Mini-Va-ca

A few weeks ago (OK by the time I'm getting around to posting this is probably been at least a month)

we made the trip up north to go to Dewey's nephews wedding. They had a lovely outdoors ceremony in the spectacular Provo canyon. Congratulations Jarome and Niki!!

The wedding was a little delayed so we had some time to try and take some pics.  

We have lots of wonderful family in Salt Lake that we normally stay with when we make the trip up there. But this time we thought it would be fun for us to be tourists. So we stayed at a hotel in the heart of the city right next door to the Gateway center. We started our adventure by swimming in the hotel pool. I lost track of how many times Luke jumped off the side of the pool. He varied it up by being a "frog" every couple of jumps. Not many pics since we were all in the water splashing and having fun.

We then walked next door to the Gateway center.

We started at the Children's museum. Tt was the first time the boys had been there, they loved every minute.

A favorite of all THREE boys was the helicopter on the roof.

I had to drag all three of them back into the building kicking and screaming :)

I was pretty impressed with how well the Children's museum was set up. They an area donated by a local TV station which was pretty realistic and enthralled Kolby.

He thought it was pretty cool playing news anchor.

By the time we left it was time for a late dinner. We had a yummy dinner at Z Tejas. Luke claims that the corn bread was the very best thing we has ever eaten in his life. Our plan was to eat and then go to a short science movie at the Planetarium. We sort of didn't take into account that our 5 and 7 year old had been up and running at full tilt all day long. Kolby curled up and fell asleep at the restaurant. So we decided we would head back to our room and relax. However at the exact time we were done eating it started to rain, not a soft sprinkling but a hard downpour. Everybody else was standing by the door waiting, when it occurred to us that the last time we checked we don't melt in the rain. So we grabbed hands and took off running. We made it to a candy/chocolate store dripping wet so we could each pick out our desert. My brilliant hubby asked if we could have two extra bags. In no time at all he MacGyvered (pretty sure that's a word) little rain ponchos for the boys that went over their  heads. And back out we went to continue walking, we got a few strange looks but just smiled. Hey we live in the country we know how to improvise.

The next day on the way home we drove up Spanish Fork canyon to meet up with some friends that were camping. One of Dewey's oldest friends Mike and his wife Michelle have a darling son Kolbys age. The kids always have so much fun when they get together. This time it was a water balloon fight where they all ended up soaking wet. As we drove down the canyon talking about what a fun weekend it had been Dewey says "Somethings wrong" and pulls over.

A very flat tire. Did you get the timing, we say what a fun weekend and them blam a flat time..... anywho Dew hops out to change it which should take no time at all. Kolby helped by sitting in the spare and I "helped" by saying fudge and making countless references to the Christmas story movie. I like to do my part. As it turned out the tire iron bent and the tire would not come off. Luckily on the 3 1/2 hour stretch of road between Salt Lake City and Cedar City where the tire could have blown it happened to be in Spanish Fork Dewey's home turf. After a few calls his wonderful Aunt Vickie and cousin Bert came to our rescue. They took the boys to Grandma Warner's for water and snacks and brought back a bunch of tools. Between Dew and Bert they soon had the tire off and changed. So just a few hours later then we planned we were on our way home.

A very fun weekend, good memories full of laughs and adventure.

FOOTBALL!!

It was a SPECTACULAR football weekend....

for me not so much for my darling hubby, teehee. All three of my teams won, SUU, UU, and 49ers woot woot. One of the above mentioned teams wins resulted in one of Dews teams loss's.......that's a shame :)

On Saturday we went to the first game of the season for our hometown team SUU T-Birds.

We met up with some friends early and had a little tailgate BBQ outside the stadium, good times.

I took loads of pics, playing with my camera, I think I caught a few good ones of the game.

From past experience we don't even try to sit in the bleachers, opting instead for a blanket on the grass. This allows the boys to run and play until they just can't run anymore. (ok that last part has never happened)

A bunch of boys started their own game, and Luke jumped right in.

They seriously did this for HOURS. This is Luke "tackling"

Kolby and I took a walk to find popcorn and stumbled across a military display. The men kindly let him sit inside the hummer.

Again more playing with my camera, I really like both of these shots.

Fun game, the T-Birds beat the New Mexico Cowboys!!

Do you ever have a weekend where you spend every single stinking minute running from thing to thing? That was last weekend for us. We have met some wonderful family's through the boys playing soccer. We had a small get together on Fri night with some of them, good time had by all.

Thanks to Winnie giving us tomato's from her garden we were able to can salsa, which turned out YUMMY if I do say so myself. Somehow from our mostly dead garden we ended up with TONS of peppers. So we (by we I mean Dew my throat closes up when I smell the peppers, breathing is good people) made and canned jalapeno jelly. So our garden was not a total loss after all.

Kolbys first day of Kindergarten

Its official Kolby is a Kindergartner. And do you notice anything else new???

That's right, he is now the cutest kid I know in glasses. During his kindergarten registration we found out he needed to have his eyes checked, as it turns out he takes after me by being near sighted with astigmatism. I'm pretty happy we found out before he started school.

We had a couple of options for schools for Kolby. In the end we decided it would be best for him and us for him to go to a school in town. So he and Luke go to two different schools. The school he goes to is the same one 5 of his friends from preschool go to. So he goes to preschool in the morning and kindergarten in the afternoon.

The first day Dewey and I took him. He was so excited, the night before he had his outfit and backpack all ready.

His school was built in 1951 and gave both Dewey and I flashbacks to elementary schools we went to.

He walked right in confident as can be. He signed in and then found his seat and got to work. Dew and I figured at that point (when he pretty much shooed us off) that we were good to leave.

When I ask what his favorite part of school is it varies between playing with friends and his teacher reading to them. He seems pretty happy with the fact that he now has homework just like Luke.

I met him on the first day with balloons and cookies. It just melted my heart when he ran to me and game me a big hug. My baby might be growing up but thankfully he is still my snuggle bug.

Back to school

Another summer has come and gone..... School has started.

Luke is now a second grader.

Luke LOVES school, he was so excited to go back. This kid is the definition of calm cool and collected. Totally unconcerned about a new teacher and kids in his class. In his mind its school so it must be awesome. (oh please please keep that attitude)

A week or so in and he is signed up to be in the 2nd grade orchestra. I have to be honest and say I had no idea this was even a possibility. My brain can't wrap itself around the thought of second graders and string instruments. (to be fair that's coming from someone with less then zero musical ability). But I can appreciate that this is a wonderful opportunity to learn about music and open up other parts of the brain. (there are parts of the brain right?)

Luke decided on the Violin, can't wait to see where this leads.

For some reason Luke started a week or so before Kolby. Kolby was great to see him off but then had a hard time dealing with the fact that Luke was in school. They had such a fun summer spending everyday together in pre school he missed Luke instantly. But all is well now as he started school yesterday.

Kolbys first day post coming soon.

Soccer season.....in full swing

Or should I say full kick? Either way soccer season has begin. This year Dewey is coaching Kolbys team. Both Luke and Kolby begged him to be their coach. In the end the soccer powers that be asked him to coach Kolbys team. Luke was none to happy about this fact (while Kolby danced around thrilled )until Dew told him he could be his "Assistant coach" for Kolbys team. (when Dew picked up his coach's bag and packet Luke was seriously offended his name wasn't listed as assistant coach.....seriously offended)

To give you an idea of our schedule. Last week we had two games on Sat, game on Tues, practice on Wed, game on Thurs, game on Sat. You might recall my recent post about not having enough time....more has not magically appeared. Some of the parents asked if the boys played spring soccer. (picture horrified look on my face and are you freaking kidding me in my mind) "Um no we feel two months of fall soccer is plenty"

It turned out even better for Luke since Dew was only given three boys for his team. They play three on three but if you know anything about five year olds you know there are 101 reasons why they need a break. So every game Luke dress's for Kolbys games and acts as a sub.

There is not much cuter then watching Kolbys games, this kid smiles and runs the whole game

He is just happy to be playing, especially since dad is right there with him the whole time.

Luke has a great team with a few of the same boys that were on his team last year.

He makes sure he in always in the thick of things (can you tell I don't know much about soccer or I would be using correct soccer terms) I think he must have watched a soccer game on TV and learned this slide/kick thing he does...... a lot and any time he is near the ball. He has his own way of doing things but has fun while he does them, that's all I care about.

Let the good time roll (get it soccer ball.....roll)

Generations

Last weekend was Grandma Warner's 89th birthday. She is the amazing woman who just happens to be my hubby's grandma and my boys great grandma. When I found out we would be driving to Utah County for her birthday I remembered a pin I had seen on Pinterest and knew exactly what I wanted to do....

A generations photo.

I started with Luke and Kolby

Added Dewey (dad)

Randy, (Dad,Grandpa)

Mryl, (Mom, Grandma, Great Grandma)

I love how it turned out and can't wait to have it made up in a much larger size. We left the framed photo with Grandma Warner for her to keep.

If there was an award given for sweetest cutest grandma ever, Grandma Warner would win for sure.She never forgets a birthday and always has a kind word for everyone. I'm so glad we were able to go up and share the day with her.

Its always fun spending time with family, especially ones we don't see all that often. Dewey's cousins all have kids around the boys age so they had a blast playing at the farm with cousins. This farm has been in the family over 100 years, isn't that amazing? It is a beautiful place, with stunning views from every direction. This picture doesn't do it justice.

Why blog??

Yesterday Kolby wanted to look at baby pictures. So we hopped onto the computer and pulled up our blog. We spent a half hour going over old posts. Kolby Love-loved looking at all the pictures. And once again I thought about how much this blog means to me.

PK (PK=prior to kids, dew and I use it a lot as in "what are those dusty things in the corner of the garage, oh yea our golf clubs that was a PK thing") I assumed I would make beautiful, intricate scrapbook type photo albums, chronicling each and every milestone. Bahaha-ha once actual parenthood set in and I realized I barley have time to keep my own self washed and semi-groomed and that the term "spare time" is a word that only exists in the world of make believe, (wasn't Snow White always lounging around?) I knew I had to come up with a plan B.....luckily for me our blog was already in place. So this serves as our family scrapbook/album. At some point I plan to have it printed out into albums by year.(brilliant right?) Until that happens my genius (I'm super nice when hes doing me a favor) brother backs up our blog on his secure server.(Ok not sure if that's the right term, I mostly don't understand half the stuff he tells me, but in my mind its safe and sound in a vault somewhere and that's whats important) Another reason I blog is that my memory is TERRIBLE. Its a well know fact in my family, if anybody needs past information they come to me last, either I don't remember it at all or if I do its pretty scattered at best. Each and every day with Dewey and the boys are priceless to me. The thought of not being able to remember them is terrifying to me. So I keep track of the ordinary and extraordinary (really its all extraordinary to me)

Like Kolby chasing a balloon outside

I just snapped shots of his expressions,

It took less then a minute for the balloon to pop

But in classic Kolby style he was over it and running back a few seconds later. I just love each of these pictures.

I'll note that our current favorite family time is spent playing UNO

Yep the game that was invented the same year I was born (meaning its been around a long long time) is a huge hit in our family.

We play at least 4 rounds almost every day. Luke and Kolby are really good and win more then they lose.

Pay no attention to the shoes, animals and laundry basket in the background. Unless you want a pretty accurate picture of what our family room looks like all time :)

And last but not least, at some point the boys will be able read every thing I have written. They will know they are the loves of my life, my greatest joy. And because I know that you never know what the future holds, if the need arises they will be able to read this and know my personality, a little about who I am. My dad died when I was 6, I would LOVE to have had something like this from him. Hearing only 3rd party stories about a person is like putting together a puzzle with half the pieces missing. You get an idea what its supposed to look like but you can't see the whole picture.

So there you go, I thought I would explain a little about our blog and its purpose, and hope that you enjoy reading it.