Parents of the Year 2009

I think this has just cinched the deal...we ROCK as parents and completely deserve this honor!

And I bet you can't guess which child of ours took a nasty fall into burning coals...

Notice the trend

I'm just saying.

She's a trouble maker in disguise!!

11 years later...

...we happened to be in Provo, UT, just finishing up a very delicious dinner at Los Hermanos when we realized that we were standing next to the very light pole that Rob and I took our engagement pictures at...

October 1998

And look at us now...

August 2009

It was so much fun taking these pics and, I will admit, slightly sentimental. You can read the sappy details here...

(You have to click on the image to be able to read it.)

Facing our fears. Day 8.

As Tyler (and my other children, too) gets older, I see him venturing out and trying new things, being brave as he attempts these new feats.

And I don't want my 9 1/2 year old making me look like a wimp, now do I? So, I tag along. (Truthfully, my silly self fears that some thing is going to happen to him. And it's not going to happen while he's alone. I know. I'm a crazy, paranoid mother.)

And look where it got me!Completely scary for only one split second as I told the guy to just push me out the front gate. The rest was...let's say...AWESOME!

But this...not so fun. Seeing my baby hanging over the earth with merely a few straps and a wire.


Our day at Snowbird was full of adventure. From zip lines to the alpine slide, it was all a blast!

The boys really enjoyed the trampolines. The perfect opportunity to practice their back flipping skills...
Or just jumping and looking cute as can be skills...
And here is our nutty Jared. The back flip king!And who knew...King of the Rodeo, too!Is it really a wonder why this child has had so many injuries?


The highlight for most every one with us was the aerial tram ride up to 11,000 feet. Too bad our camera ran out of battery (doesn't someone have pics on their camera...Jacob? Susanne?).

Oh well, you're not missing out on much...We'll leave it at that!

Thunder storms cut our visit at the top short (DARN!), so we headed back down the very steep mountain just in time to be pelted with a rain storm.

So our day was cut short, but we have memories to last us a life time!

It's a Cecret, Day 7

By day 7, I was sick of hiking, but Rob had one more hike in him (making up for his sick day, I guess). So, Rob and his brother Jacob took the boys for a 2 mile round trip hike to Cecret Lake. We're guessing that over the entire course of the trip Tyler, Jared and Evan each hiked about 8 miles...if only I could have their energy!

Very pretty views. Makes me almost wish I was there!

Day 6 ROCKS!!

Besides spending time with family, our trip to Bryce Canyon was the highlight of our summer vacation. And to think, we almost decided not to go!! The trip to Bryce added a few extra hours of driving that day, but it was 100% worth it. Bryce Canyon is definitely a must see for anyone who visits Utah.

Because of all our small children and my sister who'd caught The Lyme's and a husband recuperating from The Strep, we chose to do one hike. The Navajo hike is about 1.5 miles and it takes you to the bottom of the canyon and then back up. I stress the "back up" part because for some of those little legs hiking with us, it wasn't the easiest thing, but they all did it without complaint. And they loved every minute of it!!

We took so many photos and it was too hard to pick just a few photos for the blog. If you feel so inclined, you can view them all...


Visiting National Parks has now become our family's number one choice for vacations. We're already scheming up plans for the Grand Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands, Goblin Valley, Yosemite, and even Denali one day!! Because of Evan's height restrictions, amusement parks will not always be a fair choice for entertainment, but National Parks can be enjoyed by all of us and it's a whole ton easier on the wallet!

5

Today, Rob played hooky! He came down with a bad case of strep throat. So, we left him behind and had some good ole' fun without him!! My brother-in-law, Kevin's parents (Russ and Kay) were so kind to share their beautiful and unique home with us while were in Southern Utah. Russ took us on a nearby hike to search for petroglyphs (rock engravings). The boys were in heaven and were able to do a little bit of learning along the way! We were bummed that Rob missed out on this adventure, but the show must go on!

After the hike, we had some lunch at the coolest restaurant, Pirate Island. The food was reasonably priced and the place was very entertaining. The rest of the day was spent swimming and the boys were in heaven once again. So was I because the view at their pool wasn't too bad to look at. Gorgeous red cliffs.

Really, this was a great day and by the end, Rob was finally perking up...Just in time because the next and last day of our Southern Utah adventure was our best yet!

4

Kinda hard to capture all of this beauty.

Zions National Park



How small we looked surrounded by this massive, glorious world.

Nature's playground

After spending the day in over 100 degrees, even 150 year old rain water tasted good!

My sister and I were outnumbered!

Day 3?

Day 3 was a Sunday, so we did typical Sunday things...church, a big family dinner, some relaxing...Gearing up for the next three days of driving, hiking and swimming.

But how could I forget our Saturday night???? How fun was it to be able to attend Jessie and Dallin's wedding reception in UT and see SO many familiar faces!! A mini Manassas reunion in Kaysville, UT!

Jessie and Dallin looked so happy!
So did Sue and Tony! And so proud.
The cake table was beautiful!
So was baby Clay!! What a sweet baby...
Any chance I can get to be around the Botts, I'll take!
And look at the little girls around Jessie, the princess!
Congrats to Jessie and Dallin!

The Simple Life

We've still got pioneering on our mind. We had lots of fun at Heritage Park and This Is the Place monument. Great price for all of the fun!!! And another reminder of the great sacrifices those before us have made. And seriously...what would those pioneers be thinking now as they looked over the valley??!!



After the park we had a quick visit to Grandma and Grandpa Kunz's home. G'pa Kunz has been ill and just returned home from the hospital. Garth and Rob gave him a blessing that definitely did not leave us dry eyed! What a great life he has led and legacy he will leave behind (one day). I was really touched when G'pa Kunz knew all our children's names (first and middle). They have 64 great grand children!! I asked him how he remembered everyones names. His answer, "I pray for them." Ghah! I love this man.

Travelogue. Day 1

We arrived safely in UT. Our flight out was uneventful (yay!!).
We took it easy that evening and just hung out (what vacation is all about!!). The kids found some new favorite toys....

(Check out the old school bike, Jared found! Love the banana seat!!!)

Lots of fun to look forward to this week!

A Test for You

While on vacation to Utah, Rob likes to...


A. Go hiking with his family.

B. Swim in a river.

C. Get strep throat.
This is two years in a row!! What luck!




We hope you feel better soon!!

Some must push and some must pull

Well, our pioneer journey is complete. Our bodies are not only physically exhausted, but emotionally and spiritually exhausted. We now will try to recuperate for our next journey...to the real Utah (in five days). This time we go by plane.

It is hard to write in words the incredible experience we had with the ten youth that were in our family. They worked hard and played hard and hopefully learned even more. I think they did. We learned from them. Their strength is admirable. Their lives are not all pleasant, but they keep going. They face the trials of youth with so much courage and joy. I want to be them when I grow up!

I'm sure there are pioneers of old, looking down on them, saying "This is why we did it. For you. Press forward and enjoy your journey."

I hope they (Micaela, Adam, Dave, Jay, Emily, Christina, Mary, Chloe, Morgan and Ryan)remember the feelings that they felt during their trek experience and use that memory to help carry them through their personal trek on earth.



We were not able to take our real camera to trek and I honestly don't think I would have wanted to risk it, but our little point and shoot was able to capture some of our journey along the way.

Enjoy...

Sweet Seven

I'm a little sad today. I'm missing my Jared. Today he turns 7. Happy Birthday, Jared.

Jared and Tyler are off, enjoying life in Buffalo with their cousins. Did I mention that I miss them? Really, really missing them. Sigh...

I seriously can't believe that Jared is already 7!!! I still remember the tender moment when I first held him in my arms and knew that this crazy cowlicked, big blue eyed baby was mine. Choking up now...


And now look at him...All grown up. Such a dare devil. Jumping off the top of a boat. This child has no fear (maybe that's why he has no teeth!).

Happy Birthday, Jared!

I need answers...

At what age can I "safely" turn my back on my children?

All fixed

The video is no longer private.

Ride On

In celebration of Denise's 3* birthday, we made it a day and went to King's Dominion WITHOUT kids!!! And had a blast, OF COURSE!

The Dominator was our first roller coaster (and one of my favorites). And lucky for you, Rob filmed the whole thing!

Enjoy!

Denise, me, and Melanie are in the row in the row in front of Rob.

We're looking forward to this yearly tradition! Ride on!

A fun filled day

Yesterday was so fun!

Rob and I started our day at a Pioneer Trek training. We spent the morning cooking turkey, stew, and bread over a fire. We are so looking forward to our weekend with the youth!

I took off early to meet a bunch of "strangers" for lunch! A group of ScrapMatters girls who were in the Northern VA area met up for lunch. I loved meeting these ladies who I'd only known from looking at their avatars and chatting with at speed scraps online and working with at ScrapMatters (an on-line digital scrapbooking site). Having met these gals "live" makes this on-line community even better now! I can't wait to get together again soon!I didn't get home from lunch until almost 3pm and we were leaving again at 5 pm for dinner and a movie. I spent some time with the kids and took Tyler out for ice cream to celebrate his SOL (Standard of Learning) scores. The schools spend all year teaching what is needed to pass the tests and then the last semester is spent preparing for the tests (waste of time in my opinion). Tyler had for tests (History, Science, Math and Reading) and scored a perfect 600 in three of them and a "pass-advanced" in all of them!! We couldn't be prouder of all of his hard work!

At 5 pm we took off to dinner at Carrabas with The Beatty's and Rachelle and Dave (one of the ScrapMatter's gals and her husband). I started to not feel so good during dinner, but didn't want to miss the movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, so I decided I felt fine, but even before the movie started, I knew I wasn't fine. I spent the entire movie hovered over a toilet. Joy!

My night was miserable and so was Jared's. He woke up in the middle of the night sick and we commiserated together the rest of the night and morning. We must have passed something to each other after a week of giving medicine and cleaning his mouth, teeth and stitches.

Rob took all of the kids to church and Jared and I chilled at home, sleeping, moaning in pain and hanging out in the bathroom. TMI?

This is the only thing that has made me smile yet today...When my daughter is supposed to be sleeping, she is busy playing dress-up with her dirty laundry. Silly, silly fashion diva!

Looking Good!

It's amazing how quickly our bodies heal! Four days later and here's where we are... Jared says it doesn't hurt at all. He only winces while I brush his teeth or when he takes his medicine.

This is one tough kid!

Chewing is still difficult because the inside of his mouth doesn't look much better then the outside and his gums and teeth are still sore. He's excited that his tooth is now loose, though.

I'm not because it won't grow back until he's 11 or 12, but Jared so badly wants to be tied in the never ending battle of sibling rivalry (Tyler--9 teeth lost, Jared--8).

Tyler thinks Jared is cheating...loosing them the unconventional way!

What ever it takes to win, right?

Busted

It has been a loooooong day! Jared is passed out on the couch next to me. Not even Goblet of Fire could keep him awake!

After finishing up his first day of art camp, he fell and hit his mouth on a large metal pot. His lip was pretty mangled and it looked as if his teeth had went through his lip. The Warners did a great job taking care of him. And Jared was so brave. Little did he know that this was the beginning of a long day!

I arrived a few minutes later and dropped off the kids with Denise (you ROCK!)and took Jared to the ER. He was in so much pain but he was such a trooper. The ER Dr. was able to "fix" his lower lip and align it just right. His lip was pretty much reconstructed. But the Dr. was concerned about the swelling of his upper gums, so we were sent to the dentist for an x-ray. (And we know from past experience that PW Hospital does not touch dental issues).

The Dentist took some x-rays and sent us to an oral surgeon because he feared that something may have been broken. Thankfully, the oral surgeon gave us good news and nothing was broken. She straightened his tooth and let us know that the tooth won't make it, but no reason to pull it, since the adult tooth won't grow in for another 4 years.

So, Jared survived yet another traumatic oral injury! We'd include pictures, but no need to gross anyone out. Maybe in a few days when the swelling has gone down.

Keep him in your prayers.

In preparation...

In a few weeks, Rob and I will be going on a Pioneer Trek as chaperons with the youth from our church. We will dress like pioneers, eat like pioneers, pull hand carts like pioneers and walk far like pioneers...all in the name of appreciating and understanding what those before us have gone through so we can have the blessings which we have today.

And we can't wait to go!

Over the past week, we unintentionally began our preparations for this trek. We walked all over the hilly Hershey Park and D.C. National Zoo. Stood on our feet all day while touring the Air and Space Museum. Then walked around Gettysburg. Next it was off to camping...sleeping without an air mattress and using our new dutch oven for cooking. And let's not forget the 3 hikes (each 1.5 miles) that we went on. All in one weeks time!

Needless to say, we're tired! But we feel ready!



Here's a slide show of our camping trip to Shenandoah National Park with the Zamora's!