Grandma's Wedding in SLC

On Friday we drove up to Salt Lake for Jason's mom's wedding. The kids were fantastic on the trip up... real troopers! We stopped a few places along the way including Provo, where I'm pretty sure a small piece of my heart still resides. We didn't have time to really stop and smell the roses, but we did make a fruitless stop at an antique store, and another one at the DI. Just being in Provo brings me joy, but we had to hurry up north.

The kids were beyond excited about staying in a hotel. We stayed right down town, and you would have thought they were in HEAVEN! It was adorable. Here's a pic of them checking out the room.

We dropped off our bags and headed straight for the Beckstrand's house. We were excited to see Jolee and Steven, who just had a baby less than a week prior (okay, Jolee is the one that actually had the baby, but you get it). We were pleasantly surprised when they offered for both of the kids to have the chance to hold Baby Noah! Sophie was especially thrilled...

What a cutie he is! And Sophie did a great job holding him and keeping his neck supported.Weston took his task seriously too...

And yes, I got a turn too!

Me and Jolee. I have missed this girl!

Sophie kind of has a crush on Steven...

She was showing him her nail polish, which she takes great pride in.

On our way up to SLC we had stopped at Old Navy in St. George to get Weston a winter coat. He really likes it. He also really likes wearing these earphones, even when they aren't attached to the portable DVD player (which is the case in this particular picture). He also wore that random lanyard the entire trip, and I have not a clue what he finds so great about that either. He is such an irresistibly funny little guy!

After visiting the Beckstrands, we headed over to the Gateway Mall for some dinner. I really really wanted to go to Z'Tejas (one of my favorite restaurants), but we opted for Applebee's since it is a more kid-friendly environment. I'm glad we did. The kids were well behaved (or maybe it just seemed that way because there were so many kids in that restaurant?) and Sophie was a real charmer. I think the kids kind of made our waitress' night. She told us they were the best kids of the evening, and kept gushing about what a doll Sophie is. I almost choked when she said that our kids were the best of the night!

Something else that I thoroughly enjoyed about our dining experience was this huge group of teenage boys sitting next to us. I know, it sounds crazy. But I cannot express how utterly refreshing and adorable it was to hear bits and pieces of their conversation. The worst word I heard was "freakin'." I obviously didn't listen to everything they talked about, but all the tidbits that were too loud to miss were unusually wholesome. And that is one of the things I genuinely love about Utah. Sophie, the social butterfly, kept trying to talk to them. They were very respectful and sweet back to her, and I jokingly mentioned that I guess it was ok, as long as she isn't that friendly to boys when she gets to be their age! Good luck, I know.

Back to the hotel we went, where Sophie and Weston kept fighting over who got to push the buttons in the "alligator." Sophie called the elevator the alligator, and I kind of didn't want to correct her because it struck me so funny!

I'm not sure what it was about the hotel that got these kids so excited, but they were wild every time we were in our room. Weston asked me if we were going to live in the hotel forever, honestly hoping that we would!

The next morning (Saturday), Jason headed off to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple for his mom's marriage while I let the kids get a little more rest before another huge day. We got all ready for the reception and even got to have the complimentary hotel breakfast... where Sophie again made a few friends. When she starts talking, Weston always grumbles something about how much she is embarrassing him. It is so funny to me! I guess it's funny because I'm a social butterfly too, and I am never embarrassed by that stuff. Poor Weston. I guess he'd better get used to it... he probably has a lifetime of such moments ahead of him!

Sophie and Grandma Laurie at her reception. It worked out well that Sophie and I both wore purple... we didn't even know that was the color everyone would be wearing!

Weston would rather sweat and be uncomfortable than take that coat off! At least I know it will get use.

I adore my affectionate little Weston!

Apart from seeing Grandma, Sophie was most excited to see Aunt Sadie and Aunt Shae-Leigh...

I guess she didn't get in a picture with Shae-Leigh... but I did!

I don't know why I didn't take more pictures, but I guess what I've got will have to suffice! It was a lovely reception. We left after a couple of hours and headed back home around 1:00. The kids were once again amazing little travellers, for which we were super thankful. We got home around 8:00 in that evening. Even though it was a bit of a whirlwind, we had a successful little trip, which is really saying something when you're travelling with a four year old and a two year old.

Weston's First Primary Program

The primary program this year was highly anticipated... by me! It was Weston's first year to participate, and we practiced every day for his line in the program, "the scriptures talk about Jesus." He often (jokingly) would replace the word 'Jesus' with other words so as to say things like, "the scriptures talk about motorcycles!" That seemed to be his favorite variation. I was actually a little nervous about what would come out of his mouth when he got up there in front of everyone, but he pulled through and spoke the correct words clearly into the microphone! While the majority of the kids sang, Weston and the other Sunbeams mostly just wiggled around without singing. One girl played with her necklace the entire time, while another appeared to be dancing. Weston dealt with the situation (the situation being that he and the other 3 and 4 year olds didn't really know the words to the songs) by yawning excessively. He seriously just stood there yawning for the entire duration of the program almost! It was hilarious! I guess it was better than what his teacher said he did during the practice a couple of days prior... apparently he was chewing on the collar of his shirt. I imagine that time it was out of sheer boredom. Anyway, it was Weston's first time wearing a white shirt and tie, and he looked especially handsome... so of course I snapped a few shots that morning before church. I would like to point out that I diligently tried to get a picture of both Weston and Sophie looking happily in the same direction at the same time, but I'm afraid I didn't succeed this time. At any rate, they looked pretty cute! My mom, Jason's dad and his brother (Ryan) came to church to see Weston, so that made the day extra special! Oh, and in case you're wondering, I have no idea what Weston is doing in this first picture.



Cheeeeeesy grin...

Swim Lessons

Sophie took swimming lessons every Saturday morning for the months of August and September. She had a blast, and was very brave (she went under the water every week)! Sometimes Weston was lucky enough to come along and swim with Daddy in the area of the pool adjacent to where Sophie had her lesson. On this occasion, we swam for awhile after the lesson, too, which is why Weston is in these first two pictures.

Doing the cheesy camera grin...

Chasing the ball...

Like Weston (and most little kids I guess), Sophie hates to get water in her face...

Kicking, on the other hand, is always a fun activity (and causes a lot less collateral damage in the water than on land)!

Random September shots

I don't remember what was going on the days that these few photos were taken, but they are so cute! I love the expression on Weston's face here... and I swear he already looks visibly older than he did the day this picture was taken, even though it was less than two months ago!

No clue where his shorts are or why he's not wearing them!

How do you not fall in love with that beautiful smile!?

This Year's Bear Lake Adventure...

The second week of September we took a trip up to Bear Lake to visit Mike, Carrie and Lily... and to escape the heat of Vegas! The first night we were there we headed over to a "construction site," partially because we wanted to see the house that they're building for Rich, but mostly so that Weston could soak in the construction goodness and ask Uncle Mike every question he ever had about how to build a house. That is when I decided it would be a good time to capture some images of the cousins.

Getting a picture of the three of them looking in the same direction at the same time was nearly impossible, but I tried all weekend anyway! Most of them turned out like this... at least you can tell they are having fun.

Weston was fascinated with the back hoe (or any construction vehicle for that matter).

He was pretty thrilled when Uncle Mike offered to take him for a ride in it.

As we were driving back to the house for some ice cream cones (as pictured below), Jason and I asked Weston why he hadn't asked Uncle Mike very many questions about building. For many months now, he has been asking questions daily about how to build things... after awhile I just started telling him to save all of his questions for Uncle Mike. But of course when the moment came, he didn't have much to say. Jason and I told Weston that for the rest of the weekend, he shouln't hesitate to ask Unlce Mike about anything... after all, we told him, Uncle Mike would be happy to answer his questions. After a few minutes of this conversation, Sophie piped up and said (very emphatically), "Yeah, brudder. Unlce Mike lubb you!!" It was so cute, and she just kept saying it over and over again!

Then next morning the kids thought they were in heaven... it was cool enough to play outside and Mike and Carrie have a huge, grassy back yard.

I love this shot of Sophie and Lily:Mike and Carrie chillin on their porch swing:

In the afternoon we headed over to Heritage Days, a local Garden City event. We got there just in time to catch trout! All the kids are allowed into this huge "pool" to catch as many fish as they can... with their bare hands!

Weston was a little scared of the fish. Sophie jumped right in at first, Sophie style... but then decided she'd rather be an observer!

A sweet little boy caught some trout for Lily.

Jason ended up jumping in since the kids weren't having any success on their own...

After the trout adventure it was on to the petting zoo, which I must say was WAY better than the petting zoos we have seen in LV!

We also each took a turn at the axe toss (well, the adults did - not the kids!), but I didn't get picturs of that... a little later on, we headed up to Fish Haven Canyon. We found a spot by a beautiful stream, which the kids LOVED!!!

The kids would have thrown rocks in the stream for hours if we had let them!

Weston especially loved helping with the campfire:

Sophie...

Weston...

Lily...

Watching daddy get the trout ready to cook, Sophie had a very concerned look on her face. She kept saying, "awwww, the fish is cuuuuuuuuuute!"Weston looked on with great interest as well.

I wish I could have caught the entire conversation on video... Sophie and Weston were really wrapped up into the whole trout cooking experience!

Carrie and Jason were especially thrilled with the trout. Jason cooked it up to perfection, and those two were in heaven. I'm not a huge fish fan, but even I will admit that they tasted pretty great!

Jason washing his hands up in the stream. What a beautiful area!

On to the marshmallow roasting!

As you can see, Sophie really got into it!

Carrie and Lily

Sunday, the final day of our trip, we went to go check out the cows. When I say "we," I mean everyone but Jason. He had a massive allergy attack and stayed in bed the bulk of our trip. The only time he wasn't suffering was when we went up into the mountains. It would appear that the guy who thinks he is allergic to nature actually does better immersed in it!

But I digress. Like I was saying, the cows...

The cows get a pretty sweet view, wouldn't you agree?

Then on to check out the house Mike and his buddy Rich entered into the Parade of Homes. It is GORGEOUS! I couldn't fit the entire house into one picture because the truck was in the way, so I took two separate shots.

On Monday morning we were sad to leave. I had to catch a few more precious moments of the kids playing together!

Weston had so much fun playing outside with this little truck. It's always the simple things that the kids seem to get the biggest kick out of!

I just love all that green. We always have such a great time visiting Bear Lake, but I think this was one of our favorite trips yet.