I love birthdays.  So does Sam.  He's been anticipating his birthday since the first of his older buddies turned 5 back in May.  Of course I couldn't disappoint.   Saturday was "Party Day" with Samuel's friend party in the morning.  He had designated it a fireman birthday months before.  Which was perfect, since the house happened to be on fire when Sam woke up that morning.  We had planned a big obstacle course in the backyard for our little firemen to earn their badges, but we woke up to rain and had to improvise quickly.  I shrunk down the obstacle course to fit inside, and we were still able to rescue the cat from the tree, climb through the burning tunnel, spin around on the fire engine, jump over the laundry baskets (yeah nothing creative for that part), then spray out the burning building.  We also played a Pin the Tail on the Donkey type game with dressing a fireman, hot potato, stop drop and roll, and toss the firetruck into the burning building beanbag toss style.  We had ignitable cupcakes that each firefighter had to blow out, and per request so many months ago, a pinata.  Samuel and his fire fighting friends had a great time!

That night was Chuck E. Cheese.  But first we had the traditional stop at Toys R Us to use the birthday Geoffrey dollars.  Again, lots of fun.  I love any excuse for special time as a family.

Sunday was Samuel's birthday.  He woke up to balloons and a birthday banner in his room.  He asked me for days how I got them in there, like he couldn't believe I did it all while he was sleeping.  I heard Sam was beyond giddy when he was sung to in Primary.  (First year that I wasn't in there to see, *sniff*)  Sam got to open one present while Owen napped, Cars 2.  When Owen got up we finished presents, and then had pancakes for dinner, another birthday request made ages ago.

We sure do love our funny not-so-little-anymore Sam.  He is overflowing with personality.  He is sassy and quite the back-talker.  But he is also friendly, thoughtful, and polite.  Samuel loves to ride his bike, play with his friends, watch Wild Kratts, drive his monster trucks, and learn new things.  He changes his clothes a bajillion times a day.  Sam loves pancakes, bananas, raisin bread, and "cow milk."  He loves fighting, shooting, killing, swords, and guns, *sigh.*  He still struggles to write his S and doesn't color in the lines, but he can tell you 8 different names for Bigfoot.  He is growing up and learning so much so fast.  He makes us smile, he makes us happy, he makes us pull our hair out, and he makes up laugh.  And I absolutely cannot for the live of me get a decent picture of this boy.  Happy 5 years, Sambo!!  

October 28-31, 2011

Such a fun fun weekend.  I love having special things to do and I love our family.  So put them together, and it's a great combination. 

Friday I had Erik take off work, since Sam had the day off school and his family was coming into town that day.  And that evening was our ward Halloween party.  The boys were super excited to dress up.  Owen's favorite thing about his costume was his tail.  Anyone who talked to him over the next 4 days while he was in costume heard about it.  "Ha, yeah, I got a tail, see it's right here."  I was surprised how often I had to explain that Em was a wizard.  Whatever.  The boys were so well behaved all night.  They waited in line patiently for chili and hots dogs, ate their dinner, helped clean up, sat perfectly still and listened intently to the police officer's safety speech, and followed the crowd nicely during the trunk-or-treat.  It was particularly fun for me to watch Owen, who took it all in silently and seriously, but very keenly aware of everything that was going on.  It was great to have Erik's parents with us there, too.

Saturday afternoon the Mutters arrived.  We had first planned to go up to Thansksgiving Point for Cornbelly's then decided to stay local.  We went just up the street to Jaker's Pumpkin Patch, where they had two different sized mazes, a hay pyramid, a petting zoo, corn pit, and a tractor ride.  We got some pumpkins, then spent the rest of the day at our home and in the backyard.

Sunday was the reason for family being in town.  At church, Emmett was given a name and blessing by his father, with both of his grandfathers, and a few close friends in the circle.  Afterwards we had all of our family and friends over to our home for a little brunch.  It was so fun to have everyone together to celebrate our newest little guy.  I was once again very touched by how much love and support our friends and family offer us.  We are so so blessed.  But gosh darn it, we didn't get a single family picture.  And I only got one picture of Emmett at that!!  Kind of makes me a bit sick to my stomach actually that I missed out on that big time.  But at least we still have the memories, right?!

That night, Sam and I figured we had better carve the pumpkins.  Erik was at a church meeting, and Owen wanted nothing to do with it.  So Sam and I had ourselves a grand ol' time.

Then Monday was Halloween!!  I seriously love Halloween.  We had one last gymnastics class that morning, then Sam went to school.  A bit later, the other two boys and I met him there for a Halloween program.  It was silly but sweet.  Samuel was so very concerned I wouldn't be there.  When I came in, I waved to him, but he must not have seen me, because when they all stood up to start, he was very close to tears and said, "But my mom isn't here yet!"  So I called out, "Of course I am, I'm right here Sam!!" and that time he saw me.  And the relief that washed over his face might have made my heart flutter a bit.  So after the program and sharing treats, we decided to visit Erik at work.  Erik was cute, and took the boys around to show them off.  Some of the ladies thought they needed to give them candy, so it was a good start to the trick-or-treating.  One guy thought they needed a trick instead of a treat, so he gave them each a whistle.  Yeah, thanks for that! 

At home again, we made dinner and waited for Erik to get home.  We gobbled down our pigs in a blanket and set up the tripod super quick so I could have at least one picture of all 5 of us from the weekend.  Definitely not our best.  But whatever.  Erik took the two older boys out trick-or-treating.  I wish I could've gone, too, but we figured it was be best for me to stay home with the baby and hand out candy.  Once they got back, Samuel and Owen were both just as excited to hand out the candy as they'd been to get it.  By 8:30 the candy was gone, so we turned off the lights and enjoyed a little time going through the loot before sending the hopped up boys to bed.

October 15, 2011

It was Saturday.  It was beautiful.  We needed to get out.  But I'm still really scared to go far from home.  So we took advantage of what Utah has to offer!  We really need to do that more often.  We headed up the Nebo Loop in Payson Canyon.  It was BEAUTIFUL!  It was so fun to see the mountain spotted with red, and watch as we got closer and closer.  Once we were driving through, we could see that it wasn't just red, but several amazing shades of red, orange, and yellow.  So so pretty.  So we went there with the intent of hiking the Grotto Trail.  I've heard lots about it, but never been.  It's a super duper easy hike to a little waterfall and wading pond.  It was low key and very enjoyable.  It was perfect for our afternoon and just what we needed.

The parade this year was a first for us.  We've never been before.  And with the early morning wake up call, plus knowing he had to go back into work later that afternoon, we couldn't talk Erik into coming to this little celebration.  Thankfully, our awesome neighbors, who are pros at Art City Days, hooked us up.  The staked out our spots the night before, then gave us the run down about the cool parts and the best ways to get candy.  It was so much fun.  The very beginning started with the police force on their motorcycles doing cool little tricks and formations, and all the firetrucks, ambulance, squad cars, etc, following behind.  Sirens and horns fuuuuuull force.  Even after being warned, Samuel still ended up busting into tears and burying his sensitive little ears in Mark's lap.  Owen sat there wide-eyed and holding pretty tight to my legs while I covered his ears for him, but he kept it together just fine.  After that, everyone was ready to go candy chasing.  It took Sam a few tires to get the hang of it (ie, not break down into a fit every time a bigger kid got to the tootsie roll before him) but once Owen showed him a thing or two, everyone was having a blast.  The rest of the parade was really neat; very small-town, homey, and quaint.  Owen's favorite thing was the horses.  Samuel said his favorite thing was the monster trucks.  Have I told you how much I love where we live?!

My favorite thing about the Balloon festival is that they do it two days in a row.  So once again, I woke up Friday morning to hear the boys hollering from Lambert's room, "Balloooooooons!!"  The both climbed into the empyt crib and watched out the window for several minutes until the balloons disappeared back behind the trees across the street.  I think it's fun because it's make them more excited, and for O this was his first "official" time so I think it was cool for him to see them up close the next day.

So Saturday morning, I actually had to wake the boys up.  Go figure.  First day in weeks they decided to sleep past 6:30.  We even talked Erik into coming with us this time.  He's never been before.  So we threw on our sweats, packed up some juice boxes and granola bars, and headed to the junior high where the balloons launch.  There is just something so so cool about watching the huge colorful puddles on the ground slowly inflate and then take off into the sky.  Love it.  The boys were pretty captivated, too.  (Sam did get a bit distracted for a few minutes by the baseball field we were sitting near.)  Once the balloons were all up in the air, we went for a few truck rides and grabbed ourselves a helium balloon before going home.  I really enjoyed it even more with Erik there.  I hope we can talk him into coming again next year.

May 27, 2011

Each year over Memorial Day weekend, Thomas the Train comes to the Heber Valley Railroad.  I've considered it several times since we've had kids, but we are always gone that weekend.  Not this year!  And since my brother, also Thomas, and his family were going to be around, I thought it was a perfect chance to go.  In all honesty, from the grown-up eyes it was ridiculously over-priced and not nearly as grand as expected.  We didn't get rained on, but the weather was crappy.  But the kids loooooved it, and we called the day over when almost all of them were breaking down into fits and falling apart at the seams.  So I'd say that meant we had a great time!!  Really, it was a cute and fun family day, and we all enjoyed ourselves. 

Samuel and Owen both recognized Thomas the Train as soon as we pulled in.  I was surprised at how tiny he was, but none of the kids seemed to be bothered by that.  Our first stop was lunch.  We got two soggy $5 hamburgers and a burnt-to-a-crisp $4 hot dog.  We totally felt like we were getting away with a steal when the lady let us have the Capri-Sun snack packs for just $1 (instead of the single Capri-Sun without a snack.)  While we swallowed down an insane amount of money, the kids were entertained by a magic show.  I commented that I could've done the same thing if I'd gone to the gag store and bought a few boxes of tricks, but the kids were still mesmerized and laughing it up.

After that, we got balloon "animals" while we waited for our turn to take a ride with Thomas.  I thought it was cute how Owen kept talking about his "monkey balloon" and "'a-nana balloon."  And Sam had a few sword fights with his cousins before boarding the train.  Both of the boys were pretty excited to be on a real train.  It was a lot of fun to watch them take it in.  They both were so good and sat pretty still, looking out the window of the sloooooow train.  Erik and I enjoyed pointing out yards that had dandelions way worse than ours.  At the end, the engineers came around with Junior Engineer certificates for all of the kids.

So once the ride was over, it was time to take in the other activities.  First up was a stop for tattoos. I was a bit surprised Sam wanted one on his face, and even more surprised that Owen wanted one at all.  But they both sat perfectly still and beemed at the results.  And they both cried the next night when Erik washed them off.  (Several days later, Owen still points to his arm and tells me, "Tommy Owie's arm all gone.")

Then we went and had a round of mini golf.  It was pretty packed in that small area, but again, that didn't stop anyone from having fun.  All of the kid-sized clubs were being used, but the boys weren't bothered one bit. 

Next up was meeting Sir Topham Hat.  Samuel saw him when we first came in and asked me several times when he would get to meet him.  The line was a bit long, and at this point, O was fading fast.  But Sam really wanted to meet him and say hello.  He watched several kids in front of us freak out and cry, so I think that added to his super cool and laid back approach to the whole thing.  Because Samuel is a BIG boy, afterall.  He walked up and shook Topham Hat's hand, "Nice to meet you sir," then posed cooly for his picture.  Like Sam meets celebrities all the time, right?

This was the point where the kids starting losing it fast.  Sam was so mad he didn't get to buy a toy from the gift tent (nope, not for $20) and O was way past his naptime.  Erik shared some cotton candy with the boys and played on the train tables while I rounded up the stamps we should've been collecting all along so we could get our "prize" before leaving.  It was just a fancy spinning paper wheel with Thomas and all of his friends, but again, the boys weren't disappointed.  We walked back to the car, did not opt for the long line to have our picture taken with Thomas, and instead chose to just wave goodbye on our way out.

It was really a great little adventure.  I love family days, and it's always so fun to do something different.  The boys spent the rest of the late afternoon at home playing Thomas and Friends on our train tracks at home while a Thomas movie played in the background, and Erik and I took a nap on the couch.  Yes yes, a very very good day.     

September 4, 2010

Erik got some tickets to a Real Salt Lake MLS Soccer game for the second time.  The first time, just the two of us went with another couple.  We got to sit in a box, have unlimited hot dogs, popcorn, soda, and dessert, and enjoy the good company and a view.  This time, with “regular” tickets, we figured it would be fun to bring Samuel.  He was very excited about the idea of a night out with just Mom and Dad while Owen stayed home with the babysitter.  We did make Samuel take a nap before we left since we knew it would be a late night.  When we woke him up to leave, Sam was grumpy and whined he didn’t want to go to a soccer game.  He got over that fast.  So we drove up to Sandy, waited for the bus, and then rode over to the stadium.  It was a really fun night with hot dogs, nachos, snow cones, and even a special ball just for Sam.  Samuel enjoyed turning around and watching the big screen.  He also thought it was cool to see the lion mascot do handspring flips and throw the ball.  Of course, Sam was a little nervous about the noise and covered his ears half the time, but he still really got into the cheering and waving and clapping. 

On the drive home, Samuel clutched his new soccer ball on his lap and talked the whole way back.  I think it was a good night.

Two weekends ago, my mom was in town and staying at my uncle’s ranch up the mountain from Heber City so she invited us up for a day.  The wind and (almost) rain made us a little nervous at first, but it didn’t stop anyone from having a super fun day.  The ranch is huge, and includes lots of gorgeous land to explore, a playground, a teepee, a pond with canoes, 2 huge barns, a few cowboy huts, 4 generations of an Australian cattle dog family, horses and deer, chickens and turkeys, a goat, a peacock, and endless amounts of dirt and rocks.  Could this be heaven for two little boys?!  You bet!  Especially when Mormor has a giant playground ball, a huge bottle of bubbles, a t-ball set, and a delicious dinner of bbq ribs, fresh corn on the cob, and yummy caesar salad.  We totally thought the boys would crash on the way home, but getting stuck in a parade, winding through the canyon, counting waterfalls, and blowing raspberries back and forth until they couldn’t control their laughter kept them awake the whole time.  Such a great day for all of us.

Dirt and rocks.

“What are you looking at, Mom?  I’m just climbing big dangerous rocks!”

Mister Pemberley likes to walk around with his chin tucked, belly poking out, and hands grasped behind his back. 

Shuckin’ carn.

“Ships ahoy!  Ay ay Captain Dad!!”

Last Monday we had a super fun family play day.  We spent the whole day at the Gateway in Salt Lake City.  We went out to lunch, saw a fancy sports car, and walked around a bit, but the bulk of the day was spent at the children’s museum.  The boys and I have been several times, but this was the first time Erik ever got to come with us.  Owen loved the balls downstairs and loved trying to throw everything through the banister upstairs.  Samuel loved dressing up downstairs and did not love the helicopter upstairs.  I love how flippin’ cute my boys are.

My Dad called today wondering when he was going to get to see pictures from last weekend.  Clearly I’ve set some pretty high expections with this little ol’ blog o’ mine. 

We were ready for a visit to Colorado.  So we planned a trip over Memorial Day weekend, left Thursday evening and made it in record time, ready for some fun adventures. 

Friday, Tori and the kids came up to Ridgway to play.  The weather was so beautiful.  The cousins rode bikes, played with chalk and bubbles, explored catterpillar cocoons, and found antlers.  Owen was doing aok eating rocks, but I think after a little while he got jealous that’s all he could do.

Late in the afternoon we put O down for a nap and left the 2 boys with Mormor.  Erik and I took off for Telluride and the opening of Mountainfilm in Telluride.  My dad hooked us up big time with a Sunshine Pass to get us into almost anything all weekend long.  We met up with some other family who was in town, and after dinner, crammed into an original (and so tiny) theater for our first movie.  We saw Nico’s Challenge about a 13 year old boy born with one leg who climbed Kilomanjaro to raise money for wheelchairs for people in Africa.  After the movie, Nico was there with his dad to speak and answer questions.  So amazing and so inspiring.  Then we saw First Ascent about some crazy climbers who were going to attempt an insane climb up some wild mountain as part of a mini-series for National Geographic.  After waiting at base camp for 3 weeks they decided it wasn’t worth the risk.  They went up to get their gear, and were killed by an avalanche.  Their friends and coworkers went to recover their bodies and found the footage.  Incredible.  After that we got to see a special presentaion from Ed Viesturs, the first man to climb the 14 highest peaks without oxygen.  I could write so much more about what we saw and did that night alone!  It was so cool!!

Saturday, we went back up to Telluride but with Mormor and the boys this time.  We rode the gondola, hit up the ice cream social, did some site seeing, enjoyed the crowds, explored the park and trails, had a treat or two, and then sent the boys back to Ridgway with Mormor so the rest of us could stick around for another movie, followed by Adrenaline Rush, a special showing of short movies about different (and new!) extreme sports.  Crazy fun.  I fell asleep on the way home.

Sunday we went for a morning walk, greeted at the front door by a deer.  In the afternoon Mormor put together a picnic, Grandpa W packed up the dogs, and we met the Ts at Ridgway Park for bike riding, climbing, spinning, sliding, and a walk to the river for rock throwing.  Sam was not happy when it was time to go, as illustrated in the progression of the “I Don’t Want to Leave” fit.

Monday we drove down to Montrose to play with the Ts again.  Sam is wild about his cousins.  We spent a hot day outside in the pool, playing on the swingset, making snowcones, throwing water balloons, and squirt gun fighting.  Erik left for home, and a couple more hours later, the boys and I drove back up to Ridgway.  Owen was asleep in 4 minutes, Samuel in 10.  When we got back at 5:30, Sam cried and cried and cried when I tried to take him out of the car.  I dragged him inside, and he walked right upstairs and got into bed.  He slept until I woke him up at 7.  By then, Owen was in bed, so Sam and I had a super fun night roasting marshmallows and hanging out with Mormor and W.

Classic Owen look . . . “I don’t really know what’s going on, so I will silently clutch Mom’s shirt while I decide whether I like it or not.”

Trying to get Samuel to wave at us through the window in the pool.  This is the closest he got.

Tuesday we played in Montrose again for a few hours before finally heading home.  The boys conked out hard for the first half of the drive, and were very anxious to get out of the car the second half.  We were all happy to be home again, but holy moley did we have SUCH an awesome weekend!!