Trekking home

 We ended up leaving our hotel at 3am, transferred the kids to the van and drove with sleeping kids for the next 3.5 hrs. I REALLY wanted to stop at the Seven Magic Mountains since we didn't get to on the way down and I was afraid we'd get there too early to wake the kids up but the sun just happened to be rising shortly before we got there and the kids were starting to wake. It was the perfect stop at the perfect timing! 

It's an incredible sight! I'm so thankful for whoever decided to do this :) Made a fun way for my kids to wake up and made leaving California a little less sad. Owen was amazed to see a sign that said to watch for venomous snakes in the area...we stayed on the trails for the most part. There was also a sketchy photo shoot going on behind the rock that the girls were standing in front of. Something to do with a scandalous buzz light year outfit...we stayed on our side of the rock and they stayed on theirs, thankfully. 

It wouldn't be a family vacation without Owen getting sick :/ His cough started a little bit on Tuesday night and we only noticed it in the evenings throughout the week but he slept fine. It wasn't until that last night at the hotel (Friday) that it had him coughing through the night. It was at 3 am that I decided to try giving him his inhaler and that's when I realized there were no more puffs left. I woke up Devin to tell him that there were no more puffs left and that's when we decided to just go ahead and leave. We already had the car packed because we were planning on leaving around 5 or 6 to beat traffic but I'm so glad we got many hours of driving in with the kids asleep. 

The cough continued on Saturday and I was able to get his inhaler transferred to the pharmacy in St George. Still, Owen had trouble breathing most of Saturday night so I took him to urgent care Sunday morning certain that he had an ear infection because he was starting to have a runny nose too. His ears ended up being fine...just decided that he had allergies that started in California either due to the air or possible pet dander or mold in the hotel room we stayed at. The allergies caused drainage down the back of his throat that were causing the cough and we were prescribed an antibiotic to keep it from turning into an ear infection or pneumonia. Poor boy can't catch a break but he adapts and deals with it so well. 

It was so nice to enjoy a final day in St George. The kids loved running around the nice park downtown, we got yummy sandwiches at One Hot Grill where Devin "broke" their ice machine, haha. Mitchell and Farrah also had a really fun park near their house where the kids had a blast - all the kids there had motorized cars and scooters that they ride there from their houses and Lucy got to ride in a fancy princess carriage :) We also got to go to dinner with Mitchell and Farrah again at Icebox by Snow Canyon, sat at their favorite table and had so many good laughs. 

We left at the perfect time for Lucy to nap on our way up to Spanish Fork, where Devin's Uncle Steven and Aunt Alexandria welcomed us for dinner and fun conversation. Our kids loved their basement where all the toys were for the grandkids. We feel so lucky to have nice friends and family welcome us into their homes - it seriously helped us so much with our first road trip! 

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Tikka, the "Favorite"

One thing I love about having a dog (in the summer) is that Owen is so content to just be outside as long as Tikka is out there with him. He usually doesn't let her lounge without going up and giving her some love :)



And it helps that she is SO patient with him! She'll playfully act like she's trying to bite him but never actually does.


Owen is quite the pest with lots of grabbing and poking but I think Tikka is just grateful to have him as a buddy
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Owen James turns ONE

We got to do a little celebration the weekend before he turned one when Grandma and Grandpa Harper came to visit. He got spoiled with fun books, wooden cars, bath toys, and lots of love!

Then we had to celebrate on his actual birthday too, of course! So Ava surprised him with some new balls and we took him to his favorite place on earth - sand and water!



We took the boat out to Lucky Peak for the afternoon and Owen just dug and ate dug a ton of sand and Ava swam to her heart's content with daddy.







Owen wasn't really sad or happy on the boat, just just "yelled" the whole time to the tune of the boat's motor, it was too funny.



He's such a little go getter these days and I'm excited to see him grow and play next summer as a full grown boy! Mostly I just predict all the trouble he and Ava are going to get into in the coming years together. Pin It

Spring Break 2015

Even though the kids aren't in school yet, we had our own little spring break and went to Declo on a Wednesday night so that Devin could take off early the next morning with his Dad to head to Moab for a couple days of dirt biking with Garrett and Derek. Meanwhile, the kids and I stayed and hung out with Laura. We hadn't even seen them since the beginning of January so it was a sweet reunion, especially with how much these kids have changed and grown!




We had some beautiful weather for playing on the play set and joining Grandma on her morning walk.

Owen lasted longer than I thought in the gravel before he tried to eat it. He loved lifting it up and letting it fall between his fingers. It was once his hands started getting sweaty that he'd see gravel stuck to his hand and didn't know any other way to get it off than to try eating it. He is also the most flexible fat baby I've ever seen. He is always bending himself in half from sitting up to face and tummy on the floor (like he's almost doing a couple pictures up)! 

The Guys in Moab:

^^Is it just me or does Devin look like a power ranger? :)




They had fantastic weather! Got down there Thursday afternoon, hit up some trails, then repeat all day Friday. It was so fun that Derek was able to get the day off to join them on Friday and Saturday morning. They even fed themselves well with breakfast burritos and dutch oven 7 up chicken, impressive! Marissa and her family happened to be down there at the same time and let the guys come shower at their hotel Friday night - lucky! This was a great way for Devin to finish year 29!

We spent Thursday in Pocatello and Friday in Twin Falls. The kids were troopers during all the shopping and long car rides. I think bribing Ava with ice cream helped ;) We got to try Culver's hamburgers and ice cream - delicious!! We had the turtle sundae and their caramel was so yummy.

Saturday

Not a great quality picture but I had to include this because Ava warmed up so much to Great Grandma Harper this trip and kept sitting in her lap to read books. On the way to her house Ava kept saying "I love Grandma Harper" and was just so happy to be at her house. 

We also made a stop in Burley at Gossner's - my favorite! I love going in and trying their sample cheeses and spreads with crackers and different flavored milks. (Did I mention I like dairy?) I usually leave with a bag of cheese curds and this time we also got some ice cream (thank you Grandma!). 

Cinderella

After we ate some lunch at home we went back out to Burley to catch an afternoon showing of Cinderella. Well, the kids both fell asleep on the way to the theatre so Laura carried Owen's carseat in and I carried Ava's car seat in - with her still asleep in it! It fit perfectly next to me in the theatre and she stayed asleep for about the first 45 minutes. When she woke up she was very still and just stared wide-eyed at the movie without saying anything or looking over at me. This was about 5 minutes before the fairy godmother did her big transformation, then right after the old, ugly, fairy godmother turned herself into a beautiful sparkly magical lady, I hear Ava's cute little voice say "wooow!". 

I can't say enough good things about that movie - loved loved loved the messages and scenery and acting. "Have courage and be kind." I can't think of a better motto for life.

Sunday

The kids had a fun little Easter egg hunt in the back yard - Wynn and Ava getting their own little corner of the yard to seek :) Laura also found a bunch of fun mugs to give to each of the kids. Ava loved the monkey one she got and Owen loves his soft little wind up car.




This pic of Owen and Mitt is priceless. Can you tell Owen isn't used to a lot of kids all around him?

We also got to celebrate Devin turning 3-0! 

With his request of "lemon dessert", like a mix between lemon bars and lemon meringue pie. Whatever it is, it's a Lion House recipe so you know it's good!



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