Visiting baby Jackson

The proud daddy.

Jackson Matthew

Michael and Jackson

Kayleigh and Jackson, plus my arms.

Me and the baby

On Wednesday, my cousin had her first baby. We are so excited for her and her husband! She wasn't due until the 12th of September and I figured she would have him while we were out of town. Since he came early though, I wanted to for sure go and see him. So we packed up on Wednesday and drove to Provo, getting there just after 5.

Jackson is so cute! And Jeni looked AWESOME for just having a baby. I want to look like her only 4 hours after delivering a baby! He was 7 lbs. 8 oz. and 18 inches long. He looked so big to me compared to Kayleigh when she was born. Kayleigh was longer but so much skinnier.

Kayleigh was very excited to get there after the long car ride. We had stopped to get a flower and balloon for them on the way and Kayleigh proudly held the balloon, wanting to give it to Matt and Jeni. Seeing Jackson made myself, Michael and Kayleigh all got excited to have a newborn in our family in a few months. I think Kayleigh will do great with the change.

Congratulations, Matt and Jeni! We are so happy for you guys. Thanks for letting us visit.

Kayleigh at a birthday party

Happy 4th Birthday, Maura!

Kayleigh learning to blow this popular party toy.

Playing "musical squares."

Kayleigh decorating her own cupcake, she loved that part of the party.

Kayleigh playing "Shovel the snow." The kids got a dab of Vaseline on their noses and then had to bend over and get the "snow" off the ground and into their bowls. Kayleigh got three balls in, it was funny to watch!

Kayleigh playing "Birthday Bingo" and the best part was the playing pieces were sweet tarts! Kayleigh enjoyed eating those before the game was even over.

Today Kayleigh got to go to her first friend birthday party. I had been telling her all about it and she was very excited. She gets excited over anything involving her friend, Maura. Maura turned 4 today and had a big party to celebrate. I thought Kayleigh was a good sport at all the games, especially since she hadn't played many of them before. At first she didn't want to wear the blindfold for the "Pin the Candle on the Cake" game, but after I said I'd hold her hand while she did it, she decided it was okay.

The party was a lot of fun! They got to play lots of games, eat lunch, watch Maura open presents and take home a fun party bag with treats, bubbles and play dough. I think Kayleigh thought it was all pretty neat. We love living by Maura, she's such a great friend.

This is the Place

Writing with chalk in the school.

Chowing on her sucker Nana got her.

Kayleigh with Nana on the train.

Me on the mini train with Kay Bug.

Petting a baby goat.

Yesterday Kayleigh and I headed into Salt Lake with my parents, sister, and her girls. We went to This is the Place Heritage Park. It was a lot of fun! When I was little, my parents took us almost every summer, or that's how I remember it. It is pretty different now, there is a lot more for kids to do. I wasn't sure how the kids would like it, since they are still pretty little, but with all the activities, train rides and treats we lasted almost the whole day there.

Kayleigh, along with her cousins, really loved the train rides, the petting zoo, and the pony rides. They also got to make an arrowhead necklace, color paper dolls, try doing some laundry like the pioneers did, search for beads in dirt and then making a bracelet out of them (okay, I made the bracelet for her, a little hard for a 2 yr. old to do), and of course, eat all the candy Nana bought them.

I've always enjoyed pioneer things and so I had a great time too. I got my exercise pushing the stroller through gravel and walking around all day. We got stuck in traffic on the way home, but Kayleigh slept the whole way so that was nice. I am still shocked we were at the park from ten in the morning till five at night. I'm glad everyone had such a great time.

Potty Training

Oh boy, how fun is potty training?! We have tried many times over the past 6 months to work on potty training Kayleigh. It hasn't seemed to work, but last Friday my sister and I decided it was time to get our 3 and 1/2 and 2 and 1/2 yr. old girls potty trained. So we had a big potty party for them.

The whole day we just focused on them, gave them lots to drink, and had a big bag of surprises for them. Every time they went potty in the toilet they got to pick out a surprise. Each time they tried to go they would get a skittle. They both wore underwear the whole day and did really great! Neither of them had accidents, we were so proud of them.

Michael and I had been telling Kayleigh for awhile now that if she went potty in the toilet the whole day without any accidents then she could get a lawn mower. (She has been wanting one ever since our neighbor boy got one for his birthday.) Since she didn't have any accidents on the day of the potty party we came home from my mom's and gave her the lawn mower. She was so excited! Since I had gone and gotten it at the store without her she didn't know we had it and was quite surprised when Daddy brought it in from the garage. She has been a great help when we mow our lawn now.

Now it has been a week since that day and Kayleigh has worn panties every day since then. (At night I still put her in a diaper.) She has done good in that she's only had one accident per day but she still isn't telling us when she needs to go. I ask her all the time and end up taking her every couple of hours. She has gotten good at holding it I think. She goes most every time I take her, but has only told me a handful of times that she needs to go.

Oh well, I figure it will come. Now that we've been doing panties there's no going back now, but I would really like for her to tell me that she needs to go.

Dinosaur Park

On Monday we went with my sister and her girls to the Dinosaur Park. I had never been before and didn't know what to expect-it wasn't quite what I thought. Anyway, the girls enjoyed being together and they thought the dinosaurs were neat. Kayleigh really liked playing in the sand "digging for bones" and watching the dinosaurs that moved inside.

We ate our lunch in a nice little place under the trees. After lunch the girls played on the park toys. It was funny, both of them just wanted to swing. We kept telling them they can swing at Nana's whenever they want and they should do something else. They did go down a couple of slides in the end.

Thankfully it wasn't too hot outside and it ended up being a nice outing. On the way home we stopped for ice cream which we all enjoyed. Marie and I both commented that if we had boys they might have liked the dinosuars better, but since we just have girls, we took them anyway and they did like it, too.

4th of July

Enjoying the spread at Nana and Grandpa's

Kayleigh and Grace, my niece, waving to everyone in the parade

Making shakers for the parade, good idea, Marie

Cute Phoebe, my niece

Daddy and Kayleigh at the parade

If you can believe it, I am finally posting about our 4th this year. I know, I'm only a month late. This summer has flown by for us, it's crazy! We've been having fun and doing lots though so it's okay.

This year we were big participators in our city’s festivities on the 4th. Michael and my mom ran very early on the 4th in the Kaysville 5K. They both did pretty well, finishing under 30 minutes. And all the rest of us got up later after sleeping out in the tent at my parent’s house. Once the runners were home we headed up to the DATC for breakfast. Everyone enjoyed the pancakes, ham, eggs, and juice.

After getting full we made our way to the parade route. We sat by Michael’s aunt this year who had a pretty good spot right on Main Street. Kayleigh really enjoyed when the marching band came by and all the candy she got. We hadn’t been to a parade in a few years and it was kind of fun to go. Thankfully the weather was just perfect while at the parade, overcast and not too hot.

After naps for the little ones, and some of us big ones, we had dinner and then went to the fireworks at Davis High. This year it seemed that many times during the show they were going to stop, but after a pause they would keep going. In the end it was nice and was about 20 minutes long. I always enjoy fireworks on the 4th and I’m glad a place close to where I live does them.

I am very grateful for this free country that I live in. I am indebted to those who have gone before and to those who are now fighting to protect that freedom. I am saddened by all the crazy things that have been taking place lately in our nation. I believe that our country was founded upon good morals and ethics by those who were directed by God, and yet now we can’t even say God without getting into trouble. I hope our leaders, and us as citizens, can put the pieces back together, than we can stay strong, and that my children will have a free country to live in. May God Bless America.

Lagoon, again

Kayleigh and Tyler on the Sky Scraper.

Daddy and Kayleigh on the train

Aunt Staci and Kayleigh

Thumbs up for a fun ride!

How cute is this picture?!

Brooke and Kayleigh flying in the airplanes

Michael and Kayleigh got to go to Lagoon a second time this summer, lucky! Michael's mom got some free adult passes thru her work so Michael was free and he just had to pay for Kayleigh. They went on a Saturday and I had to work, go to a baptism and wedding reception so I didn't go. I was sad I missed it, but they had lots of fun and I'm glad.

Kayleigh rode the Tidal Wave (twice) for the first time along with the Tilt-a-Whirl and Space Scrambler. She had a great time and talks about going back often. I keep telling her we'll go back next summer.