Kierstyn's Birthday

This last week was Kierstyn's birthday. We had a very busy week of celebrating too! My parents came last Sunday and stayed until Friday. On Monday we went shopping at the outlet stores. Not all that fun for the kids but we found some pretty good deals. Tuesday we went to what my kids call the cowboy park and had a picnic. The weather was so nice and I think I even got a little sunburn. We also stopped at the Bass Pro Shop. Wednesday we went to an open gym and then I got sick that day which kind of ruining our plans, but we still had cake and ice cream. Thursday we went out to dinner and then went mini golfing. What a week but it wasn't over yet. Blake's parents came on Friday and we went swimming on Saturday. It wasn't as warm as Friday but still pretty nice. We also went to watch some horses. Sunday was more relaxing though just staying at home. It has been a busy week and not we're just trying to get back to normal. Here's just a few pictures from the week.


Kierstyn had a cake just like this last year but she wanted the same one only pink this year. It was pretty yummy!




She's starting to figure out money so is now excited to receive it as a gift.




She saw this umbrella in the store and carried it around and was so sad when I wouldn't buy it for her. Lucky for her Grandma decided to get it for her birthday. She loves it and has been carrying it around the house everyday this week.



Here's the cheese!



This is where we went mini golfing. It's indoors and all glow in the dark so it was kind of cool. Blake of couse won but not by much.



Kierstyn actually turned out to be a pretty good little golfer!

Battle scars

Here's my little guy and his big gash. It's hard to tell how big the scar will be but hopefully not too bad. He's tough though and tells me it doesn't hurt.

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.