Aruba

Jade and I took off in a plane headed for Aruba a week ago! We left the kids in Washington with Grandma and Bapa (thanks!) and had a relaxing vacation on one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen.

This was the view from the plane as we passed by the other Caribbean Islands. And the view from our hotel room. The resort was amazing.


We had lots of time to lay on the beach and just relax! The water was wonderful - it was warmer than the heated pool!

It is such a pretty place to vacation.

Of course we brought home souvenirs for the kids. Hope to take them there someday!

River's Two!

My sweet baby turned two today! This little guy makes us laugh everyday. He has decided that it is never too soon to start teasing and this makes his sister upset.
He is still a momma's boy - which I don't mind some days.
He has become very independent in the past few months and wants to do everything "by myself!" He wants to be as old as his sister and do everything she does - he absolutely loves and admires her.
We had a wonderful day celebrating! River was spoiled and had a great time opening his many presents. Thanks to everyone for sharing this special day with River.

River's Birthday Questionnaire:
How old are you? "Um...2!"
When do you laugh? "Tickle me."
What is your favorite thing to eat? "I eat at my home." When asked again, he finally said, "Tomatoes and strawberry shortcake" (just strawberries, but he adds the shortcake every time he says strawberries.)
What is your favorite thing to do? "Mickey Mouse." - Watch it.
What is your favorite TV show? "Mickey Mouse Hot Dog"
What are you really good at? "Football game." - This actually means throwing any kind of ball.
What is your favorite movie? "Mickey Mouse." - Do you see a pattern?
Who is your best friend? "Kenna"
What's your favorite song? "Music. La, la, la, la, la, ..."
Where is your favorite place to go? "My home."
What do you want to be when you grow up? "Ride a motorcycle."
Hopefully his future passion changes! We love this little boy so much!
Happy birthday River!

Salt Lake Vacation

Jade and I decided to take a mini vacation just us and the kids this summer. We found an awesome deal on a Salt Lake City pass and Chris, our brother-in-law, hooked us up with his hotel discount. So this past weekend, we packed up and headed out for three days of family fun!

Our first stop was the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. The kids had fun and became quite good paleontologists - though I think they ended up dusting more sand on the bones than what was on them when they began.

We headed over to the Children's Gardens for a picnic, which my kids LOVE, and had a great time exploring the fun things there for the kids.

The kids were getting very tired, so we ended up only being able to visit the big gardens at Thanksgiving Point for a few minutes. I was amazed by the beautiful views, this is definitely a place I will be going back to so I can explore more.

After a much needed nap, we headed to The Gateway to the Planetarium. The kids had fun walking on the moon and Mars. McKenna was very concerned about watching a movie on the ceiling (we went to a Dome Theater). She ended thinking it was really cool!

The next day we started at the zoo. River is still talking about the bird show! He has always had a thing for birds!

This is the Place Heritage Park is across the street from the zoo and it was our next stop. I loved this place! I had never been and was pleasantly surprised. They had so much fun with all the activities that were proved. McKenna was brave enough to go on a pony ride by herself, River got his first shave - though I do not think he enjoyed it :), they went to school, visited an Indian village and made an arrowhead necklace, created some crafts, did pioneer chores - McKenna now wants to wash our clothes in a wash basin, stamped leather, and had an overall great time!

That night we went to the Lion House Pantry at Temple Square for a yummy meal. My children sang I love to see the temple at the top of their lungs while we walked around! River was super excited to see Moroni so close! - He has decided that all pretty buildings are temples and shouts loudly when he thinks he sees a temple! McKenna was very excited to see President Monson - she absolutely adores him - it is really cute!

The Tracy Aviary was our stop on the third morning. They have peacocks that walk right by you. McKenna was a little scared to get close, but we had to keep River away from them!


By this time we were a little worn out but decided to stop at Snowbird on our way home. It was a beautiful drive. We took a tram up to the top of the mountain range, with Jade freaking out the entire time. See Jade in the picture? He kept thinking the kids were going to get away from us and tumble down the mountain! He is a great dad to go on the tram with his fear of heights - McKenna and River are lucky to have him.

We had a wonderful time! I would highly suggest the Salt Lake City Connect pass for fun family activities. I love my little family so much! I hope we always keep making memories like these.

Camp

We had ward girls camp this year and had a great time. I spent a lot of time putting together and FROG camp that helped me realize how grateful I am that I have a Father in Heaven who I can rely on. I love the gospel and the way that I was raised...my life is so joyous because of it.
I enjoyed camp, but boy am I glad it is over!

At Least He is Well Balanced

Sister's dress up, a football, and he is set!

And Off We Go Again

My dad has been going to California a lot lately! I feel like he is there more than at Washington. In fact, the other day River saw a hotel like building and started clapping and yelling, "Bapa's house! Bapa's house!" That's right...my children believe my parents have two homes, one in Washington and a hotel in California! :)

Dad was there in the beginning of June, so I packed up the kids and we went to relax in the sun! Unfortunately, Jade had to work so he ended up staying home. We had a wonderful time, Grandma Hanks even went with us for a few days! We didn't end up going to Disneyland this time, just stayed at the hotel and played at the pool!

McKenna got her ears pierced! She looks so adorable with them and has taken very good care of them. She was so cute when they put them in - she flinched and teared up saying "You didn't tell me that the gun things were going to hurt!" I don't think I would have been as brave as she was.

We found out that River loves egg drop soup. Really, really loves it!

And of course, we spent lots of time at Fashion Island playing by the fountains and the fish pond!
Thanks dad/bapa for having such a fun job!

Wild West Days

Spanish Fork had a Wild West weekend this year. Since we are related to the mayor, we were told we were going! It ended up being a good thing that we were expected to go because we would have missed out on a fun day. The kids had such a great time at all the exhibits and it was fun to watch them get excited about all the activities going on.
McKenna's favorite thing was the pig races and the face painting. River was fascinated by the Indian dancing and costumes.
I love that our little city does so many fun, family activities. Things like these days create such fun memories for our kids to hold onto.