Memorial Weekend

Saturday

We headed up to "Day Out With Thomas". It was freezing cold that day. When we arrived in Heber we found out that they were now charging just to go in and walk around-- $5.00 got you in, but you couldn't participate in anything. Baby M was the only one who could get in free so that would've been $20.00 just for our family to walk around and look at things.



We waited for Thomas to pull in and took a picture outside the gates. Had it been warmer we might have stayed longer, but we grabbed the boys and ran for the car. Little H was upset. "I want to see Thomas!" He kept crying.



I felt bad, but it just seemed like it was getting too overpriced.

Well we decided to stop at the Dairy Keen-- our favorite burger joint in Heber. After all, we had come all that way. Everyone and their dog was there, but we went inside anyway. They had a Thomas train running around their track, and the boys shouted with excitement every time they saw that little train. Seriously! It was like Christmas Morning.



They also had little engineer hats for $1.00. It made the day so much more fun.




We stopped by to see Thomas one more time.



Then the drive home. The boys crashed!



Sunday

We visited my Grandpa G's grave, and took him some flowers. Baby M fell asleep in the car so we took a picture with the twins.



We also stopped at my Grandma G's house, and got to visit with my cousin and her family. It was a fun day.

Monday

I was awesomely exciting and cleaned the whole morning. The boys pitched in and helped.



Then we headed to my Grandma A's and helped my Dad plant the garden. The boys were so cute, and only a little trouble, when it came to helping in the garden.








After the garden was done we drove to my Grandpa A's grave in Payson. The twins went home with my Dad so we just had Baby M. He had started to drift off as we pulled into the cemetery, so he was kind of grumpy. We took a picture quickly and then left, so he could sleep.



We then met up at my parents for a yummy BBQ, and the boys pretended to get in the pool-- it was pretty cold.




That concludes the events of our fun, exciting and exhausting Memorial Day weekend.

My Lovely Mother's Day

I had a great Mother's Day this year. Craig got up and cleaned the whole house, and took care of the kids. It was great!

I told him I wanted flowers for the yard, but I figured it wouldn't happen. When you have no money you pretty much always no how much money you don't have. Well Craig got a check that I didn't know about and used it to by me some pretty flowers for the yard. He also bought me some berry bushes.



And, of course, some treats.



The boys nursery leader had tons of things planned for mothers day. So many cute and special cards from all my little men.



With no money I came up with this idea as a gift for grandma's, and great grandma's.



We attached a poem that read:

Dandelions aren't much more
Then some annoying weed
But when a gift from a child
They're loveliness indeed

Treasures, trinkets, buttons & bows
May be junk to some
But every little child knows
What specialness can come

Keep this jar some place nice
And fill it with the grand
Special gifts and precious flowers
Picked by little hands

Happy Mother's Day!

It's kind of dumb, but oh well.

We ended the day with a nice dinner at my parents house. My Grandma A even joined us. I really enjoyed my special day this year! I hope the other mother's in my life had just as great of a day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year we were unable to make it down to Southern Utah for Thanksgiving, so we spent it up here with my parents and my Grandma Andreason.




The boys all looked Handsome dressed in their cute sweaters! And we all enjoyed our wonderful meal.




This year I made mashed potatoes, stuffing, rolls. And I also brought some spinach dip and a fruit tray for appetizers. Here's is my awesome fruit tray. Sorry I have to show off a little.




My mom told me just to make stove top stuffing, but I wanted something a little fancier for Thanksgiving. I've never made stuffing otherwise, so I searched online and found this delicious cornbread stuffing recipe. And believe me, It was delicious!

After dinner we enjoyed a movie, and then some pie.

Then we gave the boys their new Christmas Pajamas.




After all was said and done Craig and I headed to Wal-Mart to get a start, and almost a finish, on our holiday shopping. I love Black Friday. Sure it's crazy, and crowded, but it's also fun-- kind of like a slumber party. I enjoy going to all the displays. Grabbing random things here and there. And then deciding what to give to who, and what to put back. It really is great for getting your holiday shopping list cut down to size.


The Friday after Thanksgiving, Craig and I found we had slept in until 12:45 in the afternoon. The funny thing is that the boys let us. They were all still asleep too-- except for Baby M. The twins must have been tired after staying up at Grandma's house, while we were out shopping for Black Friday. Anyway, this all led to us taking a trip to McDonalds for lunch. After all we were all starving, and not in the mood to cook.

I'm am truly Thankful for the church and all the wonderful blessings it has brought into our lives.

I'm very thankful that Craig got two enjoy to days off from work. Two days of sleeping in, and getting some rest. And that we got two days of having Dad all to ourselves!

I'm also so incredibly thankful for all the wonderful people we have in our lives. Whether you be family, or friends, you guys all make life so much sweeter!

I'm thankful for our house and home, and all the help that has been given to us to keep, fix up and maintain it.

I'm thankful for all my boys, and my wonderful husband. I love the small joys they give me each day. On that note, I have to share some more cute little tidbits before I forget-- this is mostly so I remember to write them down somewhere.

One night Big H wanted to watch a movie at my parents, so they put one in the DVD player. But they couldn't find the remote to press play. My mom asked Big H to go press play on the player. He happily did! He pushed the button then turned around and said, "There, is that better?"

Big H loves music. In the car he always asks to hear songs again, and he gets mad when I turn off the car and the music ends. Now when we get in the car, and he hears his music, he always says, "Listen!"

The boys are learning letters. We have been working on "A" for the most part. I told them, "The 'A' says ah." However, Little H likes to say, "The 'A' says 'S'!" A phrase that can be slightly misinterpreted.

In the car Little H kept saying, "The 'A' says ah!" Big H would then repeat. Little H got upset and said, "No, it's my ah." Another phrase that can be misinterpreted.

Then Big H saw some birds and said, "Look Birds!" Little H saw a truck and said, "Look a truck!" They then began to go back and forth saying, "It's my bird," and "It's my truck!"

Though they fight with each other, they are good brothers. When one of the twins gets hurt the other is always there to help him up, give him a hug and pat him on the back, saying, "Are you OK Henrum?" And other phrases along those lines. However, when it comes to Baby M, they are not so inclined to give out the "feel goods"! If they hurt Baby M I tell them to apologize and give him a hug. The apology isn't so hard to get out of them. The hug on the other hand is always met with obstinacy.

I have many things to be thankful for this year. But I think, as of now, the number one thing I'm thankful for is that Wal-Mart had a great sale on a Thomas and Friends train set. Thank you! The boys will finally get a train set of their own.

Labor Day!

We got together for a little family fun on Labor Day. My mom invited us to come get in the pool, and we enjoyed, the nice surprise of, a visit from my cousin Kevin. He came all the way from Las Vegas. His brother, dad and niece were up for the weekend too, but they already went home. My Grandma Andreason came over as well.



We enjoyed some yummy food, as always!



The twins enjoyed the chips and salsa! They kind of made a mess, but oh well.




Nephew K enjoyed playing with Cousin Kevin. It's always nice when there's someone new, who is fresh on patience and enthusiasm!



The boys all played in the pool. I just sat on the edge. September has been a little bit chillier than expected. The weather has been that perfect temperature for once. Though I'm kind of sad. I was planning on a warm September like we had last year. I am getting excited for fall though!

That's What We Do!

It's time for another blog catch up because, lately, that's what we do.

Fun Visits

We enjoyed a fun visit from Craig's parents July 10th through the 12th. I have no pictures unfortunately, but we enjoyed it all the same. We went up to Ikea and Michael helped my Dad get my Grandpa Andreason's old Dodge running, which my parents are VERY grateful for! Thanks for the visit, and for everything else, guys! :)

Stewart Falls

Craig's parents left on Tuesday and we decided to enjoy a sunset stroll up to Stewart Falls because that's what we do.

OK it's not really a stroll. It's a hike. Not a hard hike unless you take three kids, one that can't walk, and a 7 year old nephew with you. And we didn't really mean for it to be so close to sunset. The whole thing was very much like a marathon.

We hiked in as fast as we could.



Ate our picnic dinner as fast as we could.



And hiked out as fast as we could.

Notice we have no pictures of this because we were all completely exhausted and had no patience left for pictures. Oh, and it was getting dark. We were very happy for the full moon. OK "happy" may not be the best word to describe how we were hiking out. I still don't know where I drew the strength to keep my legs moving-- cut me some slack I had 20 lbs of baby riding with me. But it was a blessing that we had the moonlight to get us through that last 1/4 mile or so.

Stewart Falls is quite different from how we remembered it. The extra water we received this year causes the mist from the falls to have quite the reach. The area where we used to picnic down below is now full of mud and snow-- yes there's still snow. There were also no trees this year. They have all been plowed over. I'm guessing from the run off. It was really crazy. It almost looks like a bomb went off there.




Despite the fact that we yelled a lot, and were rather cranky on the hike out, it still must have been a fun family outing. My nephew asked if we could go again.

New Family Members

In other news we added two new members to our family. No I'm not pregnant with twins. We just got two cute little kittens because that's what we do.



Our neighbors were "Selling them for free" as my nephew phrased it. Big H LOVES cats, and it was always our thought that we would get one if we came across one for free.



Well my nephew wanted a cat too so we said he could have one as well. There's a girl and a boy. We named them Buzz and Jesse. They live in the shed and have endured endless torturous and affectionate play times-- and that's just from the neighbor kids and my nephew ;).



OK the twins aren't much better, but for 2 year old's they really handle the cats well.

Owning animals is a paver on the road to happiness, so I don't mind inviting the cuddly creatures to come live with us.

30th Anniversary

We threw my parents a "30th Anniversary Party" because that's what we do. We did a Hawaiian type theme because we'd love to send them to Hawaii but can't afford too.



We all enjoyed yummy food and swimming in the pool.





The baby wore himself out. He's my only one that will fall asleep like this. The twins have to be in the car in a room to fall asleep.



My grandma's. Both widows. When we started planning this party, back in June, my mom said my Grandpa Guthrie would like it because it would help get my grandma out of the house. It was only days later that he passed away. It's so crazy to think he couldn't even make it to this party. I'm sure he was there in spirit. I'm sure both grandpa's were.



Our family friends Mac and Mickey joined us. Mac is the one responsible for introducing my parents. We always enjoy their company. And we enjoyed everyone who joined us at the party



I was really happy to see all those who came to support my parents in celebrating their special day. I'm sad Craig couldn't make it. He helped to give it. Sorry you couldn't get work off sweetie. Anyway. . .here's to 30 more wonderful years!

Splash Park

We took a trip to the local splash park again. This time my cousins Alisha and Ashlie, and Ashlie's daughter, came with us. Why did we do it? Because that's what we do. Well, that, and Ashlie had the idea to come see the kittens and then go to the splash park :).



This time Baby M joined in on the fun!




Today. . .

We have swollen eyes, or eye, because that's what we do. Big H's eyes flared up the first time he held the cats. We were worried he might be allergic, but he hasn't shown any signs since. Then today I noticed just one eye was red, weepy and puffy. It got better with some Benedryl and Motrin, but I still feel bad for the poor guy. Hopefully it clears up.



This has been another Stratton Blog Catch Up. Thanks for joining us!