And it really is the ...

Truth

"The biggest mistake I made (as a parent) is one that most of us make... I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of (my three children) sitting in the grass in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less."- Author Anna Quindlen, reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments.

I know its late but finally, here is Spencer's 8th birthday party

One thing about not having the internet at home (which is still our status) that is oh so sad is not being able to keep up on my blog or on my blog reading. Tonight on an outing with my computer I get to do a little of both!

Homemade Ice Cream and plenty of laughter and a park to run around in with people you love, what could be better?

Here finally are the pictures from Spencer's party. What a fun day! I think this is the first time that we have had a party on the actual day of his birthday, it being a Saturday this year made that easy, and the first year for at least a couple that Spencer got to have so many of his grandparents and both (well actually 3!) of his parents there with him. That was his wish this year -- a party where everyone would be there and with even a great aunt and uncle and some cousins and 3rd cousins as well as good friends we did a fairly good job of letting him have it.

I love the picture of Emily swinging Cannon to kick the ice cream ball. Such a nice big sister!
Spencer and I made his cake this year, it is a "hunting hill" Spencer says. The hunters left their truck at the bottom of the hill near the river and climbed up to the top to hunt deer and turkey. Such fun decorating but of course it was all for the guests to eat, not the birthday boy who DOES NOT like cake!

Really?

Just a quick update I find incredibly entertaining. The other day as we are about to walk out the door Spencer turns to us and says "So, are we taking Chocolate Chip or Marshmallow?"
Yes, people, I'm afraid it is true. He named our vehicles for us, John drives Chocolate Chip and I drive Marshmallow. We should have been more on the ball and beat him to the punch with some super cool car names. We didn't and now I drive Marshmallow.
I thought you'd all love to know.

Cousin

I just came across this stunning picture of Spencer and Destrie and thought I'd share it. This was only a few years ago but looking at Spencer's tiny hands it seems like forever ago!

I've been tagged, and tagged again!

I've been away from internet access for oh so long and have so much catching up to do! I have real catching up to do and fun pictures (that will have to wait until the internet lives at our house)~Today I'm catching up on Tags I had waiting and didn't even know it!

The first is from Corie, I'm sure I'll be reprimanded when she sees how long it took me to respond (kidding!)


SCATTERGORIES...it's harder than it looks! Erase my answers, enter yours, and post it. *Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following...*They have to be real places, names,things...nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. You CAN'T use your name for theboy/girl name question.

*WHAT IS YOUR NAME: Dena
*4 LETTER WORD: Drat
*VEHICLE: Dodge (Spencer's favorite)
*CITY: Denver
*BOY NAME: Drake
*GIRL NAME: Darla
*OCCUPATION: Dancing Dentist (I get extra points there right?)
*SOMETHING YOU WEAR: Diamond rings
*FOOD: Doritos
*SOMETHING FOUND IN A BATHROOM: Drain
*REASON FOR BEING LATE: a Delay
SOMETHING YOU SHOUT: DON'T WALK ON THE GRASS!!!!!!!!

I tag anyone who wants to play!

The next is from Marci

Joys, Fears, and Obssessions

These are the rules: list 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 surprising facts and then tag 5 other people. Leave a comment for the people you tag so they know they have been tagged.

Joys....
1. Warm mornings
2. Long days together laughing with Spencer and John
3. The love notes that John has started writing and typing and leaving all over the place for me everyday! I mentioned to him that I love when he leaves me notes (and all those saved ones from high school) and he took it to heart and has taken to writing to me daily. I love it.

Fears....
1. Being so busy that I don't take the time to "live in the moment."
2. Not being able to adjust to living here as a grown up.
3. Something awful happening to someone I love.

Obsessions/Collections....
Ok, the first thing that came to mind was that Ren and Stimpy episode where he is collecting ....is it ear wax? or belly button lint? or both? haha. Anyway, that is not on my list but a funny thought I had to share.
1. Without the internet at my house I have rediscovered my Sims2 game when wasting time on the computer. My nieces were all here last weekend and we had a blast playing the "Destrie, Deja, Darien and Danica (and Spencer) Sims!
2. I tend to keep magazines. Unless I really really don't like them (then they get recycled) but otherwise I keep them, thinking that I may read them again, or use something from them. And usually I do tend to go back and look through them again. And, I recently found, when I saw the HUGE box of John's home builder/carpenter...magazines that my husband does the same!
3. As I was unpacking and moving in I had a little obsession with the Gilmore Girls. I started with season one and watched (listened to) the whole series while I unpacked. Day after Day of Gilmore Girls....I'm sure John was ready to throw away the DVD player, but he didn't say a word. What a guy!

Surprising facts.....
1. Due to my trying to be a little less rigid and due to the fact that facilities are scarce around here we have only been recycling some of what I would be else where. AK! I know. I did inform John that it is driving me insane and will be changing back to my old ways soon.
2. When I'm the only one home I never eat at the table, always the couch! When we are all home its full meals at the table and no food on the couch (except popcorn of course)
3. I've been learning to sew. For those of you who know me well it is a suprise I'm sure. I have been having so much fun sewing so many inventive projects! My favorite are the baby clothes, this has John worried that we'll be having babies soon. Luckily though we have Emily's baby on the way, and Corie's and Shanie's and Mary Lynn's Landon, and Teresa's and Jen's and Laura's!! Lots of little ones to make clothes for!

I tag
Emily
Corie
Charlotte
Cally
Mary Lynn

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!