Girls Night In

Last Saturday Jasmine and I had such a fun little date. We went grocery shopping and she loved helping me, then we came home and had a picnic on the living room while we watched the Parent Trap, the new one, not the old one.

We painted our nails and made a little charm bracelet for her wrist and then had ice cream afterwards!

What a fun night, and I love that I have a daughter to share these fun "girly" moments with.

Jonas took Shay on a little date too, they went to Target to get a toy Shayden has been saving his money for, and then went to Hollywood Connection to play mini-golf. Sounds like they had fun too, but not as much as us girls, lol.

The night we danced

Being that I am married to one of Boys 2 Men's biggest fans, we just had to buy tickets and go down to Orem for the big concert! It was a really fun time and of course I am familiar with a lot of their songs from way back, and from him. I was surprised at the diverse people that were there, all different ages and types of people all ready to jam. It was packed!
We had so much fun and it was very romantic, listening to all the love songs. Jonas was in heaven, I tried to get him to spend the $40 to go backstage, but he opted to save the money. Way to go honey! He did get to go backstage years ago when he went to see them after his mission, so at least he got to meet them then.

Back to School Traditions

I wanted to document these so that next year I could know exactly what I did. If anyone has any other cool traditions, please share.
Mini Time Capsules
At the beginning of last year I had the kids fill out this little questionnaire and then along with a picture, roll it up into a toilet paper tube and wrap it in tissue paper.
I actually forgot about them and so luckily I found them in time (part of why I wanted to record this). We did this with our cousins and opened them on the night before back to school. The kids were excited to see what they wrote and they looked surprisingly different than their picture a year ago. Here is what they wrote last year, pretty funny. I think next year, I will have them first fill out the new form, and make the time capsules, before they open the old one so that the answers are more likely to be different.

Shayden's answers:

My name is Shayden

I am going to be in 1st grade this year.

The thing that I am most excited about this year is Science Class.

The thing I am least excited about is when it is taking a long time.

I hope my teacher is nice and fun.

My favorite thing about the summer of 2007 was when we went on a plane to see Brianna.

My least favorite thing about the summer of 2007 was when we were sitting in the car all wet.

My favorite piece of clothing right now are my flip flops.

My favorite toy is my fishing pole.

The last book I read was started Magic Tree House #1.

My favorite food is pizza.

My favorite movie is Transformers.

I hope this year I can do my best.

When I grow up I want to be a vet.

Father's Blessing-the night before

Read the "Kissing Hand" before bed- This is such a cute story, this year I decided to make this a tradition. Shayden's Kindergarten class read this and it stuck with him, now he asks for a "kissing hand" every now and then. If you haven't read it, go get it from the library, it's a good one.

Special Letter from mom- This year I wrote Shayden a letter (because he can read) going over some of my favorite memories from this summer. I also told him my hopes for him this year and how proud I am of him. I put it under his pillow so he could read it right before he went to sleep.

Pictures, pictures, pictures- Holding up the number of the grade they are starting with their fingers. By classroom, etc.

Red apple to Teacher- I may do the equivalent of this in some years (apple hand sanitizer from bath/body works, for example) but this year it was fun just to do an apple. The teachers loved it.

Pick Dinner- I let them each pick the dinner that they wanted to celebrate, Shay picked Lipton Soup (my one craving at the beginning of my pregnancy, funny) and Jasmine picked Mac n Cheese, so both were easy to appease.
Some years we may go out to ice-cream too :)

It seems like a lot but it was all pretty easy...

Another Year...Preschool

Jasmine got to start "real" preschool this year with a "real" backpack even!
Can I tell you how excited she was?

It's at a home close by...

She felt like such a big kid and was excited about making new friends.

Right when I picked her up she rattled off like 5 things that they did! What a change from Shayden, who it is like pulling teeth from to get anything out of.

too good to pass up

Jonas let the kids cut his hair!! I guess he should know the pictures would end up on here :)

I really like this new look honey!

Fishing Outing

To celebrate the first day of school we went fishing. It was a beautiful night for it.

The kids have been wanting to go all summer. Jasmine just got a fishing pole. She was so excited she caught her very first fish!
Shayden didn't have as good of luck this time, maybe next time.

Back to School...2nd Grade!

Shayden's school had a family picnic on Saturday night, they divided the kids by grades and got to play all sorts of fun games. It was a good chance for him to play with his friends before going back.

He was excited to go back to school. I can't believe he is so big.

There was a kid outside the door (going to a different 2nd grade class) that was hysterically crying on the floor, he didn't want to go in. I felt so bad for his mom and I was so grateful that my kids are okay being away from me.

As I drove away I wondered if there was something wrong with me because I wasn't crying hysterically, just a little bit teary eyed. But then I remembered that we have had some concerns about his new teacher and I think this comforting feeling was telling me that everything will be okay. I had a really peaceful feeling as I dropped him off and he seems fine, so I won't worry.

Except I will worry that he will lose his glasses :)

Happy Birthday "C"!

I think you are a talented kid with lot's of spunk! There is never a dull moment when you are around.

I'm glad that you and Jasmine are such good buddies!

p.s. great cake selection, the cookie dough was a nice touch

Cherry Hill Water Park

The kids and I went with my sister's family to Cherry Hill Water Park on Saturday.
Because we couldn't possibly start school without one more day of crazy fun! And besides, they hadn't been in their swimsuits enough...

We have been wanting to go for quite a while, and it was better than I had expected.
Jasmine loved this little slide.

My sister gave Jasmine this little tube and she was in heaven, jumping off of the side of the pool with it!

Perfect bliss on the boys' faces!

Pool Party at Night

I feel like the kids have been living in their swimming suits!

How nice that our friends invited us to their ward party where they rent out the Taylorsville Pool. Jonas and I didn't get into the water, mostly because it was a crazy day (Thursdays are my busy day) and I didn't have time to get my stuff together with the kids, but I kind of wish I had. It wasn't as cold as I thought it would be. And it's not every day you get to go swimming at night. The kids had a blast!

Hey Andersons, thanks for the invite!

Education Week 2008

After talking about going together for years, my sister and I finally made it for one day to Education week at BYU. It was a nice day of bonding for us. I love spending time with my sister. My 16 yr old niece came too but she was too cool to hang out with us so she went with her friends ;)


The classes were all amazing, I wasn't disappointed by any of them. They are all such good speakers and topics.

We took some really well rounded classes, here are the topics, not the exact ones but in my words:

1-How to be a more effective teacher of children (great ideas for Primary!)

2-Family traditions that help convert our children.

3-How to have a happy marriage.

4-For women-Choosing not to be busy all the time (what, you mean that's a bad thing?)

5-Celebrating humor in the Gospel by Vickey Pahnke which is normally a youth speaker, I remembered her from when I went back in High School, she was awesome.


Later we shopped for good deals in the bookstore and went and got a bite to eat.

My kids spent the entire day playing with their cousins at my sister's house. Which of course, they loved.

It was an inspiring day and hopefully I will be able to implement some of what I learned.

Friends come to Visit!

My friend Leah and her kids came for a visit this week, we had so much fun!

Sunday night we had a yummy dinner and just hung out and talked.
Monday we went to lunch at the park and then swimming at an outdoor pool I had never been to. It was hot and felt good to get in the water. At the last minute we made it a Monday Fieldtrip and more friends came. It's so fun to sit and talk to other moms!

After the pool, Leah and I took the kids to Wheeler Farm to see the animals.

That night Jonas took all the kids (and even had a little Family Home Evening with them!) and us girls got to go to one of our favorite places...Leatherby's! What a nice break that was. We just talked and talked...


On Tuesday we went to lunch in the park again (hey, that way we didn't have to make anything :) and then I took the kids to that fun splash park in Herriman so Leah could go to IKEA alone.

Then we all went to the Garden's at Thanksgiving point.


That place is huge, we didn't see ANY of the same things that we saw last time, and this time we also went in to the Children's Gardens. The kids got soaked!!!

It was nice and peaceful and for the most part, we were able to sit back and talk while the kids played. Then we got some dinner and headed home to eat it.


I never have enough time to spend with Leah, I always wish our visits were longer. And this time especially, probably because we are both pregnant and had so much to discuss! It was sad to see her go. And for the most part our kids got along well, the girls are becoming better friends each time. They played with ponies non-stop.

The trampoline was a hit:

Thanks for coming to visit us guys! Next time we see each other we will both have tiny baby boys to show off!

We love ya!

Daddy Date to Lagoon

Saturday we went to our annual Stake social, it is the biggest party of the year, for our neighborhood at least.

Shayden had his face painted like Harry Potter.

Then Jonas took the kids to Lagoon because my dad got tickets from work. There weren't enough tickets for me to go so I stayed behind and had a nice relaxing evening. Guests were coming the following day so it gave me a change to finish up some things.

They sure had a fun time, as they of course both love that place.

Jonas was laughing so hard after this picture~silly kids!

The Race is ON!

The race is on for the last week of Summer!

All summer Shayden has been asking me how many days before school starts and I have been counting them. The last time he asked me I said "20" and he said,

"then we better squeeze as much fun into those 20 days as we can!"

And he is right. Lazy summer days sipping a Popsicle? Not our idea of summer!

Neglecting my house and everyday chores for fun, fun and more fun? Well, you get the idea.


In my introspective, analytical moments, I theorize about how this need for me to do so much with my kids must be related to my own neglect as a child. Summer after summer, left alone to hang out with friends in my apt complex, watching t.v., doing nothing, essentially. Unattended, getting into trouble, bored. Not that I am blaming my parents, they did what they had to do to come to this country and I am so grateful for that. And I did get to go to a couple of fun summer camps. But not the kind of summer I want my kids to remember.

Not only that, but I have less than 3 months until this baby comes and suddenly I feel this urge to make sure I do as much with these 2 kids before I have 3, since I have no idea what I am in for.

So with only 6 more days to go, we have better hit the pavement and see get to squeezin'!

Swimming Lessons 2008

Shayden was in the Level 2 class and Jasmine was in Pre-level.

Shayden's teacher was Sabrina-I really liked how she interacted with the kids.
He did awesome this year, it is seriously hard to believe that this is the same kids that was afraid to go down the slide, even put his head under, just a few years ago. He has come a long way! I think a big part of it is that their dad takes them swimming a lot, even in the winter.

Jasmine's teacher was Bree. This was Jasmine's first year and she was very apprehensive about the diving board and the slide but she did try each thing once, which is great. She got very excited when she realized that she could dunk her head in the water! It's funny how I am not at all worried about Jasmine overcoming her fears compared to how paranoid I was about Shay at her age. Silly first time mom I was.

Cabin Getaway

My friend Chandelle invited us to go spend a couple of days at her in-laws cabin. Just the moms and kids.
It was a great time.

Look at the pretty view from the front porch.

The girls had so much fun together, here they are with a pretty centerpiece that they made for their table.

And when the boys weren't outside, they were playing on this old Astroid Arcade, cool huh?

There was tons of outside exploration,

grasshopper discovery, (oh Shayden was in heaven)

ATV rides,

and flag painting for the Olympics!

Here are the moms:

I feel so blessed to have such great friends! They really are a strength to me and it feels so good to have someone to lean on and to share things with. Thanks girls!

Tranquil walk along Silver Lake

One of Jonas' favorite places on earth is Silver Lake.
We all love how high it is and how peaceful it can feel there.

We had a little picnic dinner, but it was freezing I wasn't prepared for that. (I guess it is always cold when you are 8,700 feet in elevation), and the kids and I walked around huddled in a blanket for warmth. It was still very fun and beautiful, we got to see a moose pretty close too!

Can Birthdays drag this long?

This is silly but since Jasmine got sick right after her birthday we never got to take her to one of her favorite places on earth to celebrate. What kid doesn't love Chuck E Cheese? So we finally went last Saturday and decided it was time to let her open her last few presents I had stashed.

She had such a blast and couldn't believe it was still her birthday!

We took Shayden's last two report cards so we had tons of tokens and then a couple of the machines didn't work for us and the teen that was working gave us literally handfuls of tokens as replacement, way more than we had put in. In addition to that, I scored on one machine and won like 200 tickets on it! So we ended up with much more tickets than we ever have, and they got to pick much bigger prizes. (Which were still pretty lame of course.)

The kids had a blast.

One interesting thing. Jasmine is terrified of anyone dressed up as an animal (or it could be a clown or anything, she doesn't like characters in person). So we were at one game and suddenly out comes Chuck E. himself from a door by us and naturally comes and greets Jasmine. The look on her face was sheer terror and she jumped about 2 inches it felt like. I thought she would be traumatized. But then later she had no problem waving at him from a distance on the stage, even telling him and his gang that she loves them. So it seems, she is content to love, but only from a distance.

After all the fun and games, we tried to go see the hot air balloon festival (they had the balloons all lit up at night) but we missed it. We still hung out and listened to a cool outdoor concert going on.

The glasses have arrived...

Here are pictures of my cute boy in glasses. We have entered a new phase in life. I am being really positive about it now (toward him) btw.

Doesn't he look handsome?

We already had a very interesting thing happen with one of the glasses but I will have to blog about that later...

Salt Lake County Fair

I always see advertisements for the county fair and it sounds like fun, but for some reason we can't ever go.
This year we finally made it happen and we got to go with my friend Katie (a different Katie) and her kids so that made it funner.

The fair did not disappoint either.
There were not that many people there because it was the first day. We walked around and looked at the exhibits, got lots of free candy and prizes and then went to the petting zoo. Holy crap this petting zoo was tiny but had the coolest animals. It had goats and sheep of course but then a baby horse, cow, donkey, ducks and 2 tortoises running around like it was no big deal that a million kids were poking and prodding at them. Then in a separated corner they had like 4 baby kangaroos in pouches! It was so cute and funny. Some reporter from the Deseret News was taking pictures and he asked for my kids names because supposedly we were going to be in the paper but we looked and nothing, oh well, our shot at fame was short lived.

Shayden just got a digital camera and look at this awesome shot of the tortoise.

Then the kids got to ride 3 free rides because they turned in these reading reports of books they had read, the coolest program ever, saved us moms a ton of money because that is all they got to ride, we are so frugal.


We tried to watch a mini horse show but it was too hot.
Then while we were there we had completed this scavenger hunt so they let us each take home two family movie dvds!
Oh and Katie had the great idea to park at the church next door so we didn't have to pay the $5 parking fee. Way to go, we didn't spend any money!

Playdate at the Castle Park

My friend Susan and I drove up to Kaysville to meet our friend from High School Yadira, so that we could catch up and the kids could play. It was at that fun castle park that my nieces and nephew love to go to because it is really close to my sister's house. Look at my big belly!

We need to try to get together more often!

Thanksgiving Point Gardens

I thought that $2 Tuesdays at Thanksgiving Point were so awesome! Unfortunately, everyone else in Utah thought so too.

We were planning on going to the Dinosaur museum but it was so packed, I couldn't believe the line went clear down the sidewalk outside!! The whole time I was thinking, "I totally should not have come all the way down here" but I had planned to meet my friend Katie that moved to Orem and I haven't seen for a long time. Needless to say, we decided to change our plans and go to the gardens instead. And boy am I glad that we did. The gardens are usually $10 for adults and $6 for kids so it was a total steal. And it is the type of place that there could have been mobs of people and we would have never been affected by it. It felt good that the kids were out in the open air for a good 3 hours, just running, rolling down hills, playing in the water, finding frogs and having a great old time. And it was so nice to catch up with Katie. So it turned out okay afterall.

Look at the cutest little outfit that my friend Chandelle made for Jasmine for her birthday, complete with matching bandana and even sandals!

Monday Fieldtrip - Splash Park 8.4.08

I think I am finally caught up on my blog, yeah!
Yesterday we went back to that cute little splash park in Herriman.
It was so nice to sit and talk to friends!