NEWS BRIEF

breaking news....

this just in... This blogger and her family are on the brink of desperation grasping at anything, anything at all to blog about.We fear there may be a lack of excitement and an over abundance of the mundane.... let's take a look


Our top story this evening takes a look at the mother of this family. On the outside she may appear to be just like you or me, but on the inside she harbors a hideous and unflattering secret- the undeniable, insatiable love that has haunted her since childhood. The deliciously fried to perfection dough topped with whatever that white frosting is then playfully topped with a festivity of sprinkles that is the Winchell's cake donut. In her defense she states that in her youth she would ride her bike to Winchell's where she would purchase this same donut as a hole for a mere 10 cents. So you see folks addictions do start out small but can grow to be quite unhealthy.
In further news, Lauren wore dangly earrings for the first time on Monday. Where's the news in that you ask? Well if you'll consider the fact that she's had her ears pierced since April 2007and has only changed her earrings once you'll appreciate this news. Her ears were slow to heal and then she was nervous about changing them, but as you can see she's turned over a new leaf and will be seen out in an array of dazzling earrings soon.
On a serious note, Jace has once again been spotted contorting his face for the camera. He is highly recognized for his ease in front of the camera, but lately his work has gone from alarmingly handsome to over the top crazy faces. When will this madness end??

Other highlights this week include a trip to the dentist for Lauren and Jace with a return visit scheduled for next month. A trip to the fabulous mall and dinner at El Jefe's on Saturday. And wow that about sums up our newscast for this evening. Remember that blogging just to blog is not lame and have a great evening.

THIS & THAT

Last Saturday we headed over the hump to Pahrump for my cousin Rachel's son, D.C.'s birthday party at the fabulous Skate Zone. If you have never been honored with making the drive to Pahrump don't feel saddened because you haven't missed a thing(unless you think the Chicken Ranch is someplace you'd like to check out). Let's just say the city has no master plan, buildings are just here and there with no landscaping to speak of. It makes you thirsty just driving through- nothing is green, just dirt and rocks, if a tumble weed started to blow you'd instinctively look to see if there was a dead cow's skull behind it. I keep telling Rachel she needs to move back here, maybe someday. Anyway my post is supposed to be about the party. At Skate Zone they have Laser Tag, so Lauren, Jace, Jake and Clark(their cousins who came with) played that for awhile, then it was time to skate. We've been to Crystal Palace before so Lauren did O.K. but the 3 boys were hilarious! The guy working there told them to walk in their skates like a penguin, which did help, but they were still falling all over the place. There were no major bruises to speak of and everyone had a fun time. Thanks for the invite Rachel.

Steph trying to help the boys!
Go Lauren Go!

- I really don't know what's going on here- maybe it's my cooking- but another tooth has escaped the mouth of Jace. This time it was the other front tooth. He's officially unable to bite into an apple. He looks super cute though!

-Forgot to mention that I started back to school too. So far so good. I'm taking Methods and Materials and History of Furniture I. Maybe someday all this info will be useful.

-On Monday when it rained Lauren went outside and saw a rainbow so she called everyone out to look at it. Jace must of been mesmerized because he walked right into the pool- fully dressed. Wish I'd have had my camera for that one!

-Since the kids had so much fun skating they asked to go to Crystal Palace again. It's a lot more fun with friends so anyone who wants to come next Tuesday it starts at 6:30pm. Tuesday is their family night so a family of four can skate for $12 or $20 with a pizza and drinks. Additional family members are $8each, but I say if you have 6 just go as 2 separate families. Hope to see some of you there Tuesday the 16th.

ZION NATIONAL PARK

" I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes. "

~e.e. cummings

Nestled amongst the towering rust mountains lies a little piece of heaven called Zion. Jason and I had been there a few times but haven't returned in twelve years. Why? I cannot explain because we both love this place. Kids would have to be our excuse, but now that they are older we will plan to visit more regularly. We stayed in Zion at the lodge in one of the quaint little cabins. Although the lodge is not the original designed in in 1925 by Gilbert Stanley Underwood, which was tragically lost to a fire in 1966, it once again resembles the vision that he had. The little cabin we stayed in was original- circa 1929. We enjoyed walking the grounds and at night the stars were beyond measure.

The first hike we tackled was Weeping Rock. Lauren and Jace enjoyed the water dripping on their heads and couldn't believe it was coming out of the rock. The views were beautiful from there and we even saw a deer taking a rest in the trees on the way down.

Next we took on the Riverside Walk, which is the gateway to The Narrows. I wouldn't mind hiking The Narrows someday, Jason did it in his youth, but for now we weren't prepared or in the mindset for it- not to mention there was a flash flood warning so they weren't allowing people that far in. Lauren and Jace were giddy about the fact that the squirrels were quite friendly and didn't run away, although they wouldn't go too close to them after seeing a flyer about someone who had gotten too close and ended up having stitches in his hand. We stopped for a snack on a huge rock banked by the river and just enjoyed the scenery.

Emerald Pools was our final hike of the day. Jace ,as with the other hikes, had to climb every big rock on the trail and of course had to get a picture on them. We saw frogs and tried to catch one but they were fast.

After lunch the kids went for a swim in the river. It was so great to be in that canyon sitting along the river and just enjoying everything surrounding you. Lauren and Jace loved playing in the river and I wasn't worried because at most spots it was only knee deep. Jason caught a frog so Jace held it, they played in the mud, and skipped rocks across the river. We even had some tubes for them to float down on. It just doesn't get any better than that!

On the way out we stopped to pose in front of the arch. I got a picture of the tunnel by way of the sunroof. It had just started to rain on our way out, so the kids were catching raindrops while we drove.

We were sad to leave such a beautiful place, but we were glad to have been there. We headed over the mountain and spent the rest of the long weekend in Cedar City.

Monday night we headed to my parents house for the annual Labor Day pool party. We enjoyed some food and family and had a great end to a fantastic weekend!

BACK TO SCHOOL

Dear Lauren and Jace,

That time has come round where I must send you back to school. It's not that I don't love spending time with you, but you see it's the law. They give me no choice, I don't want to go to jail. Plus there's that tiny bit of time that I need to have some peace and quiet to do some of the things I want to do. So please understand. -Love, Mom

FUNTASTIC WEEKEND

It almost ended up a weekend like any other in this dreaded heat, that is until an idea that had been brewing finally got to work and made some progress. We'd thrown around the idea of having some friends to the cabin before the summer snuck to an end and surprisingly we followed through. So Friday we all headed up to Cedar mountain for a cooler weekend. Friday night we ate in town and played some cards til the wee hours. I swear I didn't sleep one wink that night for whatever reason, but we managed to have a great Saturday. Our first stop was Crystal Falls, a short hike to a small but pretty waterfall. All the kids kept up well and enjoyed the view and just simply being outdoors. We had twelve kids in all, but you never would have known because they all behaved so well!

After the hike hunger set in so we broke out the picnic lunch we had packed. Of course there were too many bugs for the girls so the gobbled their lunch in the back of the car. The boys ran around collecting sticks and stabbing the trees- go figure.

Our next stop was Mammoth Caves. The boys ran on down- the girls were a little more hesitant but made it in. We journeyed deep enough to have to stay crouched over and when Jason turned off the flashlight it was pitch black. It was spooky but a great thrill for the kids. I took this picture in the pitch black and the other is the kids going down into the cave.

We made a pit stop at the Cedar Breaks outlook but didn't stay long because it was windy and cold(yes I said COLD). It's so beautiful you just can't drive by without taking a gander.

The final adventure was the park in Cedar where the kids were told they could dip their feet in the water for a few minutes while some of the guys went to get gas and a few supplies. Needless to say they were soaked in no time. To their defense the river is very slippery because of the slimy moss so after 1 or 2 fell down it was all over.

Saturday night we left the kids in the trusty hands of Tyler and went for a peaceful meal at Milt's Steakhouse just down the road(thanks Tyler). That night we played Scum and who went to bed as King? Yeah it was me!! Sunday we lounged around, cleaned up, played outside, collected bugs, had rides in the go cart and enjoyed our time as friends. After a lunch of Del Taco we loaded our cars and hesitantly headed back to the dreaded heat of home. Thank-you to Donald, Angie, Duff, Leslie, Suzie and all the kiddies for joining us for a great weekend!!