doughnut falls

We hiked up to doughnut falls with some of our friends. Last time we did this hike is when Canyon was 1 years old. It was fun to do it again and it was so pretty!! What took us so long to do get back there?? Canyon and Ellie had extra good time hiking/exploring around with their friends.

(flower girls)

(the jerky club and a snake)

(little lucy bird)

getting close

Every day Lucy takes more and more steps. I am sure that soon her trademark crawl will be
gone and replaced with little wobbly steps. I will miss that monkey crawl.

cows and ponies

We had a day at Thanksgiving Point everyone got a little pony ride. Lucy almost got eaten alive by a baby cow. The stroller was the closer target so it got the brunt of the action. She was fortunate enough to only get a good toe licking. Lucy was not amused at all, but the rest of us found it very entertaining. (sorry Lucy)

optimistic

The other day Ellie was so sick all morning. She laid around the house in different spots with a bowl nuzzled up to her side for emergencies. After what seemed like her 10th time of taking advantage of the ever dependable bowl, I started to clean her face and I said......

"Ellie I'm so sorry your sick. I feel so bad for you."
(she smiles and replies) " Don't feel bad for me mom. I'm really happy when I'm not throwing up."
Well okay ?? What do you really say to that?
I am glad she can look at the bright side of things, what a little optimist. I love her energy and love for life. She makes me happy.

old tree

(it's no secret what flavor they had.)

You just can't leave Zions without getting ice cream and sitting under the big old tree. You all know the big old tree I am talking about right? Every time we go, without fail we plant our tired selves under the shade and soak our up every last bit of Zions we can.

the narrows

The narrows has to be our all-time favorite hike. It is so fun and refreshing to hike through the water on a hot summer day. There are perfect brake spots for lunch and swimming. And it is amazingly beautiful. My sister Stephanie and her husband decided at the last second to come and join us on our hike. I am so glad they did we had a great time! Here are just a few photos.

under the stars

You can't beat camping when the low is 65, there are endless samores, perfect camping music and you can hear the river all night. The kids were in heaven. They did a great job keeping the fire going, scrapping around for leafs and twigs all night. They also loved making fire tracers with sticks and roasting their marshmellows. Our night under the stars was lovely.

skimmin @ virgin river

We went to Zions over the weekend. It was SO hot when we got there so a little skimmin (surfing/skateboarding on shallow water) was the first on our to do list. It was Canyon's first time and he was a natural at it. He really surprised us all with how easy it was for him. We had the best time. There is something about this place that we just love. Our entire trip was nothing short of amazing. No one wanted to go home. BOOO!! for the real world of obligations. (more pictures to come)

canyon loves

This summer Canyon is loving: hiking, mountain biking, camping, wii, swimming, tennis and hanging out with his friends. He just seems so big... loving to do all this stuff.

Love Him!

plumping up?

We had our official weigh in today.. and the little bird is only 4oz. bigger. I was just relieved she hit the 15 pound mark. She eats so much it is mind boggling that none of it seems to stick. For example her breakfast this morning. She put away more than anyone in the family with her 2 bowls of oatmeal and an egg with cheese and butter that she chased down with milk and cherrios. After all that she still manages to get in a few bites of my toast. Where does it all go??

derby time

Canyon went to his first pinewood derby. It was also my first time. I have to say I was pretty surprised by the fierce competition (people take these things very seriously). Canyon won all of his heats and made it to the finals. I think in his mind he thought his car would never lose and he would be the grand champion. So when the final round came and he lost coming in a close second he was a little sad to say the least. A few tears were shed and when you wipe those tears with graphite covered hands it is a sight to be seen. After a couple seconds he toughened up and came to terms with his sadness. He went up and happily accepted his awards for 2nd place with his post-crying face plastered with Graphite. It was the perfect pinewood derby moment. I wish I had a picture but he was embarrassed so he ran home and washed it off before I could catch him. His Grandpa Cox informed him that he is the first Cox boy in the family to win anything at a pinewood derby (scouting in this family does not run deep apparently). He thought that was pretty cool. Great Job Canyon!!

skim milk ??

Lucy had her One-Year check up and when she took to the scale..well.. you could say she came up a little short. The numbers read 14 lbs 14 oz. What! How can this be so? She eats everything in sight. So the nurse led me to another scale and once again the numbers read 14 lbs 14 oz. Those hard numbers tell a sad... sad truth of underweightness. It is hard to know why this is so. My friend questioned the quality of milk I produce "maybe it's skim milk" she says. But my diet that makes that milk is far from skimpy. So I would like to blame it on the fact that she has a Super Hero style metabalism that one day will make her a very lucky girl. What ever the reason, I guess we call her little lucy, little bird, little peanut and little miss for good reason......the gal is a little one. So what do we do?? Dr. Instructions are a high fat high calorie diet. So I make sure she gets a large sized ice cream on a regular basis (we save big greasy hamburgers for special occasions). She is very fond of this diet. Ice cream makes her very happy. So we will see in the next month or so if our little bird turns plump. There is a small chance you may not recognize her...but I doubt we will be that successful. Wish us luck. :)

(yummmm...icecream)

lucky kids

I have some pretty lucky kids. They quite possibly have the best Dad in the world. I knew when I married him he would be a great Dad and he is even better than I ever imagined. He LOVES to be with them and makes time for each one of them. I have finally convinced him that we could take a vacation alone and it would still be fun. He wants to take them everywhere it's kind of funny. He knows each one of them so well and loves them for exactly who they are and they absolutely adore him. He is a very popular man around the house everyone always wants to be with Dad. It makes my heart happy to see the way he looks at each one of them and how they look back at him filled with love. So Happy Father's Day to Shane from me and our lucky kids.

(Shane took the kids on a ride down this avalanche path. It was funny)
(double click for a closer look.)

For Father's Day we hiked to Stewart Falls at Sundance before we headed off to a BBQ. The weather was perfect but the hike well lets just say there was a lot of downsides. It did have it's good times like when we came across this avalanche path and we could slide down. The worst parts of the hike were as follows:
1. I gave Shane new hiking sandals for Father's Day. He wore them on the hike and well...his feet got sore and blistery really fast so he had to hike most of the way barefoot. I know what a great Father's Day present right?? Ellie kept asking him if he liked the sandals she gave him. He just kept smiling and told her he loved them. :)
2. I got the worst allergies ever. It took everything I had not to itch my eyes right off my head.
3. Canyon was running down the trail and tripped on a long and landed flat on his face. I guess he really was lucky because his face missed a small boulder by about an inch.
4. Ellie tripped and fell of the trail into a huge stinging needle bush it was so sad.. she had the worst welts ever.
So there you have it. The best Father's Day hike ever...well at least for Lucy. She got in a long nap and gazed around at all the beautiful scenery.

happy birthday little lucy bird

One year ago today I was holding my new little bundle in a surgical supply closet at the hospital. There were so many babies born that day there were no rooms left. Yah I guess I pretty much got the shaft but I was to out of it to care. Now my little birdie has a year behind her. It is truly amazing how much they change in a year. I remember when she could pretty much fit in the palm of your hand (literally) and when I put her in her car seat it made me cry because she was so small it felt like borderline child abuse. These days this little miss is a spunky thing full smiles and hugs. She has the cutest crawl in the world and dances up a storm. She has also mastered the loudest squeal that is humanly possible. I have yet to figure out how that noise comes out of such a tiny body. She is always surprising me with her language skills. She says a few words + woofs like a dog at all animals. Her newest favorite thing is pointing at anything in sight and saying "what's that" or at least it sounds an awful like it. She loves hide and go seek, pat-a-cake, jumping, downward dogs that have now turned into semi-summersaults (she's pretty tricky). She is amazing from head to toe. We love this little girl. Happy Birthday Lucy!

baptized

Canyon is officially baptized!! It was a great day for him. He was all smiles and loved being the most important person around for the day. I asked him how he felt and he said "I feel well and perfect". And on that day I guess he was. :) Canyon has been one of the best things in my life for what feels like forever. It has been such a blessing to be able to watch him grow and change into his wonderful 8 year old self. We love you Canyon!! (and your very cute 8 year old smile)

Thanks to Allison for taking such amazing pictures of Canyon
on his baptism day... love them. She is such a talented photographer.
Seriously check out her... work. We are pretty lucky to have her in the family. :)

a little practicality

Here is my sweet Ellie Belle in her favorite hiking dress. I say "hike" and before I know it she comes spinning out of her room in the famous green dress along with a pink bag for collecting pretty things along the way. This time she opted for boots in case there was some snow. If it was up to her she would have brought 3 pair of extra shoes so she could change depending on trail and weather conditions. Ohhhhh the time I spend talking her out of things. Trying to reason... trying to teach some practicality. I feel it is my duty as a parent to teach at least a fraction of sensibility but I always wonder if it is worth it. It never quite seems to sink into her fancy thinking patterns. Truthfully in the end I would be sad if my little miss girly, big ideas, everything needs to beautiful all the time, why can't I bring 20 things and outfits everywhere I go girl became little miss practical. Although on occasion would be nice for the sake of time, convenience, and sanity.  

hike @ sundance

I feel pretty lucky that we have been able to do something outside considering this cold spell (ugh!). We took advantage of our summer passes at Sundance and went hiking. I can't wait for it to warm up so summer feels like it has finally begun. Come on Fireworks, BBQ's, camping and sunscreen I am READY for you!

Our family line up

The jump the landing

The race... the loser ...so sad :(

The boy I love!