Cooley Family Pine Valley Camping Trip!!

The Cooley family having the time of our lives!

When I was little, my Mom's side of the family used to have a big family camping trip in Pine Valley Utah every year. I have so many beautiful memories from those days. From playing in the river with my sister and cousins to snacking on Peanut M&M's in a hammock and watching the trees sway above me... So when those trips stopped, I was sad but I understood. We are all SOOOO BUSY!!! It's so hard to make time for anything, let alone a week long camping trip! Plus, there's all the packing and meal preparation that goes into it (and nobody actually enjoys that part). So we took a hiatus from camping for a while. But last year I started it back up again and it was such a success we were all dying to go back! I am happy to report that this year was no different! It was six days of pure bliss.


We had no cell phone service, no internet, no electricity... life became simpler and more meaningful. Every morning we woke up happy in our tent and braved the chilly temperature to start a fire and get breakfast going. My kids were in heaven and it made my heart smile to see them so free and having so much fun with their Aunts and Uncles, cousins, and Grandmas :). Just like last year, Austin was still our little fire stick retrieving professional, but this year was a little different. For the first time he stood amongst a field of possibilities and told me he was bored..... my heart sank and all I could think was "....and so it begins...." :(. He is getting older and the magic of childhood is starting to slip away from him. It was hard for me to accept so I made it my duty to bring it back for him. He's too young for that just yet ;). So I took the kids down to the river and told them about the fairy houses we built last year for them. They both faintly remembered and needed a little prodding with an elaborate story about King Huckleberry, Queen Violet, Prince Dandelion, and Princess Sassafras ;). Soon they were building elaborate fairy mansions for the fairy royalty we dreamed up by the water. We worked together, along with the help of Great Grandma Wiegel to create some pretty remarkable houses by the river for the fairies who were of course watching us and would move in as soon as we left ;). The magic was rubbing off on all of us and even Great Grandma Wiegel said, "Now I can die saying I built a fairy house!" haha! Sadly, we went back to check on our creations the next day, and to our dismay, someone had demolished our little village.... the kids were distraught. I had a talk with them about the law of Karma and how those people will get theirs so there's no point in being upset about it. So we picked up the pieces and built again! This time with Daddy by our side :). Our second fairy village was even more grandiose than the first and we all left for lunch with a feeling of pride, knowing that the fairy royalty would be kept safe and warm tonight :).

building fairy houses!

Austin was very intricate in decorating his house with beautiful leaves and flowers!

Evie was all about the blue bonnets and decorated her house with them! Every morning I woke up to fresh picked blue bonnets from my girl and it made me smile every single time :).

Mom making the foundation of the house for the kids and then they finished it ;).

Great Grandma Wiegel had fun as well!

Daddy and Evie taking a step back to admire their work :).

I sure love this man of mine!

Every single morning after I finished making breakfast and cleaning up, I gathered up my little ducklings and we sat in the hammock under our favorite tree and read every single book we brought while we munched on peanut M&M's.....Yes, I replayed my favorite childhood memory with my own kids just as we did last year. I want that to be what they remember too. If I have it my way, they will never look at a Peanut M&M again and not think of that moment with me :). That's the goal at least!

There's nothing better than cuddling in the hammock!

We read this Dr. Seuss collections book so many times that the kids had those stories all memorized by the end of the trip!

Our favorite story was Wacky Wednesday :). We all got some good giggles out of that one :).

Then, after hours of reading and laughing together, they would happily hop out of the hammock, kiss me goodbye, and run off to play; leaving one very happy Mama with my own books to read and thoughts to ponder as I soaked up the sun. Yes, those are my favorite memories....and can you blame me?

We went for walks every day, played in the river, played cards with Great Grandma Wiegel and her friend Annie, painted rocks and bird houses with Aunt Sadie, and at night we would light a fire and play multiple rounds of Mafia; laughing clear into the night. Sadie brought her latest boyfriend, Joey, and he was a blast! He was one of the few boyfriends of hers that I actually liked so I hope he sticks around! Family trickled in throughout the week depending on their work schedules but we had two camp sites so there was plenty of room for everyone! Josh showed up Saturday morning and we were so happy to see him! I missed him so much and wanted him to be in on all the fun we were having!

Aunt Heidi and Evie playing Go Fish for hours in the hammock. Evie STILL talks about it! She had so much fun!

Grabbing my little fire starter for a hug in between his stick collecting chores (hehe). He didn't understand why I told him to bring those work gloves until we got up in the mountains and he realized how awesome it is to collect sticks without cutting up your hands!

Sadie and Joey took Austin fishing at the reservoir. He LOVED the one on one time with them and felt like such a big boy!

My little fisherman :). They didn't catch anything but Austin still loved it nonetheless!

Playing in the freezing cold river!

Reading stories to Minnie Mouse who is never far away from Evie! Needless to say, we gave that mouse a good washing when we got home!

And Austin reading his rock book which is never far away from him! I love that my kids have their little obsessions they can't live without ;).

Chatting by the fire after breakfast. I loved the slow pace of life and the ability to talk because we had nothing else that needed to be done!

Grandma Wiegel cuddling for warmth with Evie :)

Oh yeah... he felt like the coolest kid in the world with Aunt Sadie and started wearing his sunglasses just like she did (hahaha!)

Playing cards, and painting bird houses :). Basically living their best life right there!

Evie was all about the bright colors for her bird house.

We also collected rocks and painted them! Since Austin LOVES rocks, this was right up his alley!

Always going for walks...

Oh we were so happy to wake up to Daddy!!! Hence the dog pile in the tent that morning :).

Josh was all smiles and that was important. He is always so stressed out trying to work and take care of us. He needed this down time just as badly as I did!

Playing Mafia around the fire at night. Our kids thought this was the greatest thing ever!

Lots of laughing went on and I'm sure we kept the neighbors awake haha!

My Mom also showed up late and Nate didn't come at all. Apparently my parents are getting divorced.... but that's a story for another day. All I can say is that I'm not surprised with how unhappy they have both been for a long time and I hope it works out for the best. Yes, it bothers me and will make family parties different and probably slightly awkward; but sometimes change is for the best. And that's all I'm going to say about that. 

We had fun with Grandma Jill once she finally got there! The divorce was weighing heavily on her mind but she did her best to live in the moment and have fun with the kids!

Taking a walk with Grandma :). We missed Grandpa Nate this year but I guess this is something we are going to have to get used to :(.

I practiced yoga every single day and was able to fully connect with myself and nature around me. I haven't felt that whole in a long time. I honestly felt like I would give up the luxuries of modern life to live like this every single day in a heartbeat! All I need is my family and nature and I know we could be so happy!! Dare to dream right?

Connecting with nature.

I had the most beautiful scenery to meditate in!

Evie is never far away, watching my every move. She is turning out to be quite the little yogi herself! And that brings me so much joy :).

Briana also had her baby girl while we were up in the mountains! Gracelynn Renee was born the second day we were there and we drove down into town so we could find some cell service to call Briana and make sure everything was alright! She is a beautiful baby and it killed me that they now live over a thousand miles away :(.

We also stopped by the old Pine Valley cemetery and picked wild flowers to put on the graves of our pioneer ancestors, Robert Gardner and his wife Leonora Cannon Gardner (one of his three wives haha). The kids were so intrigued by the stories I told them of Great+ Grandpa Gardner; the same stories my Dad used to tell me and my sister. Whenever we would go camping, my Dad would read to us from Robert Gardner's journal and we would fall asleep to the insane stories of one hell of a man who did whatever he had to do to bring the gospel across the plains and eventually died in Pine Valley after building the St. George temple. Yet another beautiful memory I wanted to pass on to my own children :). Hearing Austin sweetly say, "Goodbye Grandpa" as we drove away from the cemetery gave me chills and made my eyes well up with tears. And in that moment I knew he was standing there waving to us.

Family is everything.

The Gardner family legacy lives on...

Picking wildflowers.....

....and putting those flowers on the graves.

Well, that about sums up our amazing getaway! We are already counting down the days until next year when we get to go back and do it all again! We hadn't showered in six days and we had mounds of laundry to do as we spent an entire day putting all of our camping gear away and washing away the dirt of our travels. But it was 100% worth it!!

Definitely worth it to be alone with these cuties!! Although we desperately needed baths by the end of this....haha!

Austin's First Day of Kindergarten!

Meeting his new teacher! Isn't she sweet?! And just look at that happy face :). He was loving Kindergarten Orientation!

His first time at his new desk.

A couple days before school started we went to Kindergarten Open House so we could see Austin's new classroom and meet his teacher! Plus, Ellis Elementary is a brand new school and Austin is one of the first kids to ever go there! So we were very excited to wander around and explore the place! Mrs. Jacobs seems like the perfect person for the job and her sweet nature put all my fears at ease. Austin got to sit at his new desk and color while I filled out paperwork and Evie took it all in. Daddy had to work so we excitedly told him all about it later that night! It was a good intro to this next phase of life and helped us all get a sense of what was about to happen :).

Kindergarten here we come!!

Austin doesn't do well with change, so we have been talking about this day for months; bringing it up randomly in conversation and talking it over with him so he knows exactly what will happen and won't panic last minute like he is famous for doing :). But you know who was doing the panicking? ME! I cried every day and every night the entire week before school started and even made myself sick and had Laryngitis so bad I could barely talk his entire first week of school... I couldn't help it. My first born was starting school which meant all sorts of change was about to happen. Long gone would be the days of waking up whenever we felt like it and spending the day baking away in the kitchen, or going for an early morning swim, or enjoying fun art and gym classes at the Recreation Center. I felt like I was kissing Austin's babyhood goodbye and the thought was killing me. I couldn't even remember what it felt like to not have him constantly by my side; fighting for who could be the Alpha wolf in every situation.... yes, Austin might be a shy kid who hates change, but when it comes to who rules the roost, he and I have been duking it out since the day he was born! I guess that's how it goes with your first born and as I looked back on all of our amazing memories together, I realized that I loved the tough memories just as much as the easy ones. One night in particular, when I was sobbing so hard I could barely breathe, I told Josh that I felt like I was mourning the loss of my son which sounded insane since he's not dying. But in a way I was. I was mourning the end to a beautiful way of life; a beautiful five straight years of nonstop friendship and zero personal space. I knew there was so much more excitement to come but I needed that mourning period. So I asked everyone in our extended family to give me space and I became very reclusive that week. Apparently it was just what I needed because the night before the first day of school I was like an excited Kindergartner again; happily laying out his clothes for him and helping him pack his first lunch :).

The night before school started, Austin fell asleep in our bed while cuddling and listening to General Conference talks with us. I silently cried the entire time.....

On that first day of school, Austin woke up at 6:30am and had us all smiling with his contagious smile and exuberant excitement :). Josh took the morning off so he could be there for this big occasion and it meant the world to us to have him there. If anything, he helped calm down our nervous but excited energy like he always does since he is the balance of the family. We dropped Evie off at preschool as a family and Austin sweetly hugged and kissed her goodbye. This was the first day he wouldn't be staying with her at that school and he was beyond proud of this accomplishment :).

Making the typical walk down the halls of Children's Learning Adventure... only this time Austin wasn't staying!

"Goodbye Evie, I love you so much! Have a good day!" -Austin

Kissing Sissy goodbye. He is the sweetest big brother in the whole world!

Then we took Austin to McDonalds for a special first day of school breakfast and then headed home to take some pictures before school :). Austin kept telling me that he is going to be brave now that he is a Kindergartner so he doesn't need me to kiss his hands (our little tradition that started when he struggled with preschool drop off so I bought a book called "The Kissing Hand" and kissing his hands so he can hold my kiss throughout the day became a way of life). He told me now I can only kiss his cheeks because that's what you do with big boys :). My jaw dropped but I agreed.

You won't find two parents more proud of their boy than we are. You just won't.

The men of the house :). Austin was so happy to have Dad there with him for this big moment!

And the backpack pic :). He loves Batman!!

We got to school early so we could show Dad around campus; but mostly it was because we were just too excited to wait any longer! This was the moment, and we were ready :). At least we thought we were.... We hugged and kissed goodbye and then the bell rang and we all walked into his classroom to help him find his desk and set his backpack down. Austin was excited and didn't show any sign of sadness which really surprised me! He is usually so difficult in moments like these! I found myself thinking that maybe all those pep talks really helped! Then his teacher, Mrs. Jacobs, asked all the kids to sit on the floor for a short story and for the parents to all stand in the back and listen before we left..... and it was "The Kissing Hand....." What are the odds?! Our favorite book! He sat there with all the other little kids listening to the story while all us parents stood in the back silently crying. Then Mrs. Jacobs told all the kids to run over to their Mama's and give them a big kiss because it is now time to say "goodbye"! And THAT'S when he fell apart. He couldn't see me at first so I went over to him and knelt down beside him to say goodbye when he suddenly buried his face in my lap and sobbed. Which of course made me start crying. AGAIN! Then he jumped up and wrapped his sweet arms around my neck and begged me not to go. I reminded him of how brave he is and I made a pact with him that if he stops crying, I will stop crying. We both found our composure again and he found his courage. I had to leave but my heart felt like scooping him up in my arms and running away. But if he could be brave, then so could I. So I kissed both of his cheeks and both hands as well for good measure, and headed for the door. I knew if I stopped then I would fall apart again so I kept walking until I was officially out of the classroom. That's when I ran into some friends in the ward and one of them hugged me tight and let me cry for a good moment while we all shared our heartbreak. We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful community where we have so many friends who all have little kids to play with. We have had countless play dates and parties over the years and I don't know what I'd do without these women.

Saying Goodbye....

Oh  my sweet boy, you will never know how much you mean to me!

Showing Daddy his desk since he didn't get to go with us to orientation!

Reading "The Kissing Hand" at story time. Right before the tears began....

After that I headed down the street to Jolly Beans Cafe where I was meeting some other mother's from Austin's class so we could all talk, calm down with a cup of coffee, and take solace in the camaraderie of the moment. It was so comforting to know that I wasn't alone with all of these crazy emotions I was experiencing. I spent the rest of the day kid-free which of course meant running as many errands as I could before it was time to pick Austin back up again. It is rare to get some time alone and there are some errands that are just better done sans kids. Plus, I really didn't want to be alone at the moment because I knew the dark depression that would ensue....so I had a VERY busy day and before I knew it, I was back at the school eagerly awaiting his classroom door to open so I could see his smiling face!

Austin stated that he had a GREAT day! He was all smiles and spent all of dinner time telling us about all of his new adventures! So much so, that he forgot to eat! We loved listening to his adventures and although we had missed him all day, I knew this was right. He was exactly where he should be and he was loving it :). And we get to walk to school every day (Austin likes to ride his scooter while Evie runs beside him) which is something we are ALL loving!! It feels like a suburban dream come true each morning as I jog with the stroller happily behind them :).

Our morning walks to school! This is probably the best part of our entire morning right here!

You can tell that he is having big days at school because he sleeps so much better nowadays! I sure do love my two handsome boys :).

Fast forward to today. We are nearing the end of the second week of school and we have had our ups and downs, but mostly ups so we are doing pretty dang good! After that first day, Austin started struggling with school drop off (as he did with preschool drop off years before). He cried every single morning and clung to my leg. I've given so many pep talks in the past two weeks that I feel I could be hired as a football coach and would be great at it! Each day he walked a little further away from me on his own and the tears became less and less. Until today when he officially went onto the playground without holding my hand and didn't shed a single tear! When the bell rang he ran to his teacher and got in line without a hiccup! YES!! We have officially gotten this drop off thing down! :) Oh and I have to mention that after his first week of school Austin and Dad went to the grocery store and my sweet boy came home with roses for Mama, thanking me for everything. I cried then, and I'm crying now just remembering! Motherhood is amazing! I wouldn't trade any of this for all the money in the world :). Now Evie and I are learning how to just be the two of us with Austin away. At first I felt like I was constantly counting heads because it felt like someone was always missing! But now, we are learning to really enjoy this time alone! We do all things girly and are both LOVING IT!!!

Flowers for Mama :). That little grin melts my heart like butter!

Learning how to do morning chores before school. I'm liking this image!

Evie and I spend our days teaching yoga and she loves it!

Or we go for walks and pick flowers :).

Or we go for a swim! It's so strange to not have Austin around but this is good too ;).