Big 5

My beautiful little girl is 5 today!!!! I told her we were going to have to freeze her so she couldn't grow up anymore. Connor informed me that if I did that we wouldn't be able to go on our upcoming vacation. I guess I have to let her turn 5. We are so glad Leah is in our family and can't believe she is already 5. This is her version of smiling for the camera.

Holding hands with her big brother.

She has never been opposed to any messes. In fact I think she thinks it's fun.

"Baby Leah" the day she came home from the hospital.

Bye Bye Crib!

Here is a picture of Connor when he was Owen's age. He got into some vaseline and put it all over his hair and his bed.
You see the crib in the background? That crib was bought by my parents when they were expecting their first baby. It was used by all six of their children. When I was expecting Connor they said I could use it. It was a little beat up from six kids. I painted it white, had all the hardware chromed and bought a new crib mattress. All three of my kids have used it. That little crib has been through 9 kids so far! It is a special crib.

Owen being the explorer that he is, figured out how to climb out of the crib. The problem with that was that he didn't know how to get back in it when he was ready to fall asleep. We would find him in some funny situations asleep. One night I found him asleep on the wood floor, using the rug as a blanket.

This picture is one of my favorite ways I found him when he was suppose to be taking a nap. He had put on Leah's flower rain boots and was alseep standing up with his head on Leah's bed.

So you can see it was time to pack up the crib and put this little guy in a big boy bed :).

*Both of these pictures make my house look so messy! I swear it is clean today! :)

Broken Arm

Connor fell off the monkey bars at school and broke his arm. The orthopedic doctor said it was broken in two places. We feel pretty bad because we were unsure if it was broken and he didn't see a doctor until that night. I should've known when the first thing he wanted to do when he got home was to lay down with a blanket and then he wouldn't eat dinner because he thought he was gowing to throw up.

Here are the good and bad of breaking his arm:

Cons:
-It hurt.
-He can't ride his bike or play basketball.
-It takes longer to do things that use his hands.
-It is going to cost his parents some $.

Pros:
-He only has to wear the cast for 3 weeks.
-The cast is waterproof. He can even swim in it!
-His friends can sign it.
-He can easily earn rewards at school for wearing red on Fridays because of his cast color.

Princess Bike

Leah bought a cute little princess bike from her friend for $5. She was so excited about it and she begged us to teach her how to ride a bike. For Family Home Evening we headed to the nearby school. She didn't need very much help and was quite a natural. She was determined to learn and didn't get frustrated at all. She took off pretty quickly. The only thing she really needs to practice is how to brake :).

I love watching my kids learn something new like riding a bike or learning to swim. Leah sure is growing up! She starts Preschool tomorrow and she is very excited about it. She even laid out her outfit before she went to bed.

11 years on the 11th of 2011

Trent and I just celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. For our tenth anniversary we had big plans to go to Europe together. We had saved up enough frequent flier miles to go, but it didn't work out. Maybe some day. This year we talked about going somewhere in the states for a long weekend, but we decided on a cheaper option: a fun night in Park City!

We stayed at the Waldorf Astoria. It was AMAZING! Seriously. It was worth the splurge. I was excited to find out they would give me a cheaper rate than the lowest I found and free breakfast (We got eggs benedict and beignets. It was delicious!) It never hurts to call and see what you can negotiate :).

It was a fancy hotel with amazing service. Right when we got there they valeted (sp?) our car and when we got inside they offered us some bottled water while we checked in. They asked if they could make dinner reservations for us. They told them it was our anniversary and we got free dessert. They drove us in to main street for our dinner. It was a fun night.

It was nice we had people to watch our little ones while we enjoyed 24 hours of peace :). We are glad they had so much fun with family while we were gone. Trent and I have been married for eleven years now. Time flies.


I didn't bring my camera. I only think to bring it to take pictures of the kids. Here are a couple of photos from the web:

The Lobby
The Pool

You've had a Birthday! Shout Hooray!

Connor had a birthday this last weekend. Mix that with Pioneer Day celebrations and it turned into a birthday extravaganza weekend. The events included eating out, bowling, a parade, Ogden Treehouse Museum, Birthday party at Grandma's, fireworks, swimming and going to the Pioneer Museum. It almost felt like a vacation which was very nice.

Connor opening his presents

Kids bowl two free games every week so that made it more fun for the parents :).
Connor working on getting a strike

Connor's Aunt made him a really cool Star Wars quilt and matching body pillow. He LOVES it and so does Owen. He keeps taking it from Connor's room. This picture is of Connor after I showed him how I used to swaddle him when he was a baby. We used to call him our "Connor Asada" when he was all wrapped up like a burrito. It's hard to believe how fast those seven years have gone.

The Pioneer Museum was really neat and they had a bunch of activities going on to celebrate Pioneer Day. There was a lot to see there. (Notice Owen just sitting there? That is rare behavior that just HAD to be documented. He is usually always on the move.)

The Ranch

Last month we able to go camping at my Grandpa's old ranch. It was soooo much fun! The ranch was originally owned by my Great Great Grandpa, then my Great Grandpa and then my Grandpa who sold it as he got older. The new owner said we could come use it. We were so excited to go there again and I was thrilled to have my kids enjoy it for the first time.

The kids had so much fun they crashed on the way home

Owen and cousin Matix at the gate to the ranch house
Here we are in front of one of the ponds my Great Grandpa built

We enjoyed swimming, fishing and paddling in the paddle boat

(My Great Grandpa built that water wheel in the background)

Connor caught a fish all on his own!

Owen and matix checking out another water wheel to one of the other ponds

Owen, Leah and I on top of the carport

Connor holding a lizard his uncle caught

Connor on the lookout tower seeing if any cars are coming across the desert

We all had such a good time! Leah said she want s to go to the ranch for her birthday :).