At the Zoo

Brandon and I wanted to take the kids to the

zoo for a long time now but could never 

find a Friday he was off while the kids 

were off track.  So there happened to be

a free day while the kids were off track and

so my sister Kami and her daughter, the kids

and I went to the Hogle Zoo. 

They were doing major construction

and so a ton of stuff was closed off. 

We started off with some monkeys and

Owen was very nervous.  Then we went

to see the gorillas and that made Owen

tense up and cry.  He wouldn't even

stand by the statue with the girls Same with 

the Elephants. But after holding Owen for

a bit and telling him what the Elephant

was doing he calmed down and was

a little less scared. 

We got to the seals and he was fascinated with them.

We watched them play together for a while. 

It was the first thing he was not afraid of. 

The polar bear was fun to watch.  He would swim

and flip over and swim on his back and start over 

again.  He did that a good 20 or more times. 

I was surprised after seeing the tigers that Owen would sit on the

Tiger statue with the girls.  But I guess he was not afraid of

tigers because he kept calling them "Big Kitty Cat"!

We were lucky enough to see a wolf which

really looks like a dog and harmless. So cute! 

We played in the shop for a bit and the kids

really wanted a stuffed animal.  I told them no

but then had Kami help me be sneak and buy them so

 I could surprise them for Christmas. 

Keeping it Real!

Our good friends the Roush's were so kind to

cut us down a tree when they were visiting their

family in Panguitch.  We have always cut down

are own tree each year until last year when I bought

a fake tree because the real ones by mountain

Green where we use to go were becoming so picked

through.  So we had our fake tree up stairs and

the real one down.  I absolutely loved the smell

and was so grateful to our friends for thinking of 

us! 

Crystal Hot Springs

For once on a day Brandon had off and did not have

any additional work to do and since the kids 

were off track we decided to take them to 

Crystal Hot Springs.  

Owen loved being in water that did not make

him shiver and turn his lips purple the entire time 

like all the public pools do. 

And it was nice and relaxing for Brandon and I

It was out side in winter weather so when we got

out it was freezing.

Riley and Paige got daring and went in the 

cold pool and tried to convince me to get in with 

them.  I'm not easy to convince and stayed in the

warm pool. 

Thanks Giving 2012

This year for Thanks Giving we celebrated it at Brandon's 

parents.  It was nice to be together with just our immediate 

family.  Lisa always makes a fabulous meal and has the table

set up always to match the theme.  This year there was room

at the table to have the older cousins sit with us.  They thought

they were pretty cool! 

If there was only one thing I could pick to be thankful for on 

thanks giving day it would be FAMILY.

I have the best family and I'm truly grateful for them. 

Grandma Gardner's Birthday

Grandma Gardner turned 57 and we celebrated

 with a dinner and dessert at our house.

We all love Grandma!  She means so much to us!

We love her for her Kindness and we are glad she

is a part of our lives. 

Playing with Grandpa

My mom and her husband came to Utah 

and spent some time with us.  The girls

were hooked on the book Grandpa read them.

And spent forever playing dragon in the dungeon

with Grandpa.  But mostly they got caught and

tickled to death! 

Joe Cool

Riley's birthday fell on a day that she was

off track so her class celebrated it before.

They call their special day, "Joe Cool".

The birthday kid gets to bring a poster

all about them along with any of their

favorite things. And then they tell the class

about their poster and things they brought while

wearing the Joe Cool Shirt.  The class then gets

to ask them any questions they want.  

Riley brought her favorite stuffed animals and 

 her sewing kit. 

Riley picked out the pictures she wanted on her poster

and I helped write about her.  

 Riley brought ice cream for the class to share for her birthday treat. 

2012 Family Photo Shoot

We had a Family Friend Photographer take our pictures. 

I wanted the traditional fall look. So we ended up in Farmington

behind Lagoon.  We were not the only families getting their

pictures done that day.  We totally lucked out and the weather was

beautiful.  The kids had fun playing in the leafs and surprisingly

did better then they usually do. Of course I'm ultra picky with 

pictures and always have a vision of how I want my pictures to

turn out which still to this day I have not captured.  But at least

they were all looking at the camera!  I had my neighbors

sister do my girls hair so I had time to get my self ready and

Brandon got Owen ready.  It took most of the picture stress away.

So in the future I'm always going to pay to have my girls hair

done so I don't have to stress about it.  Totally worth it! 

My family, mostly me are not photogenic and so I'm sure

Matt, the photographer was a little disappointed taking our

pictures.  He had us do things we all thought were silly that

I'm sure would have turned out better with different people.

But we had fun and laughed about it!

Like this one for instance.  Totally silly.  Matt told us to run 

to him.  The kids had no idea how silly they might look.

But I absolutely loved their giggles and how much fun they had!

Riley's Halloween Piano Recital

Riley had her Halloween Piano Recital at her

teachers house. They were given the option of

wearing their costume or not.  She just went with 

the hat.  I never get sick of watching Riley play.

She has gotten so much better.  And I'm impressed

how she can read music.  Something that takes 

a while to figure out.  They get to pick their own

song and they are encouraged to memorize it. 

Which she did.