Happy 3rd birthday, Preston!

I can hardly believe my little Preston is 3 years old!

He has gone from being a sweet, easy-going baby to a very fun, high energy little boy. I guess that has to do with following his big brother around. He adores Chandler and really enjoys playing with him. I don't know what they would do without each other for entertainment. He has toughened up to the point where he can definitely hold his own with bigger boys.

Preston is always busy with something. I have learned the hard way, never to leave him unattended for more than a moment (see above). He is very creative and adventurous. The most innocent looking of household items quickly becomes a sword or gun in his hands. He is definitely "all boy!"

There certainly is a downside of being fearless. Almost a year ago, Preston broke both bones in his lower leg. You would think this cast would have slowed him down some. You would be wrong! It was only 2 days before he was climbing out of his crib with the cast on. He quickly found himself in a 'big boy bed.' They even had to recast the bottom of his foot because he wore through the cast. Fun times!

Preston is such a joy to our family and things wouldn't be half as fun without him! We love you, Preston, and can't wait to see what your third year holds for us all. 911 is on stand-by. :)

Jared has gone to football heaven

Jared has always wanted to go to a football game in 'The Big House.' In case you're football illiterate, that is the stadium at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. It holds 100,000 people. His beloved Utes are playing them even as I type this.
He went to Michigan with his dad and his brother, Jon and his family were able to come up from Indiana to join them for the weekend. Jared even got Jon to dress in all red for the game. If you know Jon at all, you know this is a big deal. He, like me, bleeds BLUE.

The view from their seats on row 90! Yes, there are at least 90 rows! Crazy! I'm sure more pictures will follow when Jared returns. (These are sent via Jared's phone). Who knows, maybe he'll even post about his experience.

Back to school-part 2

Well life as I know it is over!  Chandler started Kindergarten today!  He was so excited and not nervous at all.  I thought this would make it easier for me.

All ready to go!

He has been dragging his new backpack all over the place (filled with toys) for the past couple of weeks, but last night it was empty and waiting.

Waiting for the bus.

Posing for the requisite pictures.

He was the last one to get on the bus.

I managed to hold it together until I got back to the house.  I didn't expect to be so emotional.  I was really excited for this day.  While waiting at the bus stop, it hit me that my baby was really growing up and going off to school.  I guess I'll get used to it....sigh.  He is home now and had a great day at school.

Could this be the next Roger Federer?

Chandler did a session of beginning tennis with the city this summer.  He really liked it even though the majority of what they did was learn to balance a ball on their racket.  I've been taking tennis lessons for the past few summers and have had so much fun with it even though I'm not very good.  You'll have to depend on the paparazzi for those photos.

Learning to hit the ball.

What a little stud, huh?

Farm country

Last Friday we dropped everything and decided to take the kids to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point for one last hurrah before school starts.

Jared getting cozy with a goat.  Should I be jealous?

Chandler loves going on the pony ride there.  He looks a little nervous, but really he loves it.  By the way, I noticed that Chandler is wearing the same shirt as the previous post.  He really does have other clothes.  For some reason, he seems to like that one.  :)

Preston, on the other hand, was nervous.  Too nervous to ride, in fact.  Being scared is really out of character for Preston, but I never knew a mom who would frown on too much caution.

Chandler on a fake sheep.

They have a little play country jail there.  Let's hope this isn't a sign of things to come for Preston.

Back to school-part 1

My baby started preschool this week!  It's very exciting and a little sad for me, but we'll go with exciting in the spirit of positive-thinking.

Preston with his teacher.  Notice he's already trying to rip off the name tag and school hasn't even started yet!  I bet she wasn't smiling quite as big at the end of class.  ;)

Chandler is taking a class at the preschool to help him stay up with his reading and math.  It complements what he'll be learning at Kindergarten.  Expect Kindergarten pictures after it starts next week!  Am I really old enough to have a Kindergartener? 

**By the way, for security, I'm not saying where or when they go to school, so please don't say it in the comments.  If you want to know, email me.**

Good news Vampire lovers!

Twilight, the movie, has moved up its release date (from 12-12-08). You can now get your Edward/Bella fix on
November 21, 2008!

Technology Rules!

Before you click away from this post, what I'm about to tell you is for everyone! Even, my Republican friends and family! You can find out who Barack Obama picks for his running mate via text message before it is released to any new media (other than those who are signed up themselves). Even if you're not a supporter, you should still be interested in who he chooses. Sign up yourself by texting VP to 62262. Standard text message rates apply, of course :) P.S. If you haven't registered to vote, click on the link on my side bar and DO IT!

Toronto 2008

Believe it or not, it has been 5 years since Jared graduated from dental school.  He was President of his class (brag alert!), and thus was obligated to help plan the 5-year reunion.  We decided to take the opportunity to return to Toronto for the first time since we piled into our UHaul and made the trip home to Utah.  We were able to make the trip sans children thanks to a lot of help from our families (Thanks again, everyone who helped).  It was great to get away with just the two of us and to see all of our old favorite places.  We stayed at the Sutton Place Hotel which is as close to our old apartment as we could get.  One of the nice things about being without our kids is that we were able to see 2 movies during the weekend.  We used to go to a movie almost every Friday night when we lived there.  We also were able to walk all over the city without someone whining about being tired.  It was a blast.  Jared has more pictures so there may be a supplemental post of our trip at a later date.
One of the first places we stopped when we got into town was Spring Rolls Express on Yonge Street.  We used to eat here all the time and loved it!
Our first morning, we grabbed some breakfast to go at Tim Horton's and ate it in Queen's Park.  There used to be tons of black squirrels that lived in this park, but they aren't there anymore.  (Any Toronto people know why?)
Me on the University of Toronto campus.  You can see the CN Tower in the distance and convocation hall (where graduation was held) on the right.

Jared and I in front of one of the famous Canadian Mooses (or is it Meese-just kidding).

The view down from the top of the CN Tower.  At one point, it was the tallest free standing structure in the world.  There's probably something taller now.  Google it if you're interested.  It's still really, really high.

Looking down from the CN Tower.  Isn't the city beautiful?

Jared in front of Toronto City Hall.

Me at Nathan Phillips Square downtown.  They have ice skating here in the winter.

This is the best steak dinner anywhere in North America!  (That we've had, anyway).  You can find it at the Keg Mansion.  I got a seafood version that is covered in lobster meat, crab and shrimp.  Yum, yum, yum!  And I'm generally not a steak fan!

This is the hospital where Chandler was born.  5 1/2 years ago!

Me in front of the Royal Ontario Museum.  They have totally remodeled the outside.  We were going to go in, but the line stretched clear around the outside of the building.  Next time, for sure.

The R.O.M.

A sand sculpture outside of the  R.O.M.

We took the subway out to one of our favorite areas-Greek town.  One of our favorite places there was Mr. Greek.  It has also been remodeled since we left there, but the food was fabulous as always.
Sorry about all of the food pictures, but the food really was a highlight of our trip.  This is the yummy pork souvlaki with tzatziki sauce, greek salad and veggies.
Jared in front of the street sign of our old apartment.  We loved living on Charles street.  We even recognized one of the "transients" selling newspapers outside of the Manulife center.  I guess he's doing something right if he's survived there for the past 4 years. 

Another visit to Queen's Park.

Jared on campus.

Jared with some of his best friends from dental school: Gurjit Dhuga and Dan Hagi.  It was great to see these guys again.
These are some of Jared's classmates who were at the reunion.  This was taken early in the evening, so some of the people weren't there for the picture.

Us at the reunion.

One of the last things we did before heading to the airport was have a hotdog from the vendor at Bloor street and Bay street.  They slice the dogs and grill them to perfection!  The yellowish buns are also slightly grilled.  Yummy!

Summer Fun

It's been far too long since I've posted, so forgive me the long update.  We've been really busy this summer and so it's all getting rolled in together to one picture-intensive post.  Who knew summer could be so busy?  I thought it was supposed to be the time where everyone laid around, watched the Price is Right and sold lemonade?  I guess not.

One of our favorite things to do is to go to the Bean Museum at BYU.  We used to go about once a month, but it had been several months before this trip.  Preston, obviously, can't read the 'Please do NOT touch' signs.  I was too busy getting the camera ready to stop him.  I'm sure he's not the first kid to pet this zebra.
Chandler touched a snake.  He was actually pretty nervous about it.  Preston was not nervous at all-- typical.
Grandpa Wynn took all of the 'local' grandsons who are potty-trained camping over night at Deer Creek campground.  (Jared and Dan came too--yes, they are potty-trained).  Little Daniel looks like he's ready to hit the sack in this picture.

Jacob and Chandler enjoying the campfire.

Dan readying the fire.

Wynn enjoying some camp snacks.

While the bigger boys were camping, I took Preston to Kangaroo Zoo in Pleasant Grove.  They have tons of inflatable jumpers, toys and slides to play on.  Preston was in heaven, but would have had more fun with other kids to play with.  Sadly, this is the best picture I could get.  There was so much to see, he wouldn't look at the camera or hold still long enough to get a non-blurry picture.
A couple of weeks ago, we took the lift to the top of the Sundance Ski resort.  There are several hikes up there and amazing views.  We just walked around a little and then headed back down.

Preston and I at the top.

One guess how Chandler felt about getting off the lift...he wanted to get back on IMMEDIATELY!

Someone decided to give Preston a chocolate candy bar on our drive back down the canyon.  Yes, it is even in his hair.  He sure is cute, though.