Park City

Lesli's husband ran in the Wasatch Back a couple of weekends ago so they invited us to come up to Park City with them for the weekend. We had a lot of fun. We went swimming, spent the afternoon riding down the mtn. on the slide and coaster, did a little shopping at the outlet malls and watched ski jumpers at the Olympic Park. We ended the weekend spending some time at temple square. It was a really fun time and we all had a blast!

I stole these pictures from my sister's blog.....my boys had a ton of fun in the swimming pool! Thanks for the pics Les!

First we went on the Alpine slide which was fun......

But then to the Coaster which was CRAZY!!!!!!
The Boys were all smiles!!!

The Olympic Park was a lot of fun too and they were amazed with the ski jumpers, so was I!

Future US Bobsled team!

I think the SLC Temple is beautiful and there is such a neat feeling on temple Square we had a good afternoon. We had to make up for the fact we didn't make it to church. However with my kids I think we got a lot more out of our afternoon at Temple Square than we usually get trying to keep them quite and listening in Sacrament meeting! If you look closely in the picture above you can see Darin and Carter. It was a perfect shot with no one else around! I had to add this last picture of Darin and I because it was Camden's first official picture. I think he did pretty good! Darin and I were both impressed!!! It was a great weekend!! I hope to do it again soon!

Fun with cousins!

Darin and his mom and his siblings (minus Kathie) had a neat experience a couple weeks ago. Darin's dad was killed almost 25 years ago in a helicopter crash in the Bingham Copper Mine. Darin's brother arranged to have a personal tour of the mine with some men who were there at the time of the crash. It was an emotionally draining experience but I think one that they all appreciated and needed to see. Darin's mom is an amazing woman and finished raising 5 kids on her own. I can't imagine having to do that and having all my kids turn out to be such amazing people! You are one of a kind Jeanie! The picture below is at the mine, and if I understand correctly the crash was just behind them. I love you all, but I have to admit you all look a little silly with those hats on!!!

Afterwards we all got together for a little party. The boys had a lot of fun in the hats!
(Konnor, Carter, Dallin and Camden)


Myah and Saylor weren't really interested in getting their picture taken! It was a fun day!

The End of T-Ball!

T-ball was fun for the boys! A little boring to watch, not quite as entertaining as soccer but still fun! Their favorite part was the treats at the end of each game and the trophy at the end of the season! My favorite part was just how cute they looked in their little uniforms!

Swimming lessons

We took swimming lessons this year with a couple of our neighbor kids and Camden and Carter had a great time. I'm just sad it only lasts for a couple of weeks. I need more for my kids to do in the summer! Camden was soooooo much better this year....no tears....YEAH!!!!

He actually put his head in the water! Big improvement from last year!

Carter isn't afraid of the water and loved it!

Here is Camden and his little friend Kaden.

And here is Kyler, Carter and Kaden (Camden was cold and didn't want to get back in!)

We have a GiGgLe!

On Sun. we were in Park City (I'll post about that later) and all of a sudden Myah giggled. She seemed as surprised as me and did it about 4 more times. She has only done it a couple of times since, but it was one of those "Melt your heart...Oh so cute" moments! We just loving having her in our family!

She can't get enough of her tongue...it's cute, her big brother Camden was the same way!

It's Gone!

Have you ever been so tired of your kids crying about getting their hair cut or combed that you just felt like shaving their head......lets just say it's a good thing Camden is a BOY! I almost started crying after the first buzz through the middle of his head thinking "Oh my gosh, what have I done!". It's kind of growing on me though and I think he looks pretty handsome! At least I won't have to fight him to cut his hair for a while!

Summer is Here!

Does anything say summer more than baseball! We have enjoyed late summer night smores, dutch oven potatoes and cobbler, slip and slides and swimming lessons! I LOVE SUMMER....now if only I could keep my kids entertained and cut back on their love of fighting (and I mean wrestling, punching and all those things they learned watching kung fu Panda....maybe not a great idea for little boys with big imaginations!) I hope it is just a BOY thing!!!! Happy summer wishes to you all!

The Father's in My Life!

I just wanted to give a big Happy Father's Day wish out to the two Father's in my life. First of all to my dad! What a guy! I could never have asked for a better father than my dad. He is kind, loving, compassionate, humble and has made me laugh my head off since I was a baby! My boys love there Papa and he loves them back! I am sure Myah will have him wrapped around her finger as well! My dad is crazy and has always done funny things. For example he has always pretended to eat mice or worms or anything to gross us out. A couple of years ago we all went to Hawaii for Thanksgiving. We went for a family walk along the beach and my dad found some crazy sea urchant looking thing and thought it would be funny if he put it in his mouth and pretended to eat it. Well the thing was poisonous and the minute he put it in, it relased some sort of venom. My dad hurried to spit it out and to rinse out his mouth, but the damage had already been done. For the remainder of the trip, he had hundreds of small canker sores all over his mouth and tongue. I don't think he has put anything crazy in his mouth again! Growing up he always played with us. He was my soccer coach countless times, he would always get in the pool with us on vactation and try to teach us how to swim with out plugging our noses---(I'm not sure why that memory sticks out so much to me, but I think that really drove him crazy!) He would play football in the backyard with us and was always hopefull the golf lessons he signed me up for each summer would get me into the sport he soooo loves. (I really did have fun, even if they didn't do much for my golf game!) My dad wasn't into a lot of outdoor stuff like camping, fishing or hunting but he was really great to take us down to SLC and let us "camp" at the Little America hotel. Room service was his type of roughing it and all of us kids had a blast! My dad has always been somewhat of a "worry wart", but don't blame him, he got it from his mom and has so kindly past it on to me. When I left to go to Hawaii for school there was some confusion with my roomates coming to pick me up from the airport. To make a long story short, I ended up on the bus for about 4 hours with a dead cell phone. By the time I was back at my dorm and was able to call my parents, my dad had already called the police department in Hawaii to make a missing persons report! Luckily the police said they had to wait 24 hrs. or I might have caused an Amber Alert! When my dad dropped me off at the airport to go to school in Isreal, with tears in his eyes he said "We can just donate your tuition to the church and you can stay home if you want." I still can't believe he let me get on that plane! I have always loved how much he cares about me and have never once questioned whether or not he loved me! He is always calling to make sure we are doing OK and to let us know he loves us. Thanks dad!!! You are the best!

Now to the other father in my life. The father to my three little chillins. Darin has been such a great dad and Camden, Carter, and Myah couldn't ask for anything better. I have known Darin since I was 15 and I think one of the things that attracted him to me was the way he was with little kids. I knew he would make a great dad someday. He is fun, loving, kind, playful and a big teddy bear at heart. The kids love him! Last year he decided to take the boys to their first father and sons campout. I was amazed he would dare go camping with a 2 and 4 year old alone, but he was determined. I hardly knew what to do with myself, but had a fun night of shopping, take-out and watching all the "what not to wear" episodes that I could. At about 10:30 I got a phone call from Darin on his way down the canyon. Camden was sure there were monsters in the tent and refused to get in. Darin was a good sport about it and looks forward to trying it again! Just yesterday Darin got the boys in their swimsuits and took them outside to play in the sprinklers. I was taking care of Myah but when I looked out the window there was Darin in his swimsuit running through the spirnklers too! I love how he plays with the kids and my favorite sound is the boys laughing hysterically at their dad while he does something silly. He is a great example of love, hard work and is always willing to share his testimony of the gospel. He wants his kids to have a good life and works hard to provide one. Thank you Darin for loving the kids and for loving their mom! We can't imagine life without you!

My little ducks all in a row!

Myah's reaction when we told her we made her brothers dress up like ducks too!

I feel like they should all still be this little!

Memorial day weekend!

Well after two months of life with a new baby, we were all ready to get away and go on a vacation. Darin hadn't had a day off of work (well at least one they gave him) since New Year's, so when memorial day rolls around we are eager to take advantage. We decided to head down to St. George for the weekend and stay in my parents condo. We lived there for a couple of months when Darin did an internship down there, but that was over two years ago and we hadn't been back since. We just love it down there, and sometimes when I think of the weather there compared to here, I wish Darin would have taken a job there. Going to the park all winter long sounds really nice to a mom with two rambunctious boys! However, I love being close to family and Darin really likes his job, probably more so than the one he wanted down there, so we just will have to go on vacation more often!!!

Myah was such a trooper! For her first long travel day she did great! We left Fri. afternoon after Camden's preschool graduation (a post for that will come later. My camera died after two pictures so I had to borrow my mom's camera and I haven't got the pictures from her yet.) We left later than we wanted to and got stuck in traffic. Boy am I glad Darin doesn't have to commute from SLC to Provo for work. Around Lehi traffic was a stand still. That was Myah's only fussy time. She really wanted to eat! Car seats and seat belt laws don't help a baby who is nursing! Thank heavens for pumps! The hour drive from Lehi to Spanish Fork would have been killer if I wasn't able to feed her somehow!! We stopped in Spanish Fork and played with Allison, Dallin and Saylor. Dan (Darin's bro.) was watching Dave (Darin's other bro.) and Rachelle's kids while they were on an excursion to Lake Powell! (I'm jealous!) Anyway Dallin has an Escalade power wheel and the boys had a blast driving up and down the street. It was a good break for a little while. After we ate dinner and got the kids ready for bed we were off on the rest of our journey. It was already 9:30 so we new we wouldn't pull in until late. Darin was really tired so I drove until Cedar City. It was about 11:45 by then and my eyes were wiggin out on me. I hate that feeling!!! As soon as Darin took over I was zonked out until we pulled into the condo at 1:00 a.m. The kids did well and slept good. Darin and I were much more tired then they were the next day!!!
Memorial day weekend wasn't the greatest weather, but at least it was nicer than at home. It was a little cloudy and overcast but made for great kite flying weather. My parents condo is on a golf course so there is a lot of room to fly a kite. The kids were loving it.....but I think their dad was loving it even more!!!!


There is also a pond with some ducks. We hadn't gone shopping yet, so we didn't have any bread, but we did find some cereal to feed them. Carter was having fun throwing the cereal to the ducks, but in the end he just wanted the cereal for himself and safe guarded that little bag for the rest of the night!

Sunday was a perfect park day. After we went to church (ok, only sacrament meeting but isn't that part of a vacation! Who wants to fight their kids going to nursery and primary when it isn't even their ward!) and ate lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon at the park. We played on the swings and playground, had a mean game of soccer and Darin tried to teach the kids how to play baseball and run the bases the right way on the baseball diamond. It was a lot of fun and perfect weather! The boys were in little boy heaven!



I din't take a lot of pictures of Myah on this trip because this is what she did most of the time....Sleep! Isn't that the joy of a newborn! They are still so portable and pretty much just sleep wherever you put them. I think life with three kids will be much more challenging when she is walking and talking and getting into trouble! Even though the weather wasn't nice enough to take the kids swimming at the outdoor pool by the condo, St. George has a fabulous indoor aquatic center! I don't know why they didn't think to do that where we live instead of only having an outdoor one that can only be used 3 months out of the year! It was great. It had a large Olympic pool and a great little kid pool with sprinklers and fountains. They also had a large water slide that the boys...and us had a lot of fun on! Carter loves the water and was in heaven from the get go. Camden is the opposite. He has been terrified of the water since he was about 2. He sat by me on the side for a long time and watched his dad and brother play and have fun. Finally he decided that he was missing out on too much fun and got in. Once he warmed up he had a blast. He even went on the water slide and put his head under water!!! That was huge for him. I was very proud! He starts swimming lessons next week so I am glad he had a chance to have fun in the water first. He didn't pass level 1 last year because he wouldn't put his head in the water (kind of defeating the point of swimming lessons!) so hopefully this will help him pass this year. I don't really want to have to put my 8 year old in level 1 with all of the 3-5 year olds someday!!!!!!
I love Camden's face here. This is right before they fall in the water and his face says it all!
I don't love this picture of me, but this is right after we got done on the water slide as well and Carter just had that giddy grin every time! He LOVED it! Luckily we didn't have to go home on Memorial day and were able to stay until Tues. The weather was wonderful that day and we were able to go swimming at the condo. It was a lot of fun! They serve lunch there and anyone who knows my dad or my family in general knows that we LOVE there hot dogs. Now I am not a big hot dog eater, but let me just say they are definitely the best dogs around!!! We all got one and some greasy fries and enjoyed our last day of vacation. The boys found these goggles and thought they were pretty cool!


My friend Jen lives down there and we invited her to come swimming with her two kids. It was great chatting with her...Like I said it had been over two years since we had been there so it had been a long time since I was able to see her. I had never meet her little boy Colton and he was a doll along with Hailey....I couldn't believe how grown up she was! We had a little scare with Colton. We looked away for a minute while he was playing in the Kiddie Pool (only 1 ft. deep) and when we looked back he was floating face down. We panicked! Jen grabbed him and hit his back. He threw up a TON of water and started to cry. WHEW....what a relief. It was very scary though and taught me to be much more cautious with my kids around water. You never now how fast something like that can happen! We are so glad that you are OK Colton!!!!! Overall we had a great trip and it was so fun to get away and spend some time with our own little family. Darin and I realized we hadn't done that since Camden was brand new! We have been on lots of vacations but always with other people. I think we will make an effort to go on trips with just our own little family more often. It is such a great way to spend quality time together, that you just can't do at home! We had a great time! I just wish we could have stayed longer and had more time to see all of you who live down there that we didn't get a chance to visit with.....maybe next time!!!!!