Our Visit

This past week was great, Mom and Dad Libby came into town for a short visit and the Usana Convention. The kids had a great time with Oma and Poppa, and we a little sad to see them leave. Some highlights from our week:

We went hiking up to Cecret Lake, near the Alta ski resort. Isabelle did a great job, she hiked up and down all by herself without being carried. And that was in sandals no less. Bear did great too, he rode in the sling and even fell asleep on the way home.

They went to the farmers market and picked up some good looking fruit, veggies and bread. Isabelle just loves the farmers market, she gets so excited to go. We even went to a birthday party. It was so much fun. The kids had a blast.

Then we had the annual Usana Convention. This was my first time going but Mom and Dad had been before. It was amazing I met tons of people and am really excited to be involved with Usana. I really want to help people live better, healthier lives, all around. I can hardly wait to share our experience with everyone. Our business is growing and will only get bigger.


Mom and I had a chance to take some pictures with some very influential people in Usana and the industry. First with Tim Sales, who has done an amazing job at helping millions of people grow and understand our industry. Along with Dave Wentz the President of the company, he really does an outstanding job.

All in all we really enjoyed our time spent together, and hope to be seeing more of each other soon, as our businesses grow and build momentum.

Our Family Day

We had a wonderful day as a family on Saturday; we tried to keep pretty busy with lots of fun stuff for the kids and the adults. We went down to Thanksgiving Point to check out the Animal farm. We let Barrett walk most of the time and he just loved it. He would walk up to the fence to check out the animal there and then back away quickly if they go to close. He really only ventured a touch if Ben or I were close by.

Although he and Isabelle both rode the ponies, and just loved it, Ben walked with Bear and Isabelle rode by herself. Ben said that Bear hung on pretty well, all by himself. So Ben just acted like a spotter incase Bear decided to make a quick exit. I’m not sure which animal the kids liked the best, but I’m pretty sure they both loved them all.


It was a special day, so they actually brought some of the animals out for the kids to touch. They were able to see and pet a rabbit up close and personal, a calf, and of course the ponies. Most of the animals if they were close to the gates would let you pet them. One goat was out for a lot attention so Bear gave her a quick kiss. It is just amazing to see them discover new things especially as they get older and more interactive.

As the sun was going down, we made our way over to Sandy, UT for the first annual Balloon Festival. We thought the kids would like to see the balloons all lit up at night. The gas that helps them fly lights up the inside of the balloons pretty well. We actually arrived there a little early and had a chance to watch most of the balloons go up. It was pretty cool. Isabelle really enjoyed running around and acting like a kid. Both kids were real troopers and stayed up pretty late. I think I liked the colors of the balloons the best.

Flaming Gorge

We just had a great weekend camping and boating on Flaming Gorge. It was really nice once we got there. We carpooled with Casey, who was bringing the boat along, and had a little bit of trouble with a tire on the boat trailer. We got into Evanston, WY at 7:30pm about and did not leave there until around 11:30pm. The boys had to repack the bearings on the one tire and hope that we would be able to make it to the lake and back home. Needless to say we finally made it in, and had so much fun.

We did not camp by ourselves but in a big group, which made the trip even better. With so many people around, it made it pretty easy to watch the kids. Plus they mostly wanted to stay by everyone, in stead of wandering off. Bear and Isabelle got so dirty, it was nice to get them in the water to help clean out their finger nails and wash some of the dust off of them. Although, they would be dirty all over again shortly after they got back on shore, guess that is just how things go.

Isabelle and Barrett both went on the tube, behind the boat. Isabelle was not a big fan, and kept saying Daddy, stop! Daddy, stop! Bear on the other had feel asleep. He was so tired, that the movement put him right out. You would never have thought that he was on a tube riding the waves.

Missy and Jory came along, and so did Missy’s sister Christy and her family. We played games, talked, and had wonderful camp food. The first night we cooked dinner we all had to do something different because the wind had picked up a lot and we were not able to make a camp fire, but somehow everyone managed to eat and like their food.

The kids, and Casey went out early the next morning to try to catch some fish. They weren’t able to be very big ones, but had a fun time catching the little fish. The kids were all asleep so Ben and I did not go on the fishing trip. It would have woken them up for sure.

I got to ride on the tube by myself and had a ton of fun. I was thrown off twice into the water before I got tired. The last time I was tossed Ben said I caught some serious air, and went round and round in the water before stopping. It was a great ride. Too bad Isabelle did not like it better, maybe next year. Ben was the same way, he had a blast going out on the tube, and was tossed around by the boat all over the water. Overall it was a great weekend and we had so much fun.

Eating What?

Barrett has brought putting things in his mouth to a whole new level. He really wanted to be just like his big sister and paint, so I thought I would let him have a try. True to form he decided that seeing what the paint tasted like was a much better plan. Although he did get some of the paint on the paper, he still ended up wear a good amount of it on his clothes, face, legs, and hands. He was too cute! I even brought out the step stool for him to stand on, well that was too much work, he had to sit down in order to create his masterpiece.

Then once he decided that he was done, he felt it was necessary to go around the yard and pick up all the pieces of fruit that he could find that had fallen on the ground. And it does not matter to him how they look, green, eaten by bugs or birds, he takes a big bite out of anything. You would really think that we just don’t feed this kid. But I promise we do, it’s just that everything has to go in his mouth.

While the kids were playing outside I left the back door open so that I could hear them and they could come in if they wanted to, while I was making some brownies for tonight. After I was done, I thought I would let Isabelle lick the mixing “spoon.” She had chocolate all over her face. I could almost not believe how messy she had gotten. But shortly after wards, once she was done playing and painting, she came inside to use the restroom, and washed her self all up. She had to first come back down stairs to get the step stool and carry it back up to the bathroom herself, but she cleaned up her face and hands. I was so surprised, when she came back down with a clean face. That was pretty refreshing.

Purple Gloved Dinning

Isabelle is so silly, she decided that she needed to wear one of her snow gloves to eat dinner last night. She had a pretty interesting time trying to grab a hold of the fork with her mitten on. But I think that she did manage to get some food into her mouth while still wearing the glove. Then since we were taking pictures of her, she decided that she needed to take some pictures herself. With Ben’s help she took a couple of snapshots of me. They were not half bad, considering she is two and half.

Aviary

Yesterday was Pioneer Day and the aviary was open to the public for free. I thought that since Isabelle just loves birds we would go and take a quick visit. She really enjoyed seeing all the different types of birds and sharing them with her brother. I thought for sure by the end of our trip Bear would be singing bird but he has not. He really liked it none the less, I think he would have been happy to get out and walk, but with just one of me, that would have been kind of hard. We did get to see some birds up close during the bird show. We saw three types of owls and a hawk, both kids thought that was great. It was kind of sad the hawk had broken his tail and could no longer fly, he lost all steering power. It reminded me of the red tailed hawk that we saved when we were living in California, in the High Desert.

The only challenge with our trip was that we arrived just after the parade was done and we had a horible time finding a place to park. It was so crazy busy. Plus the park was host to many other wonderful activities as well. So people were not leaving very quickly. Add to it that you could not park in the usual spots, it was a challenge. We finally made it in and the kids just loved it. Isabelle let me know when she wanted to go home so we went. Our birder day was over, until the next time.

MOAB

Beautiful Red Rock surrounds the Moab area. We were very lucky to be able to go and visit Moab, this past weekend while going on a rafting trip down the Colorado. Now I’m sure that most of you think white water when you read rafting trip but there was no “real” white water this time around. The river was pretty low, and smooth. We might have had a few bumps but nothing to get too excited about. Mostly it was a scenic tour of the canyon on raft. It was very nice and relaxing. We were on our boat with a family from Denmark and an Aunt and niece from Nevada and Connecticut. They were not a very talkative bunch, but some how I managed to bring it out of them, for at least some of the trip.


The remainder of our weekend was spent just relaxing and seeing some of the sights. On Sunday before we left we made a very quick visit to Arches National Park to see some of the famous arches in the area. We did not stay very long, so we’ll have to go back one day to check it out again. As Ben would say this place is Gorgeous. I don’t think he could really come up with a better adjective than that. Oh well. The kids had fun staying with Missy and Jory. Not sure if Missy and Jory will volunteer to do that again, we’ll see. They survived and I think it was still a good trip.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BARRETT!




Bear is one year old today. I can hardly believe that just a year ago he arrived into the world a wonderful 9 pound baby boy. He has been so much fun this first year that I can hardly wait for the next one to come. Barrett has learned so much and just seems to absorb new information each and everyday. It is still so hard to believe that he has grown so much over the past year. He was so “little” when we brought him home, I’m just so proud of what he has learned. He is finally starting to walk more, almost always with his arms above his head. He just goes now all the time. He really needs his naps still because other wise he would be constantly on the move, and overly crabby. Barrett watches Isabelle’s every move, and tries to do what she does or at least keep up with her. They are so cute together. I think that as the months go by he will learn even more. He is stating to sign more words and hopefully will begin to speak more words as well. We are working with him on his signs and learning his body parts. With Isabelle’s help he will be well on his way to always be able to point to his nose for sure. He really enjoys pulling on your nose. We have made it through our first year of breastfeeding and we’ll have to wait and see how long he wants to go now. He still seems to enjoy it, but he eats so much faster after all he has to keep moving, to keep up with his sister. I’m pretty sure his first meal of “mommy milk” will stay with us for quite a while. Our first year is over, here is to the next one!

Last week was a busy week for us. We went to California to visit with our friends there and celebrate 4th of July and attend a wedding. The kids had so much fun. Now we are just working on getting back on schedule for sleeping. Here is a short overview of what we did:

We left on the 3rd for California and arrived shortly after 8pm PST, it was a good drive and the kids did great. We flipped Barrett around for the ride and he loves facing forward. There’s no going back after that.

On the 4th we walked in a neighborhood parade, Bear fell asleep. Isabelle loved to look at all the dogs and of course the fire engine. Then we spent most of the day by the pool. It was HOT, I think some where around 109 towards the middle and end of the day. After a quick bite to eat we went over to our other friends house and visited with them and watched fire works. The kids loved that as well and Isabelle made a new friend, Christina. Bear fell asleep before the fireworks started and looked so cute. Isabelle was pretty dare cute in her little outfit and a holiday hat.

On the 5th we visited some winery’s in Lodi to pick up some wine that we really enjoyed. I only wish we could have gotten more. I really wanted to help replenish our “cellar,” which has not changed much but when you live in Utah and they jack up the price, you do take your time a little more. Bear took tons of steps all by himself today, it was pretty exciting.


On Friday the 6th we made our way up to Squaw Valley for the first day of wedding stuff. We checked into our hotel and of course played in the pool. Ben and Bear took a nap while Isabelle and I cooled off in the pool. It was pretty fun, she made some friends at the pool as well. Then for dinner we joined Jack and Avra at a local restaurant to get ready for wedding fun. Dinner was great, and the kids were wonderful. Barrett was such a good boy, he was happy so long as he had some food.

Saturday was the big day, but before the wedding we had to go to the pool, and a kite and jazz festival. Isabelle had fun with a finger kite and looking at all of the big kites that were being flow. She thought they were pretty cool. They even had a free craft for the kids to make their own kites. She made hers and had a ton of fun flying the kite. After nap time we got ready to make our way up to high camp where Jack and Avra were getting married. It was a beautiful setting with the mountains and Lake Tahoe in the background. The wedding had a funny part, as all weddings should, Jack forgot to give the rings to the ring bearer and so some of the guests offered up their rings to the happy couple. Avra did not think it was very funny at that point but I’m sure later on in life she well laugh about it. The reception was great, Isabelle had so much fun dancing, I think she danced for every song. It was too cute. She even danced with Christina, they were adorable. We had to catch the last gondola down the mountain so we all left and put the kids to bed. Since Bear was falling asleep while we were dancing. Once the music stopped he woke up.



Sunday was our last day in California, we went to breakfast and then drove around the lake. Ben had never been to Lake Tahoe so he was pretty excited to see all the sights. Emerald Bay was beautiful. The fires did not seem to make the lake too cloudy with ash, so you could still tell that it is a gorgeous shade of blue. The drive home seemed a little long, Bear did not like it as much as going out, but it still was not that bad.


Overall we had a really good time. Ben made it up to Roadway for a little bit at night, and some of the guys were sad that he did not come back during the day. He was happy to see his friends, Jack and Avra are great. And we were really happy to be able to stay with Jim and Barbara while we were in Sacramento.

Yogurt Boy

I think I was busy doing something, the other morning so I gave Barrett his real first try at eating yogurt all by himself. What a cute kid! I still think that he wore most of the yogurt but who cares, when you get to stick your hand into a nice cold, gooey mess. Plus he just looked so pleased with himself, who could resist that smile.

Swim

Isabelle has been going to swim lessons for the past two weeks. I finally got to take some pictures, of her learning to swim. It is pretty exciting, because the last time she did this she was only 5 months old and I was swimming with her. If only we were able to keep that up, it would have been great. Each day she is pretty excited to go and swim, she talks about what she is going to do in the car on the way over and she will even “practice” in the bath tub. Pretty good considering the first two days she screamed or cried almost the entire time. Now she loves it!

Dress Up Stuff

For work today, Ben went around with one of his sales guys to visit with customers. One customer he visited hosts dress up parties, where you can purchase the outfits as the party favors. I thought that was great, I think we know what Isabelle will be doing for her thrid birthday. While he was there, he picked up a couple of outfits for Isabelle, a cowgirl and a princess outfit. She looks too cute and really enjoys them. She even shared her hat with Bear, he's still a little small for the outfits there, but I bet in December we'll be able to find him something cute.

Eleven Months

Barrett is now eleven months old and let me tell you everything goes in this kids mouth. I attempted to take some pictures of him without stuff in his mouth today and pretty much just gave up. I truly think he really uses taste as another sense all the time or we just aren’t feeding that kid enough. Who knows but he is still the cutest thing. Very close to walking, I think he could do it if he really wanted to. You can get him started and he will go until he reaches his target or realizes that he is walking. Isabelle helps him out by holding his hands and walking with him, which in it self is great to watch. Bear just loves it!

Disclaimer: I had a hard time getting everything to work right but finally have it made, so please enjoy the pictures of Bear. I still think he is too cute!

Tim & Faith

Let me start off by saying that Tim McGraw and Faith Hill can put on a great show. For Mother’s Day and my birthday, Ben got me tickets to see them in concert. I really wanted to go last year but we had just moved and things were still crazy. So this year I hinted around at it a lot and he bought me two tickets. The best part was that he said I could take whomever I wanted. I took Missy with me and we had a great time. The concert was amazing. Our seats were not great, but it was still incredible to be there. Their show has just gotten better over time. If you ever get a chance to see them I would definitely do it. Even if you don’t like country music they have a little bit for everyone. It was so much fun, plus he is so hot. As Ben said “. . . he would be the only person Allison would leave me for.” No chance of that I think, but hey a girl can dream. Plus I’m not so sure I would want to leave Ben; I think he has a pretty good hold on me.

Camping Fun!

We went on our first real camping trip this past weekend. We only stayed over one night but it was a lot of fun. Both of the kids did great. But let me tell you, it’s hard to get them to go to sleep when it stays light out side until almost 10pm. They were both so active and having too much fun to want to sleep. I think we need to have an after dinner activity next time to help wear them out. Even still it was a great time.

All across the nation you could fish with out a fishing license on Saturday, and so we took a little advantage of that while we were out. Isabelle and Dad went fishing for a little while on Friday, because Isabelle does not need a license, and plus that’s just what Dad wanted to do. And then of course we went on Saturday as well. It was just a little bit hard, because we did not have a boat and could only fish along the shore. Not many fish were caught by the shore line.

It was a good thing we were not relying on the fish for our food. We would have been in deep trouble. Isabelle liked the fact that she had a rod that was just her size. Even Bear thought it was pretty cool. I personal don’t like to fish I just can’t wait around, it takes too long. Oh well!

Overall we had a great time and we hope to go again soon. In July we are for sure going up to Flaming Gorge to go camping, right on the beach, it should be great. I can hardly wait! And then in August we will be going do to Moab to take advantage of the white water and the camping.

This girl can sleep anywhere. Just like her Dad, Isabelle has the ability to sleep right where she is sitting, standing or eating. I was cleaning up around the house getting ready for playgroup today and Isabelle was at the table having a little snack. I noticed that she was pretty quite so I came up to see what she was up to. I came to find out that she had fallen fast asleep all curled up in her chair. It was too cute!!