Buffalo

A few weeks ago, while Aunt Jenny was visiting, we decided to take her out to see what the west really is all about. We visited Antelope Island during the Bison Round Up. Every year they round up all the bison to check the health of the herd and to separate a few to be sold. It was our first time. Did you know they have over 700 bison on the island? They try to keep the numbers around 550. We just had to take our good friends James and Sabrina and their Mom along too.

They let you get very close to the buffalo. We were right next to the shoots while they were vaccinating and checking the animals over. It was loud and little intense. I love that Logan and James are holding hands.
During the round up they are not able to bring in the biggest bulls. They are too large and too dangerous. But they all seem to be hanging out right next to the road. They are huge! You can kind of see some in the back behind this statue. We also saw a coyote and a few antelope.
The kids loved this statue. Who could resist putting their fingers up it's nose?Sabrina and Audrey just loved the museum. I've never seen anyone enjoy the plaques as much as these two.

It was a great trip. They give tours of the operation as well as let you touch old buffalo skins and mountain goat horns. The only cost is the park admission fees which you pay at the cause way. We would recommend it to anyone, although the round up only happens once a year. It was a lot of fun and a great way for the kids to get out and see the world. The best part there are no bugs this time of the year!

As the winter months approach and it's getting colder outside I can't help but wonder what we are going to do indoors all winter. So what are your plans for the winter? Any thoughts on affordable and kid friendly activities?

Halloween

We had a great Halloween this year. The kids liked their costumes and of course they ended up with way too much candy. The boys got to be Thing One and Thing Two from Dr. Suess's "The Cat in the Hat". Grandma enjoyed reading them her copy of the book. The boys loved reading along. Can you believe my local library doesn't have this classic!?

Audrey may not have been "the cat" but certainly the cutest little pink cat you ever did see. She had not idea of what to expect but because the boys were uber excited she was too. Once she realized people put things into the bucket she developed an iron grip and wouldn't let go. Spencer didn't realize it but she even eat candy while trick o treating, wrapper and all.

So here's the question of the day. Do you "sneak" some of your childrens Halloween candy? I'll admit I have. It's not hard, it's truly like taking candy from a baby.

Happy Anniversary

The month of Oct was a whirlwind of activity. One of the highlights, we celebrated our 7 year anniversary. It was great. We found a little sushi place with a funny name

and went to "Thriller" by the Odyssey Dance Company. It was a great show with amazing dancers. They had zombies walking around before the show, because their dancers they really had the "zombie walk" down.

Spencer and I truly feel blessed. It hasn't all been easy but it's been amazing. We laugh often, work hard and still enjoy doing all sorts of things together.

Random story, when we were in Moab for our half marathon the kids were sick. Somehow Penn ended up in our bed but he was squirmy and kicking so Spencer at 2 in the morning said something to the effect of "I just can't sleep with 3 people in this bed". Thinking I was helping I got out of bed and slept with Logan on the little blow up mattress on the floor. But I didn't have a blanket or pillow and Logan wouldn't share. So I was up all night shivering thinking I was helping Spencer get some sleep before our big race. But Spencer was in the bed wondering why I had left because now he had to sleep with his arm around Penn so he wouldn't fall out of bed. He didn't get any sleep either. But he didn't say anything cause he thought I had left so I could get some sleep before the race. Imagine us both laying there wishing for the same thing but each thinking they were helping the other. The next morning when we discovered what had happened we had a good laugh in our sleep deprived state. I think that story sort of illustrates some great aspects of our relationship. Even after 7 years we still try to think of the other persons needs and wants and when your married to such an amazing person it really isn't that hard to do. Love you babe!

Utah State Homecoming

I've put this post off for as long as I can. We really had a great time at the homecoming game. Plus I got some fun pictures of the kids. It's just, in the end ... the game was so sad. I don't even like football and I almost cried.

Could Audrey wear anymore Aggie necklaces? Maybe, she loves to accessorize. Since the game every time we say Go Aggies, Audrey claps her hands. It's the cutest little cheer.

As you can see, Penn loved cheering with the ginormous finger. He was so happy to be at the game, esp because Uncle Mitch came up.

Logan wouldn't cooperate for a picture but Uncle Mitch came to the rescue. The game may have ended badly but as you can see we had a great time. Go Aggies!

Boy Heaven

Recently our super great friends, the Binghams, invited us to their family ranch in WY. We had an amazing time and it was boy heaven. We saw so many tractors and even got to ride in one of the buckets!

The Harvey's were super generous and gave us our very own cabin to sleep in. The boys loved sleeping in their sleeping bags. Mom may have gone a little over board and brought the -5 degree bags.

The next morning, after a good "ranch" breakfast, we went fly fishing. Spencer has only been once before and was a natural. He even got a few nibbles.

We also counted cows while riding in the back of a open pick up truck. James loved sharing all these great adventure with Logan and Penn. It was so cute.

Audrey and I also had a great time. Riding in the back of a pick up does great things for my hair .... right!?!

The stars of the show, black Angus cows.

A huge thank you to the Binghams. The whole ranch experience was amazing. We learned a bunch about ranch life and came to a new appreciation for all the hard work farming and ranching is. Thanks for sharing with us!

All Grown Up

Yep, it's true. 3 days a week for a few hours I have just one child with me, something that really hasn't happened before. The boys started preschool last week, and they love it! It's so cliche but it really does happen too fast. My little boys are practically all grown up.

On the way to preschool the boys insisted they're now big enough to push Audrey's stroller all by themselves. So cute. I love how huge backpacks are on them, it's adorable.

And to top it all off a few days before preschool started Audrey started walking! She takes 2-3 steps then decides it's much faster to crawl. She may not be a speedy walker but she loves climbing up slides. She attempts ladders and even tries going down the stairs standing up. She's truly a hoot and loves to accessorize, hats and necklaces are a favorite.

As parents were so excited when our kids grow and do new things, but at the same time it's kind of difficult. Before we know what's happened they'll be boarding planes for missions and driving off to college instead of just walking around the block for preschool. It may sound a little crazy, but you know it's true (or at least you will when you drop your kids off at preschool that first day). We just hope that between now and then they'll learn how to tie their own shoes.

Bikes, Bikes and Beach

I'm sure you've picked up by now, Spencer and I love cycling. No, really love it. There is so much more to cycling then just peddling a bike. Did you know cycling is a team sport? Just drafting off a few guys you can conserve as much as 30% or your energy! That's why there are team captains and the whole team works to put their captain in the best place. Another thing you should know is within a professional race there are sub races. For example best sprinter, best young rider, best climber and overall leader. If your the current leader within a category you get to wear a special jersey for the day. In the Tour of France the overall leader gets to wear a yellow jersey, the best sprinter is in green, best young rider is in white and the best climber is in a red pok a dot jersey. It's exciting to watch teams work together and every now and again there is a spectacular crash. Crashes are crazy ... you should look away but you just can't. They're going as fast as 40 miles per hour and someone goes down and takes 10 riders with him, and all they have on is lycra and a helmet. It's crazy!

Anyway the excitement of professional cycling came to Utah in the Tour of Utah. We had professional teams who compete in the grand tours (such as the Tour of France or Italy) right here in our backyard. Riders like Levi Leipheimer and George Hincapie were here! To give you some perspective Hincapie rode with Lance Armstrong for a number of years, Lance is the Jordon of cycling and Hincapie was his Scottie Pippen (if you'll excuse another sports metaphor). We were able to attend the circuit race (they went around a 7.5 mile circle 11 times). It was amazing, we rang our cow bells and cheered for our favorite riders. We collected disgarded water bottles and laughed with friends and family. It was an amazing day

The start of the ride was super cool, we got to see some the biggest names in the sport right at the front.It was just too much excitement for Audrey, she fell asleep during the most exciting lap.

Me loving the tour next to a sleeping Audrey.

Spencer and I also had the opportunity to ride in a Bear Lake ride for the Boy Scouts. It's a 50 mile ride around the lake. It's a favorite ride because it's so beautiful and we get to take the kids to the lake afterwards. We finished in 2 hrs and 43 mins. Candis and Joe came up with us to watch the kids while we rode and enjoyed raspberry shakes and the beach with us afterwards. The lake is so full this year the water nearly comes up to the road in some places. It too was an amazing day.

Us with our finishers medals and the boys.

Audrey was fearless, she couldn't get enough water or sand.

Kids playing on the beach

My sister Candis and my super amazing niece Alexis, so cute, on the beach.