The Spaulding Way: 2015

It is tough not having my own house and space and after a little while CJ and I just needed to go on some adventures to bring a little excitment into our life. So it was back to Utah. My mom had recently bought a little camper and needed to take it out to start getting some good use out of it.

Beautiful Drive through Tahoe National Forest. This part of the drive makes up for the barren waste land the makes up the rest of the drive.

Many rainbows and incredible lightning storms in the distance. This made for an even more enjoyable drive.

First stop...Payson Lakes.

CJ loved fishing!!! This was his first time and he enjoyed every minute!

CJ would sit on a rock and reel in the line and I would help him cast it out and he would sit for a seconds before reeling it in again. He thought it was the best thing ever.

Concentrating very hard

I had to get a picture of my mom gutting the fish. For as long as I can remember my mom has been gutting the fish. I have vivid memories at Lake Hill of her gutting fish with a little knife next to the water spigot. I don't think I have seen a single picture doing this wonderful act so I had to capture it and save it for years to come. Someone has to do it and she is that incredible someone.

Karissa, Keyana and Becky playing some games in the camper. A must for camping.

Breakfast in the camper.

A little arts and crafts, painting rocks

Again, very focused

We spent a day or two at the house before heading out again, this time to Zion.

Keyana, CJ and Kaden very focused on drawing.

A little hike to more frog ponds.

Tanner

A few of us took a 3 mile hike out to the scenic overlook of Zion at dusk to see the sunset. We had to book it down to the end to make it by sunset because we got to the trailhead a little later then we wanted to. We barely made it in time, 5 minutes later we would have missed it. It was gorgeous! So glad we went even if we did have to hike the 3 miles back in the dark, that was a little creepy. Glad no mountain lions got us.

Tanner, the teenager, wouldn't take a picture with me. I forced him and he is trying not to smile.

Hanging out at the pool in Zion

We again spent a day or two at my parents before taking the camper out again for our next adventure. This time we went to Lake Hill. I hadn't been there for probably 7 years and it was very nostalgic to go back.

We got a flat tire on the way up. Luckily we made it to the top before it really got flat. CJ thought it was the coolest things every to help Grandma change the tire. Grandma Linda really is the "fun" grandma.

Fishing at the beautiful lake

Austin caught the biggest fish we have ever caught at Lake Hill in all the years we've gone.

I love these kids!! They we having a blast painting their "wands" made from sticks

Taking a stroll around the lake

Kenzi and CJ

Happy 60th Birthday Mom! I wish we could have a thrown a big party with everyone but that just couldn't happen this year. My mom is the most incredible woman I know.

(she won't tell you that though which makes her even more incredible). She is my hero and I am proud to call her my Mom.

All the 6 older kids put together 10 favorite memories of Mom to create 60 total and sent it to her for her birthday.
Here are the 60 memories:

Jennifer

Trip to Israel and Egypt
Camping at Lake Hill
Visiting graves and sites in Ephraim and Spring City
Going to garage sales
Shopping at DI
Going to Education Week together
4-wheeler rides in Woodland Hills and Zion
Taking care of our babies together when I lived down the street from her
Helping her do her own perms and highlights
Walking at the mall early in the mornings before stores opened

Steven

11) mom taking the time to help me with my science fair projects. Burning different fabrics in the garage to see if we could tell the type of fabric by how it burned. Drawing pictures of hares and rabbits.

12) mom teaching me how to fix bikes and change flat tires

13) mom helping me with my homework each night

14) mom taking time to take me to the baseball card shop to look at cards.

15) mom bringing home the late night doughnuts

16) Going on the deer hunt with mom a helping spot (scare away) deer.

17) mom taking us each year to go pick out clothes for the school year at the VA outlets or the quicksilver store.

18) I remember mom trying to take a quick nap and us kids never letting her. (Hopefully the kids let you get a nap today for your birthday, but probably not

)

19) I remember mom teaching me how to mow and trim the grass.

20) I remember how much mom loves Christmas and setting up the nativities and advent calendar. Sipping hot chocolate and listening to Christmas music.

Janessa

21) remember playing outside and many times she was on the roof fixing stuff or turning on the swamp cooler.

22) Taking us to Howie's to get 99 cent kids meals. The rootbeer and fries were so yummy!

23) Camping at lake hill, teach us how to gut fish, her neon colored hands as she ran from kid to kid "baiting" our fishing pools, eating MREs in the tent when it was raining.

24) Going shopping at Fred Myers on Black Friday, eating donuts and hot chocolate.

25) Her visit to FL. The Transiberian orchestra concert, hunting for big seashells, Thanksgiving dinner, hanging up my Christmas lights together.

26) When I had Kayla she came to help in Las Vegas and brought her newborn Kaden with her. She took the night shift watching both babies.

27) Having her stop by for "breaks" at our house in Springville. Or I'd hang out at Her house. We'd eat shakes or lunch and talk.

28) Taking the my kids for 4 wheeler rides during our recent Spring Break trip to Zion.

29) making Carmel Dumplings for me.

30) teaching Becky and I how to make strawberry and peach freezer jam one Summer together at the old house.

Scott

31) Pound Puppies. I remember the Christmas that we all wanted pound puppies. I imagine it would have been fairly expensive to purchase them for everyone. So, with her usual resourcefulness, Mom whipped up her own version of pound puppies for all of us. It is still one of my favorite Christmas presents ever.

32) PowerBait. Many of my fondest memories of Mom are from our time spent in Ephraim and at Lake Hill and nothing brings back those memories better than the pungent odor of PowerBait! I hated touching that stuff because it would get under my finger nails and make my hands smell bad for the rest of the trip. Mom, however, happily loaded up one hook after another until her hands were stained pink and green.

33) Late night talks. I remember having many late night discussions with Mom, particularly during high school. She would usually ask me about my friends, school, sports, girlfriends, etc. She usually wouldn't say much, just listen to me go on and on about things. She has always been a great listener

34) Swiss Cheese. I blame my cheese addiction on Mom. I'm not sure when it started, but I remember there always being a block of swiss cheese in the fridge. It was (and probably still is) definitely one of Mom's go-to late night snack items.

35) Scripture Study. How often I found Mom in her room quietly studying the scriptures. Her devotion to the Savior and her example of faith and diligence is still a source of strength for me.

36) 4WD. I clearly remember being surprised when Mom and Dad pulled into the garage driving the Land Cruiser. I thought they were going to get a van but Mom finally got her way and the Land Cruiser became the 9th member of the family. Gone were the days of pushing the Astro van out of the mud! From then on Mom was always looking for a new trail to explore or excuse to take a drive up the canyon. I loved those drives.

37) Zion. Mom's home away from home, Zion is where I remember Mom always being happy. I'm so grateful Mom has passed her love for the outdoors to all of us.

38) DIY. I bet Mom could have had her own reality show on the Do-It-Yourself network. I don't remember a single time that Mom called a repairman to do any sort of work at our house. No project intimidates her - countertops, flooring, painting, plumbing...she's done it all!

39) Testimony. Mom is not afraid to bear her testimony of the Gospel to others. I remember her sharing her testimony in sacrament meeting, specifically to us, her children at the old Cascade 3rd Ward building. At that moment, I knew without a doubt that she knew the Gospel was true which provided the foundation for my own testimony.

Vance

40) Shakes, donuts, and any homemade dessert. It seemed like our family went through phases craving of different desserts and that Mom was the leader in our quest to satisfy our family sweet-tooth. There was a period when we would make our own shakes or go to Iceberg or Hogi Yogi to get some. I remember a phase when I had gotten my license and Mom often let me use my new found freedom to get donuts at Macey's at 9 pm when they went on sale for $2 a dozen. Fruit bars, oh henry bars, blonde brownies, bark, turtle cookies, and the list goes on. We had it good as kids!

41) Shopping Smart and coupons. Mom has taught me that $4 for cereal is not a good deal :). I remember when Mom paid me to cut coupons as part of Shopping Smart. Throughout the years, I loved going grocery shopping with her as we looked for the best deals together. I am now jealous of the great food storage we had in the "fruit room".

42) Jobs and work. I am grateful that Mom taught me to work hard. She been one of the greatest examples of work in my life. Also, by giving me jobs such as unloading and loading the dishwasher (everyday for years), dusting, mowing the lawn, etc., she helped me learn the value of work.

43) Music. Mom loved music and always had something playing in our house. Yanni, The Garden, Cumorah, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and I could go on.

44) Family Home Evenings. As I have done my best to come up with lessons for family home evening with my kids, I have quickly realized that Mom was really good at FHE. The flannel board, puppets, and activities we did were amazing.

45) The temple. Mom has always loved the temple and has engendered that love for the temple in me.

46) Dutch oven cookouts. That was some good food. I remember the Dutch ovens sitting on the old metal garbage can lids on the basketball court.

47) Lakehill. Fish, mud, bears, dear, and more. Lots of good memories there.

48) Care and Healing. Mom was always so good at making me feel better after physical or emotional hurting. She has a gift for helping others heal.

49) Revelation. Mom's example of receiving revelation with Dad about the younger kids being adopted into the family has had a great impact on me spiritually. I learned important principles of revelation and about how the Holy Ghost speaks to us.

50) Sacrifice. Mom has sacrificed so much in her life to bless others. I don't think there is a selfish bone in her body. I am grateful for her testimony and her example of always striving to follow the Savior.

Becky

51. Lakehill.... spontaneous trips created the best memories....Astrovan getting stuck in the mud when mom wanted to explore a new road....camping on the side of the road in a clearing in the rain and mud because we couldn't make it up to the campground.

52. Lots of time in the car bonding. I went everywhere with mom if she let me. I never wanted to be left behind even on a small grocery store trip. So many hours in the car from driving me to dance class over 14 years.

53. Taking care of babies. So many days spent with mom training me for motherhood by taking care of all the babies in the house. Taking four or more kids to the store with us, mostly to DI. Oh the memories of DI.

54. Sitting on mom's bed putting off going to bed by talking about life with mom.

55. Taking me to see A Christmas Carol in Salt Lake, I felt so special and grown up.

56. Learning how to fix so many different things around the house by watching her be the "handyman" in our home.

57. I remember mom was really sick one time and she got a blessing from dad and a home teacher. I was really young at the time and didn't really know exactly what was going on but later in life I looked back on that and saw the faith she had and what an example that was to me.

58. Mom always held my hair back for me when I was sick in the bathroom. Not a pleasant memory, kinda gross, but it is tender at the same time for me because it showed me so much love. I knew how much she loved me when she did those small but unpleasant things for me :)

59. Driving me to school time and time again when I missed the bus...Mom was way too nice :)

60. I remember almost nightly saying goodnight to mom as she was already in bed with a book. She was already reading a good book at night, mostly church books. What a wonderful example.

We love, admire, and cherish you! Happy Birthday Mom!

The Spaulding Way

Family Collage

Friday, September 4, 2015

A Night at the Ball Park

Giants vs. Phillies

The Stubb's Visit

Independence Day 2015

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

More summer adventures in Utah

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We got to the zoo just in time for the grizzly bear feeding. So fun to watch these animals. Here they are waiting for the keeper to bring the food and throw it over the railing up top. They waited like this for 5 minutes.