Off Shore in the Gulf

On August 15, Sam, his dad, and Jaxson went on the off shore fishing trip they had been planning. They went 15 miles off shore and fished around an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Even though they had to get up exceptionally early, Jaxson loved in every minute of it. Look at my little stud...

Every time Jaxson threw his pole in, he would hook something. He caught the most of anyone on the boat. He caught 10 king fish (which is the limit), a ling, and he even caught a hammer head shark on his second cast, which of course they threw back.

The Great Outdoors

After having so much fun in Washington, and doing so many activities, I was determined not to return to city life and spend our weekends shopping and eating! So the next weekend, we loaded up and went camping... in August.... in Texas... in a drought.

We went to Huntsville State Park. When I was growing up my family would camp here every Easter weekend with our ward. Crazy how you remember things as a kid! Let's just say the shelters were not quite "gigantic" and the swimming hole was not exactly "a huge lake."

Despite the heat, we did some fun things and tried to make the most of it.

We made foil dinners, which the kids loved. They filled their pouches with chicken, carrots, and potatoes and thought it was so cool to cook it all on the fire.

And of course there were smores. You can't go camping without them! Notice how filthy Sydnee is? Her and Paige were covered in dirt, every inch. That was the hardest part for me... the dirt that stuck to the sweat that you couldn't avoid.

So Sam says paddleboating as the only paddler is not as fun as it sounds. Best workout he'd had in months!

We rode bikes, built a fire, did a little fishing and slept on cots and bedrolls. All the must haves for a family campout! Even with the triple digit heat, the kids said "can we come back sometime" when it was time to go. So I count it as a success!

On the way home, we stopped to get a close up look at Sam Houston. This enormous statue was just up the road, and in all the times I've been past it, I have never stopped to see it. An added bonus to our outing!

It was a Great Vacation

We got back last week from a week long trip to Washington State for the Bleazard Family Reunion, that's my mom's side of the family. We go every 3 years, and its always a blast! We did so many things - rode 4 wheelers, went water skiing, went on a zipline over a canyon, rode down a homemade water slide off the edge of the canyon, sling shot watermelons, and caught up with all my cousins. I'm always sad when it's over. With all that fun, I have lots of pictures to sort through, hundreds of them. And a task that big always makes me procrastinate! So here are a few of the kids at the airport on our way. They were so excited to ride a plane and get to the farm. I will get the rest of the pictures up as soon as I can narrow down some favorites!

Poor Syd

A week or so ago we had a little scare with Sydnee. It lead to a trip to urgent care, to the ER, an appointment at her pediatrician, and two trips to the ENT. But let me start at the beginning...

On a Thursday morning the kids were upstairs playing and watching tv. Sydnee got on the tv stand and was blocking the show. Heaven forbid they can't see the tv, so Jaxson grabbed her and pulled her off the table (which of course she shouldn't have been on anyway!) She hit the ottoman when she fell, and was crying and very upset. I didn't think it could have been too bad since the ottoman is soft, and not a hard table or wall or anything.

After she calmed down, she took a nap. After her nap, I noticed her ear was real oozy and had blood coming from it. This alarmed me and I called a nurse. The office was closing, so she said we should go to urgent care. They were very concerned with blood from the ear. Sam took her to urgent, and once he started telling them she fell, they said they couldn't see her she should go to the ER. At this point I started being concerned. The fall couldn't have been that bad... is was a cushioned surface! But off to the ER they went.

Sydnee was a trooper waiting in the hospital and getting a CT scan. The scan showed no head trauma so they sent her home and said to watch her while she slept.

The next two days I watched her and checked her ear, and it continued to bleed and ooze. So I took her to her pediatrician. The pediatrician said it had nothing to do with the fall, it just ended up being a coincidence that it showed up on that day, and that she had a really bad swimmer's ear. Her ear was swollen so the doctor couldn't see it. She made us an emergency appointment with an ENT and the ENT cleaned it out, checked the infection, and gave us some medicine. So too many appointments, and too much money later, the ear drops cleared it up. All that work for peace of mind I suppose. And I guess I'm not surprised with all the swimming we've been doing!

Just some Fishin'

Sam, his dad, and Jaxson went fishing in some of the bays on the Gulf a couple weekends ago. They caught a lot of fish, most of them were not "keepers," but Jaxson loved it! They are looking forward to a deep sea fishing trip soon. They have had it scheduled a few times, but the weather has forced them to cancel. Jaxson goes on the countdown whenever they schedule one. "How many hours from right now?" he ask me for days!!

9 on the 9th!

Nine years ago Sam and I became parents! Our big helper turned 9 on July 9th. We are so grateful for Shaye. She helps us so much. We can't wait another year or so when she can babysit officially! :-)
For her birthday we planned a full day of fun. She brought her good friend, Maddy Callaway, with us and we headed to Surfside Beach. Poppa, Emmy, Grandpa, and Aunt Colie came with us to play. The kids loved it. It was a great day for the beach. I haven't seen the water that clean at Surfside before, which unfortunately is probably due to the drought we are having here. We spent several hours out there swimming, chasing fish, playing in the sand, and riding the waves. Of course with Nicole there taking pictures, I had 240 to choose from.

After fun in the sun, we headed back to GG and Grandpa's for the birthday party. GG and grandpa cooked hamburgers and hot dogs with some fruit, salads, and lots of yummies. Uncle Brooks was there with his girlfriend Leah and son Julian, it was fun to see them.

Then it was present time. Shaye got lots of cute, fun gifts.

She has been asking for an ipod touch, but I think we actually surprised her! She loves it of course, but it has also been nice for me to be able to get a hold of her through texting or heytell messages.

Proof she loves him....

After cake and ice cream, we went to the movies to see Mr. Popper's Penguins. It was a cute show! We didn't get home until 11 o'clock. It was a busy day, and lots of fun celebrating our big girl's birthday!