Camping???

For the past couple of years my family has had the tradition of going to my mom's property west of Nephi every year for Memorial Day. And this year we planned on doing just that, but when my sister got down there it was raining and hailing like crazy and the forecast didn't look too great and not wanting a repeat of last year (see below) we decided to dog it.

This was our car getting pulled out of the mud last year.

When I said in one of my last posts something about how we didn't need to go camping anymore because we had everything we needed in our backyard or close by I was really kidding, but seeing that everyone was already down our way we decided to just have a camp out in our backyard. It was great we still got to cook our tin foil dinners on the fire and have smores for dessert. And in the morning everyone just came inside for breakfast. It was a blast !

We ALMOST got Neil to keep his eyes open in this picture. We tried several times. But he still looks cute anyway. And sorry Austin we stole your old sweatshirt. And even Neil being the fun dad he is set up the tent and slept outside with Cole.

I'm sure my neighbors just love us!!!

And Monday was a really nice day and we had a lot of fun in the yard. One of mine and Neil's favorite things to do together is oddly enough yard work. So if we wanted to do yard work we had to keep Cole entertained somehow.

And I was having too much fun watching Cole that I didn't even realize I took all the videos the wrong way. I think we need a bigger pool. :) What do you think?

And our HOA requires us to have 3 trees in our backyard so Neil and I finally got our 3 planted. We (meaning Neil since all I can do is rake) made a flower bed behind our fire pit and yes there are 3 trees there. Can't you see the sticks poking out of the ground? I think this will be really pretty once all my flowers bloom and it fills the mound.

It all turned out to be a really fun weekend.

Zoo-pendous!

We went to the zoo last weekend with my sister and her 2 kids. I can't quite decide what Cole thought of the zoo. I think he liked the birds the most because they were one of the few animals that actually moved.


I'm not going to write much commentary about these pictures but this picture was just too funny. So this monkey was so cute and came up to the glass where Cole was and just looked at him for a minute. I tried to get my camera out to take a picture of it but right as I did the monkey looked at my camera and hurry and put his face down. It was like he was afraid of it or something. So I stayed right there waiting for the monkey to look up and the second he did I blinded the poor little guy with my flash. You can't see his surprise in this picture, but needless to say I figured out why he's afraid of cameras.

And is it me or is anyone else really mad that they took the bird exhibit out where you could go in with a stick of bird seed and the birds would fly to you to eat the food? It was the coolest thing. I guess it's been awhile since we've been. The above picture is the last time Neil and I went to the zoo. We were still dating and you can see the cool birds on our hands. People were probably grossed out about it but we thought it was way fun.

IT'S A .........

BOY!

Pix #1 = Arm pressing against my belly

Pix #2 = Face

Pix #3 = Profile

Pix #4 = BOY!

Just A Little Update

I've been asked quite a bit when we find out what we're having and so I thought I'd let everyone know that we find out this Thursday. I'll post then and let you all know.

Also I thought I'd share the other project that I was so excited about in one of my last posts. It's our square foot garden. I've heard SO many good things about them that I wanted to try it myself. So far it's been a lot of work getting it all together, but a lot of fun at the same time. We already have lettuce, spinach, and tomatoes growing and we've planted carrots, onions, lettuce, spinach, potatoes, peas, and tomatoes which are in the wall-o-waters you see above. Tonight we're planting our strawberry plants and a cantalope (that will also go in a wall-o-water), and grass. Notice there's not grass around this thing and it looks UGLY right now, but we're hoping to change all that. And then once it gets warm we'll plant our beans, flowers, squash, cucumbers, pumpkins, and corn. It's amazing how so much can fit in such a small space. Hopefully it works! If any of you have tried or heard about the square foot garden I would love to hear about it!

Don't Try This At Home

Once a month my family gets together for Sunday dinner. This Sunday we had some extra fun entertainment. I just thought I'd share it with you all. This is my brother Matt. And I'm not going to say how he does this (for obvious reasons) but I will tell you that yes that is a banana on fire.

Five Seconds of Fun

We took Cole to 2 Easter Egg Hunts this weekend. Holy cow those things get over fast. The countdown got Cole all riled up that as soon as they said go Cole just took off. Neil had to calm him down and show him that the point to all this chaos was to put the eggs in his basket .

We thought he'd do better at the second hunt but since he knew there was candy in them from the first hunt he had to shake each one to make sure there was candy in it. Needless to say each hunt lasted about 5 seconds and Cole got about 7 eggs from each. But it was so funny to watch him having so much fun.


Our Easter celebration actually started last weekend at Grandma Cook's and went on all week. Grandma did an Easter egg hunt for the grandkids and the uncles who hid the eggs apparently misjudged how short these guys really are. Uncle Matt was a great help and lots of fun.

Cole chomping down his yummy treats.


We went to Wheeler Farm a few days later with my sis Carrie and her kids. It looks cold but it was actually a really nice day.


Although, I'd be surprised if Cole even knew that they actually had animals there. He was too excited about all the tractors to even care.


Cole and his cousin Savannah. What a cute couple. We didn't even make them do this.

It's not Easter unless you color eggs. Cole had a blast and loved seeing the eggs turn into all the different colors.

Neil got a little creative with this one. It turned out pretty cool.

Sunday morning Cole had ANOTHER Easter egg hunt when he woke up at our house.

Neil says this kid needs a sibling to get some rivalry going. He's sure not worried about anyone stealing his candy.

Nope we're not done yet. Grandma and Grandpa Emery had ANOTHER hunt for the grandkids after church. Here's Cole after he found his new car. He was super excited.


And here's Cole along with his cousins Davis and Carlie enjoying their treats and playing with sidewalk chalk.

I get the feeling these 2 are going to be trouble as they grow older together.

FIRE!

Before I forget take our poll to the right.

We've been doing lots of spring projects lately. It seems like we have one lined up for every weekend for the next little bit. Here's our first project we did last weekend.

So I've wanted a fire pit in my back yard for as long as I can remember. I think I even made Neil and I register for one for our wedding, which we obviously didn't end up getting. We had planned for it in our last house, but luckily never put one in there, and finally we did it!


Check out our new fire pit! Of course it's only been warm enough like once since we put it in but I'm still way excitied. We'll have a lot of fun with it this year. Infact, Neil and I don't even have the need to go camping anymore. We have the lakes 30 min. away, the fire in our backyard, and our nice bed upstairs. Who needs to sleep in a tent? Hehehe.... j.k!

Then this weekend we went over to my brother's house to help him cut down one of his trees. My brothers are really into rock climbing which amazingly comes in handy more than just for climbing rocks. They harnessed Neil up and sent him up the tree to start cutting. Can you see him? I wouldn't have let him do this if he wasn't harnessed up and if I didn't trust my brothers so much. It was a lot of hard work but I think they all had some fun with it.

Here's the aftermath.

And it really is amazing that I do trust my brothers especially when they pull stunts like this. Really one day I'm going to learn to NOT leave Cole unsupervised with my brother Matt. He even got the poor kid to somewhat smile for this picture.

Our next spring project is still in the making but I'm really excited about it. You won't be too excited, but I am. I'll post about it soon.

Vote For Carlie!

My little niece Carlie really wants a playset for the yard. Friday was her Birthday. A local radio staion is having a contest and the winner gets a backyard playset. Please help her win it by following this link and voting for her!! http://www.971zht.com/pages/kiddieokee/vote-5-7.html She is CONTESTANT #32. (See above video) It only takes like 2 sec. to vote. Only one vote per computer ip address (1 vote per computer) and email will be allowed. So please pass this along so more and more people can vote. Send it to everyone you know and ask them to send it to everyone they know and so on and so on until everyone on earth with a computer has voted. The contest ends on April 2nd at noon so please do it now. She's the cutest, sweetest little girl and she really deserves to win this!! THANKS!!

Sunday Ramblings

Before Church

Last Sunday Neil told Cole it was time to go to church. Cole knew right what to do. He went and picked up my scriptures and headed downstairs. Little future missionary right here. It was too cute.

After ChurchAfter church he was done with all the seriousness and ready to play. He found these old safety glasses that he thought were the funniest thing in the world. They definitely made me laugh. What a little nerd.

Now this video is a little scary. You may remember a video I posted about a yr ago where Cole stuck his hands in my heels and clomped around in them. Well I hate to say it but he's improved his skills. I don't know where his obsession with shoes comes from. Luckily he loves his dad's shoes as much as mine. That makes me feel a little better. And me being the smart person I am (especially now that I'm pregnant) took this video sideways. So just tilt your head. :)

Me and The Gang

I also went to a baby shower for a friend this past weekend and was able to see so many of my high school friends. It was so fun! It's hard to see this picture and a few of us are still missing but for those of you that were there I thought this would be fun for you to see. Don't ask me why I look like I'm hiding behind Emily.

And The Answer Is????

We're going on VACATION!! Wahoo! Gotcha didn't I? I guess everyone seems to think it's time for us to have another one. We definitely got the hint. :) Anyway, every year Neil's boss takes us on vacation for our Christmas present and this year we get to take 3 days and 2 nights and go white water rafting down Cataract Canyon. We start in Moab and end up in Lake Powell. And this isn't just any white water trip. Our guides will prepare all our food for us, set up camp, and just basically pamper us! We won't have to do a thing except enjoy every minute of it. And then we get to fly back on a private plane to Moab. I've always wanted to go white water rafting and if I know Neil's boss this trip is going to be awesome!!!!

But... there is one catch. I can't go. Cuz you all guessed it. (Well almost all of you) We're expecting!! And that really is what we're the most excited about, but if you had voted for the trip that would have been right too. So I'm 2.5 months along and due end of Sept. Wahoo!!! And Neil's Dad has graciously accepted to take my place on the river rafting trip. Thanks Ron.

What Do You Think?

Take our poll to the right.

One Little Boys Dream, One Big Mess

It can't get any better than this for a little boy. It's not often that you get to see a huge digger dig up your front yard. To Cole this was the coolest thing ever! A dream come true! He watched it for 2 days straight.

OK so let me back up a bit. This is what my house looks like on a normal day. Well a normal day in summer anyway.

This is what my house looks like today. Watch the movie for a better look. The yard has been totally destroyed! There goes my tulips I spent HOURS planting and all the top soil that took me days to move last year. Not to mention the grass, sprinkling system, porch railing, and plants.

And this is the reason. Apprently the genius who put in our sewer line headed the line back towards our house instead of towards the sewer. So we had to have our whole yard dug up so they could fix it. This is a video of me walking out my front door to a 12 ft. cliff. This video shows the destruction a little better than the first video. Although, despite all this I am feeling SO BLESSED because it is a miracle that we even found out about this. Luckily we found out before the warranty on our house was expired and now we don't have to pay for a thing!!! So the last few days have actually been quite entertaining and I'm just praying that everything gets put back together nicely and that by spring I'll have a decent looking yard again.

Here's one more picture of the destruction. It's been the talk of the neighborhood.

Sesame Street Personality Quiz

So I saw this on our friends blog and thought I'd give it a try. Cookie Monster has always been my fav and all through Jr. High and High School my nickname was actually Cookie. So I thought this was pretty fitting. And something that may surprise many of you is that I LOVE FOOD! Especially snacks. I used to go to mutual just to get the refreshments. Especially if I knew there was going to be donuts. So this may not fit me exactly, but it actually fits me better than you might think. Who are you?

You Are Cookie Monster

Misunderstood as a primal monster, you're a true hedonist with a huge sweet tooth. You are usually feeling: Hungry. Cookies are preferred, but you'll eat anything if cookies aren't around. You are famous for: Your slightly crazy eyes and usual way of speaking How you life your life: In the moment. "Me want COOKIE!"

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

Meet Cambron

So I started taking my neighbors little boy for her every Friday while she's at work. It actually hasn't been too bad so far. Luckily he's a pretty good kid. And here is. Meet Cambron! A way smart 3 year old.

Last week I took them to the Bean Museum where they were able to see lots of animals and even touch a few like this lizard, and a snake and tortoise. The kids loved it!

This past Friday I took them to Jumping Jacks where they had an absoulte blast. Last time we went with Cole he was hesitant to go down the slides. This time he loved them all, including the really big one.

Here's Cambron going down the really big slide. The whole way up he kept telling himself "I can do it, I can do it, I can do it." It was so cute.

Cole got a huge kick out of the drinking fountain. The kids thought he was trying to be nice by pushing the button for them, but little did they know that as soon as they started drinking Cole would push the button on and off, on and off. This little boy kept smacking Cole's arm away. He was so annoyed! And me being the good Mom I am just sat there and laughed.

And here's a little girl that followed me around EVERYWHERE wanting me to take her picture. It was hilarious. The first time she asked me I ended up leaving before she came down the slide. So she actually went around until she found me and let me have it! It was the funniest thing. She loved getting her picture taken. I hope her Mom didn't see me.

Anyway, so far it been good and fun but we'll see how long I can keep this baby sitting thing up.

These Guys Crack Me Up!

Sorry this is a post of ramblings mainly about Cole. I keep telling myself that I'll write these things down and I never do and I always forget the cute little things Cole does.

Cole is becoming quite the character and lately has been trying to switch the roles and boss me around. Occasionally Cole will act out and have a hard time listening so I'll gently take his head between my hands, look him straight in the eye, and explain he needs to stop what he's doing or he'll have to take a time out. So the other night I was sitting at the computer and he comes and climbs into my lap, takes my head in between his hands, looks me straight in the eyes, and trying to act like me says "Mommy Listen!" ...... "Time Out!"

Yesterday I was charging our camera battery and Cole kept taking it in and out of the charger so I asked him nicely to stop and explained to him that the battery needed to stay in the charger. He wasn't minding me so as I began to get up he looked up at me and said "No Mommy.... You stay in chair."

Lately for some reason Cole has been putting up a fuss every time we say a prayer. I think he's always too anxious to eat. So the other day I tried explaining to him why we pray. I told him that Heavenly Father and Jesus gave us this food so we need to thank them for it. When I said that he immediately looked over at our calendar with a picture of Jesus on it and said "Thank You Jesus!" So now every time I ask Cole to fold his arms for the prayer he shouts out "Thank You Jesus!"

Many of you know that my husband frequently entertains me as he sleeps and I'm wide awake. Well here's another one. During Christmas break Neil turned over to me and says "To Grandmother's house we go!" He was definitely way too excited for Christmas. And he sure knows how to keep me laughing when I'm having a bad night.

Cole Pix and Wedding Blues

Here's a couple of pictures of Cole we had done for his 2 Year Birthday. He was so squirmy I'm surprised they were able to get some good ones.

Best Man Ruins Wedding

PARTY!!

This December was filled with so many good memories !

We took my mom to Forgotten Carols as a girls night out cuz she had never seen it before. And she added an insight to me that I had never thought of. And I had it on here but after my brother-in-law Travis gave me grief I decided I better not ruin it for anyone that hasn't seen the play. But if you have and don't know who Uncle John is supposed to be ASK ME! Cuz it's way cool. (My sister Carrie and sister-in-law Tiffany pictured above)

I was out shoveling a few weeks ago and Cole apparently got tired of waiting for me to get done so he went in the garage, pulled out a stroller and made a comfy seat for himself. I wondered where he had gone because he was being so quiet and I turned around and found him like this. He cracks me up!

The Christmas parties with family were so fun this year. We missed you Clint, Rachel, and boys!At the Emery party we even had a totally unexpected guest! No one had any idea that Santa would show up (really-no one). Cole liked to look and point at Santa but wasn't too kean on sitting on his lap. Everyone was WAY excited that he showed up.

It was almost too much excitement for some of us to handle.

Way too much excitement. Definitely over stimulated.

My sister Christy and her husband Jorge flew in from NJ which made the holidays special and entertaining to say the least. We went sledding at Mount Dale on Christmas Eve with most of the family. Cole even loved the sledding this year!

Christmas Eve was special. My sister dressed up her kids Savannah and
Rex as Mary and Joseph while their dad read the Christmas story. They were SOO Cute!

I found this cute little note when I went to change Cole's diaper. This is what happens when Cole is left unsupervised with my brother Matt too long.

Here's a picture just for you Jorge! Told ya Neil got a good one of ya.

Christmas morning! Cole was definitely excited but still wasn't too sure what was going on.

It probably took us over an hour to open presents as Cole made us open each toy and play with it before he would open another. Which was actually nice. This was his favorite present. He loves his Geo Trax train.


We spent Christmas night and most of the next day at Neil's parents house. I can't remember the last time I played video games for that long. Neil's brother Austin got RockBand for Christmas so we played all Christmas night and then Austin and I played most of the next day. I love that game! It is so addicting! Sadly I felt like I was accomplishing something. I played way too long. Whenever I would hear a song after that I would try to start playing it on the guitar.


New Years Eve was a BLAST! We had my Mom, Brett, Tiffany, Neil's long time friend Jeremy and his wife Sarah, and their daughter Clara all come over. We ate lots of yummy food and played Wii most of the night. I have to admit the boxing pictures are the best. Here's Neil and Jeremy.

Cole even tried to get in on the boxing fun.

Tiffany and Sarah

Brett and I finally found an excuse to beat each other up again after all these years. And apparently I haven't beaten anyone up in a while as I am still so sore! Sad I know!

My Mom even got in on all the action. Go Mom! She won this one too. :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!