It's OFFICIAL!!!

SOLD! As of today we are officially no longer residents of Wyoming... this news is bitter sweet! We closed on our house sale this morning! I hope that our previous home will be a wonderful home for the new owners and they too will share great and memorable experiences with their family and friends there too! We know that we have been greatly blessed these past few months and we consider the sale of our house to be one of the greatest (right up there with Nick's new job), especially during such a tough economic time! Our blessings do not go unappreciated or noticed and we thank our Heavenly Father daily for them!

Twilight... New Moon

Just a little note to tell all of you that New Moon is a must see! I got to go see an early premier of the movie tonight and it is so much better than the first one! I'm not a huge Twilight fan (haven't even read the books... this is probably a crime against humanity to even admit this) but the movie was really good! Hope you can all fit in a night out on the town to see New Moon in theaters!

Once there was a Snowman...

This past Saturday we got snow! Blake was so excited about it! He has been going around our house singing "Once there was a Snowman, Snowman, Snowman. Once there was a Snowman, tall, tall, tall. In the sun he melted, melted, melted. In the sun he melted, small, small, small!" for weeks now! So, once there was enough snow on the ground he insisted on going outside to make a Snowman! So we put on his new puffy coat and out he went with Kyle and Daddy. The Snowman ended up not being very big because there wasn't really enough snow to make one but Nick being such a great Dad that he is did his best! Our little Snowman wasn't complete until it had a carrot nose! Blake loved his little Snowman and even told it good-night and good-morning on Sunday!

Blake showing off his completed Snowman!

My family belongs at the ZOO!

Okay, so my family doesn't literally "belong" at the ZOO, but we did get to make another special trip to the SLC zoo with my sister Mindy and my parents! Last week we had convinced my family to come visit us one more time before the weather really turned to Winter and while they were here Blake really wanted to take them to the zoo to show them all the fun and exciting animals he has been learning about! I love having a year pass because every time we go we learn new things and see new animals! This last time we were there we got to see a Falcon really up close because it's keeper was walking around the zoo with it on her arm and would stop and speak with different groups of people. It was really awesome to see such an amazing animal so close! We really had a fun time this zoo trip! Blake and Kyle got to ride the train with Grandma Mort and Aunt Mindy and then Blake got to tell Umpa about the baby elephant and monkeys (two of Blake's favorite animals to visit)! We had a fun time and then enjoyed lunch at Red Robin (their bottomless fries are so good) and then later enjoyed a family game night with Nick!

We have really enjoyed having my family be so much closer now that we are Utah but are also really excited to be coming back to Cowley for Christmas!

Photo Fun!

Blake has become quite the photographer in our household... hmmm, maybe a camera from Santa this year so he will leave mine alone! Well the other day he got my camera and got a little "trigger happy"! He took almost 50 pictures of Kyle! I could hear him tell Kyle, "Okay, say cheese!", and then I would hear Kyle say, "Cheeeese!" and then there was the click of the camera taking the picture and then he they would both just laugh and laugh! I love hearing them laugh like this! It reminds you that the world is a great place and that your kids really are wonderful! Here are some of the highlights from the photo session!

What a cutie!

Love these blue eyes!

This one just makes me laugh!
Too close and Kyle was obviously still in the middle of his long, drawn out "Cheeeese!"
LOL!

I also just had to post this last picture of Blake... I'll most likely use it for blackmail in the future! I hadn't gotten all the Halloween costumes put away yet (I guess picking them up and carrying them down stairs to the storage box in the garage was just too much for me to do) and Blake wanted to put on Kyle's coveralls from his scarecrow costume! I couldn't believe that he could actually put them on... but to state the obvious, they were just a little too short! LOL! At least Blake would be ready for a flood!

My little ham! Oh how he makes me smile!

Halloween '09

Our Halloween weekend was filled with fun and family! We spent the weekend with Uncle Jef, he arrived from Cody on Thursday and left this morning! While he was here we ate yummy food, went to the SLC Zoo and even fit in a UW Football game against U of U! The football game was on Saturday (Halloween) night so the boys didn't get to go Trick-or-Treating but they, meaning Blake, wanted to go to the game instead! So being the good mother that I am I still made the boys put on their Halloween costumes for I guess for "tradition" purposes and got some pictures! Blake was a Basketball Player and Kyle was a Scarecrow! Blake had already worn his costume to his Pre-School Halloween party on Thursday and got candy there so I think that helped in the missing Trick-or-Treating category! Here are some super cute pictures of the boys if I do say so myself!

My Ball-er and Scarecrow!

Kyle giving his signature grin!

Blake heading to his Pre-School Halloween party!
He even slept with his new basketball the night before!

Blake doing the traditional "High School" basketball picture pose!

His personalized jersey!

Here are some pictures of our trip to the SLC Zoo before we headed to the game! This time the zoo was a lot less busy and so the boys were able to enjoy seeing all the animals more up closely than our last trip! Blake was excited to tell Uncle Jef about all the animals! We really enjoyed having Jef join us for the day! He was a really good sport and posed for all the pictures I wanted to take and even took turns pushing Kyle in the stroller or holding Blake's hand! He is a great Uncle and Blake and Kyle are lucky to have him as one! One of the highlights of this particular zoo trip was that we got to ride on the TRAIN! Blake could hardly contain his excitement!

Here is Blake waiting on the train platform... he just spotted it coming around the corner in this picture!

All the "boys" waiting for the train!

And finally we made it onto the train! Blake was trying to give a thumbs-up when I took the picture! That means he was having a great time!

After the zoo we went downtown for some good Indian food, Blake and Kyle both loved it, and then we took the UTA TRAM up to the U of U football stadium for the game! Blake got to ride two different trains in one day! That always makes for a fantastic day! I wish I had some pictures from the game but I left my camera in the car... we had awesome tickets! We were right at the 50 yard line and only about 20 rows up! Soon after we got seated Jef noticed his first mission president sitting only 4 rows in front of us! That just proves what a small world it is after all! The game was fun, especially the first half when the Cowboys were wining but they ended up losing by about twelve. This was Blake and Kyle's first college football game and they had fun cheering on the Pokes! One of the highlights for Blake was when he got to give the U of U mascot a high-five... I was a little less thrilled because he messed up my hair since I was cheering for the opposing team (while sitting in the middle of U of U season ticket holders... it's all about who you know and Nick knows somebody from work!!!)! Hey, you just have to laugh it off! I'm just glad that Blake wasn't afraid of this human size bird wearing a football jersey coming at him! All in all we had a GREAT Halloween and are already looking forward to Halloween 2010! We are also looking forward to having Uncle Jef closer to us when he moves to Utah in just a few months!

Pre-Halloween Weekend!

This past weekend we went to Grand Junction, CO for a fun filled, Halloween themed, weekend with my parents and sister, Mindy! We had a great time and the boys had a blast! My mom and sister planned out little activities for the kids to do and my dad got the pumpkins he had grown in his garden ready for his grandsons to carve! They even helped the boys put on a spook house for Nick and I to go through! Blake loved that he got to "spook" us! Nick and I made a spooky dinner for everyone on Saturday night and we just played games and enjoyed each others company the rest of the time! My mom even went as far as to coordinate her shirt with her witch hat! The biggest hit when it came to the craft projects was when the boys got to make spider and skeleton cupcakes! The boys each made one of each! The process went a little like this though, "one m&m for the spider's eye and three for me!" They loved having so much chocolate at their disposal!

Here is Blake assembling his Spider!

Blake showing off his masterpiece!
Love that grin!

Kyle working on his Spider... I think he was going for the Black Widow look!

One of the Skeleton cupcakes! I think they are too cute!
(Use a mini-marshmallow for the head)

The boys discovered this pirate hat in some of my parents costumes! They each wanted to take turns wearing it! Blake would put it on then walk around the room say, "Arrgh, Matey!" And Kyle would make the funniest expressions when he had it on! Hey, cheap entertainment!

For dinner Nick and I kept it pretty simple, but still fun! We had Snake Pizza and Mummys in addition to fun appetizers, and yummy salad that we served with Skeleton salad tongs! And for drinks we had witch's brew (food coloring and 7up) served from a cauldron with dry-ice!

The Snake pizza is "S" shaped french bread hollowed out then filled with pizza toppings and then you use green olives for the eyes and bell pepper for the tongue! It was a big hit with Blake! And the Mummy's are a twist on pigs in a blanket but you leave some of the hot dog showing and then draw on ketchup eyes! We actually got the boys to eat a hot dog (they would never eat one before)!

On Saturday afternoon we carved the pumpkins that my dad had grown specially for his grandsons! We did only one for both the boys since they were such huge pumpkins! We worked on the face design together and then I did my best at duplicating it! I think it turned out so fun! The teeth are my favorite part... they are chopped almonds!

These are just a few of my favorite pictures of the weekend of the boys! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family! I really appreciate all the work that my parents and sister put into planning the weekend and for a husband that goes along with all my corny ideas and who pretends to be having a good time when we are doing them too!