Sisters

I was raised in a fairly matriarchal family.  Not that the men weren't good patriarchs -they were, but there was a significant female presence.  We call it the "Guymon Woman Thing".  Watching my Mom and her sisters, and my own relationship with my sisters over the years, along with the ups and downs of raising these four hoodlums has taught me a few things about sisters:

1)  You don't have to BE the same.  Our differences make us magical.

2) You don't have to think/feel the same.  We don't have to cave to get along, agreement isn't a prerequisite for a healthy relationship.

3)  Another's strength doesn't make you weak.  Sisters can pool resources and be thankful.

4) Love is where it's at.  Doesn't matter how long it's been, what the circumstances are, the when's where's or why's of our interactions -  Sisters are all about love (unless we're fighting).

Sisters are something special.  I guess time will teach my girls that too.

Tickled Pink

Guess what Aunt Jeri sent this month?  She's the bomb-diggety and has sent us a package every month since we moved and this time it was full of PINK BALLOONS!  I think there were enough to last until my funeral.

Thank you Aunt Jeri.

No really.

Thank you.

Off We Go!

It's time to hit the road.  

We got all packed up.  Everything was carefully placed in bins and bags.  18 Bins in all, 3 musical instruments, 16 carry-ons, a baby, 3 carseats and a dog.  We had two awesome friends who offered their vehicles and Grandma and Papa Horse helped drive us all to the airport.  We got a lot of looks that day.  Thank heavens Aunt Jeri was willing to fly with me and the kids.  There were a lot of hiccups in our day, but in the end we arrived alive.  We left that morning early and arrived late and tired.  One happy Daddy met us at the airport and escorted us home.   

There was snow on the ground when we arrived and the kids were excited to get out and play in it the very next day.  We built a mammoth snow man and enjoyed attempted sledding down the hill behind the house, using the lids to our moving bins as sleds.  

Happy Thanksgiving from our new home in Alaska where we sleep in a lot because it's dark all the time.

The boys needed head lamps so they can read in their beds without bothering baby brother (and it's dark, have we mentioned it's dark?)

Here's our backyard with the snow melted a little.  The blue is blue and the mountains are huge and we're excited to get to know this new home of ours.

Mommy totally approves of Daddy's choice of family vehicle.  Thanks to him we arrived to a house and a car and Mommy didn't have to make either of those big decisions - Daddy did a great job!

We got the wii and the tv hooked up to do a little just dance together.  All of us in the same place with no distractions - best Christmas present ever!!!

Look!  This is us after that very very very long day flying - proof that we survived our journey.  Photo courtesy of the best traveling buddy ever.  Aunt Jeri really was a life saver and even stayed for a few days to help us get settled into our new home.

Time Out for Women

We finally convinced the "upper" (not to be confused with older) generation of Guymon women to let us tag along for their sisters weekend.  Luckily I also convinced a few of my sisters to join us.  Aimee, Jeri, Mom and I met up with Mel in Provo and headed to SLC for the blessed event and enough Estrogen to make any girl giddy.

The speakers were amazing, the bonding was out of this world, there was a lot of girl sharing and mommy-talk and it was blissful.  I also got to catch up with "The Aunts" (whom I adore) and a cousin or two that I haven't seen in for.ev.er!!!

Kudos to the Daddy's for making this possible.  Yes - I realize that full frontals of me while pregnant aren't really flattering but seriously?  It's been done so many times, what's one more???  

Look - here we all are!  Thanks to Niki for hosting the whole group and for "the Aunts" for letting us crash the party.  I really did love the whole thing.  

Having a Cow

One of my favorite things about where we live is all of the amazing life lessons we learn.  Today we got to watch a cow have a baby.  Jeri and I quite literally just sat there watching as this baby calf was born - hoof first.  It was interesting watching the kids' reactions and the conversation was so innocent and natural.

Of course Leisl just wanted to drive the tractor.

Welcome to the herd baby cow.

Cedar City Unplugged

This summer Aunt Jeri and I decided we would be the COOLEST MOMS EVER and do the Unplugged program with the kids.  We spent a ton of time driving them around to fun things and piling into the van to go see and do things.  They loved every minute and racked up some pretty good collections of brag badges and prizes.  Here is a photo documentary of some of the process.


This lady is the bomb-diggity.  Thanks sis for taking this crazy ride with me and being my partner in crime all summer.  Good grief "we gots lots of kids".

Cedar 11th Ward Family Trek

Preparations for our Ward Family Trek started in September last year.  It is amazing what the saints can accomplish when put to the task and working together.  Tyler and I were so blessed to be a part of the planning and carrying out of this trek as Directors.  We worked with the Hunters (Brandon and Susan) and it was truly miraculous to watch.  I was so excited to go, and it proved to be much more challenging than our previous two treks.  This one included *ahem* old people, and babies, and toddlers, and teenagers and everyone in between.


We were blessed to be able to take our dear friend Danny with us.  He's like one of mine and we love him so much!  He was a blessing on the trek and really did help out a lot.  It was so interesting to watch how each of the children reacted to each experience.  The feelings, the thoughts, the inspiration and the struggle were all quite priceless and very personal.

My favorite thing was to watch the kids.  They were so happy most of the time.  Little Darla made friends with everyone and even helped push the cart.  At one point she fell asleep while she was pushing - just hanging from the back of the cart. Her legs were still moving but her eyes were closed and she was completely asleep.  It was so much harder this time, but also so much more rewarding as I watched Mothers carrying babies and brothers strengthening older couples.  It was especially tender watching my babies and my good strong husband.

The wind was ferocious at times, the dust cutting our faces.  Then there was the beautiful frolic in the river back at camp in the evening when we all threw caution to the wind and jumped into the water fully clothed (in dresses no less).


When it was all over, after we were completely exhausted, Kabe asked if we could hike another mile to Devil's Gate.  He really didn't want to leave and I couldn't say no.  He and I hiked up to Devils Gate and had a lovely visit the whole way.  He is such a tender boy and was so excited to see it.  I was glad to have a peaceful and private end to our trek to gather my thoughts and try to remember my feelings before we drove home.

My testimony of the importance of faith was really solidified on this trek and I gained a personal gratitude for the pioneers like I've never had before.  In the night this sweet baby (Caleb Noble Robison) was crying.  All I could hear was the crickets and the breeze and the baby crying.  What an incredible feeling.  To make it more personal I was pregant during the trek but we hadn't told anyone yet.  I've never felt so physically miserable in my life - swollen lips, swollen ankles, dehydration and headache.  The drive home was quite possibly a near-death experience.  But SO WORTH IT!  I'm so thankful that so many of our ward decided to join us on the trek and know that our Bishop was inspired in his decision to lead us there.  What a great reminder of what is important and what just simply doesn't matter.  "And should we die, before our journey's through, HAPPY DAY!  All is well."

Camp Invention

I'm so glad I have sisters - although some times I think that we are just about nuts. Jeri and Aimee let me pull them both into putting on a summer camp program called Camp Invention. Jeri and I co-directed and Aimee was a teacher.  It was a crazy ton of work and a whole heck of a lot of fun!  The boys had a great time and we learned a lot too.  
The kids got to do some pretty incredible learning, building, creating, inventing and experimenting.  Part of me was jealous that I wasn't a participant but it was also so much fun to watch!  
The little kids were pretty patient with us as we basically abandoned the kids all week.  Thanks to the Daddy's also for helping it happen.  We couldn't have survived the week without our Maverick trips - F'real!!!