November 2014

The weather was still pretty good for November, so we enjoyed playing outside a lot.

Raking the leaves so we can jump in them is always so fun!

Somedays you just let your kids out of the house in whatever they put on... even if it is a tinkerbell dress with pink fairy wings. :)  Bottom right: the kids love to make "foamy soap" (just mix a little dish soap and water until it is foamy). This picture is super blurry, but it's the best I had. Middle: Lydia was so excited to make her own funny face pancake. I think we made them for a few days in a row. Top right: Ok, so this one is really embarrassing! I actually went to  work with two different boots on and didn't notice until I had been at work for almost an hour! In my defense, I did get ready in the dark that morning and remember pulling 3 boots from my closet. I thought that I threw the one that didn't match back in, but I guess I grabbed the wrong one! After I noticed, I just wore my socks for the rest of my shift.  

Watching out the window and having fun with play dough.

We're so excited to welcome Mikayla to the family (she is marrying Neal's brother Kevin). We had so much fun going out to lunch with her and her mom. Neal's brother, Bradley also came home after serving his mission in Canada. Welcome home, Bradley! 

October 2014

We love living across the street from the elementary school. We have the playground to ourselves during the summer!

Happy 1st birthday Jacob! We thought it was appropriate to make him a car cake... since he was born in one.

Happy Halloween from Cinderella and Prince Charming

We went to a BYU football game. While we were there, people kept turning around and looking behind us. We discovered that Elder Perry was sitting in the box right behind us! Go Cougars!

September 2014

We love when the weather is warm and we can stay outside all day! Lydia taking her kitty for a ride on her bike. Visiting the llamas, and playing at the splash pad.

Annie came over with her umbrella and Lydia loved it! She had to take it outside right away and try it out. I guess it's time to get her own...

Jacob thought it was so fun to hit and pull Lydia's hair over and over again. Poor girl... she must have been really tired though, because she didn't even wake up!

Our little cougars. Jacob getting into everything (again) and horse rides on daddy!

August 2014

Wow! I didn't realize how far I have let myself get behind on blogging! I have a few posts with pictures already put together, so I'll just put some subtitles on them and call it good. I don't know if I can remember much more than the basics!

Hogel zoo! My friend, Heather, had some passes to the zoo, so we loaded up our 4 kids and went to the zoo. It was so much fun!

Family hiking! The weather was beautiful and it was so nice to get out! This is on the way up to Elephant Rock. We didn't quite make it to the top because it was getting late, but Lydia walked the whole way up. She got tired on the way down though and wanted to be carried for that.

This tepee is about halfway up on the trail. I think it was Lydia's favorite part.

Happy 3rd birthday, Lydia! She requested a strawberry cake this year.

More birthday fun. Playing in the water and getting ice cream!

Lydia also wanted to go to the chocolate factory, so we went on a tour for her birthday. She loved it, especially the free samples we got.

After the chocolate factory, we dropped Jacob off at a friend's house and went boating with Neal's cousins. We loved it! I was surprised that Lydia went on the tube all by herself, but after her first time, she wanted to do it again and again.

Playing at the Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving point. We spent most of the day and could easily have stayed longer!

Last time we came here, Jacob got soaking wet and we had to leave early. This time I thought I was being smarter and brought his swimming suit and an extra onsie. However, I didn't anticipate that the outdoor splash pad would be open... and Lydia got drenched! All I had were Jacob's extra clothes. Ha ha. Obviously I couldn't snap the onesie, but I somehow managed to get them on her (middle picture) so she could have something dry to wear. Next time I'm bringing extra clothes for both of them!

Lydia was so brave and did the zip line all by herself!

Our busy boy! Jacob is always into something and making a mess.

Free smoothie day at Jamba juice! The kids loved playing with the blocks while we waited.

Neal took me to the Garden (downtown Salt Lake) for a date. The food was so yummy!

Washing the car. Jacob loved watching Daddy spray him with water.

We went through the Ogden temple. What a beautiful place! Lydia wouldn't wear the white booties on her shoes, so we had to carry her the whole time, but it was so nice to go and be there with our family. I'm so grateful for the temple and our forever family!

July 2014- part 2

My Grandpa turned 90 years old this July as well, so we all headed down to ElPaso, Texas to celebrate with him. It's been a long time since I've been there and I forgot just how long the drive is.. especially with little kids. We drove down with my parents, my sister, and two of her girls. Lydia did great on the way down and mostly on the way home but Jacob did not like it at all. There was a lot of crying, but we survived. :)

My grandpa is such a great man and still going strong! He has blessed/touched so many lives and the church was pretty full of family and friends for him. It was also great to see a lot of family that we don't see often.

Playing at the hotel pool and at the party. :)

July 2014- part 1

We had a great, but very busy July. 

West Bountiful puts on a big 4th of July parade each year, and we now have amazing seats! The duplex that we just bought is right at the beginning of the parade route, so we set up some canopies and chairs that morning and didn't have to come out until a few minutes before the parade started. Great seats and no waiting all night to get them. :) Lydia loved the parade and learned quickly to stand close to the curb and wave at everyone so they would throw candy her way. After the parade, we had Neal's family and a few friends over for a bar-b-que.

One of the Bishopric members (from our singles ward in Provo) puts on a HUGE 4th of July party each year. This was the first time we've gone, and it was really  big!! They had dinner catered by 2 different food trucks. I can't remember the names, but we had the mexican food, and it was really yummy! They also had dessert from Coldstone with a huge waffle bowl filled with ice cream and all sorts of add ins/toppings. It was delicious! Lydia was thrilled to discover that they also had cotton candy, a big trampoline to jump on, plus a huge bounce house! She had a blast! Once it started getting dark, they brought out the sparklers for all the kids. Lydia was a bit nervous to hold one at first, but soon decided it looked like fun when she saw all the other kids with one. After the sparklers were all gone, it was time for the big fireworks. His whole garage was FILLED with them! They set off firework after firework! They really seemed to go one forever! It was really neat to watch, but if we go again, we'll probably watch from a couple of streets over because it was so loud! Lydia watched with her blanket over her head the whole time and I felt bad for Jacob because he wouldn't let us cover his ears at all.

Sparklers and fireworks!

July also brought more fun times at the splash pad!

We love going on walks each day. West Bountiful is nice because so many of our neighbors have animals. Within a few minutes, not only do we see the customary cats and dogs,  but goats, horses, chickens, and llamas.

One day I came in the living room to find Lydia playing. She had set up a book to be a pulpit and put her kitty and panda on it. Excitedly she told me that kitty and panda were bearing their testimonies! It was really cute, especially since she did it all on her own.

Bountiful city puts on a big parade and events at the park for Pioneer day.

Once again, Lydia loved watching the parade, waving, and getting candy!

Fun at the park for Pioneer day. The city always has activities, food, and entertainment set up in the park.  Last year she wouldn't go on any of the rides, but this year she couldn't get enough of them! She even went on the big blow up course all by herself, which included tunnels to crawl through, obstacles to get through, and climbing up and going down the tall slide.

June 2014

We spent the month of June enjoying the sunshine! The kids loved going swimming and going to the park, so that's what we did almost everyday.

 Lydia loved her pink pool at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Dallin was even nice enough to come out and play.

There is a fun park/splash pad about 10 minutes from our house. Lydia would go there everyday if she could! Jacob wasn't a huge fan of the splash pad, but he loved the park.

Fun at the park 

We moved across the street from an elementary school, so during the summer we loved going to the playground almost daily. It's so nice to walk across the street and have somewhere fun for the kids to play.

My sweet helper. Lydia loves to help me in the kitchen, especially if I am making something yummy. She also loves "doing" the dishes (meaning she gets all the bowls and cups and pours water back and forth)

Playtime!