We Survived!

We recently purchased ourselves a new toy. It's a brand-spankin' new tent trailer (even smells new, mmmm!) and this past weekend we took it on its maiden voyage. It was definitely a learning experience considering my Mom and I towed it up there alone. I had set it up and taken it down several times and felt comfortable with that aspect of the trailer, but when it came to the filling of the water tanks and lighting of the furnace, I was clueless. One might naturally say "Why didn't you consult your manual for proper instructions?" which is a valid question. However the dealership had supposedly ordered one and we had not received it yet.

Here is the beauty in all her splendor. For the record, if you ever want to fill the tank of a trailer, your best bet is to put it in the proper place and not hook it up to what seasoned campers call the "city water hookup". You will most likely end up with a half inch of water on your floor followed by many expletives. I'm just saying. This was our spectacular view of Mount Timpanogas.
This should have been a warning of things to come.
Some sort of unique thistle plant with a bug on it.

Believe it or not that is a smile, not because Doug is squeezing him too hard. Tyson only smiles when you tell him to "show us your teeth". Thus the cheesy grin. I'll take what I can get.

This trip was for our Wright Family Reunion so we had a few family members camping with us. We knew we were in for it when the clouds rolled in and the rain started coming down hard. Fortunately we had a pavilion to take cover under and a huge fire pit to hang out by.

I even busted out my new Snuggie to help keep warm. I of course thought of good ol' Kristina and her Snuggie obsession. It was SO cold!

My cute angel baby!

My Grandpa Wright with great-grandson Ethan.

The cloudy mist rolled in and hid Timpanogas.

Tyson enjoyed playing with his cousins.

The annual dutch oven cookoff was a hit! We participated for the first time this year (my beans and chicken pot pie are at the bottom of the photo). We didn't win this year but made a good showing and are already making plans for next year's dishes!

My Aunt Ruth, cousin Jennifer from Colorado and my Dad catching up.

Aside from the cold and the rain, the trip was a success and we got to visit with lots of family members that we don't see very often. Tyson was a huge hit of course and keeps asking when we are going camping again. "With dirt?" he of course asks. Of course there will be dirt.

Happy Birthday to ME!

When did this happen to me? 28 has crept up on me when I wasn't looking. Wasn't I just 19? I don't feel 28... Are you supposed to feel your age? I've been reflecting on these thoughts all day and I've decided that I have no regrets so far in life and a lot left to accomplish. I look forward to what each day has to bring and I am so thankful for both my Mom (now that I truly understand the miracle of motherhood) and my son. Each in their own way brings a certain joy to my life and I would be lost without them. Thank you to both of you for teaching me so many of life's lessons. I know there are many left to learn and I am both excited and terrified of what is to come!

Random photo

One of the flowers from a bush in my front flowerbed. It always blooms mid-summer and is so beautiful!

If looks could kill....

This pretty much sums up how I feel when someone asks me to share chocolate around that time of the month...

Everything in life can relate back to Bill Cosby

One of my all time favorite comedians is Bill Cosby. The older Tyson gets, the more applicable his standup routine Himself seems to me. I have seen the old VHS version of this so many times I have lost count and yet I laugh just as hard at it as I did the first time seeing it. We were fortunate enough to see him perform at Abravanel Hall here in Salt Lake City a few years ago and it is a memory I cherish. To me, he is one of the greatest comedians ever and to see him perform a two hour show of entirely new material was astounding. He did do ONE bit about the dentist, which is also hilarious. Check him out on YouTube if you've never seen that one.

My favorite parts lately have been his thoughts on being a parent and raising children. I managed to find a clip of one I can particularly relate to lately and decided to share. If you have never seen this show, you must seriously stop what you are doing and go buy it RIGHT NOW. No home should be without a copy!

WARNING: This post is not for the faint of heart or the prudish in attitude!

Let me preface this post by saying that I love my son dearly and sometimes he does things I don't understand nor can I explain. Sometimes they are hilarious (and disturbing) and make me laugh til my sides hurt. This occasion was no exception.

Back story: I had just finished giving Tyson a bath and Doug was out waging war with the 24 inch lawn (I resisted the urge to rub in the fact that I had repeatedly TOLD him to mow it sooner).

Tyson kept pestering me: "Where Daddy at? Where Daddy at?" I relented. Sans clothing with only his monkey towel, I took him out to our deck to watch Doug battle the lawn.

Sitting so cute and innocently on the stairs, I couldn't help but grab my camera and snap a few shots.

Then, out of no where, he unexpectedly grabbed the towel and flung it open like a well-seasoned flasher. I was speechless. I couldn't help it. Doubled over in laughter, he just grinned at me wondering what was so funny.

Pretty soon he was standing up, proud of his starkness and gallivanting around our back yard. Oh well. He is, after all, his father's son.

Welcome to our summer...

Is it July already? Obviously I've been a tad preoccupied, so let me play catch up and share a little bit of what our summer has consisted of... this may be a series of posts so here is the first... more to come when I have a few spare minutes.

In our family, softball is a part of life. And when I say our family, I mean it is a FAMILY affair. Our team is called "It's All Relative" because at any given time we have most of Doug's family playing. All of his brothers play (although not necessarily at the same time) and so does his sister. It's how Doug and I met.

From April until October our weeks are planned according to whose game is when and we do our best to coordinate schedules. We've had to cut back since having Tyson - each of us playing on three teams turned out to be WAY too much.

This year we have been playing in a little more competitive league at THE Cottonwood fields (some of the nicest fields out there) and aren't dominating like we normally do. It's OK though, because I think we could all learn a few things from the games we have lost.

I like to try out different positions but first base is my favorite!

Doug's brother, DJ, playing third base.

Patty making an amazing catch from second base. I think we all held our breath to see if she'd hang onto it!
My handsome honey coaching third base.

This is last year's photo so there are a couple of people missing but it's more or less the same team.

Front row: Doug's brother Allen, Brad, brother DJ, Doug, Jon, brother Todd

Back row: Teresa, Jamie, me, Kami, Patty

Missing from the photo is Doug's Dad, sister Lisa and brother Jeff. If they'd had 4 more girls they'd have had a whole team of just Farnsworths!