The Last Few Days

I swear we will have nothing going on for weeks and weeks and weeks and then we'll have jam-packed days full of good times.

Last Saturday night we headed out to a new (well, new to us) park in Coral Canyon. It was a fun park with  climbing walls, swings, slides, digging toys and bouncy things.

Jeremy's most favorite thing was this airplane. He begged kids to get in it so he could swing them around. He got these two laughing pretty hard!

He also loved the digging toy and tried his best to get Jase to appreciate it too!

We love picnics!! At least two or three times a week we spread out a blanket on our living room floor and eat lunch on it. On Monday we decided to take it outside. We walked down to the little park at the end of our street and ate there.  Obviously the sun was shinning pretty bright!!

We enjoyed running around and playing. Kylie thought she might get an early start on her tan and Jase found a pile of ants he couldn't stay away from. They also put on a show for me by dancing around on the amphitheater steps. 

Kylie also got her Kindergarten shots on Monday which she has been stressing out about for months and months. She had probably brought a hundred times how much she did not want shots. I scheduled her appointment, but didn't tell her about it until the morning of. I also told her we could go get a special treat when we were done. She absolutely had a major come apart at the doctor to the point that I was holding her down with all my might so she would hold still long enough to not break the needles. She was terrified, but she survived thank goodness and all she wanted for a special treat was a popsicle.

Also on Monday some friends invited us over for family night. We had a BBQ and they saddled up their horse and let the kids ride. Kylie couldn't wait to ride a horse again and Jase thoroughly enjoyed his first time. Jase has talked several times about the horsey since then.

Life really is good!! We can't complain. We seem to stay busy and manage to have some fun every once in awhile.

I Heart St. George

It's beautiful sunny days like today that makes me so grateful for where we live. We've been to the park several times the last couple week and I got to be honest, it sure beats shovelin' snow!!

Some of the Little Things

I sometimes forget to write down the little everyday things that go on around here. These two have so much personality and so many things going on. They are constantly changing  and growing and I want to remember what they were like at this age. So, here are a few things Kylie and Jase are up to these days...

Kylie is 4 1/2 and reminds us often that her 5th birthday is coming up in the summer. She seems to think that once she is 5 she will be able to do ANYTHING. She is pretty convinces that 5 means she will be all grown up. Hopefully she won't be too disappointed!!!  She loves going to school and I have been told several times by her teacher how awesome she is doing. She has been reading for quite awhile now and has passed off over 60 books (of course they are little beginner books, but books nonetheless). She loves to follow along in the hymn book and the scriptures to find words she recognizes. She loves Primary and always comes home excited to tell us what she learned. Today she came home with a pin-wheel and asked me to blow on it, then she said very matter-of-factly "Mom, you know what's more powerful then wind; the Priesthood!"  Kylie loves her friends. She loves to be outside running around and collecting special rocks from our rock piles. She has baggies and baggies full of rocks she loves. She loves to dance and sing. She is still Taylor Swift's biggest fan and wants to grow her hair just like hers (and Rapunzel's) She's definitely one of my most favorite people to talk to. Yesterday I was having a particularly hard day and she come up to me and said, "Mom, I will give you a hug, I give great hugs." And she does!! She's a pretty good little eater although she would rather have 1 bite of 40 different things, then eat all of one thing.   She has her moments and there are times when I think she will make me crazy, but for the most part she is one good little girl that tries her best to do what Jesus wants her to do and loves her little brother like crazy. We love her more than anything and are so grateful to be her parents. 

Jase is at one of my favorite ages. He's independent, but so fun to watch learn and discover new things. He recent mastered counting to 12 and almost have his alphabet down. He loves to sing! He's always singing some song he's picked up somewhere. Most of the time it's the Happy Birthday song, this morning he sang Jesus Wants Me For a Sun-beck with Jeremy! He insists on saying the prayer at every meal and if he doesn't get to say it, he is not happy!! He is great at saying "please" and "thank you" and  "no, thank you" and every morning after I comb his hair he looks in the mirror and says, "handsome Jase." He loves to be outside and he does his best to keep up with the other kids. He loves his bike and he loves shoes. He mimics most anything Kylie does and keep us laughing.He loves nursery (finally) and his leaders say singing time is his favorite. We have been told by several ward members that they love to watch him at church. One of the members of the bishopric told us that he loves how animated Jase is. Jase has his frustrating moments as well. He's going through a phase (I hope) where he likes to tattle on anyone he thinks is "mean."  He is also the first to point out when something has been fun.   I love his big smile and his funny personality.  I am grateful for the things he is teaching me and I love being his mom!

Shoe Fetish

Jase of all people has a major shoe fetish. He LOVES them. He doesn't care who's they are, or what size they happen to be he will find someway to trudge around the house in them. His most favorite are boots, but recently he has discovered flip flops and he thinks those are pretty funny, until he gets frustrated with them. The most ironic (and frustrating) thing about this whole situation is the second, and I mean the second, we get into the car to go anywhere the first thing he does is rip off his shoes and socks and throws them on the floor. He can't stand wearing them in the car. 

Another funny thing, totally unrelated to the shoe thing is

this kid insists his snacks be put into a pitcher. The only conclusion I have come up with is I think he likes the handle and the lid that goes with it. He swings that puppy around all day long and as you can see he has quite the collection of snacks. With a container that big he's sure to never run out. (Don't worry I have never filled the pitcher completely up, in fact I usually put it in some other container and he finds the pitcher in the cupboard himself)  Funny kid! He keeps us laughing most days.

It's Been Confirmed...

Disneyland IS the happiest place on earth!!  Just ask these two...

We spent 2 and a half days hopping between Disneyland and California Adventure taking in the Disneyland experience and it was AWESOME!!

 I wasn't really sure what Kylie had in mind when she envisioned Disneyland, but I am confident to say she was not disappointed. She loved it all!!! Toon Town was a major hit. They loved meeting Minnie and Mickey and seeing where they lived, along with the other Disney characters.

 The Roller-coasters were of course a highlight. 

Kylie didn't ride this roller-coaster because she was little too short for it, but any other coaster they let her on she was game. I was surprised, but she ate them up. We would ask her after if she liked them and sometimes she would say, "Ya it was fun...but I didn't laugh." and other times she could laugh all the way through it. 

 The Toy Story Ride was probably Jeremy's favorite. It's an interactive ride where you get to shoot at targets and score points as if your inside an arcade. Jase was also a fan!

 I was actually surprised at how much Jase could ride on.I thought he would have to sit out  a lot more then he did. It's a good thing because he would get pretty mesmerized by everything going on around him. He loved it. 

Pirates of the Caribbean, one of my favorite rides because of all the detail they put into it and it's just a classic.

 One of the Highlights of the whole trip was the day Grandma and Grandpa treated us to  lunch with the Pricesses. Kylie was in pure heaven. She loved every second of it. She was so excited to dress up in her dress and as each princess would come around she would have them sign her autograph book and she would get a chance to talk to them and take a picture. She thought they were beautiful.  It was so fun to watch her light up as they each came around to her.

 Jase thought it was pretty fun too. He would act kind of shy and then timidely go up and try to hug them.

And the food was delicious!!! It was by far the best meal we ate there. 

 The Tower of Terror is a must and I think we rode it at least 10 times. We talked Kylie into it once and that was it. She was a good sport the first time, but would have nothing to do with it again. Jeremy thoroughly enjoyed himself!!

We had a few character sighting while we were there. There weren't too many out wandering around or we just didn't take the time to wait in line to see them. Kylie thought Jessie was cute and Goofy was fun to play around with. 

 We were worried the weather was going to wet and rainy, but actually it was great. It didn't rain on us until late in the afternoon on the second day and even then it wasn't too terrible. It helped keep crowds down and that night my parents took the tired kids back to the hotel and we were able to pretty much walk on any ride without a wait. 

 I highly recommend going with a group of people especially when you have little kids. We felt like we were able to experience everything the little kids wanted to do, but we were also able to enjoy some of bigger things. It was a win-win all around in my book!

 We were extremely sad to leave. There were some major melt downs and I wasn't sure if Kylie was going to survive having to say goodbye to both Disneyland AND her grandma and grandpa and aunts and uncles, but after a little retail therapy she felt a little bit better. She had been earning and saving her money for months so she could buy something special to remember her trip and she did. 

Disneyland is magical and never seems to disappoint and it certainly didn't this time. We made awesome memories and had a blast together.  We left wanting more and that makes us excited to go back!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

A Story

There once was a Disneyland countdown chain that hung from a curtain rod and reached just about to the floor. Each day a chain was ripped off......blah, blah, blah......... Now that chain looks like this.... (and actually that was taken yesterday so there is one less than that)

We are really trying not to think about the fact that Splash Mountain will be closed, the Matterhorn will be closed and it is predicted to rain for two of the three days we are there because we sure can't wait!!!

P.S. Kylie and Jase are standing on stools, they're not really that tall. 

I found it!!

Actually.....Jeremy found it on a flash drive and saved it smack on the middle of desktop so I would be sure to see it....He's not ashamed!!!

I also didn't see this picture until we had been dating for quite awhile either..........and that was probably for the best!!:-)

Crazy Hat Day

Friday was crazy hat day for Kylie at school and since we're not really collectors of CRAZY hats I wasn't really sure what she was going to wear.  Until I remembered this little gem...

A big, fat, oversized, orange, foam hat...with Collin Rays signature on it. Perfect!! I was a little bit worried I would have to talk her into wearing it, but that wasn't a problem either.  She  was so excited when she saw it, she couldn't wait to wear it.  And just as she suspected she was the hit of pre-school. Everyone loved it. She told me her teachers kept telling everyone to look at her and that she definitely had the craziest hat there. 

Wanna know why we even own such a hat like this...especially one with Collin Rays autograph on it?

Well, back right before Jeremy and I started dating, Collin Ray came to SUU and did a concert. I remember going and before the concert started I was sitting in my seat watching all the people who had seats down on the floor. And in the crown kinda towards the front up by the stage I distinctly remember seeing these two big, fat, oversized, orange foam hats bobbing around and I think to myself I wonder who in the world would ever wear those to a Collin Ray concert?  Fast forward a few months. Jeremy and I meet and one day I am over at his house and out of the corner of my eye I spot a big, fat, oversized, orange, foam hat in Jeremy's closet and I immediately remember seeing it at the concert. I COULD NOT believe it was him wearing that hat. I asked him about it, he proudly brought it out and asked me if I wanted to try it on. 

He then pointed out that he and his best friend not only wore these hats to the concert, but he threw his up on stage and Collin Ray actually signed it for him!   There is a picture of them somewhere and  I wish so much I had it on my computer of the night they wore them.  It's a small, small world in that good old Cedar City and if you're not careful you just might marry that guy at the Collin Ray concert wearing an oversized orange foam cowboy hat...and you just might laugh about it now too! 

So...Does This Look Like a Problem?

He just turned 2 and still super attached to his binki at night and nap times. The problem is, I think I'm just as attached as he is! He sleeps SO good at night and goes right down for naps. I have a sneaking suspicions it's because he gets quality time with these babies. He really does get kinda giddy when we put him in his bed and hand him the loot.  I'm afraid it will be a long and sad process to get rid of them and for whatever reason I'm just not up for the battle yet...Maybe when he's 5! (Just kidding, my goal is to get serious about it when we get back from Disneyland...until then I hope he enjoys them. I know I do!!!)