Lunch = $3, Splash Pad = Free, Co-Pay to Instacare = $20, A Day That We Won't Soon Forget = Priceless

Yes, I know it is the most random title ever...but that describes our day yesterday! We started the day out by heading up to my sister Ashlee's house for the day. Since we live over a hour apart, we don't get to see each other very much, so we decided to get together & let the kids play. It was a great day!

We started out the day by heading to the elementary school that Ashlee's kids will someday go to. They actually offer free lunch for all children everyday during the summer (adults pay $3.) Who said there's no such thing as a free lunch? It was actually pretty yummy...much better than the school lunch that I remember. We could choose Pizza from 5 Buck or an Uncrustable PB&J. Then we all got half an apple, a cup full of grapes, some carrots & ranch, chocolate milk, juice, and our choice of a chocolate chip cookie or rice krispy treat. My kids & I all ate for $3! You can't beat that! Connor thought it was pretty cool. He is so excited that he will be eating lunch at school this upcoming year when he starts 1st grade, so he considered it practice!

After lunch, we headed over to the Ogden Nature Park. They have a splash pad & park there. Everything is totally free! It is such a cute little place! We spent several hours there! The kids had a blast!

After the splash park, we headed back to Ashlee's house for awhile & then headed home. What a great day! So much fun!!!

I wish my post ended there, but it doesn't. I still have to get to the part about the $20 co-pay. Well, we went home & ate dinner. After dinner, Connor wanted to go ride his bike around the neighborhood with some of his friends. He put his helmet on his head, but apparently, he didn't feel he had enough time to put his shoes on his feet. One of the boys stopped his bike in front of Connor. Connor put on his breaks, but couldn't stop in time, so he put his feet on the ground to help him stop. Somehow, his toe got caught underneath the bike & this was the result...

If you can't tell by the picture, the toenail on his middle toe got ripped out from the nail bed. It was still attached at the top of this toe, but was ripped out from that point down. He came running in, leaving a trail of blood behind him. So off to the Instacare we went...


The doctor soaked it to get out all the road rash crap, then wrapped it up a little & took an x-ray. Luckily, it's not broken. We just have to keep it bandaged up for the next few weeks to hold the original toe nail on there as long as possible. The old toenail will help keep the skin underneath clean. Eventually, the old toenail will fall off, and then hopefully, another toenail will grow in. We'll see. Oh, and by the way, I've decided that I am going to buy myself a supply of suckers & stickers. They apparently make everything better...

What a day! --Lindsay

Happy 1st Birthday Cohen!!!

My little Coconut turned one-year-old yesterday!!! Oh my stars and gardens!!! Where did THAT year go?!? To celebrate the fact that his older brothers haven't mauled him to death yet, we held a little family barbecue and party last night.

We started the night out with our barbecue. Sorry no pictures here, but the food was delicious! Steaks in a garlic-yogurt marinade, polish sausages, hot dogs, pasta salad, potato salad, potato chips, corn-on-the-cob, etc. As you can probably tell, it was all VERY healthy! Haha!

After dinner, Cohen opened presents...


And, more presents...


And more presents...

He had a little help (as you can see) from his brothers and cousins...

But eventually, he got pretty good at doing it himself...

How could you not when you have all these presents to practice on...

And, the present unwrapping continued...

And continued some more...

Do you think this kid is spoiled or what???

So many presents...

But after awhile, I started to wonder why in the world we would all buy these presents when Cohen was happier playing with the wrapping paper than the actual gifts...

He obviously liked to EAT the wrapping paper too...

And, after all was said and done, he crawled away from all his presents and started playing with the TV remotes...

Eventually, he did end up playing with his presents. Well, ONE of his presents. This little shopping cart that Nana and Poppy gave him ended up being a big hit...

And, the big kids had fun playing with the other gifts that Cohen wasn't showing much interest in...

After opening presents, it was birthday cake time...

Cohen loved all the attention of everyone singing to him, but clearly had no clue what was going on...

And then, he blew out his birthday candle (with a little help)...

And then he proceeded to destroy his cake...he stuck his hand right into the middle of it!

After trying to claw his cake to death, he "ate" some. And by "ate," I mean "finger paint with the frosting." Here's the beginning picture...

Middle...

The end. Look at that face...

After a quick bath, he was shiny and clean again...

What a cutie! I just love him to death! He is a crack up! He has started crawling over the past month...first army crawling & then full on crawling & now cruising like a crazy maniac! He is also pulling himself up along tables, chairs, whatever he can find! And, he is getting his top 2 teeth too!

We went to his one-year-checkup today & the doctor thinks he's doing great! He's still just a little guy compared to the growth chart, but he's plugging along! Here's his stats...

Length: 28 1/2 inches (25%)

Weight: 18 lbs. 2 oz. (3%)

Head Circumference: 24 cm (10%)

So, I guess we won't be transferring him to a forward-facing car seat anytime soon! Haha!

Happy birthday Cocoa Bean! We love you to pieces! I seriously don't know where this past year has gone, but it has been one of the best years of my life! I love seeing your happy little smile. I love hearing you say "yeah" all day long. I love that you are a mama's boy. I love that when you wake up, you stand up in your crib and call for me ("Uh-ma...Uh-ma!") I love how much you love your brothers (despite the fact that they maul you to death most days.) I love how your face lights up when your daddy walks in the front door. I love how you will smile at complete strangers. And, I love your happy little laugh! You are just plain awesome! I don't know how we ever survived without you in our lives! Love you Nutter Butter! Thanks for being a part of our family! --Uh-ma

Pioneer Day '09

We headed up to Logan this year for our Pioneer Day festivities. We all met at my sister's (Kristin) house and then headed up the canyon a little way to First Dam for a barbecue. It's a place where the Logan River is dammed to create a little pond. The boys started their fun by throwing rocks into the water and then feeding the ducks & geese...


The food was delicious...hamburgers, hot dogs, brats, pasta salad, potato chips, etc...


The guys had brought some golf clubs and whiffle golf balls to chip around a little bit. Well, while the adults were chatting after lunch, the kids started playing with them. Connor was taking a swing at one of the balls & whacked his little cousin, Gavin, in the head with the golf club...split him clean open!!! Oh my goodness! That kid is so accident prone! Hum...wonder where he gets that from?!? Haha... Anyway, there was a nurse at the park & she told us that he was going to need stitches, so Ashlee & my parents rushed him off to the emergency room. Connor felt really bad about it. He cried on-and-off for the next 30 minutes. To get his mind off of the situation, everyone (minus Cohen & me) decided to go swimming in the pond. The water was freezing (what do you expect? It's snowmelt!) so they spent most their time on the shoreline...

Eventually, Dan & Mike got brave and decided to jump off a nearby bridge into the freezing water.

Once they did it, Connor & Aiden decided to give it a try. So Uncle Dan lowered them into the water to Mike...

They said it was FREEZING, but still really fun. I think they're just all NUTS-O! After jumping into the water, it didn't feel quite as cold to everyone anymore, so they decided to play a little more. While they played, Cohen took a nap under the shade of the pavilion...

About this point, Ashlee, Gavin & my parents returned from the hospital...not with stitches...but with staples. Sorry Gavin! All the little boys thought it was pretty cool that Gavin had STAPLES in his head!

Once we had all had enough of the July heat, we headed back to Kristin & Dan's house to cool off. Cohen got to open an early birthday present from Kristin & Dan since they won't be able to come to his party. He was quite entertained by the ribbon on the present...

And, he loved his card! It apparently tasted really good too...

Eventually, he did get around to playing with his actual present.

Later that night, we headed to the Beehive Grill for dinner...

It's a new restaurant in Logan & Dan is one of the managers. It's a really cool restaurant! They actually brew their own root beer in the restaurant! The food was really yummy too!

After dinner, we all headed home...burned, bruised and (in Gavin's instance) beat up. Sorry again Gav! It was definitely a Pioneer Day that none of us will EVER forget...that's for sure! --Lindsay

Carbon Copy

First came the Kewpie Doll...


Then came Baby Jack Jack from the movie "The Incredibles"...

And then came our little fella...

Hopefully, Disney & the makers of the Kewpie Doll don't sue us for copyright infringement. --Lindsay

The First Half of July...Crammed Into One Post

I can't believe how fast this summer is flying by! WOW!!! I have been so busy that I haven't had time to even breath...let alone blog...for the past few weeks! So, now you get one big catch-up post. Sorry. Here's what we've been up to so far this month...

LAGOON

On the 3rd, we went to Lagoon with my sister, Ashlee, and her family. The kids had a blast! Here's some pictures from the day...

Even little Cohen went on lots of the rides...including Puff (a little roller coaster) & the the little Title Wave. He was a fan...as you can see by the big smile on his face. Do I have another daredevil on my hands?

It was a fun day, and the lines were pretty short too! We thought that, with it being 4th of July weekend, the lines would be horrendous, but they really weren't. We didn't wait for anything longer than about 15 minutes...except the Log Ride of course. Why is the line for that always an hour long? It's not that great of a ride!

4th of July

We started out our 4th of July with our traditional breakfast at MacDonalds...

Before you see this next picture, you should know that my dad had some skin cancer taken off his nose just a few days before the 4th. It was about the size of a penny, so they had to do re-constructive surgery with skin graffs...hence the big ol' bandage on his nose & black eye. As you can see, Aiden didn't know what to think of it...

After breakfast, we headed down to the parade in Provo...

After it was over, we went back to my parents house for a barbecue. Mike's parents even came down for it. While the adults were getting the food ready, the kids had a water fight & then played in this little pool. They had so much fun...

The food at the barbecue was delicious. Every year, I think about making one of those ice cream cakes that looks like a flag. Well, this year, I actually did it. Here it is...not to shabby, considering I did it...

Later that afternoon, I had to go to work. But, it wasn't normal work. I actually did my weathercasts from Stadium of Fire. This year, Glenn Beck was the host, She Daisy was the opening band, and the Jonas Brothers were the headline band. I must admit, I didn't even know the Jonas Brothers first names before this night, but it ended up being a ton of fun! The station gave me tickets for my family, so that some of them could come too. Ashlee, Greg & Mike ended up coming & they left the kids at home with my parents & Mike's parents. They had pretty good seats, but I had even better seats! I got to sit in the media section, right by the stage, so this was my view of Glenn Beck from my seat...

Pretty cool, eh? I was actually broadcasting live when the Jonas Brothers were playing. This was my view of the stage from where I was broadcasting. If any teenage girls are reading this blog, you can begin drooling now...

After I was done with my 10:00 show, I went up and sat with Mike, Ashlee & Greg for the fireworks spectacular. It was pretty awesome this year! It went on for about half an hour...

It was a fun 4th...despite the fact that I had to work.

SWIMMING LESSONS

The past few weeks, the kids have been taking swimming lessons at the Legacy Center. Connor is starting to really get good at swimming! Here's a picture of him with a ring that he just retrieved from the bottom of the pool...

This was Aiden's first year of swimming lessons. His class basically just had fun everyday...getting the kids to like being in the water. They played all sorts of games. Here he is with his class. It's kind of hard to see because Legacy Center makes the parents sit really far away from where the lessons are going on. He's on the left...

CAMPING

On Friday night, Mike and the big boys went to my parents' ward campout with my dad. It sounds like they had a lot of fun. Here they are riding on a covered wagon that was giving rides at the campout...

Mike got this tent for Christmas last year & he's been so excited to use it...

Unfortunately, it didn't come with directions on how to set it up, but they were able to figure it out...

They ate dinner and then roasted marshmallows...

And then after dark, they figured out that if they shined their flashlights into the smoke of the campfire, they looked like they were lightsabers. Haha, silly boys...

Then it was off to bed...

CAR SHOW

No summer is complete without a car show or two, so yesterday morning after the campout, Mike & Connor headed down to the big one in Provo...and proceeded to take multiple pictures of Connor by beautiful restored cars. Here's a small sampling...

Apparently, a good time was had by all.

TEMPLE OPEN HOUSE

Last night, my whole family met at the new Oquirrah Mountain Temple in South Jordan to go to the open house. It was a very beautiful temple & fun to be able to take the boys through it & explain about each of the rooms. The boys love to point out temples when we're driving & to walk around on temple grounds, so you can imagine how excited they were when I told them they were going to be able to go INSIDE one. Here's some pictures of everyone outside the temple at the end...

This last picture is so funny! We were giving each other a "tight hug", but it just looks like Aiden is constipated. Haha...

Afterwards, we all went to Cafe Rio for dinner. Yummy...

So, that's what we've been up to this month! It's been a crazy, but very fun, couple of weeks! --Lindsay