Utah - Part One

We are having a great time here in Utah. We didn't get here until Sunday because we didn't make it on the flight out of Kalispell so we spontaneously decided to drive down instead of fly. I guess that's the price you pay when you try to fly stand-by over the long weekend :) It all worked out great though, and we are here at the Whiddens hanging out.


The cousins are having so much fun playing with each other, I just love seeing them do all these fun things together. It's so nice that they can pick right up where they left off and be little buddies, despite living so far from one another.

The other night, the kids pulled out a crib mattress and were sliding down the stairs on it. Oh my goodness, it was so funny to watch. I think I was laughing harder than they were; which was really hard.

We have been doing so much shopping. Well, I've been shopping anyways. The rest of them are just dragged unwillingly along with me, forced to give their opinions on clothing and housewares. But seriously, I love U.S. shopping. SO many fun stores.

We went to temple square and did the tour. It's been a long time since we've been there, and the kids have never been.

Both Carter and Hayley are having a blast with the dress-up clothes...

... and apparently Jared is too.

To be continued.

Eco Kids

So Carter started his little summer camp this week. It was the same old story when he started: He was really looking forward to it all week, and then got really nervous and just didn't want to go at all right before. So as usual, I had to force him to go (not quite kicking and screaming, but almost). And then of course he has the BEST time there, can't stop talking about it, and can't wait to go back tomorrow! He always does that, no matter how many times I try to tell him that I would never make him do something that I knew he wouldn't like. He is going into swimming lessons in October and I'm pretty much going to have to throw him into the pool crying, just to convince him that he'll love it once he tries. Does anyone else's kids do that?

Anyways, the point of this post is to show how much he liked it. He was so excited about his new backpack. They were required to bring one with a snack and water bottle inside, so we got him a little one and he loves wearing it. He feels like such a big kid now, like he's going to school.


Here he is after his first Eco Kids class. See? I told you he'd love it!

A "Relaxing" Weekend

Well, after our busy summer (and the nightmare hotel stay last weekend), we needed a nice long weekend at home to take it easy. We still ended up doing a few little activities, but just here around Elkford. I don't know why, but we can't just sit at home and chill, even when we plan to.

Our daily visitor:

(Good news! No one's been hoofed-to-death yet!)

Grave Lake:

That face is what I usually get when I try to take a picture of Carter. He smiles weirdly and says "cheese" but doesn't even look at the camera. Poor kid. 4 1/2 years of getting his picture taken, he's just done.

We ran into these people in our ward who happened to be there as well and they took us for some rides in their boat. So fun.


The kids snuggling with Daddy after their baths.

We went for a drive and saw this crazy rock slide. I took this picture almost looking straight up, the mountain was huge.


A rock climber's dream, hey Dad?

A Non Blog-Worthy Recap

Well, I'm back from an unintentional blogging hiatus. Did anyone miss me? Didn't think so. I say unintentional because we have been super busy this past couple weeks, but nothing really blog-worthy has come about of all this busyness.

It's been so hot here these days. Like, too hot to even be outside. Except of course, if you're jumping on the trampoline in the sprinkler.


And these hot days have been making really pretty nights, too. This is another one of those times I wish I had a really nice camera so I could accurately capture how gorgeous of a night this was:

And speaking of cameras, mine's broken. It was hanging by a thread as it was and then it got dropped, so that's the end of lil' Kodak. I'm on the market for a new one I guess, which is so silly because it seems like we just bought this one.

This past weekend, we drove to Cranbrook to do some major shopping. It took most of the day, with a short break in between to go swimming at Moyie Lake. While we were at the beach, a women with a zebra print bathing suit walked by and Hayley turns to me and says matter-of-factly, " At's (that's) a cow, Mom.". I should really start supplying these random strangers with earplugs.

Back to shopping, we were there until pretty late in the evening, and spontaneously decided to get a hotel so we could take our time getting home the next day, and not feel rushed. Bad idea. Both kids got the 24-hour flu and were throwing up all night long. In a hotel. With no extra clothes. It seriously rivaled the ever-popular Pukefest of 2007. We Whiddens have awesome luck.

BUT! We are better now and things are back to normal. We have some exciting things coming up at the end of this month. First, is Carter's little summer camp the last week of August. It's called Eco Kids, and they do little nature walks, learn about the environment, plants, animals, etc. I think he'll really like it, especially because he is so into not littering these days. He has a serious hate-on for crows ("garbage birds" as he so lovingly refers to them) because they've ripped apart our garbage and littered everywhere a few times now. He always yells at them from the window, "We need to keep our earth CLEAN!". Poor Hayley has been sucked into his crow propaganda, as well.

We also are planning a trip to Utah on the September long weekend. We haven't been there in 2 1/2 years and can't wait to visit some Whidden cousins.

Oh and after two months of having no living room furniture, we finally bought some and it's coming next week! Wheee!

Need an Accountant?

Whidden Slang 101

Yesterday, Carter was searching in the car for a little toy he thought he left in there the day before. He was asking me to help him find it and I said something to the effect of, "Hun, it's probably not even here in the car anymore. Maybe it's inside...". He replied with, "But I know it's in here somewhere, just chillin' like a villain!".

He is so his father's child.

The Whole Fam Damily

So this past week, we were in Kananaskis for the first EVER Mendenhall Family Reunion. Exciting? Very.

Everyone was there with the exception of my lil' twin bros. Jared drove us to meet up and hitch a ride with my Dad (Jared had to go home for work, and then met up with us on Thursday after work). We met at Lundbreck Falls in Crownest Pass - so pretty.


We then met Mom, Carly, and Lisa's family (the Crosby's) on Tuesday afternoon and went to Calaway Park. I had never been before and it was so much fun. I loved watching the kids go on all the rides. And the adult ones were pretty fun, too.

Kananaskis is gorgeous! We camped at Mount Kidd RV Resort and there were so many fun things to do. Gorgeous views...

Superman (here he comes to save the day!)

Cute babies to kiss... (My nephew Taylor = easiest baby EVER)

A wading pool (that got soaked up in Hayley's diaper). Nice booty.

There was this handy makeshift playpen...

And of course, mismatched and half naked children, as per usual while camping :)

We went swimming in the creek, hiked some trails, watched a show at the amphitheater, made fruit loop necklaces (or anklets, right ladies?), played at the playground, fed squirrels, and even held a very impressive Variety Show:

The Village People even made an appearance!

We went back to Calaway Park again on Friday (hooray for season's passes) and did everything else we missed the first time. Then we all headed home our separate ways. Sigh. It was fun while it lasted, thanks Fam!

It was a super fun week and now I am officially pooped. Time to settle in and start reading 'Breaking Dawn'. I'll resurface again in about 48 hours.

Elk Lakes Provincial Park

Bear Spray: $36.99

Juice Boxes and Granola Bars: $4.69

Half a Tank of Gas: $32.00

New Camera Batteries: $7.99

This View:

Priceless

My Peeps

I drove out to Cardston with the kids on Wednesday morning and stayed for a couple days. My Grandma lives there (you know, Swanee Cahoon from Saskatoon??) and my mom and sisters were there, as well as my aunt and cousin from Utah. My uncle came, too and was the only male in attendance (besides Carter, and my nephews Josh and Taylor). We went for walks, ate yummy food, played games, and took turns riding grandma's scooter. It was so fun to see everyone, especially the female Sorensens! We haven't had everyone together in quite a few years.

Me and my sisters:

Apparently, I have a mini-me:

And of course the kids. They had a blast together.

Sulpher is Not to be Confused with Chocolate

This past weekend, we had some visitors and it was so nice to see family. On Friday, Jared's brother Gary and his wife Allie (the newlyweds) came to stay for a couple days. We had lots of fun with them quading and fishing.




We also drove out to the Sulpher Springs. It's a very interesting, natural hot spring, that bubbles up out of the ground, and then forms a stream that winds it's way into the river. The only problem is: they stink. Bad. When you are driving there, the smell of sulpher gets worse and worse until you step out of the vehicle and your nostrils are attacked by the smell of rotten eggs. You get used to it after awhile of being there... somewhat. Carter kept saying, "Ew, rotten eggs!" and Hayley would repeat after him, "Yea, chocolate eggs!". It was funny.


Apparently people swim in there (there's even a diving board), but it looks disgusting. Seriously, would you want to swim in that? I'd rather just drive 10 minutes down the road and hit up the Elkford town swimming pool.




Then, on Sunday evening, we got to have my cousin and her family come and stay with us for a night on their way back from a reunion. The little kids all had so much fun playing together, whilst enduring Erin and I snapping endless pictures.

I absolutely love this picture, even though Halle's face is blurry. They were having so much fun all piling into the little car and driving around on the deck.


Nice hair Hayley...

Livvy's trying to stifle a laugh... too funny.

It was so much fun to see everyone. I seriously love having company. Sooo... who's next??