The Cabin

As you will notice with my new picture of the week, the cabin truly is my favorite place on earth.

This cabin was built by my grandpa's bare hands when my mom was a little girl. She always tells us stories of how he would let her help hammer in the nails and he was so particular about building every inch correctly. My grandpa was an architect and as a child I remember thinking he could build or fix anything with a hammer and nails. When I was really little my parents had to move a lot but no matter where we lived, every summer we would drive out and spend a couple weeks at the cabin. It is high up in the Uinta mountains in Utah, you have to drive up a ten mile dirt road to get there, and the water is from the river so you can't drink it. It is a little rustic, but the most beautiful place on earth. I have so many memories as a child of wandering around our property and the woods surrounding it and coming face to face with deer and moose. I loved fishing in the ponds, tubing down the river, and picking wild flower bouquets for my mom. But most of all I just loved being there surrounded by the beauties of the earth and feeling close to my Father in Heaven who created it all for me. Something about this amazing place just makes me feel like Heaven is so close. I am so grateful that now I get to bring my children to this wonderful place each summer and watch as they experience the wonders of discovering it for themselves. I took the kids there last week and had a blast. It is run-off right now (when the snow all melts from the mountains and comes down the rivers) so the river is raging. That made me very nervous with Carter around since there is a river that goes right in front of the cabin and one that goes right in back. I have never seen the river as wide or as deep as this year. So of course Carter has no fear and his favorite activity was to throw rocks in the river from the little bridge in front. Every time he would throw a rock into the river he would say Booyah! (he was taught this little phrase by his father in case you were wondering) This made me so nervous because he would find the biggest rocks his little hands could carry and jump as he threw them off the bridge. So one morning around 8am, I took Carter outside and was sitting on the porch with my mom when he fell into the raging river. It was freezing so he started to scream immediately. I jumped in the river at the bottom of the bridge because I was worried he would be dragged under the bridge and get stuck there. My mom ran to the top of the bridge where he had fallen in and all she saw was these tiny white fingers holding on for dear life. So she grabbed in the river and got him out before he could lose his grip and fall under the bridge. We both nearly had heart attacks, but we were so grateful he was alive. All my mom kept saying was, "this baby is so strong!!", "you are so lucky he is so strong!" I reached into the river just to see how strong the current was and I was amazed that he had held on as long as he did. So that was a little traumatic, but the rest of the week was spent spotting wildlife, making mud pies by the pond, having snacks in the tree house that Nana built, and roasting marshmallows by the fire pit. Daddy helped chop down some trees and we all helped cut fire wood and haul it to the wood shed. Rylynn loved this part and praised us for our Teamwork! Another amazing thing about the cabin is the stars at night. You can see the entire milky way and the stars are just endless. Another great story from the week was when Carter was taking a nap, we spotted a huge mother moose and her tiny new baby cross right in front of our property and we followed them around to the back river. We were so nervous that the little baby wouldn't make it across, but they both made it safely to the other side. We just love this place and feel so lucky to have it!


Here I am teaching Rylynn the traditional art of mudpie making!

Daddy and Carter scouting out rocks to throw in the river

Rylynn working very hard on her mudpie

A family snack in the tree house

Carter precariously close to the edge!

Did I mention that we get dirty at the cabin?

The back white river rapids

Nana working hard with the chainsaw!

Fun at Nana and Papa's house!

We have been having one adventure after the other this summer and unfortunately, because of that I have been neglecting my blog! So here is the update. Rylynn and Carter have been having a blast visiting all the people they love and doing all the fun activities at each house they visit. First we stayed at Nana and Papa's pool house in St. George. The kids call it that because they have a pool in their backyard that they get to swim in everyday. Some other things they have loved doing at Nana and Papa's house are playing in the playroom with the awesome play kitchen that used to be mine when I was a little girl, playing with the beautiful dress ups, and riding around in the Jeep power wheel. All I can say is stay off the sidewalks, because Rylynn is a crazy driver!! Carter doesn't seem to mind though, he is always along for the ride. There are some really cool parks in St. George too that they have loved playing at. The new park in the center of town has this huge river type of thing with waterfalls, and steps to walk through the river. It is all chlorinated, so it is basically a swimming pool. There are tons of kids there and it is lots of fun. There is also one of those fountains that squirt out of the ground that the kids can run through. Every time we go, they each get a little braver about the fountains.




Rylynn loved wearing the fancy dresses and kept saying she was a princess. The funny thing is that half the dress-ups were my old fancy Easter dresses and Halloween costumes, so it was fun for me to reminisce about my childhood as my daughter played dress-up. Carter's idea of playing dress-ups is diving in the dress-ups bin and making a mess!


When I first showed Rylynn the jeep she was so scared of it because it kind of makes a loud sound. Then after a couple days she decided she wasn't scared of it anymore and she and Carter hopped in and drove around the neighborhood for hours. Carter never got sick of being the passenger even though Rylynn often drove up on curbs and onto lawns. He just sat there smiling as she drove him around.

Another fun activity was building block cities with Papa in the garage and then knocking them down, clearly a man's game! My parent's saved all of the wooden blocks from when we were growing up, the nice ones that are natural wood. So my Dad made up a game where you build a tall tower and then chuck blocks at it until it falls down. Rylynn thought it was so much fun and Carter really enjoyed the destruction part. Anytime he gets to throw something he is happy.

Floral Design and weddings

So as I mentioned earlier, while we were in St. George my cousin got married and we got to go to her sealing and receptions. I didn't get to post pictures before so here they are. Also I wanted to brag for my amazing mother for a moment. She has been doing wedding flowers for my cousins and for my sister in law for about a year now. She just picked it up as a hobby and she is totally amazing as with everything she decides to try. So for my cousin's wedding my mom did all her flowers as a wedding present. I got to help her since I was there and it was so much fun. My mother's list of talents never seems to end and she is inspiring to me because she doesn't shy away from trying anything. It was a lot of fun to help her and learn a new little craft.


This is the bridal bouquet. Her colors were turquoise, black and white.

This is the boutonniere for the groom.

These were the bridesmaid bouquets.


These were the corsages for the mothers and grandmothers.

I love this picture of Rylynn and my cousin's kids with their faces pressed up against the glass doors of the temple looking for Emily and Michael. They could hardly wait for them to come out. Rylynn even tried to sneak in through the baptism door when a couple teenagers were going in.

This is a picture of Rylynn hugging Emily. She was so excited!!

They are such a cute couple!

I'm so glad we got to be there. I just love weddings!

Mexico pics... finally!

Here is the belated tribute to our annual trip to Mexico.  PS this is a really long post!

We arrived at the Puerto Vallarta airport to much fanfare. A mob of locals was awaiting our arrival offering to carry our bags, show us to our vehicle and otherwise pamper us in every conceivable way. They were all very excited to see us and it made us feel like celebrities. This excitement ceased when we choose two Senors to carry our bags, which left out the others. They were obviously disappointed, but I think deep down inside they were happy that we considered them. The two Senors parted the mob for us and took us to our van. We gave them what turned out to be a somewhat meager tip, which turned them against us as well. So, we arrived to fanfare and left to dirty looks. Such is the life of a celebrity - one minute they love you, the next minute they curse you.

Anyway, we got in the van and we were on our way to The Grand Mayan.  The rest of the week was a lot of swimming, virgin Pina Colatas, and sun!  Oh and I can't forget also a lot of Wii!  My Mom and Dad bought a wii for the trip and we played it everyday.  Then when the kids went to bed at night we would play American Idol wii and sing karaoke.  It was so much fun and also very entertaining:)     

The shuttle ride from the airport.  The cousin bonding begins!

This is the entrance as you walk into the resort.  We stayed in this room for awhile.  There are these amazing huge Mayan warrior statues that line the room.  They were probably 50-60 feet tall.  It was quite a breathtaking entrance.  The kids loved it!

My mom brought a lot of water toys this trip so this is one of the water fights at one of the pools.  There were probably 20 pools plus the main pool which is the length of three football fields.  Needless to say we never got bored at the pool!

Another afternoon activity.  The girls had a little game of restaurant they liked to play with any adult willing to play the server.  This day it was Nana who got the job.  When Garrett did it he wrote out a whole menu and had them sign a bill and everything.  They never got tired of it.

One day we took a boat ride around the resort.  There is also a train you can take around the resort which the kids also loved.  Nathan was so excited to get on the boat that he stepped a little too early and landed in the river.   Luckily he is the oldest grandson and he can swim so it wasn't a big deal.

This is Nathan and Marianne on the boat ride.  Nathan had to sit on her lap because he was wet from falling in the river.

Taking in the sights from the boat.

Each day we take a turn being in charge of afternoon activities for the kids.  This is the first activity that Aunt Danielle was in charge of.  The kids each got a sand pail and shovel and they got to decorate their pails with the foamy stick ons.  They loved it.

This year we started the tradition of a girls' day and a boys' day.  For girls' day we went into a little town called Bucaria and shopped and had lunch right on the ocean.  The food was so amazing and so was the view.  Then we came back and went to the spa and pampered ourselves with facials and massages.  The boys' day was all about golf and food.  I love this new tradition!

This is the view from our table at the restaurant in Bucaria.

Me and the kids by the waterfall, you can tell Carter was really happy to stop swimming to take the picture.

The fam on the waterfall.

The view of the beach from our balcony.  Each room has it's own balcony with a little wading pool on it.  The kids loved it, but it made it stressful for the parents.  We couldn't ever leave the doors open with the little kids around.

A day at the beach.

Rylynn got pretty brave with the ocean this trip.  She even let Daddy take her way out and jump the waves!

Carter preferred watching the ocean from the sand.

We had a sand castle building contest and this is Uncle Jordan, Danielle, and Thais's castle.  We all got prizes!

Rylynn and my triangular sand castle!

A friendly game of stick pull between cousins.  Good job Rylynn and Thais!

Thanks Nana and Papa for an awesome trip!!  We can't wait for next year!

We're Back and other random things

We are back from our yearly family trip to Mexico with my family. This year we went to Nuevo Vallarta which is basically 10 minutes out of Puerto Vallarta. It was beautiful and we had a blast! I can't post pics unfortunately since Garrett has them on his computer, but I will have him post some later. In other news, today I got to go to my cousin's wedding at the St. George temple. It was a white wedding which I have never been to before and it was really cool. The sealer was a man from my parents ward and he did an amazing job. It was really cool to attend a sealing today since six years ago I was being sealed to the love of my life in the San Diego temple. It was really neat for me to listen to the advice the sealer gave and to think about how I'm doing at being a good wife and making my marriage an eternal marriage. It was a great reminder to me to be better. One funny moment from the wedding is that Rylynn was completely enthralled with my cousin and her dress. She just kept saying, "Oh I love her beautiful white dress. It's so sparkly!" At random times throughout the day she would just go up and touch her dress. She just wanted to be by her the whole time. She told my grandma that when she grows up she is going to have a beautiful white dress and get married in the temple!

So I just want to say that I am the luckiest girl in the world and I have the best husband! I couldn't be happier with my choice to marry Garrett and I have loved spending the last six years being his wife. He is an amazing father and a very supportive husband. I am thankful that he is the spiritual leader in our home and he is always striving to perfect himself. I really admire that about him. I also have to admit that even though I make fun of his sense of humor for being old man humor, I do love it! He makes me laugh so much and I never get sick of talking to him. I could shut out the world and talk to him all day long if I had the choice, but unfortunately we live in the real world, so I am grateful that he works so hard for us in school and work. He is a wonderful provider and I am so glad he is mine!

Another random story...I am loving spending time with my extended family out here and my Dad's mom is staying with my parents right now so it has been great to see her. She will be 94 in a month and I am amazed at what a strong person she still is. Since we have been around all this family lately I have been explaining to Rylynn that her Nana is my Mama and that her great Nana is her Nana's Mama. She loves pointing out that my mom is my mama and that I am her mama. So tonight at dinner she was saying that and my mom said, "that's right, and great grandma Monson is Papa's mama." Then Rylynn said there sure are a lot of mama's around here! It was so funny. Anyway, this is a really random post but that is the update. I will post pics soon!

Rylynn's Words of Wisdom

Garrett is living in Salt Lake working and we are in St. George right now so I am going to be posting more often so Garrett doesn't miss out on all the little funny things our kids do each day, so here is the little anecdote for the day. Rylynn and I were walking around Nana's garden and we saw a little snail shell. Rylynn loves snails and calls them snelly wellies so she was very excited. However, when we pulled it off the wall I realized that it was dead and the body was all dried up. So I told Rylynn and she was sad for a minute. Then she said, "Snellie Wellie died and went to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus. Heavenly Father said what's wrong and Snellie Wellie said I'm dead!" So those are the deep thoughts for the day!

A Happy Mother's Day

We are in Utah for the summer and we got in late late Saturday night so I completely forgot it was mother's day when I woke up, but not for long! Rylynn ran in to me and said Happy Mother's Day mommy, and then Garrett came in and she and he sang the Mother's Day song from primary for me. It was so sweet. Garrett just got called to primary a couple of weeks ago so he has been learning the song and secretly he has been teaching it to Rylynn. It was such a sweet surprise. Then we went to my Mom and Dad's ward for church and when it was time for the primary kids to sing Rylynn runs up to the front and the kids all moved over so she could be right in front and she looked right at me and sang every word!! I could not believe it! She has guts! She isn't even in Primary yet, but no one seemed to mind. It was so cute. Then we came home early so we could talk to my sister on her mission in Estonia on the phone. That is always so much fun to hear her voice. It is the last time we get to talk to her before she comes home which is crazy to me! It has gone so fast. After that my Dad and Garrett slaved away in the kitchen and made us an amazing dinner!!! For appetizers, they made stuffed mushrooms, crab cakes, and artichoke Parmesan French bread. Then we had an avocado grapefruit salad and then the main course was chicken piccata, lemon risotto, and honey mustard asparagus!! Needless to say we had plenty to eat. Then we finished it all off with banana coconut cream pie. Thanks Dad and Garrett!! It was an awesome day! I love being a mom!

The new Me!

So I finally decided to go for the real thing and cut my hair short (above my shoulders) for the first time since I was 14! I was a little bit scared, but I think it turned out pretty cute. So what do you think? Do you like it better short or long? (sorry for the cheesy pics)

Rainy Day Blues

I wasn't kidding when I said that my kids sit and stare out the windows longingly when they can't be outside. (I promise these pics weren't staged!) Today is a rainy spring day and they have been glued to windows all morning. I think Cleveland has it backwards, isn't it supposed to be April showers bring May flowers? We have lots of beautiful flowers from April, so I guess now we need some May showers. I can't complain since we have been having beautiful weather for quite some time now. We love the Spring!!

Baby what?

I love that spring has finally arrived. We have been living outside all day everyday. When we are not outside you can see my kids standing on the window ledges with their faces pressed against the glass longing to be outside. Rylynn has been loving the dandelions which she calls pretty flowers and every time she picks one she insists that it go in her hair. Speaking of Rylynn I have been meaning to record some funny Rylynn stories for a long time. So here they are.

Rylynn got a pair of reindeer pajamas from Nana and Papa for Christmas. She loves these jammies and somewhere along the way decided that since she was wearing deer jammies she wanted to be called baby deer. She then started calling me mommy deer. I have to admit I did love that one, because it sounds like mommy dear. She still calls me this most of the time, but lately she has gotten creative and her newest obsession is baby and mommy butterfly. She has a little friend butterfly that has been in our yard for the last several weeks and she loves to run and chase after it. I swear it loves her too because every time we go out in the back yard it comes out to visit her. We even have to say goodnight to baby butterfly out her window at night. Anyway, she has tried out different animals depending on the book she is reading or the show she is into. For instance she tried out mommy dog, mommy cow, and mommy horse, all of which I immediately vetoed.

A side story which is also funny was that Rylynn was coming out of nursery on sunday because Garrett was in the hallway with Carter and she was mooing and saying Daddy I am baby cow. So Garrett was trying to catch up with her and called after her "hey baby cow". Unfortunately a friend of mine was also in the hallway and she thought Garrett was talking to her and she thought he said "hey baby cakes!" Awkward!

Anyway, I just love this little stage she is in. She makes sure whatever we are doing or wherever we are to point out a mommy blank, a daddy blank, a baby blank, and a Bububs (Carter) blank. I have to share this example even though it is kind of strange, but the other day after she had gone to the bathroom she called me in to point out the mommy, daddy, Rylynn, and Carter poops in the toliet!! At least with Rylynn we all feel included:)