Zoo Rendezous

Tyler and I had the opportunity to attend the annual fundraiser for Hogle Zoo this year. Tyler had been working at the zoo building the new animal hospital and his company bought tickets and invited us to come. We couldn't pass up this opportunity knowing it is probably once in a lifetime. The tickets were $150.00 a piece so of course we said yes. We weren't sure what to expect but were excited. When we arrived they had valet parking which we opted out of being cheap as we are. When we walked in the front gates we were met by an eagle about as tall as Brooke, that they were showing the guests. The zoo was closed to the public and all the zoo workers were showing off the animals. Once inside the zoo they had local restaurants with booths giving away free samples. There was Flemings, PF Changs, Z-Tejas, Chipotle, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, just to name a few. The zoo was also debuting the new baby elephant, so we got a chance to see her before her bedtime. We had such a fun time watching the animals, enjoying the great food and watching the people. I think I had more fun people watching than seeing the animals. We had such a fun time and are thankful for the opportunity we had to go.

What a fun SUMMER!

Wow it has been a little while since I have last posted anything. We have had a busy past month. We went camping over the 4th of July up Hobble Creek Canyon and had a blast. My family likes to go camping over the 4th and go four wheeling. We were going to go up and spend three days up there, but our refridgerator went out and we had to stay home the first day and get it fixed. Our camping experience was a good one this year filled with yummy food, dirt and bears! Just before dinner we heard 2 gun shots. I didn't think anything of this becasue there was a shooting range a few miles away. Well a little while later, the camp host came and told my dad that he just shot a bear. A bear cub had wandered into camp and wasn't afraid of humans so when it kept coming towards the camper the camp host shot a warning shot. When the bear still kept coming he shot it and killed it. Boy was I greatful for that, but was now nervous to sleep up there in a tent with two little kids. We made it through the night and had a nice rest of the trip.

My grandpa past away and I had the privelage of speaking at his funeral and representing all of the grandkids. That was nice to hear their memories about my grandpa. What a great man he was a so full of love! My softball team ended up taking 2nd place in our softball tournament. I had so much fun playing with Tyler's sisters. We usually play every year and have so much fun.

The 24th of July was a blast. On thursday we went to the Rodeo with Tyler's sisters and their families. Chloee wanted to see the buckin' bulls. I think she also liked seeing the rodeo queens and princesses. Brooke did pretty good throughout the night. If you bring enough treats she'll eat the entire time. This year I ran the Speedy Spaniard with Tara, Eric and Tracie. My goal was to run the entire 6.2 miles and I did. I ran it in 1hour and 27 seconds. During the race I ended up running it with some girl from about mile 2 and we kept each other going. She pushed my the last .2 miles. I was so ready to give up, but she wouldn't let me. I'm greatful to her for that. After the race we went to to parade for about 10 minutes, which was plenty of parade watching for Tyler. After the parade we went back to Tyler's parent's house and let the kids play on the slip n slide. Tara and I filled up a bunch of water balloons for them to play with and have a water fight. I had an old piece of rubber tubing in the car, so Tyler got the bright idea to make a water weenie. The kids had so much fun with that until it broke. After the water we went to Tracie and Shawn's house for a barbeque and to celebrate Tyson and Josh's birthdays. What a long, but fun day we had.

The last bit of fun we had was going to the Nephi Derby last night. Tyler had never been to a derby. We had a barbeque at Tracie and Shawn's house and then headed down to Nephi. We had a blast watching cars crash into each other and had fun with the family. Chloee called it the crash boom bang! She was excited to watch the cars crash into each other since she tells Tyler and myself to drive into the cars in front of us if we aren't going fast enough. I think we might be going next year because Tyler had a great time!

Balloon Fest

Today started at 6:00 am. I felt like I was getting up for work even though it was my day off. Tyler and I took the girls to see the balloon festival that goes on every year for the Freedom Festival. We've been before, but always go on the 4th. Since this year we will be camping we decided to go the first day. Chloee has been talking about seeing the hot air balloons for a while now. This year was fun. It was great to get up close and actually see inside the balloons as they inflated. We were able to see all the balloons inflate, but they weren't able to take off due to the weather report-stormy. We still had fun and enjoyed spending time with Grandma Jane, Papa Tom and Kenzie. They came along for the fun. Papa Tom loves going every year. Chloee had her favorites: Smoky the Bear ad Tony the Tiger.

Breakfast.

Check out the guy's hair in the balloon basket.

Summer Fun

Yesterday I had the opportunity to run another 5K. This time I pushed my girls in our jogging stroller. I ran the race with Tyler's family. Lindsay, Tara, Tracie, Shawn, Tyson, Braden, Heather and Kole met at our house and we drove together to the race. We ran the Run, Walk, and Roll 5K for the Central Utah Center for Independent Living. Lindsay and Tara's work was one of the sponsors for the race . The course was fun and fairly easy, no hills. I was grateful for that, pushing my girls in the stroller is such a workout! I ran the race in 29 minute according to my chip time. I was very happy with that, since it was only about 30 seconds more than the first 5K I did at 28:29. I was suprised to see that I took 13th in my age group.

After the race, we went to the pool and had a blast. Chloee had fun with her cousins and thanks to Lindsay and Tracie she loved the slide. Brooke on the other had took a little to warm up to the pool. All she wanted to do is eat her Cheetos and sit by the food. What a little munch. She's so cute.

After swimming we were excited to come home and see that Tyler was home from Scout Camp. We missed him and are glad he had a good time boating. Hopefully we'll get him closer to liking boating and we can go more. I took Chloee the other day with our neighbors and she loved it.

Spaghetti

Brooke had her first experience with spaghetti the other day and loved it. I decided it would be easier to clean her of in the bath tub than worry about cleaning a bib or worse her clothes. Just a little update, she now had her two top teeth coming in and I didn't even know it. They had been surfacing but never broken through her gums until the other day. Now I can feel better about giving her pieces of meat and fruit and other stuff and not have to watch her gum them to death. She loves to eat and will eat non stop unless I limit her. I guess that's not a bad thing, at times. She's such a good baby and truly loves her sister and her sister loves her too.

Nestle 5K

A couple of Saturdays ago Tyler's sisters, his mom, his brother's wife and I ran in the Nestle 5K. I had so much fun and couldn't believe how many people were there, over 2000. We started out towards the back and had fun trying to wind our way through all the people. I was so proud of Tyler's mom, she finished the race in under 60 minutes and I think she had a good time. Maybe next year we'll get the entire family out. I was happy with my time and think I'm hooked to running 5K's. My goal now is to run a 10K on the 24th of July with Tara. Wish me luck!

Wow, it's been a while and a lot has been going on. Chloee had her teeth fixed, had her dance recital and even had a pet potato bug. Tyler celebrated his 29th birthday and we had family pictures. So where to start. Chloee had her dentist appointment and did really well. Her appointment wasn't until noon so trying to keep her NPO (nothing to eat or drink) after her clear liquid breakfast was not fun. I felt like a mean mom not letting her eat her rice krispies for breakfast, but she enjoyed her blue Popsicle. My mom took Brooke for us which was a huge help and we headed for the dentist. We got there and the nurse anesthetist and dentist came out and talked to us and told us what to except. I had Chloee on my lap picking out a prize and the next thing I know the NA is giving her a shot in her bum and shortly after that she was fast asleep in my arms. When they were done they put her in the dentist chair and had Tyler and I sit by her until she woke up. Thankfully she woke up fairly fast and we took her home. She tolerated the sedation really well and only had a few funny moments, like when she told me the ground was going in circles and she couldn't walk straight. She had four cavities filled and a partial root canal with a cap put on. Luckily it is the upper back tooth and you can't see it unless she shows you. I'm glad that experience is over.

We've been trying to spend time outside since we've had nice weather. I showed Chloee a potato bug and didn't think she would put it in her hands, but when she did and was OK with it I was surprised. She found one the other day and said to me, "Mom can I have a pet potato bug?" I said, "sure why not" every kid needs a pet and I can handle a potato bug. She was so excited that she found a cage for it and put some grass in it and water. When Chloee woke up from her nap she told me her potato bug was dead and I looked in the cage and sure enough it was. I asked her what happened and noticed she had her detangler spray next to the cage. She said she sprayed it with her hair spray. Well that was a short lived pet. We've had another pet potato bug since then and I'm sure we'll have many more.

Chloee had her dance recital and had a good time dancing once we got her there. After her Christmas show when she didn't dance on stage Tyler and I promised her that if she danced on stage at her recital she could get a big girl bike. She told her dance teacher Miss Jill that she was going to get her big girl bike. When it was time to go on stage for her dress rehearsal, Chloee was very timid and scared. She cried and ran off stage to me. I kept telling her about her bike and not to be scared. Her teacher came over and got her to go up on stage and she did so well during the dress rehearsal. All the other mom's had heard of our little bribe and said Chloee did so well, now she gets her bike. When it was time for the recital to start she went back stage with her teacher and didn't even look back. When it was her turn on stage she didn't even look scared. She danced the entire dance and did so well. She looked so cute in her costume and was the best dancer in the entire program.

The very end of the dance.

After the show we went to dinner with Tyler's family and during dinner Chloee was sitting at the table looking tired. We asked her what was the matter and she said dreamily, "I want my bike."

Here is a picture of her new big girl bike.

Tyler celebrated his 29th birthday and I attempted to make him a JEEP cake. I think it looks more like a tractor, but I gave it a try. Chloee loved it. Happy Birthday Ty.

Thanks to Tasha, my sister-in-law, we now have a great new family picture. We went to the Starmill antique shop and had a great time. This place was so fun. The girls cooperated for the most part and we got some very cute pictures.

Lastly the other day I caught Brooke playing in Chloee's dirty clothes. She came out of the room wearing this...

I had to laugh and grab the camera. It was too cute, gross but cute. I kept taking them off and putting them back in the dirty clothes hamper and Bro0ke kept walking out with the underwear on her head. She's too cute. She's now walking all over and is in to everything. Such a fun and frustrating age. I call her my little tornado. Well sorry for the long blog, but my computer died on me so I resorted to using Tyler's, hence the long blog.