Our Trip to Bear Lake

We were able to spend five fun-filled days up at Bear Lake this past week! My brother-in-law, Greg, has a sister who owns a cabin up there & she let our entire family use it while we were there! It was such a fun vacation! It was laid back & relaxing! We split up meals & all took turns cooking. I seriously think I gained 10 pounds on this trip because the food was so yummy! Anyway, here's a brief rundown of what we did...

FRIDAY

On Friday, we left home at about 9:00 in the morning. We met my sister, Ashlee, and her family in Roy & then followed them up to Bear Lake. We got to the cabin at about lunch time & unpacked everything. My parents & my other sister, Kristin, and her husband Dan got up there a little later that afternoon.

Once we were all there, we decided to head down to the lake for a little bit. It was a little chilly the first day, so we didn't think anyone would want to get in the water. We thought the kids would play in the sand & the adults could soak up some rays. But, once the kiddos (and some of the adults) saw the water, they headed in, clothes & all...


Cohen got soaked, so we stripped him down & put a swim diaper on him. The other kids stayed dressed for awhile, but eventually shirts came off and later some shorts came off too. Yep, we had kiddos swimming in their underwear, cause we're high class and all...


The kids had a blast playing in the sand, and with Uncle Greg's help, created a pretty cool sand castle...


Once everyone was waterlogged, we headed back to the cabin for dinner, movies & games. Then, it was off to bed...

SATURDAY

Saturday was awesome! It was quite a bit warmer than on Friday, so we headed back out to the lake...and this time we were prepared with our swim gear. The boys (including the big boys) enjoyed the sand & surf...

And the gals just hung out on the beach, for the most part...

Connor got buried in the sand by Mike & Uncle Dan...

And, when he was trapped & couldn't doing anything about it, they turned him into a mermaid...

Next it was Aiden & Cohen's turn. Coconut wasn't too keen on being buried though...

Here's my sisters & I sporting our matching swimsuit cover ups. My parents bought them for us last winter when they were on a cruise. We probably looked pretty funny all sitting by each other wearing very similar cover ups. Oh well...

Uncle Greg showed off more of his sand sculpting skills. He built all sorts of sea creatures into the sand. Here was a fish he made...

After we were done at the lake, we headed back to the cabin for dinner. While it was being made, my dad turned on the DVD of the Paul McCartney concert that he & my mom went to about a month ago. By the end, there was a dance competition going on...

And then it was on to another night of games. Our favorite of the trip probably ended up being Taboo. We had many Taboo tournaments while there. It was hilarious...

Saturday night ended with an unexpected visitor. An unwelcome visitor. A mouse. One of the kids spotted it as it was running into a hole. We trapped it in there by putting mouse traps around the opening. Here's a picture of the little guy. You can't see him very good, but he's poking his head out...

We tried to capture and/or kill that thing for a good 30 minutes, but to no avail...

Well, only some of us tried to capture and/or kill him, the rest of us watched comfortably from the top of anything high...

Yes, I am standing on a bar stool! I HATE MICE! I would rather come face-to-face with a snake than with a mouse. Ask Mike...I freak out at the sight of them!

Well, at about 11:00 that night, we finally gave up & all went to bed. But, the next morning, we had a surprise in one of our traps. Yep, we got him. And I was not sad in the least.

SUNDAY

On Sunday, the guys went on a bike ride in the morning while the gals and kiddos stayed at home and just relaxed. In the afternoon, we all headed out to Minnetonka Cave...

It's a cave that is up one of the canyons from Bear Lake. It had all sorts of cool rock formations inside it...

The kids loved it! We thought they might whine the whole time because the cave was only 40 degrees inside & we went up and down a total of 888 steps as we went through the cave (yes, there were really 888 steps...444 going down & 444 going back up...our tour guide told us). But, the kids ended up doing great & really liked it...

Here's some of the group at the far end of the cave...

Once we got back there, our tour guide turned off the lights for about 15 seconds. It was crazy how dark it was. You couldn't see your hand 3 inches from your face. It was pretty cool.

Then, it was time to head back to the entrance. Here we are in a part of the cave called "The Stairway to Heaven" because it's a part of the cave where you walk up a bunch of really steep stairs for awhile. It was definitely a good way to work off all that yummy food that we ate while we were up there...

We weren't allowed to touch anything inside the cave. The oils from our hands would have destroyed the formations, but there was one formation that had been touched so much that it was pretty much ruined anyway, so they let us feel it...

It was a really cool activity! We all loved it!

MONDAY

On Monday, we rented a Jet Ski for the day...

Kristin & Dan also brought a tube with them, so we had lots of fun tube rides & wars for awhile...until it got a hole in it. After that, we just took turns taking the Jet Ski out. It was a three person one, & when you got three people on it, it was pretty easy for everyone to get tipped off while doing a quick 360. Mike, Dan & Kristin perfected this skill throughout the day.

The kids had fun once again playing in the sand...

And also enjoyed dumping the sand on top of their heads too apparently...

At about 5:00, a storm rolled in so we quickly packed up & headed back to the cabin for another night of games & movies.

TUESDAY

Tuesday was our last day there. The guys went golfing in the morning & then it was on to cleaning. We cleaned the cabin & washed the sheets/towels until about 3:00 in the afternoon. Then, we headed to Cafe Sabor for a yummy lunch/dinner before taking off. We got home at about 7:30 that night to mounds of laundry & mail. It is never fun coming home from vacation!

We had such a great time! I don't think I've ever been on such a relaxing vacation before! It was great! Usually, when we go on vacation, we try to squeeze too much in & we end up running ourselves ragged. This vacation was the exact opposite. It was just laid back & fun! I'm so glad we were able to go!

I have decided that I love, love, LOVE Bear Lake!!! It reminds me a lot of Lake Tahoe (a crystal clear blue lake surrounded by mountains), but it's not totally overbuilt like Tahoe...probably because the temperature drops to -20 in the winter time at Bear Lake. It is an awesome place! Hopefully, we'll get a chance to go back again one day! --Lindsay

Would You Say I Have a "Plethora" of Aiden Stories?

Well, I've been told that there are several people who read this blog strictly to find out what crazy things Aiden has said lately. Recently, I haven't been providing many of those stories. So, to make up for it, I've compiled a plethora of Aiden stories into one post. I'm warning you though that many of these stories aren't very appropriate. Many are rated PG, or maybe even PG-13, so if you don't like hearing about little boy parts, you need to stop after story #1. Just a warning...

Story #1: My niece was blessed in church a few weeks ago. I got to hold her for a few minutes before sacrament meeting got started. Aiden was sitting next to me & I noticed he was playing with Ella's hair bow. He had a very concerned look on his face. He looked up at me and said, "Mom! What IS that thing on her head?!?"

I replied, "Oh, that's a hair bow. We have no need for those in our house...unfortunately."

Story #2: I was going to the bathroom one day when Aiden decided to barge in and ask me a question. I told him to go outside and ask me through the door. He asked his question and I answered. I thought he had gone on his merry way, but a second later, I heard him say, "So Mom, you're pooping, huh?"

"Nope...just going pee pee. Why?" I replied.

There was a pause for a few seconds and then Aiden said, "Uh...you know you can stand up to do that, right?"

Haha! I have had the conversation over and over and over again with this boy about the difference between boys and girls, but he just doesn't seem to get it. Haha!

Story #3: The whole fam met me up in Salt Lake one night a few weeks ago when I was working, and we took a picnic lunch over to Liberty Park. Aiden got done before the rest of us & was walking around the table. I noticed he had his hand down his pants. I said, "Aiden, stop touching your p****." I used the "real word" for his "extra appendage" which I am not going to type here because then all the psychos who google that word will get sent to my blog. When I said that, Aiden replied, "Haha! P****! That's Spanish for pee pee!" Wow! I have no clue where that came from, but maybe Dora has an episode that I don't know about.

Story #4: And, the most inappropriate of all. Okay, Aiden is...let's say...well endowed. He's started to realize that his "extra appendage" is bigger than other boys he's caught a glimpse of. He's quite proud of this fact. I don't know how a four-year-old can understand the whole "bigger is better" concept. I think it's just ingrained in all males' minds from the get-go, or something. Anyway, when we were at the splash pad a few weeks back, Aiden had to go to the bathroom. Uncle Dan offered to take him. As Aiden was doing his business, he looked over at Dan and stated quite plainly, "Dan! My pee pee is HUGE, huh?" Oh wow! What am I going to do with this kid?

So, to all you Aiden fans, there you go. A plethora of Aiden tales. I love that kid so much! He just makes life so fun & enjoyable. You never know what's going to come out of his mouth & he definitely keeps us on our toes! --Lindsay

Just Keep Swimming

Well, the big boys just finished another year of swimming lessons. They've been attending for the past two weeks, and they even got an extra day of class this time because, on the second day of class, a kid thought it would be a great idea to do what we old Seven Peaks employees termed a "10-99" in the pool. Yep, he pooped. So everyone had to get out of the pool & the whole thing had to be shut down for the next 3 hours while the staff made sure there was no cryptosporidium in the water. We were about 20 minutes into our lessons when this lovely event happened, so the staff decided to give us a make-up class. Yay for an extra lesson! A big thank you to that kid who decided to relieve himself. Haha!

The boys had a blast & learned so much this year! Connor is turning into quite the little fish & was swimming almost the entire length of the pool by the time his lessons were over. Here he is doing some sort of back float. I'm not sure what the technical term for it is, but his teacher kept calling it a "Chicken-Airplane-Soldier" because those were the motions the kids made with their arms and legs while doing it...

Aiden did great too, although his paper that his teacher gave him at the end of the session reminded him to "listen to his teacher next year & obey ALL the rules." What am I going to do with this kid?

Cohen, surprisingly, was an angel child during lessons. He was really good at staying right by me & he was pretty quiet too. I think he just enjoyed watching the kids swim...

On the last day of lessons, they always let the kids spend the last five minutes playing...which they LOVE! Here's Aiden getting sprayed as he walked up the steps to the waterslides...

And here's Connor getting dumped on by a massive bucket of water that tips over every few minutes. He didn't even go down any of the slides. He just sat there and waited for that darn bucket to drop the entire time...

Now that swimming lessons are over, the kids are bummed. They miss it terribly & are always asking when they can go swimming next. Luckily, we have a neighbor who has a backyard pool and she opens it up to everyone in the neighborhood once a week for a few hours. We may have to make a stop over there soon! --Lindsay

Cohen Turns Two-Years-Old!

Well, Cohen turned two-years-old on July 26th.  Yes, I realize that was a week and a half ago.  Yes, I realize what a horrible mother and blogger I am.

To celebrate, we had a barbecue at our house on his birthday and invited the whole family over.  After dinner, which I didn't get any pictures of, Cohen decided to "play a little wii" with his brothers and cousins...

I love that he thinks he's really playing and that he's totally into it.  Haha!

The girls all hung out in the family room chatting and holding Baby Ella...

Then it was time for the spoiling, uh I mean the presents to begin...

Cohen didn't even know what to do with himself!  Big boxes and packages were being given to him from every angle.  There were definitely a few themes to the night.  Balls...

And "Toy Story" stuff...

His two favorite things on this planet!  Nana and Poppy went with an X-Large present, a mini-basketball hoop...

Look at that stance.  Who needs a 401K when you've got a two-year-old that has a stance like that?  Haha...

Then it was back to opening more presents...

And after the final present was opened, we moved on to cake.  The cake's theme this year...you guessed, it "Toy Story."  Or "Buzz and Woody cake" as Cohen called it...

It was such a fun night!  I'm so glad everyone could make it and share our little guy's day with us!

I just love this kiddo to death!  It's amazing what he has brought to our family!  I don't know where we would be without him.  He is so happy and fun to be around.  But, don't let that cute smile fool you...he has some serious attitude too, and can be quite the drama queen sometimes.  He is my cuddle bug and the best hugger.  If anyone is having a bad day, I think he can sense it.  He'll go over to whoever is sad and start cuddling with them, or give them a random hug.  It is the cutest thing ever!  He is growing into quite the little talker and is speaking in complete sentences most the time now.  And those eyes...what can I say about those eyes!?!  They are the best!  Everyone that meets him comments on how beautiful his eyes are.  Can't blame them...I could stare into them all day long!  I just love every single little piece of this guy.  Little is the key word in that last sentence.  As many of you know, Cohen was born 4 weeks prematurely and has never really caught up on the growth chart.  Here are his stats as of last week:

Height:  33 inches (25th percentile)

Weight:  23.2 lbs (3rd percentile)

Head Circumference:  47 (10th percentile)

Supposedly, there's an old wife's tale that says if you double your child's height at two-years-old, that's how tall they will be as an adult.  Well, if you do the math...that means Cohen will only be 5'6".  Poor guy!  Mike says that's okay because he'll be so HOT that the ladies won't care that he's short.  Haha!  But, maybe I should rethink that whole "relying on your son to be a pro basketball player" thing and keep contributing to my 401K.  :)

Well, whether he turns out to be 5'6" or 6'5", it doesn't matter.  We love him just the same!  Happy birthday little Coconut!  We love you!  --Mom, Dad, Connor and Aiden

A Little Over 10 Years Ago...

Yes, I am (once again) way behind on blogging.  I have lots of things to tell you about...including Cohen's 2nd birthday, but today I thought I would write about the day that still ranks as one of my top 5 days EVER.  It happened 10 years ago last Friday...July 28, 2000.  That's the day that Mike asked me to marry him.  And, the day I said "yes."  So, today, I thought I would tell you how Mike proposed to me all those years ago...

First of all, Mike & I started talking about getting married at the beginning of July...a whopping 8 weeks after we officially started dating.  Yes, I'm "one of those people."  I always said I wouldn't...but look what happened.  We had basically decided that we were getting married, but Mike told me that he wouldn't have enough money to buy me a ring until sometime in the fall.  This totally bummed me out because I felt like we were engaged, and wanted to tell people...but how can you tell people you're engaged when you don't have a ring to prove it.  It's no fun to tell someone, "Hey!  I'm engaged...I just won't get my ring for a few months."  There is absolutely NO FUN in that!  So, needless to say, I was kind of bummed.

During this time, I was doing my internship at Channel 2 (the place I work now).  My normal schedule was Monday through Thursday from 2:30 pm to 10:30 pm.  One week, the meteorologist I worked with asked me if I would mind coming in on Friday for a few hours to help him out with a live shot he was going on.  I told him that wouldn't be a problem since I didn't have any plans for that particular Friday night.  Well, when that Friday rolled around, Mike came over to my apartment in the morning & asked me what I wanted to do that night.  I told him that I had to go into work.  The boy literally started freaking out!  "What?!?"  he said, "You have to go into work?"

"Yeah, Chris asked me to come in and help him with a live shot."  I said.

"Well, what time are you going to be home?!?"  he asked.

"I don't know...8:30, maybe."  I replied.

"Okay,"  he said.  "But, make sure you're home by 8:30."

What?!?  This guy is telling me what time to be home?  What in the world?  He's never acted like this before.  What is going on?  Does he think that now that we're "kind of engaged" that he can tell me when to be home?  I was baffled by the way he was acting.  So, what did I do?  I PURPOSEFULLY CAME HOME LATE!  Yes, that's right...I wanted to show him that he couldn't boss ME around.  Haha.  So, I got home about 9:00 that evening.  Yes, I'm awful...I already know.

When I got home, I went over to his apartment.  I started thinking that maybe he had something fun planned for that evening, and that's why he had wanted me home by 8:30.  Maybe a movie or dinner or something.  So, when I walked into his apartment, I was surprised to hear him nonchalantly ask, "So, what do you want to do tonight?"

What?!?  He didn't have anything planned?  He told me to be home by 8:30 and then he had NOTHING PLANNED?  Sheesh!  Then he said, "Do you want to go get some Chinese food or something & take it up the mountain?"  "Up the mountain" was an outlook that we used to drive to sometimes that overlooked Provo.  Yes, we went there to make out sometimes.  Okay, we went there to make out ALWAYS.  There...now you know.  I agreed to the plan and off we went.  When we got to our overlook, he parked the car and started to grab things out of the back.  He had blankets, candles, etc.  I still didn't realize anything special was going on.  Mike's a pack rat and MacGyver, so the fact that he had all this stuff in his trunk didn't surprise me at all.

We hiked up a little hill that was by the parking lot and had a little picnic...a Chinese picnic.  When we were done eating, Mike said, "Hey, I did something kind of cheesy today."

"You did," I replied, "What did you do?"

"I wrote you a letter," he said.

He then pulled this letter out of his back pocket with a big smile on his face.  I asked him to read it to me, so he did.  It was the sweetest letter I have ever heard in my entire life.  It basically talked about all the qualities he had hoped his future wife would have and that I had all those qualities.  He finished it with a simple "I love you."  Then folded the letter up, and gave it to me.  (I still have that letter in my nightstand & I read it regularly.)

When he finished, I told him how sweet it was & how much I loved it.  He then did something kind of weird...he picked up his phone to "see what time it was."  After that, I gave him a hug & a kiss.  Then he said, "Well, stand up so I can really hug you."  I stood up & gave him a long hug.  Then, he started going down on one knee...and pulled a BEAUTIFUL ring out of his pocket.  That's when it finally hit me that he was proposing to me.  I didn't think it was coming until fall, so I totally wasn't expecting it.  Little booger!

He said, "Lindsay, will you marry me?"

"Yes, yes, yes!"  I screamed with tears in my eyes.

He put the ring on my finger & jumped up to kiss me.  Just then, the coolest thing happened...

FIREWORKS started going off all around us.  Yes, fireworks...and not the legal kind either.

Apparently, Mike's little brother & some of his roommates had gone to Wyoming a few days earlier to stock up on the goods.  They had pulled up in the parking lot after us & had begun setting them up.  When Mike picked up his phone to "see what time is was" right before he popped the question, he had really called his brother...which was the signal that he was about to propose.  It was awesome!  The fireworks show lasted for several minutes and was the perfect ending to the night.  Later, I asked Mike what would have happened had I said "no" to him.  He replied, "Well, we would have enjoyed a nice fireworks show...and then never talked to each other again."  Haha!  Lucky for me, I didn't say "no."

So, that's the story of how Mike proposed to me.  It is so hard to believe that that night was 10 years ago!  It seems like it was maybe 3 or 4 years ago.  Time seriously does fly!

Thank you for asking me to marry you Mike!  You are definitely my better half, my cheerleader, my confidant, and the reason that all my dreams have come true!  I love you!  --Lindsay

Life Lately

Well, life has been crazy busy lately!  Hence, why I haven't posted in almost 2 weeks!  That might be a record for me!  Well, in case you were wondering, here's what we've been up to lately...

Baseball Season Ended

Connor had his final game for the season about a week ago!  I think he was sad to see it end!  He has improved so much this year & is enjoying the game so much!  I, on the other hand, was glad to see it end!  I finally get my evenings back...instead of having 3 to 4 of them each week taken up by practice & games...

Connor finished the season with a HOME RUN!  On his final time up to bat, he hit the ball way into left field & got a home run out of it.  It probably should have been a double, but due to several errors made by the other team, he was able to make it all the way home!  After the game, each of the kids got their token medals & they had a pizza party with their team...

PICNIC UP THE CANYON

A couple weeks ago, on a night when I was working, Mike & my parents took the boys up Provo Canyon for a picnic & to play some ball.  They had a blast...

Even Cohen got in on the baseball fun...

SPLASH PAD

A few days ago, Kristin & Dan invited us to go the splash pad in Highland with them & some of their nephews that were visiting from Washington D.C.  The kiddos had a blast...

We even saw some of our good friends from our old neighborhood there, which was awesome!  The Highland Splash Pad is a lot of fun.  It has a simple little splash pad that squirts water up randomly & then there is a fun little lazy river thing next to it.  At first, Cohen was very unsure about the water...like usual.  But, Uncle Dan would have none of that & he took him in the water screaming and crying.  But, wouldn't you know it, after just a few minutes, Cohen was having a blast & loving every second of it...

Here's some other pictures from the day...

Why do kids think it's so cool to shoot water up their rear ends?  I will never understand it, but I swear every kid there was doing it, including my kids...

Connor was such a good big brother while we were there.  Once Cohen got comfortable in the water with Uncle Dan, Connor started helping him around & the two of them had a ball together...

It was a fun day!  Thanks for inviting us Kristin & Dan!

PIONEER DAY 

Yesterday was Pioneer Day!  We started out the day with a neighborhood parade!  The kiddos met over at the church at 8:30 am to decorate their bikes, scooters, etc. and then at 9:00 the parade began!  Luckily for me, the parade route went right by my house, so I just had to walk outside to enjoy it.  Here's the beginning...

The kids had such a great time!  They waved & threw candy to the spectators.  Lucky for me, there weren't a ton of spectators (because most the parents were in the parade with their little kids) so I was showered with candy!  I was able to finally spot my kids in the madness & get a few pictures of them.  First Connor...

Then Aiden & Cohen.  Mike just pushed Cohen in his stroller through the parade route & little Coconut thought it was great...

Someone even made a float for the parade!  It was the dragon from "How to Train Your Dragon" and it had a sign that said, "The Pioneers Tamed the Dragons!"  Random, yes...but the kids thought it was cool that there was an actual float in their parade...

After the parade ended, we all walked over to the church & ate breakfast together at the pavilion.  It was such a cute, fun activity!

Afterwards, we headed up to Sosha's house for the day.  The kiddos played in the pool & on the trampoline.  And then later that evening, we had a barbecue.  I had to go to work during the afternoon, but lucky for me, I was live from the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo...which is only like 5 minutes from Sosha's house...so I was able to do both!  It was great!  Here are some pictures from the day...

So, that's our life lately!  It's been a blast, but super busy!  I'm sure life will slow down sometime...hopefully sometime soon....but I'm not holding my breath for it!  --Lindsay