backpacking

Personalize a scrap page design

Greandma and Grandpa Reeve's Pool- July 2010

Free greeting customized with Smilebox

4th of July

Our family went to Midway to celebrate the 4th of July with Nick's family. We all came a few days early for a mini family reunion. The boys did their annual Uinta backpacking trip while the girls relaxed at the resort. It was nice to visit and play, we all had a great time. On the 4th of July, Nick's parents received a special award, "Honored Citizens of Midway". They really do a lot of service for their community and we were all proud of them. They were presented this award at the anuual Sunrise Ceremony at the town square. Sheri Dew was the patriotic speaker, and she was amazing. 5 of their 6 sons(sorry Andy, we all missed you) were there to share the special day with them. This photo is compliments of Gordon, since I lost my camera sometime during this trip. If anyone has seen a black Nikon Cool-pix let me know. I'm terrible with cameras, in fact, I don't even bother purchasing the warranties anymore.

Zach and Shella's Visit

The kids and I went to visit my family in July. After our delightful visit with family, Zach and Shella drove back home to Cheyenne with us. It was nice to have company and extra drivers, since it turned into a 12 hour drive. We all enjoyed their stay here, and hope they come again soon. We did a lot of shopping and eating, two of my favorite things to do. We started by making peach cobbler with some fresh Hurricane peaches my Mom and Dad sent home with us. We enjoyed another dessert at a Mexican restaurant here, they call this dessert Tres Marias,

it is sinful and delicious! We went to "Despicable Me" at the movie theatre, followed by IHOP to sample their Despicable Me menu. We all loved the cinnaminions. Zach celebrated his Birthday while they were here, so we went to Fort Collins to shop and of course.. eat! We went to Red Robin for lunch, where they sang "Happy Birthday" to Zach and gave him an ice cream sundae.
There's a claw machine there that the kids always want to play. Savannah told Uncle Zach that she wanted the pink dolphin from the claw machine. Zach took the challenge and on his first try got the dolphin, Savannah was so happy, she carried it around the rest of the week. We did so much shopping that Zach and Isaac had to find a way to keep themselves entertained. Isaac loves his camera and frequently takes random photos of people shopping. Some are even nice enough to pose or smile for him. Zach and Isaac got some great photos of themselves jumping.
It kept them busy and made Isaac happy. We headed home after a full day of shopping, but we weren't done celebrating. We had Old Chicago deep dish pizza, a birthday cake and ice cream. I hope Zach had a happy birthday. We were sad when it was time to go, and Zach and Shella flew home.

New Living Room Decor

I was browsing through the housewares section at Dillard's and saw these cute pillows. I decided they were light and summery, and would go well in my house. I've been enjoying the new look, but the room wasn't perfect yet. I was at my sister Angie's house when my eyes caught sight of a cute little side table that was the absolute perfect color, turquoise covered with a brown glaze. I told her I was in love with the piece, but we decided it wasn't the right scale for my living room. During one of our shopping trips to St. George, we visited Angie's favorite store, Deseret Industries. I wasn't excited about going in, but just a few minutes into our visit, Angie found an absolute treasure. A nice sized, nice shaped, real wood coffee table. Angie has a vision, and a knack for finishing furniture and knew it would work. She primed, painted, glazed and varnished it in just a few hours time. When we came home, I couldn't wait to place it in the living room and show Nick how beautiful the whole space would be. Well, Nick had conjured up a surprise of his own!! While the kids and I were away for a week, he'd taken the liberty to hang a deer head in the living room! I was certainly not alright with this. I would love to see it hanging in a cabin or a man den, but front and center? We've had a few words about it, and the final decision is that it's coming down in October after his deer hunting buddy gets to come and see it. The table looks great, thanks Angie! I guess I have Nick and the taxidermist to thank for the dead animal.

15th Wedding Anniversary

Nick and I have been married 15 years! It's been a great journey. We decided that 15 years is worth celebrating, so Nick took some time off work, and we arranged for a babysitter to come stay with the kids for 4 1/2 days. I left Nick in charge of the location and activities. I packed perfume, a curling iron, dressy clothes, and I even packed a pair of high heels. I envisioned walking hand in hand browsing gift shops and tourist attractions during the day, and enjoying nice formal dinners in the evening. I decided to throw in a pair of jeans, a few t-shirts, and some hiking boots "Just in Case!" Well the babysitter came over early in the afternoon on Wednesday, August 4th. Nick was just wrapping up the reservations and we were off. It was fun to be alone with Nick, I was excited for our adventure. Nick had chosen Buffalo, Wyoming as our vacation destination. After we got there, I noticed the town boasted of being the Sportsman's Dream. Our trip started off great, just the two of us together in his truck relaxing and enjoying our freedom. We stopped in Casper, Wyoming, where we went shopping and had a lovely dinner at Bottecelli's, a local fine Italian Restaurant.

Things were off to a nice start, and continued to go well when we arrived in Buffalo. We were delighted when we checked in to the brand new Hampton Inn. Everything was shiny and clean, I even took my shoes off in the room. We relaxed in the hot tub and unwound after a long day of driving. Thursday morning we slept in until 8:30, had a delicious complimentary breakfast and began our ascent to the Big Horn Mountains. The weather was a cool 65 degrees in the mountains, but it was a beautiful sunny day. We hiked a bit, ate a picnic lunch, Nick fished, we rode bikes, Nick fished some more, and we covered a lot of miles on windy dirt roads. We got back to Buffalo late that evening, had a fast food dinner, worked out a little in the hotel exercise room, went swimming and crashed. Friday morning we changed it up a little by driving to Sheridan, Wyoming. We went to the grocery store to get sandwich stuff, and we were off exploring a different side of the Big Horn Mountains. Nick fished, we rode bikes, and we also mountain climbed. We got back to town at 9:30 p.m., had fast food for dinner and went to bed. Saturday morning we were on our way to the grocery store for lunch supplies, when we noticed the crowds lining the streets and policemen blocking off Main Street. We deduced there must be a parade, so we parked the truck and joined the spectators. It was a very long parade, but pretty impressive for a small town. The parade was the start of their County Fair and Rodeo.

We got a late start, but we made our way back up the mountain for another day of fishing and biking. We actually made it back to town at 6:00p.m. and decided we deserved a wonderful dinner, we noticed a Steak House in town and it looked popular with the locals. We made reservations for 7:30, which gave us time to swim and sit in the hot tub before we got ready to go. We got to Winchester Steak House, which was packed to the point of flowing out the front door with Rednecks. I was sure that since we'd called and made reservations we wouldn't be waiting long. After 20 minutes in a stuffy lobby, we mutually agreed to settle for yet another night of fast food and left. Sunday morning we woke up at 6:00 a.m. to ride a mountain bike trail just out of town. It was a gorgeous ride, perfect weather, beautiful surroundings, and it wasn't all uphill and rocky(like the prior 3 rides!). I was having a fine time when Nick noticed I was missing a bolt on my rear tire. I ended up walking my bike back to the truck, but it was still a good time. We got back to the hotel, packed up and headed home. It was fun being with Nick. No matter what we're doing, I always enjoy his company. I was really missing the kids, so I was was happy to be home. I hope our next 15 years are just as good. I love you Nick!

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico June 12-19

Our family, along with Adam and Adalee spent a week in Mexico. We planned the trip months ago and the kids had been really looking forward to the beach. We enjoyed hanging out with Adam and Adalee, it was a fun, relaxing week. We stayed at an all-inclusive family resort right on the beach. The only complaint I had with the resort was the food. The food was real authentic Mexican, for example, fried eggs on top of fried tortillas with chilies on top. They had some pretty interesting food choices, that we didn't venture to try. I though I loved Mexican food, but I guess I like Americanized Mexican. The kids had a bit of a hard time, they lived on chicken nuggets, ice cream cones, and Nachos. Nick took pity on the kids and took them to Peter Piper Pizza twice we all had fun playing games and winning tickets. We all took advantage of the free drinks. They had several bars with kids menus, there was Spongebob, Frozen Nemo, Spider Soda, Shrek, Barbie, and lots more. I really enjoyed the virgin Pina Coladas and Strawberry Daiquiris. The beach was public, so there were a lot of vendors selling dresses, shirts, jewelry, toys, and all sorts of nick knacks. I had a very hard time saying no, and when I tried, they wouldn't believe me. I got suckered into buying lots of Mexican souvenirs, including a hammock that wouldn't fit in my suitcase. Some of the vendors also braided hair. Adam negotiated them down to $20 for each of us and all of the girls got braids. It was well worth it and made for an easy week of hair maintenance. We stuck around the resort most of the week, there were 3 pools, several restaurants, and lots of beach front with chairs and umbrellas, so we were pretty content. We did want to see more of Mexico, so we asked the tour guide working at the resort which excursion would be good for the whole family. She promised us that the pirate ship adventure





was amazing and we'd all be entertained and wowed, she guaranteed we'd all love it. 2 Minutes into the excursion, Isaac said "Are they going to take us back to the resort?" He was not impressed, in fact, follow this link to go to his blog to see what he thought of it. I think Nick and Adam were miserable too. I was trying to make the best of it and played and danced along with the pirates.
We also did a snorkeling excursion which most of us enjoyed. Sophia chickened out and stayed in the boat with the guides. Savannah turned out to be a great at snorkeling and was amused at the sea life. We saw all kinds of brightly colored fish that were all shapes and sizes. We even saw a jelly fish, it was so neat to watch it move through the water. Savannah has seen too many episodes of SpongeBob and knows that jelly fish sting, so she warned me about keeping our distance.When we told Savannah we were going to the beach, she said she was going to find a starfish and take a picture with it. We searched the beach and she found an assortment of lovely shells, but there were no starfish. I decided to ask the beach vendors, they are so eager to please! I asked a guy, and within 10 minutes he was back with a starfish. Savannah was so happy, she didn't put it down all day. A little boy she was playing with threw it into the ocean and Nick had to retrieve it. I'm glad she got her photo with a starfish!
The weather was absolutely perfect and it was beautiful there. It doesn't get better than being on the beach with your family. We're already planning our vacation for next summer.

The girls turn 5! May 26th, 2010

When Sophia and Savannah were born, Nick said he wished they were 5 years old. I absolutely loved the baby stage, and every minute of them growing up, but I have to say I love my 5 year olds! They are getting themselves dressed, learning to brush their own teeth, entertaining themselves and becoming so independent. They will be attending kindergarten this fall, and that's when it will hit me, my babies are growing up. They are so much fun, every day Savannah's humor makes me laugh and Sophia amazes me with her knowledge. They are so different, but get along so well. It's been 5 wonderful years, we feel so blessed to have our girls. This year we kept their Birthday Party small and simple. We started right after preschool, by eating at their favorite place,
Chick-fil-A. After lunch, we went to the nail salon for manicures and pedicures. The girls enjoyed being pampered, and I enjoyed not having the party at my house, it was a win-win!