We've had such a fun summer!

Prepare yourselves:  There will be a lot of pictures!

Megan's kids came to stay for two weeks and we did nothing but GO, GO, GO!   But we had a blast.  We hit the zoo.

Taking a snack break

Breana, the girl she NEVER put down while in Utah (Cobie) and Logan

The infamous Tee-JEE

Breebs on the polar bear

Go-Go and his tiger

Dex and his cheese-er smile

Oh my gosh.  You have no idea how much this little smile melts my heart.

One Sunday afternoon we went fishing at Utah Lake with Uncle Mike.

We fed the ducks our crackers out of our cheese and cracker snack packs.

The kids were all excited to try and catch a fish.  After about 20 minutes of figuring out how to cast without clipping a bush or your neighbor or getting it tangled around you....the kids had lost their drive to try and catch fish.  Except this one little guy......

He stuck to it for about 45 minutes.  He kept casting and reeling, casting and reeling in, etc.  The only thing he could catch was debris from the lake.  It was kind of sad, really.

Finally, he just decided to see if he could catch the biggest piece of debris -- and he did.  

(I love that he's so proud of his big piece of weed from the lake)

For the fourth we did the Freedom Festival in Provo, of course.  We went to the Balloon Festival with all those who were willing to wake up that early on their day off.  :)

Declan, all cozy in his stroller, checking out the balloons.  Now anytime I wake him up early to do anything, he asks if we're going to see the balloons.  I always have to tell him "no", but apparently in the 2-year old world, you only wake up early if you're going to see hot air balloons.  (I love the way little kids think!)

Mom, Amanda, Breebs, TJ, Monica, Jace, Dex and Ruthie at the balloons

Jason and Amanda were sealed in the American Fork Temple at the end of June.  We got to go to the temple and hang out with the kids and family.  It was a lot of fun.

The whole family 

Jason and his family

Dex, Breebs and Logan playing around on the temple grounds

The uninhibited Logan!!!

We've had such a fun summer.  I've been bad at taking photos, but we've been swimming, having BBQs with family, taking trips to the library, and hanging out with friends.  It's been a blast!

Warm weather bike ride

So when the weather was warm last week we decided to do a family bike ride.  We got dropped off at Vivian Park and the goal was to ride home.  It's a good distance for all of us who are not seasoned riders, but most of it is downhill so we figured why not?

 Scott, Logan and Amanda getting ready for the big ride

Grandpa was the mastermind behind the whole trip, so I couldn't not include a picture of him

 Riding down the trail - Logan, Amanda and Scott (I swear Grandpa was with us, but he was usually ahead waiting for us)

 This is my kid screamin' down the trail -- and I don't mean that figuratively.  He literally screamed from Vivian Park to the mouth of the canyon where he fell asleep when we stopped to play at the park.  It was actually his nap time and I insisted we go anyway. (when will I learn?) :)

Logan pulling a face while we're waiting for the rest of the group.  This guy rode his little kiddie bike the entire time.  I was so impressed.  Although, he's so new to riding without training wheels, his wild card riding sent panic through my heart a couple of times.

Look at that healthy, active couple.  Aren't they so cute?

So those are all the pictures of the good part of the ride.  I didn't get any pictures of when I got down by the Riverwoods and I got a flat tire.  So we had to call Jason to come pick us up, but then I switched bikes with grandpa while he waited with the two little boys while Scott, Amanda and I rode home.

By the time that all happened and we got it worked out, we were all ready just to be home.  We'll definitely have to do it again, but the next time, I call no drama or flat tires.

More than one way to eat a banana

So Declan's new thing is to sit at the table (not in his booster) and play with what's on the table or get into things.  Well today I put on the Wiggles and he climbed up to the table.  I was doing the dishes and I heard him yell out, "Momma, Nana!" (which means he was going to eat a banana).  I didn't even think about it because there was a banana I had already popped open but hadn't peeled for him on the table.  He was super quiet for about twenty minutes and I checked on him and this is what I saw: 

 Not sure if you can tell, but he's bitten a hole in the peel (of a new banana) and had slowly been chewing and sucking up the side of the banana to eat it.  I tried to explain to him he needed to peel it and I attempted to peel it for him, but he only got mad, so I left him to it.

Afterward, I went to see the aftermath and all I can say is ewwwwwww!! Sometimes boys are so icky! :)

P.S.  The boy loves hats and the dinosaur hat just happened to be the choice of the day.

Little Man Cave

So I got tired of having so many books and toys in my front room and having it be super messy all the time -- so I booted out the toys and books and created a little man cave for the little guy.

I just took the bottom half of his closet and cleaned it out, painted it, threw in a few book shelves and a chair and voila!....a little man cave. I still want to put up another shelf and I have to finish sewing the curtain that will make it even more secluded -- but for now it works.

It has been officially donned "the clubhouse" (by the cousins) and every night we both climb in there and read stories before bed. I love that a couple times a day when it gets quiet in my house, I can usually find Dex sitting in the chair looking at books, or he'll just be sitting in the chair casually drinking some juice.

After I created this, I was worried that he wouldn't like it and wouldn't use it....but the next day I went and took a peek in there and he had collected all "his things" and put them in his clubhouse for safe keeping. I merely smiled to myself and realized...."even a 2 year old needs a space all their own".

Pizza is back on the Menu!

All I can say is YAAAAAAYYYYYY! A little over a week ago, I decided to make a huge change in my diet to help me get to my new year's goal of 130 lbs. and I cut out all flour and sugar in my diet. It's been a little crazy, but I've adjusted well. However, I love pizza. I can have all the toppings and the cheese but the crust part is what makes it off limits....until now.

I was perusing the internet and I found a recipe for pizza with a cauliflower crust. I was skeptical but went ahead and made it and it's fantastic. Now it's not an exact replica of crust. This pizza you have to eat with a fork...but I do that anyway (only barbarians eat pizza with their hands). My best description of the texture is when you make stuffed shells with a ricotta cheese mix in the middle....it has the same texture as that. But this pizza will definitely be made a lot more in my house. I'm all about the cheesy goodness of pizza and this definitely delivers!

Seriously...if come over to visit, ask me to make this for you. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

New Year's Revolutions

I know I'm a little behind on the whole new year's thing...but better late than never, right?

Last year was pretty crazy...so this year (I'm promising myself) will be pretty mellow. I've made some serious revolutions this year. (Yes I know it's resolutions, I just think it takes a revolution to actually follow through with the change of some resolutions.)

My three revolutions:

1. Learn French.

2. Weigh 130 lbs. by the end of the year.

3. Run a marathon this year.

I'm on my way to all three of these lofty goals. I had to write them so that ya'll can check up with me on my progress. But for now....au revoir!

Lazy Day Saturdays

I had to post this picture because this truly captures the feeling of our days home together. When I don't have to work, I will get up and get Declan fed and dressed and usually by 11 a.m. we have music playing on the stereo (sometimes Amy Winehouse, sometimes The Wiggles...we're eclectic in this house) but Declan will pretty much do his own thing whether it be playing with his toys or reading his books by himself, or as he's pictured above, sitting in the chair enjoying a sucker and the music being played in the room. Moments like these just kill me when I catch him being a mini adult. I love it!

So this was our Christmas....

How was yours?

No, it really wasn't that bad. But I did have to deal with a melt down before 9:30 a.m., which is never any fun.

So the excitement started here....

(Declan opening his first Christmas present)

and pretty much ended here.....

(Declan taking in the full rapture of his first Christmas present)

He was so excited to get a set of matchbox cars that he didn't really care about the rest of the presents he got....but I made him open them and THEN the meltdown came.

He's currently obsessed with The Wiggles. I had put the 2 Wiggles DVD cases we own on a shelf he couldn't reach and he flipped out about it. Needless to say, he spent the rest of the morning content like this....

I don't know what it is about The Wiggles, but he is obsessed. He loves to carry around the empty DVD cases or empty CD cases we have. It's hilarious most days....other days is annoying. But, he's 20 months and he won't be obsessed with The Wiggles for forever.

We had so much going on on Christmas Day. We went to church first thing, then we stopped back at home for a desperately needed nap. Then we hit my parents' house and we stopped at Declan's dad's house and then onto his other grandma's house. Needless to say, it was a very packed and busy day but it was good. Ultimately, we had a busy and great Christmas.