Christmas

Christmas was truly wonderful this year. Before even setting up the Christmas tree we had a family home evening all about the birth of Christ and why Christmas is celebrated. It was great to start things off on the right foot. When we did get out the Little People Nativity the kids retold the story to us. We were touched by how much they remembered and the way they expressed things.

Since last Christmas Penn has loved the movie "Polar Express". Its about a train to the North Pole. We had to borrow it from our friends in July because he loved it so much. So after the decor was up we surprised the kids with their very own copy of the book and movie. Throughout the month even Logan kept asking if we could ride the Polar Express some day and that's just what we did the Sat before Christmas. We told the kids we were going to find one and loaded everyone into the car and went "hunting". Of course we already had tickets for the Polar Express in Heber. It was just more fun to make it an adventure. 

So Happy

Having too much fun to pose for a picture

I highly recommend this adventure. We all had a great time. The train ran on "Christmas Cheer", had elves and a fun host for each car. They played Christmas music over the speakers and the passengers just randomly burst into singing along. Even the kids enjoyed singing Jingle Bells and Rudolph. Mrs. Claus served homemade cookies and we all enjoyed hot chocolate (until it ended up in my lap, courtesy of Logan). We made it to the North Pole and Santa boarded the train to say hello to each of us and present us with our very  own sleigh bell. Someone even got engadged with Santa's help. The ride was about 45 mins long which was just right. Not too long and not too short.

Dancing with an Elf

Every year the first gift of Christmas is opened on Christmas Eve, before the P.J.'s. It a picture of Christ to help us remember the true reason for the season. Penn was so excited he already had an idea of where he wanted to hang it in his room. Christmas morning was great, Aunt Becky even came up for the fun. We opened gifts kind of slowly and allowed the kids to play with their gifts as we went along. It extended the fun and gave the kids a chance to play with everything.

A singing, pretty princess castle. Audrey was in Heaven.

Remote Control Trucks, a huge hit

Nerf Guns! Yes

Christmas is always so full. There are lights to see, cookies to make, family to visit and lessons to learn. But we are truly grateful for the reminder of the love our Heavenly Father and Savior have for each of us, and the love we share with our family and friends.

Catching Up

My confession: I think about blogging all the time, but I've fallen so far behind it's a little overwhelming. Plus life has gotten so crazy. These last 6 months have been busy, I have so little time. But have no fear I have a plan. I'm going to post a ton of photo's here and get all "caught" up and then we can move on.... This will work.... Right?!?

The kids had wonderful birthdays. Both involved trains (you may have noticed we love trains around here!). We rode front runner up to Ogden to visit the Playhouse Museum for Audrey's birthday. 

Audrey can do it "by herself" at a train museum while waiting for front runner on her 2nd birthday

For Logan and Penn we visited.... I don't even know what to call it.... A local train enthusiast has turned his property into a mini train theme park. He has a few mini trains you can ride on, miniature trains to small to ride on but fun to watch, a play ground and picnic area. Uncle Mitch came up and we all had a great time.

We took an amazing camping trip with the Bingham's to Jackson Hole WY. We kayaked, wake boarded, mountain biked, played at parks, took a gondola to the top of the mountain and got more mosquito bites exploring then Mom thought was possible. It was an amazing trip!

Kayaking with Dad

Good friends just chill'n at the lake

Spencer went to PA for a work conference and got stuck there during Hurricane Sandy. His 5 day trip turned into 11 days! But things worked out perfectly, he was able to visit with his parents and help them prepare for and weather the storm. It turned out to be a blessing, we just missed him a ton around here.

Halloween was a blast. We had a little Halloween party with our friends and everyone had a great time. Kearsten and I laughed "with" the kids during the donut eating contest. They're still convinced we should have just handed it to them. So funny! 

Little Bo Peep, Woody, Snow White, Capt. America and Iron Man

Thanksgiving was crazy. All the grandkids packed into one house makes for an interesting dinner. But it was delicious and despite the insanity we are truly grateful for one another.

This was the first year we got a picture with Santa and no one was crying! But I'm not going to say too much about Christmas in this post, I'd truly like to do it justice.  

I think that covers the big events, lets just call that caught up...

Durango and the Iron Horse 2012

Once again Spencer wanted to conquer the insane bike race/climb other wise known as the Iron Horse. He finished it last year but just missed beating the train into Silverton. He wanted to remedy that this year. So off to Durango, CO we went. We are super blessed to have Uncle Mitch there, he's a great host and a ton of fun. This year Grandma and Grandpa Davis also met us there!

Mitch helped us get tickets to ride the Durango train to Silverton. The boys were in heaven, esp Penn. If you've never ridden this train, I highly recommend it. The views are impressive and the mountain pass was spectacular. It takes a few hours but the kids did really well and truly loved it. Combine trains and family and it makes for a great day.

Trying to take it all in before we started. Plus they had to see the engineer.

Penn just loving it

The next day was the race. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I have no idea how Spencer powers himself and his bike over those mountains! Two of the peaks are 1100 feet, we don't even have peaks that tall here that he can train on. He was on track to beat the train when a huge wind storm rolled in. It was so bad it blew two police motorcycles into one another atop the last peak. An ambulance had to take them to the hospital with serious injuries. So they stopped the racers and actually cancelled the race because it wasn't safe. But after 15 mins the wind died down some and they told the riders they could finish at their own risk. Having come so far of course Spencer finished but came in just behind the train. If he hadn't been stopped he would have beat it. I guess we'll have to try again another year to make it official! He really did well and we are so proud of him.

While there we also attended the semi-pro race and no trip with kids is complete without a trip to a few parks. We so enjoyed spending time with our family and have wonderful memories from this trip. it was a great way to celebrate Spencer's birthday. The boys are convinced that it's worth the drive to see Uncle Mitch even if we could only stay for an afternoon.

Having fun at the pro race with our cow bells and Grandma and Grandpa Davis.

Our Trip to PA

I'd really like to get our blog all caught up, but there are a few things that just can't be skipped. Our trip to PA is just one of those things. We had an amazing time and here are the pictures to prove it.
No trip with the boys is complete without trains. Grandpa Davis knew just the place. The Strausburg Train ride was fun and the hands on museum next door was nothing short of amazing. We climbed on and into all sorts of trains, pulled all the levers and pushed all the buttons. We played with Thomas the Train engines and tracks and watched model trains on miniature rails. It was ideal and I think everyone had a good time. The only down side, it's always drama when it's time to go.

We also visited a theme park, Dutch Wonderland, designed just for kids, not even kids at heart...but for kids. Nothing too big. There were several roller coasters for preschoolers, flume rides for toddlers and model T's for them to drive. Penn has always been about an inch to 2 shorter then Logan. So when Logan just barely made "height" for the biggest roller coaster that means Penn was just short. It was soo sad, even Mom felt like crying. Sometimes life just isn't fair. The next biggest roller coaster wasn't as neat, although it surprised me at how fast it was. 

Good thing Jenny was there, Logan's legs aren't long enough to reach the gas pedal.

Mom and Logan took Dad and Penn on in the bumper cars. I don't even have to tell you who won (it was Logan and Mom!)

Another highlight of the trip was our visit to Cape May New Jersey, where Jenny lives. We visited the Atlantic Ocean while we were there. It was a colder, windy day but honestly a ton of fun. The kids enjoyed playing in the sand and even found a dead shark while on a walk with Grandma and Grandpa Davis. Nothing too big, but "so cool, mom!" The water was cooler and at first they just ran from the waves but eventually they got in. Every time they came out we'd try to dry them off and call it a day but they kept asking to go back in. They even convinced Grandma to go with them, forget that she wasn't in her suit!

Building sand castles was a hit. If we could only convince the kids they don't have to smash them the second they are built!

Spencer's Eagle Scout project was building trails through a wooded area for hiking. It was tough hot and humid work. We thought it would be fun to take the kids on that hike. My favorite part of this picture is that Penn and Audrey couldn't be bothered to stop and take a picture. Onward and upward!

 This is another favorite picture. Grandpa Davis vs the kids in tug a war. It was almost too much for Grandpa, almost. We also helped plant the fortified garden in the background. No Peter Rabbit will be munching on their tomatoes or peppers thanks to Grandpa's ingenuity.

 Nightly we went to a local park, they had this "spider man web" and they loved climbing on it. It was a fun park and a great way to ensure they slept well that night.

We feel blessed to have spent so much time with our family. Audrey got to meet Grandma Peterson for the first time, played with toys that Dad did when he was a little boy, visited the national aquarium in Baltimore and flew on airplanes. It was a trip the boys still talk about and often ask when we get to visit Grandpa and Grandpa Davis again.

Hey Again

Hey, it's been awhile but I promise we haven't been sitting around twiddling our thumbs. We've been super busy. Here are just a few of the big highlights. 

We visited Baby Animal Day once again. Audrey loved the baby ducks and as you can see the boys took things very seriously when holding the bunnies. One of our favorite babysitters went with us and was a life saver. Thanks Tiffany!

We celebrated Easter with my family in Idaho Falls. Monica blessed our newest and very cute nephew. We also showed off new Easter outfits. I'm blessed with a wonderful friend who is a wizard with a sewing machine. She helped me sew Audrey's dress. Yep, I made that practically all by myself.

The boys had a commencement for preschool. They really enjoyed preschool but to say that don't perform on demand doesn't really capture the disaster it was. Logan was too busy watching everyone else to actually sing and Penn just wanted to run around and explore the stage. When Penn grows up he wants to be a "train guy" and Logan wants to "work on roads and play in the dirt with daddy".  

For Christmas Grandma and Grandpa Gudmundson bought us a year pass to the zoo. We've loved going a couple times a month esp when friends join us. The new polar bear and river otter exhibits are amazing. 

Finally, we took the kids camping at Crystal Hot Springs. Penn tells us it wasn't really camping because we weren't actually in the mountains. I guess we'll have to try again. But we had a great time swimming and sleeping in the tent in a crazy windstorm. 

Another notable thing, Penn was our quiet child in Sacrament Meeting a month or two ago. He did well, until Dad signed "I love you" to him and he flashed it back. When we realized he had a captive audience all of a sudden he loved everyone in the congregation and couldn't stop signing. Next he just had to show off his new sandals but that required lifting he leg up over the banister and pointing at them. I guess we have a little work to do but lets not forget he's only 3.

We've also enjoyed some great time with the Davis'. Stay tuned for more great pictures.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

March 2 was Dr. Seuss' birthday and of course we celebrated. I've been converted to the Seuss band wagon. I love the valuable life lessons he teaches in so many of his books. "Horton Hatches an Egg" is a big favorite as is "The Sneetches". But the one that put me over the top is "Green Eggs and Ham". It has done truly amazing things, it has opened the minds of my children to trying things. We quote it at least three times a week at dinner.

That morning we really didn't have a choice, we had to try green eggs and ham for breakfast. With a little food coloring and we were on our way.

No one was over enthused about my grand idea, I'll even admit it didn't look great. But in the end they gobbled it right up.

A huge thank you to Dr. Seuss, your books are truly amazing and continue to inspire people the world over.

A Great Family Home Evening

We had a really great Family Home Evening the other night. My sister did this and I knew we would have a blast with it. We talked about putting on the whole armor of God and making good choices. We read the scripture in D&C 27 and helped the kids put on the different pieces of armor. We had things like the helmet of salvation and breast plate of righteousness. We used their Captain America shields and a piece of the race track for a sword. The boys thought it was great and Audrey was just happy to be part of the crew.

Then Spencer threw mini marshmallows and shouted temptations and the boys blocked them with their shields. Temptations like talking to our friends during primary or not listening to our parents. In the end he ran out of temptations and it regressed to things like "tax evasion". They loved eating the temptations and laughing about their over sized breast plates when we were finished.

I'm certain the boys didn't understand all of it, but they have been trying harder to make good choices and it's a memory they won't soon forget. How could they? A food fight while wearing armor, it's every little kids dream.