Updates on our very busy summer!

Well, as you all should know by now, our camera is still broken. So, no pictures of all the fun we've been having, but I am taking a few minutes here in the middle of the night to bring you up to date on where we've been and what we've been up to. I guess I should go back to the weekend of July 18, 19, 20 when we had a splendorific time at the Cox Family Reunion. It was our family's turn to make all the plans and set the theme for this year, and like everything else I do it all got put off to the very last possible minute; but it turned out to be great fun! Our theme was the Cox Family Olympics and we had a great time competing against one another in the games. We had originally planned to hold the Games at Helaman Hollow (church cabin in Scofield) but Girl's Camp would not cooperate with our schedule so we ended up going to Old Folks Flat up Huntington Canyon which was alot of fun. I would like to direct you to Matt's parents blog for lots of fun pictures and a little more details for those of you that are interested:) http://aroundthecoxcorner.blogspot.com/

After returning home from the reunion late Sunday night I spent Monday doing a little unpacking but mostly relaxing, boy was I pooped! Then on Tuesday the kids and I headed to Park City where my mom, sister and nieces were staying in a condo for the annual dance camp the girls participate in. We just hung out with them at the condo, enjoyed swimming in the pool, but mostly appreciated the chance we had to spend time with them and enjoy their company. We spent that night with them and on Wednesday we grabbed lunch and took the kids to play at the park. After eating as much as we could convince them to, the kids headed for the playground where Sadie immediately slipped and hit her nose on the jungle gym and ended up with a bloody nose. Once we got that cleaned up and back to playing for a bit they wandered through the park and got running down a grassy hill where Stetson tripped and fell, smacked his face into the ground and tried biting the tip of his tongue off. That led us to about twenty minutes of blood curdling screams and more drama than any room full of girls could ever muster up. We all survived it though and then had to go to the Village Candy Shoppe where an ice-cream cone and treats made everything much better. Afterward it was time to head back home to see our dear old dad, and enjoy watching him play ball.

Thursday, being the 24th was spent playing at the Legacy Center pool with our neighbors and friends, then a BBQ at Grammy and Papa's house. Which left Friday being a day filled with laundry and packing so we could go spend the weekend at Nana's house. We had tickets for dinner and a concert in the Wellington park which started at 6:30 so we were determined to get outta there by 4:00. We were pushing it, of course; but not by too far. Until we went out to the garage to start loading things into the van when Matt discovered Sadie and McCrae had emptied the gas can all over the garage floor. Boy, was he ticked?! Needless to say we had a huge mess that had to be dealt with, making us much later than we already were. I had my mom's dinner ticket along with ours in my wallet so she was anxiously waiting for us to get down there so she could have dinner with us. We finally made it to the Wellington Park at about 7:30 and was lucky to find they still had a small line of people waiting to be fed, so we jumped right in behind them. But, mom was nowhere to be found, I borrowed a friends cell phone and called her cell phone only to get nothing but her voicemail. So we went ahead and got our dinners and hers as well, which ended up being so delicious. We hung around visiting with friends for a while and eventually headed to mom's house at about 9:30. When we got there we found her there, and she was hot to trot. She'd been waiting there for us the whole time wondering where we were and calling Matt's parents to see if they knew when we had left. Oops....our bad!!

Well, then on Saturday I took the kids to watch the parade and get their own little stash of candy after which we had to hurry over to Huntington for Grandma Coxes funeral. It was really nice and we thoroughly enjoyed visiting with family. When everything was wrapped up over there we hurried back to Price to make an appearance at my mom's Cowley Family Reunion, and then Matt had to head back home with his parents. The kids and I have been staying the last few days at my mom's house, and boy have we been running like crazy!

Sunday was the typical, go to church, have a big family dinner, and cut hair for my aunt and uncle. On Monday we met our good friends, the Powell's at school lunch; then we went to the Helper pool to play. Our kids have so much fun together, we really miss not living close to them. Then that evening we went up Spring Canyon with some of Cody and Heather's friends to do some rock climbing, roast hot dogs on the fire and have a big group FHE. The kids really loved it, except for Sydney who swung backwards and hit her back side on the rock wall--Ouch! Tuesday was spent helping Nana scrub blinds and wash windows; then Sydney went to play with her friend Kelcee while the rest of us went to Racquel's house to get my highlights done and play with our cousins. After returning to Nana's house Sydney got to play with another good friend, Makenna, while we fixed dinner and mowed the lawn--then we got to go to Cold Stone for a yummy treat. Wednesday will be our last day here and we're going out with a bang! We'll be meeting Cody and Racquel and all the kids for school lunch in Helper after which it's back to the pool for more fun in the sun. I for one will be staying out of the sun though, since I ended up getting a little too cooked when we were there on Monday. Then it will be time for us to head back to city life, but more importantly we'll be heading home to be with our dearest Dad! It's been alot of fun spending this week with my family and some of our old friends, but I'm sure it will be nice to be home again and get back to our normal way of life--as crazy as it is!

P.S. Some pictures of the kids rock climbing may be posted from my mom's camera at a later date, so check back real soon.

Tagged again!

Okay, so I got tagged by Matt's sister about a week ago and I'm finally getting around to doing it. The way this tag is supposed to work is you post a picture of the top 5 bands you listened to in High School, but since I couldn't even come up with one I decided to change it up a bit. Instead I am posting pictures of 5 groups or artists that have a special meaning to me. So, here it goes...

1.

Chicago 17 was the first cassette I got of my own, I must have been in the sixth grade~about eleven years old. Kim (my best friend) and I would listen to it over and over; our favorite songs included 'You're the Inspiration' and 'Hard Habit to Break'.

2.
REO Speedwagons 'We Built this City on Rock and Roll' holds a fun memory for Racquel and I. One day we were really rockin' out to it downstairs in Racquels room while dad was upstairs trying to sleep (he was on graveyards); all of a sudden he showed up in the doorway of the bedroom and said, "Have you got that city built yet?" Nothing more was said but we got the message loud and clear, that's just a small example of his fun sense of humor.


3.
Who doesn't have a soft spot for Garth Brooks? He was the number one reason I started listening to Country Music, his song 'Friends in Low Places' was named our class song and sung by two good friends and amazing singers at our senior assembly. And 'The Dance' has a very special meaning to me because it was dedicated to the life of Cody's best friend Derrick at his funeral.




4.

Chris LeDoux is especially important to me because he got Matt and I together. If it hadn't been for his concert and the extra ticket I had for it who knows where our life paths would have led us. I love all of his songs but the one that has the most meaning for me is 'Two in a Million' because we had it sung by a good friend for us to dance to at our wedding reception.



5.
Def Leppard takes me back to my wilder days; nothing too crazy though! I still love to put it in and crank it when I'm cleaning the house or the van; and the kids like to rock out to it right along with me.





It was fun to think back on the music that has meaning in my life, I tag anyone else that wants to take on this adventure. Have fun with it!

Baseball Season comes to an end.

Baseball; America's favorite pastime.... and Stetson's too! He got to play on the Padres team with our all-time favorite coach, Jason Erskine (who was also his coach for football last fall and soccer this spring) and Matt was able to be assistant coach for their team which especially made it alot of fun. All of the kids that were interested in pitching got to try their hand at it and of course Stetson was all over that (anything to be like his cousin Jace) and he actually did a pretty good job. He also got to take his turn at playing catcher, but he mostly played first base. He loves sports and just seems to excel in everything he does, he's got a good arm and speedy little legs!

The highlights of the season included a 2 run Homer, striking out members of the opposing teams, sliding onto base and getting his white pants good and dirty, and of course the treat and drink that always came after every game! But for me and the other kids it also meant getting to play at the playground for a whole hour undisturbed and visiting with the other moms and friends of the opposing teams!

HOORAY for Baseball and an awesome season played by the Padres....Go Team!!

20 Year Tag!!

Okay, I've been reading this tag on everyone's blogs lately and since my camera is broken and I haven't been able to post pictures of some of our summer fun I decided to give this tag a try.

20 years ago...
1. I was 15 years old.
2. It was the summer before my sophomore year, so I was looking forward to starting High School.
3. I started working at my first job--Sherald's Burger Bar!

10 years ago...
1. I was 25 and a first time mommy!
2. We were living in our basement apartment in American Fork and had a few friends from our ward there, all of us had baby girls about the same age.
3. I was working at Fantastic Sam's as the salon manager, and as much as I enjoyed working there I hated leaving my baby girl; so that had to come to an end in August of that year.

5 years ago...
1. I was 30, and expecting Sadie; whoa....number 3!
2. We were living in my hometown of Wellington and lovin' it, the kids and I spent alot of time playing with Racquel and her kids and we enjoyed going to Mom's Club and making new friends there.
3. Matt had started school at CEU and I was doing my best to encourage and support him in his endeavors.

3 years ago...
1. I was 32 and expecting McCrae; the final one--number 4.
2. I was working hard on cleaning out the 'junk' room in our little house to make room for our growing family.
3. Matt had received his Associates degree from CEU and was starting on his Bachelors degree through USU.

1 year ago...
1. We were well on our way through Matt's schooling; near completion on the Bachelors Degree and hoping to get him accepted into the Master's program at BYU.
2. We left the comfort of our home, family and friends in Wellington and moved to Saratoga Springs.
3. We got Matt started into a new job at Heritage and got our family settled into the new neighborhood where we have made so many new and wonderful friends!

So far this year...
1. We got the kids through a growing experience at their new school. Sydney did wonderful, made good friends and got very good grades. Stetson didn't fare as well; basically--when you have a bad teacher, you have a bad year; but he did participate in the STARS Reading program this summer and it really helped him! And Sadie absolutely loved Preschool and asks quite often when she gets to go back! But it sure isn't as nice without our Nana there.
2. We've spent countless hours hanging out at the pool and playing with our neighborhood friends.
3. I've spent countless hours on the computer...blogging and reading everyone elses blogs.
LOVE it!!

Yesterday I...
1. Slept in after a late night with my friend Nikki, doing hair and watching a movie!
2. Did more hair and a little bit of housework.
3. Went to Stetson's last baseball game, then to Matt's softball game, and finally to Wal-Mart to get some things we need for the Family Reunion.

Tomorrow I...
1. Will go up Huntington Canyon for our Cox Family Reunion at Old Folks Flat.
2. Will set up camp and fix lunch for our group of 31.
3. Enjoy the time we have with our family.

In the next year...
1. We'll hopefully be in a better place financially, with Matt in a new job.
2. We will get settled into a new home where our family can be happy and comfortable
3. I will try to be a better wife and mother for my family... they are my world and I love them with all my heart.

I'm not going to tag anyone specific but if you want to play along, feel free--You've been Tagged!

Family Fun!

Our 4th of July weekend really wasn't very exciting, not much to post about it; but I thought I should record for the benefit of being able to look back and know what we did. We had made big plans early in the year to go back to Fillmore to celebrate in style (since they have the most amazing fireworks show ever known to mankind; and it's always like going home for Matt). Then we had the idea of maybe going up to Logan so we could pick up Matt's diploma from USU, visit his cousin JJ and pop over to Bear Lake to see our good friends there. Well we never made any definite plans and when it came down to it we decided gas prices were too high to really go anywhere. So, Matt had Friday off (rare occurrence) and we sat around wondering what we should do and feeling bad about not going anywhere until finally at about 3 o'clock we decided to go fishing at Silver Lake up Am. Fork Canyon. We met up with Matt's parent's and headed up to fish for a couple hours which ended up being pretty fun even though no one caught anything. The kids had a great time playing in the lake while I read through my new Sweet & Simple Gooseberry Patch cookbook I won last week at a Baby Shower. At about 7 o'clock we packed things up and decided we better head home for some dinner before fireworks. Sadie and McCrae wanted to ride with Grammy & Papa (of course) so we had Sydney, Stetson, and Brennon with us. We left the spot we had been fishing at and went around to the opposite side of the lake so the kids could wade through the creek that comes down the mountain and spills into the lake, and also show them where Matt and I had our engagement pictures taken. We finally started back down the mountain but instead of going toward home Matt decided to go up to Camp Timpooneke where the trailhead is to hike up Mt. Timp. We then of course had to take a little hike since we were there and since we didn't have Sadie and McCrae with us I got to tag along (in my flip-flops). We hiked up the regular trail for about 20 minutes trying to find a waterfall that is supposedly not too far up the trail, but decided we wouldn't have time to get up and back before dark, so Matt spotted a different trail for us to go back down; and down we went-STRAIGHT down! I suprisingly only lost my footing once and got a little scrape on the top of my foot. It actually turned out to be the highlight of our day. We finally made it back to Matt's mom and dads house at about 9:30 where dinner was waiting for us; we hurried and scarfed it down and went to meet Danelle's family at a church close to Thanksgiving Point to watch the fireworks. After that we went back to Grammy & Papas house so the kids could set off Brennons fireworks with him, the traffic was crazy and by the time we got back there Sadie and McCrae had fallen asleep. Our night ended at about 12:30, with four very tired kids!
Saturday was pretty uneventful, all we did was go to Wal-Mart for a few necessities. Then Sunday Matt took a nice 4 hour nap while I watched the kids and made Chicken Enchiladas and Ground Beef & Cheese Enchiladas...YUM!!
Monday Night we decided to go back up the canyon for FHE since our pass was still valid; so we swung by to pick Brennon up to go with us because he's so much fun to take along. Our thought was to go up the canyon and back down into the Sundance area where we wanted to hike to Stewart Falls. As we were nearing the top of the canyon our low fuel light came on and we were realizing we wouldn't make it to our destination in time to hike before dark; so plans changed and we decided to check out Cascade Springs instead. We got there at about 9 o'clock with just enough time to make a quick run around the boardwalk, then we took the cutoff road down into Midway where we stopped for gas. And who can be just minutes from Heber and not go to Granny's for one of their famous milkshakes? Not Matt--we actually opted for the new hot spot (Dairy Keen) instead which has an electric train set up to run around the perimeter of the eating area and fun things to entertain the kids. We finally got Brennon back to Grammy & Papas at 11:05, I'm sure we had them a little worried but all that was said is that "We're CRAZY!"
We had a great time, I'm really glad we do crazy things like that sometimes.

How many Grapes?

I was a little surprised myself at how many grapes these kids were able to stuff into their mouths, the guesses we got for how many grapes Matt had in his mouth were much closer to the number in Sydney and Stetson's mouths; which happens to be 15! Sadie had 8 grapes in her little 4 year old mouth, and Matt had a whopping 25 grapes!! Go ahead and say it, we know it's true....What a Bunch of BIG Mouths!!

Happy Independence Day!

In honor of our countries Birthday I received an e-mail with an attached video I thought was simply beautiful. I wanted to share it with all of you; I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. It really makes you see how blessed we are to live in such a magnificent country.

Click on the following link: http://oldbluewebdesigns.com/mybeautifulamerica.htm%3E

Happy Birthday to Matt!

Okay, so I'm a little late but I have had so many other things keeping me busy. Here's my dear, sweet, and very GOOFY husband. I wanted to wish him a very happy birthday and tell the rest of the world how wonderful he is. Since I am a couple days late posting this I can tell you he did have an enjoyable day--we went up American Fork canyon with his Mom, Dad, and sister Danelle's family for a picnic. We all roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and Matt fulfilled his birthday wish by swimming in the freezing cold river to catch his fish.

The above picture was taken on Father's Day when he and the kids were trying to see how many grapes they could stuff in their mouths; I'm not going to tell how many Matt got in his mouth, let's see how close you all can guess....leave a comment with your guess and at the end of the week I'll reveal the winning number!

So, here are the top ten reasons why I love my Hubby sooooo much:)

(In no particular order.)

1. He is such a hard worker and so willing to do what he can to support our family. With all the extra effort he has put into his education in order to better provide for us he has continued to work full time through it all.

2. He continues to love me through all my faults; when I screw up the check book and leave us destitute, when I get frustrated and angry about stupid little things, and when I become lazy or easily distracted from the things I should be doing.

3. He is an awesome Dad and excellent teacher to our kids. They look up to him and respect him like the Super Hero we all believe he is.

4. He is so smart, he seems to know all the right answers.

5. He is my Big cuddly, teddy bear. There is nothing better than climbing into bed at night and snuggling up next to him. I love the safety and security I feel with his strong arms wrapped around me.

6. He also has a wonderful imagination, the kids love to have him tell stories that he just makes up on the spot.

7. He is my perfect match in so many ways; he loves to work out in the yard and I prefer to work in the house, he likes to save and I like to spend, he likes to talk and I am more quiet. We balance eachother out and complement eachother perfectly!

8. He is very self-giving. He helps me all the time and he is the first to volunteer whenever he knows of someone else in need.

9. He's always willing to share in my excitement about hopes and dreams; rather than bringing me back to reality he'll go along with my impracticalitites and then he' s always there to catch me when I fall off the 'Dream Boat'.

10. He believes in me and encourages me to do my best. He's also a great example to me in his desire to be more Christ-like.

Matt, I love you so much. I am so lucky to have you in my life, not only as my best friend but as my eternal companion. You make me so happy, and proud to be your wife.

Good Friends~Good Fun!

Yesterday was going to be the day I was really going to start packing (since we really should be moving out of here in four days), but there is always something else that's alot more fun to do. Especially when your dear friend and neighbor calls and says "We're going to the Living Planet Aquarium today and you are coming with us!" Is there anyone out there who would ever dare turn down an offer like that, or really want to for that matter? So, as soon as Stetson was done at school we picked him up and headed to the Aquarium. All was going well, we had a pretty quick and easy drive up there, but when I went around the van to get McCrae out I realized my rear tire was FLAT. I'm sure it couldn't have been flat when I was driving on it, I must have ran over something in the parking lot. Oh well, not to worry; we're there safe so we'll just take care of this minor detail when we're ready to leave.
So, we go inside and meet up with some other friends there and sit down to eat our lunch first. Our group consisted of 5 mom's and 17 or more kids. We finished lunch pretty quickly and headed in to check out the fish. It was really cool to see the jellyfish, starfish, seahorse, octopus, and so on. The coral reef aquariums were amazingly beautiful, I loved the colors of all the fish swimming in there. But the main attraction was definitely the stingray petting pool. The kids loved to feel the squishy, slimey wings of the stingrays; and McCrae's favorite part was playing in the hand washing sink. We were also lucky to be there on a day when they were doing the Rainforest Show. We learned about the important roles of cockroaches and other insects, tarantulas and other spiders; and we got to see and pet a very large boa. They also introdused us to some of their bird friends; one was a beautiful green parrot from Australia who did a few tricks and liked to give kisses, another was a big, blue and gold Mackaw; but the best one was 'Dusty' a gray African parrot. He could tell you what a cat or dog says, he would sing, sneeze, cough and tell you his name; he was really cute.
Then as the time drew near for us to leave I had plans of just trying my hand at changing the flat tire on my van, but Nikki insisted on asking the girls at the front desk if there was anyone there that might be able to help me out. So they happily volunteered their co-worker Steve, and he was kind enough to oblige. While I went out with Steve to get the tire changed the rest of the group went back through one last time to take a quick look at their favorite attraction. Steve got the flat tire off in no time at all and was trying everything we could think of to get the spare tire down from under the van. Finally everyone else started trickling out to head home and luckily Marnee knew the secret for getting the spare tire down, so while Steve put the spare on we all stood around and talked, and the kids had mostly climbed into the cars. Just as we were getting ready to go I realized McCrae was nowhere to be seen. We all head back inside to look for McCrae and found him pretty quickly at the hand washing station. By this time my nerves were just a little bit frazzled, so we get everyone buckled up and have to find someplace to put air in the spare tire because it was low. Right across the street is a 7-11 so I think "perfect" and I pulled in to get some air and they want 75 cents--for AIR; I refuse to pay that and was lucky there was a Jiffy Lube on the opposite corner. The nice guys working there checked the pressure in ALL of my tires, filled them for FREE, and sent me on my way! Whew!!!
I just want to thank my dear friends Nikki and Jaime for insisting we go have a day of fun with them before we leave the neighborhood. I know we will still do lots of fun stuff together, but I will never forget their kindness and generosity in taking us all to the aquarium on their tab. You guys are THE BEST!!

P.S. I was really wanting to take pictures to post but my camera still refuses to turn on after the fall.

True Friendships Last Forever!

Kim and I have been friends since our kindergarten days! We used to get together for occasional play days at one anothers house, and that was always great. Then during our first or second grade year we both moved into new houses in the same neighborhood, we of course became very best friends and inseperable. We loved playing house like most little girls do, and then we graduated to Barbie dolls; Kim always had the coolest furnishings and accessories for her Barbie's and I was so lucky to have a friend that was willing to share her goods with me. We liked to build huts with the boys and even played cars in the dirt hills. We loved having sleepovers on our trampoline and never missed an opportunity to T.P. the Heideman's (or Hobbs', and occasionally the Peirce's). We made so many wonderful memories growing up together in our little hometown of Wellington.

Then during our Jr High School years Kim's family moved to Roosevelt, I was so sad about losing my best friend. We tried writing back and forth for a little while but that unfortunately didn't last too long, I don't know how many years passed by that we were out of touch with eachother but even still it didn't break the bond of friendship we created as young girls. I remember receiving a letter and tape in the mail with the song Long Lost Friend by Restless Heart on it from Kim; and that song still brings tears to my eyes. We reconnected with eachother and would spend occasional weekends together (I remember some good times dragging main in Roosevelt chasing all the cute cowboys over there). And then after Kim moved to Provo to go to school at UVSC I would go hang out with her there too.

The hardest though was when her parents decided they were moving to Missouri. But like before, miles cannot break the friendship we've created. I never really expected to visit Kim out there (I always hoped she would move back to Utah and marry some guy out here and we'd raise our kids together), but as chance would have it; I ended up dating a Military man stationed in Missouri. He flew me out to visit him (twice) and of course I wasn't about to miss an opportunity to visit my life long friend. I had so much fun on those trips, I wish I could expand on all the fun exciting things we did but I won't drag this out any longer than I already have.

So, as you can see I'm very lucky to have Kim as my best friend and I'm so glad we can get together on her bi-yearly trips she makes to Utah. This last trip we met up with eachother at Gardner's Village and let the kids enjoy the stream with all the fish and ducks in it, while we enjoyed shopping in Pine Needles (the quilt and embroidery store). Afterward we headed to The Gateway to meet up with her dad and aunt for lunch and more fun for the kids at the childrens discovery museum.