Life is Grand

We set out last weekend for a week of vacation -- a few days in Kanab, where Chris had to work for a week, and then a few days at the Grand Canyon. We were so excited to get away together as a family and spend some time having fun.

Since we drove down on Sunday after church, the kids couldn't spend the drive playing video games -- you can sort of see their distaste for that policy in action.

At the hotel in Kanab -- and when I say hotel I mean MO-tel -- the kids and I kept busy by swimming in the pool all day. At first Joseph was very timid about going in the water, but by day two he had shed his floatie and was trying to get away from me.

The hot tub was a little too hot, and the pool was pretty chilly -- it was hard to find a comfy balance. Kanab is really windy, so there was always a breeze keeping things cool.

I love taking photos of the boys jumping into pools -- they are always so funny. This one looks like Bradley is jumping on Lindsey's head.

Double jumpers.

My cutie little swimmer.

Doing a "Mario Bros run" into the pool.

The hotel was far from luxurious, but it was clean, and the kids loved the pool. And they had free breakfast. Is there anything more wondrous to kids than free, all-you-can-eat breakfast? You'd have thought they were in heaven, being able to eat all the eggs, bacon, pancakes, sausage, and muffins they could hold. It was funny to watch their excitement and wonder what I have done to create this phenomenon in them.

Check out these skinny legs!

One day we visited the Little Hollywood museum of sets from old cowboy movies. It was sort of cool, and the kids thought it was great. Here's a jail set, which Bradley liked.

In Kanab there's a really cool place called Jacob Hamblin Park, and we spent a lot of time there. The kids really enjoyed the playground, and the surroundings were beautiful.

Lindsey's upset because I made her pose for a photo when she wanted to go swing, and Joseph seems to be asking himself, "What mischief can I get into next?"

Having a little lunch in the park . . . what a bunch of handsome boys!!!

My beautiful baby girl.

Could this kid be any cuter??

After playing at the park in the hot sun, we went to Wendy's for a cool treat. Mmmmmm, Frostys!

My crazy little monster . . . there was an older lady who stopped me in Wendy's and said, "That little boy has a mind of his own, doesn't he? He's something else!" I had to agree completely.

Snuggling with mom at the hotel. I love these moments. Those eyes absolutely melt me.

We visited a pretty sweet place called Moqui Cave, which was basically a cool cave that had been turned into a museum of all the neat things that had been collected by the man who once owned it. There were some cool things to see, and the kids really enjoyed the artifacts and the rocks that glowed under blacklights.

Next we checked out Kanab Canyon, a pleasant little spot.

The kids enjoyed the movie set museum enough that they wanted to take their dad back to see it after he was done working for the day. Here we see Chris in a cowboy bathtub.

Bradley pretending to pull the wagon.

My crazy boys.

They had to ride the merry-go-round thingy in front of Honey's grocery store.

A little down time in the room . . . cartoons.

Kanab City Pool is a great place to spend an afternoon -- except that if the warmish spring wind blows when you're soaking wet, it feels like an arctic blast. Despite my inability to regulate my body temperature, the kids had a great time!

Back once more to the park -- Nathaniel played a little catch with his dad.

Friday came, and we hit the road for the Grand Canyon. How horrified was I to see this heinous bridge over the Glen Canyon gorge. Not cool.

The kids, especially Bradley, thought the bridge was super-cool.

Anyone who knows me well knows that bridges over water are my biggest fear . . . I was freaking out on the bridge, and I was still over the land!

Dam.

Our first glimpses of the Grand Cnayon. It was truly breathtaking.

Setting up camp . . .

Having a little dinner to warm us up.

Settling in for the night.

Looking so cute in his sleeping bag, which of course he did not stay in for long.

Snug as an adorable bug in a rug. Yeah, the kids slept soundly and were plenty warm, even though it was freezing cold! (It was unseasonably cold when we were there, of course -- we have pretty bad travel timing, but what can you do?) I tossed and turned and eventually ended up "sleeping" in the van. I hate being cold!

And in the morning we find Joseph in Chris' sleeping bag . . . and not quite ready to wake up.

Cooking a yummy breakfast on his brand new Camp Chef stove.

All ready for a big day of hiking in the Grand Canyon.

And we ended up stuck in the car, in the pouring rain . . . and hail.

Once we got on the shuttle bus, Joseph was in heaven!!!

We saw a few elk hanging around. Pretty cool.

The rain meant we couldn't cook our planned camp meal, so we went to Wendy's instead. Gross. And Joseph's expression says it all. He seems to be saying, "You expect me to eat that?"

One cool by-product of being rained out -- we took the kids to see the Grand Canyon IMAX movie in Tusayan, which they really enjoyed.

Eventually the sun came back out, so we headed back to the rim once again.

I couldn't help taking about a million photos of this beautiful boy. He's so scrumptious!

Checking out a beautiful view.

Venturing down below the rim, on Bright Angel Trail.

Sunset was beautiful.

Yes, Lindsey has to go potty. (Side note: like most moms on family vacations, I spent a great majority of my time taking kids to the bathroom. It's just life, but I had to vent a little.)

Joseph was slow to wake up again the next morning . . . he almost seems to sleep better in a tent than at home. Hmmmmm.

Helping dad cook breakfast.

A few last looks at the Canyon, Sunday morning, as the weather started to warm up a little.

The kids worried me to death dancing around at the edge of the rim -- they seemed to have no clue about how dangerous it was and were just so excited to explore and check things out that they didn't notice how nervous they were making me. I tried not to be too overbearing with them, but I was pretty worried a lot of the time.

Joseph wonders what the big deal is.

On the road home . . . a little sad to leave.

Eating Oreos, watching "The Wizard of Oz." What could be better?

No kidding . . . driving down the road, watching "Oz," and what do we see in the distance but a rainbow. Too cool.

This adorable smile captures our happiness at being almost home. It was a long drive!

Much like this post, it was a long, long week. We had lots of fun being together and doing some pretty cool stuff. I can't wait to go back to the Grand Canyon and do some real hiking down to the river . . . maybe someday.

Eleven is Heaven

I won't waste time going on and on, as I usually do, about how absolutely unbelievable it is to me that my baby boy is yet another year older. The way the years fly by never ceases to amaze me, and if I dwell on it too much, I'm gonna get all sad -- so, I'll just focus on the joy of the day.

Nathaniel Christopher Black, the one and only, is eleven. No, it's not a misprint. Yes, he will be a deacon next year. Yes, he'll be in the 7th grade. Yeah.

This photo is a low-quality screen captured image from a video, but it's just so funny and cute I had to post it.



Nathaniel's big day started off in a dramatic way. Chris had awesome plans to make a giant chocolate chip cookie instead of a cake, so he got to work on that in the morning -- having stayed home from work sick. I thought he was using a little too much cookie dough, but it's not my place to correct martha stewart in the midst of a creation. A few minutes later, the house was full -- and I mean full -- of smoke. We're not talking a little smokey here; it was full-on smoke-inhalation-land in here. (The cookie rose up too much and over the edges of the pan, falling down onto the heating element in the bottom of the oven. It caught on fire and was pretty crazy, although Chris, the fireman, had it mostly out before I could get the camera.)



When Nathaniel got home from school that afternoon, Chris said he'd take the boys for a bike ride and for them to go get their bikes out of the garage. Sitting there in the entry way was his brand new ride, which he'd been wanting so badly.



Trying to get a skinny leg up.

What can I say? The boy loves meat, so we made him some birthday steaks! Man, were they good!!!

We told him to hold up 11 fingers, so Lindsey showed him how.

Ah, the gifts.....the best part for a kid.

Joseph lends a helping hand . . . he LOVES unwrapping gifts!

Yes, we have lost our minds . . . I don't know what else to say.

The stand-in cake -- red velvet. He seemed to like it a lot. It was delicious. He asked for a Ferrari for his birthday, so we put one on the cake. Har dee har har.

On Saturday, Nathaniel had some friends over to play Wii, which is all he needs to be happy. They had a lot of fun!

Take two on the cookie -- Chris did a great job this time around!

"You don't raise heroes, you raise sons. And if you treat them like sons, they'll turn out to be heroes, even if it's just in your own eyes." -- Walter M. Schirra

I love you, son. You're my hero.

What's Up

There's always so much going on, and as the world's slackest blogger, I do my utmost to be totally behind in recording all those happenings. As usual, here's a quick photo update.

One night last week I came home from class to find this sight in my room:



Chris had put Joseph to bed a couple of hours earlier and assumed he had remained there. But he was in our bed, and when Chris went in to return him to his own bed, he discovered that the boy had removed his clothes and diaper and had indeed wet my side of the bed. Ah, the joys of motherhood.

Here's something I see quite often:

We attended Nathaniel's last Cub Scout Olympics, where he did extremely well in competition. Here's the standing long jump, in which he placed 1st.

Lindsey and Joseph marching around the park.

Receiving a "big hand" for coming in 1st in an event.

Accepting the award for Best Overall in the Webelos group. Way to go, son! You rock!

Biking home after a fun morning.

All ready for church . . .



Apparently he thought he needed one more accessory.

Lindsey demonstrating some ballet moves, with Joseph's help.

With his fellow scouts at pack meeting.

Dog pile on dad!!!!

Bradley finally getting the hang of this two-wheeler thing!

This made me laugh -- check out Nathaniel in the background.

Sister Cox came to visit Mel, and we got to spend some time with her.

Mel will hate this picture, but I thought it was so cute of them. And look how skinny Mel is!

Getting a bath in the sink is no fun.

Busy life as always, but we're having fun!

What I Need To Learn Today

The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture [of my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of a swingset on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less. -- Anna Quindlen

I have loved this quote since I first read it a few years ago, and I've been thinking so much about this very concept, as I must admit I do very often . . . especially lately, after discussing it a few times with a good friend.

This sentiment describes me perfectly, and it scares me to admit that. I am often so caught up in the "getting it done" that I miss out completely on the moments, moments that are fleeting by so fast I can't even believe it.

I need order to function. I don't do well in chaos, like when the house is a mess or the kids are running around like crazy. I am a much happier mom when things are in place. But, I need to learn some balance. It's not going to matter to me that the house was always clean when my kids are grown up and gone. Of course, the house has to be kept clean, but I can find creative ways to make sure that happens without being all nuts about it -- and making those I live with nuts as well.

What I need is to be more conscious of what I'm doing and saying. I need to stop thinking about all the things I need or want to be as a mother and start doing them! What's so hard about it?

Julie Beck, Relief Society General President has said that "mothers [who know] plan for the future of their organization," which to me means consciously creating the home environment I so desperately want and my children so desperately need. This means more bearing of testimony, more teaching the Gospel, more inviting the Spirit, more hugs and kisses, more kind words.

Sometimes I lie in bed and cry, thinking about the time to come, when these wonderful little people I am privileged to mother are no longer little. Chris teases me, saying I shouldn't waste the time I have now worrying about something that is so far in the future . . . but I know it's not really that far away. Every night I pray that Heavenly Father will help me grow as they grow, to help me prepare for that inevitable time in the not-so-distant future when I will no longer have them here, within my grasp, all day every day.

There is nothing so remarkable as the indescribable joy that comes with being a mother, which of course necessitates the agonizing pain that must be risked in order to experience it. I'm thankful for that opposition, even when it hurts.

Today I pledge to enjoy the moment more, and hopefully a little more every day. I will spend more time cuddling and kissing and whispering and less time vacuuming, washing, and worrying. What else really matters?