The Buhrley Bunch

Friday, July 13, 2012

Bear Lake...... with friends

I don't know if I've mentioned it before (probably not because my blogging habits have been less than admirable), but Brook works in Colorado now. Yes, he works and lives in Colorado and the rest of us work and live in Utah. He comes home on the weekends, but you can imagine, it's just not the same. This all began back in October when the entire company did a complete overhaul (don't you just love corporate America? They're so, so smart) and sent all their employees back to regional offices. Because Caitlyn was a senior and I had a job, we finished out the school year here and played the game of wait-and-see (fun game to play with people's lives). We thought we'd have some answers by now of what to do with our situation (whether to move to Colorado or stay in Utah), but no answers have walked up and bonked us in the face,so we're still waiting and still seeing.

ANYWAY, we knew we'd want to get away this summer but because of the aforementioned situation recognized that money is tight (running two households + Caitlyn starting college = strapped). Soooooo, thank goodness for Keith and Cheryl and Bear Yake (yes, yake, it's not a misspelling; it's what one of the grandchildren called it when they were little and it's just kind of stuck).

Brook and I are past the point of fooling ourselves into thinking our kids still think of us as fun. We've moved more into the vacation roles of chaperons, meal makers, and tour guides. Jokes on them, though, because Brook and I still have fun. Brynn brought a friend, Emily. Zach originally invited two friends, Eric and Hunter, but then last, last, last minute ended up inviting two neighborhood friends, Madison and Riley (best decision). Because Caitlyn is all adulty now with having a full-time job and all was only able to come up for a day with her friend Chandler.

It was a GREAT time. The teenagers entertained themselves and laughed for four days straight. Brynn and Emily hung out with us and had their own kind of fun. And it was nice that Caitlyn was able to steal some time away and show up as well. Obviously, we wish she'd been able to be up there more, but we'll take any time at all.

Here are some things we did:

We began with our traditional stop at Maddox in Perry, UT

We went four-wheeling a lot

We swam at the pool

We got milkshakes on a daily basis.

The girls went through Minnetonka Cave. Cool!

The weather at the cave reminded the girls of vampires and Twilight.

We did the go-carts.

We did an afternoon at Bloomington Lake for cliff
jumping and the rope swing. Super fun.

Zach, Eric, and Hunter

Madison and Riley.

Chandler got highest points for his dives

from the rope swing. He's crazy athletic.

They're always hungry.

We did a day at the lake.

They loved lying in the warm mud. Ha.

They just had fun.

We're grateful to the parents who let their kids go with us. It made for a fantastic getaway for our family.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Cleaning House

I LOVE summer! We're officially OFF any kind of schedule at our house. Because the kids are older and there aren't things like swimming lessons and such, we stay up late, sleep in late, and kind of do our thing. It's what summer should be. I think it's hard for Brook because he's the only one who has to wake up for anything, yet we don't seem to make it bed before midnight or later.

I also love summer because my house stays cleaner for longer. That goes against ANY sort of logic, I know, but it's true. Because I'm not working I can clean any time of the day, there aren't papers and homework bags constantly cluttering things up, and the kids are out and about so much that they really don't make messes.

I know that everybody has their own cleaning routine. For me, I move from the east side of the house to the west and clean each room completely before I move on. It seems to work well unless I have a sort of schizophrenic day and lose focus.

Maybe you've had a day like the day I'm about to explain. Here's how my cleaning went yesterday:

It began well as I cleaned the kitchen and laundry room. It was sparkling. It continued well as I moved to the family room. I even got those great straight lines in the carpet when I vacuumed (now that says clean). It kind of fell apart, however, when I got to the hallway which leads to my bedroom.
My mother gave me about 15 purses she wasn't using anymore (she's kind of a purse collector, and I, on the other hand, am a one-purse-kind-of-gal. I use it until it's in shreds. I've known I needed to step my game up a little bit in that area, so acquiring all the new purses was exciting). They were collected in a huge pile in front of my bedroom.

Looking at the purses it dawned on me that I didn't have room for them all. What the heck was I thinking when I helped myself to such a cache of goodies? Clearly, I wasn't. Realizing they wouldn't fit in the master closet, I decided to clean out some space in the coat closet. After moving some things around in the coat closet, I realized the linen closet might work better. After cleaning out the linen closet I saw the boxes and albums of photos waiting to be scanned. I'm making a goal to scan all my photos and upload them on a web album so they won't be lost in case of fire or natural disaster (seems relevant given the frequency of this summer's wildfires and the fact that there's one house that lies between us and miles of dry grass leading up to a canyon). I've only scanned through 1996. Um, hello, only 16 more years to go.

Doesn't it seem obvious that I should drop everything and spend the next few hours scanning pictures? Yes, quite a schizophrenic day. I scanned 1997 and loved every minute of it. I love my cute kids and husband. What is amazing to me is that I still remember every outfit they wore, the event from the photo, how they smelled when I hugged them, the funny things they said, and how fun it was to be a young mom with a young family. Time flies!!! It didn't make me sad to scan them, just happy I still have the memories.

Here are a few of my favorites: