Rare, unique, and special

We had the opportunity to go on vacation to Island Park with some good friends this last week. As I thought about what to write about on this post to describe this trip, many thoughts kept coming to my mind. Laughter, sarcasm, silliness, but most of all the word that kept coming back is "rare." Let me explain. Rare because we were with 3 families. Thats 6 adults and 11 and a half kids. There was not one awkward moment, not one fight, not one issue. Thats 17 1/2 people under the same roof for 4 days and we all got along. The older girls got along with the little girls, the big boys got along with the little boys, and not only that, but they all played together. Then there is the 6 adults. Let me start with my girlfriends. I dont think ive ever had 2 friends like them in my life. Im close to my sisters but ive never had girl"friends" like them. I know that if I ever needed anything I could call them. I know that I can trust them with anything and that our late night talks at IHOP wont ever go beyond that booth. I know they wont judge me no matter what shocking story I can tell them, and I know that they will laugh with me and cry with me.
I consider that rare, unique, special. And I know that im blessed to have them. I feel as though in all our moves around this valley, that I ended up here for a reason and two of those reasons are Stacie and Rebecca. Now for their sarcastic, hilarious husbands... ummm...what else do I say about them. I laugh everytime they are around and im grateful for how mellow they are. How they support their wives in anything they want to do. Because you see, if they didnt, well then our friendship wouldnt be the same. They dont give a crap if we as girls need to go run down to Yogurt stop, or go on a walk, or go to Ihop for some "girltalk" They are as mellow as Scott and we can all laugh together and trust each other and get along. I really feel its a rare thing. A special bond, and a unique friendship.

This is the awesome theatre room that is in the basement, bc what cabin doesnt have one of those? I mean c'mon!

This is a shot of the great room from the upstairs loft..

And here is Ryan trying to throw bread on the street to try and get the seagull's away from the river so the kids could feed the fish and not the birds...

And the birds.. who Ryan did succeed in getting rid of and they were able to throw bread to the fish..

The kids on the river throwing the 3 day old bread that we had just bought that decided to go moldy...

Some weird river rodent that thought it was his lunch time too..

Me and my girls...

Big trout in the water..I bet he would be yummy.

Gorgeous view of the river...

All the kids minus the 1/2 one in Stacies tummy..

Back view of Haddocks amazing cabin. Thanks for sharing guys!!

And their own boat dock right off of the back patio.. Bc thats another thing everyone has at their cabin... totally normal.

Kids playing in the water..

Ryan and Scott trying to catch a fish for the kids using a rope and a plastic bag... you see the bag was weighted down with a rock and the fish were supposed to just swim right into it so that all the kids could see .... great idea, dont you think???

They really thought they would be successful..

I have no idea what Jeff is so happy about in this picture. What on earth could make him smile this big in the middle of the afternoon???

Rebecca reading to Lizzie on a rainy day..

Bead making on a rainy day...This proved to be a great activity for the kids... oh and for the dads too.

Ryan coloring a Star Wars picture, bc what dad doesnt want to do that?

Stacie checking the blogs of her 20 year high school reunion she missed to be on this trip with us.. But thank goodness for facebook, now none of us ever need to consider going to a high school reunion again...not that I would anyway.

And of course on the patio, there was jedi training going on..

All the kids minus Izzy...

All the kids minus Will...

On the way home Scott and I decided to take the long way home and go through Yellowstone and down through Jackson Hole. We stopped at Old Faithful and while we were waiting Oliver bit into a cinnamon roll and lost his tooth. As you can see he panicked.

He got over it quickly..

This is just a picture of me and Izzy and some girl doing bra adjustment in the background..

Still waiting for Old Faithful to be faithful..

Scott and I in Jackson sitting on the ever so famous antler arch in the park.

And my very cute, very tired kids exhausted from a perfect vacation. Thank you Haddocks and Hamiltons for helping create such a wonderful memory!!

It's a Family Affair!

We all signed up for "signs on the trail" 5k, It was Erin's, Gretchen's and My girls first 5k! It was alot of fun to share this with them, they all did great including my girls! They messed up the route and we ended up going 4 miles instead of 3 but everyone hung in there and it was a party! BUT, I KNOW YOUR ALL WONDERING ...WHO IS THE MOUNTAIN MAN STANDING IN OUR PICTURE??? One of these things doesnt belong here. Thats Troy, and his idea of what to wear to a 5k. Dont let him scare you, he only looks like a creepy psycho, really he's harmless.

Erin, Gretchen, and I did the "Heart of Holladay" 5k today!! It was also a blast. The weather was perfect and so was the company. I ran my fastest time ever and I was really happy about that. I want to do this one for sure next year also. Good route, good t-shirts, good times.

We're too sexy for our shirts, too sexy for our shirts, so sexy it hurts.. We're too sexy for our bodies, too sexy for our bodies, too sexy..... We are models, you know what I mean, and we do our little dance on the catwalk.. ya on the catwalk...

SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER!!

We had to celebrate our last day of Kindergarten, our last day of 4th grade and our last day of 5th grade by having our own little campout in the back yard. {minus mom and dad, we would rather have our bed it its really an option.} But I dont think the kids wanted us there anyway, this way they got to think that we could'nt hear the giggles coming from out there until 11:00 at night. They think they're so sneaky... I love it.

Ants in his pants!

Soyer cant ever sit still. And I mean NEVER!!! So on sunday he was running around, bouncing on the couch and jumping off the table. I was really trying to just chill and relax. He was not making this easy. So finally after the 10th time of telling him to settle down, i made him run around the trampoline, then the playset, then the tent that was set up in the backyard about 5 times. He came back in and I said, "Soyer, did it work? did you get the wiggles out?" And he said "let me see...." he sat down on the couch and then looked at me and whispered under his breath, "Dangit!" So of course I just started to laugh. That kid keeps me young, he's good for the soul.

Singing in the rain!!

I LOVE a good summer rainstorm! I know the pictures dont do it justice but it was AWESOME!

You cant tell in this pic, but the dots are actually hail, I couldnt get the boys to leave the porch with me to dance in it!


But once the hail stopped, they had no problem leaving the porch to jump in the puddles flowing down the street!


It's good to be a kid in the rain.

We have a park down the street from our house and one night about a year ago there was a storm like this one. The kids were in bed and Scott and I snuck out of the house to go on a little drive and check it out. We went to the park and realized it had turned into its own mini lake! So this time, we loaded the kids in the car and went to check it out, sure enough there it was!! The kids loved it! Who would'nt! I kept thinking about how i hope this is one of those moments from their childhood they never forget. These are the memories most fondly looked upon when your an adult.

For a minute there, it looked like we lived in the Himalaya's! {I apologize about the blurry pictures, one of these days I will get a better camera, hopefully it doesnt hurt your eyes too badly.}

Libraries and stomache aches

I consider myself kind of smart. I know im blonde and i have my blonde moments, but overall, i think im pretty smart. Ive always had a gift to get around anyones mood. I can usually be-friend anyone and be wise about who i want to get close to and who i dont. Im not a total dummy, I even like to read if someone gives me a good book. But for some reason when i walk into a library, without fail i get a stomach ache. I hate the rows of books, the overwhelming choices, the closed in aisles. I feel a bit claustrophobic and then when i ask for help, the ladies all seem annoyed that i dont know my way around. As if i am the idiot of the earth. Maybe its stems back to elementary school and library day. I didnt know how to use the dumb card catalogs, and I used to have mini panic attacks even then. Maybe its my community service hours I had to put in at the library back when some choices i made wont be discussed further on this blog. But for whatever reason, the library gives me a stomach ache.
Being the "good" mom I am, I decided to take my kids there today and let them choose some books to get started on summer reading. It seemed like a good idea. When we walked through the door, we walked strait to the "Information desk" I was determined to make this as painless as possible. I tried to joke with the lady about how I dont know my way around and she just scoffed and gave me a fake smile. Already the panic was settling in. We were led to the narrow aisles and had to look up and down at the endless possibilites, and the panic was increasing. Then of course Soyer had to find a book on dinosaur bones. So i started pulling every dinosaur book off the shelf I could find, hoping that one of them would be good enough, but of course it wasnt. So we went to "information desk #2" {maybe she would be nicer} And nicer, she was. But so incredibly SSSLLLLLOOOWWWWW!! I was about to FREAK OUT at this point! We finally found the aisle they were on and I grabbed about 10 and said "pick 2, and we are getting out of here!" My kids looked at me like I was psycho, So I was trying desperately to hold back my anxiety. Well, we finally all had our books chosen and we went to check out. "Do you have a library card mamn?" No, I need to get one. "Does your drivers license have your current address on it?" No. {i should've lied but my kids were present} "Well, then you cant check anything out, bc we need proof of your current address like a bank statement or a utility bill." I must have given her a look to kill bc she just looked down and said.."we will do it this time, make sure you bring it with you next time." I smiled and said thank you in the nicest voice i could muster up at the time, I grabbed our books, quietly yelled to the kids "lets go!" and walked very QUICKLY toward the exit. When I found myself finally outside, i took a deep breath and vowed to myself to never go back in there again. So needless to say, next time my kids need to go the library, im paying auntie Erin to go for me. It will be worth every penny.