New Harmony House

On our way home from Las Vegas, Sean and I stopped off in New Harmony to see the house my mom & dad were planning to move into.  My Dad did so much work on this house.  I remember several weekends after my mission, I would go with him to help (not sure I was ever a help).  We would get there late Friday night, wake up early Saturday morning to go into St. George for supplies and then eat at Denny's.  We would work all day Saturday and then sleep in the little camper parked in the drive-way.  It really does bring back so many memories to see it.  It has been a LONG time since I have been there.  We only made 1 wrong turn, but found it fairly easily-- good thing New Harmony isn't very big!

  

We laughed so hard when we saw this outhouse in the back.. what the heck?



Viva las vegas

Wednesday afternoon we headed out to Las Vegas. The reason; BYU was playing in the Mountain West Tournament and I kept hearing this phrase "once in a lifetime" because they actually have a decent team this year, so Sean bought tickets to the games and the kids and I tagged along. We didn't go to any of the games, but we did chauffeur Sean to all the games. The weather was beautiful, 77-80 degrees everyday. It felt so good to be warm and walk around without coats on. We even broke out the flip-flops and sunglasses. I loved hanging out with my little family. Noise control in the hotel room was a little crazy at times, but we tried to do a lot of things to not be in the hotel room a lot.

Jackson talked on the hotel phone the whole time.  He is such a fun little kid!

Tayler crafted and made fun things with beads.

Jayson was a crazy boy.. we had to keep him under control.

Happy little Ry

Our first night we went and saw "Gnomeo and Juliet" in the theater. The movie theater was in our hotel which was awesome. When we got into the movie we were the only one's there.. score! Jackson wondered up and down the aisles and it didn't matter. After the movie, we went back to the room and crashed. Everyone slept so good in the hotel.  I love that!

The next day we took Sean to the first tournament game and went back to our hotel to go bowling (there was a bowling alley too.. super convenient). I didn't get any pictures because just keeping track of all 4 of them was a bit difficult. We had a blast and then went back to get Sean after the game was over. That evening we went down to the strip to walk around and eat. We hit the M & M store and a few other places, ate dinner, and went back to go to sleep.

walking on the strip

jackson was not a fan of the big blue M & M.. HAHAHA.

While we were walking along the strip, we saw tons of different characters. Tayler and Rylee went up to shake Pooh and Minnie's hands so I snapped a picture. Well, of course, they wanted "money" since I snapped the picture, but I didn't have any so I just stood there. And besides, you could be a creepy old man for all I know and I didn't know I had to tip EVERYTHING  possible in Vegas. Good grief.. I thought Minnie Mouse was going to chase me down the strip until I "paid up" Whatever! Really, this is your job? Lesson learned. Avoid all creepy characters and don't take any pictures.  I'll wait until we go to Disneyland..

The next day we went to the Mirage to see the Dolphin, Tiger and Lion exhibit. My kids loved it. After we walked around for a while and had seen all the animals, we went and found a buffet to eat at. It was so good.

Afterwards, we took Sean to the 2nd game. The kids and I went back to the hotel to chill and watch the game on TV.  My feet were killing me. Sean got to see Jimmer warming up.  I asked him if his heart skipped a beat.



Saturday was the big Championship game at 4:00 p.m.  That morning Sean set up a massage for me at the hotel SPA.  It was so nice!  thanks love!   While I was at the spa, he took all 4 kids to another movie.  This time they saw "Mars needs Moms:"  All my kids said it was good and it was in 3-D.  Even better.  After the movie, we took Sean to the last game and went to the outlet malls to waste time.  Unfortunately, the Cougs went down, losing to the Aztecs.  Sean was bummed, but now we have the big dance to look forward too. Jayson loves yelling-- GO JIMMER-- at the TV.  They will be cheering loud, I'm sure!

It was a great trip.  There is nothing better than relaxing with no agenda and just getting to hang out with my little family.  Love them!  Now I can't wait until it starts to warm up here at home.

picture time

Today is picture day for my 2 little cutie's! Yesterday we painted nails and straightened hair.  I can't believe how long both of their hair is getting. I sure love my girls.

p.s. My sister Jen made these DARLING headbands.  We love them.  Thanks Auntie Jen!

p.s.s.  We are heading to SUNNY Las Vegas this morning until Sunday.  Can't wait,  It will be nice to feel a little warmth on my skin.  I am thinking 76 degrees will be amazing!  Hope it is really that warm there, because all we have is capri's and short sleeved shirts. 

Ice Fishing

So this past weekend, Sean and his brother Shane took the kids Ice Fishing!  When he told me all I could say was "really?" but they ended up L.O.V.I.N.G it and can't wait to go again.  The only bummer is that they couldn't get the brake light on the trailer to work so they couldn't pull up the 4 wheelers.  Anyway, while I slaved away at work they froze their butts off.  Sean said Tayler was AMAZING, and caught her first fish right away.  She was so proud.  She came right home and wrote it in her journal and then drew a picture.  Rylee was afraid of the first fish that they pulled out of the hole (shocking!) and Jayson just sat and ate treats. Yep, that explains my kids to a T.  Grandpa stayed home with Jackson.  I am pretty sure he would have fallen in a hole.  It's always an adventure with my husband.  He really is great and tries just about everything possible with his kids.  They are lucky.  He even took pictures.  I was so proud of him. 

I think they ended up catching 15 fish, but only kept 8.  Since we don't eat fish at our house, Shane took them all home.  Thank you Shane!!  Ah, my little fishermen.  Love them.

President's Day

For President's Day, my friend Anna and I, took our kids up to the TreeHouse Museum in

Ogden. They have 3 kids (2 girls and one little boy).  All of the kids get along so well and have so much fun together. I love that. We love their family! 

 

We went to a play in their big theater and they picked Jessica to be the leading "girl" role.  She is such a cutie!  After we played in almost every room and touched everything we could, we packed up the kids and took them to Chick-Fil-A for lunch.  Thanks for the fun day B* family.  We love you guys!

Valentine's Day

I do love Valentines Day!  I think it is a SWEET holiday.  We usually end up eating take out or going out to eat, but this year I wanted to make it really special for my family!  Sunday night, we got all the girls' Valentines ready to pass out.  They had fun putting them together and Rylee did so good writing so many.

I attempted these heart shaped piggy tails on Tayler and Rylee thanks to the awesome "Adopt a Do" hair

blog I look at.  I think they turned out pretty cute!

 After Rylee came home from school we went out to Grandma's house to leave her some Valentines.  My kids were so confused when we got there and she was gone.. HAHAHA! Darn it!  I wish she would have been there too.  We decorated and then hurried back to get some other things done and pick up Tayler from school.   For dinner, I made Roast, potatoes, carrots, homemade rolls, chocolate covered strawberries, and cupcakes.  This is my kid's most favorite dinner.  We had sparkling cider and then ate by candle light.  Jayson kept saying "mom, why are we eating with a fire" 

I also had little Valentine presents and balloons set by each of their places.

I hope it was special for them.  I sure love my family SO much!  I love spending time with them and just being around them.  I hope you all had a special Valentine's Day too.   Jayson must have told me "happy Valentines Day" at least fifty times!  It was sweet. I am excited to celebrate with my hubby this weekend!!

Camp out

On Friday night, Sean and Jayson decided to have a boys night out  (they are starting a BOYS only club).  Sean asked Jayson what he wanted to do and his reply was "roast hot dogs and marshmallows and go camping."  It made me laugh.  I was wondering how Sean was going to pull that off seeing that it is Winter, but no worries, he made it happen because he is an amazing dad.  Jayson and Sean went to the store and bought hot dogs and buns and also stuff for S'mores. Sean made a little fire pit outside and they roasted their hot dogs and marshmallows.  I'm not sure either one could have been happier.  I bundled everyone up and sent them outside.

This was the weekend that Tayler and Jackson were SUPER sick.  Since Jackson was sick, Rylee took his place for the night.  Jackson did make it outside for a s'more though. 

Best little buddies on the way to the store to get their supplies

 oh yeah, they busted out all the camping supplies

 Jackson getting in on the action for a few minutes.  Look at that nose.  Holy cow, the thing hasn't stopped running for weeks!

They had a blast eating their dinner-- camping style-- and then came in to warm up and go to bed.  Sean set up the tent in the living room and that is where they slept. 

What a fun night!  Jayson hasn't stopped talking about it since.  I love that they have a boys club! Last year, Sean took Jayson on the Father's & Son's outing with the ward.  I really thought he was still too young to go and wouldn't have fun, but boy was I wrong.  He talks about it ALL the time and remembers every single detail about that day/night.

Love my boys.... All 3 of them.

Funny little boy

The other day while I was cleaning the house I gave Jackson a wipe to keep him content for a few minutes.   When I turned around he was cleaning everything.. the floors, the walls, everything (just like I was doing). I captured these pictures as he was cleaning the floor.  It was hilarious!  He cleaned for about 5 minutes, scooting just a little bit forward to get the next spot.  I was so proud.  I hope he keeps this up.

It made me smile. 

He had his 1 year check up a few weeks ago and I never posted his stats:
Weight: 17.5 lbs (still in the 0 percentile).
Length: 29.5 in. (40th percentile)
He's just a little squirt, but has SO much personality packed into that little body.  We sure have fun with him.

Science Project

Today, Tayler had to turn in her big science project for the Discovery Fair at her Elementary school on Thursday.  They were asked to think of a topic, then think of a "big question" regarding that topic and then do several research steps to answer the question.  They were instructed to find 3 sources and explain their findings and do a rough draft. (those things have already been turned in).  Lastly, they had to come up with a project to present to the class.  Here is a sample of Tayler's project.  Her topic was: Bird Formations.  The "big question" was: Why do birds fly in a V-formation? 

She put this together all by herself (okay, with a little help from Sean and I, but not much). I think her poster is adorable.  She did the letters during nap time on Sunday.  Notice the "A" in formations--since it was the center letter and formed a V-- she colored it with birds on it.  I thought that was so creative.  I can't wait to hear how her presentation goes.  She learned a lot and had fun doing it.

Way to go Tay!

She is doing so well in school.  I love this girl.