To Post or Not to Post . . . . . .

I guess I'll post. I was recently perusing one of my friends blogs. It is a mix of politics, religion, and humor. A far cry from my blog filled with cute pictures of my kids, which I personally love. :) It is quite entertaining. Anyway, this particular post talked about different things, but the main point was that there are a lot of Utah Mormons that make other Utah Mormons look like idiots. I read through the entire thing thinking to myself, "Amen Fish!", "Absolutely", and "Love This". I went on to read the comments and was immediately offended, or more accurately, confused. Let me try to explain. This author is referencing certain comments made by Utah Mormons that are ludicrous. These include, ""I like Barak Hussein Obama because he is hastening the return of my Savior." Another one was "I dislike Barak Obama because he is a Gadianton robber." Do me a favor and go read the post itself. It will all make a lot more sense.

Anyway, if you're in my line of thinking, these comments, whether you like Obama or not, are ridiculous and make us all look misinformed and backwoods. In a comment, someone agreed with everything the author said and then added her own examples of what makes us all look bad. One of them was, "If my son was gay, I wouldn't let his boyfriend come into my house." Okay, I totally get why that sentence was referenced. The other one was, "I love being a stay-at-home mom! Nothing in this world is worth sacrificing my time with my children." Huh? How, on this dear Earth, can that comment be compared to the above comment about Gadianton Robbers?

I'm sorry. I wasn't going to say anything or make a deal out of it, but this is bugging me. I haven't been able to get it off of my mind the last couple of days. Why does that comment make Mormons look bad? I am a Stay-At-Home Mom. I love being one. I don't work, but I have plenty of friends and acquaintances that do. It works for their families. Me staying at home is definitely a sacrifice, but I feel lucky to do it and wouldn't change it for a minute. The point is, it works for MY family. I don't look down on or think badly of anybody in a different situation that works for THEIR family. I am not looking for a Working Mom/Stay-At-Home Mom debate. So my question to anybody who is reading this is, am I being super sensitive? Have I looked too far into this? Did I miss something in this statement that would explain why it is so appalling? Does me being a Stay-At-Home-Mom and loving it make other Mormons look bad? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

I'm in love . . . . .

With these pictures that Lacey Nielson took of our family. Kai had just turned 1, Ava had just turned 4, and we were in need of some new family pics. I really like having updated pictures of the family because the kids grow SOOOO fast! Lacey did such a great job capturing my kids and how they really are. Except in these pictures they're clean. :) Enjoy! I know I have!

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So Close, and Really Not Very Far Away . . . . .

On our way to Lake Powell, we took the beautiful drive through Capitol Reef. I had never been there before and was pleasantly surprised to see how beautiful it was! In fact, on the way to the lake, I told Randy that we needed to stop and see some sites on the way home. Well, that comment came before I twisted my ankle wakeboarding, so as we headed out, we didn't really have intentions of stopping. We came upon the funnest spot to stop though and just HAD to let the kids see it! It required a bit of a hike down and up and honestly, I was a bit miserable. I wasn't letting it stop us all from seeing it though! There was water gushing out of the rocks into a stream and the kids LOVED it. Actually, I think Randy liked it even more. One thing we didn't do in Lake Powell was cliff jumping. Luckily for Randy, he was able to do it here. It was gorgeous and such a fun stop for us! Sometimes I think we're always looking for bigger, better, and more beautiful and we forget that there is a ridiculous amount of beauty right in our backyard! (I still consider Utah my home, and this spot is close to my in-laws so TECHNICALLY, it's my backyard). Ava was yelling at me to take this first picture because it looks like a Princess Castle. Isn't it gorgeous?

Adventures . . . .

My children are pretty good at entertaining themselves. Most of the time. The problem is that Ava wants everything that Kai has and Kai wants everything that Ava has. Until they get it, then they want something different. Thus why we usually end up in tight situations. Like them both squeezing into the Little Tykes car. They also make up some really random games. One of them goes like this: Ava goes and gets each of them a shirt (they have to match - Kai gets Mickey and Ava gets the Princess shirt). Then they throw it in the air over and over and giggle and laugh when it lands on their face, the computer, or the curtains. Oh the joys of being a kid.

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We made a little trip to the Bass Pro Shop nearby. It's like Cabela's and the kids loved it. There are a ton of stuffed animals and even a few real animals here and there. We expected all of that. What we didn't bargain for was the "real" mermaid they have there. Ava thought it was the coolest thing ever. Randy and I thought it was a little creepy. I just kept thinking about how weird it would be to do that for a living. Get up, go to work, put on your fins, swim in the tank with the sting rays and fish, wave to the kids and smile for pictures all while being under water. How would you list that on a resume? Professional Mermaid? Anyway, Kai must have been impressed because as you can see in the first picture, his jaw completely dropped. :)

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We also decided to go to a neighborhood celebration they had at the park a little while ago. We thought we would brave the 115 degree heat. Well, it was just too darn hot. (A recurring theme throughout this summer). We were there for a few minutes and then made it over to the splash park which put the kids in heaven. I just loved the middle picture. So typical of my children. 1 - Kai has the drink 2- Ava wants the drink 3- Ava takes the drink 4- Kai flips out. Ava has her fill, gives it back to Kai and says, "Here you go buddy. I will share with you."

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Lake Beautiful, um I mean, Powell!

A pretty good description of all of us at Lake Powell . . . . This kid cracks me up!

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So, I grew up with my parents going to Powell every fall. I never got to go. Something about an adult getaway minus the kids? I may not have understood when I was a kid, but now that I'm a Mom, I certainly understand. :) Well, this year, we FINALLY made it to Lake Powell. It was fabulous. Randy put it best when he said that Lake Powell is a hidden gem because it's so far away but SOOOO beautiful. My dad has a boat down there so we packed up the entire clan and went down for a few days. The kids had to wear life jackets the entire time of course and Kai threw a fit every. single. time. we had to put it on. Luckily his screaming didn't last long once the boat got moving. Even if the life jackets weren't a law, this mommy would keep them on her kids. It really helps with the peace of mind. Plus, my kids aren't afraid of much and that fact alone opens them up to boundless opportunities in a huge lake. It was especially nice to have Kai in his jacket because he couldn't move very fast at all. Poor kid. Anyway, here are a *few* pictures.

My favorite boys in the whole world . . .

From Powell

We did a lot of tubing, wakeboarding, and kneeboarding. Robert and I took a few tries to get up on the board. Not Jessica. Oh no, she put us all to shame and got up on the very first try, then rocked it. Little brat. Anywho - I am loving the middle picture of my painted toes strapped into the wakeboard. There's something cool about that. Maybe it shows that we girls can be girly but hard core at the same time? :)

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There were 11 people on this boat for 3 days straight. Luckily it was these people! We really have the best family in the entire world. (Oh, and Kai didn't actually lose his lunch. He just got a little over-zealous with the Gogurt.)

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To say that Ava was a fish is a pretty big understatement. We couldn't keep her out of the water! She loved being on the tube. Even more so, she loved jumping into the tube from the boat. She probably would have slept in that water if I would have let her! And as you can see, Kai can apparently sleep anywhere, or any way.

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My wonderful family and the cutest little swimming booties I've ever seen! Kai found the tube relaxing. In fact, it was relaxing enough he was typically asleep by the end of his ride.

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My babies. Boy do I love them.

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Seriously. How gorgeous is this place?

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After the fun, we were all a little worn out. Thanks Mom and Dad for such a fabulous getaway!

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