Hooray...The Stream is Running!

So, for those of you who frequent our backyard, you know that we have a stream that borders part of our property line. When we were looking at the house, the seller told us that it ran 9 months out of the year.... Ha! Some years it runs for days, for weeks other years, for a couple of months other years and not at all in still other years, but never anywhere near 9 months. 

I will admit that we have been quite lucky - it ran during our wedding reception and for Steve's daughter Shannon's wedding reception, for Steve's daughter Rachel's graduation party and for Steve's parents' 50th Wedding Anniversary party. Well, last year it did not run at all and we really missed it. I know that we have 3 waterfalls in the back yard already, but it is really nice to have the sound of the water running 24-7. Seriously, you can hear it from our bedroom deck, even though it is probably 100 yards away. 

Well, it is running now and has been for about 3 weeks. I swear that there is some turn on switch because it isn't like it is dry, then a trickle, then a rushing stream, then back to a trickle. No, it is dry one day and a rushing stream the next.. then, one day it stops and it is dry again. It doesn't matter to us; we'll take whatever time we can get and enjoy every day of it. 

The sound of the water is so calming and the temperature by the stream is at least 15 degrees cooler than anywhere else in the yard. 

Thank goodness for whomever is at that switch - maybe this year, they'll forget to turn it off...here's hoping.

Happy Birthday!

June is filled with birthdays for our family. Mine hit this week. Just like for Father's Day and Steve's birthday last week, our family was sick (mostly Cole and me). What a bummer!

Steve had planned this great day of activities, but my having no energy and no appetite kind of put a damper on his plans. 

So, we ended up going to Park City for dinner and shopping. Shannon and Matt came along to babysit during the shopping part. (Here's a pic of Shannon and Reagan in front of the carousel at the base of the Park City slopes.) Unfortunately, poor Cole threw up his guts on the drive up and we were detoured in time and route. The delay meant that when the shopping part started, we only had time to shop for the kids... we didn't get to one store for adults. Oh well, that's OK, we'll do Happy Birthday Part 2 soon and we'll have that nice dinner and that shopping trip. The best part is, by then, we'll be feeling good and be able to enjoy it all the more.

Thanks everybody for your nice cards, calls, texts and blog entries - what a multi-media age we live in - I love it!!!

Fun With the Grandkids

Once a month, Steve's daughter Rachel and her husband Kevin watch our kids for us to go to the temple and the next night, we watch their kids for them to go to the temple. So, Saturday night was our night. What crazy fun we had - four kids age three and under!!!! We played outside, played inside, ate and ran around. 

Reagan loves playing with her niece and nephew. Here's some pics - sorry, but none of them have everyone looking at the camera and smiling ... just too much to ask I guess.

I have to laugh that I (at my young age) have no problem being called Grandma Stacie, while Steve (at his more advanced age) can't seem to stand the word Grandpa. No, he goes by "Big Daddy". He came up with this after talking to a couple from Texas that we met on our cruise to Alaska. The guy (big, fat Texan with a long mustache) has his grandkids call him Big Daddy and Steve latched right on to that. I mentioned to Steve that unless he was a big, fat Texan with a long mustache, he may not be able to pull off "Big Daddy". (My friend added "or a pervert or a porn star".)  

I am happy to report that, without being any of those, Steve has successfully pulled off being called "Big Daddy" for almost four years now - you go Big Daddy!!!

Water Fountain

How to conquer the backyard water fountain: a step-by-step guide. 

First, insist (with great seriousness) to Mom that you can do it yourself, no help needed! 

Second, climb on the adjacent rock to reach the water fountain. 

Third, get all the way up on tippy toes to reach the faucet. 

Fourth, multitask well enough to lean over to drink AND turn the nozzle to get the water to come out.....is it working?

UGGH - too much!!! 

Whoa, whoa.... almost got it...slowly now ... great - right in the ear.

 

Finally, a nice, cool drink. 

Um, can somebody help me down?

Happy Birthday Steve!!!

OK - so I changed the template of the blog to show "Over the Hill" in honor of Steve's birthday. Unfortunately, the change messed up the spacing of many of my entries - sorry everybody. Hopefully, if you are looking at earlier entries, you'll be able to see through the crazy spacing and positioning of the words and pics.

 

Straight on the heels of Father's Day is Steve's birthday. Here's a video of Reagan helping me sing "Happy Birthday" to Steve. 

Since we just had several family functions, this one was just for us. Steve's daughter Shannon and her husband Matt babysat for us and we went out with plans to hit a dinner and a movie. Not finding any movies that we were even remotely interested in, we elected to drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon to Alta and Snowbird. It was great - 91 degrees when we left our house and 57 by the time we got to the restaurant at Snowbird. Although Alta has been closed for months, there is plenty of snow left up there and even Snowbird has decent snow at the top of the mountain. The food was great and it was wonderful for us to have a nice dinner with a great view. I'll try to get some pics off my phone and onto the computer - so check back to see if this entry is updated. In the meantime, Happy Birthday Steve... You Are The Best ... We Love You!

A side note - we love Snowbird. Taking the tram (which runs year round) up to the top of the mountain is great - the view is gorgeous, the weather is so cool and the ride is awesome. Last year on July 4th (which is also Matt's birthday), Snowbird had a big party with a pancake breakfast, bands playing and inflatable bouncy toys for the kids . We went up with Matt and Shannon and Matt's parents - it was so fun. Here's some pics - check out how little Reagan was - and me with my 6 month prego belly. Matt was nice enough to cart Reagan around in her little backpack carrier (too bad she fell asleep on the tram ride down).

 

Happy Father's Day!

Well, even though Steve was sick, we had a great Father's Day. We got up early enough to actually take some pics before heading to church ON TIME! 

Then, we had lunch and naps for the kids before going to Steve's daughter Rachel's house for a barbeque with Rachel and Kevin and their kids and Kevin's Mom, Dad and brothers. Reagan loves to play with her niece Anistyn and always wants Annie's shoes (again, wonder where she gets that from????) Swinging or sliding on the playset is the most fun - other than riding around in the wagon. What a nice day to celebrate Father's Day - Steve was able to be with his oldest and his youngest today (and was with all five of his kids yesterday) - how great is that? Thanks Steve for the great father that you are - we love you!!!

Father's Day Celebration a Day Early

We have a weekend full of parties. Friday night was an Elders' Quorum party in the yard, today was a party for Steve's girls and their families - for Father's Day - and tomorrow is church and a barbeque at Steve's daughter Rachel's house.

 

The EQ set up a 9 hole golf course on the various levels of our yard, so, we left the holes, pins and markers up and had another tournament today. 

Reagan and Anistyn acted as caddies, holding golf clubs and golf balls until they were needed for the tournament.

It was a hot day, but bright and sunny and nice. The kids brought their dogs and we had good food, good times and good company. 

Thanks girls for helping us celebrate and Happy Father's Day to Steve, Mike and Kevin.

No More Monkeys...

It always cracks me up to hear Reagan repeat back to me things that I say to her or songs I sing or stories I tell her. The other day, I asked her if she wanted to sing "I am a Child of God" and she said yes and then proceeded to sing me the first verse. I didn't realize she knew the entire verse. Even more than songs or stories, she makes me laugh when she repeats things that I say that I didn't realize I was teaching her. For example, yesterday we were driving and I was telling her where we were going "we are going to meet Shanny and Matt at the shoe store, then we are going to the place we got Mom's tires, then we are going to the grocery store..." She said "Mom, somefin to eat". I mean, I have heard her say "I'm hungry" or "I want crackers", but to say that we should get something to eat is what I say, not what she says. I remember months ago when she pointed at me, shaking her finger and said "No, no, no...don't!" (little smarty pants). Also, once in a while, she will call Steve by his name, not "Daddy" - this mostly happens when he isn't responding fast enough to her demands. Another of my favorites is when I am trying to get her to eat something new and her response is "I no yike it". These type of things just make me laugh and scare me as I need to be careful about the things that I say and the way that I say them. Apparently we are teaching her whether we mean to or not. Well, one of our favorite stories/songs is "No more monkeys jumping on the bed". I was playing with her and had to laugh at the different inflections she put into each verse (very quiet when saying "no more monkeys jumping on the bed"). Check out her "No More Monkeys" in this video and please excuse the shaky nature of the video as I was an "interactive videographer" in this one. 

I'm Flying!!!

Why is it that all dads love to throw their kids into the air and all moms brace for the trip to the hospital? 

Seriously, I would never throw my child into the air or throw them around, but Steve lifts/throws the kids up in the air all the time and, I must admit, they love it! Is it a mom's cautious nature that makes me freak out or is it just envy that I could never toss my little one into the air with perfect confidence that I would be able to catch him/her? 

Well, whatever it is, I really believe that Reagan and Cole benefit on both fronts; Steve holds and throws them into the air, making them belly laugh like no other activity while I freak out, run to "rescue" them and baby them for the next hour. 

Thank goodness for both types of parenting and for the chance the kids have to "fly", landing safely in Daddy's big, strong arms.

Fun with Shannon and Matt

Steve's daughter Shannon and her husband Matt came to hang out this weekend. Once again, they got no peace with Reagan demanding their every attention. 

First Reagan insisted that Matt wear her pink headband - she kept saying "Matt hair" and he kept reminding her that he doesn't have any hair so, a headband was less than necessary. Well, by the pic, you can see who won that battle. 

Next, Matt and Shanny gave Reagan two bracelets that she insists on wearing every day. Since Reagan made a bracelet at playgroup a few weeks ago, they told her that they made her these bracelets at their playgroup - she was thrilled. 

Then, we headed out to the backyard with Shannon and Matt's two kids (the furry, jump up and lick your face kind) Jackson and Bella. Cole was completely enthralled with the dogs, just watching their every move and not even flinching when they jumped on him or gave him kisses. We had a great time - thanks Matt and Shannon!!

Uh Oh, He's Mobile

Well, we knew it had to happen eventually..... Cole is mobile.  After the soldier crawl, the scooting, and the backward-only motions, he "got it" and now is crawling everywhere. By "everywhere" I mean everywhere that I don't want him to be (by the stairs, by the shower, by the step to the tub, by the doors, by the fireplace, etc.) Don't get me wrong, I want him to progress, but can't he be satisfied to stay in the family room/kitchen area? And you can forget about putting him in the bouncer, the swing or the excersaucer.  Oh no, those are boundaries that we just don't need anymore - wide open spaces - that's what I'm talking about. Well, with a face this cute, how could I resist? Crawl on baby Cole!

Aren't Firemen Great?

Taking any sort of drive is an adventure these days. Reagan points out every garbage truck, school bus, tractor, big truck, bus, train, police car and fire engine. I try to pull up close to them for her to see... especially the fire trucks - they are so big, bright and different from any other vehicle. We always wave to the firemen; sometimes they wave back, sometimes they honk the horn and once in a while, we'll get a buzz of the siren. Well, we had quite the experience yesterday. 

We were driving in downtown Salt Lake and we saw a fire truck. I pulled up next to them and we were stopped at a light. We waved to them and the driver rolled down his window. Not sure what was up, I rolled down Reagan's window (next to his). I told her to say "Hi" and "Thank you." Next, the two firemen in the back seat rolled down their windows (at this point Reagan began to be shy and wouldn't talk anymore). Then, the driver handed us a plastic, kid's fireman hat. Seeing Cole in the seat next to Reagan and my niece in the back seat, they handed us three more hats. What a memorable experience; Reagan has not stopped talking about the nice firemen who gave her a hat and I can't stop thinking about how sweet it was that they took the time to stop, to talk and to give some hats to a couple of little kids. I don't know who had the idea to have kid hats made up with "Salt Lake City Fire Department" on them, but I appreciate whomever made the effort. So, we'll continue waving, saying "Hi" and saying "Thanks" because... aren't firemen great? Thanks guys!!

Tea For Two

Santa brought Reagan a kitchen for Christmas last year (check out this pic of her crazy Christmas morning hairdo) and it is still her favorite toy. 

Almost every night, she will ask Steve to go and play with her in the kitchen. She fixes him eggs (which sizzle when the pan is on the burner) and gives him a donut, puts food in the microwave (to hear the buzz of the motor) and puts the cell phone up to her ear to "call Shanny". 

When I came downstairs, I couldn't resist snapping a pic of them "having tea", clicking their cups together and sipping away. Too cute!!!

More Fun at the Park

So, I know I have an earlier blog entry about how much we love the park, but I have to add to it. Reagan LOVES the park. Our current favorite is the Draper Park (by the start of the Porter Rockwell Trail that we walk on in the mornings). 

This particular park has swings (baby and big kid), slides (baby and big kid), tubes to climb in and a wall to climb up. 

Reagan is surprisingly brave and will go down even the steepest slide and will stand her ground when "challenged" by a bigger kid. 

Cole gets into the action too, with a little help from Mom or Dad. 

Thanks Draper City - we are loving this park.

Sunday Best

Sunday afternoon seemed like a perfect day for some pics. It was a beautiful day, flowers were blooming in the backyard and everyone was dressed in their Sunday best. I just love to get everyone dressed up for church on Sunday. (Having my own two little dress up dolls really makes it fun.) 

Reagan loves to pick out her dress and decide whether to wear a bracelet, a headband, tights, etc. Even Steve doesn't mind it too much (although he curses the person who invented the tie).

So, let's get dressed in our Sunday best and head outside for some pics ... say "cheese".

Happy Birthday Dad!

Steve's Dad celebrated his birthday today. 

Check out Steve, his Dad and Cole in this pic of 3 generations of first sons. 

Almost all of Steve's ten sibs were able to come, with their families, to a barbeque party. 

Reagan, still not feeling 100%, was so excited to see Shannon and Matt - I swear that they get no rest when she is around. She also loves to see Rachel and her kids. 

Anistyn and Reagan went on the swings, jumped on the trampoline and Anistyn picked gooseberries off of a bush in the yard. Steve just took the gooseberries, picked by everyone else, and threw them at people... oh yeah - he threw them at me!

It was so fun to catch up with everybody and to celebrate with Dad (and with Shannon since her birthday is the same day). 

Steve played ball, as usual, with one hand - holding Cole in the other. 

Happy Birthday Dad - you get better each year!!!