Browne Lake

My family has always loved camping and we always go to the same place, Browne Lake in the Uintas. We were lucky enough to take a trailer from Justin's work this year, and that will make it hard tenting it next time we go up there.
The trailer was so comfortable and warm!
It was way fun this time with Mya's age. She explored a ton! We'd go for walks to a nearby stream, she thought she was big enough to walk from one trailer to the next to find whoever she was looking for, and just walk around with the big kids (and little!). The reason I say little is because Mya and Zoe are pals, but when they're together, they do things I don't think they would normally do. There was a couple of times where they'd just start wandering off. At one point, if Justin and Heidi hadn't been paying attention, we could have lost them. They walked off through the trees, over to the next road, and only stopped for a puddle to splash in. They never looked back once to see if anyone was following. They're funny when they get together.


Fishing was not hot for us this trip. I actually got a license this time since we'd be up there longer and going back for Labor Day. Justin got one bite the entire trip, and I got none. I thought it'd be really cool to catch one and show Mya and see her reaction, but I guess maybe next time. But we had plenty of time to take pictures, since the fish weren't biting.
This is when we first all went fishing. My niece Ella (who is almost 3) caught a huge fish right off the bat and had another bite right after...but she was the only one.
We decided to try one more time before dinner on Saturday, but a storm was rolling in, so it was a little cold.


We always go for a drive at night to look for animals. Mya knows what deer are and I really wanted to show her some. Most nights we left her in her car seat so she never really saw the animals we did. But one night Justin and I drove to just the end of the road to go into Browne and saw 10 elk. We told Mya they were deer (which it was probably better we saw those since they're bigger and darker) and she of course shot them with her finger.Saturday night she fell asleep on the drive looking for animals. This night we had 4 trucks of people looking for animals. We were talking about going on some side roads on the way up to Spirit Lake, but ended up just driving straight up there and take the side roads on the way back. It ended up being a good thing we did. As we got to Spirit Lake, a guy flagged us down asking if we were Search and Rescue, thinking that maybe we were because of all of the trucks. He then told us that a 9 year old boy was lost and it was his son. This was the night the storm was rolling in. It was cold, drizzily, and windy. The emotions I felt for this boy I didn't even know hit hard. The guys got out of the trucks and headed up the trail to look for this boy. The girls and kids piled up in our Explorer and we headed back to camp, hoping they could find him. The problem with this trail is that there's a stream running along it and it's a really marshy area. Half of the time, you can't tell where this trail is and with it being spring time, the water was all over. They headed up the trail banging pans, but with the wind, Justin said if he had been so far or ahead of them, there was no way he would hear them. Once it was dark, they all got off the mountain and headed back. As we were heading back, we passed so many Search and Rescue. We stopped in a few camps to spread the word and prayed so much for this little boy. There wasn't much more we could do at that point. When then guys came home that night and told us the boy still wasn't found, it became a sleepless night. Early that morning, they all went back and to help look for the boy. There were 170 volunteers! Once Search and Rescue gave the guys their grid on the map to look for the boy, they started heading up there, only to hear on the walkie talkies that the boy could have been found. After about 10 minutes, it was confirmed that he was found!
The guys talked to the boy's aunt and she had asked Grayson what he did that night. He said he laid down by a tree that had fallen over, then prayed and cried all night. It was so emotional for all of us. We didn't even know this boy and we all hoped so much that he would be okay. It was a great trip spending time with the family, but that experience made me hold on a little tighter to Mya that night and be so glad for the people who surround my life.

San Diego, Here We Come!

Justin was able to deliver some more trailers for work, and this time it was to San Diego. We decided to make a family vacation out of it and stay for a couple of days. It was really fun and Mya did really good to stay in the car as long as she did for the drive there and back. The drive there was pretty bumpy with the weight of the trailer, so Mya had a hard time falling asleep at first. We left Wednesday night (on June 3rd). It was after midnight and Mya was finally falling asleep, so we pulled over to let her get some good sleep since her head was bouncing all over the place. Only that plan back fired! Once we stopped she was wide awake and wanted to play. So while Justin checked on the trailers, she decided it was her turn to drive.
She must get the talking on the phone while driving from Justin...
This is at one of the stops while Justin needed to sleep. At one point I took Mya to the bathroom only to find a sign that says Rattlesnake Warning: Watch Your Children....That kind of freaked me out if any of you know how much rattlesnakes scare me!
Then that morning we were there! We delivered the trailers around 11 their time in Los Angeles and headed back down to Sea World to stay the night and see Sea World the next day.
I love seeing this temple as you drive down the freeway.

Once we found a hotel with a big enough parking lot for a truck and trailer, Justin and Mya went swimming. Mya loved it despite how cold it was and laughed so hard when Justin would put her in the water!

After swimming, we ordered pizza. We were all so tired from the long drive and not being able to sleep well that we were all asleep by 6:30! We even slept 11 1/2 - 12 1/2 hours! I was way suprised Mya and I both slept through the night.


We had no clue what time Sea World opened and figured around 8 or 9. So we ate breakfast and headed out, only to find we were almost 2 1/2 hours early! They didn't open until 10, so we found a nearby beach and hung out there until it opened.
It was beautiful and so relaxing. Since it was still so early, there were rabbits on the hill eating and with the birds everywhere, Mya was in heaven! We watched boats and birds for a while until Mya fell asleep. After we let her sleep a while, we headed back for a long day of fun!

Mya LOVED Sea World! We saw the dolphins, sea otters, then headed over to the sting ray pool. Mya loved playing in the water and didn't realize what was in the water she was playing in.
I don't think she even noticed the big black things slowly moving around until one came by and splashed. After that, she would not let us put her near the water until there were no sting rays around.
But as soon as one would come by, she'd grab onto us to get her away. She's so like her mother...
Then we fed ducks and saw some other weird birds.
We got to hold and feel star fish...
...See flamingos...
...And go through aquariums. Mya started to make fish lips when she would look at the fish. It was so funny, but this is the best picture we could get of her making the face.

We went to two shows, Shamu, of course, and the pets show. Mya was so into both. She loved watching the whales come out of the water and it actually kept her attention most of the time (I was suprised). We had lunch between shows and saw the rest of the exhibits. She loved the polar bear. The sharks and other aquariums kind of freaked her out, I think because it was dark and they had creepy music going. The pets show had animals she recognized, so she was glued the entire time. It had dogs doing tricks, cats doing tricks, pigs, ducks, etc. She seriously loved it and she was so wiped out that day!
She did so good the entire time. It was a way fun family trip!

My Mya

I've been thinking a lot lately how lucky I am to be a mom to Mya! I honestly think they can't get better or cuter than my little girl! (Of course, I'm a little biased). My favorite days are when it's just me and Mya doing whatever we want. About a month ago Mya and I had to run some errands on a Saturday and between stores she was getting a little grumpy and I realized she was probably ready for lunch. So we stopped at Wendy's and got her a kids meal and drove to the nearest park. We sat there and ate and then went and swang. It was not a scheduled stop and I think I didn't get everything done that day I had planned, but it was seriously the funnest day. I realized then how much I wanted to stay at home and have days like that every day, but with our situation I just can't yet. So after talking with Justin, we figured it'd be just fine if I cut one more day out of working and I now work only 3 days a week. Working 4 days a week was working, but Saturday was my errand day and Monday was my cleaning day, so I didn't feel like I was really concentrating on Mya and giving her all of the attention I wanted to give her. I love that the weather is warm now and I have so many plans in my head for things we can do this summer together. I just love that girl and she makes me laugh and makes me so happy! My favorite things to do with her are going to feed the ducks, playing in the back yard with our bunnies, going for walks, playing with dolls, shopping (she gets so excited over new clothes) and cuddling. The other night it was taking me a little bit to fall asleep and I just wanted Mya by my side so bad, and even though she was already asleep, I went and got her and had Justin scoot over in bed and had her sleep with us. I fell right to sleep cuddling with her but at 5:30 she was awake and let me know she wanted to sleep in her crib. By that point it was fine with me since she was starting to toss and turn a lot and kick...but lately I've been thinking how my entire life I've just wanted to be a mom and I am. I just really love that girl!!!