Monday, September 26, 2011

Happenings!!!

This week we had some fun HAPPENINGS! These are just a few...

Count down with me would ya!?

First: We enjoyed a visit up to the Logan TEMPLE for FHE! They were just about to close the gate, so we spent just a few minutes to take a picture as a family.
Laugh and take a picture of this GREAT sign!! Ha ha! Gotta love the humor even at the Temple.
Have a mini lesson with the boys about Temples!
And of course Roll down the hill as a family. The temple worker said we should. So we did.
All the other families there were doing the same thing. Must be the thing to do?? The kids LOVED everything about going to the temple. (We are planning another trip next week to see the other side of it.)
After which we ate some Little Caesar pizza outside of the Zeppies! We got one of those too. YUMMY and MUCH needed. (Davin this week had HERPES of the MOUTH! ~HORRIBLE I tell ya, HORRIBLE!! I guess it has been going around and pretty much is cold sores all over the mouth, cheeks and down the throat. Very painful and miserable for kids. Sometimes they even have to be hospitalized due to the pain and dehydration. UGH!) Zeppies Italian Ice was great to numb up his mouth and make him happy just for a bit. We will be going to be going back there for sure. It was super cheap and yummy too.
YUMMY!! It looks late, but it wasn't!

Right across the street is this "America First" bank. My boys every time we drive by it lately say it is the Temple. I always laugh and say that it LOOKS sorta like it. This particular night they realized the one we had just been to REALLY is the REAL temple. Funny stuff we hear from kids. It was a great and funny family night for sure.


Second Happening: We are starting to REALLY pick and enjoy our harvest. Here is our onions this year. We thought last years were BIG. This years they are even BIGGER! Like HUGE really! Lots of them too.

The LEFT one is showing you a REGULAR sized onion you would normally buy at the grocery store. The RIGHT ones are our "WILLA BEASTS!"

Like my MELONS?
This picture is for YOU Cousin JONI! I enjoyed your melons so much, I had to show off mine. Ha ha. These really are Aaron's home grown and delish YELLOW watermelons. So tasty!!
Third Happening: Park of the week was Ryan's place! The boys enjoyed the slides of course.
The plane was the ULTIMATE joy of the day. Super cute!
Since we were in River Heights, we stopped by to take a picture of my Grandparents old place. Great and wonderful memories were made here. The house was white, and the yard was totally different of course. All of their land is sold and tons of homes have gone in around it. Made me miss my Grandparents so much. LOVE YOU ALMA and NORMA!!

Fourth Happening: One night we rode our bikes from our house to LOGAN'S HEROS SUBS! Yum, our favs!! It was a lovely evening out for a bike ride as a family...and of course get to a DELISH destination.
Fifth Happening: One night we promised the boys that since the weather was still pretty nice we would roast some mellows over the fire out back. They were in heaven, and even more so when the cousins came and joined in with us. We watched the stars too. Ohh how we are going to miss the nice weather. BOO to winter!
Boys sure LOVE their FIRES!
Sixth Happening: The USU HOMECOMING PARADE!! Oh how we are a parade LOVIN' family. We love to see all the people and floats, but more importantly...get all the LOOT. HA!

My sweet NIECE is right smack dab in the middle of that AMAZING USU pep band, playing the symbols! HA ha (She normally plays the clarinet, but they needed her to do these for the band.)
It was great to scream and hoot and hauler at her.
Davin was in a trance at the COOLNESS of it all!

Lots of family joined in to enjoy this SWEET parade on such a PERFECT and WARM morning!

We all even got FREE chicken sandwiches from Chick-Fe-la! Dad was thoroughly enjoying his sandwich pictured below. Ha Ha!
Seventh Happening: This was the awaited weekend! Christian (my nephew) spoke at his farewell!! I just can't believe that he already is leaving on his mission to RUSSIA! He will do a great job and we all will miss him MUCHO!

He did an incredible job on his talk. We enjoyed hanging with so many family members after the meetings and eating a yummy meal!
Even Grandpa V showed up!

Sisters goofing around! Love ya sis miss.

Then it was time to take a few memory picture before the GOODBYES! Sob sob... Christian and his parents!
LOVE you Christian! I will miss you SOOOO much!!

Eighth Happening: We then dropped in to see and MEET the newest member of the family. My sister just added a new little NEPHEW to the mix. Meet little MR. NATHAN TYLER!
I even got a little HUG from the little guy. So sweet and fun for sure. Congrats CRISTI!
Ninth Happening: Monday morning we had the opportunity to meet and pet our very first CATERPILLAR!! The boys were in HEAVEN over this soft little furry fella. Me too, I hadn't seen one in years.
Finally it was time to move on to other important things like...playing with sticks with their new little friends.

Those are just a few of the happenings...and now we are good to go for another week of adventures!

Sunday, September 18, 2011

This is how the week went down!

So last Sunday evening, we got invited out to visit and hang with Grandma and Grandpa J! Always a great time out there in Mendon. Lots of laughs, food and fun! We were excited to be the first to try out their NEW air hockey table. It was great!
The boys already had a good feel for it and they never had even played before.
Tate was a super GOOD player...stepping on his tippy toes that is. (he loves those tippies!!)
We were out saying our goodbyes in their driveway when the Mendon community fire alarms started going off. LOUD!! We noticed just around the corner was this HUGE house in flames. LIKE really HUGE flames. Pictures don't do it justice. We watched it for about a half hour. It was very intense! I have seen house fires before, but WOW...this was a BAD one. None of the firemen or anyone had gotten there yet. It was a lost cause from the get go for sure. So super sad! The good thing was, it was only 2 weeks out from being finished...and so nobody lived there yet. SO sad for them, but glad nobody got hurt. You could see it clear across the valley, and it ended up being on the news and all over the papers!
Monday night we had a GREAT ~FHE~ fishing/BBQ with the EQ dudes and families. We did this last year you might remember at NEWTON DAM. It was so fun, we thought it would be a great tradition and do it again. The days are getting so short, we didn't have much time in the light. It was SOOO beautiful with the sun setting though...it made it worth it. BBQ's taste better in the dark too. Right? HA!

It was AWESOME....there was even a rope SWING we swung on. Super high and scary..but AWESOME! Who needs Lagoon??? (should have been over water though...)


It really was a sight!

The kids played on the beach and got super dirty! Of course!!!
Aaron was the lucky winner of getting the first, and biggest for the night! (Small compared to last years.) He was excited and so were we!!


LOVE this picture! Don't they look similar!? Haa Haa
The guys get into it sooo much! They are such a great team! So funny and cute that they all jump up and help bring each others fish in, even with burgers in hand!
Davin is chillin' and taking it all in....
The kids playing together so cute in the dark. Talking gibberish of course!

The ladies chattin' away about each others kids.
The dudes chattin about what???? FISH!!!
Time for a bit more DARK swingin'!
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee....Fun times!

Tuesday was a BIG day for our family!!! TATE turned the BIG ~4~ years old!!!!!!! Holy cow, can he really be that BIG already?? Was it really 4 years ago that I was over due with a nearly 9 pound baby...and this is him now??? CRAZY! We LOVE him soo much!

Stats at his ~4~ year well check appointment.

Weight 34 1/2# (40 %)

Height 3' 4.2" (50%)

*The doctor even measured his arm muscles! He said those were far better than average!! ;)


Mommy had to work, so PIZZA was in the works for dinner. Tate didn't mind. YUM!

A very simple party with some cousins at the park was the plan. Tate was in HEAVEN and all was GOLDEN!! We started out with ~4~ VERY simple clues for the kids to run around and get a candy bar prize. After which though, they had to do a simple TASK and/or true and false question at each spot! They all had a great time.

Silly clues to the DUCK POND, BATTING CAGES, SWINGS, and SLIDE!

The candy bar prizes coordinated with the TASKS or true and false questions. CHEESY? YES!
At the slide!!!

At the ducks!
At the batting cages!
At the swings!
After they ran around and got all of their wiggles out...it was CAKE TIME! Planes were the theme this year you see. Tate LOVES planes!! (Don't judge me for the quick and simple cake! I worked really hard on it. ;))
PLANES!!!!



Singing to the BIRTHDAY BOY!!

Presents are always FUN!
Coooool TATE! He now is getting into ACTION figures!


Then it was time to EAT the cake and ice cream....

Then play around the park for a bit! (I love this action picture. He has some AIR!)

WHAT a NUT!! Always playing along side the kids. Love that about him!! HA HA!
Then we watched the daddies bat in the batting cages for a bit!

Super cute Davin watches daddy with his plane!

Then on the way home we stopped by to see all the flags that they were setting up for a memorial. These represented all the P.O.W.'S lost in war since Vietnam. Very neat to see..and emotional. Made me more grateful that my dad made it home safe and sound from Vietnam. It was a neat way to end the day.
Tate also had a WONDERFUL and rare opportunity. He was brought to lunch by his GREAT grandpa Mc ~age 96~WOW to ARCTIC CIRCLE!! He had a great time eating, but waiting for the ice cream SHAKE to come was the BIG deal of the date!! My mom took him another day just him and her too. (No pictures were taken...but he was so happy and spoiled on his BIRTHDAY week!! He deserves it. What a great kid!!)


These will be pictures we will cherish in years to come. :)
The park of the week was LUNDSTRUM!! Always a fun one. Lots to play on..great pals to hang with...and of course great times!! A picnic there made it just that much better!

Such CUTE and GREAT pals! They always play so well together.

And this is how come we take home GERMS!! UGH!!!

One evening we headed up to 1st Dam to feed the ducks. So lovely this time of year!!! TONS of geese/ducks/birds....whatever you want to call them. The boys had a great time.

Yes, even this boy...
This is one reason why we love Cache Valley. So close to the mountains and always breathtaking.