Ready for Take Off

Our son-in-law, Kevin, obtained his pilot's license recently and has been flying every chance he gets.  

Tonight, he and Rachel and their kids flew up to Heber and we drove up to meet them. 

We picked them up at the airport and had dinner at a burger joint with a train theme.  Reagan and Anistyn loved eating in the train cars - Cole and Stockton just liked the food. 

It was a beautiful night: cool weather, fall leaves and fun friends.

After dinner, we took them back to the airport and watched them take off into the night sky.

Congratulations Kev - way to go!

Rock On

I'm thinking about starting a band - maybe not a band so much as a group like STOMP - just percussion. Have you seen these guys? They bang on trashcans, 50 gallon drums, barrels, and other random items. Reagan and Cole have been practicing religiously, well, maybe occasionally. Anyway, it just cracks me up that we buy them toy after toy and the thing they love the most is the odd items we already have around the house (remember the post I did about the balloon and Cole?) - crazy! So, check out our latest rehearsal in this video. 

Next, we have to figure out our image. In our rehearsal, Reagan wore princess shoes - a possibility.... we could be The Beauties with the Beat... or what if we went with a "gansta" theme? They love the park - maybe they could be The Park Peeps. We know Reagan has the attitude - Shannon is going to help her put together the look - what do you think?

Finally, I'm thinking we could ask their niece Anistyn to be a backup dancer. She's definitely got the moves.

OK, so maybe they are not good enough for Broadway.. maybe off, off, off, off, off Broadway. Just watch, I'm sure you'll see them headlining soon. We'll work on getting Cole's stamina up enough to get through practice.  Until then, Rock On!

Oktoberfest

Each fall, we try to hit Oktoberfest at the Snowbird Ski Resort.

Usually the weather has cooled and the fall foliage on the slopes is absolutely gorgeous. 

In addition to the standard Snowbird stuff (zip line, Alpine slide, tram, etc.), during Oktoberfest, they have booths, food, music and Reagan's favorite - bouncy bounce!!!!! 

Imagine her, tensing her mouth, holding her hands in front of her with her fingers extended wide and her saying "I so excited for bouncy bounce!" 

This year, Steve's daughters Rachel and Shannon headed up to stay the night (with their families, friends and us tagging along). 

It was a cool and rainy day, but we didn't mind. Well, Shannon and Matt probably did because they didn't get to go on the zip line. 

Good thing we got some bouncy bounce time in before the heavy rain hit and they closed them down. 

We sat under an umbrella and visited while looking at the fall leaves.  Then, we headed in and watched some football in the kids' hotel rooms and finished off our night with a nice dinner. 

Even with the rain, it was a great day with good company, beautiful scenery and, oh yeah, bouncy bounce!

I Love to See the Temple

I had an appointment downtown yesterday, so, I thought I'd take Reagan and Cole and have lunch with my Mom. She works at the Church Office Building. We met at her building and chatted with some of her co-workers and then headed to lunch in the Joseph Smith Building. After lunch, Mom went back to work and I took a while to just walk around Temple Square with Reagan and Cole. 

It was such a nice day and the flowers on Temple Square were beautiful (as usual). We saw the Temple and the reflecting pool, the fountains and the water canals. 

Although it was just a walk outside, it was so nice to have these two precious babies with me while I looked at the Temple and pointed out sites for them to see.  Reagan kept calling my attention to the angel Moroni and she kept asking "you and Daddy were married?" She loves to see the video of our wedding album that I included a couple of posts ago and comments on people in the pictures, my dress, the yard and the temple. I think she might be putting it all together a little bit. Plus, we had just been listening to our Primary CD and heard the song "I Love to See the Temple".  

I'm not exactly sure what made yesterday such a great day other than a bunch of little things that combined to make it a sweet experience for me. I love these little ones more than life itself and seeing them play in front of the temple where Steve and I were sealed just seemed so perfect.

 

I'm grateful for all of the people who work to make Temple Square such a wonderful place to be (they were already stringing lights in the trees for the holidays). I also feel very blessed to live within a few miles of so many temples, allowing Reagan and Cole to see - and hopefully feel - the beauty that they hold. So, yes... I Love to See the Temple - Always!

Camping Out.... (well, sort of)

All summer long, Steve has been promising Reagan that they will sleep outside in a tent. Realizing that the weather is changing and that summer is almost over, he decided last night was the night. 

They set up the tent and put down blankets, got a comforter and several pillows (who needs sleeping bags?), put the tent on the trampoline, and the two of them climbed in.

 

Reagan was really excited. She took her blankie, her doggie, her sippy cup and headed out to the great outdoors - sort of. I waited up for a while, thinking they would be back, but then went to bed.

 

At about 5 am, I heard the door open. They both crawled into bed with me and we slept for the rest of the night, well, morning. 

Apparently, like any girl at a sleepover, Reagan talked all night long: "What's that noise Daddy?" "Where's Cole Cole", "Where's Mommy?" "Is that the moon?" "Can I play with the flashlight?"  You get the picture. By 5 am, Steve decided they had had enough talking and they came inside.

 

Well, her first overnight camping experience went pretty well - maybe next time we'll go somewhere that we can have a campfire. 

Petersen Family Party

Each summer, the Petersen clan (there are, I'm told, over 140 of us now from Steve's parents down to the great grandchildren) gets together for a great day at the park. It is always fun to catch up with everyone, to play games, to eat and to just be together. 

Although not everyone was able to make it, we had lots of fun with those who did attend. One of our favorite games is the sawdust game. Basically, they fill a kiddie pool with sawdust and put candy, toys, money and other trinkets into the sawdust (one coin has a "P" on it which can be exchanged for the grand prize of $5). Groups of kids, by age, get a chance to look for treasures and see what they can find. Kudos to David and Laurie for always being in charge of this game. 

A surprise today was the firemen who were at the park to play. Although we had reserved the park, the pavilion and the volleyball court, they offered to let the kids check out the fire engine if we would let them play volleyball - no problem... have at it. Well, they did even better than that. The firemen let the kids jump into the driver's seat of the fire engine and they hauled out the fire hose and let the kids, one by one, squirt the hose at some rubber cones (and at one of the firemen). All of the other kids had to help stabilize the hose.  What a blast, literally. The kids had such a great time and the firemen were so patient to let each and every little Petersen have a turn.

 

So, thanks to Jay and Nancy for arranging the Petersen Family Party each year and thanks to everybody for coming - we had a great day! 

I Didn't Miss It This Time!

Cole has been taking a step or two at a time, but today, he took off. We were at the park and he was having a blast. Truly, I think he forgot that he was walking - when he thinks about it, he stops, drops and crawls, but when he is focused on something else, he takes step after step.

 

The park had plenty of diversions for Cole. There was Reagan running crazy, other kids playing, dogs, bikes and lots of things to look at.

 

I love that he is getting so big and doing so much, yet I can't believe that he is old enough to be walking. Can he really be eleven months old?

 

They say time flies when you are having fun - it has been supersonic for me. With Cole walking, Reagan running, and Steve right on their heels, we had a great night at the park and enjoyed how the weather is cooling off.

 

Alright Cole, I may not be ready, but ... let's walk!

San Francisco - Day 3

Today we headed home. Between getting up, packing, having breakfast, catching the train and making our flight, there was not much time for more sightseeing. 

We had such a great, relaxing weekend, but we were glad to get back and see our babies (it's crazy how much we've missed them).  Hopefully we'll be back to San Francisco soon - maybe toting two babies next time - or toting two babies and two babysitters. 

Thanks to Shannon and Matt for watching our little ones - Reagan hasn't stopped asking about you. 

We owe you guys!!

San Francisco - Day 2

Day 2 of our Anniversary trip, we decided to take the cable car and head out to the piers. I love the views from the cable car with the narrow, sloping streets and we passed the famous Lombard Street (the most winding street in the world). We took the cable car to Fisherman's Wharf.

We went to Pier 39 and visited the shops, saw some seals in the water and looked across to Alcatraz, which we have visited twice before. I really enjoyed the tour there and I was surprised to enjoy it - it just seems like it would be weird or creepy. Also interesting is that when it comes to Alcatraz, Steve thinks of Clint Eastwood in "Escape from Alcatraz" - I think of Sean Connery in "The Rock"... maybe it is the age difference.

After Pier 39, we walked up to Ghirardelli Square and they were having the 13th Annual Chocolate Festival (are we lucky or what?). We walked around to the booths, had some chocolate and enjoyed the music. 

Next, we spent some time just kickin' it on the grass and on the beach. It was so nice to just sit and talk and enjoy the cool weather and breeze. 

Then, we had dinner at our favorite restaurant here - McCormick and Kuleto's. It is on the edge of Ghirardelli Square, overlooking the water. 

They were so kind to us; they had special menus printed up to say Happy Anniversary and they gave us a special dessert. We had such a great time. 

After dinner, we headed back to the beach to watch the sun go down for a bit and finally, back to our hotel. What a great, relaxing day. 

Although, we kept seeing little ones and saying "Reagan would love to play in the sand like that little girl" or "Cole would get a kick out of the colors and sites to look at here on the pier". We shopped in children's stores and called home a few times each day. We definitely miss our babies, but are having a wonderful time. We head home tomorrow.

San Francisco - Day 1

Here we are in San Francisco for our Anniversary trip. We arrived Friday and checked into the hotel to find ourselves on the 40th floor with a balcony and a view of the city and the ocean. 

The first thing we did was shop. Steve stole a quote from his brother, John, saying that I love the smell of the mall. Can you blame me ...a five story Nordstrom and a whole slew of other stores? Gotta love it baby! 

Fortunately, our hotel is only blocks from the mall and from the cable car stop. I just love that they still manually turn the cable car (check out the video). Steve points out that you have to wait in line and that it still costs just as much as a cab, but I remind him that it is all part of the experience. 

We had dinner at a french restaurant called Chaya Brasserie. It was right by the Bay Bridge. 

Then, we walked down by the piers and later headed back to the hotel.

 

And what trip to San Francisco would be complete without an earthquake? Just a little one - 4.0. Like the cable cars, it is all part of the experience. I can't wait for tomorrow!