Brian is 27!

It was Brian's Birthday on Sunday. I hate to say it but I was a bad wife and didn't make it that great of a Birthday. He only got to open 2 presents! my excuse is that we were just so busy. But I shouldn't make excuses. I mean I know when his birthday is and I know it comes every year, I just was not as prepared as I would want to be. So for his birthday He grilled us some ribs for dinner, which were so yummy, and I made him a Turtle cake. It was a nice relaxed day of just being at home, especially after being gone all week, but not a very exciting day.
Brian is such a wonderful husband and dad, and I hope that he knows how much we love him! Happy Birthday Brian!

Xactware Party

We got home from the Unitas and unpacked and got cleaned up and then we headed out of our house to Sundance. Xactware was having their company party, and we went up for some activities and dinner.
When we got up there, they had a whole bunch of bouncy houses and some pony rides. Annika rode the pony and thought it was great.

Then we ate some dinner.
After dinner we walked up to the amphitheater to watch Ryan shupe and the rubber band. It was fun, but we had 2 little girls that were ready for bed. We headed back to the car, and we rode down the mountain from the amphitheater in a trailer that was pulled by a tractor. Annika loved it. Then we rode up to the parking lot in a shuttle and again Annika loved it. Who needs a pony when you have a tractor and a shuttle?
On the way home we decided to drive the Alpine loop. It was a really pretty drive, kind of scary in some parts but fun. The girls were exhausted and slept on the way home. It was a really fun day!

The Uintas

On Thursday August 19th we went camping with Brian's family up in the Uintas to Mirror Lake. When we left home on Thursday morning, it was kind of cloudy. As we got closer to the Uintas it started pouring. We got up to the lake and our camping spot at about 1. It was pouring rain. So I sat in the car with the girls. Brian was out in the rain trying to clear a spot for our tent. Brian and his dad dug this huge rock out of the ground so that we could put our tent out. After all of that hard work He was soaked. Annika and I had sat in the car watching the DVD player, and occasionally turning on the car to run the heater. I didn't know if we were going to end up camping or just going home. at about 3:30 it stopped raining. We hurried and got the tent set up, and got settled in. We went fishing and Annika reeled in her first 2 fish. She was so excited, and I feel really bad but I didn't even get a picture of it. We started a fire and enjoyed a wonderful dutch oven dinner, and we had a pineapple upside-down cake for Brian's birthday.

On Friday we woke up and enjoyed a warm breakfast, and some hot chocolate. Annika got to go on a boat ride with Brian. She loved the boat. I was worried that she was just going to stand up and fall out or something. We went for a walk, (After Brian and I climbed the mountain last weekend, Annika has been asking me if she can climb a mountain.) It was just a fun relaxed day. We went fishing again, and Annika got to reel in some more fish. I was sitting down by the lake feeding Adalyn and watching Brian fish, and Annika needed to go potty. So Brian took Annika and I sat there. I thought what the heck, I will just cast out. Well I caught a fish. But I wasn't really in a position to release the fish so I sat there and let the fish swim around until Brian and Annika came back. Annika got to reel it in and loved it. After that Annika was done fishing and went back to camp to play card with Grandma and Heidi.

Brian and I stayed and fished. I caught one more before I headed back to camp, and I really just want to say that I didn't know a fish that little could bite a fly almost the same size as it is. I didn't know that fish that little were even in the lake. Anyways Brian said that we had to take a picture of me and my little fish. His next fish wasn't that much bigger so I took a picture of him too! Adalyn sat in the chair and was so happy. She loved camping and did so well. That night we roasted hot dogs and Annika loved it. I just want to say that both of the girls slept better at night than I did. Annika liked to scoot down to the bottom of her sleeping bag, and then she would wake up and not know where she was and cry. She loved camping.

Saturday we woke up and started cleaning up our stuff. Annika really wanted to go on another boat ride, so Aunt Heidi took her. And she wanted to go fishing again. Then we headed home. It is just amazing how pretty it was. The lake, the trees, everything was amazing. I am so glad that we got to go camping.

Aunt Alli

When we got home from Camping at Blacksmith fork, Alli was at our house. She had come down to go to a missionary homecoming, and decided to stay the night with us. It was a lot of fun to have her down and just hang out. That hasn't really happened since she came home so we were glad to have her for the day.

We decided to go up to the highland splash pad. It was a lot of fun! Here are some pictures.






Thanks Alli for coming and spending some time with us!

Blacksmith Fork

On August 14th we woke up and packed all of our camping stuff and went camping up Blacksmith Fork Canyon with Brian's family. It is always very relaxing and fun.
Brian's Cousin has a little girl Kiari that is 2 months younger than Annika. These 2 followed each other around the entire time. They would hold hands as they were walking around camp. It was fun for Annika to have someone to play with.

I was really nervous about Adalyn camping, but I bundled her up and she was happy while she was awake and she slept great. All through the night just like at home. On Sunday morning Brian's dad asked if I wanted to hike to the top of a mountain that was by camp. I say mountain because it makes me feel better, but really it was probably more like a hill. So the girls stayed at camp with their Grandma's and Brian and Gavin, and I hiked to the top. I really didn't know if I was going to make it, I guess I am a little out of shape. (or a lot!) But we made it!

This is me and Gavin, and camp is right under the rocks behind us. You can see a little trailer down there.

This is Brian and Gavin at the top. Brian found a deer antler and thought it was pretty cool.

On the way back down we were sliding on rocks because it was steep and there wasn't a trail. We were heading down and Gavin slid on some rocks and this huge rock started bouncing down the mountain. It bounced all the way to the bottom and landed in the middle of the road. It was crazy. Luckily no cars hit the rock before Gavin made it to the bottom and got it out of the road. It was a good hike, and I am glad that I went. (I wasn't when I was hiking up!) But it was a fun camping trip.

Jack

On August 13th Brian and I got to go see Jack Johnson in concert. Heidi gave us tickets for our birthdays and babysat for the night. It was so much fun to get away for a night and just go on a date with Brian. Leading up to this night I was so nervous that Adalyn was just going to cry the whole time for them. I wasn't sure that I was ready to leave my baby. And she doesn't want to drink from a bottle, which means if she is away from me, she doesn't have anything to eat. So I was nervous how this night would play out.

It actually was wonderful. We left our house at about 5:00 and went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. After dinner I called Heidi to see how everything was going and she said that both of the girls were asleep. So we headed up to Usana and kind of got lost on the way. The GPS was taking us to some business, but we made it. We spread out the blanket and the opening act started.

It was a lot of fun. The concert ended at 11 and we headed home. When we got home, both girls were asleep! It was a fun night. Thank you Heidi for the tickets and for Babysitting, we had a great night!

Hogal Zoo

Today was such a great day! Brian took the day off. That is always fun! Well we called it family day. We slept in. Seriously Adalyn slept until 8:30, and Annika was about the same.
While I was getting ready, Adalyn started crying and Annika decided that it was her big sister duty to climb into Adalyn's crib, and pat her head and tell her it was ok. Then we started discussing what we were going to do for our family day. We gave Annika options Swimming, The zoo. And she chose the zoo. Actually she chose swimming and then the zoo, but we decided the zoo would be enough.


We got to the zoo, and Annika didn't want to walk because she was afraid of the train. But yet she wanted to ride the train. We walked in and the first thing that we saw was the monkey's. She really liked them. We walked around the zoo, and eventually found the carousal. She loved it and wanted to ride it all day long. She got to ride it twice. Once with me and once with Brian. We went up and saw the tigers, and I guess they had 3 cubs last year, so they still aren't full grown, but they are big. They were playing with a big barrel that they had hung up in the tree and painted zebra stripes on it. It was so fun to see the tigers doing something other than laying in the shade. Annika didn't care at all. She found some other little girls and they went and watched a pond, with some flies. Brian and I were enjoying the tigers.



Then we made our way to the giraffes. I was taking a picture of Brian and Annika and this giraffe decided to pose for the camera too. Annika loved all of the animals, but was definitely ready to go by the time we were done. We had a lot of fun, and wore both of the kids out. The whole time Adalyn played in the stroller. She liked the zoo too! I should have taken a couple more pictures of her. As we were leaving the zoo, we tried to get a family picture taken. Annika would not put her hands down, but we have a picture documenting that all 4 of us were there. I guess that is all that I can ask for. What a great family day! I wish we could do it more often!
After the Zoo we went to Red Robin and all Annika wanted was a drink like the little boy had at the zoo. (we saw kids that had snow cones.) So she got a smoothie!

Today

We went swimming yesterday. As always trying to get 2 kids into the car turns into a big production. I made sure we had everything and got loaded into the car. We were backing out of the driveway and Annika says "Can I get buckled too mom?" Oh my goodness. I totally forgot to buckle Annika. I am just glad that she said something.

Just another funny thing lately Annika will be telling me a story and she says... "When I was a little girl..." Like she isn't a little girl anymore. I think she really means when she was a baby like Adalyn. She just thinks that she is getting so big. And she is but she is still little!


I can't leave Adalyn out of this post Today she is 3 months old. She is such a good little girl. Last night I was tickling her and she was giggling at me. I love it when she gives me her big grins. She is getting so strong. She likes to sit in her little chair. She likes to sit in her bouncy chair and grab a hold of the toys that hang down. She is such a happy baby and sleeps so well. She loves all of the hugs and kisses from Annika and smiles and giggles for her the most.

My two girls keep me busy, but they are so much fun!

New Trick

Last night Brian and Annika were outside playing. Adalyn and I were hanging out inside, and Annika came running in and said "mom I can do a backflip because I am getting bigger". So I had to go outside and see what she was talking about. I went out and got to watch her do her new trick! I really think that she is so strong!