Spur of the moment trip to the Treehouse

Yesterday the kids and I went to the Treehouse Children's Museum in Ogden. It was totally spur of the moment because I needed to get out of the house, but we had so much fun!

In case you have never been there, I totally recommend it. They have two stories and lots of places to explore.

The castle area

An area to explore other countries

This chair scared Jack! There is a button that you can push and music plays and a voice talks to you. Jack was on the chair and pushed the button and then screamed and jumped off and said "I am scared of the big chair!" I laughed because I thought his reaction was funny. I also think that it is kinda creepy! Then anytime we were within view of the chair he would scream "aah, the big chair" and then would run away.

They also have a place where you can make an art project and they switch the projects throughout the day. It was Theater Thursday while we were there, which looked like fun but not age appropriate for my kids.

Ogden really isn't that far and it was totally worth the 30-40 min drive. We had so much fun. We will be planning another trip soon or maybe we will go spur of the moment! We also want to try out the dinosaur museum in Ogden. Anyone know if it is indoor or outdoor?

Toddler Fashion Expert

Yesterday Jack and I went to Mommy and me tumbling class. Since I was not working I just stayed in my comfy clothes that I wore to tumbling class. Later that day I changed my clothes because Aaron and I were going out. I took off the sweat pants and put on jeans and a collared shirt. Jack who was sitting at the table eating dinner said "are you ready for Church mom?" after he saw that I had changed.

So do I only dress nice when I am going to Church? I am have some serious issues when my toddler notices that I don't dress well. At least he knows that we dress in our best for Church!

I think a shopping trip is in the near future. I do need some new clothes. I used to dress better better when I went to work an office everyday, but staying home with kids has not inspired me to put together trendy or cute outfits. (sigh) One of the many glamors of being a mom!

Just like Matt

Last night after the kids bath, I mentioned to Jack that he needed a hair cut. He said "No, I want to be like Uncle Matt!" LOL I guess that Jack picked up on the hard time we were giving Matt over Christmas. Here is another picture of the shag that Matt was styling.

Matt did get a hair cut and shave his face the day after this picture was taken. (Its hard to tell with his hat on, but but both my brothers, Aaron and now Jack usually have a shaved head) Aaron cut his hair yesterday morning before church, so we told Jack that both Matt and Dad got their hair cut. Jack still insisted that he was not going to get his hair cut so that he could be like Uncle Matt!

Christmas was good

There were two really wonderful things that happened this year at Christmas. One is that Jack was so super excited for every thing and his face was just awesome. He was so good and waited his turn when opening presents and didn't try to open other people's and stuff like that. I loved just watching him. The second is that we got to talk to my brother Cameron who is on a mission. It was so neat to hear him. It was weird not having Cameron there for Christmas this year, mostly because he has been the one who has never been away from home so far. Being the baby of the family he was always there when I came home to visit, so it was weird to not have him. I guess it is good to know that he was missed. He sent everyone a CD with some pictures and here are some of the ones that he sent.

Missionary stud!

He is in Virgina!

I guess they got distracted while providing some service! He said that they kept piling the leaves up and then taking turns jumping in.

You would have to know Cameron, but he gave us like 5 pictures of these shoes

Maybe he had a good relationship with George?!

Snow has a new friend

And it is definitely not me! Jack loves playing in the snow. He has been so anxious to get out and play. We finally found him some pants and boots. The valley is void of kids snow boots. Equipped with the right attire Aaron took Jack outside to build a snowman and a pyramid. Don't ask me why but Jack really wanted to build a snowman and a pyramid. Whatever. The asphalt was pure ice so Aaron would give Jack a good push while in the sled and he would go sliding across our icy area. They had such a good time. Aaron also built Jack little sledding ramp.

Jack named his snowman Frosty. I think that Jack ate some of Frosty's chocolate chip buttons!

The pyramid.

Looks like fun. I am so happy that Aaron is willing to go out and play in the snow with him. They had such a good time. Jack took a great nap that day!

Ancient Graffiti

Albuquerque (ABQ) and New Mexico includes many Indian Reservations. One of preserved areas in ABQ are the Petroglyphs. We decided to take a little walk and look at some of them. The weather had gotten much wamer so we could take everyone, even the babies. We went to the Boca Negra Petroglyph. The Petroglyphs could be also called ancient graffiti. They are carvings in the rocks. It was fun to get out and walk around. My mom did awesome for having heart surgery two weeks prior. She went slow to not over do it, but she did excellent. My brother Matt usually has a buzz hair cut and for some reason had let his hair grow out and had not shaved for a few days, which may be because it took them three days to get to ABQ from Washington state. They hit every single snow storm along the way. (They travled in a Honda Civic with a dog and a 6 month old baby, plowed snow with their bumper, and drove insanely slow in order to be safe. We are so glad that they made it) Matt looked like a hobo. I didn't even recognize him half the time.

Who is that homeless man with Abbey?

Our good little hiker

Ancient Graffiti

Pretty Paige

A rat with a lollipop?

Bundled Babies

So cute--Jack gave each of the girls kisses on the cheek.

Paige loved riding in the "Jack Pack" (that's what we call the backpack)

Not sure?!

The soon to be newly weds! (One month left)

The amazing mom!

Jack is a mountain goat. He was jumping from rock to rock on the way up the mountain.

Pondering thoughts or stressing out from wedding stuff?

That homeless guy followed us the whole time!

All done.

Old Town and the Rail Runner

I wanted Aaron to see as much of Albuquerque (ABQ) as possible while we were there for Christmas. We left Paige home with my sister and mom and set off to see some ABQ sights. One of the unique areas to ABQ is Old Town. It is basically a little area with little shops and restaurants and there is also a church. All of the businesses are geared to be local and maybe a little historical. It doesn't take long to walk around and look at everything, which is a good thing because it was freezing. Literally, I think it was like 28 degrees or something. It is a much colder cold than Utah, if that makes sense. I think it has to do with the clear blue skies and the wind. So we walked around Old Town for awhile and enjoyed the sights until we were frozen.

An "old guy" in Old Town!


My boys

After we left Old Town we went to catch the Rail Runner train (similar to the Front Runner in Salt Lake). Before we even went to Old Town my dad wanted to go and look and see how getting on the Rail Runner worked. Jack had fallen asleep in the car ride and so Aaron stayed in the car while my dad and I went to check it out. While we were gone Aaron noticed a guy circling the car parked next to us and then try and break into the car. So Aaron, the good Samaritan that he is, got out of our car and said "I don't think that car belongs to you." The guy looked at Aaron for awhile then took off. So Aaron stopped a bad guy. Way to go Aaron. The Rail Runner opened a new leg in their routes that takes you from Santa Fe to ABQ and to promote this they were giving all passengers free fare for a week or so. We took the leg to Bernalillo where my mom picked us up. Jack and my dad were really excited to ride the train. Since it was free alot of other people had the same idea we did and so it was packed and we were not able to get a seat. The novelty wore off really fast. But it was still fun to take a little ride.

The Best Santa Ever!!!

After the whole mall Santa experience, I really didn't want to try another mall, but still wanted a picture of my kids with Santa. My mom made a Santa costume awhile ago for a ward Christmas party and she had the idea of getting my dad to wear it and come and visit Jack and Paige. My dad agreed. So Christmas Eve Santa came to visit Jack and Paige. We thought that for sure Jack would see right through it and know that it was Papa. Jack's pure belief in Santa allowed him to truly believe that the man in front of him was indeed Santa. Both my dad and Jack enjoyed it so much. Jack talked about it the rest of the night and even a few days after Christmas. My dad had so much fun that he called one of the families that he home teaches and went over to their house as Santa. I think that a better Santa costume is in my dad's future because he loved it so much.

This Santa experience was a million times better and I am so glad that I got to see the look on Jack's face when he saw that Santa had come to make a special visit to him. Thanks Dad for being Santa!