Our 1st Family Pet!

So today I finally caved and let our family get it's first pet! It all started a few weeks ago when Gage brought home a horny toad from a trip we took to the Barton's cabin. He named him Spike. He took such great care of it, both of the boys did actually. They were very cute about it, they would go out every morning and find it ants to eat, give it water, got a big bowl and put sand and rocks in it to make a comfy little home for it, Gage even had me check the internet to see how to best care for him. Well apparently lizards are extremely difficult to care for because they have to be kept a certain temperature and unfortunately Spike ended up dying. Gage was very upset because he had tried so hard to take good care of him. This all happened around Gage's birthday so we thought we would get him another one for a gift but we had no idea it would cost about $200 to get everything you need to properly care for a lizard!!!! We decided not to go with that idea but Gage has been insistent ever since that he wants a new lizard. Then Max started in that he wants a turtle and Eliza just wanted any ol' pet we would let her have! Turtles ended up being the same thing as lizards, not quite as expensive but still over $100. So we opted to start with a fish! We got a beta fish and a little tank to start but so far so good. Eliza decided to name the fish Flexy. Why? I don't know but that's what we are calling it. Here are a few pics of the tank we chose and the rocks were obviously chosen by Eliza, then the boys added a few of their toys to make it look a little more interesting for Flexy.

Our 12th Anniversary!

WOW, I can't believe it! It is our 12th anniversary today! Plus we dated for two years before we got married. It has honestly gone by so fast. To look back on our lives together and see how far we've come is really amazing. Three beautiful, healthy children that are our biggest joy, a home, our relationships that have grown with family and friends, our careers and the ability to provide for our family, and especially our own personal relationship with each other. We have experienced so much together already and I am sure it is just the tip of the iceberg. I know we are headed for so many more new adventures, blessings, challenges, and so on. I can't wait! I love Blake like crazy! He makes me laugh, he is an amazing father and husband, and he always puts us first. Thanks Blake for an amazing past 14 years toghether - I love you!

First day of school!!

Today was the first day of school. Wow, I can't believe the summer is already over! I seemed like it went by sooo fast. I can say we are going to save some money now though! Keeping your kids entertained can get expensive - amusement parks, water parks, movies, lunch dates, etc. It was all fun though and worth every penny! I completely enjoy the quality time that we get to spend together during the summers and will really miss having them home. Running errands and meeting my friends for lunch or pedicures will be a lot easier to schedule now but I really will miss having them home. I hope you guys have a great school year!

Gage's date night...

So we started trying to take our kids out for individual date nights. It didn't really work out how we planned though because the boys (Eliza hasn't had her 1st date night yet) always asked if they could take their brother and sister with them. Sooo sweet of them! (see below) We ended up letting them go but then it kind of defeated the purpose of having a date night with just one child at a time and giving them the individual attention we feel is so important for them to have. So we finally explained to them that we just wanted them to go by themselves on their date night and Gage went first. We let them choose what they want to do, where they want to eat and whatever else. Gage chose to go to Outback Steakhouse for dinner




and then to Bed, Bath and Beyond to buy a crepe maker (we started talking about crepes at dinner and decided to go buy one),



off to Jamba Juice for a refreshing drink (he chose that over ice cream!)




and then to a movie:



We had a fabulous time and it was so nice to just be able to give 100% of our attention to Gage and enjoy that time with him without any distractions. He really liked having me and Blake all to himself and I think it made him feel really special to have all of the attention for once!

We are so blessed to have children who love each other and care for one another. They look after each other, stand up for one another, pray for each other, make each other laugh and smile, and cheer each other up when one of them is sad. Max especially, is always putting the other two's needs in front of his own and it is so amazing to me that at such a young age they all show such love for one another. The other day Max got some mentos candies out of a machine and it gave him all whites ones except for one green one and he was so excited and said, "sweet a green one, I've never gotten a green one before!" Well Eliza also wanted it and said that she hated the white ones, they were too hot. Max being the sweet brother that he is gave her the green one without a second thought. When I asked him why he did that when he wanted it so much he replied,"What?? She's my sister, I love her." Isn't he the sweetest?? This is just one example of them being kind to one another. We are truly blessed to have such a happy family!

Okay, I've officially lost it!

So in my earlier post I said that I forgot my camera when we went to Mesquite. It turns out that I was wrong and now that I think back it seems completely ridiculous that I even thought that! I carried it everywhere! What was I thinking??? I must be seriously losing it! Well enjoy the pics.

Part 2 of our summer adventures (Be warned - it's long!)

In July we went 4-wheelin' up at Mt. Timpanogos with Blake's family and had a great time playing in the water, hiking and of course riding on the 4-wheelers. A few weeks later we went up there again to go camping with our kids. I forgot the camera had ran out of batteries though and didn't get one single picture!! I was so mad at myself! We had a really fun trip and on our way out of the park we stopped and hiked up to the Mt. Timpanogos caves. The boys did awesome! It is a 3 and a half mile roundtrip hike. It is straight up getting there, so I was really proud of the boys. Eliza on the other hand was carried by Blake for about 3/4 of the way. She is nothing but his little princess!





Then Gage had an egg launch activity for scouts. They make these rockets out of two liter bottles which you pad the egg inside the best you can so it doesn't break and then they launch them into the air. We made ours wrong and they almost didn't let us launch them but after a friend had a few words with them about not letting our scouts participate, they changed their minds! It turns out Gage did some good padding because his egg didn't break and he was so happy about it as you can see!



Also in July, the place where Gage takes Taekwondo held their annual summer BBQ. Here is a picture of Max and Blake freezing their feet so the "princess" didn't have to:


Here is another picture of Eliza with a dandelion. She loves these things!! Can you see the size of it?? It was HUGE!! Man, was she in heaven! We were trying to go on a hike but couldn't get very far without her having to stop and pick another one!



100% BOYS! Can't go to the mountains without finding sticks and acting like they are some kind of weapon!



In mid July Blake's mom did a family reunion over a weekend. First, we went to Lagoon for a fun filled day! We rode rides all day long and played for hours at their water park - Lagoon A Beach. We brought the kids home around 7 pm and fed them dinner and then Blake's mom so kindly stayed behind and watched the kids while all of the adults (Blake's brothers and sisters and their spouses) went back and stayed till 11 pm when it closed! We had a blast! Wicked (the ride) rocks!! Thanks Jan!







The next day was Eliza's birthday party. It was a Hannah Montana party. She loves Hannah Montana! We watch her show and have her cd's, (which she rocks out to in the car) dolls, play make-up, lotion, shampoo, jewelry, a backpack, and even a wig! We had the party at Kangaroo Zoo. It is a bounce house place. She went to a friend's party there and it was all she could talk about! We were planning on renting a pony and having a pony party for her but once she got her mind set on Kangaroo Zoo there was no changing it! It turned out to be a lot of fun even for the adults despite all of the friction burns we got. It was kind of our fault though because we were racing on the obstacle courses and not behaving as we probably should have been. We laughed our heads off though! The clean up was the best part, I had none! They did it all! It was the easiest way to throw a party, show up, have fun and go home.

So that morning Eliza said she wanted to look "fancy" for the party so she picked out a dress to wear and had me "curly" her hair and finish it off with a big bow! She did look pretty cute I must say. We ended up changing her into long sleeves and capris not too long after though to prevent any friction burning. Letting her wear a dress there wasn't one of my smarter ideas but at least she felt "fancy" for a little while!







Later that night Jan took all of the adults out to Desert Star to see Indiana Bones. It is a comedy theater. They usually do spoofs on popular movies. It is a good time. We've been several times before, Jan loves to go there! We usually get pizza and other snacks and just have a good time. Thanks again Jan!

At the end of the month we went to Mesquite for Blake's dad's family reunion and spent a couple of days there. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera and didn't get any pictures. While there, we mostly went swimming and ate at the buffet! What else do you do in Mesquite?? Luckily for Blake our kids are pretty tan and didn't get sunburned out in the blazing sun! I asked him to get sunscreen on them when he got out to the pool because it was in the car and I would meet them down at the pool after I changed. By the time I got there they were already in the pool but without sunscreen on!!! Luckily for him they are little brown bathing beauties because they didn't even get pink and everyone else was slathering on the sunscreen and some of them still got sunburns! It was smokin' hot down there! On the way home we stopped off for a treat - In N Out Burger!! Yes, that's right there is one in St. George now! We love that place and were so excited to see it there. I hope one makes it this way!


Whew, that was long! I am definitely going to try and keep up from now on! : )