1st cavities

The girls had their bi-annual dentist cleaning yesterday. They've all been twice a year since they were about 2, except Tatum who's been going since 15 months. Anyway, we've never had cavities until now. BOO! I thought it'd be Mariah, but it's actually Brinlee. She has 2 small cavities on 2 baby teeth. They still want to fix them even though they are on baby teeth. DANG! No FUN! I have to make her an appointment in the next couple months.

soooOOooory!

I am so sorry for the lack of posts....my drafts are getting a little out of control.

I have had quite a few people asking me lately why I don't post for a while and then all of a sudden they will look and there's a TON of posts up. It's because I always start a "draft" so that I won't forget things that I want to blog about in detail or write a blog and then tell myself that I'll come right back on to add pictures, but never come back to finish them until I have time and then I publish them all in one afternoon and they post on the date that I originally started the draft.

Did that even make sense? Idk, I'll try to get 'em all up....

Lincoln City

It's been SO HOT these past few days. It was about 108* in Woodburn today, but luckily we went to Lincoln City and oddly, it was cloudy and chilly there.

We went to the outlet mall, where Tatum got lost. She didn't keep up and there were so many kids, that it was easy to loose track. A lady was standing by the restrooms with her (that's where she got left) and was about to call for help when Grandpa spotted her. We also went to Depoe Bay and looked in shops and got salt water taffy and played on the beach at D Sands. I didn't stay to play on the beach, I went home with a car that wasn't staying. Roxelle was a little fussy and I wanted to get her cleaned up and fed.

The mall

Depot Bay and baby Cashel "low riding". LOL! (poor baby!)


We also stopped for lunch at BK

S'mores

Mike and Jackie are in town for Jackie's HS reunion, and Ross and Lindsay are here and so are Megan and Adam!
We are staying in Woodburn for a few days to hang out and tonight we started a fire in Grandma's fire pit and made s'mores!

Asia, Brinlee, Mariah, and Audrey Hathaway

Ava Hathaway, Asia, Hannah and Chelsea Jones and Kirsten Hathaway


Asia, Kirsten Hathaway, and Brinlee


Kirsten, Brinlee, Mariah and Audrey

MMmmmm! Marshmallows!!

Multnomah Falls

We went to Multnomah Falls with Grandma Erickson and Mike, Monica and Rennick. I am embarrassed to say that I have never been and we only live about an hour away from it. It was breathtaking! So beautiful. The girls had a BLAST!

Roxelle is just along for the ride.

Mariah squishing her penny

After the falls we stopped in Troutdale at the outlet mall to shop and little and had lunch at Wendy's. It was a great day!

Aren't Grandma's the best? Mom would never
spend the .75 cents on this!

10 months old

Roxelle is 10 months old today. I decided to join our ward play group for once at Esther Short Park, but when we got there, I didn't see a single person from our ward. So, I either got the wrong day, or the wrong park.... Oh, well! The girls LOVE this water feature at the park.

Artem and Vitaliy

Our cute little neighbor boys are such hard workers. Artem is Mariah's age and Vitaliy is Brinlee's age. Frequently when we are out working in the yard or garden, Artem will show up and start pulling weeds without being asked. Vitaly will also join him on occasion. I usually make cookies or give them some kind of treat for the hard work they show. They love the cookies and I think they really just need someone to pay a little attention to them for a minute. Plus, it makes my job go a whole lot faster!

Flaming Gorge and Good Bye

Well, it's time to head off into the sunset. Literally. Our last stop this evening was in Sunset,UT! LOL!

We have really had such a fantastic time in all the places that we've been. I am biased, of course, but seeing my Jenny Penny has been the highlight of my trip! I miss her so much!

The girls have been, over all, great travelers! So much so, that we want to do this again next year. We thought that travelling in the car for hours on end in the heat would be too much for anyone to handle, but it's not been bad at all. Even baby Roxelle has done really well.

This morning we had breakfast and the Rouska's took us up Flaming Gorge to have a picnic lunch before we set off. It was GORGEOUS! I wish we could've spent more time there and gone camping. We're gonna try to plan it for next time.

Again, we took so many pictures, that I had a hard time choosing. This slide isn't as long as the last one, though.

After we said good-bye and were driving away, Mariah burst into to tears in the back and sobbed that she didn't want to say bye to Madi. :(

We decided to take a new route from Vernal to Salt Lake Area. Sunset is north of SLC, so we took the roads through Wyoming. It was a really pretty drive. I never thought I'd say that about Wyoming!

It was so much fun to see Uncle Stanley and Aunt Carole Erickson. Stanley is Will's dads eldest brother. He reminds me so much of Ray! They have the same smile. Aunt Carole is the sweetest thing! We arrived in late-afternoon and near dinner time, I told Will that I was going to run to Wendy's and grab the kids dinner. Carole said she wanted to ride with me and then insisted on paying for our food. So sweet!

We really enjoyed our short visit with them. The girls even started to get used to their cute little dogs. They loved throwing balls around their good sized back yard, too.

It's starting to get dark and I'm starting to worry about Will driving all night. He insists that he's fine, but we'll see how it goes. I love having mobile internet through Verizon. We get internet on our laptop where ever our cells phones get service, which is nearly EVERYWHERE!

We're getting ready to stop for gas in Burley, ID and I have tired "screen" eyes. This will all feel like a dream tomorrow when I get to sleep in my own bed again...

As we were saying our "bye's" to the Rouska's, Jen and I were talking about a photo that we had taken together at a picnic in Provo Canyon when the girls were about 2 months old (April 2000). We decided to reinact that moment. LOL!!

Boating with Rouska's

We had the most fantastic time boating with the Rouska's today!! We were out on the water ALL DAY. Almost till sunset. The kids had a blast and all the girls tried the tube. When Jen and I rode with Tatum, she was having a great time and then all of a sudden we it the edge of a wake and all 3 of us got bumped off. Luckily we all had life jackets and I was already holding on to Tatum's. She was a little freaked out, but she was a trooper!!
Kade (15) is such a good kid. He was so good with all the girls and he's an awesome wakeboarder! I can remember when he was a baby...I can't believe he'll be driving soon.
After we cleaned up from the lake, we got the kids pizza and Kade agreed to baby-sit so we could go to dinner. We went to Wingers down in Vernal. Great food and conversation as always with Jen and Bryan. I wish they'd move closer to us. :P
Between Jen and I, we took so darn many pictures it was hard to decide. Sorry the slide show is a little lengthy. But all the shots were so good and different!

Twilight Zone & My SOUL SISTA!

We decided to try and make it to our old ward, Suncrest 2nd. There were actually quite a few people that we knew, including the Bradley's and the Folsom's. We only stayed for sacrament meeting. It was so wierd being there. I can't believe we were in that ward for 5 years. It doesn't seem like that long AT ALL!
We changed our clothes and packed up from Mac's and headed to Vernal. Mac was a MORE than gracious host. Thousands of thanks to him for letting us stay with him on such short notice!!
It was a nice day and a long drive and we passed through the shortest most random thunder and lightening storm on the way. They always say.."If you don't like the weather in Utah, wait 5 minutes".
As soon as we got to the Rouska's, Jen and I ran to each other's arms!!! It was SO fantastic to be there. They have a beautiful (quiet) home and they let our circus move in for a couple days! Kade (15) was so great with the little kids and Mariah and Madi (9) were like old roomies!
We got settled and hung out for the afternoon.

Seven Peaks? and Sautter's!

We woke up to gray skies and warm misty drizzle. We were going to take the kids to Seven Peaks Water Park in Provo, but decided not to. Mac let us use the key to his apartment complex pool place and we took them swimming there. It started to get a little breezy and chilly.
After we swam, Mac picked up Vienna and brought her home for the day. She was a little freaked out by all these strangers in her house, but warmed up quickly. She is a little dolly face!!

After they got dressed, we went and visited with my Grandma Woolsey again. She really wanted us to come over again. I took pictures today.

We also went to visit Uncle Carl and Aunt Glenna Wilson. Carl has been very poorly for a long while. We are sad to say that this may be the last time we get to see him alive. And DUH! I didn't take any pictures. UGH! I don't know where my brain is...

We finally got a hold of the Sautter's!! YAY! It was so much fun to visit with them for a short while. Elle and Mariah are like old pals again!!

Me and Crystal Elle and Kate

I wish we could've visited longer, but we promised Grandma Woolsey that we'd go to my cousin, Matthew's, wedding reception with her and my uncle Kent tonight. (And, no, I didn't get any pictures :*-) !!)

We'd originally planned to try and take the girls to Temple Square today, but it didn't happen. We just can't fit it all into one trip. We want to do this again next year!!

Good Friends, Family and Maggie Moo's

We ended up staying with my cousin, Mac Jones, in Pleasant Grove since we couldn't get a hold of the Sautters. His wife is in France on business and their daughter, Vienna, is staying with her grandma while Mac works. His apartment is really nice! We are so thankful to him for letting our crew crash his place. Sleeping in the van wasn't sounding very nice! LOL
We visited my Grandma Woolsey in American Fork today. I don't think she really remembered who I was at first. She is getting old and repeats herself a lot, but it was really great to see her and the kids LOVED all the treats she has stashed everywhere (even though they were stale, as usual!! LOL).
Then we met up with our friends, the Bradley's from our old Suncrest 2nd Ward. We had a picnic with them at Orem Rec Center park. The kids had a lot of fun playing together! They have a girl, Madison (9) and 2 boys, Ethan (7) and Aiden (4). I'm sad that I didn't get any pictures.. BOO!
After we left the park, we met up with my other cousin's (Mac's siblings), Andi, Holly, and Phillip and their families. (Rachel, his sister, lives in FL) We met up at one of my favorite places in UT...Maggie Moo's ice cream. It is set up very similar to Cold Stone, but the flavors are just richer! MMMmmmmmmm!

Their mouths match the walls!

Aunt Mary, Ryan Price, Holly Williams (holding Kenna Price, Mary's daughter with back to camera in pony tail), Caden Price, Cohen Price (Brynley Williams behind Cohen), Mac Jones, Andi Jones-Price, Phillip Jones and his new wife (Laura, I think). And Asia jumping into the shot.

Utah

Today, we set out on our journey again. This time it was a familiar path that we've traveled lots of times! I forgot how much I missed those mountains. We had such a fabulous time in Vegas. I could probably be happy living there, but Will says "NOT a chance! Too HOT!"

We stopped in Cedar City to visit Will's Aunt Rhea and Uncle Sterling (Church's). We visited with them for about an hour or so, but then the kids were hungry and restless, so we decided to grab something for lunch, since it was lunch time. We stopped at the Walmart to get some bread. I had brought PB and Jam with us on the trip, so we stopped off in a nearby neighborhood and had sandwiches.

As we headed north, the girls watched some movies and slept and I enjoyed the scenery. I still can't believe that the posted speed limit between Cedar and Provo is 80 mph! That's CRAZY!

As we entered Utah Valley, I couldn't get a hold of our friends, the Sautter's who we were supposed to hang with for a night or 2. So I left them a message and we hit BYU. We walked through the Wilkinson Center and Will told them how he went to school there. The girls were awe inspired! LOL

We walked through the bookstore and each of the girls spent some of their own money that they got to bring. Mariah got some pom-poms and Brinlee (painstakingly) chose a cute little pink notebook with the gold foil BYU logo on it and a pen. The little girls got these hair tie pom-pom things.

Then we went to the BYU Creamery on 9th. The girls had corndogs and Will had a burger and then we all had ice cream. Our favorite part (besides the ice cream) was the Red Creme Soda ON TAP!!!