Things We Hear Around Here

From This Boy:

*As we are driving to St. George, there is a miniature Mt. Rushmore at a fun center that can be seen as we drive by on the freeway, he says; "look the mountain with the old-time presidents on it." So Justin asks, do you know what their names are? To which he replies; " Well one is St. George Washington, and another one is Hammerhead Lincoln, but I'm not sure the other one's names."

* A few weeks ago in church, I was told that the lesson was getting boring so he let his teacher know it. She basically ignored him, and kept teaching the lesson. So a little while later, he said; "you know this just keeps on getting boring-er and boring-er." (Thank you to the spy who told me this little tidbit of information. We're working on his manners, on terms of omission! It is rather funny though, and so Izac-like :)

From This boy:

* I'm dancing like a "chickmunk" (we've apparently been watching too much Alvin and the Chipmunks)

March Goodness

Admittedly, I enjoy a little College B-ball during the latter part of this month and into the next. But quite simply, there is a sport that I enjoy more than any other during the first few months of each year. The weekend before last I was able to enjoy doing some time on the ski slopes with my good buddy Ed while Kerrah was on hiatus in St. George with the boys.

In fact it has always been a favorite past time of mine that during those frequent drives down South to see the In-laws, we adamantly announce our arrival upon seeing the sign of a town we pass through on our way...BEAVER!! Izac has always had a thing for animals, so of course I find it only natural to nurture his love for outdoor creatures by encouraging a good "Beaver" yell every time we make our trips. Well, just add Creek to the end of that and you have a great destination for a 3-day Colorado man-cation.

All of the thanks goes to our wives for helping to make this trip possible, maybe we'll even find a way to somehow persuade them into making it a tradition!?!? Here are a few shots taken at BC & Vail, we missed having you there Ports!

Make your way through a huge parking garage & the village, then you might actually reach the bottom of a lift!

The vast expanse that is Vail

Hard to think about skiing more after that $25 cheeseburger lunch


How about we just take this run all the way down to I-70?

This is what you get when too many deer get caught in the headlights...

...a pretty sweet chandelier!

Beaver Creek was the convenient favorite

How about this one Eddie?

Steep enough that you can't even see what's coming...

The best part of finishing up two days in a row of skiing

Hope to eventually be able to get the kids enjoying it as much as we do some day before we can't keep up!

Granny Smith

My dear Granny Smith passed away on Tuesday morning, at the all too young age of 73.

I am the oldest grandchild, therefore I GET to speak at her funeral. Pray that I can hold it together and not be an emotional wreck. She suffered a massive stroke on Feb. 6th, then life flighted to Salt Lake and had a surgery to clamp the bleed, but had been on life support since then. After being in her hospital room for many, many hours this past week, I am glad to see her go to a better place, where she can find rest and peace. I'm thankful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the faith that I have, that I will see her again.

Love you Grams!!!

Happy stuff-we-did-lately Days!

Well, time for some catching up...and for me to do my part to contribute with a blog post I suppose. Can't say I know much about what to do, so I won't expect to hear any complaints from my co-publisher about pictures used or other content.

That being said, we've had some fun over the last couple months with friends & family during Kerrah's favorite time of year here in SLC...when it becomes a cozy inversion filled frozen Hell, in a sort of heartwarming sentimental kind of way...

Here's a few ways that we've passed the time:

birthday partyin'

wheelin'

decoratin'

light seein'

carolin'

eatin'

torch light parade watchin'


Santa Clausin'

drawin'


car drivin'

sleddin'

horse feedin'

skiin'

cousin smotherin'

Grandma smilin'

present openin'...again!?!

Sure was fun! Can't wait for next year's round of insanity...thanks to all the victims & participants for the memories!!

BORING

Sorry our blog is so boring. Half of the problem is that when Justin asks me why I haven't blogged for so long, I tell him that he is just as capable as I am. So I'm still waiting for him to post SOMETHING......anything!

The other half is that our computer is so overloaded and slow. I just about went crazy trying to do the last two blog posts that I did. However, we got some more memory and RAM for Christmas, which should help!!!

(plus, for some reason the Christmas "season" always gets the best of me. too much to keep track of in my little brain, and so much to do!)

That being said, hopefully those will get installed into the computer in the next few days, and I will attempt to make a REAL blog post after that!!!!

Until then.............

I opt out!!!!

This little combination is what Izac came up with for our FHE treat last night.
That's right folks, mint chocolate ice cream, and kid coke (caffeine free Pepsi) floats.
Sad that this was not the only thing we had in the house with sugar in it, although you might think so.

He thought he was so crafty. Justin really let him make them. Izac and Alex thought they were the best treat ever (there were chocolate chips in the bottom, BONUS!).....I opted out! Just the look of them was disgusting!!!

Our Disneyland (California) Trip!!!

As if moving wasn't enough we decided to go to Disneyland in October too! We had a blast, Grandma Swendy and Grandpa Mike were able to join us two of the days. Also we got to meet baby Eden and see Kylee, Andy, and Auri, who conveniently live close to D-land. Auri and Izac truly love each other and have a special bond. They were able to join us at the happiest place on earth for a day too!

Sorry for such a long post, I can never remember how to make a slide show, and I promise I only picked the best pictures to post. There are so many, it's hard to choose!!!

Alex watching a movie on the way

It was so fun to be there at Halloween time. I'm sure all holidays there are great, but we loved Halloween time

Alex not so sure about his first character encounter. Izac wouldn't even get out of the stroller

This is Izac's favorite ride.......

and his next favorite ride the carousel

I get sick when I spin, so I got to hold baby Eden, and Kylee was kind enough to take Alex with Auri on a more calm tea cup ride

Izac was brave and rode the Matterhorn with me, Justin, and Grandpa Mike

It's a small world, we were all able to get into one boat. Thank goodness, we got stuck for about 20 minutes in there when the ride broke down. I had snacks and Gma Swendy was entertainment for the kids.

Takin a break with Gpa

Izac and Auri, really couldn't get enough of each other

Izac and Auri with G&G, on the toon town firetruck. Let's not forget to take the cotton candy with us!

A little better encounter with Goofy

Izac's favorite character, Woody, cause he's a cowboy

Izac and Justin at a spooky scene

Waiting in line to another big ride Izac was brave to go on. Big Thunder Railroad.

A silly picture after the ride. Gma Swendy was nice to watch all 3 of the "babies" so the rest of us could go on this ride together

This is how the boys arrived at the hotel every night, so convenient

The third day we started with another of Izac's favorites, The Jungle Cruise

The classic, family in front of the castle

Us with G&G Van Dorn inside the front gate

Just our family

Izac with the "I"

Alex on the "A"

This was probably Alex's favorite thing in the whole 2 parks!

Izac loved the Pixar parade, it was so fun we had to see it the next day too!

It was so exciting, even the real Lightening McQueen was there!

The third day in the park it was just our family. We had a pass to get into the park early,called a magic morning pass. It was so nice to have very little people in the park for about an hour. Here we are with Mickey in his Halloween outfit.

The Sword in the Stone

This is what happens when your way cool Disneyland prize gun, runs out of batteries & won't make noise or light up anymore...... so sad!

Downtown Disney at the Lego store

The "real" Mater and McQueen

The fourth day of the trip we went out to the coast and went to the beach. You can't go to Newport without going to the Crab Cooker

The boys loved the beach! It was hard to make them leave. We carried them out kicking and screaming!

But then we got to go see Eden and Auri, and things were all better. Izac loved to hold baby Eden, even if she was crying. We just couldn't get enough of this cute chubby girl!!!

Watching a movie with cousins

And on the way home the next day we stopped in St. George to see our other cousins, the twins Abby and Emmy, and Benjamin. They are so cute too. We can't wait to see them again!

It was a crazy adventure, but we had SO MUCH fun. I want to go again....soon!!! Thanks to Kylee for Sunday dinner, and the fun. Thanks to G&G Van Dorn for the fun, and coming to make some memories with us. Thanks for letting Justin and I go on some "big" rides without the kids! Thanks to Justin for making it all happen, cause someone has to work to fund($) the fun times like these!!! (I have a bad hunch we're done with vacations and big purchases for quite a while)