Ode to My Boys

I have the 3 most wonderful boys in my life. I love them each so much. Seth is the best friend, husband, and dad ever. Sam is a great big brother and pure entertainment. James is a sweet, cuddle bear who makes everyone smile!
I am one blessed mama and just wanted to take time to say it.
We have been enjoying the end of summer and the cooler weather that is coming with it. I love nice weather and wish we had more of it. Here's just a few shot of my sweet boys and some of the activities we have been enjoying.
Sam riding the train at Lagoon. We rode it...actually, I think we lost count how many times we rode it! :)

Baby James showing his skills at the park and heading for the slide. This has become a new favorite activity for him.

James is now going on the rides with Sam. This is fun for him, Sam is still getting used to it. We even took James on Puff. He LOVED it. How many 11 month olds do you know who can handle that! :)

We have been going through Seth's old toys and ebaying and DIing them. Sam and James thought they had just won the lottery. They are still wondering where it all went!

Anything Sam loves James now loves too! Fun for James, not so much for Sam! :)

I've been making it a point to spend a time everyday reading with the kids. Sam has really gotten back into reading and I love it. It is so cute to see him love the pictures and point out numbers, colors, animals, and letters he finds in them!

James has also started to venture into the sandbox with Sam and is learning the fine art of dirt. Eating, throwing, covering himself in it....it's a beautiful thing to see a boy's face light up when he gets to get dirty!

Oquirrh Mountain Temple Dedication

Our Temple was dedicated last week and it was a beautiful experience. It was fun to go with Seth (while Grandma M watched the kids) and enjoy the peace and excitement. It was so memorable as I sat there enjoying the spirit and thinking about how Seth and I used to sit on our front porch the first few months in our new house and look out and say, "someday the temple will be right there."
It has been about 2 1/2 years since then and now we can't believe that the temple is complete. It was fun taking part in the process and now can't wait to take part in the sacred work done there.
We are so blessed and are grateful everyday for the opportunity we have to not only be so close to the House of the Lord, but to have the every day and eternal blessings of his restored gospel in our lives.

I was able to have my Grandma M's handkerchief with me for the dedication and couldn't help wonder how may dedications and temples it had visited with her. It was her temple hanky and I am so grateful to have it now. It reminds me our my ancestors and gives me more desires to learn more about them and make sure their temple blessings have been provided for them.

James is Walking and got his First Hair Cut

He was on the edge for so long and it seems like he just decided that he could do it and it was easy. It has been so nice to have him walking. I think I am one of the few mom's who encourages her children to crawl and walk, etc. I love how happy they are when they learn a new thing, can get what they want, and have a little more independence.

Here are some of his first steps:


And here he is now:

I finally did it today. He is almost one, is walking, saying a few little things like woof (for a dog), ma-ma, da-da, na-na (for banana), ba (for bath). But I didn't want to cut his baby hair. That just seemed to seal the deal that my baby is growing up and no longer my baby. He runs around with Sam, steals his toys, his food, his sipies, and goes down the slide. My how time flies! I decided to save a few bucks and cute his hair myself. hopefully it looks okay. I was emotional and he was very squirmy, but didn't cry!


These pictures are a little off because I did this when Seth was gone and had to use the timer to capture the memory. Not too bad though...


And here's the after, I just love the little faces he makes!

Mom Slept in so Dad made Breakfast...

Thank you to my sweet husband who let me sleep in until almost 10 this morning after a hard night with James. This is just what I needed to walk downstairs to to have a good laugh and a fun start to my day! Love ya honey!
(Seth is eating left over steak while Sam is enjoying left over spaghetti!) :)

Thanksgiving Point Gardens

One of my new favorite places to go in the summer is the Thanksgiving Point Gardens. They are so beautiful and fun to be in. They have fun caves to play in, a lighthouse, cod fish to feed, and an awesome splash park with Noah's Ark.
The grounds are emaculate. The flowers, grasses, bushes, and trees are breath-taking.

Here's some of the fun we had:




Before we left we had to go back for a ride on the bear. Sam thought that was pretty cool.




So of course James had to get on too. I think he was wondering why Sam found this so fun.



And here are some of my favorite shots of the gardens:

Seth's Birthday Week

Seth is the big 2-8 now. No more giving me hard times for the 3 weeks I am older than him...and he milked it for all it was worth and more.
Thursday night we went to the midnight showing of G.I. Joe. It was fun and surprisingly enough I really liked it. It was actually clean. But we are defiantly parents. It was hard to get up the next day and get going...and STAY going for that matter!


Saturday we went to the Cheese Cake Factory for lunch with his parents. It has become a birthday tradition for us. We love that place and love to have a reason to go! The White Chocolate Macadamia Cheesecake is to DIE for!




Just a side note...this restaurant has the nicest bathrooms ever! I usually hold it until I get home, but not here!


On his birthday we had a fun little "surprise" party for him when he got home from work. Joy and I had gone to the Dinosaur Museum that day with our kids so they stayed for his arrival and the cake. I made an attempt at a "cobra" cake in honor of the GI Joe season. It turned out a little pink and a little weird, but it was still fun. I'm still a long way off from the cakes my mom makes.


Sam got into the spirit of licking the beaters, spoons, and bowls. It was a proud moment for a mom.




Here's the cake...and yes, it is supposed to be red!





Joy's kids did the decorating and it was so fun. I just got out everything I could find and they had a blast being able to do whatever they wanted, and I must say I got into it too. It's fun to go a bit wild.
(Here they are with "We (heart) Seth" on their chests!)



I got Seth a "Donut Bouquet" with coupons on them, one of which included a "get out of jail free card". We had a good laugh about that one.
The night ended with Sam and I being able to go with Seth to his late night hockey game. Grandma M came to stay with sleeping James. Sam really loved having time with Mom and Dad and I must admit it was fun for me too. One is so easy now. Especially at Sam's age.


Sam was way into being Dad's little helper with his hockey gear. It was so cute.




Sam even got it down...when asked what number Dad is he would say, "two five."

Huge Blessing!

The other night I took the kids on a drive right before bed because it was just one of those night where they were fussy, cranky, onry.....you mothers know what I'm talking about. We just had to get out and go on a drive to calm down.
I just threw them in Sam not buckled, James only half way buckled, me with on shoes...you get the idea.
Well, with the Temple Open House there have been a lot on cops in the area nabbing people for running/rolling stop signs.
Not thinking, I decided to drive around on some street I hadn't seen lately to see the new construction and homes. I missed a stop sign and got pulled over by a cop on a bike I didn't even see.


OH CRAP! -- was all that went through my mind.
He came up and asked for my license. I told him I didn't have it and that I just got in the car to drive around the neighborhood because me kids were screaming. He looked back at them and said they looked pretty calm. I told him it was because we were in the car.
He looked at me kindly (yes, kindly!) and smiled. He simply said, "You should always have your license with you. Have a good night."
WHAT!? That's it. Wow. I immediately knew in my heart and mind that he was so kind because I strive to live right. What a blessing. I ran a stop sign, looked like a mess, had two kids not buckled in properly and a NICE cop just let it all go.
What a testimony builder of how stupid I can be and how the Lord watches out for us every minute of everyday no matter what it is.

Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House

Seth and I got to go through the Temple Open house before the public tour so we kind of forgot about taking the kids through until my sister Joy called and said she was bringing her kids up to go through it. It was the second to last day and I could not believe how quickly it had gone by.
So I threw some "church clothes" on the kids and myself and walked over with her. We didn't have any reservations because they were all gone, and I am ashamed to admit I knew how to cut in line from my shift of volunteering....and thank goodness I knew how because it was PACKED! We ended up ditching the strollers so it would move along more quickly for the kids.
I was so glad I got to walk threw it again with my kids. Sam loved looking around until about half way threw. All my attempts to keep him occupied started to back fire. "Sam who's that?" (as I pointed out the many pictures of Christ) He got to the point where he would just say "Jesus" without even looking! :) And then there was the fact that he wanted to see more "cows" and was disappointed that there weren't anymore.
After we walked through we got to go have some water and cookies, which was according to Mitch (Joy's oldest) the best part. We sure felt like we deserved them after a slow, very crowed tour....and poor Mitch was a great sport and held James almost the whole time for me as I tried to deal with Sam. (Thanks Mitch you were a great lifesaver and gentleman!)
We are so blessed to have a Temple so close to us. I love that the boys can see it from their rooms. I love that I can pass it on my walks and when we drive to and from our house I hear an excited, "Temple!" from the backseat!

Thanksgiving Point Farm

Every summer Seth's company gives us really fun family passes to places around the valley. We get very excited for them. We usually end up with an extra pass to each because there's always someone at work who doesn't use them so I am able to go twice...once with my sister or a friend and then once with Seth.
So I took my new neighbor, and instant friend, Aymee. We went to the Farm at Thanksgiving Point. It was so much fun...until the pony ride line! We made the mistake of going on a Tuesday in August, which is $2 Tuesday. There were SO many people there. We probably stood in line for an hour! The things we do for our kids!
Over all it was a great day. It's so nice to have a neighbor finally. I pray so hard for a good neighbor! Aymee only thinks she chose the house. Little does she know she had no choice because of my prayers! (Sorry Aymee, your stuck with me!)
Here's a few of the fun shots of the day...

James had no problem petting any of the animals (or letting them eat his fingers for that matter). It's amazing how kids love animals so much. It's amazing to see how it just clicks for them and makes them so happy to be with them.


James had no fear. He loved the wiskers on the horse.

Sam loves animals. He loved how big this horse was.




Sam and Aubree admiring the pigs. This was Aubree's first time seeing farm animals (besides in a book) and she looked at her mom and said something like, "They're kinda gross, huh mom?!" She is so cute!


James even got out a few times to say hi to the animals. This was his first time here and he was way into it. It was fun to watch.


You couldn't get Sam away from the cows. He would run back and forth between them saying "hi" and "moo" and "bye cow". While we was looking at this particular cow it "mooed" really loud right in his face. He loved that. He just giggled, jumped around and "mooed" back.


Aymee let Sam and James play with these ice packs in line. Sam ended up with both of them and got the idea really quick. It was so hot.


This was James' first pony ride and he LOVED it! I was so excited. He did really well. At first he had a look of terror on his face but then it quickly turned into a smile, cooing, and giggles. Even though he was SUPER tired he was a good sport!


Sam LOVED the pony ride. It was definately worth the wait.


After his turn there was an extra pony and I had an extra ride ticket. The worker was nice enough to let Sam ride again with out waiting in line again...and this time he did it on a big horse all by himself. He thought he was pretty cool!

Sleep Overs

We love when my sister and her family come to play!
Joy's husband has been out of town on business so she's been stranded. We invited them up for a fun sleep over. It was a blast. The kids love to play and Sam and James love to be with them and destroy all they are trying to do.
It was a fun night full of movies, toys, army building, game playing, and a trip to the park. We hope they come for another sleep over soon while Ben is still away. We love having the company!


Megan taught Haley and Sam how to play "Don't Break the Ice". They LOVED it. You can see here that Sam was running away giggling.

The boys played "Ants in the Pants". Those little buggers are hard to get in there!

This was only the beginning of the ultimate battle. I wish I would have gotten a picture when they had both sides set up.

These are mini battles they set up.

I had figures ALL over my house. It was fun to watch.

Every Star Wars figure we had felt the love as the boys strategically placed each one in a battle.