Our Walk-about in UT

I know this is late but I wanted to post some pics from UT. It was so nice to visit Zane's family for a while in April . We were able to do a lot of fun things while we were there! One night we went to a place called Jump on It. Basically, it was a huge warehouse with wall to wall gymnastic size trampolines all next to each other with the poles covered. There were even tramps leaning at 45 degree angles on the walls and platforms to jump off of. There was also a sectioned off area for little kids to jump. We were able to go the the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point, the Zoo in SLC, the Life Science Museum at BYU, and we caught a few movies while there too.

The life science Museum was so fun for the kids. They had a stuffed elephant that Ciara loved. While we were there we got to see a presentation of reptiles and Ciara got to hold a huge snake skin. She was a little scared of the live snake though and wouldn't touch that. Dalin had fun just trying to touch ANYTHING... that he wasn't supposed to. Daddy spent a long time chasing him around.

The kids and I went to the Zoo in SLC one day and had sooo much fun. I rented a wagon to pull Dalin around and ended up putting him in and out in and out in and out. Of course Ciara's favorite part was the elephants and the elephant ride on the carousel. We waited in line to ride on the carousel and by the time we got to the front both of the elephants were taken so.... of course we had to wait for the next round so we could snag on of them. We were able to stay and watch the Elephant show but it really freaked Dalin out. He was trying to climb up me and hold me as tight as possible. He kept looking over his shoulder every 10 seconds to make sure that the elephants weren't coming to get him.

We grabbed a map of the zoo as we were walking in and Dalin took a liking to it. I snapped the cutest pictures of him checking it out... I better treasure these pictures because soon he'll be to much of a man to look at a map or ask for directions.

Hmmm...

Are you sure we're in the right place

Let me check....

WE ARE IN THE RIGHT PLACE

We had a lot of fun while in UT. I miss all of the family oriented things to do in UT. Ciara had so much fun playing with her cousins and with all of the other kids in the neighborhood. It's nice to be back in our own home and have all of our own stuff but I miss being able to take the kids out and have lots of different things available to do. I missed my family while we were there and I miss Zane's family now that we are home. It's always a double edged blade isn't it?!

The Birthday Girl

My little girl isn't so little anymore. This last Tuesday, May 5th, we celebrated Ciara's 5th birthday. I can't believe she's already 5 years old. This year for her birthday she requested a unicorn cake, a pink unicorn cake. Since funds are a little low I couldn't purchase a cake so I had to get creative with the cake making. I've posted some pictures below of my creation, against my better judgement mind you, along with pictures of the birthday girl and her "loot"

putting the pieces together, it took 2 round cakes and 1 square to construct this

the finished product, the birthday girl approved

All the loot

Dalin got a little present too but he wasn't so sure about the goggles

Opening presents

We had a lot of fun at the party. We are still in UT so I think it was fun for Zane's family to be able to celebrate with us. Ciara is excited that we get to have another party in MT with Grandma Julie and my family. We opened presents and played outside till it was dark and then came in for cake and ice cream. We didn't even get through the entire birthday song before Ciara blew out the candles. And, of course, the day ended in true birthday style with a birthday melt down because our little girl was over tired (it was 11:00 at this point) and wanted to stay up and play with all her new things.

Dinosaurs Galore

Whenever we are in UT we love to go to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. I took the kids the other day and Uncle Jared went with to help chase the little ones. We had a lot of fun. The museum as several interactive areas for the kids to play in and Ciara LOVES that. It was Dalin's first visit to the museum and he was more interested in getting out of his stroller and pushing it himself than he was in looking at the dinos. One of the areas the kids can play in is a water/sand play area. The room has a circular trough at just the right height for the kids and it's filled with large granular sand, water, and plastic trees and dinos. The idea is that the kids can build damns, rivers, lakes, etc. Ciara had a blast, as always, but Dalin wasn't thrilled with the mess it created on his hands. He'd touch it then shake his hands to get it off. The other play area is at the end of the museum. It's a pretend dinosaur dig area. there are two areas that have a buried dino skeleton and there are brushes for the kids to use to dig up the bones. Of course it usually ends up that the kids bury each other instead of digging up the bones. Ciara, again, loved it but Dalin didn't like the feel of the sand. I put him in it and he just stood there and wouldn't move. He would climb in and out not sure whether he wanted to play in it or not. Below are some shots that we took while we were there.

Happy Easter... A little late

so this is a little late but we've been distracted. We left for Utah at the beginning of the month to do some work for Zane's parents and we're still here in UT. The projects have taken longer than expected, which is ok, since we weren't able to do any work in MT. We've enjoyed the time with Zane's family so much but I'm starting to wonder if Rich and Ronda are starting to get sick of us! Dalin had a fun easter. He had the coveted toy of the day. You can kind of see it in the picture. It's the two cars, they are sitting on a little track and you push a button and they shoot off. Zander, Dalin's little cousin was a little envious of that toy. Ciara, unfortunately was sick on easter and didn't even want to get out of bed to hunt for eggs. As the day wore on I became sick as well, I ached from my head to my toes, literally!

New Give-away

Head over to allthingsribbon.blogspot.com. They are having an awesome giveaway for a dress and matching bow, check it out!!

http://allthingsribbon.blogspot.com

It can be done, we have the technology

The other day Dalin was in quite a pickle. He had two binkies, one for each hand, but only one mouth. So what is a little man to do??? He did what all men do when they need help, he went to his mommy. This attests to the fact that Dalin has a big enough mouth to not only do the following but also the lung capacity to back up that mouth and voice his opinion that he wants both binkies in his mouth. We all had quite a laugh at him. He didn't start smiling till he saw Zane come at him with the Camera. He LOVES smiling for the camera! My little ham.

Eternal Blessings from a Loving Father

I was so blessed this last weekend to be able to attend Mom and George's sealing in the temple. I know that they were meant to do this together. The quickness in getting it the paperwork submitted and approved was uncharacteristically fast according to everyone involved in the process. I think Heavenly Father was just as excited to have Mom and George sealed as they were. It was amazing to sit next to mom in the sealing room just as she sat next to me when I was sealed to my love. Not many daughters get that opportunity and I will never forget it. I have said it before and I will continue to say it, if I can be even half the woman my mom it then I will be twice the woman I am now!! :) I love you mom. Thank you George for loving my mom and for taking care of her. I know I don't have to ever worry about her, even though I do anyway, because you have love and concern for her. I am grateful for everything you have done for our family. I love you as a Father and I look to you as one. Thank you.

The Big 5-0

Sorry this is a little late in coming. I promised my grandparents and aunts that I would post pictures from this. On Feb. 5th mom turned the big 5-0. We celebrated a few days later at Fuddruckers. It was a lot of fun! I've posted a slide show of pictures from the party and also the scrapbook pages I did with the photos that were sent to me. Thanks again for those that sent them to me. I had so much fun looking through them and reading the stories you sent. Chantile made a great memory book with the stories, it turned out great, she is sooo talented!!

Best Twilight Parody

Okay, for anyone that has seen the Twilight movie I had to post this. I LOVED it. I think you will too. Darci, I thought of you when I was watching this. Some of the scenes, especially the baseball scenes could almost pass for the real movie. Hope you enjoy, I did!!

Happy Valentine's day to you all. I'm very blessed to spend my day with my Valentine's. I won't be at a fancy restaraunt dressed to the nines or strolling on a sunset beach with my handsom husband. Most likely I'll be mopping oatmeal off the floor and washing it out of my hair after breakfast, followed by pulling Dalin off of the chairs and table more than a dozen times, all while answering Ciara over and over, "I don't know how I'm going to do your hair today, I'm a little busy right now." Then there's lunch, trying to get Dalin to eat something instead of spitting it out, telling Ciara that she has to eat all of her bites because she asked for all of the food, asking Zane, "what do you want to do today...I don't know... what do you want to do?" NAP TIME, for Dalin, running errands most likely, cleaning, washing, changing diapers, playing dress up or Barbie's, debating with my 4 year old as to whether I can do a particular hair style or not. What to make for dinner? "Are there any treats after dinner," asks Ciara, dishes, PJ's, bedtime books, scriptures and prayers... (rinse and repeat the next day) BUT through all of that there will be more kisses that I can count, for and from the kids. Thank yous and I love yous that tell me they care. Happy giggles and smiles that melt my heart. Little squeezes from my little ones, loving looks for my love, stolen kisses with Zane in between the everday craziness that is our life and little moments with my family that make me stop and realize that the reward FAR outways the hard work. I live by the motto I've only heard from my mother-in-law, but it should be everywhere!!

LOVE IS NEVER DIVIDED, ALWAYS MULTIPLIED.

Another Copy Cat Hair Do...

If I could put my talent of being able to copy scrapbooking layouts and hairstyles to good use maybe I could make some money... but alas, I can't think of a way to do that. hahaha anyway, here's another hairstyle I fould from someone else's blog. I actually took two different styles and combined them. The pics aren't that great but hopefully you get the idea. I don't think I'll be doing Ciara's hair fancy like this anymore. I didn't do the exact hairstyle she wanted so she pouted for quite a while after I was done. Needless to say I'm less than happy with her attitude. So, here are the pics.

Cute Hair idea

For anyone with a little girl I found the greatest blogs. One of them is a lady that is so hair creative it makes my teeth hurt. I happened upon it and Ciara and I have been having fun trying out the styles. Below are some pictures of one of the styles we tried. The other is a blog and link to an online store called all things ribbon. They sell hair THE CUTES "pretty pretties," as we call them in our house, and they are starting to sell GORGEOUS little dresses as well. Anyway, here are the links and the pictures. P.S. head over to all things ribbon and sign up for a giveaway for a hair bow and a dress. Let them know I sent ya!!

http://allthingsribbon.blogspot.com/

http://hair4myprincess.blogspot.com/

My Celebrity Look-a-likes

Zane and I had fun messing around with this. You can go to myheritage.com and try it out for yourself

A little bit of bragging... On Zane's behalf

I just have to brag on my amazing husband. He's been building a car in his spare time, yes you read that right, building a car. Not a kit car or a rebuild of a standing car. He's building a car from the ground up. While I'm not especially pleased that I usually find my car out in the snow and the cold in the mornings I am very proud of his ingenuity! He constantly amazes me at his ability to teach himself what he needs to know to accomplish a task once he sets his mind to it. He comes home at night, has dinner, helps me clean up, plays with the kids, and helps me put them to bed. He spends time with me and then sets out to the garage till one or two in the morning and then gets up and does it all over again the next day. I've posted some pictures of the progress so far. It's not as far along as he would like. He was feeling a little bad that he was making me a garage widow so we read the 3rd book in the Inheritance Cycle together and just recently finished it... so he's back to the garage, where he is now, even as I type. Anyway, here are the pics of his "baby".

The Donor Car


The work Table (which he built himself)

The "heart" of the beast

Drawing up the specs on the wood model

Machining a part on the CNC he built

the cheesy seat is just for sizing till he builds the one he wants

Where it is so far... I'll keep you posted as it takes shape

Totally Bored...with my look, haha

So, I'm totally bored with my look so I was messing around on the Internet and found a few sites that let you download an image and do a makeover... so which do you like? Dark or light, bangs up front or to the side. The first one let you change your makeup as well so that's why my face looks different. Hehehe, I had fun messing around with these.