American West Heritage Center = FUN

Last week for play group we went to the American West Heritage Center and it was so much fun. The kids were all so cute and Spencer had a great time with some old fashioned down on the farm fun.
There was a huge stack of straw that the kids loved jumping in. Of coarse Spencer was again pretending to play Wipe Out.

The first pony ride was a hit...he was so brave right up to the moment the horse went under the bar and Spencer hit his head on the bar. They knew what they were doing when they put that helmet on him.

I am glad to report that Spencer has picked up some "skills" during our time in Cache County.

Owen is such a champ

Spencer's turn.
Doesn't get much better than a pirate ship made of straw with dress ups.

These goats were awesome but Spencer wasn't that impressed.

Last but not least the train ride. We are so grateful for this fun little group of friends and the fun experiences we are having with them. Dillon, you are adorable.

Classic Clips

Look at him go. Owen is one determined little guy and it may not be pretty but he will get what he wants.

Classic second child.

Lake "Tee-haw-ho"

We decided to cram all of our summer fun into the last few weeks. For the grand finale we spent the last week before Scott went back to school up at Lake Tahoe. It was a perfect way to end the summer and an awesome vacation. Prepare for picture overload




After driving for 10 hours this playground at our condo was a welcome sight.

We did the short hike down to Vikingsholm and it was so pretty. Spencer was impressed because he totally believed that Lyle the Kindly Viking from Veggie Tales lived there.

The view from the mountain above Emerald Bay.

This is a rare shot of Owen actually staying on the towels. He spent a good amount of time rolling around in the sand and it didn't bother him a bit.

Spencer was one with the sand...and his trucks...and bucket. Kids and sand are just a good combination.

Scott was so mad at me when I took this picture but I knew we would laugh at it later. This was our second time out with the bikes and trailer and Owen was not happy about it. He got so upset that it made Spencer start to cry and at the climax when we realized they were not going to be calmed down we were about 3 miles from our car. We got some laughs and some judgmental glances as we calmly rode through a neighborhood of multimillion dollar homes by the beach with our two screaming kids. The first time out with the bikes was much more successful. Owen fell asleep and we rode this beautiful trail through huge pine trees. Tahoe is a very bike friendly area with bike paths all over the place through awesome landscape. The picture below is more likely how we will remember biking in Tahoe.

I took this picture from the side of the road because I was going nuts over how clear the water was. When we were swimming in it we could see the bottom crystal clear at 5 feet deep.

The resort we stayed at had this indoor sports court so we reserved it one afternoon and got in a little tennis action. Spencer watched a movie on the portable DVD player and Owen was confined to his pack and play. It was fun after Owen cried himself to sleep.

Our condo was so perfect. Thanks Dad. We were on the ground level on the very end building so the view from our patio was the side of the mountain. It was so peaceful up there.

By far the best part of the trip was the Jet Ski for an hour*. Thanks Brian! Scott and I took turns because obviously one of us had to stay with the boys and at first I was bumbed that we wouldn't be out there together. I soon realized that the solitude was just what I needed to reconnect with my inner dare devil. I had a blast and was screaming at the top of my lungs and squealing with delight for a good portion of the ride. I thought I was so awesome and came back to tell Scott that I hit 68 mph only to find out that he hit 72 mph while singing Brittany Spears. Sorry Scott I had to share that.

*The hidden treasure was a close contender.

Aren't those pine tree's in the sand so awesome? Oh and Owen is as adorable as ever.

The beach was so great because it was so relaxing. The part if the vacation where we just sat back and enjoyed the cool water and watching our boys play. The weather was perfect and hot so the water was just the place to be.

A frog huh? well...see ya later

Cool water fall we found past Fallen Leaf Lake. Scott and I determined that we need to go back to Tahoe when our kids are older and do more hiking...and jet ski more.

Thank you Lake Tahoe we miss you already.

Bear Lake Beach Babies

A big thanks to Arica and the Craven Fam for letting us come along for a day of fun at Bear Lake. Spencer was so brave on his first boat ride and Owen was just hilarious in his big life jacket. He was more of a little ball than normal and rather than fight it and try to move at all he just went to sleep.

I love this picture.

Spence and the girls playing in the sand.

Owen was a little trooper and was just happy to be there.

Logan Canyon

Scott will be graduating from Utah State in December and our time in Logan may be over. We decided that we need to make the most of the time we have left here and do some Loganish things. We hit the Cache County Fair and loved seeing the animals (except the pigs they are disgusting). Spencer had to sit in at least a dozen diferent tractors. We played all the games at the Macey's booth (I heart Macey's) and had some good old fashoned family time. Unfortunately a big storm came in while were there so it got cut a little short, however, that did save us from having to pay for those expensive carnival rides so it was fine.

We have been to the Logan Aquatic Center. No worries there aren't any pictures. The boys loved it and Spencer had a blast on the big slippery slide. Ask him about it and he will give you the story in full detail.

One of our more recent favorites is riding our bikes along the Logan River parkway. It is so beautiful and we have come to really enjoy family bike rides on these nice wide streets.

Charlies. For anyone who knows about this "sweet spot" in Logan you will understand.

Finally here are some pictures from out little trip up Logan Canyon. We played in the mud by the river and then washed up and cooked our hotdogs over the fire. It was a great little dinner and there is just something about a campfire in the canyon to make a summer feel complete.

Splish Splash

Swimming at Grandma and Grandpa's pool. Doesn't get much cuter than a chubby kid in a swimsuit.

A Cache Valley Fourth

We hope you all had a great Fourth of July weekend last week. We decided that we would try experiencing a true Cache Valley 4th and we had a blast. Here's the run down:

I love how this picture makes Owen look twice as big as Spencer. Can't beat those smiles

The morning of the 4th we hit the Lewiston City parade and we loved it. The small town parade was so fun and a little different than the WJ parade I grew up loving. The floats were very simple but they made up for it with the mass amounts of candy that they pummeled the kids with. There were more beautiful horses than I have ever seen in one parade and shockingly little kids riding those huge horses.


Once Spencer figured out that these people were throwing candy he would wave at anyone. Even the democrats Ü


On Friday the 3rd we found ourselves a nice little piece of lawn south of Romney Stadium and watched the awesome fireworks show that Logan City put on. Spencer was hilarious. Before the fireworks started he was delusionally tired. Once they started he was scared and would only watch with one eye. Half way through he was yelling and clapping with excitement and by the end he was sound asleep on the blanket. Owen slept.

I love the fourth and am so grateful for the many blessing my little family gets to enjoy because of the wonderful country we live in!

Owen's Latest Tricks

Watch out he spits.

Yup...he rolls

If you haven't seen Owen in the last week you are missing out. He is full of new tricks and is so adorable. His shirt is always soaked (refer to video 1) and if he is on the floor he is rolling. He just goes until he bumps into something and starts to cry.

Birthday Bliss

My little Spencer turned three in June and we had a great time celebrating his birthday. My mom threw a great birthday party for Spencer and his two cousins who also have birthdays in June. What is it about boys and guns? He thinks he is so tough, thanks Jen!

On Spencer's Birthday we spent the day together as a family and we had so much fun. Spencer loved his new toy's, although not as much as the dumb little toy that came in his kids meal.

I loved watching Scott teach Spence how to use his new baseball stuff. It was a perfect day!

He is...

He is getting so big and I am so proud of the boy that he is.

He is so sweet to Owen and loves to make him laugh.

He is talking so much and makes me laugh every day with the funny little things he says.

He is so smart and loves doing "school" and learning all about colors and letters and numbers

He is obsessed with playing on pbs.org. He gets to play after he goes poop in the potty and it's the best reward I could possibly give him.

He is amazingly good at golf (thanks Dave and Aubrey)

He loves playing with his friends and cousins

He is my jumping bean and I love him so much



Scott and I have our birthdays in July. We both got older bikes and were able to fix them up and couldn't be happier about our new rides. We were given a bike trailer for the boys and it is officially our new favorite hobby to cruise the streets of Logan as a fam. Thanks everyone for making our birthdays so fun!

We Stopped Traffic on I-15

We had a little drama on the freeway as we were driving down to Salt Lake last weekend. We were almost to Ogden and cruisin down the fast lane next to a big double long semi when we heard a little noise. I thought it was coming from the truck next to us but then within a few seconds out tire totally blew out. Scott did an awesome job of controlling the car but unfortunately we were n the fast lane and could only get off into the center median. We were on a curve so cars couldn't even see us as they came around going 80+mph. There was no way we could even attempt to get out of the car and change the tire. So we called the police and the Highway Patrol brought along the Incident Management truck. The Cop went up the freeway and slowed traffic for us and the truck blew a fog horn to give us the all clear to drive on our rim across all four lanes of the freeway. We felt so special. Sorry if any of you were in the traffic jam Ü.

The Incident Management guy was awesome. Scott felt a little dorky just standing there while the guy did all the work but I say hey it's our tax dollars at work. We made it home safe and I am so glad that it didn't turn out any worse. Happy Fathers Day Scott I hope you like your new tires.