Memorial Day

We had such a fun Memorial Day this year. We haven't been to Holden (the city, not the boy) since last Halloween, and it was fun to get back. Wade's Whole family was there, minus Dave & Katie, and we really enjoyed seeing everyone. On Saturday we decided to go on a hike to the Old Saw Mill and then afterward roast hot dogs and have smores. In all the excitement I think we forgot to tell Megan what we were really doing. It was muddy and steep and I think she wished she had at least worn shoes and brought a carrier for Paizley. She was a pretty good sport though.

Claire LOVES to swing. It was one of her favorite things to do while we were there, that and go feed the barn kitties.

You can't see it in this picture, but Megan is actually wearing Crocs. And later, it poured rain on us, Claire's hair was soaked.

Yep, we broke Boy Scout Rule #1: Do not carve your name into trees. We just couldn't resist.

Kids say the Darndest Things.

Holden is at such a funny age that I want to be really sure never to forget the cute/funny things he says. I am making this post that I plant to update occasionally when Holden adds to it with his funny sayings. Here are just a few of my current favorites.

"Mom I'm using my magination to to think that this food is yucky."

"I didn't know President Monson lived on this planet." (story to follow)

"Clairesy stop all the wracket!"

"It's ok, no big deal."

"I so love dis family."

"Right now your face is pokey as a porking pine, but when you shave it's soft as a blanket."

Random Day

Some of my favorite days with our family, are days that in review, were totally random. Wade and I have been thinking about getting a GPS toy for a long time now, and last week Holden decided that his new found cowboy craze has progressed to "cowboy hat" stage. So instead of looking a western apparel store up in the phone book, the logical thing was to drive to Costco and purchase a Garmin. Then it was off to the local IFA store to get that coveted hat and complete the cowboy ensamble. After we had purchased the hat and the Garmin the only locigal thing left to do was drive around to pointless destinations making wrong turns along the way to see if we could trick our new gadget's intelligence. We lost. But those are the days that I love the most.

Carmen the Garmin fondly named by my Young Women but inspired by Hannah and Greg. She comes complete with an English accent. (I find that she sounds more polite that way.)

Cowgirl Claire. Look out Aunt Megan she's gonna give Paiz some competition.

Holden in his new duds. Thanks to Weston for the boots.

There he goes, off to fight some indiand and win the west or something.

Dating a Younger Man

Every once in a while Wade wants to do a "boys night" kind of thing, and since I've had a few "girls nights" of my own, I always try to support him. Well for tonight's Boys Night he was doing Wing Night, a boy favorite. I decided that since I was unofficially evicted from my house I would make it a fun night for me too. Tonight was my very first Mother Son Date Night, and I had a blast. When I approached Holden with the idea I said, "Holden, how would you like to take me out on a date?" To which he replied, "Ummm, ok, but I donno howt drive." So I told him how about if I drove and he paid. He was true to his word and was very cute when he handed his money over for tickets to Disney's UP, and treats. It was the best date, other than with Wade of course, that I have ever been on. Every day I realize what a blessing it is to be a mom. I had such a great time bonding and spending fun one on one time with Holden. He is such a good kid, with a kind heart. Then on the way home from the theater he says to me, "I had a very fun time with you tonight Mom." I melted like butter. I can't wait for our next date.

Adorable doesn't even begin to cover it.

The other day we were all playing in the back yard and Holden wanted to ride on the toy that Claire was playing with. When he realized she wasn't going to relinquish her toy he decided to share. It has only been lately that Claire has been mature enough to play with Holden. The other day I overheard his asking Claire if she wanted to sword fight him. Then a sword clattering to the ground, then Holden saying, "Well you have to stand up if you want to sword fight." And then finally, "Mom! Claire won't sword fight me!" I love these kids. I can't wait to have another.

The post that almost didn't happen.

This is the post that changed blogging for me. Our beautiful flowers have all bloomed and I wanted to take some pictures of them. I feel so blessed to be in this are at this time. We love our house and the pretty flowers just add to it all. I took these pictures while Holden & Claire played in the back yard.





This is the post that changed blogging for me. Our beautiful flowers have all bloomed and I wanted to take some pictures of them. I feel so blessed to be in this are at this time. We love our house and the pretty flowers just add to it all. I took these pictures while Holden & Claire played in the back yard.

Look out Shaun White!

So there we were, Wade was on his way out the door for a fun day of snowboarding with his buddy and he says, "why don't we all go." So we grab everyone's snow gear and all 4 of us head up to Brighton for the morning. Wade and I really want Holden to start learning to ski next year and we have been wanting him to get some exposure to the sport so.....Blah, blah, blah, Wade took Holden down the slopes on his snowboard. You have to see the pictures to believe them. I was a little worried that both of them would come back injured, but I guess they had a lot of fun. they even went REALLY fast. Yikes! Good thing Wade is so good at it. Happy skiing/snowboarding everyone! (well, at least for the next few weeks anyway.)

Claire was totally Ralphie from Christmas Story. She was totally immobilized, it was hilarious.

Holden was WAY excited to ride the lifts.

Claire spent a lot of time eating snow while we waited for them to come down.

Their first pass.

Don't try this at home huh.

Blast Off!

Here's for you Linds. Back by demand; here is a new post. One of my favorite things about living in Salt Lake is all the free activities. Right now Holden is really into space & planets. His bedroom is all spaced out, complete with the planets hanging from his ceiling in accurate orbit. Wade is hilarious. So, the Clark Planetarium is one of those awesome free activities that the kiddos just love. Enjoy! And thanks again cuz for the nudge, our love to Brian and his nose.

Holden "moonwalking". Someday I will teach him how to do that for real.

Claire really seems to be enjoying those Mars rocks...

After exploring the museum we took in an 3-D IMAX showing of Fly Me to the Moon. Holden practically fell into the kids lap in the row in front of us trying to grab things out of the air.

Claire Bear

I can't believe my little Claire is 1! Claire's birthday was a LOT of fun. We started out the day with some singing and presents. Claire didn't get the "opening" part of the presents, but she sure got the "play with the presents" part of the presents. Then we went to play group. If you remember my previous post on our playgroup, you'll remember that I love it! I love the girls that are in it with me and I love all of their kids. We all got together at my friend Jill's house and we made food out of the Deceptively Delicious cookbook. By the way Jill, your Chicken Fingers kicked! My Pink Pancakes however, were pretty trash worthy. Beets Yuck! (Thank heavens my kids can't read.) Then that night we partied down. Nothing says a one year old birthday like buffalo wings. For those of you who have tasted Wade's delicious ribs, now he has perfected another meat dish. Claire loved the wings, went crazy with her cake, and played with all of her presents. It was a great night. Happy Birthday Baby Claire!



Claire's 2nd baby in just as many months.

Pink Pancakes, more like Hot Pink Pancakes! I mean..Beets, Yum!

Enjoying some hot wings. Also for those of you who know them, this is Colin Slaters' first appearence on my blog. Looks like Mike huh?

Our little Claire Bear, the sweetest, cuddliest, nicest baby in the whole wide world. Hey, someone had to say it. ;)