Oh Jake...

I asked Jake to go and lay out his clothes the other day...this is what he came up with :) He thought he was funny, I thought he was pretty creative. Love that kid.

Teenager!

Trying on shoes...I wanted those brown booties!

Blowing out her Birthday candle

Cheesecake...of course!

double stack sandwich ....mmmm

Lunch time...crazy with this many teen and pre-teen girls!

Is it just me, or is Emilee's mouth always open?

Zaidie, Chloe, Lindsay, Emilee and Annie

Blowing out her candles

Jake, my little poser...um, notice Emilee's mouth...uh huh, open.

Happy Birthday Emilee

Homemade yellow cake with Chocolate frosting...

I know...I look wayyyy to young to have a 13 yr old, right? That's exactly what I was thinking. Ok, maybe I "look" like I could have a 13 yr old easily, but I definitely don't feel like it.

I remember when Emilee was born, how little she was, how friendly and funny she was. And now, well, she's not so little, she's friendly when her hormones don't interfere, and the only thing funny apparently is me, funny-looking that is. I can't dance, I can't sing...the list goes on and on. It's so weird how your cool factor goes out the window as soon as you have a teenager.

This year I wanted to do something special for Emilee. She was able to invite 4 of her closest friends to go down to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch, hang out at the Gateway Mall (which was torture for me, I'm not a mall person or much of a shopper), then headed home with a dessert stop along the way.

I'm grateful Emilee has such good friends. I know I don't have to worry about Emilee too much. She does very well in school, she loves Young Women's, she has a lot of good friends, and I know she wants to do what's right. I just hope that these teenage years will prove to be a time where we grow closer and not apart. Emilee and I have some similarities, but the truth is, she is very different than I am and I hope I can understand and learn to accept some of the things she may want or not want. Starting to let go a little bit is killing me...because I know everything of course. :) But we all love Emilee and know that our family is better off and laughs more often because of her. Happy Birthday Emilee, we love you!

Riley

Riley...with buddy Jake

My Riley turned 9 January 22nd. Time flies when you have 5 kids! Each year for the kids' b-days, Delon and I let them choose where to eat and what to do. Riley usually always chooses some kind of sports bar...and then we go hunting for basketball jerseys. He is so obsessed with Basketball right now. Delon loves it...I find it somewhat charming, especially when he says, "Mom, you have to see this dunk!" or " Can you imagine being 7 and 1/2 feet tall?" No, no I can't...I would settle for 5' 10 though :)

Anyway, I never got pics of his b-day. I'm a little sad. It was very simple and low-key. We had a cake for him, and then all he wanted to do was play ball in his new jerseys. I love the passion that Riley has for life, which is only confirmed by the fact that he still tries to play even though he's wearing a boot because he broke 2 toes and pulled the ligaments in his foot pretty bad. That's another story...let's just say Delon feels really bad. But we are grateful for Riley and hope that one day he can be 7 and 1/2 feet tall and play in the NBA...I know, wishful thinking. :)

Happy Birthday little man!

Sand Hollow Park, St. George

My new favorite toy....

Blowing all the dust off...cleaning up.

Delon was having a little too much fun

All done for the day. Jake wanted to drive like the big boys.

Emilee's face was so red here...

Gracie and Sophie

Jake is thinking, "Yes I'm tired...I've been doing this for almost 9 hrs!" He actually fell asleep at the very end.


Man-made reservoir

Lunch break...

Fueling up for the rest of the day.

The dunes...these were the best hills to do jumps. All I heard was, "Again, again!"

Delon traded me razors. The 2 seaters are easier to maneuver on the dunes, and a little safer.

Writing their names on the rock.

Dinosaur tracks.

Apparently these were discovered sometime in the 80's.

Beautiful

Twins...best buddies.

The girls...we were definitely outnumbered.

Jake and his muscles.

Smile pretty

The guys...crazy!

Say no to crack...or crevice, whichever you prefer.

Our razors...I started out in the little purple one.

Spectacular views

Zion's...it was so pretty there.

On the way back from the Emerald Pools trail.

My sarcastic one...

Can you see the Emerald Pools? Yeah, me neither. It was a pretty trail though.

This part of the trail was pretty icy.

Emerald Pools trail.

One of our first stops. You can't tell in the pics, but the water was a very pretty gray-green.

My goofy bunch

How far can we go without getting wet?

Window in the wall...there is a tunnel cut through the mountain. Pretty cool.

It doesn't look like it, but I was very nervous taking this picture. There was a drop-off about 2 feet behind that wall.

Views from the scenic route. If you are afraid of heights...this is not recommended.

We decided to take off after Christmas for a short weekend instead of sitting around and eating Christmas leftovers....thank goodness!

Our first day there we met up with the Killpacks, friends of ours from Idaho, and met their parents who live a stone's throw from Sand Hollow Park and Golf Course. After discussing plans, we spent the first day on our own and went through Zion's...amazing. The kids loved seeing everything there, especially all of the rock formations. It's been a while for me. I love the outdoors and this was definitely not a disappointment. It was nice to see a little color and be a little warmer.

The following day we met our friends at a rental place, rented four Razors and took off for our 50 mile trip. It was freezing the first hour or so, but once the sun was up, it was a little more comfortable. We had so much fun. It was great to explore the park this way, it was very hands on and you could stop anywhere you'd like along the way. The views were beautiful, the weather was crispy cool, and the company was perfect.

I had to dig a little into my wild side. One, I must say, that doesn't come out much these days. Climbing rocks, hills, searching out dinosaur tracks, and kickin' up some dust...literally. We all looked like we had a bad spray- tan experience after the trip.

Even though we found red dirt in places we never knew existed, it was worth the extra long shower. This little trip will definitely be one of those experiences we will always remember and appreciate. There were some good memories made...and that's all that matters :)