August Family Outings

During the last half of August we had some pretty fun family outings.

Utah County Fair and One Man Band Diner
One day we headed down to Spanish Fork for the County Fair. Unfortunately we didn't take any pictures there. We saw lots of farm animals and almost got drenched in some torrential rain. We had our first funnel cake as a family and then left the fair.
We drove over to the One Man Band Diner for dinner.


Henry loved all the pictures. There was one picture he kept pointing to and calling Jesus. It definitely wasn't Jesus in the picture. It was some 1970s rock-n-roll singer. He looked familiar but I am not sure who it was. 

Waiting for our food. 

William got to try Apple Beer. He really liked it!

We had a fun night together!

Thanksgiving Point Gardens

On Tuesday the 23rd of August we packed a picnic dinner and drove up to the Gardens.  This was our last opportunity as a family to participate in 2 buck Tuesdays.

Checking out the fish! 

This picture makes me laugh. It seriously sums up life as a mother of 2 young boys.
I'm pretty sure they took off in opposite directions after we took the picture. 

Climbing in the gazebo.

Water!

Playing in the fountain in the Secret Garden. 

I'm sure they both would have climbed in if we'd let them! 

The Secret Garden is by far my favorite in the Thanksgiving Point Gardens. It is so beautiful and so peaceful! Someday I hope to have a garden similar to this. 

I sure love him!!!

We really enjoyed our summer! We went to fun new places and tried some new things.
The only place we usually go to in the summer that we didn't make it to was the Lindon Pool. 

William's 3rd birthday

William had been anticipating his birthday since Henry's birthday back in May. We told him that he had to wait for Mommy's and then Daddy's birthday. And then it would be his birthday. Father's Day really threw him off. He thought for sure that his birthday was so soon! Once he finally understood that father's day wasn't Daddy's birthday, he started looking forward to David's birthday. With about a month or so to go until his birthday, we made a paper chain that counted down to both David's and then William's birthday. He LOVED it and was so excited to remove a link each day. Since we knew he really understood birthdays this year, we wanted to make it extra special.


William awoke to balloons hanging in his room. He was pretty surprised!

He then got to open one present. 

Happy Birthday, Little Pookie!!!
We'd checked this one out from the library and he loved it. So we decided to add it to his collection.
He was thrilled! 

He was even more excited when he ran out into the living room and saw all the balloons and streamers!! 

Henry was enthralled with all the balloons. 

The boys loved playing with the balloons and streamers in their room.
They spent lots of time in there giggling and playing together.

After breakfast, we packed up and went to the zoo. Since we went for Henry's birthday William had been looking forward to going for his birthday! We saw all William's favorite things (except for the train).


The boys checked out their favorite pachyderm.

Zuri- the baby elephant!

Henry LOVES elephants. 

We went to the bird show. William really adores this. He'll even play bird show at home sometimes.

Don't let this face fool you!

He was very excited to be there watching all his favorite birds - especially Poco!


Next up was the carousel!
No trip to the zoo would be complete without a ride on the carousel.
William chose the rhino. 

And Henry chose the gorilla in honor of his cousin, Anthony, who loves gorillas.


William wanted to pose with the T-Rex (or Buddy as he called him).
He really enjoyed the dinosaurs at the zoo. They are gone now. 

Playing on the tigers. 

This was hilarious! We watched this giraffe for several minutes.
 It was just too funny watching him eat and spit his food out on this sign. 

The boys loved it!

We headed home shortly after lunch so we could get ready for William's birthday party.
I made 3 homemade pizzas - 2 pepperoni and 1 BBQ Chicken.
Grandma Dougal, Nathan, Kat and her 3 kids, and William's great Grandma and Grandpa came for the party.

After our delicious dinner, it was present time!!!

William loved all his presents!!! Thanks to everyone for your generosity!

Next up: ice cream cake!!! 

I'm pretty sure William joined in as we sang happy birthday to him.

William really loved his 3rd birthday. Birthdays are so fun with kids!

I sure love you William! 

Your daddy loves you too!

We're so glad you had a very happy birthday!!! 

Farewell/Birthday Party

First of all, tell me this doesn't look A-MA-ZING!!!!


Yep, you can't. Don't you wish you could have had a slice or two? This beauty is a homemade chocolate cake with a layer of homemade ganache between the 2 layers and on top of the cake. Then it is covered in delicious homemade chocolate frosting. Mmmmm..... It was heavenly!!!  And I made it all by myself!

Enough about the cake. I made this beauty for two very special people.

William and Adam.
My little brother decided to get a job in Korea teaching English for at least the next year. He left the day before William's birthday and a few weeks before his own birthday. So at this party we celebrated William's 3rd birthday and Adam's birthday with my family and some of Adam's friends. We also gathered to wish Adam luck in his endeavors in Korea.  

This is just some of the family that were there.  Jacob and his family were also there. 

William opened his presents from my parents - a Clifford book and doll and a Jeff Corvette shake'n'go car. He loves them and still sleeps with Clifford (along with 3 other stuffed animals) every single night. 

We gave Adam a kindle (he's an avid reader just like the rest of my family) and a little scrapbook with pictures of our family.  Adam left on the 16th for San Francisco and then flew out to Korea from there on the 17th. He's having a great time there but we sure do miss him!!! We love you Adam! 

Dinosaur Museum

I love when Thanksgiving Point does their 2 buck Tuesdays.
Yes you have huge crowds to deal with, but you can still have lots of fun!
I took my boys to the Dinosaur Museum one Tuesday in August and met up with Jacob, Lily, and Jake.


The kids loved the science hands-on exhibit they had set up. The also LOVED the dinosaurs! 

They spent some time playing with the dinosaurs. Jacob is a cute daddy!
I really enjoyed watching him play with his kids. 

Henry was amazed by all the huge fossils. William loved playing in the tunnel. After the museum we enjoyed some delicious ice cream cones! We were so glad to have Jacob, Lily, and Jake there with us. Thanks for coming guys! The only thing that would have made this better is if David, Kat, and Asher could have joined us. But it was nice to have some time with just my brother. 

David's birthday

David turned 26 the beginning of August.
We celebrated his birthday at home the day before his actual birthday.


David opened some of his gifts the day before his birthday. This was partially because William was about to spoil some surprises, but mainly because we were pretty busy on his actual birthday. William got to help open presents. 

Henry didn't want to help open presents.

On David's birthday, we had a family party to go to in the morning.  We spent the afternoon relaxing at my parents' house. Then we went out for dinner with David's family and my parents and brother. 

David chose Zupas - one of our favorites!

Then it was back to my parents' house for a delicious homemade ice cream cake. 

Henry especially loved the ice cream cake. Although he did have a love/hate relationship with it. He experienced his first brain freeze!!! It was pretty funny watching him gobble his cake down and then freak out. He had no idea what was going on!

Next David opened up more presents! 

We all enjoyed his birthday! 

We are truly grateful for David in our lives. He is an amazing husband and father. He's dedicated to us and to taking care of us. He's such a hard worker. He is patient and kind. We love you!!!