Escaping to Paradise

Last weekend was UEA. It is said that UEA stands for Utahns Escape to Anaheim. However, we decided to head the opposite direction- up to what I consider Paradise... our cabin.

It was kind of a short trip (we were only there for three full days). But, we had so much fun. It was beautiful weather. In fact, I think it was warmer than some of the times we've been there in June.

It was a unique trip because we were ALL able to go. I love it when every one's there. It's starting to get a little tight as the family grows, but I LOVE IT THAT WAY (except for feeling bad that Ashlyn kept people up at night- sorry fam)!!!

So what does paradise look like? Here are some pictures of the fun! Be prepared- I took over 200 pictures!

Of course, we always have fun on the ATV's. The kids love going on long rides up in the mountains.

The tire swing is always a favorite! On this trip they decided it's lots of fun to swing together.
We got to go on our traditional Sunday walk...
When Mickell put Ashlyn on her back, Ashlyn said "Backpack!"
Tanner picking a "corn dog" (cat tail)...
Looking at a cool bird...

Leslie was sweet to play the traditional game of Ghost in the Graveyard with the kids...
We also did a lot of really fun new things.
Grandpa set up an awesome mountain miniature golf course that we all had a great time with...

We got the pellet guns out one afternoon...
The guys spent lots of time paint balling with their new sling shots. It's hunting season right now and so they had to wear orange while they were out playing. They didn't have enough orange vests on one of their trips (the vests were on ATV riders), so Jared got creative. It's a good look, huh!
The butterscotch tree smelt so strong this time. We could smell it as soon as we stepped out of the cabin. Mmmmmm!
Dave built the kids a fort one night. Ashlyn had so much fun in it...
Another fun thing that we played was capture the flag. We played it at night in the field. The flags were glow sticks. Tanner said that it was his very favorite thing on this trip. During one of the games, I heard someone behind me in the forest. They were being so loud. I couldn't figure out what was going on. I thought the other team was trying to distract me. However, after a few seconds, Baylen came back with a tree. It was so funny. Leslie and I couldn't stop laughing. He used it as a camouflage by standing behind it and moving a little closer to the other flag every few seconds. What a great idea!

Grandma reading the kids a bedtime story...

The kids were very patient during all my photo shoots... I love taking pictures at the cabin (you'd think I'd be a little better at it by now)!

Fall Fun

Last week our neighbors invited Hailey, Ashlyn, and I to go out to Black Island Farm with their co-op preschool. Our family went to this a few years ago and it is a blast! The only problem is that it costs $70.00 for a family the size of ours. So, when they said it would only be $4.00 total, I was totally in! It was A LOT of fun. In fact, I felt bad that I didn't keep Tanner and Mickell home from school to go with us. Hailey and Ashlyn could have stayed all day. We ended up staying over an hour longer than everyone else and they still weren't ready to leave. The day started with a fun hayride out to the pumpkin patch. The farmer that took us out stopped at each crop along the way. He picked one of each thing and let the kids look at it. Then, they got to choose their own pumpkin.

They also had a blast going on the slides... the train... the "corn" sandbox... and the pumpkin bounce house... We were able to witness a few pig races. They were actually quite entertaining!

Happy Fall!!!

We woke up this morning to snow! I can't help thinking back 3 day to when we were wearing Capri's and t-shirts. I'm just scratching my head wondering where fall went. I don't remember having it yet. I am not ready for cold, snowy weather.

The kids were more than excited to play outside. Here's a picture of them working on a snow fort. Notice my frozen tomatoes in the background. I was sick yesterday and so I didn't get them picked before the frost.

Five

A few months ago my neighbor approached me asking if I would be interested in watching her son for a week at the end of September while she was in Mexico. I was a little nervous to take on another kid. But, I couldn't turn her down since opportunities for me to make a little extra money don't come up very often. It ended up being a lot easier than I thought it would be. It was still another kid, but he was so good. In fact, homework time was a lot easier since Hailey had someone to play with. One of the days I decided to take Hailey, Ashlyn, and Kai to the Treehouse Museum. Here are a few pictures of the afternoon...

Happy Memories of Happy Valley

Last Saturday Baylen and I were able to head down to Provo for a BYU game. We had a lot of fun at the game. We did learn two very important things. #1- You will stick out like a sore thumb if you don't wear navy blue! (oops) #2- The stadium gets hot! Even if it's only 70 degrees outside, it will feel like at least 110 degrees in the stadium. We definitely didn't dress accordingly. I felt so bad for Baylen. He wore a long sleeve shirt. He had a tee shirt underneath but unfortunately it was a burnt orange Texas Longhorns shirt. So, he sat through the whole game with the long sleeve shirt on.


I haven't been down to Utah Valley much since we moved up to Kaysville. As I drove through Orem and Provo, I was flooded with memories of our time down there. That was such a happy, fun time. I know at the time it seemed like there was so much to stress about (being starving students with a little family). But, as I think back about it now, it really was a simple, happy time. As we drove up University Parkway, I had a memory for everything we passed. I wanted to jot down a few of the things I remembered because I don't think I kept a very good journal at the time. I know some of the things may seem silly and simple, but they make me happy to think back on them.

UVSC Tennis courts- we took our kids there one day to teach them how to play. They were only three so I don't think they got much out of it. But, it was fun.

Krispe Kreme- We stopped there a few times on our way out to go on vacation. It was such a special treat for the kids.

University of Utah Clinic- I remember pushing our double stroller there several times when Tanner or Mickell were sick. One of our cars must not have been working because I specifically remember walking all the way there.

Pet Smart- It was a few blocks from our apartment and so I would walk over with the kids several times a month.

Barnes and Noble- I would take the kids there every Saturday for story time. They had an awesome story time. In fact, the kids were able to meet a few characters like Clifford and Olivia.

Rodizios- We went there the night Baylen got into the nursing program. It's a very expensive restaurant and was a big strain on a student's pocketbook. But, it was a special night, so it was worth it.

California Pizza Kitchen- Emily called us up out of the blue one night and said she wanted to take us out to dinner. We went to this restaurant. I remember how grateful I was to her for such a fun night.

University Mall- I used to take the double stroller and walk up there (I did a TON of walking) several times a month just to get out of the house. There's a big treehouse slide in the middle of the mall that the kids loved playing on. We would always go into See's Candy so that Tanner and Mickell could get a free sugar stick (and I could get my free chocolate sample).

Utah Valley Regional Medical Center- Where Hailey was born. It was sure a scarey experience but we were so blessed in how everything turned out. By the way- the outfit Hailey is wearing in this picture is an incredibly TINY preemie outfit!

Provo Temple- we took the kids up there several times to do photo shoots.

Bon Lossee- Emily had a roommate who was going to this school. Emily and I went and got our hair cut there once. I actually paid to get my hair cut!!!

Rich Neighborhoods in Orem- Baylen and I would drive through all the rich neighborhoods of Orem every Sunday. Our goal was to get Tanner and Mickell to sleep before sacrament meeting. However, we also had lots of fun seeing how the other half live (and dreaming about our own future.)

These are just a few of the random, silly memories I have. No matter how much people joke about it, I LOVE Happy Valley!

FHE in the Canyons

For a spur of the moment FHE, we headed up to Mueller Park for a hot dog roast. We called Broman and Rachel and they came along. We didn't have much time once we got there and ate, but it was fun to be up in the mountains. Here are a few random pictures of the evening...

Just a Little More Summer

We just cannot let summer go! Yesterday we went down to Utah Lake with the extended Bird family for a fun day of boating. It turned out to be a beautiful day.

The kids had a lot of fun tubing with Madison. Tanner was a little hesitant to get on the tube at first. But, he warmed up real quickly. He was surfing on the tube in a matter of minutes.



It was Ashlyn's first time on a tube. She about fell asleep while out there.

Baylen attempted body surfing. He didn't have much luck with that.


However, he did AWESOME at surfing. It was really fun to watch. Unfortunately, I didn't get a good picture of it.

After boating for several hours, we went over to Emily's house to swim in her pool. It was a lot of fun. She has a huge hot tub that is the length of the pool. It was nice because when we got hot, we jumped in the pool. When we got cold, we jumped in the hot tub. Here are a few pics of the fun...

Sweet Sixteen!

Ashlyn hit the 16 month milestone last week. I'm really trying to be better at writing down the things she's learning. It seems like she's doing new things everyday. Sixteen months really is a "sweet" time. In fact, I think it has to be one of my favorite baby stages. I glanced back over my post of Ashlyn at fifteen months and it seriously blew my mind that it's only been a month since I wrote about what she's doing. She has changed SO MUCH in the past thirty or so days. I think the biggest difference is that she understands things better. For example, whenever we sit down at the table for a meal, she folds her arms and says her own little jibber-jabber prayer. When she wants to go outside, she finds her shoes. The other day I put her in the tub. I guess the water was a little too warm. She said "hot" and then started blowing the water like she would blow her hot food. Tonight when I went upstairs, I thought she was following me. A few minutes later, when she didn't come up, I went to see where she was. She was standing at the bottom of the stairs. I told her to come on up to go to bed and she responded with "hand." She was patiently waiting at the bottom for me to hold her hand as she went up. Whenever I ask her a question that she doesn't know the answer to, she say's "ummmm" like she's thinking. The other day Ashlyn and I were reading a book on the couch. She started to slide off my lap in the middle of the story. I asked her what she was doing and she responded, "falling down."

Some of the new words she's saying are: Ashlyn (first time today), cereal, backpack, outside (she says this five hundred times a day), bike, sippy, and cracker. My favorite thing that she says now is "Oh, man." I never realized how many times I say this in a day until she started copying me. She can basically copy anything we ask her to say but the words above are some that she says on her own and understands what they mean.

Last Saturday the kids had their baths at Grandma Whipple's house. When they got out of the tub my mom combed the girl's hair for them. I don't usually comb Ashlyn's hair when it's wet because the curl stays better if I don't. Grandma did comb it. So, it was a little straighter and slicked down. Mickell saw Ashlyn and said, "She would look really handsome if she was a boy." I thought that was so funny.

Ashlyn has an obsession with markers. You've heard the expression "finding a needle in a haystack." Well that's how Ashlyn is with markers. I think I have them all hidden but somehow she manages to find them. Her favorite things to do with them are #1 suck on them until her whole mouth is the color of the marker #2 decorate her legs. It may sound like I don't watch her very well. However, she can find the marker and have both of these things accomplished in a matter of seconds.

Ashlyn is an excellent whistler! I wish I had a video camera to record her whistling because it is the funniest thing. Anytime she hears someone whistling, she sqeals in this high pitch "whistle." She really thinks she's whistling!

Ashlyn is BUSY! Last week after sacrament meeting ended, Ashlyn decided to run off. With everyone in the chapel up and moving at the same time, I had a hard time tracking down where she went. When I finally found her, she had found a seat in the middle of a big group of people talking. One of the ladies that was standing there said, "She's a busy one, isn't she!" Baylen's response was, "You have no idea!"

Adios Training Wheels

Our neighborhood goes through different "rages". Last year everyone in the neighborhood rode scooters-all the time. Then it was basketball, then baseball, then the trampoline and swing sets. The past few months the "in" thing is riding bikes. The kids basically ride their bikes every waking moment that they are not at school. Because this is the cool thing right now, the little kids have been learning how to ride two wheelers really young. Hailey kept pressuring us to take her training wheels off her bike. We told her we would as soon as she could ride without using the training wheels. Well, she took matters into her own hands and borrowed someone else's bike. As I was sitting outside looking at mail last week, I looked over at her in the cul-de-sac. She was riding a two wheeler! I was a little bit shocked at first. I had to look twice. I didn't think four year olds were coordinated enough to learn to do that (especially on their own). Hailey is very proud of her accomplishment and loves showing everyone that comes over. Here are a few pictures of her on the day she "learned."

Ouch

Ashlyn is now at the age where she thinks she can do everything her older siblings do. She always has some kind of scratch or scrape to prove it. Her latest injury has to take the cake. Yesterday Ashlyn was bouncing on our neighbors trampoline with Hailey and Hailey's friend. She fell over because of one of Hailey's bounces and got her skin (next to her eye) pinched in the spring. It looked like it hurt so I put some ice on it. But, half an hour later she was just fine. It really took me by surprise when she woke up this morning looking like this...
I feel so bad for her. This morning her eye was almost completely swollen shut. And yet, when I would ask her where her ouchie was, she would point at her opposite ear.

We went to a sister get together today. We walked around the international peace gardens and then went out to lunch at the Spaghetti Factory. Here are a few pictures at the gardens...








This is the conversation we had this morning when I woke Hailey up...
Hailey- "I had a dream last night."
Me- "Really, what was it about?"
Hailey-"I was cleaning the house."
Me- "Oh, that's a good dream."
Hailey- "No, it was a BAD dream."
Bummer, I'm still hold out that one of my kids will LOVE to clean.

It's Gone

Last Saturday we took Old Faithful in to Low Book Sales for a quote. They said they would give us a whoppin $100 for it. We laughed at the fact that we could sale it to the dump for more than that. That night we listed it on KSL. Within 5 minutes we had one call and within 24 hours we had three more people who wanted to look at it. This morning the first people got here to see it at 8:30 and by 9:30 it was gone. We sold it to the nicest Hispanic couple who came up from Mexico a few years ago. They are wanting to start a family soon and so were looking at purchasing a "family" vehicle. The lady didn't speak English at all but Ashlyn loved her. She let this sweet lady hold her and play with her. Ashlyn doesn't go to many people when her mom and dad are around. I was really surprised. Since we sold it to such nice people, I have been worried all morning about whether it will work well for them. I hope everything works out okay. They were such nice, neat people that I'm wishing we had just given it to them for free. It was sad to see it go. Like I said before, I have so many memories with that van. I hope that the sweet couple is able to have lots of good memories in it, too.

TOO FAST!!!

It is almost 2:00 in the morning right now and I cannot sleep. I am just overwhelmed by the fact that my kids are growing up way too fast! Tonight I went into bed a little earlier than everyone else. Mickell came in and asked if she could lay by me. She brought her MP3 player in with her. We both put one of the headphones on and started singing along to the different songs that came on. As we were singing, we started talking about some of our favorite singers. She then started telling me about the Jonas Brothers and which one she liked the best. She went on to talk about how she was so excited that Joe Jonas is dating Taylor Swift (what?). This conversation turned to which of Mickell's boy classmates she thinks is cute and who Tanner has a crush on (which I swore I wouldn't tell anyone). After this, she started asking me questions about what divorce is (her uncle Brinden just got a divorce) and wanted to know what she could do when she gets married so that she won't get a divorce. I absolutely loved our talk. We had a lot of fun and I'm glad she feels comfortable enough to talk to me about everything. However, I can't help but think about the fact that it was such a short time ago that her little two year old blue eyes were looking up at me and asking me cute questions like "Why we have a belly button?" or "Why Santa has a beard?" Don't get me wrong, she still has that sweet little girl innocence. She still loves playing house and barbies and sitting on my lap. However, tonight made me realize that she is getting older and more mature (a lot more mature than I was at seven years old)! I just wish I was able to control time. It needs to slow down- a lot!

Disclaimer

Today my friend invited me to go walking with her. I decided to go, even though I had a ton to do, because I'm really bad at exercising. After we were done, the kids wanted to stay and play at the park for awhile. I had to run a few errands, but Michelle offered to stay there while the kids played. When I went to pick Hailey up, Michelle looked really worried. She told me that Hailey was playing on the playground and all the sudden she heard her screaming. She looked over at her and Hailey was dripping blood down her face. I guess that the kids were playing tag and Hailey tripped. Somehow she ended up with a pretty deep cut on the inside of her lip. It's actually deep enough that it makes me a little queezy when I look at it. Baylen thought it was bad enough that we should take her in to the doctor. The doctor said that it was definitely deep but she thought it should be okay. She called another doctor in for a second opinion and he agreed with her. So, the good news is that Hailey doesn't need stitches. The bad news is that we are supposed to have her swish salt water after she eats. I can't see that going over very well.

I'm writing this post as a disclaimer. My neighbor scared me when she told me about her niece. I guess her niece cut her lip and they didn't take her in for stitches. She now has a crooked smile. I just want Hailey to know that we did take her to the doctor and that two doctors said that she would be okay. There's no way we can put a bandaid or a butterfly bandage on it. I thought about super gluing it but I didn't think it would be that healthy to have super glue in her mouth. I really hope it heals okay! I'm incredibly paranoid, can you tell?

Miss Mary's Little Scholar!

Today was Hailey's first day of Preschool. Hurray! We both survived (and with no tears!). She has been counting down to this day for a long time now. So, you can imagine her excitement when she woke up and today was THE DAY! Hailey was really excited to take a backpack. She asked what she would need in it. I told her that she didn't need to take anything but that she would probably bring things home in it. A little while later I saw her putting her pretend cell phone in. I asked her why she would need that at school and she said it was in case she needed to call McKenzie (should I be worried?)!

Here are a few shots of her right before leaving. She was one excited little girl!


Hailey got a little nervous when we got there and several of the kids were crying. Thank goodness she had a few friends who she felt comfortable with. I felt so bad leaving her with how scared she looked. However, when I picked her up, she was just fine. She said she liked it. She did mention, however, that she was shy to everyone except for the teacher with curly hair. She was really cute tonight as I was helping Tanner and Mickell with their homework. She went and grabbed a workbook and said "I need to get this homework done before I can play with friends."
This is Kai, Hailey, and Jackson when we dropped them off...