Here he comes just a walkin' down the street...

Yes, I said walking! Hooray! Dylan is finally walking at 21 months. I was starting to wonder if we would ever get to this point. On September 18th he took his first few steps at grandma's house (go figure...it always happens that way) and was trying to be sneaky and hide it. He was walking in the hallway where no one could see him and then my mom caught him in the act. Still we had to bribe and beg him to walk. This last week he has really taken off though and doesn't crawl much at all anymore. I'm not sure who is happier- me, dylan or my back. He thinks he is pretty hot stuff and claps and grins from ear to ear while he walks. He looks so stinking cute walking too. We couldn't be happier. Dylan has always been into everything and now he is just into that much more, but it is so worth it. I have also noticed that the boys have been playing a little better too now that Dylan is more mobile. That is a welcomed change. Just had to share the exciting news!

Cute new diaper bags

I got a new vendor for some darling diaper bags. They are seriously the cutest ones I have ever seen. These bags are laminated, come with a bottle holder, changing pad and cosmetic pouch and are great quality. The best part is that they come in several different designs and color so you can find one that fits you perfectly! You can check them out at my boutique.

September

daddy/daughter date night

In the three years that I have been doing activity days I think this is the best activity we have ever had. It was our best turn out and the best food. We had 23 girls and their dads show up (we have 29 girls... yes, 29!). I know the girls loved it and I think the dads quite enjoyed it too. We decided to push the limits a little and do a rappelling activity with a yummy dutch oven dinner. One of the girl's dads is awesome at this kind of stuff and agreed to help run the show for us. The girls really had to challenge themselves and rely on their dad's to help them through. I think it was a great bonding experience for them and helped them see that they can achieve anything. Hope they always remember that!

the boys

One morning I woke up to some unusual noise and this is what I found. Chandler had gotten two ride-on toys, one for him and one for Dyl into the crib and then climbed in himself. They were playing and being silly. I think that crib lost a screw on that one!

I had to post this one for memories. Dyl has been a finger sucker from day one, but not just any finger. It always has to be his left pointer finger and his right hand has to be touching or holding his blankie. Just a little something precious that I don't ever want to forget.

Labor Day

The boys went golfing while the girls hung out at the pool. Chandler got to tag along and thought it was so much fun. He took his own little clubs that grandpa gave him when he was about a month old and practiced his shot. Daddy was even smart enough to drag along a camera and snap some pictures for the record.

Preschool

Wow. My roo started his first day of preschool on September 10th which also happened to be daddy's birthday. He was so excited. Can you tell? The kid was grinning from ear to ear. Chandler's teacher is the same teacher that I had for preschool of so many years ago. How cool is that? I have so many fun memories of preschool and I thrilled that Chandler has the opportunity to do the same. Plus, can I just say that it is the best money I have ever spent? I know this probably sounds horrible, but it has been so good for me to have a break. A break from taking care of two kids, a break from playing referee, a break from hearing Dylan crying and screaming all day long because his brother is bugging him. A wonderful break. Dylan is quite enjoying it too! We are so proud of you Chandler man and hope you have a great year!

Happy Birthday daddy dear!

We celebrated up at the cabin. That update will come soon.

A little update

I don't know why I am so bad at this the last few months. Perhaps I am just lazy.

Let's start with the ward party back on August 22nd up in Pine Valley. We headed up a couple of hours early to enjoy the mountains and get some fishing in before the party began. Once again Chandler caught the only two fish with his little Lightening McQueen pole. He was pretty stoked. I think this is becoming a trend. The little guy gets the fish!

Dylan got in on the action and gave the fish a little pet. Gross.

Just a few minutes into the party we got rained out and headed back to the church for dinner. We were glad we went early so that we didn't have to turn around right after we got there. The boys enjoyed it.

The cabin

One Friday evening the last weekend in August we were sitting around with no plans. Somehow I was able to talk Dustin into heading up to the cabin at the last minute. Now that we finally have a toy it makes that task much easier. :) We didn't even leave town until about 10:00 pm, but it worked out great. The boys slept in the car and went to bed as soon as we got there. We spent Saturday taking the boys for rides, going for walks, swinging on the porch, getting dirty and renewing our spirits in that mountain air-just the four of us. Loved it. every.single.moment.

I can't believe how good this kid is about wearing his helmet. He is obsessed with it actually. As soon as he sees it he starts yelling, "me! Me! Me!" All three of my boys thoroughly enjoy this green beast. And so do I.

While Chandler and I were walking around waiting for daddy and Dyl to get back from a ride we found this friendly fella. A little tiny horny toad. I hadn't seen one of those since Josh Merrill and I used to catch them back when I was six. A long, long time ago! We brought him home and Chandler was so excited about it. We finally talked him into letting him loose in the backyard so that he wouldn't die. Then he wanted to keep trying to find him- a task that I was sure was impossible. Well, Chandler and his friend Cooper found him out there and had a blast playing with him for a good hour. Sadly, little horny hasn't been seen since. I'm sure he is out there somewhere. What a fun little experience.

As if the horny toad wasn't enough, the very same time we let him loose we found a bush in the backyard that was infested with the crazy looking spiders. There were at least five of them in there.

I was pretty scared and was certain that they had to be the most poisonous spiders around because of the crazy black and yellow color. Dustin thought that he had the perfect method to get rid of them. Some fuel starter and a lighter. The 6 foot fire ball did the trick. It wiped out the whole family of them (and singed the bush). That hubby of mine loves fire. Think back to the 4th of July when we were 16 or 17. Do you remember the fire on the red hill that night? Guess who started it? Yep.

After doing some research we found that they were garden spiders and are great to have around because they eat tons of bugs that eat the plants. A little too late...

September updates to come soon!

Cars party anyone?

I just thought I would put the idea out there... if anyone has a birthday party to plan in the near future and Cars is your thing feel free to borrow the stuff I made for Chandler's birthday party. I put a ton a time into it and and would love to get more use out of it. It is getting to be great weather for outdoor parties again too. So, if you want to do a Cars party leave me a comment or give me a jingle. I would be more than happy to let you borrow the stuff and all of the HARD work will already be done for you!

If you don't remember the stuff check my archives in the end of March. I had the Cozy Cone Motel, Luigi's Casa dela Tires, Ramone's, Flo's v-8 cafe and various road signs all made out of cardboard boxes.

24th of July weekend

We had an awesome 24th weekend. It was so much fun. We had a little family reunion with Dustin's mom's family up at the cabin at Duck Creek. There were too many people to all sleep in the cabin, so our little family got stuck in a tent outside. We really enjoyed it though. Chandler thought it was pretty cool and we were excited to finally use our tent for the first time. I guess it wasn't full-out camping since we had a toilet (well, part of the time... the last night and day it was having some issues and we couldn't use it).

We ate lots of yummy food, went a several rhino rides, got lots of cool prizes at the fish pond and enjoyed beautiful Cedar Mountain. The company wasn't too bad either ;)

Chandler and Chloe thought the fish pond was pretty neat.

Dyl didn't quite get the whole fishing thing but he enjoyed his sucker.

Chandler was in heaven up there. He talks about the cabin all of the time and I feel so blessed to have one in the family. I know that our little family will create so many great memories up there.

Our lovely, dirty, stinky selves. Nothing like not showering for a few days.

One day we took a really long ride through lava pits and to a lava sink hole. It was so pretty. It was one bumpy trail though. The funny thing is that Chandler actually feel asleep a couple of different times on our rides and got in a couple naps. More than I can say for when we are home!
I think this kid is going to be a mountain man. He loves the mountains. One day we went to the mammoth cave and Dustin, Chandler and I actually went through the entire thing to get out the other end of it. What do they call that... splurplunking or something like that? We saw a horny toad while we were down there and luckily it was pretty dark so we didn't see much else. We didn't have lights or anything, but we followed a mom and her two boys who had head lamps and all sorts of gear. The sweet little boys let us use their flash light and gave Chandler a glow stick to hold. He thought that was pretty cool. We had to crawl on our hands and knees most of the time to get through, and I think Dustin had to even scoot on his belly a few times. It was kind of scary and I can't believe I actually did it, but it was really cool and I am glad we did. Chandler said a few times that he was too little and couldn't do it, but we talked him through it and we were so proud of him for making it through.

As soon as we got out of the cave it starting raining. It kept raining and raining and raining. We really weren't prepared for it. We all ended up 'snoaking' wet and cold and had a long ride back before we could get cleaned up. It wasn't too big of a deal for most of us, but I felt bad for grandma and the boys. Luckily we had a couple of garbage sacks that we made into ponchos for them. The crazy adventure must have worn them totally out. Although they were wet and cold, both boys feel asleep and slept the entire ride back. Thank heavens. It made such a fun memory though. I would do it all over again in a minute.
Every time we head up to the cabin I feel like we are in heaven. It is so beautiful and peaceful. It almost feels like going to the temple... it feels like you have no worries, you forget about all of the things of the world, and there is just a wonderful spirit I feel up there. If you haven't been in a while I would really recommend it. It is so refreshing.

We had a wonderful time. Thanks to grandma for the use of the cabin. Thanks to Judi and Colie for taking care of the great food. We can't forget the rhino's-thanks Rick and Judi!

The Grand Canyon

On a whim we decided to head to the Grand Canyon for the day with Dustin's parents and little sis. Honestly we spent maybe an hour there total, but the entire day overall was fun and we are glad we did it. We went up through Zion, Kanab and Jacob's Lake. It was a fun little drive.
Can you tell how into Chandler was? He did not like the heat at all. Poor boy.

Chandler and I were sick and not feeling so great, so the hot weather was pretty miserable. That's probably why we didn't last too long there. It sure was nice to get out and enjoy some more of the beautiful things around us.