Camp Clark Chew*

We went camping at the Cinnamon Creek campground by Porcupine Dam this past weekend with my family. We got up there on Thursday evening just in time to eat fire roasted hot dogs for dinner, set up our tent before dark, roast marshmellows and then sit around the camp fire and sing. Friday morning we went on a lovely hike up to an old run down mine. It was only suppose to be 1.5 miles but it felt like at least 6 miles especially when most of the time your hauling a 22 lb. or 30 lb. packback named Quinney and Avery! :)


Avery in her fabulous necklace that Grandpa made for her out of long dandelion stems. How cute! :)



There were so many beautiful wildflowers along the trail, I LOVE flowers!



The old run down house where the miners use to live.....

In front of the mine.....

We didn't get to go very far into the mine because all the flashlights we took up with us were running out of batteries and weren't even bright enough to see 2 ft. in front of you, NICE! Oh well. When we got back to camp we headed to the river for a cool down. Avery and Taysia got soaked!

Quinn splashing his own face with the water.....

.....he thought it was great!!!

He also thought it was great when Daddy tried to take a drink of his water and he wouldn't share!

Here the two scroungers are sitting under the dutch ovens waiting for any little piece of food or splash of grease to drop so they could slurp it up!

That evening we had a delicious dinner, taco salad, fruit, and cheesy dutch oven vegtables, then smores for dessert. And of course we sat around the fire again and sang all of our traditional campfire singin' songs! This was the highlight though, a saranade from Bo and Grandpa before dinner! Whenever my Dad starts singing, Bo thinks he has to join in. My Mom said that this is Bo's only talent.....other than peeing on the floor! ha ha!:)

The next morning we ate Mountain Man Breakfast made in the dutch ovens. It has sausage, bacon, hashbrowns, eggs, green onions and cheese, Yum-O!!! I LOVE dutch oven food! I know I'm a total nerd but here are two pictues of it. You know someone REALLY loves food when they take pictues of it on a regular basis.....that would be me!!! The first one is before the cheese is spread on top. Doesn't it look good?


After breakfast the kids had fun painting their rocks they had found and doing the bubble paint that Leisa and Julie brought.


Then we packed up our stuff and headed for my parents house for a refreshing dip in the pool.....

Avery swimming all by herself! I think she's ready for swim lessons!


This is me back in my polygamy days.....rainbow bangs and all! he he!

Wow, what a great weekend!!!

*The story behind camp "clark chew" goes like this, when we were little we used to laugh at the way my Dad would clear his throat and spit. When he clears his throat it sounds like he's saying "clark", and then when he spits, it sounds like he's saying "chew". So in all of our brainstorming to come up with a great name there you have it, that's where we got the name for our annual family camp out, Camp Clark Chew! It's nerdy I know, but that's kind of how we are!!! :) Well, I guess it's our unofficial name, my Dad isn't too keen on the idea yet! :)

A night in the city!

Although our trip to Park City was short we had tons of fun! Avery, Quinn and I got there early afternoon on Tuesday. We had to make a quick trip to Wal*Mart after dinner because I forgot Quinn's fan, my kids (or me for that matter) cannot sleep without a fan. Lame, I know! Later that evening we headed up to the Alpine Slides! It was Avery and Quinn's first time and they loved it! Quinn rode down with me and the whole way down he was saying "wahoo!"

Avery's went down with her cousin Tierra and kept telling her to go faster!

The kids slept great which made me really happy, and I was even happier that they slept in until 9:45 on Wednesday morning since Kristen, Lisa, Ryan, Torri and I all stayed up talking until 3:45 a.m. Yeah, we're NUTS!!! Wednesday we went to the Outlets for a while and then Avery and Quinn stayed back at the condo with Grandma and their cousins while the adults (minus Grandma of course) went to dinner at the Baja Cantina which by the way is DELICIOUS!!! After dinner we loaded up the car and headed for home about 9 pm. We had a great trip! Once again though, now that I've unpacked, did laundry, it's time to pack back up because this evening we are heading up North to go camping with my family for the weekend! It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks with Avery's birthday, vacations, but we're just happy to have such great families to be with and that care about us so much!!! Can't wait for camp "Clark Chew" this weekend!!! he he!!! :)

Bear Lake ~ 4th of July ~ fun fun fun!

This last week has been very busy for our little family and this next week is even going to be busier!!! It seems like we are just going from one event to the next and it doesn't look like it is going to slow down anytime soon, at least not until July is over! So much to post so little time! :) I guess I'll just start where I left off and that would be Avery's birthday! She was so excited to have a special present saved from her Dora Fiesta party to open on her real birthday, she got a Princess Scooter. Surprisingly I didn't take any pictures of her riding it (I know, I've failed as a mother:)) but she sure loves it!!! That night we took her out to dinner, she picked Applebee's. I did manage to get a picture when they came to sing their fabulous birthday song to her though. (that counts for something right?:))

She was pleased as punch, isn't she adorable!

The next day, Thursday to be exact, we headed off to Bear Lake for the 4th of July holiday. We were the first one's to get to the condo, most of the family came up Friday afternoon-ish. But on Thursday we ate dinner, we went to the park, Avery rode her new Princess Scooter, Quinn rode his 4-wheeler, we stayed up talking WAY to late with Kristen and Justin (my brother and sister-in-law) and then went to bed.

After everyone got there on Friday we spent our 4th of July relaxing, swimming at the pool, and then watched the fireworks.....





Dinking around waiting for the fireworks to start.....


Piggy back rides from her cousin Josh!

My family is sooooo photogenic aren't they?.....ugghhh!!!

After the fireworks we put the kids to bed and then stayed up talking even later then the night before, I think it was about 2:30 when I finally rolled into bed, thanks Kristen!!! :)

Saturday was beach day! We played in the sand, built sandcastles, played in the freezing water, and rode the jet skies.





Sunday we had a little cake and ice cream for the two 4th of July-ers in the family, Tayler and Avery, Happy Birthday ladies!!!

Avery got some really fun gifts so thank you thank you to everyone!!! Especially a big thanks to Tayler for sharing her birthday this year with Avery and making it special for her!

Later that evening we played a lovely game of crockett and then went on a 4-wheeler ride up in the hills above Sweetwater. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't mind having a cabin up there on the hill so if anyone knows of someone that wants to give one away for FREE, I'm in the market! he he!:)

This morning we went down to the beach for a bit to play in the sand and ride the jet skies before we had to leave. Wow, this was just this morning, weird! It seems like at least a couple of days ago! Anyway, here the kiddies are building yet another sand castle.....

Quinn and his cousin Braden relaxing in the sun/Quinn fake sleeping! :)

We had such a good time!!! Thanks Gee and Dee for the fun weekend!!! Now that I've just unpacked all the stuff from Bear Lake, did all the laundry, it's time to go pack it all back up for Park City tomorrow. Me and the kiddies are heading up there for a couple of days with Justin's family while he gets to stay home and work, BOO!!!:( We wish he could come, darn work and no vacation days!!!

~~~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY AVERY!!! ~~~

Let's start from the beginning!

We love our little Avery girl so much!!! I can't believe my Mrs. Pringle is already 4! Wow! Justin and I are so blessed to have such a sweet and special little daughter, words cannot possibly describe how much we LOVE her!!! Happy Birthday Sweetie!!!

Feliz Cumpleanos Avery!!!

Yesterday we celebrated Avery's 4th birthday with a huge Dora Fiesta! Dora the Explorer is one of her favorite "little shows" as she calls them, to watch so she was so excited to have a Dora party. My family came down and we had a scrumptious Mexican feast complete with fiesta chicken enchiladas, Spanish rice, 7-layer bean dip, chips and homemade salsa, lemonade, oh and let's not forget, lovely Spanish music playing in the background!

After dinner we played a wicked game of Pin the tail on the Mexican Burro, here are the results.....

There were a few kids that got pretty close but I think they were peeking through the blind fold :)!

Good thing we let Avery have a go at the pinata first because what do you know, she broke it. Boy, that was sure fun for the rest of the cousins, oh well, they really only care about getting the candy anyway right?

Here are all the kids with their loot!

.....minus Quinney, he was doing this.....

Notice the mini pinata in the top right corner of the picture, that's the best I could do to get him in on the pinata scene! Poor little guy, he just clonked out during dinner!

Three little ladies, oh so pretty. (that's a chocolate taffy sticking out of Lily's mouth if you were wondering.)


Present time!!! I realize I posted tons of pictures of her opening her presents but she is just so happy and excited and cute I couldn't help myself!









The CAKE..................yes I made it, and yes Dora is about twice the size of the palm tree.............it's in the sand off in the distance okay!!!

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you........

.....happy birthday dear Avery, happy birthday to you!


After everyone left I ask Avery what she thought about her Dora Fiesta party, she said, "it was all great, my party was wonderful!" :) She also had to call Grandma right before bed and tell her she was wearing her new Ariel nightgown that Grandma and Grandpa gave her. What a cutie!!!

Thanks for coming everyone, and making it a special birthday for our little Avery girl! And thanks for all the gifts too, Avery loved ALL of them! I can even prove it, just take a look at what she's been up to today...........




Plus she's colored at least 5 different times in all her new coloring books, has blown bubbles, played her Buckaroo game, plus a dozen other things, she's been a busy gal today!

***Stay tuned for more birthday fun! We are going to celebrate Avery's birthday with Justin's family this weekend up in Bear Lake plus we still have a special surprise to give her on her actual birthday. Nothing like having a Birthday WEEK!!!