Party, Party, Party and more Parties!

That is what has been consuming our life for the past month. It's been an absolute blast but utterly exhausting as well. We've been BUSY and are just going to get busier. Here are a some pics of a few of our little shindigs.
The week after we went camping we had a BYUH Samoan Club reunion, my great Uncle's 94th birthday, another BBQ and Brayden's friend's birthday all in one day. Unfortunately we only made it to the reunion and Brayden skipped out half way through to hit up the birthday party since it was just down the street.
We love getting together with all of our friends from school. It's CRAZY to see how quickly we've all grown. At first our get togethers were small and now we all have 2, 3, 4 kids running amuck. It's always so good to be able to catch up with everyone and reminisce on old times. This time around we decided to save someone the headache of hosting and all got together at the city waterpark. We swam, feasted, then swam some more. I didn't get too many pics but here are a few.
Kalei decided the berry salad would make a wonderful lotion for the two of us

Some of the crowd, we never got a big group pic

Junior in heaven with his pineapple pie (he lives for those things

The kids all lined up in a row and would jump up and down as one of them ran down the path. By the time I got my camera, they were all just running.

The next weekend was my birthday and oh what a party it was. I really wanted to go to a rodeo so we went on the Thursday before my birthday. We left Kalei with some friends and were SOOOO glad we did as we didn't get home until midnight. The rodeo was an absolute blast, I've always been a cowgirl at heart (I shoulda been a cowgirl, shoulda learned to rope and ride) and love going to things like that. The boys thought it was great and spent the next several days practicing mutton bustin on Bowzer.
The boys with their water bottles they won from the army recruits for doing pushups

Steer wrestlin

What would a rodeo be without a bucking bronco?

The rodeo clown was really a dirtbike stuntman known as "The Wild Child" This was the highlight of the boys night. (that and the bucking broncos but forgot to get a pic of that)

Ending the night with some good ole squishy faces!

Then on Friday I was out mowing the lawn and Junior told me to go in and shower because we had to go somewhere. Not knowing what the heck he was up to I complied and he dropped me off in front of a spa for a 3 1/2 hour break from the kids. I got pampered with a pedicure, facial, and back treatment. I'd never done anything like it and LOVED it. SOOO relaxing, just don't think I could make a habit of spending money on such frivolous things. It was a nice treat for sure though.
Then on Saturday (my actual birthday) we headed to the park for the yearly Pioneer Day celebration (the advantage of having my birthday in Utah is there's always a party and Junior always has the day off). The kids had a great time running around playing games, climbing on fire trucks, watching the Indians perform cultural dances and visiting the pioneer village. Junior definitely spoiled me ROTTEN for my birthday
Here are a some pics of their favorite activities
Swinging over a snake pit

Proudly displaying their vests they made

Riding the old fashioned fire truck, they thought this was way cooler than the new one

The new one was pretty cool too though

Kalei trying to find a "needle" in a haystack

Junior and my favorite was the prison!

I don't know why but this picture makes me laugh

We decided to lock Leilei up too

Trying their hand at the hoop races

Shooting bow and arrows

Lei LOVED this miniature horse

The boys taking a pony ride

Then of course what would a birthday be without cake.

The weekend after that we had a BBQ with a bunch of friends from Junior's work. We left that and went straight to our neighborhood Picnic in the Park. We were the ones that planned it but only caught the tail end of it (got it all set up then took of to Junior's BBQ that's what happens when you plan too much and accidently double book). It was a joke among everyone. Oh well, we'll do better planning next time.
No pics for that weekend!
Then this week, WOW did we party! Our anniversary was on Friday but we went out to celebrate Thursday. We always keep it low key. Since I was about to pop on our 1st anniversary and craved burgers, it's become tradition for us to get burgers and milkshakes. We also went to a movie and went on a nice long walk. I'll spare you of all the mushy stuff but there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think how luck I am to have Junior as my partner in crime.
On Friday, Junior took the boys to our ward Fathers and Sons campout. The boys ALWAYS look forward to this every year. Junior knows how to show the boys a good time. They stayed up late laughing, telling stories, and being boys. Since it was threatening rain, they slept in the van and the boys loved the new adventure. The next morning Junior was in charge of the games and they played some Minute to Win It and it was a total hit.
Gotta have a mallow roast

Night Skits

Hanging out in the van

Candy Elevator

Oreo game

Elephant Walk

Playing Kickball

They got home from the campout around 11:00, were home long enough to take a bath then my mom whisked the boys off to Carls Jr for Brayden's birthday. They got home just in time for Brayden's birthday party.
He chose a Star Wars theme and we had a blast! As the kids arrived we gave them Jedi Knight costumes and a lightsaber. They played around for a little while and went on an astroid hunt. We then had a Jedi Master (a neighbor kid that teaches martial arts) come and train them to be Jedi Knights. It was HILLARIOUS watching them go through their "training".
Just as they were completing their training Darth Vadar (another neighborhood kid) showed up. He first took on the Jedi Master and defeated him so all the little Jedi Knights took their revenge and took Darth Vadar down. Brayden was deemed the new Jedi Master by being able to break a board with the "force".
We then had snacks (bananas, strawberries, and chips selected by Brayden) and of course cake and ice cream. I was practicing with fondant for my brothers wedding and it was a DISASTER but after a lot of stars covering the cake it worked for a birthday party.
We moved on to presents (the highlight for Brayden) then they moved back outside to fight Darth Vadar yet again (Brayden got a costume for his brithday and he wanted everyone to fight him). The new toys were busted out and they had a great time fighting with their lighsabers and running wild.
We summed up the night by going to the stake picnic. Needless to say we were POOPED yesterday. It's been a very busy summer with all theypartying, playing, pooling and more but we're having a great time!
These pictures are in no particular order because we had camera batteries dying left and right so it's a combo of our camera, Janessa's, and our nieghbors and I'm not even bothering getting the ones off of our video camera. Just imagine a bunch of kids mercilessly beating on Darth Vadar (we're lucky John was such a good sport) and Brayden blowing out the candles (they were the light sabers which he though was WAY cool)
The new Darth Vadar

The final battle

Victory over the dark side

Opening presents

Free for all fight

The cake

Blaize and Kea

Brayden and his good friend Bridger. I got a great one of Brayden jumping in the air as Brayden swung but it was in video mode. OOPS!
This was after he had lost both arms and legs

/this actually fom another party earlier this week but I loved it too much not to post

The majority of the party, couldn't get them all in one picture

Learning from the master

Tavita in battle

Brayden practicing with the master

Everyone fighting the master

Dum, Dum, Dum!!! It's Darth Vadar

"CAMPOUT" (said with the enthusiasm of Sandlot)

This last weekend we went to Mirror Lake up in the beautiful Uintah Mountains. The kids had been looking forward to it for WEEKS. They carefully planned what they were going to do (play in the fire, make s'mores, play in the fire, go to the lake, and maybe play in the fire) and spent the entire day of departure staring out the window waiting for Daddy to come home from work so we can go. Thursday evening at 5:45 we were off on our adventure until Sunday. A full 4 days of being completely unplugged (no reception), pit toilets, no sinks, and focusing on nothing but playing and enjoying time with each other. We snagged the perfect site: rocks throw to the bathroom (not so close that we had to deal with the smell and constant traffic), rocks throw to the creek, short walk to the lake) Since it was our first campout with little kiddos (aside from little overnight ones with our ward)this was a campout of many lessons. So here's a break down of what we learned:
1. Packing the car the night before so you can take off soon after hubby arrives home from work is a great idea. Not so great idea, putting food in the car the night before as the car turns into an oven during the day. (I was smart enough to wait to load the coolers until right before we go but had some melted snacks)
2. When making the master list of every knick knack you could possibly need, and rechecking it several times over again, don't forget to add, "Cash for campsite", or at least check your checkbook to make sure it's not empty.
No electricity, middle of nowhere means no credit card capabilities (Knew that, just didn't think it through)
3. After driving clear back to town to get said cash, make sure the cashier gives appropriate change. If not, once you're 40 min back to your campsite and attempt to pay for the 3 nights, you just might realize you've been shorted $10 and have to drive back to town yet again
4. Mosquitoes have the ability to leave ENORMOUS welts on poor, unsuspecting little boys (they don't seem to care much about repellent) we're talking lumps that stick a good 2 inches off the back of heads.
-Sublesson, camping with a shaved head is like a honing beacon to mosquitoes.
Tavita definitely had the worst of it.
5. Rainclouds are a pretty good indicator of rain. Don't row to the middle of the lake with those looming over your head or you just might find your self stuck in the middle of a hailstorm with now respite.
- Tavita is able to make incredible disgusted faces and kept yelling at the hail
to get off of him and leave him alone. Yet being the determined bugger he is
kept asking to row the boat causing us to go absolutely NOWHERE.
- Brayden kept asking me to get out and pull the boat to shore. Also made it very
clear he wished it was DADDY he was stuck out in the middle of the lake with
because DADDY is much stronger than me and would get us to shore faster.
- We were all VERY cold after that. Didn't feel thawed until I snuggled into my
sleeping bag that night.
6. Mummy bags aren't meant for 2 people, even if that 2nd person is a little 1-year old girl refusing to sleep in her pack n play in the middle of a strange place.
7. Scaredy-cat dog is more than willing to occupy the vacated pack n play rather then being stuck outside in the dark barking at every shadow and snap of a twig. (luckily that only lasted one night)
8. Should your firewood get soaked in rain and hail storms (as did ours on several occasions) simply heat up some coals, lay wood over firepit, let smoke dry wood and you'll have a snapping, hot fire in no time.
9. Boys can be fully entertained camping so long as there is a fire. Took naps in the day, played in the night.
10. Glowsticks are an AMAZING way of keeping track of kids (and pitch black dog) at night. They love playing with them and you can spot them anywhere.
11. When going camping at a lake that is known for it's fishing (they were jumping nonstop on the lake) it might be a good idea to REMEMBER the fishing pole.
12. Bring games to play for times when your stuck in your tent during rainstorms. If not, children are perfectly happy with a wrestling match.
13. A good way to get your stubborn daughter to walk is stick her among a bunch of rocks where crawling is not an option. She's been off an running ever since.
14. It is possible to consume unbelievable amounts of hot chocolate given the appropriate temperatures (just because your hitting high 90's at home, a short drive can put you in a world of different weather)
15. A leisurely walk around the lake (about 1 mile) would normally take maybe 15-29 minutes. With 2 curious, adventurous little boys it takes more around 2-3 hours.
16. Bringing 3 pair of footwear per child does not guarantee you will have something dry and unmuddied to put on your child's feet (puddles and creeks are just to irresistible)
17. Powdered donuts will make Kalei happy no matter the cirumstance.
18. One of the boys favorite parts of camping is the endless supply of junkfood.
19. Dirt, bugs, piles of wood and rocks are all that's needed for a successful trip.
20. Despite the rain and cold and other hiccups, spending a few days in an unbelievably beautiful place will always make for a great time. The boys are already planning our trip for next year.
Now be prepared for a barage of pictures:
The boys setting up the tent

Lei had no idea where we were or what we were doing, but she liked it!

And what the boys had been waiting for...the 1st fire

Chowin some breakfast

Lei in heaven. Her 2 favorite things...powdered donuts and her best friend

The boys on their "castle". So glad this was in our site, it provided much entertainment

The canoe on it's maiden voyage

A speck amongst granduer

Lei Lei's turn. She wanted to row and was a bit put out that she couldn't.

Our hike around the lake. Note we have the dog carrying all our stuff so we could walk burden free!

It really was very pretty up there!


Who can spot Kalei?!? She had a HORRIBLE time falling asleep, would do really well until about 4:30 then wound up with me. The first night, she had NOTHING to do with the pack n play at all.

Despite it all, she always woke up happy!

Who says you can't build a fire and hold a baby at the same time?

If it's not all over the place it doesn't belong in your face! (and yes, she started EVERY morning with donuts)

One of our many helpings of hot chocolate

Vita's poor mauled head. This picture does NO justice. I have never seen anything like it. The bump was HUGE!

No he hadn't spent a lot of time in the sun. All the red and swelling is from bites.

We're going on a bug hunt, gonna catch us a bug.

I love watching these two together. He ADORES her.

Brayden huntin us some dinner.

Cookin up Brayden's kill

Kickin back with a cold one

Lei fanning the fire.

What would camping be without SMORES!

Brayden won for biggest gusher. He was a MESS when all was said and done.

Fun with glow sticks. For some reason the wanted them to wrap around their noses and head instead of necks.

Wake-up Daddy!!!

Brayden also won for tallest bedhead

It's raining out? Okay, we'll just hang in here an wrestle.

Burnt wood is a great way to turn little boys into Indian warriors!

Tavita finally got brave and took on crossing the ominous Log of Death.

Being young and carefree!

This was my FAVORITE pic of the trip. I showed it to Junior and he just started laughing. His response, "Kalei looks like Theodore off of Chipmunks and it looks like we pumped Tavita's head full of steroids." Poor kid really got hit hard from those darn skeeters! We just laughed harder the more we look at the picture.