Firehouse

We took a tour of a local firehouse yesterday with my Mom’s club and it was so much fun. Isabelle really enjoyed getting a chance to climb up into the trucks and see what the inside was like. She sat in the front seat and was “driving” while a nice fireman held Bear so that I could get a quick picture.

I think that all the kids had a ton of fun and so did the Moms. Some of the older kids really got a kick out of seeing the fireman get all dressed up and ready to fight a fire. We learned all about fire safety at home and what the firemen do to help people who are in need. Hopefully we will never need their help, but it is nice to know that they are close by to help if need be.

Girl Scout Cookies

Ben is a super “Girl Scout,” he sold 64 boxes of GS cookies his first day on the job. Way to go Ben! As a favor to a family friend, Ben took a cookie sheet up to work to ask his people to buy cookies. I told him his goal was 100 boxes, he’s almost there, hee, hee. I think he still has a few more people to ask so I’m sure he’ll meet “his” goal.

Saturday night it snowed while we were all sleeping, which is nice, because hopefully the next day you can drive places. After naps in the afternoon and before dinner on Sunday we took the kids to a near by hill and went sledding. It was so much fun! Isabelle really got into it once some other kids came to sled as well. Ben was not sure who had more fun me or her. Barrett even went down with Mom and Dad, and loved every minute of it. We just need to work on Isabelle being able to carry the sled up the hill by herself. Along with finding a pair of gloves that will stay on her little hands so they don’t get cold.

Right now we just try to keep her hands out of the snow so that they stay warmer longer. So Ben suggests that she put her hands in her coat pockets to help keep them warm. Great in theory, but not so good when you are trying to walk up the side of a hill. As a two year old that is a pretty big challenge. She made up eventually and loved sledding every minute. She even went down the hill lying on our backs as we went head first on our tummies.

Isabelle was even brave enough, ha, to go down on her tummy as well. This kid is afraid of nothing. Then we came home to enjoy a nice warm cup of hot chocolate. Isabelle as for it almost everyday, thank you Ben. I try to give it as a special treat but sometimes Daddy has other plans.

On the Barrett front, he is doing great, eating solid foods once a day and he is army crawling. He has really figured out how to move forward since Saturday. I can hardly believe it. Just earlier today I saw him up on his knees, and really thinking about what to do next. I’m sure it will be no time and this kid will be moving all over the place. Baby gates here we come!

Snow, Snow, Snow

Our first “real” snow! What fun? I have not quite decided yet if I like the snow or not time will tell. But Isabelle seemed to like it. She figured out right away that she needed to stick her tongue out to taste the snow and have the snow flakes fall directly on her tongue to melt. Barrett even liked the snow, until he fell over and Isabelle was throwing snow in his face. Her first snow angel was on the patio and she was not too sure about the snow falling on her face while she was lying down. So I think we will have to try it again later when it is not snowing. When Dad gets home he’ll have to show Isabelle how to go down her little hill on her tube. I think she will really get a kick out of that one.

The jury is still out as to whether or not I will like the snow. I guess so long as none of these crazy Utah drives hits my car while we are driving around I think we will be ok. I don’t know how adventurous I will be while it is snowing. We may just have to come up with lots of inside at home activities for the kids to do. But I bet eventually we will have to leave while it is snowing because you can only have fun in the house for so long before everyone tires of it. So to those of you in warmer weather, here are some winter greetings. And to those of you in winter weather, when does this stuff end?

Happy New Year!

What an amazing trip! The kids and I spent over six weeks in Texas and boy was it tons of fun. Here is the update of the things we did between the last post and now. . .

Isabelle turned 2! What an amazing day we had on December 24 for Isabelle’s birthday. She had an ice cream cake, presents and her favorite meal chicken spaghetti. She just loves the noodles. . .

On the 25th we celebrated Christmas, with the family. Grandparents, great-grandparents, kids and parents, were all in attendance. The kids made out pretty good, and so did Ben and I. I think that everyone was pretty happy with the gifts they were given and received. Best of all of course was the food and company . . .

From there we picked up Adam and had a wonderful three days with him. Everyone had lots of fun and enjoyed each other’s company a ton . . .

After waiting on the weather and visiting with family we made our slow trek home. It took us the better part of two days but it was still a good drive. We stopped at the four corners on the way home and everyone had a chance to stand in four states at once. How cool is that. I think that I was the only one overly excited about the stop but hey you only get to live once.

Now we are back in Utah, doing the same old stuff. Not really since when we got home I had to clean, put things away and unpack. Being gone for so long wears you out once you get home. Who would have thought! Anyway, our trip was good and we are all glad to be home once again together as a family.

Almost time . . .

As Christmas draws near we are getting very excited down here. Ben will be on his way to Texas soon and then we will all be together again. Isabelle will be two in less than a week and our time in the Lone Star state will be drawing to a close. But who could have asked for a better trip! So far we have really enjoyed our stay.

We went to the zoo the other day to check out all the animals on display. Oh what a sight it was and how much fun to see Isabelle and the animals at the zoo. They all seemed drawn to her and would come right up to the window to see her.

Then just last night we drove through a live Nativity scene. It was great to see all the people dressed up and playing the part of those back in the time when Christ was born. The sights, sounds and smells took you away from 2006 if just for a moment. The people were dressed for the part and there were animals around to make it all complete. Dancers, singers, music and incense helped to complete our drive-thru journey in the night to see Christ born into the world again.

So much where to start . . .

As usual our family Thanksgiving time in Sulphur Springs went by too fast. Everyone was here and gone before you know it. Even though it went by fast we are still very happy that we got the chance to see everyone and spend a little bit of time together. It had been a while since we had all been together. What fun it all is!

Barrett was baptized while we were up in Sulphur Springs. It was a very happy and exciting event for all of us. He did pretty good, and the mass was great. Family and friends helped us to celebrate his joining of the church and welcomed him into the church family. Overall it was a great day.

In all this time we have done and see so much. Let me see where to start; fishing, Christmas, golf, Ice, Gruene, and so much more. Now we are down south for the remainder of our Texas stay and hope to do as much each and everyday.

So watch out world here we come!

Texas Howdy!

Hello from Texas! That’s right we finally made it back “home.” Ben and I are pretty excited to be here and can hardly wait until the rest of the family arrives. Ben will be spending the week here with us in Sulphur Springs, then he will be back in Salt Lake for an exciting month of working. Then he will be on his way back again to San Antonio for Christmas.

The kids and I will be spending the whole time in Texas between the two holidays. We figured that would be easier on the kids than flying back and forth multiple times. So here we are. If you are close and what to stop by or get together just give me a quick ring and we will hook up.

So far our visit is going very well. Isabelle is enjoying her time with Grandma and Poppa. She has played golf, swung, and played in the sand. She is really enjoying her stay in Texas. We even taught her how to say Texas and answer that when asked where Poppa lives. She is too cute!

Barrett is just along for the ride but definitely loves all the attention he gets. I think he will really like it once his other baby cousin arrives and they get a chance to play. They should be pretty cute together.

I hope that everyone has a fabulous Thanksgiving and enjoys all the good food. Happy Turkey Day!

Tundra Swans

It is such a joy to see our children’s faces light up when they do something by themselves or see something that they like. So on Saturday we went up to Bingham City to take a look at the Tundra Swan. Isabelle just loves birds, or all animals for that matter. I figured that she would enjoy seeing the swans and other birds at the refuge.

We took a two hour car tour of the refuge to check out our winged friends. At one point it was a bit of a struggle as Isabelle was ready to see something different but since it was a tour, we had to wait in line. Now we did not go prepared to see the birds, and what I mean is that I did not have any binoculars to see the birds with. For some reason I thought that they would be much closer and we could see them just fine. I think this is the first time since I have had my telephoto lens that I have been disappointed in it.

Either way we did get a chance to see a few birds but nothing up close to where we could identify what they were. Barrett just went along for the ride, and had a good time moving about the car. But I think he would have liked it to have been a little more fast paced. Oh well! At least Isabelle had some fun, and got a chance to check out some new birds. After all we are not “birders.”

Random thoughts

Well that test worked out well now I guess I can move on to more important things in life. Which really is not much, except that we think so. Nothing really new to report. Last weekend we went to Idaho and taught Isabelle how to say Pocatello. It is the cutest thing, she picks up on words so fast. Last week we did not do very much stuff at all. I did a test run of trick or treating with Isabelle at a nursing home and she soon figured out that people were giving her candy and loved it. Then we had a Halloween party for Mom's club which was wild. Thirty kids running around carzy hipped up on sugar. Sounds like a ton of fun. And this weekend nothing very exciting. The fall soccer season is over, so now I have to wait until spring for the fun to begin. I wonder if it will be cold then?

Test

Ok so I am just checking to see if this will post. I have been getting an error message that I have not found out what it means. Very frustrating when that happens. Oh well, I had interesting things to say but I guess it really does not matter.

Idaho Falls

Just for kicks last weekend we drove up to Idaho, let me tell you it is pretty easy to leave a state when you are so close to others. Texas it can take hours to leave the state depending on where you are located. Anyway, we sort of did a test drive to see how the kids, manly Barrett would do on a long drive. I think we will do great. Barrett did wonderful; he just got a little tired of being in the car later in the day. But overall he did great.

The drive to Texas was a concern for me early on in Barrett’s life, because he did not like being in the car. He would scream for the entire ride but now it looks like he will do great. I can hardly wait to leave for Texas. But I am not necessarily very excited about the drive. Oh well, it will be easier at least while we are in Texas to have a car.

Isabelle as always does great in the car, but we will have to get some stuff to keep her occupied. I think some crayons, paper and books will do her very well.

Now back to our trip to Idaho. Ben came up from taking a shower and said lets go to Idaho. I did not really have anything better to do so I said yes, that sounds great. We did not really have a plan, we just drove. We went up to Idaho Falls. Now there are two falls at least in Idaho, Twin falls and Idaho falls. One is supposed to be taller than Niagara Falls, but unfortunately that is not where we went. I told Ben I had better see some water coming over rocks before we leave Idaho. And we did. Idaho Falls is small but still pretty. The city uses their falls to supply the city with energy. There were a ton of birds, which Isabelle just loved. Overall it was pretty interesting, fun drive.

Happy Fall

I think that fall is my favorite season! The colors are just beautiful, the weather is cooling down, and it you can take the chance to slow down and to get ready for the holiday season. One of my new favorite fall activities is to visit the pumpkin patch with the kids. Now that Isabelle is older, she is really starting to enjoy the pumpkin patch and get into it a little bit more. This year we first visited a local nursery that has a huge pumpkin display where the kids can explore and go on a treasure hunt. She might not understand the treasure hunt premise but she has a lot of fun running around and doing kid stuff.

Barrett of course just goes along for the ride. He enjoys it most when Mom does not have his face in the sun. I have to be careful of that; his little eyes are sensitive just like his Dad’s. He did very well when I put him down to take pumpkin pictures. There was one pumpkin there that was huge. It was so much bigger than he was. I just had to put him down to see how he measured up.

Let’s see there was a hay bale maze that the kids could go through. Isabelle always got stuck in the same spot. I went through it with her one time to show her how but she still managed to get stuck in the same spot when she went through it again. It was too cute! She was a pretty big sport about it. She picked out a couple of little pumpkins to help decorate our steps to the front door and then one big pumpkin to carve out. We’ll be doing that later on this weekend; it should prove to be very interesting. I think that Isabelle will really enjoy pulling out the seeds.

I hope that you are all enjoying your fall season as much as we are

Petting Zoo

Last Friday we went to the petting zoo where Isabelle had a chance to ride a pony, pet the animals and play with her friends. It was so much fun. The little area where we visited is all decorated up for Halloween and they have witches all over the place that move or are themed in some way. But the petting zoo was probably the best for Isabelle. She just loves animals, we had to wait for our friends to all get there and she just kept asking to ride the pony and go inside. It was too cute!

The Onesie

Before I got married my friend Paige gave me a wedding shower for all of my college friends. Well one of my guy friends thought it would be clever to give me for a wedding present a cute onesie and rattle for all my future children to wear. So in honor of Rob Sinclair, I have dressed each of my two children thus far in said onesie. Here are a few pictures of Barrett in the onesie and of Isabelle because she hardly ever shies away from a camera.

What a day

What a busy weekend. Ben had family day at work, I called a couple of soccer and we had a picnic with my moms club. But overall it was a lot of fun and the kids had a great time. Isabelle got a chance to ride around in a fork lift and a truck. Barrett “drove” the truck, he was too cute. Don’t worry I don’t think this is their career path just for fun, and it is always nice to see where Dad works.

I think that everyone who made it to Family Day had a really good time. One gentleman brought his whole family, minus a couple of his kids. He was the coolest grandpa that day. The younger kids had a great time watching their parents on the forklift obstacle course, and seeing the boss get dunked in the dunk tank. That’s right it was the talk of the day. Ben was put into the water three times in a row by the same person. Someone was really taking out their frustration! The turnout was good and the concept was a good one. I think that next year Ben’s Family Day will be even better.

Our Mom’s club family picnic was great. We had a chance to show off our better halves and meet those of our friends. Plus it was a great way to get to know the other members, especially the newer ones. Usually we just hang out with each other so it is nice to see that a husband is around as well. Plus all of the kids had a great time together playing and eating. Overall we had a great weekend and a very busy Saturday.

Zebras, Elephants and More

“Get your popcorn here, fresh popcorn.” Or at least that is what I would imagine the vendors saying that the circus. That is right the circus is in town and we had the opportunity to see the Elephant Parade. We rushed home after exercising to change our clothes, feed the baby and wake up Ben to head downtown to see the elephants. Isabelle was so excited about the whole event. You would have thought the parade was just for her.

She waved at people we passed by along with those in the parade for good measure. She bounced with the music and cheered for the animals. I think she really enjoyed it. Barrett on the other hand felt that the time would be best spent closing his eyes but not really sleeping. After all it is not everyday that you get to see an elephant parade.


We enjoyed seeing the local school band, the clowns in their funny costumes, and of course the animals. We saw the horses, zebras and best of all the elephants, all walking in line holding trunk to tail. Ben and I had never seen an Elephant Parade so we were pretty excited as well.

Too Fast . . .

Ok time just flies by now a days! I can hardly believe that it is almost October. With the holiday’s coming up soon that just means we will be able to see more of the family in just a short while. Well during the month of September Mom and Dad Libby came for a short visit while they were here for the Usana convention. It was great getting a chance to see them for a while. If only our visit could have been longer. Dad and Ben had to leave early for business so Mom had some quality grandbaby time. Which of course is what it is all about anyway, right?

The kids are doing great. Barrett is getting so big, he gained 5 pounds over the last two months, which I can hardly believe and he grew four inches. So far he is going to be a pretty big boy. It just means he is getting the good stuff! Isabelle is picking up so many new words everyday. She amazes me with how well she does that is slowly staring to string them together into sentences. I think my favorite sentence so far is “love you brother.” It just sounds so sweet coming from her little mouth.

Ben and I are doing well. We stay pretty busy with work for Ben and the kids for me. But shortly I will be officiating soccer through our local rec center in an instructional league, which will be so much fun. I can hardly wait! Plus I figure it will help me get back into shape. We are still gearing up for winter here in Utah, and hoping to see some beautiful fall foliage; once it arrives I will be sure to send pictures. I understand that it is great.

October should be a busy one, with lots of fun holiday actives and this year the kids are going for the baseball theme for Halloween. I will be sure to send pictures of them all dressed up once I finish their costumes and we go to our first holiday activity. Other wise we are just getting very excited about our upcoming travels and can hardly wait to see everyone.

Don't Drive Away

I could not pass up the opportunity to show Isabelle “driving” the tractor. We visited this old historic farm here in Utah the other day and she just had to do what all the older kids were doing of course. So she had some help to climb up onto the tractor and was driving a way. She even tried to shift. It was too much fun!

Nothing New

I realize that I have not written an update in quite a while, so here it goes. Things are going well for all of us. Barrett is getting to be so big and he is smiling and making cute baby sounds all the time. He still really does not like the car but we manage some how. He as only rolled over twice and I keep hoping to catch it on video but not yet. Hopefully he will do it again soon so that everyone can see it.

Isabelle is as feisty as every! She is just so much fun. Everyday she does something too cute or silly that just completely expresses her Isabelleness; if you know what I mean. Her little mind is a sponge. She is learning so many new words and is slowly starting to speak in sentences. Her verbal vocabulary has surpassed her hand vocabulary but I still try to teach her new signs as I learn them. It’s pretty fun to watch her sign new words especially if it uses two hands. A lot of her signs you just have to know what she is trying to say to understand and process.

I can hardly wait until I can teach Barrett some new signs as well. I really do think it helps with overall communication. Ben is doing well, keeping the troops in line at work and trying to keep his “barn” running smoothly. He worked on Monday over the long weekend which I hope helped out, he didn’t really say. And of course I am doing well. I am ready to have a more consistent schedule so I can figure out when to get a work out in. I’m sure it will all come together soon. It is kind of hard when we don’t have a gym membership because I don’t have anyone to watch the kids so I have to wait on Ben. Either way, everything seems to going pretty smoothly here in Utah, we are just waiting for the weather to cool down.

The people we know here made it sound like right after Labor Day the weather makes this drastic change that upsets the balance of like; instead of gradual change. So far so good it is pretty much the same. I hope we adjust well to a real winter.