Our New Family Member

Can we have a dog?

Mom, when do you think we could get a dog?

How much would it cost to get a dog?

I promise I would take care of it!!

I promise to scoop the poop!

This was a recurring subject of Logan and Dallin. When do you think we could get a dog? I think they knew it wasn't in the near future, but they never gave up hope. It wasn't until James called one night explaining that there was a family that was trying to find good homes for their three dogs. After much thought, viewing pictures, we decided to take the plunge. We told the kids we were going to "look" at a dog and have her come stay with us for a couple of days to see how she did. They were ecstatic!! We went to James' work to meet and pick up Belle. She definately was a cute dog and we were surprised to see how mellow she was. After about a half an hour, we loaded her up in our car and took her home.

We are now on day 4 and Belle has attached herself to Logan. She goes wherever he goes. Logan loves to read to Belle and takes her on 2 or 3 walks a day (since he is off track).

To the Emergency Room again

"What happened to your face?" was the common question Dallin had to try to answer with a fat lip and cut gums. I had just told him 5 more minutes and then it would be time to come in for the night. Shortly after I said that, Logan came running in the house saying that Dallin was bleeding all over. After we cleaned up the blood to see where it was coming from, we discovered he bit almost all the way through his lip. James came home from work and took Dallin to the emergency room since the Urgent Care Center was already closed. After a long night and a $150 bill, no stitches were needed - just some popsicles, rest, and time to heal.

Stroh Ranch Anthology Dolphins

Dallin decided he wanted to be a part of swim team this year. So, we signed him up despite the fear that he may not make it down to the other end on his own. After the first meet, he was a pro. No stopping him... he could make it down the pool both on his front and on his back.

Logan had a fantastic swim year as well. Being on the top end of his age group, he took home first and second places every meet. Logan's favorite stroke is fly.

Camping with our Pop Up Trailer

James decided that he was sick and tired of camping in a tent (we all know this already). His dream of camping in some sort of 5th wheel/RV was soon to become a reality. Shortly after camping at the father-son event in the rain (our tent didn't do a very good job of keeping the moisture - or even rain out) he started to look for campers. The deal was he needed to figure out a way to come up with the money and I would be more than happy to camp in a camper (hopefully a small one) of some sort. He decided he would sell his motorcycle so we could buy a camper.

After a few weeks, we finally found a buyer for the motorcycle. With cash in hand, James started the search for a used pop up trailer. Finally, we found the perfect one off of Craig's list. It sleeps 6-8 people with two king size beds and two smaller beds that convert from the kitchen table and couch. It has a sink, hot water heater, fridge, heat and outside shower. (James later installed a air conditioner unit as well).

We looked at our calendar to see when we could use the camper and realized we had to wait a month down the road. We booked our site at Jackson Lake over the Labor Day weekend. When Labor Day weekend arrived, we packed up and had a great time!!

I think James was in heaven to be able to take a nap in an air conditioned camper, play on his laptop and surf the web while camping. No, this isn't the camping I remember, but if this is what it takes for our family to go camping and be HAPPY doing it, I am in!!

The Munsey Reunion

For Shirley's 70th birthday, she wanted her entire family together to celebrate. So, Pat and Sally's family and Chris' family drove from Utah. Michelle and Spencer flew in from D.C. We had a weekend (really extended weekend) planned. The first day we spent at Chatfield playing in the water and having fun on the boats.

We gathered at Lance's house for an "italian" themed dinner with pizza, pasta and breadsticks. The cousins ran around and played games until the late hour of the night.

The next evening, we reserved the park area and pool that night for the big bash. We swam, slid down slides, jumped off diving boards, played games, and listened to the music of "DJ Dynamics".

Logan 's first day of 3rd Grade

Logan was excited to start third grade. He was assigned Miss Noyes on B track. We heard that Miss Noyes is the "fun" teacher. After meeting with her and attending the back to school night, I understand why she has that reputation. She wants to replace all of the chairs in the classroom with exercise balls and she assigns and practice yoga moves as part of homework. She really has a fun and carefree personality. How could an eight year old not have a good experience?

Camping in South Dakota

As I was reading through the Sunday paper sometime in the early part of the summer, I came across an article in the travel section about Custer State Park in South Dakota. The more I read the more excited I became to book a short camping trip. Our family has never been Mt Rushmore before and it is only about a 6 hour car ride.

So, I took it upon myself to book a site at Custer State Park. To please James, I booked a cute camper cabin in the state park that included heat, air conditioning and 4 beds - perfect!! I told the kids that we would be doing things like a garage sale and other things to try to save up enough money for our fun weekend in South Dakota. They were getting as excited as I was as the summer grew closer to our departure date.

Despite James' threats to turn around and go back home (Dallin decided to throw a major tantrum at the Burger King in Wheatland, WY), we made it by dinner time.

As we entered the park, we were amazed how beautiful it was. Our campsite had frequent wildlife visitors such as deer and wild turkey. On our trip around the wildlife loop, we saw the massive herd of bison. We also came across donkey and sheep.

We took the scenic route to Mt Rushmore by way of Needles Highway. It was a twisty-turny road through the trees with unique tunnels and bridges. It was absolutely beautiful. There were multiple places where we got a peek of the monument from afar.

Once we arrived at Mt Rushmore, we took the walking tour and learned a bit more about the monument. (Dallin decided to have a few more frustrating moments - too long of a walk for those skinny little legs. )

After our hike down and back up the mountain, we decided to have our lunch that I packed. Logan and James grudgingly ate the sandwiches and chips that I packed for the trip and then we decided to get in line for the famous ice cream cones. I think our eyes were a bit bigger than our stomachs. We really should have shared the gigantic cones... maybe next time.

After our day at Mt Rushmore, we headed a bit more north to go to a Chuckwagon dinner. The boys had a great time!! There were pony rides, panning for gold, pistol shooting, lasso practice, and a fun gun-down show before our dinner. For dinner we ate beef, corn bread, beans and applesauce in our tin plates and cups (I think it made the water and lemonade taste a bit like aluminum) It was a great day!

On our final morning, we (Logan, Dallin, and I) decided to take a short 2 mile hike around the lake. We didn't realize the hike was a steep incline the majority of the way. Dallin was quite the trooper and did the hike without complaints (I only had to carry him on my back maybe a third of the way). The hike finally ended at the beach of the lake. The boys didn't hesitate to jump in and cool off from our hike.

First day of Kindergarten!!

I can't believe Dallin is old enough to go to Kindergarten. I wasn't sure what he would think about it. We went to the teacher "meet and greet"where he met his new teacher, Mrs. Leidel. He found his new cubby, wrote his name on his folders and we couldn't leave without him spending a few minutes at the playground. The first day of school arrived and Dallin was so excited! We walked him into the classroom. The teacher read, "The Kissing Hand" and asked the kindies to go to their mom and dad to give them a kiss in their hand to remember them all day. Dallin hopped over to us, but didn't want to kiss our hands of course. He wanted a big hug. And with a wave, we left with tears in my eyes. When Dallin skipped off of the bus that afternoon, I asked him how his first day of Kindergarten was. With arms up in the air, he exclaimed, "It was awesome!!!" What was the best part of his day? "Riding the bus home with no seat belts!"

Run the Rockies Half Marathon

I'm not quite sure how or why I decided to start training for a half marathon.... but I did. My goal was just to finish. I wanted to try to finish under 2:15. I started training a few months before the race and talked Heather, Laura, Mom and my friend Stacy into joining me (Only Laura was brave enough to take on the half marathon - everyone else did the 10k)

Race day came and it was a beautiful day in the mountains! The first 6 miles were great - it was all downhill. At mile 8 it began to get more difficult and more rolling hills came into play.

Amazingly enough, I made it! Time: 2:14:55 Goal by 5 seconds! I even beat a few (not Laura, she beat me by 2 minutes). Placed 70 in overall female out of 149.

Logan earns his Bobcat

Logan is an eager cub scout.  He loves the scouting program.  In no time at all, he earned his Bobcat.  That evening, he inquired about arrows and belt loops to be earned for next pack meeting.

ICE CREAM TRUCK!!!!!

It is simply amazing how Dallin so often has difficulty hearing us when we ask him to do something.  He doesn't always hear his brother ask him for help or to stop something he is doing.  I am often repeating myself over and over and over again.  Does he have trouble hearing?  

He doesn't seem to have difficulty hearing the ice cream truck jingle as it starts down our street.  Once he hears that familiar tune, he bolts out of the house and sprints down the street after it.  I don't even realize he is gone until I come out front to see him coaxing the truck towards our house.  It doesn't matter how many times I tell him that we already have popsicles or I can buya whole box of yummy ice cream for the price of one ice cream treat from the ice cream man.  Quarter by quarter, Dallin earns his allowance and sometimes gets bonus quarters (sometimes dollars from Dad) so he can use all of his loot for an ice cream bar from the ice cream man.

His most exciting purchase:  Spider Man ice cream with bubble gum eyes.  

Shocking price tag: $4.00

I'm finally a Cub Scout!!

Logan has been counting down the days until he turns 8.  When he was able to go to the "8 is great party" he came home with a huge smile and told me how "awesome" it will be to be a cub scout soon.  We went to a pack meeting right before he turned 8 to pick up a rocket for the upcoming rocket derby and sign him up for scout camp this summer.  Even though it was a relatively boring meeting (for me anyway) he came home so excited I thought he might burst.  The day finally arrived and his first official cub scout day came.  When I picked him up he shared with me all the bike safety rules they learned that day and told me that I needed to get him a scout shirt and book quickly so he can earn tickets for the candy bar drawing.  We were able to get his cub scout shirt minus a number and appropriate neckerchief and slide just in time for the space derby.

Logan was on cloud nine the day of the rocket derby.  I admit that I was a little concerned about the fact that the rocket may not move, but Logan was pretty pumped.  Logan's rocket made it about a 1/4 of the way down the line the first time and a good 1/2 way down the second time.  I was preparing myself for a tear or two, but instead I got a big smile from him as he exclaimed, "mom!  I got second place, third place, and first place - I got every place possible!!"  It was icing on the cake when he received an award for 1st place most colorful rocket.

In the car ride home, Logan said, "this is the best day ever mom!"

Logan's Baptism

May 2, 2009

I cannot believe that Logan is eight years old!  How time flies by.  I cannot be more proud of Logan and the choice he made to be baptized.  He is an example to me and the rest of our family.

                                             

(next time we need to remember to bring towels - drying off with paper towels just didn't cut it.)

Day Six - bike ride and Aerospace Museum

On our final day we decided to go for a bike ride at Mission Bay.  We borrowed a few bikes from Pat and rented a few more for the rest of us.  We biked down the bike path until we reached Konos where James was determined to have a mammoth size breakfast burrito.  After we all filled our stomachs, we continued on our journey.  Not long after, the chain on Logan's bike kept falling off.  After multiple adjustments we decided to chain it up and come back for it later.  Logan jumped onto James' bike and we headed back to return our bikes.

After we dropped James off at the airport, we headed to Balboa Park.  We didn't have too much time on our hands, so we decided to take a quick tour of the Aerospace Museum before leaving for Denver.