We have had a busy last few weeks full of travelling, family and fun!
At the end of April, Adam and I went to St. George to spend the weekend for our anniversary. We had the worst hotel experience ever, which is already one of my favorite memories. We went shopping at the outlets, hiking at Zion Natl Park, and went and toured several historical sites in the area.
Adam spoiled me on the night of our anniversary and made reservations at The Painted Pony... it was pricey but really fun! I got bacon wrapped duck with apples and celery... soooooo gooooooood! We had so much fun.
The next weekend, we headed back down to Utah for Abbey's baby blessing. Aaron and Ally blessed her at their home. We had a great time seeing family.
Two days later, Taylor and I were headed down to Utah once again... this time to catch a plane to Kansas! We got to spend a week with my family for Kole's graduation. Taylor, Jed and Adrianne and I all flew out together and had lots of fun. Taylor liked the airplane and only had a minor meltdown when the airline people took her carseat. We had fun going to the zoo, having a hotdog roast, and just hanging out with the family. Taylor loved being spoiled by her grandparents.
We finally made it home and said hello and goodbye to Adam before he and Jed headed out for their annual backpacking trip. He left Friday afternoon and was supposed to be home late Tuesday night... but surprised us by coming home a day early. He came home Monday afternoon and surprised both Taylor and I... and he MADE TAYLOR'S DAY by bringing her a TRAMPOLINE!!! "Oh my GOSH! Thank you so much Dad I am so excited!!!" He made her whole year.
Now we are all home and settled into our routine again for a few days.
It's nice to visit but so nice to be home!!!
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Our Little "Painter"
After cleaning the house all day today, we decided
a). we needed to go on a long drive to find potential camping spots; and then
b). that we needed to stain the bench and arbor in the back yard.
So we headed home and Adam pulled out the stain and a paintbrush and headed to the back yard. I went downstairs to change laundry when a few minutes later I heard frantic thumping down the stairs and Taylor yelling "Mom I need a TOOTHBRUSH!"
I finally figured out what she really was looking for was a paintbrush to help Dad stain outside. So we stripped her down to her underwear and put her to work. She was a pretty big helper...
and the neighbors laughed as they saw her streaking across the back yard to get into the tub.
Wow...
What a day.
a). we needed to go on a long drive to find potential camping spots; and then
b). that we needed to stain the bench and arbor in the back yard.
So we headed home and Adam pulled out the stain and a paintbrush and headed to the back yard. I went downstairs to change laundry when a few minutes later I heard frantic thumping down the stairs and Taylor yelling "Mom I need a TOOTHBRUSH!"
I finally figured out what she really was looking for was a paintbrush to help Dad stain outside. So we stripped her down to her underwear and put her to work. She was a pretty big helper...
and the neighbors laughed as they saw her streaking across the back yard to get into the tub.
Wow...
What a day.
Better late than never...
Easter!
Every year, Adam’s work has an Easter egg hunt for the workers and resident families of the Care Center. The floor is so covered with real boiled eggs that it is almost impossible to walk without stepping on an egg or candy. They send the littlest kids down one hallway and the older kids down another so no one gets trampled. The little kids go around and get eggs and candy from the residents, too. It is fun for everyone.
We took Taylor this year and she had a blast picking up eggs and meeting the Easter Bunny. We went to the free matinee (HOP) and then played at the park. The next morning she went on an egg hunt in the living room and was thrilled to see she has her own gloves, shovel and rake for the garden this year. Grandma and Grandpa Bench came up a little later and “found” some Easter candy outside that the Bunny left for Taylor. She had fun running around in the grass finding all of the candy. Then we went on a walk to the park and played for a while before heading home.
Every year, Adam’s work has an Easter egg hunt for the workers and resident families of the Care Center. The floor is so covered with real boiled eggs that it is almost impossible to walk without stepping on an egg or candy. They send the littlest kids down one hallway and the older kids down another so no one gets trampled. The little kids go around and get eggs and candy from the residents, too. It is fun for everyone.
We took Taylor this year and she had a blast picking up eggs and meeting the Easter Bunny. We went to the free matinee (HOP) and then played at the park. The next morning she went on an egg hunt in the living room and was thrilled to see she has her own gloves, shovel and rake for the garden this year. Grandma and Grandpa Bench came up a little later and “found” some Easter candy outside that the Bunny left for Taylor. She had fun running around in the grass finding all of the candy. Then we went on a walk to the park and played for a while before heading home.
We had a nice day… and got waaaaaay too much candy.
"I can do it MYSELF!"
Meet Taylor "I can do it MYSELF" Bench!
She takes her clothes off at will. She tries to flush whole toilet paper rolls down the toilet. She can do everything by HERSELF, thank you very much. But she is also entering such a fun stage. She recognizes and can sing most of the words to her favorite songs: Spongebob Squarepants, I Love to See the Temple; Hakuna Matata, I am a Child of God, 5 little monkeys jumping on the bed. She is so funny and so dang smart. She says her own prayers. She prays every night for her food, the bathrooms on the airplanes... (she is excited about our trip to KS) and for her grandma and grandpa and nana and grandpa. Everything else is sketchy.
Here are some common phrases lately around our house.
"I got it." (When Mom says, "don't do such and such... you got it?)
"Mom, I can hold MY OWN hand, so I don't get lost."
"But Mom... what I gonna do?!" (insert hysterical tears)
"Do you HEAR me?"
"Mom... I SO PROUD of you for going potty! Now you get CANDY!"
"That's AMAZING/BEAUTIFUL/SO NEAT!"
"You made a mess. Now you got to stand in the corner. RIGHT NOW."
"GOOD MORNING MOM! I can get up now?"
"Where did the sun go? Just behind the cloud? It will be right back?"
"COME ON ASPEN YOU CAN DO IT!"
"It's getting LATE!"
"I want a shower by MYSELF! GO AWAY MOM!"
You crazy girl. Good thing we love you .
The Butter Girl
This little girl loves BUTTER.
It doesn't matter what we are eating, she will ask to have butter on it, then salt and pepper, then ketchup. The other day she went down to go to the bathroom... and didn't come back for a long time. When I went down to check on her... this is what I found:
She had pushed the chair from the table up to the counter, got a cube of butter, ate half of it, and then started to "draw my name" with butter all over the counter. She was pretty proud of herself. What a crazy kid.
It doesn't matter what we are eating, she will ask to have butter on it, then salt and pepper, then ketchup. The other day she went down to go to the bathroom... and didn't come back for a long time. When I went down to check on her... this is what I found:
She had pushed the chair from the table up to the counter, got a cube of butter, ate half of it, and then started to "draw my name" with butter all over the counter. She was pretty proud of herself. What a crazy kid.
Monday, February 13, 2012
The Lately Life
Hello!
So you though I had died... but I have not. It has been a long time since blogging, but hey, I do what I can! Let's think of what has happened that is exciting lately...
And I've got nothing.
So here's what's almost exciting that has been happening lately!
After Christmas, we went snowmobiling with my family in Fairview, UT.
There wasn't much snow, so we spent the day sledding.
It was GREAT!
Then a few weeks later,our exchange student decided he hated us and moved to another family. For Real. It was crazy.
So the week after that, we went down to Utah. Adam went to an MMA fight and I stayed up all night with my BFF Jamie and her husband Lynn at their house. James and I tried to go bowling, but it didn't work out so we spent the evening shopping and snacking at her place. Nothing better!
Went down to Utah again the next weekend for Taylor's birthday. We went to my sis-in-laws baby shower, then had lunch at Tucanos, then went SWIMMING for Taylor's bday party at the Lehi Rec Center. It is a FABULOUS place to take your kids to swim... she had a ball. Then we had some cake and icecream, went to breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa Bench the next morning and came home just in time to watch the Superbowl!
I LOVE THE SUPERBOWL!!! WHAT A GREAT GAME THIS YEAR! Also... the commercials weren't that good. SAD DAY.
Spent last weekend home (finally!) and built some shelves in Taylor's room, got her dresser and closet cleaned out and cleaned the house. I LOVE BEING IN A CLEAN HOUSE!!! Then we decided to drive the hour to Montpelier, ID so Taylor could play on the toys at Arctic Circle and we had dinner. Hey... it was a long week!
Adam is still in school and is boasting a 3.9 GPA. Uber proud of that guy. He is awesome. Hopefully he will be graduating in a year from March-ish so we are looking forward to that.
Taylor is hilarious. She makes me laugh every day. She had her first trip to the dentist last week and kind of let them look in her mouth. She was thrilled that she got to pick TWO toys from the treasure chest. And no cavities so far, so good.
I am doing great. I have decided I need to make more of an effort to do the things I WANT to do, not just the things that need to be done. So this is my quest for the next little bit. Do ME things.
Oh... and the scariest thing of all.... Somehow Adam and I decided we could run the Star Valley Half-Marathon in July. I have never even run a 5K and so now I have never been more scared of anything in my life! Today starts week 4 of training and so far I can run a mile without stopping.... if I try REALLY hard. One down, 12 to go! And because Misery loves company, we have recruited some other family members to run a half as well.... Adam's sister and her husband, his other sister, my brother, my sister, me, Adam, and (hopefully) my parents as well! I think we are all crazy but it is kind of a fun challenge. I have already decided that I don't care what my time is; my goal is just to finish before they start taking down the race. That's all I'm asking for :)
Yesterday we got quite a bit of snow. Adam was out snowblowing, so Taylor and I put on our snow duds and had a mini-snow day. We pulled Taylor (and Taylor pulled Ellie) in her sled, we slid down the snowdrift in front of the house, and threw snowballs at each other. Taylor thought that was great and told me to hit her again. It was awesome :)
Here she is packing her elephant around.
I'm not going to lie to you... she is a DOLL. Love her.
And she saw me pull out my camera and told me to take a picture.
So there you go.
Happy Monday!
So you though I had died... but I have not. It has been a long time since blogging, but hey, I do what I can! Let's think of what has happened that is exciting lately...
And I've got nothing.
So here's what's almost exciting that has been happening lately!
After Christmas, we went snowmobiling with my family in Fairview, UT.
There wasn't much snow, so we spent the day sledding.
It was GREAT!
Then a few weeks later,our exchange student decided he hated us and moved to another family. For Real. It was crazy.
So the week after that, we went down to Utah. Adam went to an MMA fight and I stayed up all night with my BFF Jamie and her husband Lynn at their house. James and I tried to go bowling, but it didn't work out so we spent the evening shopping and snacking at her place. Nothing better!
Went down to Utah again the next weekend for Taylor's birthday. We went to my sis-in-laws baby shower, then had lunch at Tucanos, then went SWIMMING for Taylor's bday party at the Lehi Rec Center. It is a FABULOUS place to take your kids to swim... she had a ball. Then we had some cake and icecream, went to breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa Bench the next morning and came home just in time to watch the Superbowl!
I LOVE THE SUPERBOWL!!! WHAT A GREAT GAME THIS YEAR! Also... the commercials weren't that good. SAD DAY.
Spent last weekend home (finally!) and built some shelves in Taylor's room, got her dresser and closet cleaned out and cleaned the house. I LOVE BEING IN A CLEAN HOUSE!!! Then we decided to drive the hour to Montpelier, ID so Taylor could play on the toys at Arctic Circle and we had dinner. Hey... it was a long week!
Adam is still in school and is boasting a 3.9 GPA. Uber proud of that guy. He is awesome. Hopefully he will be graduating in a year from March-ish so we are looking forward to that.
Taylor is hilarious. She makes me laugh every day. She had her first trip to the dentist last week and kind of let them look in her mouth. She was thrilled that she got to pick TWO toys from the treasure chest. And no cavities so far, so good.
I am doing great. I have decided I need to make more of an effort to do the things I WANT to do, not just the things that need to be done. So this is my quest for the next little bit. Do ME things.
Oh... and the scariest thing of all.... Somehow Adam and I decided we could run the Star Valley Half-Marathon in July. I have never even run a 5K and so now I have never been more scared of anything in my life! Today starts week 4 of training and so far I can run a mile without stopping.... if I try REALLY hard. One down, 12 to go! And because Misery loves company, we have recruited some other family members to run a half as well.... Adam's sister and her husband, his other sister, my brother, my sister, me, Adam, and (hopefully) my parents as well! I think we are all crazy but it is kind of a fun challenge. I have already decided that I don't care what my time is; my goal is just to finish before they start taking down the race. That's all I'm asking for :)
Yesterday we got quite a bit of snow. Adam was out snowblowing, so Taylor and I put on our snow duds and had a mini-snow day. We pulled Taylor (and Taylor pulled Ellie) in her sled, we slid down the snowdrift in front of the house, and threw snowballs at each other. Taylor thought that was great and told me to hit her again. It was awesome :)
Here she is packing her elephant around.
I'm not going to lie to you... she is a DOLL. Love her.
And she saw me pull out my camera and told me to take a picture.
So there you go.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Strengthen
My word for this year is
I saw a friend do this a few years ago, and I really liked the idea. She picked a "word of the year" and then found ways to apply that word to her life.
I need a little more structure than that, so I pick a word and then apply it to 3 aspects of my life: Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual.
When I write down a list of goals, it is hard for me to keep track of them. When I have a word of the year, I think about the word and then my three goals come easily to mind: 1) Strengthen my body with a regular exercise routine 2) Strengthening my relationship(s) with spending time and better communication 3)strengthen my knowledge of the scriptures.
So the word for 2012 is STRENGTHEN.
What do you do to help you remember your goals throughout the year?
STRENGTHEN.
I saw a friend do this a few years ago, and I really liked the idea. She picked a "word of the year" and then found ways to apply that word to her life.
I need a little more structure than that, so I pick a word and then apply it to 3 aspects of my life: Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual.
When I write down a list of goals, it is hard for me to keep track of them. When I have a word of the year, I think about the word and then my three goals come easily to mind: 1) Strengthen my body with a regular exercise routine 2) Strengthening my relationship(s) with spending time and better communication 3)strengthen my knowledge of the scriptures.
So the word for 2012 is STRENGTHEN.
What do you do to help you remember your goals throughout the year?
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