Sweet Campout/10 Year Anniversary

The annual Sweet Family Campout was this weekend at the Smith and Morehouse campground. I'm pretty sure that this is my new favorite campground! It's beautiful, the campsites are pretty big (I think our campsite number was 33, it rocked!), there is a reservoir about a mile up the road which is gorgeous, and we were in fabulous company. The only downside...the bathrooms. Really stinky vault toilets. Just practice holding your breath for long periods of time and you'll be okay!

Cameron was an absolute TROOPER! Let's be honest, I was more worried about Parker than I was about Cameron. The only tricky thing about taking a bottle fed baby camping, is always having enough warm water for bottles...especially first thing in the morning. Wanna know my solution? Sam got to sleep with a bottle of water in his sleeping bag and it stayed luke warm by 7am the next day. Voila!!

Day 1
The Bumbo chair was also a huge help, it kept Cameron clean, off his head, and happy! Here he is in front of our tent. Sam's brother calls our tent a hotel because it's huge. I love it!


After we got our camp set up, we headed to the reservoir. Isn't it purdy? Like those clouds?


Emery and Parker just chilling out...


Everyone was having a great time and all of a sudden... ***CRACK BOOM***!!! It lightening'd and thunder'd at the same time, RIGHT ABOVE US! I've NEVER seen Sam run out of a body of water faster than he did at this moment. In fact, I'm pretty sure he was running on top of the water. I was laughing so hard I didn't notice the huge rain cloud headed our way... Long story short, we got drenched. I loved every second of it! We hung out in our tent hotel and just listened to the rain for several hours. The kids loved it too!


By evening time the rain was just a drizzle instead of a terrential downpour so we dealt with the moisture without too much complaint.
Here is Aaron, Carson, and Scott. Scott and Shauna brought 3 cute little dogs that my boys LOVED! Carson is holding "Candy".


You would never know that moments before Parker was pouting about something. All I said was "don't you smile...." and this is the face he gave me. What a ham!


Super cute pic of Jessica and Cameron!


Precious!


Seriously, don't you giggle a LITTLE bit at this picture? Sadly, I can't remember why he is crying. :)


Day 2
He was much happier the next morning, see?


This picture kind of freaks me out. People tell me that Cameron looks like Sam but I never really believed it until this picture... FREAKY!


HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO ME!
August 8, 2008 is my 10 year anniversary of being married to Sam-I-Am.

I'm kind of bummed because I have a sweet video of our canoe ride/cruise together but blogger can't upload it for some reason...maybe it will work later. Anyway, Sam took me for a canoe ride because he said it's the closest thing we'll ever get to a cruise. :)
The happy couple and my view:



Carson started to look a little 'droopy' while playing in the lake. He ended up with the chills, a fever, and a nice case of dehydration. Unfortunately, I wasn't very good about keeping fluids coming...live and learn. He spent all evening in bed, I felt pretty bad!


Parker just eating his lunch on a rock.


Say "cheese"! No really, give me a smile! C'mon, at least a little smile?


Jeremy, looks like an inside job! Actually I don't really get what that means but Fern said it and I laughed...I'm still laughing.


I think Mel and Liz stole my camera...cheesy chic!


Some of the happy bunch


Mel, what are you thinking?? Are you thinking how much you love and admire me??


Sweet toes...wait, I think those are Clark toes.


Sam surprised me for our anniversary with a gift bag. Apparently the traditional gift for a 10 year anniversary is tin. So, Sam gave me the canoe ride in a tin canoe, he found metal goblets that he gave me with sparkling cider, and he gave me a CTR ring. He also gave me a People magazine to read while camping and some yummy raspberry Pepperidge Farm cookies. He is amazing! I love you SAM!!!!

Here we are toasting our anniversary at dinner that night:



As we toasted our anniversary, Sam said "here's to another 5, at least". I guess we'll see what happens in 5 years!!

After dinner Cindy was in charge of some activities and she did a great job, even though we mostly teased her the whole time. We did skits out of a bag of random items, a treasure hunt, and an alphabet game where we had the letters A-Z written on a piece of paper and we had to come up with a church related item to go with each letter. What church word goes with 'X'? WE just put X'd. :)

After dinner we hung out at our individual camp site for a little while. Well, Cameron and Sam and I hung out. Carson and Parker were fast asleep in the tent at this point!


Day 3
We pretty much woke up and took down camp. Like my elaborate breakfast I fed the kids?


All in all, the camp was awesome, the weather was cool, the rain rocked, my anniversary reminded me how much I love Sam, and I always come away from the campouts with a deeper appreciation of the Sweet family. I think the kids had fun too!



Surpringly, this isn't half of the pictures I took this weekend. It's hard to pick and choose what goes on the blog because I had so much fun!

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

So what does this picture tell ya?


Yep, Cameron's first experience in an outdoor pool was not exactly his favorite experience. However, Cathy...AKA "baby whisperer"...cuddled with Cameron in the water until he "warmed up" to the idea AND the water temp!


Thanks for letting us hang out, Ed & Cathy! I miss you guys more than you'll ever know. Seriously.

Ride 'em Cowboy:


Speaking of Parker...
You will NOT leave this table, young man, until you finish those last two carrots!



I just finished an orange popsicle. The joke on the stick said "what's the richest kind of air?" The answer: A Millionaire. Wouldn't a Billionaire be richer?

Guess what Carson asked me today? He said "Do we get to take our 'smarts' with us to heaven?" I replied "yep, and our stupids"

Kids

Cameron:
He's been a trooper letting us do his neck exercises every day and night. He can tell when we are about to start doing them and he gets a little fussy but overall I'd say he's a CHAMP! I've been trying to keep him off his head except for when he's sleeping so he's had lots of tummy time, johnny jumper time, and bumbo time!


He fell asleep in his jumper today, precious.


Parker:
He's been a little lonely this week because Carson started 2nd grade this past Monday. For some reason, when Cameron isn't sitting in the Bumbo chair, Parker likes to wear it on his head. I've said this before and I'll say it again...sometime it's easier not to ask questions!



Carson:
2nd grade has been good to Carson. I think he genuinely likes his teacher and his classmates. Today he came home with something called "Friday Letters". It's a letter that he writes to somebody in his family and then whomever he writes the letter to, has to write a letter back to him. All the letters are kept in a folder and by the end of the year it's going to be his 2nd grade journal.

I pulled out the letter and did what any normal parent would do. I said "Hey Carson, read me your letter!" because I couldn't read the words quite honestly. Here's exactly how he wrote the letter:
Dear mom and dad,
I lard a noo song. Mom tel camorin I side hi. From, Carson

His interpretation:
I learned a new song. Mom, tell Cameron I said hi.

My return letter:
Dear Carson,
I am so glad you learned a new song! I think you have a wonderful singing voice. I did tell Cameron you said "hi" and he gave me a big smile. Thank you for being such a great son. I love you very much! Love, Mom.

I really like this picture of Carson. This is EXACTLY how my brother Darren used to lay on the floor when he watched TV when we were little.

2 Years Ago

Two years ago Sam's best friend from High School, Brett Petersen, passed away. We took flowers to his grave tonight.



Here is my original post about his passing.

Torti-Therapy

Cameron had his first Physical Therapy session this afternoon for his torticollis. It was a great experience! The therapist took her time and made sure we understood all the exercises before sending us on our merry way. We go back 4 more times which takes us into September. After we're done with the PT then he'll get a helmet.

Basically Cameron needs to stretch his muscles in his neck that help him look to the left. Like this:


He also needs to stretch his muscles that make his head "cock" to the right. Imagine looking straight ahead...now move your right ear towards your right shoulder while still looking straight ahead.

Cameron's neck muscles don't allow those two motions very well. We have to do exercises to lengthen and strengthen those muscles 2 times per day, 3 reps each time, holding the position for 30 seconds with each rep. Piece of cake! Sam and I worked with Cameron tonight before bedtime and he didn't fuss at all with the stretches. What a good little patient!

Here's another fun picture. I think he's saying "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and gosh darnit, people like me!":


His head was measured from his flat spot to the bulge on the right side of his forehead. It measured 11mm. "normal" heads are 4mm and under. So his helmet was confirmed with that measurement.

By the way, I asked the therapist what her take was on the Bumbo chairs....she said they are great for babies until they are 6 months old. After 6 months you shouldn't use them because babies should start trying to sit up on their own. Also, the Bumbo chairs curve your back and sitting on your own teaches you to have a straight back. So there you have it, professional advice...free to you all! Go ahead and use those Bumbo's until your kiddos are 6 months old!

Having said that, I have a Bumbo chair and Cameron will only be using it for 1 1/2 more months. If anyone would like to borrow it, just let me know!

Now for a Parker story:
A few days ago Parker came up to me and said "Hey mom, girls don't have "pee pee's" do they?" I said "no". So Parker said "Well, do they just go to the bathroom out of their bum?" I said "kind of...." and I quickly changed the subject just because I'm like that. Well, Parker was over at my friend's house today. He walked up to my friend and said "Jene', girls only poop because they don't have pee pee's".
Isn't that just like Parker to put two-and-two together like that?? He figured that since girls don't have all the same parts, then they must only be able to go #2! Gotta love that kid!

My Mom Is Too Shy

I talked to my mom tonight and she refused to post these pictures on her blog so I guess I get to do the dirty work. I PROMISE this is a rock that nature made and as far as I'm concerned, nature intended for my mom to find it! You have to know that my mom is very proper so it was a funny turn of events when she picked up the rock because the conversation went something like this: "oooh, this is an interesting rock (she bends over, picks it up) *gasp*...Oh MY!" HA HA HA HA!



Here are some close up shots:



Like I said in my previous post: Nature must have a great sense of humor!

Pioneer Day Twenty Oh Eight

If you live in Utah you generally get July 24th off work to celebrate Pioneer Day. We started the day off kind of sketchy...no real plans. Nothing makes me into a cranky carrie like people sittin' around going "what do you wanna do? I don't know, what do you wanna do?...". After I got kind of short on patience we finally had some plans!

We drove up the canyon and went to a place called Hidden Falls. It was really fun.
The kids had a blast walking around in the stream and Cameron loved being on his daddy's back!


My guys!


Cameron couldn't handle all the excitement, he was asleep within 5 minutes of being packed around...


See the falls behind us?


I can see the writing on the wall, what do you think happens next?


Yep, he turns into an Egyptian....a soaking wet Egyptian...


After the falls we drove up Guardsman Pass and freaked out a little because everybody stood too close to the edge. You seriously feel like you are on top of the world!


We then drove into Park City, to the City Park, and ate lunch. We kicked around the soccer ball and played frisbee. Here's a cute pic of Cameron and his Grandma! Awww, precious!


On a last minute whim, we went up to the Olympic Park and watched the skiiers go off the ski jumps into the pool below. I think Parker was the most impressed. He would yell and scream each time another person landed in the pool. He also yelled and screamed when he tried climbing a rock retaining wall and scraped his shin....but those were of the painful variety of screams.



We got home, rested a bit, and went to the neighbor's house to light fireworks. Cameron was so embarrassed to be seen with us...


He did really good with fireworks, no cries at all! Carson and Parker used to SCREAM in fear when they were Cameron's age and would hear fireworks...here's hoping Cameron isn't deaf.




It ended up being a great day, not bad for having zero plans when we woke up! My mom found the most amazing rock when we were at Hidden Falls. I'll make sure she puts a picture of it on her blog. Let's just say nature MUST have a sense of humor! Stay tuned for THAT!

Thanks Cameron, My Vocab Is Getting Larger!

We went to Primary Childrens Hospital this morning and met with a doctor who specializes in young children's head deformities, their causes, and their treatments.

I must say, he talked so dang fast that he would put both Nalani and I to SHAME...and that's if we combined our speed, slang, and attitude! It was awesome!

Here's the diagnostic outcome:
Cameron has two issues...1-he has torticollis. 2-he has plagiocephaly because of the torticollis.

What does this mean?

Basically, the doctor thinks Cameron's head was kind of kinked to one side in the womb. Because of this, one side of his neck has a shorter muscle than the other side of his neck. I always could tell that Cameron turned to the right more than left, but if I say his name from his left side, he didn't seem to have a problem looking left...

I felt really bad when the doctor forcibly turned his neck from left to right because Cameron SCREAMED bloody murder and I could see the little tendons bulging up from his neck due to the strain.

So, because of the torticollis, he always sleeps in a certain position, even if we prop him otherwise, and that has caused the bizarre shift in his head, which is the plagiocephaly.

For the next 6 weeks we need to get him into a physical therapist who will work on his neck to lengthen the muscles and even them out. Once that problem is resolved, then Cameron will get a helmet. The longest he'll need a helmet is 3-4 months. The helmet will correct the shape of his head and realign his ears and get rid of the bulge on the right side of his forehead.

I specifically asked the doctor if everything will be totally normal at the end of this potential 5 month period and he said I will not be able to tell that he ever had a problem once we are through.

So to that, I say "IT'S ALL GOOD!"

When This House Is A Rockin'...

So we had a ridiculous storm come blazing through West Jordan today. I took a ton of video so here's a sample. Sorry about the retarded commentary...I realize that while I'm taking a video I can't logically talk at the same time. Sorta like chewing gum and walking. Anyway, it was a normal sunny day when I heard some distant thunder. I looked outside and saw these crazy gray clouds heading my way. Within about 5 minutes it started to rain huge drops and then the heavens opened and down came rain and hail for about 1/2 hour. I swear we got about 3 inches of rain in that time period. Truth be told, I loved every second of it! Unfortunately my kids were playing at a neighbor's house at the time so I didn't have anybody to enjoy it with. I kept calling Sam at work and bugging him until I think he was ready to find a friend for me. :) Other items "in the news" We bought Cameron a bumbo chair and he loves it! I wish I would have had one of these for my other kids. It's so nice for Cameron to sit in it and play with toys. Plus, I'm trying to keep him off his head so this is extremely handy. So handsome! On Monday we had a dinner at the park with the bishopric and their families. It was really fun. Sam put together a FHE lesson about Pioneers. He talked about what a pioneer was and had the kids sing a pioneer song. Then, he had filled a huge container full of random odds and ends. All the kids had to separate it into 2 piles: one pile was stuff the Pioneers probably brought with them across the plains (food, shelter, clothing, blankets, pans, tools, rope, scriptures, journal...) and the other pile was for stuff they wouldn't bring (hair dryer, Ipod, robotic dinosaur...). It was a hoot watching the kids figure it out. Sam always comes up with entertaining lessons, I love it! This morning my friend Natalie cut my boys' hair. All three kids were looking somewhat shaggy in the hair department. Before: After (smart alecks!): And just for fun, here's a few more shots of that crazy storm today! Tomorrow morning we have Cameron's doctor appointment that should determine how to treat his shifty head. Stay tuned for that....

Something Old, Something New, Parker With His Pants Off Too

So the other day the kids were playing in the back yard. Carson comes running in the house and said "Parker threw his pants over the fence!". Luckily Sam was home so I put my fingers in my ears, hummed a song off-tune, and pretended I didn't hear anything.

Apparently Parker's shorts are a bit big so his pants fall down easily. Carson (not one to pass by an opportunity like that) kept 'pantsing' him. So I'm sure Parker got mad (shocker) and threw his pants over the fence into the neighbor's yard. While he was hanging out in his underwear, he noticed that our other neighbor's were in their backyard. I don't know what caused him to think this was okay, but he "mooned" them, and according to our neighbor it wasn't the backside he mooned them with....so I guess he "sunshined" them. Sam went outside to take care of the situation. Parker was unsuccessfully trying to hide behind the basketball stand:


Parker's face was still dirty from dinner so Sam said to Parker, "let's wash your face". Sam grabbed the hose and sprayed a steady stream, directly into Parker's face. While Parker screamed, Sam said "quit taking your pants off!".

Problem solved? I guess time will tell.

Back in May of 2005, Parker was almost one year old. We went to a Park in West Jordan. Parker loved the swing. See?


We went to that same park last night with our friends, the Sharpe's, and Parker still likes the swings. Well, at least I think he liked the swings...


It was fun getting together with old friends again. We were in the same ward with Jeremy and Marisa when we lived in the avenues. In fact, they lived in the house right next to our house. Good times!

Here's Marisa and myself with our newest additions. We look happy, the kids...not so much. Ashton is 2 months younger than Cameron.


Oh yeah, I got my hair colored. Don't I look 10 years younger? ha ha ha!


Here is Jeremy and Sam. Again, kids are not so sure what's going on.


And finally, Cameron fell asleep on Sam's shoulder. I don't have any words to express how weird I think his lips look here. He kind of reminds me of of Gumby. Does anyone even remember Gumby? Anyway, bizarre-o!