Catch up....

So I missed almost all of July, and it wasn't for lack of activities, 4th of July, Ute Stampede, 24th of July and camping. I'll mostly sum up w/a few picture blogs, but hopefully you'll get the idea. And until then, this was our camping trip last weekend to G&G Bird's cabin just a bit southeast of Salina. We LOVE to visit there and the kdis had a ball.

Happy Blogging (sorry I'm so pathetic)!

Cancun... a little piece of Heaven!

Pictures are worth a thousand words, and in this case, a thousand hours of total realaxation and fun with my siblings and my mom in Cancun last week. We saw Mayan temples in Tulum, snorkeled in Xcelha, parasailed off a catamaran, and spent endless hours just reading and hanging out on the beach at our resort. Not much more you could ask for of a vacation. Oh... I even jumped in a tank w/a shark... toothless shark, but shark no less. What a great time, and a beautiful resort, anyone interested in Cancun should check this place out!!

Another Bailey first...

Not that I don't love my other kids, I do, but we just a few momumental events with Bailey two weeks in a row, and learning to ride your bike is just too good to pass up. Here she is in all her glory!

Pre-school Graduation

I'm sure these graduations will start to come so quickly for each grade and event that we'll wonder why they were ever so exciting. But for now, we'll revel in the moments of Bailey growing up, graduating pre-school and gearing up for Kindergarten in the fall. She's smart as a button and learned the alphabet in sign language this year. She can read some and write her own name, (plus a dozen other names) she'll draw anything you'd like, and loves to teach Chance her letters and sounds too. We're so proud of her and can't wait for her to start school in the fall.

Miss you Dad...

Memorial Day this year brought about a few firsts.... my first time (that I really remember) actually using this day for its intended purpose, not just a family barbeque, and while we accomplished that too, it was a great day to spend remembering my dad and his quirks that we all miss so much. Our first time remember dad, we met at the Orem Cemetary where we each wrote a thought on a balloon, shared what we each missed of him, and then watched them launch. While we're well known in our family for "sweaty eyes" the eyes were sweaty today, but lots of joy-felt tears too. We sure miss you dad, and I especially miss those bone-crushing bear hugs.... could go for one right now!

One last first... as we're rookie at this headstone thing, it's the first time we've known a headstone to be printed backwards, apparently the husband should be on the left. So they'll be re-making this beauty.

What a nice big brother!

Yesterday when I'd stopped at a park for the kids to make a mess of nuggets and sauce somewhere other than my kitchen floor, they found a great little stage at the front of the pavilion we were eating at and had a great time showing me all their latest moves. Even Reagan, the 20-mos old that she is, has some pretty wicked shoulder shimmies going on. Anyway, as the older kids started exploring up and down the hills, through tall grass, around shrubs and bushes, Reagan try as she might just couldn't keep up and got frustrated at one point of being ditched again and just sat down to whine. 5-10 minutes of this should have probably prompted me to get up and do something about it, but as it was just whining, I kind of have an unwritten rule to tune it out and wait for the fall-out. Be that as is it may, Chance has his own rules and when he found Reagan whining, he plopped down next to her for a little heart-to heart (a true Kodak moment that I of course didn't have my camera for) But the best eventually was when he took her little hand, helped her up and walked her from the shrubs and tall grass, to the even cement of the pavilion. Later when I asked what he'd said to her, he commented "she just needed someone to hold her hand." Cutest darn brother ever!!!

Green River Sand Dunes Weekend

Since I was a little girl, we've traveled to Green River (the very last town on
the eastern boarder of Utah) to play in the heated red sand. Now that the 24 some-odd Frame grandchildren have nearly all married and pro-created on their own, we have more than enough to populate the entire town for the weekend.

So my siblings, and a cousin or two, check into the Comfort Inn on Friday night, where the kids are sure the real adventure begins... in the first swim of the season, and then we meet at Aunt Pat's at promptly 9a.m. for the annual photo and head out to the desert.

This is where the real fun begins, with so many en route, and trucks, 4-wheelers and children galore, its amazing we ever survive the drive with all axels still attached... but we made again, and from the looks of the kids faces, no one one was worse for the wear.

Thanks Aunt Pat and Uncle Widge for this 40 year tradition!

To concede, or not concede.. that is the question?

Many a friend has tempted me with their ever so fancy blog. Pictures and journaling are two of my favorite pastimes, but the time and effort to pull this off may be above and beyond my capacity at this point. Still.... I wonder at the contact you can make, the friends that have made me giggle, and the catching up you get to do without having to sit down and find the right time between bedtime, naps, meals, laundry, and everything else that life with three little ones (oh and one big kid) can bring. So here's our debut, and no offense if it gets updated once a quarter :)