Yellowstone National Park cont....

A few days into our trip the Flakes arrived.... need we say more! Our kids were so happy to see all of their cousins.

This was our cabin for the first couple of nights. It looks cute, but because we lost our blankets and other camping supplies in our accident it was not so great. I froze at night with very little to cover us. Beach towels do work well in a bind! I was happy when we were able to switch to nice hotel!!!!

It is not a camping trip without a good fire and lots and lots of smores. I had more than I can count.


Most of the cousins taking a break...

One of the highlights was visiting the Bear Habitat. All of the cousins six and up were able to see amazing bears and some wolves, but also feed them. They took the bears out of their outside areas and then allowed the kids to hide food under the rocks and logs. After, the kids were able to watch the bears return and see what food they could find. It was really fun!

Yellowstone National Park ...

Fly Guy has always dreamed of fishing in the Yellowstone area, so I gave him a guided fishing trip. Our good friends/family Tom and Jan came to join us. Tom and Fly Guy spent an entire day fishing.

Here is one of the areas they fished.

Grandma Jan and S at the paint pots. Jan & I took the kids to see the paint pots, a bunch of geysers and of course Old Faithful. I learned so much from her...she is always a wealth of knowledge.

The kids in their Yellowstone shirts from Grandma Jan.

One of the many areas at the paint pots. Below are the mud pots, which my kids loved.


On our way out of the park, we saw this Bison. The kids were in complete awe. I loved seeing them so excited!

Our Great Adventure...

After lots of anticipation and planning we were off to Yellowstone ....
All the children slept and were amazingly good in the car... Life was good, then *@#*!@*#@*!!!!..

This happened!! Our camping vacation halted! As we were driving through a very gusty area, the Trailer began to fish tail and we were stuck in the middle of several semi-trucks and could not straighten out. The trailer rolled and dragged us into the center divide(thank goodness there was one...i believe it saved us from rolling also). The whole experience was terrifying... I know Heavenly Father was watching out for our little family. Even in the mist of the madness, it is amazing how you can feel a sense of peace and comfort. All of us were safe, our car was in driving condition and we were able to recover most of our stuff.

I now have a new level of patience for traffic jams caused by accidents. We stopped traffic on the freeway for at least 45 minutes and even then traffic was down to only one lane. Those that smiled as they passed gave us a sense of comfort and I am grateful!

Our first call was to Fly Guy's parents (owners of the trailer) they were amazing...as usual. They were comforting, gave us great advice and showed that their only concern was about us. After the ordeal, we decided to continue on with the trip and drove to my parents in Provo. Words cannot express what they did for us. They literally put us back together both physically and emotionally. We love and appreciate our parents!

A couple of things we have learned:
-make sure whoever used the trailer before you emptied the "poop tank"...really important!
-look for your underwear first...better you find it than the highway patrol officers
-accept that your plan is not always Heavenly Father's plan
-stuff is not what your kids want, they just want to spend time with you...
-you can go on a 17 hour car ride without electronics and still have happy kids (our DVD player died and the leapsters were in the trailer!)
-We are so thankful for our Eternal Family!

4th of July

A little late, but here are my July 4th pictures. We started the day at the Templeton Parade where we were able to meet up with the Slanes and Damerys. They take their parades very seriously...it is always fun to see them. After we spent time at The Moores before heading to the fireworks at Barney Schwartz. I love fireworks!!! Just seeing my kids excited makes it all worth it. We met up with my family: The Johansons and Belingheris and Doug's family: The Lindsays and Greg & girls. It is the perfect opportunity to play soccer, fly kites and visit.

Moore Family Gathering - 2009

...Oliver...Doug...Gabriel...

Our Moore family Gathering...we could not get everyone, but we had Grandpa & Grandma, Greg & the girls, The Lindsays, The Gibbons, Jessica and our little family. We went to Farmers Market, Avila, Montana de Oro, swimming & zip lines at the Moores and ended with 4th of July celebrations. As always, it was fun watching the cousins play, eating great food and catching up with everyone.

E finding a large Starfish...

My niece Carly joined us at the beach...

Fly Guy and K searching for more sea life...

Carly and fiance Jeff...they came to visit because Jeff broke his tooth (one week before their wedding) and Fly Guy offered to fix it, so he could look good for their big day!

Doug & the twins...it was fun watching them so excited about everything their Dad was showing them.

Jake and my boys holding the sea cucumber that Fly Guy found...so cool!

The little girls bonding...love the hair!

Too MANY kids?...

I am still amazed when people are shocked from the news that I have four children. Four seems to be the old Eight! The new socially acceptable number of kids is around two or three. Most of the reactions I receive are from other mothers who cannot see themselves capable of having more than two to three children. I understand this because often I feel the exact same way.... sometimes multiple times in a day.

It is when others are shocked in a horror sort of way that really annoys me. Today I was shopping at Wal-Mart with all of my children. Our trip was going well, E2 was sick and a little fussy, S was bleeding from her shoe, but other than that I could not ask for better behavior. Also, all of my kids were well dressed, their hair was done (not looking neglected) and they were not begging for me to buy anything....honestly we were doing good today. As we were walking, two ladies passed us and one stops and says to her friend (very loudly) "What are they thinking having that many kids?" Her face had a horrified look on it and I just stopped and smiled at her (I was proud that I refrained from saying anything).

Just after this I saw a neighbor of mine who is really sweet, but only has two kids...you could see him chuckle at me every time he passed. I know he meant no harm, but honestly why is it so shocking to see a mom with lots of kids at a store.

When I see small or large families who are raising their children with values and teaching them to be independent, self reliant and contributing members of society I applaud them. I love seeing moms with lots children at the store...it makes me feel like I am not alone! All of us moms need to stick together!!!

I look forward to seeing what looks or comments I will get when I get pregnant with #5!!!

Beach Days...

This is E2's first experience playing in the sand. It was fun watching him discover the sand and cover himself from head to toe.

S wanted to boogie board so bad, but every time I took her near the water she would scream because she thought the big waves would carry her away.... regardless she looks adorable with the board.

My boys love to get covered with sand... When E was little the first thing he would do at the beach was roll in the sand and cover himself fully.... it was his was of getting warmed up. Some things never change...