Mini Get Away

This week, we're finally on the tail end of yet another cold.  Noah got it first, but surprisingly, he just got a small cough and a little runny nose, not the full blown asthma issues he normally gets.  Then Tayton started out with a fever that ran into a full blown breathing issue.  Took her in and they said she had para-influenza 3, which is what causes croup, RSV, etc., at which point, 2 days later, it got so bad we had to take her in again and they said she had developed croup and needed a steroid.  Dang!  Then I started with the froggy throat and stuffy nose.  So now we all are a little froggy and have been trying to avoid contact with too many people. . . despite all that, we still had a fun week.

After being so sick, we needed a little outing, but didn't want to expose people, so we went to feed the ducks.  The ducks don't mind if we're sick.  We had a good time.  The ducks were't aggressive like they were the last time and they was a family of baby ducks and also a family of baby geese.  So we enjoyed our dinner on the grass and then enjoyed feeding the water foul and throwing rocks in the pond.  Pardon me, I know there's a lot of pictures, but hey, you all get to feel like you were there with us.  

 

They didn't even mind this time that one duck joined us on the bridge

We're finally getting the backyard landscaped after a year of fighting the last one and taking him to court.  Good news is, we won our case in court with the last one. . . . bad news is I'll probably never see money from that man.  Despite that, we have a new company working on it.  They've removed some really tall trees from the corner of the properly and have had a mini bulldozer (skid) and an excavator here to assist in the work.  The kids are fascinating by everything they do, so whenever they're working in the back yard, we're out sitting on the steps, on a blanket on the grass or in the swing set watching everything they do.  Noah says that someday he wants to drive a digger. They cut the tree down by starting at the top.  That was an interesting process to watch and a little scary as you watch a man swaying back and forth about 10 feet each direction due to wind and every time a branch breaks loose.  This is why you hire this done. . . to save life and property.  

 

For my birthday, my sister was so generous to give me a night in Park City, UT along with babysitting for the kids for the day.  Oh what a treat.  Jon and I enjoyed 2 days/1 night in Park City.  It was so relaxing.  Shopped, ate good food, listened to live music with dinner, walk main street and caught 2 movies.  Perfect relaxing, enjoyable, no stress trip.  We absolutely loved it!!!  My sister knows EXACTLY what I like!!!  

There were a few "shoe trees" right next to main street down town Park City.  Anyone know the history to these?  Did a little research on it. . . since it was such an oddity for us to see.  http://www.utah-travel-secrets.com/shoetreeparkcity.html and here http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home2/52584439-183/tree-park-shoe-shoes.html.csp

Went here for diner.  The Silver Star Cafe.  It's up by the mountain, away from downtown, overlooks the golf course, has excellent food and an even better caramel and sea salt brownie dessert that is to die for.  We got to listen to live music by Dana Hubbard who was an excellent guitar player with an awesome voice.  http://www.thesilverstarcafe.com/  

Then we walked across the parking lot to see the Spiro Tunnel.  A mining tunnel that has an interesting history.  The company gave up and sold the shaft, only to learn that if they had only gut 40 more feet, they would have hit a major silver vein, which the company that bought it did.  Later, they turned this mining tunnel into a ski life, where you'd go thousands of feet into the mountain, then get into a cage and go straight up to the top of the mountain.  http://www.thesilverstarcafe.com/#!history-backup This was very interesting to me and next time, when we get to spend more time there and I'm feeling good enough for more activities, I want to spend more time touring the historic Park City areas and stay away from the crowded, overpriced main street.  

Jon also had the opportunity to get a picture taken by one of his favorite animals.  

Noah is still enjoying every minute of swimming lessons.  He loves it and he's doing very well.  I'm hoping to be able to find him some private lessons so he can excel at his own pace and not have to wait for the instructor to work with all the other kids.  Also, he LOVES his teacher Cysco.  He's so good with Noah, so much so that Noah said he doesn't want to go to another class, he wants to stay in this one.  More to come!  

Father/Son Campout

We were suppose to have an action packed weekend. . . .however, Tayton catching yet another cold, put a damper on that one.  We've been sick more often that we've been healthy again in the last 1-2 months.  Grrr.  If any of you have recommendations on how we can keep the kids from getting sick with every little cold that goes around, I'm open to suggestions.

Jon was able to take Noah to the Father/Son campout with our ward from Friday night to Saturday.  They went up North Fork Canyon and had a great time. Jon's loved the view, it was wooded enough that you couldn't tell if others were camped around you, since I hate crowded camping areas.  And most of all, they had fun hanging out with the guys and Noah loved playing with all the kids.  They even had fun setting up the tent in the backyard to ensure everything was operational!  We'd love to plan another short little overnighter or 2 day camping trip to the same or similar area.

 

Noah started swimming lessons this last week.  He goes on twice a week and he's taken off like a little fish.  His instructor is Cisco, and he's fabulous with Noah.  He knows how to bring him out of his shell and get him to do what he wants.  There are only 4 kids in the class, so I'm happy that he gets more one-on-one attention and that he's really working to overcome his shyness.  He's taken to the water and really seems to love it.  I know he loves to go swimming at the Webb's and loves any pool, but he really is listening to Cisco and trying to do what he asks him to do.  Noah's the only one that is really doing the things the instructor asks him to do, especially when it comes to putting his whole face or head in the water.  The other kids don't like that part. . . but Noah loves it!  We may have found his niche!

I was suppose to go spend the night with Teri on Friday so we could have fun, shop, hang out, but had to cancel that due to sick kids.  Same thing with family dinner and swimming on Sunday.  Dang!!  Maybe another week!  Hate having sick little people. .. their miserable, whiny and it cuts into the family fun time. :)

On Saturday night, Jon and I were blessed to go see Les Miserables at Pioneer Theatre Company by the University of Utah.  I've seen this musical production about 5 times, but this was my absolute favorite time.  It was so filled with emotion and actors who knew how to use their skills and facial expressions to drive home the emotion.  It was fabulous.  It was also the last night of the production, so the cast was really struggling towards the end, knowing they were parting ways and this was their last run together.  Very beautiful and so heartfelt.  A special thanks to the Webbs for making such a magical night possible.

After the huge debacle with the last landscaper, we've now found another one and are underway with getting the backyard done. . . yet again.  They were here on Friday removing some very large trees that were in the corner of our property.  They were tall and are those fast growing, very narrow trees that I was concerned were a hazard to our house and shop.  So out they came.  It was so fun to be out there watching the one guys climb to almost the very top of the tree to cut it down starting at the top.  Fascinating.  All the little boys in the neighborhood came to our backyard to sit and watch it all too.  Can't wait to see it all done!

See the tiny red thing, part way up. .. climbing even higher to start cutting

After.  This will have 6-8 fruit trees and grass upon completion.

Despite Tayton being under the weather, we still had fun yet again this week.  I'm not sure that there is a week that goes by where we don't have fun.  We've almost booked every weekend already this summer, so there is more fun to come.  We love that Jon has weekends off with us, so we're able to really plan some time together!

LOVING the Summer!!

It's been yet another fun-filled weekend.  Despite the recent setback with Noah's asthma, we're all feeling well and finally getting out to enjoy life again.

As I was pulling pictures off the camera, I found some very cute ones from the date in the park with Grandma & Jon last week.  So here they are:

 

 

 

 

With such enjoyable weather, we've enjoyed many more days at the park.

 

Thursday was my birthday.  It was just another ordinary day and we hadn't planned anything fun for my birthday because I had to work and Jon had to go to work  before I got home, so we wouldn't be able to see each other until Friday, at which point we were leaving town.  It was to my surprise when Jon called to tell me they'd shuffled some things around at work and he had the night off.   I got home from work to 10 balloons tied outside, a banner across the garage door, balloons all over the floor inside and another banner with streamers.  Jon went all out and he said the kids really had a fun time helping him out.  Jon also arranged for a  babysitter so we could go out to dinner.  We tried a new place called Rickenbachers at the small city airport.  The food was great and it was neat to sit there and watch the small airplanes and helicopters come and go.  We both sat there commenting over and over how much the kids would like being there to see all the airplanes.  We have plans to take them back soon.   I got so spoiled by Jon and my family.  I have a personalized coin holder for my government coins and am excited to get it set up at work to display the handful of coins I've received and hope to receive more over the years to continue to fill it.  I was also spoiled with shopping money and fun personal relaxation and pampering certificates.  Yeah for some ME time.  It was another good year!

Dining at Rickenbachers

On Friday, we got to go spend some time with some friends at Bear Lake.  These are friends Jon has know since high school and it was so fun to catch up again, visit and have fun.  There were 18 of us, so lots of kids, high levels of noise, but so much fun.  It's just too bad that we could only stay overnight and we weren't able to enjoy more time in such a nice little area with great friends.  When we first got there, we took a walk down to the marina to feed the fish.  I was expecting to feed some little trout or something. . . instead we ended up feeding carp that were the size of footballs.  They were HUGE and would come right up to the surface to eat.  I got to pet a lot of them and thought that one couldn't easily snag one with both hands.  Too bad they weren't football sized trout.  After a late night visiting, the men went for a round of golf with the moms and kids went to the park.  It was such a beautiful day with tons of things for the kids to do.  I enjoyed chatting with the ladies and realized that I definitely need to try hard to spend time with other people because I really do enjoy getting together with friend. . . which I rarely make the time to do.  After the park, we spend some time at the pool. . . but the water was WAY too cold to spend much time there.  Then, we were sad to leave our friends.

 

 

 

 

 

          

On the way home from Bear Lake, we turned down our street and saw this little mother duck walking her family down the gutter of the road just off of 3500 W.  They were headed back towards the busy street, so we stopped to herd them back into the subdivision, hoping and praying that they would find safety.

On Sunday, we went to church, had a nap, then the kids and I got to go to dinner with family and to celebrate some belated birthdays and one early birthday.  I love spending time with my family . . . it's so comfortable and relaxed.  After dinner, the kids and I enjoyed a little swim.  Noah's like a little fish and loves to set out on his own in in water wings.  Tayton was testing out her wings on her own this time and would scream like a banshee because she's start to list and then take on water (in her face and mouth).  She has yet to find her center with those wings, but we're working on it.  She absolutely loved going to the side and jumping off into my arms.  She squealed with delight every time and continued to ask to go again and again until the air got too cold and once again she was shivering with cold.

Monday, we visited the Ogden Eccles Dinosaur Park.  It's such a great little nature type preserve has done such a great job of displaying dinosaurs all over the property.  We all enjoyed it a lot and hope to go back many times. . . in fact, we bought a pass that will allow us to go back as well as enjoy the Ogden Nature Conservatory, Union Station and Tracy Aviary as well.  it will be a fun-filled summer for sure!!!