Another Successful Trip!

Bear Lake was awesome this year! The weather was great; the beach day was perfect; the kids loved being outside; and the bugs stayed away. It was so nice not having a baby this year-the kids were old enough to play around the campsite without getting hurt or wandering off. Mom and Dad got to relax and have fun visiting, hiking, playing horseshoes, making crafts with the kids, playing volleyball on the beach, reading, eating (of course!), and staying up late at the campfire! We look forward to Bear Lake every year because it's such a fun, safe, relaxing getaway after a stressful spring. The only bad thing is the packing and the laundry when we get home. This picture doesn't give the real sense of how much laundry I had because a couple of hampers are still full and I hadn't sorted it into piles yet. I washed 16 loads by the time I was done including bedding, blankets, towels, swimsuits, shoes, and clothes.

By the way, we had a little scare when Ashtyn got a tick embedded in her belly button and when we saw a second tick the next day in our trailor. The ticks are out and Lyme disease is on the rise, so make sure and check your kids (and yourself) if you're in the great outdoors this summer!

Check out the slide show below for all the highlights of our trip this year. Sorry for including so many pictures-it is not even half of what I took!

Annual Bear Lake Reunion

Ashtyn's Adventures

Ashtyn danced in her annual spring ballet performance at the beginning of June. They did The Wizard of Oz for the first time and it was adorable. Ashtyn was a bumblebee who danced with a ladybug for Dorothy. I was really impressed with all the props, costumes, music, and narration this year. They also involved a lot of tap peformers, which made it very entertaining. Now Ashtyn says she wants to do tap and ballet. I don't think I could get my legs/feet to move so fast!Ashtyn turned 6 on June 8, and I feel so bad that I didn't wish her a Happy Birthday on my blog. Maybe it was because I ran around that day getting ready for her "dog/cat" birthday party for her friends and cousins.
It actually turned out to be quite a fun party! Everyone got whiskers and a nose painted on when they arrived, thought of their "dog" or "cat" name, and wrote it on their dog tags to wear around their necks. We also had dog races, played "I had a little doggy and he won't bite you", guessed who was barking and meowing, dug for mice in the kitty litter, and licked up ice cream out of their real dog and cat bowls. Even though it was a little crazy with all those kids, I think they all had a great time, and Ashtyn loved it! It's a good thing because she probably won't get to have a friend party for a few years!

Ashtyn has always been my angel child. She was such a good baby and toddler, and has only now begun to develop a slight attitude. For the most part, she is good-natured, a great helper, a good sister, and a beautiful girl both inside and out. We love her a ton and feel blessed to be able to raise such an amazing daughter.

Where Have the Lazy Days of Summer Gone?

Sorry I've taken a little hiatus from blogging. Last month as the last days of the school year ticked by, it seemed like we all took a sigh of relief for the summer to come. Summer means warmth; summer means relaxin'; summer means lazy days and no responsibilities-right? Heck no! I don't know about all of you, but we've been way busier since school ended. And Hallelujah-the warm weather finally decided to make an appearance. Our little family has had quite a busy summer thus far with t-ball games, ballet rehearsals and a production, family get togethers, Ashtyn's birthday, the circus, and a family reunion. I haven't turned the computer on much in the last couple of weeks, and when I have gotten to it, I spend all my time checking all of your blogs instead of updating my own (that always seems to be way more fun!). And to top it all off, Jim left yesterday for the next 9 days. I usually stay up late whenever Jim is gone because I start freaking myself out at every little noise during the night so I'll probably get some good blogging time in the next couple of days and update you all on our "lazy, relaxing" summer!


Oh, and by the way, that Biggest Loser competition I started a few weeks ago- just start laughing now because who has time to lose weight with all of these festivities going on. My weight loss total as of now is a whopping 3 1/2 lbs. Maybe at this rate, I'll be skinny by my 15th high school reunion instead of my 10th in 2 1/2 weeks!

Why can't everyday be like this?

I love it when my girls are lovey to eachother. It makes the day go so much better. They usually all pile together on our big chair and watch cartoons together. Tillie, our cat, took Ashtyn's spot so she had to sit on the other couch.

Ashtyn's 1st T-ball Game!

Ashtyn had her first t-ball game yesterday at 8:30 in the morning-it was freezing! This is her first year playing, and she loves it! She plays on a boy/girl team, and they chose the name Wild Dolphins(you know, since Dolphins are probably the friendliest fish around; not too wild!). The game was hilarious to watch as most of the kids have no idea what to do. They'll either stand in the field and watch the ball right by their feet, pick up the ball and hold it while the runner thinks he made a home-run, or hit the ball and forget to run. The other scenario is all the kids will go after one ball and wrestle on the ground to see who comes up victorious with the ball. This is mostly what Ashtyn was doing. She is very competitive and good at most things she does. T-ball was no different. While most of the kids were standing there, Ashtyn would run her fastest after every ball, even if that meant getting there and grabbing it off the ground before her teammate could get it. It got to the point where I had to yell at her to let the other kids get the ball. I love Ashtyn's confidence and "go-get-um" attitude, but sometimes it is a little too much. We've always taught her to try her best at everything she does (and she truly is really good at several things and extremely well-rounded: school, ballet, sports, singing, arts, etc.), but I'm afraid this has turned her into thinking she has to be the best! We've tried to have many talks with her that it doesn't matter who's the best, who's the winner, who's the first, etc. as long as you're working hard and having fun. How can we calm down her competiveness and attitude of having to be the best? Is this a typical first-child thing? Is is good for her to want to excel at everything? Do I need to stop this before she gets older? Or am I just overreacting?
By the way, don't you love how the t-ball shirts are always way too big. It's so cute seeing all these little kids on the field in their huge t-shirts!

One Word Tag!

(Sorry-I'm having bloggers block so I relied on a good 'ole tag.)

1. Where is your cell phone?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Purse
2. Your significant other? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Understanding
3. Your hair? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dyed
4. Your mother? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Christ-like
5. Your father? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Generous
6. Your favorite thing? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Food
7. Your dream last night? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Scary
8. Your favorite drink? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. Pepper
9. Your dream/goal? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Author
10. The room you're in? . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .Office
11. Your hobby? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reading
12. Your fear? . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Break-in
13. Where do you want to be in six years? . . . . . . . . . . . .Post-babies
14. Where were you last night? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bike Ride
15. What you're not? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Crafty
16. Muffins? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . Yummy
17. One of your wish list items? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tummy-Tuck
18. Where you grew up? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lincoln
19. The last thing you did? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elliptical
20. What are you wearing? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tennis Shoes
21. Your tv? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dusty
22. Your pets? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sleeping
23. Your computer? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Addicting
24. Your life? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Fulfilling
25. Your mood? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tired
26. Missing someone? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Friend
27. Your car? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yukon
28. Something your not wearing? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ring
29. Favorite store? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Expensive
30. Your summer? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Busy
31. Like someone? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Love
32. Your favorite color? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blue
33. When was the last time you laughed?. . . . . . . . . . . . . Today
34. Last time you cried? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Saturday
35. Who will do this? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anyone