Look-a-likes

Here are just a few pictures of myself and Luke at about the same age. Everyone says he looks like me, what do you think?

The Perfect 4th of July!

We tossed around a lot of ideas for the fourth this year, but ultimately decided to not overplan, and just go with the flow. We started out the morning with a parade. We had a perfect spot, and including Jeannie and her kids, we ran into a friend of ours and their family.
(here comes the next float!)
The weather was ideal for the parade, and the kids got tons of candy. I love that 99 percent of the candy thrown at the parade was salt water taffy, seeing as we had a view of the salt lake :) After the parade we gathered at the Gill's for a quick, thrown together bar-b-que, yum. After visiting in the air conditioning during the hottest part of the day, we all went our separate for a very short period of time, before we met back up with Casey and Jeannie's for dinner. Again, we opted for indoor eating instead of attempting to juggle crowds, 7 kids, and 90 degree heat and the local festivities. We killed a little bit of time, and then headed over to the park to mark our turf for fireworks. We all went and bought a treat from the vendors, and settled in, waiting for it to get dark.
(these kids wanted snow cones)
(and these ones wanted cotton candy)
The fireworks were amazing, even though we were getting showered with debris :) I couldn't have planned it better if I tried!! I love the fourth of July.

Father's Day Campout

Last year we went camping with the Richards over Father's day weekend, and we decided that we wanted to make it an annual event. What a fun way to celebrate Father's day each year by going camping. This year we had decided that Mark would take Kale and Jack, and go with my brother Casey and Casey Jr, since Luke is at a TERRIBLE stage right now for camping. Saturday morning we got up and packed everything in the van, all ready to go, when we read the weather report...."A line of strong storms, with heavy rain and gusty winds and possible hail is moving into the Wasatch Front. Some storms will have hail, frequent deadly lightning and heavy flooding rain. In other words, some severe storms are anticipated today. Keep an eye to the sky and head inside of a sturdy building if a strong or severe storm approaches. Lightning is Utah's number one weather related killer. Don't stand under a tree, lift a golf club or become the tallest object in any area, or you may become the latest lightning statistic. Also, don't camp or hike near canyons, washes, gullies during heavy rain because flash floods can cause fatalities. Widely scattered afternoon storms will return on Father's Day."
Needless to say, we decided to postpone that ACTUAL campout. Instead, we built a tent in the front room, laid out sleeping bags, and even made s'mores (in the microwave). Mark, Kale and Jack slept out there, and had a blast! Hopefully next we will actually make it to the campsite :)

Airforce Week

This last week Salt Lake City celebrated Air Force Week. They had all kinds of activities going on down town....paper airplane contests, art shows, performers, imax movies, and over the weekend Hill Air Force Base had an open house and air show. We were really excited about this because everything was free of charge!! We had planned our week so that Monday we would go to the Aerospace Museum on the base, Wednesday we would go see the Fighter Pilots Imax movie, Friday Mark wanted to go to the art exhibit, and then Saturday we would see the air show.
The museum was fun, and we all walked away with a flattened penny, so it cost us a total of $1.53. The boys wanted to get in the planes more than anything, and thankfully they had a flight simulator, so they at least got to sit in a cock pit. We planned our entire day around the Imax movie on Wednesday. We had a playgroup at the park that morning, then had a picnic, and headed down to Gateway mall, getting there over an hour before the show started, only to run into this.....
We were so disapointed! All the other showings the rest of the week were at Thanksgiving Point, and in the evenings, so this was our only chance to go, darn it! Instead we walked down the mall, attempted to play in the fountain, but since the only one interested in going in was Luke, we left and then went for ice cream.
We were mostly excited about the air show though! We packed a nice cooler of lunch, snacks, and drinks, loaded the picnic blanket into the car, and left at about ten am for the base. We didn't even make it onto the freeway before we were at a complete stop, apparently EVERYONE was taking advantage of the free airshow. AFter a mile or two of creeping, the traffic started to move, and as we slowing took the first exit for the base, a traffic cop was standing there and informed us that there was no wait at the next exit, so we swerved around him, got back on the freeway, and sure enough, the next exit was completely empty, and took us directly onto the base immediately. At this point Mark was giddy! Just being on the base was exciting for him. He kept pointing things out, and practically jumping up and down. Thank goodness I was driving! We drove through the ENTIRE base, right onto the big 'parking lot', and were in only the third row of cars, whew! As we were waiting in line for the metal detectors, the opening ceremonies started, and we quickly scurried through the crowds, found a patch of grass, laid out the blanket, built a tent for Luke, and enjoyed the show. Seven hours is a long time for the boys to sit in the sun, so Mark and them wandered around, checking out the planes on display, the booths, and the inflatable jumper. The performances were AMAZING! There were prop stunt planes, WWII, Korean War, and Cuban missile crisis reinactments, and lots and lots of fly-bys. The Thunderbirds were the last to fly, of course, and they did NOT disappoint! I found out later that 290,000 people were at the show that day, which explains why it took us two hours to get home!!! Definately an experience we will NEVER forget!

Mother's Day

We had a great mother's day this year! I say we because one of my requirements is that we have a fun day together as a family, because if it wasn't for them I wouldn't even get to celebrate this special day. We often celebrate mother's day on Saturday, so that we can go do something fun, and this year was no exception. It just so happened that Saturday was also Luke's birthday, ANOTHER reason to have a blast! We started out the day by loading everyone into the van and heading up to Heber City. I had been dying to show Mark what a beautiful town it was. It was a little over an hour to get there, but all three of the boys slept all the way, and we got their just in time to have a nice lunch outside. It's a little embarrasing that tiny things like the boys eating all their lunch, with NO whining is what made it the best lunch ever, regardless of what we ate. We turned right back around and headed back, but decided to surprise the boys with a stop by Lagoon, our local amusement park. We bought season passes this year, and have already gone about four times!

After Lagoon we decided to go to Toys R Us. I was hoping to find something perfect for Luke for his birthday, but as we left both Kale and Jack had brand new toys and all Luke got was a free ballon. He wouldn't have been happier with anything else though, he played with it for hours!

Kale and Jack have been doing some work around the house for months, and they have been saving every penny, so we let them each pick a toy out (within their budget). It was really fun and overwhelming for them to get to pick nearly everything they wanted. Kale has been saving up for about a year now to buy the Lego Indiana Jones game for the Wii. Back when he started saving it was $45 bucks, and I felt bad knowing that he would probably never get it all. For Easter his great-grandma gave them each ten bucks, and he walked into Toys R Us with a total of 20 bucks. I was all prepared to show him the game, show him that it was more money that he had, and teach him a little lesson about saving, but to our delight, it was now reduced to $19.99. Oh, you should have seen that boys face light up when he realized he could buy it! Now that his piggy bank is drained, he is focused on saving up for the Lego Batman game now. Jack had about $18 dollars, and we spent about an hour looking at every single toy in the store, trying to get him to pick something. He just could NOT decide. We finally got him to settle on a transformer (while prying the stuffed Bolt from his fingers). By the time we got home the boys were exhausted and went straight to bed, what a great day! Of course, the following morning I got to sleep in, while the boys made me breakfast, and I didn't have to lift a finger all day. My boys love to spoil me:)

Happy Birthday, Lucas!

I can't believe my baby is one! He is such a fun boy, and we just can't imagine life without him! I love that his name means bringer of light, because he has definately brought a light into our home that shines brighter every day.
Since Luke and his cousin Carson's birthday are just two weeks apart, we decided to have a party for them half way in between. We had a big turn out with lots of cousins, and lots of cake!
Luke was sick with his second ear infection in three weeks, and I had to wake him up from a long nap for cake.

mmmmmmm

but it only took a few tastes of the cake to cheer him right up!

Uncle Ryan and Aunt Tara gave him his very first Utes paraphernalia!!! Welcome to Utah, Lucas!

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

Best purchase ever! Two thinkgs I've noticed since we've moved down here: one, there always seems to be a slight breeze, and two, there are a LOT of wide open parks! Knowing this, I had set my heart on getting the boys kites for their Easter baskets. I'm not sure what I was thinking, since all my own memories of kite-flying involve frustration, anger and tears. I did it anyway, and found some kites at Wal-Mart for 99 cents. I laughed to myself, knowing I was getting myself into trouble here, buying cheap kites that I figured would never make it in the air. I WAS WRONG. We went out back one day, and Mark got both kites sky-high, to the very end of their strings. I was in awe! The best thing about them is that they involve no continued work at all! Jack would send his kite up into the sky, and once it reached the very end, he would just run around and play, never letting go. This amazing one dollar kite just sat up there, following him everywhere he went, never crashing, never bombing, just doing exactly what it was supposed to do. It was such a pleasant afternoon laying in the grass and watching the boys run and play!