Project

Jill and I have been working on this little project for a while now. These little car seat shades are pretty common here in Utah but are still somewhat of a novelty in Texas and other areas so we thought we would have fun creating and give ourselves some extra fun money! Below is the link to our blog... feel free to pass it along to anyone you think might be interested! 

http://www.carseatshade.blogspot.com/

Keep checking in for more fun baby crafts as well!

Thanksgiving Point- The gift that keeps on giving!

It's been really neat living so close to Thanksgiving Point this summer. Having free access to all the venues has been GREAT! It's so easy to pack up the kiddos and just head over. This summer Marshall and I have taken Kate to the Gardens several times for morning and evening walks, Britt and I have taken the kids to the Museum and Farm Country and we all have enjoyed playing in the fountain at the Children's Garden. Here are some fun pictures of our time there.

Kate and Isaac at Farm Country

 

Carriage ride

Silly face

 

Chasing the duck

A Saturday Afternoon spent at the Children's Gardens and Farm Country

Fun in the fountain

Wagon ride

 

Trying to get a family shot

Jail break!

 

Afternoon at the Children's Garden with Britt and Isaac

Meeting the animals on the ark

 

 

Feeding the fish

Happy Birthday Meghan!

Last week was Meghan's birthday and we thought it would be fun to send a birthday greeting from her littlest cousins. It wasn't quite as successful as we had hoped but here is a pretty good illustration of our attempts.

 

Happy Birthday Megs! We LOVE you!

Music

Both Isaac and Kate love the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I know, it seems a little unusual but Kate and I often watch recorded episodes of Music and the Spoken Word to wind down for nap time or just to have some background noise on and Isaac really enjoys watching conference music on the computer. Especially lately, they both ask (or grunt) for music to be played on the computer while we are all together playing and visiting.  Here are some classic shots of the two of them watching music.

The Yarrow

Last night we put Kate to bed a little early and took off to Park City to see Nick's band play. It was a fun, free show and a much needed night out! This was the first time we got to hear their music and we were super impressed! We are excited to see more!

Kate's New Do

Kate's hair has been in that awkward, baby mullet stage for a while now. I've been toughing it out hoping that I would wake up one day to find long locks that I can play with. I finally gave an "up-do" a shot yesterday afternoon right after she woke up from her nap. I figured there was no better time than that sweet spot in the early evening when she is still happy and somewhat cooperative. All it took was giving her free reign of her snack bar and popping in Peter Pan, (I've been showing her parts of the movie here and there hoping to get her excited about the characters... I have Tinkerbell in mind for Halloween this year!). Here are some pictures of the result...

Sad, my little baby is growing up! Also, it might be time for a new camera... Every picture lately has this blue hue. Probably just a user error but still annoying! 

Cheap Entertainment

After running some errands on Saturday, Marshall and I wanted to find something fun to do with Kate that wouldn't cost a ton. Marshall suggested we head to the mall and ride the carousel. When we first walked in Kate was in awe and kept pointing and grunting while she was watching the other kids ride. We knew it would be a hit but got hung up for a bit when we ran into an old neighbor and started chatting. I thought Kate was literally going to leap out of Marshall's arms while we were talking to her. She couldn't wait to get on that carousel!

Petting the horse

Having so much fun!

Afterwards we "rode" some of the little grocery store toys they had lining the wall. I say "rode" because we didn't put any money in. Kate was perfectly content to climb on them and pretend.

After watching her I have decided that Marshall will definitely have to be the one to teach her to drive when the time comes! I don't think my nerves can handle this little dare devil!

This pink van was definitely her favorite!

But she looked pretty darn cute in the little convertible!

We got a hot tip from Mazzy, the grandma that Marshall befriended during our outing, that the Orange Julius was giving away free smoothie samples! So of course, that was our next stop. Kate could live off smoothies! The whole outing cost us $1.50! It's amazing how it costs so much less to entertain a child than it does an adult. It's also amazing that now that we as adults, have a child, we are content to be entertained by her happiness! My how life has changed!

Bitter-sweet... but mostly just BITTER!

We decided to sell Marshall's motorcycle a few months ago. It was a super hard decision but it was time and we could no longer ignore it. Marshall LOVES his bike and riding it was one of the only hobbies he has managed to hang on to since we've been married and had Kate, but he hadn't been riding it much lately and like I said, it was just time. It was a pretty sad day when we finally cleaned it up and put it up for sale on the Internet. Here are a few pics for the archives.

Nate had it custom painted and a few other things done to it for a wedding gift to Marsh.

Marshall wanted the flaming sun because once upon a time he had named his bike "Apollo".

Here is the closest thing Marshall will get to taking Kate for a ride! These pictures were taken at the beginning of June when we first posted the ads. I can not believe how much she has changed in just a few short months!

Too bad they never got to take their father/daughter stunt team on the road! We could be rolling in it and probably would have never had to sell the bike!

After a couple months, several phone calls, and a few price adjustments, the day finally came.

:( Here Marshall is putting the back seat on so him and I could go for one last ride around the neighborhood before they came to pick it up. I think Marshall had secretly, (or maybe not so secretly), hoped it just wouldn't sell this summer and that it would turn out to be some test of faith like Abraham and Isaac... not so.

Some words of encouragement. However, there wasn't much I could do to cheer Marshall up... It was the end of an era.

A half-hearted smile after Marshall took it for one last "real" ride after he took me out for a "safe" ride. Then some nice people came and took Apollo to live on a farm where he would be ridden often and have lots of room to go fast!

In a small twist of irony, and on a brighter note... that night Isaac accidently found his first bike that Nate and Britt had been saving for a morning reveal. It was on the front porch and in all the excitement of saying goodbye to Marshall's motorcycle it was discovered.

But if he had not accidentally found it we would never have gotten this gem! Here Grandpa is showing Isaac how it is done and Isaac is giving him a boost. (not the best lighting but too good to pass up!)

Knowing that Marshall was planning to sell his bike Kate and I had a special gift in mind for Marshall's first official Father's Day...

I don't have actual pictures from when he opened his gift on Father's Day because Kate was not about to give up her hold on the camera even for the first Father's Day moment! So here are some I managed to get with her later.

We went down to the Color Me Mine in Provo and made Marshall a Motorcycle Bank! Uncle John met us there and helped me with Kate while I worked on getting it to look mostly like his bike and then Kate added her finishing touches! Just an FYI- painting ceramic with a 1 yr old is NOT an easy task!

Color Me Mine is an inside joke from when Marshall and I first met. He was trying to impress me and take me on a fun, unique date and kept suggesting that we go there to paint and play. It didn't take long for him to figure out that I was more of a dinner and a movie kind of girl. We never went there for a date and to this day we still jokingly suggest that as an option when we are having a hard time deciding where to go for a night out.

Marshall really liked it and even shed a little tear. (I think it was more for the thought of selling his bike at the time and not so much for the sentimentality of the Father's Day gift).

He is already saving for his next bike!