Hot Air Balloon Festival

I LOVE hot air balloons - I am not really sure why, it could be because I remember so well when my Grandma Johnson went on one and I was so envious, or it could be living in Heber and seeing them frequently, I am not sure, but I am fascinated with them, and I dream that someday I will be able to ride in one. 

Every year Provo has a freedom festival, and included in the festivities is the balloon festival.  We went last year and it was really magical, so I knew I wanted to go again this year.  So at 5:00 in the morning I packed both dogs and two very tired and somewhat annoyed boys into the car and made the journey through Provo Canyon to see the balloons.  Many of you will probably think I am not in my right mind for waking up EARLY and then waking two happily sleeping children, and then going on an outing with two dogs and two boys all by myself, but when you get there, you would know it was all worth it!  There is something magical, almost spiritual in seeing these bright and colorful balloons ascend into the sunrise.  I love the looks of awe from my boys when they see them.  I love the excitement they have for them.  I really appreciate that they don't have a choice in tagging along with me and my crazy schemes, but they still enjoy it so much.  I intend on making this a yearly tradition, it is just that wonderful! 

 LOVE this hot air balloon, I also think that it is a bit funny that of all the balloons it is the skinniest. :)

 Look at his expression - love it!

 Pete and Annabelle were such good sports on this outing, they are not great fans of crowds, or even small groups of people, but they seemed to enjoy all the attention Brandon gave them as well as several other interested children.

 This is Brandon trying to make Pete smile for the picture - poor dog. :)

 "Chubby Cheek Boy"

 LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture, I could stare at it for hours.

 The balloon games are a lot of fun to watch also.

 Smokey the Bear, the Piggy Bank, and the Coke Bottle are some of our other favorite balloons

Part of the tradition is going to Bridal Veil Falls on the way home, it is still early, so there are very few crowds and there is a peace and tranquility in being in Heavenly Fathers beautiful creations during sunrise.

So I get to enjoy the views and the peace and the boys get to have a hey day throwing rocks into the pond just below the falls.

Ah Bliss. :)

There is one other great benefit to our yearly crazy outing, for some reason I am a happier more patient mom, I love more children more on these days - weird.  So when we got home we continued the fun by having a picnic lunch in their new mini play house, they thought that was awesome!

 Can't wait to do it all again next year - loosing the sleep is worth it, and the boys take extra long naps that day. :)



Style

Brandon dressed up in this most unusual style and I just laughed.  Snow boots, fishing vest, happy meal watch, ugly shorts, and a strip shirt; what do you mean they don't look great together?

Brandon has developed a new habit which cracks me up, but despite my good intentions and valiant efforts I have been unable to capture it in video.  When Brandon gets all dressed for the day, he announces from his room, "are you ready mom", when he knows I am ready he struts over to me and strikes a pose to show off how well dressed, and how handsome he is.  What makes it really funny is the pose.  It consists of him putting his hands on his hips, thrusting his hips forward, shoulders back, one foot in front and his head cocked to one side.  It is a pretty cute and amusing pose.  I am a little worried however that due to so many compliments on his good looks he is getting vain, and now Grant is striking a pose as well, what am I to do. :)

Water Fun Day/Service Project

I have been collecting things for a little less than a year for a garage sale.  I also knew that I wanted to go through everything that was in our crawl space, sort through things for the garage sale and move the storage to mouse proof containers.  Then I got a call from my mom that her neighbor was selling a full size, upright, freezer for ten dollars if I wanted it.  Well I was thrilled, we have been wanting a freezer for a long time and for only ten dollars, he was giving it away.  However getting a new freezer did present a problem of where to put it.  So my dejunking/reorganizing project got bigger. 

My mom  and family were all wonderful and decided to have a service day at my house to help organize the garage, put things into the crawl space, and move in the freezer.  Which meant that I needed to be ready for them to come.  So I spent a little over a week sorting and organizing.  I made several trips up and down the ladder into our crawl space, moving all our water storage down, and moving other things down, as well as moving everything that was all ready down there up so that I could fix the storage, only to take it down again.  It was exhausting work, my legs were beat from climbing up and down the ladder, my arms were sore from carrying heavy boxes, and my back ached from crouching over and crawling through the crawl space. 

While I was carrying another load to the hole in my bedroom closet, preparing to go down the ladder again, I somehow lost my footing and fell down the hole, hitting my head, arms, and back on the floor boards and ladder, and then finally landing on my back at the bottom of the crawl space which was filled with rocks and boulders.  I screamed the whole way down, and when I finally landed I continued screaming out of fear, and shock that I was okay.  How I managed to fall and land on rocks without getting a concussion, or breaking a bone, or injuring my spine is a miracle, for which I am most grateful.  Poor Grant in the mean time was stuck behind the boxes I had drop which had landed on the floor in my closet, thank goodness they did not come down with me.  He was so concerned about me suddenly disappearing through the hole and screaming that he was also crying and shouting to me (as best as he could) "tuck, tuck, tuck" meaning stuck mom I'm stuck and I can't see you or help you.  When I finally got over my shock and made sure that I was really fine I climbed back up the ladder, comforted Grant, finished putting the remaining loads into the crawl space, and then knelt in gratitude for my safety as well as the safety of my boys.  I spent the rest of the day trying to finish off a few light chores.  That was a Tuesday.  On Wednesday I thought I was just fine so I continued to cross off items on my to do list getting ready for my family to come, by Thursday I was feeling the pain and feeling utterly useless, by Friday I couldn't even stand up for more than a few minutes without being miserable. 

Then Saturday came and my family arrived to help, they worked a lot finishing up my projects, Jared, my dad and my mom set up our freezer, and my mom saw to it that I did not move from my folding chair.  (I really hope that as I get old that I can enjoy the great health of my grandparents and still be active, because if I have to be confined to a chair or bed I might go crazy!)  While we finished with everything Natalie, Kevin, Lindsey and Taylor got the swimming pool, and splash pads set up for the boys to play and we enjoyed a picnic.  We spent about an hour enjoying the boys in the pool and the picnic and then we cleaned up and went to Dear Creek Reservoir to play in the boats.  I sat in my chair the whole time :( and everyone else played in the water.  We all had a great time being together, and then the wind came and blew my parents canopy up over the hill into a car smashing the windshield.  We quickly cleaned up, came home, changed and had dinner in the back yard.  It was a crazy day, but lots of fun!  I am so grateful for the thoughtfulness of my family to spend a day helping with my house.

 Natalie and Jared got into a competitive water fight, looked like fun. :)

Playing at the beach

One of Jared's favorite games with the boys is "put up your dukes" they love to "fight" with him.

I love family days!!!!

Swimming at the California Condo

On our last day in California, just before we packed up and drove part of the way home we seized the opportunity to go swimming.  This was the first time we have been able to swim in California, because inevitably every time we go to Cali. the weather turns cold and wet.  The boys LOVE swimming, I don't know why we don't just plan our vacations around swimming and throwing rocks in water, they would be thrilled. 

Grant is such a ham, and so very cute!

I was so impressed with the progress Brandon made with swimming while we were there.  Leave a child with Wyn in the pool long enough and he will have them doing all sorts of amazing things.  Brandon learned how to put his head under water, blow bubbles and back float (with the assistance of water wings).  Grant and Brandon both learned to jump into the water, and thought that was great fun.  Grant especially enjoyed having Jared toss him into the air, so that he would do a full body twist and them land in the water.

We had a great time in California!!!  So very grateful that Wyn and Dee Ann can accommodate us each time we come!

Becky's Graduation

One of the purposes of our trip to California was so that we could go see Becky graduate from High School.  The graduation was outside, which seemed like poor planning since it was hot, in California and there was very limited seating, but it was still a very nice graduation.  We are so proud of Becky!

Sea World

Soon after entering Sea World we saw this lady with a crocodile, we were thrilled, because this is another of Brandon's favorites.  Wyn showed Brandon how to pet it and Brandon nervously agreed to pet it as well.  Now he feels like he can handle any animal he meets.

We went to the Cirque-de-Sol show, which was both funny and amazing, how do they do what they do? 

We chose not to go to the dolphin show, but we were looking at the dolphins at just the right time, because the trainers were there interacting with them and allowing those close enough to interact as well.  Jared got Brandon in close enough, but I was too far back to take pictures.  Grant and I found another place to see the dolphins and we were having a great time until one of them tail splashed us, Grant was ticked! 

We went to a new Shamu show this time.  Shamu Rocks.  The music was lots of fun and the show was great as well, it was fun to do something different.

We Love Sea World!!!!

Whale Watching in California

Given Brandon's great love for whales as well as Jared's and my fascination with them.  We thought we would go on a whale watching excursion.  I have heard often about people having great experiences on whale watching tours and I wanted a turn.  We had a good time riding on the yacht and seeing the great scenery, but we did not see any whales.  We did however get to see a few dolphins so the trip wasn't a total loss.  The boys thought being out on a big boat on the ocean was pretty cool, it was a bit stressful though, trying to keep tabs on the boys with the treat of drowning.  We will try again some day for our whale watching experience, but I think we will wait until the boys are older or we will just go without them.

After the tour we went to lunch at Ruby's diner, we love the nostalgia of this place.