Utah Trip: Summer 2014: Fun with the Huntings!

My brother John was getting married August 9, so we decided we'd load up a few weeks early and make the most of our summer and spend it with family! The boys and I would head out mid-July and Kev would join us the first of August. We hit the pavement July 17.

Our first stop was Logan, Utah to spend a few days with my sister and her family. We stopped for the night in Bozeman, Montana. Absolutely love it there!

Cool little stream on hotel property.

We checked into our room and unanimously voted for breakfast for dinner. IHOP it was! We also hit Target and did some school shopping.

I love being a mom when they're all sleeping. Just kidding. I love it all the time! They just look particularly innocent at moments like these.

Up and on the road by 8ish. Stopped at the Starbucks for a drink, and was told at the window the lady in front of my paid for my drink! She said it was "coffee karma Friday." I paid it forward and left with the feeling life is good!

Rest stop in Madison Valley, MT

I adore this route through Montana, Idaho, and northern Utah. The route we generally take to Vernal through Wyoming? Not so much! 

We pulled into Cache Valley around 3 and the party was on! Cam and the kids had the pool filled up and the kids dove right in. Cousin fun galore!

Hanna, Cameron, Kyan, Micah, Tucker, and Jaxon

Movie night! I wanna say we watched The Lego Movie, but we had a lot of movie nights.

After a yummy breakfast of fried mush and bacon, my brother in law literally begged to wash my filthy car. Ok, he didn't beg but asked. He likes to wash cars, who ever hear of such a thing?! You can bet I jumped all over that offer!

The end result! 

After the car was shiny, we went to a matinee of How to Train Your Dragon 2. We all loved it and two of us may have cried right around the middle but will remain nameless. We ran home for lunch and then made tracks for the Aquatic Center. It was super hot and the perfect day for some water fun!

Jax fell in the parking lot and and needed a dad, so Uncle Mark had to stand in.

Cam taking the kids down the waterslide.

We've hit the Aquatic Center together three years running, and it's probably one of our favorite cousin activities. Can't wait for next year when more of them can swim on their own!

Jax, Cameron, Micah, Kyan, Hanna, and Tucker

We went back to Cam's and gave everyone baths while Mark grabbed Little Caesar's pizza. We gobbled that down since we are deprived of that delicacy here in Williston; but will be getting one in January! Yippee! I think we watched Frozen or something that night. The next day was church just right around the corner from Cam's house. I was sitting in sacrament meeting and realized I didn't have my rings on and I just knew I had put them on before we left. I was super worried the band broke on my engagement ring because there's a spot on it that has thinned out quite a bit. Cam gave me the house key and I ran back to search for it. Thankfully, they were sitting on her window seat. Whew! We went back to church and Jaxon absolutely refused to go to nursery even though he totally loves it back home. Crazy kid. So we roamed the hall for a bit and then joined Cam in Relief Society. Jaxon was pretty good with my phone on silent. I happened to glance down to see he was taking selfies; so cute!

After Sunday lunch, we just kind of lounged around and the kids played. Cam and I did some bridal shower planning for the shower we were hosting for Jessica. By then, I had a massive headache so I broke out the Pepsi. Cameron walked by and very seriously asked, "Aunt Liv, why do  you have that Satan drink?" Hahaha! Because it's delicious and makes up 69.9% of my blood, that's why!

We also had some girl time with Hanna and got a manicure from the cutest manicurist in the biz!

 After dinner, we went to First Dam to feed the ducks, walk around, and play. It was so fun!

Tried to take some group photos and we could never get Jaxon to pay attention.

My sis and her hubby Mark

My water child was in heaven!

Cameron and Kyan

Micah

Hanna

Cam trying to get Jax to actually look at the camera

We counted this as a success!

Rolling down the hill together

The boys were already missing their daddy, so it's a good thing we had Uncle Mark there!

Caught some boys being silly instead of getting ready for bed.

Mark had to work the next day so we fed the kids breakfast and let them play a bit. Then we braved the mall with all of them (yikes). Hanna decided she wanted her ears pierced while we were there and Cam was so sure she would change her mind in the chair but she followed through! Super cute.

We grabbed lunch at the McDonald's drive-thru and headed to the park next to the kids' school. We ate and played for awhile but the equipment was in full sun and pretty hot by then. We went back to Cam's to mix up some ice cream and put on Frozen (again) while we waited for it to freeze. Tucker was really the only one who was interested in being the special helper and he had so much fun making ice cream with Aunt Camie!

The finished product! It was so good and super rich and creamy thanks to all the heavy cream. Mmmm!

Mark came home around 4:30 or 5 so Cam and I could take off to finalize bridal shower shopping and to get some sister time. We finally decided on what the favors would be and bought the items for those. Cam found the PERFECT dress for me to wear to the wedding at Kohl's. I found the cutest gift for the shower at Bed, Bath, and Beyond for my scheduled time of 6 AM: a set of espresso cups and plates with a nifty little holder and a tea towel with a coffee theme. I miss "real" stores! After we had shopped ourselves to the max, we went to dinner at Kneader's where we saw the biggest spider ever and I made my ravenous sister wait to touch her food until after I'd taken a photo for Instagram. I'm so mean. Mark had the kids ready for bed and one of them even asleep when we got back. Thanks, Mark! We put the rest of them to bed and set about making the tags for the shower. Our cute little favors can be found in this blog post. Of course, we treated ourselves to some of the homemade ice cream. I never eat ice cream because I generally don't care for it, but this recipe was SO GOOD! Just thinking about it makes me want to whip up a batch right now.

Fresh vanilla ice cream with fresh raspberries and peaches

We had a great night just talking and being silly. Cam's my only sister (that's why we're so excited to be getting Jess!) and we really miss one another!

The next morning, Cam fed my kids and let me run around town grabbing a few things at Sam's Club, DownEast Basics, and Bath and Body Works. You know, the basics! I also ran into Smith's Marketplace for a sweet deal on shoes and just had to snap this photo of milk since I paid $5.99 for a gallon not one week before. I miss Utah prices...

I packed up our stuff and jammed it into the car and then we took the kids to Pizza Pie Cafe, another Logan tradition we love. The kids adore that place and tell everyone about it every chance they get.

Our little vacations may not be fancy but we sure have a great time! There's nothing better than family, in my humble opinion. Jaxon has been asking to go to Camie's pretty much every week since we left! We went back to the house, made sure we had all our things, filled up the water bottles, told the cousins we would see them in two weeks at the wedding and made tracks for SLC to drop off my rings to be replated and cleaned. Next stop, Grandma Kirk's!

Remembrance

Richard Gene Kirk 12/25/1988-7/9/2008

Remembrance

You can shed tears that he is gone,

or you can smile because he has lived.

You can close your eyes

and pray that he'll come back,

or you can open your eyes

and see all he has left.

Your heart can be empty 

because you can't see him,

or you can be full of

the love you shared.

You can turn your back on tomorrow

and live yesterday, or you

can be happy for tomorrow

because of yesterday.

You can remember him

and only that he's gone,

or you can cherish

his memory and let it live on.

You can cry and close your mind,

be empty and turn your back,

or you can do what he'd want:

Smile, open your eyes, 

love, and go on. 

                                                                         -Author Unknown

July 9 has rolled around again. Six years have gone by without you, Richard. We feel your loss most today and your birthday, but really we never forget that there's a hole where you should be. I miss you so much and love you even more. Til I see you again, brother.

A Phenomenal Fourth!

We had a fabulous Fourth of July here in little ol' Williston! Kevin and I dropped some cash on a bunch of fireworks and set a few off on the third for the boys and some good neighbor friends. Everyone else called it a night after that, but Tucker and I decided to burn some midnight oil and go catch the fireworks at the fairgrounds after the car races. We parked on the frontage road just off of Highway 2 and had a perfect view. Trouble is, they didn't start quite when I expected. We waited a good 30 or 40 minutes. Tucker fell asleep before they were over, but they were pretty good fireworks, and I forgot to take photos.

Waiting for fireworks to start.

 The morning of the fourth was packed with activities! There was a breakfast at the church, and another one at the fairgrounds followed by tons of family friendly activities such as mural painting, face painting, a petting zoo, bounce houses, food vendors, and train rides. They also had a BBQ cook-off and live entertainment later in the day followed by some EXCELLENT fireworks. Super fun but super hot! It was around 96 degrees which was the hottest it had been to that point.

Ready for some Fourth fun!

Yummy Italian ices

Riding the train. Tucker said he was too hot to smile.

Tucker said, "Aww, look at this cute little dog!" Uh...it's a goat.

Painting on the giant mural

Our good friends the McBrides hosted the most fabulous Independence Day party I have ever been to. This is by no means an exaggeration. There was food galore including brats, hot dogs, gourmet toppings, multiple salads, fresh fruit, bottled soda that was a huge hit, and of course, marshmallow roasting for s'mores later in the evening. This celebration also included a zip line, a potato gun, a candy cannon,  pony rides, and a few hundred dollars worth of pyrotechnics. Seriously, does it get any better than that?!

He was hooked! He did it over and over and over.

Candy cannon. Jaxon thought he was gonna stand there and candy would magically fall in his bag.

Playing Guitar Hero

Being a zombie from the game Plants vs. Zombies!

Getting ready for fireworks

Cool paper lanterns just like in Tangled!

Totally bummed I never took a single photo of any fireworks. I was too busy trying to desperately fend off HORRIBLE mosquitoes. We literally took a bath in repellent and it didn't stop them at all. We had over 30 bites each the next day. The fireworks that the city set off were spectacular. We had the greatest view of the entire valley and so many people were setting off fireworks. I'm talking a good three or more hours of boom after boom after boom. It was so cool! We called it a night at midnight and they were still going off. It was an awesome way to spend our Fourth!

What A Difference A Year Makes

June 28, 2013

One year.

We've lived here one year today. Admittedly, Kevin has been here much longer, but we have been here together as a family for a year!

At times, time dragged. At others, it flew.

I can hardly grasp it's been a WHOLE YEAR!

I remember pulling into Williston, North Dakota and feeling thrills of excitement and also apprehension. 

Could we make it here?

Will we survive the winter?

Would we be okay without our extended family?

Would the boys make friends?

Would I make friends??

The answer:

YES!!!!!!

We made it through the winter. It was cold, cold enough at times for ice to build up inside our house. But we made it!

We've made so many great friends; ones that have rallied around us in times of struggle, times of worry, and times of need. They've become our family.

We have become active in the Church again. I'm grateful my children are going to church, learning and growing, and Kyan is eagerly awaiting his baptism when he turns 8 in October. That alone is worth the move.

People had varying reactions when we spread the word we were pulling up stakes and heading to ND.

"You will HATE it there."

"There's nothing to do up there."

"It's too cold to live up there." (These people may have had a valid argument...)

"You are better off getting a divorce and letting Kevin go up there alone."

Well, guess what?

We're together.

We've grown closer.

And I would do it all over again!!

I started this journey with a mantra:

It will be what we make of it.

I've stood by this and repeated it to many.

We won't live here forever and probably won't retire here,

but we have made it home.

June 28, 2014