Mickel Camp

I loved this picture of Jacey and my Dad having breakfast together. He played stuffed animals with her for quite a long time and she in turn, thought he hung the moon. It was so cute. I'm so grateful for the time she gets to spend with him.

It's about 2 months late but here are a few Mickel Camp Pictures. I have been so bad at taking pictures lately but Mickel Camp was so fun as always. It is full of eating, talking, eating, fishing, eating, 4-wheeling, eating and more eating. It doesnt get much better.

My Mom and Dad let us borrow their sheep camp which is so fun! I love sleeping in it. There is something about staying in a sheep camp that warms my heart.

We took the kids wading in the creek which was FREEZING so there was more sitting around eating fruit snacks and cookies then wading but thats good too.

Caden brought me this hoodie from Afghanistan so I felt pretty proud to represent the 646 Battalion Task Force. It's so fun to spend time with him. We are so glad he is home.

Tyce passed out on the way off the mountain. Poor little buddy was all tuckered out.

Tyce is already asking when is Mickel Camp. Cant wait for next year!

Sea World!!!

We took the kids to Sea World a few weeks ago and it was everything we dreamed. It was just perfect. We have wanted to take Tyce to Sea World ever since he started this crazy obsession with whales but knew we really didnt have the money to spend on a trip. I heard from a friend that people in the military get in Sea World for free along with the three of their family members so I called Caden (Rustin's brother) and asked if he would come to Sea World with us and get us in for free. He was totally excited about it so we set the dates and booked a hotel. A while later Caden found out that he can only get family members in if they are 'dependents'. By this point we had already told Tyce we were going so we just made it work. I saved all the money I made from doing some marketing for Chik-fil-a for the trip which helped. Tyce was so excited to go and would ask 'how many days til we go?!?!' so we made a Sea World chain.

Rustin's Mom is the queen of vacations and she helped us find tickets for half price and found some good deals on hotel rooms. She got excited while looking at everything so they decided to come with us which I was thrilled about.

Days before we went to Sea World Tyce was adamant that we see the Beluga Whales first so we did. It was the cutest thing and almost made me cry (which doesnt take much, I cry about everything when I'm pregnant :))

He kept yelling "A real Whale!!! Look! A real Whale!!!" It was worth every sacrifice. We probably could have watched the beluga's all day. Watching his face as he watched the whales seriously melted my heart.

The shows were really fun but Tyce loved to just watch them swim more then the shows which I thought was interesting.

It was so fun having Grandma with us.

We could hardly pull him away from Shamu.

It was nice to have so many pairs of shoulders to ride on. It really helped.

Jac loved the sky ride. There were a few times I wished we would have left her home because she threw fits now and again but I really am glad she came along. It was so fun to watch her facial expressions as she took everything in.

Before the Shamu Show they paid a special tribute to those in the military and asked them to stand as everyone applauded. Given I am a tad more sentimental and emotional then normal but it made me teary eyed to have Caden stand up and have people stare at him with such appreciation. It really got to me. It's so amazing to me talk to Caden and understand a little better what it means to serve in the military and what sacrifices they make for our country.

I had my first experience with dipp'in dots. I have always wanted to try them and I figured Sea World held a lot of "firsts" so this should be one of them too :) and yes they were delightful. It was pretty warm and it was such a refreshing treat :)

One of my favorite parts of Sea World was watching Tyce and Jacey buy something from the gift shop. Months ago, we told them that they could earn and save money to take with them to Sea World to buy something at the gift shop. So for months they have been so diligent in making their beds, helping me clean bathrooms, taking out the garbage, weeding the garden and other chores we asked them to do. The day before we left, we counted their money and had a lesson on tithing. We cashed in their coins brought their money to Sea World. It was so fun to watch them look all day for something they really wanted. Jacey found a pink Shamu with a pink heart-shaped jewel that stole her heart and she had just enough money. She was so pleased to hand the cashier her money and get a big brown bag to put it in. She was proud as a peacock as she walked out of their with her bag on her shoulder like she was 6 feet tall. I wanted to eat her up, she was so dang cute. She would not ditch the brown bag for anything. She wore it on her should and would sit down, gently take Shamu out and kiss it and then put it back in the bag and keep going. It was so funny to watch.

She loved and kissed that little prize all day and for days after too.

Since Tyce already has a big stuffed dolphin, killer whale, and a beluga whale, he chose a hard toy beluga and killer whale. He was so cute. He would pick up something and ask how much it was. When I told him, he said, "Oh thats too much, I'll choose something else." He was very aware of how much he had. I gave him his money and he bought he by himself. He felt so big. It was really fun to watch them with their treasures.

We spent one day at Sea World and one day at the beach. We enjoyed the beach just as much as Sea World. We were there ALL day long and we still couldn't get the kids to leave.

They frolicked, screamed, ran in and out of the water, played in the sand, and had such a wonderful time. They looked so free and happy. It's those moments you want to wrap up and keep forever and return to them during the more difficult days. It was so perfect.

Rustin and Caden worked very hard to build a wall against the waves. They thought they were the quite the engineers until a huge wave came and surrounded it, filled up their little reservoir and wiped it out. They both sat their for a second and said, "didnt see that coming" and they promptly gave up. But the kids sure enjoyed their help.

So the water was FREEZING!!! It seriously took your breath away just by getting your feet in it. Rustin and Caden took Jacey out a little ways and kept lifting her up when a wave would come but they didnt pay attention for a second and a huge wave came and they didnt lift her and it covered her. I thought she would start crying but she totally started laughing and squealed and ran over to me and told me all about it. She got the biggest kick of that, made me laugh. 

The drive was long but the kids did great. It was so telling of Tyce and Jacey's personality's, on the last hour Jacey was crying off and on and getting frustrated and Tyce would just say periodically "I just wish we were there........I just wish we were there already......I just sort of wish we were there." It was so funny. He is the nicest boy. What a wonderful couple of days. We were so glad we got to go.

"just love her"

I have so much I want to blog about and lots of pictures I want to post about the summer happenings but I don't have much time. A guy in my ward asked me to be one of the judges for the Northern Utah Writer's League (or something like that) Contest. He has given me a bunch of books I am suppose to read, judge, and write up a score sheets for which has been fun except that the summer has been packed with reunions, camping, and vacation that I haven't been able to read much. So now it is crunch time. I am suppose to have them all done by Thursday. So I cant blog about our summer fun until I get these books read, judged and handed in. But I did want to write a little by way of a journal entry because I felt so humbled today. A couple of weeks ago my sister warned me about when little girls turn three. I didn't think that much of it until 2 weeks ago when Jacey turned into something I have never seen before. Seriously. I swear it was overnight. She has turned to this psychotic child of screaming, yelling, kicking, meanness, and otherwise impossible behavior. I have been amazed at what she and I have both learned in the last two weeks. I hope to dedicate a post to the crazy change at a later time but what I wanted to mention was what someone told me today. Rustin's great aunt and uncle live in Wellsville and have taken us in as their own. Yesterday their oldest daughter died after a nine year battle with breast cancer. It has been so hard on them and I feel so bad. Today I took Tyce and Jacey over there to help put up their corn. I was talking to their other daughter who was asking me about Jacey. I was telling her the funny/crazy stories of Jacey's madness lately and I said, 'I dont know what to do with her' and in the softest, most loving tone she looked at Jacey with her straggaly uncombed hair (because she wont let me touch it), her shirt with giant, pink flowers, with her clashing polk-a-dot mini skirt, and her socks, one pink and one purple (she always does a masterful job of dressing herself and I have resorted to only putting up the fight on Sundays) and she said, "just love her." I'm not sure if it was in light of their loss and heartache but her words hit me so hard. I cant really describe exactly how it humbled me. I suddenly looked at Jacey differently. I dropped my attitude of trying so hard to be patient and doing my best to put up with her and it felt like I just saw her as she really is. I don't really have the right words but this evening I have felt different. I sat outside and watched her jump on the trampoline and I just wanted to eat her up. She means so much to me. She teaches me so much and she changes me. She is so funny with the things she wears, the poses she strikes, the dances she comes up with, the way she rolls her eyes and flips her hair. She is so full of personality and light. When I tubbed her I noticed her cute little hands, her cute nose and the darling dancing devils in her eyes. When after her tub, she shrieked and howled, my blood pressure didn't even rise and I even laughed at the blood-curdling scream that would make any normal adult run to her with absolute certainty that there would be gushing blood or broken bones but no.....she just got her dress stuck on her head and couldn't get it off. I don't know how long this euphoria will last it. It doesn't seem to be in my nature to love so completely all the time but I was so humbled and grateful for the beautiful lesson I felt, and I am incredibly grateful.