Red Rock

After church on Sunday, we decided to go on a little adventure. The kids were getting cabin fever....once again, it had been raining on and off all day. We took everyone up to Red Rock and let the kids climb all over the rocks. They had fun and it was better than being cooped up in the house all day. The weather was perfect. As you can see, there were lots of clouds, but we only got a couple of sprinkles. It was around 59 degrees....which is so unheard of for this time of year.

We went to Pine Creek where the kids found lots of rocks to "rock hop" on, all the way up the stream. I think they even found some tadpoles.

Parker and I found this hollowed out tree.
Parker and Teghan mosey up the trail...

This is the only pictures I could get of all the kids together at one time. Caden wasn't thrilled!
This was a new area we hadn't explored before called "Sandstone Quarry."
Carter, our little climber.
This is the only picture that Caden would "allow" me to take. He is looking at the camera, but he did give me a side glance.
Carter was in heaven having lots of rocks to climb on.

Las Vegas Town Square/Indiana Jones

The big event of the weekend was going to see "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." The kids have been obsessed with Indiana Jones for months. Chris and I laughed because we have such fond memories of the original Indiana Jones movies that came out while we were in high school. I guess this is very much like Star Wars.....time is no barrier. Our boys had never even seen the original movies, so Chris found them on DVD and added them to our collection. They have now been watched over and over like all the Star Wars movies. Anyway, we decided to make an afternoon of it on Saturday. It was a great diversion from all the rain we were having over the weekend. We took Chris and Alan and the crew down to Las Vegas Town Square, a new shopping center that openend up last winter. It is an open air shopping "village" with restaurants, movie theater, excellent playground, live music, etc. We had a really fun time.

Parker and Teghan waiting anxiously for the movie to start.

Camden, Carter and Alan ready with popcorn and sodas.

Sheli and Chris Tanner loves to "bounce" so this is the perfect toy for him to ride. He was in heaven.
After the movie, we had dinner reservations at Claim Jumper. Tanner is in there somewhere...but hidden by Teghan. We had a yummy dinner and ate till we were stuffed. Alan and Chris (J) took the kids home and let Chris (S) and I walk around and look at the shops. What a great night!

Cousins...Cousins....Cousins!

For Memorial Day weekend, Uncle Alan, Aunt Chris, Teghan, Camden and Caden Skousen came to visit us in Las Vegas. Since Gramma and Grandpa are on their mission we haven't see each other as often. We were so excited to have them come. The Skousen kids finished school on Thursday, so they came that night. The Jorgensen boys still have school for another week and a half! Parker and Carter went to school Friday morning, but mom was feeling guilty that they had to go, so she pulled them out at noon so we could all go to lunch at Islands. After lunch we went to the Lied Children's Discovery Museum and everyone had a blast. Here are Parker and Teghan. They are both getting so grown up...glasses, braces....but Teghan is much taller than Parker at this point! One of these days he will catch up.
Carter and Camden are the best of friends. They had such a good time being together this weekend.
Tanner and Teghan. I think we took pictures while Caden was in the bathroom...but he informed me that he doesn't like his picture taken anyway!
Here we are at the museum. The kids are all crammed into this tube that simulates the wind force of a hurricane. They did it over and over.
After we came home from the museum, the kids played outside in the rain. This is a rarity in Las Vegas, but seemed to be the theme for the whole weekend. Last Monday we had a record high of 108 degrees (way too hot for May) and then on Saturday we were lucky to be in the high 60's. The kids were a little disappointed that there swimming time was cut to a minimum, but we found lots of other fun things to do. And.....when you grow up in the desert, you learn to really love the rain when it does come. Stay tuned for more of the weekend festivities!

14 Years....and counting!

Last week Chris and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary. It is hard to believe we have been married that long. Of course, the last ten years have been a blur....since the first of three boys entered our life. Now every day is a whirlwind of activity and the days fly by faster than we think.

For our anniversary, Chris and I went to dinner at Tommy Bahamas' Restaurant at Las Vegas Town Square. We ate outside and enjoyed some live music on a warm evening. Afterwards, we went to see a movie. It was the perfect night out!

Lady Bugs

Every spring Chris gets lady bugs at the nursery to spread around the yard. The boys think this is so fun.
The lady bugs like to eat the aphids that eat our roses....so the boys put the lady bugs on our pretty rose bushes.

What boy doesn't like to play with bugs?????

Chocolate Donuts...

Our favorite treat when we come to the cabin are the chocolate donuts from Ken's Kash. They sit in a box next to the register....you grab a paper towel....grab your donut and you are good to go. These are very yummy, especially with a cold glass of milk. For those who have never experienced Ken's Kash in Oakley, Utah...you are missing out. Ken's Kash is about the size of a 7-11, but is packed with every grocery known to man. They have a butcher (well, that's Ken himself), fresh produce, fishing tackle and bait, toys, straw pops (fountain drinks) and much, much more. As the name implies...they only take cash. Fortunately they have an ATM too!

Unpredictable!

Here are the boys getting ready for an ATV ride on Saturday morning. We expected to find more snow on the ground when we got here. But, down on Conifer there were only a few patches left on the road. We were actually able to drive the truck up here which makes it so much nicer! Yesterday the weather was warm....around 65 degrees. But, the wind picked up and the clouds rolled in. We knew there was a storm coming.......

Well, here's what we woke up to this morning!!! At least 2 inches of snow! Oh well...you have to prepared for things like this. The clouds are starting to lighten up and I sure as soon as the sun comes out this will all melt off.....and become a muddy mess. Good thing we are headed out today. No matter what the weather....it is always fun to come to the cabin!

15 YEARS....WOW!

I was just looking at the date and realized that today is the 15th anniversary of our first date! Our 14th wedding anniversary is on the 19th, but May 8th was the day that it all started. Now maybe some of you know the story and others don't. Chris and I worked together at the U.S. Attorney's office in Salt Lake. We had worked together since February and I had pretty much given up on the fact that we would ever even have a date. But, a friend at the office convinced me that I needed to ask him out. Well, being 25 years old I figured I might as well give it a shot. He agreed to go with me to the Utah Symphony (a requirement for one of my classes) and then treated me to pie at Marie Calendars. My parents were in town for the weekend and my mom bought me a really pretty pink dress to wear. I still have it in my closet. Mind you, my hips will probably never fit back into that dress....and frankly it is VERY out of style...but I keep it anyway. I was really looking forward to this date and when I woke up Saturday morning, it was snowing!!! MAY 8th and it was SNOWING! Didn't Mother Nature realize I was going to freeze to death in my new spring dress? Well, the snow didn't last. It was still chilly, but we had a fun night. At least I think we did.

Chris was finishing finals so he didn't ask me out for another two weeks. I was pretty stressed at this point. He did eventually ask me out on what he told me later was a "courtesy date!" Chris invited me over to his apartment for dinner. I had always used dinner as my "secret weapon" with the guys. But, as it turns out, Chris is a much better cook than me.....still is. In addition to the yummy pasta he whipped up he made me a chocolate bundt cake with powdered sugar sprinkled on top! After dinner we went to see the movie "Dave." It is still one of my favorites. If he wasn't planning on taking me out again.....why did he have to make the dumb bundt cake?!?

At this point I wasn't going to give up and I pursued a third date. By that point we knew there was something.....and the rest is history. Well, there's a lot more to that story...but now I need to go make dinner for my MAN! (oh yeah, and the three kids we've had in the last 14 years! Ha Ha!)

My Latest Obsession

I have to blame my hubby for starting me on this obsession! One night he brought home this delicious and refreshing treat for me. I have not been a huge fan of frozen yogurt in the past...I have a more "refined" palate that prefers Haagen Daaz or Ben & Jerry's. Well, since I have been working hard on my new healthy eating habits, I have had to pretty much give up ice cream altogether. I can't be "trusted" to just have a couple of bites. It is just too tempting. When Chris brought this home I found it to be a great compromise....my love for a yummy frozen treat and fat free to boot. Now, this is not your regular "Golden Spoon" type yogurt. They only have fruit flavors and as the name depicts....it is tart! It has more of a sorbet type taste to it. My favorite flavors are blueberry and pomagranate. Last night after pack meeting I asked Chris to take the kids home and said I was going to run to "T-A-R-T" (I spelled it out). Parker looked at me and said, "you know Mom, I can spell!" I had to laugh. Fortunately, my kids don't love it....so they can eat the ice cream sandwiches in the freezer. This treat is just for me! (Ok, well, Chris too!)

Cub Scout Day Camp!

The last weekend of April was our Cub Scout Day Camp. Since I am the Wolf Leader, I got to attend with my cub scouts. We were in charge of the opening ceremony on Thursday...so here are a couple of picks of my boys. The kids had a lot of fun and got to participate in many different activities. I think they liked the BB Gun Shooting and Archery the best. They were able to earn belt loops for these activities....which can only be earned at a district sponsored day camp. Parker said his favorite part was learning to make tortillas. It was a "Fiesta" themed day camp so they passed off a cooking requirement making the tortillas. They were quite tasty....especially with the cinnamon and sugar on top. By the end of the day on Saturday I was pretty wiped. I think it took me all of last week to recover!



Here are my cub scouts...most of them anyway!

Bonner Field Day

Parker and Carter were ready to head out the door for field day. The weather was perfect...not too hot or cold. Parker's class had a "potluck" lunch and he volunteered to bring "pasta." So, after a quick trip to the school to watch Carter's class in their last event I ran to Fazoli's for some drive-thru spaghetti! Carter's class had pizza....so much easier to send in $2 toward pizza!

Carter with his buddy Dallin. They are cute little friends....too bad his family is moving out of our ward! I was looking forward to having them in cub scouts this fall. But, they are just moving a couple of miles up the street, so they can still get together and play.

Carter's class after their water relay race. Some kids got wet on purpose! They are a fun bunch of kids.