Draney Diaries

Christmas Day

2010-02-14T20:52:00.005-07:00

I think I get just as excited about Christmas as the kids do! I love it!! I love shopping and wrapping presents and I especially love the anticipation of seeing the kids reactions on Christmas morning! What a wonderful day!!

Our Christmas tree exploding with presents under (and around) it

Amanda's loot

Josh's loot

Alex's loot

Amanda always insists we get a pic of all 3 kids in front of the tree.

Unwrapping the gifts

WE LOVE OUR CHRISTMAS PRESENTS!!!

Christmas Eve

2010-02-13T12:05:00.005-07:00

This year we spent Christmas Eve with my family. First we all went ice skating at the Cottonwood Heights Rec. Center and had so much fun! Our kids had never been ice skating before and it had been years since Brian and I had been. The kids had a great time and I loved helping them skate around the ice and pick them up after they fell down.

Manda posing for a cute picture. She is my little picture princess.

Alex looks pretty miserable, but he just needed to get a little more comfortable and then he had some fun slippin' and slidin' around.

Our cute little family all out on the ice.

After skating, we went over to Grammy and Poppa's and the kids got to open all their presents from them. We had tons of yummy food and had a great time visiting while the kids played.

Manda got her first American Girl Doll. That is all she could talk about this Christmas! Santa actually didn't get much help from her about what to bring since she had already asked Grammy for Molly - the American Girl. And she finally got the long awaited present! YAY!! She loves her so much! Thanks, Grammy and Poppa!

Alex opening his presents.

Josh getting a little help opening his gifts.

Alex just hanging out with his best bud cousin, Nate, who he adores and completely looks up to. I hope Alex will turn out to be as sweet a teenager and Nate is!

Lots of fun Christmas Eve memories this year. Great times!!

Gingerbread house kit

2010-02-13T11:49:00.003-07:00

We had so much fun making our Halloween gingerbread house that we decided we FOR SURE had to do a gingerbread house kit for Christmas. The kids loved loading on as much frosting and candy as they could possibly make stay on the house. This will have to become part of our yearly holiday traditions. We all LOVE IT!!

front view

back view

And a big hug from "Uncle Scott" after it was all done!

My little gymnast

2010-02-08T10:23:00.004-07:00

I am so far behind on blogging it is not even funny. I will just post a few entries when I can to try to catch up.

Amanda had a gymnastic/tumbling performance back in December. She is doing so well and really loves tumbling. She is extremely flexible and it really seems to come naturally for her. She practices almost every day and is very determined to learn the next new trick. She amazes me at how quickly she has picked up on this and what a great little gymnast she is turning out to be.

OUCH!! splits!

back walk over

arch up

arch up and kick over

her first medal

Amanda and her teacher, Rachael

Crazy kids

2009-12-28T10:20:00.003-07:00

I am the first to admit that my children are out of control! Especially Josh, but I really think it is because he is only 1 and is trying to keep up with his maniac 4-and-5-year-old siblings! He is really just gross and disgusting though. Here is Josh enjoying his drink from Mimzy's water bowl. He used to eat her food, but now he just plays with her food and drinks from the water bowl. I honestly don't know why he thinks he is a dog and not human, but I am hoping that one day he will make the distinction and start acting more like a person than a dog.

Super happy with himself

Licking his lips after a very refreshing drink...........YUCK!!!!

I was taking some clean laundry upstairs and came back down to start the next load and this is what I found in my dryer. I seriously don't know if I will be able to live through this child!

Amanda and Alex thought it was pretty funny to have opposite day with their jammies. Mismatched tops and bottoms with bottoms on their heads and tops on their legs. Really......how do they come up with these ideas?

It sure is a good thing that they are all so darn cute, huh???

in-N-out

2009-12-23T21:58:00.003-07:00

The lines at the new In-N-Out Burger have been so INSANE ever since they opened. We waited until the lines died down (somewhat) and decided to give it a try to see what all the fuss and hype has been about. It was a pretty decent burger, as far as fast food goes......but there was nothing there that is worth waiting in a 2 hour line for!!! That is just plain crazy if you ask me!

Honestly, I can't think of any food that is worth that kind of wait, much less a fast food hamburger. I liked it alright, but Brian just wasn't too impressed. I think that when something gets built up so much that your expectations get too high and then you are just left disappointed. Here are a few pictures we took to remember the experience.

Brian gave it the official "thumbs down" - even Josh is trying to give it a mini-thumbs down in the bottom picture. Too cute!!

"Tis the season.........to be making cookies!!

2009-12-22T16:35:00.005-07:00

Making pumpkin cookies at my mom's house. Oh, they are so yummy!!! One of my most favorite treats in existence!

The kids LOVE to help. It looks like Alex isn't too happy about who's turn it is right now.

We made roll-out sugar cookies one day to take to Grandparents. It made more of a mess than it did cookies, but it was still fun!

Josh was so good just sitting in his high chair. He wasn't allowed to help decorate, but he was a pretty good taste-tester.

I love how kids put 10 times more frosting and sprinkles than there is cookie! YUM!!!

And this is how my kitchen looked after we were finished........it was totally worth it though! The kids had so much fun!!

AWESOME!!

Tons of babies at the zoo

2009-12-05T14:24:00.003-07:00

On one of the super warm days in November, we took a trip to the zoo. We hadn't been there since about May, so there were lots of new things for us to see. There were so many new baby animals! It was so much fun!! It is hard to see how stinkin' cute the baby elephant is in these pictures, but she is adorable!

Cute baby giraffe!

There were lots of other baby animals too. We had a great time and we are so glad that we just renewed our zoo membership!

Halloween Day

2009-12-05T07:30:00.006-07:00

We were so excited on halloween day because we got to have Daddy home all day - which is super rare right now! So we decided to spend the whole day doing fun stuff with our Dad. We went to Cabella's and saw the fish and the animals and went shooting. It was great! We even got some Halloween candy.

Being silly with Daddy in the little cot tents.

Amanda and Alex's friends brought them some enormous Halloween cupcakes as a special Halloween treat! They were huge and the kids didn't even share one bite with us. Here are their messy faces after eating them. YUM!!

Halloween Night! The weather was so nice this year. I was surprised because it had been super cold for a few days right before Halloween, but it turned out to be one of the nicest, warmest Utah Halloweens that I can remember. When I was little, I remember changing costumes for Halloween night because it was too cold to wear the one you had for school. We would usually be eskimos (or something of the sort) so that we could bundle up in coats. But, this year was perfect trick-or-treat weather! The kids went trick-or-treating for an hour and a half. I was shocked that they lasted that long, but they had a great time getting tons of candy. It was really hard on me to have all the candy at our house that they brought home. I have been trying to lose weight and it was super hard to have yummy candy in the house again. I bought stuff for us to give out that wasn't very tempting to me, but then the kids brought home Snickers, Reese's, Milky Way, etc... and it was killing me!! BUT.....I was so good and did not even eat one piece of Halloween candy this year! It is shocking, really - especially if you know me well, because sweets have always been the most important food group in my life!

Trick-or-treat time!
Amanda - the poser! What a sassy girl!

Josh was so excited and just loved doing what his big brother and sister were doing! He didn't really understand the concept of trick-or-treating though. He would go up to the door and take something out of his bucket and try to give it to the person at the door. It was really quite sweet! He had a blast trying to be big and loved all the suckers he got!

Alex changed costumes last minute. I have no idea why because he loves his dog costume, but I guess he thought his Ninja costume would feel left out if it didn't get some use. So, 10 minutes before we left - he did the old switcharoo. And apparently Ninjas have tigers, because he had to bring along "Baby Tigey". He still looked cute and they all had fun, so I guess it all worked out.

A cute little Halloween video clip

Halloween Fun

2009-12-02T16:15:00.011-07:00

Alex's Halloween program at pre-school. They all walked out and said what they were for Halloween and Alex really got into character and crawled out like a dog. It was so cute!

And for the entire program, he had to stay sitting down. Apparently dogs cannot stand up to sing songs!

Amanda's trunk-or-treat at school. It was so much fun! Everyone decorated their trunks and Amanda begged me to make our really good so that we would win the prize for best trunk. I went to my mom's house and got all kinds of fun stuff and it paid off - we won!! Amanda was so excited!! I didn't even get a picture though because it was SOOOOOOOO freezing that day! We all just passed out the candy as fast as we could so that we could get back inside where it was warm.

Amanda's school class

Playing at Grammy's. Amanda and Alex were holding Josh's hands so that they could all jump off the fireplace together. It was pretty funny!

This year we made a Halloween gingerbread house. The kids were so into it. I think we may have to buy another kit for next year. Maybe even make one for Christmas? They loved doing it and eating the BLACK frosting and the candies.

Amanda and Nicole Hodges at our ward and neighborhood trunk-or-treat.

Lots of fun Halloween activities this year!

First Snow Day

2009-12-01T10:11:00.002-07:00

Oh, the joys of the first snow fall! You gotta love spending 15 minutes to get all the kids in their snow gear only to stay out in the snow for 5 minutes! But at least they have fun and my kids all love to eat snow!

October fun

2009-11-29T17:14:00.004-07:00

Since I am way far behind on my blogging (what's new?) I will just do a few highlights from the past 2 months.

Haunted Maze. Turned out to be a bit too scary for our little Amanda. The boys had a good time though.

Scarecrow Festival at Thanksgiving Point. One of our favorite Halloween traditions. We went with Grammy and cousins, Hailee and Skyler.

Alpine Slide. This was one of my most favorite activities we have done. I thought the kids would maybe be a bit too young for this, but they LOVED it!! (Even Amanda!) We raced each other down the hill and the kids actually dared to go as fast as I dared to go! We are definitely going to do this again, but not in October next year. It was freezing! We will go in the summer and maybe do some of the other fun rides they have up there too! We got to see lots of fun wildlife that day. We saw 5 deer, a mink with a mouse in its mouth, and even a moose! It was great!!!

Our future slugger

2009-11-25T07:59:00.003-07:00

We had no idea that Josh knew how to play baseball, but one day he brought a ball and a bat over to Daddy and just started "playing ball". It was so cute!!

My pet sin

2009-11-17T16:34:00.003-07:00

I absolutely ADORE Sunday brunch. It is by far my most favorite way to break the sabbath. I love Little America's huge Sunday brunch, but my most favorite brunch is at Tuscany. It is not nearly as grand as Little America, but it is heavenly! They stopped doing it there for a long time, but it is now back! YAY!! We had to go there while my mom's cousin, Debbie, was in town to help my mom get moved and settled into her new house. It was fabulous, as always! Plus it was so much fun to have Debbie there to enjoy it with us! She is so great. She was such a help to my mom during the move. We are forever grateful to have her as part of our family!!

cute kids

2009-11-16T22:50:00.002-07:00

I love when my kids are completely getting along and are playing together really well. These moments don't happen nearly often enough and they don't last as long as I would like, so I do my best to capture these precious moments and I try to look at the pictures of them smiling together so that I can make it through the times when they are fighting and screaming at each other. Look how sweet!!!!

Fire Station Field Trip

2009-11-16T22:39:00.003-07:00

This was seriously a very long time ago, but I haven't even put pictures on my computer from my camera in over a month. So I am just going through everything and trying to highlight all the stuff that has been happening in the past month and a half. I thought this was a cute picture of Alex on the fire truck. He had such a fun time on this field trip. He still talks about it a lot.

Boyz II Men

2009-10-24T23:39:00.003-06:00

That's right, BABY!! Back stage passes to Boyz II Men!!

Amanda's "Fancy Nancy" birthday party

2009-10-19T22:01:00.007-06:00

Amanda loves the "Fancy Nancy" books, so we decided to have a Fancy Nancy tea party birthday party for her. Everything we did was fancy. The girls got to get all dressed up and we went downtown to The Grand America Hotel and had a fancy tea party. It was perfect for our girly-girl, Amanda!

Amanda wanted a tiara birthday cake. I thought it would be fun to make it myself (WHY???) and I also thought it would be hard to find one at a grocery store bakery. So the amateur went to work on a tiara cake. It turned out OK, but now I know why I MUCH prefer just buying a cute theme cake at the store. It is HARD to decorate a cake and it is VERY time consuming! (And I suck at it!) Amanda wanted to help with the frosting, so I let her. I figured it didn't have to be perfect and she had so much fun helping me. She picked out all the color placement for all the frosting. It was a bit more colorful than I would have picked, but it had Amanda-style to it - so that made it cute! I put Josh in his high chair and gave him some applesauce to keep him occupied while we worked. He is OBSESSED with feeding himself. He won't even open his mouth if I try to put food into it. He loves "trying" to use a spoon and will try for long periods of time....... usually. Well, of course, he would be out of control on the day we had so much to do! He thought it was really fun to scoop out the applesauce with his fingers and eat it, then he tried using it as shampoo or something?? He was so covered in applesauce that I had to give him a second bath that day. NICE!!

Check out how much is in his hair....... disgusting!!

And it is all over the blinds behind him. What a little stinker!

The finished product! Pretty cute for a rookie and her 5-year-old daughter.

Amanda's party.......

First game was pin the tiara on the princess.

Then all the girls got to decorate their own little cake with tons of "fancy" frosting and sprinkles.

Katelynn Whitmer's cake

Saige Talbot's cake

Amanda Draney's cake

Kaitie Cordero's cake

Rylee Peterson's cake

And even Alex got to decorate his very own cake!

At The Grand America Hotel

Cute cousin, Emily Hill, met us at the hotel for the "fancy" tea party and she was definitely dressed for the part!

The little ladies enjoying their hot chocolate and sandwiches and scones.

Saige enjoyed her water - her beverage of choice! What a cutie!!

Grammy and Emily enjoying their "tea"

Cute girls! What a fun, fun birthday party!!

They brought Amanda her very own piece of the richest chocolate cake with a candle in it.

And there were plenty of other pastries and cakes for dessert! YUM!!

I think Amanda had a very good day!

Amanda got to bring her school's birthday pet - Gabby Gator - to the tea party and then she got to take her back to school the next day and tell her class about how much fun her birthday was and how much Gabby liked sharing it with her. She had some great stories to share with her class!

Amanda's 5th birthday

2009-10-19T21:38:00.004-06:00

Amanda's birthday was on Labor Day this year. I thought it was pretty funny because I went into labor with her on Labor Day 5 years ago. She didn't come until the next day, but I can honestly say that I was in labor on Labor Day. We had a good day. She got up and got to open presents from the family. One present was this cute pink outfit from Justice, her new favorite store. She put it on immediately and we went to Kiddie Kandids and got her 5-year-old pictures done.

WOW!! She is so grown up! Where does the time go????

birthday morning - opening presents. Love the bed head!

We went up to Grammy and Poppa's house and she got to open more presents. No wonder kids are always counting down to their birthdays!?!?

Grammy and Poppa took us all out to dinner at The Mayan - one of Amanda's most favorite places! The kids love the diving show so much!
Look how excited she is watching the divers

Playing around outside of The Mayan

Happy 5th Birthday, Amanda! (Well, on Sept. 7th)

First day of school pictures

2009-10-19T21:21:00.004-06:00

I know that the first day of school was a month and a half ago, but I am still that far behind on blogging. So, here are my cute kids on their first days of school.

Alex

Alex and his friend, Ryan, getting ready to go in the front door of their new pre-school.

Manda

She wanted to get a shot of her cute pockets on her new pants.

At her new school - making her snack place mat.

Treehouse Museum

2009-09-26T19:21:00.009-06:00

We got to go to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden with my cute friend, Whitney, and her adorable little boy, Jake. We had so much fun! We definitely want to go again, but it is a pretty far drive so we will have to make a whole day of it. They have so many fun things for kids to do. It is all hands-on and fun activities. We had a blast!!

Alex showing off his caterpillar he made with dot stickers.

Amanda working on her "dot masterpiece"

Playing in legos

Amanda's tower

Josh's idea of fun with legos was just throwing them all over the room.

Ride 'em cowboy

Learning how to milk a cow

Jake and Josh checkin' out the fishies.

More pics of Jake and Josh playing together.

They had rooms that were different countries you could "visit" and learn about their culture and do different activities for that country. It was really cool.

Manda and Whit in Mexico

Whitney helped Amanda make a beautiful flower

And Whitney's cute flower.

Fire fighters to the rescue.......

We had to stop by Jake's house after the museum and lunch. My kids have been begging me to take them up there because Jake has "Kota" the dinosaur. But by the time we got to Jake's house though, Jake and Josh had fallen asleep. Whitney was so nice to let Amanda and Alex play with Kota even though Jake wasn't even awake to play. We had a super fun day and we can't wait to do it again!
The famous "Kota"

A few random pictures

2009-09-21T15:48:00.005-06:00

I am, OF COURSE, behind on blogging again - so I am just adding a few random pictures right now and then I will slowly try to catch up on all the more significant events.

The kids playing at my parents new house. We are getting excited for them to be moved in next month! YAY!!

Amanda holding Josh and rocking him until he fell asleep. She is such a good big sister!

Josh has some serious issues! He absolutely loves putting things over his head and running around. He will put anything over his head that he can squeeze his face into. He does this with blankets too and keeps running into things because he can't see where he is going. It is pretty funny from the spectator's view, I have to admit! What a silly boy!!

Bear Lake

2009-08-31T21:38:00.008-06:00

We went Aug. 9-12th for our annual neighborhood camping trip to Bear Lake. It was so much fun!! We have the BEST neighbors EVER!! I am so glad that we live right where we do so that we can do all these fun things with our great neighbors!

Josh loves dogs so much! The Anderson's dog, Buddy, is the best dog. He will take any amount of torture by the kids and never even complains as they maul him.

Alex playing at Ideal Beach.

Josh and Ammon becoming cute little buddies.

Daddy and Alex getting ready to ride the wave runner.

Josh diggin' in the mud

Amanda happy as ever playing in the sand and sun

Playing by the awesome sand castle at North Beach.

Josh pretending to help make the sand castle. (We just found it there. It was amazing!)

Alex digging for buried treasure.

Josh was so disgusting (nothing new, I know!) He would eat anything even if it fell in the sand and was covered with nasty sand and shells. He is shoving a sandy oreo in his mouth and loving every bite.

Check out the messy, dirty face on this kid. He is crazy!

More playing in the sand........

This was so great! Amanda, Kaitie, and Rylee decided to play "spa" and give each other mud baths. It was so funny and cute. They all took turns being "pampered".

The drive home was very interesting, to say the least. Our truck's transmission went out when we hit Evanston. We were stuck there for a couple of hours until my mom could get up there with her truck to tow our trailer home. Amanda and Josh were snoozin' through some of the waiting. (LUCKY them!!) Thank goodness I have such great parents! They just dropped everything and came running. They had to bring 2 vehicles to get us all home in seat belts. Thanks Mom and Dad!!

Mimzy waiting......

Alex snacking on some of the delicious and fabulous Bear Lake raspberries while he waited.

Amanda woke up and decided to give the yummy raspberries a try.
Luckily, we made it home in one piece. Brian had to have his truck towed to the dealership in Salt Lake and that cost $330 from Evanston. But the good news was that the extended warranty he bought for the truck covered all the cost of the parts and repair of the truck. Almost $5,000. What a blessing!! Even though it had a rough ending, it was such a fun trip with such great friends!

Sweet Amanda

2009-08-30T12:24:00.002-06:00

Amanda wrote this cute little note to Josh. I took a picture of it because I wanted to preserve it forever, so that in a few years when he is driving her nuts - I will have proof of how much she once loved him. She really is crazy about her little Joshy! I hope they will always be close.

Josh driving

2009-08-30T11:38:00.004-06:00

I just had to put this on here because it was just so cute of Josh - I love when he is that happy!!

YUMMY!! Ice cream celebration!

2009-08-30T11:23:00.003-06:00

My parents bought a new house! I am so super excited because it is exactly 2.0 miles away from my house and it is only a 5 minute drive! YAY!! Grammy and Poppa (my parents) came out one night to show Great Grandma Daisy (my Dad's mom) the new house. They came over and brought us ice cream cones from Iceberg! YUM!! I can't wait until they get the house all finished and can move in! Then we can do these little celebrations WAY more often!

Poppa, Grammy, Amanda

Great Grandma Daisy and Alex

Alex sharing his ice cream with Josh - I love his cute little tongue!

Yep! Ice cream is one of the best treats ever!

Sigma reunion

2009-08-30T11:15:00.002-06:00

Back at the end of July, my sorority had a little get-together reunion. It was fun to see some old faces and catch up on what has been going on these past few years. It was great to re-connect and also to see how everyone's families have grown. I hope we have another one soon! It was great!

New camera

2009-08-29T14:06:00.003-06:00

On our camping trip to Gooseberry, I dropped my camera - lens first - into the dirt. It has been a little bit messed up since then. I also dropped it again at Thanksgiving Point farm and then it stopped working all together. Apparently I have a problem. These were a few shots I "tried" to take, but my camera was just too dead!! So, I finally got myself a new camera and I am just getting the new program for it put onto my computer. Now I can start blogging again. YAY!!

July Highlights

2009-07-28T23:33:00.011-06:00

This has been a super fun and busy month! I am way far behind on my blog, so I thought I would just share some highlights from the month. WARNING: This will be a very long post!

The kids have been riding around on their little 4-wheelers non-stop since it finally quit raining.

Amanda and Josh just snuggling. Amanda was helping Josh to fall asleep for the night. What a good little helper I have!

We got to go to the Bees game with my brother and his family. The kids had so much fun! They love playing with their cute cousins!! My sister-in-law works for Franklin-Covey and got their suite for the night. It was great and we had a constant stream of food all night long!

Josh was playing with Mimzy while I was doing laundry (never-ending) and I noticed that it got really quiet. I came out to this adorable site of them taking a nap together. Mimzy woke up for the pictures, but Josh just kept on snoozin' away.

Amanda and I played silly games and made funny pictures on my computer one day. This was Amanda's favorite one. We both look FANTASTIC!!

Amanda and Alex started swimming lessons and they absolutely LOVE going to their class. I hope once they get to the next level that they will actually start learning how to SWIM so I won't just be paying for them to go play in the water.

We have done several playdates with friends at a couple different splash parks. It has been fun to get out in the sun and hang out with good friends.

We spent the day with my parents and nieces, Kaitlin and Saige, up at Camper World's hot springs camp ground. It was fun, but the pools were really warm and the air was hot. I think I would like to go in the spring or fall next time.

Alex and his yogurt face. He is always good for a messy face photo opportunity! Gotta love this kid!

Amanda has had the month of July off from gymnastics, but she got to go to a week long gymnastic camp, which she LOVED!! She finally got her splits down. She can also do an arch-up and kick over backwards now too. I will have to post a video of that sometime.

I am STILL trying to capture that adorable toothy grin of Josh's. This is my latest attempt, but it is still not the smile I am hoping to get one day.

We went to Cottonwood Heights Recreation Center with Grammy and cousins, Hailee and Skyler, one day. It was fun for the kids, but hard work for Grammy and me. Grammy was smothered by kids all day and I was trying to keep Josh from plunging head-first into the water all day long. That kid has absolutely NO FEAR of the water. It was a good day over-all. We just needed a few more adults to help with all the kids. (especially mine, because they are all so young still).

We had our annual camping trip to Gooseberry Reservoir over the 24th of July this year. It is so pretty there, but there are no hook-ups. I am such a spoiled camper! I love to go where I can have electricity to run my A/C and microwave and an endless supply of water so that I can wash dishes and take showers. It is still very fun to go - even when you have to "rough it" a little bit more than I like to. We went with my parents and our friends, the Hodges, were able to come up for 2 days. It was lots of fun and quite relaxing. I actually even got to take a nap up there - a luxury I have not had in many years! It was great!!

MMMMMMM.....smores!! Looks yummy, Nicole!

Foil dinners are a camping tradition!

Josh's first Capri Sun.

And finally...... the kids' most favorite part......... FISHING with their Daddy!!

FUN TIMES!!!!!

Happy 1st Birthday, Josh!!

2009-07-02T18:11:00.003-06:00

It is so hard to believe that babies can go from that.......

........to this in just one short year! CRAZY!!

Happy Birthday, Josh-a-posh!!

We love you so much, our little WAH-WAH!!

New bikes and playing in the sprinklers

2009-07-01T10:04:00.005-06:00

Amanda and Alex got new bikes and they have been so excited about them. Grammy bought them each a set of knee and elbow pads and a helmet. They couldn't wait to show them off and start riding their bikes.

Modeling the helmets, knee pads, and elbow pads.

Alex's new bike

Amanda's new bike

Riding bikes through the sprinklers with their friend, Riley Thomas.

Wrapped up in towels trying to dry off after getting soaked in the sprinklers

Fort Herriman Days

2009-06-30T18:02:00.003-06:00

We attempted to have a fun night out with the kids and our friends, the Weichers, at Fort Herriman Days. We got there and the kids were able to ride the free train as it started to sprinkle. We got under the pavilion - in hopes to wait out the storm, but it only got worse. Thank goodness it was a free event and we hadn't even purchased any ride tickets yet. It was so sad to have to leave after being there for 20 minutes in the pouring rain and have nothing more to show for it than this one picture. Oh well, there's always next year.

Another Wheeler Farm visit / The kids' last performance of the season

2009-06-30T09:33:00.006-06:00

What a beautiful summer day! I love these kinds of days - pony rides, wading in the stream, playing with cousins. So FUN!! Grammy and Poppa were tending cousins, Jonny and Emily while their mommy was in the hospital having their new little baby brother. We got to spend some quality cousin time with them and Grams at Wheeler Farm.

Alex riding the pony.

Amanda riding the pony.

Water + kids = too much fun!!

The kids had their last performance of the season at Wheeler Farm and their cute little cousins got to come and see them perform. It was sprinkling during their whole performance, but they went on and did it anyway. It was super cute and I think the kids finally knew all of their actions to the songs by the last show. This has been such a fun thing for them to be a part of.

passed out

2009-06-29T17:12:00.002-06:00

How tired do you have to be to fall asleep in the middle of lunch?

Josh is officially walking

2009-06-18T09:03:00.003-06:00

Josh has been capable of walking for a month now, but he just WOULD NOT do it unless I made him. He is the fastest crawler there ever was, I swear, so maybe that is why he hasn't really cared much about walking. He does the cutest little stink bug crawl - it is so funny to watch. And he can do it at such turbo speeds that anyone would be amazed. (I really need to try to video it before he stops doing it completely!) Anyway, for the past week, Josh has really been walking a lot more. A week ago, he would only walk if I would say, "Josh, walk to Mommy." He would do it and then clap like crazy for himself. I don't think at that point that he even thought of it as a means of transportation, but only as a party trick. He would walk only if asked and then smile with pride at his total cuteness! But over the past couple of days, I have noticed him just walking across the room or from one area to the next all on his own. He walks more now than he crawls. CRAZY!! My baby is walking!

Sometimes he is still not so steady on those little feet.

The first clip I could get of him walking. He is usually much too interested in the camera to do what I ask when it is out.

Gymnastics

2009-06-17T23:37:00.005-06:00

Amanda started taking gymnastics this month and she is absolutely LOVING it! She is doing really well in her class and has already impressed her teacher with her natural ability and her diligence in practicing. (Proud Mommy moment!) She practices every day and it getting better and better. YAY, Manda!

Cartwheel video clip.....

How cute is Josh in this video - clapping for his big sister? I love it!!

Silly Alex

2009-06-17T23:21:00.004-06:00

Alex has been obsessed with sticking out his tongue lately. I am hoping it is just a phase that will end soon! It is a little embarrassing to have him stick it out at my friends and neighbors when they try to talk to him. Not to mention it tortures and torments his sister to death! He is 3 1/2 - when do the terrible two's end??

He does have his sweet moments though too. He loves to snuggle up with Josh while he is napping. SO cute!! I love how Josh sleeps with his arms behind his head. What adorable boys I have!!

Wheeler Farm

2009-06-08T15:52:00.006-06:00

Last week we went to Wheeler Farm to feed the ducks. It was a rainy day, so we almost didn't go, but it ended up being so much fun because no one was there and we practically had the place to ourselves. We were very lucky that we got there in between rainstorms, so we had a great time without getting soaked.

The ducks and geese were very excited to have us there with some bread for them. They kind of swarmed us and got a little bit aggressive. It was fun for the first couple of pieces thrown, but then it got a bit scary for the kids.

Amanda was a bit frightened by their "friendliness"

Alex actually got nipped on the ear by one of them and he started crying when they came back for more. It was so sad.

Then the kids got used to how pushy they were being and got over the fear.

Amanda and Katelynn

Michael

Josh was looking at them with skeptical eyes. He wasn't sure he could trust them.

Alex decided that he liked feeding the little "baby birds" the best.

We ran out of bread too fast, so we had to buy some corn at the little store there to feed them all again.

baby goslings - SO CUTE!!

Next in line for some corn were the goats.

And then some pigs.

Look at how HUGE this pig is! WOW!! I had no idea they could get so big!

Alex really liked the pigs. No biting from them.

Amanda driving the tractor.

Alex takes it for a spin too. I love the tough guy face!

Big Boy

2009-06-07T11:08:00.002-06:00

I know I say this all the time, but Josh is getting so big and growing up so fast! It is SO true that it goes by faster and faster with each kid. It is crazy!! Josh has this mouth full of cute teeth now, but I can never get a picture of him with his huge cheeser smile. I tried for like 20 minutes the other day, but I just keep missing the good ones. This picture is cute and shows his teeth pretty well, but it is not his biggest, huge smile that I love.

His new favorite activity is walking around pushing toys, chairs.....anything he can stand up to and push along. This is Josh pushing our kitchen chairs around. Dang, he is CUTE!!

Rainy Day Picnic

2009-06-05T19:45:00.003-06:00

The kids really wanted to have a picnic, but it was raining outside. So..... they had the great idea of taking out their umbrellas and making a little refuge from the rain so they could still eat their snacks outside. Kids will think up a million creative ideas so that they can still get what they want.

Cute little stinkers!!

Amanda got a new big bed

2009-05-31T22:39:00.005-06:00

It was about time we got Amanda a bigger bed. She was just about too long for her little toddler bed. We bought her a crib that converted to a toddler bed and then to a full-size bed. It has been really great because we haven't had to buy her a bed since the initial investment of her crib. She is so tall and acts so much older than 4 that it was hard to see her in this tiny little bed. Plus, Josh has been sleeping in a pack-n-play since he got too big for the cradle. We have been debating, for quite some time, whether to buy him a crib mattress for Alex's old crib or to invest in a full-size mattress for Amanda and move her crib mattress over to Alex's old crib. (Alex's crib mattress is currently in his toddler bed). So, all this time of trying to decide how to best spend our money, and Josh is nearly 11-months-old and still sleeping in a pack-n-play every night. We decide to go the more expensive route and buy Amanda her big bed and let Josh have her old crib mattress. We ordered the mattress set and then went out and bought her new bedding. She was so excited about the bedding that she got it all out before we even got the new mattress home.

Amanda and Alex testing the comfiness of the new bedding. Yep, I think it is good!

Even Josh approves

The finished product. The crib is now officially a full-size bed and totally cute for my big girl!

I think she likes it!

Big enough for little brother sleep-overs? Maybe?

Camping in Brigham City over Memorial weekend

2009-05-30T13:54:00.014-06:00

On our way to Brigham City. Not our first choice of places to camp, but it ended up being a fun visit. Although, I would not recommend the KOA there. It is in desperate need of remodeling and updating. We were excited because it had a pool and playground, but they ended up being the smallest, most ghetto playground and a non-heated pool. The pool would have been OK if it had been 95 degrees and not 68. The pool temp was 64 - OUCH!! It literally hurt to get into the water. I never even got past thigh-deep. We had a good time doing other things than hanging out at the campground, so it was still a good trip overall.

Welcome to the KOA

Standing with the big bear at the campground entrance

Silly food faces......

Hanging out in the pack-n-play. Josh was so good about spending time in there while we sat around outside the trailer. Maybe because he had visitors to help keep him entertained.

We went to this awesome park in Brigham City. It was so pretty and so nice and peaceful there. Even on the Saturday of Memorial weekend. They have this huge fishing pond with a bridge, a playground for the kids, baseball diamonds, and a swimming pool/waterpark right there too. I could have spent the whole weekend right there. It was gorgeous!
The kids trying to catch some fish

Amanda was getting very bored, very quickly. She was hoping for a little more action. Fishing is a patient sort of sport, and that is one thing Amanda is NOT.

Amanda's face after she had not caught any fish in the whole 15 minutes she spent fishing.

Alex wouldn't give up so easily. He did catch something...... but not a fish

Grammy hanging out with Josh while he napped in the stroller - reclined. How much better can life get?
Snoozin'! Look how relaxed he is. Man, that boy knows how to live it up!

Amanda enjoying the playground.

Josh playing too after a nice, long nap

Stroller rides

Poppa helping Alex throw his "helicopter" leaf over the bridge and into the water

This has GOT to be one of my all-time favorite pictures EVER!! I love how hard Amanda is concentrating and how hard she is blowing on the dandelion. Maybe your wish comes true if you can get all the seeds off in one blow?

This is our attempt at swimming at the KOA pool. I was wondering why the pool was never crowded and then I stepped foot into the most freezing cold pool I have ever been in.
The great thing about kids - they seem to have a good time even when the conditions are poor. They can find fun anywhere. You gotta love 'em!
TOO FREEZING!!

The best part of camping in Brigham City was going out to dinner with my parents at Maddox! Oh, how yummy!! That was a very delicious treat!

On Sunday, we went to Promontory Point to see the Golden Spike. It was freezing because it had rained the whole day. For some reason, we had all forgotten to bring jackets. The kids loved watching the train and even enjoyed the museum. We drove on the roads that were the same route of the old train tracks. Amanda and Alex liked it so much more than I had anticipated. They were really interested in all the history. I was glad that they enjoyed an activity that was also educational.

Golden Spike replica

My parents bought these cute little singing birds for the kids and they thought they were the greatest thing in the world. They each sing the song of the birds they are in real life. They took care of these birdies like they were alive. It was cute.

Out by the Golden Spike was Thiokol and we decided to stop off and let the kids check out all the rockets. They had a great time posing in front of all the models.

The last breakfast on Memorial Day just before packing up and heading home. YUM! No wonder I always gain weight on camping trips. Too many great meals and yummy treats!

Amanda's early birthday present

2009-05-27T15:27:00.005-06:00

My parents bought Amanda the cutest little playhouse for her birthday and they decided that she needed to have it early so that she could play in it all summer. Amanda's birthday isn't until September and she wouldn't get much use out of it before it gets too cold outside if they waited to give it to her. She was SO EXCITED!! Alex and Josh even love it and will benefit greatly from her present. We are so happy to finally have something fun for our kids to do in our backyard.

I swear kids have as much fun playing with/in the box as they do with the actual present.

Thank you, Grammy and Poppa! We love it! What a fun gift that will be used for many years to come!!

sweet dreams

2009-05-26T16:11:00.002-06:00

Amanda climbed into bed with Josh the other night to "help him fall asleep". Well, it obviously worked like a charm. So cute! Sweet dreams my little ones.

New hair cuts all around

2009-05-21T20:12:00.004-06:00

Amanda and Alex got new hair cuts and even Mimzy got shaved down for the summer. I guess they are not so new now - they got them over a week ago, but (like always) I can never post anything when it actually happens. I am always playing catch up. But, here they are. Cute new hair styles for my sweeties.

Camping in Vernal (aka Josh's trailer incident #2)

2009-05-21T17:15:00.011-06:00

We went camping in Vernal over Mother's Day weekend. The first day was filled with chaos and drama, but after that - the trip was fun. The drive there started all the trauma. Our friends, Heather and Chad, had just bought a used trailer and got it all ready to go just in time for the trip. While they were driving, the metal panel on their trailer door started to flap in the wind and then proceeded to just about break the window in the door. They had to keep stopping and bungee and finally nail down the door. When Brian and I got to Vernal, we realized that we had shredded a tire and it was completely gone - down to the rim. Thank heavens it didn't cause us to roll or have other problems on the drive. So, Brian went to town to find a tire store. He didn't have the best of luck with that in VERNAL. While he was gone, I took Mimzy for a walk since she had been in the car for 3 1/2 hours with no potty breaks. As I got back from my walk, I saw my mom holding Josh with the saddest look on her face. She had walked over to Chad and Heather's trailer and left Josh hanging out in her trailer with my niece, Kaitlin. Josh was (of course) standing against the door, but this time it was just the screen door so people could see in and make sure not to open the door and have him fall out again. Well, somehow he reached up high enough to push the lever to open the door and he let HIMSELF fall out of the trailer and down the 4 metal steps. Needless to say, he has some bad luck when it comes to trailer doors. (or at least the door in my parents trailer.) Then, to top it all off, as soon as Brian got back from tire shopping, he hooked the trailer up and turned on the water and we had a leak in our sink and it flooded our trailer with about 2 inches of water before we realized it was leaking. Not the best way to start off a trip, but after the first couple of hours, everything got much better.

Josh's new injuries to his face

The next day, we went to the dinosaur museum in town and played around. The kids had fun and there were just too many cute pictures to narrow down, so here are my million pictures from the day.

Amanda and Ridge in the gift shop

Alex, Jagger, and Ridge watching the info movie at the museum

The kids excavating dinosaur bones. This museum has a lot of "hands on" stuff for the kids, so they loved it!

Grammy (my mom) and Saige diggin' for bones

Kaitlin hiding in a cave

Alex playing with some toy dinosaurs

Me and the kids in front of the big Stegosaurus bones

Saige, Alex, Ridge, and Amanda touching the fossilized tortoise shell

Jagger and Amanda

Alex and Amanda

I noticed this sign after taking tons of pictures of my kids climbing the dinosaurs. NICE!! I am such a good mom!

Amanda by the fish pond - posing for pictures.
Checkin' out the fishies

"Say CHEESE!!" Thanks for the smile, Jagger!

My mom bought a cute little hair bow for Mimzy, but we decided to try it out on Josh first. Hmmm.........he might make a cute girl?

Amanda and Kaitlin at the top of the side of death. If you could see how tall and scary this slide looks, you would understand why I call it that. It was HUGE!! I had to climb to the top and retrieve Alex the first time he got all the way to the top.

Playing at the park at the KOA

Alex loves to swing! He loves to be pushed "higher like a flyer" as he says. unfortunately he has not mastered the art of pumping his legs and wants someone to stand there for hours and push him all day.

My friends, Chad and Heather, rented this fun bike and let everyone have turns on it - it was SUPER FUN!!

Skyler, Amanda, and Ridge

Endless hours of fun with sidewalk chalk - Kaitlin, Amanda, and Hailee

Jagger and Alex

Nothing says camping like dutch oven cooking! My sis-in-law, Chrissy making her famous Au Gratin potatoes - YUMMY!! The other dutch ovens are filled with BBQ pork ribs. A delicious meal!

Grammy doing what you're supposed to do camping.....relaxing!

Ditto for Poppa (my dad) and my brother, Joe

Since it was Mother's Day, my mom surprised the girls with Mother's Day treat baskets - so sweet! Me and Heather showing off our loot.

Getting some good-bye loves from my cute nieces, Kaitlin and Hailee.

On the road again - going back home. Check out Mimzy giving Josh's feet a bath - disgusting!

The end of a fun camping trip with family and friends! The BEST kind of vacation!!

2009-05-20T16:12:00.001-06:00

What is it about kids and umbrellas and rain (or hail, in this case) that is so much fun when you are little?

Josh and the dang dog bowls

2009-05-20T15:55:00.002-06:00

Josh's favorite activity is playing in the dog's water and food bowls. He usually just dumps them both out and plays in the water all over the floor and eats the dog food. This time, he decided to try something new while making mischief.

"Uh-Oh!"

Yes, that is his SOCK in the dog's water! Look at his poor little face when I initially got upset with him. He looks like he's thinking, "What? Did I do something wrong?"

After I decided that it was more funny than naughty and laughed about it, look at how pleased he is with himself.

A fun day at the zoo

2009-05-20T15:27:00.004-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, we went to the zoo with our friends Melissa, Riley, and Ella Thomas. The kids always love the zoo and they had tons of fun. We had to get some of the pictures that we get every single time we go to the zoo, but they are still cute even though all the pictures look almost the same each trip to the zoo.

The elephant picture

Eating corn dogs - Uhh, did you get enough ketchup??

Josh decided that ice cream is pretty yummy! What a smart kid!

The gorilla picture

Just hanging out.

Playing at the playground. Look how sweet and innocent Alex looks in this picture. This is just seconds before he spit in some little girl's face. Gotta love those moments as a mom trying to tell some other mom that you are sorry for what your child did to theirs.

Cute Riley going down the slide.

Even with the spitting incident, it was a pretty fun outing. My kids adore the zoo. They could go every single week and never get sick of it.

Josh's surgery

2009-05-15T13:12:00.004-06:00

Josh got tubes put in his ears because he had 4 ear infections in a 2-month period of time. I was really nervous for his surgery. He wasn't even 10-months-old and had to go under anesthesia. The surgery went better than expected though. We did have to wait a long time at the hospital, however. He was scheduled for surgery at 9:45 am and we had to be at the hospital for registration and a check-up at 8:15 am. He didn't actually get into surgery until 10:45, so we had 2 1/2 hours of waiting and Josh was fasting. He was his cute, little happy self as usual. He just played with all of the toys in the waiting area. His actual surgery only lasted about 10 minutes and he woke up about 5 minutes later. He drank a bottle of juice and then within 15 minutes, he was so wild and out-of-control and crawling all over the recovery area that they just told us to go home. They told me to expect a lethargic, spaced-out baby all day, but not Josh! He was a maniac all day! You never would have known that he had surgery that day! I was so thankful that it was an easy surgery and a super fast recovery!

Josh just chillin' and waiting for his surgery.
Josh came down with a 103 degree fever 2 days after his surgery, but he was on antibiotic ear drops and the doctor said his ears looked great in the surgery and were not even infected at the time. I called the doctor several times (and annoyed him to death) when I couldn't get his fever down. He just kept telling me that it had nothing to do with his ears or the surgery, but I was way worried because he had no other symptoms but the hight fever. But, after looking back at these pictures and video clip. It became very apparent that he could have picked up some kind of virus at the hospital that just had to manifest itself 2 days after his surgery. He played with all the toys in the waiting room and even tried to eat the bench in there (as shown in the video) and then he crawled around all over the recovery room floor. No wonder he got sick!

Amanda and Alex's first performance of the season

2009-05-15T12:22:00.009-06:00

Amanda and Alex are in a cute little singing and dancing group together. They are adorable!! They are doing a Disney medley of songs and they have the cutest little Minnie and Mickey costumes. So, their first performance was on a very crazy day for me. The day Josh had his ear surgery in the morning. Luckily, the surgery went so well and was over fairly quickly. The kids had spent the day with my mom while I was at the hospital with Josh, so they were over-stimulated and, of course, didn't nap for my mom or me. On the way to the performance, which we were late leaving for, this is the sight I looked back at while stopped at one of the lights. NICE!!

Just what I needed.....2 sleeping kids that were going to be super grumpy when we got to the performance. Plus, we were late so that meant that the tired, ornery kids would be rushed too. My kids have a very hard time with being rushed and with being tired and getting a mini-nap. I was very worried that they would not go on stage, but they did. Amanda was a bit happier about it than Alex, but he eventually got over it. It was cute, but definitely a FIRST performance. The kids didn't really know what they were doing, but at this age - anything they do on stage is pretty cute.

Amanda right before they went on stage.

Alex just before - not quite happy yet.

Alex after his first performance. What a sweet boy!

Amanda, the princess, loved being on stage and posing for pictures after! She is a natural performer!

A little video clip of the performance.

Alex just being......well, ALEX!

2009-05-15T12:16:00.002-06:00

Alex seems to be the messiest eater in the world! He almost always spills something and he frequently looks like this after eating. He thinks it is super funny when he has a messy face and he always asks me to take his picture when he gets especially gross. He is such a silly boy!!

Josh's trailer incident #1

2009-05-15T09:51:00.003-06:00

These pictures do this injury absolutely NO justice.

My parents were camping in Coalville a couple of weeks ago and we went up for the day to visit them. Josh was inside the trailer and he was standing up with his hands leaning against the trailer door. My dad and I had taken the puppies for a walk and we were coming back into the trailer. No one realized that Josh was standing against the door, so when my dad opened the door.....Josh came tumbling out and scraped his head on the metal stairs. Thank heavens my dad had great reflexes and caught him before he fell all the way down the stairs and did more bodily harm. These scrapes were bleeding and then he had a couple of goose eggs and some good scabs for a week. I loved explaining the injury to the medical staff at Primary Children's when I took Josh in 2 days later for his ear surgery. They were a little bit concerned to operate on a baby who had just had a head injury. He was fine though and the surgery went great! Poor baby!!

Mommy giving Josh loves better. He was happy as ever once he got into my arms.

University of the Pacific

2009-05-07T19:39:00.002-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, Brian and I flew to San Francisco to go to an open house for the University of the Pacific's dental school. This is the dental school that Brian is hoping to get into. He will apply to a few others, but this is his #1 choice. (Mine too!) Their program is very clinical-based and they have a lot of "hands on" experience. The biggest benefit, in my book, is that it is a 3-year accelerated program. That means one less year of living on student loans in a tiny apartment with three kids! It was a great experience and we got to meet a few people that Brian will need to know to get in. Our brother-in-law went to this school too and loved it. Our nephew, Zach has already been accepted there as well and he is only 18 years old! WOW!! He is awesome! He met us there for the open house and gave Brian some pointers and introduced him to some people. Zach could start the program this June, but he has deferred for his mission this July. If Brian plays his cards right, he may be able to get accepted to start at the same time as Zach and they could be in the same graduating class together! That would be so great!!

Funny Josh moments

2009-05-07T19:29:00.003-06:00

While I am trying to play catch-up on my blog, I thought I would add just a few silly moments of Josh's life. He is such a fun and happy baby! I have always heard that the 3rd child is the hardest, but I honestly think I have enjoyed his babyhood the most of the three kids. I think mostly because first-time moms are more uptight and nervous, and my second came along when my first was still a baby and that was hard, so this third times a charm!

Living Planet Aquarium

2009-04-24T10:40:00.005-06:00

We got to go to the Living Planet Aquarium with a bunch of our friends. It was so much fun! The kids loved seeing all the fun sea creatures. We all went out to lunch at Joe's Crab Shack after. That was so great! They have an indoor play area for the kids. That was the first time I have had all 3 kids at a sit-down restaurant and I was still able to eat my own food while it was hot. AMAZING!! Here are a few pictures from the day:

Alex didn't want to be in this picture. What a little stinker! Ha Ha - we got him anyway!

Checking out the sting rays in the petting pool. Amanda and Alex could NOT get enough of this! I literally had to pick them up and drag them away from this exhibit.

It is hard to see, but there was a big ol' octopus behind the kids. Pretty cool.

Amanda and Alex still trying to touch the sting rays. I couldn't resist this shot of their cute little back sides!

After all that fun, the kids collapsed together on the big, blue chair! What a priceless moment!!

Mimzy Mae

2009-04-08T14:51:00.005-06:00

We got a puppy!! I must be insane, I know! I have a crawling baby and a 3-year-old who just finished potty-training and now I am adding a puppy to my list. What was I thinking? Do I really want something else to have to clean up after and potty-train? But.......she sure is cute! And the kids absolutely ADORE her! Brian wasn't too thrilled about the idea of a puppy, but he really likes her - even if he won't admit it. She is such a funny little thing. She loves to play with the kids. But she really loves to pester Josh for some reason. I don't know if it is because he is close to her size and crawling around, so she thinks of him as another puppy? She is constantly jumping on his back while he is crawling and biting (play bites) all over his arms and legs and sometimes face. He gets bugged by her and starts pushing her away. Now I have 2 sets of fighting kids. Amanda & Alex and now Josh & Mimzy. I am always breaking up some kind of fight around here.

Amanda and Mimzy snuggling and napping

Amanda cannot get enough of this dog! She hardly ever lets her walk. She just carries her everywhere. I don't know how much Mimzy likes it, but Amanda loves being her "mommy"

Mimzy thinks she needs to "put her whole-self in" when she is eating. She puts her front legs into the bowl and chows down. I swear she consumes more than her body weight in dog food every day. She is a little piggy. She definitely fits in this family!

Brian getting mauled and climbed on by the kids and Mimzy

See what happens when mom turns her back for one minute....

2009-04-07T16:58:00.004-06:00

I was feeding Josh and trying to cook dinner at the same time. I stopped feeding him to check on something on the stove and apparently his high chair is too close to the counter. He was able to reach his bowl of cereal and baby food peas and go to town on his own. It was so cute that I had to get the camera out and make it a laughing moment instead of a frustrating moment. He scooped with his fingers at first, but then even got the idea of trying to use the spoon. What a big boy!

So proud of himself!!
I let him play in his food for about 10 more minutes after these pictures (so I could finish cooking dinner in peace). by the time he was done, he did not have one spot on his shirt that wasn't green from the peas and not one hair on his head that wasn't pasted with cereal. But, hey, he had fun - right?

Riding the horseys

2009-04-06T23:12:00.003-06:00

Josh's first "horsey ride" - it appears he had a good time. Amanda and Alex were both given their first ride when they were 6 months old, but poor Josh had to wait until he was almost 9 months before he got his turn. It is so funny how you find more time to do things for your first kid that you just can't seem to be able to do for the third. Oh well....at least he had fun and his big brother and sister showed him the ropes.

South Towne Mall carousel - here we come!!

Girls Weekend

2009-04-04T19:31:00.006-06:00

Mar. 19-22 I was able to go on a girls weekend with some of my friends. It was so great to have a little break from the every day grind and go relax in St. George and not have to think about or do anything for anyone but myself. I love that my friend, Heather, has stayed in touch with me all these years and that she plans this girls weekend every year and I get to go! She is such an amazing lifelong friend. She was my very first friend I ever had and I am so thankful to still be her friend to this day! We had so much fun just being us and not "mom" or whatever other title for a few days. We probably acted a little immature for women in our thirties, but hey - you gotta live it up while you can! Life is too short to not have some fun while you're at it! These are some of the silly pictures we took while we were living it up in 80 degree weather! We went to Vegas one of the days we were there and one day we went to Zions and did dome hiking. It was such perfect weather the whole time we were there and then it was rainy/snowy the day we drove home. What a great weekend!! Fun, fun memories!

We always eat at this really yummy place in St. George for breakfast, The Bear Paw. We ran into Frank Layden there and got to meet him and get our pictures taken with him. He was such a cute, nice man. We all wanted to adopt him as our grandpa.

Thanks, girls! It was a blast!!

Brian's Birthday

2009-04-03T21:08:00.005-06:00

Brian turned 31 on March 10th. Yes, I am WAY behind on my posts! We had a pretty quiet birthday for him here at the house. Brian didn't even want me to order him a cake or anything. He said that he likes the ones I just make in a 9x13 pan better than the store bought ones, so I made a couple of good ol' Betty Crocker cakes and we were ready to party! The kids were very helpful while I was making the cakes. (The best part is licking off the spatula and cleaning out the bowl! YUM!!) We just had a few close friends over for cake and ice cream and that was about the extent of the partying we did for his birthday. Life is not nearly as fun when you grow up.

My cute little "helpers"

Brian blows out his candles - even though we did not have 31 of them to cover his cake with.
Amanda and Alex lick off all the candles to make sure no frosting went to waste. Definitely MY kids!! :)

Hope you had a great birthday, Brian! We love you!!

Where does the time go??

2009-04-03T20:52:00.006-06:00

Time flies when you're having fun........at least that's what they say, but it also goes by even when your baby has had 4 ear infections in 2 months time and you are just busy with all the other mom stuff. I have been slacking big time in the blog department, but I will try to play catch up the best I can.

These are just a few cute pictures of the kids having too much fun with their food. Kids love olives!! (even if the don't like to eat them)

Blip of Josh laughing

2009-03-09T16:49:00.002-06:00

Josh was laughing so hard the other day at some dorky thing I was doing, so i got out my camera and tried to get a video clip of it. I had Amanda hold the camera and she thought she was taking pictures not a movie, so she kept pushing the button and turning it on and off. This was about as much length of any of his laughs that we got, but it was cute. I thought this would be a good trial video clip to put on here since I have never done one before........hope it turns out.

Reunion Dinner

2009-03-08T23:00:00.002-06:00

Some of my friends from Elementary school got together for a reunion dinner. It was so much fun to see some old friends and do some catching up! Some I have stayed in contact with and others I have not seen in years. It was great and I hope we do it again in the near future.

The babies that came along to the dinner. Jake Mortenson, Max Maio, and Josh Draney.

Eating yummy food at TGI Fridays and talk, talk, talking!
The whole group. Next time I hope we can get even more friends from the past to join us.
Kristin Featherstone Matheson, Shirley Jenn, Heather McDonald Weichers, Jaimie DeGraw Maio, Tammy Talbot Draney, Whitney Sayama Mortenson, Becky Linford Snell, Kirsten Morgan

FUN TIMES!!

Stop growing up so fast!!

2009-03-06T13:36:00.003-07:00

Josh has started doing way too many new things. He is getting so big and grown up. I don't know what has happened to my sweet little baby. He is a big boy now! Just in the past 2-3 weeks he has learned to do several new tricks. He has started pulling himself up on furniture and toys and "cruising" around them. He has learned how to blow kisses and clap. He still army crawls for the most part, but every now and again he will take a few crawls forward the real way. It won't be long before he is climbing stairs and (heaven forbid) walking. I guess it is time to get out the old baby gates again. I can't believe how fast this time is going! Why does it go by faster and faster with each kid? Here are some pictures of Josh the first time he pulled himself up to standing all by himself. Now, I can't even turn my head without him pulling himself up on something. The problem is that he has no fear and he thinks that he can already walk, so he will turn away from whatever he is holding onto and take a step out into the room and fall down. I have to keep my eye on this kid every second.

Winter day at the zoo

2009-03-01T19:01:00.007-07:00

We went to the zoo a week or so ago to give us something to do with Daddy out of town. It was so nice to go in the wintertime. There were only about 10 other cars in the parking lot when we got there. It seriously felt like we had the whole zoo to ourselves. It was fun! Plus, some of the animals that you hardly ever get to see, because they are taking cover from the sun in the summer, were out roaming in the winter. We had such a great time!

Amanda had to wear a swimming suit (of course)! What else do you wear in the winter??

Alex loved the rhino statue, but was sad that the real rhinos were inside due to the winter weather.

We got to see the wolf right by the fence. He is usually hiding far up in the hills and trees when we have been there other times. He was right there.......eating a BUNNY!! It was pretty gross, if you ask me, but the kids thought it was pretty cool. Amanda was a little freaked out about it - not that you can tell in these pictures. Hee Hee!

Messy Face

2009-02-23T14:53:00.002-07:00

Josh has decided that it is super funny to spit his food out all over the place when I feed him now. He just laughs and laughs when I get sprayed in the face with sweet potatoes or something equally disgusting. I, however, do not find it anywhere near as hilarious as he does. My mom keeps reminding me, "This too shall pass." I am sure I will look back way too soon and miss these days, but seriously........ does he have to spit it in my face???

2009-02-04T10:56:00.002-07:00

I have been tagged by my friend, Crystal. Here are the rules:

1. Post rules on blog
2. Answer the six 8 items
3. Let each person know by leaving them a comment.

8 Favorite TV Shows

1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Private Practice
3. Heroes
4. Chuck
5. 24
6. Prison Break
7. Ghost Whisperer
8. American Idol

8 Things I did Yesterday

1. Took Amanda and Alex to school
2. Took Amanda and Alex to their singing class
3. Went to South Towne Mall with my mom and took the kids on the carousel
4. Picked up toys and kid messes (what's new?)
5. Made the kids Mac-n-cheese for dinner
6. Did more laundry - never ending!!
7. Went to a meeting with Brian about a new possible business venture
8. Watched American Idol

8 Things I Look Forward To:

1. Wednesday lunches with the girls
2. More vacations - especially Hawaii
3. Date nights with Brian
4. Hanging out with friends
5. Family gatherings
6. Camping all summer
7. Getting a pedicure (not nearly often enough!)
8. Playing with my kids

8 Favorite Restaurants

1. Cafe Rio
2. Kneader's
3. Cheesecake Factory
4. Training Table
5. Mimi's Cafe
6. Leatherby's (for the ice cream only)
7. Ruby River
8. Red Robin

8 Things I Wish For

1. More time
2. More money
3. House cleaners
4. My kids to fight less
5. More vacation time with family and friends
6. My kids to stop growing up so fast
7. More patience
8. To be happy with everything that I already have

8 People I Tagged

1. I don't know who has already done this, so if you haven't - please do it so I can read all about YOU!!
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Lazy Day

2009-01-31T15:49:00.003-07:00

I just LOVE pictures of babies when they fall asleep in the middle of some activity. The eating ones are usually hilarious! Anyway, Josh loves his Jumperoo and spends lots of time in there everyday. He will jump and jump and jump himself till he can't jump anymore. Apparently this is the case here. I was doing laundry and put him in the jumperoo and came back to see Josh completely zonked out after a good bounce session. SOOOO cute!!

The kids stayed in jammies almost all day long the other day. They all snuggled up in Brian's WT chair to have a root beer together. Well, Josh had a bottle of formula, but you get the idea. I love to see all 3 kids in one place when they are all getting along and enjoying being together. These are my favorite "mom" moments.
P.S. For those of you who don't know, WT = white trash. (Sorry, Honey!!)

Happy Birthday, Grammy!

2009-01-31T15:27:00.006-07:00

So, Grammy (my mom) was out of town for her birthday this year. She went to Maui to celebrate turning 60! I hope that I get to go to Maui for my 60th birthday (or any other birthday, for that matter!) We were not able to celebrate with her on her actual birthday, but we got to have Grammy and Poppa over for dinner and cake and ice cream right after they got home from their trip. It was so fun to have them at our house - and I can always use a good excuse to have cake and ice cream and talk about Hawaii!!

Grammy, Amanda, and Alex all blow out the candles - it was a group effort. I guess you need help when you have 60 candles to blow out!! Just kidding! I think we only put 3 on there or something.

Alex and Grammy enjoying the plethora of desserts we had that night. Two kinds of cake and Leatherby's Almond Joy ice cream! YUMMY!!!!

Amanda had some fun taking pictures of us with my camera. She loves being the camera operator. We don't always get the best shots when she is behind the lens, but it sure is fun for her!

Happy Birthday, Grammy!! (on the 22nd) We love you so much!! Thanks for being our Grammy and for all you do for us! You are the BEST!! 2 DEESE!!

Best Buds!

2009-01-28T16:50:00.005-07:00

OK. So I swear these two made some kind of pact in the pre-existence that they would be brother and sister. (Kinda Saturday's Warrior-ish, huh?) But they seriously LOVE each other more than I thought 2 siblings could. Everyday when Amanda wakes up, her first thought is, "Where is Josh?" She will go to whatever room he is in and just cuddle up with him until it is time to get up and going for the day. She used to look for ME first thing in the morning, but I have SO been replaced! Now she will just look for her baby brother. If she hears him already awake and downstairs, she will walk right past me in my room, without so much as "Hi, Mom," to go get him. She adores him!! And he seems to have the same connection to her. He will let her smother him nearly to death and just smile and drool all over her. It is so crazy the bond that these 2 have. Josh can get bugged if other kids (not mentioning any names here) try to hug him or pick him up or move him, but if Amanda does the exact same thing, he just smiles and giggles at her. There is no doubt in my mind that Josh was definitely supposed to be part of our family!

Josh gives Amanda hugs and kisses after she picks him up and makes him stand while she nearly squishes his guts out.
You cannot deny that these two can't get enough of each other.

Later, on this same day, I came downstairs to this adorable sight. I had left Josh just playing on the floor while I was upstairs in the office. I could hear him crying and Amanda said she would go play with him to help make him happy - which she does for me all the time. (And I love her for that!) I came down and saw that Amanda had picked him up and pulled him onto the chair (and I must mention that he weighs about half what she weighs) and snuggled with him until he fell asleep. And she even got pillows and blankets for him so that he would be comfy and not roll off the chair. What a good big sister!!

I don't think I want to know HOW she got him up there by herself - it would probably scare me too much if I knew. Plus, I don't think I want to know WHY Amanda was wearing a swim suit in January. CRAZY girl!! I love these precious little moments in the middle of my everyday life!

I can't believe Josh is almost 7 months old!

2009-01-25T15:14:00.003-07:00

There is not a cuter, happier baby alive than this kid! Look at that huge grin! I love it!! This is what keeps me sane all day long when I wonder if I can keep going. That face, right there!

P.S. I did try to crop out as much of our un-made bed in the background, but you can't hide it all, huh?

New hair cuts

2009-01-25T14:25:00.004-07:00

So, the hair cuts are actually almost 2 weeks old, but I am a slacker and am just now posting the pics. They look super cute!! Amanda is always begging me to let her cut her hair short, but this was as short as I would allow. I think it turned out really cute on her.

Alex's looks really cute too. He is (of course) naked in the pictures. He is still working on potty training, and for some strange reason he thinks he must completely strip down to go on the potty. Hey, whatever works, right?

Alex's Birthday Party

2009-01-17T14:52:00.011-07:00

Alex had his 3-year-old birthday party at Thanksgiving Point Farm Country. Alex is totally obsessed with animals. We thought it would be so much fun for him to have a farm party - even though his birthday is in the winter. It turned out so cute and the kids had tons of fun. We all froze our tails off, but it was a success anyway.
Alex would NOT smile for me when we first got there and I wanted to get a picture of the birthday boy in his "birthday shirt". At least he smiled for my mom and she gave me copies of her pictures.
Excited smiles. Amanda loves having her picture taken - if you haven't already noticed. She will ALWAYS pose for a picture.
The kids played a bunch of fun games in the party room. In this game, they had to find all of Old McDonald's animals that were "lost" and bring them back to the farm.
Then they searched through hay for candy and prizes.
The party coordinator gave us one extra indoor activity because it was too cold and snowy for the wagon ride. She attempted to do face painting, but Amanda was the only one willing to let her paint her face. The boys had zero interest in that activity.
Amanda's cute unicorn on her cheek.
They brought a little pony in the party room for all the kids to feed. The kids loved giving him some corn.
Then they had to venture outdoors and feed the animals outside. It was so freaking freezing that it did not last very long. All the kids just dumped their bags of corn out for the animals so they could hurry up and go get warm again.

All the kids got to have a pony ride too. They all loved that, but, AGAIN, it was WAY too cold.

Next, Alex got to open his presents. He would NOT take that sucker out of his mouth for the life of him. It made for some pretty cute pictures, at any rate. He got tons of fun presents. Thanks to all who gave Alex gifts! He loves them!!

Alex's farm animal cake.
Just about to blow out the candles.
This is my ALL TIME favorite picture from the party! Riley Thomas got just about the WHOLE piece of cake in his mouth at once! It was hilarious! What a cute boy!!
With all the commotion going on, I just about forgot that I even have a baby. Maybe it is because he is always so good and hardly ever cries or needs tons of attention. I think that almost every picture I have of Josh is him sitting in his car seat and smiling. What a sad little existence for him. I love that child so much! He is such an easy baby! So, here he is AGAIN.......in his seat just being good and smiling away.
Grammy finally got him out of his seat so that he could join in all the fun. Poppa got to hold him while the kids ate pizza and cake.
Amanda eating pizza with her Poppa.

Later that night, we had Grammy and Poppa (who brought cousins Kaitlin and Saige) and the Hodges (our neighbors and second family) over for some cake and ice cream. Alex had seen this Sponge Bob cake at the store and just HAD to have it for his birthday. I didn't realize that I would be bringing cake home from the birthday party, so we had tons of cake to eat........but too much cake is a good thing in my book. It was such a fun day! Alex loved all the cake and presents he got! Birthdays are the best day of a 3-year-old kid's life.

This picture pretty much sums up the feeling of the whole day! We love you Alex!! Hope you had a wonderful birthday!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Alex!!

2009-01-03T23:15:00.000-07:00

I am still trying to play catch-up on the busy holiday season - and, for who knows what reason - I am trying to do it in order. But....today is Alex's birthday and I couldn't let myself only do a Christmas post on this day. So, I just wanted to give a little shout out to my cute little 3-year-old. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALEX!!! We love you so much and we have had such a fun day with you today! I will do a post later with all of his birthday party and everything, but it's been so crazy around here. I guess that is one of the cons of having a birthday a week after Christmas. Sorry, Bud! there wasn't much I could do about that. Love you, Al Pal!!