Smiths

20 Weeks!

2011-12-02T15:40:00.000-08:00

This week marks week 20 in my pregnancy! I can't believe I am halfway there. This pregnancy has seemed to fly by and I hope it continues that way. I had my ultrasound on Monday and let me tell you I was so impatient waiting for it to get here! This whole pregnancy I have felt that we were having boy number 3. Then on the big day of the ultrasound I had a really neat experience with Wesley in the car. I was driving him to school and telling him that we were going to find out if the baby was a boy or girl. I asked him if he wanted a little brother or a sister. He said "sister" with a huge grin on his face. I all of a sudden felt the spirit and had a strong impression that we would in fact be welcoming a little girl into our family.

After dropping him off, I met Rob and my Mom at the doctor's office. I was extremely nervous for some reason but very excited. We were finally called back and got the exciting news that we were having A GIRL!!! I was honestly shocked, even though I had a strong feeling that day that we were going to get that news. I was skeptical of the ultrasound tech and made her double check. She got another angle and said yep, it's definitely a girl. She continued on with the ultrasound and everything checked out to be perfect! Our sweet baby seemed to be healthy and growing right on target. At the very end of the ultrasound, the tech decided to check the gender one more time. {I think we were making her nervous} So she checked one more time and said that it was still a girl. Here are some pictures of our sweet baby girl:

This is the first shot we saw of her. She's waving hello!

{Look at those little muscles! She's going to be one tough little girl!}

Her cute profile

It's a Girl!

...it's a girl again!

She was moving around like crazy during the ultrasound and at one point she was bending and straightening her legs. The tech was able to capture it in the next two pictures.

We have a whole disc of pictures, but I won't bore you with them all. We are SO excited to be having a girl. Especially the boys! I can't wait to go shopping for her and practically "break the bank" as Rob put it. She is going to be one spoiled little girl. My mom and sisters are so excited to be welcoming a new granddaughter and niece. It's been 12 years since my last niece was born! Our family is definitely ready for a girl. I've been having so much fun looking for baby bedding online and planning out her cute nursery in my head. Now if Rob and I could just agree on a name...

Halloween '11

2011-12-01T20:00:00.001-08:00

Here it is December 1st and I'm just getting around to blogging about Halloween. I guess it's better late than never. There isn't really too much to say. Our Halloween wasn't too eventful this year, but it was so nice to have my parents home. Rob was his normal boring self, while the boys and I dressed up. We did our usual traditions of trick or treating around the neighborhood and then onto my Mom's for Chili and donuts {YUMMY!}.

Wesley was off track on Halloween, so his class had their party earlier in the month and they got to dress up for it. My friend Dede snagged this picture of Wesley and his buddy Chase before taking them to school.

Me and my boys on Halloween night

The boys had a blast and I think they are starting to love Halloween just as much as I do! My favorite part of the night was when we would call Beckett Batman. He would turn to us and say, "But I'm just Beckett!" Too cute! I love my boys!

Chicago Road Trip

2011-11-25T17:57:00.000-08:00

My parents finished their mission in October. My sister Jenny and I got the opportunity {or were forced} to fly out to Chicago to help my parents pack up and move home. Although it wasn't the most enjoyable trip {mainly because of the hours and hours we spent in the car}, it was quite the adventure! One of my favorite parts of the trip were meeting and visiting with people my parents had taught or had an impact on. It was amazing! My parents are pretty incredible and have to be some of the greatest examples I know.

This is Agent Joseph Hope. He was an investigator my parents were working with and he was baptized by my Dad the week after this picture was taken. My parents gave him a Quad with his name on it. He couldn't stop beaming!

After visiting with Joseph, we headed to the Chicago Temple to do an endowment session.

Me with my Mom and Jenny.

{I look like a giant}

Me with my Dad

After an amazing afternoon spent in the Temple, we went and crossed off one of the items on my Dad's Chicago Bucket List. He wanted to visit Chicago's Leaning Tower and take a picture.

Check.

After driving {what seemed like forever} back to the city, we decided we needed some grub. We grabbed dinner at Ed Debevic's. Ed's is famous for their not so great service. They even insult you.

Here's my Mom in her cute hat. As our waiter was putting on our hats, he put mine on and it didn't fit. He then called me Chubby Head as he adjusted the hat to be bigger. :( It was actually pretty funny because Jenny and my Mom were talking earlier in the day about my huge head. It just proved their point.

Me and Jen at Ed's

While the atmosphere was fun, the food wasn't fantastic. We did eat the cutest desserts ever though. Ed's serves the World's Smallest Sundaes.

And that they were!

After dinner we met up with a few other converts my parents had taught for some ice cream. We ended up staying for hours and had a lengthy religious debate. It was an interesting experience, but I was glad I could be a part of it and share my testimony.

Our last day in Chicago we started off with some shopping. We stopped at H & M for a little hat shopping...

Then it was off to Navy Pier where we had some really neat CTR rings made.

Then we were off to Eduardo's for some delicious Chicago Deep Dish Pizza. After we got back to the apartment we got to work. We finished packing up the apartment and began loading the truck. Luckily my parents whole district and a few ward members showed up to help. It was quite the moving process. We had to load everything on luggage racks, then haul them to the freight elevators, go down 29 floors, then onto the loading dock. And repeat {100 times!}. Although my parents lived in a tiny apartment, it took us 3 hours to get everything out.

This is a picture of 10 people and a luggage cart crammed into an elevator. You can barely see my eyes in the top left corner. You can't even see Jenny who was squished behind me. It was hilarious to see the look on people's faces as the elevator doors opened on different floors.

After cleaning the empty apartment, we loaded into the car and truck and began our journey home. It was almost 8pm and we still had a 3 hour drive ahead of us. It was a long drive {especially after a long day of shopping and packing}, but we made it to our first stop in Moline, IL. Good thing because if we had to go any further, I probably would have fell sleep at the wheel.

The next morning we were off again! This time Jenny was behind the wheel and it was nice to just be the passenger. We listened to "The Help" to make the time go by faster. There wasn't a whole lot of scenery to look at along the way. Mainly farmland and truck stops every once in a while.

"World's Largest Truckstop"

Our second stop was in Omaha, NE. We picked Omaha so we could visit Winter Quarters, a historical Church site.

My little Mom in a big chair

After checking into our hotel and freshening up a bit, we headed to Winter Quarters.

Me and my parents in front of the beautiful Temple!

We decided to check out the Cemetery and Visitor's Center before heading to the Temple.

Statue in the cemetery

View of the Temple from the cemetery

Statue in front of Visitor's Center

It was incredible to learn about the Saints who lived there and all that they sacrificed. Many lost their lives during the freezing winter months and I admire the courage the others had to keep moving forward. My great great grandmother lived in Winter Quarters. She had her son there and also lost her husband while living there. It amazes me the testimony she had to push on and make it to the Salt Lake Valley. What an amazing example!

After spending time at the visitors center, we headed over to the temple. It was very beautiful and unique inside. We were all so tired that night, but I'm glad we took the opportunity to go and participate in a few ordinances. It was worth it!

After another well rested night, we hit the road again! I do have to say that Nebraska is the most boring state I have ever driven through! This was our longest day in the car and I wanted to die! I drove the whole day and I think we were in the car from 12:30 pm to 11:30 pm. I was so glad when we reached our destination of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Not only was I glad to be out of the corn state, I was glad to be that much closer to home!

We thought this water tower looked like a lego head...or a baby.

This was our view for almost two days. Nothing but corn fields. For miles and miles and miles. No joke!

Our last day of driving was pretty uneventful. I realized that Wyoming doesn't offer much to look at either. I also realized that I take our beautiful scenery for granted. I missed our majestic mountains!

Our last pit stop {somewhere in Wyoming} before reaching home!

Although it was fun getting to spend some one on one time with my sister and my parents, I don't think I ever want to make that drive again! Rob always talks about how fun it would be to take a road trip across the country, but after driving only a third of the way, I think I'll pass! I'm so grateful my parents are home. We missed them dearly and hope they wait awhile before heading out on another mission!

Enjoying Fall

2011-11-22T12:57:00.000-08:00

Fall is my favorite time of year! I love the cooler temps, the beautiful colors, and the fun holidays that go along with it! Although I was feeling pretty icky through most of September and part of October, we still tried to take advantage of all the fun activities!

We took advantage of the warm weather and went to Frightmares at Lagoon one Saturday.

We bought the boys frosty's on the way home and this was the end result:

We went over to Rob's parents for our annual jack-o-lantern pizza and pumpkin carving night.

Beckett was all smiles as he dug his hand in to pull out the pumpkin guts...

He wasn't really a fan.

So Dad took over.

{This is a classic Rob concentration face. Tongue out and all!}

This is what Wesley did while we carved his pumpkin...

Our finished pumpkins:

We went to Gardner Village {twice} to see the Witches! Once with our good friend Nikki and the other time with our friends Mike and Trisha. The boys loved seeing all the crazy witches! The one below was probably their favorite.

When we went with Mike and Trisha, the ponies were out and the boys begged for a ride. Beckett's smile was priceless!

One thing we missed out on this year was our annual visit to Cornbelly's. The month turned crazy and we just plainly ran out of time. I guess there is always next year!

September

2011-11-15T20:16:00.001-08:00

September was busy as always and seemed to FLY by! It was also very stressful in the beginning due to my pregnancy. Since I've had multiple miscarriages {the most recent being in May}, I tend to be a basket case at the beginning of every pregnancy. This pregnancy my nervousness seemed to be a lot worse and it got to the point where I could barely function. I was an emotional wreck. So around 7 weeks I called my doctor's office and practically begged for an ultrasound. I just wanted the reassurance of a little flickering heartbeat. So in I went and Rob and I were able to see that joyous little flicker along with the wonderful sound of our teeny tiny baby's heartbeat. It relieved my troubled heart a tiny bit and I was able to make it to my 10 week appointment a few weeks later.

Here are some of the fun things that went on in September:

Beckett started Preschool at the beginning of the month and was SO excited to go to Miss Ammber's school. I was so excited because that meant I got a two hour break twice a week to myself. It's been heavenly! I use the time to run errands or just take a nap.

First day of school

The boys showing off some school work

Wesley had crazy hair day at school

Rob began his "No Hair" days

We got our first "real" look of our little nugget!

We got to watch Claire again. The boys had so much fun with her now that she is crawling all over the place. We pulled out some old baby toys and they had to show her just how they worked.

Wesley had his very first school picture taken. Doesn't he look so handsome?

August

2011-11-14T16:21:00.000-08:00

August was a crazy busy month! We started off the month on kind of a sad note. Rob's maternal grandma {Jane Scoll} passed away and we had a funeral for her in Salt Lake and then we all traveled to Nephi {where she grew up} to bury her. Although it was under sad circumstances that we all got together, it was really great to see all of Rob's out of town family. Which is almost everyone. Jane was an amazing woman! Her funeral was really beautiful and it made me want to strive to be a better wife and mother. I got to experience a tender moment with Rob's grandpa the day before the funeral. It was just me and him sitting in Rob's parents living room and he was reminiscing about his dear sweetheart. He said some of the most kindest words and even got choked up at times. I was grateful for the opportunity I had to share that sweet moment with him.

Lunt Family Home in Nephi

{The house where Jane grew up}

Most of the Scoll Family

The rest of the month was filled with mostly happy chaos!

The day after the funeral we got the chance to go out to lunch with Rob's brother Dave and his husband James.

Us with James at Cafe Rio

Beckett got really sick in August and we had to rush him to Instacare. He had two horrible ear infections! Below is the picture Rob took of him right before taking him in. He was miserable to say the least!

We went and visited the "Up" house in Herriman

We spent countless days and nights at Lagoon

Doesn't he look cute?

I caught this cute Grandpa trying to ride the spaceships in the kiddie area. He was just a little too big!

We found out that we were expecting BABY #3!!! And were so excited!!!

We rode the new Trax Red Line downtown to have lunch with Daddy

We were goofy in our pjs

Wesley started KINDERGARTEN!!! That's right...Kindergarten. I feel so old and he is getting so big! He is such a smart kid and I love watching him grow and learn every day. He is already a star reader and I love watching him figure out new words. It makes my heart happy!

First Day of School

My Goof Balls!

Wesley and his buddy Chase

Waiting in line

And I couldn't resist putting in this adorable picture of my Beckett Man!

For the most part, August treated us well and we were sad to see our Summer Fun come to an end!

A little behind...

2011-11-08T14:50:00.000-08:00

I'm a little {ok, maybe A LOT } behind in blogging. I don't know why I stopped. Maybe it's because no one ever reads our blog. I don't even think my parents were even checking up on us while they were in Chicago. The main reason I started a blog in the first place was to document what was going on in our lives. I'm horrible at keeping a journal, and blogging was a more enjoyable way to journal. So, as we are shortly approaching another year {yikes!}, I'm rededicating myself to blogging. I don't care if I even have one single reader, I'm still going to do it for myself. Over the next couple of weeks I'm going to be blogging about the past several months that I missed. So, if you are interested in reading up on our summer/fall scroll down because I'm going to date them by the month that they took place. Here's to more blogging!

July

2011-07-30T14:57:00.000-07:00

Here's what we were up to in July...

Every year we attend the South Salt Lake Firework Show. They always host it the day before the fourth, but since the fourth was on a Monday they had their fireworks on the second. We went with our friends and as always it was a great show! This was our first year reintroducing Wesley to fireworks. He has been terrified for the past couple of years and we were happy to discover he LOVES them now!

Waiting for the show to start

Beckett was all smiles at first...

but then wasn't too sure of the loud booms!

Gotta love fourth and fireworks!

On the actual fourth, I ran a 10k that morning with my friend Cozette. It was a crazy hot morning and it definitely wasn't my best race, although I did finish 3rd in my age group. Later that day we headed over to Rob's parents for a BBQ and fireworks. We had ourselves a grand ole time!

Scooter rides with Dad

Beckett waiting for his turn with Mommy

Rob and Wesley running from an explosive...or maybe just a little firework. HA HA!

Snaps with the cousins

In the middle of the month we caught a concert at Red Butte Gardens with Hobby

Bobby, Heather, and the boys

Too cute for words!

Rob, Me, and the Beckett man!

For the 24th of July, we took the boys camping up Big Cottonwood Canyon. It was our first "real" time camping with them and we had a blast! We are definitely rookie campers and it definitely would have been more fun with more people, but we had some good quality family time!

Enjoying the fire

Wesley got a hold of the camera

Hiking around Silver Lake

What a gorgeous view!

Throwing rocks and playing in the dirt

At the end of July we took our friends {the Daines} up to Bear Lake. It wasn't the warmest weekend, but we still made a fun weekend out of it.

Hanging at the beach

Fish Out of Water

Adorable Twins!

Playing at the park

Wesley turns 5!

2011-07-24T13:54:00.000-07:00

Wesley turned 5 back on July 1st. I can't believe my little guy is already 5 years old and will be starting Kindergarten here in the next few weeks! These past 5 years have flown by! It has been so fun to watch him grow and learn. He is quite the smarty pants and I just know he'll love school. We practically celebrated this lucky duck's birthday all weekend long!

Opening up his beloved Wii. I'm starting to regret that purchase!

Then we were off to Lagoon for the entire day! We took my niece Kendra and her friend Nicole. Kendra's birthday is the day after Wes' and so she wanted to join in on the celebration. We met up with my friend Jess and her two little boys as well, and then Rob came up after work. It was an exhausting day of fun!

I love this picture!

A week after Wesley's birthday we had some of his friends over for a party. I took Wesley to the party store to pick out a theme and he decided on Super Mario. Too bad when I went back to buy stuff for the party, they were out of EVERYTHING! {Except for a pinata}

The Toad Pinata

My attempt at Toad Cupcakes. They look a little girly to me!

The kids played on the slip -n- slide,

jumped on the tramp,

and played some water games.

I know I took a lot more pinata pictures but for some reason this one of Elyse is the only one I could find.

opening presents

I think the kids had a good time. I know I was exhausted by the time it was over!

We are so grateful to have Wesley in our lives! He is definitely my hard child and we tend to butt heads A LOT! {I think it's because we are so much alike} But I can't imagine life without this kid! He has such a crazy personality and keeps us laughing our heads off. He is such a goofball and I love him with all of my heart! Here are some of Wesley's favorites:

Favorites at 5

Food: Quesadillas {Asks for one at every meal!}

Drink: Apple Juice

Snack: Fruit Snacks

Color: Pink

TV show: The Avengers

Thing to Do: Play the Wii or Go to Lagoon

Happy Birthday to my Bugaboo!

Chicago: Last Day {Finally!}

2011-07-21T17:10:00.000-07:00

Finally, our last day in Chicago! I am a little surprised that it didn't take me until Christmas to blog about our trip. Now maybe I can get caught up with the rest of summer before summer actually ends. Not that anyone even reads this anymore, but I count it as part of my journal.

Our last day in Chicago was kind of sad. I was dreading that day the whole trip and was sad to see it come. We spent the morning packing and then met Jasna for lunch. We went to a little restaurant across the street from my parents apartment.

Yay! A picture of Jasna, my Mom, and Wesley

Rob and Beckett

{The white building behind him is my parent's apt building}

Don't ask me why my son is poking himself in the eye with a knife and why we were allowing it!

I wish I would have taken a picture of our burgers. They were 12 0z of delicious beef on a scrumptious pretzel bun! The boys also got these yummy grilled cheese sandwiches served on a bread that had a donut consistency. They were the most delicious things I've ever eaten!

After we finished eating and said our goodbyes to Jasna, we headed off to the Museum of Science and Industry. Since we only had my parent's car to transport us and we didn't all fit, we had to split up and have half of us ride the subway. We decided that Rob, my mom, and myself should take the subway. The station we had to get off at was in kind of a scary neighborhood. I noticed as we got further away from the city we were the only white people on the train. It was the same case when we got off the train. We waited at a Wendy's for my Dad to come carpool us to the museum, and I was a little nervous to say the least!

The museum was AMAZING! Almost anyone I talked to that had been to Chicago suggested that we make it part of our trip. Lucky for us it was a free admission day!

This giraffe greeted us. It was part of the BodyWorlds exhibit.

The museum was HUGE with a lot of different areas. We decided to hit the little tot section first.

This was a floor piano without any keys. When you would step on the different colored lights, it would play the different notes.

Shadow Garden

We could have played at the shadow garden for hours! It was so cool to have the little pebbles fall around you and gather in any little nook.

I should have taken a video to demonstrate how cool it really was.

They had a U-505 Submarine Exhibit

Farming Exhibit

Transportation Exhibit

{That is a life size commercial airplane hanging from the ceiling!}

Steam Engine

Science Storms Exhibit

Funnel Cloud

Rainbows

Another cool Shadow Screen

After spending a few hours at the museum, we had to head to the airport. Once again we had to split up. Rob, my Dad, and the boys went in the car, while my mom and I rode the train. Once we got all of our luggage inside the airport, we said quick goodbyes and my Mom and Dad were off. Wesley cried the entire 20 minutes we stood in line to check our luggage. It was really heartbreaking! He did not want to go home! He had so much fun with Grandma and Grandpa he didn't want to leave them. When checking in we discovered our plane was delayed AGAIN! I was majorly bummed because we could have spent an extra hour and a half with my parents. Oh well! I definitely wasn't ready to come home and could have spent another few weeks there. Now that I look back on the trip, I wish we would have had more down time to just hang out with my parents. Since we had never been to the windy city before, we spent almost every minute sight seeing. Looking back on these pictures really makes me miss my parents! Luckily they will be home in 3 short months!

Thanks again for the unforgettable vacation Mom and Dad! We had an amazing time!

Chicago Part IV

2011-07-18T12:03:00.000-07:00

Monday was Memorial Day. I decided to start off the morning with another run before we took the boys swimming in my parents pool. The lake front was CROWDED! There were 10 times as many people there compared to Saturday morning. I'm sure everyone wanted to take advantage of the beautiful day. People were running, biking, playing beach volleyball, etc. I ran out to this little lighthouse and this was my view:

It was by far the hottest run I have ever ran. Not only was it already 80 degrees, it was HUMID!

After a quick swim in the pool {I think we were invading a frat party}, we got ready for the day and headed out. We decided to hit up the famous Navy Pier. It was only a mile or so walk to the pier, but by the time we got there we were sweating bullets! I think it was the hottest day of the year that day. It reached 90 degrees and with the humidity it felt like 100!

Beckett had fallen asleep in the stroller on the way and after we bought our tickets we decided to wake him up. I pulled him out of the stroller and noticed his pants were soaking wet. He had peed his pants while sleeping and I had no extra clothes. Awesome. With having no car to go back home or drive to a store, my mom and I went back into the main entrance to see if any of the gift shops had any kid shorts. The only thing we were able to find were a pair of $20 youth sweatpants that we ended up cutting the legs off. Luckily my mom had a huge safety pin on her jacket that we used to hold up the pants. Poor little guy had to go commando all day in a pair of sweats. Oh well, it was better than nothing!

Now onto the fun...

For being a holiday, the Pier wasn't insanely crowded like I thought it would be.

We rode the Ferris Wheel,

Views from the top

We played miniature golf,

and rode the Carousel.

My Dad and Us on the Pier

After using up all of our tickets, we were starving! We decided to try some famous Chicago Deep Dish Pizza. My parents had asked around and everyone told them Uno's was the best, so that's where we went.

Uno's is known for being the first place to serve Deep Dish. It was pretty tasty. Rob and I ordered a delicious Chicken and Pesto pizza, my parents had the Numero Uno, and the boys shared a cheese. We also ordered salad and cheesy garlic bread and the grand total was $95! Although the deep dish was pretty darn good, I don't think I could eat it all the time. It was ALOT of crust!

After we were so stuffed we could barely walk, we decided to call it a night and go back to the apartment and watch a movie. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day!

TUESDAY

On Tuesday we slept in {like every morning}, took the boys for another short swim, and then we were headed out on the town once more. If you haven't noticed, we were go, go, go every single day! We tried to pack as much into a day as we could. First stop that day was at the Westin Hotel. Some kind stranger had found our ipod in the car we rented and had left it at the front desk of his hotel. Talk about a miracle! Our boys would have been pretty sad if we would have only had one ipod for the flight home. I was extremely grateful for the honestly of that nice guy from Malaysia!

My mom and I then had to make a stop at H & M. It is one of my favorite stores and I couldn't leave Chicago without stopping there. The boys weren't too excited about the stop, so they continued on to Mickey D's and grabbed a bite to eat while they waited for us.

The boys sharing a ice cream cone while we waited for it to stop raining.

Mcdonald's had these funny statues outside. Rob couldn't resist a picture with them.

Then Wesley and Beckett had to join in on the fun...

Gross!

We then took the subway to Millennium Park.

Crown Fountain

The Famous Cloud or Bean

{The real name is Cloud, but all of the locals call it the Bean because it looks like a bean}

This was taken from underneath the bean looking up into the middle. Pretty cool! I could have stayed there all day taking pictures. It was pretty fun!

The Missionaries with Wes

{and Rob picking his nose :) }

It started raining shortly after we had all our fun taking pictures. The boys needed a potty break and when my mom and I came back, no one was around the Bean. I guess if there is ever lightning, they have to evacuate everyone away from the bean. It was a rare picture opportunity.

My cute Parents

Some Whackos!

{Love my Mom's face!}

Boys checking out some ducks

view of the river

The Chicago Tribune Tower

Cool Story: Before the tower was built, journalists for the Tribune would bring back stones and bricks from different places all over the world. They incorporated these bricks on the lower levels of the building and labeled where they came from. Some of them included: the Taj Mahal, the Great Pyramid, Great Wall of China and...

THE SALT LAKE TEMPLE!

I thought it was pretty cool.

We ended the day at the movies. We took the boys to see Kung Fu Panda 2 and we LOVED it!

Chicago Part III

2011-07-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

Our first official day in Chicago was Saturday. We had a whole day planned of sight seeing, but Rob and I decided to start our day off with a run down by the lake. It was a fun atmosphere with really cool views. After we got showered up it was onto lunch at the Hancock Building. The only bummer thing is we woke up to horrible fog! My mom was super bummed and wanted to go a different day, but we had reservations and it was too late to cancel them.

Hancock Building

This is what it looked like a few days later when it was nicer weather.

A sweet lady in my parents ward {Sis. Carmen} met us for lunch. She is the cutest little lady from the Philippines. Every time anyone in the ward has family visit, Sister Carmen insists on taking them to the Hancock building for lunch. It was fun to visit with her and get to know her better. Even though it was foggy, the views were SPECTACULAR! The restaurant is on the 94 floor of building. We got the most perfect table right in the corner, so we had double the view!

A view of Navy Pier

The fancy restaurant

Rob and Me

The view out the other window...

and this is what it looks like on a clear day. I stole the picture below from my Dad. He took this on my Mom's bday.

The boys loved sitting in the window watching the tiny world below.

My mom told the restaurant we were celebrating our anniversay {which was a couple weeks away}, and this is what they brought us. It was delicious!

Although this is a part of the vacation I would like to forget, I'll tell it anyways for journaling purposes. Wesley got quite upset over some ice cream at the very end of lunch and started throwing a huge tantrum. Rob ended up taking him down to the lobby while the rest of us finished our desserts. After lunch we had planned on going to the Shedd Aquarium for the rest of the afternoon. Sister Carmen suggested we catch the bus right across from the Hancock and take it there. So we headed to the bus stop and while we waited, Wesley continued throwing a tantrum. After 10 minutes we had all had enough and decided to go back to the apartment until he calmed down. It was extremely frustrating and I was honestly regretting bringing him on the trip.

After we had time to calm down, we decided to try the Aquarium again. So we walked back to the bus stop by the Hancock building and caught the bus. Boy, was that a mistake! It took us almost an hour to go a few short miles. By the time we got to the Aquarium, it had started raining. Luckily we had our umbrellas! We walked to the front of the Aquarium and saw a huge line to get in! Fortunately we had a stroller and were directed to a shorter line for wheelchairs and strollers. It was insanely busy, but I have to say the Aquarium itself was pretty impressive. I didn't take a ton of pictures, with the exception of the jellies. They had a special exhibit going on and it was AMAZING!

I loved the polka dotted sting rays. I had never seen them before.

A bigger Manta Ray

JELLIES!

I learned quite a lot about jellies that I didn't know. For instance, jellyfish do everything out one hole. That's right folks...they eat, poop, and reproduce out the same hole. GROSS!

Upside Down Jellies

Rainbow Jellies

{My favorite!}

These were funky! I can't remember the name though

In my opinion, the jellies alone were worth the outrageous entrance fee!

Beckett and Grandma with the Penguins

Because it took us so long to get to the aquarium, we only got to spend a few hours before it closed. We didn't come close to seeing everything, but there is always next time right?

This isn't a picture of the Aquarium, it's another museum right next to it. I loved all the budings! You don't see architecture like this in Utah. As we headed home we decided to pick up Chinese take out for dinner and call it a night!

Sunday was pretty laid back. We woke up and got ready for church and headed out. We had to walk a few blocks to catch a subway and then walk a few blocks to the school where my parent's ward meets.

Playing the Wii before church

Waiting for the train

Attending church in Chicago was definitely a different experience. They hold Sacrament Meeting in the school's auditorium. Their ward is VERY young with most of it's members being students, interns, or doctors and lawyers. Their primary consisted of 10-15 {young} kids and a ton of nursery aged kids. It was fun to go to church with my parents friend Jasna. She is from Bosnia was recently baptized. It was really neat to see her get so excited when learning something new. What a sweet, sweet lady!

During church, it began POURING outside! There was thunder and lightning and my mom leaned over to me and asked if any of us brought our umbrellas. Whoops! It was a big NOPE! I told her she better start praying that it stop before church got out. Luckily it had and we started heading for the subway. As the subway approached, water was pouring off of it. I knew we were in trouble! When we got off the subway and headed towards the exit, there was a river running down the stairs! I don't think I've ever seen so much water in my life! We stayed in the station for a little bit deciding what to do. Finally, Jasna told us we should just make a run for it. My mom was super hesitant, but finally gave in. We all started hauling it up the stairs and within minutes we were soaked to the bone! People were standing up against buildings yelling for us to join them. They all thought we were crazy! The boys were jumping in puddles and there was so much water running down the streets and sidewalks that the manhole covers were being blown up and down! It was insane! You should have seen the look on the doorman's face when we walked into the lobby of my parents building. It was priceless! We really wish we would have taken a picture of all of us. We looked ridiculous! It is definitely a memory I will NEVER forget.

Later that night Jasna, and the Elder and Sister missionaries came over for dinner. It was great to finally meet the missionaries we had heard so much about! After dinner I looked out the window and this is what I saw:

A gorgeous sunset! The evening had turned beautiful and we all decided to walk down to the lake.

Sisters Maughn and Herr

{Sister Maughn had just had foot surgery so her sweet companion pushed her the whole way}

A blurry, but kind of cool picture

Wesley wrote his own name in the sand

On the beach

I just realized I wasn't very good at taking pictures. Most of the time I just let my Dad take the pictures because I thought it would be easier than both of us taking pictures of the same thing. Now that I'm going through these pictures, I'm realizing that I didn't get pictures of a lot of the people we met. For example, Sister Carmen, Jasna, and the Elders. Bummer!

Chicago Part II - Nauvoo

2011-07-12T10:46:00.000-07:00

I have to apologize, this is a SUPER long post with a lot of pictures, but I had a really hard time deciding which ones to put up. We arrived in Nauvoo super late at night. After unloading the car, Rob and I had to make a late night trip to walmart for some swim gear for the boys which I forgot to pack. Gotta love small town walmarts! The next morning we woke up super early to attend the 8 am session at the temple. It was an incredible experience! Probably my favorite thing we did in Nauvoo. The architecture and detail was amazing! After the session we went down to the baptistry and took a little tour. The temple worker told us a couple of neat stories about the temple and Nauvoo. The whole experience is one I will never forget!

The temple is absolutely BREATHTAKING!

The Angel Moroni on top of the temple is the only one that faces West. It along with the Salt Lake Temple are like bookends of the journey the Saints took West.

I loved the stars on the temple!

Front view

In front of the temple

This is a statue of Hyrum and Joseph's last ride out of Nauvoo on their way to Carthage.

A replica of a sunstone

{Look at Mr. Mischievous in front!}

These water towers were so weird looking to me. This one was right behind the temple, so you had to be careful when taking pictures so that you wouldn't get it in your shot.

After spending some time on the temple grounds, we decided to head over to the Church's visitors center and look around. We then took a Wagon tour of Historic Nauvoo.

Waiting for the wagon ride to start

Wes with the Missionaries

Beckett had such a great time, he zonked out!

After the wagon ride we toured some of the buildings and went and learned how to make our own rope, pottery, and candles.

Here is my studly husband cranking the wheel that turned the rope.

My Dad and Wesley turning the other side.

We then decided to call it a day. The boys were hungry, bored and really wanted to go swimming. We grabbed a quick bite to eat in Nauvoo before heading back to our hotel in Keokuk, Iowa. On our way out, the sun had come out and we couldn't pass up a photo opportunity of the temple on the hill. It had been overcast all day, so all of our pictures were kind of blah. I loved how the temple sparkled in the sunlight!

We started our second day in Nauvoo with a little swimming before touring more of the town. We checked out of our hotel and headed to the Community of Christ. They own part of the historic homes in Nauvoo. Mainly the buildings that the Smith family owned and left to the family. You can only go through these buildings if you are on a guided tour with someone from the Community of Christ. Their tour began with a video about the Smith family and the Community of Christ church. It was interesting to say the least.

First up on the tour...The Nauvoo House

This is the house Emma was living in when she passed away.

The Smith Family Home

{The white part was added on by Joseph F. Smith when his family was living there}

The graves of Joseph, Emma, and Hyrum

Red Brick Storehouse

Room above storehouse where church meetings were held and where the Relief Society was organized.

Smith Family Cemetary

{Front view of Joseph, Emma, and Hyrum's graves}

Joseph Smith Sr and Lucy Mack Smith's graves

After finishing the tour at the Community of Christ, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and checked out a couple of more places in Historic Nauvoo.

Brick House

Blacksmith Shop

Then we said goodbye to Nauvoo and headed to Carthage. This was our last stop before heading back to Chicago. Carthage Jail was probably my second favorite part of Nauvoo. The spirit was so strong and testified to me that what happened in that building was not only true, but very sacred. The boys were acting out and extremely restless when we got there, so my parents decided to take them to a park while Rob and I went on the tour. We truly appreciated it! They didn't miss out though, they went back two weeks later with my sister's family. Rob and I lucked out though. As we were sitting in the visitor's center waiting for the movie to start, a huge family came in with a dozen kids. After the movi, the Sister missionaries decided to split us up. Rob and I ended up getting our own private tour! It was amazing and I learned a lot about that historic day that I had never heard before. We were able to listen to the spirit testify to us without any distractions. It was AMAZING!

Statue of Joseph and Hyrum outside the jail

The jail cell which was located in the room right next to where the Prophet was shot. John Taylor was actually brought in here {after he was shot} and hidden under a mattress so that the mob wouldn't find him.

This is the room where the Prophet spent the last few days of his life and where he was shot. They let us listen to a recording of the events that happened that day. It was extremely powerful!

If you ever get the chance to go to Nauvoo and Carthage...DO! It was an amazing experience. One we will never forget! I hope we can go back some day when the boys are older and can appreciate it more.

Chicago Trip Part I - Legoland

2011-06-27T19:13:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to blog about our AMAZING trip to Chicago for weeks, but I've been waiting to get pictures from my Dad. My sisters family was there visiting, so he was a little busy the past couple of weeks. I got them the other day, but now I have to sort through 800+ pictures! There were so many things I loved about Chicago, so I decided to break them up into multiple posts. It will probably take me until Christmas to finish!

The boys were so excited to fly on a big plane to go see Gma and Gpa!

We arrived in Chicago VERY late at night due to delayed flights from all of the tornados going on in the Midwest. My Dad has a video of the boys running down the terminal at the airport that I want to post, but I can't get it to work. Hopefully I will be able to post it later! Day one of our trip included packing up the rental car and heading out to Nauvoo. About a 5 hour drive from Chicago. But first we made a stop in the suburbs to meet one of my Mom's dear friends for lunch. After lunch we hit up Legoland Discovery! We thought it might be a good way to let the boys run around before being stuck in the car for hours. We had a pretty good time.

Entrance

Einstein greeted you just inside the doors. His eyes moved...it was a little freaky

The first part of the museum included a Lego model of Chicago. It was pretty impressive!

This isn't even all of it. It continued around the corner.

The famous Navy Pier

Then you entered the Jungle...

Sister and Elder Beck with Indiana Jones!

They had big Legos...

and small Legos...

{This is one of my favorite pics of the whole trip!}

they even had a ride...

Loved the bathroom sign!

Next up...Nauvoo

T-ball 2011

2011-06-16T20:05:00.000-07:00

I am trying to get caught up on blogging, but it hasn't been very easy. I've about had it with Blogger and how long it takes to upload pictures/videos. I really want to blog about our trip to Chicago too, so let's hope it doesn't take the rest of the year!

The boys played Spring T-ball this year and lucky for us they were able to play on the same team. Beckett barely made the cut off to play and Wesley barely missed the cut off to play in the older age group. It was so fun to watch them play together! Wesley has improved over the last year and would usually make a great hit off of the first pitch every time. Beckett was the littlest (and cutest) one on the team. He's our little lefty and surprised us with how well he hit. He would usually get a hit off the coach and would rarely need to hit it off the tee. We had a fun coach and team this year and I'm grateful the boys enjoyed playing as much as we did watching.

Here are some pictures from the season. I totally slacked and only brought my camera once. Most of the pictures I did take were with my phone, so the quality stinks.

Awesome action shot of Wes. I really wish we had a better camera!

Beckett has the cutest little run

Here is the whole Black team at Closing Ceremonies with their trophies

Classic Beckett face!

I'm hoping the videos below show up. They are being funky. The one time I brought our camera, I tried videoing the boys hitting. Well come to find out, our camera doesn't like to video anymore and it turns out completely blurry. I had taken quite a few videos with my phone, but unfortunately my phone crashed mid-season and I lost all of my videos. I made sure to at least video them one last time and got great videos of both of them. Then Beckett decided to erase the only good one I had of him hitting :(. The two videos below are the best I could find. The blurry sideways one was taken on our crappy camera.

I truly hope the boys continue to love playing sports and staying active!

Salt Lake Half Marathon '11

2011-05-04T13:12:00.000-07:00

{ The group from my ward that ran the race}

A couple of weeks ago I ran in the Salt Lake Half Marathon. I wasn't planning on running any half marathons this year, but two weeks before the race I decided to sign up. My two friends that I run with during the week had been planning on running the race for months. I decided even though I wasn't planning on it, I would continue to run the miles they were running. When we started hitting 10-11 miles on our longer runs, I decided what the heck! I might as well run it too. Signing up two weeks before race day was the perfect way to go! No stress or nervousness during any of my training runs, and by the time I signed up it was already time to start tapering. It was fabulous!

{Jessica, Me, and Cozette at the starting line}

I was all nerves once race day came! I was having knee and ankle pain earlier in the week and it totally freaked me out! So, I said a lot of prayers and hoped for the best! I normally don't set too many goals for races, but this time was a little different. I knew that I had increased in speed over the year, so I was really hoping to beat my best time of 2:21:54. Deep down I was really hoping to finish in under 2:10. I didn't really think that I could finish that quickly but decided it was worth a shot! When the gun went off at the starting line, the adrenaline was insane! There were so many people and it was difficult to find our normal pace. We were weaving in and out of people for the first few miles, but finally found a comfortable stride around mile 5. I decided to look at where we were pace wise and just before mile 5 our average was 8:45. I couldn't believe it! We had never ran that fast before. We decided to slow it down a little bit. I continued to feel good up until mile 8. That's when I started feeing sluggish, so around mile 8 1/2 we took a break and had our energy gu's. Shortly after starting back up again, I stepped in a crack and rolled my ankle. Luckily, I've had this happen MANY times and was able to keep going.

We hit Liberty Park and I was really starting to doubt myself. I always hit a wall between miles 10 and 11 and was nervous it was going to happen again. Luckily, they had cameras taking pictures as you were leaving the park, so naturally you try to look all gung ho and happy. Right after that happened, my energy gu kicked in and I felt a little bit of energy come back. I was mentally trying to prepare for the State Street stretch. Everyone had warned me that it was miserable! There is a short hill at the end that isn't fun to run after you've already ran 12 miles. Once we turned on State, all I could think about was the hill. We stopped at a water station {around mile 11.5} for a quick drink. I really felt that I needed to slow down if I was going to make it up the hill. I told Jessica and Cozette to continue on if they felt they could go faster than me. I fell behind a little bit and was a little disappointed in myself, but knew I could finish strong. I ran up that hill like I owned it! Once I turned on South Temple, I could see the Gateway where the race ended. I finished the last of my water and took off! It was so fun to see the crowds of people get thicker as you got closer to the finish line. As I rounded the corner into the Gateway, I began seeing friends there cheering me on. Shortly after was Rob and the boys, then my sisters and their families. I always get so emotional at the end and they gave me the boost I needed to finish strong! I have the best family and friends in the world!

{Waving to Rob and the boys in passing}

I crossed the finish line and hit stop on my timer. It read 2:03:03! {My actual time ended up being 2:02:34} I couldn't believe it! That is the fastest pace I have ever maintained for that many miles. My body and my training didn't let me down. I had such a runner's high!

{Our little family}

{My whole cheering squad}

{My first {and favorite} running partner Jess. Who is amazing and ran the race with only 2 weeks of training!}

I am so glad I decided to run the half. It was a great experience and one I hope to have again in the future. A special thanks to Rob! He is so supportive of my running. Always willing to help with the boys while I go out on my long runs. Not to mention, he puts up with my ornery self when I am beat and tired from running so many miles. I love you babe! You are my rock!

Later that afternoon we met up with my siblings and their families to celebrate the April birthdays. What a way to celebrate! We chowed down on some delicious grub at Cafe Rio! I was starving to say the least :)

Where have we been?

2011-04-05T15:08:00.001-07:00

I told myself that when my parents left on their mission that I would be better about blogging. I haven't really kept up with that goal, but they've almost been gone for 6 months so maybe I can be better during the last half of their mission. We haven't really been up to anything exciting. The weather has been crummy 90% of the time and we are all dying for it to warm up permanently. Honestly, I think my boys and I might kill each other we can't get back outside soon. I guess I can't complain too much. We did have a few days last week where it reached almost 70 degrees and we spent both of those days OUTSIDE! I even got sunburned. It was heavenly! To top off the weekend, it snowed 8 inches on Sunday. Boo!

Beckett enjoying the warm weather in his shades

He was obsessed with them and had to wear them inside and out!

Beckett with his friend Garrett at the park

He would live on the swings if I would push him longer than 5 minutes

Wesley loved playing bball in the front yard. He is a natural and has some mad skills!

Last Thursday, after spending most of the afternoon at the park and playing outside we discovered a leak in our house. I first noticed it that morning. I was in Wesley's room putting away some clothes when I discovered a soaking wet spot in the middle of the floor. I asked the boys if either of them had spilled anything and they said no. I didn't really believe them, but grabbed a towel and tried to soak it up. As I was stepping on the towel, I noticed the carpet pad was making a squishing noise all around the spot. I called Rob and we tried to figure where the water was coming from. We didn't come to a conclusion so I told him he would have to investigate when he got home. When the boys and I came in later that afternoon, the boys went downstairs to play. A little while later they came upstairs and I noticed they were leaving little wet footprints on the tile. I asked Wesley why his feet were wet and he answered back "because the carpet is wet downstairs!" My thoughts went back to that morning and I rushed downstairs. To my disappointment, I found soaking wet carpet and water dripping from the ceiling and down the walls. There were bubbles in the paint and cracks down the wall. I wanted to scream! Where was the water coming from?!?!

I called Rob and he got a hold of a plumber in our ward. He showed up rather quickly and discovered the water was coming from the water line to our refrigerator. He was able to quickly fix it and we called our insurance company, but they were closed for the day. The next morning we got a hold of them and they sent out a disaster clean up company to take care of the damage. For four days we've had huge fans and dehumidifiers running. They came back yesterday and it looks like they are going to remove part of Wesley's sub floor, as well a big chunk of the ceiling in our basement and part of the wall. Luckily, no damage was done in the kitchen. It's been quite the adventure! The boys are both sleeping in Beckett's room while Wesley's room is torn apart. The demolition and repairs begin tomorrow...can't wait. Here are some pictures of the damage:

Wesley's wet floor

{They cut holes in the wall to make sure there wasn't any moisture still in them}

Walls in the family room downstairs

The ceiling in the family room

The one and only thing I really wanted to get out of this whole ordeal was new carpet downstairs. It isn't going to happen :(

West Jordan Fire Station

2011-04-05T14:51:00.000-07:00

Wesley's Preschool went on a field trip to the fire station a couple of weeks ago and Beckett and I were lucky enough to tag along. We had so much fun and the kids were so cute! You would think with a group of 3 and 4 year olds you wouldn't be able to keep them quiet, but once we entered the fire station, they were silent! It was quite humorous. Firefighter Wesley {Yep! His name was Wesley and my Wesley thought that was so cool!} showed us around the station and then we ended the tour with the Ambulance and Firetrucks. The boys had a blast! Here are some pictures from the trip. Sorry they aren't the best quality, they were all taken with my phone and I'm too lazy to edit them in photoshop.

Beckett Man turns 3!!!

2011-03-19T21:11:00.000-07:00

Beckett turned 3 this past week. Where did the time go? I can't believe my baby is 3!!! I must admit that I was a little depressed about it. Not Beckett though, he's been looking forward to his birthday for 6+ months! He was so excited to be a big 3 yr old. I had a Relief Society activity the night of his birthday, so we decided to celebrate his birthday the Saturday before. Our nephew Jacob's bday is a few days before Beckett's, so we decided to have a combined shindig. We originally planned on going to see the movie Rango, but after hearing about some of the language in the film, we ended up going to Planet Play (previously known as Incredible Pizza). I think it turned out for the better. Every one seemed to have a blast!

Beckett was SO excited for his party!

The silly boys

The cake

Opening presents

Hobby

Blowing out the candle

The birthday boy and Tys

Brady and Jen

Say Cheese

Me and my Honey

Playing Games

Riding the go carts

What good sports!

Brady and Mindy {and Rob}

Bumper Cars

{These were one of my favorite things!}

My cute nieces

What a fun place! Our boys love going there and they especially had fun playing with all of their cousins. It was fun to spend time with my family. Now that I think about it, Beckett was actually pretty spoiled and we celebrated his birthday for 4 straight days! Sunday we had a little dinner party with Rob's family, Monday we had a combined bday lunch playdate for Beckett and his friend Brody, and then the boys and I went out to lunch on his actual bday. What a lucky boy!

I honestly can't imagine our lives without Beckett! He is such a special little guy. Here are some fun facts about Beckett:

* Favorite Food - Mac and Cheese and Licorice

* Favorite TV Shows - Super Why, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and Avatar

* Favorite Toy{s} - Legos, blocks, or his new Marble Racers

* Beckett still sleeps in a crib. He has figured out how to climb into his bed, but still calls for me to get him out. No complaints here! He sleeps great and I'm not about to mess that up!

* Beckett is a cuddler! He loves to cuddle first thing in the morning or after he wakes up from his nap. It is one of my favorite things about him!

* He adores his big brother! He always wants to do what Wes is doing. They only get along 10% of the time, but they still love each other.

* Beckett has such a tender heart.

* His smile can brighten anyones day

* He has the craziest sense of humor and makes me laugh ALL day long!

I could go on and on! I can't believe it has been 3 years since Beckett joined our little family. But at the same time I can't remember our lives without him! What an amazing 3 years! We love you Beckett Man!

Barking Spiders

2011-02-23T14:56:00.000-08:00

I videoed Beckett the other day because he lost his voice and I thought he sounded adorable! Watch for the little surprise at the end : )

Lovey Dovey Day

2011-02-17T21:29:00.000-08:00

{Salt and Pepper Shakers from Chicago}

This Valentine's Day was definitely different than most. It felt like any other Monday. Rob had to work all day, then head straight to school that night. I tried to get a babysitter during the day so that I could surprise him and take him to lunch, but that didn't pan out. So we decided to have lunch anyways with the boys. It wasn't romantic, but at least we got to see each other that day. The boys had a great time. They usually don't get to see Rob at all on Mondays since he leaves before they get up and gets home after they go to bed. We all had a great time. The rest of the day went as usual...naps, dinner, and then off to the gym. When we got home, I noticed we had a package on our porch {not a huge surprise, my parents told me they had sent us something}. So we went inside and I told the boys to go look on the porch. When we opened the door we found a second surprise. Someone had heart attacked us while we were out. I later found out it was my cute niece and her friend. It made our day. The boys loved all the hearts and couldn't wait to open the package from my parents.

{This was my attempt at making my mom's cookies.

They weren't perfect, but they were delicious!}

Normally on V-day, we get a visit from the Cookie Cupid {aka my parents}. They drop off billions of my mom's famous sugar cookies and little presents for the boys and ring the doorbell and run. It is a fun tradition and one we look forward to every year. Since my parents are in Chicago this year, we were all a little sad that the Cookie Cupid wouldn't be making an appearance. To our surprise, the Cookie Cupid didn't let us down. My parents sent us a package full of Chicago treats...including Mom's famous sugar cookies! Do I have great parents or what? They are 1300 miles away and are still keeping our family traditions alive. Boy, do we love and miss them! The package also included Chicago shirts for the boys, Chicago toy cars for both boys, cute salt and pepper shakers {pictured above}, hand knitted washcloths, my mom's yummy caramel popcorn, a dvd of Chicago stuff, and lots of candy! Have I told you how amazing my parents are? I couldn't believe all the stuff they sent us. I thought missionaries were supposed to receive packages, not the other way around! The V-day package definitely brightened my day! We ended the night by facetiming with my parents.

Although I didn't get to spend the day with my sweetheart, I got to spend it with two little boys who I love more than anything! I feel so blessed to be surrounded by people who I love and who love me. I am grateful for a husband who loves me unconditionally! I need to follow his example. He is amazing and I love him dearly! Thanks again to Elder and Sister Beck for keeping up the Cookie Cupid tradition from 1300 miles away. We love you guys!

Longing for...

2011-02-09T15:59:00.000-08:00

SPRING!

I can't stand this winter any longer! I honestly think I might have to check myself into the loony bin if I don't see some real sunshine and/or warmer weather soon. Is it just me or does this winter seem to be lasting FOREVER? I'm in a huge rut and I don't know how to get out. Normally I like to break up the late winter with a trip somewhere, but our lack of funds this year is preventing us for going anywhere. Well, until June anyways. We are trying to save every penny to take a trip to Chicago. Last year I took a girls trip to St. George in February and then ran the Canyonlands Half in Moab last March. It kept me from going stir crazy. I think another reason for my restlessness is that I'm not training for anything. No 5k, no 10k, no half. I'm still running on a regular basis and I've even bumped up my speed. But, I'm just not sure if I feel like running another half anytime soon. Running in these freezing temps is sure getting old!

Man, do I long for the warm days of spring spent watching my boys run endless laps around the backyard, or sliding down the slides at the park. I honestly can't wait for even hotter temps so we can spend many lazy days at the pool. Normally I am a bigger fan of winter than summer but as I've gotten older and now that I have kids, I'm becoming a huge fan of summer! There is NOTHING to do {with two energetic boys} in the freezing cold months of winter! Spring/Summer, please tell me you're out there! Until then, I am trying to stay positive and look for things to keep me motivated. Here are a few things in the next couple of months that I'm looking forward to:

1. Beckett's Birthday in March

2. Warmer running weather {Spring is my favorite time of year to run outside.}

3. General Conference

4. My Birthday in April

5. Possibly running the Salt Lake 5k with Rob in April

6. Easter {which brings Easter candy :) }

Here's to hoping that Spring will be here before we know it! If not, you'll probably find me at the Funny Farm!

worst part about parenting

2011-01-25T15:29:00.000-08:00

The worst part {according to me} so far is POTTY TRAINING!!! I don't know why, but I absolutely hate potty training! I think the main reason I dislike it so much is because I lack the patience. I am not a patient person whatsoever, and to stay calm for days on end while you clean up pee and poop is not my ideal parenting job. But...it has to be done!

Potty training Wesley was so hard {or so I thought}! We started when he was 3 months shy of turning 3. We did the whole method where we put him in underwear and spent the next 3-4 days teaching him to go in the potty. Did he wet himself? Yep! Did he poop in his underwear? Yep! I hated every second of it. We didn't do anything to prepare Wesley, and I was surprised that by day 3 or 4 he was telling me he had to go potty. It was like a light bulb went on in his head. I thought we were free and clear after that. Boy, was I wrong! It took probably another month and a half to get him trained all the way. I swear most of his accidents were just to spite me. He even peed on my bed while staring me straight in the face! By his 3rd birthday, he was pretty much trained. He still had a few accidents here and there but he was doing great!

Onto Beckett...I've been dreading the day we started training since the day he was born! When Rob got laid off this past fall, I thought it might be good to get started since I'd have his help. We talked to Beckett a little bit about it and he really showed no interest. So we put it off. Then a couple of weeks ago Rob came to me and told me he wanted to start potty training Beckett over Martin Luther King weekend since he would be home for 3 days. I was hesitant, but gave in. We stocked up on underwear and little prizes. We prepared him the best we could and dove in head first.

The first day {saturday} was rough, but by the late afternoon we got him to go #1 and #2 in the potty. We were ecstatic...he was ecstatic! He had a couple of accidents but went two more times through out the day. The next day didn't go so well. We couldn't get him to sit on the toilet and he was saying he was scared. We went to church and put a pull up on him. When we got home, I spent quite a bit of time with him in the bathroom and got him to go in the potty again. Again...ecstatic! Onto day 3...he started resisting a little more. He would sit on the potty but wouldn't go. I can't remember exactly, but I don't think he went a single time in the potty that day. I was beyond frustrated and even scared, because I knew Rob would be returning to work the next day and I would be all by myself. I prayed A LOT and went into day 4 {tuesday} feeling motivated to stay calm. It only lasted until about 10 am. The kid was completely resisting and cried every time I tried to stick him on the toilet. I called Rob for help. We decided to take a break. I was frustrated and we knew that he was probably frustrated so we stopped. I stuck him back in a diaper and didn't mention the p word to him for few days.

I felt like a total failure! I didn't want to give in, but I also didn't want to scar the poor kid and have him be completely scared of the toilet. I also didn't have a clue of when to reintroduce it. I wanted to get him trained before his birthday, because starting in March I will be watching my friend's adorable little girl. The thought of training him while watching a newborn completely overwhelmed me. Ugh...what was I supposed to do? My mom kept telling me that he would do it on his own time, and of course I didn't want to listen. I like things done when and how I want. I finally decided to leave it alone.

On Saturday, just four days after I put him back in diapers, Rob and I went out with some friends and left the boys with our fabulous friend Nicole, aka Nikki. We came home that night and Nikki had told us she got Beckett to sit on the potty and he went for her. I was excited but also thought it was just a fluke. Then on Sunday shortly after he got up, Beckett said he needed to go potty and to our surprise he went in the bathroom and went POTTY! We couldn't believe it! I was so happy, but also didn't want to get my hopes up, so we continued to keep a diaper on him. We went to church and Beckett told me twice that he needed to go potty so I took him but nothing. Then during Sunday school I was taking the roll to the nursery when his teacher walked out and told me Beckett was in the bathroom with his diaper off. I walked in and asked him if he went and he answered "yeah mom, I goed!" I completely believed him. He is quite honest when it comes to going to the bathroom. He either says, "yeah I goed", or "no, I just sat on it". After church I checked his diaper and it was completely dry! He continued going to the bathroom through out the rest of the day. Rob and I couldn't believe it! Was it really going to be this easy the second time around? I texted Nikki and thanked her! I don't know what she did to ignite a fire in him, but it worked!

We are on day 3 of no accidents...{so far}! GO BECKETT!

I couldn't be more proud!

So long 2010...HELLO 2011!!!

2011-01-06T17:45:00.000-08:00

We had a fantastic New Year's Eve and New Year's! I was so excited to say goodbye to 2010. It wasn't the best year for us and I have high hopes that 2011 will be a great year for our family. We celebrated New Year's Eve with some of my family. My brother TJ and his wife Lynette invited us over for dinner and games. We had a ton of fun! We were a little worried about how the boys would do staying up so late, but they did awesome! My nephew Jacob has every toy an 8 yr old (or 4 and 2 yr old) could ever want, and they boys were in heaven! We hardly heard from them the entire night. It was fun to hang out with some of my siblings, as well as my nieces and nephews. We started off with yummy Cafe Rio and then played games the rest of the night. We shared a lot of laughs and even learned a couple of new terms of endearment { aka Round Bottom :) }. Thanks again to TJ and Lynette for hosting the fun little shindig!

Here are some random pictures from the night:

{ How cute! Hobby shares a pre-new year's kiss!}

{My cute nieces}

{Beckett and licorice were inseparable that night}

{ me and roberto }

{ the lil' boys giving me their silly faces }

{ mindy and brady }

{ lynette and the serial killer }

Then, New Year's Day started off with a bang! We met up with our friends at The Incredible Pizza Co. We have been wanting to check it out for a while and we are really glad we did. They have go karts, mini golf, mini bowling, laser tag, bumper cars, arcade games, and a pretty intense pizza, pasta, and much more buffet! Somehow our friend Jonny found out about an incredible {secret} deal they were having. We were able to get unlimited everything {including food} for $10 a person! Best part? The guy didn't make us pay for the boys, so we got our whole family in for $20 bucks! We had a blast! We played all day long and definitely got our money's worth. The boys keep begging to go back.

{Beckett was so excited to be there}

{making silly faces while waiting in line to race}

{Wesley and Rob in their go kart}

{ Black Light Mini Golf}

{How cute are they?}

{Mini Bowling}

This was probably my favorite thing to watch the boys do. Beckett was so cute on every turn. He would throw it down, wait, and then jump if he hit any balls. I included a video so you could see for yourself. Here are some pictures to illustrate his technique.

Below are two cute videos of the boys bowling. Rob recorded them sideways and I can't figure out how to rotate them. So just tilt your head a little sideways :)

What a fun way to kick off the new year! We can't wait to go back.

Christmas Day 2010

2011-01-02T17:19:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning was quite busy. The boys woke up at their usual time of 7 am! They were SO excited to find that Santa came and left them some presents. I had the video camera running while the boys opened up their presents and completely forgot to take any pictures with the camera :(. Beckett was so cute this year and squealed with every present. After we were done opening up presents at our house, we headed to Rob's parents for more present opening. The kids were being adorable! Especially our little nephew Yoshi! He was such a chatter box and loved having Rob read to him. Rob's parents were generous as always and we left with some great loot :)

The next stop was my sister Jenny's house for brunch. After the grub we opened up more presents and visited for a while. We even Skyped with my parents while they opened their gifts from us. We were missing them like crazy, and I'm pretty sure they were missing all of us as well! We were back at home and done with family stuff by 3pm that afternoon. That is a first for us. Normally we are go, go, go and never get back home until late in the evening. We decided to take advantage of the quiet afternoon and we layed down for some naps. It was delightful! After some much needed rest and a delicious dinner, we decided to take the boys to a movie. We went and saw Tangled and all four of us LOVED it! It was too cute! Afterwards we came home and it was straight to bed. The boys were exhausted from all the excitement. What a fun day!

This Christmas season was a real eye opener for me. I have never felt the true meaning of Christmas more in my life than I did this year. The Lord opened my eyes to all of the amazing tender mercies he gives to each one of us every day. Our family is extremely blessed to be surrounded by amazing family, friends, and neighbors! I honestly don't know what I would do without any of them. I was deeply touched by the service that was rendered to our family this year. I am grateful that my Father in Heaven has placed them in our lives. I am so grateful for the birth of our Savior! It really bothers me that Christmas has become so commercialized. Too many people focus on too many worldly things and it clouds our minds to what the Christmas season is all about. I made it a goal to also look toward Him during this time of year. He is the reason for the season and I hope and pray we will never forget that! A special thanks to all of those that made this Christmas special for our family {you know who you are!}.

Here is our Christmas day in pictures:

{Christmas morning at the Smith's}

{Christmas afternoon with the Beck's}

Christmas Eve 2010

2011-01-01T18:58:00.001-08:00

{Our Family}

We had a very merry Christmas this year! It was definitely different then in years past, but merry none the less! Up until a few weeks before Christmas, I was honestly considering cancelling the holiday all together. Due to our circumstances, the stress had put me in a 'Bah Humbug' mood. Luckily, a few weeks before Christmas we were given a couple of the best presents {ever!}, and it changed my attitude completely. The #1 present being Rob's job offer. What a HUGE blessing! I honestly cried tears of joy when he got the call. The Lord has truly blessed our family and for that we are grateful! Although we started our Christmas shopping extremely late, we were still able to finish everything on time.

This year a few of our normal traditions were tweaked a little bit due to my parents being gone. We still spent Christmas Eve at my grandparents house with the Rigby side. We had a great time as usual. We ate yummy food, visited with family, and the boys both got to open a present from their cousins.

{My sister Jenny and her family}

{Wesley played photographer for part of the night. Aren't we attractive?}

{My cute nieces singing Christmas songs, and my even cuter Grandma in the background}

The video below is extremely precious! My grandma suffers from dimensia and rarely remembers who any of us are. She has good days and bad days. Christmas Eve was a good day. She stayed out in the living room almost the whole night, and we even got her to sing "Jingle Bells" for us. I apologize for the horrible quality of the video. I was too far away :(. My cousin Eliza is singing with her, but if you listen closely you can hear my sweet Grandma.

{The kids being silly}

{opening presents}

Before it got too late, we decided to head home and prepare for Santa to come. The boys opened their Christmas pjs, video chatted with my parents, set out the cookies, and even put food out for Santa's reindeer. Luckily the boys weren't too excited and they went to bed quite easily!

If you aren't too bored yet...stay tuned for Christmas Day!

ZOO LIGHTS!

2010-12-19T20:04:00.000-08:00

A week or so ago we went with our good friends to Zoo Lights to celebrate Rob's new job! We have made it a family tradition to go see the lights at the zoo and I think this was our third year in a row! The boys loved it as always.

So excited to go in!

Say Cheese!

I love that most of the lights are animated!

Wesley, Carter, and Beckett

Beckett pouting

No more pictures Mom!

Cute Max

Beckett and Me

Wes the goofball

Checking out the animals

Jess and Carter

I don't think Wesley can ever give me a normal smile

The Hubs and I

I'm so glad we were able to keep the tradition going this year. It was great to finally get out and do something Christmasy with the boys.

Thanksgiving!

2010-12-03T14:46:00.000-08:00

We had a GREAT Thanksgiving this year! It was a little different than we are used to, but it was a great day spent with our wonderful family and friends! I kicked off the day early with the Human Race 10k. It was FREEZING! My car said 5 degrees when I pulled up to the race. BRRRRRRR! I don't think I have ever been so cold during a run before. My best friend {and favorite running partner} Jessica came down to run it with me! {Thanks again Jess!}

Me and Jess before the race

Our good friends Mike and Trisha joined in the fun as well!

I was in charge of bringing rolls to the Smith's this year. I decided to make my Mom's delicious homemade rolls. It's not Thanksgiving in my book without them! This was my first time making them {my Mom has ALWAYS made them in the past}, and it was a complete disaster in the beginning! My Mom accidentally left out a key ingredient when she emailed me the recipe. Luckily it was an easy fix, it just took twice as long to make them. They turned out perfect though. Aren't they pretty?

My siblings also volunteered me to make my Mom's cream pies...PANSIES! None of them dared to try and since I have made them before, it was automatically my job. They turned out beautifully as well!

3 out of the 5 pies that I ended up making

We ate dinner that day with Rob's family and our good friend Mike came along. The food was delicious and the company was even better! Every year we put together hygiene and school kits for the church's Humanitarian Center. I think it's a great tradition and an even better way of showing gratitude for all that we've been given. After we put the kits together, the kids put on some Thanksgiving costumes and Rob's brother David read a cute Thanksgiving story.

Beckett the Indian

All the kiddos with Dave

Wesley the Pilgram {not really sure what the baton was for?}

Yoshi, Grandpa Smith, Rob, and Beckett

Everyone watching Rob and Dave play their annual piano duets

Thanks again to the Smiths for a fabulous Thanksgiving! After dinner we headed to my grandparents house to eat pie with the Rigby family. It was a good time as always and it was fun to visit with my grandparents, aunts and uncles, and Jen's family.

We tried to get a picture of our little family, but the boys weren't really cooperating.

Ok, maybe I was the problem in this picture.

Seriously?!?!

almost there...

This is the best we got :)

Wesley ended up getting a wedgie for not cooperating!

We definitely missed having my parents here for Thanksgiving! It was the first time that I truly missed them since they left. It's comforting to know that my Mom will be back next year, cooking a mouth-watering meal that I can already taste! I know that a lot of people have been doing this, but I just wanted to list a few things that I am grateful for:

* My Family, I honestly don't know what I would do without them!

* My Husband...yes he gets his own line :)

* My amazing friends!

* a healthy body {and the healthy bodies of my family}

* Jesus Christ

* The Gospel

* The Scriptures

* Our warm house

* Trials - This is a big one!

* Diet Coke

* Hot showers

* Our cars

* In-n-out

* Dunford Donuts

Although this past year has definitely been difficult, I have truly seen the tender mercies of the Lord. He has truly blessed our lives and I am grateful for that! I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving as well!

Mission Blog

2010-11-18T16:03:00.000-08:00

My parents decided to start a blog to document their mission adventures. If anyone is interested in checking it out, click here. So far, they are loving Chicago and the work they are doing. We are missing them like crazy, but know they are doing the right thing! They have a pretty flexible schedule and have some free time...for now. We get to text and talk to them as often as we would like. The boys love to Skype with them and talk face to face. I can't believe they have already been there for almost 3 weeks! Just 49 more to go :)

Halloween Festivities

2010-11-04T10:03:00.000-07:00

I absolutely LOVE Halloween! It is one of my absolute favorite holidays! I don't know what it is, but it makes me giddy inside. Bummer thing is that my husband is the complete opposite, and I usually have to pull his teeth to dress up or even participate in the activities. Our festivities started on Friday with a costume party at the Potter's. We had a great time as always!

Rob and I decided to dress up as my parents this year. I was fortunate enough to snag my Mom's gold cruise dress from the yard sale that we had a couple of months ago. A lightning bolt hit me a couple of days later and I knew that Rob and I had to dress up as my parents. The costumes couldn't have been more perfect!

The inspiration behind the costumes

The final ensemble!

I loved how everything turned out!

On Saturday I made my Mom's famous chili. It is a tradition in my family to eat chili on Halloween. Since my mom was gone this year, I decided to make it for the first time. It turned out delicious! We ended up eating with my sister's family before heading out trick-or-treating. My niece Kendra is such a good sport and tags along with us every year.

The rain started pouring that night the minute we started eating dinner. To say I was a little upset is an understatement! Lucky for us, shortly after we finished eating the rain let up a little and we decided it was now or never. It continued to sprinkle the whole time we were out, but it wasn't too bad. The boys had so much fun! They ran from house to house and couldn't get enough of it! It made my heart happy!

After trick-or-treating we made our usual stops at my Grandparents house and at Rob's parents house.

My cute nieces

Savanah and Jacob

When we got home, we were even lucky enough to Skype with my parents before taking off our costumes. It was weird not having them here. My mom is also a huge fan of Halloween! I think that's where I get it from. After talking to them, it was rough to get the boys calmed down. They definitely had a sugar high! All in all, it was a GREAT Halloween!

Gardner Village

2010-11-04T09:05:00.000-07:00

Last week Wesley's Preschool class went on a field trip to Gardner Village to see the witches. Beckett and I were lucky enough to tag along. They even got to dress up in their costumes for the afternoon.

My little Spidey and Superman

Gardner Village has a Witch Scavenger Hunt that you can do. You have to walk around and find all the witches on the sheet and then the bakery gives you a cookie. The kids did it and had a blast!

Wesley's class

Peter Parker

Eating cookies...Yum!

Pumpkin Carving

2010-11-04T07:27:00.000-07:00

Every year during the week of Halloween we spend our family night carving pumpkins. The year of Wesley's first Halloween, our friends invited us over to their house and we ate one of Papa Murphy's Jack-o-lantern Pizzas while carving. I thought it was such a cute idea that I decided to keep it a tradition. So every year we carve pumpkins and eat pumpkin pizza! This year we decided to include Rob's parents in the fun. They actually grew pumpkins for the boys in their own garden, so we had to go there anyways to pick them out. We had such a great time!

Dinner

Beckett with his pumpkin

I was so proud of the boys for scooping out their own pumpkins this year. Normally Wesley won't go near the goop!

Rob helping Wesley get the last few seeds out.

Beckett kept saying "Eeeewwwww! Gross!"

Rob and Beckett with his finished pumpkin

Wesley practicing drawing spiders for his pumpkin

Beckett and Me

The Finished Products:

{From L to R: Wesley's, Rob's, Beckett's, Mine}

Rob's Birthday

2010-11-03T09:49:00.000-07:00

I am still playing catch up! Blogger likes to give me a headache any time I try and post. It has seriously taken me over a week to upload the pictures for this post! Tonight it was cooperating and I was able to upload pictures for the next 3-4 posts as well! So, check back because there will be a few about Halloween.

Back in September we celebrated the birthday of the love of my life! We didn't do too much to celebrate, but his birthday was extra special this year because my parents opened up their mission call that night. We started off the festivities at Chili's for dinner with my fam.

The Birthday Boy and Yours Truly

Mindy and Brady

Ty Ty and Wes

Jen and Brady

{Sorry the picture is such bad quality!}

Kendra and the Beckett Man

After dinner we headed over to Leatherby's for dessert. We would have just stayed at Chili's to open the call, but Brady had to head to work. So we needed to be somewhere in his jurisdiction so he could be there.

Hobby

The Folks with their unopened call

Waiting around...

...more waiting

Cute Savanah

And FINALLY...

It's CHICAGO!

I think my parents were really excited for Chicago to be it!

Update:

{Since I am the slowest blogger ever!}

Since they opened their call, they have already had their farewell, been through the MTC, driven over 1400 miles, moved into their tiny apartment, and began their mission as of today! I am so excited for them to experience this new adventure. I can't wait to hear all of their stories. They have only been gone a week, but I miss them already! Good luck Mom and Dad!

Rotten Rigby Reunion

2010-10-19T13:03:00.000-07:00

I'm a little behind in blogging, so I'm trying to play catch up. Back in August, we had the 2nd Annual Rigby Family Reunion. We decided to kick off the reunion at Lagoon and then head up to Bear Lake for the rest of the weekend. I apologize for the million pictures that I posted. I finally figured out how to make a collage (I'm kind of technology retarded), when I was almost done uploading the pictures. So, I only made a collage of the Lagoon pictures.

My boys had a blast having my Mom and Dad at Lagoon with us.

Beckett got a little sick at Lagoon.. He kept crying and complaining about his tummy, but luckily after a little cat nap he perked up and felt a lot better.

The next day everyone headed up to the lake. We spent the next few days hanging out, eating, boating, playing games, and eating some more. It wouldn't be a Rigby Reunion without

delicious food!

Matt and Emily

(they recently got engaged! We are so excited!)

Baby E and Beautiful Miss K

Handsome R!

Lil' Cousins

Adorable Baby H

Biker Bryan taking a snooze

My nephew Tyson

The Hubs and I on the boat

(Can you tell why I love this place so much? So beautiful!)

Miss A and Little S

(The Hubs, Miss A, and Spaz)

Showing off on the tube

About to be dumped...

...the deed is done!

All the kiddos lined up for the treasure hunt

The girls

Water Games

The kids playing my favorite game, Human Foosball! We didn't get any pictures of the adults playing...not sure why.

Hobby

Our little family in our reunion shirts. The shirts were one of my favorite things about the reunion! We took a huge group photo in them. The front said, The Rotten Rigby Family Reunion, and the back said...

This Stinks! Why am I here?

The inspiration behind the shirts...my Grandpa! He is one of the funniest guys I know, but can be quite grumpy. "This stinks! Why am I here?" is something he would definitely say!

Beckett throwing a tantrum

Lil' L with a popped bubble on his head :)

Savanah and Lynette

Vanna White and the Spaz during the auction

We had a ton of fun and can't wait until next year! Thanks to everyone who made it a huge success!

Little Bugs Preschool

2010-10-10T17:18:00.000-07:00

Our Little Man on his first day of school

Last week was Wesley's first week of Preschool! I can't believe he is already in his second year, and next year he'll be attending Kindergarten! Time flies by so quickly! This year I decided not to send him back to his first Preschool and switched him to one that my neighbor does out of her house. There were a couple of things that appealed to me, one being that the 4 yr olds went for 3 days instead of 2, and the second being that Miss Ammber lives right down the street! I get to walk him to school every day and I'm really enjoying the one on one time with him!

Wesley is so excited to be in school again! That goes for me too :). Wesley truly has a love for learning. He has been obsessed with writing his name recently, and he has gotten really good at writing a lot of other letters and numbers. I am so proud of the improvements he has made over the past year. He is a little smarty pants, if I do say so myself! One thing that I really want to improve on is working with him after school. Last year he wouldn't really talk about what he learned at school. This year (although he's only gone for a week), we talk about all the things he learned about on our walk home. He is retaining a lot more than he did last year and I can't wait for him to start reading!

Lately,Wesley is looking so much older to me!

Wes the Goofball

Final Day: Wailua Falls and Wiamea Canyon

2010-10-07T11:56:00.000-07:00

I bet most of you are sick and tired of reading about our trip. Well...this is the last post! We kept our last day pretty laid back. We spent the morning packing, checked out of our hotel, then hit the road. Our first stop was Wailua Falls. They were only a few miles from our hotel, so we decided to stop on our way to Wiamea Canyon. Most waterfalls on Kauai are only accessible by helicopter, or are located on private land. These falls were located right off the road and there was no hiking involved (definitely a plus!). The falls were gorgeous!

You can't really tell in the pictures, but the falls actually drop in three different segments, not just two.

I don't know why it looks like I have no eyebrows in this picture!

After the falls, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed towards Waimea Canyon. The drive over to the south shore is a little bizarre. The scenery goes from lush and green, to dry and red! When we first entered the canyon, I thought we had been time warped to southern Utah!

The red dirt and dry trees reminded me of my college days.

Waimea Canyon has been described (I think by Mark Twain) as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. And from looking at the pictures you can see why!

Us at one of the lookouts

The Canyon looks a lot like the Grand Canyon, the only difference is that Waimea is

smaller and a bit greener.

The wild chickens in Hawaii crack me up! They are EVERYWHERE!

We stopped at a lookout point that looked in the opposite direction of the canyon. In the distance you can see the island of Niihau. It is the smallest inhabited Hawaiian Island. It is privately owned, and a small native Hawaiian population of about 150-200 live there. We did some research on the island while we were there and discovered that the Robinson family owns it. Rob's family owns property in Hawaii and their name happens to be Robinson. We are still looking into it to find out if it is Rob's relatives that own the island, or some other Robinson Family :)

After looking at all there was to see in the Canyon, we decided to grab a Hawaiian Ice and head back to the East Shore. It was amazing once again to notice the climate change. When we left Waimea Canyon, the temperature gauge in our car said 91 degrees, and it was a dry heat! By the time we hit the southeast side by Poipu, the temperature had dropped to 79 and you could feel the moisture in the air. So bizarre!

As you can see, I was a little bored on the drive back. I had convertible hair the whole trip! Once we made it back to the East Shore, we stopped at Lydgate Beach to relax and kill some time. It was quite relaxing to watch the waves and catch up on some reading. Once the sun started going down we decided to go freshen up at our hotel and grab a quick bite before headed to the airport. We decided to grab dinner at our favorite little Hawaiian BBQ stand one last time...and it did not disappoint! Yum! I am craving some teriyaki beef just thinking about it!

Although we were sad to leave paradise, it was nice to come home! Rob and I were lucky and got a few extra days to relax before the boys got home. My parents had taken them up to Bear Lake for a short little trip. It was extremely nice to get unpacked and recover from jet lag before taking on the roll of a full time mom again! Thanks again to everyone that helped us with the boys and Shera while we were gone! And a special thanks to my wonderful husband for planning the whole trip! It was amazing! I love you babe!

Day 5: Koloa and Poipu Beach

2010-09-29T15:05:00.000-07:00

We woke up to another gorgeous morning on day 5 of our trip! Our plans for the day were to explore the South side of the island.

Waiting in the car for Rob who forgot to grab the sunscreen!

Rob giving me the stink eye because he forgot the sunscreen :)

Just a little bit of family history for you...Rob's Dad's side of the family is from Hawaii. His ancestry doesn't start in Hawaii, but his Great Great Great Grandpa, James W. Smith, moved to Hawaii in 1842 as a Christian Missionary and Doctor. He and his wife settled on the island of Kauai in the town of Koloa. James Smith was the main doctor on the island for many years. There is even a book written about his legacy.

While in Kauai, Rob and I really wanted to visit the family history sites that are still there. The main one is the Koloa Missionary Church. The church is actually located in one of James W. Smith previous homes. Below is a picture of a plaque they have posted on the church's property.

Rob in front of the church.

Below is a picture of a small cemetery that we were told held grave sites of some of Rob's ancestors. After spending an hour driving around, making sure we were at the right cemetery, and searching every headstone, we still didn't find any Smith relatives :(

After getting a little frustrated, we decided it was time to feed the hungry monster (me!). We were planning on spending the rest of the day at Poipu beach, so we headed in that direction to find a place to eat. We stumbled upon an oceanfront grill and decided to eat there. The food was pretty good and the views were spectacular!

Next stop was Poipu Beach! Poipu was pretty crowded compared to the beaches on the north shore, but we heard it was a great snorkeling spot, so we decided to check it out. After my first snorkeling incident, I wasn't too excited to get in the water, but I decided try it out. We had spent money on snorkel gear, and I didn't want it to go to waste. Poipu turned out to be a much better snorkeling spot than Ke'e! We saw a ton of really cool fish and I didn't feel claustrophobic at all!

Poipu Beach

After a couple of hours at Poipu, we decided to head down the beach a little bit to Brennecke's Beach. It was a better spot for boogie boarding, which is Rob's favorite thing to do. The waves at this beach were a lot bigger than the ones on the North Shore. I was really hesitant to get in the water, but Rob finally talked me into it. I mainly went out because Rob told me there was a huge sea turtle that kept making an appearance out in the water, and I've never seen one in person. Swimming in the ocean really makes me nervous. I'm not a very good swimmer and I hate how unpredictable the waves and currents are. The waves were a little too big for my liking at this beach, but with Rob's help I caught a couple of good waves. Then we had a little incident were Rob tried to drowned me, which caused an embarrassing swimsuit malfunction, so I decided to cut my boogie boarding short and go back to my book on the beach. Rob came in a shortly after and broke the news that I had missed the turtle once again!

Rob (with the red boogie board)

We decided to make one last beach stop before heading back for the day. We hit Shipwreck's Beach, which is nicknamed that because of an old wooden shipwreck that was found there, but was washed out to sea in the 1980's. This beach is most famous for the cliff (which is pictured below) which Harrison Ford and Anne Heche jumped off in the movie Six Days and Seven Nights.

This little beach had enormous waves that Rob enjoyed swimming in, while I sat on the beach and watched a couple of small weddings take place.

Wedding

Another shot of the cliff

While I waited for Rob, I started noticing all of these little holes popping up every where around me. Out of the holes popped up tiny little sand crabs! To be honest, I was a little freaked out! I had never seen these little creatures before and they were all around me! Lucky for me, they were really scared of me and any movement I made, they were immediately back in their holes.

This is the best picture I could get of the fast little buggers!

I took this picture on our way back to our hotel. It's blurry, but I kind of like it.

We were starving by the time we got back to our hotel and decided to get a burger from one of our favorite locals joints we had discovered. They had the best onion rings I have ever tasted! I think we stopped and got an onion ring fix at least once a day! Their burgers were pretty good, but in my opinion they didn't even compare to In-n-out!

Rob is so excited for his burger and rings!

I thought this sign was pretty funny!

Day 4: Hike to Hanakapiai Falls

2010-09-18T20:23:00.000-07:00

This day was probably my favorite day of the whole trip! We had researched hikes before we left for Hawaii, and this one caught our eye. The hike was 8 miles round trip and was described as strenuous. We knew it would probably be a little difficult, and would take up most of the day, but we decided to do it anyways! We got an early start and hit the trail around 9am. The first two miles weren't too bad, just muddy in places.

This was the most beautiful hike I've ever been on! The scenery was AMAZING!

At mile 2 you cross a river and end up on a tiny, but beautiful secluded beach. Rob and I decided it would be a great place to stop and eat lunch. It was truly breath taking! I know I've said that a lot about this trip, but the ocean views were amazing!

After lunch snapshot

While eating lunch, this wild cat came up and hung out right at our feet. So random!

You should be shocked that I'm posting this picture of this spider. I can barely even look at it. I have a huge case of arachnophobia! I can't stand spiders! While waiting for Rob to use the port-o-potty, I saw this huge web with this freaky looking spider on it. This spider was HUGE! I am so glad we don't have these kind of spiders in Utah. When I pointed it out to Rob, he had to take a picture of it. It honestly gives me nightmares!

The final 2 miles up to the falls were extremely muddy and slippery! Plus we had to cross the river 2-3 more times. Our shoes and legs were covered in red mud!

There were a couple of patches of bamboo along the trail. It was a little creepy because when the wind blew they would creak and crack and I kept thinking something was moving around in them. Rob took a stick and decided to play the bamboo. It sounded really cool! Leave it up to my husband to find music ANYWHERE.

I love the trees in Hawaii! They are so cool.

We had about a quarter of a mile to go, but we could finally see the falls. These falls weren't very full, but they were about 300 ft tall!

There was a small pool at the bottom that you were allowed to swim in, but we decided to pass. While reading up on these falls, it cautioned people not to swim in the pool if you had any open cuts because of the bacteria in the water. Both Rob and I had cuts, so we decided to play things safe.

After resting for a bit, we decided to head back. I was not looking forward to the 4 more miles we had to hike to get back to our car!

The two miles back to the beach weren't too bad. I even snapped this cool picture before crossing the river. This is where the hike got a bit difficult. It was now around 2pm and hotter than ever! The last two miles were 75% uphill and in direct sunlight. Our legs were extremely tired, but we continued on. Even though it was the same trail we took earlier that day, it felt twice as hard! I almost cried tears of joy when we saw the parking lot. Although it was tiring, we were extremely glad we did the hike! It was a major highlight of the trip for both of us!

Once we got back to the trail head, we hosed off from the waste down and headed back to our hotel. We then showered and hit the town! Rob and I had spotted a steakhouse earlier on in the week and decided we would treat ourselves to a big meal. Heck! We deserved it...we hiked 6 freaking hours that day! I even treated myself to a delicious Guava Mango Daiquiri. I think I ate more that night than the whole week in Hawaii. It was SOOOOOO good! Or maybe I was just starving. Who knows?

Out on the town!

That's right girls, he's all mine! :)

All in all...in was a fabulous day!

Kaua'i Day 3

2010-09-14T20:39:00.000-07:00

Day 3

We woke up bright and early at 6:30...AGAIN! We decided to start the day off with a run along the beach. This was one thing I really wanted to do while we were there, and the day before we had found a really cool trail that went right along the beach. The scenery was breathtaking!

I do have to say if we ever move to Hawaii, I would have to transition to a treadmill runner. It was so stinkin HOT!!! I wanted die.

On our way back to the hotel, it started raining. We had the top down in the car and decided to keep it down. While everyone else was pulling over and putting their tops up, we welcomed the refreshing rain! It felt fabulous after our hot workout. It poured for another hour or so, and had stopped just in time for us to head out for the day.

Hawaii even graced us with a rainbow!

Our first stop was to rent a boogie board and snorkel gear. Then it was off to the North shore once again! The drive that morning was even more breathtaking than the day before! The rain had produced multiple waterfalls on the mountains. It was gorgeous!

This is what the mountain looked like on our first day on the North Shore. If you look closely, you can see a tiny waterfall near the top.

This is what it looked like the next day after the rain. You might have to click and enlarge it to see all the waterfalls.

After boogie boarding in Hanalei Bay for an hour or so, we grabbed some lunch and a scrumptious Hawaiian Shaved Ice!

Have you ever had an authentic Hawaiian Shaved Ice???

They are to die for!

Next on our agenda was snorkeling at Ke'e Beach. This was my first time snorkeling in years! I think I have only ever snorkeled one other time in my life. I was a little nervous but excited.

All ready to go! Attractive huh?

The reef on this beach was only a couple of feet under the water. Shortly after getting in the water I started feeling really claustrophobic. I also kept getting water in my mask that would sit at the base of my nose. I finally had to knee on the coral to adjust my mask (BTW, I know you aren't suppose to touch, kneel, or stand on reefs, but I had no choice! I was about to drown!). It felt like kneeling on rocks! I wasn't really enjoying my snorkeling experience, so I decided to head in. Rob stayed out for a little while longer. While sitting on the beach drying, I looked down at my knee and noticed it was gushing blood! The stupid coral had cut my knee! Me, being super unprepared like always, had zero band-aids and nothing to clean my wound with. I ended up asking the people next to me if they had a band-aid. They not only had a band-aid, but they had anti-bacterial wipes, neosporin (sp?), and band-aids! Lucky for me, they were SUPER DUPER prepared! After Rob finished snorkeling, we decided it was late enough that we would stay and see the sunset. To kill some time we did a little exploring around the area...

This was a cool cave filled with water

The beach was lined with these trees that had massive root systems!

This tree was practically knocked over, but the roots kept it from falling completely over!

So cool!

I LOVE Hawaiian sunsets!

So Gorgeous!

Luckily the sun sets early in Hawaii (around 6:45), because we were starving! It was the perfect ending to another perfect day in Paradise!

Kaua'i - Days 1 & 2

2010-09-12T18:56:00.000-07:00

Most of you know that Rob and I just returned from an amazing vacation to Kauai. Rob surprised me with the trip for our anniversary back in June and we've been counting down the days, minutes, and seconds until the trip finally came. We were so excited for a break from everything and it was EXACTLY what we needed. I'm going to post our vacation a couple of days at a time. Since I use our blog as my journal, I want to document our trip in detail. So, if you don't want to be bored with all the little details you can skim through and just look at the pictures.

Day 1

We left for beautiful Kauai last Sunday morning. The flight was extremely long for my liking, but we finally arrived in paradise.

On the plane, unable to contain our excitement anymore!

We picked up our rental car (a sweet Mustang convertible), and headed to our hotel. Our hotel was a quiet cozy little place on the East shore. We got checked in and did a little exploring.

On the beach in front of our hotel

Our sweet ride

We then headed to the Coconut Marketplace (which was conveniently located right next to our hotel) and picked up some Hawaiian BBQ. We decided to take it to go and ended up enjoying our meal on the beach. The food was AMAZING and reminded us of our favorite restaurant in Cedar City. After dinner we headed up to our room and hit the sack.

Day 2

So much for sleeping in...we woke up the next morning at 6:30 am! I was awakened by the lovely birds singing outside our room. We decided to get up and head out for the day. Our first stop...Wally World! That's right, they even have Walmarts in paradise. We decided to save a little money on food by buying some breakfast stuff at the store. I don't know how much money we really saved, because we spent $3.73 on a HALF gallon of milk! Yikes! After we dropped off the groceries back at our hotel, we decided to head over to the North Shore to check it out. Turns out...it was my favorite spot on the island!

Look at that scenery! I was in awe of the beautiful green peaks.

We researched some of the beaches on an amazing website, and decided on Hanalei Bay for our first beach stop. It was gorgeous! It wasn't crowded at all, which was quite surprising since it was Labor Day. We spent a couple of hours there relaxing, reading, and body surfing in the waves.

Hanalei Bay

This is overlooking the Hanalei Valley

After grabbing some lunch, we decided to do a little beach hopping. We headed over to Anini Beach, but shortly after scoping it out, we decided to head back to Hanalei Bay. Anini was extremely crowded, the sand wasn't smooth, the wind was blowing like crazy, and it wasn't great swimming conditions. So, we headed back to Hanalei and spent a couple more hours baking in the sun. We then headed west again and ended up at "the end of the road." On Kauai, there isn't a road that takes you all the way around the island. Kauai's famous Na Pali coast makes it impossible to get all the way around. You can only get to the Na Pali coast by air or water. Ke'e Beach is at the end of the road on the North side. We spent a short time there mainly scoping it out for the next day's activities. Again we were taken back by the amazing green mountain back drop.

Ke'e Beach

We had a long drive back to our hotel so after a short walk around Ke'e, we decided to call it a day and head back for some grub. We were kind of pathetic on the trip. We had a hard time adjusting to the time change, so we were in bed by 9pm every night and up at 6:30. It didn't really bother us though. Everything we wanted to do was during the day, and the sun went down before 7pm, so it was nice to get an early start every morning.

Where have we been all summer?

2010-08-09T08:49:00.000-07:00

Playing at LaGoOn!!!

I talked Rob into letting us get Lagoon season passes this year, and boy have we gotten our money's worth! For the exception of a week or two, we have spent at least one day a week (sometimes more!) soaking up the sun at Lagoon-a-beach or getting queasy from riding all the rides! The boys have been completely spoiled! Especially since our good friends have passes too, so we have great company when we go as well! As we approach these last few weeks of summer, the boys and I will be extremely sad to see our lazy days at Lagoon come to an end!