Trip to the Zoo

We spent a day of Sring Break at the Wildlife World Zoo. It was a beautiful day and a lot of fun! We went with Kim & Glen's family and Mom & Dad Marble.

Dallin smashed his thumb in the door a few weeks back and his fingernail was on the verge of falling off finally so he was not the most excited kid at the zoo he was way too worried about his thumb. Can't say I blame him for that, however this is about the best picture I could get of him since he was pouting in most of them.

Lila taking a cracker break. Crazy girl only took like a 20 minute nap the whole day!!

Scott and Lila sitting in the grass.

Brig, Alden and Gavin petting the baby deer.

Lila loved the animals. I had a freak attack about all the germs she was touching though.

Alden and Garret petting the animals.

Brig loved the baby ones.

Scott, Alden, Dallin and Brig on the log ride. I had to drag Megan and Amanda on it with me. Chickens! Then I ended up being the one who got the most wet. I was soaked. I guess that will teach me to make people go on rides.

Aunt Kim helping Alden, and Scott helping Brig while holding Lila. Kamille in the back watching the attempt to feed the birds. I being the scaredy cat I am would not go in the cage. I hate birds. I know, I know, that is almost as bad as a teenager being scared to go on a dinky little log ride.

Grandma Janice, Amanda, Glen, Lindsey, Megan, Kamille, Garret, Gavin, Alden Brig and Dallin posing for a group shot by the tigers.

This guy was so funny he was sleeping on the cage up above our heads. The kids really got a kick out of that.

Scott and Lila checking out some animals. Lila loved seeing all the animals and being outside. She did great.

No one is actually looking at the camera in this picture I just had to post it because Megan was texting in it. I think she is so cute so it totally cracks me up cuz she (being you typical teenager) is always texting. I love it.

Dallin looking at the zebras. Are zebra's black with white strips or white with black strips?

We have only been to this zoo one other time since it is so far away and so expensive but the kids loved being able to get so close to the animals.

Lila chillin in her stroller.

Feeding the giraffes. While Scott was up there with the boys I ran into a lady that had a toddler named Lyla. I thought that was so funny since I have never met anyone with that name before. I was a little sad though cuz I read in a magazine that Lila will be in the top 10 names in a couple of years. Lila is named after her Great Grandma but that name is so unique and not common at all so that is one of the reasons we loved it. I will be a little dissappointed if it becomes popular.

Scott was very excited for a chance to try out our new camera. He took over 200 pictures ( I posted most of them ha ha ha j/k). It was very nice to have a camera that worked really well and didn't run out of batteries after just a couple pictures and we didn't have to pry the lens shutter open or anything. It is big and bulky though so we may decide we need a smaller one for things like this.

Lila picture overload!

So I found the pictures of Lila I was looking for way back when and then I found some more and some more, so here are a whole bunch of random pics...Lila loves to play pat-a-cake. It is one of her favorite things, she gets such a kick out of it and it never gets old.

naked baby! She is so skinny even compared to my boys who were small.

Lila in her church dress. She looks so cute all dressed up. I love Sunday's for that reason, I get to put all her super cute dresses on with the bows, braclets and shoes that match.

Lila loves to eat. It is pretty funny she is so small, she will eat all day long, well as long as it is people food. This was back in the day when baby food was still good enough for her. She reminded us of a little bird waiting for food the way she would open her mouth and follow the spoon. It was pretty funny. And of coarse she always makes a mess some how.

Lila loves to push her little toy and walk with it. The bets are on as to how old she will be when she starts walking unassisted. She turns 9months tomorrow and she can stand by her self for a few seconds before she freaks out and sits down. No steps alone yet though...

Lila falls asleep in this position all the time. It totally cracks me up though. She stands at the side of her crib and cries and then after a few minutes she sits down and finally goes to sleep but she doesn't lay down all the way so she ends up folded in half. I always go in and straighten her out but I couldn't resist taking a picture first on one occasion.

I left Lila playing on her bedroom floor one day while I ran out real quick to answer the phone. When I went back to her room she wasn't there but I could her a thudding noise on the wall. I walked into the boys room right next to hers and she was under their bunkbeds happy as can be kicking her feet against the wall and playing with some toys she had found under there.

This is Lila's favorite play spot. She entertains her self there for a long time several times a day. It's like her own little playhouse. She just loves it there. Maybe she feels safe from the whirlwind of boys running around at all times under there??

Pinewood Derby and other Alden pictures

The kids all love playing at Grandpa Brad's. He has the funnest trees to play in. I can never get my pictures in the order I want them to appear but here they are anyway. In this first picture Grandpa helped Alden climb on the roof to get a ball down that got stuck. He had fun getting up but coming down was just a little bit more intimidating. Good thing he has a big, strong grandpa to help him out.

In the next picture Alden has just jumped out of the tree while holding onto the swing. He started up where Dallin is. The think they have to be dare-devils or something crazy like that I guess.

Alden loves to climb. He climbs on anything, including things he shouldn't be climbing on like doorways and furniture. He loves to climb grandpa's tree, though, and can get pretty high up too.

Last Saturday we had our wards pinewood derby. Alden got an award for the most aerodynamic- looking car. He had a great time working on it with his dad and while he wasn't in the top five he did pretty good and probably ended up in the top 8. Scott showed him one of his old cars from when he was in scouts that had won third place and so Alden wanted to copy the design.

We have a ton of scouts! I am the wolf leader and we have 14 boys in my group. They all had fun though and did a great job cheering each other on. I was very proud of them. We have a great cub master too which makes things very nice.

Alden and the other boys had fun racing after it was over. The younger kids had fun with it too. Ryker came to watch with Grandpa Steve and he seemed to really enjoy it. Alden will be recieving his wolf badge at the next pack meeting we have and he is so excited about that. He really likes scouts and hopefully it won't scar him too much that he had to have his mom be the den mother. :)

Happy Birthday Grandma Lila!!!

Today would be Lila's 99th birthday. Because her birthday is so close to mine I always remember and think of her on March 9th every year. She was a very special lady and I regret not having the opportunity of knowing her better and in her younger years, but memories of her will never fade. I'll always remember her rubbing my head when I had a headache, or playing Parcheesi, or giving me a Coke from her fridge. I'm glad we have such a beautiful daughter who carries Lila's name! Happy Birthday Grandma Lila!

The last weekend in February Dallin and Tara came down for a visit. We crammed as much stuff as you possibly can into such a short time frame to hang out with them as much as possible since we only get to see them a couple times a year. We sure had a fun time. They came for Holly's baby blessing which happened to be the same day as Nick's b-day. I thought that was cool. They will never forget when she was blessed!! anyway these are some pics of some of the things we did...
Hannah smiling for one of the boys playing with the camera

Uncle Chase and Uncle Scottie playing football with the boys while we waited for dinner to be ready and Chad and Elena's Saturday afternoon.

Uncle Scottie trying to get Kariah to smile for a picture, not going to happen but she sure is cute anyway.

all the kids got matching clothes for family pictures. Glen, The most awesome photographer ever, took our pictures and as soon as we get them from him I will post those. I was somehow put in charge of all the boys hair so this is them waiting their turn and trying not to mess up their hair before we left. Our heads are cut off but I would like to point out anyway that my dad is kneeling (waiting his turn Ha ha ha) and he is almost as tall as me standing. So sad, not sure where I came from but the height gene definately skipped me and unfortunately my kids too.

Friday afternoon all us gals went to the Olive Garden for lunch. It is so nice to get away and have girl time for a couple hours. We had so much fun and the food was so yummy and like always Grandma Norton spoiled us all by paying. Thanks Grandma we owe ya (like always)!

Lila and Hyrum checking each other out. She is three months older than him but very much smaller. She was still quicker though, she is a fast little stink and between Holly and Hyrum I had my hands full trying to keep her from attacking too much. She was so interested in the babies. It was really cute.

Friday night most of us went out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse. So yummy. I didn't take any pics of us eating but Scott set Lila on the saddle trying to entertain her and it was too cute to pass up, I had to take her picture.

More pictures of the kids at the park. They had such a good time. It is so nice to be able to run back and forth between the house and park right next door. Chad and Elena are definately in a good location.

I think Alden got tackeled. Hee hee hee!

Lila checking out the grass for the first time. She thought it was interesting but got use to it fast ande didn't want to stay put. She LOVES to be outside.

We had such a good weekend and we are so glad we got to spend so much time with family and see Tara's cute family. Can't wait until next time!

Snow!!!

The end of January we took a spontaneous road trip up to Globe with the Wilson's to play in the snow! The boys had so much fun for about 5 minutes then they were freezing and wet (since we don't own snow clothes) and ready to get back in the car to play their DS's and warm up. I wish they would have played longer but it was still fun. I am sure Glen got much better pics than me but I figured it was about time to blog these so they will have to do. Top picture, Brig and Alden. Brig had a hard time walking or anything and was the first to wimp out.

Dallin had fun purposely falling the snow was so deep they had a great time really getting in it. Too bad it was so wet huh.

Alden and Garret had a lot of fun too. Alden lasted longer than the other two boys but Garret and Gavin played much more than even he did.

Kamille, Amanda, and Megan posing for me. I had to get some pics of my super cute nieces especially since by that point my boys were already back in the car trying to get warm. I had a fun time texting Megan the car ride up. These girls are so stinkin cute!!

Lila got to hang out with Scott most of the time. She was bundled up as much as we could get her and despite it being cold out she seemed to really like it. She thought it was interesting when it actually started snowing and landing on her, she couldn't quiet figure out what was getting her.

There was just tons of snow everywhere, my kids being the desert rats they are were just totally amazed they had never seen so much snow and just kept commenting on how much snow was on the trees and everywhere. It sure was beautiful and we had a lot of fun but I am definately glad we don't live in it and have to deal with it all winter.

Happy Birthday Scottie!

This picture was taken a month or so ago and has really nothing to do with Scott's b-day, I just liked it and since I don't have any pics of his b-day it will have to do! We went out to breakfast to celebrate and then Scott was off to a busy day of finishing up pinewood derby cars and running errands and doing stuff for his Mesa Leadership training class. Not what I would personally call a fun birthday, but I guess that is what happens when you start to get old right?? Anyway Scott is awesome, he is a great dad, husband, son, brother, and friend. He is so talented and is just awesome. So while nothing too exciting is going on for his birthday this year I hope he knows how much his family loves him and we hope he has a great day. Happy birthday!!!

Happy 10th Anniversary!

Today Scott and I are celebrating our tenth wedding anniversary! I can't believe it has been that long and at the same time it seems like we have been together forever. I am very lucky to have such an awesome husband. He is my best friend, we have so much in common and like doing a lot of the same things. He takes such good care of me and our family. I am so blessed to be married to him and am glad we have an eternity to be together. In honor of our 10 years I came up with the 10 things I love most about him (in no particular order).

1. He is a worthy priesthood holder

2. He is forgiving of my shortcomings

3. He is patient (most of the time haha) when I am annoying or this kids are driving me crazy he can step in and help.

4. He is creative, he comes up with the best gift ideas for everyone not just me, he is great with school projects and other things we need around the house etc.

5. He is a great dad, he knows how to respond to each kid differently and help them to learn from whatever the situation might be (which is good since I always tell them to go talk to dad about it!).

6. He is a hard worker and has at different times in our marriage worked more than one job so that I would be able to stay home with the kids and not want for anything. He also is willing to help his co-workers out and is willing to help others.

7. He is a good cook (much better than I am) and is willing to cook. He cooks most the time, I am always saying "I was going to let you cook this or that tonight" and he does it with no complaining (probably cuz otherwise he wouldn't get to eat!), he is always trying new things and different recipes, unfortunately for him his wife and kids are very picky, good thing his family is close by to try his food out on!

8. He loves to learn, He has been doing a Mesa leadership class and is planning on going back to school this fall for his masters. He will most likely be attending school of some kind or another until the day he dies. That pans out good for me in the eternities :) j/k

9. He is very smart. He is asked by his brothers and sometimes nieces for help on homework, if he doesn't know the answer to something he knows how to find out the answer.

10.He always gives me compliments. He will comment on how nice the house looks or how pretty I look etc. That is a good way to make a girl feel good!

So as you can see, I definately got the better end of the deal. I am very grateful to you Scott and love you so much! Happy anniversary!

Random Brig Pictures!

While looking for some pictures I was wanting to blog of Lila (that I couldn't find), I came across several of Brig that really made me smile so I thought I would share.

The top picture Brig fell asleep at the counter. He was suppose to be getting his homework page to work on but he got a little side tracked. Next Brig is climbing over the fence this past summer when he was only 3 1/2 years old to catch up with his brothers. They love to play in the "desert" and instead of walking two houses over to cut through some neighbor boys showed them the faster way of hoping the fence. I was shocked he was actually able to get over the little monkey! He is in his pj's and no shoes of coarse. Next up is the "fort" my kids made one of these practically everyday last summer they would get all comfy and watch movies when it was way too hot outside to be out. They had fun and even slept in a few of them.

Seriously??? Where did this kid come from? He can hardly even tip the carton up to get a drink and where did he even get the idea to do this Mr. "too lazy to get a cup"!

Our tv is pretty high up. It sits above our fireplace and I just had to take a picture of him playing video games because he looks extremely uncomfortable, even if he would have laid down the other way, that would have made more sense than this.

Brig wanted to start a rock collection. When he asked if he could I said sure but they have to stay outside. After a while he came to get me wanting to show me his new rock collection and this is what I stepped outside to see. Not pictured the rocks also follow the sidewalk all the way down to our drive way. Silly boy. He did a great job lining them up nice and neat though.

Hopefully soon I can find the pics I wanted of Lila and Blog some more!