Growing Up

Jacks is so much fun, and growing up so fast!

He likes to help me at the Grocery store.

He will randomly yell out

"See Mom I didn't hit anything"

Its super cute!

It does make grocery shopping take an extra long time though!

He is also getting quite good at his chores.

one of which is setting the table.

My favorite night he put each of the place settings on the corners!

It was so funny.

I guess its a good thing we are a family of four, or we would need a five cornered table. :)

Cabelas... Fall Break 2013

Oh, man my kids were nutso on Saturday Morning.

I thought about squeezing in the Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur museum today.  

But OH, man, my boys were so out of control at Cabelas ( for 2.5 hours....... )

On the floor....

 Rolling around.......

 Climbing......

 And of course, Cheesy posing

 So we did not go to Thanksgiving Point.
 I did get to see my Dad for a bit, while he was out shopping.
On the Drive home we passed these feats of engineering.
Seriously, who needs a moving van when you can pile it up to the sky, in the back of your truck

 Awesome right?  and totally secure and safe. But at least this one is a full size truck.

 Here is another pile on a little truck.  Brilliant!

It was a fast up and back, about 36 hours, but it was a great adventure, and my boys had fun.

Temple Square...Fall Break 2013

After the Zoo we went to check out Temple Square.

It was a little chilly, but still a really nice day, 

and an awesome place to spend time together as a family.

 "Baby B"

 Family Pic, with the HUGE East doors.

Visiting the Christus Statue

 I Love watching these boys together!!

 I wish the H family lived closer.

They were very kind and once again opened their beautiful home up for us to stay in.
Super last minute, and everything.

Suddenly without planning...... Fall Break 2013

So I needed to get away, like badly.

So I talked Nickolas into taking us to the Zoo for Fall Break.

We started with the monkeys.

 Cooper has entered an awesome phase of posing...badly.

 Jacks was Terrified of the Big Gorrilla.

 Cooper looks so small in this picture.

 The Lion, is Dead, very sad.

It is broken.

Made me sad, because the Lion is a huge part of any Hogle Zoo Memory,

:(

 Something new, at least I think its new, was the seals.

The boys loved it....

 But Jacks was obsessed and sat FOREVER.

They were very fun to watch, and the underwater view is awesome!!

 Jacks next obsession was the "Nine Banded Armadillo". 

Thanks to "The Cat in The Hat" on PBS, both my kids were thrilled to see one in person.

And I have to admit his little tiny armadillo hands were so cute!!

Family Picture with the Elephant. 2013

 Family Picture with the Elephant. 2009

(3 months prego with Jacks)

 Zoo Memories= Good Times!

Labor Day

We want camping again for Labor Day this year.

After a false start on Friday, involving A LOT of vomit, and a $250 detailing,

We headed out again Saturday afternoon.

We went to Bryce Canyon, but not TO Bryce Canyon.

We stayed in a campground at Pine Lake right outside the park.

It was Very Rainy!!

Our tent held up wonderfully,

Me not so much, it didn't help that I had to run

 Jacks to the potty, 

during the worst of the downpour.

We did some awesome "fishing"

By that I mean we sat, 

changed out bait, 

watched squirrels,

And didn't get a nibble.

We went on a road trip to check out the scenery too. 

We stopped at all the "scenic pull outs", and admired their ingenious design. (By Nick)

(One thing I have learned vacationing anywhere in the State with Nickolas, is that "Do you want to go see my project?" will always be a part of the trip.)

While we were out we stopped for some ribs, 

and decided to sing some karaoke.

So I've sung for a Long Time.

Like forever!

But I have Never, EVER sung karaoke.

It was fun.

I sang "ordinary people" by John Legend.

I love that song.

I made it about 5 seconds in, before Jacks melted down, 

because apparently I was abandoning him. 

 So I spent the rest of the song with small children 

(yup Coop too), 

wrapped around my legs.

I am very grateful that we got to spend this time together, especially because the next couple of weeks went to heck in a hand basket for me.

.......that's a post for another day.....but probably not.

Park day

Today we grabbed the neighbors and went to the park.

Spinning

Being Silly

Hiding

Throwing wood chips on himself

Walking Home

And proof that sometimes I can walk faster than they do,

only sometimes!

Right now....

Nick is cleaning the garage...... Jacks is helping......All I hear is........what's this dad?......it's thread lock, baby.......Oh. What's this dad? .....it's a socket set, baby.... Oh.        ;)Love it!

On Loss.......

Today I need to talk about an Elect Lady.

Her name was Maureen, and she has lived across the street from us since we moved in.

When I say Elect, I mean ELECT.  She is the most intelligent, informed, understanding, gentle, and kind woman I have ever known.

If you gave a talk, sang a song or even bore your testimony in our ward, 2 days later you would receive a "Thank You" note from Maureen.

She allowed every word that was ever said at Church to strengthen her Testimony.

She was in our Book Club, and though she was usually too busy to read the book, she always contributed to our conversations, because she had such WISDOM and EXPERIENCE.

She loved my kids and always had a kind word for them.

She sat next to me in our Ward Choir.

All she ever wanted to do was retire go on a Mission with her Sweetheart.  She retired in December and they left for their mission in May.

She just passed away, on her mission, suddenly and completely unexpectedly.  We, my family, my neighborhood, my ward and anyone else that knew her are Heartbroken.

Her husband, her sweetheart, Ron, is coming home.  Without her.

I am eternally blessed for having known her and will forever call her my friend.

Babies, and Dandelions

This is what our day today looked like.

 I wonder what he wished for!?!