Playing Hookie Today

I had scheduled to go boating  with my family one time every month through the summer. But last two months my mom couldn't go boating because of her herniated disk in her back. The poor woman has been in so much pain and the recovery has been so much slower than expected.  But as the weather was still looking promising for mid September and my mom has been cooped up for the past 8 weeks and just aching to get out of the house, my parents suggested us taking the boys out of school for the day to enjoy one last chance on the lake. 

 Why does a day on the lake with my family just make me so happy?

 This man. My goodness. The strength he has is amazing. He had Fynn in the front of him when he was in the water and when he got standing up he pulled Fynn up onto his shoulders. All the while he's hanging onto the rope with one hand and doing all the maneuvering with the other arm. He's incredible.

 It is always so fun to get some good jumps in on my board too. I'm no pro, but I it feels good to be out there in the water. Just me and my board.

 Ryker did fantastic on the skis today too.

 I never tire of seeing these 4 boys together. They make my heart so happy.

 Since it still was a school day we had to get our reading in for the day. Cy had a tough time last year with getting him to read, but this year I showed him the Magic Tree House Books and it got him really excited and he's been loving to read.

 My mom actually sat on the beach the entire time with her white folding chair and a pillow to sit on. She's unable to twist, bend or pick anything up over 5 pounds. But she loved just soaking up the sun and watching us wakeboard and ski from the beach.

 We stopped for lunch on the beach and played in the sand. There was maybe 2 other people(boats) that we saw the whole day and we eventually had the whole beach and lake to ourselves. It was AWESOME! Plus we had the best water.

Oh such a fun fun day! I didn't want it to end.

9/11

Jesse bought these shirts for us from a Fair they had at work to honor the Fallen Fighters from 2016. It's also in honor Patriot Day to remember 9/11/01. 

There are events that happen to us that will always be something that we will remember where we were when it happened. When the Twin Towers were struck I was a sophomore in High school sitting in my first period History Class. I remember not knowing what the twin towers even were, but knew the significance of this event. As I have grown older and every year on this day reflecting about what happened, it's humbling to think about all the people who died, served and sacrificed for others.

Now that Jesse is a firefighter I think about what it would have been like for him had he been a firefighrter in NY back then. Those men and women are true heroes and I'm proud of Jesse for being the hero to represent our family.

Happy Patriot's Day!
Thanks babe for thinking of me and buying me this cool T-shirt! Love you!

Labor Day Weekend/Fynn is TWO!!!

With the unnexpected time off that Jesse had and not having gone anywhere during the summer, I really thought it would be nice to go up to Eden for Labor Day weekend. I talked with the Smith Family and 3 out of the 4 families were able to go.  I got on VRBO and found a condo that was affordable for everyone and booked it.

Saturday:

After family pictures this morning out on Antelope Island we came home packed up the food and clothes and by 4pm we were on our way up to the Condo.  Andrew and Emily weren't able to come up until Sunday night so we were meeting Mom and Dad up there. 

On our way up I found that the condo coordinator sent me an email and they upgraded us to a nicer place for free. More space and bigger rooms. Can't beat that. 

Once we found our place we got settled in our rooms and started up on dinner. Then with the little bit of daylight we had left we decided to head to the pool. 

Some how Mom and I got volunteered to blow up the pool floaties. It seemed to take forever.

But those smiles make it all worth it.

Sunday:
Fynn officially turns TWO!!! Which is totally unreal to me. Gaaa, I really hate him growing up. Knowing he's my last one every stage that is passed kills me to think he'll never do that again. I find myself really trying to soak up every giggle, smile, and new words that he says. He is constantly making us laugh at his big personality that shines through his little body. And he's way smarter than a two year old should be aloud to be.

I took this picture a week ago because I knew we wouldn't be around on his actual birthday. But I had to get a picture with the elephant.

 Also last Sunday I held an early birthday party for him with my family (since we were going to be gone over his actual birthday). Everyone came to our house for dinner, cupcakes, ice cream and presents.

For months now Fynn would bring me (or Daddy) a lighter and say "A-Burr-Day" over and over again until we would light it. We would commence in singing Happy Birthday to him and he'd blow the fire out. This would go on for several times with the song getting faster and/or shorter. The day finally came for it to be the real deal and he was THRILLED!

After 17 days off Jesse had to go back to work today. Luckily it was just down the canyon for him and he could be back up with us on Monday for Labor Day and Birthday celebrations with all of his family (minus T&T). 

We attended church this morning, then spent the rest of the day just chillin at the pool. Well Jesse accidently woke the boys up at 6:30am when his alarm went off for work. Since we are all in the same room they wouldn't go back to sleep. So I was able to take an afternoon nap while Mom took the boys to the pool. I eventually joined them after my nap. 

That evening A&E arrived with their family and we were laughing at how just adding 4 more people to the house it felt like 20. The cousins were all so excited to see each other that they were being crazy loud in the house. But it's all good. 

I made chicken curry that night for everyone. And then we put the kiddos to bed and the adults went and relaxed in the hot tub. 

Monday:
We woke up and ate a huge breakfast. Jesse made it back up to the condo which made me so happy. The girls put together our lunches and when everyone was ready, we headed over to Pineview Reservoir to have a day at the lake.

Being Labor Day we were expecting it to be packed. Since we were only planning beach time (since no one in our company had a boat) it really wasn't that bad. Yes there were tons of people on the beach (some not so nice I learned after asking to borrow a plastic knife), but we still had a good time.

Before we got dispersed in our activities I made everyone take a family pic.

These 2 are so cute together. I wonder how much mischief they will cause in the future?

Always grateful that I have a MIL and SIL that truly are some of my closest friends. They make me happy and love me for me. And when you can be yourself and not feel judged and only loved, it's quite nice!

Grandma time at it's finest.

We stayed at the lake for a few hours. When everyone had their turn on the canoe (that A&E rented and brought for us to play with), had enough time digging in the sand, feeling sunburned and ready to call it a day...we went back to the condo. We still had birthday's to celebrate. Fynn and Sterling both share the same birthday so to keep it a little separate we did Sterling's before dinner and Fynn's after.

Fynn was so cute, once again feeling really excited to blow out the candles. And opening gifts was way cute too. He would give everyone a hug after opening their gift and being prompted to by Jesse.

Fynn has been fully obsessed with trains lately. We have the wooden train sets. The plastic train sets. So what could I possibly give him that he'd be excited about. When I got on Amazon and found a Thomas the Train that was ride-able, I had to get it. I couldn't wait to see the look on this face when he got to see it for he first time.

The whole family went to great lengths to keep him distracted as Jesse was putting it together. But finally the time came for him to see it. It didn't go how I thought it would go. I read reviews about it and this one lady talked about her son riding it for 2 straight hours until he fell asleep on it. Fynn was so weirded out by it at first. He wouldn't even get on it. I think for 10-15 minutes he refused. He eventually did but only would go a foot or two. Haha. In my head I pictured it going alot differently than that.

Eventually we needed to clean up dinner and the whole condo so we could check out. We all had to go back to reality tomorrow. Dang it.

Tuesday:
Jesse went back to work today and the boys back in school. So it was just Fynnie and I. But he had his two year checkup, so that worked out nicely.

I giggled over this smirk of his as we were waiting for the doctor to come in. Notice what he's got around him His new birthday books and toys.... ALL train related. Haha.

He of course looks so good. Talking like crazy. I lost track of how many words he says because we really can have simple conversations with him now. He communicates extremely well. Jesse says that Fynn eludes his emotions really well. We always know how he's feeling. Apparently he gets that from me. Which I don't know if it's a strength or a weakness of mine? Anyway, Fynn is just the best baby...I mean toddler.

STATS at TWO!
Weight: 28.9lbs (62%)
Height: 35in (59%)
Head circ: 19.9in (90%)

Things I want to remember about him right now...
1. He waves at total strangers. All through Costco he's waving at people with a big smile on his face.
2. He tells strangers as he's leaving somewhere "Bye, Wuh you" which translates into "Bye, Love you". So just imagine that with the cashiers at Costco, or the girls at the salon as we are leaving. It's hysterical.
3. Still a parrot and repeats everything we say.
4. Now that he is 2 years old the binki is going to have to be broken of him. Wish us luck. He loves that thing so much. Especially lately. He's only aloud to have it at bedtime and naptime, but he's been begging for it outside of those windows.
5. Showing signs of potty training. He knows when he's poopy at least.
6. You take a picture of him and he immediately says "I see, I see, I see" until you show him. Then he says "Awwww".
7. Figured out that anything with a screen can play "A choo choo" and will say it over and over until you turn it on for him. Sometimes he says "A choo choo, ya" nodding his head yes. As if telling us it's a really good idea.
8. If Jesse or I are showering he'' find us in the bathroom, start taking his close off and say "A showw-a". It's painful to tell him no because it's usually when I'm trying to hurry and get ready for work.
9. He's dumped the 100% pure maple syrup out all over the table. Twice. That was fun.
10. Loves his milk at bedtime. Along with the binki and his little blanket. And occasionally a stuffed animal of his choice. Which seems to rotate between the elephant and the fluffy tiger.

Fall Flag Football

First Games of the Fall Season and these 2 boys are more than excited. We've got a Cowboys and a Packers Teams we get to cheer for this time. They are so cute in their uniforms! 

Love these 4 boys so much!

I have my little cheering buddy!

Floating the River

 The high was only 75 degrees and the water was freezing, but that didnt stop us from having a good time on the river. We rented 2 single tubes and didn't add the shuttle fee to it. The length of the float wasn't that long and walking back to the top wasn't really that bad.

Right at the beginning there was an eddy that had rocks around it. This area it had hot springs water flowing into it. So we got over there to check it out. It is really cool that such hot water can be coming out of the rocks or even seeping up from the dirt.

Nevermind that this picture of us looks like we aren't dressed all the way. But a drop of water on the GoPro was on there and it makes it look like we are being crazy hippie naked people in the river. But we weren't, I promise.

 We went down about 4 or 5 times and we were feeling that we needed to make the journey home.

We changed into some dry clothes and I made us a lunch for the ride home.
(I brought all the food we needed so we could save on eating out. Plus I recently learned I have a problem with Dairy, Grains and Soy so it's just easier to pack my own food).

The drive home was nice and we were excited to see our boys again.

Hiking to the "L"

 When we were deciding what to do we thought we would be floating the river most of the day, but then the weather was a little over cast so we decided to go on a hike waiting for it to warm up before we got into the water. The only hike that we were aware of was the hike up to the "L" on the mountain over looking the town.

On our way up we were just going to go to the "L" but the trail kept going so we did too. I wanted to get to the top. I thought the L would be the Top but it was more the middle of the mountain.

 It was pretty steep but I loved being out in nature.

I know it's just a small town in Idaho and back at home in Utah we have hundreds of beautiful hikes all around us. But I thoroughly enjoyed hiking to the top of this mountain this morning. Just me, my man and nature. Really got me wishing  I could do this more often.

Lava Hot Springs, Here we Come!!!

First Day of school and we are sick of it. No I'm kidding. Jesse gave me a Gift Certificate for our anniversary back in May and I finally cashed it in. I figured out that it would be a good time to go and Heidi was more than willing to stay the night with the boys and get them up and ready for school tomorrow. I'm excited to spend the next 24 hours with Jesse. 

I have never been to Lava Hot Springs and it has been years for Jesse. I think he was about Ryker's age when he was there. The drive was only a couple of hours but it went by really fast as we talked together. We were laughing too how we ironically were driving to Idaho the day AFTER the big eclipse event that most of Utah went up there for.  

When we arrived in town we found our hotel and checked in. We were laughing to ourselves about how small the town was and how (for lack of a better description) White Trash it kinda was. But it had the small town charm.

We found a place to eat dinner and then went back to the Inn to relax in the natural Hot Pools the had. The whole night we just kept laughing about everything being so ghetto. The room itself looked like it had the original bedspread from when the Inn was built. And it's like they were trying to cover up a terrible smell because the room was thick with the sent of  a floral FaBreeze smell. The TV was an old school box kind too. Which this is all just fine, it was just a commical situation that kept us laughing all night long.

When we were chilling in the Natural Hot Spring Pools at the Inn it reminded us of an unforgettable experience we had 10 or 11 years ago.  We were in the infancy of our marriage and some of our closest friends (Bret and Courtney Hutchings) joined us on a whim (at night) to hike Diamond Fork Canyon up to the Fifth Water Hot Springs. But it was in the dead of winter so we hiked several miles through the snow to reach the pools. When we got there we stripped down to our swimming suits and hopped in the hot pools. We had such a blast and laughed about how crazy it was that we were coming home nearly the next morning.

I'm so grateful and so happy that all these years later I find myself more in love with this man of mine.

First Day of School

1st and 4th Grade here we go!!!!

I'll admit I am more on the side of NOT ready for school to start than I am ready. I even slept through my alarm this morning. This week starts a hectic routine of school and football amongst our already rigid scheduled lives. Summer has been nice to let the boys wake up when they want to while I can go to the gym before they are even up. The morning school routine is draining, but it'll be good to get back into our morning scripture reading again and for these boys to be together in school all day. That's so crazy to say out loud... I now have 2/3 children in school all day long. When did that happen?

Happy First Day of School!!!

"Total Eclipse of the Sun"

This doesn't come around very often but we got to experience seeing the Eclipse. The full eclipse was in Idaho and I heard alot of people driving up there to see it. I heard the freeway was nearly a parking lot. 

 We didn't spend the $$$ on the special eclipse glasses, so we took turns looking through Jesse's welding mask and the selfie mode on our phones to see the eclipse. It was actually really cool. The sky didn't get all the way dark, but it definitely had a dimmer hue in the middle of the day.

 I loved that we got to enjoy it in the privacy of our own backyard.

 This is a picture of the eclipse while looking through the mask. I thought you'd be able to see the eclipse without glasses, but you needed the glasses or mask to see the moon going over the sun.

Another Successful Day at Lagoon

Just trying to soak up every possible bit of summer we have left. So we spent a good long day today at Lagoon. Always starting with the "Beach". The older boys like to go off together and ride the rides. And Jesse and I would take turns watching Fynn while the other one would ride water slides with them. I think it's so funny how they get so excited when Jesse or I go with them. It was fun!

 I did also enjoy just hanging out with my little buddy. Alot of the time Fynn and I would float the lazy river together until we got too cold. Then we would hang out by our towels and eat our lunch. The nice thing about Fynn's personality is he stays close to me. I keep an eye on him, but he usually wanders only a little ways away. When Cyrus was this age he looked for opportunities to run away.

Fynn is lucky to have 2 older brothers that adore him.

After we were all watered out we went off to ride some rides. Ryker and I went on Cannibal together and met up with J, C and F.

They were waiting in line for the little kids rides and I got a kick out of Fynn watching for the older boys.

Nearby I took the older boys on a bigger (ish) ride. Jesse was so great to let me go on a few rides with the boys while he took care of Fynn. Tried getting him to sleep actually.

Going on the swings with them brought me back to when I was a kid. I just loved that I got to do it with them.

Ya know? I wasn't too fond of the idea of getting Season Passes this year, but I'm really glad that Jesse talked me into it. It's been a blast for our family!

Drive-In

Impromptu Drive-In Movie Night! It's one of those things that we like to get in before the summer is over. And we decided last minute to make it work tonight.

Temple Nights

At the start of the year our close friends Amber and Tyler Seaman made a packed with us to attend the temple once a month for the year. I coordinated around Jesse's schedule and so far we are 7/7. 

We typically just go to the Bountiful Temple, but this particular night the Bountiful Temple was closed for cleaning. So we decided to go to the Salt Lake Temple. 

It was such a joy to be in the temple that we were sealed in together. I found myself reminiscing of our wedding day 12 years ago and feeling grateful for Jesse as my husband. I was feeling nostalgic about being there because I hadn't been there to do any temple ordinances since our wedding day. I enjoyed the peace that came to me stepping away from the world and for a small moment forgetting about all my worries. And what better than to enjoy that with the dearest of friends.

Pioneer Day 2017

The Jenkins invited to hang out with them this year on Pioneer Day. Keya's parents have a pool so we were able to have a pool day. 

 These are water babies for sure.

 They never want to get out.

 And the water slide was a huge hit with Fynn. We were constantly laughing at him. He's so cute.

With today's comforts, it is easy to forget all the hardships, struggles and sacrifices the pioneers endured to cross the plains and establish this great Salt Lake Valley. I liked this quote by Elder Russell M. Ballard to help us think about what we can do in this modern day to be like the Pioneers.

"The Lord isn't asking us to load a handcart, he's asking us to fortify our faith. He isn't asking us to walk across a continent, He's asking us to walk across the street to visit our neighbor. He isn't asking us to give all of our worldy possesions to build a temple, he's asking us to attend regularly the temples already built. He isn't asking us to die a martyr's death, he's asking us to live a disciple's life."