November 2015

2016-04-23T12:04:00.001-06:00

Easton turned seven! We had a fun Cook party.

Easton came away with some awesome magformers, a basketball, and a cool water bottle from Cal.

On his actual birthday he woke up early as usual and snuck a pack of Oreos for a birthday breakfast. He's a smart boy!

Finley and I waiting for an email from Aunt Cass!

The train obsession continues!

Easton got to choose a "one friend" activity for his birthday this year. Tyson took him and Bowen to chick-fil-a and then to Dartside for Nerf gun wars. They had a blast!

Fin climbed up and burned his hand on a hot stove burner. He wouldn't use it for several days and it was so sad!

We have so many pictures of Finley and I in the dark. We would send them to Tyson at work when he would ask if the kids went to bed alright.

Callan had an etiquette lunch at school. He wore his favorite red pants. And brought home a special plastic goblet.

Trip to the dentist! Of course Callan had cavities!

Aunt Cass came home! It was so fun to see her from the airport!

We had such a busy weekend with Cassidy's homecoming and everything. Tyson was so sleep deprived but he was a champ making it to all the family events. He finally had some time to at home and he made Fin so happy just sitting on the couch with him and letting him play his iPad. He's a great dad!

Easton's school pictures for first grade were so expensive this year! I was cheap and took a picture of the proof! He's a cutie!

Fin turned two! He had an elk birthday party. We went to WinCo to get some snacks for the party and he spent the entire time kicking and screaming on the grocery store floor. He was a true terrible two!

He got a motorcycle, and elk, a moose backpack, paw patrol pajamas, and a nativity set. Lucky boy!

Walmart started doing online groceries. You order online and pick it up outside the door. So great for moms with wild kids!

The boys made some cute Thanksgiving things at school!

We got out our Christmas things right before Thanksgiving and Fin loved Frosty!

We spent Thanksgiving in Payson. We had a great dinner and then Arlene and I went to do our pre Black Friday shopping at Walmart.

We took some family pictures for Christmas cards.

We stayed at Amanda's house that weekend so we could be there for Hayden and Crystal's sealing. It was a beautiful day!

October 2015

2016-04-23T11:18:00.003-06:00

Tyson and Steve took their trip to Canada to visit Seth and fly fish.

Grandma and Grandpa Cook celebrated their 30th anniversary back East. They brought back an ear of popcorn for the boys. They loved it!

We got Fin's "elk" costume in the mail and had to try it on! This is the only time he actually ended up wearing it.

We went to a pumpkin patch by Station Park for FHE one night. There were so many mosquitos it was unreal! The boys had fun in the hay maze and cut their own pumpkins off the vines.

Fin decided not to sit in his high chair anymore so we traded tables with Kelsey. She took the one with four chairs and I got my mom's old tile topped table. It used to have white tile on top with pink flowers and blue bows so I decided to lay some planks over the top of it for a farmhouse look. I think it turned out great. When we got the chairs, Fin went around screaming for days about the "ghosts!" Took me a while to figure out the resemblance between the chair backs and a scream mask.

I told Cassidy I would finish the Book of Mormon before the end of the year so I got in a great habit of reading with a snack right when I got Fin down for a nap. At the first of the year I got out of that habit and need to get back!

My friend Cami came to visit from Texas! We went to the Air Force Museum, had a picnic, and let the kids play.

Tyson enjoyed the parsnips we grew. I think they smell like pine trees.

Pom Pom Hair

We babysit our friend JoCee on Mondays before preschool. I finally had someone to play with my ugly dolls!

Pajama Day

The young men in the ward went around the neighborhood practicing giving missionary discussions. They came and taught the kids a short lesson about the sacrament. They told them how special passing the sacrament is and bore their testimonies of how they can feel the spirit whenever they do. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen!

Jeremiah, Breck, and Ty

Fin, Easton, and Bowen

Apparently this is how I look when I brush my teeth.

Easton had an emergency evacuation drill at school. They walked from the school to the church and each parent had to come and sign their kids out. I was impressed with how well it was run but it was also kind of scary to think we have to have those plans in place!

We had such a fun Payson day! We started at Jakers in Springville with cousins.

They loved the corn pit!

Then we headed to Payson to see Hotel Transylvania 2

We went to a Weber State Football game. Callan wanted to know why all of the "Y"s looked like "W"s . And they were passing around pink gloves for breast cancer awareness. But the kids kept blowing them up and they looked like udders. Udders for breast cancer!

We ended up leaving at half time when the kids were getting restless. We went to McDonalds for sundaes and headed home.

Callan and Fin got croup. Surprise surprise.

I converted a coffee table into a lego table and painted it with leftover chalkboard paint. My sisters and mom and I painted a bedroom set for Cassidy so we had lots of leftovers.

We carved pumpkins about a week before Halloween. Everyone was sick. Callan and Fin were getting over croup still and Easton had thrown up that day. We hoped everyone would be better in time for Halloween!

Easton played Junior Jazz. He was placed on a team with some kids in our ward and Jackson Hennefer was his coach. He progressed so much over the season! His coach really helped him gain some confidence and gave him lots of opportunities with the ball.

Mac and Cheese

Fin always wanted to wear this bucket on his head and went around calling it his football helmet.

Halloween party at teacher Vicki's. Drew and Callan are on the left.

Halloween parade at Easton's school. He was so cute!

Tyson and I went to Garth Brooks and it was amazing! We had so much fun! We had a little ticket confusion and ended up with two extras. My cousin Andrea and her husband came with us so it was perfect. We stayed at a hotel downtown and the kids slept at grandma and grandpas.

We went to free pancake day at Ihop.

One patient dad mowing the lawn at two year old speed!

Halloween was perfect. Everyone was all better from their sicknesses and the costumes were easy and fun. They were at such great ages. Fin figured out the "trick or treat" game quickly and loved it. He also figured out that if he just bit through and sucked on the wrappers long enough he could eventually get the candy. Easton and Callan figured out that the faster they ran from house to house the more candy they would get. And when they were all done we came home, ate candy, and were in bed by 8! Perfect Halloween!

September 2015

2016-04-22T23:44:00.002-06:00

One last swimming trip of the summer! We had to hurry and use a Groupon to the North Ogden Aquatic Center. Fin was obsessed with the slide and would not stop yelling, "Mo Slide! Mo Slide!"

We went to Onion Days on Labor Day and had a blast as usual! The boys all got some kind of souvenir gun or sword and had so much fun riding the rides and playing with cousins.

Barbecue at Old Grama and Grampa's

Easton, Ryan, Callan, and Josh

Callan and Avery

Cutest little Carnies I've ever seen!

Grandpa took the boys out to the field and taught them how to dig up potatoes.

Fin fell asleep with his gun. It was a long day!

Time for Callan's back to school date. He didn't need anything but underwear which he said was "so gross we shouldn't even be talking about it!" He didn't find any he liked and we decided to go home and order some on Amazon because that way he could also get a box to play with. He also chose McDonalds!

First day of preschool!

The Attic Schoolhouse with Teacher Vickie

We went to the Sandy Healing Field for September 11th. The highlight was seeing the opposing team's marching band from the BYU game practicing in the parking lot.

I was so excited it was a little chilly one day so the boys could wear their snuggly sweats!

Cute boys with their morning chocolate milk

For the grandparent sleepover Tyson and I went on a hike to Cecret Lake. The road was closed to the trailhead so it ended up being a 6 mile hike! The way down was freezing cold but it was beautiful and some good exercise.

The boys got to go to an Alta football game with new t shirts

The next morning we got to go to a session at the Bountiful temple and do some family names.

Later in the month we decided to go for another hike to Causey Reservoir to see the salmon run. We were babysitting Max while Steve and Arlene were on their cruise. He did pretty well on the hike. The leaves were beautiful. We forgot the baby carrier so we had to take turns carrying him and he always wanted to walk.

Easton had his school carnival so we all went and rode the train and played games.

I grew the cutest pumpkins and gourds this year!

Fin had a looooong obsession with his train tracks. We heard nothing but "I play trains" "play trains with me!" for weeks!

One night we were having a rough time. The boys were being so naughty and we yelled at them all to get in their beds and go to sleep! Fin went and kneeled down for prayers and it was such a tender mercy. I felt like I must be doing something right I guess.

We went to scan some of my mom and dad's old pictures at the BYU genealogy library. Kelsey and JD took the kids to the Bean Museum and creamery while Katelin and I scanned.

August 2015

2016-04-22T22:57:00.002-06:00

Tyson continued pickling throughout the season. He made lots of jalapeño pickles and beans. The boys enjoyed the plain ones better but they would still eat the "picey" ones as Fin would say.

We celebrated our 8th anniversary going to the South Weber days rodeo.

Easton and Callan tried mutton bustin for the first time and did great!! It had been a rainy week and the ground was pure mud. They were so brave!

Easton and I went on a back-to-school date. He got to pick wherever he wanted for lunch. I thought I had a pretty good chance of Cafe Rio or Zupas but he chose McDonalds! After exhausting all my efforts to try to pick somewhere else he yelled, "stop trying to convince me to go somewhere with less calories!"

Callan enjoyed an MVP hair cut at Sports Cuts complete with a shampoo and hot towel treatment!

We went to the Davis county fair with our friends the Behles. It was SO unbelievably hot!! We were melting! The kids enjoyed the farm animals and the tiger, elephant, and snake shows.

We went swimming at Classic Waterpark for FHE one night. We had a really rough August! The kids fought like crazy and I was so ready for them to go back to school! We tried to get out of the house as often as possible so we didn't end up angry and crazy.

Callan is the kid that always falls asleep in the car!

Fin took one of the legs off an Ikea stool and did some elk bugling.

More veggie pics from our garden!

Always wrestling

We took an awesome trip to a cabin in Kamas with the Cook family! Tyson and Trace taught us all how to fly fish.

Guess who caught the only fish!

The boys set up a chipmunk trap outside with some boxes and a rope and they sat by the door and waited to pull the string. I don't think they ever caught one, but they were sure entertained.

Saturday morning Zumba

Another round of Scotland Yard

The boys went down to a cougar club event and had a lot of fun.

Family picture on our last day. Tyson made me look pregnant by his poor hand placement.

Finally Easton started first grade with Mrs. Toomey! He loves it! And I love it also. He thrives on structure and does so well.

He likes pears, orange, playing with friends, catching creatures. He is a good friend with brown hair and brown eyes.

Callan and Drew really enjoyed having the big kids at school again. They started to really use their creative minds without being bossed around by the big kids.

We went swimming with the Byers for Billy's work party. We had so much fun!

These kids are the best of friends!

Everyone LOVED the slide!

Fin climbed up on a stool and grabbed a knife while Tyson was making guacamole one night. It was so sad! He wanted to watch movies on the computer all night to make him happy.

July Part 2

2015-11-20T15:50:00.002-07:00

Tyson took the boys to a Jazz game with JD, Trace, and Grandpa. They had fun but had to leave early because Easton was complaining about his neck hurting so bad and being dizzy. We found out several days later (after sending him to both school and church) that he had strep. Oops.

Fin wasn't feeling well either. I think he probably had strep as well, but the doctor said when I called that babies can't get strep until they're two. (Like it's some kind of germ discerning age. Psh) Oh well. We got a lot of snuggle time.

We got to got to Lagoon again for Grandpa Page's work party this time! The boys had a blast with their cousins! Of course Grandma got them Dippin' Dots and Callan opted for a Coke!

The end of July things started getting really rough with the boys! They were tired of each other and tired of me! I could not wait for school to start! Easton especially was throwing frequent tantrums and I felt like everybody was yelling at each other all the time. It was not fun. One night I was telling Tyson some terrible story I heard on the news and Easton overheard. He didn't want to sleep alone and I found him snuggled up to Cal in my bed. I decided they really did like each other after all and that somehow we'd make it through the rest of the summer!

Tyson spent some time out at Antelope Island looking for deer.

Bath Boys!

Banana Boy!

When a tantrum wears you out...

We went to the Spanish Fork Fiesta Days rodeo. It was lots of fun! We spent most of the time trying to chase Fin around. He wasn't in the mood for sitting still.

Then we went camping up Payson canyon with the Porters. We tend to only go camping every couple years on Pioneer weekend always with them. They're the perfect camping buddies! The Gordons and Hardings came to join us for the campfire. It was a good time! The boys played in dirt, shot cans, and even exploded a full can of beer they had found by throwing it in the fire.

The garden really took off and we had lots of pretty veggies! I wish I could say they were tasty! Well I never tried any, but they sure were pretty!

Tyson started pickling with Grama Manning's pickle recipe. He would do a batch when he got home from work at 7:30 in the morning before he went to bed. He has the funniest hobbies. And how cute is this hand written recipe?

We sold our beloved Jeep in July. Four months later I'm still not sure how I feel about it! We just had to keep taking it in for repairs and thought it was time to get some additional seating for carpools and such. But I really miss that old Jeep!

Here's our new Acadia. I've wanted one for I don't know how long. It's nice to have a third row and separate the kids little bit. There are definitely a lot of upgrades. Sometimes though I think it was easier having the kids all where I could reach them!

We celebrated DQ Miracle Treat Day with Blizzards!

And we ended July the same way we started - in Idaho! We went up for Deryk's baptism and got to spend some time at Birchcreek. When we got there we sat down for lunch and Callan started screaming that he was so dizzy so I thought he was going to pass out. I picked him up cradling him like a baby and took him inside the cabin where he started puking straight up Old Faithful style with everything landing back on his face. It was seriously in every crevice you could imagine! Nightmare! We washed off in the spigot and changed clothes and he was fine. Hopefully he was just carsick. Now I know next time he's "dizzy" not to lay him back!

The boys caught grasshoppers all day!

We rode four wheelers

and collected sticks.

Deryk's baptism was great. We love our Idaho family!

Zoo Sleepover

2015-11-20T15:13:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa took the kids to the zoo for their July sleepover. I think they must be crazy because it was melting hot! But the kids definitely had fun!

Reading books before bed

Typical Easton at this age - really wanting to listen to the book but not wanting to act like he cares. #teenagerproblems

July Part 1

2015-11-20T15:05:00.001-07:00

We started July with a little Idaho family reunion. We spent the first day at the Snake River canoeing and playing. JD and Easton climbed some trees. Fin would have stayed on a canoe all day.

Snake River Sistas

Then we went to the Allen's for movie night. We watched Rio in the backyard with treats. Fin looooved the swing!

Franks!

Fin and Uncle JD got a good nap in before we hit the road for home!

We made it home in time to watch fireworks for the 4th of July. We had quite the display out our back windows. We started out outside, but found the boys could see them just great from the big comfy chair!

I brought the ladder inside one day to clean the fans and found Fin at the top! He's a wild child!

We had a fun bbq with our friends the Hjorths. Tyson was switching from nights to days and couldn't sleep the night before so he woke up at 2 AM and decided to drive to Strawberry and catch some crawdads for the bbq. He brought home a bucket full and the kids (and I) were so sad when it was time to cook them! Not to mention grossed out...

After the bbq Neil took us for a tour of the South Weber fire station.

It was fun to see the garden start to grow in the beginning of July!

We took some pictures of Jack Jack. His cottage cheese bum is to die for!

One day we came home to find our garage and driveway had been painted. My neighbor was outside so I went to ask her if she had seen any kids do it and she said no, but at that same time realized her son had come home with painted hands earlier and she hadn't connected the two. You could say he was caught red handed! ;) She was mortified and they came over and we all scrubbed for an hour until it was as good as new! Good times! :) I guess that's what I get for leaving the acrylic paint in the garage! And this wasn't the only time it happened... After this incident Callan tried it out once. And after that Easton and Bo decided to make paint bombs out of paint and zip locks and throw them across the driveway. Ugh! I recently threw away ALL the acrylic paint so it will not be a temptation anymore!

June

2015-09-15T00:01:00.003-06:00

Celebrating summer with our favorite snack - fruit! I went a little crazy at Costco!

Easton caught his first snake! His good friend Bowen is always catching snakes, but Easton is a little nervous around them! He said he caught this without touching it.

The last day of school was June 4th. Easton had a great year, but he was sure excited for summer!

Easton and Mrs. Spencer

We celebrated the last day of school with shaved ice from Hokulia.

June 5th was National Donut Day! I'll take any excuse to get donuts! We went to Krispy Kreme to get a free one, but the line was insane! So it was grocery store donuts and a stop at the park for us!

This is what Tyson calls "Fin's perch." Every time Tyson comes home he finds Fin perched up on the kitchen table. For a long time I bungeed all the chairs together so he couldn't get up, but the second someone leaves a bungee off he's right up there getting into trouble!

The boys didn't waste any time having a summer swim party. We filled up the pool early in the morning so it would heat up in the sun. It started sprinkling rain while they were swimming but they thought they were in a hot tub! They had the twins from next door and Drew - time for a bigger pool!

I do not remember the circumstances of this picture. Just another sleeping boys in the Jeep pic!

Callan slept in! He's my one child who values sleep!

6/12/15 Finners loves stealing chocolate from every possible stash! He always gets away with it because he's so cute!

6/14/15 These two colored each other with sidewalk chalk!

And these two boys enjoyed a rack of ribs! Easton loved eating such a manly meal. He said, "man I'm getting full, but I'm gonna go for it!" Callan had to eat dinner in his bed that night after being naughty. When I brought him his dinner I said, "Eat your dinner please. Mommy's in a bad mood." Callan smiled and said, "Well do you know what? I'm happy cuz Jesus wants us to be happy and that means he wants you to be happy, too mom." He must have really been listening in Sunbeams!

The boys took a couple swimming lessons with the Byers and Westbroeks at a pool in the stake. Easton and Callan did so well! They loved it. They learned to kick on the paddle board and "monkey over" on the wall. Unfortunately the other little boys hated it! They were all freezing cold so we didn't do anymore lessons. It was fun while it lasted!

6/15/15 I took Fin to Walmart which is usually a nightmare, but I picked up a mirror to practice zumba with and he spent the whole trip kissing himself in it!

We thought it would be a fun idea to set up the tent for FHE and have an overnighter in the backyard. As soon as we started the lesson a big storm started with crazy lightning. We brought the air mattresses inside and let the boys sleep on them. The tent started blowing away around 11 PM and Tyson and I had to hurry and take it down.

Tyson loves to cook. Not sure if I've blogged about this before, but he makes all kinds of gourmet meals. Here he is making home made egg rolls for dinner with fried rice. I love it when I don't have to cook dinner! (Even if I do have to clean up his extensive messes ;)

The boys and I got to go to Lagoon Day with Grandpa Cook's work. We had a blast! Fin loved the helicopter and basically every ride he could possibly go on.

We all went on the Log Flume and got pretty wet!

Callan was so excited to go on Rattlesnake Rapids all day, but he had no idea what it was or what he was in for! He soon found out and got drenched! Luckily the boys wore their swim suits and I brought them extra shirts. Callan was not thrilled about getting wet but once he changed his shirt it was alright.

His favorite ride was Red Rock Ralley. He enjoyed going on all the little rides while Easton and Grandpa hit the coasters.

Fin and I chased them with the stroller while they rode the sky ride. We also went on the ferris wheel which Callan was terrified of, but he was brave!

Waiting in line for the carousel.

For some reason Fin hated the carousel! It's not my favorite either!

6/20/15 We got to watch the South Weber fire fighters put out a planned house fire. We thought it was pretty cool! Our friend Neil is a volunteer firefighter so it was fun to see them practice.

Fin had a bad run of the runs and got a terrible diaper rash. It was so sad! He just tip toed around and wouldn't sit down. Seems like he has this problem a lot and I think it has to do with his molars coming in.

Tyson came to church with us for Father's Day to hear the boys sing to him. He was so tired! He snuck out after they sang and slept the rest of the day before work.

The boys and I went to the Cooks to celebrate with my fam.

Fin on his perch again.

These neighborhood cuties spent hours in the blazing sun trying to catch a mouse in our window well. There were at least 10-12 boys. It's so fun having a neighborhood of kids that can run around together. Well, I should say it was fun for about a month! :)

They ended up having to wait for Tyson to wake up and catch the mouse and then they lost it at another kid's house. Unfortunately it found it's way home in later months!

I asked Tyson to take the kids to the "arts in the park" program one day for a fun summer activity. He said it was so awkward that they left and went bowling.

We spent a day with our Payson fam and tried out the new Wayne Bartholomew family park in Springville. The boys had a great time with cousins!

6/26/15 I read on the news that Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus would be visible so I let Easton stay up late to find them. We never found Saturn, but we had a good time finding the others.

The garden started to take off little by little.

In our ward we have "walk abouts" every so often where two or three homes in the ward have treats in their yard and you just walk around the neighborhood chatting with everyone. I made some treats for our neighbor who was hosting and they didn't turn out well enough to serve, but I'm pretty sure Easton and I ate the whole pan.

We stayed at the walk about way too late and the next day the boys were so cranky! Every one was crying about everything. Callan was even crying that I cleaned the toilet without him. I decided everyone had to have a nap and was completely shocked that they all fell asleep! Miracle!

6/29/15 We went to Cold Springs Trout Farm for FHE one night. The boys had so much fun catching fish. They didn't even need bate. Callan would not touch a fish! Fin was all over it. I can't believe he didn't jump in the lake. He put up a good fight for the pole every time he didn't have it. It was a great time!

Miscellaneous May

2015-07-13T09:02:00.001-06:00

We went on a date with Kelsey and JD to Sapa in SLC. Tyson and JD shared a bunch of sushi rolls while Kelsey and I shared the teriyaki chicken. Then we had Sweetaly Gelato and Ruby Snap cookies!

The boys spent some time at the ranch with Casey, Ace, and Van while Kristi and I were at Savannah's baby shower.

Fin learned this awesome trick. A+ mothering going on right here.

We went out to lunch with Kelsey and Jack Jack and Kristen and cute Hudson! I miss my Stone Drug friends so much!!

We went to (and survived) stake conference. It was at the Ogden Tabernacle right next to the temple. The boys and I spent almost the entire two hours walking around the temple grounds looking at slugs and worms in a rain shower. Hopefully dad learned something!

A #reallife lazy morning watching cartoons. I do not remember posing for this picture with all my chins showing.

We pulled out our Living Scriptures VHS tapes and the boys have been loving them on Sundays. I got a kick out of watching Easton try to figure out how to put it in the VCR!

For Memorial Day we had Franks and hiked the Quarry Trail with the Cooks and Grahams.

Wore the kids right out! (How many pics do I have like this? It must make me happy to see them all asleep!)

The sandpit flooded during the monsoon rains we had in May. The boys had a blast playing with all our neighbors!

I got a Miracle Band to support CMN Hospitals like Primary Children's.

The face of a boy who slept in until nine!!!!! It's a rare occurrence!

Preschool Graduation

2015-07-12T23:35:00.001-06:00

Callan graduated from Miss Julie's Preschool on May 19th! The week of graduation was basically a monsoon. About a half hour before it was supposed to start it started haling and the graduation was quickly moved from the park into the church.

Callan was so proud to sing his songs. He had been practicing them for months and teaching them to his brothers. I'm surprised he could pay attention long enough to learn one song, let alone 4! Here are some of his songs:

"Mary had a little jam, little jam, little jam. Mary had a little jam, she spread it on a waffle. If she hadn't eaten 10, eaten 10, eaten 10, if she hadn't eaten 10 she wouldn't feel so awful."

"Row row row your boat gently down the lake. Don't stand up and rock the boat. That's a big mistake!"

"Jack was nimble. Jack was quick. Jack jumped over the candlestick. Jack kept jumping much to close. And now his pants smell like burnt toast!" (said with nose plugged :)

Easton was being such a stinker! We all went down like dominos after the picture cuz he knocked us over! I have no idea why he wore pajamas to the graduation. Must have been a rough day!

Callan's bestie, Creighton Hjorth. Their dad's work together at the pharmacy and we're so glad they happened to be in the same class!

Miss Julie was so great and Cal absolutely loved her! We're so proud of Cal and the way he is learning and growing so fast!

Mother's Day

2015-07-12T23:22:00.000-06:00

It was a great Mother's Day! Tyson was worked the night before, but came home with these questionnaires to have the boys fill out in the morning. I'm not gonna lie - probably the most sentimental thing he's done in 8 years. I loved it.

Those two are sure confused about my thoughts on running! My little Fin called me Nonny for about 8 months. He just figured out how to say "mommy" in the last couple weeks and I'm sad! I loved being his nonny!

Ty went to bed and the boys and I went to church. They did a great job singing to me in sacrament meeting.

After church we woke up dad and went to the Cooks'. We got to Skype with Tia Cass! She looked beautiful and so happy. Since Mother's Day the time has flown by! She will be home so soon and we can't wait!

We are so blessed with this mother of ours! We missed Kate who was in Hawaii! And of course Cassidy!

We hung out for a while. Fin and Grandpa put on a concert. (You can see his blonde spot really well in this pic!)

We also discovered Easton's double jointedness. He thought it was pretty cool!

I've gotta say, I think I have the cutest kids! I've had difficult Mother's Days in the past when I didn't feel like I was doing enough well enough. This year I just felt so much love for my sweet boys! I just love where we're at in this stage of life and I feel so blessed to be their mom!

PS While looking through scrapbooks to find pictures of us with our mothers I came across this note from Tyson to Arlene. I think it's just the sweetest! Things that are important: shopping a lot, having neat clothes, having school lunch, and going to spring lake. This boy had it made!

St. George

2015-07-12T22:20:00.001-06:00

We had SO much fun at our Page Family Vacation in St. George! We were counting down the days cuz we needed a vacation bad! We rented a town home outside of Sand Hollow. It was beautiful and worked out perfectly for all of us! We rented a side by side and went four wheeling in the sand dunes. The boys had a blast! (PS this was also my birthday! Great way to celebrate 27!)

We played a few rounds of "Bean Boozled" and laughed so hard. Here's everyone waiting to find out if Crew gets skunk spray or black licorice. It was definitely skunk spray! The boys spent the night trying to find a place to watch the big Pacquiao/Mayweather fight.

We spent time playing at the pool and just had so much fun. Everyone had to leave Sunday to get back to work but we had some more time so we decided to stay another night.

Sunday we toured the Brigham Young home and were surprised to find our tour guides were Scott Burt, who worked with my dad, and his wife.

After that we drove around Snow Canyon and did a short hike.

Then we visited the St. George Temple before checking into our hotel.

We went from a gorgeous brand new luxury condo to an okay Best Western and Callan said that was his favorite part! He loved that the kitchen, bedroom, and tv room were one in the same! The next morning the boys swam and we went to the outlets for a little bit. I got a pedicure with my bday moolah (woohoo!) and then we headed to Zion's. We hiked the Lower Emerald Pool, Grotto Trial, and Riverside Walk. We had plans for more but everyone was so exhausted we decided to call it quits!

We rode the shuttle back, ate a quick sandwich and the boys were asleep before we hit the freeway! Sign of a successful vacation!

The next Saturday we all got together again to go through the Payson Temple open house. It was POURING rain and we waited outside for about an hour, but at least we were all there together! Later that night we found out about the new baby Page coming to Hayden and Crystal! We couldn't be more excited!

Soccer and Such

2015-05-17T22:34:00.000-06:00

We did soccer with South Weber City in April. The boys had a lot of fun. Fin might be our best soccer player! He could kick that ball all day! Callan was kind of fun to watch. He spent every game doing somersaults and "powering up" before 5 second runs. Bless his coach for being so patient. Callan cried after his first game because he thought he wouldn't get a trophy because he didn't score. After I assured him he would still get one, but there are 8 games in the season, he was fine. Easton really progressed throughout the season. After the first game when Callan was complaining that no one ever gave him the ball Easton said, "just stand outside on the edge and wait for it to get kicked out of the group." He quickly learned to "get in there" and try to get the ball. It may have had something to do with Dad offering him $5 for every goal and 25 cents for every kick. We had a couple of "rain outs" although it was really a blizzard! After having no snow all winter, snow came down mid-April so heavily that it ruined all my tulips! It was a sad day!

We got to watch Isla a little bit while the Rodgersons prepared to move into their new house!

We took a quick trip to Idaho with the Doyles to go to a baby shower for Tanner's cute baby. The cousins had so much fun playing as usual. Fin was a stinker in the car. He always is!

One night Easton came out of his room hours after he had gone to bed and said he just couldn't sleep. We tried to find something on TV and found a show about eating bugs in Cambodia. It was very fitting since he had just checked out a book at the library called "Bugalicious" about the insects people eat around the world. We were both gagging the whole time, but we learned a lot!

I love the boys' neck tans! Not even to May and they're already getting dark!

Callan had a field trip to the Dinosaur Park. Last time we went it was raining so we enjoyed it a lot more this time! Callan was so excited to be there with his best preschool friend, Creighton!

We took a little trip to City Creek to look for swimsuits for me (unsuccessfully). The boys got drenched in the fountains. We ate at the food court and played at the dinosaur playground and walked around temple square. I kinda like these cute people.

Easter in April

2015-05-17T21:51:00.003-06:00

Here we go with April! Every once in a while I find some great selfies on my phone!

4/3/15

Easter and Conference weekend coincided once again this year and I'm not a huge fan! I like them to each have their own spotlight! Conference was great as usual. The Easter bunny came to our house on Saturday morning. The boys got some candy and sidewalk chalk in their baskets and little Gumbi rabbits that they loved.

Easton has been "too hot to sleep in a shirt" lately. Also, he woke up in the night struggling to breathe. He hadn't had croup in two years and we definitely thought he was over it! We did an albuterol treatment with the nebulizer. He still struggled to breathe but made it through the night without us getting too worried. Easton recovered quickly within a couple days but the whole family spent the next week sick!

Little Fin was so confused! He thinks these holidays are so weird when we wake up and rush out to eat candy! But he approves. He got his special "duck duck" in his basket.

We had some friends over to decorate Easter eggs Saturday between conference sessions.

Sunday we celebrated Easter with the Cooks. The boys got a new kite from Grama and Grampa and got to go fly it at Sprucewood.

The day after Easter we went to the aquarium with our Langston friends! This picture basically sums it up. It was a ZOO! It was spring break down there so the aquarium was packed. Everyone was injured and crying by the time we left. But somehow it was still fun!

Fin ran up to say hi to me and ran straight into my shin. It knocked him flat and he got quite the goose egg!

Oh, also I was babysitting Isla so I had her with me for an hour or so. When Kate came to get her I left the boys at the play place with Tasha and when I came back Fin was bawling and she said another baby was kind of bullying him. When we got home and got in pjs I found that the other baby was really biting him!

Callan got lost in the aquarium several times. He just wanders off and doesn't have a care in the world. He was lost for about 20 minutes at one point, but he was so excited to tell me when I found him that he had found the shark tank! After finding him I came across Madeleine and Colette. Madeleine was on the ground crying and I told her to hurry and get up cuz she was about to get trampled by other kids! Later I found out she had a concussion from colliding into someone else and threw up the rest of the day! It was an adventure for sure!

March Madness

2015-04-05T09:42:00.002-06:00

We had such a mild winter. It pretty much turned into spring in February and then we got a surprise snow in the beginning of March. The boys were glad to finally get to use their new sled from Christmas!

We went with the Page family to see Tyson's pictures at the Bean Museum. Casey, Ace, & Van came too! His are the top ones. He didn't win anything, but we had such a good time taking the kids to the museum!

Easton celebrated Dr. Seuss's Birthday at school with a read-a-thon party. Later that week we went to the library's Dr. Seuss party where the boys listened to stories and made Horton hats.

We went tubing at Soldier Hollow! Fin wasn't allowed to tube so we thought we could take turns pulling him around at the bottom, but he was hell bent on pulling a tube up that mountain! He's the stubbornest baby!

Easton was so excited that he spotted an osprey nest. He asked if he could get out and take a picture. He probably took 100.

On the way home we stopped in Park City for new Nikes and dinner at Baja Cantina.

We got to babysit baby Jack Jack! Fin was sure to be right there in the action whenever I held Jack. He even fell asleep by him for a minute!

Oh Callan and his dinner issues. He sat at the table for over 2 hours with his soup! EVERY dinner it's, "how many bites do I have to eat til I can be done?" And every time, we say, "ALL OF IT!" Lets face it, he never eats all of it.

This is a dessert I made using only a sugar free yellow cake mix, diet Crush soda, and fat free cool whip. I think it was 150 calories and it was GOOD. I've been using My Fitness Pal for about 6 months on and off and have lost 8 pounds! My mom and sisters have joined me in the last month and it's been fun to bounce low cal ideas off each other. I post this only because it's really been a consuming part of life as of late. I run a mile every day except Sundays. I know that's not a lot, but it is for me! I haven't weighed this much (...err this little) since pre-Callan so it feels good!

Tyson won the Delta Waterfowl Foundation's monthly photo contest and got a fun prize in the mail!

I took the boys to Fashion Place Mall to see the Lego Americana Roadshow exhibit. They thought it was pretty cool!

Then we went to Grama Cook's and these boys got totally worn out! It's not Grama's unless Fin comes home with a chocolate chip mouth!

The boys paid another trip to the dentist! Easton got sealants and Callan got a filling. Tyson took them cause I hate to see Cal get fillings! Tyson said he was super brave! I about died when I saw his smile afterward!

Then a few days later it was still way swollen and kind of hard. I started to worry that it would be that way forever! I called the dentist and they said he had probably just chewed on his cheek really bad when it was numb. Sure enough it went away a couple days later.

Easton got his spring pictures done at school. I took a picture with my phone and sent the package back to school just like my mother taught me. ;)

One Friday night I told the boys they had been really slacking on their chores and they wouldn't be allowed to play at all Saturday until they were done. Saturday morning Easton was dressed and cleaning bathrooms before I was even out of bed! He's such a responsible child!

Finally found a triple seater cart in this county! I really needed one that particular day so that they could all be strapped down!

I got to go help my sick mom babysit Jackson and Isla one day. They basically slept the whole time! Tyson and the boys picked me up and we headed to Payson for the day.

Because my mom was sick, the grandkid sleepover got pushed back to a week when Tyson was working. It all worked out because Tyson woke up early and ended up coming with me to the Family History Library. I have been doing some work on my Grama Cook's line from Sweden. I have about 75 names that I've found in Ancestry that need to be transferred into Family Search. It's a little overwhelming! So I needed to look up a record and I told Tyson it would just take a second and he could just hang out. But the little old missionaries would not let Tyson go with me! They made him sit down at a computer with them and work on his own family history! He was a really good sport! Temple square was absolutely beautiful!

Since Tyson was working all night and I was kidless I decided to re-caulk the shower at about midnight. It had been getting NASTY. I am embarrassed to say I had been smelling a gross smell coming from the bathroom and thought there was something wrong with the toilet, but as I got to scraping off the old rotted caulk I realized it was the smell of mold! I about died. It has been thoroughly bleached and is so clean now.

In the morning my parents brought the kids up to me so they could peak at the work we've done in the backyard. They said, "wow someone's dad must have done a lot of work back here" and Cal said, "yep that was mine. My dad did that." They brought Jackson too so that Kelsey and JD could do some shopping at City Creek for her birthday. Jackson got to come with us to the ward Easter Egg hunt and breakfast. He was less than thrilled to be there, but he cheered up later in the day. Fin was so confused, but loved all the candy!

These boys are pro Easter egg hunters!

I decided to get these boys some Easter suits that I found on clearance at Target. And then Easter (today) ended up being on conference Sunday so they wore their suits to church a week early. They looked pretty sharp! Fin's jacket was drowning him. He'll probably be able to wear it next year, too!

We have always wanted a Kelty Kids hiking backpack since we borrowed one from a friend 5 years ago. I found one for a good deal on KSL and just decided to get it! We went for a family hike to Birdsong Trail in Ogden Canyon. It was fun and the boys love being out in nature. Tyson hiked about 3/4 of the way then hiked back down and drove to the other side to pick us up.

Tyson is working 21 days straight right now between his own shifts and picking up days for other people and other pharmacies. He's probably got about 10 days left. He's such a hard worker and we are so blessed.

February Love

2015-03-13T22:52:00.001-06:00

2/4/2015

Callan had pajama day at school and he chose his "elf man jammers!" I was hoping for a more casual sweats kind of look but these are his favorites!

2/5/2015

We got to spend time with our Payson fam. We fed the ducks at Salem Pond. Fin was absolutely in heaven!

We ate some dinner at Cafe Rio before heading home.

2/6/2015

We got to babysit baby Isla while Kate and Trace went on an anniversary date. She was such a sweetheart! Love that baby girl.

2/7/2015

Easton celebrated his 100th day of school. They had to make a poster with 100 things on it. I gave him a few ideas and he chose balloons. I was blowing them up ALL NIGHT LONG. He blew up 5. I blew up 86. That's 91. That's literally all I could do. He drew all the strings and we called it good!

That night we got to go out to dinner at Epic Casual Dining for our sibling date night. Mom and Dad gave us all gift cards for Christmas. It was fun and the food was good! Tyson says it was fantastic!

2/8/2015

Then back to Sandy for Sunday dinner. Fin is suddenly very much in love with the babies. He just wants to kiss them all the time.

2/12/2015

We got all the Valentines ready for the school parties. It was kind of a lot of work! They each took a "shooting for brownie points" Valentine to their teachers and a "You're Kool" valentine to their classmates.

Callan's party was first. I found just a little tin mailbox for him to take to preschool.

2/13/2015

Easton made his own monster Vday box. He chose an idea from Pinterest and I helped him a little. He made the hair and arms all himself.

2/14/2015

Valentines morning the boys burst into my room as usual. Easton asked me what my favorite animal was and the next thing I knew there was a Valentine on my pillow with hearts and bunnies. He's such a thoughtful boy.

Tyson had to sleep on Valentines day so I took the boys to Wheeler Farm. It was a gorgeous day for mid February! In the 60s I believe. We had lots of fun seeing the animals. Especially Fin! Then we had a picnic and played on the playground.

Love these Valentines!

2/20/2015

While Thomas and Amanda went on a cruise, Steve and Arlene brought the boys over for a sleepover! It was so much fun! These cousins love to play together! Saturday morning Tyson and Steve went fishing and then we all met at the Treehouse Museum.

Easton with his latest black eye pulling weird faces. He is a weirdo. And I like him. I keep thinking about some old family videos where I acted the exact same way.

2/20/2015

The boys got to have a double sleepover! After the cousin sleepover they got to go to the Grama and Grampa Cook sleepover the next night! Tyson and I went out to dinner and watched Captain America. They had an awesome penguin themed sleepover!

2/21/2015

When we went to pick up the boys my parents said Fin had a rough night. He was having trouble breathing and the next day he wouldn't sleep. We thought for sure he would be the first one asleep in the car but he still didn't sleep!

Before going home we went to the Bean Museum for Tyson to turn in his entries for the photography contest.

2/23/2015

After more rough nights with Fin we decided to take him to the doctor. It was a different doctor than we usually see and he wasn't very nice. But anyway he had RSV. Thumbs down. When we got home from the doctor he and I finally got a nice long nap.

2/24/2015

The next day I finally got him to fall asleep on the rocking chair. Such a sweetheart. He doesn't deserve to be sick all the time!

2/28/2015

This is him saying sorry to Grampa Cook for getting him sick too! He had a run in with my treadmill and got a scab under his nose which did not make it fun to wipe his yucky nose all week!

I don't know which one of the boys took this picture with my phone but it basically sums up the week! Fin and I stayed in PJs and played with toys every day while he slowly got better.

And that was February!

The Baby Blessings

2015-03-09T23:22:00.003-06:00

The babies were both blessed in January. Somehow they got missed in my January post. Isla Katherine Rodgerson was blessed on 1/24/15.

We didn't get a Page family picture because everyone was still sick. But we were all there.

Jackson Dan Doyle was blessed on 1/25/15.

It was such a beautiful day that day we had to take advantage of the warm weather!

January: Reclaiming Winter Break

2015-02-27T23:56:00.002-07:00

1/5/15 Tyson celebrated his 30th birthday! Old man! He has taken some really awesome pictures this winter like this wood duck from Beus Pond by our house. He is such a great dad and works so hard for us and we love him! The boys and I ordered Olive Garden to go and had it for him when he woke up that day (at 5PM).

He loves a good tiramisu!

For FHE that night I need to make some cut out figures of the boys so I told them to strike a pose and this is what I got.

1/7/15 Fin finally got to go out in the snow! Good thing, because it sure disappeared fast!

1/8/15 Naughty babies are sure hard to be mad at when they're so cute!

When everybody was finally better from all their ailments we made a list of all the fun things we wanted to do since we totally missed out on winter break with sickness! I had bought a Groupon for tubing at Soldier Hollow. We loaded everyone up one day and when we got to Park City I realized I was supposed to call and make a reservation at Soldier Hollow. They said they were full for the entire day. Luckily, Tyson had just been fishing/hunting in the area the day before and had driven past Gorgoza Park outside of Park City. We ended up there and it turned out to be perfect for what we needed! 1/9/15

1/11/15 Cute boys ready for church!

1/12/15

1/16/15 We made these cute shelves. I'm so excited about how they turned out!

1/20/15 We got to spend some time in Payson! Those boys love playing with cousins and with their Grandpa! Callan got some birthday Batman legos!

1/22/15 Fin fell asleep with Tyson on the couch. We have to cherish these snuggle moments!

1/23/15 The boys went to their first "official" sleepover at Grama and Grampa's. The sleepover was Willy Wonka themed. Callan found the golden ticket!

Callan woke up to presents at Grama's the next morning for his birthday and had birthday toast with candles. That's what he wanted!

Tyson worked Friday and Saturday at our neighbor's pharmacy in Layton. We love that he's able to do other jobs on the side with his schedule! Friday night I dropped off the kids and met Tyson. We grabbed dinner and went to Get Some Guns & Ammo to practice shooting. I did really well on the close up shots! Unfortunately there were some incidents! I pinched my skin while cocking the gun and then a hot bullet casing went right down my shirt! And of course my garments were tucked in so it just sat there burning my stomach! Crazy. We had a much needed good night's sleep!

1/24/15 We got the kids the next day and got ready for Callan's birthday party! He wanted to have a couple neighbor friends over for a t-rex party. Tyson did an awesome impromptu pin the tail on the t-rex drawing. The kids each colored their own tail. They played some fun relay races and made fossil cookies.

And we had some fun with photoshop. They boys thought it was kind of cool.

1/26/15 Tyson and Grampa Cook took the boys skiing at Alta. It was Tyson's first time too! Tyson said the boys were being so lazy! They thought it was the hardest thing they had ever done! But they did it and we were proud of them!

While they were gone I received my results from my Ancestry DNA test. I was very surprised that I didn't get more of my German ancestors' genes!

Callan had his 4 year check up. Everything was great. We talked about his terrible leg pains at night. He's been having them for 2.5 years now and at that point he was having them 3-4 nights a week. It makes me so sad when he wakes up screaming and in so much pain! I asked the doctor if we could do just a basic blood panel and make sure there wasn't something obviously off. He agreed that the frequency and duration made it very strange and wanted to look into it further. After that day the growing pains suddenly decreased drastically! They've only been about once a week ever since! I bet the doctor thinks I'm crazy! I haven't taken him in for the labs yet. I figured we'd give it a little more time now that it's not every night.

1/30 And because I can't resist a sleeping baby picture! We have had such a hard time getting Fin to bed at night. He used to go down really well, but lately he just wants to sit in the recliner with Tyson and watch a Jazz game. One night on our way home from Walmart I said to Tyson, "I have an idea. Lets put the older boys down and then you hide so Fin doesn't see you. Don't sit down and watch TV or he'll want to sit with you." From the backseat Callan yelled, "Mom! Dad can do whatever he wants! If he wants to sit down in his chair and watch TV, HE CAN!" That Callan is very protective of his daddy!

1/31/15 A miraculous picture of Collette with all her nephews and niece - everyone looking except sleeping Isla!

The Rest of the Sick December

2015-02-27T22:47:00.001-07:00

12/26/14 The boys were still a little sniffly, but wanted to play outside with their new sled. (Side note: when the sled was wrapped under the tree Easton was SURE it was a new ironing board!) Fin wanted to go outside so bad! But mom wasn't up for the cold!

The boys have spent tons of time doing artwork on their new table from Grama and Grampa Cook.

Callan. I don't know.

12/27/14 We took the kids to Newgate Mall to see "Big Hero 6." They loved it! We got there pretty early so the boys went for a ride around the mall on a koala.

Fin was TERRIBLE at the movie. I hardly got to see any of it. We planned the movie specifically around his nap time and he was soooo tired. He cried and cried unless I let him run around outside the theater. When we got home, Callan laid down on the couch and was just really lethargic. I took his temperature and realized he had a 103 degree fever! At that point I realized that Fin was also sick. I should have known by his behavior. He had a fever as well. Of course it was a Saturday night so I drove around forever searching for an instacare. I only took Cal since he'd been sick for so long. I told them it started out as what I thought was croup 10 days earlier and that he'd had a cold ever since. They did a nose swab and we found out he had Influenza A. Poor baby. Apparently the flu shot wasn't very effective this year they said. They gave us a prescription for Tamiflu. I went to Walgreens and waited over an hour with my sick baby for the incompetent technician to tell me that my insurance didn't cover it and it was $220. Lame! So after hours and hours I took him home to bed and loaded up on Motrin. When I got the kids to bed my throat and ears started KILLING me and I knew I was going down too! It was a rough couple of weeks!

Fin started out his sickness by being super loopy and wild. He was acting drunk and hilarious and oh so loving.

On a complete tangent we had a really bad wind storm and it snowed in the kitchen. You could stand at the kitchen table and feel the snow hitting you in the face! Our shower pipes froze cuz it got so cold. It was a big pain! Tyson heated up the house to 85 degrees for two days to thaw them out! Ugh!

Anyway, Callan very very slowly got better. Fin was getting worse and worse and we were up in the night with him having trouble breathing. By this point Tyson and I were extremely sick and it was so hard to take care of him! Tyson had to start another work week and I was so nervous to be stuck at home with sleeping kids if Fin needed to go to the ER.

12/30

The night of 12/30 Fin and I didn't sleep at all. I took him to the ER around midnight because he was having such a hard time breathing. I knew he needed a steroid. It took forever and ended up costing a ton. I wish I would have waited until morning and taken him to his doctor. I didn't even have a voice. I was whispering to the doctors and nurses. It wasn't fun.

Poor guy was so tired the next day he fell asleep in his high chair! This never happens!

We had lots and lots of sleepless nights! But he's just a sweetie and, after a week or two, we finally all got better!

We rang in 2015 hoping for a germ-free year!

Christmas 2014

2015-02-01T23:36:00.001-07:00

On the night of December 17, Callan started showing symptoms of croup. He was up in the night coughing and wheezing and really didn't feel well. The next morning was his preschool Christmas Party. He was so excited to go especially since he had to miss the Thanksgiving party while we were in California. (PS while we were there we ended up at an instacare with Callan who had a double ear infection!) He had his white elephant gift all wrapped and ready. When he woke up in the morning he felt great. His voice was barely there but I let him go to school! I would feel terrible if I found out that any other kids got sick, but he wanted to go so bad! He had a great time and felt ok. I made him stay on the couch for a few days and rest. The cough never went away but he's such an easy going kid that it was hard to tell if he was sick. We had the Cook family coming over for a Christmas party the following Sunday and with the new babies I needed everyone to be well!

Sunday morning began with Fin diving into his brothers' bath for the third time. You'd think I'd keep a closer eye on him after it happening so many times! It's hard because I can't shut the bathroom door to keep him out because I need to keep an eye on the ones in the bath! Ugh! There goes his Christmas outfit!

Sunday night the Cook fam came over for a pre-Christmas Eve party. We had dinner and exchanged sister gifts. We all pitched in to get my dad a Traeger. He got to open it early since Kate and Trace wouldn't be there on Christmas. And of course there were plenty of baby snuggles. But not from my family! We were still not sure if Callan was better or not.

We did the annual nativity. I can't remember what everyone was... I'm thinking Callan was a shepherd, Easton the donkey, and Fin the angel?

We joked about having two baby "Jesi" (like cactus -> cacti) but then decided Jack could be John the baptist.

The next day Callan had a school field trip. It was supposed to happen earlier in the month but had to be rescheduled during the break. We went to a trampoline place in Syracuse. Callan was still coughing and kind of moping so I wasn't sure it would be good for him, but I let them jump for an hour and they had a blast. Especially Fin! He was in heaven acting like one of the big kids.

On Christmas Eve the boys and I spent some time at the Cooks while Tyson slept. The boys decorated some cookies for Santa and helped decorate the Santa tree. We planned to see a movie but it was late and everyone was tired. We decided to just go out to dinner. The boys begged for Cafe Rio! Smart kids. After dinner we headed home for them to open their new PJs.

Christmas morning was so fun! The boys woke up at 4:30 and Tyson was right up with them! He convinced me to wake up Fin because everyone was calling me a mean mom!

Here is Easton with all his loot! He didn't know what to ask Santa for, but I think he did alright! He got the little TV for his Sega downstairs.

Callan asked Santa for red sweat pants! He's obsessed with his red clothes and only had red basketball shorts. I wouldn't let him wear them in the winter so he decided to ask Santa for pants! Pretty easy to please!

Finners has had so much fun with his lawnmower and duck and his baby animal songs have been a lifesaver!

He was ready for a nap by 8:00!

I got new pots and pans and knives! Tyson got a Kindle Fire and a box of Kansas City Steaks.

We headed to Payson and had fun opening presents and eating there. We had to be home by 8 so Tyson could go to work. We stopped in Sandy on the way home and were able to talk to Cassidy! It was so fun and she looked beautiful. I loved hearing her Spanish intonation in her English.

Tyson left early to get an hour of sleep before work since we had two cars. It was a snowy and slow drive home but the boys and I made it and everyone slept nice and sound! Another great Christmas! We are so blessed!

Back to Reality

2015-01-29T23:29:00.001-07:00

I'm so behind I can hardly remember all the details of a crazy December. It was weird to be back to reality after our week at the beach! We'll see if I can remember anything that happened!

12/3/14

Fin and Easton went for their one year and 6 year check ups with our new doctor, Dr. Stevenson.

Fin's stats:

Weight: 21 lbs 12 oz

Length: 30 in

Head Circumference: 44.8 cm

They didn't give me the paper with the percentiles on him, but everything was about average except his head was super small like his dad's!

Easton's Stats:

Weight: 47.5 lbs 59%ile

Height: 46.5 in 67%ile

Everyone was healthy and good! But that sure didn't last long!

12/6/14

Jackson and Finley dressed up for the BYU bowl game (I think...maybe it was basketball...who cares they looked really cute!) but we couldn't see each other because our family all came down with a cough!

Fin is the worst sleeper! He hates going to bed and is up so much at night! December was especially complicated because of all the sickness we had going on! I got to spend lots of late nights up with him while Tyson was at work! We sent dad pictures to keep him awake.

We came home from California excited to find that our tadpole which we had been growing since May 2nd had finally developed into a frog. I quickly transferred it to a bigger home and spent $50 ordering the next stage of frog supplies. THE DAY the shipment came we found it belly up. Easton discovered it and was heartbroken. He cried for about an hour. By the way, that's not poop, it's food. Callan fed the frog that day (quite a bit) and Easton is convinced that Callan killed it.

RIP 12/10/14

12/10/14

We went to see the lights at Temple Square. We ate at Johnny Rockets and enjoyed a walk around the beautiful temple. The boys loved it and it was a really warm night considering the season.

12/13/14 All the cousins were together for the first time.

After a quick snuggle with the babies, we headed to the Page Family Christmas party. It's always so fun to get together with family that we don't see nearly as often as we should! The cousins had a blast playing with each other and we all had a good laugh during the white elephant exchange as usual! At the end there was a surprise visit from Santa who mysteriously resembled Uncle Alan!

12/15/14

For JD's birthday we got Kelsey and him tickets to "The Forgotten Carols" and we got to watch baby Jack! Love that baby!

Ok that's half of December. We'll see if I can pull off the rest of it tomorrow!

Beach Thanksgiving

2015-01-16T23:23:00.001-07:00

We had such an awesome thanksgiving at the beach! Uncle Russ and Aunt Lori provided us with a beautiful house on the beach in San Clemente to stay in with all of the extended family. Tyson had to work until the day before thanksgiving so the boys and I traveled to CA with the Cook fam. We slept over at the Cooks Saturday night and left for CA early Sunday morning. It was the longest drive of my life! Literally. We got stuck in traffic outside of Vegas. We could see the Gold Strike hotel sign flashing "Pet Friendly, Live Craps" for 4 hours. No joke. Here we are in the light of day.

And here we are in the dark. In the same place. Fin was waving to all the people as we passed by. I think he was brightening up the situation for a lot of people! Someone actually took his picture. He even had the truck drivers smiling. Whenever we put Fin back in his seat he screamed. Non stop. For several hours of the ride. It wasn't even really cry screaming it was more like yelling. Grampa Cook got so fed up at one point he yelled back! It was frightening for all of us! :)

But when we got there it was all worth it!

Beautiful view from the family room.

This boy could live on the beach.

This boy celebrated his first birthday on the beach! Lucky baby! Every time we went outside he could not stop saying "oooooohhhhhh!"

We went to the Orange County zoo. It was great! For only $2 the boys loved it! They got to brush the goats and see a mountain lion training show. Fin threw a tantrum every time we left one animal until we got to the next.

Fin trying to escape to the beach.

Looking for shells.

We took a walk on the pier at Dana Point and got ice cream.

Fin got buried.

Tyson took a trip to see the babies before he came to join us! He sent this to me to make me jealous while I was at the beach and it worked! He picked up Kennedi and the two flew out to meet us Wednesday.

Wednesday morning before we picked them up we went to the Dana Point beach and paddle boarded. Collette and I went out and stayed sitting down. Then I took all the kids out for a ride one by one and started feeling like I could probably try standing up. So Collette and I went out again and I stood up and it was SO HARD! I could not keep my balance and I was so scared i was going to fall into the ocean! I probably stood there for 5 minutes before I was brave enough to lower myself down. Then I realized like an hour later that the reason it was so hard is because I was standing sideways on the board like a wakeboard! Duh. No wonder I couldn't balance! Someday I'll try again. Maybe next time I'll get the ab work out people claim to get. There's a pic out there somewhere but I don't have it.

On Thanksgiving morning six of us participated in the Dana Point Turkey Trot! We got a treadmill and I started training for this 5K about a month before. I started at a 15 minute mile and by the time the race came I could run 2 miles in 24 minutes and then I was so done. So the race was HARD. I never want to do it again. It was SO HOT. And we raced around the harbor so it smelled like fish! I quite prefer running my one mile a day while watching "New Girl" with a fan blowing in my face. But anyway we did it! Tyson was nice and stayed with me the whole time even though I just kept repeating over and over that I was going to die. We all finished around 45 minutes. I was very happy with that time.

All the animals came out for Thanksgiving! I was glad Tyson got to see some of them because we'd seen a lot of fun things throughout the week. Dolphins swam past the house a couple mornings.

Fin & Aunt Kennedi

All the kids were out playing and soon a friend came to grab a bite to eat...

This seal came right in between Easton and Deryk and snatched up this little shark! I don't know if I was more concerned about the seal or the shark. Or that we didn't even know they were there until they swam away.

Grandkids and great grandkids! Jasper is the youngest grandkid there and Fin is the youngest great grandkid there. And they are only three weeks apart. :)

The whole fam-damily

Christmas card pics

Tyson took kids out on the paddle board.

Friday we went to Lego Land! We had gotten Easton tickets for his birthday. It was fun! If we did it again I would do Disney. Legoland was fun but the rides were very limited! There were crazy age and height restrictions so Callan couldn't do a lot of stuff and the stuff Cal could do wasn't very appealing to Easton. Anyway they had fun. That's just my two cents.

Easton and Tyson stood in line forever for this ride!

The boys got to go snow tubing in fake snow and we posed with this Lego guy in front of the Lego Christmas tree. Is this Emmett? I don't know...

Callan and Tyson in a red helicopter. Callan's dream come true.

There aren't a lot of pictures inside the beach house but we had so much fun just relaxing and watching the cousins play. The boys loved Bingo night! They came home with tons of prizes! Everyone took turns with meals and everything was so fun! Easton could have literally stayed on the beach 24/7 and been perfectly happy.

Fin and I got to fly home. The rest of the family left early Saturday morning. Grandma, Fin, and I had flights around 5 that night so we got to spend the day at Russ and Lori's. Fin got to play in Luke's ball pit and Russ babysat Fin while we went out to lunch. Somehow he got him to take a nap!

I gave Fin a healthy helping of Benadryl before his first flight remembering the screaming car ride on the way there.

We sat next to a very nice BYU student. Bless her heart. The second the plane started taxiing and the seatbelt signs came on Fin decided to poop. Ugh. So that poor girl and I had to suffer with the stench through the whole take off process. She said she had a stuffy nose anyway. I was so embarrassed. So then I had to take him to the tiny bathroom, put him on tissues on the floor and sit on the toilet to change his diaper and stuff his diaper down the tiny trash whole. Yikes. He never slept. He was squirmy and restless the entire flight. He enjoyed looking out the window for a tiny minute. I was relieved when the Sprite and pretzels came around. I had gotten him some chocolate milk at the airport so he happily drank that for about 3 minutes while I chugged down some sprite before he could swat it onto the people around us. The cute girl next to us ended up having to make him paper airplanes out of her homework for the last half hour! Oh my. Really bless her. As soon as we got onto the shuttle to get to the car he was out like a light. Like so out that I was worried that people would start to wonder exactly what kind of medicine I gave the poor kid! What an adventure.

It was a wonderful trip!

The Babies are Here!!!

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When Kelsey went to have her ECV to try to flip baby Jackson we had a feeling he might be born that night. I was a nervous wreck all day just praying he would flip so she wouldn't have to have a c-section. But he didn't flip. And when I found out they were taking her in for the c-section I was freaking out! Tyson rushed home with happy meals for the kids. He had to work that night so I threw the kids in the car and got down there to see the little guy! I was kind of a mess! Much worse than Kelsey! She was calm as can be. Here's me going "hurry up" while Tyson tested the camera as we loaded up.

I really like him!

Baby Isla wanted to stay cozy until her induction date. Jackson was born on Monday and Katelin was induced Thursday night. It was a long labor! Isla was born Friday and I was the only sister that got to hold her! Kelsey was still in the hospital, Kennedi & Collette were in Florida and mom left for Florida just a couple hours after she was born!

Then the babies came home! They couldn't be more adorable!

We took some pictures of the cute Doyle family when Jackson was 1 week old.

And the boys got to meet baby Isla that day.

I love these babies!

Other November Happenings

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Callan had Horrible Hair day at preschool for the letter "H."

We celebrated Finley's first birthday! I planned to have a party, but with the babies and leaving for Thanksgiving it didn't work out! We went to spend a day in Payson and he got to open some presents there. Easton hit his head on a table during a dog pile and got a giant goose egg! He was tough, though!

Here it is after a few days. All kinds of colorful!

Tyson brings home hash browns and sausage every day after work. Fin greets him at the door and looks for the white box. He eats all the hash browns and Callan runs to get a fork for a piece of sausage.

We did a babysitting swap with our cousins in Morgan. Tyson and I got to go out to dinner at Taggart's one night. It was nice to get away! We dropped the boys off and they had a great time! Even Fin did great and he is a serious mamma's boy! Then we got to babysit the Porter kids one night. We celebrated Fin's birthday with cake bites since we would be leaving the next day for California and Tyson would miss Fin's actual bday.

Finley loved his Oreo cupcake from the Sweet Tooth Fairy!

He sure is cute!

Happy 6 Years Mr. E!

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Grandpa Cook had the Franks trailer at Cornbelly's during October so he got some free tickets for us. We were so glad because when we lived in Lehi we always got a season pass to Cornbelly's and we were missing it! The boys loved it as usual. We were glad the tickets were free because it turned out to be a crazy windy stormy day after a couple hours. Normally we could spend all day there, but we did as much as we could before the weather got bad and got out of there!

We went back to the Cooks for Easton's birthday party, but first the dads had a cute little toe touching nap.

Easton got spoiled as usual!

They have definitely put the whackers from Kelsey and JD to good use!

Grama made Easton a zebra cake. It was delish!

The boys spent the rest of the time jumping on the trampoline while Collette stood out there in the cold and took action shots of them as per their request. (You can see how windy it was. The trampoline pads are about to blow away!)

The next day (Sunday) was Easton's real birthday. Tyson and I gave him a pair of new church shoes. He had already peaked in the bag beforehand and he wasn't very thrilled! At the bottom of the box there was a message written for him to read that said, "You are going to Legoland!" He and Callan are both very excited and Callan asks every day if it's time to go yet.

Monday night we had two of our neighbor families over for hotdogs and cupcakes. We sent all the kids downstairs to eat/play and all the adults sat and talked and got to know each other better. At the end of the night our cheeks hurt from laughing the whole time! We love where we live!

Tuesday we went to Payson. We wanted to be able to spend the whole day so we didn't sent the boys to school. We went out to eat at Los Amigos and saw the Provstgaard's new house. The boys played at a park and we went to visit Old Grama and Grampa Page. Those cute cousins sure love to be together! Easton got spoiled with even more presents. It was great to have the whole Page fan together for a few hours!

I'm so excited about my little niece and nephew coming this week I can hardly stand it! I guess that will be my next post!

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