Disney World

We had a great trip to sunny, warm Florida!
Disney World was one of the big highlights. The kids are a bit older than they were last time we came here so now all they wanted to do was ride all of the "BIG" rides. It was really fun. Occasionally Dexter wanted to sit off a few, but for the most part he rode everything!

Puerto Rico

Quinn let me tag along on yet another trip for RedBox. Puerto Rico is beautiful yet filthy all at the same time. My favorite part was the rain forest. It was unbelievable. The size of the trees were breath taking, and I couldn't believe how much of the sun they blocked out. It felt like dusk when we were hiking around under the canopy at 2:00 in the afternoon. I tried to catch several lizards, but I'm not quite fast enough. One of these days I'll succeed and my boys will be so proud!

Tarzan eat your heart out!


I wore really smart hiking shoes, my feet were so sore the next day but it was completely worth it.

Happy Halloween

Haley as a vampire. She did her own makeup, and was especially impressed with herself when she remembered to make her arms pale too. Too bad she couldn't figure out a way to make her skin sparkle like diamonds.


Dexter as Indiana Jones. He likes to be called "Dexta Jones", he practiced for months perfecting his smirk.


Max as a mummy, we wrapped him up really well, so good in fact that he couldn't walk, sit or even move. This is how we had to transport him to school and we had to use his scooter to get him to class. It loosened up after a while so he survived.


Rex as Superman. He wouldn't stay still long enough for me to get a picture. I finally caught him in class. He insisted that I make the perfect curl in his hair right on his forehead so he would look "exactly like Superman."


Halloween in always fun at our house. Especially when it is time to carve pumpkins. We love to watch Dex clean his out. Every year he reluctantly digs the seeds out of his pumpkin and "dry heaves" the entire time. I try hard not to laugh, but it's such a good show. Poor kid, I'm sure I am damaging him for life... I tried to be a little nicer this year and I scraped all of the seeds into one clump, but I still made him pull them out of the pumpkin. Yes, he still dry heaved.

Lint the Frog

I guess time-out didn't work this time. While staying at Cabin Jack, Dexter was a little naughty and had to be sent to time-out in the laundry room. While there he spent his time staring at the floor. Suddeny he started yelling "there's a frog in here!" Over and over. Frustrated, I went to see what in the world he was calling a frog. It was very cold in late October and we hadn't seen any frogs outside. I thought Dex was just trying to get a little attention. Low and behold, there really was a frog. It was tiny, dehydrated, and covered in dryer lint. We were all really excited, espically Dexter since I completely forgot all about time-out.



We cleaned him up and brought him home to Utah, we took very good care of him untill I forgot to close his lid tight and he escaped. We are still looking for him...

p.s. In the picture mom is touching the frog. Can you believe it?

Dexter's Big Day

Today Dexter was ordained a deacon. We are so excited for him. I wish I could take a video camera to church to video tape him passing the sacrament. It's fun to watch the whole ward help him remember where to go. He tries to hard and he does a really great job.


p.s. He thinks he looks REALLY HOT in his suit. I agree.

Quinn took me on another trip with him. This time we stayed in Connecticut. This place was the highlight. Louis Lunch is the birth place of the American hamburger. This place has been featured on numerous documentaries. It's pretty cool, but don't try to add anything on your burger other than tomato and onion,you also need to speak up if you don't want your burger medium rare. Yuck! And yes, this is how Quinn spends most of his time on trips. It was fun though, I am very grateful for RedBox and frequent flyer miles.

Happy Birthday Dex!

Dexter turned 12 today! He wanted to have his favorite dutch oven cake for his birthday. I happily obliged,however it never dawned on me to let it cool BEFORE I put the candles on. Did you know that even the giant number candles will melt into a cake? I do now...

Hangin' Out

Rex changed his mind about hanging from the tree the second Quinn let go. Can you tell?

Max's first airplane ride.

After waiting 1 long year, Max finally got to go on his trip with his Daddy! They spent Labor Day weekend in Chicago. Max flew there all by himself. It was a little nerve racking to put him on a plane alone, but Max had a great flight and he loved everything in Chicago.

Rex's 6th Birthday

Rex had a fantastic time on his birthday. Quinn was out of town so we took Gammy and PawPaw to dinner with us to celebrate. We ordered cake for dessert and they brought it out with 6 candles in it. Rex loved the cake...and the sauce too. We don't have any problems with manners at our house...Really!

BOO!!!

I am going to be in REALLY BIG trouble! Haley will kill me when she finds out I posted this picture....but I couldn't help it! Can you really blame me? I think she lookes awesome in her braces, and this was the perfect picture to show them off.

Haley's Cool Picture

Haley took over my camer for a while and she shot this fun picture of the Bay Bridge.

Salad & Tide Pools

So, they call the Salinas Vally the salad capitol of the world. There is lettuce growing everywhere, with strawberries and artichokes in between.


We had so much fun exploring all of the tide pools we found just down the street from the aquarium. I have always wanted to find a starfish and we found a couple of dozen. This was my favorite part of our entire trip.

You "Otter" Know

At the aquarium they had an educational game show to learn about otters. Max was chosen as a contestant. He was excited and mortified at the same time. All of the contestants received a very impressive prize. A brand new florescent light bulb! Max is so excited to use it in his room.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

This was the most incredible aquarium I have ever been to. We made 4 or 5 trips here because we just couldn't get enough.

The Big Chicken

I just discovered why I like chickens so much... I am one. I am probably the biggest chicken on Earth.

Today we all went to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. It was really fun. I was having a great time until this one ride. Haley and Nick (Suzie's boyfriend) wanted me to ride the Vertical Velocity. It is the kind where you go forward one way, then backward, then forward, then backward, then forward, then backward, all the while running through a continuous cork screw. I was willing to go on the ride until I was on it, and buckled up. It sunk in that right at the beginning we will be shot forward. I HATE being shot forward. I like the rides where it goes click click click click click click click click up a hill. Then you wait a second, and slowly you fall. I like gaining momentum that way, not being shot forward.

Anyway, when the Six Flags guy came by to make a final check of the seat belts I completely lost it. I made him let me off. He had to release everyone's restraints just so I could escape. I was so happy! I was so relieved as I walked the walk of shame. As it turns out, it was a good choice because the lady announcing the take off was joking around and counted off 4 false starts. I would have wet my pants many times over.

So for future reference, if anyone wants to take me on an amusement park ride I'm in, but please be merciful, I will never ever go on a ride where I get shot!!!

Hopefully Miranda and Natalie won't be too ashamed of me. Haley said it would be okay if I got off, especially since I was almost crying.

Splash Zone

Max wanted to sit in the splash zone at the whale and dolphin show. The rest of us wanted to stay dry. So being the nicest mom ever (like I am) I let Max go sit with some strange family.



Max happily sat with this other family and enjoyed every minute...espically when the whale got close. He got wet, but he didn't think it was wet enough.

Keep Your Eyes Peeled

Today we went to Sutter's Fort. We learned a bit about pioneer life in California. Dexter had to inform every single person giving a demonstration that this was just what it was like for Joseph Smith. The boy is going to be a fantastic missionary.

There was one guy who was doing a demonstration with a rifle that uses flint. The boys were really excited to see the sparks that the flint made when it struck the metal plate. In order to see the spark, Max and Rex help their eyes open by pulling on their eye lashes to hold their eyes open. Rex calls it keeping his eyes peeled.

I should take a lesson, because on our way home from this outing I tried going the wrong way on a one way street. You should try to maneuver an Excursion in that kind of stressful situation. We all came out of it okay, and I didn't yell at anyone! What a miracle!!

Flipping the Bird

Max and Haley had a fight over who got to pick the bird off of the car. We decided that they could both do it. It ended up that they had to use sticks to flip it off. It was pretty gross.

Poor Little Thing

Well, the Frampton family can add another notch to their bird killing tally! The poor guy tried to play chicken with the Excursion and lost. He had several friends that made it out alive but he was not so lucky. He met his demise just south of Winnemucca, NV. Unfortunately for the bird, he became a bit of a hood ornament.

We didn't realize he was there until we stopped for dinner in Reno. The lady who made our sandwiches at Subway motioned for us to get out of the car to see the bird "perched" on the grill.

Road Trip

Today we took of on our annual road trip. We are on our way to California. We decided to go hang out with Aunt Suzie (Quinn's sister) for a few days then we will spend a week in Monterey.

On our way out of town we stopped at the Bonneville Salt Flats. The sun reflected to bright off of the salt that it really hurt our eyes. I had to take the picture with my eyes closed.

Campin' Out

We had a great Thursday night camping out with the Smiths and Newmans. We decided that since Dexter hasn't had a scout camp yet we would consider this trip scout camp. He was able to pass off a couple of requirements for his First Class Scout badge. He learned how to pitch a tent, build and start a fire, and split firewood. We worked very hard and he was exhausted when bed time came around.

Paw Paw took all of the boys fishing. They caught a brown trout which Paw Paw cooked over the fire, then they all ate it. Afterward we were all delighted to hear several rounds of "Fish Heads" from Max, Dex & Rex.

I have to claim temporary insanity because I let Max and Dex sleep by themselves in a small tent next to the creek. I didn't sleep well that night with worries that Dex would wake up and end up in the creek. Every noise woke me up all night long. We all survived and the boys really had a great time.

The boys loved to chase around and take pictures of the black and white bunny that roamed the campground during the day. During the night there was another black and white visitor. I am relieved that the boys didn't chase that creature around.

On Friday afternoon almost everyone went swimming in the creek. Since I didn't bring swimming suits for the boys, they swam in their underpants. They had a ball!! Maxwell was determined to be the first to sit and lay down in the water. Then completely immerse himself in the freezing creek. Apparently this encouraged others, because soon after PawPaw worked up the courage to get all the way in too.

We had such a fun time and we are so glad that Jer and Karla invited us.

Vacation to New England

This week Quinn and I have been on vacation in New England. We were able to visit Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. We also went to New York, but Quinn doesn't like to talk about that...maybe he'll add his own post. Quinn had to work for Redbox, but we were still able to find time to fit in lots of site seeing and several adventures.

Since we have never been to New England before, I had several things I HAD to do. I needed to eat clam chowder in Boston and lobster in Maine. We managed to eat chowder in Connecticut, and we got to eat lobster in Maine. However, I will seriously consider ever doing that again.

We went to the docks in Freeport, Maine, right where all the lobster men bring in their boats. Turns out, one of these families also owns a restaurant right on the dock. They serve their catch fresh. I was so excited. REALLY FRESH LOBSTER! I ordered Lobster Delight (it seemed like an Anne of Green Gables sort of thing to order.) It included 1 lobster (that I got to hold first) 1 ear of corn, and 12 steamers (clams.) We eagerly awaited our feast. Our number was called, and Quinn delivered our food. Unfortunately since we are from Utah a land locked state, we didn't know what to do. We both just sat there staring at our beautifully arranged meal, wondering what to do. The lady who cooked our meal noticed, and she came out to give us lessons. We ate (I use this term loosely) our steamers first. Really we gagged on our steamers first. Words cannot adequately describe our experience. The clams look disgusting...they have this black neck that hangs out of the shell like a dogs tongue (you are supposed to eat it!) The texture of the rest was just WRONG! I dry heaved a couple of times. Quinn and I kept counting how many we had left. They never seemed to end. We made it through though, the lobster was better, except it wasn't cut out and sitting on a plate, we had to tear the creature apart to eat it. It was pretty good, but have you ever seen the liver???

We had a great time, we loved the covered bridges, the light houses were breath taking, and everything else was very peaceful...Until the night after I ate the steamers. I had nightmares that the cook who helped up learn how to eat was just joking about actually eating the clams, and she was standing behind the door laughing at us.

Maxwell's Baptism

Today was an exciting day for Maxwell. He was baptized! He has anxiously waited for for this day for 8 long years (seriously!) What makes it even more exciting for him is the location. Due to unforseen scheduling difficulities Max was baptized in his Grandma Ann's backyard pool.

It was a beautiful day, and the yard looked lovely. Bishop Childs came down from our ward in Clinton to officiate. Uncle Jeremy and Grandma Ann spoke, and Gammy and Aunt Suzie said the prayers. Quinn baptized and confirmed Max, and Pawpaw and Uncle Matt were the witnesses. When it came time for the baptism, Max was a little nervous because of the temperature of the pool, but he got in with out a whimper. Just as Quinn started to say the baptismal prayer the pool took on a whole new look. It suddenly reflected the sacred nature of what was about to happen. It didn't look like Grandma's pool anymore. It was a sacred place for Maxwell to be baptized.

Max was just beaming when he got out of the pool, and he couldn't wait to get his new suit and special tie on. He looked to handsome as he strutted around for the rest of the day. We figure Maxwell had around 70 people there that day. Thankyou to every one who supported our family.

An interesting fact about Max and his baptism...Max was born on his late Grandfathers birthday May 22, 2000, less than 1 year after his death. We know Grandpa was there today, and we feel him near often. Max was also baptized on his Grandma Ann Frampton's 66th birthday.

Bait and Switch

Today Jer and Karla invited us over for carmel corn and a movie. We very enthusiastically accepted their invitation. When we arrived we were informed, (to our dismay) that there would be no carmel corn, or even any buttered popcorn. We were having brownies and ice cream instead. A delicious proposal for sure, but I had my heart set on popcorn. So after a bit of sulking and pouting on my part, Jer gave in. He went to make popcorn (hurray)!!! Shortly after he began, he returned to inform us that they had no oil. So....no popcorn and no brownies! I guess beggars should not be choosers. And now all I want is some dessert!!!