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I saw this idea over at makeit-loveit

and decided it would be a perfect way to tell a story on our wall.

10 years of marriage in 5 states

 Cody was born in Utah, Macey in Washington and Mackayla in Oklahoma...just missed the last two:)

Oregon is upside down. Oops. I'll fix that. Next month.

 In Utah my sister-in-law told me about her 'kid drawer' in the kitchen. Did everyone but me know about this?! For those of us with little kids, this is genius. Now they can get their own drinks.

I imagine this would be even more handy with a new baby. 

Last but not least -

Carpet stains.

We have beautiful beige carpet. The person that invented this color of carpet never had children. To instantly clean up the never ending array of things that can be flung on carpet:

Get ammonia, a towel, and an iron.

Mix ammonia and hot water and pour it on. Put the towel on top and iron over the towel.

Weirdly, I actually enjoy doing it.

This and other pretty cool cleaning tips here.

We went to our Frozen Movie in the Park last night with our cute friends!
After an early morning long run for me and some on call work for Ben, we actually snoozed a little while the kids watched it;)

Back At The Ranch

We took my parents to the bucket Waterpark our first day here. 

 We stopped by my favorite Rider's Cafe in San Clemente one day.

Best burgers on earth.

 We went to the Mormon Battalion, and wow it was impressive!!

I wasn't expecting much, so this far exceeded my expectations.

Fairly new, it was finished four years ago.

We started in this room.

The kids' eyes all got big as the pictures started talking to us!

I don't know how I have missed the significance of the Mormon Battalion before this, but it really put into perspective the importance of this part of our history.

 We got to pan for gold

 And look out over Old San Diego

 It really is a beautiful building

 We spent some time in Old San Diego. We even saw Mexican jumping beans. I didn't know they were for real?!! 

Of course, we spent a day at the beach 

 I love my parents. They are so fun.

 They babysat for us to go to the temple. 

I have ALWAYS wanted to go to the San Diego temple. 

It's beautiful.

So nice to have some time with this guy.

We're so glad my parents could come spend some time with us!!

 While we were in Utah Ben wasn't always just working...he took off a day to go surfing with Luke and spearfishing. They cooked up some good fish tacos!

Some Downtime August Favorites

Every once in a while a little down time is necessary.

Mackayla has a random fever probably from a small cold.

It's nice to just relax.

There won't be many more days that we can.

I am ready for school to start And I am NOT ready.

I have snapped a ton of random pictures of things I like this month. Seriously, random, and kind of fun.

This is the CUTEST wedding invitation I have ever seen.

On the back is the story of how they met.

If I married Ben again now ;) I would do this.

I love our story!

This is at a park we love to go to...

"There are two lasting bequests we can give our children: one is roots, the other is wings."

  Love this board:

 This car sticker says "Yes I can drive a stick." with a little broom in the middle. hehe

 Simple matter of fact, cute children's book.

I want to write our version for our kids.

 This looks cute. I am obsessed with children's books.

 Cody loves chess. This is a Book of Mormon chess set. I love the scripture they include with it in Alma

"And thus it came to pass that by this strategem we did take possession...without the shedding of blood."

Clever:)

I saw this game at the BYU Bookstore.  I'm not sure if it's fun or not, but

Mormon culture is so strange and endearing, it's kind of an innocent way to poke fun at it.

I had a good conversation with a friend who is not mormon today. Until she had become friends with mormons she said she had always thought of them as something of a cult because they kind of group together and are so different in general, not drinking, etc. Now she says she sees it as more that we have built a strong and safe community and become good friends within it.

I always find it fascinating to hear what other people think about it and it's at least made me more aware to reach out to others outside of my comfort zone.

 This is part of my favorite lunch lately:

A toasted english muffin with hummus, fresh tomatoes and sometimes olives on top.

After every vacation I get the post vacation depression that always comes with reality.

In reality there is not always a willing free babysitting grandma who will watch your kids at a moment's notice. The kids really all do have to come to the doctor and the grocery store. There are not always fun things to do and see every single day. K actually there are in California. But doing them every day is unrealistic to a stable life that teaches children to actually work.  Laundry and dirty bathrooms are always looming, as well as bills and dishes.

There's always that little adjustment period where reality and vacation meet and you're all worn out from over partying:) We're lucky to be able to see our families.

BYU Brainwashing and Other Utah Fun

It's always a whirlwind of events, going to Utah.

We chose this particular week so that Cody could go to a sports camp at BYU.

It was a lot of driving back and forth to Provo but totally worth it.

The first night we stayed at a friend's house near Provo to avoid the hour drive past and then back. It was so good to catch up with her and see her cute kids!

One mom I talked to at BYU, surprisingly not related to the sports camps, told me she had heard the best way to get your kids to go to BYU is to send them to sports camps.

So, the subtle brainwashing has begun:)

This was an All Sports Camp, so he played soccer, baseball, basketball and football.

Meanwhile the girls and I got a chance to check out campus.

We watched a doe and her two babies right outside the Richards Building.

Inside is where I worked at YBeFit. I got my body fat tested just for old times sake:)

I also worked in the Ancient Scripture department in the religion building, another favorite job.

 There are so many new buildings I had never seen. The Joseph F. Smith building is beautiful and gives a history of the school and of the church. 

 I'm not going to lie, I love this school. Where else would a science teacher bear their testimony and end with a prayer in class?

And where else would you see quirky signs advertising for apartment rentals like this:

Provo is weird I tell you. I love it.

  Other Provo highlights included grandma and grandpa meeting us down there for a little while.

We caravanned over to Waffle Love to try out their waffles.

 They are so good, but I would say they are more dessert, not so much lunch.

But hey, I would eat one right now just for a snack. Yum.

I would also highly recommend Swig.

Their sugar cookies are addicting. This was my first time trying a dirty coke. I could become addicted to those too!

After that we went to the Bean Museum.

 It has just recently been remodeled and was pretty impressive!

 It is a huge taxidermy collection and also has many of Elder Boyd K. Packer's carvings.

Coming "home" to my parent's house was exciting because I got to see their new sun room. I love the view of the mountains they have and love the new room! 

 Tuesday night I went with my parents to a Bill Cosby show at the Layton outdoor theater.

 Wednesday we went to the Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point. 

We were also lucky enough to go to the Ogden temple rededication. It has been completely remodeled. 

 Read more about temples here.

Root Beer Floats after for Papa Jeff's birthday!

 Saturday we went to Cherry Hill

The girls Macey, Blake and Lucy went down Cardiac Canyon by themselves. So cute to see those three tiny girls standing in line all by themselves:) 

 Cute Clara and Callie. (Mackayla generally refuses to be in pictures.)

 One of Macey's favorite parts was the human maze

 Finally, on our way back to California we stopped to see my brother Eric and went to the land of all you can eat to obesity, Golden Corral. The kids really do love it.

My parents made the drive back with us so we could spend more quality time with them!

They now know what we mean by "Vegas Traffic" coming home. It's terrible!

 I finally got a picture of one of these funky trees I love seeing on the drive. They look like Dr. Seuss trees.