The cutest boys ever

Need I say more?

Karma

I had a very 'interesting' experience with Preston last night. He has had his share of sleep issues (too scared to sleep in his own bed, sleeping on our floor for months at a time, etc.), but since he turned 5 he has slept in his own bed pretty well. Occasionally, he'll come down scared and I'll have to take him back up, but nothing too out of the ordinary. Last night, I was still awake reading my book in bed when I heard his door open. I thought here we go again. I waited for him to appear in my doorway so I could escort him back upstairs to his bed, but he didn't come, so I decided to investigate. I walked out and saw his shadow in our office. I turned on the light to find him standing there peeing on the floor! I turned on the light and said, "Preston, what are you doing? Stop! Stop peeing on the floor!" He didn't stop. He just kept going until he was done. (Sidenote: no more drinks after the bath from now on). He seemed a little out of it and didn't really answer me as to why he was doing that. I sent him up to bed and he went without complaint. I promised him a 'talk' in the morning. Fortunately, his aim landed on one of those hard clear plastic things that you put under office chairs to protect your carpet, so the cleanup was pretty easy. I bet the manufacturers never would have thought it would protect my carpet from urine. When I asked him about it this morning, he had no idea what I was talking about. I guess he wasn't truly awake when it was happening. You're probably wondering why this is titled 'Karma.' Jared had several similar situations when he was a child. In fact, he did the same thing right into his older brother's closet. (I still think that was subconsciously on purpose). Let's hope that this is the end of our sleepwalking adventures. At least the end of the adventures that involve bodily fluids.

Stewart Falls Hike 2010

On Saturday, we decided to hike up to Stewart Falls between soccer games. The leaves up in the canyon above Sundance are just starting to turn colors and the views were amazing. Unfortunately, the battery on my regular camera died while we were hiking, so the pictures here are iPhone-taken. Oh well, you can still see the awesome colored leaves.
Chandler got hot on the hike down from the falls, so he took his shirt off and tied it around his torso. Of course, Preston wanted to do the same. Jared thought they looked a little like rednecks, so we had to stop and take a picture.

At one point on the way down, Preston was complaining and asking to be carried. I, naturally, refused (hello, he's 5!), but being ever the softy, Jared carried him for awhile. Oh ya, and did I mention he was already carrying Ashton on his back (asleep)? What a nice dad my boys have.

Jared, Ashton and Preston playing in the water at the Falls. We brought lunch from Subway up with us and had a picnic when we got there. For some reason, my boys have never been to
Subway before and now they think it's the best restaurant ever! (We don't get out much, obviously).

Jared and the beautiful leaves.

Family picture taken by some random hiker just before heading down the trail. Jared's phone was accidentally taking video, so this picture is actually a screen shot of the video that was taken. Gotta love the iPhone. The boys enjoyed getting really dirty, throwing rocks and playing in the water. The hike was a little long for them, but they did great. People would snicker as they passed us and the boys were saying things like, "This is the worst hike ever!" and "I'm never doing this again--EVER!" If you ask them now, though, they say it was fun, so I'm sure we'll do it again next year!

Freedom Run 2010

July 5, 2010

One of our new family traditions is running the Freedom Festival 5k during the 4th of July celebration. This year my niece, two nephews, Dad, brother and sister joined in the fun. I use the word fun cautiously here.

The whole group after the race. It was awesome having my mom there to take pictures and drop us off at the starting line. Parking is terrible the morning of the race.

Connor and Jaxon. Jaxon may have won his division; however, it may have to do with the fact that we accidentally switched his and Connor's time chips. Studly 9 year old dominates most 6 year olds. I'm hoping to have Chandler and possibly Preston participate next year.

And then there's me. Still not a fan of running, but hey, I did it. And took a couple minutes off of my last time with little to no training.

Ashton's first haircut

July 2010

Anyone who knows our sweet baby, Ashton, knows his crazy hair has always been part of his charm. For this reason, I was hesitant to cut it. Little boys look so much more grown up after their first haircut, and I wasn't ready for Ashton to be a big boy yet. Finally, around 10 months, enough people made comments about it needing to be cut, that I finally relented.

Before the 'cut.' He has no idea what is about to happen to him.

Cute, slobbery face.

When our boys are little, the haircuts have to happen in the high chair so that they are contained. Jared is very patient with them and a decent barber, so he is always the lucky one.

Of course, there are a lot of tears in the process. This picture looks like, "Mom, why are you taking pictures instead of saving me from this torture?!?"

After. Sad eyes, still recovering, but happy to be free from the high chair.

Our big boy, getting ready for his GQ debut.

End of school year 2010

May 26, 2010

The First graders did an African drum dance for the dance festival this year. They were accompanied on some real African drums being played by students. It was really cool. They each made their own bandana to wear on their head and had their faces painted.

Chandler in his 'costume'

Getting ready to dance.

Another highlight of the end of school was field day. Chandler has been talking about the big race all year long. They take the top 3 boys and girls in each class and then have a final race with all of the first grade boys.

Chandler got second place in his class race. He was beyond thrilled. He didn't even realize he would have to run again.

He got Fourth place in the final race. We are so proud of our little athlete. :)

That same day was the First grade talent show. Chandler decided to show a picture that he had drawn. He did a great job presenting it. It's a rainbow house.

Preston finished his second year at preschool this year. This is him with his teacher. He is already an excellent reader and still has one more year before Kindergarten.

Both boys with their new fishing poles that they got for successfully completing another year in school.

Memorial day 2010

May 31, 2010

Of course, I'm way behind again, but here it is anyway...

On Memorial Day, we (Jared) wanted to take the boys fishing in Midway. Due to school and other things, we didn't get to stay over, but just drove up early in the morning. Chandler and Preston got new fishing poles for their 'end-of-the-school-year' presents this year and were anxious to try them out.

Chandler fishing

Preston fishing. He actually had a lot more fun playing with the worms that sitting still holding his pole. I know, you're shocked about that, aren't you?

Jared demonstrating his boy scout, knot-tying skills. Judging by the number of 'bobbers' that ended up in the pond, he may need to practice more. :)

After fishing, we went home, let Ashton have a nap, and then went on a bike ride to Bridal Veil Falls with my family. This is a pretty long ride for little ones; especially since we had to start from our house and not from my parents' house where everyone else started.

Preston and Ashton enjoyed a nice nap in the bike trailer on the way.

My Dad at the 'rest stop' we had to take on the way up.

Jared and Chandler cooling off and rehydrating before finishing the ride.

The whole family! We made it! I was so proud of Chandler for making it the whole way. (15 miles round trip!) His bike only has one gear and he must have looked pretty funny on the way down trying to keep up with his pedals. He had the cadence of Lance Armstrong and then some.

After the ride, we had a barbeque at my parents' house.

Three cute cousins chilling out on top of the mail box.

Baseball 2010

Chandler is playing coach pitch baseball this summer. He's having a great time, but we still have a few things to work on.

Notice anything wrong with this picture?

There...that's better!

Sister-in-laws night out!

Last weekend, Jared's sister, Jennifer came to visit from Colorado to attend the Women's Conference at BYU. Her visit happened to coincide with a visit from our sister-in-law, Megan (Jon's wife) from Indiana. We took the opportunity to have a girls night out! I can't remember the last time we were together with all of the girls on that side of the family. It was a blast! I'm really blessed to have amazing sister-in-laws (on both sides of my family actually) and a fantastic mother-in-law as well.

We started the night with dinner at Teppanyaki. It is one of my favorite places! Due to horrendous Women's conference traffic, we were about 45 minutes late for our reservation, but they held it for us anyway. Thanks for being patient, Julie!
Pictured: Me, Julie, Heidi, Jennifer, Joyce, Ben (Megan's son), Megan, and Natalie

After a brief stop home to put babies to bed, we went to my very favorite place (of the moment). The Chocolate is a dessert cafe located too close to my house for comfort. They have the most wonderful desserts and such a fun atmosphere. I like to say that it is like a bar for those who don't drink alcohol or a coffee house for those that don't drink coffee. If you haven't been yet, shame on you! Click on the logo to see their website. They have some great pictures of their menu items.

All of us at The Chocolate. Sorry about the fuzzy picture; I think it was the 'inviting ambient' lighting and my camera being on the wrong setting, but you get the idea. We all shared numerous desserts and had a great time being together. I can't wait for the next time!

St. George for Spring break 2010

For Spring break, we headed south to St. George in search of some fun in the sun. I think our school district's Spring break must have been at a different time than most of the rest of the state's because St. George didn't have that typical "spring break" feel about it this time. Normally, it's packed with teenagers cruising 'the boulevard' at night and every restaurant and attraction are packed. Not so this time. Maybe we're just getting so old that we're in bed before 'cruising' time. Who knows...

We went to the the Wild life museum with the boys to check out some bugs and animals. The boys like this place, however, we're not sure we'll do it next time. We spent $25 to get in and were only there for 30 minutes. We could basically have the same experience at the Bean museum for free anytime we want. Anyway...

Checking out the bugs. Very cool if you're a little boy.

Preston listening to the self-guided tour, and Chandler posing in front of a Chandler Mountain Roebuck. You probably aren't surprised to hear that the listening devices later became weapons on our self-guided tour.

One of our favorite venues in St. George is Snow canyon. This was Ashton's first time with us. We decided to carry him in the Baby Bjorn even though he's borderline too big for it. He had a great time (and so did the rest of us). What could be better than dirt, sticks, rocks and climbing for a family full of boys?

Ashton chilling in the Bjorn with Mom.

Chandler and Preston climbing around on the sandstone.

Preston climbing on the rocks.

This time, we were smart and packed a picnic lunch to eat there. Even basic Ham 'n Cheese tastes great after a morning of hiking around.

We discovered a new place in St. George this time. Downtown they have these great water fountains and little river system for kids to play in. It's a great spot to relax for awhile in the sun and let your kids burn some energy.

Preston playing in the fountain.

Preston and Chandler playing in the fountains.

Ashton lunching on some keys, and Jared catching up on the Masters. Did you hear Tiger was back? :)

Another first for us this time, was the Fiesta Fun center. It's a fun place with miniature golf, batting cages, bumper boats, go carts, and an arcade.

Bats=weapons for Preston, of course.

Chandler enjoyed his maiden voyage at the batting cages.

Ashton is such a happy kid. He didn't even care that he missed out on most of the adventure because he was too little or too young.

Jared and Preston in the bumper boat

Jared and Chandler in the Go Carts. The kids loved this.

Preston and I went next.

Our last day (Sunday) we visited a local church and then walked around the St. George temple. It was a beautiful day.

We had a great trip! Not pictured: playing at parks, seeing How to Train your Dragon, multiple Polygamist sightings, eating out, swimming at Las Palmas, visiting our favorite pet store, and much, much more. We can't wait to go back!