FUN FUN FUN

We had the funnest Saturday last week! I misplaced my camera but now it is found and I can finally post. Saturday morning we all slept in. At our house Trevin is usually up by 7:30 or 8:00 and Cheyenne around 8:30. When I woke up and looked at the clock it was 9:00 what a miracle! We didn't have any real plans for the day... Just yard work. Then I remembered that my work party was that morning. So we woke up the kids and all got ready. We were in Eden by about 11:00, just in time to help blow up the HOT AIR BALLOON! I thought it was so cool. Trevin was pretty interested to. There are going to be a lot of pictures but you'll get to see it minute by minute! Gage was all hands on... while I tried to keep the very excited Trevin from running to the Balloon.

Step 1: Hauling the balloon to the field or where ever you are launching from. If I remember right the material of the balloon weighs 250 lbs.

Step 2: Inflation with cold air. There was a big fan that they turned on that started to blow it up. You can see Gage on the far side of the balloon. He got to hold the balloon opening.

Step 3: Pull the balloon out of the case so it can inflate. That is one heavy bag!
Step 4: Wait and Watch. It is a very big balloon for one fan to fill, even if it is a big fan...
Step 5: Be amazed. Look at the size of this thing. And it's only half full! Doesn't Gage look tiny standing next to it. We actually walked inside the balloon at this point. Cindy took pictures and I can't wait to get them from her!
Step 6: Bring on the Heat. This is when they turn on the burners and the balloon starts to rise. Being careful to keep the material far away from the flame.
It's fun to watch the balloon lift off the ground, especially once you know how heavy they are. Step 7: Appreciate all the work everyone put in and get ready to go UP!So this next picture is my favorite from the day. Trevin absolutely loves balloons, he gets one every time we go to Roberts and I have to secretly deflate them during his nap a few days later. So this over sized balloon was the best thing ever! He was just so happy to watch it. He would look at Gage and Me then point to the balloon and say "Baoon Baoon" It is so much fun to watch your kids get excited about something!
Gage manned the Drag line while Trevin, Cheyenne and I watched.
Next it was our turn. Just Gage and me (And the PILOT). We strapped Trevin into his stroller then waved to him and Chey as we flew. It is the oddest feeling right when the basket lifts off the ground. Having the tether lines made it seem not so scary. I had a lot of fun and the pilots were great to answer all our questions. They really did make sure we all had fun. Look for Trevin and Cheyenne (green stroller and car seat with blue blanket).
A little while later we got to take Trevin and Cheyenne up. This is Trevin as we lift of the ground, he isn't so sure about the really loud burners. He cried the whole way up, Cheyenne loved it.
Once we were up and the burners weren't used as much Trevin did just fine, especially when Gage helped him look over the edge. This is a picture while we were coming down. Me, Gage and Cheyenne flyin' high! We had so much fun. Much better than yard work!

Later, Saturday afternoon. We picked up a swing set that our good friends had offered us. Trevin couldn't wait for us to get is set up so he could play on it. We've had it for almost a week now and he has spent who knows how many hours going down the slide, running to the trampoline and jumping then back to the slide. He is just a hair too short to get on the swing by himself, but I'm sure he'll figure that out soon.

To top off the day we had a great adult session of our Stake conference that night! With great speakers and talks that focused on family and Eternal Marriage. I love knowing that my family is forever!

What's Wrong With This Picture

Apparently nothing! We were at the shop a few weekends ago and Trevin decided to climb into one of the cars so he could drive at the steering wheel. I immediately went to get him out, because I thought it wasn't safe... But Gage stopped me and said he's fine, let him play! Sometime Gage worries a lot and then you have days like this. So unpredictable, I love him!

Trevin played there until we finished unloading rocks and he had a blast!

SWISS DAYS

This year Grandma and Papa invited everyone to come up to Swiss days. They had a condo for the week, so Gage and I decided we would take them up on the offer and get away for the weekend. The kids and I decided to head up Friday morning (Gage had to work all day, then he would join us). To avoid having multiple cars up there, I decided to catch a ride with Lindsay. Her in-laws go up every year and have a big girls weekend. I was a fun ride up, we watched Hannah Montana the movie and ate Goldfish. When we got to Midway I met up with Chersti and Sherry. The first item on the list was Bratwursts for lunch. Papa goes every year and one of his favorite parts is the Bratwursts. I wasn't there to witness it but he was there at 9:30 am, the very first customer, to get his Bratwurst meal. They were pretty good, Trevin wasn't so sure but he had his fill of chips.

Next we attempted to push the stroller through the crowds to look at some of the craft booths. It was impossible! I had never been to Swiss Days and I couldn't believe how many people were there! You could hardly see what the booths were selling, not to mention the lines you had to wait in if you actually wanted to get into the booth. After walking with the strollers down one isle Grandma offered to sit with the kids while Chersti and I shopped. Papa took Trevin to watch the show- yodelers, dancers, etc. I couldn't believe how good Trevin was, he hung out by Papa and never tried to get away. (Maybe we should send Trevin to church with Papa.)

We after a couple hours we decided to stop fighting the crowds and head back to the condo for some swimming. Trevin loved it (especially when I took his out of the floaty and played motor boat with him, not so much when we tried to go under the water), Cheyenne slept through it, and Chersti's twins were a hoot! Xander just lounged in his floaty and Lexi's arms and legs were going a hundred mile per hour trying to splash the water. I only wish I had had my camera! After we got back to the condo and got all the kids in and out of the bath we got to just relax for a while. Here is a picture of Grandma and the girls. I know it isn't the best picture of Cheyenne but I had to post it anyway. Cheyenne is 5 1/2 months old and Lexi is 10 months. When the twins were born we used to joke about how long it would take for my baby to catch to them. ( I was pregnant and Trevin had been a huge baby.) Well now we know the answer! They are the same size!

There is a vendor every year that makes wood tractors, cars, etc. Papa gets a tractor most years and he has the coolest collection. This year he got his tractor and when we got to the Condo he pulled it out to show Trevin... EEK... I was terrified that Trevin was going to break it. He did pretty good, Pap showed him how the bucket lifted and the tracts moved. Then to my relief he put it away. Trevin knew it was in the box and for the next little while he would look around and say "tactor?" The next day Trevin and Xander both got a wooden toy from Papa. Gage finally made it up Friday night, just after 9:00pm. I guess there were a few problems at work, but we were so excited to see him. He took the kids for a while and I got to play five crowns (a card game). It must have been a while since I played... I lost miserably!

Saturday morning we had a plan to go to the booths early, before the crowds, and the rain didn't stop us. It was great! We zipped through the entire thing in about an hour! I think Grandma was surprised to see us back at the condo so early.

Mid morning my little family made a trip to "the crater" which was only 5 minutes from the condo. Trevin enjoyed the little tunnel we walked through, and thought the water was cool too.

It was pretty cool to see, you can get in if you pay-to soak, swim, snorkel, even scuba dive! I guess the water is warmed by hot pots at the bottom- not 100% sure. It was a fun 10 minute trip.PARK CITY- we spent a few hours at the outlet mall, and got all kinds of great deals. I love shopping when you actually felt like you got your money's worth at the end of the day. We even made it back to the condo in time for the boys to watch the football game! What a great weekend. This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. Trevin and Cheyenne right after they both got up in the morning. Aren't they cute.

We love weekend trips!

THE RAPTORS GAME

Sunday there was a free ticket from the Standard Examiner for the Monday night Raptors game. That decided it... We went to the baseball game for family night! Trevin loves baseball, watching Dad play a couple weeks ago was all he needed to get him on a baseball kick. He has a little glove and loves to take it with him every where, needless to say it definitely came to the game.

He did really good watching the game, until we went and sat by Casie and her family, then he just wanted to play. Casie did a great job keeping him entertained while Gage and I watched the game... it was almost a date!Dino the dinosaur came a round toward the end of the game and Trevin was so excited. Charlee was a good sport and took Trevin to meet him. This picture actually shows a little bit of the game. High five! Dino actually hung out by our seat for a while and Trevin's eyes were glued to him! I thought it was pretty cute. All in all I thought it was a great night. Entertainment for Trevin and the game even kept me entertained. One fight and a great tenth inning that ended with the bases loaded and a quick double play to end the game. Too bad we lost!

Trees and a Truck

Last weekend J&J nursery had a great sale. We had been waiting to get trees and decided that now was the perfect time. So Saturday morning we got the kids up bright and early and headed out to the nursery. We had already gone to decide what kind of trees we wanted so all we had to do was pick the actual tree. We got there to find out the maple tree we wanted was 70% off, WHOO! The ash tree was about 30% off too. When we got them to the back yard they looked huge against the house. I never helped lift them but they sure looked heavy.

We started digging and relearned that we have awful dirt! By the time we dug 8 inches down it was hard clay! Hope fully the soil pep we put around the tree will help the tree survive. Gage again did most of the work while I hung out with the kids. He did a great job and we even got to sit in our shade after we were done! Some of you may know that a few weeks back my Rodeo (the family car) broke, AGAIN! That was the final straw for us (Gage especially) and we decided it was time for a new car. After weeks of looking we finally found on that fit our needs. A 2004 TOYOTA TUNDRA, we were excited about being able to put it to good use multiple times this week.
Thanks to both of our dads for always letting use borrow your trucks, hopefully we won't have to anymore!