Spring Break 2009

This year for spring break were deciding on a week in the mountains skiing or a drive to Utah to visit friends and family... Since we live close to family at this time, we decided we should take advantage of no airfair (a savings of $1000s) and head to Utah.

I will highlight some of our favorite times in Utah... Making butter the old fashion way. Cream in a jar and shake shake shake!
Chandler and the girls found a short cut, bounce while shaking.
The butter turned out very creamy. We used it on our rolls for dinner.
Another favorite is Dinner at Moms house! Sunday dinner is always a feast. JP is preparing the best GARLIC BREAD in the world. He mixes all sorts of cheeses, butter, garlic, and other yummy stuff to spread on top of the bread. YUM.
The kitchen at moms house is always bustling before a big meal. This family always puts together a home made meal that satisfies (including 10 homemade pies for desert! I'll take a piece of the lemon and chocolate please!)
The guys patiently await the big meal. They realize there is no room in the kitchen, so they will just wait.
No trip to Utah is complete without a stop at JW's for lunch and a large MALT or SHAKE! The kids always have big eyes and would like to order their own, but, we have experience and we KNOW you can't finish your own. Yummy.

After lunch we head to "Jump on It". This place has endless trampolines next to eachother and along the walls for lots of fun and bouncing. Chandler rented a wake-board type foam thing for extra fun and tricks.
McKinnon jumping away. We jumped for about two hours and then our time was up. A trip to Utah wouldn't be the same without at least one trip to Jump on It.






We were very lucky this trip to visit at the same time my sister Kris and her family were visiting from Boise, ID. Love the cousin time! We hung out most of our days with this amazing family and anyone else that could join us and we loved every minute of it.

We found this particularly BRIGHT exhibit at the BYU Museum of art. We weren't really suppose to take photos, but, who can resist??? We also visited the "I spy" exhibit by Walter Wick which was a lot of fun and then followed up with a Scavenger Hunt at Walmart. FUN times!

We also spent some time with the Jex family (Blaine and Raquel Steve's sister). We met them bowling...have I mentioned I dislike bowling? It hurts my thumb and I'm NOT good at it. My game is soooo random - I might have a strike followed by a stream of gutter balls - I really have no idea what I'm doing. Ya, Ya, Ya, aim for the arrows...
Followed by our amazing game of bowling, we headed over to our favorite place "The Pizza Factory". Blaine is an owner of the place so we get star treatment whenever we are there. Must have: Cinnamon and sugar Twist breadsticks served with sweet whipping cream to dip - ohhh heaven.

After we were stuffed with Pizza we headed over to the Jex's home for birthday cake and a few crazy photo's. Happy birthday Raquel.




The most anticipated day of the trip was the day we would go to Boondocks (a family fun center sort of place). We bought the kids day passes (and some adults purchased them as well - who can pass up laser tag?) which included unlimited games/sessions of laser tag, bumper boats (oh cold!), miniature golf and two tracks of go carts. I think for some kids this spells "H-e-a-v-e-n" being able to run from bumper car track to the next bumper car track without having to ask mom or be limited as to how many times they can do it.



We were lucky the sun came out for most of the day and it was pleasant enough outside to do all the outside things - even the bumper boats. We arrived shortly after the place opened around 11 am and left just before 6 pm. Of course the kids could have gone on for several more hours, but it was time to move on to the next thing. I can say that we left boondocks better bumper car drivers and better laser tag strategists and players, but, not necessarily better golfers (but that would have been a nice bonus). We loved boondocks with the cousins!

After a fun day at Boondocks we headed over to Aly's house for a gathering to meet Sweet baby Max. Quick History... Ashlee is the birth mother of Max - almost one year old. Ashlee and sometimes the family shares events with the adoptive parents of Max (it was an open adoption - very cool). We met for dinner and hanging out time with Max and his parents Jared and Amanda - amazing people.


Ashlee and Max

Mom and the brothers and sisters all gathered for a quick photo before going our separate ways after a long day of fun.

We love our family!

Middle School Basketball

Chandler was thrilled to make the Middle School basketball team this year.  He loves all things "sports" in his life, so this was yet another thing to add to the plate.  

He was actually the second shortest kid on the team...  I never thought Chandler to be a small kid, but I guess when you are comparing him to "basketball types" he ends up on the shorter end of things.  

What Chandler doesn't have in height, he definitely makes up for in will. He will certainly take on any of the opposing players and make sure he gets his share of elbowing and pushing around.

This game makes me, as a mother, very nervous - but, such is my role in life.

Happy March!

Happy St. Patricks Day...

I had high hopes of making this day a very "Green Day".  I was going to surprise the kids at breakfast with green milk, green eggs, and green pancakes.  I had green paper products, the hats and necklaces (as shown in the picture) and green hair paint to make the holiday even more festive.  So, how did it all work out?

On the morning of 3/17, it was just another morning as we were eating breakfast in the kitchen and general conversation rolled around to getting dressed.  As Bella was leaving the kitchen to dress for the day, McKinnon informed her that it was St. Patricks day  and she should wear something green!!!!  OOOOHHHHH MY !!! I blew it.  I totally forgot today was the day!  How could I have forgotten such a monumental holiday?  Well, I just did (I guess it isn't really that monumental after all).  I calmly retrieved my stash of goods and we proceeded with "greenifying" ourselves for the big day - no one wants to get pinched after all!