2nd Grade. They have grown so much the last year. We have gone from toting a diaper bag and changing diapers to running from soccer to dance to activity days etc. Life seems simpler now to pick up and go, but busier now, always on the go. Last June, my parents came to visit us in Texas for Makayla's baptism. We had so much fun with them here. July was filled with swimming and Sea World, trips to the zoo, play dates with friends, and of course our trip to Utah to visit all our friends and family (which we are anxiously counting down the days until we get to go home this summer too.) For the last five years our summer vacation has been spent in Utah. The kids love going to see all their grandmas and grandpas and cousins. We have such a good time there with cabin trips in the mountains, backyard BBQs in the cool evenings and days spent swimming and playing at the park with cousins. I also look forward to sister shopping trips and lunch dates with my friends. OK so you can see I am ready for Utah this summer as well!


Yesterday?

I helped my friend, Jill, out by watching her girls for most of the day while she spent the day at Scout Camp. (Glad we're not quite there yet : ) We ran to Susie's to drop off Jill's baby at lunch time (this is a long story but it involves swimming lessons and splitting watching Jill's kids) and left Logan to play there with his buddy Cameron. Then, back to our house for lunch and playing dress ups, pioneers, pollies and many other 9 year old girl activities. I did a little online shopping in the afternoon (this is not a habit I recommend as it could become dangerously addictive) and picked up dinner at Chipotle. That evening I watched "The Sea Turtle Movie" with the kids which is Mike and my vacation footage from Hawaii 8 years ago that the kids love to watch. Finally it was bedtime for the kids and free time for me! Yea! I spent a little time blogging. Then, I spent some time watching TV with Mike before we crashed for the night. I just read through this and realized I did not spend anytime cleaning yesterday. Two reasons: 1. Our washing machine is broken, therefore, I cannot do any laundry, dang it! 2. I spent the entire day on Tues. cleaning my entire house.

My 5 favorite snacks.

Apple slices, grapes, cheese (I love cheese!),Pringles, and Sunchips.

5 favorite books.

I love to read! I will stress about this question trying to narrow down my favorite books to 5! So I guess I won't think too hard and list them off quickly. Mostly these are books I've read recently.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin
Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer
These is My Words by Nancy E. Turner
Nighttime Is My Time by Mary Higgins Clark
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

5 places I would run away to.

Anywhere with a beach, Mike and no kids for a week sounds awesome!
Hawaii, Cancun, The Bahamas, Fiji, Italy

5 Bad Habits

I kept most of Jeanette's on this list . . . hmm. Similarities in sisters??!
Popping my knuckles when I'm nervous, interrupting people, eating way too much junk food, shopping too much, and being late.

5 things I would never wear.

I like to try new things but there are just some things I could never pull off like skinny jeans, leggings, short shorts, a bikini, and anything mustard yellow. (Again Jeanette's list. I agree)

5 pet peeves.

When people cut me off driving and then go slow in front of me, putting the toilet paper roll on the wrong way, people in my house not putting their shoes away--we can have 10+ pairs out at any given time, solicitors, and mean old ladies who give me mean looks when I try to take my 3 kids grocery shopping.

5 things I like to do.

Shop, Read, Exercise, blog, and do fun things with my kids and friends. (I wish sisters--if we lived closer!)

5 favorite TV shows.

Grey's Anatomy, Brothers and Sisters, Dancing With The Stars, The Office, and Lipstick Jungle (my Sex and the City replacement).

5 famous people I want to meet.

Patrick Dempsey (he is so Dreamy! : ), Oprah (to be on her show), Jim from The Office (what is his name?), Bobby Flay (for cooking lessons) and Clinton and Stacy from what not to wear (I love them!).

5 people I want to TAG.

Lindsay, Susie, Kristin, Lisa, and Shannon

When Animals Attack! (on Father's Day)

Happy Father's Day to our Dads and Grandpas! I am so grateful for all of you in our lives. I am especially grateful for Mike. He is such a great daddy to our children. We had a fun-filled Father's Day at the Manwaring household! Mike spent the day relaxing, reading the newspaper, playing with the kids and playing with a giant spider in our garden. Leave it to Mike to have our own "When Animals Attack" in the backyard!

McNay Art Museum

Savannah and Brooklyn's first concert! They have got the moves down--grooving to Joe McDermott.

We had so much fun visiting the McNay Art Museum! The kids loved listening to Joe McDermott on the lawn outside the museum, and I loved soaking in all the art inside the museum!

These are some of my favorite paintings from the museum. It was so fun to do something culturally uplifting and have my kids actually enjoy it too

Monet "Water Lillies" and Picasso "Portrait of Sylvette"

Jane Freilicher "In Broad Daylight"

Georgia O'Keeffe "From the Plains I"