more fun

Last weekend we met up with some of my sisters and their families in Cedar City. We stayed in these little cabins at the Cedar City KOA - we were really impressed. They were really pretty nice; they were clean, warm, and really fun. Plus the bathrooms were really nice as well. We had so much fun building fires, making smores, roasting hot dogs, and exploring Zion's National Park. It was a fun weekend.

Also, our chickens are getting big. We have moved them outside to the chicken coop that Scott is in the process of finishing. We think Betty may end up being a rooster, which is a total shame, because we won't be keeping a rooster (too noisy). Neither Scott nor I have the heart to kill her (him), so we'll probably try to give it away on KSL.com. If anyone knows of someone who may want a rooster, then let me know. We won't be getting rid of it for another month or so, when we can be more sure of its gender.

Oh, one last thing. This is so funny. Scott's great, great grandfather was the first settler of Cedar City and they have a statue on Main Street honoring him. We decided it would be fun to go see it and take some pictures on the way out of town. We told the kids were going to see our great, great grandfather, etc, etc. When we got to the statue they were a little confused. I think they thought it was going to be a real person. Well, Adam was not impressed. He refused to be in any pictures and instead decided to kick Grandpa Lunt in the shins! We told him that Grandpa was up in heaven probably crying because his awesome grandson doesn't like him. In reality Grandpa was probably having as good a laugh about it as we were...

Also, I am including my six month pregnancy shot. It was taken in front of the Cedar City Tabernacle. Doesn't Lily look so cute?

Six months pregnant, in front of the Cedar City Tabernacle. It was a really pretty building.

Lily and Adam on the hike that Scott took them on.

Lily and cousin Joey on that same hike.

This isn't really a double stroller, but it sure seemed to work well as one... (Grace with cousin Isabel)

The cooperative part of my family.

The not-so-cooperative part of my family.

Henry Lunt is Scott's dad's mom's dad's dad (I think).

what is normal?

Lily said the funniest thing the other day. She turned to me, sort of out of blue, and asked,"Mom, what did your grandma look like when she was normal?" I can only assume she was talking about my Grandma Dearie, who is almost 91. It made me laugh only because Grandma looks pretty normal for a 91 year old.

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Note: This is a two year old picture - Lily's hair isn't short; although she wishes it was...

our trip

**WARNING** This is super long. It is a basically a travel log, which I always hate reading. But I am writing it all down more for journal purposes than anything. Also, I am adding a ton of pictures. This is mostly for grandparent purposes...

Scott had to go to Phoenix earlier this week for business, so we thought we would all go along with him and make a little vacation out of it (Lily is on Spring Break). His brother lives there and one of my favorite cousins lives in Mesa. Plus I grew up in Mesa and I haven't been back in about 12 years, so I thought it would be fun to see the old sights - and the warm weather was very enticing!

We had such a fun time! We left early Sunday morning and got there in about 11 hours. I know that sounds long, but when you are used to 13-14 hour trips back and forth from Washington, then 11 hours doesn't seem so bad (we are really glad to not be making those long Washington drives anymore). The kids did really well on the long drive. We spent Sunday evening at the park with Scott brother Brian and his darling wife Callie. It was so fun to see them.

Monday Scott went to his seminar while I took the kids to see the town. I decided to take them to the Phoenix Science Center. It was really neat and we all had such a great time exploring. I forgot my camera that day, so I have no pictures (bummer). If you are ever in the Phoenix area I totally recommend going - it was really fun. Then we met up with Scott for lunch and for the afternoon the kids and I went back to the hotel to swim. It was warm enough to be in a swim suit, although not warm enough for me to go into the pool. The kids had fun though and it was so relaxing to just sit and watch them play in the water as I thawed out from this long Utah winter. Then we picked up Scott and we went to dinner. Scott took us to Papadeux's (I think that is how it is spelled) - it is New Orleans food and it was so yummy, plus the kids were so well-behaved. Apparently our pre-restaurant pep talks on manners are starting to work.

Tuesday I took the kids to a really fun park near downtown while Scott worked. They had so much fun playing and chasing and feeding the pigeons. I think the bum on the park bench was even amused. After lunch we picked Scott up and went to the zoo with my cousin Marian. That was so great! Thanks Mares for taking us (and waiting for us when we were so late). After the zoo we went to Mesa to see my old house, school, etc. My house is completely different - they tore it down a few years ago and built this awful Southwestern monstrosity in its place. But it was fun to see my neighborhood. Tuesday was Lily's sixth birthday so we let her choose what to have for dinner. Of course she chose spaghetti - so we settled on Macaroni Grill (I say "settled" because Scott doesn't love that place - his excuse is that he hates going to the same old place. I had to remind him that we haven't been there since we were first married almost eight years ago, so that is hardly going to the same old place). I have to say, I really liked it and so did Scott (way better than Olive Garden, for sure), we were so pleased with how good it tasted. One of the servers came and sang Happy Birthday to Lily in Italian and gave her the yummiest chocolate cake ever. She was thrilled. It was such a good day!

Wednesday we got up, packed up the car and started our drive home. Of course about twenty minutes before we left Adam fell and gashed his head open on the side of Brian and Callie's bed frame. It probably could have used stitches, but a butterfly bandage would just have to do. Scott was NOT making a trip to the hospital. So off we went. Thanks to Bri and Cal for having such a well-stocked first-aid kit that was so easy to find (and for the totally comfy bed).

We decided to stop along the way and see the sights. This added several hours to the trip, but I have to say it was totally worth it. We stopped at Montezuma's Castle and that was really neat. It is a little more than an hour north of Phoenix and there is just a short little hike to see it. It was really cool. My favorite part about it was that on all the signs about this Indian tribe that lived there it was sure to mention that they mysteriously left after living there for 300 years. Well, I can think of several reasons why they might have left and quite frankly who cares. I finally just turned to Scott and said, "Maybe the historians expected them to leave a note...'hey, we are leaving because....'" It was a fun stop.

Then we decided to take a scenic byway through Sedona. Okay, this was one of the coolest things I have ever done. I would really like to go back in about ten years with the kids. The scenery was incredible and the town was bustling and just so much fun. It would have been great to have some time to get out and go for a walk. This was a long detour, but so worth it.

Then we took this little highway over to Cedar City (hwy 14, I think) and that was also really amazing. We drove over this pass to about 10,000 feet and a ton of snow and when we started down we came around this bend and beheld the most fabulous view. Seriously it was amazing - we could see for miles and it was all that beautiful canyon land (I think it was Bryce canyon that we were looking at) with little dustings of snow here and there. It was breathtaking. I am just grateful the road was deserted otherwise I am sure we would have crashed into someone. Then we drove through the most beautiful rock structures and formations. It was really enjoyable. It amazes me that we live in a state with such incredible landscape. It was such a fun trip and so needed.

Okay, so a word about Lily's birthday. Let's just say she was a really great sport. It was not a typical birthday in the sense that I made a special breakfast, decorated the house, and made it a really special day for her. Because we were on a trip she definitely had to be a little more flexible with what we were doing. She is so cute and I can hardly believe she is six! I am so grateful to have her in our family. She is so smart, beautiful, and creative and she adds such a great flavor to our very quirky family. I was trying to explain to her that March 31st is a special day for me too because my life changed forever that day. She doesn't quite get that I wasn't a mom before she came. She really changed me forever and everyday I grow because of her (and my other littles). She is so darling and I love her so much.

The kids totally conked out at the hotel. It was so cute to see them all the bed together. Just before I took the picture Adam had his arm around Grace.

At the park on Lily's birthday.

Adam wearing his "golf" shorts. Aren't they cute!

At the Phoenix Zoo

Playing the splash area at the zoo. I didn't know there was one, so I didn't bring their suits. I just let Gracie go in a diaper (I know, totally tacky - but when you look that cute in just a diaper I think you can get away with it).

Lily's Birthday at Macaroni Grill

Adam's cut head.

Montezuma's Castle

In Sedona, it was so pretty.

i totally outdid myself

Lily's birthday was on Tuesday (more about that later) and on Saturday I had a birthday party for her with some of her little friends here in the neighborhood. It was such fun (and a lot of work) and I have to say it turned out pretty cute.

We did a princess party. As a party favor I made tutu's for each little girl (we only invited six) and then I added a strip of organza to those birthday hats (you know, the cone ones). So when the girls came they got their tutu and then we did a little princess story activity and pin the jewel on the crown (Lily totally cheated). Then we decorated the princess crowns. I bought a bunch of stickers, sparkly, adhesive, princess foam pieces, feathers, adhesive jewels, etc. for the girls to use. This was a big hit and their little crowns turned out so cute. Then we ate lunch, had cake and opened presents. It was such a fun party and Lily especially loved it.

These were the invitations - so I really am not some over-achieving mom, who has to show off. These were left over from when I made Gracie's birth announcements. I just happened to have the exact number of blank ones that I needed for this. I thought they turned out so super cute and they didn't cost me a dime!

These were the tutu's. I made them very basic, but I still think they turned out to be so fun. I loved all the colors and I had to go with different colors even though I knew the girls would all want the same of one particular one (which of course they did. Who would think that they would all want the purple ones - personally I liked the pink ones)

Okay, so I am no cake decorator. How do you like my saggy piping job....

i'm jammin'

I found a killer deal on fresh strawberries and decided to make jam. I much prefer the flavor of cooked jam over freezer jam and I think it looks prettier when it is finished. Now I just need to find a killer deal on blackberries - my favorite mix is blackberry/strawberry jam - and it turns out the prettiest color!

Also, I thought I would include a picture of my little corner of Spring. Now if only it would happen outside!

18 holes

Adam is so funny! I bought the cutest little plaid shorts at Target the other day for Adam (which I was sure Scott would scoff at, but to my surprise he seemed unfazed - maybe he is getting used to the quirky way I dress our children). So just now I asked Adam to come and try them on. Okay, they looked adorable - but here is the funny part; as I was having him model them he says to me (you have to say this in a high-pitched "Adam" voice in order for it to be truly funny),

"So Mom, are we going to go golfing now?"

HA! These shorts totally look like those nerdy golfer shorts - it was hilarious. Especially because Scott is NOT a golfer, so I am not sure where Adam has even learned about golfing and the attire that goes with it. I just love that boy!!!

love it!!!!!

One of my biggest woes about life is that it isn't really like a musical. I think it would just be the BEST if people would just spontaneously break into song and dance. Dont' you think the world would be such a happier place! Here is proof that spontaeous music and dancing bring a smile to everyone's face (and there should be more of it).



This is from my friend Heather's blog - I just couldn't resist; mostly becuase I totally echo her sentiment - why doesn't cool stuff like this happen when I am around!!!

P.S. You will need to go down to the bottom of my blog and turn off the music - it isn't as good with "Suddenly Seymour" playing in the background - go figure...

mr. peeps has competition

...for our attention.

For my birthday yesterday we visited the local IFA and bought some chicks. We figured in these times of economic crisis we ought to do all we can to prepare ourselves and chickens seem like a good step in that process. Plus I have been wanting chickens for a long time. We got five little chicks, all less than a week old. They are so cute! We need to keep them in the house until May and then out they will go into the stellar chicken coop that Scott is going to build. Mr. Peeps has been very interested (in eating them) and keeps trying to reach into the box to "play." One little chick, Kermit, is pretty ready for a fight and keeps pecking at his claw (Adam named him and he doesn't seem to care that she is a girl). One day Peeps may not be so brave about harassing them. It has been fun and we are excited to enjoy fresh eggs in a few months.

Friday night we met up with Eric and Darren and their girlfriends Kim and Tia for Thai food in Provo. It was soooooo yummy (Thai Ruby in Provo is the best Thai food in Utah) and so much fun to visit with them all. I forgot I had my camera until after Eric and Kim left, so I only have Darren and Tia in a picture with us.

Then last night Michelle came over for cake and ice cream - I don't like to go out on my birthday; I really hate all the undue attention and cheesy waiters singing bad renditions of "Happy Birthday." It was fun and my cake was super tasty (I made it, so of course I liked it!). All in all it wasn't bad turning 29 again.

five months and the kiddos

So I am five months along - please ignore the fact that I look really tired in this picture; it had been a long day. Mr. boy is starting to make his presence known with little kicks and turns; I always love it - it reassures me that he is still there.

In other totally awesome news...don't you just love it when your kids get along. Here is proof that mine actually do like each other from time to time. Here they are looking at a "look and find" book together and watching "Strawberry Shortcake" in Lily's bed together. They are pretty cute and I just love them to death!

Lastly, I just love Gracie's faces. She has an entire collection of funny faces, but the bottom one is my fav (along with her smiling face, of course).