Merry Christmas

And a Happy New Year!

Garden Gnomes

Always wanting to help in the garden and Mammy always willing to let them.  

Trying...

“I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails.
I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp.
I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor's children.
I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden.
I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.
I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived.”

-Marjorie Pay Hinkley

Sidewalk Chalk

 In the early hours of the morning before we all start melting, we have been going out to the sidewalk squares on the driveway armed with our new chalk from the treasure hunt.

Thanks to Pinterest we gather a few ideas and start creating them on our concrete canvas.

I love that Cardon got stardust all over his cheek as he was hanging the stars and the boy's clothes and feet were covered in colors by the time we were done. A sign that everyone was getting into it.

Treasure Hunt

I set up a treasure hunt for the boys this morning.  Nathan enlightened me and acted like it was really fun.

The treasure was some really cool pastel chalk.  That lasted about 10 minutes before Cardon chucked them across the driveway and broke every piece.

We managed to salvage some and Cardon got a small dose of time-out.

It's seriously an adventure here every. single. day. And I love it!

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!