Sunday Hike/Walk

This past Sunday (beginnig of October) Bob and I took the kids up to the mountains to go for a little hike.  We went to Brighton Ski Resort where during the summer there is a beautiful lake circled by a boardwalk.  The lake is called Silver Lake.  It is an easy hike especially for children, and we can take our stroller so we don't have to carry the kids.  The boys loved running on the boardwalk.  Zack made sure to stop at each sign so we could talk about what was on the picture and to read about each animal.  We saw ducks which made the boys very excited.  Zack was disappointed that he didn't see any fish but it was hard without polorized sunglasses (which Mommy and Daddy had).  We also saw a lot of squirrel's so that was fun too.  Gavin would yell Duck or Squirrel everytime he's see an animal.  It was fun to get out with the kids and enjoy the beautiful mountains.  Sometimes we take the beauty that is around us for granted.  We get so caught up with work, church calling, and everything else that we have packed into our week.  It was nice just doing something with the family.

And what's a post without pictures...

On the boardwalk to the lake

They love to run

Looking for the duck and trying to see fish

I love our little family!

Playing in the water on one of the docks



I took this picture!!  Beautiful Panarama of Silver Lake if I do say so myself!

PS... this post was actually written a week after our drive but because Blogger hates me and it was so hard to get pictures uploaded it's been sitting on the back burner for over a month.  I'll try harder to get more things posted

Oh and one last picture, as we were leaving Brighton I saw these trees and made Bob go around the loop again and stop so I could get a picture.  It was a perfect example of the changing colors.







Can you see all the different colors...Green, Yellow, Orange and Red.



Silly Boys

In no particular order below are some random pictures taken of the boys in August and some of September.  I have to admit I'm loving the ages of Zack and Gavin right now.  Zack is at an age where he talks up a storm and never stops making me laugh.  Gavin is at the age were he is just learning how to talk and I'm enjoying all the new words that he is learning daily.  Also Gavin is such a funny little kid, when he's not having to fight for toys or attention he's his own little man.  Bob and I both agree that he completely shines when Zack is in bed.  His personality totally comes out.  Gavin is such a great listener and he actually does what I say.  Zack on the other hand enjoys testing our boundaries to see what he can get away with. 

And here are some pictures with descriptions below.

Zack and Gavin getting ready to head to the store with mom.  Nothing says I'm cool like a binkie and a blanket.  Oh and Zack is dressing himself so he went to Target in 98 degree weather wearing a fleece jacket... that's just how he roles.

While watching Kairi one afternoon we decided it was a great time to swim.  Zack was showing his brother and cousin how to properly jump into a 3 inch pool. 

If you don't behave in our house you have to go to jail.  Not really but Gavin crawled under the chair and Zack had to as well.  And yes my boys were both in their diaper/underwear... again just how we role.

At the Baseball game with some friends.  Quinn is Zack's best friend.  Everything we do or go he asks is Quinny going to be there? 

In the afternoon we sometimes watch Phineas and Ferb on Disney channel.  Zack decided that he wanted a mustache like Major Monogram's.  (Go ahead and google this is you totally don't understand what I'm talking about... LOL)  Anyways I made him a mustache.  This lasted all of 2 minutes before it was ripped to shreds, at least I got a picture.

Gavin loves to play in the dirt.  Bob has been working on rerouting some sprinkler lines and getting the side of our house ready for some sod.  This is just a hole that was dug and later filled in.  But Gavin sure did love it while it was around. 

Zack decided he needed to try on all of daddy's swim trunk one day.  I'm going out on a limb, but I think he has a lot of growing to do before fitting into daddy's pants.



While in Colorado Zack's Uncle Russell was trying to teach him how to go underwater.  I've been trying to teach him for months.  But all he needed was a weekend with his Uncle to realize it's pretty cool.  Now he's practicing in the tub to stick his whole head underwater.  Today I found him floating in the bubbles.  All I could see was his little face.  It was adorable!



Bob decided to take the top of the Jeep and go on a family drive.  I didn't want my hair all over the place so I put on a scarf.  Well Zack needed to have one too.  So here is a picture of Mommy and Zack with our scarves so our hair doesn't get messed up.  Love this kids!

Okay so that's pretty much what we have been up to.  Really not too much.  Just hanging out at the house and having a blast.  I hope that kids have a good memories of their childhood.  Bob and I try to do things as a family, but with work, church responibilites and everyday life sometimes it's hard.  But family is our number one priorty and we hope that we are letting our kids know that.  I love our boys, I can't remember what it was like without them and I can't imagine life without them.  I've said it before and I'll continue saying it our boys are amazing and we are so blessed to have them in our lives!

What happens in Vegas gets blogged about...

A couple of weeks ago our group of friends headed to Las Vegas, NV.  It's been somewhat of a tradition for us for the past 4-5 years.  We didn't do it last year because of schedule issues and three of us were having babies.  So this year we were back!

One fun thing that we do is rent a house.  Vegas is getting harder to rent a house in though.  This year we had the largest group with 6 couples.  We found a house that was perfect and fairly inexpensive, only to find out that the sixth bedroom was also the gameroom/loft.  Which isn't very fun for anyone to have to sleep in.  So we found a second house that fit better for our needs. 

A few must have's:

• Obviously a bedroom for each couple.  We try to get bedrooms that have at least a queen in each room but that doesn't happen every year.  This year we had two rooms with Twin beds.
• Pool
• Hot Tub - perferably one that is connected to the pool.  This year we found both but when we got there the pool was HOT.  But really the temp was 105 degrees.  We still wanted to heat the hot tub but because of some lameness on the homeowners part it didn't happen.  But it didn't ruin our weekend!
• Pool Table

See we are pretty easy to please.  Anything else is just cake.  In rating this house compared to other homes the house was amazing.  The layout was really awesome and decorated very nice.  The pool was on the small side, and kind of weird because it was on the side of the house.  But it all worked for our group.  Whoever looks for the house and puts it on their credit card gets the master bedroom.  After that it's just luck of the draw (literally).

So what did we do:

Friday

• Arrived in Vegas about 3pm
• Got situated in the house (checked everything out and drew for rooms)
• Girls went shopping, Guys went grocery shopping (you heard me)
• Girls went to the Rio to see Parade in the Sky (see pictures below)  It was so much fun and only took us 3 years to see!



• Met the guys and headed to the Strip
• A couple of the guys went to pick up one of the couples that had flown in. 

• Once we were all together we went to MGM to have dinner at the Rain Forest Cafe. (ehhh)

• Shopped at M&M Store
• Walked the strip
• Headed home (went to bed about 2 or 3am)

Saturday

• Woke up way to early!
• Had breakfast
• Hung out at the house playing in the pool

• Guys brought us Virgin Daquiri's
• Played in the pool some more (layed out a bit as well).  It was an overcast day so temp wise it was perfect.  Didn't get a sunburn at all!

• Guys made us lunch (hence the grocery shopping).  Had: Chicken/Steak/Brats/Hot Dogs, Salad, Fruit, Corn on the Cob & Chips.  We totally get spoiled Vegas Weekends.

• Everyone got showered and dressed to head back to the strip (this is a 2 hour process... LOL)
• More shopping (H&M & Ross's)
• More shopping (Coke Store)
• Ate at a Mexican place near M&M Store something Cantina.  It was yummy.

• Then headed off strip to gamble.
• Played a little slots, Roulette and 21 at Wild Wild West
• Headed home (bed by 3:30AM)

Sunday

• Woke up a little bit later this time. 
• Ate breakfast
• Started getting ready and packing to head home
• Once we deemed the house clean we headed out.
• Stopped at the Silverton Casino to visit the Bass Store.
• Saw the Mermaid

• Headed home about 1PM
• Stopped to eat in Mesquite (which is beginning to look like a ghost town)

• Got home about 9:30PM

It really was an awesome trip.  We almost need to add another day!  Missed my kids terribly!  They were in Colorado with my mom for my cousin's wedding.  I feel horrible I missed the wedding but totally needed the break and the trip was already paid for by the time I found out about the wedding. 

Family Reunion - Montana

This past week we were able to go to my family reunion in Montana.  I'm not from Montana nor is anyone in my family from Montana, but my dad is from Canada which is near Montana :).  It was nice having the reunion in Montana because it was far enough away that everyone had to drive to get there.  You couldn't just hang out for the day and go back home to sleep.  The camping reunions are such a bonding experience.  I just love sitting around the campfire, laughing at silly things that happened that day and hearing about other people's lives.

Both our kids did really well.  Bob gets stressed not knowing where the boys were every minute, but I kept my eye on them.  And there was a lot of Adults that knew where the kids were at all time as well.

It was a little stressful being near a river and the lake but for the most part the boys stayed nearby.  There was the few times we'd catch Zack sneaking over to the river to throw rocks or Gavin following people who were heading down to the lake.  But they are boys!

The beautiful lake we were near (picture by Janae Smith)

We tried to leave Thursday afternoon/Evening.  Bob got home about 2:30-3:00.  By the time we got everything packed, rearranged and picked up my dad; I think it was close to 5 or 5:30 before we were on the road.  We stopped at a Rest Stop near Brigham City because Zack said he had to go potty.  False Alarm.  When we headed back out on the road our car started to act up.  It would loose power but not die completely.  But by the time we made it to Tremonton, UT it was doing it on a regular basis.  We made the decision to head home and borrow someone's car.  We finally decided to borrow my Mom's car and had her meet us in Roy, UT.  When we got off the off ramp our car completely died at the light.  We barely made it to Arby's.  It just kept dying.  My mom met us and our car was finally not dying every time we turned it on.  But we had a roof rack on our car and it didn't fit on my Mom's car.  So it didn't work to use her car right then.  We made the decision just to head all the way home and get things so we could put the rack on my mom's car and unload everything and reload into her car.  And it was a good decision because our car would not hold the power.  Bob figured it out so when it did die we were able to get it started quickly and finally got home.  So we didn't leave for Montana until 3:00AM the next morning.

It was a good drive.  The boys slept most of the morning.  We stopped in Butte, MT to let the kids out of the car for little bit and have breakfast.  We then drove to Lakeside, MT and had lunch.  FYI, Flathead Lake is Beautiful!

We got to Whitefish about 4 or 5:00.  We quickly found a spot to set up camp and unloaded.  The day was spent catching up with family, and just hanging out.  My Dad and Kelly got lost trying to get back to camp when they went into Whitefish, MT.  Deanna and I were starting to freak out a bit.  Plus they had all the food for dinner and we were getting hungry.  Luckily they made it back safe and sound.  Our dinner may have been late, but it was yummy!  And we feed a lot of people.  And Deanna made Cobbler which was delicious!

Saturday was a very busy day.  We started the day with Breakfast. 
Volleyball Tournament
Lunch
Amazing Race
Swimming at the Lake
Dinner
Minute to Win it Game (which Deanna and I did)
and Campfire fun.

Everyone joining together to watch the Volleyball Tournament

2 of the Teams that played each other.  I think Bob was on the other side of the net
(Picture from Janae Smith's facebook album)

Minute To Win it Games - Chocolate Unicorn

Minute to Win it Game - Hanky Panky

It was so much fun watching Zack playing with his cousins.  They all got a long so well.  Of course there was never enough Volleyballs or spray guns for everyone but as a whole they did really well together.  Gavin also did well with his cousins, he just mostly watched.  But a few times he had to fight for the ball he was playing with. 

Saturday - Sunday night a wicked thunder/lighting storm rolled in.  It was amazing at how quickly it started and how fast it moved on.  At one point the lightning and thunder went at the exact same time.  Which means it was pretty close.  My Uncle Reed actually was watching the storm and said the lightning hit the mountain we were pretty close to.  SCARY!

Sunday we had a meeting with the family since we weren't able to make it to church.  We had most of the past missionaries share a missionary moment they had.  It was fun to hear all the places people in our family have served and a memory that stood out to them.  After our meeting a few people had to leave.  We had quite a few goodbyes.  But there was still a good amount of people who stuck around.  We had potluck lunch and Dinner.  It was nice knowing we had gotten ride of a lot of food!  We played/watched Kubb and  then sat around the fire and roasted marshmellows.  Again it was a wonderful night to just relax and hang out with family. 

The next morning we pack up camp and was on the road by 10:00.  We got home about 10:30pm.

The boys did amazing there and back.  I was really worried about them, but they were troopers.  We had so much fun at the reunion and can't wait until the next one in 2 years.  I loved that so many family members were able to attend.  I'm not sure on the exact numbers of people there but I think it was more then 150 people (I could be way off).  Oh yeah Gavin won a quilt in the Raffle.  It was so cute because when they called his name I took him up to get his quilt and he grabbed it right away.  He totally knew that it was his blanket.  And got mad if anyone tried using it.

Thanks to my Aunt Andrea for her hard work in putting together such a great reunion.  It was so much fun!  The place was beautiful even if we got eaten by misquito's.

Summer Lovin'

Just wanted to post with some silly pictures of Zack playing in the water.   I have to say I'm just glad that he's playing in the sprinklers and wanting to get into the bath.  It was hit and miss the first few years with him.  He never was sure about the water but now he's starting to become a fish.  Zack still hates his face to get wet.  And forget about trying to wash his hair.  I might as well be trying to drown him by the way he screams when it's time to wash his hair.  But he gets over it quickly and back to playing. 

Lately I've been having a hard time keeping Zack out of the water in the backyard.  We had a sprinkler hooked up to the hose but he was always turning it on (and leaving it on) without us knowing.  Next thing you know he's running in the backyard naked (at least the picture below he has his underware on).   As a punishment we actually took the sprinkler way from him.  

Zack running through the sprinklers with his underware one.



Zack has been wanting to swim at the pool, but it's been a bit cold and windy so this was a good alternative.  Thank goodness for Garden tubs.



Zack trying to float on his back.  I'm just proud of him for getting some of his hair wet.  Next year I will definitly be getting him in swim lessons.

Since Zack has been wanting to swim in the "pool" (our bathtub) so often I finally bought a small pool for our backyard.  Zack got one for his birthday last year from my sister but it got a hole in it :(.  It's not a big pool but it works for Zack playing in it and jumping in it.  Unfortunely Gavin usually naps between 11 and 2 so it's not too often he gets to play in the pool because I normally have to be to work by 4 or 5. 

Gavin is by far more of a fish then Zack is.  He doesn't even mind too much when Zack sprays him with the hose, squirt gun, or a cup of water.  He just stands there and takes all the water he can get. 

And totally unrelated to the water post, but I just wanted to document a funny conversation Zack had with me today at the Tire Store.

We were waiting to have my tire looked at.  Zack and Gavin were playing around the seating area.  A Polynesian women and her son were also in the seating area.  Zack loves making friends so he sat down next to the boy (which at first he thought was a girl).  The little boy was the same age as Zack and didn't have any shoes on.  Zack looked at me and said "Mom, he has color on his foot."  Not sure what he meant I asked "What do you mean he has Color on his foot".  Zack said "His Foot is brown."  The mom of the little boy was just laughing.  It's so funny that at such a young age Zack is already starting to notice people's different skin color.  I just told him that some people have different skin color. 





Zack turned 3

Just writing the title for this post I think how did this happen.  It was just yesterday that Zack was born!  It's truely been a crazy three years with this little guy.  He's such a smart kids.  Zack started walking at 9 months, was talking full sentences by 2 years (and hasn't stopped yet).  He's always been well above average in height, weight and development.  Zack loves to play sports and is such a quick learner in everything that he does. 

This year for Zack's party we wanted to do a Waterslide with Family and Friends.  We invited our family over for dinner -- hot dogs and salad at 5:30 on his Birthday.  Well the weather wasn't really cooperating for us.  At about 3:00 a storm rolled in and it downpoured.  But that didn't damage our spirits or the party.  I ended up decorating the inside of the house with crepe paper and balloons and once the storm stopped a bit I put up some balloons outside.  The sign I made for Zack was already outside before the storm rolled in.  We still had  our BBQ, and most everyone ate outside.  By the time we ate it was just drizzling.  But we had a plan and it wasn't going to be spoiled by Mother Nature.  Plus it still felt pretty nice outside even with the rain.  

We asked everyone to bring a side or salad, and I put together an Italian Soda Bar. 

I even made a Watermelon Shark (which I got the idea from this website)

Here is a picture of Zack's sign that I made and also Bob grilling in the rain.

And the fun part of the evening was definitly the Slip and Slide.  Bob was worried that no one was going to try it but Deanna had already said Rain or Shine she was going to slip n' slide. 

Preperations for the slip n' slide:

We borrowed the 1/2 billboard from a friend in the neighborhood.  Luckily we live next to a park because there was no way that was going to fit in our yard.  Bob built two sprinkler systems out of PVC and sprinkler heads so that we would have water on the entire slide.  We took out some of the slats in our fence so we were able to go from the backyard directly to the park. 

Most of our guests didn't think we were going to do it, but we totally did!  And it was so  much fun.  Bob was the first to slide down the slip n' slide.  There were a few people who didn't even bring their swim suits but couldn't resist the fun and ended up sliding in their clothes!  Zack didn't really enjoy the slip n' slide like we hoped he would.  He still doesn't like water in his face so the sprinklers on the whole slide didn't work out too well with him.  We tried pushing Gavin down the slide on a tube but he didn't like that either.  So it was mostly the big "Kids" and some of the neighborhood kids that went down the slide.  Here are some pictures of everyone (taken by my Mom).

I had some pictures of neighbor kid too but for some reason STUPID blogger keeps trying to turn it the wrong direction.  I will work on the problem and try to post those pictures too.

Happy Birthday Bob

It was Bob's birthday at the beginning of the month.  Luckily his birthday fell on a Saturday and I took that day off.  He was able to go fishing with my Dad and Brother in Law.  Fishing for Bob is a perfect birthday present in itself.  While he was fishing I decorated the house so when he got back it would look festive.

We went out to dinner with his best friend Scott and his family. We went to Texas Roadhouse.  It was yummy as always.  Bob and I have been getting one of the combo plates, he gets the ribs and I get the chicken.  I ususally get a side salad so Bob can also get a salad and bake potatoe (loaded of course).  After dinner we were meeting up with our group of friends for the Drive-In.  We saw Cars and Green Lantern.  I made BTS cake so we could share with everyone.  It turned out perfect! 

Happy Birthday to an Amazing Dad

and a Great Husband!