A Really Long Post

The last few months in no particular order . . . 

The Jordan River Temple was renovated so we were excited to take the kids and Owen was stoked that he would be able to "go inside" the temple. It was a random super hot spring day, and we waited TWO hours in line before finally making it inside. Have you ever waited for anything for TWO hours with young kids? Not.fun. We had tickets and we'd heard the line moved fast so I didn't even come prepared with my diaper bag (food & toys). It was bad and in hind sight we should have just left. But I wanted the kids to see the temple so we persevered. I found a random package of peanuts in my purse which was my saving grace. As we neared the entrance we were in those big white tents you see behind us. This got us out of the sun, which was great, but it also made it tricky for a 3-year-old to recognize the point where we left the tents and entered the temple, so in his mind he never even went inside the temple. He was so crazy by the time we made it in (and starving - did I mention it was past their dinner time?) that we saw everything at a speed walk. And Owen may or may not have run under the "do not cross" line into the women's dressing room, which meant I got separated from Dan & Savannah when I went chasing after him so we didn't even get to see the temple together. Chalk it up for a good story!

"WE MADE IT THROUGH ALIVE!"

The power was out for several hours which meant I couldn't make dinner. This is Owen's first happy meal (poor, deprived Owen). He couldn't believe he got a toy along with the food. Score!

 Owen attended a little music class each week last year. They put on a little program which was HIGHLY entertaining watching these 2-4 year olds sing in front of their parents. Good times.

Smiling with her eyes. :) 

A friend hooked us up with her kids old Halloween costumes so Owen wore this around for a couple of days. Too cute! Also, he looks a ton like his Grandma LuAnn in this picture (at least I think so).

Savannah the shy one. When she gets around someone she doesn't know (or doesn't want to know) she shrugs one shoulder and looks down. One time she even went and stood in a corner to get away from someone who was trying to talk to her. I don't know where she gets it from! ;)

My 3 year old still takes 2-3 hour naps every day. It is heaven for everyone!

Dan's angel grandma passed away at her home in Las Vegas just shy of 98-years-old. We headed down a day early for the funeral and had some fun. It was so great to look over the congregation at her funeral and see her large posterity. She was a woman of incredible faith who managed to find joy in life even after losing 2 young children. We already miss her!

Of course we managed to find a Chocolate factory (or "chocrate" if Owen is pronouncing it).

We're getting in as much time as possible with Uncle Josh because he's heading out on a mission to Mexico in a few months!

We found a cool aquarium in one of the hotels (not on the strip - I didn't dare get even close to the strip with the kids). Savannah could have watched the fish all day.

We got Owen some headphones before the trip and they were a huge win. He looks like a mini teenager watching a show with his headphones on.

Savannah won't keep headbands on anymore and she doesn't have enough hair for a bow, so she is in an awkward stage right now. Bless her heart. This was one of those rare moments where she left the headband on for a few minutes so I had to document it.

Yes, she still climbs everything. All.the.time.

We LOVED our little trip up to This is the Place park - animals, trains, cannons - a boys dream come true!

To "celebrate" 10 years of Lindsey leaving me, we headed up the mountain for a hike and dipping dogs (roasting hot dogs). It was fun but super depressing all at the same time. 10 years is way too long and I don't even want to think about how many more  years we still have. Sigh. Savannah was in HEAVEN up there. We need to get this girl camping asap!

Linz loved wearing bandannas, so we made sure the grandkids had them on for the picture.

This was my breakfast-in-bed crew on Mother's day. Too cute!

Savannah watched Owen ride this once and 5 minutes later had it figured out. She's too little to be riding a scooter! But if you're going to ride a scooter, may as well do it in a tutu!

Celebrating the end of joy school with a little party. Nothing says "hello summer" like wet kids on a trampoline. Also, I kind of love this picture.

Memorial day meant another family reunion down at Zion National Park. Savannah loved (you guessed it) climbing the stairs and Owen was too busy playing with cousins to pause for a picture.

 Have you heard of 9 square? If you haven't, go play it. Right now. We played for hours and only stopped because it was too dark to see the ball. So.fun.

Owen's first swim lesson. Keeping Savannah out of the water during those 30 minute lessons was a huge accomplishment!

Nursery day for Savannah was not nearly as exciting as it was for Owen. He went into nursery like a champ. Saw all the toys and didn't look back once. But shy Savannah of course was NOT ok without mom. Owen is still in nursery (crazy that I have two kids in nursery!) and even he couldn't make her smile. BUT she actually did better than I thought she would and each week we make more progress, so I'll take it. At least she's super cute!

Dan took a day off work so we could all go to the zoo. We don't have any "big" vacations this summer, so we're doing lots of smaller things around home. Here's the classic drinking fountain picture from Hogle Zoo.

Savannah making a mess. I know this doesn't look too bad, but those are wet wipes, not toilet paper. The little stinker.

The only picture I snagged on Father's day was after church and naps. I promise Owen's hair was combed at one point.

I don't know why, but I love this picture. Owen still sitting at the table trying to get him to finish his meal while Savannah reads a book close by. Classic every-day stuff at our house.

This is what your kid looks like when she gets a SUPER bad case of hand foot and mouth disease. Poor thing. This was day 1 before the rash. We had Dan's work Lagoon day the next day (along with a whole bunch of fun stuff that weekend that we had to cancel). Aunt Mary was the best and took care of Savannah for a few hours while the rest of us rode roller coasters at Lagoon. But since Owen came down with it 2 days later I'm pretty sure we infected the entire amusement park. Oops!

Owen was a champ and rode all the rides he was tall enough for.

When your super nice neighbor who owns Dairy Queen hears that your kids have the dreaded disease and opens it on a Sunday to bring them nice cool treats. Pretty sure it was the only thing both kids ate that day. We have the best neighbors!

Here is Savannah, 7 days later and the rash is still going strong. Her legs were MUCH improved by this day, but obviously we still couldn't take the kids anywhere. Did I mention this was the 4th? Yep, no parades or barbecues or anything. I've spent TEN days stuck in my house now. I deserve a trip to Hawaii.