Soccer Ty

Tyler has not yet begun to crawl and is starting to get antsy. He wants to explore but can't yet. He got a hold of this soccer pillow thing and had fun with it. He was acting so goofy that I was laughing and had a hard time keeping it steady. Sorry, at least I kept pretty quiet though.

Hike, or Walk, in Logan Canyon

So my mom and Jarrod came up to Logan, mainly to get some boxes to take to California for our move soon but we had an eventful day with them. First we went on a hike in Logan Canyon near the Stokes Nature Center.

The edge of the trail drops straight into the Logan River. The water was crazy with all the rain we have received and we had to keep Kate from the side the entire hike, or . . . walk. Kate didn't want to go on a hike but would go on a walk. Tyler loved every minute of it. He was squealing and kicking like a mad man. I don't know if it was being on a walk or being outdoors. Maybe both.



Kate started locking up her knees and kept them straight. She looked like a robot. I didn't really get her doing it but she loves to act crazy all the time.

We had to park across the highway from the trailhead and we had to cross the highway. This is one of the stupidest things I have ever seen. I mean this is not some country road but a 50 MPH highway that is very curvy meaning that the car has very little time to see people crossing the road and we have very little time to see the car coming. And it isn't directly across the street but across and a ways down the road. We had Kate on Jarrod's shoulders to provide some safety. The sign for where the parking is can be seen just over Jarrod's shoulder. Craziness.




Then we went to the Center Street Grill. The food was good and the place was quiet. We got the kids home for naps and after we went to dinner with my aunt Cheryl, her son (my cousin) Mike, and his wife Amanda and son Graden to Cafe Sabor. It was really a lot of fun being with everyone and being able to chat with them. Though we should see them more often since we live so close to Mike and his family.

After that we went home and packed the car with as many boxes as we could (our home is really beginning to look empty) and my mom and brother were on their way back to Provo. Kate was in bed right before they left and my mom came up to wish her good night but I guess that Kate didn't say goodbye. Kate cried for a while when they left because she didn't get to say goodbye. We tried to comfort her by saying "Grandma will be back in 6 weeks." Well, Kate does not understand weeks fully and keeps asking every night if Grandma Mandy is coming tomorrow. She loves her Grandparents and I think bliss will be in a couple months when she can see them everyday.

Summerfest Logan Utah 09

So we tried to get together with our friend Delia and her kids but the Child Nap Gods were against us. We went once with them to the Noon Music at the Tabernacle where Delia took pictures and blogged about them. We tried to go again but Delia's kids fell asleep on the way over and then Kate was exhausted, needing a nap later so she wasn't able to go swimming with them. Naps dictate so much of a parents life. We saw the Banjo Man & Co., a bluegrass band. They were fun. On the faster songs, Kate was jumping around.

We ate a picnic lunch and coincidentally the Logan Summerfest was going on outside the Tabernacle. It was a lot of fun. There are several booths with all sorts of crafts and things on sale. Of particular note were a couple stores Jen was tempted to get things at and one that she fell to the temptation. We got some cotton candy for Kate, although I got a stomach ache being the one stuck holding the stuff.

The first we saw was Art Moms. They have cute little sayings on cute boards. The lady there was saying that it is impossible to get everything they have online but it is a pretty good representation on the site. I really like a couple sayings they had like, "Dad…someday I may find my prince charming…but you’ll always be my King." Or, "Dad…a son’s first hero… a daughter’s first love." Is it close to Father's Day or something?

The next booth of temptation was Winborg Sisters' Design, which sales on Etsy, and have a blog with their designs. They were a little pricey though, at least for a college family. But I think Jen liked them even more and would have bought some I think if we had the money.

The shop that Jen actually got something was at Cale and Co. I thought that the hats look silly but what do I know. Their site is all about the hats. Jen got a bag or purse thing though. I would call it a purse but it may be called something else for all I know about women's fashion. While Jen was deciding whether to buy it or not the kids started making it clear they were done.

Here is the purse.

Hayley's 1st Baby Shower

So after the Provo trip on a Thursday, we traveled to Ogden (not as far as Provo thank goodness) to go to Hayley's parents' home for Hayley's baby shower. The boys and kinda the kids went down in the basement and watched "Traitor" while the girls opened presents and did the shower thing. I got a good picture of my beautiful wife but Ty wasn't paying attention and another with Ty looking cute but it wasn't a good picture of Jen. My wife wins.


Here are the soon to be parents. Little do they know.


Tyler puckers his lips all the time, almost in a whistle form. In fact, he accidentally makes whistling sounds occasionally.


Try to imagine this picture with a JC Penny professional photo back drop and Tyler looking at the camera. That is the large picture we got of him. It was the best that we got of him and we laugh every time we look at it.


And he loves his thumb.


Kate like being with Josh and Hayley. She was excited to see them and I think it will be great to be living so close to them while Josh goes to school.


Congratulations guys. Best of luck.

Last Trip to Provo, from Logan

We have traveled several times it seems down to Provo from Logan. Well this will be the last time, except as we go through down to California. Jen's mom came up to help move Dan and Casi into their new apartment and my Grandparents were home for a little while from their permanent temporary stay in Florida. I feel very fortunate to have been able to be near them while at BYU and miss them while they are away and feel sad that I won't see them again for some time. We got this picture on the first try, the kids were so good.


We can't ever get a picture of Wes without Kate. Kate was yelling charge when I took this picture. Where do these kids pick this stuff up?


I got a few cute ones of Tyler too.



See his two teeth.


I loved this picture. Kate just wanted to hold Wes' hand.


Well, we did get any pictures of anyone else. It was a single day thing, I had a presentation the next day for class, so it was a busy whirlwind day. It is always worth it to see family though.

Katelynn Loves Makeup

The title says it all. She got a makeup kit with money she got for her birthday and puts makeup on all the time. One of the neighbor boys, Treg, thought it looked fun and joined in.

Kate is 3!

Katelynn is three years old. I have a daughter that is three. I feel very weird and old about that. Sometimes though I have a hard time remembering that she really is that young, while at other times she certainly acts her age. Here she is the night before her birthday one her last moments as a two year old.


She threatened to go down and open her presents before waking us up. Well we blew some pink balloons and put them on her room floor before going to bed. She woke up very worried and scared. We asked her what was wrong and she was scared from the balloons not having ribbon or stings tied on the ends. So there was no sneaking, just not the reaction we were expecting. So we came down and opened some presents. We tried to have them last but they lasted until 11 AM. We got her some kid scissors, along with a few other things I won't bore you with.


After her special pancake breakfast (that we have every Saturday) we went on a walk by the river near our home. There were several dandelion puffs that Kate like to blow.


Kate had to shift gears from being a two year old to being three.



Tyler liked the walk and Kate still stuck as a two year old.

The river is pretty deep and quick, so it is a little scary having Kate play on the bridge but she likes to throw flowers in the river and watch them.


Ty was out shortly after that. It was way past his bedtime.


Then we had to open more presents. The rest of them were begging to be opened.


Kate got this purple dress. To realize how much she liked it, look at the previous picture and take notice of what Kate is wearing. Then look at the picture after this one. Yeah, she liked it.


Jen (and I) got Kate some lined paper for Kate to write in.




Katelynn wanted to show off her dress.



After the presents we ate lunch and decorated the cake. Jen did the pink and then Kate did the purple. Then after Kate's nap we went to Chili's for dinner. They did an awesome job making Katelynn feel special. I was really impressed. The manager there gives all the kids that come a shake and Kate got a cake for her birthday. She was embarrassed when they sang to her though.



We sang to Kate happy birthday.

Then she decided that she should lick the cake, that she couldn't wait anymore for that yummy frosting. That's all she eats anyways. Don't worry, that was the piece she got.


Here is Kate being cute with all her presents.


Well I hope she had a good birthday. Jen did a great job planning and making the day extra special for Kate.

California Fun, Part 3

So after Palm Springs the family, minus me, were in California for one more week. The week was mostly in preparation for Dan and Casi's wedding open house. The Goldthorpe's came down for the open house.



The open house. Diane did a great job putting the whole thing together.


Beautiful bride and groom.





My parents took Kate to Chuck-E-Cheese for her birthday.


I think my dad and brother had more fun than Kate sometimes.


Kate was excited about her gift but the dresses seam came undone so my mom took it back and got a ballerina outfit. It just came in the mail and Kate everyday previous wanted to check the mail to see if it came. She was so excited.


Kate really seemed to like the tickets though. And the presents. Tyler didn't like the ride though.

The Barnes went to the Corona del Mar for a dinner picnic.



The LaPorte's came too. Elise and Phyllis posed for a few pictures.


The only way to get Anna to pose was for Dan to lift the chair she was in.


Sisters.