The Rust Family

On this day of love....

2012-02-15T08:34:00.000-08:00

On this day of love…… I don’t go out to a fancy restaurant with my hubby but I fix a fun heart shaped dinner with the family.

On this day of love….. I don’t buy my husband a present but write him a note telling him how much I love and adore him and bake him some healthy treats to take to work with him. He is awesome, amazing and wonderful so it’s not hard to tell him how much I love him.

On this day of love…. I don’t need all the hype and commercialization that it seems to be but I just need the ones around me I love! And YES I do make sure I make an extra effort to let each of my boys know how much I love them, why I love them and make it a little extra special for them. That is what it should be about….however you may do it fancy dinner or not, hopefully you let the ones you love know you love them. :o)

Happy Valentine’s Day! (yesterday)

AND WHO DO I LOVE-

These 3 wild, cute and adorable little boys and one crazy man!!!!!!

The boys had fun eating heart shaped meals all day long.

Leading up to Valentine's Day we spent a lot of time on crafts which we love. The boys made robot valentines for dad, necklaces for the grandmas and super hero pops for their classmates at school. The Super Hero pop where actually a big hit with the boys. It took a lot of time cutting out everything because we made almost 40 with their two classes plus friends around the neighborhood.

Sushi anyone?

2012-02-13T10:27:00.000-08:00

Back in November for our anniversary I got Josh a Sushi Making Class certificate and we finally used it this last weekend. We both LOVE sushi and have always wanted to take a class. Cooking classes are actually one of our favorite things to do together. Every time we head out of the country we always try and take a cooking class in that country to learn how to make their dishes. For the sushi class we took it at this cute sushi house called Mt. Fugi in Sandy. The instructor was great; even though I could barely understand any of the English he was “trying" to speak. Josh was actually a much better sushi maker than I was….not to my surprise he is good at everything :o) The best part of the class of was eating it! It definitely was not the best sushi I have had….considering that I am not a sushi chef, BUT it was TONS of fun to do it with my sweetie!!!!

Started posting again!!!!

2012-02-08T11:39:00.000-08:00

So I started posting on my "Healthy & Happy Blog" again! Yes, I'm sure everyone cares....or more like it, no one really cares. But I have wanted to start posting on it again and this time I will actually keep it up. If interested you can check it out, there is a link on the top right of my blog or here is the site - http://happyandhealthyliving.blogspot.com/

Heading indoors and out

2012-02-06T08:51:00.000-08:00

During this time of year when it cold and the outdoor activities are very few and far between, I am always trying to find some fun activities to do with the boys during the day. At least once a week we try and head out somewhere whether to the aquarium, storey time at the library, museum, Discovery Gateway or somewhere new. Life is busy at home with the boys and work so it’s always nice to head out and do something fun with them. I got a pass to the Discovery Gateway in SLC which we love and it is always a big hit for the boys.
This weekend we also went to the “Freestyle Ski World Cup” up in Park City. I love that we have such a great event like this so close to home. The only problem was that evening it got BITTER cold and in no time some of the boys were cold and miserable…. past the point of it being enjoyable for us. Even though I had them bundled up it still was very cold. At least we went and saw some of it. :o)
Ironically the next day we were out walking in the afternoon on some running trail by our house with just a light jacket…… that Utah for you! It was beautiful out on Sunday and the boys loved getting their bikes and scooters out to go for a ride.

Freestyle Ski World Cup up at Deer Valley.

We ended up inside for a bit because it got SOOOOO cold for the boys. Thank goodness for games on the Iphone which save us in times of meltdown, and also helps them forget about their cold toes :o)

The next day it was so beautiful we headed out for a walk and bike ride. One of the pics is of Rowan trying to ride the scooter. He is getting so big and wants to be doing EVERYTHING his older brothers are doing.

This is what 3 little boys equal

2012-01-30T09:29:00.000-08:00

With a house full of 3 little boys and one big boy we definitely have plenty of wrestling and rowdiness going on. I love it though...it makes the house vibrant and fun. Here is a video of the boys I took. They got some light savers from Disney World and have been playing non stop with them ever since. I walked into one of our rooms to find this going on.

You just need to copy and paste the links below.

http://youtu.be/Zez1DHcbHW0

I also had to add this video of Railay. It makes me laugh because he has a cute/funny way of singing his songs he makes up.

http://youtu.be/7TJCo8GRnaw

Caribbean Cruise

2012-01-25T10:18:00.000-08:00

For Christmas we surprised the boys with a family vacation/cruise to the Caribbean. The boys opened this box with a ship in it and there was a bunch of papers hidden in it with clues as to where we were going. It was cute to see the excitement on their face when they found out they get to go on a plane and a big ship. On the 13th of January we headed to the beautiful sunny Caribbean. It was SO nice to get away and out of the cold and MOST of all spend time with our little family. We spend seven days on the cruise which sailed in the eastern Caribbean which was wonderful. All we wanted was the sun, beaches and something new to see. The boys did so awesome on the cruise and loved going to a new destination each day and exploring around the ship. Thank goodness for all those time I’ve “tried” to teach them manners because they definitely needed them at dinner time, they were great though! At all of the port we never booked a tour with the cruise line but just got off the boat and figured out what to do from there. We found some great places and enjoyed doing it on our own.
After the cruise was over we told the boys we had one last surprise. We wouldn’t tell them where we were going and until we got there. Disney World was our destination and they were excited to go in. We stayed there until about 12:00 am. Yes, we definitely tired by the end. The whole day was completely worth it and so fun!
On the last day we had until 5:00 in the afternoon to hang around Florida until our flight left. So we did some research and found this awesome state park where manatees come during the winter. It is a beautiful clear spring that was full of manatee, crocodiles and turtles. It was fun for the boys to see those animals in the wild.

I was most worried about this little guy on the plane flight because it was long and he does not sit still. Thank goodness I came very well prepared to keep his attention.

Nassua bahamas

The boys were So excited to get in the water.

We took the boys snorkeling. Railay didn't last long because he couldn't figure out how to breath with out getting water in his mouth.

This is one of the first nights at dinner and if you look at Rowans face he is very grumpy and wouldn't smile for any pictures.

On one of the ship days it was very windy and there was almost no one out on the deck. We braved the winds and took the boys swimming though, it was actually really fun to have it all to ourselves.

One thing I loved was running around the ship. Sounds boring, but definitely not. They had a kid fun center that North and Railay could go play in. They had activities for the kids and watched them. So the one time Josh and I would take advantage of it was when we went running. We would put Rowan in the stroller and run around and around the deck. It was great because of the beautiful scenery, time with Josh and Rowan always fell asleep. :o) It was also nice to get a workout in since all we seem to do it eat :o)

St. Thomas. This beach was GORGEOUS!!!!!! Clear water and beautiful sandy beaches.

Rowans new favorite thing is climbing up trees and pretending to be a monkey.

San Jaun Puerto Rico. We went to the rain forest there which was amazing and beautiful. So lush and green!!!

old town San Jaun.

Great Stirrups Cay. We spent the whole day here just sitting at the beach playing, swimming and relaxing......wait no relaxing no such thing when your on vacation with 3 litle boys. :o)

This is one of my favorite pictures of Rowan. Beach chair, bottle and the sound of waves is all he needs to relax.

DISNEY WORLD!!!!!!

I laughed so hard when i saw this picture. Josh and North went on the Space Mountain ride together and I told Josh to take a picture while on the ride and this is what I got.....classic!!!!

My favorite room....the Tikki Room. Reminds me of when i was a kid coming here.

Josh convinced North to go in the very front of the Splash Mountain ride. They came out soaked but laughing because it was so fun, they then turned around and went on it again.

The state park we found with all the wild manatee.

A few updates

2012-01-12T11:35:00.000-08:00

Here is a little update from the past few weeks-

Last week I had another ultra sound and this time I got some cute pics. No, we are still not finding out the gender of this baby. Surprises are always fun and this teaches me patients which is a must needed quality for me. :o)
Railay started his first day of Preschool. He was So excited to be a big boy and take his backpack to school. He has loved it so far. He only goes on Tuesdays and Thursday, but on those days he wakes up early and get dressed all by himself and begins to count down the time until I take him to school.
Rowan also finally got his very first hair cut….. many people thought it was very long due, as for Josh and I we liked the shaggy look. But the shaggy look started turning into a mullet, so it was definitely time for a trim.
Josh also surprised me with a date to the symphony. It was the Tchaikovky’s Piano Concerto No 2. It was magical, beautiful and I enjoyed every minute of it. I have not been to the symphony for years and it was a pleasant change of scenery. I’m just glad that I have a hubby who is always up for trying and going to anything new and different.

Baby Donut with his/her thumbs up! Donut is what we call out little baby, thanks to Rialay's suggestion. Who knows where he got it from, but it has stuck.

Railay first day of Preschool.

I found this card on my desk from North. It was So cute I had to take a picture of it. He is such a sweet little guy.

Rowans first haircut - The before and after.

Date night to the Symphony with my sweetie.

Trans Siberian Orchestra, Jazz game and New Year's party!!!

2012-01-03T10:30:00.000-08:00

I can now get back to my work, deep clean my house, take down the Christmas decorations and look back on a wonderful holiday season. Last week we had Josh’s work part which was a great time. We all went out to eat and then to Trans Siberian Orchestra. Josh and I thought this would be a great concert to go to for the party; it was a risk because it is VERY loud, but overall I think everyone enjoyed it. This was my second time going and I loved it just as much. If you have never been you definitely should go next season.
Later that week Josh and I went out on a date to dinner and a Jazz game. It was SOOO nice going to a sporting event without my WONDERFUL three little boys. I could actually watch it. :o) Dinner was great, we went to Shogun Japanese restaurant. It’s a small little restaurant on Main in SLC. They have some great sushi!!!!
For New Years we took the boys to the SLC EVE Party in downtown. We had SIX hours of non-stop play until the countdown to the New Years began; needless to say we were all very tired by 12:00, especially the two little boys. :o) When the countdown began and fireworks went off they brightened right up and they were excited to see the show. I’m excited for this next 2012 year to come. I know it will be a great one as long as I have my wonderful little family by my side.

New Years

This room was the boys favorite. It was one HUGE room full of inflatable balls.

They also had a huge room full of bounce houses.

The colorful tower behind Josh was
a huge sound sytem called "the Tower of Boom" It was awesome, I could have stayed here all night, but how could I deny the boys a room full of balls and a room with tonz of bounce houses. :o) You pick?

These next two pictures are outside right before the countdown to the New Years began. As you can see the two little boys were half awake half asleep, poor little guys.

JAZZ GAME

Trans Siberian Orchestra and dinner work party.

Dinner at Bucca De Beppos

Merry Christmas!!!

2011-12-30T12:12:00.000-08:00

This Christmas Season has been such a magical one and Christmas Eve and Christmas day was the topping on the cake! The counting down the days and anticipation for the 25th was finally here and OH BOY my boys were excited! Every Christmas Eve North goes to work with Josh for the day (they are only open until 12:00) North looks forward to this day all year long, he get s to help the customers and be or might I say “act” big. :o) Afterwards we headed to my family’s house for the afternoon for a family party which was wonderful. All of the cousin had fun running around, messing things up and having fun together. We ate A TON, had a program, talent show and some fun games. Afterwards we headed back to our house for some pajama opening and getting ready for Santa to come. The next morning was delightful watching the boys full of excitement as they opened their presents and stocking. I loved seeing my hubby open up some of his presents which I have been dying to give him. :o) Afterwards we went to our church which was very nice to take a little time out of our morning to celebrate what Christmas is really about “Christ” When we got home we had our traditional BIG Christmas breakfast which Josh makes. The rest of the day was filled with playing games and enjoying each other’s company. Later that evening we went back to my parent’s house to play some more games until late in the night. We ended up spending two more days there going hiking, going to a movie and of course playing more games. :o)

The picture are in order from the end of the Christmas holiday to the begining of Chrimstas Eve, my fault with the uploading of the pics.

The day after Christmas Josh and I went hiking behind Timp. We went to the falls and then headed up the Timp trail.

You can see the ice climbers climbing up the falls behind us.

Josh got a WII from Santa and we had fun playing it on Christmas. This photo is hilarious! As you can tell Railay was really getting into the game.

Our Christmas morning feast with our Birthday cake (or monkey bread) to celebrate Jesus's Birth. We even had a candle.

Christmas morning!!!!

When we got home from my parents house we were going to do some things and open pajamas, but Railay fell asleep in the car and we could not wake him at all. So I though we would still take a pajama photo by him even though he was fast asleep, so he could see what he missed. :o)

My attempt at trying to get a family Christmas photo. As you can tell North was NOT happy and Railay was looking off once again. :o) I love it though!

The grandkids in their jammies grandma gave them.

Rowan and his new cousin Marshall. He loves being by new babies. Thank goodness since a new one is coming to our family.

Josh asked everyone to smile and this is what he gets. I think i'm the only one smiling. :o)

Railay doing his talent, he sings his Railayluya song...it makes me laugh everytie he sings it.

Rowan and Uncle Ammon

Another busy week before Christmas

2011-12-24T10:27:00.000-08:00

Once again I am posting some more Christmas activities :o) The weeks leading into Christmas were fun and memory filled ones. Here are some pics of some of the things we had going on-

Two night before Christmas my family always had a tradition of reading Christmas stories and sleeping under the Christmas tree. I have loved being able to carry on that tradition with my boys. We also buy a new game and play it before we start the reading of all the books. This year the game was "Yahtzee Sponge Bob Square Pant" The boys slept in their little train tent by the tree.

Last week I also attempted making snowglobes with the boys and some of their neighborhood friends. Since all the kids were boys we made action figure and truck snowglobes....a big hit for little boys. :o) And these are actually very easy to make.

One of the nights last week we went to ZOO Lights at Hogle Zoo. The boys love this and it was great because it actually snowed that night. Yes....Utah actually got some snow finally...to bad it did not last very long.

Another tradition we love is going to the "Christmas Carol Sing Along"at the Energy Solution Arena. Who doesn't love singing Christmas song with thousands of other people????

One evening we just had Railay with us so we took him to the Gingerbread House Festival and then out to eat. It's great when you have a chance to spend some one on one time with your kids and Railay enjoyed it too.

We also had the Rust family Christmas Party. My mother in-law is so creative, this year she sent out invite and invited us to celebrate Jesus birth. We all came dressed as either shepherds, merchants, Mary, Joseph...ect. We then acted out our part and ate food that they might have eaten back then....so fun and great for the little boys. :o)

I'm one of those crazy Christmas mom!

2011-12-15T09:11:00.000-08:00

So, yes I can be one of those crazy Christmas moms that try to do as many Christmas activities during the month of December that my kids can handle. I guess there are so many fun things to do that it’s hard to not go to some of them. Thank goodness my boys actually like going to these activities. Don’t worry I am not dragging them to do these fun things…….at least for now, we’ll see how they feel about it when they are teenagers. :o) It’s ONE month of fun craziness!!! I love this time of year though; it has been so fun and magical for my little boys. Here are some things that we did this last week. :o)

We made holiday slime as a family. Basically it the slime recipe but we just added red and green food coloring to make it festive. This is actually a very fun craft to do with the kids. Easy also and last a long time if you keep it in an air tight container.

My Fu Manchu!!!

We went with some friends of ours to take a carraige ride through the Thanksgiving Point lights. I didn't take any pictures the whole time or hardily saw any of the lights because we were talking with our friends the entire time....at least the boys were looking.

We went tubing with the boys and some friends at Gorgoza Park in Park City. This place is awesome!!! They have a lift that takes you on your tube up the mountain then you can tube down the mountain. Railay and I went together and I'm sure I got more scared than he did. I don't think we saw North the entire time because he was off tubing with his friend the whole time.

Going on the Polar Express Train with the boys is a tradition we started with the them last year. This is such a fun and magical ride to do with kids. They turn the train into the Polar Express and then you ride to the North Pole to see Santa. Santa gets on the train and talks to every little boy and girl and also gives them a little treat. The boys love it and always get SO excited when we finally get to the North Pole (wink, wink)

I saw this picture and laughed because this is typically what all my picture taking moments are like. Trying to get the boys to just look and smile at the camera for a least one second. North usually looks, Railay is off in lala land and Rowan is usually being a silly and refusing to look at the camera while I am trying to get all of them too corporate. HAHA do you think I take to many pictures and they are just tired of them....probably :o)

We have this little tradition every year that we call "The festival of houses" Basically one year we were going to the Festival of Trees but when we got there is was WAY too crowded to even try and attempt to go in….so instead of disappointing the boys we told them that we were going to do the Festival of house instead. It actually quite fun, we just drive around a bunch of different neighborhoods that have tons of light and ooooo and ahh over all of them , then go home have hot chocolate.

The ever growing bump!

2011-12-08T12:09:00.000-08:00

First off I don’t know why I’m doing this pose…I guess I’m not good at the whole pregnancy posing deal. :o)
But, YES I do the pregnancy bump! We are VERY excited to have a baby coming our way at the beginning of May. :o) My stomach is getting bigger which has been harder to hide, so finally I thought I would stop hiding it and actually tell our family and friends our awesome news. I’m SO excited to have another little one! The boys especially North are also very excited too.
This pregnancy was very different from my other 3. My/our life was turned upside down for a couple of months when I was miserable, sick, miserable and sick some more. No I’m not complaining I can just write and laugh about it now because for the past while it has been smooth sailing. But for the first couple of months it definitely was not. I don’t think I’ve ever been so sick!!!! I have no idea how those women out there who are sick the entire pregnancy do it. I was literally throwing up all the time and never wanted to get out of bed. HAHAHA that is defiantly not me. I had to bring a throw up back with me everywhere I went because it would come all of sudden. There were a couple of time when I did not have one and yes I did throw up in my shirt while I was at store….sick and too much info I know!!!! At one point North asked me “mom since you throw up all the time, when the baby comes out will it be throwing up all the time” HAHA I had to laughed about that and tell him the baby will not be throwing up. Cute kids and the questions they ask. :o) It’s totally worth being sick during pregnancy though, because in the end you get a wonderful bundle of joy.
I am more or less writing this down so I can be grateful for how I feel now, because I feel great, other than being more tired than usually but that is to be expected. I will be coming up on 20 weeks this month and no we are not finding out what we are having. We are going to let this one be a surprise. Girl or boy…..I just want it to be healthy!!!

also....sorry if this was too much info about throwing up :o) rlindseyr

Leaves, leaves and more leaves!!!!!

2011-12-05T09:27:00.000-08:00

Last week was another fun filled busy week full of Christmas activities and other odds and ends. Here some pics of the week.

I took the boys plus their cousin Sammy to our city tree lighting event. They had music, cookies, hot chocolate and a bunch a beautiful lit trees.

We went to temple square to see the lights this last weekend with some of my family. It was COLD!!!! Afterwards we met up at our house to eat and play games. Fun times :o)

We have been attempting to conquer our leaves in our yard for the past couple of weeks. YEAH, it has been taking that long. We have a big yard with a lot of trees and life is busy, so to rake up these leaves is a big project. But we try to have fun while doing it, like stuffing the boys in the garbage with the leaves. What kid doesn't want to get in the garbage????

After my sister shower. Chelsey she is due at the beggining of Jan. I am SOOOO excited for her and she is such a cute/hot pregnant mamma! My sister Chelsey, me my mamma and sister Amy.

Here are some shower gift I made for my sisters shower. I also made them when I helped with my sister in law shower. I only took a pic to show that sometimes I CAN actually be somewhat crafty. I've enjoyed dabbing my hands at some craft projects lately.

We went to the auction nigth of Festival Of Trees with some friends of ours. It was great to go before the huge crowd showed up and bid on some things. I LOVE that 100% of the the money earned goes to Primary Childrens Hospital.

Thanksgiving week

2011-12-01T11:18:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday I spent most of the day cooking getting ready for Thanksgiving. We went to Josh’s parents house for Thanksgiving dinner. North helped me with some of the dishes.

Thanksgiving morning we took the boys to s nearby retirement home to visit them for breakfast. The boys made about 45 Thanksgiving cards and passed them out while they were eating breakfast. They were very cute walking around with their Indian hats while trying their best to make conversation. :o)

After the retirement home we went out to grabs some Thanksgiving morning donuts….yummy & messy!

Friday after Thanksgiving I took the boys to Gallivan Plaza to watch the downtown light turn on and to see Kurt Bestor in concert.

Poor Rowan was SOOO tired this night. After many late night before and most of Friday morning spend at stores filled with CRAZY shoppers, by the time Friday evening came he had it. That's why he looks dazed in this picture. Poor kid :o)

Saturday night we went out to get a Christmas tree. This is one of my favorite things to do during the holiday season. This tree lot has reindeer which the boys LOVE to see every year.

Railay wanted this blue Christmas tree because it was blue like the blue Power Ranger.

We had many attempts in trying to get the star on the tree. North could not seem to get it on so we tried with Railay.

Thanks to Railay being so light we finally got the star on!!!!!

This was about 10:00 pm at night and Rowan was cranky and tired, this was the best somewhat of a smile we could get out of him. :o) The boys were excited to see all of their ornaments finally on the tree.

Start of the Holidays

2011-11-21T16:09:00.000-08:00

I LOVE this time of year!!! The lighting of a HUGE Christmas tree, Santa and a concert is a great way to start the holiday season off. The Gateway had their annual Christmas tree lighting event. It is always fun and the boys love the anticipation of seeing Santa for the first time during the year.

Railay's face after he saw Santa.

The BIG Christmas tree they lit up. The picture does not do it justice, it was beautiful!!

I had to add this picture because it was just too cute. This morning when I came back from running the two boys were waiting by the window for me. Since I have my iphone to listen to music while running I had the perfect moment to snap a shot. I love them and they make me laugh. Don't worry they are NOT naked. They love to run around in their undies....hummmm it must be a boy thing.

Moab Folk Festival & Anniversary

2011-11-18T18:14:00.001-08:00

A couple of weeks ago Josh and I headed to Moab for the “Moab Folk Festival” We LOVE this festival it is small, intimate and always brings amazing artist. In the two days we were there we listen to a little over 15 hours of life music at the festival, went on some beautiful hikes/runs and ate some great food. We definitely enjoyed ourselves. The festival is usually always close to our anniversary so it makes it an even better excuse to escape and celebrate our happy life together. And what a happy life it is! I am SO blessed and grateful to be married to Josh. Not only is he my hubby and an awesome father to my kids, but he is also my best friend. I love travelling through life with him as we create many fun memories with our family. I love that he is always up for an adventure with me. I love that he deals with all my craziness with ease. I love that he works so hard to provide for the family. I love that my boys adore him because that shows that he is a great father. I LOVE that I get to spend my life with him by my side. :o)

At the festival.

Hike around Corona Arch
It was very rainly on this hike, but that made the surrounding even more beautiful! There were waterfalls everywhere and the rock glistened with all the water on them.

Hike to took to a lookout over Moab.

On the way back from this hike we ran back down the trail. This one was especially fun because it was a fast downhill with a ton of jumping over rocks. Thank goodness we didn't twist our ankles. Of course I had to stop to take a picture ( it was just to beautiful) You can see Josh in the dark clothes running ahead.

Halloweeeeeeeeen Fun!

2011-11-03T13:15:00.000-07:00

Like I posted in my last post I love Halloween time! The week before Halloween was full of 3 Halloween parties, a lot of candy, tons of candy, even more candy and a fun night of trick or treating. Some of the parties we had and went to were – A trunk-or-treat party for the neighborhood, a Halloween party we had at our house with some of our friends from our neighborhood and a family Halloween party at my Moms house. Definitely some fun times. Here is some pictures below….sorry there are SOOO many of them.

Halloween party we had with some friends at our house.

We played a bunch of Minute-to-Win it games. This was so fun, not only watching everyone make a fool of themselves by playing the game but getting the games together too.

All the ladies at the party minus one.

All the men at the party minus one.

Family Halloween party

The trophy Railay won from a Halloween treat he helped me make. He was SOOOO excited to get this trophy.

At Cornbelly's Cornmaze we went to with some of the family.

4 of us sisters and my mom.

The Trunk-or-Treat party

This is Rowan after he has stayed up WAY past his bedtime PLUS way TOO much sugar.

The boys and I were SUPER HEROS at the trunk or treat.

Trick or Treating

North after trick or treating. Josh first took all the boys out and after about one hour Railay and Rowan came home. North wanted to go out longer and of course Josh was excited to go out even longer with him (Josh is a little boy at heart) A couple hours later they came home with a bucket full of candy.

Some Halloween crafts

2011-10-31T12:17:00.000-07:00

I love Halloween time and this year has definitely been fun with the boys. One thing we have enjoyed is making a bunch of craft. I am not the most crafty person around, but I love to do fun little things with the boys and decorations for the house. Here are some of them we did this month.

The boys and I made some gooey and yucky monster blisters and zombie brain drink. It actually tasted very good.

zombie brain drink

The monster blisters below and Rowan trying the monster blisters, he didn't know what think in the very beginning.

Carving pumpkins is always fun.

North wanted to take a picture of Railay and I, I love how most of the picture is of the table. At least you see all of the pumpkins seeds that we soon made into so yummy delicious seeds in the oven.

Halloween frames I made this year for around the house.

The boys helped me with these desserts.....as you can tell by the shape of the gooey eyeballs :o)

monster face cookies

This is a a drink I made for a halloween party we had at our house. I love how it turned out.
It's black punch with frozen green hands for the ice. The ice is made out of green kool-aid that I put inside those plastic gloves and then froze.

These are the invitation I made for the Halloween party at our house.

A little catch up

2011-10-24T12:35:00.000-07:00

I haven’t posted for awhile due to many reasons. Most of all life has been busy. I’ve been working like crazy trying to help Josh with some big projects he has been trying to get up and running. We have managed to squeeze in some fun things with the kids and just us though. :o)
Josh took North on his 1st backpacking trip. North has been SOOOOO excited to go on this little trip. They went with Josh friend Matt and his boy Jack who is also North’s friend. They had a lot of fun!
Josh and I also went with some of our friends to a concert. They introduced us to two new artist I did not know much about, but now after going to their concert I have grown to love them. They were Matt Pond PA and Rocky Votolato. They are very good live!
This Saturday was also one of our favorite mornings of the fall season. It was GEAR SWAP morning! Every year around this time Black Diamond has a huge gear swap that starts early in the morning. It’s a fun time get some outdoor gear that we have been needed for very cheap. We always pack the boys along with us while grabbing hot chocolate for everyone as we head to the swap at around 6:00 am.
On Saturday we also went to Lagoon. The boys always love this place. They love going on any kind of ride and Lagoon seems to have a ton of kid rides. We had some family that met up with us also here and it was fun to spend some time with them too. :o)
On Sunday we spent the day at Grandma Rust house. Uncle Curt got the horses out for the boys to ride and they loved it, especially Railay. I think his dream is to be a cowboy. He insisted on wearing a cowboy hat while riding the horse. Afterwards we decorated some cookies and colored on some pumpkins. It was a nice relaxing day with the family which is always enjoyable. :o)

GRANDMA'S HOUSE

LAGOON

GEAR SWAP

CONCERT WITH FRIENDS

NORTH'S BACKPACKING TRIP

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOOSE!

2011-10-11T10:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday MOOSE a.k.a North!!!
North turned 6 years old on October 6th. He has been so excited for his birthday to come because he LOVES getting older. On the 6th we had a family party for him with just our little family. We went to a FUN place to go with kids called “planetplay” They have pizza and all sort of games. So Fun! WE stayed there as late as we could even though it was a school night for North. :o)
We then had his friend party the next day on Friday. I told him he could have a friend party this year so he has been excited about that for awhile. The friend party was CRAZY!!!!! We had about 16 kids over for the party. Yikes!!!!! Thanks to Josh who is great with rowdy kids we had them somewhat under control…..somewhat :o) We played some games and then all decorated hats. The kids actually loved this. We had a ton a decoration that the kids could use and each of them got to take the hat home. Much to some of the mothers dismay and me not thinking….some of the kids brought home hats that were still wet with paint. :o) Sorry!

SOME OF THE MANY REASONS WHY I LOVE THIS GUY
-North is such a sweet kid. He is always trying to find things to do to help me out.
-North is a very smart kid and I am so proud of him and his desire to keep learning and exploring new things.
-North definitely has his moment with his brothers, but for the most part he is a great big brother. He like to have school with Railay everyday and teach him his ABC’s.
-North loves to snuggle and I love to have a snuggle buddy. :o)
-North is a great artist. He loves to color and create and sorts of cool pictures. I love that he is always drawing pictures for me that say "I love you mom"
-North wants to be just like his daddy. I think that is a wonderful thing!
-North was my first born child so he has been my guinea pig when it comes to raising a child. No one know how to raise a child until they have one of their own. Thanks North for being so patient with mom! I LOVE you more than you will ever know. I cherish being your mom and will always strive to be the best mom I can for you. You are my sweetheart and always will be!

opening up his presents, Railay seems more excited then North does.

We made birthday pancakes for the morning time.

FAMILY PARTY AT PLANET PLAY
this place is a kids paradise

bowling
mini golf

bumper cars

arcade games

NORTH'S FRIEND BIRTHDAY PARTY

The goodies bag

The birthday cupcakes.

decorating the hats with the kiddies.

Some of North's friends at his party with their hats they made.

Don't know what to do with a bunch of kids at a party. Stick them in a room full of balloons...it's a big hit!!!!

A surprise weekend trip to Snowbird

2011-10-05T14:33:00.000-07:00

For awhile Josh has been telling the boys that he had a surprise for them coming up. Last Friday Josh told the boys that they had to make sure they got the mail on time that day. When the boys finally got the mail that day there was a letter for them from Josh. It had some clues for where we were going for the weekend. We ended finding out that we were heading to Snowbird for the weekend. The boys were very excited because we all LOVE it up there. Snowbird is a great place to have a close mini vacation. We had SO much fun. We stayed at the Lodge Resort and also got all day activity passes for both days. We spent our time up there doing all of the activities as much as we possibly could….then usually went to bed early because we were so tired. I’m glad I have a great hubby who has such a great surprise up his sleeve. :o)

The boys when they go the letter. Who know what is going through Railay's mind...excitement..maddness...madness...madness?

We took the tram to the top of the mountain and the view up there was breathtaking!!!

It was the perfect time of year to spend a weekend up there! The fall colors were bright and beautiful.

Taking the chair lift up into the mountains. Rowan was not for sure about how high we were. :o)

You can see North in the background and he was flying on the bungy jump rides.

The boys (even Josh) loved these bungy tramps. You can actually get jumping really high and do flips. Josh was the only one that could do flips, it was cute though to try and see the boys try to flip.

The cute resort we stayed at.

That's me going on the zip line. The boys were so jealouse that they could not go on this ride.

We rode the Alpine Slides over and over again. This was the favorite out of all of us.

Both Josh and I thought that we would dominate the bull rider. HAHA we got kicked off within 8 seconds.

A little bit of this & that of this last week

2011-10-03T11:00:00.000-07:00

This last week was filled full of some fun times.
Here is a little bit of what went on-

Josh’s family got together for the weekend in Midway. We were not able to make it the whole time, but for the little time we were there we had fun hanging out with the family.

North had an event at school called "The Jog-A-Thon" Each grade ran a little race. It was so cute to see all the little kids running like mad to the finish line.

I took the boys to this place called Hollywood Connections, it's a fun place to go with kids. They have everything from mini-golf, bumper cars,carousel ride, arcade games, skating and some amusement rides. The boys had fun. North's favorite thing to do was the mini-golf. He got really competitive and wanted to do it over and over again.

We also went to the REAL Soccer game this last week. It was a good game but disappointing ending. In the picture below it is of all the boys trying to share ONE slurpy. It turned into an all out war of who could get the most.

All the boys glued to the game. :o)

Family photo shoot - Albion Basin

2011-09-22T17:30:00.000-07:00

We finally got some professional family photo taken a couple of weeks ago. I was pleased with how they turned out. Especially since Railay was cranky that day….UMMMM cranky might be an understatement for how he was that day. I LOVE him though!!!!! We got a few smiles out of him. It was also hit and miss rain while we were doing it too. That all doesn’t matter though because we got some good shots and it was SOOOOOO beautiful up there. :o)

I LOVE this picture of my boys! I adore these three little men so much! I am SO lucky to to be their mom. I know it sounds silly, but I almost cry when I saw this picture. Who knows why???
Maybe it's those crazy mommy hormones. ;O)

Wonder Woman Century 100 Bike Race & Real Soccer Game

2011-09-19T07:52:00.000-07:00

This last weekend I did the Wonder Woman 100 mile bike ride. It was SOOO much fun. It’s kind of a funny story of how it came about. I was training for the St. George Marathon and about a month ago I got a foot injury. I opted out on running the St. George Marathon knowing that it would be in the best interest of my body right now (much to my dismay) My girlfriends that I go running with kept telling me that I should get on the bike and I have always wanted to start up road biking but I’m usually training for some running race so I’ve never taken the time to take it up. So, two week before this race I decided to try it out. I totally fell in love with it and thought why not start out with the big 100! This race was great, the course took you through some absolutely beautiful scenery. I will defiantly be doing some more bike races again. :o)
We also went to the Real Soccer game that night which we always love. I jumped in the shower and left about 45 minutes after I got home. It was worth it though because we all had fun except for maybe Railay, he fell asleep about 15 minutes after we got there. :o)

My two friends I road the race with Danielle and Lisa.

I know this is kind of a corny picture, but everyone has to have their muscle picture after a race. It makes you laugh when you look back on it. :o) In the picture Danielle, Joanna ( girl we met along the race and ended up biking with for the last half) Lisa and me.

Josh, North and Rowan are somewhere down in that crowd. They went up front to see the concert while I stayed back with Railay because he was alseep.

Albion Basin Meadow Trail & The Grumpy Face

2011-09-14T09:12:00.001-07:00

This last weekend we headed up to the mountains again. We went for a hike on the Albion Basin Meadows Trail, which is SOOOOOOOO beautiful. Any of the trails past Alta is breathtaking. The flowers are just now starting to die off. The boys loved this hike because there are a ton of big boulders to climb on.

I also had to post some picture of our family grumpy faces. Silly I know but this grumpy face is a big deal in our house right now. Rowan has been doing this funny/cute grumpy face all the time lately. He doesn’t actually look grumpy more like a cute pouty face. It makes me laugh every time. I still think Rowan has us beat when it come to cuteness while doing a grumpy face.

Railay refused to show us his grumpy face. :o(

Second to Rowan this is my favorite grumpy face.

The Albion Meadows Trail.

Rowan is now walking all the time. When we hike he loves to try and tackle the trails all by himself.

North has a future in this!!??

2011-09-11T18:06:00.000-07:00

North is such a silly kid...I LOVE that about him. I found this video on my computer from a couple of month ago. This is a song he made up on the spot. We watched it many time after I recorded it because it made us laugh so much. Maybe he has a future in song writing? :o) After you watch the video I'm sure you'll agree.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m9ub1A2d_U

Zoo Rendezvous

2011-09-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

We went to a fundraising event called the Zoo Rendezvous this last Thursday. We went to this last year also and totally loved it. Not only is it a great way to raise some money for the zoo with their silent auction and ticket sales, but it is a fun party. They have WONDERFUL food! So much food that I always seem to make myself sick. I’m like a little kid in a candy shop with food, when I see it and it’s in front of me I can’t help but grab and eat. :o) Totally worth it though. Our kids were jealous that we went to the zoo without them. They couldn’t figure out why we wouldn’t take them. “Why would adults go to the zoo without their kids?”

This was my favorite plate!!! I don't know what it was, but it was good.

They had a great live band there too.

Cecret Lake

2011-09-07T11:03:00.000-07:00

This last Labor Day was a wonderful one. We woke up exercised, work on the yard all day, went for afternoon hike up BEAUTIFUL Albion Basin and came home and ate some good food while watching a movie. Sounds fun huh!!??
The hike we went on was up to a Lake called Cecret Lake. This hike is great for little kid because it is fairly short and has a great destination in the end. There were thousands of wildflowers up there. The mountanside where flowing with them. While on our hike we spotted a moose, which was cool for the boys.

I found an app that you can download pictures to and add some kind of filter to the picture. It called instagram. This filter is called earlybird.

Lake Powell 2011

2011-09-06T11:47:00.000-07:00

We been very lucky to see some beautiful places around the world, but one of my favorite places is Lake Powell. I have been coming here since I was young with my family. There is something so magical and peaceful about this place. As the kids get older it’s seems to get better. The boys can get enough of the water and sand. If they had it their way they would swim and play in the sand all day without even stopping for food. North was a tubing maniac this year. I was so surprised at how fast he wanted to go on the tubes. It made me and especially Josh happy. Railay had a little scare in the beginning of the trip which made him very apprehensive about swimming in the water, but after a couple of days he was swimming (with a life jacket) by himself without being scared. As for Rowan that kid has no fear which means – I must watch him every moment and always have a life jacket on him. :o)
This year we had the Dutson's, Wilkinson's, Ogden's, Mom & Dad and us on the house boat. It was packed but so fun. All the kids had a great time playing with each other and us adults like usually enjoyed each other’s company. :o)

Our usually jam packed eating time. Each of us girls had a day to cook, everything tasted wonderful even though we could not use the microwave, stove and the BBQ went out too after a couple of days.

We found some good cliffs to jump off of. This is my brother in law Taylor. He's crazy! Don't worry though, he did not land on his stomach.

This tube which we called th TACO was my favorite!

THE END :O)

Take me out to a ball game

2011-08-29T13:09:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we went to a BEES Baseball game. Railay has been asking about going to a Baseball game all summer long. We took my sister and brother in law Cam & Aleesha. We had a great time with them and always enjoy their company. :o) The game was LOOOOOOONG but entertaining most of the time. I was surprised we kept the kids in their seats most of the time. After the game they had fireworks which were we better than I thought they would be. They lit them off very close to the stadium so it was loud and I think Rowan about peed his pants from being so scared of the noise.

We all took the train to the stadium. Sorry Cam & Aleesha I had to post this picture.....it is just to cute of th etwo of you & it did make me laugh really hard when I saw it :o)

1st DAY of School

2011-08-29T12:58:00.000-07:00

North started Kindergarten this week. He has been SO excited to start school. He woke up VERY early this morning because he said he was to excited to sleep. Last year he just missed the deadline by a couple of weeks so he will be one of the older kids. I am so proud of North and how much he has matured and grown. He is such a sweet and delightful kid. I know he will make a lot of friend and do excellent in school. He amazes me with how smart he is. Every once and awhile bust out these facts that I didn’t even know about. I would like to say that I taught him everything he knows, BUUUUT I definitely must credit it to all the amazing books out there. North loves to read!

Add a little laughter to bedtime stories

2011-08-24T20:52:00.000-07:00

Josh and I found this book at a store and thought automatically about the boys and how much they would get a good laugh out of it. Bedtime stories are always fun, but this book had the boys in giggles. We now have a new book that the boys are requesting every night. The funniest part of this book was to watch Josh read it to the boys for the first time. I don't know who thought it was funnier...the boys or Josh. :o) This book actually has buttons that play the sound of each "unspeakable sound" and describes each sound. Yea I know it gross...but funny

Camping in AF Canyon & exploring Timpanogos Cave

2011-08-22T16:02:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we went camping with our good friend the Popes. We headed up to AF canyon to go camping at Timpanookie campgrounds. It is a great place to camp if you haven’t been. Danielle and I had fun making some “gourmet” camping meals. Everything taste gourmet though when you’re camping.
The next day we took all the kids to Timpanogos Cave. I went here a couple of times when I was younger, but this was the first time for our boys. They loved it, as soon as we got out of the cave North asked “when can we go again” The best part of it all was lugging all of our kids up the 1 1/2 STEEP incline to the entrance of the cave. I know a 1 ½ is not long at all, but when it’s steep and you have 5 kids it feels longer than 1 ½ miles. :o) They were actually all great troopers.

You can't tell in the picture, but we are in the cave and behind us is some beauitful stalactites and stalagmites.

Hiking up to Timpanogos Cave

Railay knew fixation is pretending that everything is a horse. Anything that he can ride he will hop on and start yelling “yeehaa” This time it was a stick and he rode that horse(stick) around everywhere.

Even though Rowan can walk he still prefers to crawl most of the time. It doesn’t seem to bother him crawling through all the rocks and dirt when we are up in the mountains.

Zoo faces

2011-08-19T10:10:00.000-07:00

The zoo is one of our favorite places to go. I love that they now have the dinosaurs all over the zoo. For a long time every time we went Railay thought the dinosaurs were actually real and he would scream and run away when we got close to one. He FINALLY now believes they are just robots. It was kind of funny and cute to see his reaction when he knew we were getting close to one. :o)

T-Rex face

Raptor face

Giraffe face

Monkey face....or least i'm trying to make one.

Cool mountain air and music = happiness

2011-08-15T14:00:00.000-07:00

Sometime life can bring unexpected sadness and grief. That’s just part of life, those moments of tears make you grateful for all the other wonderful moments you get to cherish in life. This weekend was definitely one of those times. Life is all good though. :o) This Saturday we head headed up to Park city for a concert. What a well needed time it was. Music and cool mountain air soothes the soul…..at least for me. I love seeing my kids play and dance to the music while I sit there with my wonderful hubby listening to some good sounds. The Canyons in Park City always bring great music!

Badminton anyone?

2011-08-11T10:28:00.000-07:00

Oh how I love summer evening. Whether it's going out and about somewhere or it’s staying at home playing in the yard. One of our favorite things to do lately is play badminton. The teams are usually Josh &Railay against Me & North. Rowan usually sits on the grass and cheers us on. :o)

We've got our game faces on. Team Mommy/North & team Daddy/Railay

We also went to one of my Father-in-laws concerts for a band he produces. The band name is "Nashville Tribute Band" I was very impressed! The band had excellent sound and were also very entertaining. If you haven’t heard them you’ll have to check them out.
This picture made me laugh only because of Rowan expression. :o)He loves to pose for the camera, this time it was his grumpy face.

I had to add this picture because Rowan is at the stage where he has become very independent and loves eating all by himself with his own utensils. This is what every meals usually looks like, most of the time it's ten times worse. Food on the table, floor, his hair and all over his body.

Road trip with the boys - Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon & Phoenix

2011-08-04T12:17:00.000-07:00

This week I took the boy on a road trip just me and them. Josh had taken some boys scouts camping in the Tetons so I thought I would take the boys on a little road trip. Our destination was Phoenix to see one of my very good friends that I have not seen in awhile. On our way there we spent a couple of days making some stops in some destination which you just can’t miss along the way. The first night we drove to Bryce Canyon and camped there. I have always loved this park and I have never taken the boys here before. They loved hiking around here. Setting up camp was an adventure when we got here because it rained and rained and rained. In between the short moment when the rained stopped I hurriedly tried to get camp set up. I am definitely not as good at doing this as Josh.
The next day we drove to the Grand Canyon to do some more camping and hiking. This place was breathtaking. So gorgeous. It is definitely not much of a hiking place for little kids. We did more of looking and walking around. :o) The boys enjoyed it though. They were amazed at how big the canyon was. Thank goodness it did not rain as much here. We have a portable DVD player for our car so that night we brought it to the tent and had a movie night in the tent.
The next day we drove to Phoenix and spent the next couple of days with Alex and her little family. I had a great time being with her. When we left Phoenix we finally got home around 5:30 am this morning. I put all the boys down to bed in hopes that they would sleep for at least a couple more hours….hahahaha, yeah right! I finally climbed into bed and about 1 hour later little Railay came into my room wanted some breakfast and then I heard Rowan up just a few minutes later. :o) Good thing I love my little boys and don’t mind being taken from my much needed sleep and comfy bed to be with them. :o)

While at BRyce canyon we camped and did a bunch of hikes. This was the boys first time here and they LOVED it. Not only is this place beautiful but it is such a great place to take kids because there is a bunch of little hikes that kids can do.

Camping in Grand Canyon.

I have never been to the Grand Canyon before so when I took my first look at the amazing and breathtaking wonder I was in ahhh. This place is so beautiful. All I can think about now is how much I can't wait until I get a chance to go backpacking through the Grand Canyon. It was amazing from above so I can only imagine what it's like in the depths of the canyon.

At Grand Canyon.

Rowan and Lilly.

The reason why we went all the way to Phoenix. To see one of my best friends (and cousin) Alex and her adorable litle girl. We had such agreat time together. I LOVE this girl!

Our own little firework show

2011-07-29T12:20:00.000-07:00

We had some family over to our house for a fireworks show. We had a table full of a ton of fireworks. It was a good excuse to eat some dessert and play with fire. It was mainly for the little kids. They all fun watching all the fireworks, as for the adults I am not sure if they had as much fun as the kids because that evening it was actually cold and rainy. It finally stop raining about 20 minutes after we finished. :o) hahaha our luck. We also got some of the big aerial fireworks they now let you use in Utah. Those were fun to see. I enjoyed seeing all of the kids delight in seeing the big ones go off. :o)

Camping in Moon Lake

2011-07-29T11:19:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we went camping at Moon Lake for 3 nights. It was SO beautiful up there. We will definitely be coming back to this place. I like trying new places to go camping because there is so much to offer around here you can always seem to find a new place to explore. Moon Lake was about a 3 hour drive away from our house. We had fun for 3 days hiking, fishing, playing in the water, playing games, exploring and getting eaten by bugs…..WAIT the getting eaten by bugs was NOT fun. One of the only downfalls of this place is there are a TON of biting flies. They hurt!!!!!The poor boys got a bunch of bites.

We made ice cream in zip locks bags. This was a huge hit...even Josh got extremely excited to make it :o)

The boys always love to play some kind of game outside while camping. This time it was kickball! Rowan was the pitcher, rolling a ball to someone is his specialty.

Right before we left I got the boys a bug catching kit. They LOVED it and had a lot fo fun trying to find all sorts of bugs. My least favorite...the spiders they found.

Yes we do let our kids play with fire. Only when roasting marshmallows, I like the black ones :o)

North has ear surgery

2011-07-29T11:07:00.000-07:00

North had surgery a couple of weeks ago on his ear. Nothing to major. He was such a good little trooper. I’m hoping THIS time this surgery is going to help his ear. It was not a huge ordeal; he did need to be put under for the surgery though, which is always funny to see him wake up after anesthesia. Later that day Railay and Josh were gone so I thought it would be perfect time to have a one on one time with North night. What did North want to do………..get pizza (at this great Pizza place called NYPD Pizzeria) and jump on the tramp with water balloons. We had fun. I was glad to see that he was feeling well enough to want to jump. :o)

The Joys of having surgery at Primary's Children’s Hospital.....they have everything from slurpy's to video games to a ton of toys to play with. I love this hospital they are always so great with the kids.

Mountain Music Festival

2011-07-20T17:33:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we went to the Mountain Music Festival up at Snowbird. It was great! If you like folk and bluegrass music you missed out because they had some great musician come the day we went. This was a great place to listen to some music because not only did they have some great music up there but there is also a ton of great hikes. So when the boys got restless we just took them for a hike. The last time we went to a music festival up at Snowbird I was actually in labor with Railay… about 5 hours after the festival was over I had our sweet little Railay. I remember listening to the music late into the night and feeling contraction coming and coming and thinking….oh boy I think this baby is coming tonight. :0)

This kid is always messy with some kind of food on his face or clothes. He loves to eat!

There were some squirrels that keeped trying to steal our food where we sat, so the boys spent a good amount of time trying to catch them.

Earlier that day I took the boys to a parade in our city. This parade is awesome because almost every float throws out candy. Every kid comes with bag so they can try and catch as much candy as possible.

After the concert we came back down to Draper to watch the firework show they were having for Draper Days. We couldn't make it to the park so we just parked in a Wal-Mart parking lot to watch them. We actually had a great view.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAILAY

2011-07-15T12:24:00.000-07:00

On the 13th Railay turned BIG 3 years old!!!! He has been looking forward to his birthday for a couple of months now. This little kid was so excited to have HIS special day…and special it was. In the morning he woke up and saw his presents balloons and new bike. He could not stop talking about his bike all morning all he wanted to do was sit on and it and look at it. While he was eating breakfast half of his food got to his mouth because he wasn’t looking at his bowl but his bike. :o) I let Railay pick out some fun activity to do during the day and then a fun place to go out for lunch. We went out and had some fun and then took the boys to McDonalds to get a Happy Meal. We then went home and the boys wanted to have movie time, Railay was very excited that he didn’t have to take a nap and could watch a movie. Then that evening when Josh got home we all went to this place called Jump N’Bounce. Such a FUN place and so great for kids. Every since we went here for Rowan birthday all Railay has talked about is going here for his birthday. We had fun running and jumping around. After that we let Railay pick out where we went out for his birthday dinner. Since it was his free day of eating whatever he wanted he pick a pizza house. He was SOOOO excited to eat bread and cheese. After dinner we came home opened presents and had birthday cake.

I am SOOOOO blessed to have this kid in my life. He can be a handful at times but he is such a delight to be around. I think his feistiness and determination make him who he is and he is one feisty kid! He keeps our family laughing with all the silly things he does. He is the best snuggler and he has a smile that will brighten your day. I have enjoyed seeing him grow so much these past 3 years and I am very excited to see him grow even more in the future. I look forward to seeing who he will become and what type of man he will be. I can only hope that as a mom I can do my best to help and encourage him to reach his full potential for what he want to become. I love my little Railayloolya!

His new bike

At Jump N'Bounce

These pictures are the best. I had a good laugh looking at them. Even Josh and I have a lot of fun at the bounce house. The boys get a good laugh seeing us try and do big jumps off these slides. Josh's picture below is the funniest :o)

Railay has been on a strict diet to help his health and we just went to the doctors the other day and found out that he need to take some more food out of his diet….so before I started taking even more food out of his diet (poor kid) I let him have one day of eating whatever he wanted to. He was loving it!

Draper Days Rodeo

2011-07-13T12:42:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we went to the Draper Days Rodeo. The boys always love rodeos especially when they ride the bulls. Railay also LOVES cowboys right now, so he got a kick out of seeing all the cowboys walking around.

We signed up north for the Cash Cow event, which is when a bunch of kids get put out on the field and they release a calf with money taped to him and the kids get to try and catch him so they can grab the money. It was hilarious to all the kids running after the calf...poor calf he probably didn't even know what was going on. North actually got some money, he was SOOO excited!

He is actually happy in this picture....even though he looks like he is in pain. :o)

All the kids running after the calf. :o)

Colorado - work & play

2011-07-10T20:18:00.000-07:00

For about one week Josh and I were in Colorado just the two of us. The reason why we didn’t have our little boys was because we were there for work and both of us had stuff we had to go to during the day, so we had to leave the boys behind. I am SOOO glad I was able to go because I learned a lot and it will definitely help me with what I do. Even though we were sad to not have our little boys around it was great to have the evening after class to play. We spent as much time as we could in our free time staying active. We went on some amazing hikes, went trail running almost every morning, went to the movies (which we hardly ever do), Saw some cool places, went to some local concerts, founds some yummy and unique restaurants and like always enjoyed hanging out with each other.

This is at a hotel in Colorado Springs called the Broadmore. This place is spectacular!!!! SO beautiful with such great architecture and beautiful details around every corner.

On July 4th after class we spent the evening going to a local concert and art show then off to Manatou to watch the fireworks.

The city of Manatou has some beautiful building. I love the Victorian style of houses. This house was build in the late 1800's and was once a hotel, then apartments buildings and now is a restaurant. We ate at the restaurant and it was great European style food.

You can tell in the picture but on the night of the 4th we walked up through these steep hills to try and find the perfect spot to watch the fireworks. We finally found the perfect spot which was dead center in front of the fireworks. We had the best view I have ever had for watching fireworks. :o)

We took an evening hike which brought us to some great views of the city.

One of my favorite things we did was our early morning trail runs. We would wake up early in the morning and head to the mountains for our runs. Yes, I did bring my camera on some of the runs. We were running in too beautiful of a place to not bring it. :o) This picture is at Garden of the Gods.

Garden of the Gods trail run.

Garden of the Gods trail run

Running down the trail called "The Incline" It rained the whole way down, which made it even more fun....and slippery :o)

Top of the Incline trail.

Part of the Incline trail is a one mile 2100 ft. elevation gain steep climb. Sounds crazy but I totally enjoyed it.

After Colorado Springs we headed home but stopped in Vail CO to spend the night and explore a little bit. The drive there was So beautiful!!!!

I must explain this picture. The picture below is Josh eating about 2 jalapenos due to a bet I made him. Because Josh is the type of guy who can't resist a good bet he went for it. Much to his dismay it was a VERY painful and hot bet. I about died from laughing so hard. I couldn't help but take a picture of his pain. You can see the sweat and tears if you look close. Don't worry both of us were laughing about it together about an hour after he ate the jalapenos. :o)

Vail was so gorgeous! The flowers were at their peak blooming season here.

View from outside our room. It rained like crazy right before we were about to go out for a hike. We took our chances as soon as it stopped in hopes to get out before it started raining again. We lucked out and didn't get rained on while out. The rain storms were so powerful there that in a matter of just a couple of seconds it went from sprinkling to a complete downpour.

The cute little hotel we stayed at in Vail.

While driving home we couldn’t stop talking about our boys. We missed them! They usually go on this trip to Colorado Springs with us every year. We had such a productive and enjoyable time the two of us, but it’s always nice to be together and back with our boys.

This is the evening we got back. When we got to them they were asleep but not for long because we soon got them out of bed and off to home. Usually they are very grumpy if you wake them up after only sleeping for awhile, but much to our delight they were actually excited to see us. :o)

The starting of a great summer

2011-06-27T13:52:00.000-07:00

I LOVE summer time! I love staying active and busy with all the fun summer activities. We seem to stay very busy during these months. We like to get out as much as possible. This weekend was a fun one. We went to the SLC Arts Festivals, REAL Soccer game and hiking up the canyon.
The Arts Festival is one of our favorite festivals of the whole year. It always seems to be the starting of summertime for us. They always have great music, amazing artist and fun activities for the kids.
We have also grown to love the REAL soccer games. The boys get totally into it and Josh gets even MORE into it. I on the other hand sit back relax and enjoy a good game….win or lose I’m having fun :o)
One of my other favorite things about summer is outdoor grilling. We seem to have dinner out on our porch every night and I love it! On Sunday after a little BBQ we headed up the canyon to hike to a lake at the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon. As we were driving up we came to realize that there was still a TON of snow, so we ended up hiking on a beautiful trail closer to the mouth of the canyon. The river was raging, probably the highest I have ever seen it. We definitely had to keep the boys close to us.

North is busting out some awesome dance moves! It's so cute to watch all the boys dance when we go to concerts :o) They learned all their moves from me :o)

Ragnar Relay 2011

2011-06-22T14:03:00.000-07:00

This last weekend Josh and I ran the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay. Our teams name was the “Sasquatch Backs & Babes” We have always wanted to run this relay race and we had SOOOO much fun. The course was Logan to Park City 191 miles of hard core miles. The people in our van were so much fun we had a great time getting to know each other. Because of some hiccups Josh and I ended up running more miles than planned on in the beginning. It was completely fine though; we had fun and were more than happy to run some more legs. Josh’s total miles were around 21 miles and my total miles were around 26 miles. I loved running another race with Josh. I LOVE that we both enjoy getting out and staying active. I was SO proud of Josh! He was really sick the week before, but he kicked butt in all of his legs…..he’s awesome! My favorite leg had to be the Ragnar hill (which is a 2,000 ft. elevation gain in 4 miles)and then the leg after that. It was so beautiful you almost forgot about the pain you felt running up that gruesome hill :o)

One of our runners in the pink running up one of the many long hills.

Josh right before he ran his second leg which started around 3:00 am and was a little over 10 miles.

half our our team. I didn't get a picture of the other van. We were van 2. Josh, me, Ty, Cami, Parker and Heidi
We had beautiful scenery the entire course.
We spent a lot of time out running and we also spent a lot of time in our car :o)
Right after my 2nd leg which ended around 6:00 am. It was very beautiful to finish off this run just as the sun was coming up. Loved it!

Happy Fathers Day

2011-06-20T20:06:00.000-07:00

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!
I have a WONDERFUL dad and a GREAT father in law who have each blessed my life in so many different ways. I LOVE both of them dearly. I also have an AMAZING husband who is a FANTASTIC daddy! I am SO lucky to have Josh as a husband, not only do we love and adore each other but we are also beast friends. I love seeing Josh be a father to our boys. He is so great with them. Each of the boys adore Josh. When Josh is at home they all cling to him and want to be doing everything he is doing. I am so grateful that my boys have such a great man to look up to.

5 minutes from home

2011-06-13T09:40:00.000-07:00

I LOVE where we live!!! One of my favorite things about it is the location. I love that in 5 minutes I can drive to a trail head and be up in the mountains. The other day I took North and Railay for a hike up some trails just above our house. Being out in the mountains and nature is so important to me and its great having it so close. I love taking my boys up to the mountains and let them run free, climb rocks, look at plants, kill bugs and just be typical little boys. The next morning I made my friend go running with me up in the mountains. We ran to the top of one of the trails where we had a beautiful view of the valley at top. I always feel so grateful to be living here in Utah. We are SO blessed with breathtaking and beautiful scenery all around us.

Railay was looking for polar bears :o)

I took this with my Iphone. I had a good laugh because I caught a great face from North.

Righ before I took this picture Railay fell down the trail. He brushed hiself off and started running down the trail again. That's typical Railay he stubborn and will not let any bups and bruises stop him from doing what he wants.

Reception weekend

2011-06-09T12:08:00.000-07:00

This last weekend was my sisters Chelsey's wedding reception. It was SO wonderful!!!!! It was in my parent’s backyard which they made look absolutely beautiful. It was actually one of the best reception I have been to in a long time (and not just because it was my sisters) There was a band, jump house, great food and great company. It was such an enjoyable weekend. IT was great to meet up with some old friends that I have not seen for years, but most of all it was wonderful to see my sister and her sweetheart SO happy and in love! Congrats Chelsey – I LOVE YOU!
Since one of my sisters from out of town was in we also had to go to Thanksgiving point which always fun. Now that the weather is FINALLY turning nice we went to the petty zoo. :o)

My BEAUTIFUL sister and her husband Taylor.

Amy (in the red) use to work at my dads shop with me and my sisters. It's been years sice I've seen her. It was fun to reminisce about our Wilkinson's Trophy days.

We had a bounce house at the reception, which was a great idea to get the kids out of our hands while we were getting things ready, BUUUUT we also had many bumps and bruises from the kids running into each other. They all had a great time though. I need one of these at my house!

Thanksgiving Point with some of my sisters and our kids.

North and his cousin Weston.

A quick trip to San Diego

2011-05-31T12:48:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we took a quick 4 day trip to San Diego to go to Sea World and the beach. We surprised the boys about 10 minutes before we left. I had them put a puzzle together to figure out what their surprise was….they were SO EXCITED when they found out where they were going and when. We left 10:30 pm Thursday night and drove all night then went straight to Sea World the next day. Josh and I were dragging by time 3:00 pm came due to no sleep, but we kept it strong for the boys. :o)We spent the next couple of days at Sea World and the beach. We had SO much fun. The boys LOVED Sea World, we have been there a couple of times before and love it every time. It was fun because each of the boys enjoyed themselves, even little Rowan who was enthralled by all the sea animals. The beach was also great even though the water was cold Josh and North swam in it all day long….Railay, Rowan and me were wimps and didn’t want to get cold. We all had fun playing soccer, making castles, digging holes and getting dirty in the sand. I love the beach and definitely did not want to leave.

At La Jolla beach. I love that Railay's pants are falling down., that's typical Railay. :o)

While in San Diego We went to one of our favorite mexican restaurants called Pinatas in Old Town San Diego. So GOOD!

Josh and North playing Soccor on the Beach. North has become a soccer fanatic...every chance he gets he loves to play.

They have a new exhibit at Sea World with Sea Turtles. I loved it!

This was the first day at Sea Wolrd and as you can see in my eyes I was SO tired!!!! Lack of no sleep the night before.

Somewhere behind us is a killer whale.

The looks on the boys faces right after they found out where we were going. We literally left 10 minutes later.

U2 concert

2011-05-26T13:58:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday night Josh and I went to the U2 concert. It was AWESOME!!! We are both not big U2 fans, but we enjoy their music and new that it was one of those concerts that you just have to see. I was defiantly a bigger fan after their concert. We were blown away by the production they put on, the stage alone was amazing. The entire concert I seemed wide eyed just watching what was going on. There were also over 50,000 people there which made for a very energetic crowd, especially since probably half of the people there were crazy fans. I enjoy all kind of live music and this was definitely one of the better concert we have been to…..no wonder everyone like them :o)

This picture does not do this stage justice, it was HUGE!

Sushi and ice cream before the concert.....yummmm!!!

Ogden Marathon finished with a kiss

2011-05-23T20:18:00.000-07:00

This last weekend Josh and I ran the Ogden Marathon together. We have both done some on our own, but have always wanted to run and finish one together…and we finally did! I LOVED crossing the finish line with my sweetie…..yes we did hold hand and kiss as we crossed the line. :o) Sounds corny and romantic doesn’t it? :o)
The course was beautiful!!! I ran this marathon once about 9 years ago and I had forgotten how beautiful the course was. The race was very well put on; we will definitely be running this one again. We both loved it.

We also ran with some friends of ours - Cory and my aunt Amy

The nervous pre race look.

What's a happy meal?

2011-05-20T09:55:00.000-07:00

Now that the boys are getting older Josh and I are trying to have more one on one time with them. I think it is so important to spend that alone time with each child just to talk, laugh and let them know they are special and loved. This week I had one on one time with North and Railay. For Railays time we went to a puppet show and then to go get a Happy Meal at McDonalds. I had a good laugh because when I told Railay we were going to get a happy meal he asked “what’s a happy meal?” So, I have never taken my kids to get a Happy Meal before. And after I took Railay and I remember why…..the food is disgusting and very very greasy, but to a kid it is the coolest because it come with a toy :o)
For North’s time we went Rock Climbing which is what he usually like to do on his alone time. I think this is such a good sport for kids because it teaches them confidence and makes them push past the limits of what they are able to do. I have also seen how it boosts North’s confidence when he makes it to the top of a climb.
Since it has been raining A TON I have been trying to find some fun things to do inside with the boys. We tried making a stained glass project, but….hahaha it didn’t really turn out so well. Thank goodness for great places like the Living Planet Aquarium. We have a pass there and we put it to good use. The boys love it there, me too. :o)

Hooray for drip sytems

2011-05-16T08:13:00.000-07:00

This last week was a busy fun filled week. We spent a lot of time out in the yard getting our garden ready and working on all of the other yard project we have going on. North had another great soccer game this week, He won…..or at least I think he did, we don’t usually keep tract :o) We had a couple of different night where we had some friend over for dinner which was great because both of the nights were wonderful BBQ grilling nights. I am so excited about the good weather we have been having lately. I took the boys to the zoo which was fun because they have a new dinosaur exhibit. We go to the zoo a lot and it never seems to get old for the boys. Josh had about 10-15 of his boy scouts over to our house for a night of video games…they played until about 3:00am and then slept outside in our back yard and I had a nice and relaxing night all to myself….what did I do you may ask….slept! Yep, I seem to not get much of it so when I can all I want to do is snuggle in my comforter and sleep. :o) We also went to the REAL Soccer game on Saturday with some friend. IT was a good game but tie.

We got our drip sytem in our garden boxes which I am VERY excited about! Trying to keep your garden alive when you water it on your own AND your gone a lot in the Summer does not make for a good combination. That is why I am very excited about the drip sytem....worry free watering.

We planted some blackbery and grapes this year too :o) The boys LOVE helping out in the yard

Rowan has figured out how to stand on his own and he thinks he is the coolest thing ever when he does it.

REAL game with some friends of ours.

The new Dinosaurs at the zoo

One of the nights when we had friends over for dinner we had chocolate cake, I gave Rowan a slice of cake and this is how he eats it. It's the only way to eat chocolate cake :o) Thank goodness for good laundry detergent.

One Happy Momma

2011-05-10T12:45:00.000-07:00

Since Mothers Day was just a couple of days ago I thought I would express my love of being a mom. I TRULY feel SO blessed to be a mom. I absolutely adore each of my little boys. I LOVE LOVE LOVE having a family full of boys. I was pondering on mother’s day about how my children each have made me a better person. It is amazing what a child can teach you. I feel like such a lucky momma and to have such great boys. Yes, there are definitely times of frustration…but come on, what mom doesn’t feel that at times, but the moments of sweet happiness out way all of those crazy times. I love to see each of my boys personalities grow and see how each of them are unique and special. I hope as a mom I can help them become the men they would like to be. When I had my first child I knew being a mom was going to be a wonderful, but I had no idea how much these little children would change me. My kids along with my hubby fulfill me. There is nothing I would rather do right now then raise, teach and love these three little boys. They bring joy and laughter to my life and make me one very happy momma. :o)

Happy Birthday Josh!

2011-05-06T14:08:00.000-07:00

It was Josh’s birthday on the 5 of May. Birthdays are a big deal in our house and we always have fun celebrating them. I LOVE, ADORE, RESPECT and ADMIRE my husband. He is one of the best parts of my life and I am SO lucky to be married to him. I love that we have a life full of many fun adventure and make so many amazing memories. I feel lucky to be married to someone who is also my best friend. :o) I am also sure that each one of our boys would say that he is the coolest dad ever. All of the boys adore their dad.
That day we met Josh downtown and we all went out to eat, then to The Born to Be Wild 3d documentary at Clark Planetarium and then we ended it off by going to a frozen yogurt shop.

Instead of birthday cake we made birthday pancakes that morning before Josh headed to work.

I felt bad because it was late in the evening and the two youngest boys fell asleep in the car on the way home from the yogurt shop and Railay was SOOO excited to eat his.

We went to the "Born to Be Wild" 3D IMAX Movie at Clark Planetarium. It was SO good. Great for adults and kids too. Rowan sat still the entire time. :o)

AMA Supercross

2011-05-01T10:52:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we went to The AMA Supercross Race at Rice Eccles Stadium. We all had a great time. We bundled up, brought our beanies and wore our winter coats for hopefully the last time in awhile. It snowed that morning and the highs that day were about 40 degrees. Hopefully one day the spring weather will show up and stay for awhile. :o)
There is something about machines that go really fast and are really loud that seem to excite the boys. Good things I like it too. :o) Railay was the best to watch at these races because he got so into it. I don’t think he knew who was in the lead or what was going on, but he sure liked to think he did. He keeps telling us that he wants some motorcycles at home. I can only imagine all the wild things Railay is going to want to do as he gets older. He is our adventurous little kid who always seems to find a way to get into some kind of trouble or get some kind of bruise because he is jumping off something or trying something that he just not ready for. I like to see him explore and try new things though, it shows he is curios and is not afraid to try something new. :o)

Poor North was not feeling sick that day but he insisted on still going to the motorcross. :o)

Easter Weekend

2011-04-27T12:33:00.000-07:00

Like every year the boys decorated some eggs and had a great time making a mess while creating some cute eggs. :o) On Saturday I went to the annual city Easter Egg Hunt and it was a disaster. There were so many people and so few eggs. The eggs were gone in about 5 seconds (no joke)Poor Railay didn’t even get a n egg and North got about 4 so he shared some with Railay. They had fun though and that is all that matters. On Sunday the boys had fun following the candy trails to their Easter baskets. Later that day we had a bunch of our family over for dinner and an egg hunt. It was so fun to see all the little kids run around our yard searching for eggs. The men of the family hid the eggs so as you can imagine most of the eggs were somewhat difficult to find. After the egg hunt we all had a wonderful time chatting and eating dinner.

I had to proof that I can actually be crafty. I was very proud of myself for making this cake. I know it is nothing spectacular....but for me it's awesome!

Easter egg hunt with our family in our backyard.

Following the easter trail in morning.

Easter Egg hunt at the city park.

A quick trip to Moab

2011-04-22T08:31:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went camping and hiking in Moab. As I stated in my last blog we literally left right when we got home from my marathon. I got home took a shower and then we jumped in the car. As expected that night while sleeping in the tent I was very sore and restless.
It was great to get to Moab for a short weekend trip though. The weather was beautiful! The hiking around with the boys was actually perfect because they were actually ahead of me most of the time. Thank goodness I now feel back to normal from all the aches and pain of post marathon. :o)
While in Moab we just spent the day in Arches and then ended it off at our usually sand hill to let the boys run down.

Everyone has to do one of these photo's at least once in their lifetime.

That night when we got there we went walking around downtown Moab and I passed this shop that does old time photos. I just could not resist getting all my boys dressed up for a photo shoot. Thank goodness the boys are still young and they actually enjoyed dressing up likes cowboys. Josh dressed up.....because he loves me. As for me....I loved it. :o) Come on, who doesn't want to dress up in fancy clothes and watch their little boys pretend they are cowboys and what was even better was seeing Josh all dressed up. It gave me a good laugh. :o)

One of the best faces to wake up in the morning to.

That night I made some campfire cinnamon rolls. Haha it did not turn out to well. So what we did was pick and pull part the rolls and eat the parts which actually were not burned. It turned out to be a VERY messy dessert. :o)

Salt Lake City Marathon

2011-04-18T17:20:00.000-07:00

This last weekend I ran the Salt Lake City Marathon. I ran one marathon almost 10 years ago and I have wanted to another one since. I was so excited to run this marathon. I trained hard in hopes to qualify for the Boston Marathon. After many long and hard run I feel very happy with my results. I ran a 3:27 time and made it in the top 100 finishers of the marathon. I did qualify for Boston which I was very excited about! I thought it was a good course. It went through some pretty neighborhoods and had a great finish line. It was also wonderful to see the support I had at the finish line. I am very excited for the many more marathons to come. I love to challenge myself and a marathon is a great way to do that. Plus as crazy as it sounds I actually really do enjoy running long miles. :o) There is also something very satisfying about training hard and working for something and then seeing the results. About 3 hours after the marathon we jumped in the car and headed for Moab to go camping and hiking. Smart choice…maybe not, my legs felt it while sleeping on the ground in a sleeping bag that night. It was worth it though. I looked really silly hiking around arches that next day. My legs were very sore. I’ll post some pics about Moab in another post.