August 31, 2009

Three Evenings Rides- Three Sunsets

One of my favorite things about going out on the boat is the beautiful sunsets. Okay so, one of my favorite things about evening rides. Here are shots from each of our 3 nights out on the water...








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August 30, 2009

A Night Out with Friends

The boat had to spend several days up in Salt Lake because it needed a cover. Yes, I have to point out that I drove the boat up to Salt Lake by myself!!! It was more stressful than the time I drove to Salt Lake to borrow Ryan's quads. The boat is much bigger, and visability is much worse, but I did it. I did notice that my hands were sore from griping the steering wheel so hard.

So as soon as we got the boat back, we went out and enjoyed the evening with some friends. The weather was beautiful and the water was glass. The kids, as always, had a blast on the tube. That $150 was probably the best money spent on boating equipment. It gets more giggles, more smiles and more screams- from kids and grown ups. (Don't worry, I'm sure the new-ness of the boat will wear off soon and I won't be posting about the boat nearly as constantly).




August 29, 2009

Another night of firsts...

On our first Friday night with the boat, we took our nanny, Kim and Scott's brother's family on the boat for the first time.
It was the first time Scott threw someone from our raft.
It was the first boating injury.
It was Jade's first time getting up on water skis.
Now a little bit more information about the firsts...
The kids all took turns on the raft and they enjoyed bouncing up and down as Scott would maneuver them over the wake. Then Theresa went with some of the kids. The extra weight of a grown up caused a bigger bounce- which proved to be too much bounce for little Ivy. Kim traded Ivy places- putting two grown ups and one kid on the raft. This made for some serious bounce- enough bounce that it launched Theresa right off. She bounced and Jade bounced and Kim bounced. The injury came from Jade bouncing her head right into Kim's forehead. By the time she got off the raft and onto the boat, there was a large golf ball sized bump on her eyebrow. She was a great sport and said that injuries happen when you are putting yourself out there having fun. I completely agree with her, but I thought she was great about her injury.
Luckily, everyone was able to laugh and we didn't have to take anyone to the emergency room. And Kim had a great story to tell on her date the next night.
After we played on the raft/tube for a while, we had to take cover from the wind and rain storm. It was cold and an adventure.




As I have said before, Jade absolutely amazes me with her athletic skills. She is able to do anything and everything she tries. Peter, her cousin, had to do a lot of coaxing her into the water, but she did it. And once she got in and got used to the cold she let Scott help her get up. Once she got going, she did great and was excited to try it again.

August 28, 2009

The first outing with the Fullers...

For our first two outings on the boat, our weather has been less than ideal. The water was wavy and the boat was bouncy. It was not the best weather for introducing my parents to the fun that can be had on a boat. As we bounced and bounced in the boat and Scott cut through the lake, my mom feared for all kids on board. Which meant she stayed in the front of the boat getting the worst bounce, but protected the littles from bouncing overboard.
Despite the weather, we had a lot of fun. Kat did some wake boarding, but had never had any instruction, other than Scott telling her she'd get the feel for it. She did alright, but I think next time she'll have a much easier time. She's been spending some time watching some videos on YouTube. Plus, she's a natural athlete and can water ski well, I'm sure she'll get it next time around and will laugh that she struggled at all. You should see the bruise that she got that night. She fell off the swim platform and caught herself on the platform. Her bruise is DARK purple and 4 inches by 3 inches. Luckily, that was all she hurt.


This was the first time for the tube from Costco. The kids absolutely loved it. So did Jonny. He cracked up at the big kids and their giggles. I have a feeling the tube will get the most water time of anything.
Poor mom and dad are still feeling the aches and pains of bouncing around. We'll have to get them out on the boat again during a beautiful and clear night- as opposed to one that threatened a storm.

August 27, 2009

What did you have for dinner?

Since we will be spending so much time on the boat, I thought I'd celebrate with a "dinner at sea." Jade, especially, LOVED it. She even thanked Heavenly Father in the prayer for her "awesome dinner" and thanked Him for the "most awesomest mom in the world." Maybe I should make creative dinners a little more often.
I made seaweed spinach, goldfish mac and cheese and hot dog squid. I've posted the mac and cheese recipe and the instructions for hot dog squid on the recipe blog. (I saw the hot dog idea on Family Fun- I think).

Give me your best shot 8/28

Since summer is coming to an end, I thought I'd share my favorite picture of Jade. I took this last weekend and love looking at her eyes that are filled with so much excitement.

Don't forget to check out the other fun end of summer photos by clicking on the link below.

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Depeche Mode

I have so much that I want to say about the Depeche Mode concert, but I just don't know where to start.


Oh the shock, oh the people in the audience, oh the dancing, oh the memories and did I say, "oh the shock"? I'll say it again, OH THE SHOCK!!

As Melissa and I walked into the E Center, we started people watching. It is, after all, one of the best things about a concert. There were people from every walk of life. There were rockers, there were those stuck in the 80's, there were people in their 60's, there were goths, there were, little kids and then there were those like us- normal, every day people that have memories of Depeche Mode and high school/college. One of the things that I noticed was all of the tattoos. I really don't think I have seen so many tats since NASCAR!

The first shock of the night was how many girls were there that forgot to wear the bottoms of their outfits. There were a number of girls in cute tunic tops, but that was all that they had on. One girl was showing her very minimalist lace underwear with her short tunic. Sigh. What would their mothers think? But, it did spark one of the best comments of the night.

Mel: I hate it when I leave home and forget my pants...
Amy: and my cellulite cream.

Truly not a pretty site.

Now a few words about the concert... It is awesome that Depeche Mode knows what made them famous and they aren't afraid to return to that place in their concerts. I loved hearing a bunch of their old music, remembering junior high and high school dances, mix tapes, friends etc. I did find it funny that they are still wearing their same clothes from the 80's- including Martin's silver suit. Dave's vest without a shirt brought memories back of an old friend I ran into after my mission at a dance club- he was dressed then (in 94) just like Dave was dressed in 2009. It was also entertaining to watch Dave be so in love with his own fanny. If I'm not mistaken, he had his back to the audience, shaking his little fanny more than he was facing the front. His dance moves resembled those of a Latin dancer- which surprised me a bit. Maybe, Jade can do a Latin ballroom number (when she gets much older) to a Depeche Mode song. Or maybe they could do one on So You Think You Can Dance.

I am not in love with the sound system at the E Center- but maybe it is just because I'm getting OLD.

I really enjoyed their choice of backgrounds for most of their songs. Strange Love would be the MAJOR exception to that. It was during their first encore when they played Strange Love. For some reason, they decided to have a two girl soft porn video going. I was very glad I had a large beam covering part of the screen, because one of the girls removed her shirt. I wasn't confident I was seeing what I thought I was seeing, until a friend of mine confirmed my suspicions. CRAZY! There were an awful lot of kids there to have that video being displayed on a GIANT screen. As you can guess, that was the major SHOCK of the night.
Mel and I left before the 2nd encore. I struggle with waiting for 8 plus minutes while the band either strokes their ego or goes to the restroom while we stand and clap. That wasn't really why we left, but it contributed. We were tired and we are old so just after 11 we decided to call it a night. Plus we avoided the post concert traffic and parking lot scene.
It's so wonderful to have a concert buddy and to have a husband who likes me having a concert buddy. So, thanks Scott for supporting us in our girls night out, and thanks Mel for another very fun night and a yummy home cooked meal.












August 26, 2009

Ward Pool Party

We haven't always been participants in our church activities. It's just one of those things we have, in the past, chosen not to take the time to do. Scott and I are so busy with work that any free time we have, we either want to play with the girls or get stuff done. All of that changed when our friends got put in as the Activity Chairs. We love them, so we support them and their activities. It also helps that they do throw a pretty awesome party.
For the end of summer party, they rented the local pool and had a huge BBQ. There was so much food at this party and yet the desserts still managed to get pretty cleaned out. With some of the amazing bakers we have in our neighborhood, it's no surprise everyone saved plenty of room for desserts.
Since I ALWAYS have my camera in tow, I took some cute pictures of a few of the kids at the party. I've said this before, I think people may find me obnoxious to always have my camera in front of my face, but it's something that I love doing and to get really good at it, I need to spend as many hours as I can taking pictures.



We weren't going to stay for the pool party, because I had to prepare my lesson for the next day, but the girls convinced us to stay. The diving board provided for a great deal of entertainment. There were several kids that were absolutely fearless and jumped multiple times from the high dive.
I did have a bit of a fright with Jade, the child with no fear. She asked if she could go off the high dive. I told her sure but that she needed to jump, not flip or dive. Apparently she didn't hear me. She started out with a beautiful dive and my heart began racing. I could just see her hitting the water and coming up crying because her head hurt from the impact. Instead, she decided to flip- at the last minute. (She says her body just started to rotate, but either way, it turned into a flip). Unfortunately, there just wasn't enough air left for her to finish the rotation. She landed smack on her back. So up she came, crying from the pain of the impact. The sweet daughter of the bishop dove in after her and helped her to the edge. Jade thanked her, cried for a minute longer and headed back up the high dive. From then on, she just jumped from the high dive and flipped from the low dive.
There is a picture, above, of our Bishop diving off the high dive and several pictures of some of the cute kids in the ward making their graceful entrances into the pool. Some of them "diving" feet first and others cannon balling it. But, to end the night, Tyler transformed himself into the "Flying Squirrel" and I was lucky enough to capture some of his best moments on film.
It was a very fun night. Unfortunately, we won't be supporting them for the Camp Out in September because it is the same weekend as Peach Days. And you KNOW we aren't about to miss Peach Days, the parade, car show and really yummy peach cobbler. Some family traditions are just too important to miss, even for a really fun church camp out!

My Sister is AMAZING

Kat is very talented with many many things. One of the skills that I am so amazed at is her graphic art skills.

As the school year is kicking off and Jade is juggling 5 hours of gymnastics, 6 hours of dance and all day school, I wanted to make sure that the girls (and Miss Kim) know what to expect each and every day, and I wanted to give Ivy plenty of structure and school time. So, I asked Kat if she'd be willing to help me out. I sent her an excel spread sheet and expected something nicely done with two different colors. The next day, she told me that she hadn't been able to sleep the night before so she was brainstorming about ideas for the girls charts. Here is the result of her creative powers, illustrator skills and artistic talent. I absolutely love it and can't wait to get it printed off and displayed in their playroom.

Next, I'm going to need a little journal page where Miss Kim can document the girls progress, highs and lows of the day and any funny stories.


If you are interested in hiring Kat to do invitations, baby announcements, gift cards, calendars etc, feel free to reach out to her. Here is her photography site that also shows samples of her cards. She is fast and does a beautiful job. Here's her email address for kattailsdesign

August 25, 2009

Maiden Voyage

One thing we forgot to request, when we got our boat, was good weather. Holy cow. The first day we went out was sooo cold, but we did have a really good time. The Watson's joined us for our maiden voyage. Josalyn is a pretty good wake boarder and Nate could water ski. It's always fun for me to get to watch my big hotshot get out there and jump the wake. He's anxious for me to try and also anxious for me to learn how to drive the boat. I don't really feel pressure to drive the boat, because we can't ever go out just the 4 of us, until the girls are old enough to be a spotter. Once they get older, I'll consider learning how to drive. :)





The girls were thrilled to get to dance in the front of the boat while U2 blared on the speakers. Those three have some pretty good moves. I tell you, we will have to watch them when they get older!


The kids had a blast swimming, even though the water was only 67 degrees. We'll be getting them wetsuits if we continue going out in bad weather. Ivy, of course, was a little unsure. Jade wasn't willing to try water skiing just yet- at least not in the freezing cold water.


We are really looking forward to a lot more family nights out with friends on the boat. If you're interested in going, let us know. We're always up for an outing and we can't go out just the 4 of us.

August 24, 2009

It's prettier on the water than it is on the trailer

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Our new toy arrived...

For as long as I have known Scott, I have known that he would one day have another boat. I knew that, and I still married him.
The past month or so, Scott has been spending some time researching boats, sending me pictures of boats, taking me to look at boats and dreaming about taking his family out on his boat.
Scott's cousin, Ryan, has a brother-in-law that is a car dealer. Every month or so, he goes to the car auction in California. (I'm not sure why in California- maybe it has to do with the cars are in better shape because they don't have to deal with Utah weather). Anyway, the car auction is also a boat and toy auction.
One day, Scott sent me a list of boats that would be at the auction. There were several that were the same brands as boats that he had shown me. There was one MasterCraft. On the auction list, it said that it was a 2003 x30 and that it was YELLOW. Yellow is not a color that we had even considered, but decided that we would be okay with- if we won the auction.
That night we talked about how much Scott was willing to pay for the boat- depending on the condition and the upgrades etc.
The next morning, I got a picture of a boat in my email. It was a picture of "our" boat. This boat was a screaming deal. It is a 2003, but it only had 26.6 hours on it, plus it had the upgraded engine. I think it's an 8.1 with 450 horse power or something like that. Anyway- it was a huge upgrade. And, Scott got it for way below blue book.
The next day it was delivered to our doorstep. It's beautiful and apparently, we are now a "boating family"- something that I never thought I would say- well, at least before I met Scott.



I heart faces- Nostalgia

I think this picture brings back memories for many people who remember playing in the irrigation water as a child and watching their grandpas go to work sweeping the water across the lawn in his rubber boots. I love that Scott's grandpa still does this every other week- and he's in his 90's.
Check out the other memories at I Heart Faces.


August 23, 2009

The Adventurer never stops..

And then there is Jade. She is never afraid to try anything. Really, that is all there is to say. The pictures say it better than I ever could with words.

August 22, 2009

The tender one...

We had a marathon week of activities to end our summer. We ended it at Seven Peaks Water Park. We had a beautiful day and the girls loved getting to do an activity during the week and during the day with both parents in tow. It, sadly, doesn't happen very often. Every summer, I say I'm going to take Fridays off. This summer, I did a better job of taking "some" Friday's off.
The girls showed their true colors, one more time, while we were at the park.
Ivy was content to hang out with me, float down the lazy river, sit on the blankets and get some sun or play in the kiddie pool.
We really wanted her to go down one water slide, and there are several kids sized ones to do. She kept resisting, and finally Scott was able to convince her to go down one with him. She got soaked and got out of the slide and cried. It wasn't her best experience of the day- at all.
She eventually got over it and was willing to flash us her beautiful and tender hearted smile.



August 21, 2009

The day in Park City

Before Tom and Anne headed back to Malibu with the kids, I took a day off and we played at the Park City Mountain Resort. We had our choice between Park City or Lagoon. I am SO glad we went to the mountains. Everyone had a blast, got sunburned and tried something new.
We did the all day pass, so we had unlimited rides on the Alpine Slide, the Alpine Coaster, the Zip Line, the trampoline, the rock wall, the miniature golf, the kiddie rides and the maze. I would love to make the resort an annual tradition. (We went last year with my work and loved it then too, but it was chilly then and Ivy was too young to do much).
On the lift we saw cute kids and a hawk.


On the ground we watched kids (Jade) climb to the top and hit the button that didn't work. I even raced her to the top, once.
On the mountain, we challenged each other to the fastest rides down the alpine slide. I knew I'd lose since I stopped to snap some pictures with my broken point and shoot.



Grandma was nearly thrown from the coaster as her seat belt loosened going around a corner and everyone else pushed on the levers to go as fast as they possibly could.
From the tree tops, the older and heavier family members floated to the base of the mountain with surprising speed. After our first time down, we found out that to go faster you need to tuck into as small of a ball as you possibly can. We tried it and boy do you zoom through the trees at a scary speed.
If you need an activity to end your summer with, this is the one to do. It isn't cheap, but if you get the all day pass, you really get to enjoy your day more. There is nothing more annoying than using your one trip down the coaster with the expectation of racing down the mountain only to find yourself stopping at every turn because the person in front of you has a scared child with them. (Wow, that was a run on sentence!) It happens- believe me, I know. So, I was really glad I got to go again to redeem the ride.