Ganon

While we were up in  Park City this weekend we came across a pet adoption center. We  decided to go in and let the kids look at the animals. Sabrina was thrilled with all of the dogs loving on her. The idea was just too look, but while we were there Brook saw a dog named Miller trying to push his ball out of the cage. Of course we had to play with him. For us it was love at first walk! We decided to bring him home with us! We have been talking about getting a second dog for awhile, but thought it would be best for Zelda to be a little bit older first. So much for that one. Once we got home we knew Miller was not the right name for him so we decided to name him Ganon (princess Zelda 's nemesis). The digs get along great, and even better he loves the kids and they love him! He fits into our family so well! He is a great dog who loves to play, but also loves to cuddle up next to us! We have to wait until Sunday to finalize his adoption, and I for one can not wait to officially make him a part of our family!

Park City

This last weekend we decided to take advantage of the long weekend and go to Park City. We had never been before, and when my Dad called to ask if we could take him up for a conference we decided to go up with him and stay the weekend. Since it is still the off season we got an awesome deal on a hotel that was located half way between the shopping in Park City and the outlet mall (and my parent's hotel happened to be right behind the outlets too). We got to our hotel at about 1:30 in the afternoon, got all the stuff from the car (it seriously amazed me how to much stuff four people need for four days!), then checked out what the hotel had to offer. After checking out the two restaurants, the arcade, and taking a peek at the pool, the kids begged to go swimming. We gave in and went swimming. Then we headed into town to get some snacks and supplies for the rest of our trip. After that it was time to eat dinner and go to bed. We had originally thought that getting two Queen beds would mean a kid bed and an adult bed, but it ended up turning into a girl bed and a boy bed.
The next day we headed to the outlet mall with my mom. Since she can't help spoiling my kids she bought each of them a special treat. Ben was thrilled with the outdoor supplies that Eddie Bauer had and ended up with a flashlight with legs that he can move to put on things, and also a snap bracelet that glows. I am pretty sure it is meant for runners, but in our house it is used for special missions in the dark. Sabrina picked a leopard and turquoise purse that she uses to carry her baby in. She is such a girly girl! My mom got a great deal on shoes (she has insanely small feet so any time we find shoes in her size it is cause for celebration)! Brook was able to go to the grand opening of the skull candy store (where they had doughnuts and got chocolate that we all enjoyed) and he got a really good deal on headphones and was given an extra $10 off coupon. I even found the leopard belt I have been searching for!
Afar all that shopping we were ready for a break. After a quick stop at Arby's for beefies (one of Ben's favorites) we went back to the hotel. Once there we were hoping for naps, but got begged to go to the pool instead. After a few hours at the pool we were too exhausted to do anything but go back to the room and sleep.
On our last day we decided to go main street. My main reason for wanting to go was for a book store named Atticus. I wanted to find that book store so bad! Who wouldn't want to go to a used bookstore named after their favorite literary character (OK he is probably tied with a lot of other way awesome literary characters). Anyway, we find this place and it is just as cool as I  had hoped. Even the bathroom was awesome! The only problem? The kids were just not having it! They threw fit after fit until I gave up and left. We decided to just let them roam free for awhile until they started to complain they were starving. I really wanted to try a Greek place, but it was closed so we went to a grill that boasted the best hamburger in Park City. I don't know about the burger, but the taco salad sure was tasty! It was then time to head back to the hotel for naps and to check out.
Over all it was a great trip! We loved being together as a family and being able to spend some quality time together "away from it all". We have even decided to make a tradition out of it! What more could you ask for?

We Love Fall

This last Saturday we took advantage of the good weather and got the yard ready for winter. The next day there was snow so we got it all done just in time! We had to rake leaves and let the kids and dog play in them. This is the resulting cuteness!

Trick or Treat

This year Halloween was so much fun. For the first time we decided to do a theme. We thought about it and thought about it, and then we asked the four year old what he wanted to be... The verdict? Batman villains. So I sat down and started to think. Thanks to the Lego Batman game that Ben loves to play I was fairly familiar with most of the villains and there were plenty to choose from: Clayface, Bane, Twoface, Joker, Riddler, Harley Quinn, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and the list goes on and on. Ben knew pretty much immediately that he would be the Joker and I went into planning mode for his costume, and started hitting thrift stores for stuff for his costume.
I have to admit that I love homemade Halloween costumes, and I much prefer to make them myself. First, I think they always turn out so cute. Second, they end up costing so much less than store bought costumes (and a lot of times you end up with things that can be worn after the fact). And lastly, I am always really proud of the way they turn out, and even though they don't take a ton of time to make I love all the compliments we get on how great they look and how original they are (I know! Totally selfish, right?).
Sabrina's costume didn't come to me as easily as Ben's. At first I really wanted to do a Harley Quinn, but Ben wanted her to be Poison Ivy. I agreed, and the costume turned out really easy to make. One cute and easy tutu and a green shirt with ivy hot glued onto it, and we had ourselves one cute villain.
Because I lost a bet, I had to go as Catwoman. Brook went as Twoface (along with his twin brother), and because of my total lack of sewing skills, they made the costume by themselves. That turned out to be my favorite costume of the day!
As per the norm we went trick or treating at Brook's office. At first Sabrina didn't get it and just wanted to eat the candy as she got it, but thanks to a great example from her brother she finally caught on and filled her candy bucket all the way. An hour and a half later we were out of there and on our way to eat dinner .
My parent's, my sister, and her friend then joined us for trick or treating around the neighborhood. Six adults to take the kids around the neighborhood! It was great.
After that we all came home and the kids crashed, despite their sugar highs! It was a great Halloween and I can't wait to do it again next year!

Camping

For my birthday this year we went camping with my family. It was such a great adventure and I couldn't have asked for a better birthday. When my dad first approached me about camping over my birthday I was a bit leery. I do love to camp, but I know how much work goes into a good camping trip and I wasn't sure that was how I wanted to spend my birthday. After asking Brook and the kids about it I knew that I had to go. My kids have never been on a real camping trip. Sure, we had set up the tent my parent's backyard about a year ago and camped out there, but I really wanted to take them up into the mountains and take them real camping.

The day we left for the camp snuck up me and despite my promises in the weeks before that I would get everything together early so the day of I would just be able to pack the car up and go, I ended up spending the day getting things ready to go last minute and if it wasn't for Ben going to preschool that day I don't know if the prep work would have gotten done.

After leaving only about 20 minutes after we said we would take off we were on our way to our camping adventure. We met my mom and sister and caravaned up to the camp site. My dad had left earlier in the day to get set up so between the 7 of us all going to the same campsite we took 4 cars! The campsite was really great and by the time we got our tent all settled it was time to grill hot dogs and go to bed.

That night Sabrina decided to sleep in bed with us and there was one too many people in our two person tent. I never sleep well when I go camping, and if it were not for our air mattress I wouldn't sleep at all. Between being cold all night since I married a cover thief and arthritis pain from sleeping on the ground sleep alludes me while we are camping. Ben and my sister seemed to play musical cot all night and switched back and forth all night long. Ben was cold because he refused to sleep in a sleeping bag and only wanted blankets. Come morning we were all tired and we still had another night to go. I was so tired that when Brook woke up in the morning and wished me a happy birthday in the morning I had no clue what he was talking about.

The day started out with my dad making an amazing breakfast and then my dad and Bean taking naps while the rest of us explored the lake, saw a moose, set up the canopy over the table, and triec to stay dry as the rain set in. When the rain got to be more than what we wanted to sit in we decided to all pile into our car and drive thorough Nebo loop and into Nephi. The drive was beautiful and I only got car sick once! The kids loved the drive and Ben even took a nap with my mom in the backseat. We drove past the house that my great great grandfather built and my grandma grew up in, and then we drove past the cemetery that my grandma is buried in.

By this point we were all starving and drove into Santaquin and ate at this amazing little restaurant called Family Tree something. Anyway it was amazing and they had the best scones and honey butter. If you ever happen to be down that way you MUST stop by. I love finding restaurants like this and it is my dream to one day hop on the back of a motorcycle with Brook and eat my way across country! Hopefully someday when the kids are grown we will have the opportunity, but for now finding jems like this are a highlight, especially on my birthday.

After this we needed to go to Walmart since the meat for that night's dinner had mysteriously never made it to the campsite (turns out my parent's dog ate it when my dad was packing up the food). By this point it was raining fairly hard in the valley and we were anxious to get back to camp.

We got back to camp to discover that the canopy had broken and knocked over and broke the lantern and emptied the propane to a seriously low amount. While everyone focused in getting that mess cleaned up I decided to check out our tent. It was wet! Not seriously wet, but a couple of sleeping bags got wet and our air mattress was wet on one side. All of our dirty clothes got wet but that was no big deal. Then we went into my parent's tent and it was flooded. My mom's sleeping bed and sleeping bag were beyond soaked as were all of her clothes. It was at this point we knew we could not stay another night and decided to break down camp. Three hours later we were on our way back to my parent's house.

That night we roasted marshmallows on my parents stove and made s'mores, all took showers(!), and had a good and warm night's sleep. It was such a fun weekend and I have been fielding questions about when we are going camping again since we got back. My kids got dirty and clothes were ruined so I would say all in all it was a success. And instead of putting away all the camping gear I decided to blog about camping instead!

Long Story Short

So I have been a bad blogger again. Long story short... We have been insanely busy people. Instead of boring you with all of the details I will just inundate you with a bunch of blog posts (some of which have been written for months) and insanely cute pictures of my kids! Thanks all!

First Day

Ben had his first day of preschool last week. He loves school so much. That is all he talks about now and he loves the days that he gets to go and every day he asks if it is a school day. I am so excited for him and I love watching him grow up and he is becoming such an amazing person.

Washington and the BIG 3-0!!!

Warning: This is a long post, so if you want to skip it I have put the pictures first :)

 Me getting to read in peace.

 The trampoline was a huge hit (he is begging to get one at our house).

 Sabrina loved the swing in the backyard.

 Sabrina in the adorable dress my friend made her!

 Sabrina and Daddy at dinner

 Fun in the park

 Sabrina and Uncle Parker

 Ben and Grandma

 Sabrina and her Uncle

 Brook with his siblings

 (Brook's Birthday dinner)

Our trip to Washington this summer was FABULOUS! Between Brook getting his birthday off from work and one other holiday-combined with weekends- we ended up with a nice long 17 day vacation with Brook only having to take ten days off work. It was wonderful and I can not wait for our next trip up. This trip I really wanted to do lots of things that we hadn't done before. On my list was go to the  beach, spend the day

at the Lake, take the kids to Leavenworth (the local Bavarian Village), go to Seattle, and hike Saddle Rock. We were able to get everything on my list accomplished except for hiking Saddle Rock.

First, I have to say that my kids did AMAZINGLY in the car. It is about a 12 hour trip with just two adults and two stops for gas, but with kids that 12 hours is usually closer to 15. The way up we split it up into two days with a night spent in Boise. The kids did awesome and we only stopped a total of four times! They were so excited to see their Grandma and Grandpa and once we got to their house I hardly saw them except for meal time and bed time. They have so much fun playing with their aunt and uncles that mom and dad become obsolete. My mother-in-law is amazing and loves to be with her grandkids, so anything that needs to be done she usually does it before I even know it needed done in the first place.

The day after we got there we took the kids to the beach, but the water was not all that great that day so we ended up just staying in the sand and picnic-ing. The kids had a blast and Ben could not believe that Grandma lived so close to a beach. He thought it was the most amazing thing in the world.

We were also able to go to Lake Chelan for a day, and while we didn't actually go to the lake, we hung out at the pool all day, which my kids LOVED! The pool is kind of a special thing for us to do and it was the only time that we went this summer (in my defense my kids get sick EVERY time I take them to the public pool and it is not worth the four days of puking for the one hour of fun).

One of Ben's favorite things that we did was go to the Bavarian village. Why? you might ask. Well... Ben got to see something that he has wanted to do for six months (which is forever in kid time)-- He got to go and see a real honest-to-goodness tattoo shop. He is obsessed with shows like Ink Master and Miami Ink so getting to see a real shop was his dream come true. He has definitely decided that when he grows up he is going to be a doctor and tattoo artist. I think it is great that he had so much fun-- also of note was the beyond cool toy store where we picked up these amazing wood puzzles for the kids, and the ice cream store where each kid was able to get an ice cream cone that was over flowing with ice cream. We took my sister-in-law Madison with us and it was so nice to have a helper with us and I wish I could have brought her back home with us!

Since my mother-in-law is so amazing she took the kids for TWO WHOLE DAYS so Brook and I could go to Seattle. We had an amazing time just the two of us. We were able to go to Brook's favorite electronics store as well as some other shopping. We were able to go out shopping for five hours with no kids and that may have been my favorite thing of all. The next day we went into the city and while it was great to look around I would not want to live there. I am too much of a cheapskate to live in a big city like Seattle. Since I was too cheap to do any of the attractions (but seriously they wanted almost $50 so we could ride an elevator to the top of the Space Nettle) Brook took me to see Red 2 (and even that was $11 a ticket for matinee tickets). It was good to go, but also good to get back.

After we got back it was Brook's birthday. I put together a surprise party for him and his parents took us all out to dinner. I can not believe that he is 30! It will be my turn next. I love his birthdays for the same reason that I love Father's day. I get to spoil him and I feel like I did. He got a new tablet from me, the kids got him a remote control helicopter and the game Risk (which I am now obligated to play), and he got some weights for the gym (if and when we ever get it set up).

All in all it was a great trip and while it is good to go, it is good to come home too.

Fourth of July

This Fourth of July was pretty mellow. My parent's bought new furniture so Brook and my Dad spent the day going to RC Willey and then putting the furniture together. The kids and I were able to hang out with my Mom and play all day (and do some minor decorating, which is one of my favorite things to do in the world)! The most amazing miracle of all is that for the first time in his little life Ben was not sick on the Fourth and was able to enjoy the day. He loved doing the fireworks. His favorite was putting off the smoke bombs in the kiddie pool that we had set up out in the back yard. All in all it was a great day (and I would maybe remember more of it if it wasn't so long ago). Since it was so long ago and I have a terrible memory here are pictures of the kids that pretty much tell the whole story.

                                                     Sabrina sitting in her "special chair" at Nana's

                                          Sabrina with my sister-in-law's Mom (who she finally decided was OK).

                                               Happy and Healthy and excited for Fireworks!!!