Week of Go Go Go!

Well it's time that I (Jon) do my semi-annual blog post ;)
 I love capturing moments like this. Tomi playing airplane with the kids! She is such a great mom.

Here are a few misc. pictures from our week!

While Tomi was away in Star valley with kids last weekend I got to play some golf. Here is one of my favorite pictures of the year.

We have had quite the busy week. I got cut back to weekends at work so I decided to make the most out of the week and play my guts out with the kids. On Monday we got to go to the train museum which also includes the car museum and firearms museum.While we were at the car museum a guy that worked there asked if Tayton was shy. I said no and he said, do you want to have a picture with her. I said ok thinking he was going to take our picture. then he scooped her up and handed me the camera waiting for me to take their picture. LOL!

 Here are some pictures from all the museums we saw that day!

On Tuesday I took the kids to the dinosaur park. We have a family pass and it has really been worth having since you not only get into the dinosaur park but also the train museum, nature reserve and tracy aviary as well. The kids liked digging for dinosaur bones in the sand and playing in the park more then looking at the dinosaurs but that's ok we have a pass and you don't have to feel you have to see the whole park each time you go.

this last week we have discovered some unwanted visitors in our yard. we have found 3 snakes. one in the front yard and 2 in the back. If you live anywhere from ogden,ut to wyoming you may have heard Tomi scream when she saw them :)

On Wed. we got to go feed the ducks at the duck pond by our house. I discovered that a dollar bag of oyster crackers goes a long way in feeding the ducks and the kiddos!

On Thurs. I took both kids to the golf range to hit some balls and practice our chipping. A good time was had by all. The only problem was Tater kept running out on the range to retrieve her golf balls and a couple of times I almost brained her with my golf ball before I saw her and stopped in mid swing. luckily we were the only ones there.

 Thursday evening Noah and I got to go to the Roy aquatic center to swim for our annual swim with the stake outing. Unfortunately Tayton did not eat her dinner and had to stay home with mom. She cried her little heart out for all of 2 min. then it was like it didn't ever happen. Friday night Tomi and I got to have a date night and saw Aida the musical and were very impressed with the musical talent they had.
 I will end with our favorite quote of the week said by Noah and heard by Tomi.
When talking about taking a ladder to pick apples Wanted to know why we were taking the step ladder and not the big ladder.Mom said because the big ladder scares me and thats why we make dad use it. Then Noah pipes in and says.
"cause we don't want to get sued!"

Kids & Water

There is something about kids and water. . . .where there is water, you'll find kids.  Whether it be swimming, wading, splashing or just throwing rocks, they absolutely love it!!!  But who can blame them. . .  it's a great way to keep cool on a hot summer day.

Enjoyed my final Fun Furlough Friday this past weekend with an end of summer trip to Wyoming.  It was my dad's 74th birthday, so we went for a little birthday visit and to tow the camp trailer home after Teri enjoyed it for a few weeks in Star Valley. The kids enjoyed helping Papa pick pine cones up, go with him for four-wheeler rides and helping change the water in the yard.  We enjoyed some time with Grandma on a special outing for lunch, playing in the river and playing with our cousins.

While at the river, Noah found a rock that had green stuff on it, so he comes to show it to me and then freaks out, thows the rock back in the river as quickly as possible while having the "Yuck" face and says "Gross, it's fish poop!!"  Wow, he's such a city kid. .. but we still love him!

Teri took Noah with the cousins and a friend to float the Salt River.  They tied 2 rafts together and floated about a mile down river where we left their car.  I was there when they arrived and Noah so excitedly told me it was so much fun, that they about tipped over.  They didn't, but he likes to tell the story that way.

When we got home, Noah was playing outside when he comes running in to tell us he saw a snake.  Jon said he just saw a shadow, but I said, let's go look and sure shooting, we found a tiny little snake next to the neighbor's downspout.  It tried to slither into a crack in their foundation but Jon held it down with the shovel, almost cutting it in half.  I made him catch it and either kill it or throw it in field 2 lots down.  I can't stand snakes and I'm really upset that we live so close to this field that we get them in the yard.  I think it's time to move!

Speaking of moving. . .we are getting ready to sell the house in Sandy.  Know anyone looking?

August Fun

I failed to mention that while we were gone last week, Jon had the time of his life!!!  He got to play a round of golf with his buddy, then go fly fishing with that same friend.  He caught a rainbow trout bigger than any others he’s ever caught. . . he thinks.  It was about 23”.  The next night, he went to dinner and bowling with a few other friends.  These friends had planned a “man trip” but it fell through at the last minute due to work schedules, so it was good that they got to get together anyway for a “man date.”  Jon just wishes we’d leave town more often so he can play bachelor for a few days. 

Despite only working 4 days weeks and every other week only being a 3 day work week, I was getting tired of being at work, so I took some time off on Tuesday to go swimming at the aquatic center with the family.  We really enjoyed spending time swimming and both kids LOVED going down the twisty slide with Dad.  Mom is too big of a whimp to go down, so Dad took turns taking the kids down until Tayton got so cold that she had blue lips and was shivering, a sure sign it was time to pack up and go home. 

On Thursday, we went to the Weber County Fair.  This was our first year there and we really enjoyed it.  It was good sized, but small and intimate enough that we didn’t feel overrun by people and claustrophobic.  There were lots of activities to see every day, including; the backhoe rodeo, where they had to do “stunts” with the backhoe, like loading an egg on a spoon and dropping it in a dish without breaking the egg; a youth rodeo where we got to see lots of kids calf rope; a draft pull with the huge Clydesdale horses; a parrot show and all sorts of other events.  Tayton later told someone that we watched horses catch cows.  That was her 2 year old version of calf roping.  She was also very concerned that almost all the riders lost their hats.  She wanted to make sure each of them got their hats back.  By far, everyone’s favorite thing to do was see all the livestock.  Jon swears Tayton pet almost every animal there.  I think her favorites were the pigs!  She loved petting their noses and really liked it when a few of the ladies there got the kids some squire bottles and told them to spray the pigs because they loved the little showers.  We also all got to try our very first funnel cake.  Good. . . but a little over rated.  Sad to say, we didn’t get a chance to try the deep fried Coke or Twinkie. 

On Friday, we met Teri and the cousins for a trip to Pine View Reservoir.  I was shocked to see the repercussions of the water shortage first hand.  The lake had receded so much that we had to find a different spot to set up for the day.  When we did find a spot, where there are normally sandy beaches, it was rocky and very muddy.  Kind of gross if you ask me, but the kids all LOVED it!  We enjoyed swimming, floating in the raft, floating on the lounge chairs, feeding the seagulls and having a little lunch.  Doesn’t matter what we do, we always seem to have more fun with the cousins! 

On Sunday, we had dinner with family and had a later afternoon/evening dip in the pool.  The kids all loved jumping off the diving board and having Kelly throw them into the pool, one-by-one.  At one point, after Kelly was throwing them into the pool, Noah says, “Kelly is so mean.”  I said, “No he’s not, you loved being thrown in the pool.” Since they had all lined up multiple times for their turns to be thrown in.  Then Noah says, “You’re right, Kelly is so nice!”  Ryann kept a close eye on Tayton, swam around with her everywhere and even helped catch her off the diving board.  Tayton has found a new best friend. 

The government has found money to reallocate from other programs to civilian payroll, so I only have 1 more Fun Furlough Friday left, next week.  I don’t like the 20% less pay, but I have really enjoyed the time off with my family and am actually sad to see the furlough Fridays go away.  Can we just find a way to have every Friday off while still maintaining the same pay?  Too bad they won’t allow us to work 10 hours a day.

Mom cutting Noah's hair

Playing with vinegar & baking soda - Tayton's first time. .. she LOVED it!

Fresh Peaches!  Ate some fresh and canned the rest!

Walking backwards off the couch into the "pile"

Hi Dad!