In Awe with the STUFF that we have/had

I wouldn't call myself a hoarder, cuz I don't keep or collect garbage, but I have a  problem with throwing things away that. . . well some may say it is not necessary to keep around.  We haven't had to move ourselves the last 2 times and so I haven't had to be picky with what we bring and what needed to either be thrown or given away.  So with each move, we accrued more and more stuff. 

I had a breakthrough this week though.  When we decided to get the bunk bed, I had to do a lot of rearranging and it gave me the perfect opportunity to finally sit down and go through all of our "stuff" and decide what I really couldn't part with and what really didn't matter.  The throwing started Tuesday after the "bumpy bed" got set up, and whenever I didn't have something else pressing on my time, I was in my kids' room sorting.  I really didn't get through it until sometime Friday.  Sad hu?

In the end I threw about 1 garbage sack full of broken or ridiculous toys, gave 3 boxes and some big toys to a family in our area, who just lost their 13 yr old daughter in a car accident (by another 13 year old classmate who stole her aunts car and went joy riding) for a garage sale to raise money for the family, and gave another 2 boxes to DI. . .of just toys.  That's not including my ever-growing pile of DI stuff that has been in my basement for about 10 months, cuz you know DI is sooooo far away from where I live, not.

Now I have to go through my room and the basement, which really doesn't need to be gone through as much as it needs organized.  I have boxes of baby girl clothes and a few more toys that I'm going to sell in the not too distant future. Then I think my house will finally be free of the "stuff" that has been piling in my home.

What I have realized is that my kids love being in their rooms now.  It's not chaotic anymore, they can actually find things and they are happy to just be playing instead of watching TV.  The girls have rediscovered their barbie house, Micah loves to play with his trains again, and Malia can get to all of her baby stuff.  It's amazing.  Why didn't I do this sooner?  Things are so much more calm now, I love it. 

I hope I can keep this up and keep most of the clutter at bay.  Now don't get me wrong, I am not cured, I know that in a few weeks/months/years (who knows how long) I will have to do this again, cuz let's be realistic, I am ME and I just can't get rid of things right away.  I wish I could just throw things on a whim without really analyzing, do I need it, am I going to use it, can someone else use it or is it just garbage?  Or I could immediately organize papers instead of just letting them pile up to the point of them falling over before I go through them. I don't have that gift, I am my mother's and father's daughter for Pete's sake, but I vow to TRY and throw/give the "things" away (now if I could just keep my kitchen in order, I think that might be an entirely different post though).

Stewart Fall Hike

Day 3 of UEA and our second hike took us to Stewart Falls.  Randy and I went snowshoeing here (well partially, we couldn't make it to the falls when we went last) with our friends last winter, and I really wanted to go back and make it all of the way this time.  It was a little harder or a hike than Battle Creek, but the kids were forewarned and didn't whine at all (well except Malia, and I came prepared this time with the backpack and Randy so she could be carried if needed).  I apologize before hand, I took a lot of pictures, just because the views were amazing and it was just soo pretty here.  This was our goal, isn't it spectacular?

 Again, we were able to walk right up to the falls and this pic is by far my fav. I was standing kinda behind and to the side of the waterfall.  It was beautiful.

 The hike up to the falls wasn't half bad either.  If we had come a week later, I think we would've missed all of the colors.  There were a lot of leaves down, but we still had a lot to enjoy.

 I love fall!!!

 I had to include this.  Malia was in the backpack at this point and she is definitely tooooo big for it.  This is seriously the last year she will be in there.  I' grateful Randy packed her, I wouldn't have made it.

 Matney and Taylor, enjoying themselves, I think, lol.

 I loved this one too, there was a lone red tree in the midst of the never ending green.  It stuck out like a soar thumb.

 More colors.

 We made it to the top before the descent to the falls.  There were big rocks to sit/stand on to get a great view.

 Kids preparing themselves for the descent.

 Our first glimpse of the waterfalls.

 At the bottom, the runoff from the falls.

 Michelle copying me, lol.

 Morgan, she looks pretty happy eh?

 Micah enjoying the never ending apple supply we seem to have.

 Dad and Mac, taking a breather.

 Lauren being the goofball that she is and trying to go behind the waterfall. . .

The waterfall won!!!

 Our hiking group.  We were discussing what we were going to do next year to top this one.

 Of course the mom shot.

 And a first-ever, dad shot.  We might have to do our next year's hike on the Sat. of UEA so we make sure to include them.  We really had a lot of fun.

 Me and Ladnar.

 The kids, we are so proud of them for sticking with us through these crazy hikes we put them through.

 I couldn't resist one more of the waterfall.  This one came with a rainbow.

 And one more of the spectacular colors, did  I mention how much I love fall.  Thanks Mat, and Michelle for coming with us, can't wait for next year.

I couldn't help posting these funnies

So I was really done posting for the day, until a few funnies happened today.  Well, this first one was not exactly today, but we really noticed today.

 We decided that it was time to get Malia out of her toddler bed, (I was really hoping to just keep her in there till we moved but it just wasn't going to happen, I mean how many 5 year old's do you know are still sleeping on a crib mattress).  Anyway, we found this new bunk bed on KSL for a great deal and picked it up Monday, put it together and got done by 10 PM (we put the kids to bed on our bed before then).  Since then, they have loved their beds.  We noticed though today that Malia doesn't call it her bed or her bunk bed.  She asked me today if she could sleep on her "Bumpy Bed."  She says it soo serious too.  It was hysterical.  I don't think we will correct her quite yet.

 We finally put our Halloween stuff up today, well most of it anyway.  Micah loves this skeleton and kept asking me to put it up in his room.  Then, while I was making dinner, I hear him in the other room say,
"Dad, is this Grandpa when he's older. . .or dead?"
Randy did a double take and then said KT did you hear that,  I said I heard it but I didn't know what he was referring to, so he had Micah come in the kitchen holding up this skeleton and repeat his question.  We both laughed really hard.

 Malia during dinner was excited for her pizza (since we haven't had it in 2 weeks).  But instead of eating it right away she kept eating carrots.  Randy noticed that she hadn't even taken a bite of her pizza and said
"You need to eat your pizza, you haven't even touched it yet."
To which Malia promptly sat up straight, lifted her finger and touched ever so delicately the top of her pizza.  We all busted up after that one.  I made her do it again so I could get a shot of it.

O.K now I'm really done for the day.

Battle Creek Falls Hike

It's that time of year again. . . Yep it's UEA, and that means it's hiking time.  This is our third year at this and this time none of my kids were packed in the backpack.  Malia made it all the way up and back on her own, with minimal whining.  We chose this year to attempt 2 hikes, the first was Battle Creek Falls in Pleasant Grove.  We were told it was a short, easy hike and the kids could totally make it.  True the kids made it, but holy cow it was uphill the entire way.  It was beautiful, quite a hike, but beautiful.  We walked by a creek most of the way, and there were several waterfalls as well.

 It was amazing.

 This was the biggest waterfall, the kids had a lot of fun with it cuz you could walk right up to it.

 This is at the top (at least what we thought was the top) where we ate lunch and then turned around and went back.

 This was towards the beginning of the hike, before most of the whining started.

This is what most of the hike looked like, narrow and uphill.

 The kids at the top after we ate lunch.

 At the bottom, all done, and still smiling, AMAZING.

 The mom's, we were a little bigger of a group last year, but we still had a great time.

 Michelle found this log to take a picture of the big falls on, I couldn't resist.

 Jess showing us her favorite  Halloween treat.  (which btw I do not like, I think they taste like poo, jk).

 Malia at the top, not very happy about the whole having to walk thing.  But hey she made it.

Tomorrow's hike will be a little more adventuresome, we might have to bring the backpack just in case.

Mac is 10!!!

I can't believe that I am a mother of a 10 year old.  That means I'm getting. . . OLD!  What has happened to that last ten years, I do not know, but I do know that we love having McKenzie apart of our family.  She is so helpful and happy.  If you need something done, she is the one you want, cuz she will do it.  We were able to have more of a birthweek than a birthday.  Grandma came down Monday night so she could go to the "Grand lunch" at school the next day.  Then Granpa came back down that night to go to dinner with us to celebrate Mac's bday, since they wouldn't be there the next day.  McKenzie picked Applebee's, like last year, because the manager is a big, loud black man who really know how to draw attention to your table if it's your bday.  It's hysterical, I should have taped it, but I was too busy enjoying his sing, yelling.

 We let her open a couple of presents since her bday was on a Wed (and we all know what that means for Randy).  G&G got her (well all of us) Lagoon passes again this year, and a really cute necklace/jewlery holder that I forgot to get a pic of.  Mac has been asking for an MP3 player for a while now and I decided since I really wasn't using my IPod anymore, I could hand it down to her.  Her reaction was awesome.

A very happy Mac with her "new" IPod.

 Since this was an even birthday, I let her have a bday party again.  At first she thought she wanted a one-on-one bday with one close friend, but decided on Tuesday (the day before her bday) she wanted a real party.  So she invited 6 friends and they had a blast together.    We made pizza's, played pictureka, played Band Hero (which was very loud with 6 girls), opened presents and ate cake.  I had a hard time deciding what to do with a bunch of 9 & 10 years olds.  I figured they were probably too old to do traditional party games but still really young for other things.  I think this was a hit.  I didn't have any complaing of being bored.  They just want to play together.

 Savana and Rachel playing it up.

 Mac and Emme (her bestest friend) singing proabably a Taylor Swift song.

 And Lauren, our in house Ham, she made me laugh so hard.

 I didn't do a shape or theme cake like I usually do, which I kinda felt bad for, but what do you make for a 10 year old?  I resorted to what my mom used to do for us as kids, chocolate cake with whipped cream filing, yum.

 The girls were fun to have for a few hours. 

Thanx Mac for being such a important part of our family.  We love you.
It's only taken me a week+ to post this one, I'm on a roll.