Rainy Memorial Day

We had this great plan to actually get out and DO something this Memorial Day, and the weather decided NOT to cooperate. Sara, Brian, Rusty and I decided it would be a lot of fun to take the kids hiking at Rocky Mountain National Park, which is about an hour away. Sara and Brian drove us all in their new Sequoia (which Rusty and I are convinced we must now own) and we made the long treck up despite the looming rain clouds. Well--rain it did, but lucky for us it would stop just long enough for us to get out and see a waterfall, or take a short little hike. The kids were so funny, as usual. Braxton HATED getting IN the car b/c he wanted to hike and hike, and Halle HATED getting OUT of the car b/c it meant she was going to have to hike and hike to keep up with Braxton. We had to do a magic energy dance and have magic suckers that gave us lots of energy to hike. We saw two beautiful waterfalls, TONS of elk, a pretty lake with a duck (By far Josh's favorite part)and SNOW. We went up to Bear Lake where we were greeted by about 4 feet of the white stuff. The kids were "skiing" on the snow, but were pretty disappointed by the lake, which was pretty much frozen over. We then headed down into Estes Park to have Pizza for dinner which made everyone happy. By far, Josh at the most pizza out of all the kids. He couldn't get enough. At dinner we were telling the kids how great they had done and Halle said, "Yea, and I only whined just a little bit!" And these days, we'll take just a little bit. But the car ride home was the biggest treat of all as all the kids were EXHAUSTED. Sara was in the back with Halle and Braxton and got poked, prodded, and told that she had a "Rubber ear." (Dad--Halle doesn't quite get the concept yet) Kambree wanted mom and let everyone know it. She was crying pretty hard but everytime someone would say something to her she'd totally stop crying and say,"What?" Which ended up sounding more like, "Whaaaaaaaat?" She must have done it 50 times. We were all laughng so hard. So despite the rain, we had a fun and memorable trip!

Lollilocks

On Friday one of Halle's good friends, Kaite, threw an "End of the Preschool year" party at Lollilocks kids salon. Holy cow--those little girls were in heaven. They got to get their nails painted, have pedicures (where they put their feet in the little spas, and then got lotion and a foot massage), wear spa robes, decorate their own pair of flip flops, and then get their hair done. After all was said and done they got chocolate cake and punch. Wow--they are starting the pampering young. The girls had a GREAT GREAT time and felt like Princesses. We had to BEG Halle to take her hair out to get it washed for church this morning. Thanks Kristina for hosting such a great event. It's going to be the talk of our house for quite some time.

My favorite Halle

We put Braxton's Batman mask on Josh and he looked so funny we all started laughing hysterically. I think all the laughing scared him more than the mask and he just started bawling. Poor thing


Yesterday we had the Loveridges over to dinner, and we get the biggest kick out of Braxton and Halle. They are so funny together. At one point Halle yelled, "Brax--let's go play princess and Superman--you be superman, I'll be the princess" (hopefully it won't ever be the other way around!) And then a little bit later Braxton said, "You are my FAVORITE Halle." So funny. Our kids get along so well. We just send them to the toy room and then we get to chat the night away. Tomorrow we all are headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park, so I'll post some pics after that adventure.

Fun Filled Saturday

So, this was the weekend of the Erie Town Fair, and I have to say, it puts Steel Days to shame. My tiny town puts on a darn good show! The day started at 6:30am at the Annual Balloon launch at the Vista Ridge Golf Course (which is in our neighborhood). We rode out bikes over to the driving range to watch about 50 hot air balloons take off into the sky. Unfortunately our camera battery was dead, so we got no pics. But I will post one from last year so you can see how cool it is. Then it was off to the Erie airport (tiny little airport) to see all the cool plane. They were even giving free airplane rides to kids 8-17 yrs old. I asked Rust if he thought I could pass for 17. The raised eyebrows indicated NOT. DARN. But, Josh is obsessed with airplanes, which, living right by the airport, are flying over our house all day long. I'll be up in his room putting him down for his nap and he'll be practically asleep in my arm and he'll hear and airplane fly by. He opens his sleepy little eyes, says, "Airplane," makes the sign and goes right back to sleep. So funny.

As if all that weren't enough, then we got the treat of the century--going to Halle's Spring Singing Recital. Wow--those kids are headed for Broadway! (All except Halle who seems to always be a beat or two behind everyone else. Remind you of anything Nat???) Anyway, video is on the side bar.

Then came the ward BBQ where food and fun were had by all. Josh even had his first T-Ball experience. I'm going to have to go get a set--he loved it.
whew, what a day!

Mother's Day

For their Primary activity the kids made mother's day cards and bracelets. When Halle got home from the activity, Rusty asked her to see the bracelet she made for Mommy. Halle paused and said, "Well....actually Dad, the bracelet is for me." Rusty raised his eyebrows and said, "Halle..." in that "I know what your're up to" tone of voice and she said, "Ok, it's really for me and Mommy to SHARE." So hard to give up cute bracelets! (and share we did, which means the bracelet is now lost)
And this is the card she made. I'd like to address the subtle nuances in this card that are very indicative of our everyday life. 2. What does she do? "Clean the kitchen" Seriously, I feel like this is all I do day in and day out. You should see the PILES of food I sweep up at the end of the day. Totally disgusting. 7. What is her favorite movie? TV. True, true. Give me re-runs and reality TV! And my personal favorite 8. How many brothers and sisters does she have. None--just me and Josh." LOVE it!

My Mom's day was amazing. Or I should say the day before was amazing. I got the entire day to myself. I went to the mall and got some clothes, a new dress, and some makeup, then I took myself to lunch. After that I took myself to a movie where I splurged and bought popcorn (which was actually kind of gross). It was so great--when I got home the kids were in bed so I picked up a book, read until I was tired (Which was probably before 10pm) and then went to sleep. Thanks RUSTY!!!

Sorry Chelsi

I had a really funny dream a few nights ago that I thought some of you would get a kick out of. It was one of those "in between" dreams, so we were high school age, but Sara and I still lived in CO, and Chelsi still lived in AZ, and Kasey in UT. A little background on what brought on this dream--Sara just moved to Brighton, which is only about 15 min from my house. It is so fun to have her so close, and we are looking forward to summer when we get to see more of each other. Anyway....Sara and I took our kids swimming the other day, and then she came over to my house and we just hung out the rest of the day. It was so much fun. Ok, now to the dream, which I'm sure you're waiting for with bated breath. I dreamed that Kasey called me up and she was soooo mad. In the firmest voice Kasey possesses, she said, "I can't believe you didn't call Chelsi to hang out with you guys today. I understand why you didn't call me, I have to work, and it's a far drive, but you should have called Chelsi. She is pretty upset about the whole thing." So, I hurry and call Sara and we decide to fly to AZ to make it up to her. When we get to AZ in the afternoon we find Chelsi still in bed, with big red eyes from crying. Sara and I apologize over and over and tell her we'll call her for sure next time so she could drive out (a mere 13hours!), but she won't forgive us. That's where the dream ends. So, SORRY CHELS!!!

Days of our lives

So my baby Joshe went to nursery for the first time today! It was an exciting day, especially for Rusty, who is in charge of the ornery boy on Sundays. We were pretty worried that he would just scream and cry the whole time, but he totally surprised us and did GREAT! He didn't even cry when Rusty left him--which is seriously a small miracle. So WAY TO GO JOSH!

One more Josh Story--He has become quite the Daddy's boy lately and prefers Dad to Mom at any given time. He wakes up and as soon as I walk in his room he asks for "Dada." Well, we were at Costco the other day and I tried to push the cart. He screamed and shoved my hands off the cart and said, "Dada, Dada." Can I say Brat, with a capital B? Does he realize I threw up hundreds of times to bring him into this world??

Now a funny Halle story. Her favorite primary song is "Tell me the Stories of Jesus." We sang it in primary today and there is one line that goes "And how the Master, ready and kind, chided the billows, and hushed the wind." (Referring to when Jesus calmed the sea, for all y'all who need brushing up on your primary songs) Anyway...it was pretty windy today (she HATES the wind) and she said, "Mommy, do you think I could hush the wind like Jesus?" SO CUTE!