Life is full of adventures, big and small!

" Life is NOT a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming -- ’WOW, what a ride!!! "
Anonymous

Let me start by saying that I love my life. I love being married to my best friend and trusty adventure partner. I love being a mom to my two awesome kids. I have a good job and a nice place to live and the best family one could ever ask for. But still, I seem to have a constant itch to get out and do something just a little bit crazy. Something that makes me work, wears me out, and scares the daylights out of me...just a little bit. The daily grind of working, housekeeping, taking care of kids, etc., etc. etc. tends to make the itch really itch, so our recent trip to Moab was just what the doctor ordered. Dusty and I left the kids in Logan and headed out on the dirt bikes. Moab has had an unusually cool and wet spring and it was BEAUTIFUL! The red rock contrasts so beautifully with the spring green, and there were wildflowers everywhere! Some of the trails were traveled were Onion Creek, Steelbender, Behind the Rocks, and Kane Creek Rim. Although we were only gone for a few days, this little trip has whetted my appetite for adventure travel. So here is the list of little adventures I hope to have in my lifetime. Mind you, this is just my little list that I think is pretty darn do-able. Hopefully I will do all of these adventures and many, many more in my lifetime.

1. Spend a week on Lake Powell. Yes, I know that anyone who is anyone in the west has already done this, but I have not and I really, really want to!

2. Highway 1 by Motorcycle. We tried to fit this little trip in before we had kids and sold our road bikes, but ran out of time. Someday...

3. Dirt bike in Costa Rica. I got this idea from one of my favorite shows that only ran a short time, Epic Ride. There are some awesome places to dirt bike in Costa Rica.

4. Hike Havasupai. Another thing that everyone else has already done, but I still want to do.

5. Family ski trip to Whistler. Dusty and I went to Whistler on our honeymoon and had a total blast, but we were very impressed with how family friendly the resort was. Hopefully we'll have a chance to take the kids there someday.

6. River Rafting/Float Trip. Green River, Snake River, or any other river. In my whole life, I have never been river rafting or on a float trip. Totally lame, so add it to the list.

7. Deep Sea Fishing. I am totally a fair-weather, short attention span fisher. However, I have always thought it would be awesome to be out on the big sea trying to snag the big fish.

8. Run the Nike Womens Marathon. Girls trip to San Francisco...what could be more fun than that!?! And it doesn't hurt that you are greeted with a Tiffany & Co. necklace at the finish line, instead of a clunky medal.

and last, but not least..

9. Tropical water vacation. I want to snorkel, kayak and lay on the beach surrounded by beautiful scenery and aquatic life. Yes, I know this is not really an adventure type vacation. Maybe this will be my restful, lazy vacation after accomplishing all these other ones.

Cinco de Mayo - Gringo Style!

According to my most trusted internet information site, Wikipedia, Cinco de Mayo is the commemoration of the Mexican Army's victory over the French army at the Battle of Puebla. Why was that battle so significant? Well, for one, the French army was much bigger and better equipped. Luckily, for those of us in America that enjoy a reason to celebrate with Mexican food, music and dancing, the event does have some significance to us also. Since the Battle of Puebla, the Americas have not been invaded by a European military force. There is also some belief that this battle helped end the Civil war by crippling Napoleon's ability to supply the Confederate Army, thus allowing the US Army time to build a strong enough army to defeat the Confederates.

History lesson done. Now you know that we, in America, have a legitimate reason to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. This year, we celebrated Cinco de Mayo and Mexican culture with all the Checketts' clan at a party put on by the best party planner ever, Sandy. We had a sombrero decorating contest, a sombrero parade, nacho eating contest, pinatas, drinking to get to the worm contest (with juice and gummy worms of course), and a delicious Mexican feast. Here are a couple of pics from the event. Two of my very favorite things about he celebration were that Dusty taught Wyatt to stomp his feet and say Ole!, and that I caused Dusty to hurl by stuffing loaded nachos in his mouth during the nacho eating contest, which took place right after dinner! Fun times!

On becoming my mother...

I realize this is a couple of days late, but I feel the need to recognize Mother's Day and my recent realization that I am totally becoming my mother....and that I am okay with that. I recently read an article somewhere about women and their life-long relationships with their mothers. The article basically talked about how mothers and daughters are generally very close during the younger years, grow apart during the adolescent years (when the daughters move to Team Dad because he lets them get away with more and doesn't feel nearly as much of a need to pry into personal life), and then become close during the adult years (just about the time when the daughter starts to realize that, despite her best intentions, she is becoming a younger version of her mother). This got me thinking a little bit. I would say that I have always been fairly close to my mom, and I never really sparred with her too much during my teenage years. However, I am just starting to realize that I may have underestimated how close I would become with my mom as an adult. My mom is my very best friend in the world (aside from Dusty, and that's just not fair to compare). As a mother, I have come to love her, need her, and rely on her so much more than I ever thought was possible. I also never thought I would become my mother, and do all those things that drove me crazy when I was younger, but here I am.

In honor of my mom, here are my list of things I swore I would never do that I find myself doing all the time:
1. The Souter Snooze (with Diet Coke) - Drinking a Diet Coke every night while trying to stay awake for TV or a movie, only to actually sleep through 3/4 of it.
2. The Souter Skin Sunburn - We are a pale-skinned people, having descended from England. And there are plenty of good products out there to keep such people from getting completely fried during a spring or summer outing. However, that doesn't mean that we actually remember or use any such products...
3. The Hallmark Weep - Crying at anything and everything that is in any way touching. This only gets worse when you see another weeper doing their thing.
4. Ridiculous Recycling - Saving, or wanting to save plastic baggies, boxes, aluminum foil, etc that clutters up your entire kitchen and most likely will never be used again. (Honestly! Half the time they are covered in the remnants of whatever used to be in them, which generally doesn't go very well with whatever you may put in them in the future. Just throw them away already!)
5. The Sock Basket - Piling all of the clean socks in a basket and refusing to fold them until every single sock drawer in the house is completely empty.

These are just a few...there are many more where those came from. However, I also wanted to mention a few things that I wish I would pick up from my mom..
1. Getting up early in the morning, just to enjoy the peace, quiet and beauty of a morning.
2. Never being able to say no, to anyone who needs anything, no matter how much you want to.
3. Family and kids always come first. You do whatever it takes, whenever it's needed, to keep them healthy and happy.

One last note. In addition to my wonderful mother, I have been blessed to gain two more amazing moms through marriage. I love both these ladies and can't imagine that anyone out there has a better situation when it comes to mother-in-laws. I hope someday that I will be half as organized, prompt and classy as Sandy. I also hope to someday be able to cook, host and roll with the punches like Debbie does.

Thank you to all the special moms in my life! I love and appreciate all of you and hope you had a wonderful, peaceful, special, relaxing and pampered Mother's Day!

Blogging Again - Day 2

Dear Dakota,

My sweet, sassy, smart, impatient little 15 month-old. You are my girl. Since you were just teeny-tiny you have loved your mommy the most. That makes me feel more special than anything else in the whole world. Although you are not cuddly like Wyatt, you have your own special way of carving your way into my heart. Sometimes it is your beautiful and bright smile, which you can flash at me for 2 seconds and light up my entire day. Sometimes it is the excited way you hobble-run across the room for a quick hug when you see me. Sometimes it is even the curious mischief you are so full of, after you've dumped laundry detergent all over the floor or emptied your entire dresser for the third time in one day. You are filled to the brim with personality and spunk! You love to wrestle and play with your brother and you are pretty darn tough, even when he body-slams you at almost twice your weight. You also love to dance, jump (although you can't really get both feet off the ground), and run. You love to read books and you can be found quite often just sitting by the bookshelf with a pile of books surrounding you. You are already in love with the horses and Ruger and pretty much any other animal that will give you attention. You sing to yourself all the time and now that you have learned Happy Birthday, you are trying to give Wyatt a run for his money singing in public. You love to play with your pink horse, stuffed animals and any kitchen utensil you can get your hands on. You also love to eat anything and everything, and you beg food from anyone holding something edible. Your favorite foods are pancakes, bananas, fruit snacks and pasta. You are quite a talker and have a huge vocabulary for your age. You are learning to name things on your body now and you love to stick your fingers in my eyes, nose, mouth and ears when you are naming them. You love to splash and play in the bathtub, but unfortunately, "Code Brown" has become a regular part of our vocabulary since you came along and our consumption of bleach has doubled thanks to the regular sterilization of the bathtub. You love to laugh at me when I tell you no and you run away as fast as you can when I tell you to come, but when you turn around and give me a silly little grin, I can hardly get upset with you. I think maybe your smile is the very best thing about you. Your cute little personality shines right out and lights up the world through your little smile. I love you forever and hope you smile at me always!

Mom

Blogging Again

My new approach to blogging....which I totally stole from another blog I recently saw.

Dear Wyatt,

I cannot believe you are already 2 1/2. Where does the time go? I have a lot of writing to catch up on. There are so many things about you that make you my special little WyWy. To start, you are the cuddliest and most sensitive little two year-old on earth! You get your feelings hurt easily when I scold you, and you love to cuddle with me or dad and at least two of your favorite blankies. You are so sweet with your little sister - you even cried when I showed you her first bleeding owie. I can't really take you anywhere without her, because you get very concerned about where she is. You love trains, trucks and playing outside in the snow, sandbox or on your bike. For Christmas we got you a wooden train table and set, and you have already spent countless hours building tracks and pushing around the train. Even though you love to be outside, you can be quite a couch potato and love movies. Your favorites are Polar Express, Cars, Princess & The Frog and Tarzan. You are also quite a character. You love to wrestle and can knock anyone over with your sumo body-slam. Your latest favorite activity is to stand on the chair with your arms in the air and yell "To Infinity and Beyond!" before you leap over to the couch. We also look forward to birthdays because you are the very best Happy Birthday singer. Your favorite foods are pizza, mac&cheese and berries and you are kind of a picky eater. Luckily you love to drink and you can down a cup of milk in 15 seconds flat. You are not a very good sleeper when it comes to your own bed, but you sleep great cuddled up with one of us. One day we will all get a full night of sleep! You love your dog Ruger, you are not afraid of the horses at all, and you feeding TD is one of your favorite things to do. For dad's birthday a few days ago, you got him 4 little chickens, which you call your chickies and check on every day. The weather has started to change and become warm, but you are not at all interested in summer clothing. You hate short sleeves, shorts and sandals and the only shoes you like to wear are your camo slip-ons and your cowboy boots. I wonder if you will be like that forever, just like your dad! Speaking of your dad, you are a total Daddy's Boy! You love riding motorcycles, working in the garage, riding in the truck and anything else you can do with your dad. He loves that you still run up and get excited with a big smile and a hug when he gets home from work. That is really the very best thing about you. You love everyone in your family, you are full of hugs and kisses, and you are very gentle and loving. (Except in the morning when you are a royal grouch!) I am so happy you are my little boy and I love you forever!

Mom