Chick Magnet

Well... maybe not.

I looked out the window yesterday and saw Cardon flying through the backyard chasing all 10 chickens with a broom.

He told me he was "feeding" them.

Oh, man.

{SUMMER}

A sweet drippy wet watermelon paired with a 10-year-old blue eyed boy sitting in the backyard with no shirt is a pretty good recipe for what we have been doing a lot of lately.

And this little shenanigan has been on repeat.

The Great Sand Dunes

Tent- check, Sleeping bags- check, a loaded cooler with delicious food- check

The Hillan family was off to have an amazing adventure at the Colorado Sand Dunes.  A chance to unplug, connect with each other, and get dirty.  Really dirty.

It was a huge success and was an amazing way to kick off the lazy, no schedule summer.  Unanimously everyone voted to go back and do it year after year.

Our top favorite things about this family weekend together:

Dad:

- I loved being with the family and seeing the kid's excitement when they were able to start the fire without any help from me. 

- I did not like hiking to the top of the sand dunes, but I loved it because I got to be with Nathan and Kendall and running down the dunes together with the boys was totally worth the hike up.

- I loved seeing the look of joy on Cardon's face as he was running through the sand and bending down every few steps to scoop some up and throw it in the air.

- I loved the delicious meals that Alisa prepared, all easy and ready to go. 

- I loved all of us in the same tent in the night, being together as a family was the best, even though Cardon ended up on the air mattress between Alisa and I.  I remember waking up when he put his head on my chest at 2:30a.m. and feeling so grateful for that little boy.     

Mom:

- I loved the talking.  Oh, the talking.  The little conversations going on in the back seat about how much fun this was going to be and was as we drove 4 hours.  The conversations of hopes, dreams, and future plans going on with dad.  The little two-year boy laughing, squealing, and jabbering with the feeling of excitement.

- I loved our walk lit by the moon and one star with Nathan and Kendall.  Dad was laying next to Cardon to get him to sleep so the bigs and I took advantage and explored the campsite.  We could see the beautiful silhouette of the dunes and the flickers of each individual campfire.  Again, more talking and laughing.

- I loved playing games with the bigs while Cardon slept.  We forgot flashlights and had to use our phones but they illuminated the area and Dad and Nathan played chess while Kendall and I played several rounds of Blitz.

- I loved watching Cardon as we pulled up to the dunes.  This little boy was made for the dirt.  His eyes were huge and he hit the ground running. He loved to dig and held onto his neon green shovel as if his life depended on it.  When the wind would pick up, he would climb into his tent... aka my dress and wait out the storm.  He had no fear and would run down the sand as fast as his little legs would go.  He was COVERED with sand.  I'm pretty sure that he took half the dunes home with him and we washed them down the drain after his bath.

- I loved waking up at 2:30 in the morning and laughing with Justin because our air mattress was flat and had to be blown up again and Cardon was in the middle of us thrashing around.  We joked and wanted to go home but it was too far away.

- I loved eating roasted marshmallows with the boys after breakfast.

- I loved taking time to tour the visitors center on our way home with no time restraints.

- I loved sitting in the sand with Dad and watching our three amigos have a blast.

Nathan:

- Hiking up to the top barefooted.

- Running down the dunes and tumbling.

- Camping as a family.

- Playing chess with Dad.

- Playing with Kendall

- Eating mom's delicious food.

- Seeing Cardon camp.

Kendall:

- Hiking to the top of the sand dunes barefoot and running down barefoot.

- Playing with Dad and Nathan.

- Getting buried.

- Being there and playing.

- The drive with my family.

- The food and game night.

- The Gators.

- The Gator wrestler.

- The Albino Gators.

- All of the trip.

The food we ate {in case we want to make it again}

Lunch- ham & cheese sandwiches, chips, watermelon

Dinner- Chicken and apple sausages, Mexican street campfire corn, and s'mores

Snacks- cowboy caviar, apples, beef jerky, and sunflower seeds

Breakfast- campfire scramble {eggs, ham, peppers, and hash browns}and roasted marshmallows

Lunch- repeat of the day before

We stopped at Coney Island on the way home in Bailey for vanilla ice cream cones 

Colorado Gators....

In the middle of nowhere and I mean nowhere is an 80-acre Gator and fish farm on the way to the sand dunes.  If you can get past the wretched smell you are in for a treat.

Cardon loved being able to pet the tortoises that roamed all over the farm and the rest of us loved being able to hold a real live alligator.  Kendall liked the fact that if you touched his nose he would smile.

This place became a 'sanctuary" for unwanted pets in the 80's and now is full of all kinds of snakes, birds, lizards, fish, turtles, and alligators.

Out of 50 albino alligators in the world, 5 live at this gator farm.

As we were watching the largest gator at the farm, he suddenly ripped into the water and ate a fish.  We were so close that we got splashed by the water.  Cardon kept yelling, "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" over and over.  I grabbed him close to me and his little heart was beating a hundred miles an hour.  So crazy!!!

The highlight of this adrenaline-pumping visit was witnessing a couple of guys wrestle a HUGE gator about 2 feet in front of us. It was crazy and a once in a lifetime thing to see. Just when you thought you had seen it all one of the guys pulled the gator up to his mouth and kissed it!

The boys earned their certificate of bravery that was notarized with the mouth of a live alligator.

Strawberry Custard Whip

Cousin Leah came up for the weekend and shared this little gem... Just wanted to write it down before I forgot it.

Mix:
1 large container of Dannon Light & Fit vanilla yogurt
2 small puddings (I did french vanilla and cheesecake)
then mix in 1 large container of Cool Whip

Top with fresh fruit of your choice.... That's it!

And the Award Goes Goes to .....

Kendall Hillan! 

 Kendall received the citizenship award for the year from Mrs. Nelkin at the end of the year assembly.  

She said that whenever she is sad or needs to be cheered up for any reason she looks for Kendall's big ole' smile.  She also said the at he was a blessing to her.  He treats everyone with kindness and is the pied piper at the school.

He got a pin to hang on his banner and naturally we had to go a celebrate.  A pretty awesome moment for him.

Kendall's 4th Grade Field Day

Cardon and I headed over to Addenbrooke to watch Kendall slay some races on field day.  Boy, were they happy to see each other.  You would have thought the two of them had been separated for years but nope, just since breakfast that morning.

Kendall:

"My favorite event from field day was the bounce house races and racing Calum.  I also liked the 50-yard dash and the standing long jump because I got first place in both of them.  I was very hot but I got cooled off in the underwater race were you had the cup of water on your head. It was fun to be with my friends and talk about what we were going to do over the summer. I loved that my mom and brother were there to cheer me on.  Go Kendall!"

Kendall got a popsicle at the end of the day and very graciously gave it to Cardon.  Pretty sweet kiddo.

Kendall was in the same class as Shayna Shaw and Logan Shaw and Cardon really enjoyed watching their siblings playing on the slide together.

Mothers Day 2018

Mammy came over and crawled into bed with me this morning.  The boys spoiled us rotten.  Waffles with strawberries, scrambled eggs, and dark chocolates.  They shut the door and we got to laugh and talk uninterrupted.

My parents were young when they had me but that was my fault.  I had to get down to them as fast as I could.  I couldn't wait any longer.  Moms have a way of teaching us very important lessons.  Lessons I feel I will probably never master in this life.

My mom is simple yet full of substance.  She is classy to the core and has an energy and charisma that is as pure as you can get.  There is no one I would rather talk to 20 times a day.

I was showered with beautiful flowers and a homemade wall hanging of the mountains that Kendall hand stitched at school.

 I was surrounded by my sweet boys and thought about how much I love being a mom.  Then my second thought was that I cuss a lot in my head.  Being a mom is hard.  It's an ebb and flow of joy and misery and all the emotions in between.  I'm just embracing it all.  I will keep trying.

On this day I'm basking in gratitude for my little tribe.  I love them all so much my heart could burst.  And then I find the vacuum hose stuffed with 3 little pairs of socks in it and bright blue toothpaste all over the carpet and an empty container of fish food.  Well... that was fun while it lasted.

We headed to church and had a special lesson that Garrett and Stacy gave in Relief Society about women of light, the young men handed out bags of kisses, and a special treat was handed out after the class.

We changed our clothes and went to Mammy and Papas house for grilled chicken-thank you dad, salad, watermelon, and sweet potato fries.  We gave Mammy a book about the temple symbols, a mother-daughter necklace, and a bag that said you are my favorite.  So naturally, we had to fill it with all our favorite things about her.

The sisters were coming over to call their parents so we ate Aunt Peggy's famous banana cream pie at our house.

It was pretty much perfect... Sigh.

Kendall made me this mountain scene and I love it!  It makes me feel happy.

April Showers...

I mean SNOW!

We are really itching for spring around here but we need the moisture so bad so we will take it.  This little guy can have fun in any circumstance.... as long as he has his cowboy boots on.

Hanging Lake Hike

As you are heading to Glenwood Springs, Colorado there is a sign on the side of the road that says Hanging Lake Hike.  There have been many times that I wished that we could stop and do the hike as we were driving by but travel plans never allowed it.

So, one weekend knowing that we were going to be going to Grand Junction we planned to take the pit stop.

We got a hiking backpack to carry Cardon in, hats, sunscreen, and water for each person and headed up the trail.  

I'm not going to lie... It was not a hike for beginners and Dad, who carried Cardon, definitely got some major bonus points.

The trail was windy and rocky and the views were spectacular.  The stream running down the mountain was a delight to listen too and the benches scattered here an there were refreshing but the lake at the very top of the mountain was glorious.

It was just about the most beautiful sight you could ever see in the middle of the mountains.  The colors didn't seem real and we got there just as the hot sun lowered down the other side of the mountain making it glowy and perfect.

A few minutes towards the back of the hike was a waterfall that just shot out of the mountain.  It was called Spouting Rock and it was amazing.  The boys dipped their hair into a small side part of the running water that was bursting out of the hole and climbed a few rocks.  We loved getting all misted before we started our descent down the mountain.

Lots of beauty was seen on this adventure and lots of stubborn calories were burned.

My kind of outing.