Trip to Idaho!

Matt's sister Lynsey came for 2 weeks, so we went for a visit. She flew into SLC so the kids and I drove her and baby Lexi to Idaho. Matt didn't come with us, he came that weekend. Lynsey's husband, Nick, didn't get to come this time....he had to stay and work. By the way, the boys have been asking "when is Nick coming" they really want to see you! I love getting together and hanging out, it's so much fun! We took the kids to Rigby lake and they loved it. I called Deena (my sis) to see if she could come. I'm glad she could! Even though we went later than I thought we would. Logan and Jess played so cute together! Matt's little sister, Candice, came for a little while and Sara (SIL) & Krew. Hopefully my side of the family will get together Labor Day Weekend.

Then Monday Josh and Jaren started school. Luckily they have their first break the beginning of September, so we'll get a late summer/early fall 3 week break. Their summer break was only 3 weeks long, in July....it went by way to fast.

One night Matt and Nate decided to play on the water slide big boy style...

Sleeping on the tramp!

We started the night making homemade pizza for dinner! Which everyone loved because they made their own. Next, dessert, root beer floats. Very exciting because it's not very often we have dessert. Then off to get pajama's on (the kids don't know what's happening next) we go in the back yard and they are puzzled...kids-"we are sleeping outside." us-"Yeah, on the tramp!" kids-"ummm, OK." They looked at the stars & talked a little to much. Josh was the 1st one asleep, he's normally the last one asleep. But today he got up at 6:30 to go with the Scouts for Day Camp and got home around 4:00. He bought a pocket knife and said his favorite thing they did was ride in the canoe . Jess was the last one to fall asleep about an hour or more later! The next morning Matt got up at about 6 am to work on the trailer, the rest of us slept until almost 8:00. We got ready and I took the kids to the parade our town was having. When we got back we went out to get our sleeping bags and pillows off the tramp and saw the Dragon Fly stuck in the net! We got Matt to show him and he pushed it out with Josh's pocket knife. It took a few minutes, he was stuck pretty good. When it got dark we drove down the road to watch fireworks. These are the pictures that I got...they look pretty weird!

Good Times...

We told the kids if they could be good all day...we would get to do something fun when Dad got home from work. It's kind of funny to hear them guess where they think we are going. Justin guessed right as the day went on. I'm not sure how he knew the carnival was here though...lucky guess. I played dumb though and kept saying it's a surprise, I can't tell. I think we like seeing their reaction when we pull up. :-)

Playing at home...

Playing with our nieghbor on a hot summer day! Having fun is what we like best!

Fun on the 4th of July!

We started the day by going to a Parade at 8:30 in West Point. It was perfect because it was cloudy and early so it wasn't hot! After that Matt worked on the trailer, I helped him some and colored/played outside with the kids... We grilled steaks for dinner and loaded up to watch the Clearfield Fireworks with Julie, her 4 kids and sister. The kids were funny playing together while we waited for the fireworks to start!

Fun at the Water Park!

Our friend Julie (also neighbor) invited us to go on Base to the Water Park with her and her girls. They had a blast playing in the water! We finished up eating lunch at Burger King. :-)

School's out for summer!

Yesterday was Josh and Jaren's last day of school. The last two weeks were filled with field day, water day and field trips. Josh went to Thanksgiving Point and Hogle Zoo. Jaren went to Thanksgiving point and his class went on a walk to Albertson's and the Dollar Store - I got to go with him on that one. It's hard to imagine next year they'll be in 2nd & 3rd grade. How is that possible! They grow way to fast...and I don't feel that old!

After school got out we went to visit 3 of my sister's (Kristy, Melanie & Lori) at Mel's house. Kristy was here visiting, so she arranged for us to get together! When we got there Kristy gave each of the kids a Webkinz! They were pretty happy! I've heard of them, but we didn't have any yet. Lori has a brand new baby, so we got to see Noah for the first time. He is so cute! Even after having 4 it's amazing to see a new born, they are so small! After visiting a few hours and eating yummy snacks, we came home and Matt suggested we went to the Drive Inn! We watched Wall-e! Jessica and Justin were moving around most of the time, and Jaren and I fell asleep before it finished. It seemed cute...but honestly couldn't tell you much about it! :)

Josh's Pinewood Derby Car

For scouts Josh and Matt built a derby car. Josh thought it was pretty cool and had fun racing it. His car ended up being in the top 10!

Happy Father's Day!!!

Matt is a great Dad! After a long day of work + traffic, he comes home in a good mood and helps me out and works on projects here at home. The kids get so excited when he comes home. He is a wonderful husband and father and we love him so much!

Yesterday we went "home" for a quick visit with our families. We saw my family that evening. Then spent the night with Matt's family and went to Sacrament Meeting this morning with them. Their ward gave each Father a package of popcorn duck taped to a can of Dad's Root beer. The kids made him a few cards and we picked out a T-Shirt for him. After that we had to leave to come home. Matt had to go to Colorado for work until Friday. So, Matt's Father's Day wasn't great....he spent most of the day in a car or airplane.

~ Happy Fathers day to the great dads in my life. I sure hope that your day is wonderful! We love and appreciate EVERYTHING that you do for us and for our kids. ~

Riding Bikes...

Justin, Jessica & I walked around the block to see the ducks the other day. That is the first time we have seen a pelican, pretty cool! On our way home we saw a bird and her eggs in the rocks. We had a bird lay eggs in our rocks too last year, but I didn't take pictures. If you get to close the bird spreads it's wings and chirps at you! Jessica has been loving her bike! I didn't even know she knew how to ride a bike, until I saw her cruising around on our neighbor's bikes. They have 3 little bikes and she helps herself to their stuff just like it's hers! Justin learned how to ride a "two wheeler" about a month ago. He's got really good and goes pretty fast. I started letting Josh and Jaren ride bikes to school by themselves about 2 weeks ago. They have done really good getting to school on time and getting home quick. Normally, I would drive them or we would all ride bikes together. It's been nice not having to drop them off and pick them up!

I won!

A craft store by my house opened recently (From Our Home to Yours) - and I won the May drawing! That never happens!
This is what they gave me...

You’ve had a birthday, shout hooray!

Justin is 4! He was so excited all day long! He kept asking "When will it be 6:00". He knew that was when his party would start. Except he got tired of waiting and fell asleep on the couch! We woke him up about five minutes before his friends got here. He knew what he wanted this year. He picked out his cake and told me what presents he wanted! (he pointed out everything on our trip to Wal-Mart the week earlier) He even helped me put the little sand bucket together to give to his friends - he thought that was so cool. He is such a funny kid!

Truck and Trailer

Our Excursion is fixed, we got it back on the 22nd. It seems to be running fine. Matt noticed that the roof on the trailer was rotting in the corner.....so he's been working on that. Right now the roof is gone, he took it off and will start building a new one. These 2 pictures were taken about 10 days ago.

Remember to LOCK UP...

A few months ago Matt noticed his stereo equipment was missing in our garage. He had bought a few things and work had given him some things for Christmas gifts. Someone came into our garage and took all of it. We were surprised they didn't take anything else. Then last week Matt needed to use his saw and router. But couldn't because they took that too!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

My kids made the cutest flowers and cards at school and church to give to me today! Matt made egg mcmuffin's and french toast for breakfast! Thank you for a wonderful day! I can't imagine my life with out them....what would I do! To all of my sister's, sister-in-laws, Mom, Mother-in-law, Grandma's, friends - you have all been there for me and are such a great example! I love you all!

Josh's Baptism

We had a great day today! I'm so proud of Josh and Matt. Thank you everyone for coming and sharing this special day with us!

Update...

The UTA FrontRunner's (commuter-rail train) Grand Opening was on Saturday. They are having free rides until Wednesday. We thought it would be fun to try it out. It might be something that Matt could ride to and from work, still not sure, but it's a possibility. We got there and learned we would have to wait in line for 2 hours to go to SLC. Then decided we would rather go to Ogden because the line was shorter. We still waited an hour. It wasn't bad...by the end Jess was getting tired of it. But it was fun! I forgot my Camera...I found this picture on the Internet.

- Our Car is still getting fixed, probably another couple weeks before it's finished. :(

- Josh and Jaren go back to school tomorrow. They'll have 43 days/9 weeks left until they are finished with this year. We're counting the days!!!

- We went to G-pa Howard's and G-ma Tauna's for 4 nights and visited with Matt's Family. Lynsey, Nick and baby Lexi came for a week. Lexi is so cute! We only see them a few times a year, so it's a party when they come! It's nice when everyone is together.

- The next Saturday my family gave my sister Lori a Baby Shower. She gave me a ride to our sister Deena's house....then my sister Melanie brought me home! It was fun!!! My brother came and brought his kids (triplets) and Dad came. We don't get together enough, so when we do we talk, talk, talk!

- In March we went up a couple times too, once for Candice's (Matt's little sister) Jr. Miss. Then the next week for Chase (my nephew) and Jessie's Wedding.

- Matt started a new Job last Monday. Still doing Network Administrator type stuff. It seems to be a really good company to work for. He likes it so far.

- Today, were playing outside. It's a really nice day....warm, sunny & no wind! Jessica isn't feeling good though. She's acting fine - but she has thrown up 3 times. Not fun.

I'll add some pictures a little later....

had a bad day......

the day started out normal, Matt took Justin to Preschool on his way to work. Justin was excited because he was going on his first field trip to the fire station. It's not very far from his school so they were walking. The rest of us finished getting ready (Josh and Jaren have been off track since Monday) and went to the Library. After we were finished there, we took a check to the bank, we sold our mini van and we got half the money yesterday and the other half we'll get when we give them the title. Then it was time to pick up Justin. Next we needed to get Josh a Scouts shirt at the Boy Scouts of America store, I hadn't been there before but kind of knew where it was. I got directions off the Internet before we left home. So we were on our way and I couldn't find it. I drove past it, turned around, drove past it again....called Matt and he looked it up - couldn't find the address. So then I dialed 411, called and got directions. First, the kids had to go to the bathroom and we decided to have lunch at McDonald's. Finally we are on our way, I was driving and keeping an eye out for the road I was suppose to take. Then it happened.................I was running a stop light. I slammed on the brakes, but hit a lady on her passenger side. The kids were scared and crying but are fine...I'm fine. A few people saw it happen and stopped and made sure we all stayed in the car. I called Matt a couple times on his cell and he didn't pick up, so I called his office . . . and the girl who answered said he was talking to someone in the office, I told her I was in a wreck and Matt said she ran over to him and told him what happened. When I saw the other lady get out after all the emergency vehicles got there she was up but looked pretty sore. I didn't talk to her, but wish I would have. They put her on a stretcher and took her to the hospital. The worst part for me is that I hurt someone. I'm going to have to find out how she is. I'm glad there was no one else in the car...I can't imagine if there were more. She was driving a Pontiac Vibe...same car that Matt drives. Both of our cars were towed. I guess we'll find out tomorrow what the damage is. One of the Police Officers gave the kids a stuffed animal and sticker badge. Matt came to get us and he said should we get the scout shirt. It was in a really weird place but he pretty much drove right to it. We went to get a car rental...it's some kind of mini van. I was thinking...I wonder if I should be driving.... we came home, Matt picked up a pizza for dinner....He just left to go on a fishing trip with a few friends that they planned earlier this week. We're not hurt...it's not like he needed to stay. This was not on my list of things to do today, and turned a good day bad....We OK though, I'm just not going to go anywhere for a while. So the new car that we had for 5 1/2 weeks now looks like this...

New Toys...

Yep...we got an Excursion and a trailer!!! And we are excited to go Camping! We found both on the Internet, the Excursion in California (we had it delivered) and the trailer was only 45 min away. Matt has been having fun working on both of them. It was weird to drive at first, it's so much bigger than the Mini Van!

One year older & wiser too..... happy birthday to you!

Josh is 8 years old!!! Where has the time gone! We had a B-Day Party with a couple of his friends (and brothers and sister) at Classic Fun Center...and I forgot my camera! Plus having a celebration at G-pa & G-ma's and at home. Definitely too much cake! We had him open all his presents with his new claw toy. I thought it would take longer but he was pretty dang good at it. He's an awesome big brother, very independent, and will try doing just about anything! 8 years old.....I'm getting old!

Happy Birthday Jessica!

G-ma & G-pa had a B-Day Party for her, Josh and their cousin Krew yesterday! We went up to watch Matt's little sister in Junior Miss. We stayed with my sister and she even watched our monsters so we could go. :)

Today Jess and I sang Happy Birthday many times to her, she was so funny! When we sang to her tonight, she sang with us-it was cute! I got a mini cake for her (we've had cake quite a few times in the last month) and a couple presents. I can't believe she is already 2!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I had a nice day! After Church we ate dinner, which Matt made...it was yummy! He got me an iPod and PINK Starbursts, they are my favorite. :) Then we had a Oreo Cake from Dairy Queen! Yes, I was spoiled!!!

Hubby Tag!

What is his name? Matt

How long have you been married? 8 years.....Our anniversary is pretty easy to remember 9/9/99

How long did you date? about 15 months

How old is he? 27....today is his Birthday! He is 4 days older than me, but 5 days if it's leap year.

Who eats more sweets? Probably me, he is more selective about what kind he'll eat. I like it all....except gummy worms! yuck! We don't buy candy very much so we don't eat much of it.

Who said I love you first? He probably did, I can't remember the details though.

Who is taller? he is - he's 5'11" & I am about 5'7''

Who can sing better? He can. He listens to a lot of music and sings along.

Who is smarter? he definitely is

Who does the laundry? mostly me, but he normally helps fold it.

Who pays the bills? both of us

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? no assigned sleeping arrangements in our bed.

Who mows the lawn? Matt normally does....but last year we got a new lawn mower so now I help out. Our old one was a push mower, our new one goes by itself...it's awesome!

Who cooks dinner? normally me, but he helps out when he can and has been helping with dishes too!!!

Who drives? he does. period. Not very often that I do...he likes to drive.

Who kissed who first? it takes two, right?

Who asked who out first? Me...Valentines Dance our Junior Year. Although he likes to rub in the fact that he noticed me first....we sat by each other in 9th grade and I don't remember.

Who proposed? he did, I knew it was coming though...we picked out my ring a few weeks earlier. Good thing he didn't change his mind!

Who has more siblings? I do. 8 kids in my family, 5 in his.

Who wears the pants? probably him

It's pretty crazy we went on our first date 10 years ago, it really doesn't seem that long ago! We have learned so much over the years and I'm really happy we have come this far. I am excited to see what comes our way in the future! You are such a hard worker and do so much for our family. You are my best friend and I am a very lucky girl! I Love You!!!

Basketball.....

 

 

 

Josh and Jaren liked playing B-Ball this year. They didn't keep score, but they tried to keep track in their head. :) They met Carlos Boozer and got free tickets to a Jazz game!

Sledding at the Park!