IDAHO!!!!

Most years, we are lucky enough for a vacation 2 times a year to a cooler place- Idaho. It's weird to go back home to such a small town after living here in AZ for the past 7 1/2 years! I love it though! (It's the only time we get to see any of my family since they don't come down here- ehem, MOM and Jeni!)

This trip has been by far my favorite so far! I got to drive to Shoshone with my mom to pick up my Grandma and Cheyanne, two of the many familyy members on my mom's side I haven't seen for at least 7 years. Although it meant I was riding in the car an additional 5 hours after our long drive to Chubbuck a few days before, I really enjoyed it!

Jeff and Jaclyn also drove from Utah up to stay with us a few days. I have to say, I LOVE Jaclyn!! I am so grateful for the time we got to spend together and I want her to move down here soon so she and I can hang out more often! While they were here, we went for a short little nature walk up in Cherry Springs with the kids. My mom and dad also watched the kids for us after that while the 4 of us went out to lunch at my all-time favorite place: Buddy's. Yum! After lunch we shopped for a few minutes, then went and got ice cream, then headed back to my mom's to get ready for Scott's BBQ.

My brother, Scott, threw a BBQ while we were there for a few of his friends' birthdays. The kids had a blast on the slip n slide and even more fun with the water guns and hose. There was lots of food and plenty of Scott's friends for entertainment. Thanks Scott for the party!

The next day was Sunday and we enjoyed going to church with Jac and Jeff (I kept saying Jefflyn and Jac! hahahaha!!!) and then we headed up to my Uncle Dan's house for the annual Ruth family 4th of July BBQ. YUM!!! Here is where we sadly had to say goodbye to Jeff and Jaclyn, but it was still good food and good company. At least they got to eat before hitting the road.



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Weston "sneaking" some cake batter.



After fixing Brooklynn's cast with this awesome duct tape Jeff and Cauley picked out, Tyli hurt her nose and said it was "broken." She kept crying about it until my sister made a "cast" for it out of the tape. Like magic, it worked- Tyli stopped crying and enjoyed her ice cream, what she didn't get all over her face that is!

 I believe this was the absolute lamest parade we have EVER been too!

Everyone waiting for the parade: (from right to left: McKade, Brooklynn, Mitch, Colton, Cauley, Carson, Dallin, Halli, Me, Gretchen, Luke, Jeni, Chey, My mom, Grandma Scott, and Tyli.) I don't see Weston, but I know he was there. My dad was at work.

The parade lasted all of maybe 5 minutes and it didn't even have a band, drill team or cheerleaders, ok, really NOTHING of interest! It was horrible, but everyone did pick up around a handful of candy.

As soon as the parade started the wind came up and then came the rain. It was miserable and we were right in the open facing it.

Keeping warm, Grandma?

Wet and cold, but happy to wave that flag!

 That night we went back to Scott's house to watch the fireworks. They shoot them off up on the hill at the fairgrounds, and let me tell you, NOTHING beats being up there to watch them up close and personal, but we had a great view from my brother's house and could even see the ground show from there.

Saying goodbye to my Grandma Scott and Chey. Please excuse the one-eye look.) Scott, me, Grandma, Chey, and Halli

Are you sure it's safe to be close to them there elk? Tyli thought they were going to bite her!

 My sister and her family now live in Aberdeen. They live really in the middle of nowhere. These elk live right next door. We went out to their house one night for a weinni roast and swimming.

Quick, Cauley, get your gun!

Um, Tyli, your top is on backwards. Letting us see her personality!

My favorite picture of the cousins. I love watching how well they play together and how much they love each other.

My dad.

Nope not camping- just getting ready to roast hot dogs.

The little ones swimming. Um, I TRIED to hide their nakiness.

An impromptu photo shoot at Ross Park

I'll talk more about our trip to Idaho in the next post, but I had to share these pictures my husband took. On Friday, day 3 of our Idaho vacation, my mom and I drove 2 1/2 hours to Shoshone to pick up my Grandma and cousin Cheyanne so that they could come spend the weekend and see our family which they haven't met before. It was a nice, peaceful drive and really nice to see my grandma and Aunt Becky who I haven't seen in 8 years! While we were on the road for a total of 5 hours, Cauley took the kids to Ross Park in Pocatello to go climb on the rocks and play for a while. He decided to put together an very impromptu photo shoot. (Notice the kids aren't dressed real nice and Tyli's hair isn't even combed, but hey, dad's don't care!)

I climbed on these rocks when I was a little girl. Some of them are really big, others perfect for my little climbers. All of them are really slippery due to weather, time, and the zillion different people who have climbed them.

My adorable 14 month old!

Let that personality show!

One of my absolute favorites!

Man I could eat those sweet cheeks!

Isn't my 4 year old beautiful, uncombed/done hair and all!

He's getting too big, too fast!

Nice picture taking, Dallin. I think Halli's had enough though!

Dallin turns 8

Can you believe I have an 8 year old? I sure can't! Dallin turned 8 last month and has been loving every minute of his "older" self. For his birthday dinner, he requested my homemade pizza. Happy to oblige, D-Man! Since it was such a special day, we busted out the Soda. (We're not usually soda pop drinkers, but I needed it for a recipe I made my father-in-law for his birthday dessert.)

Halli thinks we need to say prayer after each bite of food. We usually just tell her "amen!" and she's happy.

 This was a year for a party for Dallin. (My kids get one every 2 years.) Dallin requested a swimming or water party. Cauley's aunt and uncle have a great pool and an amazing back yard that could take on all of us adults and kids, so they kindly said we could use their pool. Thanks Turleys!

Cori, Aunt Jeni, Makenna, Jennifer holding the new baby Charlie (Cori's new baby) and Halli keeping cool in the shade while watching the swimmers.

Grandma and Ryan keeping an eye on the cousins.

Cauley grilling hot dogs for everyone.

Dinner! This was some unspoken agreement between the kids that they all had to sit inside the trampoline bars to eat- and stay there until they were done- which they did!

Blowing out those candles. Dallin requested blue cupcakes (the cake part matches the frosting) inside ice cream cones. I also made some graham crackers sandwiches with leftover frosting and those seemed to go faster than the cupcakes!

This was the hard part. Tyli had gotten her stitches out 2 days before and since the wound was still healing, she wasn't allowed to go swimming for another week. She sat by this fence and cried the entire night. Here is her daddy trying to console her and probably making a deal about swimming at a future time.

What an adventure- so far!

I don't know if you can tell how dirty this girl actually is, but she is FILTHY!!! This was the beginning of our summer- a summer of service projects. I believe that Tyli went and helped the boys shovel a "little" bit of rock, dirt, pavers, and a bunch of other stuff for the remodeling of their backyard. (TOTAL sarcasm when I say "little") I'm not sure just how much help the kids were, at least Tyli brought home a shovel or two of dirt in her hair and clothes and Dallin definitely brought home his share of sand inside his shoes! The boys (Cauley included) have also been busy washing other people's (and ours!) cars, mowing down an entire backyard of weeds and trash with their shovels (the weed eater broke 5 seconds into it!), and moving rock for a few families. I LOVE that my husband is such a hard worker!

Just a little leaf bug that tried flying into our house the other day. He was on our lemon tree, but I opened the door to tell Cauley something out back and he flew at me. Not every day you can find a leaf bug. Cauley and I let him crawl on us, and Tyli was going to brave it out and do the same, but freaked out when Cauley went to put it on her. (Cauley's hand is so dirty as he had just got home from helping out yet another neighbor move rock or something.)

This is actually how Halli sits while in a stroller, shopping cart, high chair, you name it. She even tries while in her car seat, but that's a little more restrainable. My favorite is when we are someplace else and all of a sudden her foot come out of her seat onto the table. (The look on other people's faces is priceless!)

And here she is just chillin. (Her favorite- outside in the stroller.) Too bad you can't see that her feet are up, and over the tray of her stroller and she is re-laxed!

Yep- you see right. No, this is not a picture from last year. I am the world's biggest klutz! I fell down my stairs again 2 weeks ago. We were called as Ma's and Pa's for our Stake Trek, and very much looking forward to it, but had to cancel at the very last minute due to severely sprained foot and hairline fractured ankle. At first, we weren't totally sure anything was broken, just badly sprained. It was about 3 days before I was supposed to walk on it, and it just hasn't healed very fast. I went in for my 2 week appointment today and found out indeed it is fractured (just a hairline fracture though!) and I have 2 torn tendons around the ankle (over the top going toward the foot, and one underneath). No surgery, just have to wear the dumb boot another 2-4 weeks and then I have a brace I'll have to wear for another 4-6 weeks as well as PT. No fun. At least I have permission to get in the pool again. (I can sit, but that's better than having to sit outside the water while watching everyone else in the water! (Especially while living in AZ in the summertime!)

Another thing about the fall. When I fell, I was carrying Halli down from her nap. When I fell, I accidentally dropped her and she landed on her right arm. That night Cauley took her in and they think she may have had Nurse Maid's elbow, meaning a partially separated elbow. She still wouldn't really use her right arm for a good week, and when she did, she didn't really lift it up, just moved her wrist. We think she also hurt her shoulder a bit and that's why she didn't use it. Even her scooting around the floor was one-armed. She's finally doing MUCH better now and using both arms/hands as she used to. I have felt SO horrible!

Can you believe this guy turns 8 tomorrow? He was welcomed into Cub Scouts last week at Pack Meeting and last night was his first time going to den meeting. I can't believe I will have an 8 year old! Even though his den meets about a mile from our house, we let him ride his bike with his buddy, Karsen.

Ok- I am not going to get into details with this next story. It involves my beautiful daughter, Tyli, and a flashlight. Anyhow, really short story- Mike and Kathy (my MIL and FIL) took the kids (minus Halli) up to Prescott for the weekend like they were going to do when we went on the Trek. (They went up on Thursday, we were now following on Friday.) Anyways, after a long day, some excited to be in a tent/away from mom and dad overnight, some rough housing in the tent, and kids that were up WAY too late, Tyli ended up at Yavapai Regional Hospital at 11pm for stitches. It took a long time since someone else there kept "coding", so it wasn't until 2:30 am that everyone was able to go home for bed. Tyli was a trooper though and slept through the stitches. She now informs me that she loves the "bubbly water" they kept putting on her eye to flush it out. She got 3 stitches inside, 7 outside, and then they had to glue another spot on her eyelid. (lower left side.)

It really wasn't fun laying in bed, jumping as the phone rang at 11pm, listening while wondering who would be calling at that hour to my husband who is told "Is this Tyli Clark's dad? This is Yavapai Regional hospital and we have Tyli here who is going to need some medical attention and we need your permission to treat her." Yah- let's just say we freaked out! About 10 minutes later (ok, probably only 7-8, but it really felt like 30!) my father-in-law called us and we got the scoop. They planned on calling us, they just wanted to get Tyli to the hospital asap and so he called as soon as he could.) Just a bit scary/overwhelming/frustrating/alarming to get a call like that out of nowhere!

This is the day before Ty got her stitches out. I was really surprised it didn't bruise more than it did. She thought it was pretty and wanted me to put make-up on the other eye. (I didn't have the right colors to make it match though- I shoulda called Steph!) She went and got her stitches out today and was SO good, just laying there while Dr. Leavit had to remove some that had scabbed over. He then put them in a row on a tongue depressor and put a piece of tape over them so she could keep them as a souvenir. Kinda cool, kinda gross. She's happy with it though!

I had to add a picture of this guy. He is all ready for Kindergarten, although he's already getting really nervous. He went and got his shots today. He did great! I love how sweet, loving, and compassionate he is, especially with his sisters! His big worry is making friends, but honestly, he should have no problem with that!

I love these two! I love all of my awesome little family! I'll post again sometime of the many upcoming adventures we're off to have to finish off the summer. (and there will be lots more- just hopefully none that involve ER's, urgent cares, or unplanned dr. offices!)

And the winner is...

Sorry- if you're looking for a giveaway, this is NOT that blog. This post makes me SO happy for my wonderful hubby, Coach Clark. He came home Saturday night (really early Sunday morning) with this trophy- one his team won at the State Track Meet this past weekend. The Boys got Division III Runners Up (lost by 1 point) and the Girls won State! For more pictures and information, go to his track blog at higleytrack.blogspot.com GO KNIGHTS!!!

My Baby turns 1!

Halli on her actual birthday

Pigtails- a new, wild look for the girl.

These sisters love each other- or so the picture says!

I can't believe my baby is already one! Where oh where did the time go? Halli, also known by me as "monkey" and has her daddy completely smitten! is now a year old! Her birthday landed on Easter this year so we celebrated with Cauley's parents and the Greers who came over for dinner and cupcakes. (I do have pics of that, but I'll save you the time by just saying that they are just as cute as the rest of all these pictures.) For her birthday Halli got new sippy cups (she's completely weaned from nursing AND the bottle!), a ball that she adores, bath toys, some money from Grandpa Clark and Grandma Kathy, and a cute onesie and sundress from the Greers. She also got a stuffed frog which her siblings named "Hoppy" (for Happy Easter/Birthday) from her Grandma and Grandpa Ruth which she absolutely LOVES and snuggles often. She was one spoiled little girl!

Halli is such a mamma's girl, unless her daddy is around- then she ONLY wants her daddy! She's a bit different from the rest and wants to be held at all times. (Not always so easy for a RS president to do!) Halli has all but 2 of her teeth, but she's working on them. She loves balls just like her big brother Dallin did. She loves to make animal sounds and the duck is her favorite. She loves to eat just about everything except rice, and LOVES to drink milk. Halli doesn't have near as much hair as Tyli did at this age and it is SUPER thin and blond. (who knows where that came from- we don't do thin hair in our family- it's all or nothing for us!)

One unique thing about Halli is that she still doesn't roll over, crawl, pull up, or walk. At 4 months old, we were sent to the Children's hospital for an ultrasound on her hips looking for a dislocation, but all was found ok. Then we were sent for x-rays and that showed that her hips are formed correctly. Now we know that she has very loose hip sockets, allowing her hips to dislocate easily, but mostly at her will. Weird- I know. We figured this out as whenever we'd put her on her knees to try and crawl, her hips would fall to the sides and she's sit there on her pelvic bone with her hips in a weird position. Also, it does this whenever she tries pulling up. Basically, her feet are under her body, feet together, toes on the floor, and knees on the floor. Halli also does this thing when she is tired where she'll put both hands on her left leg while sitting upright and move her right hip in and out of socket, just going in a circular motion. When she does this, you can see a pained expression on her face. She DOES, however, get around the house at will by scooting on her bottom! What is funny about this is that she puts one leg out, other in like she's stretching her hamstrings, and scoots, then switches legs and scoots and so forth. (Left, right, left, right, etc.)

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this little girl so much and am so happy she is a part of our family. She definitely brings character to our home and is loved by all of us here.

1 Year stats

Height: 32 inches tall

Weight: 19 lbs 4oz

Cuteness: ADORABLE!!!

I guess it's our new favorite pasttime?

Don't let your eyes fool you- McKade is squatting down. BUT Tyli is pretty tall! (McKade had come home from Father and Sons missing the screw that holds his lenses in, so no glasses for him for the hike!)

I carried Halli and all of our water about 3/4 of the way due to Tyli wearing shoes that were too small and Cauley having to give her a shoulder ride.

Where we stopped for water.

like father like son!

Did something die in the path? Nope. It's just McKade literally playing possum! (too much Jeff Corwin for him!)

One thing we really like to do as a family is to hike. We have a great excuse to do right now too as Cauley and I have been called to be Ma's and Pa's by the stake for the Youth Treck coming up next month. We borrowed a baby pack, and loaded up the troops to hike the San Tan Foothills. This hike is SUPER EASY and perfect for little kids. (my kids prefer a bit more of a challenge though, but they still had fun.) We only did about a 3 mile hike but it was a good time nonetheless. I just can't wait until the kids will carry their own water!