Park City

In July, Russ and I got to go up to Park City with a group of friends to the Whitings cabin WITHOUT kids. My parents were were so nice to take them for the few days we were up there and it worked out so nice for us! We've been there before, and it's one of the most beautiful "cabins" I've ever seen...there are so many things to do without even leaving! Even though I'm from that area, I couldn't believe how many things we did that I've never done or seen before!
The first day, we went to the Park City Olympian park, which was so cool to see. It was so fun to watch the different flips and things people could do on skis into the water! Everyone else went down the alpine slide and the zip line, but since I was so pregnant, I got to take pictures and laugh at everyone else doing it.



The boys of course had to "race" down the mountain. I think Russ was ahead for awhile, but Kenny rolled into a "ball" and killed everyone else at the end!

We also went to Salt Lake for a day. Our plan was to go to a session in the Salt Lake City temple because some of them had not been, and after getting all ready, making sure we were making the session we wanted, everyone with their recommends, this is what we find:
I'm pretty sure no one was prepared for such a blow, and we couldn't agree on what to do. (and when I say we couldn't agree, we REALLY couldn't agree!) Half of us wanted to go to another temple and still do a session, and the other half of us wanted to just go and enjoy the rest of our time in Salt Lake. After everyone had said their peace, and Spencer encouraged everyone to "hug it out," we decided to go walk around the temple grounds and go watch the Joseph Smith movie there, which was a decision not to be regretted. I'm pretty sure I've seen this movie before, but I don't think it matters how many times you've seen it. I still bawled through most of it, and my testimony of what a powerful man and prophet Joseph really was - was renewed and refreshed all over again. The temple grounds were beautiful as usual, and then we went and walked around the conference center. It was such a relaxing and perfect day!



We also spent an afternoon in my stomping grounds and went to the Homestead to swim in the "volcano." I haven't been there for years, and we had a good time swimming for about an hour and a half, playing games and laughing and hanging out.

We also went to Dairy Keen afterwards to eat, where Elder Holland happened to be eating as well with some of his grandkids. Russ and Jared went up and talked to him, and you could feel what a powerful and spiritual man he is just from his presence!
On the way back to Park City, a truck hauling a bunch of hay started losing some of his bails on the freeway. Luckily no one was right behind him and didn't get hurt, and even more lucky for him, we had a few carloads of very willing and kind men (and women!) to help him out with loading them back on his truck for him. I don't know why it was so funny but we couldn't help but take pictures of the event!



The rest of the week, much time was spent at the sand volleyball courts, where the competition of our cruise two years ago was remembered and felt all over again! The men played a lot of three-on-three in the same teams, and let us women join in their fun for a few games as well. Kenny was injured in one of the games and cut his knee open super bad and was bleeding everywhere, but he was a trooper, got bandaged up and kept going. My favorite memory of playing was when Spencer turned to me in the middle of one of the games and said, "I sweat Denett, if you are crowning right now, you are going to be in so much trouble." It was just too much fun not to participate and play with everyone!




Besides what I mentioned, my favorite memories of this week were making meals all together, (Bryan and Kendra rocked the house with their infamous CPK pizzas and their crepes! I'm pretty sure I gained 5 lbs just from eating those two things alone!) watching horrible movies all together, playing ping pong (around the world was too much fun!) and talking about our "favorite moments of the day." Our Joseph Smith discussion will always hold a special place in my heart...

July 4th fun in the sun!

Our 4th of July was first filled with Jackson and I baking a bunch of festive treats, thanks to Jackson's determination and persistence. He had wanted to make a
4th of July craft, so we had gone to familyfun.com and found red, white, and blue popsicles that he was dying to make, as well as these cute candy hamburgers and hot dogs. It literally took hours to make the popsicles and another few hours to make the cupcakes with the hammies and dogs on top, but he was so excited...it was worth all the pain and effort. (?)

We went to (Grandma) Janice and Scott's home, Toni's parents, and had a bbq and swam all afternoon. The traditional toothpick game was of course played - with the children included this time, along with a "friendly" game of basketball.





We then did our own firework show in their cul-de-sac. I have to say, it wasn't as bright or loud as last years show at the Ahlanders, but it was still a great time, Kenny brought his infamous blow torch and the kids LOVED the sparklers. (of course) And the men gave their great annual rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner" while the "finale" was going off. We all had a great time, and were wiped out by the end of the day!

My (never-ending) Family Reunion

So...the month of May madness had ended with my parents a few of my siblings coming down here for Jackson's graduation. They left the next day for California, to meet my sister and her two girls, along with more of my brothers over the next few days. They were sweet and took my boys along with them to join in their fun, and Russ and I met up with them for a few days at Disneyland. Even though my boys are very spoiled and go to Disneyland more than they realize, it's always just as exciting as the first time. Jackson couldn't wait to go on a lot of the rides with the big boys and his Papa, and Max couldn't wait to be taken on the Matterhorn about 10 times, because he knew there would be uncles who were willing. It was fun to be there for my niece, Kaylee's (who was almost 3)first time, because she was SO excited to see EVERYTHING. It was a magical few days, and filled with more aunts, uncles, and cousins who came and met up with us too. We were a very big party to say the least!









We went back up to Utah about a week later to go and see my darling little brother, Trevor, who had come home from his mission in Japan. Trevor is such a sweetheart, and even though I was not wanting to drive in the car again for 6 hours, he was worth going to see.
Let me stop here and talk about our drive up to Utah first. This was something to be remembered for sure. My mom had expressed her desire to get a whole family picture over this period of time, because we haven't been ALL together for years now, and it's going to be another few years before it probably happens again. My brother Dustin was getting ready to drive back home that Sunday afternoon that we were driving up there, so we had purposely left early so we would have enough time for pictures once we got there. Emilee Carruth and her three girls had planned on driving up with us, which was great because it gave us both some company and made the trip a little more entertaining!
Well, the trip was going great, the kids were being exceptionally good, and we were feeling lucky and excited about things going so well and to get up there in good time. Alas, that came to a halt when we made our official stop for lunch just outside of Beaver. We had stopped at a little gas station with a Wendy's, that had benches outside for the kids to eat their lunch on. So we unloaded the kids, gotten out our lunches, and were sitting down to eat. I had purposely left the keys in the car just because I didn't want to keep track of them, or have the kids playing with them, when Emilee had gone to the car and asked me to unlock the car so she could get a diaper out for Brooklyn. I told her it wasn't locked, and that they keys were inside the car. She opened the passenger door, thought she hit the "unlock" button to unlock the back doors, which for some reason had locked, and then shut the door...to quickly find out she had locked the whole car back up. To save for a long (and party humerous) story, I'm just going to say that there wasn't a whole lot of options for us in Beaver to get back into our car. Our cell phones, our wallets, everything was in the car. Emilee had gone and found a nice couple to lend her their cell phone, for her to call AAA - to find out they wouldn't come to Beaver. (or maybe they would have, it would have taken them an extremely long time, I can't remember) So Em went into the gas station and asked if there was someone that would be willing to come out and unlock our car for us. There was indeed one man, who actually showed up within 15 minutes. That poor man came out, looked at the Sequoia he would be working on, and immediately expressed that Toyota's are the WORST cars to break into. He diligently worked on getting it unlocked for a good 45 minutes, with no success. Finally, a kind customer of Wendy's came by, asked if we needed any help, and was somehow able to pull our keys out, unlock our car, and have us on our way within about 15. I don't know if it was the combination of the two men working together, or but the sweet man who had originally come out to help was not going to give up. He must have said about 5 times, "What am I going to do? I certainly cannot leave two mothers out here with 5 children!" Oh yes, and as soon as we got back on the road, it DUMPED and POURED for a lot of the rest of our drive. We were so blessed that it hadn't done that while we were waiting, because the clouds definitely were threatening looking!
Anyway, we finally made it up to Salt Lake, to take about 5 minutes worth of family pictures before it POURED on us, and the rest of the week with my family was worth all the frustration to get there!
Just my bro's & sista's!





We had a busy week while we were there. We went on a beautiful (and little too long) hike to some falls up past Sundance, where my boys were lucky to have some uncles who were willing to carry them when they got tired. My mom had not realized it was 2 miles each way, and by the time we got back, we were getting rained on again. It was harder for me too, because the uphill of it made me start contracting, so it was an adventure for sure!




We also went on a picnic and then to the Planetarium for a show on the underworld, which my boys loved. We went to an indoor pool in Kamas, where all the kids had a blast with their aunts and uncles and their Papa, going down the waterslide over and over, swimming around the lazy river, and jumping off the diving boards. Jackson went off the high dive, which made me sick watching him, but he didn't bat an eye! And we had lots of bbq's on the patio, enjoyed the beautiful weather, and played a lot of games. Sunday was Trevor's "Welcome Home" and then we left. It was a lot of fun, and mostly relaxing, and SO nice to get out of the heat!

May Madness

I don't know if we meant to do as many things in May as we ended up doing, but looking back, May was absolutely nuts. We had one thing after another and partied like rock stars all month long!

Even though I only have a few pictures of our family night of bowling with the Shumways, I had to include them because this was actually our second attempt at a fun family night together. We tried to go bowling with them before, and waited for over an hour for a lane, only to end up leaving frustrated, hungry, and the boys totally crying and upset. It wasn't pretty. But we didn't give up, and we did finally have that fun night with them, which is always a bonus because our boys get along so well and have so much fun together.


Russ and I also got to get away for a weekend of fun and friends in May, which was heavenly and much needed! We had found a great deal on a short cruise that left out of San Diego, which also worked out nicely for us, because Russ's parents had just returned from that same cruise (same ship!) a few days before us, and were willing to take the boys for us. (We are VERY lucky to have two sets of grandparents who are always so good to us and so happy to take our kids!) About a week before we left, we were unsure what was going to happen with our cruise, because the AWESOME swine flu had reared its ugly head in Mexico, which is where we were heading, but thankfully Carnival re-routed us, and we ended up going to Catalina Island instead. The weather was actually quite a bit chilly too for that time of year, but we still had a blast.
You always have to start a cruise by going to their "orientation" of what to do if there's a "Titanic" emergency...and we have to know how to put on our life jackets. Russ wanted to make sure Toni and Jared were going to be fine apparently...
Dinner is always one of my favorite times on the cruise. There's just something about getting dressed up - but not having to go far to eat great food, having so many different options of what you can eat - and not having to worry about the price of anything you order, and the laughter and memories that happen over dinner are priceless. (Thank you for embarrassing stories, and the never-to-be-forgotten legend of TUGGER!)


Catalina Island has changed a lot since I was there so many years ago, and although there wasn't great shopping or beautiful weather to lay out, we had more fun with the golf carts. We should have known what we were getting ourselves into with Russ, Jared, and Kenny all driving us around on the island, but it made for some very crazy (and scary!) races, two-wheeled turns, and close calls on the cliffs! (Okay, maybe Kelly and I were more paranoid than we needed to be, because we were all fine and in one piece in the end!)




Kareoke and dancing (but mostly kareoke!) were a big part of our nights, and the nicknames of Marchy and Sexual Chocolate were born. The DJ was head over heels for sweet Jared, who was more than entertaining for us all to watch, and quickly became a crowd favorite.



The last day the weather wasn't great again, so we decided to have our own scavenger hunt, which was a riot. It was guys against girls, and the competition was fierce. Even though the guys feel like they won, I'm pretty we deserved to win for being more creative.
What more can I write. We had a great time, we were lucky to go with great friends, and we took more than enough memories home for one weekend.

We also managed to go to Utah for my cousin's wedding in Salt Lake, which I somehow have no pictures of. I know it was a quick trip, a beautiful wedding, lots of family members were seen, and too much to fit in one weekend!

At the end of May, we went to St. George for a quick family getaway with the Jones family. Ben's parents have a second home there, which was more than enough room for our two families. The boys all have a great time together, and we managed to swim, play miniature golf, go on a couple hikes at Zions (along with the rest of the world!) eat a lot, swim again, and visit with my brother Kacey and his wife Nikki. It was a great trip, and too short as well!






Miniature golfing was VERY hot, as you can see from their red faces!



Swimming at Nikki's parents house...their water slide comes off their balcony and is VERY cool. Jackson and Jackson were more than stoked to go first, Mason and Max needed a little more encouraging, and then were the last to stop going down because they loved it so much. Even little Cooper went down with Ben! (not so in love with it!)





And finally, at the end of May, our little boy graduated from Ms. Heather's pre-school, and had a little graduation ceremony. I didn't think I would be as emotional as I was (who am I kidding?!) but I was very proud of him. He had read and passed off over 50 books and knows about 75 sight words, which I think is incredible. He's such a smart little man, and we are so proud of his accomplishments. My parents were able to come down for it, along with (Aunt) Bryna and (Uncle) Bryson, because the end of May madness just carried over into the start of our equally crazy and busy June!

Happy Easter!

Easter this year was so much more fun since the kids are older, and we could really talk to them about the real meaning of Easter. Not to say that they weren't excited to do the other fun things that come along with Easter, but they were both really interested in understanding and learning what we were really celebrating. Children are so sensitive and pick up on so much more than we really think they will, and it was a sweet experience this year to talk to them about our Savior and the love that He has for each one of us to do what He did.

I can't believe that I didn't get one picture of them on Easter Sunday in their darling Easter outfits (shirts and ties) that I had bought for them, but I blame that on the sickness.

On the Saturday before Easter, we have had a tradition for the last few years to have an Easter egg hunt at the Hawkins house, which the kids always look forward to. I was relieved not to have to try and come up with doing a whole lot on my own because I still wasn't feeling good, and the kids were so excited because this is the first year that they both understand what to do in "The Hunt." It makes a lot more fun of a hunt when you're not trying to find the eggs for your kids!



We also colored eggs this year, which the kids LOVED, and wanted to do over and over again. I don't know if the hard boiled eggs were ever eaten, but they stayed in the fridge for a long time so they could still look at them!



Sunday morning, we (I mean the Easter Bunny) hides their Easter baskets - with a trail of raisins leading to them. (I know, it's my lame way of hoping they will eat the raisins that morning instead of all their candy! - Which Max DID.


My favorite Easter picture of all, because this is how they usually sleep!

Jackson's T-ball

We had no idea how putting Jackson in t-ball this year was going to go, since he had never played before, and he really didn't love playing soccer the year before. But two of his buddies were going to play, so we decided to try it out, and he had a GREAT experience. He couldn't wait for practices, and the games were even better, and he grew so much during the season! The boys were so cute to watch, and he definitely wants to play again, so I'm happy he has something to look forward to that he loves. We took so many pictures over the season, it was hard to decide which ones to post.

A post dedicated to Max only!

I could kick myself for not keeping up on blogging, if not for any other reason than to remember the FUNNY things that my kids say. This post is all about Max and the things that he has said over the last few months...he is hilarious and keeps us all laughing all the time!

**For some reason, I decided this pregnancy would be more fun if we didn't find out the sex of the baby, which I'm still convincing myself that it really is a good idea! Anyway, for the first ultrasound that they sent pictures home with me, my boys were not with me. So I took the pictures home, and was so excited to tell them all about the baby's features and different body parts. So I was showing them the baby's head, the arms, the legs, etc. I kind of expected one of them to say they couldn't see what I was showing them, but instead I got something totally different. Max took the pictures from me, and said quiety to Jackson, "Brother, why is our baby black? How come he has black skin?" I wanted to DIE. I laughed so hard, I was crying, because he wasn't worried about seeing the baby's different body parts, he was VERY concerned about how our baby was a different color! It was hard to explain that ultrasound pictures are ONLY black and white!

**Max: "Mom, I love the boat so much that I want to marry it! But I want to marry it in the temple!"

**We had been working with the boys on saying their prayers on their own. Jackson says the sweetest prayers, and we still have to help Max a little bit. So we usually prompt Max by saying things like "We are thankful for..." or "We ask thee to bless..." and then he will finish our sentences. One night, we had a very "proud" parent moment when we started him off by saying, "We are thankful for..." and he finishes our sentence with "SATAN." So we learned that night that we are thankful for Satan, because we wouldn't know the good from the evil if we weren't.

**Recently Russ was getting ready to take the boys out on the boat, and had asked Max if he wanted to go, to which he replied, "Um, let me think about that Dad." Then that same day, they were slowly going out to ski, when Max said to Russ, "Dad, once you pass those BOOBIES (meaning booies) can't you go fast?"

**We were at my parents ward one weekend, and were sitting in sacrament meeting, and the poor boy blessing the bread had to say the prayer over and over and over. It was probably 5 times for this poor boy, and we were feeling so bad for him. But not Max. After the final time of saying it, he exclaims loudly, "I HATE when they say the prayer SO many times!"

Happy New Year, 2009 consolidated!

We found out right before Christmas that we were pregnant with #3, which is a big reason why blogging took such a back seat. I started getting my normal deathly sickness around 7 weeks, which lasted until about 20 something weeks. The boys were so excited when they found out, which has been a fun thing to go through with them. They always want to read out of the "pregnancy book" - which just tells them what is happening with the baby every week, and what is growing on the baby. They are so excited, it's hard not be excited because of them!

Anyway, this post will cover January through March. Since I am so far behind on blogging, these posts are going to have to be shorter so I actually get them done. So here goes a half-hearted effort in getting in the last eight months.

For New Years Eve this year, we went to the Ahlander's for a fun night of fondue and games. I'm pretty sure that I ate more that night to last for the next 3 months! (which was a good thing, since I didn't eat hardly at all for the next several weeks!) We ate yummy food, laughed a lot, and played some of the craziest games of Twister I have ever seen!









































































We had our second ER visit with Max in January, which is awesome to start the year off with an ER bang! We were at the Whitings to play games, and he was running and playing and slipped on their floor and cut his chin open. He was NOT like Jackson, who doesn't bat an eye in the ER, and flipped out at the sight of any nurser or doctor. But they didn't have to put stitches thank goodness...they just glued it shut!

Russ was so helpful when I was so sick the first few months, and the boys were pretty patient with me being so sick. I think Russ had gotten them ready for church in this picture, and had taken this picture. It makes me smile because all my boys were so good to me over this period of time!

The first of the year brings a lot of busy primary things, epecially for the scouts! We had both the Blue and Gold Banquet and Pinewood Derby back to back, which was a lot of work on my friend (and 2nd counselor) Kate espcially. Little to my knowledge, these were going to be two of the last things that we were going to do as a presidency, since we got released around Easter time. But I wanted to document how emotional this release was for me. We had grown so close as a presidency, and had gone through so many ups and downs together, I truly felt a Christ-like love for each of them. It was a nice time to be released on such a high time for all of us and because I was so sick with being pregnant, but it sure was hard for a long time. The primary children are just fun and so uncomplicated and have such a sweet spirit with them!





Jackson and Max wanted to make their own pinewood derby cars this year, and Russ and Zack were good sports to "help" make the kids cars for them to race after the boy scouts. Shockingly Max's car won overall, and he couldn't have been more excited. He loved his "bumblebee" car!


For my 30th birthday this year, my dear friends threw me the biggest surprise party and showed up a few nights before my actual birthday with a hummer-stretch limo. I was so SHOCKED and such a spoiled queen for the night! We got to drive down to the Vegas sign to take pictures (which was the first time I had ever been to the sign!), then down the strip, to end up at the Cheesecake Factory for yummy desserts. They gave me a darling diaper bag and some jewelry, and made me feel so special. I have seriously got the best friends in the world!







I don't know why I didn't get any pictures of my special date night with Russ, but he was not to be outdone either. He surprised me with dinner and then tickets to Phantom of the Opera. I know he doesn't love to do things like this, but knows that I do, and he was so sweet to surprise me and take me! I love my husband so much and am so lucky to be married to him. He's always trying to outdo himself and make my birthdays special!

In March, we also took the boys up to Utah to go thru the Draper Temple Open House. Russ wanted to take them so badly, and even though I didn't feel good, I wanted to take them as well. The temple is such a special place anyway, but it was so neat to get to take them through all the rooms and explain what happens in each one of them. Their favorite rooms were the baptistry and the celestial room, and they wanted to know everything about them. We had a great time!

Before the end of the year comes to a close...

I must post some of my favorite work of my sister-in-laws from last year. She took some awesome family pictures, and I haven't gotten around to doing anything with them yet. (of course if I did anything with them now, they will soon be outdated!) But I definitely wanted to have them somewhere to be looked at, and to share her talent with anyone that will see it. Thanks again Aunt Paco! We can't wait for more to come at the next family gathering!

Jackson's Birthday, Christmas & more!

What can I say, Christmas morning is just as magical for us as parents as it was when we were little! I love it, even if it is stressful and crazy and full of not knowing what to get for everyone....there's something about Christmas morning no matter where you are!








I'm pretty sure on Jackson's birthday is also when we went sledding. The kids had been wanting to go sledding forever, and my brothers were excited to take them, so we had a GREAT afternoon in the snow! It was so deep, and even though they kept getting stuck in it, they had a blast. My favorite thing was when they ALL piled on one tube and came down the mountain all together!












We ended up going to Utah this year for Christmas, which meant we got to be in Utah with all of our family for Jackson's birthday too! Jackson is always excited for his birthday because he says that he gets double the presents (which is what we will keep telling him for as long as we can!) but it's still a crazy day - being on Christmas eve. He had said he wanted a race track for his birthday or for Christmas, so we also decided to make him a cake to go along with that! (Thanks Marci for the idea! He loved it!)



If anyone knows Jackson, you know what a PEACE MAKER he is and how much he LOVES his younger brother more than anyone. He is always wanting to learn and has amazing concentration on everything that he does. He's already a perfectionist (sorry Jackson, an obnoxious quality that I passed down to you!) but he is determined to succeed in all that he does. What a sweet boy we have!