My Horrible, Rotten, Not So Very Good Weekend

Okay so it wasn't completely horrible but just one of those times that anything that could go wrong seems to. On Saturday, I came home from my jog to find out that blowout diapers do still happen at 3 years old. And the more disgusting and harder to clean up they are. On top of the messy little boy and his pajamas he was laying on the carpet at the time and therefore we had a messy carpet as well. So we spent the good portion of the afternoon cleaning the carpets. I do have to say a big thanks to Blake for doing most of the work.

On Sunday amid many other minor problems and irritations we had a great adventure of spending the evening in the emergency room. Ben took a nasty spill and needed stitches in his chin. And of course it had to happen after all the urgent care centers are closed. So we waited for 4 hours in the ER before we were able to get him stitched up. And what a brave little boy, it was much harder I think for mom and dad to watch. 8 stitches- a pretty good gash!

So all my good intentions for the weekend were just that good intentions and boy I could sure use a good laugh right now!!!

Weekend in Salt Lake

So last weekend was a girls weekend in Salt Lake. My sisters and I took our daughters (and Ben since I had to bring him along) and my mom and aunt to a U of U gym meet, which I have to say was much more crowded than I anticipated. We also went to afternoon tea at the Grand America which was also more fun than I expected. And of course we did some shopping. On Monday, I had the opportunity to take my kids to the Draper temple openhouse. It was alot of fun! It was so beautiful and although Ben probably won't remember much I think Kierstyn will. Here's a picture of us.

Happpy 3rd Birthday Ben!!!!

Last weekend we celebrated Bentley's Birthday! My parents came down to help celebrate. Despite rainy weather we had a great time. We had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe.

Bentley wasn't sure what to do when they brought out a volcano cake with a sparkler! But he had a good time holding up 3 fingers to let everyone around know how old he was.

We also went to the Tournament of Kings. The food was actually pretty good and my kids liked the horse show (except a few scary parts).

We had cake and ice cream at home the next day. Bentley couldn't decide between a race car cake and a horse cake, so I picked the easier one to make. He thought he was great. He also wanted a strawberry cake so once we cut it up it looked like pieces of watermellon.

Big sister was there to help open all the presents. You probably couldn't even tell whose birthday it was since she was just as excited as Bentley.

Here is Ben with his present from Grandma & Grandpa Gardner. He was very excited about it and after he opened it I said, "Ben what do you say" (thinking he would thank Grandpa & Grandma for the present) and he says "Happy Birthday to me!" It was so funny. Now he has his barn in his room and all of his tractors parked inside it.

Blake's Birthday!!!

This past Monday was Blake's Birthday! I had a hard time trying to plan something fun as he was scheduled to work the Saturday before and the evening shift all week. As it turned out he didn't work on Saturday and we just went out to dinner at his favorite spot (Cafe Rio). We had birthday cake on Monday and opened some presents. I guess birthdays just aren't as exciting as they are when your little. But Happy Birthday anyway, Blake.

Hiking El Dorado Canyon

This weekend we went for a hike at El Doradao Canyon up to a natural bridge. It was a short hike only about 2 miles but pretty rocky. We carried the kids almost all the way back so it was a great workout. The kids had a great time though, Kierstyn is quite a monkey and always took the harder way to climb over the rocks. She also wanted to climb up to the highest rocks! The weather was perfect for hiking, we actually forgot a jacket for Kierstyn so she had to wear mine and I wore Blake's. Ben was just disappointed because he never saw a lizard.

Happy New Year!

After Christmas, we went to St. George with Blake's family. This isn't all the family but almost.




We had a great time in St. George taking in the sights, 4 wheeling, and the kids loved the go karts at Fiesta Fun Center. I can't say I stayed up to ring in the New Year but I still had a good time.

Christmas at the Chappell Home!

This year we enjoyed a quiet Christmas at home! We went out to dinner on Christmas Eve and went to see some Christmas lights. Then we've tried to start our own Christmas traditions by reading Christmas book together before putting out our stockings and going to bed. It's not like the wonderful Gardner Christmas Eve parties I remember growing up but I hope its something special that my kids will remember when they grow up. Christmas day was great! We stayed in on pj's most of the day since we have no where to go. The kids seemed excited about everything they got and Blake was completely surprised we got a Wii. Him and the kids have been playing it everyday and I have to say Kierstyn is a pretty good bowler and Ben is not too bad at boxing. Here are just a few pictures of the fun we had!