24th of July Evening

For the 24th of July, my dad is building a project up at Alta Ski Resort and wanted the family to go up there and have dinner at the midway lodge that he built a few years ago. So we drove up the steep, crazy road in 4x4 cars and parked at the lodge. My dad had brought up a bbq and some awesome steaks that we cooked up along with corn on the cob, potatoes, and fruit. It was the best steak dinner I've had in a long time, and probably the only one I'll ever have in the middle of a ski hill. My dad drove up a four wheeler from his job and we got to take turns driving around the mountain. It was absoutely beautiful. Ty and my dad went all the way to the top where the lake is. The kids had a lot of fun hiking around, four wheeling, and throwing rocks in the stream. We were so secluded up there and it felt like we owned the mountain. It was a really fun night.

First Birthday Photos of Audrey

Last week Audrey turned one. I can't believe how fast that year went by. Crazy! A week before her birthday we had some friends Tim and Kim Shirley take some pictures of Audrey. Here are a few of my favorites...

Audrey's First Birthday Party

We had a fun little birthday party for Audrey. We had some friends and family over and had dinner and cupcakes and ice cream. Then we had a pinata for the kids and watched her first year video that I had created. She had a great time eating her cupcake and opening a few little presents. Here are a few photos...

4th of July

We had a fun 4th of July this year! Our nephew, Tanner had come done from Canada to visit for a couple of weeks. He reports on August 5th to the MTC in Provo, then he will be serving in Chile. He is a great kid. Ty took a few days off and we picked him up from his other grandma's on the 2nd to spend a few days with us. We went to Cafe Rio, the boys played lots of Xbox and computer games and went to the movies. Then we went rock climbing at a new little place we found in Draper. Even Madelyn tried out her new body harness on the rocks. She was brave, I'm proud of her. It was the first time for me to climb outdoors in a really long time, so I was a little rusty. But it was still a lot of fun. The morning of the 4th, I made a big breakfast and we took Tanner back to his grandma's. We then brought the girls home for naps, and then that night we headed up to my parents' house for a bbq and some good times in their new, fun backyard, which we now call "Grandma's Park". She also had a helium tank from their neighborhood parade that the kids filled up balloon after balloon. Later, we went to Jordan High School and sat on the lawn to watch the Sandy Days' fireworks. Grandpa bought all the kids glow sticks, which they had a lot of fun with until the fireworks were ready. It was a great firework show. We then took our exhausted family home and put them to bed. It was a great weekend! Here are a few photos.

Happy Birthday to Me.

So it's been a really long time since I blogged, life has been crazy! Well almost a month ago I celebrated my 29th birthday. It was a great few days actually. On Thursday morning of my actual birthday, my cute friend Kim brought over these delicious gourmet cupcakes from Beyond Glazed. Then Madelyn had a mini dance recital and so Ty and I went and watched her dance. It was pretty hilarious, although cute. Then the girls and I went downtown and met my sisters and their kids for lunch at the Gateway and then headed to the Discovery Gateway Children's Museum. We had a great time! My sister, Kim also bought a 6 month pass for her family and got an additional card for free, so now I have a pass too! Next, my sister, Kristen paid for me to go and get "Sparkle Toes". I chose the color "pink cadillac" and almost a month later they're still on and looking good. They're great! Thanks Kris! We headed home and because Ty had bishopric meetings we decided we would go out on the weekend. So that night while he was at his meetings, I went with my friends Liz and Valerie and their kids to McDonald's in Lehi and got ice cream while the kids played in the new musical playland. All day I received phone calls and cards in the mail, treats from friends and family, and nice gestures from so many people that I love. It was a great day!

Then on Saturday, which was when Ty and I celebrated, he let me sleep in, made me breakfast in bed, and then we headed to the Lehi Roundup Parade. The girls loved it! It was really a lot of fun. They fell asleep on the way home and so we put them down for naps and napped ourselves. That night, we dropped the kids off at my parents' house and he had made reservations at Macaroni Grill, our favorite restaurant. Then we got in the minivan to drive over to the mall to do some shopping and all of the sudden I hear our wedding video music playing. I was confused. He parked and told me to get in the back seat. Our wedding video was playing in the DVD player. He had contacted the original videographer of our wedding and gotten our wedding video put on DVD, then also got all the original raw footage and everything on an external hard drive. That way we will always have a copy and we can even edit it ourselves or add things onto it. It was something I had wanted to do for a long time, because the only copy I had was on VHS. We then shopped in Fashion Place, Old Navy, and Target. We also picked up a slice of cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory. After Ty had had all the shopping he could handle, we decided it was time to go get the kids. So we came home, put the kids in their beds, and watched our wedding video while we ate cheesecake. It was a fun night! Happy Birthday to Me!

The yummy cupcakes from Beyond Glazed from Kim Shirley.

Madelyn and I at her mini dance recital.

The darling cupcakes that my sister-in-law Jill brought from Dear Lizzy's Boutique. They were really yummy too!

Fabulous Photos...

Lacey Dastrup aka Studio Posh Tots had asked me if she could take the girls photos. I needed some updated photos anyway. Well, she was fabulous! She spent a couple of hours with the girls at a fun park in American Fork. I can't wait to see all of the pictures she took when we meet next week, however here is a little preview of a few that she posted on her blog. Priceless...

Lagoon Trip

Last Friday it was our Stake Lagoon Day. We took the girls and some friends, the Peterson's with us. We just used the free entrance pass and the free ride tickets on the stake pass. The girls had a blast. We rode the merry-go-round, which Audrey cried when we took her off, and then had dinner in Pioneer Village. I had memories of seeing the smokey corn on the cob that was barbecued and always wishing I could have some, so that's what we searched for. Instead my childhood memories had sadly turned into a dried out, machine-smoked piece of corn, prepared by some high school boys getting by on the Lagoon summer job paying minimum wage, which then Ty shaved off the cob with a knife so that the girls could eat it easier, disappointment. Then we rode the train, and had some ice cream, which the girls loved, hence the photo below. Liz and I kept watching the Sky Coaster thinking that it looked a little crazy and fun, so we decided to go for it and ride that baby. While we waited in line, Ty took Madelyn on the Tilt-A-Whirl, and they giggled the whole time. Once we got suited up, I motioned for Ty to take our picture and then Madelyn noticed me and started freaking out. She then cried the entire time that I was on the ride until I was holding her in my arms again. She thought that I had signed up for the death sentence...poor girl. At least I know that she loves me that much! The ride was really fun. Enjoy the video...

Before we left. We paid for a few ride tickets (2 for $1) and let Madelyn ride the kiddie bumper cars, which she kept begging for. She loved them, and was actually pretty good at it. Overall, we had a great time and Madelyn still can't stop talking about it. Thanks Peterson's for a great night!