Colorado

For our summer vacation we headed to Colorado. We spent a couple of days at my parents house in Centennial, then headed to the mountains for rest of the week. The kids had a blast. We went out to eat, to the movies, parks, hiking, swimming, alpine slide, some time on a trampoline, and even a boat ride around Dillon lake - definately the highlight. We ended with a stay in a cabin at Silvan Lake found in Eagle, Colorado. It was so beautiful, I love Colorado. Every time I visit, I wish I was living there again.

The first hike we went on was too hard for Courtney, but she didn't want to miss out on all the fun. She grabbed her hiking stick, and joined us for a hike around the lake at the cabin.

This trail is just right behind my parents house, I used to take my dog Cookie down here to walk all the time when I was at home. Can you believe places like this are found everywhere in Colorado? The trails go for miles.

A Colorado trip isn't complete until everyone gets a ride on the scooter.

Long time, no blog

Here is what we have missed.

Emily's 10th birthday - Heelys were the big hit.

Anna's 8th birthday - Heeley's were again the big hit.

James graduated from preschool. This is his best friend Gideon and teacher Mrs. Balls.

James was quite nervous and would not smile until the whole thing was over.

Anna passing 2nd grade and doing quite well.

Emily passing 4th grade and also doing well.

James learning to ride his bike without training wheels. It took a total of 10 minutes.

This guy is just so cute.

Visiting the new temple in South Jordan - Oquirrh Mountain Temple. I took some pictures with my family, but they are all on my Dad's camera.

Anna getting baptized.

A picture where everyone tried to smile.

Our trip to Colorado was fun. We watched some movies, went shopping, went out to eat, and gained a few pounds. The weather stopped Sean from flying out for the weekend, so we missed him, but it was still a great trip.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!

Chase turns 2

This is Chase, the baby. He turned 2 on March 28th. We celebrating his birthday by filling a large dumpster with in inordinate amount of trash laying around our backyard. I felt a little bad, but between the need to reschedule the rented dumpster to his special day, and a sick sister, we really didn't do anything fun. I guess when you are two, helping mom and dad in the backyard isn't the worst way to spend the day. We had a birthday party the next week and I made the mistake of having Sean take the pictures; so - there are no pictures of the cupcakes, Mickey Mouse cookies, balloons, or decorations. He did catch a picture of us holding a box, and of my son sitting in his seat waiting for his cupcake. The last picture was taken of the two boys playing with Chase's new trike. It was bad weather, so they rode it around the house, James even shared a little.

Day at the Museum

We had a busy, fun day. It started at the Doctors for a yearly check-up, both boys are healthy. We then met Sean for a picnic lunch downtown. Getting there was no fun, parking is hard to come by and Sean only has an hour for lunch so we wasted about 15 minutes of it trying to find a spot to park. After the picnic at Temple Square Plaza, we headed to the museum for the free day - me and every other mother in the state of Utah. It was crowded, but free, so I can't complain too much. I forgot the stroller so the visit didn't last as long as we had wanted. The upside was I left with the same number of children I arrived with, and since I was missing one at nearly all times, it was a success. We ended the day attending Emily's piano concert, in which she played beautifully. We then ate at Five Guys Burgers because it was a special occasion. 

Catch-up Blogging

Yesterday James refused to feed the dog which is his only daily chore, so I did it. That meant that he couldn't watch cartoons all day. He was so mad he started kicking, biting, scratching, and yelling - a lot. I put him in time out then let him finish crying it out in his room. I went to the dark and dreary basement to do laundry when I heard the door slam. James had gotten himself dressed and was running away. I sat on the front porch with him for a minute and rubbed his back while he sobbed. He then walked off towards the park. I put my shoes on and found him sitting on the curb in front of the neighbors, crying. It was actually a little heartbreaking because he was so sad. I finally convinced him to come inside and have some hot chocolate and graham crackers because it was cold out. He stopped crying after a while, but the rest of the day was a little hard for him.

This morning when he said he couldn't feed the dog because his tummy (sorry, James corrected me) I meant stomach hurt, I said that I would do it. He decided he wanted to do it himself, and here is the proof. Cartoons, here we come!

A couple of weeks ago, Chase somehow, and unknowingly, managed to put a very soft black bean up his nose. At first he just wimpered and kept pointing to his nose. Everytime I looked at him he became silent, so I would go back to eating. Once I started eating, he started crying again. I guess when I was looking at him, he figured I was going to do something about the bean up the nose which I knew nothing about. We finally figured out what was going on and the extracation of that bean was a process. I couldn't get him to blow his nose so our next step was to try and find something to suction it out. We didn't have that blue bulb we had from when he was a baby, because he isn't really a baby anymore, so we called around to find one. We couldn't find anyone around us that had a baby and was home. At this point we moved to plan C - tweezers. Bit by bit the bean came out. It took about 10 minutes to complete the removal and the whole family had gathered round to watch the process. It was a very exciting Sunday.

My Dad came to Utah to do business and spent just about every evening at the park with the kids. This night, he babysat for us while Sean and I spent the evening with Sean's family at a Queen tribute concert. He took the kids to the park, let them watch a movie and bought burgers, fries, and shakes. I think the kids had just as much fun as Sean and I did. In fact, Chase is on my lap right now yelling "Poppie, poppie!", he remembers him. 

Thanks Dad.