Boo at the Zoo

Last weekend they had the "Boo at the Zoo" at our local Willow Park Zoo. They had fun stuff for the kids to do beside just seeing the animals. They had crafts, games, face(or hand in my kids case) painting, treats, a bounce castle and a scavenger hunt. Our good friends the Lakes were in town and they even got to come with us. Other than the fact that I was a bad mom and did not even think to put the kids in their costumes, they had a fun time.

If you were 4, what would you sing in the shower?

Nanxgiving Point

One of the things we did get pictures of from our visit was our trip down to Thanksgiving Point to the dinosaur museum. Tyler and Janna met us there as well. We made our way through the museum, had some lunch and even got to see the IMAX dinosaur movie. Well most of us saw the movie. Kate got scared about 3 seconds in so she and I spent that time wandering the gift shop and she fell asleep on my shoulder. Jake has always been a lover of all things dinosaur but this trip has multiplied that for him. At the end of the museum there is a pit where the kids can actually dig for dinosaurs and if I could get one for Jake we might never have to take care of him again.

Surprise!

The beginning of October my parents (Jessica) and my brother Kyle made the drive out here to Utah to visit. They were here for several days and we did lots of stuff and had a great time. Unfortunately we took hardly any pictures of their time here. I did get a short video of when they first got here. We did not tell Jake they were coming. In the morning of the day we were expecting them Bryan told Jake he was going to get a surprise that day. Jake asked all day when he would get his surprise. My mom called when they got to our house and I was at the ready with the camera to capture their arrival. He was so surprised that his little 4 year old self could not seem to contain his excitement so he just kept running away. Funny boy.

Who needs Saturday morning cartoons...

when "The Adventures of SharkBoy and LavaGirl" comes in 3-D!

He's taught her a thing or two

What does a coyote say?

To explain this a little before you watch...There is a big park about half a mile from our house. It has baseball fields, batting cages, play areas and also a small zoo. When I say zoo you may be thinking elephants and giraffes, but that is not the case. They have monkeys, birds, bobcats, a wallaby, ducks, turtles, elk, eagles, coyotes, a porcupine, and several other small animals. The zoo is so small that the 2 dollars it costs to get all of us in is paid on the honor system. Though it might not be exciting for older kids, my kids love it. We met some friends there not so long ago and while we were there the coyotes were howling about something. Kate has been very interested in what coyotes say ever since. Enjoy the show. Please try to look past the older brother who was throwing magnets at Kate's head. That was put to an end as soon as the camera was off.

Family Carnival at USU

A couple Saturdays ago they had Family Day up at USU before the big football game against UofU. The kids enjoyed candy, a fishing pond, climbing on a big tractor, Jake dug for dinosaur bones, and the traditional carnival type stuff. The highlight was Jake getting to pet/hold a snake. He is getting more brave in his old age. We had a fun time, but unfortunately I can not say the same for USU football. They got spanked AGAIN. At least they scored this game!

No fear in that smile.

Tags, tags, everywhere

I've been tagged a few times now so i finally decided to do several at once to try to make up for lost time.

20 years ago...
*I was 10 years old.
*I lived in Salem, OR.
*I played YMCA basketball and Soccer.
*Mr. Ball was my 5th grade teacher.

10 years ago...
*I was 20 years old.
*I had just graduated from Ricks College(not BYU-I).
*I was working as a nanny and at a doctors office.
*I was hopelessly devoted to the missionary that I was writing(seriously Jessica, you liked him why?)

5 years ago...
*I was 25.
*We spent ridiculous amounts of time at hospitals between being with Ben and my cancer.
*Went on a trip back east including Pennsylvania to see Trevor, Shae and Wes, church history cites, and New York City. So much fun!
*Was pregnant with Jake.

3 years ago...
*I was 27.
*We moved from Michigan back to Logan.
*I started watching Brynn who is now Jake's BFF.
*We spent Christmas at our house for the first time. My parents and little sis Caitlin came and so did Bry's bro Mikel and sis Brittany.

1 year ago...
*I was 29.
*We lived in Talent, OR.
*We hung out with the Lakes ALL the time
*We got to spend a lot of time with my family. Good times.

Yesterday...
*I was 30. Crazy to say that.
*I did laundry.
*Jake and I tried out a new recipe for cinnamon muffins. Yummy.
*I made a list of recipe's for menu ideas.

Today...
*Still 30. Still crazy
*We took Jake to school.
*We went to Wal-Mart and Old Navy.
*I did some blogging.

Tomorrow...
*I will take the kids to the park, if it isn't raining.
*I will scrub the bathroom.
*We will rent a movie to watch after Bry gets off work.
*I will start going through Kate's drawers to sort out clothes that she has grown out of.

Next year...
*I will be the same age as my husband. 31!
*I want to run several half marathons and some other 5 and 10k's.
*We will be moved into a house.
*I want to have a garden.

On to the next tag...

4 things I adore about my husband?
1. He's Hot!!!!
2. He makes me, the kids, and lots of people laugh all the time.
3. He is always willing to help other people i.e. move, with their car.
4. He is constantly trying to challenge himself and try new things.

4 movies I would watch more than once?
1. Mama Mia
2. Clueless
3. Oceans 11-13
4. Shawshank Redemption

4 TV shows I watch the most?
1. Biggest Looser
2. The Office
3. Jon and Kate plus 8
4. Greys Anatomy

4 Places I have been?
1. Mexico
2. Hawaii
3. Michigan
4. New York City

4 Favorite Foods?
1. Candy!
2. Steak
3. Fresh Fruit
4. Homemade Ice Cream

4 places I would like to visit?
1. Italy
2. France
3. Ireland
4. Hawaii with my husband

Now that I have done that, I am going to tag a few myself. I would love to read about all my Ricks Roomies, that means you too Jaime, and Jessie. Can't wait to read about you!

I'm a big kid now!

Is it just me or does Kate not look like such a big kid these day? After she, in no uncertain terms, picked out her outfit this morning and I got her dressed, I noticed that she is sooo not a baby and hardly even a toddler anymore. She is a cute little girl...and Bryan wanted me to add, daddy's little girl.

Happy 31st Birthday My Love

Sure the sweater was too small and the wallet was not quite right, but maybe in the next 31 years I will have better luck with the gift buying. By then we will be in our 60's so I might have it figured out by then. We love you best!

So long Bear Lake trips, for the summer

We made our final trip up to Bear Lake for the season, on Saturday. We got there earlier than we had before, set up, ate, played for hours, and when the wind picked up so did we, and we headed home. We all had a great time, and crashed hard for the night. We will miss you Lake, till next year.

Just passing the time

I don't yet trust Kate to not get into things while I am in the shower. I always get some toys and books and stick her in the crib while I clean up. The other day Bryan came home while I was in the shower and found that she had been having someone hand her things while she was locked up and then laid down amongst the mess to read. Funny girl.

My friend and a half

I have a neighbor named Alicia. Between church, library trips, playing in the yard, and running in the morning, we see quite a bit of each other. A while back we heard that the The Top of Utah Half Marathon was coming up. We decided that it would be fun so we trained ourselves up and yesterday was race day. We had to be up and out by 5:30, which was really early and a little on the chilly side. The race was part of the course for The Top of Utah Marathon which is next month. We will not be competing in that. We wanted to finish in under 2 hours and we were totally excited to finish in 1:59. It does not get any closer than that! Bryan got the kids ready and was waiting to see us finish. Here is a little video that he took of us as we were nearing the finish line. Alicia is the one in the white shirt. The other girl we just happen to be passing when Bry was taping. It was a bigger race than I have run before, but still very fun. It is always more fun with a fun friend to run with. Thanks Alicia!

Off to school!

We can hardly believe that the time has come, but yesterday was Jake's first day of school. He has been so excited for so long that he was surprised on Wednesday night when I told him it was the next day. He woke up at 7 ready to go, but we had to wait until 9:30 which was pretty hard. He literally ran in the door when we got to the school and while other mom's were lingering, he told me bye several times trying to hint it was time for me to leave. When we went to pick him up he yelled," Hey that's my mom!" and came running to tell us about the fun he had. The saddest part is that he doesn't get to go back until next week. We then made a celebratory trip to McDonald's for a fun lunch. I know some day we will look back at this picture and think how small he looks, but for now I think he looks so big. We love you kiddo!

Still great after all these years!

Sometimes these pictures seem like forever ago, and sometimes like yesterday. We had our 7th anniversary on Saturday. We got to spend a night out having a yummy dinner and watching a freaky movie (we saw "The Dark Knight", Bry loved it, I was freaked). We got to walk holding only each others hands, eat our own food, feed only ourselves, and only buckle ourselves in the car. It was so fun. We should do it more often. Thanks to Reese and Lacey for watching the kiddos. I have to say how glad I am to be married to Bryan. Who knew after two weeks of knowing someone that we could decided to be together and have it work out so great. I love you best honey! SHMILY

Two new sets of wheels

After some shopping around, we got a big kid bike for Jake. We are still trying to convince him that he will not fall with training wheels, but some day he will have fun when he is on it.

After some shopping around Bryan also got a big kid bike. Well, he got a scooter. A "doodoo" as Kate calls it. He enjoys his purchase much more than Jake so far. It gets great gas mileage and the kids LOVE to go on rides. Plus he looks pretty cool on it, don't you think?

Here is Kate getting in on the action.

The girl can accessorise

Kate has had a fascination with shoes and coats for quite a while, but now it has spread to belts. Unfortunately she only has one little belt that came with a pair of shorts. We are lucky enough to get to see it pretty often.

Talking Kate

She may not be understood by everyone, but she is saying more words every day. It is so fun to watch her figure things out and communicate more of what she wants. It turns out her words make her even more sassy, if that is possible. Sorry about the camera dropping in the second one. When Kate was watching the video it made her jump when it fell.

County Fair

The county fair was in town two weekends ago. It was a pretty hot day and Kate was too small for most of the rides, so it was a father son outing. Jake got a day pass so they went in the day and then again in the evening when it was cooler. He got to ride on and climb on all that they had. Other than an elbow injury he had a great time and Bry did a great job of documenting the whole thing.

Can you feel the love?

Their aim is not the greatest, but they do love each other.

Hey, I was going to wear that!

P.J.'s, a cardigan, a sleepy face and peep toes. How did she read my mind? That could have been embarrassing.

Peek-a-boo

Still fun.

I cleaned my room all by myself!

That is what Jake said to me the other night while he was getting ready for bed. I went in to his room to tuck him in and did not see some of the toys where they usually are. A little investigation and this is what I found. It may be the first time, but surely not the last.

It's all in my head

I just recently started finally reading "the vampire books". If I hadn't maybe this would not have even crossed my mind. But doesn't she look like she might want to take a bite out of some one's neck? Creepy eyes!

The evolution of the string cheese man... and his friends

Jake is known for not being the fastest eater in the world. He will usually finish, it just might take him an hour. That is probably where he gets his slim figure from. Lately he has been getting quite imaginative with his food, slowing the eating process that much more. He told me he was an artist the other day, so i guess his medium is food.

String cheese man... take one

String cheese man...take two, small head

String cheese man...take three, finally the way he wanted him

We have also been graced by the carrot man and grape guy. All in a days work for an "artist".