.ode to summer, cont.

Okay one last summer post. Just because the mom in me thinks everyone is just dying to see pictures of my boys...

Summer lovin'

gimme gimme "summer" lovin'


































I call this sequence...
LIFE'S A PEACH























And this one?

Shootin' the Breeze.










































As Campbell likes to say....



"BuBye" summer. Thanks for the memories!

And as for you, winter?
Bring it on. I'm ready.

.ode to summer.

I've been really....blah.


I think it's the weather. Did I mention there is about 8 inches of snow atop my mod.home? (please notice my oh so modern and hip reference to the trailer.) Yeah it's cold. And I haven't left the house in 6 days... When it snows out in the country, it's really difficult to get into town.


But I gotta suck it up, winter is here. To stay. So my next posts will be documenting the many wonders of winter. I'm going to find every positive thing about this season that I can. If it kills me. And it just might ;)

BUT FIRST. One last tribute to, I'll say it again,
THE BEST SUMMER OF MY LIFE.

During the summer I look for every possible chance to stay out of doors. Last year Danny and I started new venture..



mmm, I miss it already.



okay I got sick of labeling the picture. There was also butternut and acorn squash, zucchini, pumpkins and lettuce. Oh and eggplant. oh and a bunch of different peppers.

I'm hungry.

PEPPERS!!

Basket O' Goodies

.Every Day.

mmmm tastes like summer.







oh and just in case you were wondering how we accomplish such tasks whilst chasing a 19 month old and tending to a wee baby...

we do like the indians do, baby

Strap em' to your back!
genius.

.i've got sunshine on a windy day.

Yesterday and Today the wind blew around 60mph.

all day.

I'm not griping, I promise.

However, I am a wee little bit bummed about the effects of this sudden wind storm...













First........
I live in a modular home. (ie TRAILER.) When Danny and I were first dating he asked if I would ever live in a trailer. I laughed. Little did I know it was NOT a rhetorical question.

It could almost be called a right of passage in Danny's family. All couples or families starting out usually occupy one of the 4 tailors scattered about his parents ranch for a few years. And when tough times hit... many return for a few months. or years... or so. Remember, Danny is the youngest of 12. So there are always plenty of Smiths to fill them. That is why his parents property has become so lovingly referred to as (by the family, the community, pretty much everyone who's been there)

THE SMITH COMPOUND.

lots of laughs. lots of fun. and lots of drama. We honestly could have a reality show, you wouldn't believe some of my stories. Forget you, john and kate.


Needless to say after some major coaxing on Danny's part we now call trailer number 3 home sweet home. And honestly Its quite nice. Danny's dad has the inside completely redone... tile floor, nice carpeting, big kitchen. Did i mention its a double wide? (hahahaha wow , did I really just say that?)

But Danny's dad has the INSIDE completely redone.... Not the outside. And so, sadly, when you arrive on my front steps you are welcomed by the classic, grey panelling that is usually adorned with a beer drinking, wife beater wearin, curse word sayin, mullet man. So I do my best to try and make it.... pretty?














ANYWAYS BACK TO THE WIND STORM. Sorry for the tangent.















Take a gander at these beauties....



My beloved sunflower.









They are planted outside of my double wide.

along with these...


but these are nowhere near as fantastic as



THESE!!!!!

(by the way, this is a mutant SF. It has no center... WEIRD but kinda cool)

Well when 60 mph winds get ahold of my little pretties,

It's not pretty.

It was a sunflower masacre.

So now my trailer is looking.... very trailory.

Yet another thing to add to my list of why I dislike winter.

okay, I am griping.

But can you really blame me?

.a tribute.

Well, folks.


Summer is officially over. And I'm not just saying that in regards to that horrendous weather mishap we encountered yesterday. Today is the "Autumnal Equinox"(or so my calander claims), I think Cheyenne missed that memo... because it feels more like "Winter Solstice"

Whatev.

I'm not going to gripe about it any longer, "People are as happy as they make their mind to be" Says good ol' honest Abe. And I'm going to take it to heart. I'm going to enjoy this Wintall (winter+fall, hehe) season.

But first.... For the next few posts I'm going to pay tribute to THE BEST summer of my life.
























I've always loved running. Not jogging, but running. Not sprinting, just running. A good 3 mile + run just does something to for my soul (sounds cheesy, but I'm quite serious) there's just something about that burn in your chest, the fatigued muscles forcing you to dig down to the deepest recesses of your brain for that last ounce of endurance. "just one more mile" "just one more hill." "one more curve". I've heard the endorphins your body releases after a good, hard run are the same as the ones released when your high on Ecstasy. I wouldn't know :) But I seriously feel like I could conquer the world after I'm done.




In St George I had my special little place to go for these runs... Snow Canyon State Park. GORGEOUS It was right down the road from my home in Ivins. When we were living in Salt Lake, after I had campbell, I really tried to start running again. But it just wasn't the same. And although I did it enough to lose the baby weight, I never really got to the point where I enjoyed it again. Well, after Riggs I decided to really commit to running again. I knew it would never happen If I didn't find my "special place" Luckily, I found one. Right behind my little home....



I usually try to go before the kids and Danny wake up... But little Campbell is an early riser (like his mamma) so I often left him in front of the T.V. with a Sing-a-long. That is UNTIL.........





This little beauty arrived. $15!!!!! Don't you love garage sales? Not only does it allow Mr. Kister to join my on my morning jaunts, It also kicks my butt!!! Literally, THE BEST BOOTY WORK OUT!


And, we're off.....


That's Ollie, She and Aslan LOVE the morning run....


My cheerleader...



My "Special Place"



The hilly dirt road behind the Ranch...







I dont know how long I will brave the chilly morn's... But Campby cannot accompany me any more :( Its just a little to nippy. We'll just have to a different morning work out for me and cam. tae bo anyone?

A repost of .Summer Afternoon.

Okay so I'm trying to figure out this photobucket dealio... It's not for the faint of heart. So for those of you who havn't read, read on... For those that have, you can scroll to the pictures, or don't. whatever.

Yesterday.

The sunshine from my window warmly welcomed me to the day. Usually I might lay and enjoy the silence of the morning, soak up the suns rays, thankful to have awaken all on my own. peaceful, quiet, free from hungry screams (riggdon) or a book landing square on my face, demanding to be read. (campbell).

But not this morning.

I quickly jumped out of bed and threw on my jogging gear. An unsettling feeling of anxiety was slowly growing in the pit of my stomach. I had to go. I had to start my day. now.

I wasn't quite sure what the underlying cause for my urgency was. No doctors apts.... No early engagments. but for some reason, I just felt the need to get up and moving. Turbo time.

Campbell was just stretching the sleep from his limbs, when I crept into the boys room. I scooped him up in his little feeted pajamas and loaded him into the jogging stroller (I'll have to tell you about my newest toy later).

It was perfect. Perfect temperature. Perfect light breeze. Perfect running compainion. Perfect Morning.

When we returned from little jaunt, Daddy and Riggdon were awake, eating breakfast. My anxiety seemed to have diminished, a little. The house, however, was a mess. Last nights dishes were in the sink, bits of zucchini casserole littered the floor beneath CJ's booster seat. Sand from the sandbox toys campbell insisted on bringing in the house yesterday crunched beneath my running shoes. The bed was unmade. Laundry to be done. Bathrooms to clean... and yet....

"We're going to the spray park." I announced

Danny looked up from the gob of grey, cement looking baby gloop he was about to shove into Rigg's hungry, open mouth with a puzzled look on his face,

"This morning?" He questioned

"yes, the morning session starts in a half hour. Get ready."

Danny's expression turned to one of surprise. Raised eyebrows. big eyes, you know the look.

"what?" I asked.

He waved his feeding hand towards the kitchen mess, causing the disgusting mass of mush to fall from the baby spoon and fall with a sick splat to the tile floor.

"Yes, I know it's shocking but I'm going to leave this mess and go to the spray park. Go get your swimsuite"

20 minutes later we were loaded up in the car ready for a fun filled morning of water frolicking. When we pulled into the parking lot, I knew something was wrong. The lot was empty. No minivans with sticky handprints decorating the back windows. No suburbans with "I'm proud of my cubscout" stickers on the bumper. No station wagons with soccerballs stuffed in the back window. Just one lone, yellow 80's Toyota Corrolla, the back seat totally free of carseats.

My anxiety level began to rise.

As we walked past the municipal pool, behind wich the spray park is located, my feeling of dread steadily increased as the echoing sound of childrens laughter muffled by the walls of the indoor swimming pool filled my ears. This only emphasised the lack of giggles, free of the restraint and constriction of cement walls, that should have been filling the mid morning air.

When we reached the spray park gates, I knew where my morning anxieties had come from. There, posted in ugly teenage lifeguard scribbles on a white sheet of printer paper, was this note...

Spray park closed for Fall Season.

Summer is almost over.
And I am in mourning.






I'm terrified of letting any of these last few beautiful summer days go to waste. I'm trying to squeeze every last drop of warmth out of every last ray of sunshine. I've been trying to ignore the cooling evenings. The crisp mornings... but it was inevitable. This short, cool summer is about to turn to a long miserable winter. (I'm not so found of the colder weather, can you tell?)


So for these last few weeks, maybe even days, of summer I am going to live outside. I've contemplated pitching a tent. The laundry will remain undone. The dishes, dirty. My floor, filthy.
And i'm going to take a lot of pictures. to get me through these next 6 months. to remind me it won't last forever. (okay, maybe I'm being a little dramatic but I really love sunshine.)

In loving memory...

The Spray Park 2009


We were a little shy the first few visits...


But we warmed up rather quickly (with a little help from dad)


And Riggs, as usual, was fat and happy.


CJ and Helena Beana.




Until next year, spray park...you will be missed.