Summer Days... part 2...

Zoo Day with Mike's Family

This month, Mike's sister, Sara has been in town with her kids from Alabama. It has been very fun to get all the "cousins" together and let them play. It is amazing at how quickly they get along. I think that they have this deep connectio

n and they know it. Anyway, over the weekend, they all decided that we should go to the zoo. So, on Saturday morning we all got up quite early and braved the summer heat and had some great family bonding time together. Here are

just a few pictures...

"Ethan our Amigo"...

Grandpa brought this awesome sombrero, to protect him from the sun. He ended up bringing it out during lunch. Ethan thought it was FANTASTIC! Needless to say, we had to get a picture...

"Mike the Goofy Amigo"...

Mike thought that the sombrero was totally awesome too! I personally, think Ethan looked quite stunning in the sombrero...Mike on the other hand, looked quite ridiculous!

Yep, absolutely ridiculous! But, hey, we had fun!

Of course at the zoo, we saw lots of animals. Ethan was quite enthralled with a few of them, here are the pictures. I think, because it was so hot outside, the animals chose to go sun-bathing. So, we got some great shots! Ethan kept growling at the tiger like they were talking, because the tiger was growling at the crowd. I think he was just hoping that if he growled, we would all go away and let him sleep!

Ethan thought the giraffes were quite amazing. He wanted to go inside and see his head and see him eating. He just kept watching it like it was so weird. It was quite entertaining to watch the face of a child who was just increasing his curiosity of the world. I love seeing the world with Ethan.

Here we are looking at the creek from the zoo. It was quite high, if anyone wanted to know what the current flooding status was on Saturday at the zoo. Ethan thought the water was quite fun to watch. I just noticed how pretty it was up there.

Last year, we took Ethan to the zoo for the first time ever. He loved the carousel. So, for tradition's sake, Mike took him. He was just having a blast. Wouldn't wave at his mommy, but hey...he was with his Daddy! What's better than that?!

Did I mention that Saturday was Dari's (momma elephant) birthday. She turned 51! So, the zoo had a huge birthday celebration that day. Free Pie from Village Inn! (Huge Bonus for Mike...) And a booth that gave people a free dinosaur tattoo. Ethan thought the tattoo's were pretty cool. He kept shoving it in people's faces! But, we got to see the elephant have some birthday cake and open her presents!

Here are the elephants before the party taking a little stroll around their pond. Ethan thought they were pretty cool! He kept yelling at them to get into the water. I think Ethan really wanted to go swimming on Saturday, due to all the excitement with the water features.

All in all, we had a great time with Mike's family. It isn't very often at all that we all get together and do things like that. So, it was great. Ethan had a great time with his fun cousins and his awesome aunts. Those are great times!

Thanks so much Ras family!

Summer Days...

"Summer days, sweeping the clouds away..." I can't help but think of that awesome "Sesame Street" song so far this summer. I know we are only into June, but our summer is just getting under way. The kids are loving being able to go outside. Brynlee especially loves sitting in the shade and watching Ethan go crazy. I think since the weather has been good, we have spent every good day outside, either in our backyard or at the park which is across the street.

The Randomness of a 2 1/2 year old...

Ethan is quite an entertaining toddler. We were at Kid to Kid yesterday, because Mom wanted to find a tricycle or something that Ethan could play with outside during the summer. Well, because Kid to Kid is so fantastic, we found this motorized four-wheeler for him. Unfortunately, he would not ride it unless he found himself a helmet (I guess I should be grateful that he is a "safety first" kind of kid...sometimes!).

So, the first helmet he found was a pink, girl's baseball helmet. He really liked that until he found the ultimate in helmets...a green, wrestling helmet. He then proceeds to put the helmet on backwards and begin riding around the store. The ladies that worked there were completely entertained and they begged us to put his picture on their store's facebook page. So, here is the image that was posted.

** For better viewing pleasure, please look on my facebook page!**

Needless to say, both Mom and I were wetting our pants laughing at my adorable, yet very geeky at times son. What we won't do to make fun of our children! Couldn't pass this one up. I had to blog about it!

A Mom's Brag Moment

I think all moms will agree with me that it is okay when it comes time to brag a little bit about their kids. I know that all moms think their children, above all others, are the cutest things in the world. So, I thought it was high time for me to brag a little about mine. I am no different than all of you moms out there that think their children are the cutest in the world, I too, have the cutest children in the world. And, of course, the world I live in is my very own! So...bring on the bragging rights!Brynlee is now 6 months old. How time flies. I have found myself feeling very guilty because Ethan has quite a bit more photos of him at this stage in life than his sister. So, I have vowed to myself and her (even though she won't remember that vow later) that I will spend a little bit more time taking candid photos of my girl! She is quite the roller and I am sure she is going to start taking off soon. You can see it in her eyes how she wants to follow Ethan around. The only thing stopping her right now is her legs!

Ethan is just becoming quite a little man to me. I think it might be because his sister looks so little compared to him. I don't know. But, he is just my buddy. He is always helping me with Brynlee and wanting to take on the "Big Brother" role. He has one speed in life and that is running. His speech is coming along much better, yet he still has moments of "toddler chinese." I think it is just because he lives a very fast and active life that he can't vocalize all the thoughts in his head yet. I dread the day he can, I will forever be listening to his thought! He brings me such joy!

These two are the reason for living. They are my sunshine and my joy! I am so grateful for their spirits in my life!

Saturday Mornings!

Can I just say that I love Saturdays? Not just because that means that usually Mike is home with us, but because our children are so happy. Sometimes we find ourselves just hanging out longer than usual in our jammies playing with the kids. Here are just a few photos that we have taken on Saturday mornings...

Frontrunner Trip!

Last weekend, we decided to take Ethan on the Frontrunner train. He loves anything that has to do with cars, buses, trucks, and trains. So, we thought this would be a cheap and easy way to entertain our two year old.

We invited our good friends to come with us with their kids. It was the neatest experience. We had a blast. We rode the trax train up to the train station and caught Frontrunner. We sat on the top floor of the train and looked out the windows. We took the train all the way up to Ogden. When we arrived there, we kind of just started exploring. We found a trolley train that was free and it takes you around about a three block area; which included the Depot (which is like the Gateway up in Ogden.) We stopped there and had lunch and let the kids play in the arcade of the Fat Cats.

We then took the train home. It took us all day, and the kids were quite exhausted. In fact, all 4 of the kids were asleep on the trax train coming home. It was such a fun day, and we decided we will definitely recommend it and do it again! (Maybe when the weather is better!)

This is Ethan at the Fat Cats arcade. He loves helicopters! So, he just HAD to ride this ride.

Here we are riding the trolley up in Ogden. It was free and the driver was very helpful. We thought this was the most awesome idea. Salt Lake could learn alot from Ogden!

Here are the kids on the Frontrunner! They loved the fact they could color and play while being on a train. The boys spent most of the time looking out the window.

Brynlee's Blessing Day!

I think one of the most memorable parts of being a parent is seeing the milestones happen so quickly in your children's lives. For me, the blessings of our children are very unique and special. I am always reminded on that day how precious each of these children are, and how recently they left their Heavenly Father.

We blessed Brynlee on January 2, 2011. It was a terrific day. It was sunny and bright, just like she is! We had such a turn-out from friends and family. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives to support us.