Ode to the Minivan

So I have been feeling a little depressed the past couple of days. I don't know if depressed is the right word, maybe just dealing with change. Anyway, so we have been looking for a van for awhile in the anticipation of our move to California. So a really great deal came up and we bought a Honda Odyssey. (It looks like the above pic, but used :) So that is the good news...yeah, we got a deal!

So here is where the depression comes in. I am feeling so old! Owning a minivan is like a huge milestone! I still feel 18, but everything around me reminds me that I am not. So I guess I am officially a mom, since I now own the minivan that goes with the job description. You know, mormom mom, minivan, a million kids. Yikes! So thanks for letting me vent out the aging process of life! And good luck to all those in the future who will cross this great milestone called getting older and having kids and driving huge cars! In the meantime, don't laugh at people driving minivans, it might be me!

The rest of the summer!

With difficult internet, a very slow computer and a broken flash on a camera...I finally bring you the rest of the Belnap summer! Here is a picture overload of a summer. (Yes Kevin, this is proof that we actually do cool stuff!) We visited both of my grandmas. Did anyone else have one of these? We grew up playing on this awesome horse. And now the next generation continues to play on this fun horse!

This is the day after the 4th of July. It has become a tradition here in Provo for us to see the hot air balloons in the morning. It was really fun! (We missed it the first day because we slept in. Sorry Rachel and Tanner.)Here we are camping! But don't get too excited. We are camping in McCammon, ID. Not my idea of 'roughing it' but hey. This was the Karl Belnap family reunion, which was once again more like the Ross Belnap family reunion, since our fam is HUGE!!! I was trying not be bitter that I didn't win the dutch oven cook-off (obviously still not over that one:)And then Kevin ditched us and went to Disney World for 'training.' PricewaterhouseCoopers paid for him to go to Disney World for a few days. That is who he interned with over the winter. They also paid him while he was there! And that is why we have signed a job offer with them. :) This is Kevin with more of the PWC interns. You'll have to ask him who these people all are. They spent 2 days playing around in Animal Kingdom and the Hollywood park. Sorry, I've never been, so I don't really know what I am talking about. He was in a culinary competition, they built bikes and listened to speakers. Sounds rough.


The person taking the picture didn't realize they were taking a video. So here is Kevin with Mickey! Emma was excited.So while Kevin was in Florida, we (me and the kids) stayed in Idaho for a week. He came to Idaho the day before his birthday. So we stayed another day and celebrated his birthday. What a great day!So we invited all the Belnaps. Our nieces and nephews could hardly stand candles being blown out without their help. So Kevin let some of them help. Emma is helping too! After the fact, we realized that we had the first Kay Jenkins family reunion. Everyone came down to Utah and we went to LAGOON!!! It took us planning it all summer, but we finally made it. So from right to left: Dad, Alicia, Camilla, Kevin, Jen, Allison, Richard, Stephanie, Brandon, Emma and Mom! Thanks everyone for coming. It was awesome!
Here we are at Lagoon! We are all really excited to be here (as you can tell).
Alicia and Allison riding the swings. You go girls! (Kevin is the insane one taking all the pics. I was too chicken and dizzy!)
What is a reunion without some chow! What a fun day!

This is Brandon, Allison and Richard on the tidal wave. Brandon was pretty nervous and held on the whole time. We love ya Brandon!
This is in line for the white roller coaster. And this would be the only ride that mom rode all day. Sorry mom. But we are soooooo grateful that you watched our kids so we could ride crazy rides like the Rocket!

We all rode the Merry-go-round with Emma. She was a little nervous, but then warmed up to the rides. Dad said it was funny to watch us, because about 6 grown people were surrounding one toddler. What can we say? We love our Ems!
I think Emma rode this ride like 6 times. She loved it! She was crazy on the rides. We took her on the kid roller coaster and even took her on the huge white roller coaster! What a trooper!

Emma finds her true love? Nope, not the boy...the car! She loves to drive anything so the cars were a hit too.

Our dear "Unca Bandon" fell asleep behind our couches. He is 6'5" (at least) and 100% legs, as I am sure you can tell.

We also took a family vacation to Yellowstone. Here is my bragging rights, my grandpa started the Playmill Theatre in West Yellowstone, MT. So this is always a sentimental place for me. We always drive past our cabin and stop in to see this great place. And yes, that is me in front of the theatre.

We were able to stay at our brother-in-law's cabin (for free, the best vacation!) in Island Park. So we spent two days going through Yellowstone National Park. Here we found some elk along the road. Emma called them 'Uk.'
Here we are up at the artist paint pots. It was really pretty, but cold for us Utahans.

Here is Emma looking at a geyser. This child has no fear! Funny story, she even tried to throw her shoe into Echineas geyser. (So Dine, not just a stick would fly out of the water :) Luckily the shoe did not go into the geyser, but Kevin did break park rules and hopped the fence to get her shoe.

Here we are in front of Old Faithful. "Ain't as faithful as it used to be!" We had a blast up at the cabin with just us. It was a nice relaxing family vacation.

And what would a summer be without swimming? Emma and Jacob love to swim together and spent a few days playing in the water. (Which mostly consists of just running around the yard in their swim suits.)

We put the hose on the slide so they could have a cheap 'water slide.' They loved it. My favorite part is Emma sliding down and catching air at the bottom. (Plus the clip ends showing her nice JLo bootie!) We love ya Ems!


And here are our girls in their matching dresses. Thanks Grandma! We love our girls and think they are adorable!

Kev, Honers, Shnookie, etc.

So I thought I would do this post to prove that I am still a wife and not just a mom. (Mostly for Kev's sake- I luv ya babe!) So here goes the reader's digest version of our relationship.

1. What is his name? Kevin Scott Belnap
2. Who eats more? ummm Kevin of course.
3. Who said I love you first? I think it was Kevin. He is a huge advocate for telling the truth and letting people know how you feel. Plus I am a little gun shy with stuff like that.
4. Who is taller? Kevin is. He says that is the only reason I married him. Well he is close to right. I already have a huge complex about how tall I am, like I wanted to spend eternity being reminded of what an amazon I am. So Kevin is taller even when I wear my heels!
5. Who is smarter? I would say Kevin is since he has scored higher on every standardized test than me. (Hey but who is competing)
6. Who is more sensitive? I am and especially when I am pregnant! I have a tendency to cry alot which can be associated with being sesitive.
7. Who does the laundry? I DO! Kevin is not allowed to help. I am a little bit anal when it comes to the laundry and how I want it done. So I do it, but I do let him help fold it.
8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Which is the right side? When looking at the headboard (if I had one) Kevin sleeps on the right hand side.
9. Who pays the bills? I do, I know I am married to an accountant, but I do the finances. Go figure.
10. Who does most of the cooking? I do. Kevin makes me breakfast in bed every once in awhile. It is nice!
11. What meals do you cook together? umm...he watches the kids so I can make dinner. Does that count?
12. Who is more stubborn? We are both incredibly stubborn people.
13. Who is the first to admit that they are wrong? Kevin because he doesn't like contention. Me, I would stay mad for years.
14. Who has more siblings? Kevin is number seven of ten! (Everyone says it is Kevin, number seven from heaven..awwww)
15. Who wears the pants in the relationship? I like to think of it as we each have a pant leg on.
16. What do you like to do together? Is there anything to do besides take care of kids? We do like to read books together. We are currently reading Twilight.
17. Who eats more sweets? Kevin is a sugartarian.
18. What is his guilty pleasure? Ice cream and popscicles.
19. How did you meet? Oh boy. This is really reader's digest. We met at a seminary social on dating and we were paired up for the evening. The next year in school we were in Gate City Singers together and were dancing and singing partners.
20. Who asked who out first? We started dating without going on a date. Hey we were in high school! We actually started dating on choir tour in Canada. So our first date, was my senior prom (Kevin did ask me to prom) and we had already been 'dating' for like 2 months or so.
21. Who kissed who first? Kevin kissed me the night of prom. (I still wouldn't kiss him a year after we had been dating. Or even call him on the phone. Like I said I am shy with that stuff.)
22. Who proposed? Kev did.
23. His best features? I have to pick one? I married a tall, dark and handsome guy. But I do like his booty!
24. What is his greatest quality? I love his determination. If Kev desides something, it will happen.
25. I tag Anyone who read all of this. :)

My computer stinks!

So my camera broke, my computer is slower than cold tar and we don't have consistant internet. Moral of the story, I CAN'T BLOG!!!!! I am getting really annoyed. So until all three things coincide, I will be very behind. So this is all that I could get to work for me are a few glimpses of the beginning of our summer. So enjoy and no promises when I will get to update again. This is Emma and I on the 4th of July. Emma loved the fireworks and still asks for them. She has no fear.
This is our patriotic Camilla. She enjoyed the fireworks too. When Emma was this age, she just cried. Cami was great!


Emma and I are hanging out!
This is our infamous hike to the Y. Kevin and I took our girls to the top of the Y. I carried Camilla the whole way to the top. I felt pretty cool! Kevin wanted to run up to the very top of the Y. This is him! Go superman!
This is all of us on the Y.


Kevin helped to carry Camilla down because my knees were shaking from going downhill. Does anyone else do that? I couldn't resist this cute little face.The best part of hiking the Y is the georgous sunset! We loved it!This is us on Memorial Day. We went to visit family. This is my Grandpa's headstone. This was the first Memorial Day that he has been gone. It was difficult, but we were glad that we could be together. This is my parents and siblings and my kids. (Kevin was too good to be in the pic).
This is Emma playing with the cousins. She found a car and only wanted to drive that. Watch out, Emma is behind the wheel!
These are the three babies that were blessed Memorial Day weekend. Our niece Tayzlee and nephew Keaton and Camilla. Camilla is the middle one.
This is her blessing dress.
These are the pictures we got done in her blessing dress. We think she is adorable.

Happy Birthday to my Honers!

Happy Birthday babe! I just wanted to dedicate this post to you on your special day. Now it is my chance to brag about the greatest husband ever. Don't be jealous ladies, but I have always said that everyone needs a Kevin. As cliche as it sounds, I am glad that I married my best friend. When we were getting married, we were talking about a bridal shower and who would throw it. Most times it is a friend that you have had forever, that knows everything about you, etc. The person that best fit that discription is YOU! So I married you instead of letting you throw me a bridal shower. You are also a great dad. Our girls love you tons. Thanks for all your help with the kids. I appreciate all the long hours you put in for our family. I can't imagine the stress that you feel with school, work, family,etc. But you handle it well and are still excited to come home to us at night. I love your sense of humor. You always make me laugh (see pic above). We love ya babe! And we hope you have a terrific day.

"Memory" (all alone in the moonlight)-from Cats or Jason Castro

This is a really fun post!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. I will revisit your blog and leave a memory as well!! Happy Memory making!!

I've been tagged!

Thanks Rach for making me feel cool too.

Here are six things most people don't know about me:

1) I broke my neck. (I can live to tell the tale)

2) I was a cheerleader for two years. (yes, I have since repented)

3) My second toe is longer than my big toe.

4) I was born in the same hospital as my second daughter.

5) I grew up in West Yellowstone, Montana.

6) My name is spelled wrong on my birth certificate.

And I tag...Brittany, Brooke, Marianne, Emily and Kristin