Riverton Rodeo

We decided to give the Riverton Rodeo a try this year. We kept hearing that it was super crowded and to get there early for seats. Well, we got there early and pretty much had our pick of the entire stadium. The kids loved watching the Rodeo, but Scott and I decieded that it was too long. We left about 90 minutes into it. Lucas loved the rodeo clown and the bucking broncos! Millie just loved all the animals and couldn't figure out why the horses wouldn't come see her so she could ride them.

waiting for the Rodeo to start.

love, love this picture of lucas.

Earrings!

I have been wanting to get Millie's ears pierced for a year. I kept asking her if she "wanted earrings like Mom". She told me no every time. So disappointing. Over Father's Day weekend we were shopping and I decided to take her into Claire's just to look at the earrings. Well, she was sold on the idea once she saw the Hello Kitty earrings. Yes! Unfortunately, their wasn't two employee's there to "double gun" her ears, so we didn't do it. A few weeks later, I took her to the mall and we got them done! I decided to go for the nicer earrings so she wouldn't have a reaction to the metal, (i am such a nurse) and so she couldn't get the hello kitty earrings. But she did pick some really cute light pink flowers. The girl that pierced her was super clean and really took her time to get the placement right. I was very happy! The actual experience of getting them pierced wasn't too pleasant for Millie, but she loves them now!

After getting her ears pierced, enjoying a sucker.

Peanut Allergy

Remember when Lucas had this reaction on the way home from Denver when he was one years old?

Well, since our little discovery of Lucas' allergy to peanuts, we have been avoiding them at all costs. It has been a source of annoyance, but overall it's been fine. Over the years, he has been exposed to peanuts once or twice that I know of. I stopped being super careful of avoiding products that say "processed in a facility that has peanuts" quite some time ago. So, knowing that 1 in 5 kids grow out of the allergy, we decided to see what it would take to find out!

I called an allergist and set up an appointment and we started the three step process.

The first thing that we needed to do was complete the skin test again with negative results. Check.

The second thing that we needed to do was draw blood for titers. Check.

Side note: the blood work was an insanely traumatic experience for Lucas. I was physically restraining him while he was sitting in my lap... all the while him screaming at the top of his lungs. It was not the best day. Heaven help me if he ever gets admitted to PCMC for something serious.

The third thing was a peanut challenge. Check.

We were instructed to bring our own peanut butter and something to eat it with.

We were also instructed that it would last 4 hours. Yup. FOUR HOURS!

He would eat small amounts of peanut butter over 4 hours and they would monitor him.

I brought books, movies, and his e-reader. It was so, so, so long.

Even worse than that, it was complete torture for Lucas and for me to get him to eat that much peanut butter. I brought bread and honey for him to choke it down with. We ended up there for almost 5 hours because he struggled so much with getting that huge glob of it down.  

lucas during the looonnnnngggg peanut challenge appointment.

At the end of it all, he grew out of his allergy. Yipppppeeee!

The bad news though.... he hates peanut butter. We have tried everything. Candy, cookies, milkshakes, sandwiches. Hates it all. The good news is however that going into the public school system in the fall we don't have to deal with the allergy issue for snacks and lunchtime.

Girls Trip: St. George

the girls and i have been counting down to this trip for months! we haven't done a trip like this with so many girls! we had an absolute blast. we ate, talked, hiked, talked, watched movies, shopped, ate, talked... you get the idea. these are our awesome iPhone pictures from the weekend of fun!

josie.jen.lindsey.lopie.sarah.anya.annie

smoothies at orange peel.

whoever we asked to take this picture, needs a lesson. bluuurrryyy.

elephant rock hike!

making the letters J I M to send to my dad for letting us stay in my parents house for the weekend.

the hike was hot, long, and fun.

i forgot how much you chat when you get this many girls together. it was so great to catch up with everyone... especially Annie who flew in from Denver to join us! it seriously made the trip to have her there!

hello deliciousness from SWIG.

dirty diet coke and sugar cookie! yes please!

the sugar cookies were delicious... but the dcc was my favorite part.

now if i could only re-create it at home!

our last night we ate at ANASAZI Steak House. such a treat!

fondue. steak. potatoes. dessert fondue.

i am 100% sure i gained 5 pounds that weekend.

had the BEST time in St. George with these amazing ladies!

it wasn't long enough! even Scotty said we should have stayed an extra day.

lets do it again next year!

Kindergarten Orientation

lucas was so excited for kindergarten orientation. he is ready. more than ready. i am excited for him to be able to go to school every day. i am excited for him to make some new friends and to learn new things.

lucas has grown up so much in the last year at his preschool. i am so glad that we decided to hold him back a year from kindergarten. now he will be the very oldest instead of the youngest. he will be ahead of the learning curve when he starts kindergarten instead of behind. yeah!

lucas' favorite part of the orientation was sitting by his friend Josh from preschool and taking the tour around the school. especially the computer lab and the actual kindergarten classrooms!

lucas was easily the tallest kid there.

even millie was as tall as some of the kids starting kindergarten.

yowsa.

Siblings

The past couple months Lucas and Millie have been playing together a little better. 

Millie is getting older and so it's easier for them to have meaningful playtime.

However, with this improvement has also come excessive teasing and fighting. 

SIBLINGS!

When I saw this picture on Aunt Ange's blog I smiled and thought to myself...

"See! They do get along!"

Ange took the kids to the park while I slept after a night shift. She told me that this picture was not prompted at all. They were just walking hand in hand. Adorable.

March: St. George

     In March we took a trip to St. George to get the lawn trailer that was being stored in my parents garage.It was so nice being able to leave it down there for the winter months! We are loving my parents new place in Entrada. Such a beautiful place to stay. It was a really warm weekend (highs in the 80's!) so we got to do a lot of things outside.

millie loving to ride her bike outside!

she is so much more coordinated on this bike than lucas ever was.

both of the kids loved riding Scotty's new toy.

the 4 wheeler.

they both always have the biggest smiles on their faces.

millie always tells scotty to go "faster!"

learning some baseball skills from dad.

millie and i played at the playground.

hoping for a good season of t-ball. lucas is a first timer.

one of the highlights was hiking in snow canyon.

i think lucas will be a great hiker one day.

he always wanted to be the leader.

i think scotty is looking forward to lots of father son hiking adventures.

walking back to the car after Jenny's Canyon  hike.

great weekend in SG! we will be back soon!

Disney on Ice

Thanks to my sister Ali giving us tickets, Millie and I were able to go see the Disney on Ice show last week! I had wanted to get tickets for Millie and I to go for a while, but just never did it. So, when Ali texted me early in the week and said she had tickets, we jumped on it!

The show was perfect for Millie. It had three princesses... Tiana, Cinderella, and Rapunzel. 

Rapunzel and gang was the best part of the show. 

Millie was glued to the ice for two hours. We bought popcorn during intermission and she wasn't even interested in eating it she was so into watching Punzel!

Millie insisted on wearing what she calls her "princess skirt" to the show. 

When we got there she was disappointed that she wasn't going to be able to twirl with the princesses in her princess skirt.

Thanks again to Ali! We had a great time!

Day-to-day

being a mom day to day is hard. oftentimes i feel like all i do is make meals, clean up the kitchen, clean up the toys, ask the kids to stop hitting and teasing... the list goes on. then you have moments (and they really are just moments) when all is happy and good.

lucas using his white board to draw the family. he was so proud. so was i.

millie dressing up like cinderella.

she insisted that we use her headband as a crown.

the kids playing baby in the basement.

getting along. having fun. yes.

St. George: Hike

We headed to St. George between Christmas and New Years. 

It was fun... but cold! 

Lucas has loved hiking and exploring recently. He especially loved this indian writtings hike we did that weekend. I have to admit, it was pretty cool.