Temple Square X 2

This December there were 2 trips to Temple Square.

First we wanted to go up as a family at the beginning of the month so it wouldn't be so crowded.

We decided to ask if anyone in Jim's family wanted to join us and after a few scheduling snags we made it.

 It was very nice and really no crowds.  

Unless you consider that we ate at The Pie on a Friday night - NOT smart!  

That is a very, very busy night there.  Let's just say that my line/order anxiety was pretty high.

 It was pretty cold and my poor Liam only had his hoodie I really did get him a coat shortly after this was taken.  And then it got really warm for December, of course.

 Liam and I went on the next Temple Square trip with my dad, Andrea, Jackie, and Stephen.

We were able to get seats for the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. 

We had pretty good seats too, just a couple rows behind President Packer.

 Thank goodness for electronic devises because we got there REALLY early so that we could get good seats.  We had at least 1 1/2 hours to kill before it started.  Do you see Liam not looking at the camera in the shot below because he's in the middle of a game?

Liam and Grandma P and Pie

I have been very close to my grandma my entire life.  My son, Liam, has also had the chance to spend a lot of time with her and I'm VERY grateful for that.  He used to walk to her house every single day after school for during all of elementary school.  He would wait there for me until I got there after teaching, and later just until I got there.

This year we had a little trouble with a jr high foods class.  The class before Liam's didn't have time to clean so they all just left.  When Liam's class came in there was a giant mess to clean before they could start.  Somehow, Liam and 2 other boys ended up doing pretty much all of the work and having no time to cook.  There was a misunderstanding - the teacher thought they wanted to clean and make their pies at home and the boys thought they had to clean.  Not sure how that dialogue actually went in class but whatever.

It turned out to be a great opportunity for Liam.  I took him over to my grandma's house and she taught him how to make a pie crust.  I stood there and watched so that I could learn too.  I just love that he was able to spend that time with her and to learn how to do it from his great grandma.  Not many people get to know their great grandparents very well.  We ended up being cheaters and buying an apple pie filling at the store because I didn't know how to make the filling and my grandma doesn't make apple pies from scratch either. Oh well, the assignment was done.  I told him next time to talk to the teacher a little more clearly.

It's Fall!

First, it's back to school time.  Both boys got to go this year.  Yay!  Liam's in 8th grade and Gavin is in preschool.  So glad Gavin gets to go.  Not because I want the time (although it's nice), it's because that child will not listen to or believe either of his parents!  The sound we say letters make are wrong.  How things work is wrong.  He'll believe his teacher though and is actually learning things!!

 Liam was able to earn his Life rank in Boy Scouts.  Now, we need a good Eagle project. 

The first two attempts were turned down.  Boo.  They really are a ton of work.

We better get moving and get this done!

 There were 3 dead trees in our yard (and one half dead).  So, we finally got them all cut down.  So glad.  And I have to say that the view from the deck is much better now that dead trees in the way.  Plus, look at all that free firewood for this winter.

 My dad was able to sing in a men's choir for the Priesthood session of General Conference this fall.  I'm so glad he had that experience.  He invited us up for the dress rehearsal since we girls wouldn't be watching him.  They sounded great.  

 Liam and Trev watching Grandpa Rick sing.

 Liam is in men's choir this year.  I'm so glad that he likes to sing.

He's planning on doing this choir again next year.  He does a great job and really sings.

 Gavin and I went with Jackie, Andrea, and Trey to the pumpkin patch at Vineyard Garden Center.  Fun fall tradition, but frustrating when they put a sign at the front of the maze telling you to find the treasure box in the "hidden room" in the maze.  Well, I'll tell you we looked for a long, long time and there was NO hidden room in that corn maze.  Seriously.  Poor Gavin didn't want to give up, but we couldn't be there all day.

 Jim's sister Roxanne hosted a fun Halloween cookie decorating party.  Yummy.  

Gavin made some great cookies for us.  Plenty of candy on top.

 We didn't get to go anywhere for Fall Break so I decided to take the boys up the canyon.  Unfortunately we were a couple weeks late for the really bright trees, but there were a few pretty ones left.  We grabbed lunch (at our favorite Taco Amigo) and ate at Vivian Park.  Then we started up the Alpine loop.

 Gavin collected leaves and Liam took some pictures for his photo class.

 And then it was pumpkin carving time, an activity I really don't like. I like having the tradition, I like going to pick pumpkins, I like them on our porch, but I hate the goo. It makes my arms red and itchy.  I guess it's worth it for the yummy roasted seeds though.

 And it's Halloween.  Half the people thought Gavin was the Hulk (which is correct) and a quarter thought he was Green Lantern and the last quarter though he was a Ninja Turtle.  I guess I better do a better job on costumes next year.  Liam wouldn't trick or treat again this year.  I tried to convince him, but I guess his friends weren't going.  He was our door answerer and candy passer outer.

 Gavin thinks he's one of my scouts.  Actually, he thinks he's a scout leader. We took all the boys on a short hike (walk) to Bridal Veil Falls.  Gavin came and froze his hands trying to grab ice in the water.  Crazy.  I was going to put up a picture of the scouts, but one kid had his mouth open and full of trail mix in every shot!!  Boo to that kid.

 Oh my gosh!  Look at this, we are at the track by my house!  

Really, why am I not there every single day.

 And what would fall be without leaf clean up?

Gavin and I have had leaf duty.  Well, we just work on it during the day because it's warm.

We just have too many trees and way too many leaves to clean up.  

Finally, it looks like fall is ending and winter is coming.  

Gavin was up and out there very early this morning, in old short snow pants.  

I love snow and I love Christmas, but I hate cold and I hate icy roads.

Too bad I guess, here comes winter.

P.S. If it seems that I only have one child, it's because I have learned that 13 yr old boys do NOT want their picture taken and they do NOT want to go anywhere with their mom.  Rude.

My New Cooking Blog!

I have a new blog and I'm really excited to start it. I hope I can keep it going. I've found a ton of great recipes on Pinterest and a few recipe sites. I try them and then forget which ones I've made and if my family liked it. I'm going to attempt to keep track of the things I make and then share them. However, my main purpose for creating this blog is for myself. I've got to have a way to keep track. A common question at dinner time is "have we had this before?" and the answer is usually "no". There are just too many good recipes out there. I almost want to take a cooking class, but who has the money or time for that?? I've learned that I actually really like to cook! That's a new discovery and hopefully a welcome one.


Check it out!
http://momistryingtocookagain.blogspot.com/

Well, maybe give me a day or two to get started.

Dinosaurs for $2!

Every Tuesday in August the Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Museum

had $2 admission!!  So of course, it was packed.

Luckily, we went on the Tuesday after school started so the line

was only to the door and not around the building.

Andrea and Trey went with us this time.  See them in the back?

 First stop was the fun experiment room.  Gavin could have stayed there forever.

They have really cool hands on things for kids to try.

 This paleontologist has an AWESOME mustache!

 Posing with some old bones.

 Really, what color were they?

 

 Creating some new types of dinosaurs.

 Then there's the wet sand to dig in.

 

They really need more dinosaurs in the sand.  There were a few fights.

Luckily Gavin isn't a fighter, but gets his feelings hurt when kids take his dinosaurs. :(

I love Thanksgiving Point.  I wish it weren't so expensive so we could go more often. 

It was fun going with Andrea and Trey.  He's getting so big and could kind of enjoy it.

What was that holiday back in July that I forgot to document??

Yes, I'm still catching up.  I keep telling myself to do a better job with blogging

(or my online family journal of fun events), but I just don't do it!

This year we did the 4th of July with my dad's family.  They rarely get together so it was a good event.  So glad that almost everyone came.  Just missing one of my dad's brothers.

The funny thing is that my cousins are really the age of my kids. 

All the kids got to play and have fun.  We did dinner and sat around talking.

Then it was time for fireworks.  Hopefully our neighbors still liked us.

Gavin and my little cousin were due the same week (although she was born

almost a month before him).  I thought Gavin was tall, but I was wrong!

The next morning we did the Provo Freedom Festival Parade.

My aunt Pam and her family, my dad, sister Andrea and Trey met us

at our usual, wonderful spot in front of Bombay House.

The ice cream man conveniently parked his truck close to where we were sitting.

Fun times.

Summertime Recap 2011

Summer 2011 is gone.  Sad.  I LOVE summer.  I don't look forward to school starting.

I thought I'd put together a little highlight section to remind me what we did.

As I get older, I realize that time kind of blurs together. 

Good thing we have digital cameras!

Gavin made his own Angry Birds game.  Just in front of him is our strawberry patch.

The first half of the summer we really had a problem with birds eating our strawberries!

Gavin loved to chance them away when he could find them. 

Now the birds are gone and we are overloaded with strawberries!

 In June, we went to the Orem Summerfest Parade. 

Very nice weather and fun time, but we missed our Liam.

He was out of town during our traditional parade and fireworks.

 Gavin risked his life to get a lot of treats from the road.

Spent some time at the park next to our neighborhood school. 

Gavin liked visiting where he will go to kindergarten.

We did the slip and slide at my sister's house a couple of times.

The second time, Liam ended up getting a large scrape down his back.

We turn on the sprinkling system to get the most water on the slide, but he went off the slide

and right over a sprinkler head with his back!  OUCH!

We had the Utah County Pass of All Passes this year.

We spent a lot of time at Seven Peaks, as usual.

Jim and I attended the Pioneer Day Patriot Program

at the Conference Center with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir

The last week of July Liam went to Youth Conference with our ward

down in Bryce Canyon at Pine Lake Campground.  He had a good time. 

They did a really long bike ride and his bike ended up a little muddy.

 Jim's work had a party at Boondocks.  We got an unlimited pass and spent several hours playing.

It was really fun, they even provided dinner.  We rarely do things like this as a whole family. 

Liam's getting out of this bumper boat after getting SOAKED.  I was on for only a minute because a grown woman that I didn't know was after me trying to soak me.  Who does that??

Gavin did race cars with dad.

Gavin in the 4D Theater watching the Haunted Mine.

That was the first time I've been in one of those and they are crazy!

Well, I guess that Star Wars ride at Disneyland is like that, but I hate that ride.

Liam spending his tokens and avoiding his mom with the camera.

Jim and I celebrated our 6th anniversary in August.

My cousin did my hair - curls!  Not something you will normally see on my head.

We went to eat at Texas Roadhouse and then saw the new Planet of the Apes movie.

Excuse the blurry photo.  Liam is now in a digital photo class.

With our Pass of All Passes we got into Trafalga Lehi.

Gavin and Asher liked the airplanes.

Trevan and Liam avoided their moms.

Gavin on his first merry-go-round ride.

Our Stake has a summer party every year.  We had a big picnic at Scera Park

and then they rent out the pool from 8 to 10, a little late for tiny kids but oh well.

Liam went home for a neighborhood outdoor movie party.

Gavin braved the chilly air and wanted to swim.

Jim didn't feel great so I ended up in a swimming suit in front of everyone!

It was a fun, but pretty typical summer.  No vacation for us. 

Well, Liam got a vacation to Kentucky but the rest of us got to stick around Utah.

We did the Scera summer movie season again.

I miss summer.  I miss sleeping in.  I miss doing fun things.

But I also LOVE fall.  I can see the trees in the mountains are turning bright red.

Plus, it's just over a month until HALLOWEEN!