So I feel like I have been MIA from blogging lately. I want to get on here so much but seriously the time just flies and the next thing I know so much has happened to write about that I am so far behind so I don't even start...So, this post is a MAJOR catch up post of some fun times I don't want to forget. ;)
The first was the last week in June we got to spend a WHOLE WEEK with my whole family in Bear Lake. This was my first time ever actually staying in Bear Lake and it was SO much fun...especially sharing it with my family. They all came up from AZ (except my brother and his wife from ID). We were the lucky ones that only had to drive an hour and a half to get there. We rented a huge cabin/house that fit us all in with plenty of room to spare...28 people total! It had a jacuzzi inside, a huge theater/game room with air hockey and fooze ball tables...the kids were in heaven. Not that we didn't get in some killer tournaments ourselves. ;) Plenty of beds for all.
Kiddos
Nana let Dakota join in when it got a little less crowded.
We partied it up all week and just enjoyed the company. There was never a dull moment that's for sure!! I'm all ready to go back! ;) Bear Lake is such a fun place!!!
With all the eating we did we made sure each morning to get a workout or run in just so we could justify all the eating! ;) Katie set up stations for us so that we could all get our workout on together...even my mom joined in one day!!! :) (and a couple of the little girls! ;) )
Annie and Trai bustin out some push ups!
Me and my mom doing an ab exercise...sliding the towel with our legs...killer!
Dawn doing some jumps
Katie doing a side leg raise.
I think Shana had left for a run by the time the camera came out...she rocked it too!!
The kids most favorite thing to do was to go to the pond that was pretty close to where we were staying to go fishing. I couldn't believe how much they loved it.
Papa and Lane
Logan, Trai, Case, and Evan with a tiny little guy they caught.
More of the crew
We had the husbands make a water balloon launcher for us and they filled up a bunch of water balloons. Me and my sisters snuck back to the cabin while they were all fishing and grabbed it and hid behind a huge dirt pile and started launching the balloons at the guys sitting around talking. Our first one was the best and totally caught them off guard. We are so funny I know! ;)
Of course we spent a lot of time at the beach. The first 2 days we went to where we had free passes to which was Rendezvous beach. It had great shade trees but the water was freezing and muddy so only the kids and Riley Haviland were brave enough to go in. The rest of us just soaked up the sun. THEN we discovered North Shore and that was AMAZING!!! The water was shallow FOREVER so it was so warm. It was so nice and sandy instead of muddy...it was SO fun! One day we rented wave runners and had a blast on those. Zach was a CRAZY driver. I started off driving but he kept reaching from behind to take the wheel to do crazy things so I gave in and let him drive and can't believe we didn't fall off. For being blind he still had no fear. I just had to let him know if we were getting close to anyone else.
Rendezvous Beach
Katie brought up these water gun things which were a huge hit for the kids. They liked trying to spray all the Seagulls.
The girls and Dakota
Case just liked being buried in the sand. He stayed in their forever.
Avery liked Dakota's bubbles more then him so we shared. (look at her poor hand she had to have wrapped cuz she got burned :( )
Dakota laying out getting a tan....in the shade ;)
Katie had these killer chairs but they cracked me up how big they were on her!
North Shore Beach (check out how sweet that water is!)
Zach throwing the football to Matt and Ty
Avery just enjoying the sand. She could crawl so far out and we didn't have to worry cuz it was so shallow. She loved it!
Andrew building a masterpiece
More sand builders
Dakota and I just snuggling. He didn't love being out in the water that much so we just had to snuggle a lot. (Don't mind my crazy hat!)
Our little fam...Zach forgot to take his shirt off for the picture! ;)
Zach trying to get Dakota to like the sand with his cousins and Aunt Annie. He's a cute dad.
Sutton and Annie building a whole city! ;)
Where did his legs go?!
Some kids were out on skim boards tearing it up. They came in to take a break and I asked if I could try. They made it look so easy. I was HORRIBLE...it was so hard. So then I made my sisters go try cuz they were laughing at me. They couldn't do it either.
Shana and Annie
Annie...at least she looks good! ;)
When the kids came back out I decided they should give me some lessons. They were like 10 years old. They were so dang cute and had so much fun teaching me and I actually kind of got the hang of it. Still not as good as them but they were pretty proud for teaching me what I did learn. They were so cute and let all my nieces and nephews try too!
Me getting some pointers
We had some fun nights as well. Annie and Shana planned a Fear Factor game for everybody. The kids drew which adult they were with and lucky for me I got Lane. He wanted to do all of the gross stuff so it worked out great!!
The first challenge set the stage when they had to transfer real dog food with their mouth to a bowl. GROSS! Lane was so brave...I just had to hold the bag.
Then they were told they had to find cat poop in a bowl of whip cream. Luckily it was really just Tootsie Rolls. ;)
Getting ready
Lane was a champ!
The crew
Then they had to reach in this container filled with crickets and find our team number. Every time someones hand came out it was covered with them...GROSS!
There they are. This is after several had gotten out.
Shea was a trooper...look at that face!
Katie had to do it for Trai but she still didn't like it...
Poor thing!
Lane pullin out our number!
Me taking out the competition...Peyton! ;)
Then the adults had the old stomp on the balloon challenge...
It came down to these three...Riley H., Riley P., and Ty
Riley P. and Ty battled it out until we had to call it a tie...great work boys!
Then the kids had to pull out spaghetti with their toes and put it on our heads!
Check out that spaghetti hair
We didn't win but we did good! ;)
The final challenge for the top 3 teams was to drink either some of Dakota's food or another thick concoction that Annie made. Neither were a good choice but everyone at least got some in their mouth.
Matt and Shea...Shea took one drink and the second almost threw up.
Riley and Peyton did well too!
Andrew cracked me up the most. He REALLY did not want to drink Dakota's food BUT he REALLY wanted a prize. It took him a long time but he finally took a drink and out it came. He still got a prize for being so dang brave! Love that face!!!
Another night we all loaded up and went to one of our favorite Mexican food places Cafe Sabor and then headed to Logan to watch our sister in law Heather run barrels at a rodeo. She tore it up and got second.
You rock Heather!!!
My parents watching with Dakota!
Zach looks pretty excited huh?! Him and Matt can't wrap their minds around the fact that someone would pay to drive for hours to do something that lasts for bout 17 seconds and then be done. Silly boys! :)
Trai and Paige decided to work on my hair while we waited!
They had some openings in the Muttin Bustin so most of the kiddos signed right up. They LOVE to do that. Shea ended up the winner. She made quite the ride!!!
Check out that sweet trophie!! ;)
Probably every one's most favorite night was going to Pickleville playhouse. If you are ever up at Bear Lake you HAVE to go! It was so funny for all ages and such a good time. We did the dinner beforehand and had a blast. They played some good ole country music while we waited and while we ate so we had some good dancing going on!
Logan, Trai, and Dawn
You go Case!
A little bit of everything going on!
Annie and Sutton rockin out!
Evan little rock star! ;)
Andrew stood in the back and just danced his little heart away forever...too cute!
Dancing queen Trai!
I decided Dakota needed a turn on the table with his cousins too! All the kids stopped to watch him. He didn't love it so much! (Don't mind that he went in his pajamas! ;) )
Dakota and Mom (Zach didn't come up til Thursday so he missed out!)
Dawn, Katie, and me
The WHOLE gang...there is a lot of us!
Overall it was such a fun trip! We had lots of fun memories together. Dakota had lots of cousin time and snuggles!
Trai has such a tender spot for Dakota.
Snuggling with Nana!
Dakota did pretty good on the trip but also had some hard times. I was SO excited for this trip and thought that it would really take my mind off of all my worries. Most of the time it did...but I still had some "
MOMENTS."
A couple of nights I went to bed in tears. Mostly it was just hard on me to see all of Dakota's cousins playing and having SO much fun together, on the beach, etc. and not getting to see him right alongside them. It's hard to see all of my siblings with three each of their own perfectly healthy and happy kids and my ONE AND ONLY disabled child. It's hard to comprehend why Heavenly Father let this happen to my only child. Not that I am wishing it would have happened to anyone else's at all but it is hard. Seeing the joy and pride in my siblings faces as they watch their children playing and having so much fun while mine is stiff and crying in my arms was hard. I LOVE all of my nieces and nephews so much though so it was so fun to get to see them and be around them for such a long period of time. I miss out on so much living away from them so it is fun to just be around them. They are growing up WAY too fast!!
Thanks so much Shana for planning this fun trip!!!
Back in February (yes I am really late on this one) I went down to AZ and ran Ragnar with my sisters team. All the girls on our team were SO fun and such great runners. I had the best time...even on no sleep, and exhausted body. We ended up getting first for the all girls division! Go Los Chickas Locas!!!
Van #1 before the start. Everyone is looking fresh, happy, and ready to roll!!
Becky started us off...getting ready for the whistle...watch out people!!
She had a great start with some killer hills!
Me and my sistas!
Dawn was runner #2 with the hand off
Look at that view to go!
Yes you are going fast!!! ;)
I was #3...waiting for the hand off!
It was a HOT desert road...ONLY 9 miles to go for my first leg. I told them I would probably only need water once or twice but boy was I wrong. It was so hot I think they gave me water like 4 or 5 times!
Our nice ride with the cheerleaders cheering on!!
Stephanie druggin up for her hand off! :) We seriously had every kind of drug you can think of from essential oils to over the counter meds. Everyone was poppin pills or doing something to keep their bodies going! ;)
Stephanie waiting for my hand off!
WATER!!!
Amazingly I ran like a 6:50 pace...not sure how I did that one!
Stephanie rockin it! Check out those guns!
Linae was runner number 5...look at her go!
Even with a smile on her face!
Katie was our last runner for our van!
Killin it!
We FINALLY passed off to Tashina with van #2 and got a chance to rest!
We kept track of our road kills along the way aka: people we passed! That was just the start! ;)
Our second run was in the night. Good ole head lamps, butt lamps, and vests!
Getting Becky ready to roll!
This was a requirement before each run...line for the porta potty! (Stomach issues are a given when you run your body to death on no sleep and you pop all kinds of drugs! Good times! ;) )
Love them! ;)
Me and my sistas
The whole crew at van exchange...minus two.
FINALLY we are done!! Just had our last exchange and now just have to wait for van #2 to finish it off!
So of course we had to eat while we waited...a WELL deserved breakfast from the Breakfast place.
Stuffing our faces!
All of our road kills at the end!
Then we went to the finish line and found the most shade that we could to relax. I think that was the first time I fell asleep.
Crossing the finish line!
CHAMPIONS!!!
I ended up driving down with my sweet friend Claudia so I could bring Dakota. My mom watched him while we raced. Thank you mom!!!
The trip went by so fast. I only had a day before the race and a day after to hang out and do as much as I could. Dakota had fun with Nana and Papa though!
Dakota got to get a lot of riding in with Papa...with the beautiful Gilbert temple in their background!
Cousin Shea got to come too!
We took a walk to the park by Nana and Papa's house with Nana, Annie, and cousins
We found a great hill to ride the trike down!
Trai and I
Then we had to push it back up so Annie and Peyton could have a turn.
Go!!!
Dakota liked the swing
And stood up like a big boy!
We got to go down to Tucson to a parade and rodeo with cousins.
Evan, Lane and Dakota...all rockin the fow hawks!
Case, Logan, Paige, and Shea
Kota and mommy
The whole crew
Evan was crackin me up drinkin his water from a tiny hole!
Got a few smiles out of this guy!
My brother in law Riley H. was in the parade!!
SO fun...LOVE to do it all again!! As always wished we would have had more time there!
THEN...the end of April my sisters (except Dawn) and my mom all came up so we could have a little weekend getaway at the Woman's Conference at BYU! It was a MUCH needed trip...to get to spend time with sisters and my mom, get a little mommy break, and MOSTLY the spiritual uplifting that came with it. We got to go to some amazing classes that gave me a boost of strength and encouragement.
Being the youngest of six kids I have always been very indecisive when it comes to decision making because the older kids always made the decisions for me. I am happy to just go with the flow and would rather not make most decisions...I am happy with whatever makes others happy.
BUT when I got the booklet that described all the classes you could choose to go to...my sisters were so proud of me because I was the first to say this is where I am going. Obviously with the events in my life I know where I am in need of help and learning. Most of my classes revolved around trials, faith, hope, etc. Forget the parenting, being a better wife, health, etc. classes...not that I don't need work in those areas but I feel like I can't even think about doing better in those areas until I can better understand and cope with the challenges I have been given.
It was all so great and I definitely hope we do it again!!
After a full day of classes!
What kept me and Katie going...Dr. Pepper 10...LOVE it!!!
We drove past this sign and it was perfect for us...we LOVE ice cream!
Saw this one the other day so had to add to it...LOVE Nielsen's!
YUM...Coldstone
Dakota loved ice cream too! My kind of face!
When I took them back to the airport we stopped at the Salt Lake Temple for a bit...Shana's old stompin ground (where she served her mission)
LOVE YOU GIRLS!! Thanks for the memories!!
THEN...the end of May Annie and her whole family got to come and stay with us for a whole week!!! They had some family stuff going on on her husbands side so it was lucky for us! I could seriously live with my sisters and their families and LOVE it! Zach...not so much. Don't get me wrong he loves my family but he likes his space and alone time with just us too much so he doesn't love long family get togethers.
I loved every minute of it especially since I don't get to see them nearly enough.
Annie and I took the kids to the Treehouse museum one day. It was the first time that we had been back there since Dakota's accident. It wasn't nearly the same. ;( For Dakota's 2nd birthday Zach's siblings had gotten him a year membership. I was SO excited to get to take him there and have so much fun with him. Who would have known that 3 months later he would no longer be able to enjoy it anymore. Annie's kids loved it and it was fun to get to see their excitement and enthusiasm. I tried to involve Dakota the best we could but he wasn't loving it too much.
BEFORE...the first time we went with his best buddy Tanner.
This is how it went when it was time to go!
SO wish I could see a 2 year old tantrum like that again!!!
NOW
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| Didn't love the fire truck so much anymore! |
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| Howdy! |
Check out that cowgirl in the back...she could really ride! ;)
Peyton was a great teacher...a little strict but good! ;)
Dakota didn't really love the music...maybe because I wasn't so good at it. :/
Me and my princess on our thrones...I think Annie and I had more fun then the kids! ;)
One night I got the kids all to myself. Annie and Riley had gone to the temple and Zach worked REALLY late that night. I was a little nervous since it was my first time watching other kids WITH Dakota since the accident but it went REALLY well. The kids were so good and helpful. We celebrated Peyton's birthday since he had just had it a few days before and we snuggled and watched a movie on my bed together. After that I decided when we are ever ready for another kid I think we will just adopt an older child. Must be at least 3 years old, potty trained, independent, helpful, good listener, follows directions, etc. Anyone have one of those they would like to give me?! ;) I tried to get Annie to leave me one of hers but she wouldn't!
The fourth of July we were pretty lame but we did go to our traditional Perry parade. We have gone every year since we had Dakota. It is just a fun little parade, not too long, lots of candy, and not too crowded. We love it. This year Zach's sister Ashley's family came with us so it was extra fun!
Our little fam
They handed out Popsicles...yes they literally hand them to you they are so close. ;) Dakota loved it...they were very refreshing!
Houston loved them too...he is my little boyfriend...we have a special connection! ;) One night at family dinner he asked me...wanna hold hands? LOVE him!
A sneak peak at the intense action!
The whole crew
Dakota's 4th of July shirt grammy gave him...so true! (at least the me loving him part...sometimes I wonder about him loving me!)
Thanks so much for celebrating with us Hadleys!!
Last but certainly not least...we welcomed our new little nephew Tate into the family on the 17th! It is Zach's oldest sister Jenny's first baby and he is so handsome!! We are so happy to add him to the family and I LOVE being an aunt!!
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| Tate aka Tater tot! |
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| LOVE HIM!! |
