2015 March - Moab

On March 1st we invited my family to dinner to "celebrate Chinese New Year" or at least that is what we told them.  Yes it was Chinese New Year and we love to fix Chinese food at home, but our real reason was so that we could announce that we were expecting another baby!  The night before we told the boys.  I had bought a candy bar for each person in our family (including one for the baby) so Jared and I sang "We Are A Happy Family" to the kids and each time someone was mentioned we would give them their candy bar.  Then on the last verse we sang "We love Trent yes sir e, we love....." and then we paused with the extra candy bar and looked around trying to figure out who we should sing about, the boys were trying to figure out who should get it as well, then when I looked at my tummy they figured it out.  :) They were super excited!!  I thought for sure they were going to give away the surprise to my family during our whole dinner but they didn't, and then when I started handing out the fortune cookies - again I thought for sure they would spill the beans, but they were great to keep their mouth shut.  It was so funny to see my family debate whether you should eat the cookie and then read the fortune or read the fortune and then eat the cookie and the whole time I was just wishing they would get on with reading the fortune.  Mom was the first to read it and of course she shouted for joy which left everyone a bit confused until they finally read it.  It was the perfect surprise!  Then we tried to come up with a fun way to announce it to Jared's family who live so far away.  I had a few ideas, but this picture send via text was the one we decided on.  After we sent the text we were on the phone (facetime) with Wyn and Dee Ann waiting to see their reaction.  They looked at the picture said it was cute and then carried on with their conversation, so we told them to look again - and it took them a while, but then Jodi and Jill reacted to the text and they figured it out.  It was another fun surprise!  It was so great to have the excitement and support of our family! 

 The Lego Americana tour came to Utah in March.  My boys love Lego's and Jared and I love American history and it was free so we decided to go.  The Keller's joined us and we all had a great time despite the crowds and lines.  Anytime we do something with the Keller's we have a great time!

 We had our traditional St. Patricks Day Party at our house this year.  Every year it gets bigger and bigger with many more people joining in.  This year I want to keep it a bit more simple - so instead of the kids trying to find the leprechaun we just left clue for the treasure - it was much easier and still a lot of fun!

 At the end of March the kids had Monday off of school so we took a weekend trip to Moab so that we could visit Arches and Canyonlands National Parks.  We had a great time.  I was 16 weeks pregnant, but that didn't stop us from hiking up to Delicate Arch.  The boys were great about the hike and we all had a great time!  We are so proud of our accomplishment!

 We were also able to visit Sand Dune Arch and Double Arch, both were easy hikes and beautiful!

 Canyonlands was also fun.  We were able to visit Upheaval Dome, Whale Rock and Mesa Arch all together about 4.5 miles of hiking.  We all had a great time and enjoyed the beauty of our great state!

 In Moab we always have to visit the Hole in the Rock zoo.  It is tiny, and a tourist trap, but the boys love getting up close and personal with the animals and we all love being able to feed them.  This time they were offering camel rides, which Jared has always wanted to do.  This was such a fun memory for each of them!

 It's kinda funny that Trent rode a camel before he rode a horse. ;)

 On our last day in Moab before heading home we drove to see the petroglyphs and dinosaur tracks.  It was so cool to see real history so close.  The boys were actually able to touch the dinosaur tracks - it was a bit of a scary hike, but still so fun!

 Last of all we played on the sand hill - this is always a highlight in Moab. Jared and Brandon hiked to the very top of the hill - not easy at all - most people don't even bother, while Grant, Trent and I played in the sand near the bottom.  This was such a fun trip and a great start to our Mighty 5 goal to see all 5 of Utah's National Parks in one year.

2015 January and February

Trent celebrated his 1st birthday with a puppy theme.  He loves dogs!  I made Westie cupcakes that everyone enjoyed.  We had a casual celebration with a little party with my mom and dad at our house prior to his birthday and then on his real birthday we had a family dinner of hot dogs and lemonade from the "fire-hydrant".  Trent loved all his birthday presents even if they were mostly hand-me-downs from his brothers.  Even Brandon and Grant had fun seeing some of their old toys again.

 Turning one is so exciting because now you can finally eat pretty much everything - including chocolate cake and frosting!  ;)

 Some of Trent's presets included mega blocks, a toy basketball hoop, a toy train, and a stuffed dog.

 My favorite memory from Trent's birthday was after we had finished with presents, dinner and cake, I got out some bubbles - Trent was thrilled - it was his first time seeing bubbles and thought they were hilarious.  He was laughing hysterically every time I blew more bubbles.  It was delightful!

I gave Grant the choice of a Spider-man birthday party or a Frozen birthday party.  These were his two favorite things at the time.  He chose Frozen.  It was a bit tricky doing a princess movie for a boys birthday, but it turned out to be SO fun.  I made a snowflake cake out of cupcakes - it was a hit.

 I decorated with snowflakes hanging all around the house and I filled over 75 white balloons to cover the floor.  We played pin-the-nose on Olaf, we had a snowball fight with cottonballs and crumpled up pieces of paper, and we searched for prizes in frozen water - the kids enjoyed all the fun activities!

 Grant invited most of his friends from his preschool class, as well as friends from the neighborhood.  He was so happy that his "girlfriend" Naomi was able to come. :)

In February a dinosaur exhibit was coming to the Salt Palace.  It looked thrilling -ride on a T-Rex, look at moving dinosaurs in their natural habitat, and dig for dinosaurs, not to mention there would be bounce houses.  Given Brandon's love for dinosaurs we decided to go -despite the cost.  This was a mistake, it was a lot of hype for very little.  However, the boys thought it was wonderful.  Especially when they got to ride on a dinosaur.  :)  So Jared and I checked our grown up disappointments at the door (tried to) and we made the most of it.  Afterwords we went to City Creek for dinner and to see the fountain show with music and fire.  It was a really fun family day - all be it an expensive family day. :)

 One day I worked really hard to clean up the boys room then I found the Standing Tall series on book on tape and put it in for the boys to listen to - they LOVED it.  They stayed in their room just listening to the story for the full half hour - it was just like the good old days when people would sit around their radios.

 February was unusually warm and dry - so we had a great time playing at the park!  It was a little crazy that Grant wanted to have a Frozen birthday party in February and we had to use fake snow because there was no snow on the ground.

California/Thanksgiving Vacation - Day 2 - San Diego Zoo

Everyone knows how much we enjoy going to the zoo, wherever we are, but of course the San Diego Zoo is one of our favorites - the trip was especially exciting because they have added more crocodilians, and we were finally able to ride the train, which made Brandon and Grant very happy!

 The Johnson's Crocodiles were some of our favorites, we watched them go swimming, come up to land, and open their mouths!

 The train is extremely -lame - but don't tell Grant, he loved every minute of it!

 Trent enjoyed seeing the lion up and walking around and best of all roaring, it was very cool!