Last month I had the fun opportunity to take a hunter safety class with these to gems.
It was held on two consecutive nights from 6-10pm.
It was so fun spending time with these two.
We all passed with flying colors (Marshall finished top of the class...
with Lincoln and I closely behind). I forgot how nerve wrecking taking
tests can be!! Now we can all apply for our own tags next year :) 13 years ago the only tags I thought I'd ever use were price tags.
My sister Emily and her husband Sam, made Zach and I an awesome wedding video. This was back almost 13 years ago, when video editing equipment was just coming out and very time consuming! It gave me a good chuckle to see how YOUNG we both were!!! They did such a fantastic job that it must be shared! I have no idea who follows blogs anymore... but for those of you who were still checking up on us... you shall be heavily rewarded with this fun video. Enjoy!
Maybe next year I can remember to dye the milk green, fry green eggs, make green pancakes, and buy Lucky Charms. Good thing my mother-in-law brought over a leprechaun trap or the holiday may have gone unnoticed altogether.
2 Month pregnant with Lincoln, and Zach was invited to be in his friend Jared's wedding. I felt sick (but never threw up with this pregnancy), and we had a great time! Dang we look young! 10 years later, Zach's face is filled in and mine has thinned out :) Things are as they should be.....
Funny side note: During the dinner before the reception, a friend of the bride had gotten up and was reciting a poem (like from memory) to the bride and groom. In the middle of the poem, Zach's cell phone rings..... she loses her train of thought while Zach is trying to silence his phone, and she never ends up finishing... just congratulating the bride and groom. Funny and embarrassing :/ and always exciting.
This kid is seriously running for trouble maker of the year! He must be sensing the fall closing in, which accounts for his urgency in causing as much trouble as possible during every waking hour. I'm sure that he's already secured the title... But he won't give up until December 31st.... 2028 I'm sure!!!!
Love these kids. We were hanging out at Spring Mountain Ranch after school. Before the summer heat had set in. Love my life... I'm truly blessed... no doubt about that.
Sometimes when the kids are crazy, Zach will sweep in and save the day. Sometimes he'll take the kids to Bass Pro for an hour, or to the park, or for a drive. On this particular day he texted me the following pictures 4 minutes after he left the house. It was 5 o'clock in the afternoon :)
No wonder they were crazy... they were ALL EXHAUSTED! I'd be lying if I said this was the first time this has happened. It's usually with Jefferson, and I usually get annoyed that I couldn't figure this out first. I don't care how much gas prices are. To get them asleep is priceless.
We have a fireplace in the backyard. Jeffers loved to play in the coals. This happened 3 or 4 times a week. I finally gave up getting mad, and grabbed my camera :)
Thursday, October 18, 2012
I took Reagan to a play at the Henderson Pavilion. She LOVED IT. It was her first time at a play/musical, and I knew that it wouldn't be her last.
After the production we could donate $5 to the production company and take pictures with the cast. Normally I would opt out, but I really couldn't believe how taken Reagan was with the whole thing, so I splurged. I wish I had a better camera than my phone... but it was better than nothing.
The Fairy Godmother.
If the shoe fits :)
A picture with Cinderella
Worlds biggest snow cone!
The theater was 2/3rd's empty. Which was nice for us... we moved seats until we found ones we liked :)
My sister was watching Jefferson... and of course he found her daughters lipgloss. However when I first got this picture on my phone in a text message... I thought there was blood all over his face! Thank heavens it wasn't! But still... what a stinker!!!!
Since my parents have come home from their mission, we have been taking advantage of the fact that they only live 2 hours away instead of thousands of miles away. Any chance we get, we try to visit... even if its only for a day.
This trip was earlier this summer.
McKinley demonstrating her splits :)
This was Lincoln's second repel. On his first, a small, loose rock hit him in the head (um... we didn't have helmets... something that is not going to happen again), and he had a small head wound. Zach made him "get back on the horse" and I'm so glad. Instead of being scared, he ended the day knowing he can repel again.
Zach got hired to do some work on a friends yacht in Ft Lauderdale Florida. Why am I in the photo then?? Great question :)
On a Monday morning in October back in 2006, Zach's friend called and said he was leaving on Wednesday night (2 days later) to fly to Florida and needed Zach's help. Zach refused at first, kindly telling his friend that he couldn't possibly leave an 8 month old pregnant wife alone for 4 days with 2 little kids. So his friend offered to fly us BOTH to Florida ... ALL EXPENSES PAID. Normally I would have said no, and my anxious nature would have made a million excuses to say no, but in this case I only had 2 days to worry about it. Zach really wanted to help his friend out, and we really couldn't afford any type of vacation like is on our own. I told him if we could EFFORTLESSLY find someone to watch the kids then I'd have no further hesitation. My friend/college roommate Melissa from BYU had some time she NEEDED to take off work, and said she could fly into Vegas the night we flew out (I didn't even get to see her!). Then She flew home the night we flew in, crossing paths with me again ;( . What an angel she was! Had I not had perfect arrangements made for Lincoln (2.5 years old) and Reagan (15 months old), there is NO WAY I would have ever left. I cried for an hour at the airport, especially when someone asked "It's not like it's the first time you've left your kids..... right???". Oh the good ol' bawl baby days :)
We had a fantastic trip. Nothing like laying around getting fed by a full time chef on a beautiful yacht during the best time of year in Florida while 8+ months pregnant.
My friend Khali grew up in So Cal (is that the cool term?? ), and she visits her family pretty often. At the beginning of the summer we had thrown around the idea of a girls trip consisting of Khali and her daughter Kyra, and my girls and I. As to be expected, our plans didn't amount to much during the busy summer months (I swear I was gone more than I was home), and between our two schedules the trip looked like it wasn't going to happen.
Despite the fact that school had started, and then we had a 3 days weekend in southern Utah for Labor day, we set the date for the weekend after labor day and decided to go for it! Back to back trips!!! Crazy! My girls went to school Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, then we took off for the coast! I almost backed out. I felt like we had been living out of our suitcases for MONTHS. I was a little anxious leading up to the trip (shocker, I know), but the only thing that made me feel calm was the fact that I KNEW my girls would relish every moment, and it was a great opportunity for a fun filled girls weekend!!!
The two main reasons for "striking while the iron was hot" as far as going on that particular weekend, was
a. The LA County Fair (only runs for 4 weeks)
and
b. Raging Waters
(Kahli's dad had a company picnic and we could get discounted tickets on Saturday)
For years Khali had told me how HUGE and awesome the LA Co Fair was. So on Friday with 5 canned goods each, we were able to get in for free!!!!
Milking a goat.
They had these awesome wooden cutout EVERYWHERE, the girls wanted to take a picture in ALL OF THEM!!!
A very hairy cow!
Hundreds of goats in the petting zoo!
The worker let us make 3 :) ... he was super nice!
Making a bale of hay... the old fashion way!
Princess Playtime
They had a play area set up with dresses, crafts, coloring, easels, fakes houses to clean, etc. It was FREE, and the girls favorite place. Even as we were dead tired, and leaving at the end of the day, the girls begged to go back!
We let the girls ride one roller coaster... which they LOVED!
Their second favorite part of the fair was the kids farmers market.
They started by planting fake seeds (no picture), then milking a cow....
... then collecting eggs.....
...then picking an ear of corn....
..... then picking 1 fruit and 1 vegetable...
.... they sold those at a famers market, got "money", then got to go grocery shopping.
They did this OVER and OVER. It was so funny to hear them shopping. Saying things that us moms say.
"Oooooooh, I think we'll use two of those"
"That's too expensive, I'm putting it back"
"We never eat it. I'm not buying it"
Funny side note: After we baled the hay (within the first hour), we stopped to use the bathrooms, and Reagan had to empty her NEW SCHOOL SHOES from all the hay. By the time we had walked to a completely different area, she was putting them back on (she had been in a stroller) and she couldn't find one of her shoes. I retraced our steps back to the restrooms while Khali hung out with the girls and fed them lunch... but there was no sign of her shoe. I picked up the shoe to throw it away because I thought the chances of us finding it was ZERO. Khali shoved the shoe in the bottom of the stroller before I could, and we kept moving along. After walking around in sock feet all day, but being pushed mostly in a stroller, we checked the information desk on our way out... 7 hours later. They said a shoe matching our description was turned in earlier and was at the security office... which is located in completely opposite end of the park.... 1/2 mile away :) So again I left Kahli with all the kids and I RAN (a ten minute mile;) there and back. It wasn't ideal for an exhausted mom, but I was glad nonetheless to have her matching shoe back and to have not lost $25! Dripping sweat and exhausted we left the park. I'm so grateful Khali had insisted to keep the shoe! It made the whole day that much sweeter!
We were all wiped out Friday night, and slept soundly!!! Saturday morning we woke up and hit Raging Waters. Khali's dad was having their company party there, and a few people backed out and so there were leftover tickets! McKinley rode some pretty crazy rides with me, while Reagan opted to go in the Lazy River :)
You would have thought after 7.5 hours in the sun and water that we were done. NOPE! After changing out of our bathing suits we hit up IKEA. I found a farm sink I had been dreaming of since last Christmas when Zach remodeled our kitchen. The only question was, was it going to fit in Khali's Toyota Camery trunk???? 5 minutes before closing, we checked out and wheeled our murchandise to the car. When I had glanced at the paperwork I saw a symbol for weight and the number 57 next to it. So I reassured Khali that we didn't need help and that we could lift my "baby" into the trunk. Well, it filled the trunk, side to side but Khali disagreed that the sink was 57 lbs... She said that weighed more than my 9 year old. Sure enough, it was 57 KG .... which was more like 127 lbs :) We got home, got the girls in bed and packed up most of our stuff.
Sunday we woke up bright and early to hit the beach before we headed home. It was beautiful, not crowded and sunny!
Reagan's collection of shells
Buried alive!
Sand tan after being buried
Sand tan :) after being buried!
We were able to pack up the car with minimal problems. Luckily we all brought suitcases that were small or soft, so we were able to stuff them in and around the massive sink that took up 3/4 of the trunk. The trip home was uneventful (thank heavens). The girls were wiped out... as were the moms:)
There are very few trips I have taken that were so action packed yet so NON-stressful. Khali is so easy going and it is effortless to keep conversations going and the stress level low. I can't wait to hit the road again.... in a little while.... :)
