Not everyone makes it to their own wedding right?

So John and I (luckily) eloped a while back so happily married we are. I say luckily because due to tear jerking details that I won't get into here, we missed our scheduled wedding. And seriously look how beautiful our cake and flower girls were! I hate that we missed the party and our guests and especially our flower girls but I'm certain there are worse things in the world than missing your reception. I'm just having a difficult time accepting that we missed all of our guests and the pictures! Why do these things if not for the pictures. (which reminds me...I have to call Allie tomorrow!)
We did get to see a few of our friends while they were in town but not many. To any of you that were here and we missed you and haven't apologized yet, we are truly sorry! (explanations to come and sincere tears were shed that we missed you, our party, our cake and those cute little nieces in matching dresses.)
And seriously, not one picture of my dress. Drats.

Happy and Fister

These are from a fun day with Shanie's Abby. Spencer and Abby have had such a fun bond and friendship their whole lives. Spencer loves that Abby is also his cousin. (yay small towns, Spencer's great Grandma and Abby's Great Grandpa are brother and sister). When these 2 were little and just starting to talk Spencer called Abby "Happy" and Abby called Spencer "Fister". At 7 they have resumed these nicknames and every time one is spoken they crack up!! They are just a few months apart in age and have always played well and can always make each other laugh and laugh.
This particular day aside from the water fight they also started their own news station called "the New News hour with Happy and Fister". Being a journalist from Neato News back in the day I totally understand the desire to start your own news program but it still surprised me and made me laugh. I want to find my Neato News tapes and let these 2 listen to them.
The fun never ends around here. Abby is one of the best bonuses I can think of to living here in SV again. Abby and her mom both.

Family reunion

A couple of weeks ago was John's family reunion on the Schwab side. Yes, the one that AJ and Jen were not invited to. I was a little nervous about going and not knowing anyone but then I got there and remembered that I grew up with his family and did know most of them (note the picture of Kathryn and me). It was fun to see everyone. It turned out to be a really fun and busy weekend. John and I never cease to make ourselves laugh and this was the weekend we started our collection of posed photos. One of us will go up to unsuspecting bystanders and pose for a photo without them knowing and the other will take the picture. Silly? We make us laugh at least. Notice that Linda outposed John.
After the reunion lunch in Afton my new niece, Emily, came with me to make the little girl headbands for the wedding. Her sister Mac went with John to get candy and hang out. All of our kids were with their other parent(s) so we borrowed Emily and Makaylyn that day and a few others that week. I'm getting so attached to those kids! I love having them around.
Anyway, Emily was a huge help and it was so much fun. My friend Amy came from Evanston too. It was a huge help, I can't think of when else I would have gotten that stuff done. As the wedding nears I
Later that evening was the Freedom Community gathering. Being all the way from Thayne and all I'd never experienced one of these Freedom bashes before. It was fun and more amusing than I have words for. A plane flew overhead and dropped candy on the eagerly waiting children. Nothing like being pelted with tootsie rolls from the sky to make a kid smile! I was a little shocked by the whole thing and listening to John, Eric and Daniel reminisce about what it was like when they were kids was funny. So this is the first year they have given the kids hard hats for the event. Too many candy related injuries apparently. And a four wheeler pulled a chain of garbage barrels made into a train ride for the kids. Small town fun. It was a good time. I did love the small townishness of the whole thing, I loved how it felt safe and everyone knew everyone and was having a fun night at the park. But I got injured. Pelted by a tootsie roll. The bruise hasn't gone away. Next year I'm wearing a hard hat.

The Memory game, blog style

I got this fun game from Marci and thought it would be fun to play. I chose the picture because it is one with Marci (top left) in it. If I weren't still living with my things in storage I would have chosen one of our graduation pictures, I have one with Marci the night of our high school graduation that is one of my favorites--but this prom picture is one I have on the computer and accessible, so here you go!


Here are the directions if you want to play.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Have fun!

And a month ago was John's birthday

Finally I get around to important things like John's birthday. His birthday was June 9. We had a party that weekend at Aunt Charlotte's house. She, by the way, is a super duper cake creator.

So about a week before his birthday Spencer asks 'what kind' of birthday John will have. Kids birthdays are so often themed events that Spencer couldn't imagine why we'd have a birthday party without knowing "what kind" we were having. So I asked Spencer what kind of birthday we should have for John. Spencer gave it some thought and finally said "well, Momma, you are pretty much his favorite thing ever so we should have a party of you for him". Such a sweet sentiment!

And here you will see the pictures of the "Dena cake" for John's birthday. You will also see the flower cake that Destrie made for him in case he was too embarrassed by the "Dena cake".

Directions to camp

Spencer gives the best directions to camp. It goes something like "Go straight and straight and turn and then straight and straight and around and turn and over bars on the road and see the Caribou National Forest sign and straight and straight and turn a little and straight and turn into our camp, WALLLAA you are there!!" All the while done with his hand very seriously slicing through the air to emphasize the straight and straight or bending to show the turns.
That's exactly how to get to our camp. Now that you know how to get there you can come see us!

With my hellish allergies and the billions of killer mosquitoes trying to drain my blood I am having a hard time wanting to be at camp much these days. These mosquitoes make the ones on Jumanji look small and friendly. But then again if only I could breathe maybe I wouldn't mind so much.

Grumpy. I'm grumpy today. I'm going to go get a pepsi or something. Something cheery. Then I'll work on remembering all the positives and why I want to be at camp.
On that note, I'm getting anxious looking in the paper each week at houses for sale and rent. Oh how nice will it be to have a place with a real shower? When camping can be for fun again. Sigh.

Dena and John photo shoot

This one is one of my very favorites. What do you think?


Finally I'll share these, I have given in to the hounding (yes Liza, here they are, for you!). I had misplaced the discs shortly after I got them, and miraculously they were found when kids were gone and cleaning was done! (So hey Allie, all I need is a copy of the dvd now)
These are some of the photos that Allie Hoopes did for us. She's great no? Allie is an Evanston girl (and we all know how much I heart Evanston) she is actually married to a guy I graduated with (Derek Hoopes) thats how I met her. She has a fantastic talent for photography, ok lets be honest, she has a fantastic talent for almost everything and to top it off she's one of the sweetest people ever. Allie and Derek won Spencer's heart when they gave him an old scooter that all the neighbor kids envy!
I am really happy with these pictures and can't wait for her to take some of all of the kids.
I tried to put more up here but after 3 tries and "internal error" messages each time I decided that this will do. Enjoy, you can see the rest later (at my house, or wedding, or something!:)
The 3rd one down is one of my favorites, you don't get to see my FAVORITE because of the error loading it to the blog. Hmm.

Mountain Men (and Women) our last 2 weeks in pictures

Nat with her pet moth
At the first camp, the water to play in
Walking with Grandpa Moon
Our only existing family photo with everyone in it. Next time we'll try for showers, clean clothes, combed hair, something.
The snake skin that Mac and Natalie found
Spencer in the muddy water
Natalie, Tia and Emily on their way to the big hunt
The gang at Grandma and Grandpa Moon's house
David and Tia, getting ready to be tucked in
Have we seen this picture somewhere before? John and I are as bad as Corie and me!
Natalie and her new best friend, Polix (on a side note, Polix was so meant to be a mountain dog! He is doing much better here than he ever did in Utah! We are sooooo happy! The ear infections are even a thing of the past for the moment!)
Tia after smores one night
Race, who loved camp and the kids but is too old to keep up with them for long. He enjoyed many naps and watching from the distance.
The boys with Uncle Colin and Grandpa
One of Sammi's many pet snakes (not the one that bit Nat)
The dogs were oh so happy to have kids to love! They are sleeping in the tent everynight
Hey look! Dena gets to be IN a picture instead of taking it, here with Natalie and Sammi
Muddy water joy for David, Spencer, Sammi, Natalie and Tia
Tia and Emily make mud pies at their Cafe'
David after some shooting
The kids after our journey to restore the enchanted castle to the good people of the kingdom. These are a fine group of wizards, faries and a clown. Natalie: a Nurse Fairy, Sammi: clown, David:weather wizard, Spencer:hunter wizard, Emily:Mother Nature Fairy, Mac:Map and direction Fairy
Natalie with the "keys" to the castle
The girls and Jedadiah, they gave so much love!
Never has anyone had such a messy face/hands, or hair as Natalie after campfire marshmallows!

Update: Busy Busy camp life

Just a quick update (photos to follow at a later date...)
We've been oh so busy camping. John's 4 kids have been here the last couple of weeks and we've been camping the whole time. We've come down from camp now and then for important things like showers, groceries, to go to work, get more reading materials, etc. I have had all (5) kids plus an occasional 1 or 2 extras (John's nieces). Such a change of pace from my one boy! Leda says I deserve a medal, I would so settle for a nap!!!
We've had so much fun spending time together and doing fun things, and we've also had our share of exhausting & trying moments. Its been an adventure to all get adjusted to each other and figure out this new family unit. John's kids are going back to their mom's to celebrate the 4th of July and Spencer will be with his dad for a while too. I'm so torn, I am tired and want a little break but I really don't want them to go! This time together has made me realize how much I love these kids. I have to echo my friend Ashlee and say that sometimes it is hard to understand "why these kids had to have another mom first". I wish they didn't have to live this 'torn' family life and go back and forth, I wish they could just stay!!
Some of our more notable moments from the past 2 weeks:
~Natalie was bitten by a snake (a non-poisonous one) this was very likely the most traumatic thing to happen yet in her 6 year little life. She has since taken to collecting "pet" moths. They do not bite as hard.
~All of the kids learned to do dishes at camp and have been taking turns each night doing them! Yay!!!
~We went on an "adventure/hike" and learned that Emily can talk to trees, Natalie is an expert key maker, Spencer can stop time and Mackaylynn can read any map, even farie maps
~Sammi and Natalie both got cute new hair cuts from Grandma Clinger, we still cannot persuade the boys to comb or even wash their hair willingly so they might be next in the hair cut chair for a shaved head look
~All the kids have caught pet snakes and let them go. In Sammi's case a couple have been loved TO DEATH. Natalie, like I said, is happier now with pet moths but she also loves pet worms. Spencer is holding out for catching a pet elk. Tia has made a new rule that there are no snakes allowed in the tents.
~Gigantic fits have been thrown over the idea that kids should: help clean up, clean up after themselves in any way, help out with anything resembling work, eat anything resembling something nutritious, refrain from yelling at and/or punching siblings, drinking anything other than soda ....(and now, 2 weeks into this adventure, the fits are lessening and we're making progress in the training of these little creatures! Hip hip horray!)
~John and I have toyed at the idea of leaving the kids at camp and running away, so far we are just much too busy taking care of everyone to actually follow through with this idea.

Move, final, for now

And the move is complete. (until it is time to move from storage to an actual abode)
I am in Star Valley now. I 'm at my parent's waiting for John to get back with his kids then we are headed to camp! All of everything we own is either in storage or a few bags and boxes we are trying to carry with us. Ah, the life of a gypsy just speaks to me!
We are not nearly organized enough to make me feel calm about it though. I envy all of you super duper organized movers out there, really I do. I'm not mocking, I really do think you are super, I want to be a little more like you when I grow up (or at least for my next move). While I'm waiting for John I am going to go through these boxes and bags, of which some are the 'odds and ends' you just throw together in a box at the end. I need to decide what goes to camp, what goes to trash, what goes to storage. Then I need to go to storage and get out the camping gear. Then I will feel organized enough to relax, in control of my world just a tiny bit more.
We're really excited to have some down time together at camp. I'm sure the "down time" part will be a bit less like what I'm envisioning. We are throwing 5 kids into the mix, anything done with that many kids is not quite tranquil right? Good to get away into the mountains for days on end at any rate.
The move is bitter sweet too. I will so miss living around the corner from Charlotte and my nieces. I am going to miss Destrie and Deja and Darien and Danica more than I can explain! I feel so lucky that I've had the chance to see them on an almost daily basis and form strong relationships with each of them. I am also so glad that Spencer has had the chance to have his cousins right there and to get to see them so often and get so close to them. He's going to miss them so so much, only the idea of gaining siblings makes it worth it to him to move away from those girls. I'll miss living close enough to Emily and her family and Corie and the Jex's and so many other people to see them often. Emails and phone calls will ensue. And actual letters, what ever happened to actual snail mail letters? I'm so writing some this week!
Life is moving us forward and we're enjoying the ride.

Moving: stage 3, 4.....

The move is underway. The packing and moving is so near done!
Here we are packing boxes, packing the Uhaul and packing John's truck. How in the world did I end up with so much stuff??????
My dad and my friends and neighbors along with my nieces and Charlotte all came and helped the packing and loading project.
John and I drove the Uhaul and one load in his truck to SV Sunday where his parents and brother came and helped us unload into storage. We overflowed the storage unit and so my parents garage is housing some of my things, and John's parents house is housing a few items. All this and still there was One more load in John's truck today on this rainy Tuesday. Sheesh, why didn't I just have a huge yard sale and call it good??
I have a serious case of moving burnout. What really stinks is that ALL of it needs moved again in a couple of months, and at least once more in the next year or two depending on when we build our house.

As I've said before, I am the house wehre all the kids in the neighborhood play.........even when Spencer isn't here, I am still the house where the kids gather. So on moving day my house and yard was full of neighbor kids "helping" and playing. John is so good natured and just kept finding little jobs for all these kids so they could feel helpful. What a guy!

The happy news, I'm almost moved!!