Summer Vacation

We have had a busy summer this year and I can't believe it is already over. I really wasn't ready. I love having my kids home and being able to go and do anything at the drop of a hat and not having to plan everything around school. But I also love watching them grow and learn and experience new things and starting a new school year is part of the whole process so I guess it is good in it's own way.

Because we have been so busy, there are so many things that I never got around to posting - like our summer vacation, our last camping trip, playing at the park, Austin's baseball games, etc. I may not get around to posting about all of them but I thought our summer vacation would be worth taking a trip back in time for. So here it is.

This year we went up to good ole' Salt Lake City. I have only been once since Chris graduated college 5 years ago and it was a one day trip for business so we didn't do much of anything worth writing about. This time we went to Lagoon, a first for me and the kids, the Hogle Zoo, Temple Square and Cabela's.

We learned something very important about our kids that will help us plan better vacations in the future. There is no need to spend loads of money on fun activities because the things they enjoyed the most were free, like Cabela's, swimming in the pool at the hotel (which I guess isn't technically free) and Temple Square.

The first place we visited was Cabelas. Chris went here on a business trip once and thought the kids would love it. He was right! There are huge fish aquariums to see and we were lucky enough to be there for feeding time. They feed them worms, pellets and live gold fish. The kids LOVED the carnage! They also got to feed some other fish some pellets. There were lots of real "stuffed" animals from Zebras and Lions to Deer and Bears. And they played a hunting game. Plus they loved looking at all the outdoor equipment you can buy!

I love these cute pictures of the kids sleeping in the same bed at the hotel. They woke up excited for the next adventure.

Lagoon was fun but for "die-hard" Disneyland fans it was a little disappointing. Austin and Allison were brave enough to ride Lagoon's scariest roller coaster "Wicked." I was actually scared for them but they loved it! We also loved "Rattlesnake Rapids," so much even that the kids went on it twice in a row, once with dad and once with mom!

The next day we went to Hogle Zoo. Growing up in Southern California and going to the San Diego Zoo every year it is hard NOT to be a little disappointed with Hogle Zoo. However, Zuri, the baby elephant won me over completely!! I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the baby elephant and we sat and watched her play with her mom for probably a good half hour. It took Zuri about 10 minutes to walk over this log and it was so fun watching her try to figure it out. Then she played in the mud for a little while just like a little kid would, not like an elephant normally does. AND then we watched as her mom feed her some grass and then you could see she was getting sleepy and they walked off together for a nap. It was the sweetest thing ever!!!

The last thing we did was go to Temple Square. We have been several times before but there is always something new to see. We actually got to see the top of the Conference Center this time. It has been closed every other time we have tried. We ate lunch at the Nauvoo cafe for the first time. We also got to see the new movie "Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration" which was amazing! And we visited the Church History Museum.

FUN TIMES!! :)

Happy Birthday Asher!

It has been an entire year since we have been blessed with our sweet boy, Asher. He has definitely brought balance and a feeling of wholeness to our family. I am glad to report that I finally feel done having kids. I didn’t know if I would ever feel that way and was worried that too many other factors would play a role in deciding if we would have more children or not. But Chris and I both feel like our whole family is here and that we are complete. It is truly a peaceful feeling.

Asher is so far my smallest one year old. He is only in the 25th percentile for weight and height! That is just weird when all my other babies have been in the 70th and above and still are. I guess he might take after my side of the family instead of Chris’. What he does have is a “DeMille size head.” Both my boys heads were off the charts for size…which if you ask Austin just means he is that much smarter than the average person.

Asher may be little but he is very smart and energetic already. He is walking around everywhere. He is still getting into the toilet every day. The older ones haven’t learned to keep the bathroom doors closed yet, but at least they have learned to keep the toilets flushed. He likes to put things in the toilet like mom’s makeup, toys, clothes, brushes, combs, etc. He likes to turn off mom’s computer and always before I have saved. He likes to take all the books off the shelves and clothes out of the drawers. He has already learned to go up and down the stairs, sooner than any of the other children. He also loves to cuddle. So far he isn’t picky when it comes to food but his favorite food is definitely chicken (along with dirt and rocks when he can get it). He loves chicken and recognizes it immediately when I am cooking it. He likes to stick his bum up in the air like a stinkbug. He has learned to love water. He can already throw a little tantrum, also earlier than any of the older ones. He has 6 teeth and likes to use them! But most importantly he is my happy boy!

He was actually very timid to eat the cake at first. It was very out of character for him. Finally his Uncle Keith took his hands and smashed them into the cake and then he started eating it and he loved it. Mmmm!

More About Asher...

This is a video of Asher's funny crawl. He knows how to crawl on all four but usually only uses one leg and one arm. He started walking and we hadn't got his crawl on video yet. The only time we could get him to crawl again was when we opened the front door and he wanted to get out of the door fast. We think it is pretty cute! But then again, we are a little biased. :)

This is Asher opening a kool-aid packet.

This was just a random picture I found that I thought was cute!