Christmas in July!

That is what happens when you have two kids who are 2 years and 9 days apart, both born in July!  I can't believe my July babies are getting so old.  Xander is 5 and Wesley is 3.  It was very exhausting, but over the last two Saturdays we managed to pull off two parties.  I wanted to have a big combined party for the both of them, but then I thought it would be special for Xander to have a friend party, so it ended up being two parties again.  

 

Xander's birthday fell on a Saturday this year, so we celebrated his friend party on that day at a park in Kaysville that has a splash pad.  He had a few friends and some family show up for him.  His current obsession is ninja turtles so we had to have ninja turtle toys and pizza at the party.

The second party was this last Saturday.  It ended up being mostly a party for Wesley but Xander still got a couple gifts.  My talented sister in law also shared her talents and made an awesome cake for each of them.  

I'm so happy that family and friends could come to honor my children for their birthdays.  July is a special month, since it's the time when we were blessed with two wonderful kids.  They challenge us a keep us busy nonstop but I know what a blessing they are and what a true blessing it is to be a family.  Xander will be moving on to Kindergarten this fall.  He has come a long way, especially with the speech delays and hearing issues that he has had to deal with.  He is very outgoing and has a very strong personality.  This is a good thing and a bad thing depending on his mood.  Wesley is just my sweet little boy.  He has this calm sweet personality.  He can be very loving.  He almost always has a hug and a kiss for me, sometimes when I really need it.  I'm glad they are a part of our eternal family and I will do my best to raise them to be good men someday and always want to do what is right.  Happy Birthday to my crazy monsters!!!

  

Summer summer summertime!

We are well into summer now and I have definitely been slacking.  We haven't done anything too exciting.  We are just enjoying the outdoors and the time we get to spend as a family.

 Xander graduated from preschool in May.  I can't believe he is going to be in kindergarten this fall.  

 Pictures from his last day in preschool.  

 Xander and Wesley with their cute cousins Caitlyn and Cheyenne at the zoo

 Xander and Wesley at the zoo

 A little boy's dream:  Wesley playing with mud on the beach at bear lake. 

 The kids loved tubing behind the boat at Bear Lake

 Wesley driving the boat with grandpa.

 Xander on the tube!

 Eating popsicles after playing in the sun

 The kids playing at our local splash pad

We have Lagoon season passes and have already gone quite a few times. 

Girls cruise!!!

I just returned from an awesome trip.  It was fun but I left Jerry and the kids at home.  I missed them but it was fun to get away for a few days and just be with the girls.  My sister Sarah and my grandma had the idea that we should book a girl's cruise and we finally did, kind of as a celebration of my mom turning 50.  It was a Californian cruise and we had stops everyday.  We went to Santa Barbara, Catalina Island and then Ensenada.  

 This was on the day I came back.  The kids were so excited for the souvenirs I brought home with me, especially the capes from Mexico.  

 This was an awesome statue of a famous photo from WWII.  It is huge if you can't tell.  

 This is me in vacation mode on the ship.  You can see Ensenada behind me.  

 This appetizer looked so cool I had to take a picture.  I think it was a chicken curry salad and it tasted delicious.  I enjoyed the food a little too much!  

 This is a picture of my grandma and mom during our formal dining. 

 We took a cooking class in Mexico.  We were making salsa fresca and then we turned it into guacamole. 

 My mom and me on a tour bus. 

 In Santa Barbara on top of a tower at the courthouse. 

 This pine tree is really cool.  We called it a lego tree. 

 The courthouse in Santa Barbara.  It was a really cool building. 

 I was standing in front of a fountain at the Santa Barbara mission. 

 The ladies getting ready to sail from San Diego. 

 We got to ride in a Mustang convertible to the ship.  

This is the pet bathroom in the San Diego airport.  

Falling behind, but catching up today!

I usually get so busy that I it's hard to find time to update my family blog.  I haven't posted since Disneyland and my goal is to post at least once a month if I can.  I love pictures so I will do an update with tons of them.

 I ran my first race of the year in March, it was just a 5K.  I feel more challenged with 10K's and would like to train for a half marathon someday.  It was still fun.  I love competing and I took 2nd overall for women.  I need to look into some races.  There are always tons happening around Utah when the weather gets nice.

 Xander insisted that I take a picture of his "castle."  I love seeing the imagination and creativity starting to show in him.  He also likes telling us his own stories now.  I can't believe my first baby is turning 5 in July and then going to kindergarten this fall.  He is all signed up!

 I haven't even posted about Easter and that happened a month ago!  We went on two Easter egg hunts.  Our local Smith's has an Easter party where they let the kids go searching for candy in the grocery store aisles.  We then drove up the the Dinosaur Park in Ogden where they got even more candy!

 Lagoon opened on Easter weekend.  The weather was actually beautiful so we went for a couple weekends.  The weather then went really cold again but it's finally warming up, hopefully the warmth will continue!  I love temperatures in the 70's.