St. George

We took a fun mini-vacation to St. George over the fall break. We didn't have school on Thursday or Friday so we drove down on Thurs. and came back on Sunday. My mom and sister and her 2 kids came too so the van was packed full, but it was lots of fun. The kids actually did really well on the drive there and back. We hit a traffic jam on the way down so it actually took 1.5 hours longer to get there than it did to get home! We missed daddy and grandpa, but enjoyed the fun in the sun. Thanks mom!Best friends!

The kids wanted to stay in the pool all the time! It was an outdoor pool so it got a little chilly when the sun when down.

While we were there we took the 2 older kids miniature golfing. The next day we went to a bounce house that was full of blow up toys. The kids had a blast!

Caramel Apples

As I mentioned in the last post we were making caramel apples. My family LOVES caramel apples and in fact, DD1 asked why we only make them once or twice a year! We get the apples from my grandparents' trees and we use my mom's homemade caramel recipe-super yummy!

Splish splash

Last time it rained my DD2 and my nephew decided to go outside and play. I was inside making caramel apples and was secretly glad to have them out from under my feet for a few minutes. However, when I looked out the window to check on them this is what I found! They were having so much fun that I let them play a little longer and then went to work cleaning them up. Needless to say it was straight to the tub for both of them!

Birthday Fun

A few weeks ago we celebrated my birthday. It was a fun 3 days of celebrating! On Monday we went to lunch with my parents and sister's family. My mom took me out for a little shopping first and then we went out for Mexican- my favorite. On Tuesday I celebrated with my little family. My wonderful husband cleaned the house and made me a raspberry filled-lemon cake. :) We went out to dinner with the girls and then came home for cake and presents. He bought me a new sleeping bag, which the girls were happy to try out, and he had some pictures framed for me. Finally on Wednesday my dad gave me tickets to the Keith Urban concert! I went with my sister, her friend, and my cousin. We had dinner at Thaifoon and then went to the concert. It was super fun and a great way to wrap up my birthday week! Thanks everyone for a great birthday!

Island Park

I'm a little behind in posting, but we took a very fun vacation to Island Park in August! It was great to get together with extended family and spend a few days relaxing. Thanks to mom and dad for putting it all together and for the wonderful accomodations :)

There was a dock leading out to the resevoir in the back of the cabin. The kids spent most of their time out by the water, but it was super cold!

Even the little kids had fun splashing and getting Grandpa wet!

DD1 had fun roasting marshmallows and making smores in the firepit.

The second day we drove into Yellowstone and saw the geysers. The girls loved walking around the park. We didn't see too many animals, mostly elk.

The next day we hiked around Big Springs and fed the fish. This is a picture of all the cousins on my side of the family (minus 3).

On the way home we decided to do a little sight seeing. We stopped at the Rexburg temple. Rexburg has changed so much since I lived there I couldn't hardly find my way around! It was beautiful and the girls loved exploring the grounds.

Just outside of Idaho Falls is a place called "Yellowstone Bear World". Since we hadn't seen any bears at Yellowstone we decided to stop and check it out. It was a little more expensive than we would have liked, but we did get to see lots of bears, elk, and bison. They even have 5 baby bears that were so cute!

Our final stop on the way home was in Idaho Falls. DD1 and I got out and walked around the falls and saw the temple (DD2 was sleeping in the car with Daddy :) It was a beautiful day. We also stopped and had dinner with some good friends in IF. It is always fun to get together and visit. It was a fun trip and we can't wait to go back!

Blustery Day

Yesterday was a huge wind storm! The night before there had been tons of lightning and it started quite a few fires in the state. The wind brought the smoke and ash from the fires up to us and it was hot, windy, and hazy all day. The wind also caused some damage, we lost a huge branch off of one of our trees in front (you can see the empty space on the tree on the left in the picture) and lots of small/med branches off the tree in the back. It even picked up our trampoline and moved it 10 feet or so! Luckily no one was hurt and now we have some firewood for winter:)

Happy Birthay Sweetie!

Wednesday was BBVD's birthday. For 1 month we are the same age! The girls and I had lots of fun shopping for his presents. We got up and went to Denny's for a birthday breakfast together. That evening we went to SL and had dinner with my family at Z Tejas - yummy- and went to the SL Bees game! It was really fun to go to the game even though we didn't win. It was a good day and a great way to celebrate my hubby! I love ya babe!

Bowling

We decided to go bowling for a Friday Family Night last week. DD1 loves bowling so she had been begging to go for awhile. We invited my sister and her family to come bowl too. It was very fun! The cutest part was DD2 trying to carry her ball to the lane. She was so strong!

Picnic in the Park

We had a fun picnic with my sister and her kids last week. It had been super hot, 100+ for a few days, so since it was only 90 degrees that day it seemed cool! We took the easy way out, we stopped at Subway and got lunch on our way to the park :) It was fun to just relax and play together.

Sleepover

On Friday July 10th DD1 was a little stuffed up. She said that her nose was stuffy and she had a little cough. She didn't sleep very well that night, and by the time she got up on Saturday morning she was having trouble breathing. She wasn't gasping for air, her breathing was just really labored and her whole tummy moved when she took a breath. She was also very lethargic. I could tell she was really sick because she asked to go to the doctor and she HATES doctors! I called our doctor and they said that they couldn't fit her in for a breathing treatment and that I would have to wait until Monday or take her to the ER.
So I took her to the ER. When we got there they took her vitals and her O2 level was at 88%. The respiratory therapist came in and did a breathing treatment and they watched her O2 for an hour, but it still only went up to 89-90%. They decided that wasn't enough and they wanted to keep her overnight on oxygen. She was super cooperative and let them do just about whatever (that just goes to show how sick she was!) They even had to put an iv line in her arm to give her antibiotics and draw blood :(
By the next morning her O2 level was up to 94% and her white blood cell count was back down where it should be. When they did her blood work they found a strep bacteria that they think caused the rapid onset and difficulty breathing. We got to go home on Sunday evening but we had to go back that night and again on Monday for iv antibiotics. We did breathing treatments at our house for about a week and now (thankfully) she is back to her old self. It was quite a stressful situation, but we are glad to have her well again!

24th of July

We were able to spend the 24th with BBVD's side of the family. It was really fun because we don't see them very often. 3 of his siblings only live about 90 miles away, but we only see them twice a year! This get together was even more exciting because his sister-in-law from Arizona came up with her 4 boys so we got to get reaquainted with them too. We have the only girl cousins so it was 5 boys and my 2 girls. We had yummy dutch oven dinner and then we did a few little fireworks. DD1 loved having cousins to jump with her on the trampoline and she did sparklers even though she didn't really enjoy them.

Birthday party

We celebrated DD2's birthday at my parent's house on Sunday the 5th. It was fun to party with Grandpa and Grandma Buchanan, Grandpa and Grandma, Jim and Karen, and the kids. The day was great except for when her Dora birthday balloon floated away into the sky. She remembered it for days. My parents gave her a new toddler bed with Tinkerbell sheets for her birthday. Karen gave her a Dora dvd, and we gave her a Tag Jr. and a doll. She loved it all!

Fun Fourth

DD1 and my cousin watching fireworks.

DD2 enjoying some soup during the fireworks!

DD2, grandpa, and cousin looking for birds.

Posing for an official 4th of July picture before heading off to grandma's.

We celebrated the 4th with a family bbq at my parent's house. It is always fun to get together, eat, and play games with the family!

Family 'Staycation'

We decided to go on a little mini-vacation with the family last week. We just went down to SL and stayed over.
First we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. DD1 thought it was cool to be able to go inside a temple. DD2 mostly just loved climbing all the stairs and the water in the font! When we came out it was pouring rain so we had to make a run for the car!
Later we went to the Living Planet Aquarium. This is one of our favorite places to go. It isn't too big but they have lots of different animals. They had a new area with animals from South America like snakes, spiders, frogs, and piranhas! Then we had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory! Yummy!
When we got back to the hotel we went swimming in the pool. Both girls love the water and wanted to stay there all night! The next morning we played at the park that was by our old house. It was fun to reminisce- then we headed to the zoo! It was 'free military day' so it was super crowded, but we had a blast anyway! It was a fun little family 'stay-cation'!