Borsky Banter

Rockin his hat

2012-01-11T18:51:00.004-07:00

Typically Chase will not wear a hat, especially something designed to keep him warm or protect him from the sun.

But when he finds dad's hat he's all over it.

Rocking "his" hat

And he is talking so much more now. I love this age-- when they can start to communicate and not just cry for everything they want!

Here are some of his words:

go goes = The Wiggles (one of his favorite shows!!)
ehmoot = elephant (he's totally obsessed with elephants right now)
baaa = sheep
woaw = dinosaur
emo = Elmo
ehnie = Ernie
Bewt = Bert (yes, he's a big Sesame Street fan too!)
BB = Big Bird, or blankie, or baby
cume = vacuum
taw = guitar (he loves playing with Julia's guitar even though he's not supposed to)
sthehs = downstairs
wewo = hello (it's soooo cute when he pretends to talk on the phone!)
yuh = Julia
E = Ethan
a dah? = what's that? (he's so curious and wants to know what everything is)

He has mastered OK, uh oh, and of course NO!

Summer recap

2011-12-31T20:05:00.001-07:00

I never got around to catching up on the blog, so this is just a recap of everything that I missed from over the summer.

At the end of June we drove down to St George for a little road trip. We went swimming as soon as we arrived. Last year Chase screamed when we put him in the pool. This year he didn't scream, but he lifted his legs up trying to keep them out of the water. I think it must have felt a little cold. He was happy to sit on the side and be cuddled in a towel until we went inside.

We visited Zion's again, of course.

We always love visiting the upper emerald pools, and kids love splashing in the water at the top.

On our way back down we saw a rattlesnake close to the path! Some other hikers nudged it along with a stick to get it away from the trail.

On our way back to St George we stopped in the ghost town of Grafton. I loved seeing the old houses and especially the cemetary there.

Many of the headstones were those new Utah settlers who were killed by the Indians.

While in St George we also visited Snow Canyon, which was super close to town.

There are petrified sand dunes, lots of cactus, and amazing scenery.

We hiked to a "lava tube", which was more like a cave. The air temperature outside the cave was at least 110, but inside it felt about 30 degrees cooler. It was amazing! The cave was pitch dark, and went on and on. We explored a little bit, and really enjoyed the break from the heat.

We made one more stop at Snow Canyon, to "Jenny's Canyon." It was a super short walk, not even a hike at all, and the slot canyon there was spectacular.

We will definitely be going there again!

The rest of our time in St George we enjoyed swimming, shopping, and seeing the 4th of July fireworks show downtown with some friends.

In the middle of July we had the Hill family reunion. We all enjoyed hiking around Silver Lake with my parents, and several other family members.

Here's Chase having a sweet conversation with Grandma Hill, he loves her!

At the end of July we went to Florida to see Derek's family. We enjoyed lots of time at the beach, and Chase discovered how much fun the waves can be!

The kids loved swimming around with their cousins, and taking the little inflatable boat as far out as they could.

We visited the Jacksonville Zoo all together, and had a great time even with the extremely hot temperatures.

The kids all got along great, and they spent lots of time together.

The night before Mark and Jill left Jacksonville we all went to the beach and got some pictures right before sunset.

The next day was our last day in Jacksonville, and we spent the morning at the beach. Ethan and Julia searched for (and found) shark teeth. And Chase spent plenty of time digging in the sand.
That night we drove down to Orlando and the next day we went to Disneyworld's MGM park.

At the Honey I Shrunk the Kids park at MGM

I love Julia's face in the picture! She was terrified to go on the Rockin' Roller coaster, but once it was over she decided that it wasn't so bad and went on it 3 more times.

Our favorite part at MGM is always the Fantasmic show that they do right before the park closes. We went a little early and saved seats, and 5 minutes before the show was supposed to begin it began to rain. There was some lightning too, and they ended up canceling the show. We were SO disappointed, but knew that the later show was really too late to attend because our flight was really early in the morning. We got out to the tram and waited in line to board. When it was finally our turn Derek turned to me and asked if we should stay and go to the later show. I did NOT want to stay. We were all drenched from the rain, and Chase was so tired and ready to go to bed. I left it up to the kids though, and they decided that they wanted to stay.

So we headed back to the giant line for the show, not knowing if it was even going to happen at all because it was still raining. I stopped in the restroom to change Chase into his spare clothes from the diaper bag, but they were wet from the rain too. Derek went in search of some milk for Chase, and luckily found some at a restaurant, and they even gave him a cup of hot water to warm up the milk. The line started to move and we all went and found seats in the center of the amphitheater. It was still questionable as to whether or not the show would be happening, so when it started everyone cheered. The show was amazing, as always. And in the end we were glad that we had stayed. We changed everyone into dry clothes in the parking lot since our luggage was in the trunk. The kids fell asleep in the car on the way to the hotel, and we had to wake up Ethan and Julia to help us carry everything up to the room. We got to our room at around 1am, and had to leave at 5am the next morning. We nearly missed our flight that morning because we should have gotten up earlier, but thankfully we made it, and Chase slept through the entire first leg of our trip. What an eventful way to end our vacation!

In August Ethan's competitive soccer team was in 2 back to back tournaments, and that took up a lot of our time. It was especially challenging trying to keep Chase off of the soccer field.

Ethan really enjoyed all the extra soccer hours, so that made it worth it.

Robyn and Eric came to town with their kids in August, and we were able to go to the Thanksgiving Point petting zoo with them.
On the hay ride at Thanksgiving Point

We enjoyed a picnic lunch, and seeing all the animals.

Julia's soccer season started back up at the end of August, so that added one more set of games to attend.

And Derek's parents came to visit too.

The night before Robyn and Eric left we watched a movie on a big screen in the backyard, and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire pit.
We also went to Seven Peaks several times during the summer since we had season passes.

We took Derek's parents to Bridal Veil Falls.

Chase really enjoyed playing in the water, though he lost a shoe down the river.

We also took Derek's parents up to Squaw Peak to see the lights. There was a lightning storm across the lake, and fireworks at the baseball game, so we had 2 shows to watch.
Right before Derek's parents left we visited the Thanksgiving Point gardens (our second time for the summer). It was spectacular, as always.

And Chase enjoyed all the water fountains.

It was quite an eventful summer!

Phone call

2011-12-30T15:30:00.000-07:00

Chase loves pretending to talk on the phone. Here's a little clip we got of him using a teddy graham as a phone, lol.

Thanksgiving recap

2011-12-30T14:20:00.000-07:00

So for those who hadn't heard, Derek's parents recently moved from Florida to St George. We went there for Thanksgiving this year, and it was a different experience having it be fairly warm outside for Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving day while the turkey was in the oven we went for a walk and ended up near the fountains in downtown St George. Chase calls any water "a bah" (bath) and immediately wants to get in. The fountains were no exception. Now it wasn't freezing outside, but it wasn't very hot either (probably in the 60's), but he was determined. I finally just took off all of his clothes so he didn't freeze on the walk home.

He kept trying to grab the water, as if it was something he could hold.

And a few other members of the family decided the water didn't look so bad!

Here we are, ready to eat!

A cute picture of Chase "talking" on the phone, I had to include it.

The day after Thanksgiving Derek took his mom out fairly early to bargain shop for some new appliances for their house (they totally scored). That afternoon we headed to Zion National Park for a few short hikes. It was SO crowded! And it was a totally different experience being there in the fall. Normally when we go it is extremely hot, but this day it was fairly cold. There were some waterfalls in the river that aren't there in the summer when the water is higher.

Chase got ahold of a rock close to the beginning of our hike, and he held onto it until we headed back towards the car. Can you see it in his hand?

We also stopped by the ghost town near Zion's-- Grafton, before heading home.

Christmas fun

2011-12-30T12:45:00.000-07:00

We had a great Christmas this year. It was a little crazy, and I wish I had taken more pictures (as always), but at least I got a few...

On Friday, the 23rd, my mom and some of my sisters and nieces came over to make gingerbread houses with the kids. Julia took it very seriously, and worked very hard on hers making lamps, a walkway, windows, and many other little details. She then decorated a house for Chase too, since he was taking a nap.

Ethan cared more about slapping as much candy on his as possible, and stuffed candy inside the house saying they were people (hmmm, is he turning into a teenager?!).
At first Daphne wasn't quite sure about the frosting, she preferred to just eat the candy rather than put it on the house. But she soon got the hang of it and took her job very seriously.

Grandma Susan (Derek's mom) enjoyed holding little Olivia, who was too small to make a house this year.

Two of my sisters, my mom, and me:

That night we attended the annual family Christmas party. It is typically on Christmas Eve, but was a day early this year. We enjoyed great food and visiting with everyone, and the kids loved the children's gift exchange, as always.

After the party we headed to temple square to quickly enjoy the lights before heading home to get Chase to bed.

Chase wouldn't keep mittens on his hands and they got really cold really fast. He was SO not happy. So we basically walked through temple square and main street, and then Derek and I left Ethan and Julia with his parents and my family to go get the cars to leave. We managed to get one picture before we left. (I wish we had more!!)

Christmas Eve this year was different because we are usually in Salt Lake for the family party. This year my family came to our house (and brought food--yay!). We had dinner and sang Christmas carols. The kids acted out the Christmas story (sort of). And it was a nice, relaxed night.

(Above and below: singing Chrismas carols)

It really is nice having bigger kids to help out with Chase!

Daphne and Chase played with these toys behind the couch for most of the night.

And see the nativity figures lined up below? Chase did that. He loves lining things up and sorting them.

Daphne quite liked the nativity too!

The kids dressed up to act out the Christmas story. But Chase didn't get the memo that he was supposed to sit during the reenactment. He was running back and forth the entire time, and playing hide and seek under a blanket.

It was a nice evening.

The next morning was Christmas!!

Chase got up around 8:15, and we had to go wake up Ethan and Julia.

Chase is obsessed with elephants right now (which he calls moot), so he got a stuffed elephant and a plastic elephant figure in his stocking. Here is is playing with the elephant and tiger figures:

After opening presents we quickly got dressed and ready and went to church. (I should have taken a picture of all of us in our Christmas Sunday best, but of course I didn't.)

At least I got a shot of chase in his outfit before he got changed into something more comfortable. He really loves this pound a ball set that he got for Christmas too.

And he's quite a fan of the handbells.

Actually we all quite like them, Christmas evening Derek's mom and my sisters had lots of fun playing tons of Christmas songs with the bells.

It was a great Christmas.

Riverwoods

2011-12-30T12:35:00.000-07:00

This year a week before Christmas we decided to head to the Riverwoods to see the lights and go on a (free on certain days!) carriage ride.

Chase kept taking off his shoes and socks even though it was freezing, next time I'll have him wear footie pajamas.

We had to wait in line for a while, but Chase kept us all entertained, or at least occupied.

The carriage ride was short, but we all enjoyed it. Chase loved looking over and seeing the horse that was pulling us.

And he especially loved petting the horse after our ride was over.

It definitely got us all excited for Christmas!

Christmas program

2011-12-30T12:12:00.002-07:00

A few clips from the school Christmas program:

Trick or treating!

2011-11-04T00:26:00.003-06:00

Like in previous years my kids had some costume changes this year.
Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures at the trunk or treat because Chase was not cooperating.
But I did manage to get some on Halloween night.

Chase started out as Elmo,
but he didn't like the heavy Elmo head
on top of his head.
(Can you tell?)
So he had a little costume change before we went trick-or-treating.

Chase as Elmo, Ethan as a soccer player, Julia as a Revolutionary War soldier, and Daphne as a princess.
Luckily I had this little dinosaur costume from when Ethan and Julia were little, and it fit chase perfectly. We went trick-or-treating with Char and Andrew, Daphne, and Kristen, so we had more adults than kids. The kids were great, and the weather was amazing!!
Chase didn't quite understand what he was supposed to do at first. He would carry his little bucket and march right up the steps holding Ethan's hand, and then want to go back down before he got any candy.

But he caught on quickly and would walk up the steps, put his bucket down, grab a piece of candy from the person's bowl, put it in his bucket and go back down the stairs. His little dinosaur tail wagged from side to side as he walked, it was sooooo cute! And he held firmly onto his bucket the whole time!

Here they are at the end of the night. It was way past Chase's bedtime, can you tell?

Fall leaves

2011-10-12T22:25:00.008-06:00

We're alive! Just super busy (isn't everyone?), but I really am going to attempt to catch up on the blog. We have 2 trips I haven't even blogged about yet! But for now I wanted to do something recent.

Just over a week ago we drove up to American Fork canyon to see the leaves. (Just in time too, since it snowed up there just a few days later.)

It was gorgeous up there!!!

We stopped at Cascade Springs, which I don't think I've ever seen before, and absolutely loved it. The cascading waterfalls there are breathtaking!

Chase kept trying to run away, but he held still for a minute when we told him to fold his arms.

Derek gave Chase this leaf and he clung to it for quite a while. It made an appearance in several picture attempts, ha ha.

He let go of the leaf right after this picture as we were leaving.

Aren't the leaves incredible?!

I love this picture but the shadows on our faces just ruin it.

Isn't autumn a glorious season? It just seems to fly by though.

Hiking the Y

2011-07-19T22:32:00.009-06:00

Several weeks ago in preparation for our hikes at Zion's we decided to hike up to the Y. It was supposed to be overcast so we thought it would be perfect weather, and not too hot.

Hmmm, doesn't look overcast to me! It ended up being a little warmer than we had planned, but it was still an enjoyable day.

Most of the trail looked like this:

There are 11 switchbacks along the steep trail, and we rested at many of them.

The views of the valley were great from up there.

Almost there:

And we made it!

The mountain was so green!

This hike was a decent hike. It ended up being a little harder than the hikes we ended up doing at Zion's, but it was great preparation. And the kids did great!

But I do think they liked the walk down the trail a bit more than up...

Photo book

2011-06-20T17:35:00.003-06:00

I am way behind on the blog still, but I just finished this photo book of Chase's 1st year and wanted to share it.

Click here to view this photo book larger

It took forever to finish, but I'm happy with it now that it's done.

Spring Break part 2: Arches!

2011-05-30T11:45:00.000-06:00

We headed from Colorado back to Utah and headed to Moab. We stopped along the way to hike this first arch. It was just a taste of what was coming!

We arrived in Moab, parked the trailer, and ate lunch. We then headed to Arches National Park. Even just driving through the park was scenic, but we couldn't wait to get to the trailhead for Delicate Arch. It is, after all, on the Utah state license plate, and definitely something we all wanted to see. The hike is 3 miles round trip, and is really steep on the way up, and mostly on slick rock.

Derek had the tough job of carrying Chase on his back the entire hike. Chase needed a nap, so luckily he was able to sleep in the carrier on Derek's back on the way up. I'm sure that didn't make the hike any easier for Derek though.

The very last part of the hike there is a cliff with an overhang. I was glad we didn't have any little kids hiking, that would have been pretty scary!

Derek right at the end of the hike near the overhang

But then you turn the corner and see this:

Amazing!

The kids cooperated for a few pictures even though they wanted to run around and explore.

Derek and the kids were scaring me here, this was in back of the arch near another cliff

The kids had so much fun having friends with us!

The way down was so much easier than up. Here the kids were saying "We made it!" :

After the hike we headed back to the park entrance, stopping a couple of times along the way.

We stopped at Balanced Rock

We also stopped at Park Avenue and everyone hiked around on the boulders

Park Avenue

We then headed back to the trailer and had a late dinner. Everyone fell asleep so quickly after wearing themselves out hiking!

The next day we ate breakfast and headed back to Arches National Park. We hiked to Skyline Arch first, which was a nice, easy hike. Chase napped in the carrier on the hike to this arch.

We also hiked to Pine Tree Arch and Tunnel Arch.

Pine Tree Arch

Tunnel Arch

Tunnel Arch

Then we headed to Sand Dune Arch. This Arch was so fun for the kids with lots of soft sand to play with, and lots of places to explore too!

Derek and Ty and the kids hiked up to the top of the arch:

Sand Dune Arch

Derek and Ethan exploring some of the narrow rocks at Sand Dune Arch

After a while playing at Sand Dune Arch we finally decided to leave and head to our last hike. We had to stop and get a picture of this cool rock formation. Do you see the guy on the very top? Yes, people were climbing this:

Our last hike was to Double Arch. Chase had fallen asleep in the car on our way to the trailhead, so I stayed in the car with him while he slept and everyone else hiked up to the arch.

Getting ready to start the hike

Double Arch

The view from Double Arch

After this hike we left the park and headed home, stopping for dinner along the way. It was such a fun trip! We got home close to bedtime, and the kids had no trouble falling asleep the second their heads hit the pillow!

Spring Break part 1: Mesa Verde

2011-05-29T19:32:00.000-06:00

For spring break this year we decided to do a road trip with some friends. Chase decided not to sleep the night before we left so we had a little trouble getting up the morning of our trip, but somehow we dragged ourselves out of bed and headed to Colorado. The kids cooperated as well as could be expected on the looooong drive, but we were all glad to finally make it to the camping area.

Our first view of Cortez, Colorado

The next morning we ate a quick breakfast and headed up to Mesa Verde. Before we left the kids were playing at the campground playground and Ethan was spinning around and around on a tire swing. Evedently it upset his stomach, and halfway up the mountain Ethan got sick. We had to stop and clean him up, and clean up the car. We drove back down to the campsite and had him take a quick shower in the trailer and change his clothes, and we headed back up.

The first area that we stopped at was the Spruce Tee House which had a quick little hike down to some ruins. Being able to get up so close to the houses the Native Americans built into the cliffs was something we'll never forget!

We were all able to climb down a ladder into a kiva. Inside was a small round room which was used for a ceremonial chamber.

Julia and Caden tried out the corn grinding stones

We stopped and ate lunch, and then headed to our scheduled hike to the Cliff Palace. This hike was a little more difficult with some really steep areas.

We had a guide on this hike and we weren't able to explore as freely as we had on the previous hike, but it was still really neat.

It was really remarkable that they were able to construct these buildings into the side of the cliff without any of the modern equipment that we have today.

Back at the campsite Chase loved seeing (and feeding) the horses!

The kids all slept in the tent the first night besides Chase, and the adults slept in the trailer. On the second night it was a lot colder and we all squeezed into the trailer.

The kids had a great set-up in the tent

The next morning we headed back to Utah, but the trip wasn't over yet...

Soccer, we made it through again!

2011-05-22T13:15:00.000-06:00

This spring the weather has been so yucky for almost all of the kids' soccer games. It was either snowing, raining, or super windy and freezing, so I kept Chase home for several of the games. When I did attempt to take him to some of our Saturday games in the cold I ended up having to leave early because he was not happy and needed to leave.
For the kids' last game of the season the weather ended up finally cooperating. It was beautiful and we made it through Julia's game, a short picnic lunch there, and Ethan's game-- finally!

Julia has done great this year, scoring several goals throughout the season. She plays soccer with Ethan and his friends so she really gets a lot of practice against some tough competition, and it shows!

Derek was Ethan's coach again this last season. I know Ethan really loves having him as a coach, and several of the kids from our team have asked how they can have him for a coach again next year, he does a great job.

Ethan has really gotten into soccer the past year or two and enjoys it a lot. His team always wants him to be the goalie because he does such a good job at it. He does really enjoy being goalie, though he does enjoy being able to play on the field too.

Last fall Orem Youth Soccer decided that they wanted a new logo. They held a contest and let everyone submit their ideas, Derek put together a few different ideas and submitted them. We never heard anything back about it until this spring when Derek got a phone call telling him that he had won the logo contest! He won tickets to a Salt Lake Real soccer game, and his new logo is already being displayed at the soccer fields.

Derek's logo is shown on the left side of this sign.

It has been a great season, and the kids are already looking forward to fall when soccer will be starting up again.

(Waaaaaaay late) Happy Easter!

2011-05-21T14:14:00.003-06:00

Chase didn't get too much candy in his basket, but he definitely took advantage when one of the kids' eggs broke open and spilled jelly beans all over the floor. He stuffed a bunch in his mouth and loved them!

I convinced them to stay in their church clothes long enough to get a couple of pictures. I tried to take a picture of me and the kids, but it didn't turn out so well:

So Julia said she'd take a picture of me and the boys.

We had dinner at my parents' house, and my Grandpa came to dinner too.
It was a wonderful evening!

Funeral

2011-05-20T14:59:00.004-06:00

The night of Chase's birthday party we received a call from my Dad. He had gotten a call right before the last session of General Conference- his Mother, my Grandma, was not doing well. He stayed in Salt Lake and went to the care center to visit her. My mom was at our house for Chase's party but was going to head up right after presents to go be with my Dad. Right around the time we were finishing up the party we got another call from my Dad that she was gone. It happened so quickly, but she had been suffering from Alzheimer's and dementia for several years so it wasn't a huge shock to us.

The funeral was the following Friday, a cold, cloudy, snowy day. It really was an amazing experience to be there with all of my Dad's family. I completely agree with what my sister stated on her blog, "The words spoken and the beautiful music performed during the funeral really made us all rejoice in Grandma's life and in her posterity." It really made me appreciate what an amazing woman my Grandmother was.

I grabbed some pictures from the family luncheon from my sister's blog:

My two sister who live in Ohio were able to come out for the funeral and for the first time in a long time all six sisters were able to be together!
Four of us have had babies in the last year and a half or so, and it was so much fun seeing all the cousins together.

It was a weekend full of tears, but also a wonderful opportunity to be with so many of our loved family members.

Chase's 1st birthday

2011-05-20T10:49:00.008-06:00

Yes, his birthday party was quite a while ago but I'm yet again trying to catch up, so here it is!

Chase's birthday party was actually on the day after his birthday because the night of his birthday was the General Priesthood meeting, and we had a baby shower to go to that night too. We had thought it would be fun to have the party outside since the entire week it had been warm and the weather had been gorgeous, but of course the day of the party it snowed. We were having grilled chicken for dinner, and poor Derek had to go outside in the wind and snow to cook it. (It was very yummy though!) Derek's parents were on skype with us when we did the birthday cake, that's why you see him holding up his laptop in front of Chase.

Chase wasn't too sure exactly what was going on at first. He did really like the Happy Birthday song though!

We got some video of him eating his birthday cake. I think he had more fun throwing it on the floor than eating it!

After cake we had presents. Ethan and Julia really enjoyed opening his presents, ha ha, but did let Chase help.

And of course he had to taste the wrapping paper!

Daphne enjoyed the presents too, especially one of the boxes. She decided that it would be a perfect chair!

Chase had tons of presents, but I think he had just as much fun playing with the boxes and wrapping paper.

Happy Birthday to my baby boy!

Chase's 1 year stats: 31.5 inches tall (90th percentile) and 21.8 pounds (30th percentile).

1 year old!

2011-04-02T21:01:00.003-06:00

A lot can change in 1 year!

Happy Birthday Chase!!!

Anniversary weekend

2011-03-28T07:00:00.000-06:00

On March 8th Derek and I celebrated our 15th anniversary. It's crazy that it has been 15 years already! We went to Park City for the weekend and it was great to have a little break.

Can you see the ski slopes on the mountain? Derek really wants to go skiing again sometime soon!

The first night Derek and I stayed there with Chase, and the kids stayed with my mom. The next day we went and picked up the kids and brought them back with us for the rest of the weekend.

It was gorgeous up there!

On Saturday we headed to Provo to see this guy:

BYU played Wyoming and the game was great. We were excited to be able to see Jimmer play in person. Derek has been to several games this year, but the rest of us haven't. The only seats available were almost the very top of the Marriott Center, but it didn't matter. The game was sold out and the excitement in that arena was awesome. It was SO crowded though, and super hot up where we were sitting.

We had to feed Chase lunch during halftime, and then it was his naptime so we weren't sure what we would do. Luckily he ended up just falling asleep while Ethan was holding him, which really was amazing since it was sooooooooooo loud. He didn't sleep too long but it was enough to get him through. The game was so much fun, I'm glad we were able to make it since they had such a great season! After the game we took advantage of one of the gift certificates Derek got for his birthday and we went to Olive Garden for an early dinner. We hardly ever take the kids anywhere nice for dinner and they thorougly enjoyed it.

We then headed back to the condo to finish up our mini-vacation.

Chase giving Julia kisses while we were at the Park City condo

Later on we stopped by Jordanelle since it was so close to where we were staying. We were surprised to find water rather than ice, especially since Deer Creek was still frozen and Jordanelle is higher in elevation than Deer Creek. You can't tell from these pictures but the snow was still several feet deep there.

Chase and I opted to stay in the warm car while everyone else went down by the water.

It was a fun and relaxing weekend, and I'm so glad we were able to go.

Farewell cousins!

2011-03-27T11:31:00.002-06:00

This little blog has been extremely neglected, so I will again attempt to catch up on things soon.

At the beginning of the month my sister and her family moved back to Ohio. We were so sad to see them go, but I hope things go well for them.

The night before they left we all went to say good-bye. Julia was so sad that they were leaving, and they weren't excited about it either.

But at least they did have fun spending a little time together before they left.

We miss you guys!

Where has the time gone?

2011-03-08T11:56:00.006-07:00

Wow, Chase turned 11 months old last week. I can hardly believe it! The time has just flown by.

Here he is at 10 months old. He now has 6 (sharp!) teeth

He is showing so much personality. At night before bed he'll frequently crawl around on the bed or floor and flings himself backwards and giggles. He thinks it's the funniest thing ever.

Emptying the cabinets-- a favorite pastime

On the train with Julia at the Provo mall

He is obsessed with the vacuum, just like Ethan was at this age

Here he is hugging his dog, Gee. He absolutely loves Gee!

Helping Julia with her piano practice

Giving Ethan hugs (aka laying his head down on someone)

Here are the most recent pictures of him from last week at 11 months. He's getting so big!

Just this last weekend he started taking a couple of steps. He's not walking yet, but he is definitely getting close.

Chase at 9 months

2011-01-20T23:18:00.000-07:00

I missed Chase's 8 month post

so I'll sneak in a picture of him at 8 months

along with the 9 month pictures.

Eight months

9 months

He had his 9 month checkup earlier this month.

He now weighs 19 lbs 8 oz (45th percentile)

and is 30 1/4 inches tall (95th percentile).

I had a feeling that his percentile for his weight had gone down

because he seems to have really slimmed down a lot

since he started crawling.

He pulls himself up on everything. He stood on his own one day for about 15 seconds but doesn't do it on a regular basis yet. He is into everything!!! He loves to help me "unload" the dishwasher, as well as empty all the kitchen cabinets. Derek did get the child latches installed on the cabinets with the cleaners at least.

He is fascinated with doors and drawers. He'll push a door back and forth or open and close a drawer over and over. This can be dangerous sometimes though, he has gotten his fingers pinched a couple of times.

He also loves standing in the bathroom and unrolling the whole roll of toilet paper. Either that or ripping toilet paper into tiny little pieces resembling confetti.

He loves playing the piano! He usually will stand on his tip toes and play on the high end and low end of the piano since he can't reach in the middle with the piano bench there. One day he created his own stool by pushing the toy bus over to the piano. He was able to reach lots more of the piano but his mean mom didn't let him do it for long, I was worried it would roll and he would smash his face on the edge of the piano bench.

He loves looking at books. He will let me read to him if there's not too much text, otherwise he gets anxious to turn the page. One day during church he turned the pages of a board book over and over for SO long (probably 10 minutes). It was the best!

He is a messy eater, but will usually tolerate his baby food now. Sometimes I have to trick him with a Cheerio or Gerber Puff to get him to take a bite. And sometimes it helps to let him have his own spoon or bowl and I can sneak bites in while he plays (or while he throws it on the floor again and again).

Nice and clean after lunch!

He got this car for Christmas and loves it! But sometimes he likes pushing the handle better than riding in it.

We even took it to the grocery store one day because we knew he would tolerate the shopping trip better in his car.

He also loves our toy bus, and LOVES it when Julia or Ethan will take him for a ride on it.

But riding the bus can be tiring...

He thinks it's hilarious to do something if I tell him not to. He loves to try to eat my shoes because I always say no. He just giggles and giggles when I try to take them away.

He babbles a lot and knows how to say "dada," but hardly ever says "mama."

He claps and recently starting waving.

I have a hard time doing anything on the computer when he's around because he either closes my laptop or tries to hit the keys and messes everything up.

He just got his fourth tooth. His right top and bottom teeth came in before the left top and bottom, which is totally different than Ethan and Julia. They both got both bottom teeth first and then both top teeth.

He takes two naps a day, though they're not always very long. When he does happen to take a nap longer than an hour then he has started being difficult to put down for his second nap. One day he skipped his second nap altogether, but I'm really hoping that won't become a regular occurence quite yet.

When I make his baby food I use the food processor and he is totally afraid of it. The past few times I've used I put the food in the bottom then put the lid on and warned him I was going to turn it on. He hid his head in my shoulder and put his arms around my neck and held on tight, it was the sweetest thing. He does the same thing if he hears a loud noise in the house.

He loves playing with Ethan and Julia. This past week has been difficult, not just because the kids were sick but also because I had to keep Chase away from them and he really seemed to miss them.

This is how he greets me in the morning and after naps, he is so cheerful!

Happy Birthday to my Sweetie!

2011-01-19T20:08:00.002-07:00

Today is Derek's birthday. I'm so lucky to be married to my best friend!

Too bad that it also ended up being a sick day around here!

Chase hasn't gotten it so far, I hope he can somehow avoid it!

Have you seen the button?

2011-01-18T23:44:00.004-07:00

Julia made this cute little snowman in 4H.

Unfortunately one of the buttons fell off.
So Julia posted these papers all over the house:

She found the button, but them promptly lost it again. Have you seen our missing button? :)

Before and After

2011-01-18T23:33:00.004-07:00

It doesn't look too bad in this before picture
but it definitely needed some updating.

Before

After

You'll have to ignore the desperate need for new paint and lack of a backsplash.
But we think it looks much better already!

New table!

Almost done!

2010-12-31T18:41:00.003-07:00

Wow, our kitchen has really undergone a big transformation in the past couple of weeks!
Right before Christmas we got new Corian countertops. I love them!

You already saw the kitchen down to the sub-floor.
Here it is with cement backerboard, ready to tile.

Derek laying the LAST TILE!!

Here the tile is done and the floor is ready for grout.

And today we finished the grout!!!

Tomorrow we will seal the grout and then I can finally have my kitchen back.

I can hardly wait!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-27T23:30:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm a few days late but I'm at least trying to catch up on all the Christmas happenings around here even though I never got caught up on the rest of the year.

Chase has thoroughly enjoyed his first Christmas!
He loved his first taste of a candy cane.

And he loved pulling the ornaments off of the tree.

At our Ward Christmas party we were worried that he may not enjoy sitting on Santa's lap by himself so Julia held him and sat on Santa's lap. He didn't mind that so much.

We all enjoyed visiting the Riverwoods. They had free carriage rides before Christmas!

waiting in line

going on a carriage ride

on the carriage

Here's everyone ready to get off of the carriage

The holiday lights and "North Pole" area were really fun.

We had to visit the Blickenstaff's Toy store.

It had tons of fun stuff, and lots of candy too...

There are several fire pits in case you need a place to warm up.

There was even a live band there that night, playing Christmas music.

We'll definitely have to make this one of our yearly stops at Christmas time!

Earlier this month we weren't sure whether or not we would have a white Christmas.
After 10 inches of snow on Tuesday
I thought there was no way it could all melt before Christmas.
But then it rained and rained.
And it washed away most of the snow.
At least there was a tiny bit left on Christmas.

our front yard Tuesday morning

My Dad's side of the family has a tradition
of the women getting together each year
for an ornament exchange.

We haven't done it the past few years
so this year my sisters and I
decided to have our own.

The kids had a great time!

Daphne giving Chase hugs

The kids especially loved making gingerbread houses with Grandma.

Chase and Megan

Sadly by the time we were able to make ornaments (while the kids watched a Christmas movie downstairs) I had put the camera away and forgot to pull it out again. I'll have to get some pictures of the cute ornaments that we made though.

On Christmas Eve we attended our annual family Christmas party in Salt Lake.

I wish I had taken more pictures!
We had our usual dinner of soup and bread,
with salads and desserts of course.

There was a candy cane pinata
and Julia was the one who ended up breaking it.
I wish I had gotten a picture!

After the party was winding down we changed Chase into his snowman pjs

and headed to Temple Square (also a tradition).``

Sometimes we are the only ones there

(probably when it's freezing cold)

but this night it was really crowded.

Do you see what Chase got for Christmas Eve?

His first tooth!

It was much milder than some years

but it was still pretty cold.

Chase was so tired

and was super fussy.

But it was important for the kids to visit the nativity show, and remember the true meaning of Christmas.

Some of my siblings and my parents even came with us this time!

It was beautiful, and we were glad that we went.
(Though it would have been nice if Chase had slept in the car on the way home instead of screaming the whole way.)

Ethan and Julia got up at 8:30 on Christmas morning.
Chase got up at 5:30 and wouldn't go back to sleep until 7:00,
I guess he was ready for Christmas to begin early.

Ethan and Julia helped him open some gifts, and opened others for him.
He did learn to rip the paper.

He also learned that there were lots of fun things to play with everywhere.
Including Ethan and Julia's gifts.
But the boxes were pretty fun too.

After we opened gifts at our house we took breakfast to my parents' house and ate there and then opened more gifts.

We came back for the afternoon and went back for dinner.

ready for dinner!

but Chase was a little more interested in the dishwasher

Tamara, Megan, and Rebekah

Andrew, Char, and Daphne

Quentin

Kristen, Charlotte, Sharisse, Daphne (I love the expression on her face!), Tamara, and Melodie

And this time I got at least a couple of pictures with the grown-ups, and not just the kids.

Progress

2010-12-27T22:30:00.000-07:00

We can see the original sub-floor now!

Kitchen Floor

2010-12-27T20:35:00.003-07:00

This is my kitchen today.
I know I will be so glad that we did this after it's all over.
But right now I hate it!

Derek had to rip out (in this order) tile, linoleum, particle board, and more linoleum.
The top linoleum was the while flooring you see in the picture,
and the very bottom was the brown (wow, so ugly!).

I will be so glad when this floor is done!

Living Nativity at the Provo Tabernacle

2010-12-18T21:42:00.004-07:00

Just 2 weeks ago we attended the Living Nativity at the Provo Tabernacle.

We were heartbroken when we heard the news that
the Tabernacle had been destroyed by fire.

I've been to the tabernacle numerous times

for concerts or firesides

and it's hard to believe that we won't ever be able to go there again.

When we were there at the beginning of the month I was testing out my new camera
and got some shots of the beautiful interior of the tabernacle.

The woodwork was just beautiful!

We thoroughly enjoyed the nativity program.

Afterward we headed outside to see the animals.

Chase was so excited to pet the donkey, sheep, and camel!
He would grab a fistful of fur and start squealing and laughing with delight.

Ethan and Julia are always willing to hold Chase, and this night was no exception.

It was a beautiful night.

The weather was mild and the trees were all lined with lights.

I'm glad we were able to see the Tabernacle one more time, even though we didn't realize it would be the last.

On the move

2010-11-23T20:56:00.005-07:00

I'm way behind on my blog posts, but I will try to catch up if I get a chance this weekend.

Chase turned 7 months old at the beginning of November and is sitting, pulling himself up to a standing position, clapping (which is the cutest thing ever!), and crawling.

He started crawling a couple of weeks ago and is really getting fast now. We have to keep a close eye on him! We still have some baby proofing to do, but the stair gate is in. It ended up being way more complicated than it should have been but after we had installed the first gate we decided it wouldn't work because there was a metal bar that ran across the bottom of the gate and it happened to be 4 inches above the top stair. You had to step over that bar every time you went up or down the stairs and I knew someone was going to trip over it and break their neck falling down the stairs. So Derek tried moving it down closer to the floor. The screws ended up getting stripped and he had to do some major alterations just to get the screws out. He was almost done installing it in the lower position when we found that one side ended up being in between the top of the railing and the thick part of the railing and it wouldn't stay in place. So that gate was uninstalled, and Derek put in our old gate with the help of a stair railing kit. We thought we were set until Derek ran to get the door for trick-or-treaters and the gate got caught on his pants. It swung open wider than it was supposed to and one of the attachment plates cracked in half and the top of the gate came off. So we ended up getting yet another gate. While he was installing the third gate one of the screw heads broke off in the railing and ended up being impossible to remove, so he had to move the gate over a bit. It was unbelievably complicated but we finally have the gate installed and workable. Now we just need to put in cabinet latches, outlet covers, etc. Maybe we'll finish baby proofing before he learns to walk!

Chase loves hanging out with his big brother and sister. They can always get him to laugh!

We had to move the crib mattress down because he's pullling up on everything now. One of his favorite things to do is crawl to the foot of our bed and use the railing on the footboard to help him stand up. It's a little bit short for him so we really have to watch him closely.

He now eats three solid food meals a day, though he isn't happy about it the past few days. I think his bottom teeth might be close to coming in because his mouth has been extra sensitive.

Tonight Derek was watching a BYU basketball game and Chase started hollering at the tv. I guess he's watched his Dad watching a few games on tv and knew what to do, lol.
He definitely adores his daddy!

Florida Trip part 5: finishing off our trip

2010-11-05T10:00:00.000-06:00

There is a little nature preserve right around the corner from Buzz and Susan's house called Castaway Island, and we usually stop by there and walk around on the different trails.
We decided to visit the day before we left. The mosquitoes were out of control so I ended up leaving early with Chase.

This is the owl Julia got at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Ethan and Julia with Grandma Susan

At the preserve there is a boat launch area. At low tide you can see all kinds of little creatures including fiddler crabs, it's really interesting.

That night we visited the beach one last time.

The kids and Grandpa Buzz

The gorgeous sunset on our way back

The kids did great on the plane ride home.
Chase did have a blowout on our second flight--
luckily we had a change of clothes in our bag ready to go,
and we changed him right there in our seats.
We had an entire row plus a seat across the aisle
so it all worked out OK.

Hello Utah!

Florida trip part 4: Universal Studios & Wizarding World of Harry Potter

2010-11-04T21:30:00.002-06:00

While we were planning our trip we were trying to decide which park in Orlando we wanted to visit. We really wanted to visit the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal but we had heard crazy stories about how crowded it was. Waiting in line for 3 hours just to get into the Harry Potter area did not sound appealing. We had pretty much decided that we'd have to wait until our next trip to go there, even though the kids really wanted to go as soon as possible. But right before we left we researched it again and found out that after the summer had ended the crowds had gotten much smaller, so we decided to chance it.

We went on a Monday trying to avoid the weekend crowds. I think we still got part of the weekend traffic because it was more packed than we had hoped, but we did get to do everything that we had wanted.

We started out at the Harry Potter section even though we had heard it's most crowded in the morning. The reports were correct, it was super crowded so we did the rest of the park and then went back to the Harry Potter area a number of times. For this blog post I'm going to combine the Wizarding World of Harry Potter photos, and then do the rest of the park.

At Harry Potter we started out at the most popular of the 3 rides there, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.

The line takes you through parts of the book, like the greenhouse pictured above.

And then it takes you through the castle.

There are some talking paintings here that look SO much like real paintings, I don't know how they did it.

The ride was super fun. It takes you through the castle, past giant spiders, past a fire breathing dragon, and it makes you feel like you're really flying through the air.

Derek's parents both went on this ride too. We used a different area for wheelchair access and they got to ride with the kids and then Derek and I got to ride with the kids. Lucky Ethan and Julia got to do the ride twice in a row both times we went on it.

The village area was really cool complete with crooked smokestacks and snow dusted roofs.

Hagrid's hut

The next ride was the Flight of the Hippogriff

It was a milder roller coaster.

the Hippogriff

Flight of the Hippogriff ride

This was a fun ride, and the line was really short. The ride was over really quickly though.

This was the only ride that didn't have a special area for us to wait when doing a "parent swap."
Every other major ride had a special waiting area for people with babies or children too small to go on the ride, and the kids always got to do those rides twice-- once with each parent.

Ethan loved the butterbeer . The rest of us liked it too.
We tried to make it when we got home from a recipe that says it's exactly like the butterbeer at the park,
the first smell and sip seemed really close, but it definitely wasn't as good.

In front of the Hogwarts Express (no, there wasn't a ride that used the train even though it seems like a given that there would be)

Inside Honeydukes

Honeydukes again

The front window at Honeydukes-- you can see the chocolate frogs

We would have bought a chocolate frog here but the line was crazy, it went around the entire shop so we decided not to buy anything there.

More of the village.

One minute before this picture was taken Ethan and Julia were fighting, and then they were "best buds" again

These inside shots were in Zonko's Joke shop.

This is where Julia got her owl.
The kids also each got a wand from a "street vendor"
because the line at Ollivanders was huge.

There were such authentic touches everywhere we went, it was so fun!

The rest of Universal was fun too, even though the Harry Potter section was really the highlight.

Chase did so great in the park and didn't slow us down a bit.
Some diaper changes, sunscreen applications, and naps were done in line for a ride.
Buzz and Susan had brought an extra wheelchair in case he ended up needing it
sometime during the day (he ended up pushing Julia around in it half the day at her request).
In one particularly long line (Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey)
I sat in the chair and nursed Chase with the nursing cover over me.
It was the best way we could think of to not waste time, lol.

Derek and I also did the Dragon Challenge roller coaster a few times before we left. There was no line at all so we went on it a few times in a row. It was a more extreme roller coaster and we totally loved it. Ethan was barely tall enough to go on this one but he didn't want to do it, it probably would have been a little too rough for him.

Chase took all of his naps in a carrier and did great!

X-Men Storm Force Accelatron ride, similar to the teacups at Disney

Ready for the Super Hero parade, we had a great view!

The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train ride

In line for the Cat in the Hat ride

On our way out of the park through Suess Landing

We had a great time and plan on going again, hopefully when it's a little less crowded.

Florida Trip part 3: Aunt Joanne's

2010-11-02T10:00:00.000-06:00

Buzz's sister Joanne moved to Florida earlier this year, and she's not too far away from Buzz and Susan. We were invited over for dinner one day while we were in town. We decided to head there early and visit her private beach because the kids were anxious to play in the waves again.

The waves were way bigger at her beach, and the current was really strong. We couldn't let the kids go too far out, it was just too rough.

But they had fun walking in the waves.

And looking for seashells.

When we decided that we were ready to leave the beach we headed to Aunt Joanne's house
and took advantage of the hot tub on her enclosed porch.

Chase and Grandpa Buzz

Susan, Aunt Joanne, Julia, and Ethan

Aunt Joanne even let the kids drive her golf cart (she lives right on a golf course).
I think this made her a hero in Julia's mind--
they LOVED it!!

Dinner was amazing,
and after we again took advantage of the hot tub.
We let Chase put his legs in (it wasn't too hot)
and he kept trying to jump in the rest of the way.

It was a fun day, and Chase even fell asleep right before we left and slept the whole way home and I was able to put him right to bed.

It was a nice change since he screamed most of the way home from St Augustine.

Florida trip part 2: St Augustine

2010-10-31T23:52:00.008-06:00

It has been several years since we have traveled down to St Augustine from Jacksonville.

The kids don't even remember the last time that we went,

so we decided to take them on a ghost tour--

it was right before Halloween after all.

We also took them on a scenic boat cruise that we've taken in the past.

And we visited the Castillo de San Marcos fort, which was new for all of us.

At the St Augustine visitor's center

At the Castillo de San Marcos fort

At the fort they reenact the soldier's march to the cannons
and they actually shoot the cannons too.
It is SO loud, but we didn't take Chase near the cannons.

Chase with Grandma Susan

Shooting the cannon

Leaving the fort

The scenic cruise was just a few blocks up the street from the fort.
Julia and Grandpa Buzz waiting to board the boat

Ethan and Grandpa Buzz on the upper floor of the boat

This is how Chase spent the boat cruise

Right in front of the lighthouse, from the top floor of the boat

The captain actually let Julia steer the boat for about 15 minutes.

She was so excited!

She had to do some tricky turns too,

but he told her which way to steer and she did it.

That night we went on our ghost tour.
Ethan wasn't really looking forward to it
but he ended up having a lot of fun.

They basically take a walking group around town
and show you lots of the historic buildings
and tell you stories of ghosts visiting each spot.

We stopped by the cemetary of course.
The headstones are really old,
and look extra spooky.

Chase thought the ghost tour was very exciting:

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T23:41:00.002-06:00

I promise to continue my posts about our trip, but wanted to wish you all a Happy Halloween and share our costume pictures.

As usual we had some costume changes again this year. The kids used stuff from our dress up chest, I didn't even have to buy a thing! This first shot is from the ward Trunk Or Treat. Ethan went as Harry Potter and Julia went as a Jedi.

I didn't get a picture of the kids at school, but Ethan decided to dress up as a professional soccer player in his Salt Lake Real shirt and soccer gear, and Julia was Harry Potter.

And here they are right before trick-or-treating, this time Ethan went as a soldier in all camo, and Julia was again Harry Potter:

They had lots of fun going trick-or-treating with friends this year and ended up with a ton of candy.

Hope you all had a great Halloween!

Florida trip part 1: First beach day

2010-10-28T23:54:00.008-06:00

Our trip to Florida was so fun!
Chase had lots of firsts this trip.
It was his first plane trip and I was a little worried about how he would do.
But he ended up being a great traveler and was really good on the plane
until the last 10 minutes of our last flight.
By that point he was just tired of being stuck on a plane
and ready to be done traveling.
He screamed in the car all the way from the airport to Derek's parents' house.
We were so glad when we finally made it!

This was Chase's first trip to the beach:

He wasn't too sure about the waves crashing into his little legs. He seemed much happier on the sand under an umbrella. He did love kicking his feet in the sand, and digging his fingers into the sand too. We managed to keep most of the sand out of his mouth.

Kicking back and relaxing.

I love how Chase crosses his legs like this!

I thought we were going to have to leave because Chase started getting fussy, but I stuck him in the water sling and he went right to sleep. That bought us an extra hour.

Ethan and Julia really enjoyed swimming in the waves a lot more this trip, I guess they're getting a little more adventurous.

The kids loved having Derek pull them out in this raft, the "SS Borsky."
They would ride over the waves,
and then he'd let go and the waves would carry them back to shore.

We even had enough time for building a sand castle.

Chase enjoyed his bath after the beach without his bath seat from home.
He kept laughing and kicking his legs-- he was so excited.

That night we enjoyed some Southern cuisine from Sonny's BBQ.
We had never tried fried corn on the cobb before,
but it was actually really good.

Chase even cooperated during dinner so we could all eat together.

We finished up the night with birthday pie for Grandpa Buzz and Ethan,
since both of their birthdays are in October.

To be continued...

6 month stats

2010-10-09T11:00:00.000-06:00

I know I've said this before, but Chase is growing so fast,
I can't believe that he is 6 months old already!

He is now 28 inches long (90th percentile),

and weighs 18 pounds (75th percentile).

He has such a cute laugh and smile, and thankfully we see them often!

This past month has been full of changes.

Chase started on solid foods and is still getting used to eating them.

So far he's not a big fan of anything,

but he will tolerate sweet potatoes and butternut squash.

(We're doing homemade baby food-- it is super easy to make

and saves a ton of money!)

Chase is getting really close to crawling.

Right after he turned 5 months old he started rolling

from his front to back (he was already rolling back to front).

Now he rolls all over the place,

can change directions by pushing with his arms,

and has started rocking back and forth on all fours for short periods of time.

We can't leave him on the bed alone for longer than 2 seconds

because he is so fast!

His favorite toy is our remote.

The second we sit down on the bed he looks around and dives for the remote.

The phone is second best.

And his feet are a close third.

We switched Chase to his crib right after he turned 5 months old

because he started rolling over the sides of his sleep positioner.

He did great for the first few nights,

and then he started rolling onto his tummy

and just couldn't sleep that way.

Thankfully he now sleeps on his tummy just fine.

And hopefully one of these days he'll start sleeping through the night!

We all just adore this cute little guy!

It's a wrap

2010-10-08T22:56:00.002-06:00

Yes, we just wrapped up another soccer season.
Sadly I didn't get any great pictures,
I'll have to try to do better in the spring.

Ethan plays for the Phantoms,

and has some good friends on his team.

Ethan's favorite position is the goalie.
He used to hate being goalie,
but he has practiced tons with some friends this past year
and now he really loves it
and he's good at it too!

Derek and our friend Ty are the coaches for Ethan's team

and he has really enjoyed that.

(Ethan's team's shirts are actually black, but he prefers to wear his goalie shirt when he's the goalie-- it has padded elbows and has saved him several times already.)

Julia plays for the Blue Moonberries
or the Blue Lightning.
I think they haven't really decided which is their official team name.

Julia's game has dramatically improved as well
since she frequently plays against Ethan and his friends.
One game she scored 6 goals all by herself!

Yes, we are definitely a soccer family!

Libertyland

2010-09-19T18:57:00.002-06:00

So we are not the only ones who heard about the "pass of all passes," lol.

We went to Libertyland on Labor Day and it was incredibly crowded!!!

We were able to ride on the roller coaster, airplanes, carousel, pirate ship, and the frogger thing, but we didn't stay long. The lines were huge and it was too crowded.

We were glad that we hadn't gone there without a pass though!

I think we'll really enjoy using our passes, but we'll have to make sure to go on "off" days from now on!

Hilary Weeks

2010-09-08T09:39:00.002-06:00

I heard a clip of these songs a few years ago and I've been wanting a link to them ever since.

Enjoy!

5 months old

2010-09-03T13:36:00.006-06:00

I can't believe that my baby is already 5 months old!
He is developing quite the little personality,
and it's so fun to see!

He absolutely adores Ethan and Julia,
and is so excited (sometimes squealing with delight)
when they get home from school.

His toes are one of his new favorite toys.
He loves rolling over from his back to his front
but sometimes gets frustrated
when he can't get his arm out from underneath him.

He definitely knows what he wants.
The other day I had a bag of potatoes on the floor
that still needed to be put away.
He was nearby in the bumbo seat
and was very frustrated that
he couldn't quite get the potatoes.

He is getting very good at holding onto his toys,
is an expert hair puller,
and is sticking everything in his mouth.

He just starting sleeping in his crib this past week.
The first few nights he did great
but then he got a little cold
and we didn't get much sleep for a few days.
Last night he seemed to be feeling better
and he slept much better, thankfully.

He smiles and laughs all the time,
and loves watching what his Dad is doing.

He will only tolerate the bumbo (or bouncer or jumeroo) for a short time,
and then he definitely lets us know when he's ready to get out.

He loves being held all the time!

He is so much fun!

Jordanelle & Antelope Island

2010-08-30T22:44:00.007-06:00

We finished off the week before school

with a fun little family reunion with my parents and some of my siblings.

Derek had really wanted to go boating or jet skiing all summer.

He found a place to rent them either from Deer Creek or Jordanelle.

We opted for Jordanelle because we were able to reserve a condo nearby.

It was beautiful-- a perfect day to be on the water.

And there was a shady spot with picnic tables so we could keep Chase out of the sun.

Derek and I went out with Julia and she was so excited.

As soon as we pulled out of the "no wake zone"

he got going pretty fast.

Julia kept yelling "Yes!! I love this!!!"

Ethan preferred going a little slower.

We took turns on the wave runner,

and the rest of us waited on the dock, the beach, or at the tables in the shade.

It was so much fun, we think we'll have to do it again next year.

My Dad had really been wanting to go to Antelope Island, so the next day we all went.

There were some enormous spiders-- not my favorite thing!

We went to Buffalo Point and had a picnic.

There was an overlook there with a gorgeous view of the Great Salt Lake

but if you went to the edge the wind nearly blew you over.

Ethan got a bug in his water so he tried to dump his cup out over the side

and the wind blew the whole thing right back at him, lol.

My Dad, Derek, and Julia took the trail up to the very top,

and they said there was even more wind up there,

but the view was great.

On our way out we saw lots of people at the beach area.

Derek was going to go jump in but decided not to

because we had to get back to Orem for Julia's best friend's birthday party.

It was such a fun weekend-- the perfect way to end the summer.

Lagoon

2010-08-30T10:00:00.000-06:00

The week before school started we decided to finish off our summer with a bang.
We started by going to Lagoon!

When we first got there we hit Lagoon A Beach.
We tried putting Chase in his floaty seat,
but he still isn't too fond of it yet.
I put him in the water sling
and he liked that much better.
Derek and I walked around the lazy river once
and Chase fell asleep.
So Derek took Ethan and Julia on some water slides,
and I hung out on a beach chair
(which was just fine with me).

Chase's nap ended up not lasting long,

and Ethan came over to entertain him

while Derek and Julia found some more serious water slides.

After a couple of hours in the water park we decided we were ready for some regular Lagoon rides. Derek and I switched off on rides. Sometimes they let us do a "baby exchange" and one of us would ride and then the other.

Char and Andrew met us that afternoon so we were able to trade off holding the babies on some rides with them too.

Last year when we went to Lagoon I was pregnant with Chase and couldn't go on any good rides, so it was great getting to ride the roller coasters again this time.

We had such a fun time!

Julia's baptism

2010-08-29T22:27:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago we celebrated Julia's 8th birthday.

Julia is such a sweetheart, she's always serving others

and trying to help out.

She's cheerful and helpful and such a good girl.

I can't believe that she's already 8.

Her baptism was Sunday, August 15th

and she was SO excited.

Her Aunt Melodie gave a great talk on baptism,

and gave Julia an amazing little book

all about the steps of baptism. (She loves it!)

And her Grandpa gave a great talk on the Holy Ghost.

Right after she was baptized I was helping her change

and she said to me, "I'm so happy! I feel so clean!"

It was such a sweet experience!

Here's part of her baptism spotlight:

Julia's favorite subjects in school are recess, lunch, and math

Her favorite foods are pizza, and Costa Vida burritos

Her favorite activities are crafts and playing the playstation

When she grows up she wants to be a lifeguard (she also told me that she wants to work at a movie theater and at McDonald's- lol)

Her talents are piano, drawing, painting, & soccer

Her favorite scripture is about Nephi building a ship to come to the Promised Land

We're so grateful to have Julia in our family!

Pass of all passes

2010-08-28T14:27:00.003-06:00

We just got a great deal and I wanted to share it with all of you just in case you want to take advantage of it too! We purchased the "pass of all passes" from CityDeals (link below) and for an entire year we'll be able to go to Seven Peaks, Trafalga (both locations), Orem Owlz games, and Utah Flash games for free! City Deals mailed us tickets and we had to go to the Seven Peaks office to redeem them and to get photo ids. Even Chase got a "tadpole" id card, it's super cute! Here's the details:

Seven Peaks "Pass of All Passes!"
WOW! City Deals & Seven Peaks have teamed up to bring you a 4 pack Seven Peaks Pass of All Passes- This is an amazing sale for a set of 4 passes to the following venues:

Seven Peaks Waterpark
-- Unlimited admission on days of normal operation
-- A 3% discount on food in the park

Trafalga Fun Center, Orem
-- Unlimited Mini Golf
-- Unlimited Slick Track
-- Unlimited XD Theater
-- Unlimited Batting Cages
-- Does not include arcade tokens

Trafalga Fun Center, Lehi (formerly Liberty Land)
-- Unlimited Mini Golf
-- Unlimited Laser Tag
-- Unlimited Slick Track
-- Unlimited Bumper Boats
-- Unlimited Rush Coaster
-- Unlimited Rock Climbing
-- Unlimited Carousel
-- Unlimited Frog Hopper
-- Unlimited Kiddie Area
-- Unlimited Pirate Ship
-- Unlimited Train & Airplane
-- Unlimited Mini Track
-- Unlimited Drop Tower
(Does not include arcade tokens)

Orem Owlz Games (at Brent Brown Ballpark)
-- Unlimited General Admission Tickets(one ticket per home game per pass)

Utah Flash Games (at McKay Events Center)
-- Unlimited General Admission Tickets(one ticket per home game per pass)

You get 4 of these passes for only $139.95! That's only $34.99 a person! Normally a pass like this would cost $440.00. So, you're really being rewarded for thinking ahead and you will be able to use it right away. This pass is good until Labor Day 2011! Wow- a whole year of admission to 5 venues for 4 people. This is a steal!

First Day of School

2010-08-25T14:17:00.002-06:00

Yes, it's that time again!
We've been super busy this summer,
and I didn't get a chance to take the kids shopping for school clothes
until this past Monday.
Luckily they found lots of new clothes that will work
(even though the clothes were really picked over and sparse)
and they should be set-- for now anyway!

Ethan is starting 5th grade, and Julia's starting 3rd grade.

How in the world did my kids get this old so quickly?

They weren't exactly excited for school to start,
but are you ever?!

Reunions

2010-08-10T23:48:00.019-06:00

We had two reunions on the same weekend a few weeks ago. We went to the Hendriksen reunion on Thursday night up at Balsam campground in Hobble Creek Canyon. We didn't stay overnight because I didn't really want to sleep in a tent with Chase, but Robyn and Eric were kind enough to let Ethan and Julia stay overnight in their tent. It was so much fun seeing everyone! Sadly the few pictures that I got were lost in yet another memory card error, as well as some great pics I took at the Hill reunion of Derek and the kids canoeing. (Really bummed about that!)
I was lucky to have taken the camera bag that actually had a spare memory card so I at least got some pictures of the rest of the Hill reunion which was at the Heber Valley Campground.

The kids had lots of fun making cute bracelets with the beads Jean brought.

Grandma and Grandpa (my parents) with Chase and Daphne

Jolie became best friends with Ethan the 2 weeks they were in town

The kids loved sleeping in these bunks in the cabin!

The next morning we were signed up to do a challenge course that included a zipline.
Julia was just barely tall enough to go. I had thought that I'd just stay at the cabin with Chase,
especially since I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before (apparently lots of other people hadn't slept much either...), but Derek signed us all up for the course, so I quickly got ready and we went!

There were different areas in the challenge, we started with the zipline. All of us were pretty nervous, but Julia was brave and decided to go first from our group.

She loved it!

And yes, even I did it too!

(Nothing reminds you just how much baby weight you still need to lose quite like these darn harnesses you have to wear! )

See how high it was?!

The next part of the challenge course was this area where you had to swing on a rope (after getting hold of the rope without crossing the line on the ground) and land on this small black square on the ground.

It's harder than it sounds!

And the last activity for us, since we were running out of time, was this ski poles activity (I can't rememer the exact name for it). Everyone had to step together and lift up on the rope together to get up the hill and back down.

It was a fun and challenging course, everyone did great!
But we were all ready for a nap after it was over.

4 month stats

2010-08-10T22:42:00.010-06:00

So I'm getting way behind in my blog posts, but Chase had his 4 month checkup last week.

He is now 16 lbs 2 oz which is in the 85th percentile

and 26 inches long which is in the 90th percentile.

He's a big guy, everyone thinks he's 6 months old.

At the doctor's office we were waiting for the doctor to come in and Chase was letting out these cute little screams. The nurse came in and told us that she just couldn't give him his shots, he was just way too happy. He did start getting fussy at the end because it was naptime so she came in and quickly gave him his 3 shots. Poor little guy screamed when she stuck him but he stopped pretty quickly, and he went right to sleep as soon as we got in the car.

Here's a sample of his screaming, lol:

He certainly gets plenty of attention around here!

A few days ago I propped him up in the recliner in his room for a few pictures.

I got this sweet smile...

And then he was DONE!

Goblin Valley

2010-07-14T17:04:00.012-06:00

Last week we went to Goblin Valley with some friends.

We had never been there and it was even better than we had imagined.

Our campsite was so close to the rocks, the kids loved it!

Our first night there we saw people hiking up on top of the cliffs. I knew the kids would want to hike up there but I was thinking there was no way, it was just too dangerous. Little did I know that they would hike it the next morning!

Ethan and Julia both had a friend to hang out with and they had so much fun! Normally they would be fighting on a trip like this with so much free time, but they did great.

The Valley of the Goblins was soooo cool! Do you see those tiny people in top of the "goblins" in this picture?

It was tons of fun hiking around all the different rock formations. Our second night there everyone played a tag/hide and seek game and they had a blast!

Derek found a comfortable "armchair" to relax in while he waited for us to catch up.

The guys and kids went hiking on Tuesday morning, this is when they were up on top of the cliffs.

There was a large drop-off on each side-- super scary with kids! Brenda saw them taking one child at a time by the hand to get across a narrow part. I'm glad they were careful!!!

That afternoon we did another hike at Little Wild Horse Canyon.

I took Chase on only the very first part of the hike and then took him back to the car because it was windy and he wasn't loving it. Everyone else continued on to some slot canyons and said it was just amazing!

We got this great family picture right at sunset before everyone went over to play night games:

Our last day there we stopped at the Valley of the Goblins again before we left.

It was the middle of the day and it was SO hot, so Chase and I hung out in the car.

It was such a fun place to visit. We will definitely have to go back again.

On our way home we stopped at the dinosaur museum in Price.

It's much smaller than the Thanksgiving Point dinosaur museum but the kids still had a great time.

And thankfully Chase slept most of the way home!

3 months!

2010-07-02T22:17:00.003-06:00

Chase is 3 months old today!

I can't believe how quickly it has gone by. We went to visit my sister Tamara with her brand new baby girl and Chase looks absolutely enormous compared to her.

He is still a very sweet and mellow little guy, and happy most of the time--though he has started being a bit more fussy lately and I wonder if he's started teething.

He finally likes bathtime now, and loves kicking in the water. No splashing with his hands quite yet.

Every once in a while he'll suck on one finger at a time, but usually he likes shoving his entire fist in his mouth. He does not like his binky at all!

My sweet kids!!

Other St George activities

2010-06-27T06:00:00.001-06:00

We do take breaks from hiking and swimming while in St George.

The kids got a kick out of drinking their root beer from these glass bottles

We enjoyed dinner at Red Lobster.

And had a yummy lunch at SmashBurger

We spent some family time playing games and watching dvds at the condo.

Ready to play Monopoly Deal!

And we spent an afternoon at the movies!

We give it 2 thumbs up!!!

The hardest part of our trip with little Chase was in the car.

He did not like sitting in his car seat for long.

We even had the kids turn on a movie for him to see if it would stop him from crying.

He totally watched it for a while-- at least it was a little distraction.

We had such a fun trip, but in the end we were glad to be back home.