bear lake

When we missed our flight home, Beth and I brainstormed on how we should spend my week and a half that we now had.
1. Bear Lake
2. Yellowstone
3. Rock quarry where my brother works

Well, we made it to Bear Lake. On the way home Beth said, and I quote, "I never want to be in the car with your boys again." The 1 1/2-2 hour drive there wasn't fun with Parker literally asking every 2 miles, "How much longer? Are we there yet?"

Bear Lake is absolutely beautiful. {I still love the ocean more}, the kids had a lot of fun, and the famous raspberry shakes were AWESOME!

{We ended up spending the rest of my week and a half hanging out at Beth's house. Not going to Yellowstone, or the rock quarry, or anywhere with all of us in the same car again!}

cause and effect

Wednesday was a busy day for us! Probably the busiest we've had since we got back from Idaho. We got ready early and headed up to Williamsburg or Williamsburger as Parker calls it to go and visit the Yankee Candle Store. The boys were able to talk to Santa Claus who is on vacation right now and write their names on the "good list." Parker has been telling us for the past few days "I am ate up with guns!" Seriously, the boy is! So, it wasn't a big surprise when the boys wanted to purchase these nice guns!




Convincing them that they don't need $30 rubberband guns, we headed to Snow-to-Go, for some shaved ice. I had heard it was the best, but wasn't that impressed. Rita's is just as good, if not better!

Nice tongues! :)



IT IS SO STINKIN HOT HERE! Holy cow! Almost too hot to go outside! But, the boys convinced me to fill up some water balloons. They had a mini water fight! :)

Ben had the hose out filling up the kiddy pool, and started soaking Paisley. Here she is RUNNING from the water:

We then headed out on Papaw's boat to go catch some bait. It was mine and Emily's first time out on the boat. The water was very smooth, yet you could still hear me scream when the boat started going fast over the little waves! I'm such a wimp!


We caught PLENTY of bait for the men to use on their fishing trip the next day. It was fun to be able to just throw the line out and have fish bite right away! My kind of fishing!

It was hot, humid, but kinda pretty when we came into the docks!
Like I said, the menfolk went out fishing all day yesterday. I stayed home with the kiddos. Emily kept the kids occupied all day. I will be forever grateful to her. I spent most of the day on the couch with a migraine. It finally let up sometime last night. I am praying I don't' get another one today!

Ben said it was the best day fishing they have had in a LONG time! The water was perfect. The fish were biting. They caught theirr limit of Flounder and Spade fish. Correct me if I am wrong, Ben, but I am pretty sure they caught all the Spade Fish by spear fishing them. You know, with a snorkle on, diving in the water with a spear on their arm. Seriously. He was pretty excited about it!

So, because of the NICE bait we caught for the guys, here are the REWARDS!

while the kids play

I think I have a few moments to spare. I should have laid the kids down for a nap, but they are playing in their rooms. with the door shut. I sure as heck am not going to complain!! Play on, kids. Play on!

Can I just say: IT IS SO STINKIN HARD TO GET BACK INTO THE SWING OF THINGS AFTER BEING ON VACATION FOR A MONTH!

There, I said it. Actually, I say it about 50 times a day. Just ask Ben!

But, seriously. It is hard. And then to come home to a computer that the internet isn't working on. I have felt completely out of the loop. There are so many blog posts that I want to comment on, but don't feel like I have the time to even make a dent in them! So, here is my shout-out to all my peeps. In one place. So now, you will know that I have HAVE read your blog, and hopefully you'll be reading mine! Heehee!

Emily: Cailyn is getting so big! Happy birthday! I can't wait to see you guys in a few weeks. And, Ben and I both agree...Cailyn may not look like Justin did as a baby, but she does look like Justin now! Sorry!

Pam: You house is looking awesome! Hope you had fun camping!

Deanna: CONGRATS!!! Kortlen is a cutie. All your boys look the exact same! Crazy how that works. I hope you are recuperating....enjoy this fun time!

J'lene: Congrats to you, too! 4 little girls, how fun!

Shay H: Reagen such a cutie! Miss you guys! You need to come back and go swimming a in a real beach! Bear Lake isn't quite the same!

Laura: Are you seriously moving? I'm in denial!

Caroline: Can't believe you put Petey in a big boy bed. I'm keeping Paisley in the crib for at least another year....love how she is contained!

Jen: I don't know how you are living through this summer. The heat is KILLING me.....and I'm not 9 months prego! Go you! Hopefully baby #3 will be here REALLY soon!


Beth: TWO MONTHS! IT'S BEEN TWO MONTHS! TIME FOR AN UPDATE! NOT A SCHMUPDATE!

I hope that covers everyone! :)

Updates from me to follow. I promise. With pictures! :)

{too funny!}

Ben has been telling me for the past couple of days that I have to listen to this song. We've been watching CMT, GAC, and any other station that plays country music videos--waiting for this video to come on. Go figure, the day that my internet is FINALLY working, we see it on CMT for the first time!

Enjoy!





p.s. yes, i FINALLY have internet. {thanks, matt!} but, my computer is such a dinosaur, we'll see how much i actually get to posting!