Wheeler Farm and Olympic Park

My sister Alyson and I, decided that this summer we were taking the kids to do as much as possible. It didn't exactly turn out that way, but we did get to do a lot of things and I think the kids had a lot of fun. This trip was our "cheap" trip. Everything we did, didn't cost a thing. There is so much to do in SLC, you just have to find it. We took the kids to Wheeler Farm, an old, still working farm where the kids can pet animals, see how they grow and farm their crops, and lots of other things. Gavin worked on earning a travel patch for scouts white we were there. We found out some interesting things, like the original farms name was the Rosebud Farm and that they use to chip the ice off the pond and ship it around Utah for families to keep their food cold in the summer. We were saddened that no horses were around, they were out in the back pasture, but we got to see lots of other animals. Their favorite part was feeding the ducks. A couple of those ducks are quite feisty and I thought someone might lose a finger, but all is well. After the farm we had a picnic. This was interesting because my kids wanted what Alyson brought and her daughter wanted what I brought. In the end we sorted it all out and everyone had a great lunch.

After lunch we headed to Gateway to play at Olympic Park. This was where the medal ceremonies for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games took place. It has a fountain area that people come from all around to run through and play in the water. On the hour and half hour, they have the fountains perform to music. It is really cool and the kids LOVED it. Ky wasn't so hip on the whole water shooting out at him, but he still had lots of fun. The water would shoot up and he would scream and run away, then laugh. It was perfect. As you can see from the pictures, the other kids had a BLAST! Their faces in the pictures are PRICELESS. I think Mally had the most fun. She has such a beautiful smile and it was a perm-a-grin the whole time. We played here for about 2 hours! They would have played longer, but it started to rain. After the water fountain, we did the most insane thing anyone with 6 children under the age of 8 could do. We went to Costco. Needless to say, Aly and I were spent and wanted to come home and take a nap. However, it was a fabulous day and I can't wait to do it again!

Treehouse Museum

A couple of weeks ago, my sister Alyson, my Mom and myself, loaded up the troops of Becca, Rachel, Gavin, Mallory, Jaycee, Madyson, and Kyson, and headed for Ogden. My sister-in-law Lori introduced me to the Treehouse Museum and we have LOVED it! It is far better than Discovery Gateway and cheaper! They have loads of activities and exhibits for the kids to see and do. They had a special traveling exhibit on puppets, like the kind used in Sound of Music. It was fun to see all the different costumes and stories from other nations. The 3 of the cousins had never been, which was exciting to see their responses to different things. We had so much fun. Kyson got attached to the Thomas the Train table (he doesn't play with the one at home). He even got into a fight with another kid who took his train. I couldn't be too mad at him, because the kid literally took it from Ky, but anyway, we did have to take a time out. Jaycee loved playing with dolls and the knight/fairy figurines. She would make friends with whomever was at that exhibit and away they would play. Gavin liked to play the US map game, but his favorite is the life size chess board. He actually played a game against a worker and WON!!! I wish his cousin Chase would come so he would play chess with him. Also, while at the museum, Gavin yanked out another tooth. That was number 6. With two more that are loose. Funny side note, he forgot to put it out for the tooth fairy for 2 nights! She is really smart, because she did bring the money, when he finally got it under the pillow! I didn't take a lot of pictures, but you can see they had fun.

Mt. Timpanogas Caves

So, I'm going in reverse order of our summer. Monday of this week I decided that my kids needs one last big adventure before school started. I told my asst. coach I was missing practice, loaded up the kids and head to American Fork Canyon to hike Mt. Timp. This was inspired by my dear friend, Harmony, who did it with her children 2 weeks ago. On a side note, she has 2 kids ages 7 3/4 and 4 3/4 and her spouse went with. I have three kids, one being a terrible two year old and no spouse. However, we hiked the 1.5 miles, even Kyson, did the caves and had an amazing trip. The kids complained, almost the entire hike up, but once inside the caves, they LOVED it. Gavin thought it was cool all the different formations and colors. Jaycee liked seeing the pink crystals and Ky was just happy to be there. It took us 1 hour and 40 minutes to reach the caves 1 1/2 hours in the cave and 30 minutes to get down. I'm glad the downhill was only 30 minutes, because Ky fell asleep and I had to carry him down. In the process I tweeked my knee and yesterday and today my hips have been KILLING me. I'm 30, I shouldn't feel like I'm 92!!!! Anyway, it was a great adventure and one more thing to cross off of my bucket list to do with my kids!!!

...STOP THE PRESSES......

I know! Can you believe it? I am actually going to update my blog!!!!! Miracles never cease. So, we have been very busy and I need to catch up on a LOT of things, but today's post is going to be just about GAVIN and his first day of school. He kept telling me that he wasn't excited to go to school. I was beginning to believe him, until this morning. He got up with out a fight, got dressed, ate breakfast, and at 8:10 said, "So, can I go yet?" I said, "NO." But then every few minutes he kept asking me and I finally said, "For someone who doesn't want to go to school, you are awfully anxious to get there." He got a big grin on his face and said, "Fine, I am excited for school, I just didn't want to tell you."


He is in the 3rd grade this year with Miss Andrews, whom is thinks is the BOMB. I'm hoping for another great year, and big achievements. He is growing up so fast and I can't believe he is already in the third grade. He amazes me daily on how smart witted he is, and cleaver! I'm so proud to be his mom and so glad that he is part of our family. LOVE YA G!

Yes, We are alive!

I just got done reading everyone's blogs and it's so much fun to see/hear what you all are up to. Half the people on my blog list are pregnant, and I love reading your updates! I'm so excited for you it's crazy!!! We are still alive and doing great. I need to update some photos and give you low down on our lives, but for now, just know we are great and loving life. Maybe when track season is over I will be better at posting.

He is 8!

I can't believe that 8 years ago I was sitting in Salt Lake Regional watching Apollo win his first Olympic medal while holding a beautiful 9 lb baby boy! It was an amazing day and I am forever grateful for the opportunity to be this fine boys mother. He has been such a joy in our life. Phil and I can't imagine where our lives would be if we had waited to have Gavin. He is full of personality, attitude, and stubbornness, just like his parents. He is so excited about starting Cubs and gets to do his first pack meeting, Blue and Gold, on Tuesday. I remember how grateful I was that he was over 9 lbs, because I needed an excuse for my tubbiness. He was so perfect and smiled. He still has the same smile. I remember when he was about 3 and in my bathroom sitting on the counter, staring at himself in the mirror. He was talking to himself and said, very proudly, "I am a Child of God!" It was so humorous and precious all in one moment. He has had many of those moments over the years. Like at the Idaho Falls Temple visitor center as he looked at the picture of the crucifix, "Dad, Mom, Jesus is nakey-nakey!" I thought the senior missionaries were going to die! He has always kept us on our toes and is FULL of lots of energy. I love him to death and I can't believe how time flies. He is a great addition to our family and I can't wait to watch him grow and become an amazing young man. (I know I will have to beat the girls off of him sooner or later.) Happy Birthday G! You will always be my handsomeness boo and bunzer boy!

FIRE!

Since I use this blog as a semi journal, I felt I needed to post about the fire. I don't have any pics so just use your imagination. In the month of January we had 2 fires in our home. Now, before I go into more detail I want to clarify something. I LOVE my pellet stove.
The first fire started when I needed to clean the stove out. I started to suck out the ash with the shop vac and there were still hot embers burning. They got sucked into the vacuum and lit the filter on fire. Smoke was coming out all over. I opened the basement window and through the filter out. It was smooltering so much I threw snow on top, but that only made it worse. I then grabbed an empty ice cream bucket put the filter in it, through it out on the lawn, ran upstairs, told Phil I lit the house on fire. He ran outside and by that time, the plastic bucket was toast, smoke was ragging in the front yard and Ky was laughing. Biggest concern, smoke alarms did not go off. It was crazy, but we made it through with a little smell and no major damage. I'll be more careful next time I clean out the stove. We also checked all the smoke alarms and changed the batteries, just in case.

Second fire came at 4:00 a.m. about a week later. Phil woke up to the smell of campfire, I was dead to the world that night. He went downstairs to a basement full of smog. The auger got clogged in the stove and the pellets started to back up. The fire was so hot it started burning the pellets up inside the hopper. He "fixed" it (shut it off), but didn't dare go back to sleep. I got up around 7:45 and could smell it, but thought it was the stove burning out. He proceeded to tell me what had happened and once again, BIG concern, smoke alarms didn't go off. My house reeks of campfire, which is Ok when your outdoors, but not inside your house. That same morning we had to go clean the temple and I was embarrassed that we smelt like we just came off the mountain from cooking our smore's . It has been almost 2 weeks now, and my house smells a little better after an entire can of oust and carpet odor eliminator. We have yet to turn the stove back on because we need a part that has to be shipped from the manufacturer. I hope it is still useable, because it cuts down on my gas bill and I love how warm it is in the basement. However, I'm still a little concerned about the smoke detectors. I'm wondering if the company miss labeled them instead of smoke detectors they are really flame detectors. I mean I boil water on the stove and my they go off. What is the deal? Anyway, we survived and I hope that we don't have to do THAT again!