Party Time!

On Friday night I threw Ian a 30th birthday party! It was low key and tons of fun. Ian's boss, Steve, and his cute wife, Erin, were so generous to offer their home and backyard for the party. They even provided on site babysitting (thanks Marian and Caroline)!

I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I should have, but I did get a few. I wish I had taken a picture of the food because it looked so pretty, but alas, I didn't. We had veggie bars, delicious fruit, tortilla chips with homemade guacamole, fresh salsa, and artichoke parmesan dip, candy, and cake.

We set up badminton and ladder ball on the lawn, ate, and had lots of good conversation. It was fun to see friends and have time to visit. The weather was perfect and I was very proud of the balloon banner I made (with help from the lovely Jackie!). :) I hope that Ian enjoyed turning 30!

The table and balloon banner (tutorial and inspiration for the balloons HERE and HERE)

Playing badminton (Steve, Shawn, Ian, and Marian)

The party in full swing. Good times.

Time for cake! We couldn't get the candles to light in the breeze, so Ian blew out a match when we were done singing.

Happy 30th Birthday Ian!!! I love you!!!

Last Hurrah

Our Discovery Gateway Children's Museum pass expires next week, so yesterday we spent the day playing for the last time. They had a fun summer exhibit with lots of giant size games. The kids thought it was pretty great. Yesterday was also a "Member's Only Morning," so we went early and got to enjoy some less crowded time in the museum with our friends. The kids signed up to do a craft and all made paper puppets. Weston's was a spider and Davin's was a puppy. It was a very fun, but exhausting day.
Weston had wanted to build himself a fort out of his Megablocks the other day and he was sorely disappointed when I told him that he only had enough blocks to build his fort up to his ankles. He spent about half an hour building this one in the construction zone. I was impressed. He sure loves to build! Future architect?
In other news . . . Davin is quite the outdoorsy child. Weston likes going outside, but he gets tired and hot after a little while and is ready to come in. Davin, on the other hand, LOVES to go outside and is sad every time I tell him it's time to come in. He especially loves going outside to play in water. I love watching him enjoy the simple, carefree days of childhood and summer.

Birthday Fun!

Today is Ian's 30th birthday. I can't believe I'm married to a real, grown up adult. :) I am so grateful to have Ian in my life. I love him so much and hope he enjoys his birthday week!

We kicked off the fun with a quick visit from my parents. They stopped in last Friday on their way up to Yellowstone. It was fun to have them for dinner. They stopped in again on their way home from Yellowstone. This time they got to stay Friday night and all day Saturday. Saturday we swam, went out to lunch, the girls shopped while the boys fixed the washing machine, and then we celebrated Ian's birthday.

This one's for the auntie's! We got this bib at the Carter's store. She really does love you all!

He got to open a few presents. Weston made him a special card. We gave him ladder ball. My parents gave him Portal 2. Now he just needs a few spare minutes to relax and play!
We had ice cream cake roll. Ian blew out a candle for each decade. I hope he made a good wish!
After cake we went and saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. It was very fun to watch the conclusion to the series. I enjoyed it and already want to see it again. I made Ian take this awkward picture with me to prove we were there (someday our kids will be amazed that we saw the Harry Potter movies in the theater). :)
It was nice to have Ian home with us all day. I'm glad we were able to go see HP7.2 opening weekend too. It was so fun to be in a packed theater and to cheer at all the good parts.

It has been pretty hot lately. The boys got some squirters from the dollar store and have been playing outside with them almost every day. Davin figured out how to refill the water bucket all by himself. He makes a mess, but at least I don't have to go out there and do it for him every ten minutes. When I came out and saw that he was using the hose by himself, he told me that he made a puddle and that it was chocolate milk. :)
Weston preferred playing inside with his Legos and his sister. He is always asking if he can take Talia's picture. He told me he is going to ask Santa for his own camera so he can take pictures whenever he wants to. I think it's a great idea. What a great weekend we had!

Growing Up

Today Talia is 7 months old. She is growing up so quickly! The week after we got back from Portland she started sleeping through the night. I think she had a little growth spurt that week too because in addition to sleeping through the night, she took long 2-3 hour day time naps for a few days. She still doesn't have any teeth, but both of the boys got their first tooth when they were 7 months old, so I'm expecting one to pop up sometime soon.
I have been trying to be more diligent with feeding Talia solid foods. She eats real food at least once a day, sometimes twice. So far it looks like she will be just as difficult an eater as my other children. She clamps her mouth shut for veggies, but opened it wide while I fed her tiny pieces of ice yesterday afternoon. Good thing she's cute. ;)
Speaking of growing up . . . Weston made this picture in primary on Sunday. He was so excited to show it to me and asked how many more years until he would be 19. I said lots and lots of years, but then I got a little sad inside knowing how quickly those years are going to fly by.
Weston is such a sweet boy. He loves the gospel and absorbs it like a sponge. He is the one who is always telling me how we need to be better about reading our scriptures every day (he's right). He loves going to church and learning/acting out scripture stories. He is also the one who loves to play with Talia. He lets her chew on his toys and makes funny faces at her. I love this kid!

Sunday Drive

This afternoon we needed to get out of the house. The kids were home all day yesterday and just going to church today wasn't cutting it. Ian suggested we take a drive up the canyon. He then looked up easy, short trails. We ended up "hiking" up to Lisa Falls in Little Cottonwood Canyon. It was actually a real hiking trail, but the boys did awesome and it was nice and short. The falls were awesome too! There is still lots of run-off right now, so there was lots of water tumbling down. Talia seemed enthralled with the noise and movement of the water. Weston found himself a walking stick and we saw some bugs. It was a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
On our way home it was raining. It's actually still overcast and cool so I decided it was the ideal summer day for baking cookies. It has been SO nice to have Ian home all day with us today. We sure have missed him this week. Happy Sunday!
PS-Give this a listen. It will make you feel good. :)

Since We've Been Back

It's been almost two weeks since we got back from our trip and I can't believe how busy life has been. Between catching up on blogging, laundry, and church stuff I haven't had a whole lot of free time. Ian has been busy (as usual) with work, so that has been hard too. It's nice that the summer weather is here finally. We have been to the pool, played at the park, caught more bugs, and done some fun outings.

Last week we also had lots of time at home while I was doing laundry and cleaning the house. Davin has been really into dressing up lately. Most of our costumes are too big on him, but he loves them anyway, especially Bumblebee. He also told me that he is going to ask Santa for a Spiderman suit. :)
Talia is pretty much the cutest baby ever. She started sleeping through the night since we have been home from Oregon and that makes everyone happy. She had a little growth spurt last week too and slept a ton during the day. No complaints from me! When she was awake she was a happy girl!
Last Friday we went to a little fun center called Jungle Jim's. I bought a 10 visit punch pass, so it's a good thing the kids loved it! We ended up staying for about four hours and eating lunch there. Next time we go we will invite some friends so the kids have someone to play with. Talia was pretty content to watch from her stroller or my lap.
Davin loved the jeeps and the airplanes the most.

Weston was brave and did the big roller coaster all by himself, but his favorite thing was the bumper cars. Somehow I didn't get a picture of him on them, but he rode them over and over again for at least half an hour.

There were also swings, a carousel, a giant climbing play area, and arcade games. It will be great for the really hot days when it's too windy to go to the pool.

We had a good 4th of July weekend too. Ian had a rough DIY day though. He spent all afternoon on Saturday working on the light fixture on the boy's new ceiling fan, but couldn't get the light to work. The fan works fine, so for the moment they are without an overhead light. We went to the pool together, which was nice. Later that evening Ian decided to put the air conditioner in the window since Sunday was supposed to hit 100 degrees. He was cutting a new sheet of plexiglass to fill the rest of the window space when he sliced open his thumb. Sigh. Let's just say there was lots of blood, slightly less cursing, and seven stitches when all was said and done. Poor Ian.

Sorry for the poor quality, poorly lit phone pic

Monday we celebrated the 4th of July with a BBQ with friends, then we went and watched fireworks at Murray Park. It was a great group, a beautiful day, and a fun celebration. I'm very thankful to live in America and to have so many freedoms. I am thankful to all the people who serve in our armed forces and for those who give so much of their time to serve in public office. Our country would not be what it is without the sacrifice of so many. God bless America.