When I'm a Grown Up

Oh, another funny. Yesterday Brennan was playing with his friend Isaac and when I picked him up he came running up the stairs with a pile of broken pieces of an electric bubble gun. He was holding the motor and several wires. He loudly & enthusiastically said "MOM!! Isaac and me broke this and he said I can keep it! I am going to light these wires on fire--when I'm a grown-up."

Boy, am I glad he remembered that kids should never play with matches! He has an elaborate plan to save the wires until he is a grown up and then he and Isaac will own an "electric company" where they will stand inside a cage and use a computer to light the wires on fire and make lightning all around them. (Sound familiar to anyone who has seen the Sorcerer's Apprentice?) He drew a picture of them inside the cage with lightning all around them and asked me to label it "Lightning from the Electric Company of Isaac and Brenny Guy."

I love these funny boys. Kaeleb wants to be an inventor when he grows up and has already started drawing rough plans of his inventions and deciding which materials he will need to make them. So far, the favorite ideas are a real light saber and a flying car. He said "I will build my company in Heber so I can live close to you, but you might see me on the news sometimes, too."

Someday, when my children become a physicist and an engineer I will remember this day.

How Buff is Kaeleb?

So, we have been digging & throwing rocks around getting our yard ready for topsoil. The rocks here are incredible. Awful. Huge. But most of all, PLENTIFUL.

So, Kaeleb has a friend over right now and I just overheard him say "Riker, do you see how buff I am? I used to be skinnier than this until we started working in our yard."

Ah, yes, a fringe benefit of yard work. Soon we will have grass and I will post pictures of us lounging lazily on the green, rock free grass.

We love our little monkeys.

It's official-- Summer break is here!! We have been living it up, and here is a backward itinerary... I am always too lazy to post the pics in reverse order so that they show up in chronological order. Sorry.

Friday & Saturday Kwint and Kaeleb went to karate camp. They played steal the flag and had Tron disc wars, training stations, target practice, roasted marshmallows and more. But, they didn't take any pictures...

Last Saturday we went to the zoo to reward Kaeleb for his good grades on his report card. I will spare you pictures of the animals... it was really crowded and they were all hiding or sleeping. I don't blame them. The kids were not as impressed as I had hoped they would be, but I can't blame them either. Our zoo is really not very impressive. But.... there was something new-- dinosaurs!! The zoo placed animatronic dinos throughout the exhibits and the kids loved them!

When I asked Brennan what his favorite animal at the zoo was he replied "T-Rex!" Mental note: next time skip the zoo and go to the dinosaur park.
My guys and the scary king of the Jurassic period...

I can't remember the name of this guy, but paleontologists theorize that one of their offensive weapons was spitting at their prey. So this dino sprayed water every few seconds at passersby. As you might imagine, we spent a long time passing by.
And, of course, the ceremonial trip to the gift shop to complete the grade prize. Happy First grade Kaeleb!
The night before, which was the last day of school, we took the boys for a hike at Dutch Hollow. It was pretty fun! We are always finding new reasons to be glad we moved to Heber!

This is Buzz Lightyear. Brennan got this idea from Andy, the boy in the cartoon, who at some point makes cardboard wings and pretends to be Buzz. He colored the other side.
Now we are back in time to Memorial Day. Kwint got a new BBQ for an early Father's Day present because I wanted to grill, and then we wanted to make S'mores in our little cute fire pit which was a gift from his parents for our up & coming back yard... but it was crazy windy! We couldn't build a fire.
So, we improvised. We roasted marshmallows over the gas burners in our warm, wind-free kitchen. We really know how to rough it!

Kaeleb learned to ride his bike with no training wheels two weeks ago! The video won't load so I will have to take more pics another day, but he was pretty excited. I was at a RS meeting and in the short 3 hours I was gone, he figured it out! He waited up to tell me all about it.

Yesterday Brennan watched part of a cooking show. He was determined to make the dish. Unfortunately, we didn't have cabbage, kielbasa, and pierogies on hand, so he improvised.
This is the soup he made. Special ingredients included one celery stalk, 4 baby carrots, mushrooms, ketchup, ricotta cheese, basil, lemon pepper, and rosemary. He actually ate it and exclaimed "MOM! I'm the best cook in the world!" so I assume he liked it.



Kwint has been learning a lot from his Mr. Mom experience while I am serving in RS. It really has not been bad-- I am amazed. I was so nervous about the time commitment and the weight of the responsibility but the Lord is providing and we are feeling very blessed to be able to juggle it together. So far, anyway. :) I love so much about it-- the ladies I serve with, the amazing women in our ward, & the way the Spirit guides us. I have a whole lot to learn.
On to the next adventure!!!

More of the same

Life has become busier in the Kemp home. I got a new calling last week, to serve in the Relief Society Presidency. It was somewhat terrifying... and I am not quite sure how to put into words how I feel, so let me simply say that however inadequate I may be, I know the Lord called me here for a reason and the joy of the Spirit has blessed our family already. I am so excited to serve with the other 3 women, I have so much to learn from them.

Friday night Talan spent the night, which was fun for the boys. He came with us to Kaeleb's last soccer game. By the way, if it ever stops raining, the rock yard you see here will be grass...
Kaeleb became quite the little defender. Most of the time his coach had him as a midfielder and defender. He got in a goodly amount of blocks and had a great time doing it. He took his position very seriously. I love this guy! That is him up front.
After lunch I took the boys to Talan's sisters' dance recital. This is the older girls who dance at their studio. Although none of my niece's are in this, I thought it looked so beautiful that I had to include the picture.

Here is Bailee (2nd from the right) doing a dance called Sassy.
Next, little Miss Saige (5th from the left)- (the cutest one) being a butterfly fish. They performed Finding Nemo. Saige got to be on the poster they hung all over town. :)


And, finally little Krystal as a clown fish.They did such a good job. These kids have wriggled their way so deeply into my heart. I am so glad we live here so my boys can grow up with cousins their age. They love each other and always play so well.

After the dance I took Kaeleb shopping and out to dinner. It was such a good date with my K. He is growing up so fast and I love the boy he is becoming. Smart, thoughtful, studious, and witty... He is getting pretty funny. I love to hear him laugh. Precious little gives a mama more joy than the sound of her child's laughter.

Last, but not least, we have the Bren-guy. One morning while I was upstairs getting ready for the day I heard a good deal of banging around in the kitchen. Soon, Brennan came running in to my room exclaiming "Mom! I made a cake!" Instantly nervous, I asked "Really? Tell me how you made a cake." He said "I put applesauce, yogurt, oatmeal, and a little salt in my bowl! Let's go put it in the oven!" I was able to convince him that the oven would melt his bowl, but he did insist on candles and me singing "Happy Birthday" to him. He saved it all day to show Kaeleb and Daddy. I just love this guy. His enthusiasm for life is so contagious.


The good news is, after 3 and 1/2 years, Bren-guy sleeps through the night. Woo Hoo!! The secret to our success? Imaginarium Train Set. I bought a train and track set and told him for every night he stays in his bed ALL night he will earn one piece of the train. I am so happy and proud of him.

Easter and Soccer season!!

Spring is finally (somewhat) upon us. For Kaeleb, that means soccer season! Here he is on the field. He has been loving the games this year and is really getting into it. He takes his positions very seriously and stays exactly where his coach tells him to be, even if the rest of the team is on the other end of the field. I think he might make a good goalie. :)
During the games Brennan takes the opportunity to run through the grass. I know this is a weird picture, but if you look in his eyes, you will see that this picture captures the essence of who this kid is. He is on his way to have as much fun as he can as fast as he can.
We celebrated Easter by decorating eggs with Kris, Barbi and their kiddles. I know they don't look super excited here, but they actually had a very good time.

Kaeleb and Talan, best cousins in unplanned matching shirts.Easter morning egg hunt
Emptying the baskets
Looks like someone woke up a little earlier than he was expecting... (Brenny woke him up)


Don't tell Kwint this one is here. He is shy about this kind of thing, but I think it is so AWESOME! This is a pic of him testing for his fancy new purple belt in Kenpo.
The same night, Kaeleb was awarded his orange belt, and as you can see from the black stripe, he is now a member of the Black Belt Club. (If he sticks with karate as I believe he will, he will get two black belts, one as a youth, which means under 12, and one as an adult, anytime over the age of 12.)
This is Brennan's friend Ashtyn. She is the girl version of himself. They both think they are hilarious. I adore her, and so does he. I heard him tell her that she is the prettiest girl in the world. At the moment, she was dripping wet, because they had been spitting water on each other. Yes, they thought they were very funny.
Kaeleb went on a field trip to a farm where they gave him a stick horse, so of course I had to figure out how to make another one for Brennan. As you can also see, we are beginning to landscape our yard. We are getting sprinklers this week. Yay!!
This is picture Bailee drew with oil pastels and I loved it so much I had to take a picture of it and show it off.

Spring Break 2011

Warning: THIS IS LONG! I don't scrapbook or do photo albums anymore (too busy or too lazy, not sure which) so this blog is intended to be our family journal and photo album, so if you don't have hours to pour over our family vacation, please feel free to scroll on through to the bottom and pretend you read it all. I will never know.


We set out to Southeastern Utah last Sunday, the 10th, which happens to be my little bro's b-day (Hi Ira!) It was my first trip that direction. My mom, as you may know, married a super neat man from Blanding (way down in the SE corner of the state) so we went to spend a few days with them and Gary played tour guide for us.

Day one: Anasazi ruins near Blanding

Natural Bridges National Park- if you are like us, you may not have known this place exists-- it is worth a visit. We loved it.

Owachamo Bridge (I probably spelled this wrong, my mom, who may be the only one who loves me enough to read this entire post, will tell me if I did)
This is Kaeleb being sworn in as a Junior Ranger at Natural Bridges. He took the program very seriously. He had to fill out a workbook and look for items at the park and pledge to pick up litter, recycle, conserve water, and hug his brother on his birthday. He and Bren both went on to become Junior Rangers at two other parks we visited during the week. You'll see...
The boys in the backseat of Grandpa Gary's truck where we spent many an hour, and they were sooo good!
Muelle Point (again spelled wrong, most likely) Gary help up the rock so we could walk under.... then Kaeleb took a turn...

The view here was incredible! These are the goosenecks of the San Juan river
Mexican Hat- To some this is an upside sombrero... we were partial to the idea of a UFO.
Kaeleb wearing the Mexican Hat
Bren Guy wearing the Mexican hat
Bluff Utah, where the Hole in the Rock Pioneers first settled
Day Two: Mesa Verde Colorado, where the ancestral Puebloans SOMEHOW scaled down or climbed up the cliffs and built cities in the rocks.

This is the Cliff Palace dwelling which they estimate housed 150 people
The ranger who guided our tour saw Kaeleb's Jr. Ranger badge and gave him the ancient tomahawk and invited him to lead the way
Brennan climbing the ladder to exit the Cliff Palace

This is the Spruce Tree House where we got to climb down inside the Kiva (you can see the ladder poking up) It was very dusty down there!
The first of many self portraits you will see... We are inside the Kiva
Little Ironman guys blasting lasers with their hands...
The inside of one of the rooms in the Spruce Tree
Ah, the Sun temple-- this is a view from the window, we loved the rows of doorways.
The Square Tower House, my personal favorite, it's just aesthetically pleasing.
Day Three: Imagination Hill. Kwint made me post this one of me hiking.


The rocks look like petrified versions of animals, we had fun imagining what animals they were. This is an alligator. We also saw a chicken, a frog, a dove, a rhino and more.
Then we hiked Butler Wash and found a cactus that is obviously Mickey Mouse.


At the end of Butler wash there are ruins similar to Mesa Verde
Kwint found this view at Butler Wash
He also found this view...
Kaeleb, Nana, Gpa Gary, and Bren Guy
In the afternoon we toured a local pottery shop and saw how they create all the fancy pots we can buy in gift shops all over the world who sell Indian artwork. This lady did the hand painting and she looked like she could have done it with her eyes closed. Amazing.

Day Four: Arches National Park... On the way we drove past the Monticello Temple, first of the mini temples announced by Pres. Hinckley years ago.
Church house rock outside Monticello
Arches-- The 3 Gossips (aka Relief Society Meeting said the men)


Turret Arch
The North and South Window arches-- you may notice the people wearing jackets and hoods-- it would have been a sunny, warm day if it were not for the biting Arctic wind that chased us all over the park.
This is all of us beneath the South Window Arch
This is the underside of the South Window
Balancing Rock
This was our favorite hike-- The kid friendly version of the hike to Delicate Arch-- this is a zoom across a canyon that overlooks Delicate Arch.
Ah, another self portrait. We love these.
The kids favorite arch was Sand Dune Arch, these are my guys who found a good rock to climb on the way...
Where's Kwint? If you can spot his hat on top of the rock you get a star. He climbed Sand Dune Arch (probably against the rules, don't tell the Jr. Rangers). I wanted a picture of him on top, but sand flew into the lens of my camera and locked it up for awhile.
Double Arch
Tunnel Arch (We think it should be named Elephant Arch, don't you?)
Our collective favorite, Pine Tree Arch

Thursday night we parted ways with Gpa and Nana and went to the Holiday Inn in Moab. Here the boys are sporting their new duds, matching Moab shirts and hats.
We went to dinner at Pasta Jay's, which by the way, is the BEST ITALIAN RESTAURANT EVER!! We decided it may have been the best meal we have ever tasted anywhere. Get the manicotti or chicken pomodora if you go there. And you should go there.
We had planned to stay in Moab on Friday (Day 5) but received a call from a dear friend of ours in St. George who decided last week to get baptized on Saturday. We gladly cut our trip short and drove across the state to be there for her baptism. On the way we found the San Juan reef. Neither of us had ever spanned I-70 to see this before and the view was incredible. One thing we learned on this vacation is that Utah is an incredibly diverse state!

We had planned on being home for church so we had to go shopping (oh, what a pity) for new fancy duds. Don't they llok great? We spent the Friday and Saturday night at Aunt Tam's and although we neglected to take pictures and are kicking ourselves now, we had a great time. We spent Saturday at our accountant and best friends of the South finishing up the doozy of a disaster our taxes turned out to be, and then on to the baptism that afternoon at 4pm.
Kwint and Shelley. Kwint met Shelley over two years ago at Fitness Ridge and was able to introduce the gospel to Shelley. At the time she was living in Ohio and over the next few months made friends in St. George and learned more about the church, ultimately deciding to move to St. George (to our old house, which was our little miracle) and now is the newest member of the Red Cliffs ward in St. George.
We love our Shelley. The Spirit of peace that has accompanied us is a reminder of how true this gospel is and how much the Lord loves us all. I am so grateful to have this church and for my testimony.
We finished off the vacation with a pizza party with Tam's family, Kris' family (who were on their way back from Disneyland) and Barbi's brother Chris' family (who lived in SG). Kris, Chris and Kwint took the kids fishing while the girls enjoyed some girl time.

We are finally home and unpacked and sooo not ready to go back to school!!!!!