Instagram Pics Mar-April

Here are some pictures from the last couple of months.  I wish I was better about capturing moments with something other than my phone, but for now this is what works!

Handsome boys had a fun field trip to the fire station on St. Patrick's Day.

Later that week we had a second field trip to Smith's grocery store.  The store manager was awesome!  They gave the kids a grocery list (meat, bread, cookie, milk, fruit) and they got to go shopping and then they let them keep all the items!  The kids loved it.  

We explored the Gale Museum that day too.  Owen especially loved the school area where he pretended to be the teacher and read a book to his class.

For FHE, we visited the Oquirrh Mountain temple and then walked around Oquirrh Lake and fed the ducks.  The boys absolutely love the temple.  Anytime we are driving in the car it is a race to see who will find it first!

Owen started his first sport!  He did indoor soccer through the Rec Center and had a good time.  His favorite part was getting to kick off the ball after a goal was scored because it was basically a free kick.  Otherwise, he enjoyed running back and forth (sometimes falling and/or sliding), holding hands with his friend Kaden, and of course the snack afterwards!

Porter loves nothing more than to do just what Owen is doing.  Owen left his bike and helmet unattended for a few minutes, and Porter immediately took advantage of the opportunity!

Owen's first selfie.  He loves taking pictures and I usually find 10-15 new pictures each day on my phone.

Brad got some Jazz tickets from his work so we took advantage of having my mom in town and had a fun Monday night date.  As expected, the Jazz lost (it was a pretty terrible season), but I get 1/2 lb of free fudge with our ticket stubs so all is well!

The Urry's came to visit again for Spring Break.  We always love their visits.  We were able to go to the zoo one of the days with Taryn, Luke, and Owen. 

Another day we went down to BYU to visit the Sacred Gifts exhibit, prep for the next Semester, and get some yummy creamery ice cream.  We couldn't pass up this photo-op!

At the end of April, we took a last minute trip to St. George to attend the funeral of Brad's cousin.  Although we wish it were for better circumstances, we did enjoy the opportunity to have a little family time, to visit with extended family, and to hike & swim in the beautiful weather.  We even were able to hop down to Las Vegas on Sunday to support my Uncle Kenny as he was released from serving as bishop of his LDS congregation.   My Dad and brothers had driven up from San Diego for it also.  We had a great time visiting with my aunt, uncle, and cousins that I hadn't seen since my wedding 7+ years ago.  

Homemade Donuts

Sunday night we decided to make some donuts.  We cheated and just used Grands biscuit dough, which I highly recommend!  Owen loved cutting the circles out of the middle.  We fried them and then rolled them in cinnamon & sugar.  Definitely not an everyday treat, but it was sure yummy!  Porter was already in bed, so we will have to do them again with him.

Lunch Date with Dad

We had a beautiful day so we decided to pack a lunch and meet Brad at the park by his office for lunch.  We weren't the only ones with that idea, there were quite a few families meeting for lunch too.  The boys had a blast making new friends.  In fact, that is how Owen prefers the park!  If we show up and there is no one there, he will usually ask "Where are my friends?"

Instagram Pics Jan-Feb

This poor blog has been pretty neglected the last 4 months.  Here's a snapshot into some of the highlights from January-February.

This was the morning after we got back from our 2 week trip to California.  We were having a lazy morning and the boys were getting all cozy while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

We took a visit to Brad's work one day for lunch.  (He has a pretty sweet office, probably the best location in the building, lucky guy!)  Owen enjoyed drawing a picture for him to keep on his wall.

No better way to beat a cold, snowy Saturday morning than with donuts and milk!

Owen was rocking the indoor sunglasses look one night while drawing with Brad.

   

Porter sat here and "colored" for about 45 minutes.  A small miracle!

Owen loves helping me make cookies.  He's usually just in it for the chocolate though!  His BYU apron that More-Mimi (my Grandma) made him is just too cute.  

Owen "helping" Porter with his blankets while he drank his afternoon bottle. 

Owen got a little too close to the window paint at the gym one morning.  This was too cute because he didn't even realize what had happened.

Brad had a business trip back East in February, so Owen and I had a date night.  Popcorn and a movie- his request.  

Owen has really been into helping lately, with baking/cooking, Porter, laundry, and cleaning.  So I'm trying to take advantage of it!

We were making Aunt Angie, Uncle Chris, and Aneeda a birthday cake and the boys got to lick the beaters.  It must have worn Owen out, because I found him sleeping on the couch not long after.

Owen must have been going through a growth spurt, because this was his 2nd nap that week.  Tired boy!

Brother bonding on the couch.  I love that there are more of these moments happening now!

San Diego Trip

The weather was absolutely beautiful our whole time in San Diego.  The boys and I extended the trip 7 days, and were able to stay for 2 whole weeks.   Here are some of the things we filled our time with:

1.  Playing on the deck!  Even when it was a lazy day, I could send the boys out on the deck and watch them from inside.  This alone was so nice, since we are currently stuck indoors in Utah.  They loved the sunshine!

2.  Beach days!  We took 2 trips to the beach while we were there.  I would have been content with just one, but the boys absolutely loved it!  So we had to go for a repeat visit.  Owen enjoyed splashing in the waves and "building" sandcastles .  Porter loved chasing the "ducks" (read: seagulls).  This was probably my favorite part of the trip!

3.  San Diego Zoo.  It was so ridiculously crowded when we pulled into the parking lot.  We parked on the last row at 10:00 am!  We started to wonder if it was worth it, but figured it was.  Luckily, we already had tickets and didn't need to wait in the ticket line (easily over an hour long!)  Once inside the crowds dispersed and it didn't seem that busy.  The boys loved the elephants and the tram ride.

4.  Visiting Grandparents.  Since my mom's parents live just down the road from my parent's, we saw them frequently during the 2 week visit.  My dad's parents live a little bit further away, so one day we loaded up the kids and went to visit them.  It was sweet watching the boys interact with them.  Owen wouldn't leave before singing them "Jingle Bells", just like he had sung at the Retirement Home the previous week.

5.  Holiday Bowl Big Balloon Parade in Downtown San Diego.  My Dad has looked forward to taking Owen to this since we were in San Diego 2 years ago for Christmas.  The crowds were a little larger than we anticipated, but we found a good spot and had a great time.  Porter got a little fussy towards the end, so we packed up to go and then noticed Thomas the Train coming... we had to wait for Thomas!  It was Owen's favorite balloon of the day.

6.  Brad and I stayed in San Diego for the rest of the day/evening to celebrate our 7th anniversary!  Thank you to all the family who helped with the boys so we could enjoy a night away.  We enjoyed relaxing & reading on Coronado beach, lunch in Coronado, and dinner in Little Italy.  The next morning we explored Balboa Park before heading home.  It was the perfect little retreat.

7.  New Years Eve "Just Dance" and Wii with the family.  I wish I had video of Brad's version of "Toxic" by Britney Spears, we were all dying laughing.  It was pretty funny watching everyone participate.  Owen loved bowling on the Wii-- he was pretty good by the end of the night!

8.  Catching up with old high school friends and college roommates.  Janelle, Tonya, and I went to high school together and now we're all married with 2 kids.  We got together for dinner at Janelle's parents' house and let the kiddos run/crawl around while we caught up.  I love these girls!  I'm so excited that Janelle & her husband just moved 10 minutes away from me.  Yay!  

Brad with Wyatt & Paul, two of his college buddies.  I actually was introduced to Brad through Wyatt & Jeff, so we're all good friends.  It was fun to see them and catch up in between parenting  moments of "Don't hit him"; "Take that out of your mouth"; "Don't throw that".  Good times! 

We also got to see the Andrews, our neighbors from Walnut Creek...but we forgot to get a picture.  We always love getting together with them when we come into town.  I wish we were still neighbors, now that we have kids and I'm not working-- we'd have lots of otter pop parties!

It was so good to be "home" for awhile.  I haven't lived in San Diego for almost 10 years, but it will always be home to me!