Fall BBQ

On Monday night we were invited to have a Fall BBQ with our dear friends the Henriksen's and the Bruce's!  We ate a delicious Chicken Shish Kabob dinner!!

The kids had a royal blast playing in the sand, going down the slide that comes out of the playhouse 

and of course the big hit is always the Zipline! 

We also had a donut eating contest! 

It sure is harder then you think to eat a donut off a string... 

In fact, Hadley just ripped it off.  Smart girl. 

Then we roasted some Smores.  My favorite thing.
A HUGE thank you to Debany and Bruce for hosting the BBQ, and for sharing their pictures with me!!  Can't wait to do it again in the Spring! 

Visiting The Conference Center

We had a little bit of extra time before Family Home Evening at my parents house... so we decided we would take the kids to tour the Conference Center. 

I wanted them to have a visual of where General Conference is, as they watch it on TV. 

The kids LOVED the tour.  They were so interested in everything! 

This face is priceless.  Totally priceless. 

Not only did we get to see the inside, but we also were able to go on top of the roof, which is so breathtakingly beautiful!    

It was a super fun fieldtrip.  I can't wait for General Conference!  Only 10 more days!
Here is a fun page of Conference Ideas http://pinterest.com/sugardoodle/general-conference/

Happy Fall!!

After a super fun day filled with 2 birthday parties, Aunt Megan came and celebrated the 1st Day of Fall with us by making Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies!  I won't tell you how many each of us ate...

Although I didn't get everything checked off on my summer bucket list (40 out of 64) I was ready to say goodbye to summer and hello to Fall!  We had an amazingly fun summer PACKED full of fun and adventure!  I couldn't have asked for a better summer!  I am excited for the leaves to fall, to bake everything with pumpkin, to feel the cool crisp air, and to welcome our baby boy!  It's going to be a GREAT Fall!

Alabama

Guest Blogger Jeremy:
Last week I went to Anniston, Alabama to be trained how to operate an Incident Command Center in a hospital if/when any natural or terrorist disaster occurs.  It was a great experience put on by FEMA and the Center for Domestic Preparedness.

This is the only hospital in the country that is completely dedicated to training.

These are two dummies dressed up in personal protective equipment (aka Hazmat Gear).  The dummy in the middle is me.

I got to be the Planning Deputy for our two day drill.  My job was to help keep our objectives clear and to provide staffing for the hospital.  That became a bit of an issue when we had a small pox outbreak, a bomb threat in the hospital, an explosion at a battery factory in the community, a plane crash and a partridge in a pair tree.

This is Cooter Brown's.  The best Ribs in Alabama are served here.  The rub was so good that I didn't bother with the BBQ sauce for most of it (although the BBQ sauce was killer good as well).

These are the ribs... ohhhhhhh... the ribs...mmmmmmm.

This was a great fuax license plate.  It said "You've got a friend in Jesus".  

Fun at Grandma and Grandpa's!

Last week Jeremy went on a 6 day work trip to Alabama!  While he was there, Boston conveniently didn't have school for 3 days due to Kindergarten testing!  WAHOO!!  So we went to stay with my folks for a few days!  Here are a couple pics from some of the things did!

Hadley learned that my Mom has some pretty fun dress ups!   

We crashed my Mom's mutual night, and while we were there the kiddos found some donkey's to feed and pet!  

They loved it! 

One day we went shopping at this fun new shopping center in Farmington. 

 

The kiddos enjoyed the park,

and some pretty sweet statues!   

The fountain they have is amazing.  Really cool.  Sadly we got in trouble like a million times while we were there.  1st because my kids touched the water with their hands... 2nd because they were standing on chairs watching the fountain... I swear.  I always get in trouble where ever I go.   

Another day we rode the front runner train downtown! 

I love this picture of my Mom and Boston waiting for the train! 

It finally came and off we went! 

We all enjoyed the ride!  It makes it such an adventure when you ride the train! 

We ended our journey at Discovery Gateway! 

The kids ALWAYS have fun there! 

They also enjoy the little classes they do! 

Hadley did a really good job drawing hair, eyes, a nose, and mouth on her person! 

My Mom and I were also really productive!  We got lots of projects done for our little baby boy!!!  So stinkin' excited!

Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us come take over your house!  We had a royal blast!  

Peace

September 11th was a very special day for me this year.  I was able to go to the Dedication of the 9-11 Monument that I spent so much of my time working on as a youth and young adult.  They had a wonderful program, and it was great to have Lt. Governor Bell speak, as well as General Tarbett.  It was a neat sight to watch the American Legion Post 27 stand by a line of flags during the whole ceremony.  The gun salute, and taps being played, and doves being sent into the air were also emotional touches to the program.  The part that really got to me was to watch the names be presented of all the Utah Soliders that have died in uniform fighting the war since 9-11. (113 so far...)  With a cousin serving in the Marines, it just really hit home.

It was neat to share the morning with my Mom and my kids.  This project has meant so much to me.  This is me and Boston standing where the monument will stand at the end of next month!     

This is a sketch of what it will look like... although it will have a cool statue in the middle of it! 

An awesome veteran gave my kids these nice flags.  They loved them, and were so proud to wave them.
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The best part of the morning for me was seeing my dear friends who I worked side by side with for so many years on this project.   I was able to see a dear friend Brett Lund whom I worked with in Youth of Promise for a few years.  Sadly I wasn't able to get a picture before he had to leave. 

 This is Margaret Walstrom.  Her mother-in-law and sister-in-law were both killed on the 1st flight to hit the World Trade Center.  Working with her was a specail opportunity that I will never forget.   

This is Margaret Brough, another special lady who I loved working with!  She believes in making dreams happen!

This is Karlene Peart.  Another awesome lady who I was able to work with!  She has the biggest heart, and the greatest desire to help youth!

While we were there, a rainbow appeared in the sky... it was beautiful.  It was a special moment.  I wish I was better with words, and could describe what this memorial means to me.  For years I went to meeting after meeting, I did presentation after presentation, I met with the architects to design, we did program after program trying to raise enough money... after LOTS of red tape, this monument is finally being built.  It brings me so much peace to know that all my friends and family who donated time and money to the project are now going to see it finally built.  I am especially happy for those families in Utah that lost loved ones that tragic day, to have a special place to remember them, and also for all the military families to have their men and women in uniform remembered too,  I love this article written by Brady Howells Brother, (Brady was killed in the Pentagon) which is what inspired this blogs title... Peace.  https://www.lds.org/ensign/2012/09/latter-day-saint-voices?lang=eng

These are the news stories about the mornings ceremony.  

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=22100931

http://www.standard.net/stories/2012/09/11/911-memorial-dedicated-kaysville-during-remembrance-service#.UFCou9g54J0.facebook

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765603507/Kaysville-911-Memorial-dedicated-on-11-year-anniversary.html

http://www.abc4.com/content/about_4/gtu/featured_on/story/Remembering-the-Victims/EAYdNSfqN0-Zz_q15WCU1Q.cspx

Baby Names

I really hate naming kids.  It is just so hard for me.  So much pressure to name this beautiful little person.  I asked my Activity Day Girls for some help... here are their suggestions and spellings;

• Toby
• Jack
• Alen
• Jared
• Bob
• Jimy
• William
• Jake
• Thomas 
• Jackson
• Noah
• Jacob
• Matt
• Ferb
• Charles

At least I have a list of ideas now... :)  

This Week's Happenings...

We spent a lot of our time this week preparing for our baby boy!!  We washed all the baby stuff (Why in the world does something so small take so much stuff!) and my angel mother came out to help me wash, fold, and put away all the tiny little clothes!  

The kids have been so cute to help me!  The more we prepare, the more real it seams!  The more excited I think we all are getting!!! 

The kiddos and I were able to check another thing off our Summer Bucket list... we painted rocks!  The kids did such a good job, and really took their time doing each of their 4 rocks! 

We only have until Sept. 22nd to work on our Summer Bucket List, and then we will have to start a Fall List... I would love to hear your suggestions!!   

On Thursday night Jeremy and I went on a hot date to a new graduate student dinner at BYU.  It was really a fun night, and Jeremy is liking BYU more and more!  Check out this dessert, the little BYU symbol thing was even edible!  

On Saturday night we took the kiddos for a family date night at Trafalga.  Jeremy wanted to spend some time with them since he really hadn't seen them all week! 

The kids of course had a blast! 

Boston was thrilled to have Daddy take him to play Laser Tag for the first time, and to ride the Go-Carts! 

Hadley LOVED her first ride on the Go-Carts! 

The we all enjoyed some mini-golf! 

 

It was a fabulous ending to our week!