TMT: Pity Party Whiny Pants

Hello and welcome to my little pity party and the epiphany that changed it, well a little.

Can I just tell you how SICK I am of being PREGNANT! Okay, I know a ton you have automatically tuned out. I would too if I were you. I try my darndest to keep it all inside but most of you that know me well, know how much I do NOT like being pregnant. It's 9 months of straight torture for me.

I have been pregnant 3 times in the last 4 years. Ty was born in 2009 and the 3rd comes in 2012... so if i'm not pregnant I have had a newborn in my arms or a baby on my hip. I wont lie to you, I don't mind the baby-toddler stages, in fact I quite enjoy them but the newborn stage I could do with out too. I KNOW a ton of you are TOTALLY lost now, "HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE NEWBORNS!!!" Well I love my OWN newborns of course, but I much more enjoy other stages and can't wait for the newborn stage to be over.

Which brings me to my pity party. All I can think about these days is what I can't do...

~I can't wear my normal cute summer clothes that I barely fit into LAST year after having had Maylee.

~I can't sleep, period. Every night is another battle. 2 of 7 nights I end up on the couch, another 3 nights I just toss and turn until 2 or 3 a.m. and then there are the sacred 2 nights a week that I actually sleep well. Not to mention I have two other children that have a radar for those good nights and ruin it with plenty of interruptions.

~I can't go running, oh running how I miss you... I dream of running again, fast, long, hard, dripping with sweat. OHHHH what a glorious day that will be! (If you remember last year I pushed myself too fast too hard after having Maylee and injured myself,  taking myself out of all the races and goals I had for last summer)

~I can't bend over without an audible groan slipping out of my mouth.

~I can't fit into those cute swimsuits I bought off season preparing for this summer

I could go on and on and on with that whiny pants mode, those are just some top issues right now.

All I see are rain clouds raining on my ME parade. I just want ME back I want to do things for ME! ME ME ME!!!!

TY

MAYLEE

Image by Kelly Spence Photography

Then I remember a few things about ME.

1. I am healthy and able to conceive (quite easily) and bear children relatively easily.

2. For the most part, the children I have are healthy too, not to mention adorable. (see above pictures)

3. I am able to be home with said adorable children and raise them in our home rather than try to do a full time job while being pregnant WHILE trying to take care of 2 others. READ: I can take a nap if I need it.

4. I am one of those superbly lucky women that don't get stretch marks on my stomach and I have the chance to get back that nice flat stomach that I had pre-babies.

5. If we want 4 children, I would only be pregnant for 160 weeks or 3 years. 3 years of my body to pregnancy, in order to have a lifetime of joy (and all that other fun stuff that comes along with raising a family) for eternity.

When I think of it that way I see parting clouds and bits of blue sky and sunshine. Yeah being pregnant is the pits, seems like all you runners out there running your races are wearing party hats and sticking out your tongue at me as you run by. But I KNOW there are other runners out there looking at me and our family thinking the exact same thing. We are wearing our party hats and sticking our tongues out at them, they wish they could even get pregnant and have ONE healthy child let alone have three.

So i'll just buck up and get through these next 10 weeks and another 40 weeks about 10 months or so after that. You can bet #4 will swiftly follow so I can be DONE with this production phase and on to the management phase as my aunt puts it.

Whenever I get stuck in the "UGH MY BODY AND LIFE HAVE BEEN TAKEN HOSTAGE!!!!" mode i'll just remember that I only have a little bit longer and be grateful that I am blessed with such fantastic children (I should add too, their awesome FATHER to help raise them after production phase) and a healthy body that can carry and bear them so well.

No syrup, just a waffle, but a funny flavored one.

Ty says the funniest things not realizing it. 3 of my top favorites this last week were:

After sitting for a long time he stood up to go with Matt somewhere, his leg "fell asleep" and his leg gave out for a second... his response? "Whoa Dad, my LEG almost fell off!"

Last weeks Family Home Evening we asked Ty which song we should sing, he said "Ummmm Book of Mormon SNORIES!" Haha snories, haha.

Then yesterday when he was trying to walk up stairs and he took the corner too tight his response? "Mom, the WALL just HIT me!"

In other Maylee news she is growing up, at dinner time we can now just fix her plate and put it in front of her. She'll eat with utensils if she can and mostly keep things out of her lap and off the floor. She also drinks from a cup by herself, she skipped the sippy cup thing never really liked them much. She eats more than I have ever seen a kid her age eat so I wonder when it will stick to her bones. She is not picky and LOVES potatoes just like her mom. Just last night she was the first and last at the table eating the entire time.

She says Hi and Bye, Night Night and Thank You (in her own language) but still no attempt at Please which bugs her Dad. She also says a lot of  MOM MOM MOM MOM and some MA MA MA which I am pretty sure is Matt. Ty called Matt Matt instead of Dad for a long while too.

If you ask her to throw something away for you she can do it, but still expects a hi-five or a cheer for her services.

She now confirms with a head nod yes or shake no when she wants something and does a great job pointing out what she wants. If she wants YOUR attention she'll walk over and pat your leg/arm until you look at her (that's assuming I was ignoring the incessant MOM MOM MOM MOM that she AND Ty do) then she'll wave you over to what she wants and point to it. If all else fails I just ask Ty and 9 times out of 10 he knows what she wants. Weird how siblings can do that.

She tells you when she wants her diaper changed and will pat her diaper and walk over to the "changing" area and wait for you to come. Girl can't stand a messy diaper for long.

The kids are growing fast and before I know it we'll have three, still wrapping my brain around that.

Whopper Cake and Olympic Awareness

On Monday for FHE we decided it was time to make the Whopper Cake recipe for our treat. Ty loves the book so baking the cake was fun. It was a different kind of cake recipe. At the very beginning you mix water and the cocoa powder. Some spilled overboard so Ty stuck his finger in it to lick it.

 He said "Yum! Ty Liiiiik, uhh yuck mom, that is YUCK I can't like whopper cakes YUCK!" HAHA he thought the straight cocoa and water would be good. I assured him it would be good later after all the rest of the ingredients were added. 

Ty was the master stirrer and pourer, I was the measurer.

At the very end I let him lick the spoon, he said "It tastes just like a dream!" funny because that's a line from the book.

We popped it in the oven and then Ty had to nap so I pulled it out when it was done. Looks pretty good eh? We halved the recipe.

Later that evening when we had FHE we talked about the upcoming Olympics! We showed the kids a world map. We pointed out where we live, then showed them where London is, where the Olympics would be held this year. We showed them a picture of the five Olympic rings and told them they represent the 5 continents that come to compete in the Olympics. We talked about good sportsmanship and the different events that would be held. (that whole schpeel took maybe 3 minutes) then we showed them this video of all the Olympic torch lightings 1968-2010 and said we would get to watch something similar on Friday night (tonight!!!). 

Okay the video won't play on the blog but seriously, watch it on Youtube, it's worth it. 

We explained that people run all the way from Olympia, Greece, again finding it on the map, to where the Olympics would be held to light the flame. Then we made our OWN Olympic torches. They colored the outside I rolled it up and stapled them together then stapled some yellow tissue paper with orange I colored on it in the inside.

As the kids walked/marched/ran around the house I played this video. Nothing gets a kid more amped up than Olympic music I guess.

Ugh, again? Have a listen again, it's pretty awesome.

They played for quite sometime! 

I made homemade chocolate frosting and put some special whopper cake colored sprinkles on for our dessert.

Oh yeah I forgot to mention, Maylee started getting weird sores around her mouth about 2 weeks ago we thought it was from her pacifier so we had her only use it in her crib. It didn't get better and actually got worse and worse so we took her into the Dr. turns out it was Impetigo, so now she's had 3 a days with antibiotic salve and it is almost gone. Lucky Ty didn't get it since it is highly contagious.  

Ty enjoying his WHOPPER CAKE and Ice Cream. It was a really fun evening with lots of fun activities! Matt really enjoyed his dessert too, so much we got his trademark "stamp" of approval. 

Believe it or not that is a super Happy CHEESE face for the picture. 

Go check out the Whopper Cake book from the library, or buy it, it's a good one. 

P.S. we are re-wearing our 4th of July garb today in honor of the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics and to show our Olympic U.S.A Spirit. Ty is STOKED to wear his FLAG shirt! He says, U.S.A! U.S.A! U.S.A! 


P.S.S. The material used to make the Olympic Metals in London came from the one and only Kennecott Copper Mines in Utah, the same mines right behind our old house in Herriman. The only other time they supplied the materials was for the SLC winter games in 2002. Cool huh! 

Last Weeks Happenings

We've been doing a bit of DIY around these parts, (more on that coming soon) but with that comes lots of trips to Home Improvement stores. We went to Home Depot one morning for some paint and Ty left (again) with another wooden toy kit for him to put together with his Dad!

Maylee and I just watched of course. 

 Observing at first,

 then helping Dad place the nails properly and even glue and hammer a bit.

 Maylee starting a collection of random items near the door.

 Oh and just like that his new Hertz moving truck is done!

 The back has a wooden piece that slides up and down so you can store little toys in the back.

 Last Saturday was the Stake Pioneer Day activity. It was a huge activity with tons of stuff to do. We ate some lunch then headed to the fishing station. Ty was really excited,

 he caught a pin wheel! Bummer part was was he didn't think others should have a turn, only him. So he started throwing a fit.

 We dragged him over to the Milk Bottle Throw and he threw a few balls to knock them over and then threw another fit that he couldn't do it over and over with out letting others have a turn. 

 SOOO we made an executive decision and took him right to the car and home. Too bad since it would have been really fun, Ty just couldn't handle it and was making everyone's lives (even those around us) miserable. He went straight home for a nap.

Sunday it was finally windy enough to hit up the park with Ty's Spiderman kite.

He's been asking to fly it for months and we finally had a perfectly windy day.

He ran around with it and played for quite some time. Matt unwound the string all the way so it flew as high as it could go. A good little investment I would say. We can even fly it again it didn't break after one outing! 

We had a busy week last week, things have slowed down a little this week but we've finished 1 and 1/2 of our DIY projects and hopefully we'll finish the rest of our project this Saturday with a good find and some elbow grease. Fingers are crossed, I want to get it all done! Then we'll unveil, and blow your minds. Haha

TMT: All Gooey In The Middle

Does anyone else ever catch a glance at their spouse and go all gooey in the middle? I swear each year I've been married it gets worse and worse. All it takes is a half smile from the guy and I melt. 

I love how he makes me laugh, and this isn't on purpose usually. He is a normally funny guy but after church on Sunday he made me laugh so hard I peed my pants... (okay TMI but it's not too hard to do these days) He made me laugh so hard because he fell asleep at church, on the couch in the foyer, with Maylee sleeping in his arms. He fell asleep SO hard that his head was cocked back with his mouth wide open. BHAHAHA Have you ever seen anyone do that at church? I sure haven't, and I think it's hilarious that it was MY husband. For the record it was a REALLY long night between the two of our wonderful children. Maylee literally screamed the entire night and Ty peed the bed/woke up every hour on top of that. SO yeah, we were tired. Matt said he was living the letter of the law that day... going to church because he needed to be there not that he got much out of it, well besides a 15 minute snooze during Priesthood.

Or another time when he crashed so hard on the living room floor and he was twitching so bad that I purposely watched him flail his arm up and (eventually, it took a few close calls before he actually did it) smack himself in the face so hard that he woke up saying "What just Happened!?" HAHAHAHA It was hilarious. What a good wife I am, just sitting and waiting for it to happen.

Anyway, bottom line is I love the guy more than anyone else. He turns me all gooey in the middle and just thinking about him puts a smile on my face. I am so lucky to have such a great husband.

I was contemplating this a few nights ago when I was reading in 2 John 1:5-6 It says,

"5 And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.

6 And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard heard it from the beginning, ye should walk in it."

In the margin of my scriptures I wrote, "~Matt~"  It's from a movie, but I remember him giving me that bible verse and telling me to look it up. 

I am so glad I get to walk hand in hand with someone else who walks after His commandments. It makes my life so much more blissful and happy. We both work hard to share a life full of love, happiness and the Spirit. 

In other news, here is video of how silly he is.  He prides himself in making a killer taco, only ones he would eat though. He likes them so hot there is no way I would even take a bite. I gather all the fixin's and he puts his together. I put a few Jalapenos in mine that time and had to pick them out they were so hot. Maybe he didn't believe me how hot they were and loaded them into his. For the record I am kind of a baby when it comes to that kind of heat. 

My favorite quote was, "it tastes good, it's just hot" so hot it's burning his stomach? Yeah that is good flavor.

FIVE MINUTES LATER....

Near the end of the agony.... 

No more burning in his mouth but his stomach was on fire. 

He laid on the floor like that for quite some time. HAHA That guy, what would life be like with out him, I don't even want to know.  

Summer Football

Matt is in his summer flag football league season right now. He likes it much more than the winter and we do too since we can go to the games! They are warmer and earlier for some reason. 

 Last Wednesday Maylee wasn't feeling well, 102 temp. We think she was teething. So we applied lots of Tylenol, Naps and snuggles to get through it.

 When we go to the games I bring a blanket and snacks for the kids and they watch. Ty is a good support. He runs to the sidelines and gives Matt hi-fives whenever he is resting. Maylee just claps and walks around.

 Matt and his teammate on defense. (they are the team in the black shirts)

 Matt running a route on offense while Ty says "Go Dad Go!"

 We inturrupt our football game to go camping... well it was the weekend after. Matt took Ty camping with some friends of ours. It was only over night a quick trip but Ty loved it. Thanks Walkers for letting them crash your camping party.

 Matt is the one on the far right, the next black player in, the girl Chelsea works with Matt. She always tries to give Ty hi-fives too, Ty is hot and cold with her usually. The rules are strict about girl and guy participation, this time Chelsea was the QB.

 Matt and a teammate looking for the play.

 Matt running with the ball.

Matt running with the ball again after a catch, he said "I'm so fast the camera can't even catch me!" I said "Uh no, it's just on the wrong setting..." haha

It's fun every Wednesday night to go watch Matt play a game and the kids can run around the track. The team is 2-2 right now I think, the league goes through the end of August so they've still got some time to make up some ground.

P.S. I think Matt might be the only married player on the team let alone with a family. I keep feeling an urge to make an after game snack or something... haha it's the soccer mom I have in me. I haven't yet because the other players usually all eat together right before or after the game. One of these days i'll bring some 100% juice capri-suns and cut up orange slices to pass out at half time, just to be funny.

Home tour

Hey all, I know you are chomping at the bit to see our house since we moved... actually you are probably thinking, "ohh yeah, they moved... it was so long ago I forgot." 

Anyway I finally got around to doing a quick video tour for you all the other day. 

So exciting huh! It's still a rental so we can't paint and make more permanent additions to it but that is okay. We like where we are right now and plan on living here at least a year or two. As you can see I really need to get on decorating more. I have all these ideas but the time and the funds to complete all my schemes are amiss. Believe me though, with what I have in my head it would be even more fantastic! Once I get more going i'll probably share more pictures, especially of the girls' room. I'm kind of in the middle of finishing the decor for that room.

Also, I don't know if you noticed this toy set up in the play area... It's Ty's joy. My parents got it for him for his Birthday and I got around to setting it up about a week ago, despite Ty asking almost daily the month previous. He LOVES it. 

This is the best picture I could get of him. He wouldn't even hold still long enough to smile for the picture.

TMT: Hard Work and Miracles (the big promotion novel)

This could be a really long drawn out story, because it was quite the drama saga Matt and our family went through, but i'll try and keep it short with bullet points in a time line format. As is, it's going to be lengthy.

May-
The first week in May, Fisher Investments sent out an e-mail company wide for people interested in the Investment Counselor position to apply. This was somewhat unprecedented, there are numerous qualifiers that one needs in order to normally apply. Matt applied not really thinking too much about it since he didn't have a lot of the credentials that candidates normally need.

The second week in May he found out he was accepted into the Bridge Program, basically a "try-out" 6-8 week class to prepare you to potentially interview for the Investment Counselor position (an I.C. is kind of similar to a Financial Adviser type role, currently Matt is at the associate or entry level and the I.C. position is an analyst position) He was chosen with 6 others company wide. Matt felt extremely lucky and blessed to have been chosen for the class since he knew of others that applied that had more experience, education and tenure with the company.   


The third week he started his class, the program had three parts: The actual class- with trainers that worked with all students together talking about Fisher investment philosophy, current events effecting the market and answering questions. They also had to study and read three different investment books written by Ken Fisher. Second, "Mock" calls- where you schedule a time to have a pretend phone call with a pretend client, the client was usually a current I.C. who would then give you a score on how well you did with your call, most calls last up to an hour. Lastly, The Presentation- a memorized, almost word for word 8 page presentation that they give all students to give one by one in front of a panel of General Vice Presidents, Team Leaders and Hiring Managers. The presentations are the last week of the class. On top of all this extra work he was expected to keep up on his already full work load for his normal job, so basically 2 full time jobs at the same time. 


The class started and Matt began what seemed like to him a 6 week version of "Finals week" he experienced in College. 


June-
Matt had a mid-term review with his class trainers. They told him he was on-pace for the class. They talked about his strengths and some weaknesses he needed to work on. He felt good about the class and was learning A LOT. Amazingly he was able to keep up on his normal work too.  


The last week of June was the end of the class and preparation for the presentation. If you remember, we were out of town a TON then. Matt had to fly back and forth for just the weekend for everything because just could NOT miss work. He unbelievably stayed on top of his work still and had time to study while on vacation.


July-
The first week Matt had to give his presentation. He was really, REALLY nervous for it. He normally gives great presentations and doesn't have problems memorizing but this was the big presentation to get him a career job. He practiced and practiced and practiced. He practiced on anyone that would listen, mostly me. He also had to write his own bit at the end and prepare for a Q&A with the panel as well. 
He gave the presentation and he said he did well on the memorized part, average on the part he wrote and not so well on the Q&A. I also made him some baked goods to bring along for the presentation, we figured it couldn't hurt. I mean, who doesn't like some good banana bread at a morning presentation. Not to mention all the prayers and prayers and prayers he and everyone else in the family were saying.

When it comes to deciding if they will interview or not they look at all 3 previously discussed components.
Luckily he got an interview, they originally scheduled it for Friday then rescheduled for Monday.

He interviewed with two potential Team Leaders (managers) of groups or teams that he could be hired into. He felt good about one just so/so on the the other.

Then it was sit and wait, and wait, and wait to hear back. Meanwhile all his other class mates are hearing back, some yes's, some no's, more yes's, some starting their new position the following Monday. Matt got more and more nervous as the week went on... it was torture. We prayed and prayed and prayed. There weren't a set amount of spots, so it didn't matter if others were hired but it didn't bode well when people got no's.

We waited an entire week to hear back, most people heard the next day. He was asked to meet with one of the GVP's last Monday. The GVP sat him down and said he was really sorry he hadn't gotten to him sooner he'd just been really busy. He asked him a few questions in the short minutes he was there and finally ended with, "well we'd like to bring you on as an Investment Counselor starting mid-August." It was a 5 minute meeting and those are all the details he knows, he doesn't know whose team he will be on or who his new boss will be. At that point it didn't matter. He worked so hard, I mean really, REALLY hard to get this position and it was a miracle that he even made it that far let alone get the job.

In Elder David A. Bednars talk discussing Tender Mercies he says "A loving Savior was sending me a most personal and timely message of comfort and reassurance...  Some may count this experience as simply a nice coincidence, but I testify that the tender mercies of the Lord are real and that they do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence. Often, the Lord’s timing of His tender mercies helps us to both discern and acknowledge them.  I have reflected repeatedly upon the phrase “the tender mercies of the Lord.” Through personal study, observation, pondering, and prayer, I believe I have come to better understand that the Lord’s tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindnesses, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ." 


I can assure you all that our family has felt every bit of the Lord's guiding had through this entire experience, from being actually chosen to participate in the class, to getting good reviews, to Matt staying on top of his work, his health (the absence of stress migraines or sickness which is a BIG one), to giving a good presentation and interview. Matt has told me that he literally felt the power of prayer and the Spirit blessing him with all the above support that Elder Bednar spoke about, he was specifically told through the Spirit that he was being prayed for and that he need not be anxious. Matt and our family feel so blessed to have received this promotion, in fact I am still in shock a bit that it all happened. I had complete confidence in him, but at the same time to get a position like this the way he did it was almost unheard of not to mention crazy. He still has a long way to go before he'll be comfortable and a whopper of a test or two to take, but with continued prayer, hard work, miracles and tender mercies we know that our Father in Heaven will guide Matt and our family through it all. 


Whew, life... crazy and amazing isn't it? 

Howdy Howdy Howdy

A few Fridays ago we had the opportunity to go to the Vancouver Rodeo. If you remember, I posted on Facebook that I signed Ty up for Mutton Busting. We got there early paid for our tickets and were checking Ty in. Apparently there was a mix-up, the gal who normally took care of the Mutton Busting had to leave out of town unexpectedly for a family emergency and there was a mix up on participants. Ty didn't make the final cut, even though I signed him up a month in advance.  

I was irritated about it but there was nothing I could really do about it, they had 10 participants and 6 back-up and Ty wasn't on the list at all. Really Ty was on the fence about actually doing it anyway... he kept saying "Ty can't like to ride a sheep" So I decided not to put up a stink about it. 

We decided to just watch the rodeo this year and hopefully get him in next year. 

 Maylee 

 It was a pretty toasty day and Ty had to wear long sleeves and long pants to mutton bust so he was warm. Matt and Ty disappeared for a while and reappeared with an sno-cone. 

 Once Maylee saw it, she was all over it. Luckily her brother is a good sharer.

 The kids liked sitting in the very front so they could crawl around in the dirt. At first I didn't like it but after about 5 minutes I realized it was a lost cause. 

 Ty sat down by our legs and dug holes in the dirt for quite some time. 

 The kids really liked watching the horses, bulls, cowboys and cowgirls. Maylee would clap for every person. 

After the first kid did the Mutton Busting, Ty was BEGGING to do it... I just had to say, "Not this year I guess we'll try again for next year." Lame. 

It wasn't really that great of a rodeo either. The rodeo clown was terrible the worst, the entertainment portion wasn't near as enjoyable as other rodeos we have been to, it was unorganized and just sub-par really. As far as competition goes seemed like they had some good scores going though. As we left Matt said, "Well, it's sad, but my favorite part of the whole night was the Caramel Kettle Corn" What a gem, he bought it for me because he knows how much I love popcorn. I guess not all rodeos stack up to the Strawberry Days Rodeo in Pleasant Grove Utah... that one is the best. Ohhhh how I dream of their Strawberries and Cream! BUT of course we'll probably go to this one again next year, hopefully their wont be a mix-up and Ty can Mutton Bust at that one :)

The 4th of July

We went to the Ward Pancake Breakfast at church in the morning. They had a bike race for the kids. At first Ty didn't want to do it, then he decided he wanted to last minute. So his decorations consisted of a ballon but he didn't mind. 

We were worried he wouldn't do that well navigating all the other riders, but he actually did fine.

He raced so well that they gave him a GOLD MEDAL! Ty thought that was pretty cool.

Ty kept riding and riding. Riding so long in fact that the breakfast was over, they literally packed up and cleared the parking lot and Ty was still, 

"Going the distance.

He's going for speed.

He's all alone, all alone in his time of need.

Because he's racing and pacing and plotting the course,

He's fighting and biting and riding on his {bike}.

He's going the distance."

It could only end with a crash, in the middle of no where, for no apparent reason at all. 

After the breakfast Matt took Ty Disc Golfing while I whipped up our portion of the evening BBQ. We were assigned dessert. I made Brownie Fruit Kebabs, A Festive Fruited Cheesecake Flag (only a half recipe) and some White Chocolate Dipped Oreos with Sprinkles. I thought my desserts were quite festive and really tasty! The BBQ at the Walkers was really good too, we had Burgers and a TON of delectable side dishes.

After the food we started the firework show courtesy of Ryan. He bought TON of fireworks and we were up late, but it was really fun. 

Maylee, enjoying the last of her roll from dinner, while we started off the pre-show with ground flowers and worms. 

Watching a ground flower. 

Ty really liked the fireworks this year, if you remember last year he was terrified of them. 

There we go, I was wondering where the Walker children were in all my pictures. Sam liked the fireworks too, Austin was in Steph's arms most of the time. 

Matt helped Ty with sparklers, then stepped it up by letting him hold a Roman Candle too... eesh. 

The firework laws in Washington are way different than any other state I have celebrated in... it seriously sounded like a war zone, we're talking "Black Hawk Down" war zone. I don't know what kind are actually outlawed because it was like watching the fireworks show at Disneyland, especially since I think the neighborhoods were dueling around us to see who had the best display. It was crazy and fun. 

It was a lovely break from a stressful busy week. It was a much needed day to just relax with our little family and friends. 

Crater Lake

A few weeks back, on our way home from Medford we went to Crater Lake with the family, well... our family and the Ritter family, who is now Colton's family so our family-ish too I guess, loosely related.

ANYWAY we made a few stops along the way, like to the Fish Hatchery that we used to go rafting from down the Rogue river and look at all the HUGE fish... I asked my Dad how big the fish were pointing to one he guessed it was about 65 lbs. Seriously these salmon get big.

Nathan, Mom, Colton, Brian, Helen and Jeffery (with random lady in background)

Ty climbing on the rocks.

Elena and Dad

Sierra checking out the water

After our quick Fish Hatchery Stop we stopped again at the mouth of the Rogue... well I think that's what it was. I am not quite sure but I had never stopped there before. It was lovely!

Matt and Maylee

Colton and Brian

Ty and Colton (Ty is Colton's mini-me for sure)

Ty, Mom Colton and Brian

Cool waterfall at the top of the little hike.

Nathan, Jeffrey, Ty, Sierra and Maddy

Then we made it to Crater Lake. Ty was pretty excited to see snow, but I think the MOST excited person was Jeffrey, Maddy's youngest brother who is 8. I hear they don't see a lot of snow down near Hunington Beach haha. He kept slipping and falling then he'd brag about it. "I'm soaking wet! I've fallen 3 times now!" haha Cute kid.

Colton, Ty and Nathan

Jason, Jeffrey and Sierra

Ty

The whole fam, view from the top. 

View of Wizard Island 

Kristin, Jason, Elena, Ty, Colton and Brian

Maddy, Maylee and Helen

The lake was really fun to visit. Matt had never been there before. The drive to and from was gorgeous as well. We were glad we could squeeze in one more fun activity on the way home to Washington.