Moab Adventures

A couple of weeks ago we were able to enjoy our first camping trip this year. The girls were very excited! After our lovely middle child had a bout with car sickness and campground after campground was full...we finally found this gem of a campsite. What a relief! 3 little girls were going to be very disappointed if they had to sleep in a hotel.

The real reason for this trip was to take Mark and Jessica's engagement photos. My parents were heading down for Mark's grad and to help him move out of his dorm, so it was great to spend time with them too. After the pics were done and we saw all of Arches we wanted to, we moved on to Price, where all 3 girls got at least one strike while bowling with Mark and Jessica.



After the big mile and a half hike up to the Delicate Arch, Syd said it best, "It was worth it!"

Justin did a lot of carrying Justee, and she still conked out for a good nap before the day was through. This caused Justin and Justee to miss out on the small hike we took where Syd and Chuck found their favorite spot. It was a small crevice between rock walls filled with nice cool sand. They had a blast there.

39 years...that's a long time

Ok, so I am not very good at remembering dates (you'd think I was I man or something.) I would never have even known it was my parents anniversary if I hadn't heard it from my sister, Vicki.
So, as I am sitting here waiting to hear from Justin...he is supposed to be on a flight coming home from Dallas, but it keeps getting delayed due to weather...I figured, why not steal her post? :)

Happy anniversary to my amazing parents!

I love this picture because I think Chuck sure looks a lot like Ashlee in it. (and Trey looks like you Vic. Don't ya think?)

Thanks for being great parents who love each other, and raised 5 great kids...especially your 4th child. I really love you both.

Thanks for staying on top of things, Vicki. :)

Huge Relief

There is no way to describe how happy I am to be done with this bathroom! ...well...pretty much done...a door missing isn't that big of a deal is it?
This whole project started in early March. I wanted it done right along with the rest of the basement, but Justin had his many excuses for why it had to wait...

Just like everything else, it took WAY longer than I was told it would. We had so many setbacks and problems. I would be writing forever if I went through all the things we had to go back and fix, so I won't even attempt. Even the last thing, which was hanging the shower curtain rod, took a week. That tile was ridiculous to drill through, so I decided I was going to glue it. One side took really well, but the other was not holding...so after days of letting glue dry, back to drilling it was.

Before grout:

After grout:

Finally...a working bathroom in our basement:

Syd and Soccer

This kid has thrown me for a loop. I was dead set against her playing soccer again, once this season was over, after her first two games. She would just kind of hang back and let her teammates get the ball. She would get to the ball and just stop. Where was the aggressiveness that I never remember lacking? It was just too frustrating for us as parents to watch.

Then suddenly...this girl appeared for the last 3 games (of a 6 game season.)

She was hustling, running so fast, she was getting to where she should be, and she scored a goal! It was actually fun to watch her games.
...I guess we won't pull the plug on soccer just yet...she'll get another chance. :)
Howie was even impressed.

Seriously post about Justee

I told my sister about this little "incident" with Justee, and she turned it into a great seriously post. Click HERE to check it out.