A ZOOrassic Work Party

Seth's work puts on the greatest work parties for their employees and their families. It is one of my favorite things about his job. This year they rented out the Zoo and we had a blast. Free food, rides, and face painting was great. But the best part was all the new dinosaur robots that are all around the zoo right now. In fact, we didn't even see one animal with all that we did and all that was going on.

James Gets a New Tooth

Last month James broke off a large part of his front left tooth while playing at the park. Even though he thought he was pretty cool and tough we thought it best to fix it...and today was the day.
He was a trooper. He was very excited about it even though he was a little nervous. The sedative kicked in and he was so cute. He started getting very silly and wobbly. He was great for the dentist and it was done it no time.
The cutest thing about it was when he was watching the show and said, "mom, there's two Lightening McQueen's." :)

Star Wars-The Final Battle

It's finally complete! Seth had to set up the scene and admire it. I must say that it is pretty impressive. He sets it all up and then the boys come and run all over and destroy it. They love it.





I have come to love collecting. I think it's important to have a hobby and know your interests. It was been fun for Seth and I to get into things and enjoy them.

July 22, 2011...

...so this is 30, huh?

Birthday Girls

So many of my good friends here in my neighborhood have brithdays in July. It is a fun birthday month.
Aymee, of course, got some of us together for a night out and some yummy yogurt. Just Aymee, Somer, and I were able to make it and it was a blast. We had such a fun time talking, telling stories, and laughing. I am so glad we got together and hope that we do this every year!

Mom's Brain

I have finally developed a way to keep myself organized with all the crazy things I get myself into and I am loving having it all in one place that makes sense for me.



Here's to hoping it really does work.

Q: How Do You Get Your Kids to Eat Oatmeal?

A: With sprinkles on top of course!


Hey, you do whatever you can to get your kids to eat, and if a few sprinkles on top is all that's needed, count yourself blessed! :)

Family Game Night

Last week we decided to start a new family tradition: Family Game Night. I am so glad we did. I am loving it. Granted, last week was a little rough, but we kept at it and this week was SOOOO much fun. I know it's just going to get better and better.
Every Sunday night/evening we get in our jammies, get out a game and play together. This has been good for the boys to learn how to play games, how to follow rules, to count, wait their turn...and most importantly, it is a planned family time when we know we are going to be together, doing some thing together. I love having set times to make sure that we sit down together, where it's just us, and just have fun.
My favorite game growing up was a game called "Splat." I still love it and even have made some neighbors play it with us, and yes, this has gotten me some weird looks. Well, I have found Splat times 10. It is a Mr. Potato Head (bingo right there!) game with play-doh. You make your opponents into fires, chips and more. The boys were right on the same page on this one with me. They just couldn't wait for a chance to squish someone.

Best Buds

There's not much else to say besides that. I've got my buddy Chloe.....

...and Sam and James have each other.
I believe that your best friends are the ones right under your same roof. I am so happy that Sam and James are becoming such great friends. There is nothing better than having your sibling as your best friend. That's the way it was for me growing up and I wouldn't have changed it for anything. I treasure my relationships with my family.
I love to just sit and watch them play. They play trains, watch movies, go on imaginary adventures, stir up trouble, wrestle, tease and pester, and so much more.

I had to capture their newest creation. They call it the hug dance. It is so funny to watch. They basically just hug each other in a big bear hug and circle and bounce around until they topple over on each other. They then commence to giggle hysterically until they can't breathe, and then repeat.

It's Official, I Keep a Journal!

...and it's finally here. I can't believe I finally did it. I made our family blog into a book. It was such a good feeling to finally finish editing it, ordering it, and getting it today. I know I have been good at documenting our lives since I have started the blog, but I didn't really grasp that it really IS our family journal until I opened them and literally saw it.
I LOVE them. They are my treasures. I love that I can sit down and flip through my family history. That is a great feeling.

Happy Trails

That's us lately. We have been loving the great long days to get out and be outside, that is when it's not deathly hot!
I got a bike trailer (gotta love that eBay) for the kids and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! (I feel like I've been saying that a lot about a lot of things lately, but it's still true!)
The kids were very excited about it. They couldn't wait until it was put together and we could to out.


I pulled all 3 of them while Seth roller bladed. It was a blast. It worked out perfectly because when a hill would come Seth would drop back and help push from the rear! We've got a great system going!
I am so glad that we live in such a beautiful place where we can choose to go ride around our lake or around the ridge and by the temple! We have such tough choices to make in life! :)

"T" Family Reunion

For the second year now we have had my "family reunion" here. Not all of my family is able to come due to distance, schedules, and because it comes down to the simple fact that there are just so many of us to get together.
We wanted to make this reunion a little more special since my parents are off to Madrid, Spain to be the Temple President and Matron in the fall.
The fun started Friday night at BYU. We went to the Cougar Eat (there's not much open in the summer!) for dinner and then down to the bowling lanes for a game. It was so fun. Seth and I LOVE to bowl. We used to go bowling all the time when we were dating and first married, but kids change things.
I must admit that it was fun to get out our bowling bags, shoes, and balls. Delores (my ball) had been missing me. I of course had to talk her up all through dinner and everyone was excited to see her. So what did I do, I fell on my first throw. My nephew Braden, who I had told would see things he'd never seen before said, "you're right Karen, I've never seen that before!" Leave it to me! :)
This was the first time we had taken the boys. They LOVED it too. Of course it helped that there were prizes at the end...Sam and James won bowling sets, Seth got highest score, and I got most entertaining for a somersault bowl...I had to make up for my fall somehow! :)







Saturday we headed down for a family dinner and hanging out. The kids had a blast playing with their cousins and running free.






Sunday was Presley's blessing in my parent's ward. It was nice to be all together for church. After, we all headed over to Joy's to snap a picture (minus 18 of us), and I must say, it turned out great even with all the complaining and the heat. Chloe got way into the air conditioner when we got back in the car to head to my parents where we ate more great food.


Monday we had a great 4th. We decided to skip the shooting and pool that was planned for earlier in the day and go to Village Inn for a big breakfast. We usually go to our ward breakfast, but our kids have been so tired that they slept through it.
I cooked all day since it was my turn to be co-host of the food with Joy and Cindy. I must say that we put on a good spread!
We finished off the night at Jon's for fireworks galore, thanks mainly to Matt.


We had a great time, but we sure were so thankful when Tuesday rolled around and we had nothing to do! :)