Lots of Love

We have had a week full of love. Jake and I celebrated our sixth anniversary. It was so fun this week to focus on how grateful we are for one another and try to think of ways to express it. I had no idea when I married him just how happy our life would be together. I also had no idea that I would love him even more with time. Meeting Jake sent me down a path of happiness that I had no understanding for, and I truly know that only a heavenly father who knew me personally and loved me could have given me such a gift. If Jake had been all I got out of the deal I would have eternally grateful; but the addition of our wonderful children and the happiness and joy they bring is a blessing beyond my own capacity of expression. I have spent a lot of time this week quietly watching these people I love and feeling blown away by how my feelings for them grow everyday. I feel as though my heart could explode. I can’t even imagine how much I will love them all in

another six years.

We also celebrated our funny little Ellie's 2nd birthday! Unfortunately her two year molars decided that they would make their appearance for the big day as well. She has been pretty miserable this week due to them. We did our best to make it as fun a day as possible even though she wasn’t her normal happy self. We decorated the house with streamers and balloons, and set out her presents like Christmas morning. She loves animals and bugs so we decorated cup cakes with candy to look like butterflies and bugs. She was a pretty excited little thing when she came out of her room and saw it all, but I think Jake and I enjoyed it more then she did. The anniversary of the arrival of our sweet little girl was definitely worth celebrating. We are so lucky to have her, and she makes everyday special!

Her birthday must have worn her out, she sure crashed fast.

We enjoyed more time exploring Pennsylvania.  I am really enjoying this summer. We have been able to spend so much time in beautiful places.  The best part is that everywhere we go there is a lake to swim in!
Yesterday we headed out to map some trails at a State Park Jake is preparing to study.  The weather was a little overcast and we could see some lightening off in the distance, but it looked like it was blowing over quickly.  We were so wrong. As we pulled up into the park the storm hit. Large quarter sized hail pelted our car to the point I thought it would crack our windshield.  I was honestly a little scared, I had never seen such big hail. The temperature went from 92 to 65 in just a few minutes. Even as the hail started to subside, there was so many lightening bolts cracking all around us that we decided it was better not to get out of the car. It was quite an experience.  I just wish I could have gotten a picture of the hail.

My little explorers.

The cutest grad student I know!!!

Long Nights

Today I am having a hard time remembering what we have been up to for the last week. Either the heat or the pregnancy must be getting to my head. It has been so hot and humid and has not rained in the last month since we have been back. Since grass typically doesn’t need to be watered in this area it is laid everywhere without any type of sprinklers or irrigation systems. In result the town is covered in dead yellow grass. Honestly the only green grass left is the football practice field. It’s really crazy.

We had our first uninvited guest this week. Late one night Jake and I were sitting in the living room when a little gray mouse ran across the floor. I was more then a little creeped out. Jake ran across the street to the store to get some traps and set up quite an arsenal against our fury guest. Within the hour we were laying in bed when we heard the mouse in the trap. Thankfully Jake took care of it, because as much as I wanted in out of our apartment I was sure sad we had to kill it. My Dad would be so disappointed to know his flesh and blood felt sad about killing something as simple as a mouse.

The big event of the week was definitely moving Ellie and Hudson into the same room. We were going to wait until her birthday but the kids were so excited about it we decided to move her early. The first few nights were pretty long. The kids were so excited that getting them to fall asleep was quite a challenge. Although we all got pretty tired Jake and I loved watching them enjoy each other so much, even though they were being a little naughty. The last two nights have gone much better, so they are either so tired that hey don’t have the energy to keep each other awake or they are getting used to being together.

Ellie's bed head after her first night in her big girl bed.  What was she doing in there?!?

Happy Little Roommates!

Jake has been teasing me about nesting.
 I have been quite preoccupied with getting everything ready for Autumn's arrival.
Nine weeks really isn't that far away.
Thank goodness!
 

Hudson climbed in this box and asked us to mail him to his family in Utah.
Too bad its not that easy....and cheap!

Our days of spending the afternoon at the park are over for now.  Its just gotten too hot.  We spend most of our time swimming at the pool, going to Whipple Dam or enjoying the wonder of air conditioning. 

Ellie's mattress box has come in handy.



I don't know what I would do if the kids didn't love swimming, since we go every single day. Hudson is getting pretty good as swimming without a life jacket, although he always wants to wear his super man suit so he doesn't get to practice as much as I would like.  My silly kids are growing up too fast.  In a little over a week Ellie will be two! In about a month Hudson will be getting on a school bus and going to school.  We better just enjoy every minute!

Weekend in New York

Hill Cumorah Pageant

The highlight of our week was our adventure up into New York. We didn’t want to miss the opportunity of seeing Hill Cumorah Pageant while we lived so close, we decided to make the four hour drive to Palmyra and catch the show on opening night. The drive was a little rough. The kids were whiny and the AC in our car was not working, which didn’t help my patience. We arrived two hours before the show and I could not believe how packed the place was. Even with the chaos, and the hoards of people I was amazed at how happy and peaceful I felt as soon as we arrived. It truly is a special place and the spirit there is so strong. The show didn’t start until 9:15, and I was a little worried about how the kids would handle such a late night. They ended up being really good for the entire show. They were both really interested in what was going on. Hudson was especially full of questions, and although I don’t know how much of it he will remember as he grows, I’m certain it made an impression he won’t forget.

While up in the Finger Lakes region of New York we decided to stay and explore one of its most famous state parks. We camped at Watkins Glen State Park, which is near the south shore of Lake Seneca. What a beautiful place! Actually we were amazed at how pretty the whole area was with its enormous lake and many vineyards that cover the countryside. Watkins Glen has a large gorge that reminded us of the narrows in southern Utah, except it is lime stone, and full of waterfalls and lush vegetation. It was one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever been on, and we will have to add it to the list of our favorite places.

It was a lot of fun and our first camping experience since we moved here. We have a few things to learn. For instance early in the day we set up our tent and got our bedding all laid out and ready. Unfortunately, by the time we got in to go to sleep, all of our bedding was damp due to the humidity. Sleeping in a damp bed wasn’t very comfortable, thankfully the kids didn’t seem to mind and they both slept just fine.

We feel so lucky to have the opportunity to experienced so many amazing things while we are out here!

Adjusting to PA

We have been back in PA for nearly two weeks now. We jumped right back into life, and got busy, although we had a really hard time adjusting our sleep habits to the new time zone. Its funny, the thing that has struck me most, and I know I always say this, is just how green and lush it is here. I really feel like we are in the jungle. It’s amazingly beautiful with huge ferns, vines, and lilies lining the roads and the perimeters of the forests.  It has been a fun contrast from where we came from. I have decided that incredibly thick forests are not always a good thing, since we have spent quite a bit of time lost in them over the last few weeks. Jake is doing research on some of the state parks this summer and we have discovered that just because a place is a state park it is not necessarily easy to find, or clearly marked. Although it took longer then expected we have been able to reach each of them, and have had a lot of fun both in the search and the visit. We have been out on adventures nearly every day, and I think being busy has helped the kids adjust to being away from the many loved ones we left in Utah. Hudson asks me nearly every day if we can go to Utah tomorrow, and he doesn’t understand why I won’t make him a count down chain for our next visit. Ellie loves to look at pictures from our trip and gets so excited to see pictures of everyone. I hope that all the aunts, uncles, and grandparents know just how loved and missed they really are.

We have hit our third trimester in this pregnancy. Baby Autumn is doing great and I am doing good as well. I am certainly not enjoying the heat, but it’s been a good incentive to take the kids swimming a lot. She is getting big enough to really make my belly shake when she moves and Hudson thinks it’s so much fun to watch. We are all excited for her to get here, especially me!

Our first few days were a little rough! I had a very tired family!

My new favorite thing about PA are the fireflies.  They come out every night at disk. I can't help but let Hudson stay up late at night to see them.  He has gotten to be a very good firefly catcher....well....they move pretty slow. Sadly they are very hard to photograph. It really is magical. The trees and grass sort of twinkle like they are full of flashing Christmas lights.



Can you guess which of my boys likes this toy the most?
Its not the short one ;)



We are always in pursuit of trains.





Our favorite park in the nearby town of Bellefonte. The kids love feeding the ducks and fish.



4th of July is hands down my favorite holiday! I love, fireworks, warm weather, carnival food, and all the great warm fuzzy patriotic feelings that go along with it.  I was sad to not be able to be in Blanding for all the festivities, but we had a pretty fun time anyway.  I got sun burned, watched fireworks, and ate a snow cone.  We even stopped at a booth and talked to some soldiers, and I felt so grateful to them for serving so that my husband could be home with me that I cried. All in all, it was a really great and quite typical 4th of July.



The kids had fun riding their bikes in a children's bike parade.





Hudson thought it was amazing to get to ride in the street with a firetruck.  He raced ahead of the rest of us so that he could be near it.





At the carnival Jake really wanted Hudson to ride on the dragon roller coaster.
 Of coarse Hudson spotted a ride that he was more interested in.




We all really enjoyed the carnival.





Jake did finally get Hudson on the dragon, and he loved it!





We curled up on a blanket to watch the firework show.  I was worried that Ellie was going to have a hard time at the fireworks, since every other interaction she has had with them has been disastrous.  She was scared at first but quickly got over it and spent the show curled up on Jake's lap.  The fireworks were sensational.  We had heard it was the third biggest show in America, but I had no idea how impressive it would be.  I think I saw  more fireworks during the 45 minute show then I had seen my entire life combined.



I love Summer!

Utah Summer Recap

Wow to recap our visit home of over a month will definitely require some length! Its also, very emotional, as I am already missing so many loved who are now quite a ways away. Looking over the photos it's plain to see we did a lot of living while we were there and tried our best to squeeze a years worth of experiences into a month.  It was wonderful, and I have to say that if a month can go by so fast, I can only imagine how quick the next year will fly by.

 

We started our trip in Pittsburgh, where we had fun exploring the Carnegie Children's Museum of Science.  The kids had a blast and we even got to tour an old WWII sub that was parked in the river behind the museum.  Pittsburgh is a really fun city, so its been nice to spend some time there as we await our flights. 

We kept the kids up through naps thinking that we would for sure get an good nights sleep out of them at the hotel before our early flight; but Ellie decided to show us just how excited she was to fly to Utah, by staying awake all but a few hours. The flight was good, and although it felt a little strange driving down I-15 it was wonderfully familiar to be in Utah again.

 

The first big event was Sam and Erin's wedding in Logan.  It was wonderful to get to see them be sealed in the temple with all of Jake's siblings present in the sealing room.  The kids were pretty well behaved during the day and the dinner that night. However, Hudson did mange to fall into a mud puddle and completely cover his suit in Mud just after being warned by Jake not to jump into the puddle.  Jake was able to wash it out in the reception center bathroom and Hudson escaped the incident with his life still intact. No one seemed to notice that Hudson was walking around in a suite that was soaking wet, thank you black polyester. All in all it was a success!

Their reception was the next day at Thanksgiving point.  We hurried to get all ready and there in time for family pictures. As Jake was climbing into the car he somehow managed to split his suite pants clear up the rear.  He ran into the house and changed into what he thought was a pair of black suit pants from his fathers closet and we headed on our way, although now a little late.  As we were walking into the reception I looked at my dear husband to see that he was dressed in two tone, with a black jacket and brown pants.  Thankfully the pictures don't show his backside, because he ended up wearing the ripped pants during the pictures after all. 

 

 

Hudson managed to get himself completely stuck inside this chair.  He is lucky we didn't just leave him there. 
That chair was a wonderful babysitter!

The next day was Cameron and Elizabeth's wedding at the Timpanogos temple.  Once again we felt so blessed to get to be there and share the special event with our family.  It was also fun to get to experience another wedding in that temple since it was a fun reminder of our own wedding.  The only draw back was that each day we had been getting progressively more sleep deprived and it came to a head at their reception later in the day.  We sent out a frantic call for help to Jake's Mom who came and rescued us from our exhausted onery children.  In truth, she probably rescued them from us as well, since Jake and I were even more tired and grumpy then they were.  Many, many thanks to her since, the rest of the evening was much more enjoyable actually being able to enjoy the event and time with my wonderful family.

 

It is so fun to see our families get bigger and bigger, with more and more people to love!

 

The rest of our trip we split between the three families. 

 

 

Fun with the Clarks...

 

  Gram Wendy and Papa John enjoyed indulging Hudson's love of trains.  They went to see and ride Thomas the train in Heber City, rode front runner to Ogden and back, rode the train at the Zoo, and the Bee's game.  Hudson also got to ride the TRAX train to the baseball game.  Not the mention the hours of time spent playing trains on their living room floor.  He was in Hudson train heaven.  Fortunately Ellie has also decided that she quite likes Choo Choo's as well! 

Hudson was even able to get over his fear of Sir Topham Hat this year at the big "Day out with Thomas event"

Ellie decided to make up for it by being afraid of everything!

 

 

 

The kids enjoyed the cotton candy and the train as much as they enjoyed the game!

 

We were excited to go to the zoo mostly because Ellie loves animals and we thought she would really enjoy it.  When we got there we were excited to find out that the zoo had a special dinosaur exhibit going on throughout the park.  The kids both enjoy dinosaurs so we thought this would make their experience even better.  A huge life sized animatronic dinosaur was the first creature to welcome us as we entered the park.  The kids were mesmerised as it moved then all of a sudden it opened it's mouth and let our such a loud scream that it made us all jump.  That's when Ellie started to hysterically cry and decided she did not like the dinosaurs, rhino's, elephants, or any other large things that moved. The zoo turned out to be quite a stressful place for our little girl!

 

 

 A few days later we visited the dinosaur museum and park in Ogden.  Once again life sized dinosaurs that make scary noises weren't a huge hit with Ellie.  She was terrified nearly the entire time.  Hudson really enjoyed it though.

 

We had fun getting to play with our Bossy Dog. 
We are so grateful that he has been taken care of so well.
The kids were really sad we didn't get to bring him home with us.

We had such a great time with Gram Wendy and Papa John.  We were fed so well, had countless adventures to places that the kids still talk about and we were able to spend some wonderful time with them.  John worked especially hard to keep the basement dry for us while we stayed there, and they made us feel so welcome even though they were dealing with a stressful basement situation.

 

Fun with the Powell's....

 

It was fun to get to be with everyone in Jake's family during our trip to Lake Powell with the entire family.  The company was good and scenery was beautiful.  The kids loved playing in the sand, swimming, going for boat rides, and dancing to Jimmy Buffett. 

 

We spent a couple of days in St George on our way to Powell. 
One afternoon we visited these amazing waterfalls at Gunlock reservior.

 

 I got a little carried away making sand castles for the kids.  The sad thing was that everyday the water rose so much that our huge castle would get washed away. It was fun and kept me busy

 

My goal was to catch at least one lizard while we were there.  I took me a few days, but I was victorious!

 

 

No fish were caught, but how sweet is this picture!!!

 

 

The mighty skiing men! 
Jake decided that he was going to ski with Hudson standing on his ski's while he held onto him.  Although it didn't go exactly as planned, it was a success, and Hudson "skied" for the first time ever!  We were so proud of Hudson for being brave, even though we couldn't ever get him to try it again.

 

 

 

Ellie and I might not have been able to tube and ski with everyone else, but we were pretty good flag girls!

 

Hudson was willing to try everything once.... and only once!
That included the slide, the tube and the skies. 
We tried pretty hard to talk him into going down this slide again but he would NOT do it.  If you look closely those little hands and feet are trying their best to stop him before he gets to the edge.  I am pretty sure there are finger nail marks still on the side of that slide.

 

 

 

 

Ellie sat on the tube for a few seconds, but would not go for a ride even with Jenny

 

Hudson loved sleeping in his cocoon inside the tiny tunnel.  One time he tried hiding from us inside it, but he found out quick that hiding at a lake is not a good way to make your parents very happy.

I have to give a loving shout out to Jake's pride and joy, the Correct Craft, who made its grand debut to Lake Powell.  We had a lot of fun skiing and playing on it the first half of the vaction.

 

However, its departure wasn't very glorious, since it started overheating and we decided to be cautious and we towed it off the lake with the house boat.  Luckly Sam and Erin were willing to act as captains in case of an emergency.

 

 

We had so much fun at Lake Powell and we already look forward to it being a family tradition for lots of years.

 

Fun with the Palmers.......

Uncle Cam and Liz took us all fishing at recapture where we caught tons and tons of bull head catfish and bass.  It was lots of fun.  Too bad the gnats caught lots of us!

 

 

Poopah Wayne had lots of baby chicks at his house.  We got to help catch them and take them out to their new home at the field.  He even let Hudson name two of them which he named Hudson and Ellie.  They were so excited to go out everyday and check on and feed their chickens.

 

 

Ellie loved all the animals, especially Nema the goat.  She would walk around calling her name and making kissing noises to get her to come closer.



 

We had lots of fun playing on the mountain.  We hiked up to a ruin and through a narrow tunnel.  Hudson and Ellie both loved the tunnel and finally using their height as an advantage.  

 

 



Blonde Beauties!
Ellie had so much fun with her Aunts, especially "Stinky Tealy Bug"! Teal was so awesome to play with Ellie and keep her entertained for us!  We wish we could bring Teal home with us.



 

 

 

One morning we drove to the top of the mountain and had an awesome pancake breakfast.  Hudson thought it was so great to get to play in the snow, and managed to get soaking wet.  He was so excited to eat pancakes and play in the woods in the same place.  We now get asked all the time to eat out on the mountain.  The view was so amazing I wish I would have had my camera with me. 

One night we had a cookout at the ranch.  Hudson had a blast floating a boat down the irrigation ditch.  We had such a nice time enjoying the beautiful setting and the company was even better.
 

We had a really wonderful time in Blanding.  Hudson and Ellie SO enjoyed thier Aunts and Uncles, as well as his Gram Renee and Poopah Wayne.  He loved getting to have fires and sleeping in the tent with Jade almost every night. He even got to sleep at Poopah's cabin at the ranch.  It was a wonderful adventure. Jake and I loved having so many people around who wanted to play with our kids!

Our trip to Utah was bitter sweet.  We had an amazing time and everyone took such good care of us.  It was so heart warming to get to be around our families and feel their love.  I just wanted to soak up as much of everyone as we could. It was hard  knowing that we wouldn't be back for some time, and the pictures sure make me home sick! I'm sure the time will pass quickly and we will all be together again soon.  After so much fun and wonderful experiences I can't help but be overwhelmed with feelings of gratitude for so many people in our life that love our little family.  I feel so blessed to have so many wonderful people in our life that sacrificed their time, talents, and resources to make this vacation so special for our family.   I think that the only thing bigger then our smiles has been our waistline thanks to all the good food, treats and fun we experienced. THANK YOU to everyone that made this trip such a wonderful collection of memories!!!