Summer Fun in Utah

As always, we had a wonderful time visiting family in Utah on our summer vacation.  I have lots of pictures and we did so many fun things that I'm tempted to not even journal anything and just post five-hundred and fifty-nine photos.  :)

     

Some of my favorite times when we visit are the simple little pleasures and spontaneous things that just happen.  I found Jax riding on the "tractor" with Grandpa one morning.  Pure delight.

He also enjoyed Grammy teaching him about the proper way to eat olives.  I can't remember feeding Jax olives before so I'm pretty sure this was his first time.  {Mark despises olives and I don't care enough to buy them}  Nothing beats the ten olive fingers!

 

We dropped in to Aunt Vicky's and Kelli's houses to see all of their cute decorating/painting/gardening ideas.  Jax was having a ball with the boys and Mark and I even took a ride on the tandem bike.  Whoever has our name for Christmas, you now know what you can buy us. ;)

We went up to our old stomping grounds, Logan, for a fun-filled day.  I was supposed to go on a plane ride with Benj but the weather didn't cooperate so we went to the cruise-in and played Frisbee Golf with everyone else instead.  We were also able to visit our great friends, the Anderson Family and the Poulson Family!  It was amazing that our schedules overlapped and worked out to see our wonderful friends!  Now that the Andersons have moved back, we look forward to seeing them more often when we visit.  Both Mark and I were so surprised at how grown up the cute Poulson kiddos looked.  Those good kids!  

We love Cache Valley.  It has such a great feeling and it's so beautiful!  Go Aggies!

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Before heading up Provo canyon, we hit Seven Peaks with Benj, Chris, and Taish.  I wasn't nearly as nervous about the "huge water slides" as I remembered being so terrified of as a young buckeroo.  :)  Facing my fears daily, people. :)  Fun times!  I think the Boomerang ride with Benj was my favorite.  Long line but good thrill! There was the added bonus of seeing Chris' nervous face as he went down backwards right after us. ha! We had to tease him a little bit about it afterward.  

Benj also introduced us to the Pizza Place in Provo.  Three cheers for a yummy all-you-can-eat Pizza Buffet!

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We were happy to make (for the first time ever) the annual Sundance reunion with my Dad's fam.  Mark has never been to the cabin so we were glad it worked out this year!  We did our annual activities that we always look forward to--ride on the ski lift, tennis tourney, ping-pong, horseshoes, games, chatting, and continual snacking.  Thanks to Mark and his uncontested victory in the tennis tourney, we are adding a new rule next year prohibiting giants at the net.  ;)  We also added the annual family workout this year, which was a hoot.  Each person got to "lead" the aerobics class so we had a little warm up, the classic BYU Hooked on Aerobics, some Zumba, a little modge-podge of exercises, and Yoga.  Good workout, ya'll! 

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 We hit a BEES Game while in the area, which is usually a family tradition closer to the 24th.  Thanks for being flexible for us, fam!  Baseball. Fireworks. Hot Dogs.  What's more American, right?  

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At one point, we dropped in to Aunt Sandy's place.  She had rented some big blow up bounce house/water slides for her grand kids.   It was great to join in the fun!  Jax loved the chaos.  Some of the "cool" adults joined in too.  Aunt Sandy and my Mom even went down the big slide in their clothes.  I wish I had a pic!  Way to go, you FUN and ADVENTUROUS grandmas!!!  It was wonderful to see Sharon, it had been a very long time!  I'm glad our visits overlapped a bit!   

 

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On to part 2...TEW FAMILY TIME!!!  Mark's gracious cousins allowed us to stay in their cabin near ZION National Park.  It was such a perfect place to host the reunion!!!  We really enjoyed staying there with the horseshoes, basketball courts, ping pong tables, pickle-ball/tennis courts close by, and the fun board games at the cabin.  My personal favorite part of this whole thing was going to Bryce National Park because I'd never been there before.  The more time we spent there the more shocked I was that I had never been because it is so pretty!!!  I think I took about 200 pictures of this place so enjoy.....

 AT LEAST half of my pictures of Bryce National Park are of these three cute boys.  This was the ONLY ONE where they are all looking at the camera at the same time! ha!

 Legendary Tew Brothers 2-on-2 Basketball Tourney ;)

We may as well make this an annual tradition!

 Field-trip to Zion National Park. 

 The Lovely Kitchen Crew

Great fun on the four-wheelers...before...

and after...

Bubbles: Fascinating at any age! 

THANK YOU, TEWS (especially Nana and Papa for the hours of planning and preparation) for the wonderful Family Reunion!!!!  'Til Next Time!

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Woohooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!  What a great time!!!!  All tuckered out...

Father's Day

 

It was a very HAPPY FATHER'S DAY this year.  I love bragging about Mark because there's so much to brag about!  :)  It's not being vain and prideful if you brag about your husband, right?  

This guy is such a fabulous dad.  It's been amazing seeing the way Mark has grown and changed even since we first got married.  Sometimes I tease him about his little quirks and our differences in our thought-process but when it comes down to it, this guy is just perfect for me.  I appreciate the way he truly wants to be a better person, accomplish goals, and learn new things every day.  His drive and motivation help me to be a better person myself.  He is generally a pretty patient dude (except when it comes to red lights when no one else is there to go the other way.  Pure frustration. hee. hee).  I feel like he has taken on the joys and challenges of being the patriarch of our family seriously and responsibly.  Even though it's not easy to provide for us, he does it without complaint, which I am grateful for.  Mark truly helps me feel safe and grounded.  

 

Jax loves to rough-house with his daddy. I guess it just comes more natural to dads to wrestle and tickle your kid until they laugh their head off and then start to cry from things getting a little too crazy.  :)  Mark has taught Jax how to do a somersault (he's still working on it but he does the "downward dog" pose when Mark asks to do a somersault).  Jax loves to sit in the truck with his dad and runs out to greet him when he gets home from work.  "Da da!!!  cuck!!! (truck)" Mark has also taught Jax how to kneel down and fold his hands together for family prayer before bed each night.  I know Jax watches his dad intently and he will learn all sorts of great skills from Mark.  "Nunchuck skills, bowhunting skills, computer hacking skills... "  I couldn't help it.  Good ol' Napoleon Dynamite.  But truly Mark does have great handy-man skills. Sometimes I wonder if he should have done Engineering for his Major :)    

 

We enjoyed some German Pancakes for breakfast, as requested by DAD on his special day.  Then we opened gifts.  I know I get more excited about giving Mark gifts for holidays than he does about opening them but I just couldn't wait until after church.  :)  This year, the main Father's Day gift was a tray to go on the grill so that we can roast veggies, potatoes, etc. and they won't fall through the grate.  He has been wanting this for a little while, so I think this was a good gift. I also gave him a nice big towel because ours are getting old.  He says it's just "okay."  1 out of 2 on my gift-giving.  I guess no one is perfect. ;)

Now, I was a gift-slacker for the BIG 30th Birthday this year.  I didn't really get Mark a gift because I've been shopping around for something specific for quite a while.  I finally just broke down and bought them, even though they seemed sort of pricey to me.  You only turn 30 once, right?  They came via UPS several days before Father's Day so I decided to wait and have him open this gift with the others.  More exciting, right?  Except for the fact that Mark is a hard man for me to surprise.  He is very conscientious (is that how you spell that?)  about our credit card statement.  He saw what I had ordered and kept following up with me about if they had arrived yet.  "On Amazon, it said it should have arrived yesterday.  Have you called them?"  Ha!  Responsible to a fault, people!  I'm not that great of a liar, especially when the hubby puts the pressure on.  I kept saying "not sure...hmmm...I don't know" but he kept pressing the next day so I finally said, "I'm trying to surprise you here....could you quit following up with me?"  :)

ANYWAY, this wasn't a surprise but fun to open none-the-less..... We now have four PICKLEBALL PADDLES and a dozen balls!  Woot woot!  If you don't know what pickleball is, just ask someone that's over 60 years old. :)

 

It's more of a "senior" sport but we usually play it when we go to St. George and have really liked it.  It's sort of a mix between tennis and ping-pong.  Anyway, it's tons of fun and as my old tennis coach would say, "this is a perfect sport because it's a LIFETIME SPORT" There you have it.  

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Church was lovely and Mark got a Twix candy bar as a little Father's Day gift.   We enjoyed delicious BBQ ribs with grilled potatoes for dinner.  HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, MARK! 

 

I also need to do a shout-out to the other exemplary fathers in our lives.  We love and appreciate your example!  Happy Father's Day to Grandpa Grant, Grandpa Merle, Papa, Grampy Ed, uncles, cousins, and our siblings/in-laws!!!!  Also, thanks to our good friends both here and in the great places we've moved from!  We truly appreciate you and the positive influence you've had on us. 

My sister shared this video link with me from mormon.org and I just love it!  It's perfect for Father's Day.  Please ENJOY!

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=2119328537001

 

Happy 18 Months to Jax!!!

Warning: BORING POST TO ALL NORMAL PEOPLE.  Grandparents will probably be the only ones to enjoy.  :)  If you're "normal" then just skip to the very bottom and look at his cute face in the pictures.  :)   

Small Snippets about Jax at 18 months:

• Weight:____ Height:____(We haven't been to the doc yet.  I'll fill this in later)
• He loves for us to read him books ("ck, ck, ck").  His favorites at the moment are We're Going on a Bear Hunt (We do the actions with it and Jax says "uh-oh" at the right moments....I've maxed out the number of times I can renew it at the Library-time to buy the thing), and any lift-the-flap peek-a-boo or pop up type books.  Dear Zoo has been one of his favs for a while. 
• He's somehow learned the "shaking his whole body when he's excited" skill from his cousins, Austin and Creed.
• I love how he tries to jump.  He bends his knees low and pops up without leaving the ground and then claps for himself. :)
• Jax loves music.  He claps, nods his head, taps his feet, and spins around to music.  We often have mini-dance parties during the day and he loves it.  Sometimes, I will "drum" on the table or a pan and he he nods his head or pops his knee to the beat.  So funny!  He loves to climb on my lap and play the keyboard any chance he can get.  He has learned how to turn it off, on, and add the background synchro filler in, which is always an exciting moment! 
• He is obsessed with TRUCKS.   I guess we live in the right place since there are tons of trucks here. :)  He says "kuk, kuck, kuck, kuck" over and over when we're driving in the car.  He's been making vehicle noises for a long time now and continues to do so.  Our neighbors gave us some fun new toys that their boys have grown out of.  One in particular has seemed to become a favorite and he has loved driving the cars down the ramp while making car noises.  He's also pretty good at making jet noises.  We hear them often fly over our house.  
• Jax is a friendly little dude.  He says "hiiieeee, hi, hi, hi, hiieeee" to everyone and anyone we see out on our walk, at the store, or just out and about.  He's not a shy kid, that's for sure!
• He loves nursery!  He would much rather be in there playing, singing, and eating snacks than go to Sunday School with us. (who can blame the kid?) If we even walk by the door, he runs over to it and wants to go in.  We are very happy about that and we hope it continues!
• Words: "Hiiiieeeee" bubble "bubba", pop!, key (going to check the mail is one of his most favorite things to do each day.  He loves to hold the key!), Jax "ack", dada, mama, temple "pempo", Jesus "eesshus", baby, go, diaper "po-po"??, binki "kee-kee", snack "ack", hot, dog "dah", boo, bye-bye "die, die" :/, uh-oh (we hear this on a lot) :),up "bup!" (when he wants to sit on our lap or for us to hold him), ball "bah", cracker "caca", milk "kulk", walk "gok!", fish/goldfish snack "shishhy"  He's mastered the /ck/ sound and most of the time it's hard to tell what he's saying unless you know from being around him. 
• Animal noises: dog, cat, monkey, horse, fish (kiss), dolphin (sounds the same as a dog but he also adds the clicking noise in there...cuteness),  gorilla (pounds his chest), duck (still does this with gusto!)  Duck is probably still is favorite animal.
• He is very intrigued by babies.  It's amazing to me the special feeling a tiny baby can create, even in a toddler like Jax.  He loves to say "baby!" and then put his face towards his shoulder and say "oh"  He puts his cheek/side of his face towards his shoulder when we ask for a hug.  I think he's giving himself a hug or something??? I don't know but it's tender.    
• Outside is his favorite place to be.  He begs to go "siiieee" (outside) many many times during the day.  He does his little fake whine, goes to the door, and says "siiieee" or "bubba....pop!".   He loves to swing and pop bubbles.  He also loves to play with the hose and dirt in the flower pots.  We go on a walk most days and Jax loves to go to the garage door and say "gok, gok, gok, gok" until we finally go!  It's just one more way  
• Jax has always had a happy-go-lucky personality.  He's still a very friendly, happy, and content kiddo.  We love him for that!  He smiles a lot, which is so contagious.  Jax loves to make friends with whoever he can.  He tries to play with the big kids at the park or wherever.  He's a pretty good people-watcher, it seems.  He watches what kids are doing and then copies whatever they do.  I really have to watch my back.  :)  I wiped my face on my shirt sleeve today and then he grabbed my sleeve and immediately wiped his mouth on my sleeve,  just like I did.  Yikes!   
• I love how exciting the world is to Jax right now.  It's such a joy to see him take everything in for the first time.  I love his innocence and trust that he has in us.  He's just the sweetest little baby in the world!  And no, I'm not biased at all.   ;)

THIS KID HAS CERTAINLY CHANGED OUR LIVES AND ADDED SO MUCH JOY TO OUR MOMENTS.  WE LOVE LOVE LOVE OUR LITTLE JAX!  

Sometimes, I wish I could somehow stop the clock.  He's growing up so quick.  :(

Fab Four: Sports

1. Gymnastics

A local place here does open gym for kids three days a week.  Luckily, babies under 18 months are free so we've visited a few times.  It's amazing how much more brave Jax is now than when we went for the first time just a few weeks ago.  He now loves the jump houses (he used to be really nervous when I stuck him in there), he runs across the long trampoline really fast with no fear, and he climbs on all of the big toys with glee.  Today he even tried to pull his feet up as he hung on the bars and rings!  Gold medal, if you ask me. ;)  He's always exhausted afterward from running around and playing so hard.  Time for a good long nap.

 

2.  Softball

Mark and I play on separate teams but the same night.  I just officially started my season last week but have been filling in for people the past couple of weeks.  I signed myself up for the summer league (June-July) but Mark has been playing pretty much since we moved here (almost a year ago...what???).  

 

Mark plays in a work league; His team name is IMCOM.

Yes, my team is the Scabs.  When I first joined, I was like, "uh...is scabs an acronym for something or what?" and another girl just smiled and said, "nope, and the guy who arranged the team/our coach picked the name without any input from us."  Now, I just think it's funny and I try to get the team to cheer for the Scabs with me but no one seems to join me... ;) 

According to wikipedia:

Scab may refer to:

Scab, a hard coating on the skin formed during the wound healing reconstruction phase 

Scab, a strikebreaker, a person who works despite strike action or against the will of other employees

So, the coach gave his explanation.  It's not the scab that you pull from your skin, it's the scab that goes to work when no one else will--definition #2.  Go Scabs!  ;)  Both Mark and I are having fun playing at the ball park and Jax now says "ball" when he sees our softball gloves, which is a good start. :)

So, I lost my cleats in the move.  I kept thinking I was going to find them somewhere but they just never showed up so I found some at the outlets and purchased them.  

 Check out these cleats............... 

 

Now check out the price.........

 

But wait....they were 50% off of clearance!  Yes, I bought them for five bucks!  I was beaming all day long.  I honestly couldn't stop smiling!  Should awesome deal finding/shopping be considered a "sport"  for the sake of this post?  

Yes,  #3.  Shopping  (I've got to see Mark's reaction when he reads this. ha!)

On to weightier matters, 

#4: The NBA Finals

Our leisure time lately has been enjoying the NBA playoffs.  Mark is a big fan of LeBron (I know there's haters out there....just hang in there with me).  Let's face it.  LeBron is good.  Seriously good.  Mark likes his high jumping, awesome passing, in-your-face dunking plays.  The Heat are fun to watch--except when Bird Man is on the court.  His ugly hair and tattoos just distract from everything else going on. Anywho, we've been cheering the Heat on even though they are top dawgs.  I like the heat because my cousin, Norris Cole, plays for them.  See any resemblance?  

a) I like his hair.

b) We're related.

c) What's not to love?

Now......if you're not aware, the Heat are taking on the Spurs this Thursday night.  I am definitely cheering for the Spurs.  We live here.  I'm jumping on the band wagon.  Everyone's doing it.  Plus, Grandma Margie has always loved Tim Duncan more than any other player out there.  You go Grandma!  Mark is cheering for the Heat.  And Jax----he's with me.  Period.  

After finishing dinner last night, we both realized that we had discussed the big upcoming game and who we think will win if certain players show up and play a great game, etc. over a good portion of our dinner time.  Both of us just laughed out loud.  Are we becoming Shaq and Chuck?  Ever discussing the great game of basketball and our opinions on outcomes of games?  I guess so.  Let it be known.   

Friday Fab 5 (Not on a Friday but still Fab).

Here's our update for the past few weeks.......

 
1. Date Night 

 Iron Man is brilliant, funny, witty, and loves technology, which makes him our family's favorite super hero. :)  Mark and I went to Iron Man 3 together for date night recently. It was action-packed and had a little romance too, which suits both of our fancies. 

After the movie, we went to one of our favorite burger chains, Red Robin.  I tried the Bleu Cheese somethin' or other Burger.  It was good for a change but I don't think I'd order it again.  I guess I'm not a huge bleu cheese fan (Sorry, Dad.  I know you love it!).  One of our favorite things about Red Robin is their endless fries with campfire sauce.  Our friend told us about their campfire sauce a few years ago and our lives have never been the same since.  :)

Thank you to the Reams Family for babysitting for us!  We're sure Jax enjoys our dates as much as we do (if not more) because he could care less if we leave or when we get back since he gets to play with the fun kids for a few hours!  Win-Win.

 2. Sea World--  I've been taking Jax to Sea World before our year pass runs out next month.  This time, we did the toddler water area and he met some fun Sesame Street characters! 

 

Jax could play with water all day every day, I think.  He loves when I turn the hose on to water the garden and flower pots.  These miniature fountains really put a big smile on his face.  He is also a friendly kid and enjoys playing with any kid who will pay attention to him (or try to avoid him). ha!  He kept trying to get into his "friend's" stroller to have some of their snacks.  I guess the ones I brought weren't quite exciting enough. :)  

 

Jax has never seen Sesame Street before but that didn't stop him from wanting to meet the characters up close!  He loved touching Bert and Ernie's noses and the Cookie Monster's eyes.  :)

3. Highlight--  I know I have put a picture like this on the blog several times but I feel like it's such a part of our daily life (and I have two of the most handsome guys in the world) that I'm posting yet another Daddy/Son Truck Picture....

 

It's the highlight of both of our days when dad gets home from work.  Jax gets super excited when daddy comes home in the green truck ("cuck...cuck...cuck...cuck").  He loves to meet him out in the driveway and "drive" on the steering wheel for a bit.  Mark even puts him in the truck bed to play for a bit sometimes when he's working in the yard.  We certainly have a vehicle-loving boy on our hands!

4.  Library Time--Jax has almost outgrown the baby story and play time and the library so I thought I should put a little picture in to remember these good days.  His favorite part is when we go in the big room and play with all sorts of new-to-us toys with all of the other babies.  I like it too because I can socialize with other moms.  These days, he'd rather stay out and play with the wooden train set that they have glued down to a small table instead of joining the other babies for singing time. ;)  He's the one in the bright green shirt.  fyi.

5.  Memorial Day BBQ--Last night we went to the Fielden's house for burgers and the fixins.  It was a nice evening.  The adults just ate and chatted and the kiddos played to their heart's content.  I decided to take my favorite chip/cracker dip from Our Best Bites website.  Mmmm....mmmm.  Highly recommended.  :) 

Nice end to our fun weekend with Scott and Kelsey visiting!!! (more on that later)