Our Favorite Things

Occasionally, our family likes to eat junk food. (Imagine that!) Here we are at Nielsen's Frozen Custard this past weekend. Don't you love Mark's shirt, it has dancing hula girls? My personal favorite is the Snoasis snow cones (with cream, of course). Last year, Mark actually got sick of them, I don't know how that could happen. They are located in the Dan's parking lot on Highland/Ft. Union Blvd. Lacey knows, she's seen us there, but it has been a while. Where have you been? We don't live real close, so we usually get one on our way home. Some of our neighbors thought we were crazy to drive to Cottonwood Heights, just to get a snow cone. But, for those of you who have had one, you know what I mean. I hate giving my kids food in the car, so I just cringe anytime they do. We got a new Tahoe in December, so you know, you try and keep it nice for a while. I had a brilliant idea to get Max just plain snow. Is that mean? He loves it though, and I don't think he notices that there isn't a flavor. A few months ago, I purchased a product that I have been eyeing for years. http://www.sgtsteam.com/ It makes cleaning my car and home a breeze. When you use it, you'll become addicted to it and spend hours cleaning!!

Max enjoyed his custard!

What are some of your favorite treats?

Utah Fan Fest 2007

Will, Ben and I (Mark) went up to the hill for the eighth-annual Fan Fest at the U. In addition to meeting members of all of the athletic teams at the U, Will and Ben got to shoot some hoops with the basketball team, throw softballs with the women's softball team, play tennis and try their best to drop the baseball players into the dunk tank. Above Will and Ben pose with a Cheerleader. Will was totally intimidated and shy when we approached her for a picture. I guess he's starting to get a little uncomfortable around girls he sees as "hot." (His word, not mine. )

This tennis player spent probably 20 minutes just hitting the ball back and forth with Ben. She was so nice to do that. Ben was on cloud nine.

Here's Will doing the softball toss:



Ben getting a football signed by starting Middle Linebacker Joe Jianonni:

The boys hanging out in the Utes' locker room:

And finally... We met up with one of Uncle Ryan's childhood friends, Troy Bunting. Troy grew up in our neighborhood, but moved to Draper prior to High School. Troy transferred from a junior college in Arizona and is sitting out this year due to a shoulder injury. He'll have three more years at the U. Hopefully he'll get a shot to contribute.

It was a lot of fun for all of us and we're already looking forward to doing it again next year! Go Utes!

Doesn't that look like it hurts so bad??

I feel so bad for Ben, I let him stay home from school today. It is Friday and short day after all, but he is sad because I guess they were going to have a "Watermelon Party" today.

He kind of reminds me of SLOTH from GOONIES. I decided to let him sleep in, but while I was getting Will ready, Ben came running out of his room. He decided that he wanted to go to school. I was starting to get him ready, until he saw himself in the mirror. Needless to say, he decided to go back to bed. Poor guy!!!

Poor Benny II

Day two of the nose saga and it looks worse than yesterday :( His nose is so swollen and the inside of both eyes is dark and bruised. I wonder how worse it is going to get before it gets better???? I've never had anything like this happen to any of my kids!! He looks like a different little boy and it makes me so sad!! He did go to school today and acts like everything is fine, so I don't worry. Tonight he was out riding his bike and playing with their friends. I even stopped by the school today to make sure he was alright. I just hope it heals fast and doesn't get too bruised. We have a family homecoming to go to this weekend. Mark's cousin just returned from his mission to Brazil. I doubt it will look better by then :(

Their baseball team consists mostly of boys around the same age in our neighborhood. Mark is helping two of our neighbors coach the team. Everyone is so concerned and has called to make sure that little Benny is alright. We have such great neighbors and friends in our ward, we really love them!!

Don't you just love the name Benjamin? I don't think that he likes that I call him Benny, but I have ever since he was a baby, and I probably always will. Isn't it funny how the names you pick out for your children just fit them?

Poor Benny!!!

Tonight the boys had a baseball game, their second so far this season. Well, Max and I stayed home, both feeling a bit under the weather. I think our family was exposed to that parasite cryptosporidium and that is why we've all been so sick with diahrea and flu like symptoms. When we went to Seven Peaks, exactly seven days to the day after, is when Will got sick and Ben shortly followed. Our friends, the Mansells (who desperately need a blog), their son Josh got sick and now Mason is sick as well. Anyways, that is why we were home. I was sitting with Max and Mark suddenly ran into the house. "Ben got hit in the face with a bat", he said. I ran out to the car to see Ben. He is so cute and I felt so bad for him. There was blood all over his face and down his shirt. Mark came home to get his wallet and some Motrin for Ben, the they went to Instacare. About an hour later, they were home and this is what I saw....


His cheek is so red and his nose is so swollen and stuffy. His little voice is even different because the air flow into his nose is obstructed. This just breaks my heart!! This is our first experience with stiches, if you can believe it (having three boys). Apparently it isn't broken, as far as they can tell. I don't know if I can handle this sports stuff. My cute boys, I don't want them to get hurt. Mark played football at Brighton High, and he has injuries to prove it! He wants our boys to play, too, and thinks Will is going to play next fall but I'm not so sure.

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for my little Will and Ben. They were so excited.

The sun was so bright this morning. It was a beautiful day!

Ben is not a morning person, but today he JUMPED out of bed. It was so funny. Maybe now, getting up early, Ben will actually go to bed when we put him in bed! He finds every excuse to come out of his room. He is a night owl like his mom. Will was a little harder to get up. He wanted to stay in bed and "stretch". Funny, I remember when my dad would come to get me up for school, I would lay in bed and say "I'm figuring out what I am going to wear to school"! (Which was a big deal to me.) My sophmore year, I wrote down everything I wore to school so I wouldn't wear the same thing again for weeks! Funny! Now, that has changed. My favorite pair of jeans (Paige Trouser fit), I may wear a few times a week. We were at a funeral earlier this year for a friend from Brighton and a friend there commented how he remembered that I wrote down everything that I wore. Oh, to be young again, just to have to worry about that stuff!

The other day, Mark and I were talking about how I haven't really been school shopping yet. We start school so early and it is so hot. My kids still wear their summer clothes to school for a few weeks. And since I work at the Gap (about once or twice a month), I can just pick up clothes for the kids when the weather changes. I was able to pre-shop the Nordstrom sale and get the kids a bunch of clothes and a few pair of shoes. It is all fall stuff, so it is too hot to wear. You cannot miss the Anniversary Sale at Nordstrom, it is the best, especially being able to pre-shop. You go in the back room and pick out whatever you want in your size. If you've ever been the first morning of the sale, you know it is crazy! This way you miss the crowd but still get the great stuff!

The kids had a great first day of school! They both have great teachers, so it will be a fun year! I walked them to school to meet their teachers and for a little Donut "party" before school started. I was so sad! I held it in though. I didn't want to seem like a crazy lady, but I am going to miss them being at home with me. I'm sure Max was wondering where they were today, but we had fun, just the two of us! Mark should be worried. I'll only have one child, the possibilities are endless!!!!

Lagoon, It's What Fun Is!!!

We had a fun day at Lagoon! We were able to spend some time with our friends, the Greaves. They have two boys that Will and Ben love to play with, so they had fun going on the rides with them.

Will and Ben on the Merry-Go-Round. Can you see Ben riding on the little bear?

Max didn't quite know what to think of these rides. I took him on "Puff" and his face was bright red, scared to death, practically ripping my shirt off for all to see!!

Will and Ben going for a drive. When Ben was smaller, we were at Disneyland, driving the cars that they have there. I was in the car with Ben and we saw some ducks that were in a pond next to the track. He looked at the ducks and said "Hi duckies, I'm dwiving". To this day we laugh about that. So cute!!

Max enjoying some of my Coke. He was walking around, drinking my drink. I know, I know, but you do what you can to make them happy!! Everyone around thought he was pretty funny, and so did he!!

Hudson and Max taking a cruise. As you can see, he didn't even like the boats. Talk about one of the tamest rides there!!

Finally, he started to warm up to the idea.

We got sprinkled on a couple of times throughout the day, which cooled it down a bit. Towards the end of the day, it started to pour on us. We were drenched, but it was fun!!

Water Fun

I hope no one I know gets the bug that Will and Ben got and are still getting over. Apparently we are not the only ones to have caught this bug, I've heard that it is going around. They are feeling a lot better, but still don't have much of an appetite. It has been such a bummer, because this is their last week off before school. Needless to say, I was a little antsy to get out of the house! The other day, Max and I decided to go outside and water my pots. He loves to help (play) in the water and has so much fun getting wet! He was being so cute, as he always is, so I decided to run get my camera...

He has the cutest hair! Will had really curly hair and still would if I let his hair grow out a bit. Ben's hair is as straight as a board! I have not given Max a hair cut yet, so when he is in the tub or when his hair gets wet, you can really tell how long his hair is.



Max has the cutest little feet! Why can't our feet be this soft and cute forever?


I love how he accidentally sprays himself and gets soaked! As you can see, he is genuinely surprised.


Will and Ben started practicing for fall baseball this week. I love going to their games, they are so cute to watch. They've both been playing for four years, and they have both become good ball players. They play on the same team with all of the boys in our neighborhood, which makes it nice.

Mark decided to take the day off tomorrow so we could take the kids to Lagoon. Kind of a last hurrah before school starts on Monday (YEAH). We are going to go with our neighbors, Brad and Cindy and their boys (who desperately need to start blogging).

Sick Weekend

We had such a fun weekend planned. We took the kids to the Hogle Zoo on Saturday afternoon. They have been begging me to go see the white alligator, the Ghost of the Bayou.



It was so hot and busy there, and the lines to see the alligator were so long. While we were at the zoo, Will complained about having a stomach ache. We left shortly thereafter, thinking the heat and being hungry was causing the problem. We had tickets to the Bees game, so we decided to kill some time and grab dinner before going to the game. In the parking lot of the restaurant, Will threw up. So, I dropped Mark and Ben off at the game and I went home with a sick boy! They just hopped on Trax and I picked them up in Sandy. We were awakened in the middle of the night by Ben moaning for me. I went into their bathroom and found Ben sitting on the toilet and throw up on the floor. Aren't these the best times. You are exhausted, half asleep, and you get to clean up vomit and diarrhea! Luckily, you are half asleep, so you don't really remember. We had a lazy Sunday nursing two sick boys back to health, but they are still sick! I hope they feel better tomorrow so I can do something fun with them. This is their last week off before school starts. Will will start second grade and Ben will start first grade. I am so excited to have some time alone with Max. While being home today, I decided to make a Red Velvet Cake. My mom only makes this on special occasions and I have tried to make it a few times, but it is never the same. This time, it worked out and I was so excited. I even took some to two of my neighbors. Partly because I wanted them to enjoy it and mostly to get it out of the house, otherwise I would have eaten it for breakfast, lunch and dinner tomorrow.


This is the best cake! It calls for two bottles of red food coloring. If anyone wants this recipe, just let me know.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sweet sister Karyn!

Family Picture

Last month we had our family picture taken up at Albion Basin in Little Cottonwood Canyon. When the boys were smaller, we took them to Albion Basin to hike to Cecret Lake. The flowers up there were so beautiful. I said to Mark that I wanted to have our family pictures taken up there some day. Well we finally did it. Our photographer had never been up there before, so they didn't quite know what to expect. The flowers were perfect and our timing was perfect. The boys were such troopers because it took such a long time. My mom, my sister and brother and their families came as well. It's been YEARS since we had an entire family picture taken. The next Saturday, the photographers went up to take their own family photos and the yellow flowers were gone. She was so nice to send me a picture for our blog. They are so nice! If anyone needs a good photographer, call Marc or Mindy Gibson at Highlite Photography.

Wooden Spoon???

Today I had the opportunity to spend a little time with my mom and my only sister, Karyn. We had a delicious lunch at the Dodo and afterward we went to get a pedicure at Nailed (the best pedi place in Salt Lake). Anyways, as I was driving home, I saw this.....



It brightened my day. How does someone shove so much stuff into one car? I know that sometimes my car feels like it really is this dirty (like when we arrived home from Idaho last month) and sometimes my house. I like to think of myself as a clean person, so when I see stuff like this, I don't understand how someone can be this way. But really, there is a wooden spoon smashed to the side of the back window, yes, a wooden spoon. It is really hard to see. I didn't take my camera with me, but was able to sneak a shot with my cell phone. I hope that she didn't notice me speeding up/slowing down to get a good shot. I am in awe as to how she got it all in her car. Do you just throw/wedge everything from the front seat? I thought this was funny to share, and made me laugh. Have a great day!!!

Fun

I was blogging tonight and stumbled across this fun website. Lots of fun little eclectic items. Happy shopping!

http://darlybird.com/

My boys

I love my boys. Yesterday as we were getting ready for church, Ben came up to me and said "Mom, do I look handsome?" I turned and looked at him and couldn't believe how handsome he is. All three of them are so handsome, they take after their cute dad. I had do take a picture of them in their shirt and tie. I don't always have them wear a tie to church, but I think they are getting to the age that they probably should.

We had a great weekend. On Friday night we went to dinner with Mark's parents and then we decided to go to the Parade of Homes. We visited to homes located in Riverton and they were unbelievable, literally. The prices ranged anywhere from 3 million to over 5 million. The yards were what was amazing. They back Riverbend and all of them had pools. It is almost depressing. You come home and think, I live here.

Saturday we dropped off Max at Mark's parents and took Will and Ben to Seven Peaks with our good friends Sarah and Kevin and their kids. It was so much fun for us to spend some quality time with Will and Ben. I know that since Max has joined our family, they have lacked in the attention that they were used to. We all adore Max. He is such a light to our family. All of my kids are. It is amazing at how different their personalities are.

Today I had to go to the Gyno. I know, you are all jealous! I needed to go because it was time and I also had to switch my bc method. I had the Mirena IUD and after I have it for about one year, it makes me break out! So, I decided to just go on the pill. Then, when I do decide to get pregnant again, it is up to me, and not waiting to get into the doctor to have it removed to finally get pregnant. He asked me if I was ready to get pregnant again. I definately want another baby, but not yet. We are enjoying Max way too much. He told me not to wait much longer, you know, the older you get....

I have mixed emotions about school starting. I am not a morning person and neither is Ben. He attended afternoon kindergarten last year for this reason. So, he will be in for a rude awakening come the morning of the 20th. We went to Costco tonight and bought them each a new lunch box. They have the coolest lunch boxes there. I have enjoyed having them home this summer and being able to go do activities with them. I am also looking forward to having some one on one time with Max. Oh, the places we'll go! We are on year round school. I didn't think that I would like it, but I do. We can go on vacation when everyone else is in school. Last fall, over Halloween, we took the kids and my mom to Maui. It was nice to be gone for Halloween. We didn't have to buy costumes, buy candy to pass out to the neighbors or deal with the parade at school. We bought them some costume stuff in Hawaii and went out to sushi that night for dinner. My idea of a great Halloween! We also took them to Disneyland in April over Will's birthday. It's nice. You don't have to feel guilty about taking them out of school to go out of town.

I know that I have friends that read this blog that don't have blogs themselves (yet). I encourage all of you to start a blog!!! Then, I can add more friends to my "Friends that Blog". It is so addicting.

Summer Fun

Over the past couple of days, I've tried to do some fun activities with our kids. I'm starting to feel sad that school is starting so soon, realizing that I need to take my kids to some different spots around town. Last Saturday, Mark and I took them to Tracy Aviary to see the "bur-dees". Whenever Max see's a bird, he chases it around the yard. If one happens to fly over head, he watches it fly across the whole sky. They are definately his favorite. So, we knew that Max would enjoy the Aviary. We fed the ducks and watched the bird show. They boys really had a lot of fun.

Afterward we let them play in the water at the replica of the Salt Lake Valley. They enjoyed getting wet and watching various items flow down the canyon rivers to the Great Salt Lake.




Today, my sister and I took our kids to Discovery Gateway at the Gateway. It was SO crowded!! Now we know not to go in the summer. Also, it was the day when all the home-schooled kids went to the museum. It was the most crowded that I have ever seen. The kids had fun with their cousins, Lily and Charlie, but Karyn and I were a bit overwhelmed with all of the people. Trying to drive the stroller around with all of the people was not fun. When we had finished, we took them to Haagen Daz to get ice cream cones. I let Max have his own cone, and he love it! He was such a mess!! I got a Ben's Cookie. Who can go to the Gateway and not get a Ben's cookie? You also cannot go to the Gateway without stopping by Anthropologie to see all of the cute clothes.