Vacay! Day 3

Blogging in the summer is so CRAZY!! We just do too many fun things and I can't keep up! No complaints, though! That's a great problem to have!

This has nothing to do with the rest of the post, but I had to just stick it in somewhere! Lately Taysum and Bailey do a really cute little thing! Bailey will say something like, "I love popcorn!" Taysum will say, "Me, too!" Then Bailey will say, "Me three!" Then they'll give each other a high 5 and say, "Splibidy!!" (It's from the movie of Max Lucado's 'If I Only Had a Green Nose.') It's so cute!! Another fun thing is Taysum takes a toy Millennium Falcon from McDonald's and flies it around as he sings the theme from Star Trek Generations!! He even says, "Captain's log, stardate....." Too funny!

So, Day 3 we were up bright and early to meet with some friends at McDonald's for breakfast. We met the Delgados in college in Laramie and have been friends for about 12 years now! They have been living in Lehi for a while now and we've seen them a few times. Nic just got a job in Nebraska and they'll be moving as soon as they sell their house. So, we thought we better take the opportunity to meet up with them and say good bye for now. This McDonald's had a great play place! It was all about music which was perfect for our kids! The toys all played music and were over sized so you could walk on them; it was great!

"All 9 Delgados"

Nic, Cortney, Daniel, Cael, Abigail, Nathan, Joshua, Zach and Gabe

Then we got to go meet the newest member of the Cutler Clan. Elizabeth Elaine Cutler made her way into the world early Saturday morning and she was more than worth the wait!! Here is a picture of Lucy and Hayden. They are only a month apart, but she makes Hayden look SO big!!

Uncle Ken meets little Lizzy

This was Ken's reaction to hearing a little more about the birth story!

Uncle Ken and "Wheaty"

In Ken's family there are 5 boys and 1 girl. There are 13 grandsons and (now) 6 grand daughters. No family had more than one girl until now!

After lunch, a nap for Bailey and a couple quick shopping trips, we went to Thanksgiving Point. They have acres and acres of gardens and one of them is just for kids. It has this wonderful Noah's Ark wading area,

(Bailey getting brave)

Fountains that squirt up from the sidewalk,

(Taysum and Garrett)

Lots of shade for the grown-ups,

Statues all over the garden of animals, including this giant centipede to climb on,

A pond and stream for launching wooden boats,

A trail with animal tracks that leads to a bear cave,

With a bear in the cave!!

(Kymball, Adelaide, Bailey and Taysum)

And a lot more fun things! Next time, we're excited to go through the mazes!

Hayden and Cooper

The day wasn't over yet!! That night, we took a ride in Uncle Mark's buggy to the ward Rodeo Night! It was such a great activity!! We had a delicious Bar-B-Q and then all sorts of fun rodeo events!

Sami and Bailey LOVED these little rocking horses.

The kids really enjoyed the snow cones, too!

Taste for taste!!

Let the Games Begin!

There was stick horse barrel racing,

Cow Pie Tossing,

Taysum's version of a Three-Legged Race,

Steer Roping,

Spectators

My Handsome Cowboy

and Horse Rides

(Bailey is a pro! They were worried she would be scared, but she knew what she was doing!)

We headed back home after a long, but WAY fun day! What better way to end the day than with some tire swinging!?

Taysum and Ryan

They say Sunday is a day of rest and we did get a little; but as you'll see next, it was another wonderful day full of babies, family, friends and food!

Vacay! Day 2

Day 2 started out with the sand-turned-into-mud box. Followed by horse rides with Dad on Skip and Little Skip.

I didn't even have to ask Taysum to strike this pose! I said, "Smile!" and he threw his arm and leg up and said, "Yee Haw!"

That afternoon we anxiously waited with Mark and Alicia. Alicia was scheduled to be induced at the hospital. She kept calling the hospital and they kept saying, call back later! We played games and watched a movie to help the time pass. They finally got the call and were on their way! That evening, we went to Salt Lake and had a fun Bar-B-Q at Shane and Amanda's house. They had a cool tire swing in their backyard which was a big hit with the kids; especially Taysum!

Ryan, Sami and Adelaide

Handsome Hayden

They live just a couple blocks away from Michael and Eli's school which is right next door to the college where Shane and Amanda work; so it's a great location for their family! After dinner, we all walked to the playground and had a great time playing soccer, Frisbee (with a giant disc) in the sand, and on the playground equipment!

Ken, Bailey and Garrett

Funny Face

By the time we got home, the kids were pretty worn out!

At this point we were really excited for a new baby in the family and kept waiting for the phone to ring! It was nice to get a good night's sleep and rest up for another day PACKED with fun!

Vacay! Day 1

We went on V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N! And it was great! It wasn't really planned, but turned out perfect! Ken had to go to Utah for some training on a Thursday, so we were going to leave Wednesday night, take Friday off and come back Sunday. Well, then he won a bid for a job in southern Utah for the following Tuesday! So, we just stayed down there the whole week! It was so nice and we just loved being with his family and seeing some old friends! We love Grandpa Ned and Grammy Penny SO much for putting us up for a week!!

We had a pretty rough trip to UT and we didn't get in until around 4am! Ken only got a couple hours sleep before he had to be up and to the training! The kids were up bright and early and excited to see all the family we had been talking about! Grammy Penny was at a conference and Grandpa Ned was fixing a shower, so we just played in the yard. The kids LOVED the sandbox and we spent a lot of time out there!This was Hayden's first big trip and first time to Utah! He actually did the best out of all of us!!

Bailey wanted me to take her picture here and Taysum wanted in on it, too!

A little later in the day, we had some fun visitors! Aunt Leah came over and we got to meet little Lucy for the first time! We were so excited to meet her! We also got to see Aunt Alicia and Sammi and Ryan and Uncle Paul and Aunt Jessica with Garrett, Kymball, Addy and Cooper. It was so fun to see everyone! It was a little tough without Ken around, but he was sure happy to see everyone when he got back.

Ken and Lucy

I thought this was just a funny pose! Hayden really likes his hands and I wonder if we'll have a thumb sucker on our hands!? He is getting SO big! We had his 2 month appointment the day we left and he was 15 pounds and in the 97th percentile for height and weight!!

Later that night, we went and had an ice cream sandwhich/popcorn party at the Neilsens!

Meeting Aunt Holly

The crew

We were pretty exhausted after such a late night (early morning) before, but we were so excited to be there! We were off to a great start to the week!

Wonderful Weekends

June has been mostly cold and rainy, so on nice days, we really take advantage of the outdoors! Taysum has really been enjoying his bike and rides it all the time! There was even one day that was nice enough to play in the sprinkler on the tramp. Our kids LOVE it!!

Hayden is growing so fast. We just love, love, love having him in our family!!

A few weeks ago, Bailey woke up with 9 spider bites on her face! This picture is actually a week later. We put medicine on her face, but it still looks like it might scar; so we're hoping since she's so young they will fade and not be noticeable!

The weekend of the 11th we had a very special treat! Uncle Nick and Aunt Lindi were in town! Uncle Nick was up in Montana taking some tests to be able to apply to be a firefighter in Montana. He did very well on his exams and we're very hopeful they'll be moving closer to home the beginning of next year! It's been nearly a year since we have seen them, so it was wonderful to have them here!! It was great for Hayden to finally meet one of his uncles he was named after!

That night we had a wonderful Stake Women's conference about the temple! The Caldwells spoke (a family in our ward whom I really love; he's also our Stake President). I was reminded that when we decide to go to the temple, we need to let NOTHING get in our way! While I was at the meeting, Ken and the kids saw a beautiful rainbow in front of our house.

On Sunday we got together at Lindsay's for a farewell/early birthday dinner for Nick and Lindi. My Dad and Nick have the same birthday, so that makes it kind of fun. I just had to get a picture of Uncle Nick with Hayden Nicholas in his firefighter outfit!

We love our Aunt Lindi!

This picture reminded me of the little girl on that sunblock ad

Aunt Lindsay and Aunt Lindi

Carissa really likes our baby and Grandma is always good to help her hold him

Nick and Lindi with Grandpa

Ken is always so great with the kids

Nick, Lindi and Dad

Tyler, Grandma, Celeste, Mom and Hayden

You know that song, "Let Them be Little"? Well, this redifines the line, "Let them sleep in the middle!"

We're loving our summer so far; especially the weekends and the family that visits! The good times have just begun!

Memorial Day Weekend

We are getting ready to go on vacation this week and I wanted to get all caught up before we left! There will be A LOT to post when we get back, plus we'll be right in the middle of Mustang Days!! I'll be a busy blogger! :)

Saturday started out as an unlucky day for us! We wanted to play outside, but it was too rainy and cold. Then we wanted to go swimming, but the pool was closed. We decided to go get ice cream instead, which wasn't too bad of a trade off! :) Then I was going to take Taysum to the bowling alley, but it was closed as well! That evening, we went to Celeste's birthday party. She's a whole year old now!! Happy Birthday, little girl! We love you!! It was VERY cold and WET, but we still had a good time at a new park! This picture didn't turn out exactly how I had planned. Originally, Bailey had a hold of Ken's carpenter loop on his pants and was pulling him some where. It was a perfect example of their relationship! ;)

Sunday was sunnier, but still a little chilly. Ken was Super Dad this day! He made pinwheels for the kids and they went outside an played for a while. Then they made peanut butter cookies and they were awesome!

Then he and Hayden took a well-desereved nap!

Monday, we just enjoyed the day together as a family. We all had a bit of a bug (Ken had the worst of it) so we just took it easy. We went for a walk and it was really nice (other than I ended up with a blister). In the evening, we went to Grandpa and Grandma Anderson's house for a bar-b-q. We had some yummy food and great yard games:

Baseball

Tractor Rides Chillin'

Trampoline Jumping

and Badminton

We had a very nice weekend as a family. We're so thankful for the freedoms we have to enjoy family and excercise our beliefs. We enjoy so much in this country and I'm SO thankful for ALL those who have sacrificed so much that we may continue to have these blessings for our children. We're so thankful for our favorite veterans: Grandpa Cutler, Grandpa Anderson and Grandpa Garrick. They have served in the military and gone to war to make this world a better one for us and our children. We are so proud of them and their wonderful example of patriotism. We are also thankful for all those who are currently serving to continue that assurance! May God continue to bless America, our home sweet home!!