October Part 1

We appreciate your patience- here we are finally with an update.

 Part of our visit with Papa and Mimi included a show in St. George.  At one point everyone wore 3D glasses.  The kids played with them for hours afterwards.  I think they look pretty cool.

 Megan's preschool group went to the pumpkin patch.  This little patch has become quite a part of our Halloween traditions.  Benny as you can see was a little skeptical about the whole thing.

 However he ended up having a great time.  

Megan had a blast as well.  She got up enough courage to tackle the really big slide.  I was proud of her.

 Wahoo!

Family Reunion

We had a wonderful visit from Papa and Mimi.  We of course packed as much as we could into the weekends that they were here.  We went to Tuacahn, threw a baby shower, played at the family fun center, ate way too much good food and visited for hours.  We always enjoy their visits so much.

Labor Day Weekend

Mike and I celebrated eight years of wedded bliss by hauling the family up north and dumping the kids on their grandma for a night.  I am proud to report that everyone survived nearly unscathed- grandma was a little worse for wear but still smiling when we got back.

Mike and I fiddled around town, ate way too much and took a hike.  Its amazing to me that we never get tired of spending time together, its still fun.

Benny is growing up way too fast.  He started nursery.  Its been a bumpy start but he will hopefully learn to love it.

He has learned to love ice cream.  Here he is with his first home made cone.  Notice the awful dirtiness of his outfit.  That is only half a days wear. 

The kid is all boy- dirt  and sugar and smiles.

End of Summer

All good tings must come to an end.  The kids finished out the summer playing with friends, swimming and having as much fun as possible.  Playing even included pretending to go to school- that how excited they are about it still.  Of course Mark had to be the teacher- always in charge that one.

 

Benny is growing sweeter by the day. 

Here was the school lesson on the skeletal system- How do you like his drawing?

Here are the classic first day of school pictures.  Mark was up and ready about two hours early.  The Star Wars Lego shirt was the best one for the first day.

Megan got up and got cute even though her preschool didn't start for another week.

Once we walked to school in the 100 degree heat and waited in the sun for the bell to ring the enthusiasm had faded a bit, but he had a great day.  He has a wonderful teacher- Mrs. Clark. I think he is going to have a great year.

Camping

Because I'm a nut we spent one day at home after San Diego, did loads of laundry and then packed up and headed to Utah.  We left Mike home to bring home the bacon and we just went and had fun.

My parents were camping at East Canyon.  It was a fun trip.  We did manage to squeeze in a late night trip to the pharmacy and then a trip to the doctor the next day- all over a bug bite on Mark that swelled to the size of Rhode Island.  The next day Megan and I got to go shopping with Randi and help her register for baby stuff.

We also got to say goodbye to my childhood home.  My parents found this awesome new place that will fit their "aging" years better.  The kids played around in the backyard for the last time.

I honestly thought I would be pretty sad but it wasn't really that hard.  I will really miss the backyard.  I'd always imagined my kids making memories here and this is where Mike and I had our wedding reception.

I think it wasn't that sad because the family that is moving in is awesome.  I am really excited for a whole new generation to build forts and play soccer and grow up here.  Plus my parents new place is exactly what they need and it will feel like home soon.

It was a fast and fun trip- we were everywhere and I'm not sure it was exactly relaxing for my parents.  We really enjoyed seeing the family though and nothing beats camping.

4th and California

The 4th of July we spent with our good friends.  They invited us over to their family's party.  Their neighbor set off a ton of fireworks right in their cul-de-sac.  Watching up close was awesome for everyone but Benny- he is not a fan of the big booms.  I felt so clever making this cool cake, but there was another exactly like it at the party- Pinterest ha!

We had the awesome chance to go to San Diego and Sea World with the Parrish family.  I didn't take my camera to Sea World but we had a great time.  Everyone was kind of in and out with naps and pregnant aunts and the heat.

We took the kids to the beach our last day there.  I love the beach and just enjoying the ocean.

Megan loved it this time, but Benny was not a big fan.  I keep talking about all the things he doesn't like- he is really not that grumpy.  Just like Megan when she was two, Benny did not like to the feel of the sand.  Not to mention the waves that kept coming up and getting you wet.  He hung out in the stroller almost the whole time.

Mark and Megan ran and laughed and splashed and built castles.  We never get enough of the beach. 

On our drive home we stopped by my mom Megan's old stomping grounds.  We didn't have her exact address but we drove around her neighborhood.

We also stopped at the San Diego temple.  It is so pretty!

Awesome family vacation.  It was nice to spend time with everyone, and of course it wasn't long enough.

First Weeks of Summer

Five months I know! I am well aware of my weaknesses, but never the less here we go to catch up.  Megan's room has had a nice blank white stripe around it for months.  I had the paint to do something with for at least two months but we finally got to it.   Polka dots was the final decision and they turned out awesome.  The ruffle curtain is up too and we hung pictures so she is good until she decided she doesn't like purple or pink anymore.

Benny in all his cuteness.  He was playing with Megan's old hat- I don't dress him up in pink I promise.  Benny is quite taken with my laundry basket.  In and out, in and out, pushing it up and down the halls, filling it with all sorts of stuff. If you can dream it up he has done that with the basket.

We had an awesome group of friends set up a camping trip for a few families.  The kids were in heaven.  They roamed all over with their friends and got as dirty as possible.  We ate great dutch oven, slept pretty decent all in one tent and enjoyed being in really cool weather.

Benny, however was not a fan.  He is big on having solid ground beneath his feet and the rocky, sandy forest ground was not helping.  Add to this the fact that he was wearing sneakers for the first time was not great.

He endured as cheerfully as possible, but his favorite place to play was in the back of our friend's truck- nice solid metal floor beneath his feet.

Other than camping we've kept things pretty close to home.  The kids do school work everyday and as a reward earn computer time.  Mark is head over heals for a simple online Star Wars game we found.  Megan of course prefers Disney's Princess site.  Its been nice to be at home. 

Mike started working with a new company doing exactly what he loves.  He has been super busy but loving getting back to his "engineering stuff".  Those moment frames and calculations are just really fun for him.  All in all things are going great.