Zoo Babes

Have you been to the zoo lately? We went this week and saw the baby elephant, sooooooooooo cute!!! The baby girafe is adorable, and there are tiger triplet (didn't get a good look at them). There are a number of other babies too. But if you don't see anything else you need to go see the baby elephant!

Last week we went to the state fair. The big yellow slide is totally awesome. We had fun seeing the animals, but where did they all go? Spencer and I were talking about how it seems there are fewer and fewer animals every year. Does it just depend on the day you go?

Friday night we were going to go for a hike, but by the time we were done with dinner a storm had blown in, so we went to Redbox and let JJ pick out a movie, and we all picked out a treat. We set up the air mattress and watched Sid the Sience kid and ate goodies, JJ loved it. He's already asked for a repeat.

Bitter Sweet

Well JJ started Preschool last Tuesday. I was a little sad that JJ ready for Preschool, but then I look forward to getting some time, hopefully to myself, as long as Eva will nap. While JJ was at school last Tuesday I canned salsa and tomatoes, well that was a several day project. On Thursday I spent the time weeding, our house was vacant for several months so the yard was seriously neglected. I have been trying really hard to get it into shape, but there is still sooooooooooooooooooo much to do. Yesterday I got some house work done, so the time he's been at Preschool has been productive. I've also been working on refinishing some book shelves, which has been a lot more work than I anticipated. My Mom does it all the time, she makes it seem so easy, ha! Last week I thought a lot about my Mom and that I was becoming more and more like her, canning, yard work, refinishing furniture, my Mom always has some project. I thought about what I would still like her to teach me too, she's full of use full skills and knowledge.

Anyhow, this weekend we were able to take a little hike, it was cool and a little rainy, but I really enjoy the rain. I love the fall, I just hope it stays around for a while.

Cow Pooh Camp

Friday night we went camping in Fairview Canyon with My brother Jon and his two boys and my brother-in-law Brandon and his two girls. We got there late so we took the first camp site we saw. Well we now know why no one else took that spot, The Cow Pies! There were at least 8 huge cow pies littering the camp. Sunday night at dinner JJ asked, "when can we go back to the cow pie camp?", Spencer and I got a good laugh. The boys all took a "night ride" on the four wheelers, that was JJ's first time. When they got back we roasted marshmallows. The kids had so much fun, they kept calling the marshmallows, "Monster Guts!" (again at Sunday dinner JJ called his food monster guts). Saturday we spent the morning four wheeling and fishing. After lunch we decided to go on some designated four wheeling trails rather than the roads. Spencer and JJ had decided to shoot Dad's "real gun." So Eva and I went with the others on the windy bumpy trails. Of course, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I stopped to talk to the guys and told them I was having a hard time. By this time my brother Marc had joined us, and he offered to take Eva with him. At the same time my niece Sicily asked if she could ride with me. I thought I would be fine since I didn't have to hold onto her, that both hands would be on the four wheeler. Well it was fine until we went on the "Learner's Loop", you had to ride up a steep hill make a sharp turn down hill and repeat about 8 times. Well one turn didn't work out so well, the four wheeler rolled on it's side and landed on both myself and my niece. I've never felt so horrible for putting someone else in such danger. It was one of the scariest experiences of my life, seeing little Sicily's feet under the four wheeler, and hearing her Dad yelling, "NO, OH NO." And I'm stuck on the other side not knowing how she is. We both made out of it unscathed, I have a few bruises, but considering what happened we are VERY lucky!!! We were truly blessed. Now, that wasn't the only excitement of the day, at lunch the kids were playing on the four wheelers. I had just taken down the tent and was headed back to the car when I see JJ on the back of the four wheeler headed down hill straight toward my brother's truck. Then Super Uncle Brandon to the rescue. Brandon ran and got between the four wheeler and the truck and saved the day! We don't know how it happened, but we decided that parking on the hill wasn't such a great idea. All in all we had a great time, but I still say it was a little too much excitement for one day!

This is the snake named "Joey" that Dad caught, the kids thought it was great.

Prepare for rapids

This is JJ's mean captain's face.

Saturday Spencer, JJ, Eva, Grandma Shauna, Uncle Jeff and I went river rafting on the Provo river. I was really nervous to take the kids, but we had heard that it is perfect for families. So True!!! We had so much fun, even Eva loved it, once we got on, she hated being held with the life jacket on. JJ was our "captain", and would give us orders as needed like, "prepare for rapids". The "rapids" on that section of the Provo River are about as bad as when the kids splash in the bath tub. It was fun spending the day with Grandma and Uncle Jeff!

This morning I took JJ to a meet and greet at Preschool, he is so excited!!! It is a little bitter sweet, I'll have a few hours to get stuff done without the kids, (hopefully Eva will nap while JJ is at school) but it's a sign of JJ growing up. Oh Boy, it has happened too quickly. Next week my Nephew is off to BYU Idaho- Aaaahhh! He's not old enough for college, is he? My little Eva is not so little any more, she is running around these days, she went straight from crawling to running. Crazy! Last night I was getting the kids in their jammies, and Eva grabs JJ by the shirt and pulling him in for a hug, it was soooo cute!!! Eva also loves giving kisses. I think she is a lot happier these days with her Independence, she's not always at my side. The other day when Spencer walked out of the room she followed him crying, it made me so happy that it wasn't me that time! Maybe someday she'll be a Daddy's girl, well I'm hoping at least! :)

OK, these thought were really random, but I'm going to leave them as such.

Change

Well a lot has changed since my last blog entry. Eva started walking last Monday, and she is walking sooooo well. She should have started walking a month ago, but was to chicken. JJ has been day time potty trained for about a year, this week we started the night time training. He is doing pretty well, the last two nights he's been dry! JJ also got his haircut, I love it! He hasn't started preschool yet, but he will on Sept 8th, so that will be a big change for us. Spencer has returned from Peru, he was gone 10 days, and we really missed him!!! Since Spencer has been home he and JJ have started reading lessons, JJ has been so excited about his lessons, and is so proud of himself! We are proud of him too!

Family Time

Well, we've been busy, but we've managed to have a lot of family time. The kids and I went bowling with the cousins a few weeks ago, that was fun! On the 24th we went to the Buttlerville Days, we went to the parade, fireworks, and JJ got to play on all the fun bouncy things. I love Buttlerville days, there is a real "small town" feel to it, it reminds me of my childhood.

Since then we've been on two hikes, the Rocky Mountain Trail which takes you to a neat little waterfall. One evening we hopped on the Lake Bonneville shoreline trail, it's great because we walked to it from our house.

We also went the the Oquirrh Hills Temple open house with all the Grandmas and Grandpas, we had a good time!

Last Thursday we left for California. We went to Disneyland, Zuma Beach, and Newport Beach. The weather was awesome, and we had a great time. Well, maybe except Eva, she didn't like the beach, she sat there with her arms up in disgust. Eva also got a virus, and had a fever Monday-Wednesday. She seems a lot better today. Last night Spencer and I went out for an early anniversary celebration. Spencer leaves tomorrow for Peru. He will be doing humanitarian work. We will miss him! Aug 11th will be our 8th anniversary, Happy Anniversary!!!

Serious Update

It's been a long time. We moved last on July 11th, so I've been out of commission, either packing or unpacking. Blah!

I'm glad to be back though! I've enjoyed catching up on every one's blogs, I still have more catching up to do. July 2nd Eva turned a year old. We had a little party with her cousins. I'm sad to say that I don't have any cute cake pictures, she got a little bit of the wax from the candle on her finger and she didn't want anything to do with her cake. OK, so this crying picture is funny. Later we went to the mall and rode the carousel, because I think that is her favorite thing to do. I still can't believe she is a year old.

JJ finished T-ball last monday, he was so excited to get a trophy, and tickets to see the big boys play.

Thursday we went and watched Spencer play in a baseball game for his work, they won, go Corporate! Now that we are moved in we've been really busy, but we're trying to get in some fun time. Saturday we went to the pool, then Spencer took me to see the new Harry Potter movie. I'm just glad to be getting back to "normal".