Its not easy being Green

Mercedes told me today that her name IS NOT Mercedes Green. Its Mercedes Purple. Then Austin protested that he wanted to be Austin Blue.... How do I explain this one?

VDay Suprise, and a little extra

So a couple of weeks ago we went to the Gateway Museum and they had lots of fun things there. They had lots of fun things there like Austin went shopping.

The men "watched the kids" as you can see.

The girls went for a drive.

And we got to sit in a life flight helicopter. It was fun, however, I honestly think the TreeHouse Museum in Ogden is just as good, if not better, and it is much cheaper. FYI

So, fun day yesterday. My family gave me a suprise when I found each kid holding a bundle of flowers and gave them to me, and Kevin had bought a fancy pizza for us to eat lunch together as a family. It was a very special suprise and good Valentines day.

It reminds me of what I already know. I love you Kevin, I always will. And to my sweet kids, you are the angels in my life and I love you forever too.

Then Kevin continued to be the good dad that he is and took the kids to the park . Austin and Mercedes apparently learned to pee outside somewhere, so after both had wet their pants, Kevin took them home for a quick change and then took them to the duck pond. The first thing Mercedes said to me when they got home was "Mom, a big duck ate my arm, and daddy kicked it." I wasnt quite sure what that meant but Kevin explained to me that they walked to the local pond to feed the ducks. I guess the goose there are pretty mean and aggressive because one tried to take the bread out of Mercedes hand and bit her arm. Kevin then did end up kicking it away from Mercedes a few times. what a fun dady date on Valentines day!

The dreaded week is here...

all week long....this is what we did. Miserable, but I am hoping worth it.

Christmas 2010

Christmas was really fun this year. We were able to go to the treehouse museum and see Santa Clause, We went to the temple square lights with our friends the Tuckers, we went to the Layton lights, lots of fun family and friend Christmas parties. It was alot of fun. We, as always, try to remember the real meaning of Christmas. We had a family home evening on the true meaning of Christmas and tried to find things every day we could to do Christlike things to keep the true meaining in mind.

Here are some pics of Christmas eve and Christmas day.

Just a little update

So last night we had nothin to do, so we decided to make 'gingerbread houses' with grahmcrackers and frosting. It was made pretty 50/50 by parents and kids. Kevin and Austins house started as a batchelor pad with a carport, but the carport caved in, so now its just a modern art piece.

Mercedes and I decided to do a more traditional gingerbread home. She ate half the m&m's but we had a good time. I think its pretty clear whose home won.

We bought our kids snow clothes this year anticipating sledding and snowmen, but the one thing that must happen for this is snow. Which we are currently lacking. But this was basically the first snowfall this month and my kids went out to play in it. Given, its probably 19 degrees, but by the looks on their face you can see the pure joy.

Not sure how this one happened.

Austin has come across this strange habbit. I guess you can call it an imagination, but he has been putting on anywhere from 4-6 socks per feet. It kind of looks like a cast. When he gets done putting them on his feet. He starts putting them on his hands like mittens...I know...wierd.

New Pictures!

I know most people think it's lame, but to those who don't like their original wedding pictures, they might think differently. After 5 1/2 years of marriage, we re-did our wedding pictures and they turned out super cute. We also got some updated family pictures. Our friend takes pictures as a hobby and she volunteered to take these for us! Thanks Jen.

Happy Halloween!!!

Last night was Halloween, and it was a super fun year because my kids are getting old enough to get excited about dressing up and going trick-or-treating. First we hit the trunk or treat at the school parking lot, and every year I forget how many kids there are around here and I ran out of candy in just a few minutes. Next year I need to remember to tripple the candy. However, both kids had a great time. After that Kevin went home to hand out candy and my friend Trisha and I took the kids around to the houses (trick or treating old school style) and I have to admit... my kids are pretty dang cute. Austin would knock on the doors, and say trick or treat softly and if the homeowner was lucky, he would show them that he had wings and he could fly. Too cute!!

Vernal

We went to Vernal a couple of weeks ago to visit family while Kevin went Elk hunting. We had a great time. Especially Austin; he was in his element. He loves to be a cowboy and ride horses and be outside. Even a special treat, uncle Randall let him ride the tractor. Mercedes was a good girl and played with her cousins the whole time. It was really fun to get out and see family and have fun.

Dinosaur Park

Fridays are my days I try to do fun things with my kids. Fridays I try to reserve for fun bonding times with kids and friends. So a couple of weeks ago, we woke up with no agenda and decided to go to the dinosaur park. Both my kids really liked it. Particularly Austin. He loved the dinosaurs. They have animated ones that actually look pretty realistic inside. They also have bones, and bones in the sand you can dig for. Then they have statues of all kinds of different dinosaurs and of course a park. Mercedes favorite part was, of course, the swings. We all had a good time, and luckily all returned home safe and sound :)

Kangaroo Zoo

A few weeks ago, we went to a friends birthday party at the Kangaroo Zoo and it was a blast! My kids had a ton of fun. Austin liked all of the bounce houses, and he wanted to do everything by himself. Even go down the really big slide that even made me nervous. He had fun with all of his friends, and even Mercedes took a liking to one particular bounce house, and chowed down on the pizza. This is a great idea for an afternoon with the kids. Its all indoors so the kids cant get out, and they have a ball!

Surfs up!

Kevin, some good friends, and I went Surfing at the Flowrider down in Ogden. It was so much fun. As you can see, Kevin is much better at it than I was. However, it was a great date night out!

After a few good crashes, we decided to go boogie boarding and I was much better at that. You should have seen some of the sweet moves pulled :)

Also, a couple of fun things that have happened over the past few weeks. Austin got a new Chevy Silverado Truck. 1 year old. Its a pretty sweet ride. check it out.

And...Halloweeen is approaching and Mercedes has found her niche hehehe!

Oh the lovely Bear Lake Sum up

The kids did...

And we did...

And we loved every minute of it!!

The Things I love...

I LOVE....

When Austin wants to hold my hand as he falls asleep

Seeing Kevin teach Austin how to hit the T-ball

When Mercedes screams so hard with excitement when I get home

When Mercedes will snuggle (which is rare)

I can comfort my kids with a hug no matter how scared they are

When I get lots of kisses from the kids

Girls nights out

That I get to spend my days home with my kids (even if they do poop their bum, take their diaper off, and scrape their bum across my new carpet) :)

Lazy Fun Weekend

So the weekend over the 4th of July we did lots of fun things. We went swimming to the North Ogden Pool, We went to the Parade and Fireworks, we had BBQ's and we went to the zoo. Our kids had so much fun. I am pretty sure Mercedes would be a fish if she could be. She loves the water. Austin has grown to like it more and more as well. Just yesterday we went to the Roy pool with some friends and he was running from pool to pool splashin and playing. I love summer time, the weather over the weekend has been beautiful. 80's perfect for summer fun.

Summer: swimming, friends, family reunions...and Garth

The summer has been so fun, but it barely feels like its began. It has been raining for so long that we have to do so much to make up for lost time. Yes, the allergies have been nice in this weather, but you just can't beat things like swimming in the backyard, melted oreo's and horses.

We started our summer vacation with a family reunion from down under. By down under I don't mean Austrailia, I mean the place with flames and pitch forks. But all is well now, we made it home safely and we were able to take a much needed vacation with Kevin, me and some friends to Las Vegas. We spent the afternoon poolside with the ocassional dip in the water, and then we were able to attend the most fabulous concert...Garth. We would so go again.