Fathers & Sons / Girls Day Out

This past weekend was our ward Fathers & Sons campout, a time we ALL look forward to in our family! Matt took Friday off from work so they could spend the extra day up there before everyone else was set to arrive.  They left late Thursday night and came home Saturday afternoon.  Blake's one request was to go fishing so Matt took his gear and they found the perfect spot.  They caught 12 fish in all!  Each boy was so thrilled to tell me about the fish they got!  Matt only took these few pictures with his iPhone.... I'm just glad I got ANY!

Matt - I have really looked forward to Fathers and Sons every year. My favorite part is going up on Thursday and spending time with just me and my boys. On Friday when everyone shows up the sons go play and fathers hang out and the two groups don't interact much. Because I go up Thursday I get my time with them and when their friends come up I have no problem letting them run around having fun. This year we went to Flowing Springs just north of Payson. It was a good spot only for the fact that we caught fish pretty easily. I really enjoy fishing and love having a fish on the end of the line. When I fish with my kids all I do is tie hooks, bate hooks, fix rats nests and police the banks to keep the kids from throwing rocks in. The boys did better this time because the fish catching was regular enough to keep their attention, but it still took an hour for me to get all three poles in the water. Partially because we were catching and releasing and I had to cut some hooks off. I thought Preston wasn't having so much fun until he started huffing and puffing and finally blurted out, Dad, I wanna catch another fish!!!"

Friday night the kids were beat! They were begging to go to bed after the ward campfire(Blake fell asleep during the campfire). After I got them all settled in I sat there laying on my sleeping bag(a new 850 down expensive bag :) ) looking up at the stars and beaming with joy. I LOVE my children and I LOVE my boys. I felt so grateful for Heavenly Father sending them to Lindsay and I. They are so precious and wish I could keep them like this forever, but  I know they are growing up and will someday be doing this with their children. I love you Blake, Gavin and Preston!

I kept Brooklyn home from school on Friday and turned it into a GIRLS DAY!!!  We did the movies, Build-A-Bear Workshop, lunch at Grimaldi's Pizza, browse through Barnes & Noble bookstore, Dairy Queen for a cool treat on a HOT day, then to the ribbon store so I could get some headband elastic for baby girl.  Hayden was a perfect angel and Brooklyn had an absolute blast!  I was plain exhausted after such a long day with my girls!  Makes me so happy to say that. :)