Halloween 2011

Happy Halloween everyone! This year Alex really wanted to be Princess Tamina from The Prince of Persia. We got her costume and the sand necklace online. After looking through the different costumes online Ashlynn decided she wanted to be a Flapper. When asked what a flapper was she would answer "Someone from the olden days." She cracks me up. I think she just thought it was the cutest costume. Keri made her dress and I did her hair. It only took about 40 minutes to do and a lot of telling her to stop complaining:) We ate dinner and trick or treated with the Clawsons again this year. I don't think the kids would like it if we didn't get together with the Clawson's. We racked up a lot of candy and had a ton of fun!

First Day of School 2011-2012

This is the first day of Fourth grade(Alex) and Second Grade (Ashlynn). Martin had to drive them to their first day of school because I had to be at the high school. I was not happy about this but when I got home later that day they said they had a great first day.

Swift Creek 2011

We went to Swift Creek camping this year. We left on August 4th which means we were celebrating Ashlynn's birthday while we were there. After setting up camp we went for an impromptu hike. We had to turn around when the really dark, black clouds got too close. On the way down we got wet and lighting struck really close. That night Ashlynn opened presents and we ate store bought birthday cake. The next day was devoted to fishing. We fished in the morning and napped in the afternoon. By the next morning I was ready to go home. Due to really cold nights and cramped quarters we did not get much sleep. We did have fun though.

Ashlynn really did ask for this magnifying glass. Then her and her sister spent the rest of the time using it to burn their names into wood.

Daddy-Daughter Hoe Down

For Activity Day Girls, Alex and Martin went to a hoe down together. They were gone for a couple of hours but had great fun. They ate dinner, rode horses and made s'mores.

Apparently, this is Alex's "angry" face.

Texas, part 2

On Wednesday, we had to go shopping. When packing for the trip I had Alex try on all her summer clothes and found they were all too small. Utah is no where near summer so I put off trying to find clothes for her until we reached Texas. We went to Stonebriar and shopped, ate, and of course rode the carousel.

Thursday, we drove into Dallas to go to the aquarium. This place is awesome. The layout is cool making you feel apart of the habitat. It would have been better if there hadn't been 600 school children there as well but when you drive out there for 45 minutes it's not like you are going to turn around and go back home. I am glad we went and that the girls got to see this. (If you can't tell, it is a turtle swimming above the girls heads.)

That night we went over to Kathy's house and spent time with her and her family. She has a great family. Her kids are just like her, inviting and accepting of everyone. We had a fabulous dinner, with a rousing game of wiffle ball afterward.

Friday, we went and saw Rio the movie. It was very cute and mom didn't even fall asleep during the movie!


Saturday, we tried out Mooyah's. It was crazy. There was so many people. Dad got each of the girls these balloons. They were not too happy with me when I told them they were not allowed to take them with us on the plane. After Mooyah's we went finishing at Bethany Lakes. No fish were caught and yet the turtles were a snappin' that day. Both girls caught a turtle which Dad threw back.

Sunday we of course went to church. It was a little strange to be there again but it was nice to see familiar faces.

Well that was our trip, sort of. There are no pictures of all the other things I will remember. Dad, Martin and the girls digging for Katie's buried treasure(not found), our Jeopardy marathon, helping mom make Easter cards for the grandkids, Brahms, Spring Creek Barbeque, Uncle Julio's, the kids and grandpa on the riding lawn mower, the kids playing baseball and badminton(those did not come on the plane either) and so much more.

Spring Break 2011

So this year for Spring Break we actually went on vacation! I have been waiting for this trip for years. We were able to go to Texas and spend tons of time with my parents. It was kind of a good-bye to my childhood home. We were there for a whole week and did a ton of stuff. I will probably have to do this blog in multiple parts. We arrived early on Monday and spent the rest of the day resting. I couldn't do much after getting up at 4:00am. On Tuesday, we were off. We took the DART train into Dallas to the zoo. I don't think I need to make the trip on the train ever again. I am not sure how mom and dad have done that so many times with different grandkids. It was nice weather for the zoo, thankfully not too hot. We looked at everything and went on the monorail to see all the animals of Africa. I think the kids favorite part of the zoo was the children's area. It had a water display that you could play in and it was difficult to get them out of it.

The Circus

We went to the circus at UVU. Martin received some tickets from a fellow officer for free so we allowed the girls to do a few fun things while we were there. They both got their faces painted and rode on an elephant. The circus was fun and we enjoyed being together.

Halloween 2010

The girls choose their own costumes this year. Ashlynn chose quickly, while Alex hemmed and hahed forever. It always amazes me how much their personalities are reflected in their choices. This past Halloween we went Trick or Treating with Andrew and Camille. We always get so much candy when we go with them and we have so much fun!!

I know this was a really long time ago but I am going to share this anyway. This past September Alex was baptized. She is such an amazing person and I am so grateful to the Lord for sending her to me.