Bear Lake

I tried and tried to think of anything fun to report about the first two or three weeks of August.  No luck, though.  It was a pretty mellow time, what with me feeling sick and all.  I wasn't nearly as bad as I had been with the other four kids, but I wasn't really in the mood to go on adventures either.  We still went swimming a couple of times per week, but for the most part, Dave took over the grocery shopping, Alison took over the cooking, and Nicole took over the child care.

As the month flew by, I saw school looming ever closer.  I wanted to do something really fun while we still had some summer weather to enjoy.  I was starting to feel pretty good during the days, so I asked Dave if he would like to go on an adventure.  He said, "Sure," so off we went.

On Saturday, August 17th, we woke up early, packed up the van and left for our little day trip.  We drove through Logan, stopping to get some cash and see a few sights from Dave's college years, then up to Bear Lake.  We had such a wonderful day!  It was our first time doing this little day trip. We learned a lot of lessons that will make next time even better, but we had a pretty great day.  One of the lessons we learned is that Nicole needs Dramamine when we drive through winding canyon roads. The poor girl was pretty miserable.  We had to stop a couple of times to let her get some fresh air.

Overlooking the lake.  It was overcast, so you can't see how lovely the color usually is.  

We arrived in the late morning.  We decided to drive to the south end of the lake and set up on Rendezvous Beach.  We were pretty early, so there were plenty of great spots right by the water.  What fun!  Bronson loved to dig and play in the sand.  He wasn't a huge fan of the cold water and scratchy pebbles, but I got him to get in up to his knees once.  The other kids were neck deep in the cold water before I knew it.  They played for a couple of hours.  Nicki made friends with a little girl nearby.  Alison came over and built sand castles occasionally with Bronson.  It was just a fun, lazy, laid back morning.  Dave and I considered renting a boat or a Sea Doo, but by the time we got serious about it, almost everything was already rented out for the day.  Maybe next time.  We had plenty of fun on the beach and in the water.

At about 1:00, I called the kids over for lunch.  We had a great picnic.  The only problem was that it had become overcast and breezy, so the kids were freezing to death.  By the time lunch was over, we had a decision to make - should we let the kids get back in the water and start the freezing/drying  process again, or should we pack up and try the Minnetonka Cave?  Looking up at the sky, we didn't see a whole lot of sun in our future, so we decided to try the cave.

The Minnetonka Cave is only about 10 miles from the northwest corner of Bear Lake.  I'd been there once, but Dave never had. It is very much like Timpanogos Cave, minus the hike to get there.  I knew the kids would LOVE it!  Dave wanted to drive all around the lake, so we took the long road there, but it was fun. Once or twice, the sun poked through the clouds and lit up the lake like a crystal blue gem!  It was breathtaking.  Dave and I both want to become millionaires and get a little lake-front house in Bear Lake now.  As we drove past the north end of the lake, we noticed that the beach on the Idaho side looked pretty amazing.  I think we'll try it there next time we go.

We drove towards Minnetonka through a canyon for a while, enjoying the "wildlife" (cows).  Suddenly, there were cars EVERYWHERE parked along both sides of the road.  I said, "Um.  I think we're there." Seriously!  So many people!  I got the kids out of the van and put their hiking shoes on while David went to the ranger station to find out more information.  He came back with bad news.  It was about 2:00 by this time, and they were taking reservations for the 4:30 tour.  What?!?!?  The tour itself takes an hour and a half. We simply couldn't wait.  The kids were so VERY disappointed.  And mad.  At me.  Like it was my fault. Anyway...like I said, we learned some lessons this time.  Next time, we'll be sure to go an a weekday and try to hit the cave in the morning.  At least we got to see some lovely cows.

We drove back to the lake and went to the famous Le Beau's raspberry shake stand.  You can't go to Bear Lake without getting a raspberry shake, right?  Bronson fell asleep in the van somewhere along the way, so I stayed with him while the rest of our crew got in line for the shakes.  I had fun watching them run around and play.  Even I, the no-sugar mom, ate a shake.  Some things are worth feeling a little sick.  Oh man!  It was heaven!  From there, we drove to Logan for dinner.

It was about 5:30 by the time we got to Logan.  We decided to eat at A&W.  It was a joint Dave frequented when he went to USU.  He wanted to get a Big Blue Special.  It's fun to drink root beer in a frosty glass mug (I had to drink water, of course).  By this time, we were all a little worse for the wear - tired, dirty, cranky, a little car sick or sugar sick, etc.  Somehow, we all survived.

We were nearly home when we noticed that we needed gas.  Dave started looking for a place to pull over and fill up.  Before he found one, I heard a sickening splash in the van behind me, then Nicki screaming, "Bronson just threw up!" Sure enough, poor little guy got car sick.  Luckily for me, he was surrounded by blankets, so nothing got on the van's interior.  Dave pulled into the next gas station.  He started to fill up the car while I tried to take care of Bronny.  Sadly, in my fragile condition, and after eating sugar that afternoon, I lost control and started throwing up too.  The kids were totally grossed out, screaming and trying to keep their food down.  Dave had to take care of everything.  Lets just say that it was not the highlight of our trip, but certainly memorable.

All in all, we had a very fun time.  I'm genuinely looking forward to doing it again in the next year or two. With a few little tweaks here and there, we have a perfect little mini vacation that I hope will become a tradition for our family.

Kids Say The Darnedest Things

I've been amazed lately at how many things my kids say that came straight from my mouth!  I wonder why they only seem to pick up the things I'd rather NOT pass down from generation to generation...

I keep having to remind my daughters that they don't get to count to three when their brothers aren't doing what they want.  Nicki explained, "I don't put them in time out or anything, Mom.  I just count to three before I go tattle on them."  Oh. Well.  Hmm.

A few weeks ago, Josh was watching television.  He had to use the potty, so he yelled, "Mom!  I have to go to the bathroom!  Don't let anyone take my seat!"  I didn't respond fast enough I guess, because he said, "Mom!  Listen.  I'm going to the bathroom and when I get back, I don't want to find anyone in my seat, okay?"  Where does he come up with stuff like that?!?  Oh yeah.  Me.

Whenever we ask Bronson to do something that he doesn't want to do, he gets a pathetic, weak look in his eyes and whines, "I can't.  I got baby in my tummy."  Clearly, this came from David, not me...heh heh.

The best/worst was last Sunday during Sacrament meeting.  Bronson climbed up on his daddy's lap and looked over his shoulder at the other members of the congregation.  All of a sudden, something caught his eye.  I'm not sure who or what it was because I was too embarrassed to turn around, but out of no where, Bronson pointed his finger at someone and yelled (I mean yelled), "WHAT THE...?!?!?"  I had a hard time controlling the giggles from our bench, including from David and I.  

More Gee Family Reunion

After the Olympics were through, we broke up for a few hours.  Bronson and I went back to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a long nap.  Shawn suggested that anyone who was interested could go bridge jumping with him.  Dave thought that sounded like a blast, so he took the three older kids.

Here's the river, full of Gee's and other jumpers.

Ali, Josh, and two random locals.

Nicki (standing) and her Dad (sitting).  Many people jumped off the bottom of the bridge, but Nicki had no trouble jumping off the very top.

Geronimo!

When they came back three hours later, Bronson was still sleeping!  I thought that kid would never wake up! They told me all about their adventures on the river.  Sounds like they had a ball!!!  Ali jumped off the bridge once or twice, but decided it wasn't her thing.  She had a great time playing in the river, though.  Josh loved to jump off and went a ton of times, but he could never muster the courage to jump off himself.  He always asked a grown up to throw him off.  Dave and Nicki were die-hards.

 We hurried to get everyone cleaned up, then went to the Sugar City church for dinner.  It was a yummy chicken Alfredo, bread sticks, and salad dinner catered by the college.  After dinner, they held the Olympics awards ceremony.  Guess what - my team (and Nicki's and Bronson's) took the GOLD MEDAL! The gold medal was actually a cute bag filled with Grandma Gee's famous snickerdoodles and some gold candies (like rolos, peanut butter cups, etc.).  I'm pretty sure it was Bronson's long jump that clinched the title for us.  Hee hee.  After the ceremony, the kids went into an adjoining room and watched Wreck It Ralph (smart move!) while the grown ups watched Grandpa Gee and his siblings battle it out in a family history trivia game show. Again, Lanette put in many hours of research and work putting together the PowerPoint presentation for this event.  It was so fun to learn about Dave's grandparents and to see old photos, etc.  It was a great night.

Nicki with her prize.

The Gold Medal.  

Aunt Bev, Aunt Ann, and Aunt Marilyn were on one team.

Uncle Gerald and Grandpa Gee were on the other team.

The next morning,  We all gathered together at Aunt Ann's house for one last event.  Breakfast!  The garage was set up as the kitchen. The tables were on their driveway.  It was a great set up and the perfect morning for an outdoor event:  warm and cloudy.  After breakfast, most of the kids disappeared into Ann's yard to play. The adults all gathered together for "The Family Meeting."  

Nicole, Alison, Maddie, and Grace

It was our 11th anniversary that day, by the way.  We celebrate every other anniversary at the family reunion.

Bronson acting shy for Aunt Suzette.

The family meeting is usually a time for each sibling to report on what their side of the family has been up to.  It's fun to hear about our relatives across the country.  There's usually a little business to attend to - this year, Ann asked to be released as the family secretary, so their was some voting about who would take over that job (Grandma Gee landed the honor).  And then, this year, their was a proposal made by the older generation.  According to some of them, the reunion is getting too big and crazy and difficult.  They proposed that we lengthen the time between reunions to once every five years or so.  I wish you could have seen the reaction of the younger generation (Dave's generation).  There was a STRONG opposition to the idea.  In fact, Heather, one of Dave's cousins from California, had wanted to make the reunion an annual event.  Many people spoke out, some saying that there weren't very many years left with some of the siblings and that in five years, half of them could be gone.  Others mentioned how important the reunion is to their family since they live farther away and don't have a strong connection with extended family.  Many people volunteered to help more with the planning and preparing so that the burden wasn't too heavy on one person or family.  It was amazing to feel the strong sense of loyalty and dedication in these 50-75 relatives (only a fraction of the whole family) who don't see each other very often.  Some of us even got a little misty eyed.  It made me realize two things: One: that I sure am very VERY blessed to be a Gee.  I have an amazing extended family.  Not just Dave's immediate family, but his cousins and second cousins, and on and on!  And two:  I think it's VERY important that the Smith side of our family start holding family reunions.   My kids don't know any of my cousins and many of them live within an hour of us.  It's just not right.  I am going to do something about it!  Smith Family Reunion 2014!!!  Count on it!

Jodi, Me, Grandma Gee and Kami as we were all dispersing. 

Gee Family Reunion 2013

Friday, July 26th and Saturday, July 27th:  Bring on the every-other-year Clendon and Erma Gee Family Reunion!!!  (Clendon and Erma were Dave's grandparents so this is a reunion of all Dave's uncles, aunts, and cousins.)  We LOVE this reunion and look forward to it very much!

David took Friday off work, so as soon as he was home on Thursday night, we packed up the van and headed north for Idaho.  This was the part I dreaded most.  I was very sick in the evenings and I got car sick quite easily.  However, I had Dave stop at our nearby Chinese restaurant on the way out of town so I could pick up a cup of Hot and Sour soup and it worked like magic on me!  I didn't feel sick until the last 45 minutes or so.  We arrived at Grandma and Grandpa Gee's house after 10:00 that night.  We all said said hi, ate a piece of bread and went straight to sleep.

The next morning, we woke up bright and early.  We ate breakfast, got cleaned up, and headed to the Sugar Salem High School track.  There, we met David's other siblings who were in town (missing Kristi's family, Nathan's family, Caden, and Evan) about an hour before the reunion began.  I taught the group my little "synchronized swimming" routine that I choreographed back in high school (boy - that little gem has come in handy many times throughout the years!)  I think the Gees are talented "swimmers!"  They learned it very fast - even the little kids were great!  Grandma and Grandpa Gee worked in the visitors center during the day shift, so they stopped by to watch us practice for a little while since they'd miss the actual performance.

Soon, other members of the extended family started showing up to set up the reunion.  I helped a little where I could, but also had fun visiting with family and trying (and failing) to keep Josh out of the sprinklers.  David's cousin, Lanette was in charge this year.  She put in a TON of work and did an AMAZING job!  The theme was "The Gee Family Olympics."  We started with an opening ceremony.

Registering for the event.

Dave's cousins Jared and Marc singing the national anthem.

Guy and Heather Clark's family sang a special "Idaho Potatoes" song.

Some pictures of our Synchronized Swimming routine performed at the opening ceremony.

Our big lift!

Final pose.

If you'd like to see the video of our dance, go to:   http://youtu.be/OI4d1-M6Bx8  It's pretty funny.  The BEST part to me is little Joshua in the front.  He was too young and shy to learn the dance, but I told the little kids that they could sit on towels in the front and swim.  Boy, did he!

Lanette divided us into teams (just figuring out the best way to separate people into teams must have taken hours!  She kept little kids with their parents, but tried to mix all the different family groups up, etc)  I was seriously impressed!  Each team went around to different stations to compete in different events.  Bronson and Nicole were both on my team.  David and Josh were on a team together.  Alison was in her our group, but she made friends quickly.  I took a ton of pictures.  Here are just a few:

Suzette was in charge of one of the toughest games.

You had to bounce balls into cups, each with different point values.  

Alison is knocking bottles of water over with a tennis ball in panty hose.

Long jump. 

Long jump.

Dave's team is getting instructions from Aunt Ann for the discus throw.

Gracie and Nicole "noodle fencing."

Go Josh!

Alison getting ready for the shower cap Cheeto toss (I think the name was more clever, but I can't remember it!)

You had to see how many Cheeots you could get to stick.

Dave and Isabelle were on a team.  

Josh picked Cheetos off the ground and if they weren't too shaving creamy, he'd eat them.  I say you can't really get much worse than a Cheeto puff anyways, so why not?

Alison and Dave were in a "pie eating" contest.

You had to dig through the whipped cream and find the piece of gum.  Whoever blew the first bubble won.

I competed in the "rhythmic gymnastics" event.  Each person had to unroll a streamer as fast as possible.  I SMOKED 'EM ALL!!  And I did it with flair!

We finished our competition around lunch time.  We ate huge sub sandwiches, chips, fruit, and cookies.  YUM!  It tasted so good!  I drank about fifty gallons of water too.  What a fun morning.

 Wow!  That's a lot of information and pictures!  I've gotta take a break.  I guess I write about the rest of the reunion later.

Pioneer Day

Pioneer Day wasn't a super exciting day around here because David had to go to work for a few hours right in the middle of the day.  Plus, I wasn't feeling so hot (as usual) so we kept things pretty mellow.  But we did manage to do one or two things:

First of all, we went for a short walk on a nearby bike path.  It is a huge trail that runs from Bountiful all the way to Ogden and beyond.  We hooked up in Layton, near Gentile, and walked for a half hour or so.  Nicki brought her bike and Josh brought his scooter, so they were way ahead of us most of the time.  Bronson meanders at his own pace and dares any of us to have a problem with it.  That kid.....  Alison was still recovering from her surgery and got very tired very fast, so we kept it short and sweet, but at least we got out and did something together. 

I can't remember doing anything special during the day.  Dave went to work and I likely laid on my bed while the kids played with the neighborhood gang. 

That afternoon, Nicole and I went to the Layton Taste Of The Town event that my dad is in charge of.  David stayed home with the rest of the crew and ordered pizza.  Nicki and I had a BLAST on our little mother-daughter-date!!!  We met some family there and spread out our blankets. Then we got busy with the serious business of eating.  I wish I had taken pictures of all the delicious food there!  We ate shrimp, Cordon Bleu, tri-tip, Indian curry, sandwiches, Chick-Fil-A nuggets, salads, tarts, cheeses, snow cones, cotton candy, and much much more!  I had recently discovered that sugar makes me very sick (I wonder if I had that problem with all my other pregnancies but never realized it) and that if I avoid it and load up on protein, my morning sickness is much more manageable.  So I let Nicki eat all the sugary stuff.  That's HARD for a sugar addict like me!  But this is about the only thing in the world that I COULD stop eating sugar for, so it's been a good thing.  Anyway, back to the food.  I was feeling pretty good, and I even found a booth selling essential oil-infused water. They gave me a ginger drink to help with morning sickness.  We walked around and got lots of free coupons, stickers, water bottles, Frisbees, etc.  In the end, I was stuffed, but I still had a few tickets left, so I let Nicki get her face painted.  She was such a beauty! 

Eating a snow cone and cotton candy.

Kris, Gpa, Payton, Kristin's cooler, and Gma watching some jets fly by.

Scott and Katie.

Pretty Princess.  Hey, that lady in the background is in our ward!  Dave's their home teacher.  I didn't even see her there.

What a fun night!  I went home feeling stuffed and a little gross, but I woke up the next morning totally bummed that I hadn't brought anything home to eat later!  Maybe next year, I'll pack a cooler full of empty Tupperware containers like my sister Kristin does!

Alison's Tonsilectomy

Alison had her tonsils and adenoids removed on July 17th.  It all happened so fast to me that I can hardly believe we did it.  Once, when Alison was visiting the doctor to look at some bumps on her skin, the doctor mentioned that her tonsils were large and inflamed. He asked if she had lots of strep throat in her past.  I said, "No.  She is mildly sick all winter long.  She's always complaining of a sore throat and runny nose, but it's never enough to keep her home from school."  The doctor said, "Well, it might not hurt to have our Ear Nose and Throat specialist take a look at her."  So her referred us and set up an appointment right then and there.  Dave happened to be able to join us when we went to the ENT.  The guy looked at her throat and said, "Yeah.  There big.  Not horrible, but big.  We could take them out.  It might help her a lot.  How's three weeks form now?"  And the next thing I knew, we had an appointment for surgery.

I was a little freaked out.  I told Dave that we should at least find out a little something about the guy who we were going to let cut our daughter.  Dave didn't seem worried at all.  He said the doctor seemed fine and that our family doctor was the one who recommended him, so we should trust that.  Besides, he said, tonsillectomies are a minor, out-patient surgery, and he simply wasn't worried.  Dave was just excited for Alison to get her tonsils out.  I guess Dave's health changed dramatically once his came out when he was a teenager.  He was sure Alison would be much better off once her tonsils were gone.

Well, the day of the surgery came.  We had to be in the surgical center by 8:00am.  Dave took the day off so that he could be with us.  My sister, Kristin and her two kids came to our house to watch our three younger children while we were away.  So nice!  They had a total blast, by the way.  The went to a park, watched a movie, and ate treats.

Alison was the perfect patient.  She was calm, cheerful, and interested in everything that was happening. The big shocker for all of us was realizing that she's 5'1"!!!  and 91 lbs!!!  When did my baby grow up?!?!?  As the nurse wheeled her away, Alison didn't seem too stressed out and I felt good about the whole thing.  (well, she did freak out a little bit when she saw me signing the forms that say "there's a small risk of her dying, being paralyzed, etc..." but I explained that everyone has to sign those forms and the risks are miniscule). 

About a half hour later, the doctor met us in the lobby and said that the surgery was a success.  The tonsils were indeed huge and very ugly.  He was sure Alison's life would be much better with them gone.  We waited a few more minutes, then the nurse came to take us to our little girl.  I turned the corner with a huge smile on my face, starting to say, "How did it go, Alison?" but what I saw stopped me in my tracks, stripped the words out of my mouth, and made me instantly start crying.  Ali was swollen, sweaty, and pale.  Her eyes were closed and she quietly whimpered as she tried to suck on a popsicle, which was just dripping all over her.  She was so miserable!  I guess I expected her to just pop out of it the way she did when she had surgery at the age of six.  That time, she chattered away from the moment she woke up and ordered a ton of food, but  this time, it was way different. 

I held her hand and cried with her for a while.  I held her water for her as she took little sips.  She tried to act brave around the nurse, but she was in a lot of pain.  Dave turned down the lights and tried to get her to fall asleep for a while.  Suddenly, she woke up and said, "I'm going to throw up!"  We frantically tore the room apart looking for something to catch the vomit.  I called out to a nurse, but she couldn't find anything either.  She ran to another room to retrieve a sick bag.  By the time she found it, it was WAY too late.  Ali was covered in bright red vomit from her hair to her knees.  Poor girl!  With a raw, open wound in her throat, no less!  David kindly left the room while the nurse and I stripped Alison and her bed (not easy with all those IV lines), cleaned her up as good as possible, and got her dressed in a new clean gown in new warm bedding.  She was very docile throughout the whole ordeal. 

We got Alison home around lunch time.  I don't remember too much about that day.  I was so glad David had taken the day off.  I just laid in bed with Alison all day long (me with morning sickness, Ali in recovery).  Dave took care of the kids, the food, and the home.  Bless him!  

Alison's recovery took more than a week.  She hurt bad!  Before she went into surgery, she wrote many lists of the things she was looking forward to eating.  We went shopping a day or two before and stocked up on frozen treats, pudding, yogurt, drinks, and soups.  She didn't want ANY of them.  I'm pretty sure that she was consuming less than 300 calories per day for a couple of days there.  We thought she'd love reading and watching tons of television, but for a few days, even those things were no good.  She was a sad, sad girl.  She didn't like to talk, so she carried her dry erase board around with her.  It was funny.  She couldn't just write, "drink."  She'd write, "It sure would be great if I could have a drink..."  After a few days, I thought things were getting better, but then she took a turn for the worse.  I guess the scabs were forming and they hurt.  When she finally did start recovering, she was weak and tired for a while (300 calories and no exercise will do that to you).  But I'm happy to report that in the end, she made a full recovery and is the same, crazy girl she's always been, minus two sickly tonsils!