Epic Makeup

Apparently I think I am Fran Drescher in Beautician and the Beast! As I was cleaning my bathroom today I gathered all my makeup to result in an overflowing amount of powders, liners, brushes and glosses. Does one person really need this much?! Over the years I have gathered various colors and brands of the type, but looking at it now I feel a little ridiculous. As I am pretty sure people wouldn't purchase pre-used, multi-year old makeup most of this went in the trash. I now have 6 items in my makeup bag, and I hope it stays that way for a while.

 We went to Dave's playoff game tonight. It was yet another defeat of 15-2! They played so hard, but the team they played last week was back with a vendetta. They have one more game next week, and then their season is over. Even though they lost every game, they never let it get them down. We went to Chili's after for dinner with everyone, and Dave gave out awards to all the guys.

We had a blast hearing all of these, and enjoyed laughing at their epic season. While the boys were playing, I was able to capture some of their awesome skills on camera. Because of youtube's lame sauce policies, I can only use this video player. I know the quality sux, but at least you can kinda see what we have been watching.

Grandparent's - New Goal

 We had the opportunity to visit with Dave's grandparent's tonight. Steve and Sarah were kind enough to invite us for hot dogs, over their new fire pit in the backyard. It was great catching up with them. They are some of the wisest people we know, and they truly are remarkable. We look up to them greatly, and can't help but feel at peace in their presence. They are amazing examples, and we appreciate them in our lives.

(Photos shot by Lisa Smith Gough at the 2011 Smithfest.)

 Dave ordered a new hockey goal a few months ago, but it wasn't quite up to par. He waited to jump on a great deal for this new regulation sized beauty, and traded the old one in. It came with the training tarp pictured below. Hopefully he and Dallen can now work on their aim. I would put up some actual pics of it, but it's current;y broken down in Dave's car trunk.

Rehab & Texan Ice

 We spent the day, mostly at home today. I needed time to recover! My legs and shoulders are so stiff, I have been heating and massaging them all day. It was a good day, but a long slow day and I am already wanting to just go get in my comfy bed.

I had to get up and going for Dallen's first skating class. I planned for plenty of time, and left an hour before his class time. Thanks to Bangerter's pleasant construction, I spent the entire hour in stop and go traffic. We got to the rink right when his class was starting, so Dave grabbed him and ran in. I parked way in the back of the jam packed parking lot, and rushed in. All this rushing, you would think it was an important game or intense class. But, this is a simple 30 minute level 1 class. Oh what we do for our children. It's insanity at times, but I think it will pay off. I wish Utah had more ice rinks available. To have only one in our entire county is a bit of a sham. Due to that fact, we chose to enroll him in the best 4 yr old program we could find, at the Acord Ice Arena in Salt Lake county. It is up off 3100 South. That's forever away in Utah County years, in case you didn't know. Watching Dallen on the ice was fun and exciting. There were 4-5 classes all going on at once, and there are 4 kids in his class. He did great for his first class. His confidence shot way up, and he was able to skate half the width of the rink on his own without help. I love that Dave can sit with me and talk me through what they are learning. I am kinda new to the hockey world, so learning all the details is fun.

When we were finished, we drove over to grab a $10 hockey stick Dave found for sale on KSL. It's a nice $90 Bauer composite stick, still in great condition. We then wrapped up the evening with a trip to Texas Roadhouse. It was nice, after the long weekend, to just sit down as a family and visit. Rorey cried the whole time, and Dallen refused to come into the restaurant and then eat any of his own food. I just love family dinners like that! :P Can't wait til next week's skate class! But what I really can't wait for is to go to sleep.

Pittsburg Lake or Bust!

 A couple weeks ago Marshall had the idea to hike Pittsburg Lake. I remember agreeing to it, but had no clue what I was doing! We planned our hike accordingly, but had no idea what lay ahead of us. We stopped at good 'ole Kohler's to bulk up on food, then headed up AF canyon. When we got to Tibble Fork reservoir, we continue straight to a dirt road. We followed this "road", more like an old rock riverbed for 7 miles. It was extremely bumpy, and not for the weak stomached. After nailing a couple rocks into our under carriage, I was trying not to be so stressed. Through all of this we were trying to avoid many other people on the narrow trail, in both vehicles and ATV's. The canyon was packed for the holiday weekend. When we finally parked to get ready to head up, the picture above is somewhat what we were looking towards. The greyish area in the middle, is the lake surrounded by pines that we hiked to. Had we known that going up, I would have probably started for home!

We could not find a way over the river to get to the trail head. As we were standing there figuring out what to do, this guy came buy on an ATV and offered us all a ride over. We thought it was great, and once we got over there we all stood in shock at how nice that guy was. But then the reality set in of, how were we going to get back over the river afterwards?! We decided to press on anyway and figure it out later. Shortly after we started our trek, I was leading the pack when I looked up from the ground to see a moose standing about 20 feet away. I froze instantly, but was screaming "It's a moose!" over and over again. It was pretty funny, cause I was a little startled, but it was so calm and reserved. So neat to get so close, and have the kids see too.

 The trail was extremely steep and rocky. I was so glad that we brought Dallen's fishing pole, because at times it was the only thing that kept him going. It took us about 3 hours to reach the lake, and it was not easy. We made many stops along the way sometimes only 10 feet apart from each other. It was such an adventure.

The trail was steep the whole way up. There was not a point until the top where it leveled out. As we continued, we finally hit the snow line! We did not plan on snow. Our poor kids both needed another pair of socks, and Dallen another pair of shoes. For most of us, our feet were frozen and soaked. After a short while Dallen got to a point where he could no longer walk, his feet were hurting him so bad. Kiramey was so sweet, she carried him pretty much the rest of the way. Once we all reached the lake, we had to take his shoes and socks off to try to dry them out but it was still cold. We reached the lake at about 5pm and broke out our "lunch". PB & J's never tasted so good! We enjoyed the peaceful beauty of the lake. We loved the fact that we were the only ones daring to hike the trail out of all the people in the canyon. 

 After lunch, fishing and resting, we started to make our way back down. Going down was much faster, but Dallen needed to be carried the entire way. His shoes were soaked through. Thank goodness Kirmay had a spare pair of socks. Marshall pulled out some strength and carried him down on his shoulders. Rorey had a fit so bad, he zonked within minutes of the decline. As we reached the bottom, we still had to figure out how to get back across the river. We found a log to walk on for part of it, but then were trapped in between two split offs. Marshall and Dave started on a dam. Kira was like "Whatever I am walking across!" so she took off her socks and shoes and mustered the will to walk across snow melted rushing currents! We made it across, and on the other side a friendly snow face greeted us. We were exhausted, we were beat. But we were proud, that we all reached the top and had a great time together. We defeated that 3 mile trail!

 It was an amazing day. Full of adventure and enjoyment. I look forward to our next family trip, and can't wait to share the memories.

Smiles and Giggles

 As we were getting ready for church today, we were all in a deep conversation when Dallen came out of the bathroom saying he needed help with his hair. As you can see from the photos, he did an interesting job! His hair looks wet, but really that's gobs of gel. He was upset because he couldn't get the hair in the back to go down. We were all trying to not burst out laughing, cause he looked so funny but he was being so serious. I helped him fix it, but because of the time we had to keep all that gel in. It was go gross and crusty half way through the meetings. He is so silly!

Later that evening, we went to see Gradma Margaret again. She is home from the hospital now, and still in a lot of pain but doing well. It was good to see her up moving around on her own. We visited for a while and then headed off to meet up with Marsh and Kira for the adventure awaiting us tomorrow! 

City Creek & Pizza

 We met Dad and Terri at the City Creek mall to have some fun in SLC. We spent the afternoon just hanging out, and showing off the new mall to them since they had never seen the revamp. It was pretty cool and rainy. The kids grew tired quickly, but we still had a great time. We stopped in at the new Deseret Book, it is massive! I have been to the mall probably ten times by now, and I still love going. It truly is amazing! 

We met up with Marshall and Kiramey for dinner, at the California Pizza Kitchen in the Gateway. With Marshall's birthday coming up this week, we decided to throw him a little "party". We had a ton of fun watching him open his gifts, and picking off the nuts from his free ice cream sunday. We had a great day with everyone.

School is out!

 Holy mackerel it's summer! Dallen had his last day of school today, and I can 't believe it. They did a circus for the kids, and they got to watch a movie and have snacks. It was the talk of the town today! He couldn't stop talking about how cool it all was. So dang cute, and I can't believe my bug is done with his first year of school. Dave and I decided to surprise him with a campout in the backyard. As soon as Dave got home we set up the tent, then ran to the store where Dallen was able to pick out his own treats. (He got a little over excited about this part!) We had dinner and then it was out to the tent. I put Rorey down for bed, and then snuck out the front to scare Dallen and Dave in the tent. I got 'em good! I about died laughing. I told Dallen I had something in my pocket. He looked and found a box of cards. I taught him the basics of "War" and even though he didn't quite realize the face value of the cards, he winned me.

We love these lemonades, they are the best! I bet you can't tell whose is whose! They made for a perfect evening of fun.

We are looking forward to an amazing summer, and can't wait to record our ride.

The Trick

Rorey has a new trick. It is so funny, because he does it non-stop now. You can see it below, but watcher beware...we are not held responsible for any nausea, dizziness or strange noises you make due to watching this video.

 

We went to visit my grandma in the hospital this evening. She is recovering from surgery on her knee. She was chipper, and energetic as usual. Dallen helped me pick out some purple, and yellow flowers to bring her. It was nice to see her, and I am glad she is recovering well.

We also went to another Hockey game tonight. Good heck it was an energetic game! Suffice it to say the team was jipped! The final score was 8 to 10, but 3 goals were falsely added. I have it on camera as proof! But the ref was totally favoring the other team. It was almost like the refs weren't even paying attention. Calling penalties all over the place but against our guys. It was so upsetting! Dave got 5 of the goals, and you could just see the fury coming out through his stick. After talking to the league owner, they are going to be playing at least two of the playoff games. Yay! At least another couple chances to win a game. All in all this team is getting tight. It has taken major work and a ton of practice, but they are finally getting a groove. Let's hope they can bring it in the playoffs!

Black Lab or Lab Rat

Well I went in for my routine monthly lab testing. Yes I am a lab rat! I am sick to death of all the testing, and medications and "well your antibodies are healthy, but your body is screwing you over for no reason" statements! Who the heck is running this show anyway?! I decided that I am. I am tired of the uncertain shot in the dark resolution. My resolution is this. I am in control of my body and my mind, and if I choose to be healthy I will be. I am waiting to hear what the Doc says on Thursday, but my mind is pretty made up. I am going to let things be for now. No more testing and no more drugs, give them to the dogs. 

On a lighter note, I was able to fit in a real nap today! It was weird, Dallen was playing with neighborhood friends and Rorey was asleep. I can't honestly remember the last time I took a nap in the middle of the day. Loved it!

I know these pictures have nothing to do with what I am talking about today. That's the best part! I still find joy at just looking at these guys.