Just like a Pirate!

Kyle is VERY excited about being a pirate for Halloween this year. This is him trying on his new costume, and showing some attitude. I think it is kinda cute on him, even if he looks like he is sporting some Jewish curls on the side of his face.

This is Cameron in his "Captain Pirate"outfit, next to Kyle. They look like two happy little pirate brothers don't they. They even have their pirate loot behind them on the stairwell. This is Angry Pirate Kyle wearing his brothers new Captain Pirate hat... This is Happy Captain Pirate Kyle, who has battled his little brother and won! Now HE has TWO new Pirate costumes... just like a pirate.

Looks like Cameron will have to be a Pirates Monkey... (watch for pictures)

Looking Back at Summer: Part 4, August

August started out with the Park City Art Festival. Always an enjoyable experience. Checking out art.. people.. food.. more people, the people watching I think is my favorite part. It is fun to get away and stay the night, and have to thank Randy for being so nice this year and getting a TWO room condo... I guess the pregnant uncomfortable woman on the hide-a-way last year left you with a bit of guilt? Whatever the reason, thank you, having my own room was WAY better!
For the second year in a row Alexis did not join us and opted to stay with a friend so she could attend a church activity, last year was the Timp hike, this year a Trek reunion dinner (spiritual summer remember!)

Once again we were invited to join my cousin and her family at their cabin near Bear Lake. You would think mid-August would be perfect to be at the lake. Apparently mother nature was tired of sun that week. We enjoyed most of our time in the cabin due to the rain and cool weather. But that did not stop us from enjoying our time together. The kids made forts and played Wii and had fun going for walks around the cabin, when they were not being chased by stray dogs.

We did get in one day on the beach, well part of a day. It was cool, especially if you were wet. But that did not stop the kids from having a great time. Boyd was even able to get them out on the boat for a ride before we packed up and left for the warmth of the cabin.

School started on August 20th, it felt early and like the summer was not ready to end.

Kyle started taking dance class at Kinderland in the summer. At the end of August they had a recital to show off some of their new moves. Kyle got to show off his 3 year old version of break dancing. It finally made sense to me what he was doing at home when he would start flipping all over the floor and calling it his "dance."

In addition to all of this we celebrated Kyles 3rd birthday at Pirate Island, a spin on Chuck-E-Cheese with out the freaky singing mouse. It was not bad. Kyle wants to go back dressed like a pirate.

I finally went to a Demolition Derby that was held in Spanish Fork at the Utah County fair, I will definitely be going again next year... and I will NOT forget my camera! I had a great time and thanks to the nice guy that was next to me who brought me up to speed on the rules and the inside scoop of derby cars, I have a new appreciation for people who purchase a car only to entirely destroy the thing in a single evening! I had to laugh at the derby slogan that was on the back of the t-shirts "The only place to get smashed in Utah County"

The summer went by so quickly. I am so glad we were able to enjoy so many activities together as a family and with our friends. I am so thankful for all of the opportunities we have had this past summer to experience new and fun things from Trek to camp to the Derby, and everything in between.

It was a good summer and one that I am glad I had a chance to look back on and share.

Oh, and Kyles best quote of the summer, while driving to daycare in one morning: "MOM, roll up the window, your wind is messing up my hair!"

Looking Back at Summer: Part 3, July

One of my favorite parts of July is the 4th of July activities. Family, food, hot air balloons, neighborhood water fight, and the fireworks. So since it was not my holiday to have the kids... I started out bummed and slightly depressed about the holiday. I quickly got over it and made the best of it by taking Alexis and Cameron to see the hot air balloons in Provo. Even though it is crazy to find parking and to get around with all the people, it sure is fun to watch the balloons lift off it was a good start to a fun day. To fill my family need we hung out with Tracy and Randy, for food we went to Tempanyaki for Susi (ya, I know, so NOT a patriotic meal) and to top off the evening we walked over to Grovecrest Elementary and watched the worlds shortest firework display. In the brief 30 minutes or less Tracy did manage to get some really cool pictures. Overall not a bad day. Courtney turned 13 on the 7th. We never did get a birthday picture of her... still need to do that. For her birthday she asked for only money.. exactly enough to go to the Christa Mc Auliffe Space Education Center, I am not sure why they call it that, it is more like "Star Trek Camp for Kids." Courtney loves this place, and getting to go with some close friends on a 5 hour mission was a blast for her. Alexis had another one of those spiritual moments when she was asked to help as a chaperone for a Special needs Girls Camp in Heber. Alexis was extremely excited for this opportunity and came back with a lot of fun stories about the girl she was paired with who, in her words, was piratically a celebrity.

Alexis's spiritual summer did not end there, she and Courtney also attended the Ward Girls Summer camp together, and the same week they were gone Brittany attend Clear Creek.

I remember when I was in 5th grade and went to Clear Creek, I came home exhausted, not Brittany she had such a great time she did not stop talking for a good 2 hours about all of the places she went and things they did, my theory is that they must be going much easier on the kids these days... or she has WAY more energy than I did at that age.

In July Modus decided that they could no longer support the "Take a Break Club" and we had 30 days to use all of our funds and end the club. It was a little bitter sweet for me, I have been either a member of the committee or the President for at least 9 years, if not more. We had a pool party at the new Lindon City pool, that was a lot of fun. They have a Flow Rider that many of the adults tried. The evening was cool but beautiful for a July evening. We also had a final bon voyage lunch for all of the members and gave them all a $100 gift card as a token of our appreciation... and to use all of the funds we had spent years building up and maintaining.

In addition to all of this, to make up for missing the Strawberry Days Rodeo we went to the Spanish Fork Rodeo with my mom, aunt Chris and Isabella. Looking back, July was a full month.

Looking Back at Summer: Part 2, June

Wow, June feels like months ago... oh wait, it WAS!
I know, I know... I am behind and I have a hard time moving forward with out sharing what we did this past summer. It was very full and fun... too bad I don't have pictures of half of what we did, so luckily I have some of my sissy's pix that I took from her site, so if you have see them before it is because they are hers (thanks sissy!- heart you!)

The summer started out with the opportunity to shoot two couples engagements and wedding pictures. Sam and Diana's came first, at the end of May. I want to thank them for letting us be part of their big day. I was really worried when the day started out with us showing up to the Temple a tad bit late due to a communication issue, luckily we were still able to get pictures of them at the door, just after they walked out. I was worried all day as the weather looked like the sky wanted to open up into a full on down poor, but in the end the out-door reception was absolutely beautiful and a blast to be at.
The next one we did was a cute young couple that got married at Thanksgiving Point. I will not lie, I was full on nervous about it. Both Tracy and I shot the entire time through the ceremony and the reception. This beautiful bride happen to be the niece of an old friend of ex #1, so I saw quite a few people that we did things with a long, long time ago. The wedding was hands down the most beautiful wedding I have ever been to. For my Birthday I asked for tickets to see Yanni with my mom. I am coming out of the closet here- I AM A YANNI FAN! I believe I have seen him 5 times now in concert, and I am sad to say, I miss the long hair, mustache face, lien pants wearing Yanni... the new short hair, scruffy face is just not doing it for me.

Brittany had her 11th birthday in June. It is truly amazing to me that this kid is not 16 yet, she sure acts like it!
I turned 40 in June, my birthday party was a good time. Thanks to Sarah and Boyd and the family for joining us. It was good to see everyone. We had lots of really good food, and the entertainment provided by Kyle and his dance moves had us all laughing! For a 40th birthday you think everyone would have been mean, I had prepared myself for the worst.. all I got was a few black balloons... thank you everyone for being so nice to me!
Early in June Alexis attended BYU's EFY (Especially for Youth) it is a LDS summer camp for a week. Alexis has been several times and has really enjoyed attending. Every year she makes more and more friends at EFY. This experience was especially memorable, she came home with H1N1, yes, Swine Flu. Genius pants Alexis went back up to BYU a week later to visit one of her leaders to see who else had been ill, apparently a lot of the people in her session went home infected.
The Pleasant Grove Strawberry Days are held every year in June. We did not make it to the rodeo but we did have a great time at the carnival. Due to a memory card issue I lost all of the pictures I took this evening, so once again... thank you sissy for the pix. My favorite part of the evening was watching Kyles face light up as he rode on the rides. Cameron sat back in the stroller and watched the lights and people, and we ended the night with Strawberry's and Cream.



In Alexis's words "it was a spiritual summer" In addition to EFY, she also went on the Stake Trek. The Trek is an opportunity to reenact the journey that the pioneers made as they crossed the plains to Utah. They had to dress completely in pioneer clothing and spend several days with a their "family" as they faced trials along the trails, including frost bite, losing loved ones and pulling the hand cart up a steep hill.

Courtney was not old enough to attend the full Trek so our Stake had a "Beacon" Trek for a day that was held at This is the Place Park in SLC. She was able to experience a mini version of the trek that Alexis was able to attend.

June was a great month!

I'm ENGAGED!!!

Can you believe it!!! Engaged!!! I know, I know, it's so unbelievable!
First... we are not getting married right away... this is going to be a LONG engagement (as long as I have something to say about it!!) and Second... NO we are not rushing into anything to soon!
I am still so excited and freaking out!! I will post pictures of the ring and everything soon.
I know everyone wants to hear how he proposed, so here we go....

You all know how much I love Halloween, well we decided to go to the Haunted Forest in AF and I totally thought it was MY idea... but no, apparently he had it all set up because half way through some girl in torn clothing and blood all over runs right up to me and is screaming my name, I am like what the heck, then she gets in my face and asks if I want to "go on alone FORRREEVOR.." all freaky and I have to admit I was a little freaked out by it, then a "dead zombie" wedding couple come out of the woods at us and ask if we are "prepared to continue the journey through THIS life together?" That was when he dropped to one knee and pulled out a ring and asked me to always cling to him as his wife, no matter how scary life is! Seriously!! How could I say NO to THAT!!!
Oh my gosh I am so excited!!!

Ok, I know it has been forever since I have blogged, and I have deprived everyone of my fun filled life, I just wanted to give you something to read.. ya sure none of it is true, but you have to admit I had you questioning it...

The Best Laugh EVER!

Cameron has the best laugh, it sounds something like a happy little Mogwai. This video was taken the other night when we were hanging out playing Sequence with Tracy and Randy.



Here is more of that same little giggle...

Looking Back at Summer: Part 1, Scera Shell

This is the second year we have had season tickets to the Scera Shell in Orem. It has been such a great way to attend a lot of plays and concerts for such a little price. I enjoyed the lineup of concerts a little more last year, but I enjoyed the plays more this year, but even more I enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with my kids and have them learn to appreciate a variety of music the most, ya I know that sounds sappy… but it is true. I grew up enjoying a variety of music and I think it is a good idea to appreciate all types, yes including country!

This year the season tickets included the following:

Staying Alive- A Tribute to the Bee Gees
I cannot tell you how this one was, I was seriously bummed I missed it, but I purchased tickets to the No Doubt/Paramore concert for Alexis (that is what she picked over a new bed for her 16^th birthday). The two of us had a great time at the concert, minus the stocker guy sitting next to me, and I heard that the Bee Gees were great too.

Beauty and the Beast
Kyle absolutely loved Gaston, to an almost 3 year old he has to be the "good guy" because the Beast, AKA "da Monster", is the "BAD GUY." During the fight scene when Gaston fell out of the window while fighting the Beast Kyle let out a loud cry "NOOOooooo!!" followed by a small whimper as he started to cry, until I told him that the Beast is the good guy, then he calmed down. He gave everyone around us for several rows a good laugh. After the play the actors line up near the exit, Kyle insisted on seeing Gaston, personally I think he wanted to make sure he was still ok.

Jim Brickman
I had heard of Jim before but had never actually heard any of his music. He is a pianist, and is amazing and absolutely hilarious. He was telling the funniest stories in between his songs. Between the piano, the fresh air and the guy that sang in Latin Cameron was fast asleep in no time. Unfortunately we had to leave early because Courtney had to be up at the crack of dawn for the Beacon Trek.

West Side Story

Alexis fell in love with the lead male, he was a cute guy and he could sing pretty well. Kyle was glued to his seat throughout the entire first half, what I did not realize was that he was taking in every dance move of the fight scenes. During intermission he jumped off his chair and started to reenact the entire first half.

Collin Ray & Restless Heart


I have always been a fan of Restless Heart; it was fun to see them in person. They sang a new song that had everyone in tears that is going to be on their next album. I could not believe my girls had not heard "If you get there before I do" by Collin Raye, I love that song.

Say Cheese Kyle, While my mom and Aunt Chris along with Isabel, Britt and Alexis enjoy the show.

Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

We made sure we watched the play a few times before we went so that Kyle would know the music when we got there, and he did. His eyes lit up as soon as they started singing the songs that he had heard. In Joseph fashion they had their own spin on the play; it was entirely set in "Las Vegas." I could have gone back to this one several times, it was that good.

Big Bad VooDoo Daddy

Ummm…. What, who? Apparently I don't listen to swing enough to know that these guys are the "It" for swing music. People were dancing all over the place. These guys are good!

Dancing Under the Stars

Many local dancers performed a variety of dances including ballroom, modern and hip hop. Alexis was spending the weekend with her dad so my friend Becky joined us. I had one of those moments where you realize the amount of talent that is in this area.

Lonestar
I was so looking forward to this concert. If not for the music, to just sit back and enjoy the view! Ok, their music is good too! Even Cameron was clapping his hands and doing his little baby dance, when he wasn't sleeping.

Take 6

With David Osmond opening for them the girls were excited to go to this show. When Take 6 took the stage they were amazed and the sounds that this acapella group could make that sounded just like instruments.