The joke is on me

As many of you know there has been an on-going fire in the LA area. While it isn't near us this I am concerned that there are fires so soon in the year. Also there have been two small brush fires in our own mountains this weekend. So I am a little on edge about fires. (I really don't want any more fires to burn down what is left of our beautiful mountains.)

This morning I heard three different sets of sirens go by in a matter of five minutes. It was a beautiful sunny day and I felt like it was going to be very warm later. I was on the phone with Chalon and said that I hoped it wasn't a fire. I looked off my back deck and there seemed to be smoke pouring through the canyon at a very fast pace. So I panicked! I assumed it was smoke and it seemed near Ali's school so I decided to go see where it was and get her if it was close. I was very panicked. After all I had heard the sirens go by so it must be a fire. I couldn't believe how much smoke was there. This was more smoke than I had seen in the fire in October and it seemed to be moving quickly.

So anyways I drove in to town and what did I find- fog. It was foggy in Running Springs and the fog was pouring through the canyon not the smoke. Ha ha ha. The joke is on me. It still looks like smoke to me because it is mixed with all the smoke from the fire near LA. So I thought you might like a good laugh at my expense. I guess the lesson here is that smoke smells like smoke. So next time I will smell for smoke too.

Camping at Barton Flats

We decided to go camping to Barton Flats this weekend. It was so fun. We brought two cars because Cameron worked for awhile on Saturday and I wanted to get there a little sooner. We brought Ali and Ashling's bikes as well as the scooter. Now remember that Ali only learned how to ride her bike a couple weeks ago. But she was riding her bike everywhere. On the dirt, up the hill, down the hill. She is now an expert bike rider. She also met a friend named Evan who was camping with his dad. The Dad, Bart, was a great skateboarder and was teaching his son to skateboard. He let Ali ride the long board sitting down. We weren't prepared for her to stand up as we forgot helmets. (Don't tell the police.) Ali played everything with Evan and thought it was really fun to have a friend. She is very social.

Ashling enjoyed camping too. She helped us set up the tent, carried all the little items from the car and rode her bike around. She was pretty good natured about the fact that her sister was playing with her friend all the time. She remembered us camping almost a full year ago and was anxious to do everything the same.


The best thing about the campground was the big tree swing. The girls loved to swing on it and spent a lot of time on the swing.

Camping was so relaxing. I guess the girls are really at good ages to take camping and we are planning on going a lot more this summer.

Happy Birthday Ashling

Ashling turned 3 yesterday. I was too busy playing with her to write anything nice about her so I will have to write something today. I took her to get pictures taken in her pink dress. One thing about Ashling is that she loves pink. She was a blast to watch take pictures and I paid way too much money. But they sure were cute.

Ashling is such an easy child. She is mellow, kind and easy to entertain. She loves her sister, Ali, more than anything and is always asking if it is time to pick up Ali from school. She loves Little Einsteins and watches the same 4 DVD's over and over again. She also loves her dog, Sierra, and always lets Sierra come in because she might be cold or she is lonely. Ashling also loves Ariel. She likes to color, play on slides and read books. She is the child like me who loves to read for hours and hours. She loves to throw rocks in rivers and lakes like her daddy. She can sing her ABC's and count to ten or more and she is finally learning her letters. She pretends to read everything and also asks you how to write your name and pretends to write that on everything she draws.


What do I love about Ashling:
1 She loves giving the best hugs.
2 She always says please and thank you for everything she does.
3 She has a beautiful smile!

A lost tooth

Ali lost one of her front teeth today at dinner. I thought she looked so cute that I had to post a picture of her. She is just getting too big! Doesn't anyone have a way to slow down these kids. They grow up way too fast. I should not have an almost six year old and a three year old!

Ashling and Cameron's Birthday Party

We had a birthday party for Cameron and Ashling on Saturday. First the cousins all came in the morning for a kids birthday party. We had a little einstein birthday party for Ashling. I made a rocket cake. It turned out pretty well I think. We played freeze dance, musical einsteins, colored works of art, had a orchestra ocean treasure hunt and then the cousins played hide and seek. We then had a lunch for everyone adults and kids alike. Ashling opened presents getting spoiled by everyone. She got many wonderful things including an ariel phone and bathing suit, sticker books, clothes, dress up dolls, and a little einstein rocket. It was a great day for her. Cameron also celebrated his birthday with his family. He was surprised by his sisters and brother-in-laws with a ukelele (sp?) It was fun to have everyone up to our house and we will have to do it more often.

A new Restaurant and an evening stroll

In Running Springs the new excitement is a new barbecue restaurant in town. We don't have many choices and they are all not that good so we were excited to try something new and different. We went to dinner and it was pretty good. It was the best restaurant in town. While there we saw the Eugene and Emily and their son, Romney, from our ward. We also saw the Brian and Tracy Davis. It was the place to be. After dinner we went on a nice walk with Eugene and Emily. Here are some pictures. Can you believe how these trees fell?

Happy Birthday Cameron!

Today is Cameron's 29th Birthday.
Here are 29 reasons why I love him:
1. He brings me flowers from our yard.
2. He plays with the kids even silly games.
3. He plays the piano wonderfully.
4. He works hard for our family.
5. He has a serious obsession with the weather. During a storm this is very fun to watch as he checks the weather a million times. I can always know what the weather will be before anyone else.
6. He makes me laugh.
7. He calls me in the middle of the day to say hi.
8. He takes wonderful care of our yard and our garden.
9. He plays games with me like risk.
10. He is strong.
11. He is great looking. (Who could ask for more?)
12. He listens to me when I talk.
13. He helps me with the dishes.
14. He makes the greatest breakfast.
15. He introduced me to backpacking and I love it.
16. He encouraged me to start running.
17. I like that he likes rock climbing and mountaineering.
18. He is kind to others.
19. He compliments me when the house is clean and doesn't complain when it isn't.
20. He keeps trying at things until he learns them. (I never knew anyone else who would play so many games of Fan Tan and lose but now he always wins or take a math class that many times and then pass!)
21. He takes out the trash whenever I ask him.
22. He goes swimming with me whenever I ask him to.
23. He takes me out to dinner when I have had a long day.
24. He can do anything. Seriously he is good at ceramics, art, engineering, woodworking, piano, hiking, skiing, anything.... The list can go on forever. If he tries something he is good at it.
25. He always has an new idea of something that will help make something work.
26. He has great people skills. People are always telling me how much they like him.
27. He is a good kisser.
28. He brings out the best in me.
29. I love when I get a random compliment and it makes my day and he is great about giving them.
Happy Birthday Cameron! I love you!

Where have all my links gone?

I decided to change my template for my blog. It was unfortunate that somehow I lost all my links to the other blogs that I love to check. Please leave me a comment and give me your link so that I can be linked to the world again. The world feels so lonely alone....

Okay on to other very funny news. Today Cameron came home with a huge, and I mean huge, tear in his otherwise newish pants. (On the bum.) They seem to fit him fine so we are at a loss as to what caused this large tear but I can't believe that no one said anything to him when he was at Young Men's. Especially with the deacons in this branch. I thought it was funny and I would post a picture but it might not be rated "G" and I don't want any of you to stop reading because the quality of my blog has gone downhill.

Ali went to a Boy's house today. Why can't my very cute little girl get it through her head that boys are icky? She enjoyed herself very much and when it was time to go Tristan hid her shoes. This was an effort on both their parts to ensure that she would not have to leave.

Ashling spent the whole morning playing connect four. The box says you have to be seven but she seems to think that almost three is good enough. After I took Ali to school, to a friends house and to dance class I started to feel a little guilty that all poor Ashling had done was play connect four, (mostly by herself.) So I took her to get a smoothy while Ali was in class. I told her not to tell Ali because we drake it all before she was finished. So what do you think the first words out of her mouth were? "Ali, Mommy got me a milkshake." I haven't heard the end of it from Ali since then. She is convinced that I am the worst mom ever.

Isn't it fun to be a mom?

Spring

It has been a beautiful weekend. On Saturday we woke up and Cameron made French Toast for breakfast. Then we packed a little lunch and went hiking. We hiked on the Discovery Trail by Keller Peak. I was amazed that my little Ali hiked the whole six miles that we hiked. Can you believe she could hike so far?

Then we went swimming with Chalon, Denali, Torrey, Whitney and Elias. (It was at least 90 degrees down the hill.) It was fun to hang out with Denali and Torrey and get to just enjoy then on a more one on one basis. Ashling enjoyed hanging out with Whitney in the baby pool and Aunt Chalon watched those three.

After swimming we came home and were getting ready for a bar b cue we were having. Cameron was vacuuming out his car and Ali and Ashling were riding around the driveway with their bicycles. Ali said, "Look Daddy, I can ride my bike..." And just like that my little girl is riding her bike. I am a little dismayed that she is growing up so fast. She is riding her bike, hiking six miles, swimming with the best of us, and growing so fast.

Later we enjoyed dinner with some people from our ward. It is fun to have people over especially when we don't know them really well. I enjoy getting to know everyone in our ward.

Today it was even warmer. We walked out after church and instead of a chill it felt warmer than inside. That is the best feeling. We came home opened our windows and sat outside together in the sun. I fell asleep in the sun and took a nice nap. How could a weekend be more perfect than that?