Cinnamon

Wow. Things around here have really been busy. But fun busy... so fun I don't want it to quit! I have a lot of catch up to do, but for tonight I'm just going to post some pictures of the black bear we saw in Grand Teton National Park while we were camping up there. He wandered right into our camp and then we watched him for about 15 minutes. The rangers affectionately named him Cinnamon for obvious reasons. He looks a lot like the bear Jeff and I saw a year ago up there. And yes, he really is a black bear. Thanks Greg for posting more pictures of the trip on your blog!

p.s. I just picked up Breaking Dawn from the library. Mmmm... there is nothing like cracking open a new book: the smell, the feel, and of coarse the story.

flashlight fun

We went camping in my parents back yard about a month ago. Somehow we started taking slow shutter speed pictures using Jeff's headlamp to 'draw'. Jeff was the best at it because he is left handed. It was really fun and I'd love to see everyone try their hand at it!

fire safety

I recorded this video of Owen a few weeks ago, and really just in time since he did catch on fire the fourth of july (via a sparkler): Thanks goodness we got the fire out before he was burned. Two days later he was almost hit by a car on his bike:) Needless to say, we're keeping a closer eye on him. I love my little guy!

Someone...

...decided she WAS taking a bath

...drew me a sweet picture

...chose a bad day to visit the zoo. (At least the peacock kept us company while it rained)

First real bike

My mom always says that we try and give our children things that we didn't have. When it comes to bikes this is totally true for me. I never owned my own bike. Being fourth I always used the hand-me-down bikes of others. When I got older my parents said they would pay half of a bike I wanted to buy, but by then clothes were much more important.

So at the beginning of May I forked out some of my hard earned cash to buy Owen a Stinger 16. He loved riding it around with the training wheels on. Then one Sunday Miriam came over with her new car and we all went for a ride. Two feet down the driveway the car hit something. When I asked "Who left their bike behind the car?" Owen excitedly said "ME!" Luckily the only damage was to one of the training wheels... so they came off! I tried to teach Owen to ride without them but failed miserably. Jeff took over and had him riding within 10 minutes. After another hour he could start and stop himself too. Way to go Owen!!!! We're so proud of our first biker!

Sunday morning biscuits

Since my brother Greg shared his famous biscuit recipe with me, the kids and I have been in heaven making them as often as we can. To top it off Kanien got me a super cute apron for my birthday(thanks!).

Warm Day

The weather was nice on Tuesday so we headed down to Orem and spent the day with Kanien and Marcella. Sleepy eyed Hannah

This is Isis (pronounced eye-sis) who I watch sometimes.

We've loved the tulips that came up out front. We love Spring!!

FuN with the kIdDos

It was so fun to see Owen and Hannah after being gone for 10 days. At the airport Hannah started crying when she saw me, she seemed offended that I had come back. But now she is back to clinging to me. I've had a lot of fun hanging out with them and we've tried to do some fun things when it's been warm outside. Hannah's first curlers. She loves to climb up on the table and look outside and mess with the blinds. It WAS cute and is now annoying. Something she does all the time. Try making dinner while she is doing this. A few weeks ago we decided to go to the zoo, but it was so crazy when we got there that we went across the street to Heritage Park and rode the train!

Hawaii

Most of you know that Jeff and I had a fabulous trip to Oahu, Hawaii the beginning of this month. We had so much fun exploring the beauty of the island and enjoying the time with each other without any kids. It was almost a perfect trip, if it hadn't been for the small fact we ended up having to "pay twice, fly once" for our return trip. Unfortunately we were booked with ATA, who decided to stop service while we were in Hawaii. But I can't complain because at least I was there and not stuck in SLC. "Mahalo' to everyone who helped with our kids! We can't wait to go back and see the other islands.

St. George

We had an absolutely amazing family trip down to St. George. It was so much fun. It definitely ranks in the top 5 of family trips. We had so much fun staying with the Ridings in their beautiful home in St. George. We also went to Zions, the St. George temple, swimming, and just had a lot of fun hanging out. I thought I'd share some pictures. Sorry they aren't in order.

We went to Dan's parents house and saw the horses one morning.

We had fun swimming at the local rec center. Hannah wasn't sure at first (okay she cried for 30 minutes), but ended up loving it by the end.

The Ridings have a really fun playroom that my kids loved!

Hannah liked their pantry too. Funny girl.

We hiked to the emerald pools.

This a canyon overlook we hiked. Owen was awesome and hiked the whole way, and had a lot of fun!

Kids in their Easter clothes.

Egg hunt