dirt+more dirt+camping =so much fun

We love camping!  It actually sounds fun right now, but it is winter here and still a little nippy at night.  This week I decided to flash back on a fun camping exertion we took with our good friends in Utah.  We all lived within a 2 minute walk from each other and we loved it.  We had 5 families(one wasn't able to make this particular camping trip..bummer, we missed you Bikmans) & we would hang out all the time.  We would all go on Sunday night walks together, the whole fam with strollers galore.  All of our kids are the same age pretty much.  In these pics we just have the 2 each going on, but currently we have 3 and 4 a piece now.

Above are the girls with their younger sibs....summer 2006

We camped at Hope Campground up Provo Canyon.  It was fantastic because we were up in the mountains away from everything but only a 15 minute drive back to our houses. The best of both worlds if you ask me....and Hannah Montana thinks so too...for those of you who aren't familiar with Hannah Montana, her TV song is just that...you get the best of both worlds.....

anyway...moving on....oh wait, one more thing...Rex looks too huge to be swigging on a bottle....he was a hard one to wean.

Is there anything more campingish than getting DIRTY, DIRTY, DIRTY??  The kids were FILTHY when we got home.  The campsite had a huge hill the kids would climb.  They would climb and climb, get scared to climb down so they would sit on their bottoms and slide down, shoving dirt in areas where dirt shouldn't be...but they had a blast and camping wouldn't be camping if you didn't come home with dirt caked to your face and smelling like fire.

You can't really see on the dirt on his face, but it's there...lots of it.

Liv with her bff's...Maddie, Leah & Courtney

Rex with his friends, Emmy, Peyton & Clara.  Funny story...there was and still is a love triangle going on.  Clara likes Rex (the girl trying to hold his hand) and to this day still refers to Rex as her husband.  Rex likes Clara, but his heart is kinda loving Emmy.  He tells people here that he has a girlfriend named Emmy.  Clara used to get hurt when her "husband " wouldn't pay attention to her.  Ahh, young love..we'll see how it all turns out.

The boys...just trying to keep all the women happy.

Jared cooking up a mean dutch oven chicken.

Rex is all business when it comes to PDA (public displays of affection).  I think he was trying to figure out how to spend time with both girls and not cause any contention.  What can I say...he is a heart breaker! :)

Camping is so fun....once the kids were in bed, we would stay up late talking and laughing by the fire...I love it!!

in a major way

It was grandparents day at Liv & Rex's school today.  The kids put on a cute performance.  Liv was one of the MC's and did a fab job.  Yesterday she was practicing one of her songs and since G&G F & G&G S are far away, I took a little video for them.  Liv's accent is pretty thick in parts.  

I think it is pretty cute.

Speaking of cute, on Saturday Liv told me that she really wanted her hair cut.  I went back & forth about it, asked Jared what he thought...went back & forth some more and then decided, what the hey! She loves it!!!!

cheeseburger

I love this video.  It makes me smile.  Alivia (2) and Rex (9 months).  Liv used to say cheeseburger every time she saw a camera or a video camera. If you listen carefully you can hear her saying it. I love all of Rex's giggling. He is trying his hardest to wiggle his cuteness over the edge into the bath.  Love it!

a random stash of flashbacks

This picture is hanging on the wall at Jared's parents house.  I always give Jared a hard time about his "feelin cool" expression.  In his mind he is saying...hey ladies!  haha, just kidding!      kinda!

Aunt Jo with Rex 2006 at Payson Lake.  Oh..and the oh so yummy looking jug of rootbeer in the background.  Oh what I would do for a glass of that right now. ;)

Liv with her cousins...they went out in the canoe with Grandpa Schill and caught some fish.

Courtney, Amanda & Liv at the Orem Owls baseball game.  Courtney is one of Liv's best friends back in Utah.  Her mom Amanda is also one of my closest friends.  We loved spending summer nights at the game on the grass.  A bunch of friends would go, eat candy, talk & let the kids run around.

Liv with Grandma Finch at Fish Lake in Great Grandpa Vernon Finch's old truck. I borrowed that truck when we were getting ready to move to Idaho.  I would cruise around O town looking for boxes in dumpsters for packing (yes, occasionally Amanda & I would climb into the dumpster...we found all sorts of things).  There is something so fun about driving an old truck.

After blowing up the pool the kids wanted to keep it inside and play in it.

The beautiful beaches on Monterey, California with my sis Rebekah and her daughter Claire.  We were out there visiting my parents.  Monterey is such a beautiful place.

Grandpa Schill with Lucy.

fall 2006.  We are wearing the cute beanies that my sis in-law Collette made for us.

celebrating a sister's birthday

I have had a copy of this picture for a long time.  I like it.  I remember having it taken outside on the front lawn of our house. I was struggling with the scanner so I ended up taking a pic of the pic with my phone.  I was 6, my sis Rebekah was 10, my sis Debbie was 16 and my sis JoLynne was 17.  There is some SERIOUS  hair feathering action going on in this photo.  Hello to the 80's...i loved the 80's by the way.  Truly a talent to be able to get your hair so feathery.... I remember sitting on the bathtub edge in the bathroom watching my sisters curl their hair, put on their fancy blue eyeshadow and eyeliner.  Deb had contacts and I found that super fascinating to watch for some reason.  My sister's all had retainers too. (I used to try them on...gross, I know...but completely the truth ) I wanted a retainer so bad...I wanted to talk like I had a retainer...do you know what I am talking about?  A retainer made you sound cool, so I remember unbending paper clips and melting wax on the stove.  Right now I am thinking...what the heck??  I was using my mom's good sauce pans and the STOVE to melt wax..I am sure she really appreciated that.  Anyway, I would make my own retainer...it was pretty ghetto, but I felt pretty awesome wearing it.  I could go on and on about goofy things I did as a child.....


moving on...

Today would have been my sister Debbie's 42nd Birthday.  Each July 21st I spend an extra amount of time thinking about her.  I always think of her, I don't think that will ever change, but I like to remember her even more today. 

Deb was great.  She was kind, talented, funny (she told me that she was born with clothes on...yeah, I believed her until I was like 12..just kidding more like 11 and a half..jk for real more like 6), creative, patient and good.  She was a wife, mommy and teacher.  She spoke French.  She loved adventure. She had long pretty nails.  She liked Skittles. She had lots and lots of friends.  She had great handwriting.  She taught me lessons...sometimes the hard way, like the time I totally destroyed her fav stationary.  I was fiddling in her room like I did quite often. (My sisters rooms were fun because they had their teenagery stuff in them.  Cool pens, paper, fancy dance dresses in the closet, dying to be tried on by a 7 year old...along with their high heels.)  Anyway, I got busted in her room one day and she sat down, put me over her lap and gave me a good old fashioned spankin' on the rear.  It hurt, but I never ruined her stuff again.  She would probably deny spanking me, but it really did happen. It hurt, but not really...but you cry just to be dramatic. 

I miss her... a lot actually.  Sometimes it is still hard to believe all of that happened...her disease, the things she had to endured and coped with.  I draw strength from her strength.  She would leave me notes telling me that she loved and appreciated me...I still have them.  She kept a positive attitude.  She understood that this life is only a short time..she applied the atonement in her life and turned to the Savior when she knew she couldn't do it on her own.  These past few weeks at church we have been talking about the Atonement and the Savior's life.  It has been good for me.  Of course I always get teary, but I also have a problem with getting teary when someone else is teary.  You know when you tell your self to pull it together and suck the tears in...I tell myself but the tears usually spill over the edge.  I can't even count how many times I have teared up watching the show case showdown on The Price is Right...I am an emotional person.  :)  The lessons reminded me of how grateful I am for life, for experiences and for times that give us opportunities to grow and learn.

I wish Deb was still here, but I understand that we have to accept the Lord's timing.  I am sure she is doing great things.  So Happy Birthday to a wonderful sister who will always be a part of my life.  ( Next time I see her I will be asking her if she remembers the bum spanking incident...She is totally going to be denying it) ;)

http://www.scleroderma.org/

Gordon Hinckley - Lessons I Learned as a Boy

We watched this with the kids the other night.  It has always been one of my favorite stories.  I get teary before it even starts.

jack's video debut

Jack is growing up.  It makes me a little sad that our families are missing out on meeting Jack right now so here is a video of his precious smile.  He seriously melts my heart...big time!

all that white stuff

I know it is probably blazing hot where most of you are...it is winter here...but it really isn't cold, but since it is winter, I thought I would do a wintry flashback post.

Every January, minus the last two since we have been here, Jared and his dad, brother bro in-laws and my bros go snowmobiling for a few days.  They haul all of their gear up to the cabin and do boy stuff.  They love it and the wives at home love it when they get home all safe & sound...and smelling like gallons of gasoline.

I found this pic in the Jan. 2005 file. We went for a fun ride up Hobble Creek Canyon & it was beautiful!

We had fun, crashed one time.. I thought I was going to die from eating toooo much snow caused by face planting into the snow. Good times, good times. 

Yes, that is in fact a playboy bunny on the snowmobile.  Jared's dad bought the sleds from someone and we all had a good chuckle when he showed them to us. Classic!

I kinda miss all that white stuff!

shout whenever and I'll be there

Lucy still loves singing...she usually sings in a nice sweet voice...but she was really getting into Justin Bieber's song "baby" in this vid.  She is shouting so you can't totally understand her, but I thought it was pretty hilarious. 

big black glasses

My name is Rex.  Some people call me Rexbo, Rexie, Rexiebo, Bo..etc.  I love my 3D glasses.

I went to see Shrek Forever After in 3D with my school mates.

I take my 3D glasses wearing very seriously and want to share every angle with you.

I like to wear them to the grocery store...

the park...and one time I put them in my scripture bag so that I could wear them at church...my mom caught me.

I like looking at the world through my 3D glasses...and I think I look pretty cool. 

The end.

you make me melt like a popcicle on the 4th of July

I really like the 4th of July..it is one of my favs as far as holidays go. I love everything about it & what it represents...the hot summer days, the BBQing, family, friends, watching fireworks on the curb & being grateful for the freedom to do just that and enjoy life.

I am not going to bust out in song but I am proud to be an American.  We are loving our time in Australia, but we still get a goose bumpy feeling when we see an American flag.

I just thought this house was all quaint and darling.  I like it.

oh and I thought this cake looked super yum!  What is the 4th without a flag cake.

Our 4th weekend was fun.  I think the summeryish (probably not a word or how you spell it...oh well) thing in the pic are Liv's flip flops which when the sun went down I was certain she would need a few toes amputated..it got chilly.  I did what I always do and painted the kids faces, but this time I splurged and spent the $2 and bought paint that actually said face paint instead of the craft or whatever I have around kind of paint I usually use.  Umm, yeah, it stayed on their faces for about as long as it took them to ride their bikes to the park...a total of about 2 minutes.  Rex was left with a random red U on his forehead.  Although it didn't last I am sure I will do it again next year because that is what I do. :)

We had a great group at the part.  6 families.  3 American, one half Aussie/American, one fully Aussie and one Canadian.  We had a BBQ with lots of delish food.

Chelsea, an Aussie who is married to an American, made all these adorable games for the kids.  She put so much time and effort into it and the kids had such a ball.  The kids minus a few in this picture.

Rex and his random red U playing a fun game.

The sun went down and it got chilly, but we didn't leave until we lit some good ole sparklers.  I love sparklers.  I think they have gotten better over the years...remember when they would take an hour to lite..not so bad these days.

After the park we headed back to our house for dessert and some more fun.  I like this picture..Jack is just chillin like a villain on Jared's arm as he plays the guitar.  He is such a good little boy.

The kids had fun playing Just Dance ( I believe is the name) on the Wii.  There were some pretty hard core dancers in the group.

It was a fun, memorable 4th for us.  Holidays are especially hard for me...living far away from family, but it is so great that we have good friends here to share them with.

I love America...always will...I will always be grateful for the freedoms we enjoy there and for the many people who have made and are making that possible.

P.S. Rex was pretty little when we moved here so he hasn't had much experience with the Star Spangled Banner.  I was trying to teach it to the kids and Rex was singing away...he would start with the American anthem and half way through start singing the Australian anthem...poor kids...sure cute though.

flashing back to italy

I found these gems on my hard drive.  I took about a bazillion and one pictures on my mission, but they are all film pictures....which mean negatives.  I was in the process of scanning them before we moved, but apparently I didn't get too far because I only have 4 pictures to share. 

This first pic was taken out in front of the Provo Temple on April 15, 2000 ( I know that because it says so on the photo...I am so clever).  I had been in the MTC learning Italiano for 2 whole weeks (basic Italian because it sounded totally different when I actually got to Italy.  I could hardly understand a thing.)

I was in a district with 6 Elders, all going to Milan except one Anziano going to Rome along with my companion, Sorella Tingey.  We had great times in the MTC.  Sorella Tingey is the cute girl in the glasses next to me in the photo. We still keep in touch..she was a great companion & we had many funny times together.

I served in three of the five areas that sisters served in my mission.  Torino, Milano & Bergamo.  When you are riding a bike or a bus and space is limited, you get creative with your methods of hauling stuff home from the grocery store.  TP was strapped on your back for all to see while you cruised through the streets on your bike, in a dress...classic moments is all I can say. 

This pic was taken in my apartment in Milano.  We had four sisters in that apartment.  I was companions with Sorella Solinas.  She was great and taught me a lot.  She was(i guess technically she still is) a native Italian from Sassari, Sardania.  So as you can see the kitchen was also the laundry room.  I am pretty sure dryers don't exist in Italy, or at least I never saw one.

This pic was taken on a cold night.  This is me with my companion Sorella Brough.  We actually served together twice in two cities.  She is such a fun, hilarious person.  She made me laugh and laugh and also taught me great things.  This pic was taken in Collegno,near Switzerland, while waiting for our train.  It snowed that day.  It was exciting.  Side note...when it snowed in Milan, we were all very happy...except for one day some kids were making fun of us (which sometimes happens as a missionary) and they starting throwing snow balls at us...not cool, not cool.  We also had cake thrown at us on the subway...that was lovely!  It is pretty funny to think about now.

I wish I had some more pictures to share.  One day I will scan them all.  I had some great experiences on my mission...hard times and good times.  Great companions... Sorella Tingey, Jex, Bodrero, Brough, Mudrow, Solinas, Gunnuscio & Davis. I also served with some great Anziani (Elders) some goofier than others. ;) I met awesome people and had to learn to step out of my comfort zone.  The experience was one of the hardest things I have done thus far in my life...but a good growing kind of hard. I am grateful for the chance I had to serve in Italy and to represent the Savior.

hair pulling

Every Sunday & almost every school day too....Rex pulls his hair with his tie.  Rex wears a tie to school three days a week and to church on Sunday.  We have the same conversation every time....loosen the tie a little bit more and it will come off.  He gets excited and eager to get into his play clothes and ends up yanking the tie over his head and pulling his hair.  It is actually pretty funny & entertaining. So if Rex is bald at age 10 we will know the culprit...the tie & the fact that he is a tad bit hyper! :)

alivia*rex*lucy*jack

I ventured out this morning to get a few shots of the kids.  They were such good sports.

umm...does my baby Liv look so grown-up? Good grief!

brothers

still best buds

you go girls..

work it

sissies

sisterly love :)

I am 7 going on 15...

Lucy is looking & acting so grown-up too lately.

Rex takes his hair sculpting very seriously...

Rex the man!

Jack is a getting big and so alert.