Cute faces!

 It's been a while sense I have posted these cute faces!

Just a Tuesday

My friend Jessica and I have been wanting to do this all summer and we finally got around to it. We went to a class at the gym together then conveniently took the kids across the parking lot to the splash pad! It was a fun Tuesday morning!

If you can't tell Collin loves the guns and Josh loves this sprinkler. That is where they spent most of their time!

Getting warm on their towels

4th of July

Well the 4th started out very un-eventful but the day sure ended with a BANG! We went to the Ploharz for the day. I did laundry most the day while the kids played and took naps. When they woke up we turned on the sprinklers so they could cool off for a bit. Then we had a family BBQ. When it got dark we sat in the front yard and watched three different firework shows plus many other fireworks that people were just doing from their houses. It is kind of fun to see the sky all lit up! When they were over we headed out back to do fireworks of our own. We were getting a little mad because the guys that sold us the fireworks said that most of them were aerials but they ended up all being fountains. Well we finally found one that was an aerial. Scott was doing the lighting. He lit it and walk away to stand back and watch. The first 2 go up and then..........it tipped over. Fireworks go shooting out in all directions. I didn't know what to do so I just sat motionless in my chair trying to do my best to protect Josh and hope that someone was protecting Collin. Well in the mean time while I was frozen to my chair Scott had gotten hit below the belt by one of the fireworks and was down on the ground in very much pain and on the other side of the grass field there was a fire. I still stood frozen not knowing where to help. People were checking on Scott and luckily the neighbors had been watching and saw the fire quick enough to put it out before any damage was done. Wow is all I can say. My heart was beating so fast for a long time. Scott was okay just a little sore and shook up. He had some flash burns on his face and neck from when the firework exploded. Needles to say I think we are done with fireworks for a long time! We will stick with the fountains and be glad we got what we got from the crappy salesman! It was cute Collin kept saying "I am so sorry that this all happened" We are very lucky it could have been a LOT worse!

They were pretending to roast marsh mellows!

Gabe, Collin, and Josh getting their seats picked for the fireworks!

I don't know if you can tell from the pic but you can kind of see the burns on Scott's forehead. Ouch!

Week of Fun!

My mom has transformed her backyard into a fun park for her grand kids so my sisters and I decided to go spend the week together and let the kids enjoy it all. We had lots of fun! I hardly even saw my kids all week! It was a nice break actually! Most of the good pictures were on my mom and sisters cameras and of course I forgot to get them before I left so maybe if they send them then I will do another post but I did manage to find my kids for a min to get a few pictures!

It is so nice having some older grand kids around. They were so good to play with my kids and to keep them out of trouble!

Josh loved the splash pad! Yep a Splash Pad in her back yard! Fun Fun! The only bad part is it was sooooo windy the entire time we were there. Bummer that's for sure but it didn't stop too much of the fun!

Josh LOVES the skidders! He is a pro on them to! There is lots of cement and sidewalk for them to ride around on so they are a big hit!

Collin practically lived on the skidder the entire time!

The down side to the skidder....he scraps up his big toes. Basically the only time I saw Collin was about 5 times a day to get new band aids on his toes. I think he went trough about 2 boxes of band aids by himself over the week! I wanted to get a picture of all the grand kids that had band aids on their big toes because I think more did than not.

And the fruit king! This little thing eats so much fruit! He devoured this piece of watermelon and wanted more and more and more! Needless to say his diapers ended up being not so much fun the last few days of the week.

Overall it was a great week! My kids didn't want to go home! They got more fresh air than they have ever had! Thanks so much mom for all you do for us and our kids! Memories for life are being made! Can't wait for our next trip down to good old Enterprise!

Kiddos

Fun random pictures of the kiddos!

Collin has to have a Santa beard at every bath time

They love to read!

Josh was throwing a fit at the door because he wanted to go swimming!

He had it on for at least an hour. Every time we tried to take it off he would scream! When we actually go swimming he refuses to wear any type of floating devise so I thought it was funny that he wouldn't let us take it off.

Doing some painting for Grandma Mel's B-day and Father's day.

As you can see josh made a pretty good mess but was happy doing it!

Collin had fun with his new paint brushes

Can you find the letters in his name?? He wrote them all by himself! I think he did pretty good!

Camping

We decided to do a camping test run to see how the boys would do with it all. They Loved it! Collin couldn't wait to camp out in grandma and grandpas back yard. He told me everything we would need... A tent, flashlight, PJ's, sleeping bag, and don't forget the smores! We had a great time playing in the sand box, setting up camp, gathering firewood, building a fire and of course roasting marshmallows for smores! Josh ate a few marshmallows, graham crackers and some fire roasted little smokies then with a full belly fell asleep on my lap. After Collin had his full tummy he told us he was ready to go get in the tent. He had a little trouble falling asleep because he was making up wild stories about what was going to come and get him but after much convincing he finally gave up and fell asleep. Scott and I slept under the stars on a tarp just outside the tent. Josh woke up a couple times during the night and they were both up and a little too excited at 6am! Josh thought it was so cool to wake up outside. He kept pointing at the trees and things around us and giggling. Collin was so excited to realize that he made it all through the night and nothing came and got him! Overall a pretty fun experience. I think we might just have to do some camping this summer!

If you can't tell Collin was super excited about the whole ordeal! And yes Josh is naked....he would rather be that way every day all day but he had gotten watermelon juice all over his clothes!

Hogle Zoo

We have had lots of chances to go to the Hogle Zoo thanks to a sweet lady that comes and gets her hair cut. She volunteers at the zoo and shares her free tickets with us! My kids love it! Every time she comes to get her hair cut Collin asks if she has more tickets for us. He knows her by the zoo ticket lady! He is getting spoiled by her! This time we had a really great time there. The weather couldn't have been any better, which makes the animals even more fun to watch also!

Collin has a concerned look because Scott just told him that the tiger thinks he is a big chicken nugget!!

It was really cool to see the tigers big tongue as he drank the water. Normally the tigers are sleeping when we see them so it was fun to see them up and moving around.

I love watching these monkeys. They are always so active and playful. They came right up and put there hands to Collin's on the glass. We also saw one do a flip as it jumped form the rock to the vine!

Collin was reading the map while we sat and waited for the bird show to start. We all love the bird show! I was surprised at how well josh did just sitting. He loved watching the birds each swoop in above our heads. Unfortunately it got cut a little short because it was windy enough that one of the birds missed it's target and they couldn't get it to come down out of the trees. They couldn't let the next birds out without that one safely in because it would have been prey for the larger birds. We got to see most of it though!

Of course the water ball is always a hit!

And the ride home was even peaceful! What a great trip to the zoo! We can't wait to go back in a few months when the new exhibit opens so we can see some bears!

Family Reunion

Family Reunion 2012

(Everyone but Scott was able to be there this year)

We had a great family reunion this year put on by my sister Kathryn. My post is a little out of order but I think I got all the fun events in there somewhere! It was down at my moms house in Enterprise. We did lots of fun Easter things! Coloring Easter eggs was top on the list of course. Collin had a good time doing this but was very concerned that the dye didn't wash off his fingers.

He had a Blast jumping on the tramp with his cousins!

We split the kids up in age groups and did a Easter egg hunt. Josh was a little unsure but loved to open them and see what he got. Collin loved searching for the eggs and would even give some to his little cousins while he was at it. He also loved seeing the treasures inside each egg!

Josh was so tired from all the excitement going on all the time that he fell asleep basically sitting up!

My mom sent the kids on a treasure hunt. She gave the girls clues about Grandma (herself) and the Boys had clues about Grandpa. It was fun see the kids figure out the clues. At the end they opened up the garage where there were buckets full of lots of fun treasure for each of them.

(This picture has all the grand kids but Baylee. She was taking a nap.)

We seem to always go down to see my moms this time of year so we have started a little tradition of sending my dad birthday balloons with a note from each grand kid for his birthday. I decided that it was time that I needed to explain to Collin who Grandpa Hess was. I never thought he was old enough to really understand but I am glad I took the opportunity this time to talk to him about it. He was so cute and funny about it. I showed him grandpa's picture and said that he was my dad and his grandpa and he died before you were born. The first thing Collin said was "Oh mom that's so sad" Sweet little thing. I also told him that he probably knew grandpa in heaven before he came to live with us. Then he explained to me that he lived in heaven with heavenly father and grandpa then he game down through my mouth and into my tummy. LOL what a funny kid! I think he got the idea anyway! He had fun writing a note to grandpa and sending it to heaven. We drove by a cemetery the other day and Collin said "hey mom look it is the place we sent the balloons to heaven for grandpa!" I guess they all look the same!

On Saturday we went and spent the day at the sand-dunes in Snow Canyon. It was a blast! We started with a picnic lunch then headed over to the sand hills. We were worried that it might not be good weather but it ended up being perfect! Josh loved it for the first 30min then he was done. I had to basically hold him and fight with his grumpiness the whole time but Collin on the other hand had a ton of fun! He was off playing with the cousins. They made tunnels and raced the colored eggs down them (Collin did his best to wreck the tunnels for them. Little stink!), they buried each other, they dug a big giant hole, and did tricks down the hills. Everyone was covered from head to toe with sand! It was a great day!

Saturday morning when the kids woke up the Easter Bunny had come! Collin had a fun time finding where the Bunny hide his basket. He loved his new dinosaur puzzles and pirate flip flops and off course the hollow chocolate Easter bunny and other candy he got! Josh wasn't so sure about it all but once he figured out that he could take the wrappers off the candy and it was delicious inside he was a pretty happy little boy!

Easter Sunday wasn't so great for me. I ended up getting a migraine. I was so mad. I love Easter Sunday and it was the last day with all my family being together but I delt with it.  So much thanks to my sister Angie for taking Collin, getting him ready, and taking him to church so I could get some sleep while Josh napped. As soon as Josh woke up I headed over to hear the last half hour of sacrament and join in on the family picture that was at the first of this post. Collin loved going to grandma's church! When we got back I managed to get kind of a cute picture of them in their new Easter church outfits.

Overall we had a great time at the family reunion this year! It is fun for Collin to be with all of his cousins. I hardly even see him because he is so busy and entertained by them all! Thanks Barlow family and mom for the great time!

Scott wasn't able to come with us because he had Finals and he went on a trip to Reno for a research conference so I decided to spend another week down there with my mom. Collin was very lonely because all the cousins had to go home but he did enjoy playing with my brothers kids who live around the corner from my mom. We were able to do lots of fun things! I spent some time with my best friend from childhood, Heidi, while Collin and Kelson played. I got to watch my niece Dani play a couple softball games, and also Kimber, Karen, and Becca dance in there dance review. It was also fun to spend some time with my mom so she could get to know Collin and Josh a little more!

One of Collin's favorite things at Grandma's Hess' house is the Skidders! Josh loved them too! They only had a couple days to play on them until it snowed. It is always hard packing to go down this time of year. I packed pretty much one of everything.(long sleeves, pants, short sleeves, shorts, jackets, coats) Unfortunately I forgot the snow gear! Collin wanted to play in it soooo bad!

My boys loved their time down in Enterprise! Thanks mom for letting us invade your space for so long. On the drive home Collin kept saying "mom i think we should go back to grandma hess' right now!" I think we need to go down there a little more often!