calf creek falls

This was my favorite hike that we did. The trail was a ways back but so pretty with nice sandy paths. The kids liked this one a lot as well. Canyon tried to catch lizards along the way. Ellie spent her time finding flowers and putting them to sleep on rocks. The waterfall at the end really is so so beautiful. It was the perfect place to hang out and eat lunch. To bad the water was way to cold to swim...brrrr......

organic baby food

I swear we brought Lucy baby food. She just seemed to prefer to satisfy her hunger by grazing off the land. Rocks were her favorite followed closely by reed that kept her happy for hours in the pack. I probably seem like the worst mother...letting her munch away while I snapped photos, but really whats wrong with a little organic baby food right?? Besides it was so fun to see her curiosity take over. She knew when to say when so I wasn't to worried.

yum....reed

So what does Lucy think about organic baby food??

(the drool,smile and the thumbs up says it all)

Kodachrome Basin, Escalante

This place was pretty neat. A vast desert land full of all sorts of slot canyons scattered about. We did a more kid friendly 4 mile round trip slot. It had a little stream with pebbles the whole way that made it so pretty and extra fun for our little hikers and us to :) This whole basin area had a lot of cool cool stuff that I am sure is amazing but involved harder hiking and climbing (probably not for kids.) Now I want to go back sometime and explore some more areas and see what I can find.

road trippin

What better to do when the resorts close but go on a road trip. We packed up and took off to Southern Utah for 5 days. We had never been to the Escalante Desert so it was fun to explore a bunch of new areas. We hiked about 15 miles in 4 days in different parts of Red Canyon, Escalante, and Capitol Reef (canyon and ellie included...they were amazing!) It felt so good to be outside enjoying the beauty and sunshine. We had a great time. First stop.....

RED CANYON

the last lift up

We had our last day snowboarding of the season a couple of weekends ago. We had such a great season this year with over 20 days of riding and a ton of huge powder days. This may not seem like a lot..it used to not be. But believe me with with 2 kids + a new baby bundle + a honey with a full-time job it was huge. It by far exceeded any expectation I had. I loved every bit of it. Although I am ready for Spring... I was sad to see it come to a end. I thought Ellie was deserving of her own little video clip for the ski season finale. At only 4 years old she is becoming quite the little skier. Tree trails and trying to race Canyon are her specialty. She wanted to try out some of the rails in the park like Canyon...but I strongly objected. She didn't like that to much..but hey at least she is alive.. phew!!

little retro onesie's

I started making these onesie's for Lucy a while back. I finally finished the last stitch a couple days ago. I took me a while to buckle down and finish this small project so I was glad they still fit. I think they turned out pretty cute. Now I am going to make some more only faster this time.. (hopefully). Maybe I will try out doing one with her name and a T-shirt for Ellie too.

Lucy was my little model here she is in her new retro onesie look.

onesie number 1
front and back views

close up details...... and Lucy during her best modeling behavior

onesie number 2

front view

back view

Hello Jeeves

To fully understand this story you must know that Canyon absolutely
1. Hates being in front of people.
2. Has a deep rooted fear of being famous or on TV.


With that said the other day Canyon told me when he grew up he wanted to be the Vice President. The rest goes like this.....

ME: Oh really did you know that the vice president makes speeches in front of thousands of people and is on TV a lot.
CANYON: Really.... I thought that was the President of the United States that did that.
ME: Well the Vice President does that stuff to.

Then after a moment of silence and I am sure deep deliberation Canyon sighed and replied.

CANYON: Fine I guess I will just be their Butler.

I laughed so hard. I tried not to but I couldn't help it. We have been calling him Jeeves for a couple of days now and have given him a few more chores to take on. I think this picture adds a nice visual effect of our new little butler. It's so nice to have the extra help around the house.

I am so happy that....
1. Canyon has figured out the chain of command in our government at such an early age. President, Vice President and then their butler.
2. I have detoured him out of a career in politics.

Easter 2008

Well this Easter is not going to be very well documented. Canyon manged to slip out of his Easter attire in no time flat. I got a couple pictures of the girls and then the battery died. I was sad :(. (No Sunday Egg Hunt, no Canyon, no good pictures for that matter) I put these up anyway. The girls looked so cute all dressed up in there Easter best. Sometime soon I want to get some much better pictures of them wearing these very cute dresses. I just loved them. We had a very relaxing sunny beautiful day at home. The kids loved making sure the door remained unlocked so the bunny could get in and had fun hunting for all the treasure filled eggs.

bear lake beauty

Bear lake looked so pretty....the last little bit of winter beauty.

growing up

Our little peanut hit her 9 month mark this past weekend. She just seems so grown up lately. Crawling and doing the downward dog yoga position seems to be her new thing. She is also very skilled at eating Cherrios as fast as she possibly can. Sometimes you can get her to wave hello and good-bye. She still gives her amazing kisses only now she has learned to add the smack kissy sound to it which makes it that much more adorable. Her top talent still remains to be her amazing smile that she gives a 100 times a day. It melts our hearts every time.

(Shane took these pictures the other day... I loved this set)

a good laugh

Lucy loves music and watching people dance (usually Ellie is the entertainer). Well Ellie decided she wanted me to dance and she would sing. Ellie's choice of song NO One by Alicia Keys. So I started to dance...I don't think I have ever seen Lucy laugh that hard. Do I look that funny when I dance? How could it be that funny? I asked Ellie if I looked funny she just smiled. I'm confused Ellie always dances with me...she used to convince me that I danced beautiful. Now I am sure she gives me positive reinforcement because she wants someone to dance with and by default I am the only one around. WOW....I really wonder what they are thinking when they watch me dance. Maybe Ellie is just happy because her friends aren't around. Any how I have realized that my pure dancing talent makes the three of us all laugh. It's so funny to see them both laughing so hard even if it is at me.
We are heading North this weekend for a little snowboarding at an old favorite resort... Good old Beaver Mountain. This is where I first laid eyes on Shane so it's obviously always going to be a favorite. Shane's family will be meeting us up there so it should be a lot of family fun. Don't worry when the party gets goin in the evening I will keep my entertainment skills of dancing on the down low :) No one over the age of 6 can ever be a witness to this spectacle. Looking forward to some family down time. Ohhhhhh how I love weekends.

time for tea

Me and Ellie and Lucy met up with some of our favorite girls for a tea party at Pandora's Tea Parlor. This place is beyond cute and a great place to go and hang with little and big girls. The girls loved the dress up room that is stocked to the brim with all the fancy sparkly wonderful stuff that little girls love, they were in heaven. It was so cute to see them sitting on their very own lovely little table sipping and chatting away. We wanted in on the fun so we got a little dressed up to...(and laughed and laughed). Thanks to all the tea party girls for this fun lunch.

Pandora's tea parlor may be closing it's doors this makes me sad :(

Ellie with her very adorable friends minus one. (Izzy :( )

Little Lucy lovin the tea time!

Ellie and Scout

Ellie's fancy friends Sophie and Mari sitting on those very cute tables.


Beautiful tea party ladies ...those hats were SO great!

that boy is so smooth

Canyon doing some sweet rails last weekend...lovin it!

Family Ski Day

We had a fun family Ski Day while Lucy spent some time doing all that fun baby stuff with G-ma.

As the season winds down I have some mixed emotions. I am so ready to once again see the beautiful color green, get out the tents and swimsuits and be saturated with sunshine. At the same time we have had SO SO many good days at the mountain that I will miss our Saturday routine. I am glad I get to enjoy a little of both in the early Spring (Spring snowboarding is so fun). Nice warm days in the valleys yet still some snow at the resorts. With all that said, I will have to admit that if the 70's and 80's want to come a little early I will be welcoming them with open arms, flip flops and a tall glass of lemonade.

tooth proof

Lucy has sprung two cute little pearly whites. I have felt them and on occasion caught a glance..but I wanted a better look. I was hoping I would be able to see them in a picture.

At first all I got was this cute look....

And this....

She seemed determined to keep her pretty little lips sealed.

But finally she smiled and there it was.. the tooth! One very cute first tooth... the other one is to small.

Tubing @ Soldier Hollow

We went tubing to Soldier Hollow. We had such a good time! How could you not... you don't even have to pull your tube up the hill. It pulls you. :) Then you get to go down a perfectly smooth rollie pollie hills in a big train. WHEEEEE...

A sick weekend

We had a sick weekend.. and not the good kind of sick. The kids are and miserable and my husband is at boy scout camp kind of sick. What is worse than having sick kids ? Not much..but we did manage to go to a movie. I had to get out and this was an activity we all could enjoy on low energy. The kids weren't contagious but still not feeling up to doing anything that required more than sitting. This was a fun movie. The kids loved it! It was kind of scary but the kids insisted that they were unaffected.When we got home Ellie was knocking on all the walls checking for trolls... I assume. Looks like it got to her a little. A fun movie none the less. Lucy sat contently through the whole thing looking around and eating cherrios. It was a little mind boggling so see her sit through the movie not making one mad or sad peep. I will enjoy it while I can because lets face it once she is on the move the ease of taking her along with us to the movies is history.

remember

I was looking at these pictures today that Shane did a few years ago. I just love them. Canyon and Ellie were so little. Canyon was 5, Ellie was 2. Its fun to look back and remember what they were like back then. It's amazing what a couple years can do..it goes by so fast....way too fast. A year seemed like forever when I was growing up... just waiting 12 days for a birthday or Christmas seemed like an eternity. What happened to that? Now a week blows by in a blink of an eye and my kids are getting way to grown up. Just when I want them all out of diapers a part of me wishes they were back in them. I need to enjoy each day with them in these little kid years I know they won't last long. I love love these two!

jib to 180

For Presidents day weekend we did a little of this and a little of that.
Canyon is pulling some sweet 180's these days check him out. It's fun to see him ride those out he gets so excited. He also thinks he is old enough to drive his own sled...I don't think so not quite yet (only when dad is on the back).

bangels and pearls

We cut Ellie some bangs a while ago. Then a few days ago while I was doing her hair she said " Mom I don't really like my pearls." She thought bangs were called pearls for some reason. So I cleared that all up for her. Even though they seem like they should be called pearls (much cuter). A couple days passed and she asked me if I would put a clippy in her bangels. I decided against teaching her that they were bangs and not bangles. The word pearls or bangels just sounds way more charming. Besides why are they called bangs anyway? Thats just not a very good word to describe whispy hair that dangles lightly above your eyebrows is it? So its bangles for the girls in this house it's just better that way. ( I love her natural curls I hope they are here to stay)

be mine

Lucy was my little Valentine today. I think she loves me because she doesn't like me to go anywhere that her big brown eyes loose line of sight and her favorite place to be is riding around on my hip. I love you too Lucy B.... Will you always be mine?

TAG i'm it...

I've been tagged 10 things you might not know about me.

1. I can't and refuse to wear black socks... I don't know why I just can't put a pair on. I can do black tights..just not the socks.. part of it is they remind me of old men.. the other reasons I can't quite put a finger on.

2. I love to travel near or far.... I would go just about anywhere anytime but not quite with anyone.. I have to like who I travel with. I love to go explore new places from slot canyons to vibrant cities.. anything goes. I would love to explore new countries uh... I better apply for a passport to make this happen. For now road trips with some good tunes will be making me happy.

3. I find it hard to pass up a dare.. On my first date with Shane I army crawled through a small squishy cave in a swim suit.. Why??? I asked myself that question when it was over a million times...because he dared me. (10 years later it looks like that double dare payed off)

4. There are many many things I wish I was better at. The list would be way to long so I will just leave it at that.

5. My feet crave flip flops in the winter months. After many long winter days my feet just start to feel suffercated and when the socks come off its like they can breath. I know its silly.. but so true. The best is after a Spring snowboarding day to take those big boots and wooly socks off and slip your little footsie into a flip flop Ahhhhh! that feels good.

6. LOST... I know I know .. the TV program is all the rage...But until recently I have only watched an episode here or there. Life is just to busy these days to commit to a set TV schedule. But thanks to this we get to watch it whenever we want. We are half way thorough season one and I must admit it's pretty good.

7. We don't have cable and in this day and age this makes us very strange I am aware of that. Once in a while I wish we had like when a good jazz game is on but other than that I don't miss having cable. We don't watch that much TV anyway.

8. I love warm summer nights.. I have so much more energy and I love staying outside until late.

9. I love sleeping in..there is nothing quite better than just waking up when you don't feel tired anymore and eating a big yummy breakfast.

10. I love having my head scratched, feet rubbed, neck & massaged, hands & arms tickled and so on and so on.. but who doesn't right???

Whew!! that really was hard.. I was running on near empty in the end. Ali I better be on your good friend list now. Now it's time for Heidi, Heather, Janelle, Holli and Harmony to play the game. TAG your it !! Come on don't let me down.

ellie-aspen & the sleigh

Ellie really wanted to be the sleigh puller when she wasn't riding in it. She took this job very seriously as you can see.

winter lake

Looks like I got my blue bird day this weekend... and believe me we took full advantage of it. Sunday afternoon we went on a little walk to the lake. I think we were the only non-ice fishermen out there. We did a little sleigh riding...Shane did a lot of sled pulling. We saw a lot of deer and the kids found an abundance of stuff that they consider treasure and adults consider trash. Mostly I just enjoyed the beauty of the blue sky against the white mountain peaks and the lovely feeling of the sunshine on my face.

hello snow

The snow is back this winter by the truck loads. I love the snow because it covers all the grey brown murk of winter, it makes the cold bearable, snowboarding out of sight, driving exciting (only with no kids in the car). It makes snow angels possible, our hot tub more useful and the house more cozy.. I love it I do but..... I would love it even more if that little wonderful invention the snowblower was parked and happy in my garage. This is our house before the last 3 storms. We have SO much snow. Oh! and I forgot to mention that the snow also makes me excited for Spring. I guess a blue bird day or a sunny vacation will do.
(This post is for my favorite Vegas friend who wanted to see some snow).

still loving this

I'm still loving doing this after all these years. This weekend we got to go snowboarding for a FULL day with NO kids.. I love going with my kids and watching them progress...but hitting the slopes on a huge powder day going on any trail at any speed reminds me why I love it so much. This love is what makes us take 3 kids and all their gear up to the resort every weekend (not always an easy task). It will be so worth it and so much fun to take any trail at any speed with the whole family. We are almost there... well with Canyon and Ellie anyway.. Lucy's not quite there yet. :)
(I wish this picture wasn't 11 years old but it is.)

change of heart

Up until a few days ago Lucy's number one most hated thing on the planet was a bath. She hated them right from the get go. Her first one in the hospital was total sadness and so were the following 100. But a few days ago Lucy had a change of heart when I put her in the sink. She actually had fun, even when her face got wet from splashing and rinsing. I put her favorite song on (Fiest 1 2 3 4) for her during the bath. Maybe that was the trick. Baths are always always better with music.... I guess even for babies. Geez why didn't I think of that sooner ?

the boy

Yesterday me and Lucy went over to the local ice skating rink to watch Canyon skate his heart out. He was on a field trip with his 2nd grade class. It was fun to see him mingle and mix with the other kids and put on a show with his best tricks for me. He insisted a thousand times over that he wanted to buy me hot chocolate for coming, so I finally took him up on his offer. Sipping Hot chocolate, sitting on a little bench with Lucy in a beautiful town with lightly falling snow, watching my favorite boy in the world ice skating with a huge smile on his face. Not a bad afternoon at all.