The Secret Life of Boys

A New Year and a New Resolution

2012-01-23T10:45:00.007-07:00

Can you tell what the people in the picture below are doing?

Here they are, doing the same thing, but in a different way.

My new resolution for this new year is to post as little as possible on this blog. Just kidding, that's already happening. I don't need to make a resolution for that.

Actually, Brandon and I did make a new resolution for the new year. We are going to try to yell at our kids a little more--um, I mean less. So we held a meeting with the boys to tell them about our new goal. We put some laminated cards up in our pantry and if Brandon or I raises our voice at one of them, they can go and write our name or what we yelled on a card. Then at the end of the week we tally the cards and for every card, each boy gets a half an hour of extra video game time. The boys thought this was a great idea. I told them not to get their hopes up too much because we yell so rarely. This was just one of those resolutions that we set to make ourselves feel good because we are already accomplishing the goal.

Anyway, within five minutes of our meeting being over, this appeared in the pantry:

I don't know who's mom this could possibly be referring to.

Scenes of Christmas

2011-12-25T14:12:00.005-07:00

We hope you all have a very merry Christmas!

Nativity Pageant 2011

2011-12-25T13:43:00.013-07:00

I thought you all might enjoy some shots of this year's nativity pageant.

Mary, baby, donkey:

Joseph:

Shepherds, angels:

Sheep:

Wise men (and woman):

A big thank you to all the behind the scenes folk; the set designers, costume designers, writers, producers, and all those who made this fabulous production a reality.

Christmas Lights

2011-12-25T13:21:00.007-07:00

We visited Temple Square in Salt Lake City this week to see the Christmas lights.

In a family history center display, they had this cool set-up to take immigrant pictures. They took a picture of us with their on-site camera, too, and said it would be emailed to me but it hasn't come. I'm sad. Will it come? It was cute.

Here Brandon and I are, recreating one of our wedding photos. It's kind of hard to tell the difference from the first one, huh? So awesome.

Photo Shoot

2011-12-25T12:32:00.015-07:00

After Thanksgiving Aunt Lori kindly did a photo shoot for us. These are a couple of our favorites (along with the one on our Christmas card).

I took a few of my own shots. Brandon and I thought it would be fun to go for a music album look here. Mostly the boys were just irritated about the whole thing.

However, we did discover that this guy is a little GQ model in the making.

Then we went and messed around on the river trail because it was a beautiful day.

More to Come...Soon

2011-12-20T08:42:00.004-07:00

Well, since we sent out Christmas cards this week, and since we put our blog address on the card telling people they could check out (on our blog) what we've been up to, I thought I should probably post something more current. Yeah, it's been a while. So this post is to let you know that I don't have much time to post right now, but I will...soon. (I hope.) But hey, at least we sent Christmas cards this year! That's better than last year.

If you want some good reading now and don't want to come back later, try THIS post. It's one of my best.

Halloween Party (2011)

2011-11-04T19:03:00.031-06:00

BOO!!

We had another excellent Halloween Party this year. I hope reading this is as entertaining to you as it is to me--just posting about it makes me chuckle.

Once again, we had a very impressive guest list. Let me introduce to you: Pumpkinstein, a mad scientist, a ninja, a nerd, and a Gondorian Soldier.

The loveliest gumball machine, ever:

Two adorable owls:

A loopy leprechaun:

A vacuum cleaner:

Indiana Jones:

A game of twister:

A cute care bear:

A pretty princess:

The Incredible Hulk, and a "fork in the road":

A witch:

A cute cowgirl:

Wolverine:

Darth Maul:

Morticia and Gomez:

I loved all the costumes. I'm sure the boys disagree with me on this, but I think seeing everyone dressed up is about as fun as opening presents on Christmas.

After a delicious dinner and trick-or-treating, we had some fabulous entertainment. (My apologies that I was unable to post some "acts" due to insufficient lighting for one and I wasn't quick enough with my camera for another two.) Enjoy!

Aunt Heidi and Aunt Holli wrote and choreographed this. I posted the lyrics below since it is hard to hear all of them.

We have a really, really fun family
Always full of laughter all always full of parties
Logan, Jenn, Brand, Lori
Heidi, Ryan, Kristi, Steph and Holli

La, La, La, we love you
La, La, La, forever
La, La, La, you rock
La, La, La.

We’re starting out tonight, tonight
With Logan and Bec and baby on the way
Jenn and Curtis, they say they hold the record
With 6 great kids.

We don’t know if there done
There could be another one
They’ll need a new van for sure, for sure.

The Allred’s have 4 big boys
Always building something, getting into trouble.
Brandon watching old BBall
Becky just rolls her eyes, HA!

La La La glory days
La La La he wishes
La La La oh well
La La La

Lori’s going out tonight, tonight
With Andy, Wolverine and who knows who.
Can’t keep track, at all, not sure if she can too.

Spencer’s going bald
He shaved it off instead
Denial, I say, oh well, Oh well

You got me singin’ like
Whoa, come on
Oh, it doesn’t matter
Whoa, everybody now, oh

Ty and Kate they just don’t stop,
They keep on going Heidi can’t keep up,
No more kids please, just for now
Just bought a house, don’t destroy it now

Ryan’s at an auction buying up cars
Bringing home the money Crystal can spend
House full of girls, Barbie’s on the floor
Michael came along and turned it all around.

It’s you and me in this Utah town.
Kristi says every day to JP now.
No more surfing or eating beef, Oh wait I eat that now.

Everybody
Whoa, come on
Oh, all you animals
Whoa, let me hear you now, oh

Steph and Josh are living in the cold
They are going to freeze.
Josh makes bank, I hope they drew our name for Christmas this year.

Holli’s art projects
Are so darn weird, don’t get it
Just ask a boy out, tonight, tonight
Don’t be shy, flirt, touch and wink!
Yeah, it’s all right all right, tonight, tonight

Just singin’ like whoa, come on
Oh, all you party people
Whoa, all you singletons
Oh, even the little kids

Let’s not forget our amazing mom,
The glue that holds us all in place.
She’s gone crazy zip line in the wild and Europe on a whim.
We love her and her small talk if she falls asleep.
She takes care of everyone all day long in hopes of more grandkids!

Happy Halloween!

Rocky Mountain Hike

2011-10-30T19:58:00.039-06:00

Hello! This is Onion Ring and my second post. I am probably going to make a few mistakes so just ignore them. Last week our family went on a hike up Rock Canyon.

Recently my brother Buttermilk Sky and I, have been getting into The Lord of the Rings. Our family likes to name things and so it follows to reason that many of the things that we saw, we named them from things in Lord of the Rings. This mountain we named Caradhras.

When we find something we think is cool we either name it something we've heard or make up a name. This is Riverrock

We came up to a large stone formation on the side of the road. Buttermilk went closer and discovered that the side was like a stair. We started climbing. We got fairly far before mom called us back. We named it Cirith Ungol which was the winding stair up into the lair of Shelob.

Here are all of us in a convenient indent in the rock furthur on.

We also climbed up into this place. We named it the Entrance to Moria because in the book there are two trees like gateposts standing on either side of the door like here. You can't really see the one on the right but you can see the branches of the one on the left.

We came to this rock that we had come to the last time we had visited and named it Amon Hen, the Mount of Sight.

We found the remains of some old car in the dried up riverbed right on the side of the road. If anyone knows what it is please comment.

The goal of our hike was to come to an old drinking fountain. We named it the Mirror of Galadriel.

Eggs found this staff on the side of the road on the way back and has it to this day.

On the way back it was cold and we warmed up on Amon Hen.

It was a fun hike.

The Heber Creeper

2011-10-15T23:14:00.020-06:00

We recently took a ride on the Heber Creeper. (Technically, it's now called the Heber Valley Railroad.)

The train pictured below is not the one on which we rode, but I thought it looked really cool.

Junior was very nervous about going on this train ride. Apparently he still does not trust us due to past trauma.

As soon as we got going, he cheered up.

It was a nice, slow ride. It is a historic train, after all.

Uh, oh--somebody lost something. Luckily, none of us lost anything like that.

The scenery was gorgeous.

The train was robbed during our ride.

Things got a little intense there for a while.

I read online reviews about these rides before we decided to go and many of them were negative, saying that it was boring, uncomfortable, and not worth the money. After reading them we almost decided against going, but I'm glad we did go because we really enjoyed it. It was peaceful, beautiful, and fun to have an old-time train experience. However, I would not want to go in the summer because there is no AC. It was a pleasant fall day for our ride. Also, we chose a shorter excursion--maybe the longer ones get tiresome--and we had a coupon, so our price wasn't so high. One thing that I think could be improved is the tour script. They told us about some of the things we passed, but I would have liked to have heard more about the history of that railroad and interesting facts about the trains. So there's my two cents, in case anyone is interested.

The fact that we took the boys out of school early probably added to their enjoyment.

Here is a poem by Emily Dickinson with which I conclude this post:

The Railway Train

I like to see it lap the miles,
And lick the valleys up,
And stop to feed itself at tanks;
And then, prodigious, step

Around a pile of mountains,
And, supercilious, peer
In shanties, by the sides of roads;
And then a quarry pare

To fit its sides, and crawl between,
Complaining all the while
In horrid, hooting stanza;
Then chase itself down hill

And neigh like Boanerges;
Then, punctual as a star,
Stop--docile and omnipotent--
At its own stable door.

Pinewood Adventure

2011-10-14T23:22:00.009-06:00

Eggs on Toast turned eight just in time to be in the Pinewood Derby. He was so thrilled.

They had a high-tech set-up this year with a joke-telling emcee and everything.

Shall we have just one more "round of applause"?

Eight is Enough

2011-10-14T21:20:00.018-06:00

Someone turned eight years old a couple of weeks ago. Someone who once looked like this:

And who now looks like this:

He wanted an "arachnid" birthday party. We ended up focusing on the spider aspect of arachnids.

The Silly Grandma made this fabulous cake, of course.

The party-goers hunted down a giant egg sac which was hid in our house by a giant spider.

We then hung it from the basketball hoop,

and bashed it to shreds.

Because that is what one does with giant egg sacs which have been extricated from one's house.

And once the egg sac was bashed to bits, the party-goers scrambled to gather the innards which had been spilt upon the ground and put them into little bags to feast upon later.

How frightfully delightful.

Happy Birthday, Eggs on Toast!

Run, Run, As Fast As You Can!

2011-10-11T10:50:00.009-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, Eggs on Toast and Junior ran a mile at BYU's Triple Crown Elementary School Races.

This is the same run that Onion Ring ran when he was in second grade.

They had never run a mile before (that we know of) and so they were a little nervous.

Afterward they told us that they wished they hadn't done it because it was really hard, but they were glad they did it because they felt good afterward.

What an accomplishment!

Soccer 2011

2011-10-11T08:21:00.008-06:00

Eggs on Toast and Junior got to be on the same soccer team this Fall. I love it when that happens.

They played hard and had a lot of fun.

Watson Lake

2011-10-10T12:01:00.046-06:00

This picture was taken about twelve years ago when we went backpacking up to Watson Lake with the Silly Grandpa and Grandma, Aunt Stephanie, and Aunt Holli (aren't they so cute?). Watson Lake, one of thousands of lakes in the High Uintas, is a favorite spot for Brandon's family, and they went backpacking there many times.

Brandon and I hadn't been back until several weeks ago when we hiked up with several aunts, an uncle, and a bunch of cousins.

This isn't Watson Lake. This is Lily Pad Pond. I don't think that's the official name, but that's what I named it.

It is not a long or difficult hike but there are some steep spots.

Nothing that the two year old couldn't do, though.

This is not Watson Lake, either, but one of the many other lakes.

I love the shape of the rocks in this area--they are all kind of cube-ish. I also love the shapes on this boy's face--they are all kind of smile-ish.

Does Baby Luke have a "Precious Moments" face, or what?

Notice the totem pole featured in the photo below (circa 1999). Brandon carved it with the help of others.

As we were hiking in this time, we talked about our past visits and wondered if that totem pole was still there. I thought there was no way it would be, but lo and behold, it was! I was all astonishment.

You can see the freshly carved totem pole in this photo (below, in the right-hand corner) as well. Also notice the table/pavilion that we (we being used loosely, here) lashed together.

And observe the raft.

Wow, what industrious, resourceful campers! (Thanks to the Silly Grandpa and Grandma.)

Onion Ring was a sweet little one-year-old at the time of this long-ago backpacking trip.

Awwww.

Too bad I didn't try to recreate the above photo with our present day Onion Ring. This would have been a perfect spot for it.

There was an abundance of flowers blooming this late in the season because the snows had been so heavy this past winter that they had just recently melted.

This is Watson Lake.

My favorite part of the hike was this little waterfall. It was so beautiful. I took a lot of pictures of it.

This is my favorite shot of the day:

Talented

2011-10-05T10:28:00.016-06:00

Criminitly! Time's a flyin' and I have slacked on the blog, so boy do I ever have a ton of things to post. To get things rolling, here are a bunch of videos from a hike we went on with our beloved relations. It was an impromptu display of talent in the woods, the likeness of which you may never have beheld, and may never ever behold again.

Below: Dana taught Buttermilk Sky a new skill that she learnt at girl's camp.

There are hardly words that can describe.

Lori's skills shocked and delighted.

Following: many desired to emulate Lori's finesse.

And Jenn...the amazing Jenn!

These people are so talented, it makes me cry (the kind from laughing so hard).

Meet Frankenfly

2011-09-09T12:41:00.010-06:00

Hello, Frankenfly.

What sort of awful radioactive concoction were you fed which caused you to grow so freakishly large? And who stooped to this dastardly deed?

I hope you don't bite us and cause us to get super ripped and bestowed with super powers (and be called Fly Man or Fly Woman). Actually, some of the boys might like that.

Really, I'm just glad you are not in my house because then I would need to either remove you or kill you and I don't think I would handle either very well. And that might get embarrassing.

PS. Has anybody out there ever seen one of these or know what it is? It was close to an inch long!

Back to School

2011-08-26T18:37:00.004-06:00

It's hard to believe it's that time of year again! Summer vacation has flown by. (Sniff, sniff.)

Though we are sad for summer to end, all of the boys were looking forward to school at least a little bit--some more than others. I think it's always exciting to start a new school year. It looks like it will be a good one!

Snowbird Visit

2011-08-26T16:56:00.010-06:00

The Far Grandma and Grandpa came up for their annual visit to Snowbird, so we spent some time with them there.

This brazen creature was hanging around the pool looking for handouts.

I spent way too much time obsessively searching the Internet to figure out what kind of a critter he is. He looks chipmunk-ish, but I don't think he's a chipmunk. (New discovery: he's a Uintah Ground Squirrel.)

He was definitely a beggar!

The Bonneville Salt Flats

2011-08-24T12:18:00.029-06:00

The Bonneville Salt Flats are an amazing natural feature in Utah, located less than two hours West of Salt Lake City. This was our first visit. Junior kept saying "It looks like snow!"

A few miles Northeast of Wendover is where the Bonneville Raceway or Speedway is located and we just happened to visit the day before "Speed Week" began so there were a lot of people setting up camp with their racing vehicles.

If you want to see some amazing pictures of this event, go here.

We decided to set some land speed records of our own.

Woo-weee! So speedy!

Look at that perfect formation on the way back.

I expected the salt to be dry like a sea of sand but it was actually damp. It stuck to our feet and car like salt mud. I don't know if that is normal for this place or not.

Uh oh, I think this guy ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Let's not be like him.

Below is a picture of something that we passed on our way to the Raceway. It startled and disturbed us greatly. It was right next to the freeway without warning or explanation; no freeway exits or anything. So on the way back, I asked Brandon to stop on the side of the freeway, scurry like a jackrabbit across the freeway to take some pictures and figure out what it was. I told him to look both ways very carefully because I would have felt awful had something happened to him. He kindly obliged.

Are you as confused as we were? Luckily, there was a sign with a brief explanation.

I think I would have called it "Giant Tennis Balls Skewered on a Giant Broken Roasting Stick".

Sorry, I guess I have no appreciation for random abstract art on the side of the freeway. Or maybe I have more appreciation than most. I mean, I was willing to break laws and risk my husband's life to get pictures of it. (Click here for more info about this sculpture.)

The boys really appreciated the mirages they saw on the road. They wanted me to take pictures of those, so I did (from inside the car).

The Children's Museum and Planetarium

2011-08-21T18:24:00.031-06:00

Next we spent a day in Salt Lake City hanging out at the Discovery Gateway Children's Museum and the Clark Planetarium.

The sculpturesque thing below was the younger boys' favorite at the Children's Museum. I think it was called the "Bee Hive" and it was full of colored plastic balls which could be sent through networks of plastic tubing that sucked up in one spot and blew out in another. There were also other interesting contraptions in which to move the balls around, and ways to gather them, move them, and dump them.

I think "Bee Hive" was a pretty good name for it.

Check out all these purty gurls that Junior hooked up with!

This place had a lot of really cool things for the younger kids, and some cool things for the older kids, too, but it seemed to mostly cater to the younger crowd.

We rode Trax around just for fun.

The Planetarium had plenty of interesting exhibits to explore.

I'd say this contraption was the coolest thing in both the Children's Museum and the Planetarium.

This is how the Clark Planetarium describes it on their website (here):

NEWTON'S DAYDREAM

"Newton's Daydream," an audio-kinetic sculpture by renowned artist and sculptor George Rhoads, is the newest permanent exhibit at the Clark Planetarium.

The two-story tall sculpture combines an intricate maze of moving balls with bells, drums and other noisemaking obstacles to create a whirring visual and auditory palette. "Newton's Daydream" is installed inside the Planetarium's main lobby and will be the focal point for all visitors.

"Whirring visual and auditory palette"? Love the phraseology.

It was really difficult to take decent pictures of it because it was so huge and the lights reflected in annoying ways on the glass. I highly recommend going there just to experience this thing. I could have watched it for hours...if there had been a comfy chair.

Luckily, there was a comfy chair in the dome theater where we watched "Violent Universe". I must say Brandon and I were disappointed in the dome theater movie. We both slept through it and the boys said it was "okay". I had wanted to see it because I thought a dome theater sounded kind of cool (and it was). But it turned out that it was only a half hour long, kind of a low budget film and we paid the same price we would have paid for a feature length professional movie in the IMAX. I'm just letting you know, in case any of you want to go...

Coming up next...the Salt Flats!

Logan Canyon and Bear Lake

2011-08-21T13:10:00.017-06:00

Next we went camping at our favorite place in Logan Canyon and cast our lines into the river which was ridiculously high.

Notice I said "cast our lines" rather than "fished". We still have yet to catch a fish.

Hopefully that will change some day.

Because we never give up!

The next day we landed at Bear Lake which was also ridiculously high.

See my lovely arrow? That is the end of a road jutting out into the lake. The arrow points to the place where we normally drive our car out to, then down a ramp and onto the sand because the water normally meets the sand just a little beyond that place.

It was the most beautiful day we have ever had at Bear Lake. There was hardly any wind (it is usually fairly windy) and the sky was clear and the temperature warm.

While we were there, I thought of how much fun it would be to live in a nearby town and be able to play at the beach any time.

Then Brandon reminded me of what winters are like in this area.

I guess Florida would be more up my alley.

For now, a trip to Bear Lake in the summer will have to suffice!

Willow Park Zoo

2011-08-19T08:43:00.015-06:00

There is a little zoo in Logan called the Willow Park Zoo, so we paid a visit after snarfing down our Bluebird chocolates.

This turtle was a real favorite with the boys.

Meet Cyndi Lauper:

Signs said that all of the predatory birds had been injured in the wild and could no longer fly.

Meet Fluffy:

Meet Wile E.:

This was the best shot possible of the bobcat:

Meet Fred and Wilma. I mean Thelma and Louise. No...Chuck and Norris. No, no, no...Ben and Jerry. Or is it Tom and Jerry? Oh, it's Dexter and Able!

How did they end up in Logan?

Bluebird Candy Co.

2011-08-16T20:34:00.017-06:00

While in Logan we also had a tour of the Bluebird Candy Co. They give tours every week day at 11:00 AM. Yeah! Chocolates!

Here are all the different chocolates ready to be packed into boxes:

The packaging/shipping room:

This is where they make the centers:

Here is macaroon center being cooked:

This table has a water heating/cooling system so it can be hot or cold depending on what is needed.

This thing is for mixing cream centers:

This gadget slices the centers:

Here are the chocolate melting vats which keep the chocolate at a constant perfect temperature.

This machine is used for coating chocolates. They use it for their bars, and all the rest of their chocolates are hand-dipped. They told us you can tell if a chocolate has been coated by machine or hand by the thickness of the chocolate. Machines create a coating the thickness of the chocolate coating on a Snicker's bar and hand coatings are much thicker.

These ladies are dipping the chocolates.

They told us that they put water in their chocolate which makes it thicker and hold it's shape better. I was surprised because I have always understood that you never allow any water to get into the chocolate or it will seize (clump up). They said that is true for lesser quality chocolate but they use a very high quality chocolate (Guittard).

They also make molded chocolates, and check out these shapes! Have you ever seen chocolate tools before? That hammer is solid chocolate.

We were each given a sample, but of course we had to buy some, too. (Tours are great marketing!)

It was a very interesting, informative, and rewarding (yummy!) tour--they showed us pretty much everything about their process. (Except recipes. I would sure love a good center recipe.) And the ladies were very nice. I also love their logo and box design. It's classy vintage, their original logo, I imagine. You can see it a little on their website, here.

Cox Honeyland

2011-08-16T12:47:00.010-06:00

After leaving the hot springs we headed into Cache Valley where we first stopped at Cox Honeyland. Have you ever tried Cox Honey? I love their creamed honey, especially the flavored ones.

I wish we had had time to watch the videos they show about their operations and their bees. Maybe next time. We did have a little time to go into the gift shop where they have a glass-encased hive. Very cool!

This hive has passageways under ground that lead outside so the bees can go in and out.

The sweet lady in the shop told us a little about the bees and answered our questions.

Most interesting thing we learned: Each day every worker bee touches the queen bee to get it's instructions for the day. The lady pointed the queen out to us and told us you can pick her out from the other bees because she is a little longer and there is always a ring of bees around her coming to get their instructions.

Most disturbing thing we learned: I have read about how bee populations are decreasing so I asked if that is happening to their hives, and she said it is. She said they are losing around 5-10% of their bees every year. She told us that all pollinators (like hummingbirds and butterflies) also have decreasing populations and that now the same thing is happening with birds and fish. She said some of their bee keeper friends in California lost all of their hives in a matter of months. She said that pesticides cause a lot of problems for the bees, including their babies to be hatched with undeveloped brains. So they are very careful to keep their bees away from fields that have been sprayed.

It was fascinating to learn about bees--they are amazing little critters. Too bad it isn't the mosquito populations that are decreasing.

Crystal Hot Springs

2011-08-15T10:00:00.002-06:00

Our next stop was Crystal Hot Springs in Honeyville. I've bought Honeyville wheat and oats, but until now, had never been to Honeyville, a tiny little farming community near Tremonton.

Crystal Hot Springs is a resort with a couple of water slides, an Olympic-size pool, and several hot pools, the two latter being filled with water piped from the nearby springs. There is also a lodge and campgrounds. While we were there, the slides were closed, so we never got to try them out.

I had read reviews when we were making plans and so I knew beforehand that it was a dive, but my initial reaction was still to feel a little dismayed. They really need to do some improvements. It's actually an historic place (and it shows)--my dad told me that he went there when he was a kid.

At first I was a bit bothered by the color of the water and the stains on the concrete (it looked dirty and algae filled), but it wasn't algae or dirt, it was just the minerals and I quickly got over it. Also, the water had a salty, mineral-y taste which bothered some of the boys at first, but after a while they didn't seem to care.

Supposedly, swimming in mineral water is good for you. I did find it relaxing. You are supposed to drink lots of water (not the mineral water, but fresh drinking water) when you swim in it.

Check this out!

It turns out that Crystal Hot Springs is quite the hot spot in Honeyville. By evening, the place probably had a quarter of the town's population. (Just kidding, of course!)

It also turns out that we had a lot of fun there. It is a dive, but also has its charm.

We camped there that night. We had almost the whole place to ourselves.

The boys weren't thrilled about the campground because it obviously isn't in the forest, but there were plenty of big trees and since there was almost nobody there, it was fine. I wouldn't want to camp there when the campground is full, though, because there is no privacy and the camp sites are rather close together.

A stray cat came by that the kids named "Doodimus".

Don't mess with Onion Ring in the morning.

Brandon rigged up the best swing he ever has. Thanks to a perfect branch on this huge tree and Brandon's awesome skillz.

So here's the verdict: this place has some quirks but we really liked it and would enjoy going there again.

Hill Aerospace Museum

2011-08-14T16:28:00.037-06:00

We were planning a big vacation this summer to Oregon and Washington (2000 or so mile road trip), however, due to some reliability issues with our automobile, we decided to take a little vacation closer to home. The next bunch of posts will be about the things we done did on this little vacay.

The Hill Aerospace Museum was our first stop.

We took our boys here several years ago but the younger two didn't really remember.

These planes with the funny noses look like goofy cartoon characters to me.

It's hard for me to believe that these humongous, bulbous, lunky things could actually fly.

The museum houses its smaller aircraft inside. Here is the airplane section:

I don't have many interesting facts to share with you about these photos because the boys didn't have the patience to sit around while I read about everything. However, if you are interested, there is a lot of info on the museum website, so go here to learn more.

This is a full scale model of the first atomic bomb and it kind of creeps me out. I almost feel like I'm posting a picture of the devil, so I guess I'm feeding into some morbid fascination, here.

On to the jet section:

Watch out for this guy!

This baby was the favorite item in the museum--the "Blackbird".

I took a lot of pictures of it because it was very large and in a crammed space, so it was difficult to get a good shot of the whole thing.

It sure does have some beautiful lines.

If you're thinking of visiting this place, I recommend it. It's fun, interesting, educational, and free (yay!). FYI: September 17th this year is open cockpit day when they will let you inside certain aircraft.

Hiking Rock Canyon

2011-08-14T13:42:00.019-06:00

I guess it's been a while since we have hiked Rock Canyon because I can't find any other posts on this blog about it. Which is surprising because it is one of my favorite hikes. I love the fantastic rock formations and cliffs. Maybe I felt discouraged the last time we went because we only made it to the green gate (which is barely into the canyon) before Brandon and I succumbed to the whining and crying and turned around.

This time I think we may have made it a mile in--possibly a mile and a half--thanks to the cousins and Aunt Kristi and Uncle JP who came along. Having friends to talk and play with took the boys' minds off of the fact that they were actually exerting their bodies.

In fact, they were having such a great time that they didn't even want to turn around to head home. The setting of the sun was the only reason we did. Maybe someday we will make it the entire six miles to the end of the trail (it ends at a campground). A future backpacking trip perhaps?

I always feel peaceful awe and amazement in Rock Canyon. These pictures don't do it justice. Sometimes it's a pretty neat experience to feel so small.

Gutter of Fire 2011

2011-07-31T22:32:00.003-06:00

Our neighbors threw another "Gutter of Fire" party to celebrate Pioneer Day. Since the aerial fireworks were legalized in Utah this year, they didn't have to worry about the fire department showing up (like last year).

Pioneer Day 2011

2011-07-31T21:12:00.017-06:00

For Pioneer Day this year we set off a few little fireworks in our backyard.

Smoke bombs, blossoms, and tanks are some of the boys' favorites.

I love this shot of Brandon.

After setting off the tanks so that they shoot at each other, the boys love to set the remains on fire with sparklers.

There was a specific look they were going for, as demonstrated by the photos (below) that they took the next morning.

Are you wondering what is going on with Buttermilk Sky here? So am I.

The boys could not have been more content that evening, having the opportunity to express their inner pyro.

The Far Grandma and Grandpa Visit

2011-07-31T16:51:00.006-06:00

We love it when the Far Grandma and Grandpa come to visit.

I just wish I'd remembered my camera when we played laser tag!

Another Use for Silly Putty

2011-07-27T17:16:00.004-06:00

Shortly after this, some silly putty horns appeared on me. I neglected to take a picture.

Far Grandma (after laughing): Horns? That should be a halo on your mother's head.

Onion Ring: Well, maybe sometimes. But the horns are accurate, too.

The Dollar Store Feast...Again

2011-07-27T16:18:00.008-06:00

After the last Dollar Store Feast, the boys and their friends immediately began making plans for another--only bigger and better. Last week they carried out their plans, accumulating twenty six dollars for the occasion (As opposed to eleven the last time, and there was actually a time before that using three dollars. Hmmm, it's like a number sequence. Is there a pattern? Can we predict what the next number will be?).

I think they all felt rather sick after this. Talk of Dollar Store Feasts has currently ceased.

A River Runs Over It

2011-07-19T10:00:00.001-06:00

Several weeks ago we went on a bike ride to see how high the river and lake were. The snowpack in the mountains was at a record high this year--200 percent of normal levels--so flooding has been a concern. Luckily the spring was fairly cool and so the snow has melted at a steady rate, slowly enough to prevent much flooding. Normally spring temperatures are much warmer. However, the water levels are higher than we've ever seen, so we went to check it out.

Although Junior has learned to ride his bike, he has not been eager at all to continue riding it. He has to be coaxed and cajoled. We brought his bike along, contrary to his desires, and at one point stopped and got it out so he could ride. He reluctantly did so (some screaming and crying occurred at some point) but we quickly put him back in the trailer and rode off, abandoning all such efforts because of the horrific mosquito attack that we encountered. They literally swarmed us and swarming mosquitoes make me panic.

Doesn't Brandon look hot on his low rider?

We didn't see any flooding until we got close to the lake. The river flowed over the trail in one spot.

And the road.

You can see that the lake doesn't usually come up this far because of the trees.

Water + rocks + boys = this...

and this...

The Dollar Store Feast

2011-07-13T12:26:00.008-06:00

This week the boys collectively pulled one thousand and one hundred weeds, earning eleven dollars. (Yes, I pay one penny per weed. Am I generous or what!!?) Then the two eldest and two of their friends set off on their bikes for the dollar store with backpacks on their backs containing only small coolers containing only blue ice. They returned with the coolers full of popsicles and the backpacks full of pop, chips, candy, and silly putty (for the two youngest). Then the feast commenced.

Did you know that silly putty has many uses...

...including making angry eyes?

The Family Reunion

2011-07-10T12:54:00.017-06:00

Here are the people, all related,

Talking and eating and feeling elated

To be at the family reunion.

Huggin',

horse-shoein',

boogy-in',

and chillin',

Never, oh never are we unwillin'

To go to the family reunion.

Never again will such fun abound

As did abound like the balls bouncing 'round and 'round

Till the next family reunion.

As a ball to it's tether

So do we stick together

Day after day, no matter the weather

For we love our family (reunion).

4th of July 2011

2011-07-05T18:05:00.003-06:00

We hope you all had a fabulous Fourth of July!

The Teenager

2011-07-05T14:18:00.009-06:00

Look at this punk. The hair...the crazy driving...

...the attitude... I've always thought that Onion Ring acted like a teenager since the age of four.

Has anything changed?

Of course it has! Now that Onion Ring actually is a teenager, he will perfectly obey everything his parents say, be a model student, a responsible and kind older brother, and begin contributing to the household income.

Teenage life is a piece of cake!

Lagoon 2011

2011-06-24T13:37:00.019-06:00

We recently had our annual trip to Lagoon, compliments of Brandon's employer. Here is Buttermilk Sky in front of Dracula's Castle.

I slacked with the camera and didn't get as many good shots as usual--as well as the fact that I spent most of my time in the kiddie ride section with Junior and Eggs on Toast.

This year we tried out Lagoon's water park. Brandon and I spent our first twenty minutes there searching for the three eldest boys because after they were finished changing in the dressing room, Brandon told them to "go out and wait," and they heard "go out and wade," so they went on into the children's section to "wade". It took us that long to find them.

The boys decided that while they had fun, next time they don't want to go in the water park because the rides are better. The wait for the big water slides was about an hour and they feel like they get good enough swim fun at our local pool.

Junior made a friend on the bumper cars and thereafter, the two were inseparable.

Junior had thus far refused to go on the dragon kiddie coaster, recalling last year's fear, until his new friend made him "pinkie promise" that he would go on it after they rode the fighter planes.

After that it was his favorite ride.

This year's faves:

Junior: Puff the Magic Dragon
Eggs on Toast: Rattlesnake Rapids
Buttermilk Sky: Colossus
Onion Ring: Wicked

Summer Sports

2011-06-21T14:43:00.013-06:00

Junior has been playing T-ball this summer.

Buttermilk Sky is on a Coach Pitch team this year.

Buttermilk Sky is lucky to have his best friend on his team.

Both boys said that their favorite part about it is the treats they get after each game. Excluding that, they both love batting. Buttermilk Sky said, "It feels real good when you hit a good one."

Up On the Roof

2011-06-20T13:29:00.013-06:00

Our roof started leaking earlier this month, coming through the light fixture above our dinner table. So we hired a guy to replace it.

He was planning to spend a day tearing the old one off. Little did we know, that underneath the first layer of shingles and tar paper was the original roof, which consisted of tar and gravel. It was not easy to get off.

It had to be pried, scraped, and peeled, by utilizing muscle groups both small and great. It was time consuming. So we all went up and pitched in so we could get it off in time for the new roofing materials to be delivered. Our family and neighbors generously helped, too.

Little did we know, the dumpster we rented was too small to hold all of this stuff that made up our old, leaky roof.

We filled the dumpster, our trailer, and then our driveway.

Are you sorry for us, yet? Waah, waah.

Now it is all cleaned up and we have a lovely, new roof.

The End.

What We've Been Doing

2011-06-19T13:16:00.013-06:00

I can't believe June is more than half over. Summer is zipping by. Here are some things we've been up to.

5th grade camp:

T-Ball:

Coach Pitch:

a new roof:

Lagoon:

and enjoying lovely peonies:

More details about these things to come!

Last Day of School

2011-05-27T21:40:00.010-06:00

Today was the much anticipated Last Day.

All of the elementary school boys had great teachers this year. (Poor Junior had the sun in his eyes.)

Onion Ring thought middle school was way better than elementary school (and made sure to let the younger boys know it). He had some really excellent teachers, too. (And one not excellent at all teacher--but at least it was only one!)

Do you like this staged photo (below)? Onion Ring and his friend were so nice to walk down the front walk so I could take a picture. Onion Ring would never have consented to such a thing if his friend hadn't.

Amazingly enough, this is the same middle school that both the Ice Cream Grandma and Grandpa attended. It was brand new back then.

And now let the fun (ie: slavery to me) begin!!! They think they'll be playing all summer? Think again!!(Insert evil laughing.)

Onion Ring's Concert and Recital

2011-05-27T16:51:00.013-06:00

Onion Ring recently had his end of the school year orchestra concert and fiddle recital. Now he is very glad they are over.

This piece was a scream! (Ha ha!) It was very unique.

Enjoy!

New Skilz

2011-05-24T12:35:00.004-06:00

Junior has been more reluctant than any of our other boys to learn to ride a bike. But he finally took the plunge.

Yay, Junior!

Junior: A Life Sketch

2011-05-07T15:21:00.002-06:00

Junior turned six last week. He was so excited for his birthday. As for me...well, that's another story (my baby!!).

We threw an awesome party for him involving a lovely cake from the Silly Grandma (altered in this image for identity protection, of course)...

...super fun games (pictured below: Shoot the Balloon with the Nerf Bullet)...

...pinata...

...pinata...

...pinata...

(does anybody know how to type "enyay"? I don't.)

...pinata...

...pinata...

...pinata...

...cake and ice cream...

...and presents, of course!

And now, meet Junior shortly after his birth. Do you think he was excited for this Birth Day?

Awwww...

Check out those cheeks--I just want to bite them...

Ohhh, adorable!

I can hardly stand it...

Did you know that Junior is the only one of the boys who doesn't have blue eyes? He has greenish-hazel like Brandon.

Junior used to suck his thumb. A nasty habit he picked up from riff raff at the newborn unit.

It was actually fabulous. None of my other babies would take pacifiers or bottles, so it was a dream come true that Junior could pacify himself.

I appreciated the benefits (it was so cute, too) but worried about having to break him of the habit later, because I've heard plenty of stories. Luckily, when he was about three, he got an owie on his thumb that required a band aid. That was all it took. He stopped sucking it and I kept a band aid on that thumb for a month or so and he's never gone back. What a good boy he is!

Junior loves to sit on the warm vent in the winter.

He also loves to dress up.

Sometimes he allows his brothers to dress him up.

He loves to jump on the tramp.

Drawing is a form a play for Junior. He doesn't draw stationary things or snapshots of single events, rather he draws things (rockets, dinosaurs, etc.) and then he draws what happens (shooting, biting, etc.). It's more of a story that he is imagining.

Junior has made some really neat things by cutting up paper and taping or gluing the pieces together. Pictured below is one, and I plan to do a separate post on other things he has made.

We are so glad we have Junior! He makes our lives so much more excellent.

Easter 2011

2011-04-30T19:25:00.012-06:00

On your marks ... get set ...

... GO!

We had a nice Easter weekend. We finally met the boys' new cousin, Rosie. She was born in early December.

I was getting some close-ups and she wanted to eat my camera. Can you blame her? It's a yummy camera.

I love the look on babies' faces when they are intensely going after something.

GIMMMEEEE.

Rosie's sister, Lavender was intensely going after Easter eggs.

The Far Grandma and Grandpa came to visit, too, and we were so glad to see them.

Easter egg hunts (involving plenty of chocolate) + good food + family = a great weekend.

P.S. Uncle Randy introduced us to our new favorite YouTube videos. For the first episode (of four), go here.

Be Good to Your Self

2011-04-24T13:22:00.004-06:00

The other day Brandon and Junior went shopping and Junior got a sucker at the store. On the way home Brandon noticed that Junior had his head down and his lower lip stuck out in a huge pout.

Brandon: What's the matter, Junior?

Junior (wimpering): I hurt my self's feelings.

Brandon: How did you do that?

Junior: I chewed up my sucker and now its gone.

Gator Bite

2011-04-13T14:28:00.015-06:00

Warning: The following post contains graphic images. Proceed with caution.

There was an alligator attack in our house this week. Blood and carnage commenced. Pictured below is the carnage. The blood had already been cleaned up.

Here are the deviant cuspids...

...the evil, glassy eye and the tough, shriveled skin...

...the mighty, savage jaws.

Note to individuals living in this household: Do not leave this thing lying on the floor where it can be stepped on.

Looking on the bright side, this wound has given Junior the opportunity to gross-out the neighbor kids, which gives him a social advantage.

Junior to Neighbor kids: Do you want to see my owie?

Neighbor kids: Yeah!

Junior, pulling off band aids: See?

Neighbor kids gasp in respectful awe: Eew!

A Peek Inside the Loony Bin

2011-04-12T15:33:00.013-06:00

This week is spring break for us. Would you like to see what we've been doing?

How goofy does it get at your house?

Better than Spring Flowers

2011-04-08T17:33:00.003-06:00

There comes a day every spring, not too long after the snow has melted and the air has a hint of warmth in it, when the boys and neighbor children rediscover the joys of the sandbox.

Witness the peaceful contentment and complete absorption.

Slip Slidin' Away

2011-04-04T18:24:00.000-06:00

Some friends invited us ice skating recently. This was a first for all the boys except Onion Ring.

They loved it.

Spring Snow

2011-04-03T16:38:00.013-06:00

Winter is always reluctant to leave around these parts. I continue to be amazed at the bipolar nature of the weather in the spring. Yesterday temperatures reached 70 degrees and then we woke up this morning to about four inches of snow. I sent Eggs on Toast out to take some pictures of it.

He obliged, complete with self portrait.

After breakfast the boys all went out to get their fill of the cold, wet stuff.

A lot of it melted throughout the day and now it is snowing again. Ten minutes later--now it's not.

Happy Hunting Grounds

2011-03-27T17:09:00.019-06:00

We had to bid an untimely goodbye to Napoleon this week because he passed away. We had noticed him behaving a little strangely the past two months or so. One day in January he didn't lift his head up at all. He walked around looking at the pavement, even when people were petting him. If you are familiar with cats, you know that is very unusual. But then the next day he seemed fine. Then it happened again a little later, though not so severely. Then I noticed him licking things. At first I thought he was licking water out of puddles but then I realized there was no water in the things he was licking. He started limping on his bad leg but we couldn't feel anything wrong with it. Then he became less and less active, sometimes spending entire days in his house, which he has never done before, even in the coldest of weather. Then sometimes as he was sitting, his head would slowly slump down until it was drooping, as if he were falling asleep. But if you know cats, you know that is not how they fall asleep. Poor kitty! Last week he stopped eating and drinking and doing much of anything. The vet told us he had "feline infectious peritonitis" which is incurable and fatal and he died on Friday. We had a funeral and buried him under our grapevine.

Napoleon would have turned five this summer. Here he is shortly after we brought him home with his brother, Hobbes. (Hobbes disappeared his first winter with us.)

Napoleon and Hobbes were Onion Ring's eighth birthday present and Onion Ring had a special bond with Napoleon.

But we all loved him. Here are some of our favorite memories of Napoleon:

Junior: When Napoleon was a kitten we would pull a string that he would chase after.

Eggs on Toast: A few years ago our neighbors got a black lab and one time when she came into our yard, Napoleon suddenly jumped at her, puffed himself up, hissed, and growled, and the dog ran yelping back to her yard.

Buttermilk Sky: Click here to read Buttermilk Sky's favorite memory.

Onion Ring: Click here to read Onion Rings favorite memory.

Me: Sometimes if we were sitting and petting Napoleon he would reach out a paw and lightly touch our leg or arm as if to express his affection.

I also loved how the kids would go outside and call in loud, high pitched voices, "NAPOOOOOOOLEEEEEAAAAAAAN! HEEEEEEEEEEEEEERE, KITTY, KITTY!" and he would always come running.

Brandon: Click here to read one of Brandon's favorite memories.

Brandon also liked how when he would come home from work, Napoleon would greet him by meowing and walking expectantly over to the shed where his food was kept and then as Brandon would get his food, Napoleon would continually tangle himself in Brandon's feet, walking right in Brandon's way until his food was set down.

One more thing that Brandon liked was that Napoleon wore a path through our grass because he always walked in the exact same place to go hunting. If there was snow on the ground, he would wear a path through the snow in the exact same spot.

Below is the last picture that I took of Napoleon, and it's one of my favorites. It was on the day that Aunt Lori came over (click here) to begin building a tree house with the boys. After they had finished for the day and Onion Ring was up in the branches, Napoleon zoomed up the trunk and and they enjoyed being up high in the tree together.

We loved having Napoleon as our pet. We will miss him.

For the Love of Buttermilk

2011-03-06T13:42:00.027-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Buttermilk Sky turned eleven! To honor him for this great accomplishment, I am making this whole post all about him.

Here is Buttermilk shortly after making his grand entrance. And grand it was--Buttermilk was a whopping ten pounder! (Can you see it in my face?) He had fabulous color and lung power.

He was a strong baby, able to lift his head right away.

Buttermilk crawled at four months and took his first steps at eight and a half months.

He was a round, stocky (fat) baby; a robust eater (what happened!?).

Here he is engaging in his (still) favorite past time.

(I love this picture.)

Here he is, pretending to be a Raptor.

He has always loved to goof off with his brothers.

This expression is designed to charm the ladies.

Buttermilk is very creative and, like Onion Ring, loves to write his own comics. Here is a synopsis of one that he wrote...

...and here is the title page. He wrote this comic when he was eight or nine and it was long, so I didn't post any more than this. Maybe in the future I will do some posts featuring comics.

Buttermilk also loves to draw. Here is a drawing he did when he was six or seven:

Here is one he did recently:

This one was done when he was six or seven:

He drew this one last year:

Some lesser known facts about Buttermilk:

He is writing a book. (More about that in a future post.)

He loves to create Lego stop-motion movies. (More about that in a future post.)

He appears to have dancing abilities but has so far been unwilling to explore development possibilities.

His favorite "food" is ramen.

He excels in school (even though he says it is boring and he hates it).

His favorite subject is science.

He loves to make people laugh and he loves to laugh and be silly.

He really loves to rollerblade.

What an awesome guy!

Gymnastics

2011-02-12T14:59:00.018-07:00

Buttermilk Sky tried gymnastics this winter.

He had a lot of sore muscles.

And sometimes a sore face and head.

Ouch!

Nice skills, Buttermilk!

More Tricks

2011-02-11T14:47:00.006-07:00

Warning: the following images have been known to cause confusion and/or vexation in some situations and among some peoples and/or cultures in certain areas and/or climates depending on the air pressure, humidity, and/or velocity of their respective situations and/or states of mind.

Home, Sick

2011-02-08T11:51:00.008-07:00

Today Junior and Buttermilk Sky stayed home from school because they have coughs.

This is what they've been up to: spoon tricks...

...and headless boy tricks.

Obviously, they don't feel too terrible.

Campus Adventures, Part 2

2011-02-06T12:52:00.024-07:00

Yesterday we again went to BYU campus to play around during and after Buttermilk Sky's piano lesson.

This time the pool didn't have the frozen pond froth pads but instead just had sheets of ice.

And some really cool ice formations around the fountains.

Of course we rode the elevator in the Kimball Tower again.

Riddle: How many boys in our family does it take to push the button on the elevator? (See the end of this post for the answer.)

This time we brought pennies to drop in the stairwell.

Do you have any idea how fun this is?

We are talking endless fun.

I wonder what we'll do next weekend?

This time we also went to the Eyering Science Center.

We checked out the pendulum...

...and the plethora of other cool things there are to check out at the Eyering Science Center. Maybe next week I'll take more pictures of all these cool things.

Because next week we will surely be back. Did you know that a college campus was such a great playground?

While we were at the Science Center I checked on my display cases to see if they were still there. They were! I was amazed. (I call them my display cases because I was the one who put them together.)

During my senior year I worked in the Instructional Technologies Graphics department (what a mouthful) and this was one of the jobs I did as an employee. The concepts, text, and some of the props were provided by the Dietetics Department, the background posters were created by my boss, and I did the rest (I can't take all the credit).

I was pregnant with Onion Ring at the time that I did this,

so that makes this...thirteen years old! The background poster is getting a little faded.

I guess the Dietetics Department really liked my work. Of course, how could they not? Aren't these the bomb?

Just so you know, if there is any slush on the sidewalk, it is where the boys will certainly be walking.

Riddle answer: All of them. One to push the button and the rest to tell him how.

The Tree Fort

2011-01-31T14:12:00.011-07:00

This weekend Aunt Lori came over to help the boys start building a tree fort in our black walnut tree.

Aunt Lori is notorious in the family for her love of and skill for tree climbing.

In fact, the story is told of how, as a child, she would climb to the tops of the one, maybe two hundred-plus feet tall trees in their yard in Oregon.

Now she is making it possible for our boys to do the same!

Except that we don't live in Oregon. And our tree is maybe only fifty feet tall. And the boys have a healthy fear of heights so they will probably be reluctant to go even halfway. Fine by me.

Onion Ring, especially, was excited to now be able to climb this tree.

Phase one of the tree fort is now complete.

Campus Adventures

2011-01-30T13:18:00.029-07:00

Every Saturday Buttermilk Sky has a piano lesson on BYU campus because his teacher is a student there. Yesterday we made it an outing by taking a couple more boys with us and going exploring. Here are some of the adventures we had.

We went into the Kimball tower to ride up and down the elevator. We tried to find a place to look outside on the top floor but all of the rooms with windows were locked.

So we had to resort to having fun in the stairwell.

Specifically, dropping crumpled up paper and wrappers (it was all we had on hand) from the top and seeing how far they fell.

By the way, if you ever want a good place to run stairs, this is it!

We found this pond covered in frozen pond froth pads. What a novelty!

The boys had fun poking them to break them...

...and picking them up and dropping them to see them shatter on the cement.

Then I asked them to pose--here is Lovely Pose Number One:

and Lovely Pose Number Two:

This photograph is titled: Glacial Beasties in the Courtyard.

Here we have Morning Glory Number One:

Morning Glory Number Two:

Four Males Descending a Staircase (Fully Clothed):

Bum Prints (On Frosty Benches):

Eggs and Junior Shrugged:

Dali's Boot:

The Fort:

Sunny B:

Rabbit Ears in a Snail Shell:

Rabbit Ears and Scuffed Steel:

Rabbit Ears in a Vortex:

Nose Pick:

Cubist Communism Number One:

Cubist Communism Number Two:

Splitting Headache:

Cold

2011-01-13T17:29:00.008-07:00

See Junior.

See Junior walking barefoot in the snow.

See Junior eat snow.

See Junior's arms rise.

When Junior's arms rise it means he is cold.

Do you feel cold now, too?