Four Little Turkeys and their Leader

Posted on December 17, 2018 by Kami Hymas

We had my nephews over for the day on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Levi planned a whole day of festivities for the boys. It was a hoot to see him running a full on Turkey Day Camp. The day’s activities included a Turkey Hunt outside, a Turkey craft inside and other turkey themed games he made up. My nephews and Liberty, who was also part of the fun, had a blast.

Two days later was Thanksgiving

Rock made a cherry pie because my family never makes enough pies to suit him.

Turned out pretty good, though I wouldn’t know how it tasted. I don’t like pie.

We spent the day at my brother’s house and the kids were in heaven. They played with their cousins from 10 AM-10 PM. Best Thanksgiving EVER!

Except for the part where they had to wait for dinner…..

Derek’s idea of an apron…..

Yes, that’s a paper towel. Well, several paper towels, actually.

This year I am thankful no one was sick on Thanksgiving. I’m thankful for my instant pot which makes mashed potatoes (and eggs and roast and everything else) EASY PEEZY. I’m thankful for a husband who is patient. I’m thankful for my home and my country. I’m thankful teenage-hood does not last forever. I’m thankful for my picture slideshow screen saver that reminds me they used to be adorable with fat cheeks. I’m thankful for sisters to shop with on Black Friday. I’m thankful for seat belts that don’t beep. I’m thankful for my testimony and my Savior. And I’m thankful for the selfless people who let me into traffic-it almost brings me to tears when someone is that thoughtful. Silly, I know, but it humbles me every time and I am grateful.

Just to name a few!

Liberty’s Baptism

Posted on December 1, 2018 by Kami Hymas

Liberty turned 8 back in July and has been patiently waiting until Reagan turned 16 so he could baptize her. It was very fitting as she was blessed the same weekend he was baptized.

It was a very special day and we’re glad so many loved ones could share it with us.

Her Uncle Derek was not going to be there, but he showed up just in time!

I love these two people!

So proud of my girl for making this big decision!

Halloween 2018

Posted on November 25, 2018 by Kami Hymas

It’s Thanksgiving break so let’s talk about Halloween!

Pumpkin Carving

Levi REALLY gets into carving….

Success!

The Finished Products

Halloween

This year, Levi went out trick or treating with his friends,

Reagan took Liberty around the neighborhood

and Cade went to a party. Things are a changin.

The Bandit and the Unicorn (sounds like a good book)

It’s Fall Y’all

Posted on October 28, 2018 by Kami Hymas

We’ve had a busy fall. 🙂

First Day of School 2018

Cade: 9th Grade

Reagan: 10th Grade

Not sure you could get cheesier smiles from these two.

Levi: 5th Grade

Liberty: 3rd Grade

We’ve had three birthdays I haven’t blogged yet, so let’s get those done:

Cade turned 14 and this was his first church dance.

Rock turned 41

The title of this picture should be “Blowhard”

and Reagan turned the big 16!

I let him pick his two favorite desserts for his birthday.

He picked apple pie and Oreos.

We took him to Tucanos for more celebrating.

And this summer he gets a trip to Yellowstone with mom and dad.

Liberty made him this picture for his birthday because he will be baptizing her next week!

Other family adventures this fall include:

Apple Picking

and

The Pumpkin Patch

Yes, that cute kid is mine.

Balancing Act

Too cool for pumpkins

Or not..

More Balancing…

GQ Pumpkin

GQ Pumpkin²

In other news, Levi got his (first set of) braces off! I get a small reprieve!

This fall Levi tried football! When the kid who was going to play quarterback quit, Levi was put in as QB and he did a great job. He worked so hard and did a job he’d never done before. It was really fun to watch this kid progress.

Here is a video I took of his last game. It was a beautiful play…until the poor kid who caught Levi’s pass, tripped and fell a yard from the touchdown. It was so sad.

And lastly, a few leaf pictures…back when we had only a few leaves in our yard.

Happy Fall Y’all

Temples and Tigers

Posted on September 30, 2018 by Kami Hymas

Grand Mesa and the Colorado National Monument were not exciting enough for Levi because he didn’t see enough animals. Eye Roll. So we stopped in Provo on our way up to Salt Lake City to visit the Bean Life Science Museum at BYU which is stuffed with animals. (Pun Intended). He saw lions and tigers and bears and alligators and eagles and giraffes and…..you get the idea.

We went to a live animal presentation and Levi had his hand in the air literally the whole time so he could answer every question. I was torn between embarrassment and pride.

I had to tear the kids away from the museum so we could make it to temple square that afternoon. We have rushed through temple square in the past, but I wanted to spend some time there this time. I never get tired of looking at this beautiful temple.

We wandered through City Creek Mall afterwards because…….Levi wanted to find some animals. He remembered the fish pond from last time! Most people go to the mall to shop. Not my kid.

As we left Salt Lake headed to Alli’s house, Levi noticed that we took the freeway ramp marked “To Las Vegas” and asked incredulously, “Are we going to Las Vegas?!” I said yes, assuming that he would know I was joking. About five minutes later he pipes up from the back seat, “Are we going to eat in Las Vegas?”

Rather than eating in Las Vegas, we ate at our favorite place, Pizza Pie Cafe. While there, I took Liberty into the bathroom. I was almost done when I realized Liberty hadn’t gone into a stall so I called out her name and asked what she was doing? She sheepishly answered, “I’m dancing to the music.” I’m telling you, this girl dances literally everywhere she goes.

After dinner I tried to show the kids where Rock and I got engaged in Provo, but due to a pretty hefty thunder storm and the growing darkness I couldn’t find my way up to the spot. When we got back to Alli’s house her roommates were having a party and invited my kiddos to play Catch Phrase. My two social butterflies joined in happily, not caring that they were the youngest by far or that they didn’t know anyone.

Finally it was bedtime. Liberty loved sleeping in Alli’s purple mummy bag.

The next day we headed home by way of every temple I could easily stop at.

Draper

Jordan River

Bountiful

Brigham City

And that was our whirlwind trip to Utah and Colorado this summer.

Miss Wesel Goes to Grand Mesa

Posted on September 17, 2018 by Kami Hymas

Day 2 of our trip to GJ this summer was Grand Mesa. I’ve been looking at it for years every time we go to GJ and finally we got to go!

An up close look at Mount Garfield on our way!

We took a beautiful hike up on top of the Mesa.

Levi and Cade went up ahead so this is the last picture I got of them.

Hiking with Grandma

Ok, one more picture of Levi. He found a dead salamander and thought he’d died and gone to heaven. Look at those eyes sparkle!

Yuck. Not my heaven.

Making plans for the hikes they will take the NEXT time Alli comes to CO.

Picking Wildflowers.

Cade and Grandpa really got into this puzzle while we were there. They worked for hours on it.

Levi, Liberty, Alli and I left the next day but Cade stayed with Grandma and Grandpa. They played in Grand Junction for a couple days and then they took him to Salt Lake to see the fireworks on his birthday/Pioneer Day. After seeing some sights in SLC, he flew home.

Feeding the chipmunks on the Mesa.

Levi was very jealous and is counting the days till it’s his turn to stay with G and G Hymas.

After staying up late every night they finished puzzle just minutes before leaving for SLC.

Coming up; Levi and Liberty in Salt Lake City.

Miss Wesel Goes to Colorado Day 1

Posted on September 2, 2018 by Kami Hymas

As part of our summer travels we took my sister, Alli to Grand Junction, thus allowing her to check off a huge bucket list item. She has made it her sole purpose in life to get to every national park in existence, so the Colorado National Monument has been high on her list for a while. This summer we made it happen!

The day after Lagoon we said goodbye to Rock, who was headed home for some alone time, and picked up Alli. We stopped at Walmart to get snacks after eating lunch at In-n-Out Burger and Liberty provided this gem without any prompting at all. Every once in a while she shows that she is the only girl in a family of boys.

Then we were off to Colorado.

Image result for welcome to colorado sign from utah

Our first day in GJ we did the Monument.

Disclaimer: None of these pictures do the Monument justice. Grand vistas and vibrant colors just don’t look that great on a phone camera. I’m trying to justify a purchase of a newer iphone just so I can do justice to the grand vistas and vibrant colors. Rock isn’t convinced.

Another thing you can’t tell in these pictures is how close to a cliff someone is. Most of these pictures were taken right next to a cliff. It’s a miracle we ever survive trips like this. It’s a miracle I don’t have a heart attack from worry that my kids will fall off a cliff, a miracle my kids don’t throw me off a cliff for constantly trying to stop them from falling off a cliff and a miracle my mother in law even agrees to take me because I’m the mom who is constantly trying to keep her children from falling off a cliff.

Alli REALLY likes cliffs.

These two are definitely kindred spirits. Nancy loves to talk about the Monument and Alli loved learning about it. I wish they could have gone off on their own for a day without my kiddos and me in tow.

Goofy Grin

Levi spent the entire day begging to go exploring for animals. He asked at every. single. stop. Everyone got to practice patience that day.

Independence Rock

Yes, that really is the same rock, Alli.

Nancy took us to the coolest spot for lunch! Overlook Everything!

More exploring for Levi.

Alli was a huge help and together we tag teamed the “Levi exploration buddy” assignment. Levi is out in this picture somewhere exploring and if you look closely you can see Alli following close behind.

We stopped at the Visitor’s Center on our way out of the park and Liberty found a book about Arches National Park. The kids and Rock went to Arches over spring break and I have been lamenting the fact that I haven’t gotten to see it yet. When I exclaimed over the book, she said, “It’s OK, Mommy, you will see it someday, just don’t die.”

Then as we drove out of the parking lot, we saw this arch in the sky!!

On our way home that day we stopped to see Great Grandma Dot. So glad this neat lady is still around!

Great Grandma insisted on walking us out to the car and giving her daughter a hug goodbye.

Stay tuned for our day on the Grand Mesa. Hopefully you won’t have to wait too long…..

Crazy Roller Coasters

Posted on August 9, 2018 by Kami Hymas

In July we took a trip down to Lagoon to take our crazy roller coaster riding children on some crazy roller coasters.

First Stop; The Pizza Factory

We LOVE these breadsticks!

Lagoon!

So, the secret to doing Lagoon is to go on the hottest day of the year. No lines for most of the day! We were melting, but we got through all the rides we wanted multiple times! We opened AND closed the park!

Libby is my kind of ride partner. Nothin too fast, no flips or loops. While the boys hit all the big rides she and I hung out and rode the rides she wanted to. I was only too happy to oblige.

As we walked past Tidal Wave and watched in awe as those crazy people screamed and our stomachs turned, we realized Rock and the boys were on it! See if you can see them.

On the sky ride

Levi got a little sick on some of those big rides, so he took breaks to ride with Libby.

Trying to stay cool.

Rattle Snake Rapids

The Ferris Wheel

Here is Liberty on her 6th or 7th time riding the mini Tidal Wave ride.

The next day everyone but Rock headed to Colorado. Stay tuned for that post!

Our Liberty

Posted on August 6, 2018 by Kami Hymas

Liberty turned 8 years old in July!

It is so fun to have a girl because I was a girl. My boys have always been a little bit of a mystery to me. Interested in dirt, bugs and animals. But it is so fun to have a little girl doing the same little girl things I did when I was a girl. Nail polish and hair stuff, gymnastics and hand clap songs. Some things never change!

She finally has several friends in the neighborhood to play with and that’s a big blessing. I blame it on the playhouse.

If you paint it pink, they will come.

Obviously, we didn’t paint the outside pink, but just painting the inside pink must have brought the little girls. Now they are always playing in it and in our yard and it makes me so happy to have our big yard and trampoline and playhouse used.

But most of all I’m glad she finally has friends in the neighborhood.

There is always some sign that little girls are playing in our yard. From plates full of rocks and grass arranged to look like food, to little creations like this one I found in the yard last week:

They even decorate the sprinkler boxes.

Liberty LOVES shopping, especially at the mall. When our Target got mannequins after a recent remodel, she ran up to them squealing with delight. She wants to be a fashion designer when she grows up and spends hours designing clothes and jewelry.

Eating Smores

Her birthday was at the beginning of the month but because of summer travels we didn’t get a chance to have her party until this weekend.

The Bunny Birthday

Liberty has had bunnies on the brain so we had to throw a bunny birthday party.

The Cake

Liberty made the sack bunnies for the table centerpiece.

We made bunny plates,

held a real bunny,

and picked up bunny tails with vaseline on our noses.

We even found Blue Bunny ice cream with chocolate bunnies!

Cleaning up the wrapping paper.

This girl made such a haul!

I love this creative and fanciful girl who helps her

momma stop and smell the roses.

Tamarack Getaway 2018

Posted on July 29, 2018 by Kami Hymas

Rock and I got away for a few days up at the Tamarack Ski Resort a few weeks ago. We stayed at the beautiful lodge in an AirBnB with an awesome view of Lake Cascade and the mountains and trees. We relaxed by this gorgeous view for 4 days catching up on all the things we haven’t been able to do since summer started.

I blogged, Rock worked on his new side project, Cue. We read together, read alone, slept in and ate out. It was wonderful!

Pancake House

Ice Cream Alley (3rd time!)

Rock took a zip line tour; eight zip lines and two suspension bridges. It was a little two scary for my taste way up that high in the air. This is the picture in the ad: