Towards the end of the month

Running after 5 kids isn't enough for Stac so late fri night she decided to run a 10k in the Morning. Rhen had fun watching her from the road side after which Stac dated herself with this sweet 90's 'hang loose' hand sign. Wait.... Maybe she's a Texas longhorns fan.

About 9700 Ft.

Three yrs ago, a week or two before we found out cancer came back for Chloe, my brother Josh and I took our girls on a backpack trip up in WY. The girls had so much fun (we did too) that they have been begging us to go again ever since. The next backpack trip was the subject of many late night talks I had with Chloe in the hospital as she would often ask where we would go, when her doctors would think it was OK or what we would do. I think talking about it helped Chloe escape from the present or something because she asked me about it all the time. Unfortunately, because of her transplant and all that comes along with it she couldn't go for quite a long time. Addie and Josh's girls have waited patiently for Chloe to be able to go with them [Thanks, to all of them. It meant a lot to Chloe]. Just this spring Chlo's docs gave her the go ahead and we were finally able to find a weekend that worked for all of us. Backpacking with 6 little girls (sorry Ads, still my little girl) is very entertaining, and several people we passed on the trail thought we were a bit crazy for bringing them up there but we all had a wonderful time. Here are a few pics of the adventure in no real order of importance or hierarchical sequence.

This was our view when we woke up. Well actually Josh and I never fell asleep. I can never sleep the first night out of my own bed. It was completely peaceful on the east side of the peak, so we laid there under the stars and listened to the cool sound of the jetstreams in the wind coming up over the peak.



Elsie, taking a much deserved break to eat some fruit snacks. She had a lot of fun and the backpacking was a nice focus for her fun, energetic personality. She did great, and it was a hard trail for a seven year old. She liked to wait for me on the trail to point out something cool or tell me [specifically] how I would die and she'd never see me again if I fell off some cliff. I don't think she asked me once to carry her pack for her. She is already talking about the next trip, hoping we can get the same dry mix cobbler we had at dinner and "Warm Chocolate Memories" brand hot chocolate. We sure created some warm memories with it, and they were chocolaty.
Chloe was always by my side so I had quite a few pics of her. I chose to upload this one and I feel pretty good about my decision. As we walked along she told me how pretty she thought the scenery was and how she was so glad we were able to come. She is always so appreciative of the good things around her. I like that. Her muscles are still pretty weak from all the treatments so she struggled to keep up with the other girls. She had a hard time especially on the steep hills, but she only asked me to help her with her pack on the flats. Considering everything she has gone through, I think she did very well. She loves to hike and see the scenery. She commandeered Josh's binoculars so she could watch the many Mt. Goats we saw on the cliffs as we hiked.
Ever wonder what it looks like at midnight at 9712 ft? Here you go. Josh, Jill, Jamie and Joni aren't always there at midnight, but the rest is pretty accurate. Unless you are looking North. Well, any direction but south including but not limited to NE and NW.
I don't have many pictures of Addie close up because she and Joni were always out front leading the way. Addie did awesome this year, carried all her own stuff and never complained about how heavy her pack was or how hard it was to climb the steep rocky trail. I think she likes the adventure. I heard her several times counseling the younger kids on how to be safe while climbing the steep hills. In this pic above they are about to pass a rattle snake in the rock without realizing it. Josh found him a few minutes later when we got to the top. Luckily, none of us woke him up.
This moutain side should be very familiar to my Fam. Growing up we spent a lot of time biking, hiking, camping and horse riding in the mountains just down to the right of the peak. Good times. In fact, it was here and only here where I rode one of my Dad's horses and didn't get bucked off. Dad had great horses, i'm just a lousy rider. This particular day is so vivid in my mind, seems like it was yesterday. I rode this horse that was probably a mare, or maybe a gelding or stallion. It was for sure one of those three. I forget the horse's name, but it had a beautiful shiny coat of brown. It might have been black though, or white or a combination of any of those three colors. Man that was a pretty horse. I'm not really sure what time of day it was, but the temperature was probably nice for riding. I'll never forget it.
Here are six of nine girls Josh and I have between us. From the left, Chloe, Jill, Joni, Elsie, Jamie and Addie. They are all great hikers and had fun singing silly songs and collecting pocket fulls of 'special' rocks. My girls love hangin out with Josh's girls. They can't get enough of them.
Sunset at the Peak.

The Josh Englands. Josh always makes trips like these adventurous and luckily everything I forgot he brought and visa versa. Though I think I forgot more than he. His girls were all troopers and characters, just like their dad.
The Jake Englands

We all had a fun time and the girls are already asking about where we might go next time. We're looking forward to when The Stacie's(y's) can join us when our little ones are older.

A Little Dirt in His Diet

Moms take a terrible risk sending their kids off to camp alone with their dads. Wait, maybe he's just wearing gloves. Luckily someone lit a latern so we were able to identify the contamination. It took a good half box of whipes to clean this kid up - after we took some pics of him enjoying that monsterous treat, of course.

What we've been up to.

Not much really. Summer has been great, but passing quickly. My sister Kell came up the other week and took some pics of the fam. I think she gets better every time she takes our pictures. Thanks a lot Kelly! We really appreciate it, even more since you shouldn't have been up and about. Our kids are growing so fast it's scary.





I asked Kell to take some pics of Stac so I can have a pic of my Lady on my desktop. I might just wallpaper the long wall in my office with this pic. I'm sure Stac would like to see herself billboard size when she stops by.


In other news, we continue to do things from time to time. The other day we took the kids on a walk by the river.

Then we went camping and forgot to take any pics of our kids having fun in the forest, but managed to take this one of the sunset one rainy night. The pic didn't turn out, but the scenery in person was very nice.

While camping we stopped in at the [very happening] Star Valley Fair. Elsie and Rhen hit a bunch of exciting rides. Chloe was very disappointed because the little rides were boring, and she is just shy of the height minimum for the bigger ones so she was pretty bored with the whole thing, and quite irritated that she hasn't grown more. Dang chemo.


Thanks to Addie's willingness to babysit from time to time [thanks Ads] I've been able to get Stacie out for some fun. This is her riding her bike on a trail. The are also some trees and sage brush nearby in this photo.

She likes to go fast.

At home we've learned an important lesson that buying a swingset and spending 2 days assembling it wasn't really necessary. All we needed to do was take the top of the old FJ40 and park it in the garage. They have gotten way more use out of the fj the last several weeks than they ever have in the swingset. They never want me to drive it to work because they want to play in it during the day. Rhen and Elsie spend hours in it playing and swinging on the roll bar. One night I found Addie relaxing in the back reading a book. Rhen is especially attached to it. The other day when I was leaving to work he was yelling at me, "Daaad, don taka my FJ40!" I thought i'd pass it down to him eventually, but at 2 yrs old? He's a little optimistic.

And finally, just a few months before he is too old for nursury at church, he decided he'd go the other day and didn't put up a fight. I did have to bribe him with a dewskie which I've been reprimanded for doing... but it worked. Even still, I don't have a whole lot of confidence that he will go as easily next time.

He also learned how to put on his belt by himself and was very proud.

Lagoon

Call me crazy (jake does anyway) but I love Lagoon. I walk into the gate and the smell reminds me of being young and I smile everytime. I use to go there as a kid, it was freedom to me, going off to ride rides, hang out together, and laugh so hard with my cousin who was, at that time, my best friend. So for Addie's 12th birthday I took her to lagoon and let her hang out with her cousin and go off and ride rides with her. I took Chloe and and Elsie too, but Elsie is our motion sickness child, and our first ride was the rolllercoaster, adn she did not like that one bit. So when we bounced back a week later she didn't want to come. But my other girls had a blast.

The Rocket was really cool, you feel weightless. The wicked was wicked! And we got soaked on the rapids. I was telling Addie all the rides that weren't there when I was her age she frowned and said, Oh, like too bad for you. I laughed. Good times.

boy

Rhen eating his "Yucky Arms" (lucky charms).

One of a Kind

Ever since I met Stacie 18 years ago she has had an unusual quirk. Whenever we get pizza she will peel off the cheese and toppings and just eat the crust with a little sauce on top. So it's technically not a pizza anymore. More like slightly sauced flat bread. Now you'd think this would be advantageous for me because i could get whatever pizza I want since she'll only eat the crust anyway. Nope, if she is going to remove the cheese and toppings, the pizza really should be just ham with fresh tomatoes - apparently it just tastes better that way (after you take everything off). This never bothered me, it's just one of those quirks that makes her who she is and I love her for it. Luckily for me, pizza with ham and fresh tomatoes is my favorite.

The other day we took the family to dinner at the pizza place where Stacie and I met a long time ago. Half way through the meal I looked around the table and Stacie, Addie, Chloe and Elsie all had a pile of cheese and ham on their plates. They were just finishing up their crust. Ironically, Rhen would love to eat their cheese and ham, but he is Lactose intolerant. We were going to get him a sweater vest and pocket protector to wear with that condition, but we decided that's stereotype-ism and we won't be a part of that system.


This story reminds me of the time we went to dinner with the Cochran's in St George and Stacie ordered a Quesadilla without the cheese. The waitress was completely confused and said, "So you just want a tortilla?" We all had a good laugh about that one. I think she ended up with just, like a salad.

There's just no one quite like Stacie. Love ya Stac, I'm not even kidding.

boy how time flies

My older girls 5 years ago still have the same attitude as in this first picture. Addie wanting to do whats right and follow orders, chloe off in whateverland :) and Elsie not wanting to hold still. Although I miss these days, I have fun watching them getting older. I have to laugh, though, because they still exibit these same traits today.
They are off to Camp Hobe for this whole week! Camp Hobe, a camp for cancer patients and their siblings is a great place to bond with those who have gone through similar obsticles and have some needed fun. It is quiet around our house, we don't even get to call them to see how things are but I am sure they are having fun and meeting new friends. We pick them up on friday, it weird to just have two little ones in the house. We miss them!

whip it good

After a crazy disaster with my fourwheeler, my massive bruise on my leg is finally turing a light yellow apple color, I can finally put my leg in a pair of paints without lifting it with my hand or contorting my face, but my whip lash will not go away. Today my head fills like it is 10 pounds (as most days). I must of hit it pretty good (thank goodness for the helmet I almost wasn't going to wear). It is hard to feel that way and still go about life. I am not one to take medication for things so maybe it my own fault, but I do hope it goes away.
What has kept my mind off my neck, and has gotten me to keep up on all the chores around house without it being soooo boring is audio books on my ipod. I pop those earphones in my ears and can handle the chores of the day. I even find myself doing other things I wouldn't normally do everyday so I can listen to a book :). Now if itunes would only rent out the books.

The Weekend

We had an opportunity to spend a little time in WY with family to frame up a redwood greenhouse for the folks. It was cold and a little rainy, but you can't beat the fresh air or the views. This is what we ended up with at the end of the day.

We took a little ride up to Cottonwood Lake and considered the rope swing, but spent too much time using winches and snatch blocks to pull my 4wheeler out of the deep snow i got it buried in. I was really stuck. Everyone gave me a hard time about it, but I contest it was the price I paid by blazing a trail for the rest of them to get through. And it was pretty funny hearing Stacie refer to the winch as a wench. Two very different things - one gets you into serious trouble, the other gets you out.

On the way home Stacie got a little too agressive and went over the handlebars while blasting through some snow. I think Rhen gets his dare devil-ness from her. She's a bit sore now, but very pleased she wore a helmet purchased at Pure Offroad otherwise it would have been much more painful for all of us 'cause we can't live without her.