Happy Birthday to Katie! This was a pretty fun celebration because my baby sister moved to Flagstaff 6 long months ago. Our family grew up with cousins, aunts and uncles living on each side of us. Now we all live next door to each other or within minutes. Until... She moved! I never knew how hard this was until she left. I am starting to realize that I don't like when people close to me move far away :( How will we know if she is okay, we can't check up on her anymore, no more last minute babysitter, no more house cleaner, no more four wheeling in the FJ! In the picture is Me, Mom, Katie, Cammi, and Jessica! Mom made Katies favorite home cooked meal "El Pollo Fundito" and ice cream balls ( mom's version of fried ice cream but way better!) Please come back soon ;)
We went on a camping trip with my family and a few friends to someplace between Globe and Young. I was a bit leery because we had never been there before and the roads up the steep cliffs looked like bike trails. And of course we were hauling a trailer full of junk! So after much complaining I decided to close my eyes and pray that one of our tires didn't blow causing the trailer to fly off the cliff and drag us down to a sure death. My husband is always calm and melancholy, which irritates me in situations like these, and reassured me everything was going to be "okay!" Well, I thought, did he mean "okay" like the time he busted out the back window of the truck with the oversized fifth wheel with all our kids in the backseat covered in glass trying to make a tight turn on a steep cliff or "okay" like when we drove for six hours in the mountains only to notice we had two tires left on the trailer out of SIX? In my uncertainty I made him stop and let me ride with my dad the last 2 minutes. I felt like a jerk.
Our first day at camp we set up and watched the kids play. With the recent news of two little boys who were lost in the mountains and later found dead fresh in our minds they were watched very closely. In what seamed like a second King and Vin were nowhere to be seen. I yelled to everyone to stop and look for them. It was the worst feeling I had ever felt as a mother. We were all frantically searching for them. Except, of course, for Ed. He calmly walked to the dirt road we drove in on and walked as if he was inspired in the direction to look. He walked down the dirt road 1/2 mile directly too them in the thick trees. He was definitely inspired. I knew then that I needed to appreciate my husbands ability to remain calm and trust in his ability to protect us. If he was as anxious as I was he wouldn't have been able to receive the promptings he surely did that day. It was a lesson I needed to learn. The boys had no idea they were lost and couldn't understand why their mothers were crying and hugging them so tight. All they said was "Ranger Ride!" From then on our favorite place for them to be was strapped into the Ranger. Ed even made a trip to Papa Patterson's house in Young to get water that was an hour and half round trip. They loved every second!
Papa, Kaili and Hayden perfecting their paper airplanes for the big race.
My mom had planned several fun crafts for the kids. Kendra is making a pine cone bird feeder using peanut butter and bird seed.
Nothing is more precious than a little boy covered in dirt from a long day of play!
One of my favorite things to do on a camp out is dutch oven cooking. My mom made a tasty s'more chocolate cake for a special treat.
