V-Town Fun

We went back to Vernal for a couple of days and had some good old V-Town fun. First we traveled to Manti and watched the pageant. It was really neat. There was lots of fire, dancing, and spiritual messages. During a reinactment of a battle between the Nephites and the Lamanites Kailer said "Mom, are those Jedis?" He was totally into it and stayed awake the whole time. He loved it so much he wanted to see it again the next night. We went camping after the pageant to Lake Yuba and tried our luck with fishing; not so good. We had fun anyway. Once we got to Vernal there was lots of fishing, shooting prairie dogs, a zipline, and more fishing. Kai has gotten to the point where he is catching his own fish completely on his own. He will hold the pole and says, "I'm a good waiter, I'm being patient, I'm a good waiter!" He outfished his father by catching about 12 bluegill. He is an awesome fisherman. He casts and reels them in and everything! After the first fish he caught he yelled, "That was stinkin' awesome!" It's funny hearing words like that coming from a little person. My dad set up an old zipline that my brother used to mess around on and it was pretty fun for Kai. He did it over and over again. He even loved riding on the lawn mower with my dad. He almost fell asleep on it! He has been so tired lately because we pack our days full of play! He loves to go shoot prairie dogs with my dad and Rich. What can I say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. The love for guns is genetic. I'll leave you with this tid bit from the man himself.

Me: "Old mcdonald had a farm, e i e i o, and on this farm he had a..... what did he have Kai?"
Kai: "Ummm.... He had a prairie dog!!"
Me: "Ok.. Prarie Dog. With a.......... What noise does a prarie dog make Kai?"
Kai: "With a ........ POW POW here and a POW POW there!"

Wow, well I guess a shooting noise would make sense, what else would a prarie dog say???? Love him.

Now I am going to get to see my sister Brenda coming from Minnesota! So excited for that. Rich is headed home, as he is going to clinicals on Wednesday. I will be home on Thursday. So, I'll have to think about re-baby proofing my house and blocking off the stairs, because Meili is a crawling MANIAC!!!!!!

Price Weekend

Ok, so bear with me because this is going to be a lengthy post. I think I shall start out with a recent quote from the always entertaining Kai Man. Rich hadn't shaved in a couple of days and the facial/nose hair was a bit wild and lengthy, which rightfully so provoked this from Kailer. "Dad? Why you have grass growing on your chin and grass in your nose?" Gotta love it, doesn't miss a beat! So, on to our festivities here in Price. Rich got to see both his brother's and his step brother. We stayed at his mother-in-laws place, which was great. We played games late every night. The brothers played basketball in the rain and took the boys to play in the mud. I don't have those pictures yet, but when I get them I will post them later. It was really crappy weather, but that didn't stop the boys from enjoying, rolling, jumping, and throwing mud. The only nice day we had, we packed it full of fun. We went out to Castledale to a new water park that just opened. It was perfect for little kids. Kailer and his cousins swam their hearts out. There were little water slides for them and even a lazy river! Then we went golfing for the first time in a long time with my sister in law. Her husband works at the golf course in Ferron. We got to take the kids with us and Kailer and Joey had such a fun time. I had a couple good drives and even more shanks! It was beautiful! Meili enjoyed riding on the cart in her seat. Then we headed to the park for a barbeque. The park even had a climbing wall that Kai worked over. What an awesome fun filled day and a great weekend. Now we're off to Manti, to see the pageant and do some fishing! Then home next Sunday. What? Home? Yes, I said home! What a whirlwind, but we love it! Rich just found out that his first rotation is Pediatric Psychology. That will be crazy and very interesting. We're excited!

The star of the weekend, baby Caden with his cousins!

There's a lot of love there!

Kai with his "Berry Dangerwus Gun".....YIKES.

The brother's taking a break from b-ball to wait out the rain. This pic is hillarious, they are all looking at something, trying to figure it out or really pondering something. They all have the same curious look on their faces!

Like father like son! I caught the boys like this later on!

The Golf Pro himself.

The Ladies of the course! My Mother-in-law and Sister-in-law.

The Men of the course!

On our way back from golfing we had to wait 10 min or so for the 200ish cattle being herded to clear the road. Only in good old Emery County!

Growth

Last week my sister made 3 garden boxes, ok we really all slaved away for 3 days straight landscaping; hauling and shoveling, dirt, rock and mulch, but it was great family fun. There were definately some sore muscles though! Anyway, she wanted some cute little signs made to separate all the fruits and veggies. Here's how they turned out:

Meili is keeping us busy. She has started to crawl at a slow running speed and is getting into everything. She puts everything in her mouth and we can't keep track of her! She loves her Mommy and still sleeps like crap, nothing there has changed! Kai is always a laugh, the other day he told me "Mommy, I love how you paint your eyes." I guess I am using the right eyeshadow! Love that kid, can't believe he's going to be 3 in less than a month! Next step: POTTY TRAINING! Wish me luck :(

Rich is done with the DO test Tuesday evening, the MD one was a bit hard on him. We'll find out what he gets in a month or so. He's excited to finally have some free time. He's so dedicated. We're so proud of him.

Hill Air Show

We got a chance to drive up to Ogden to see the airshow at Hill Air Force base. It was really cool. There were a zillion people there and rightfully so cause it was such a neat show. The thunderbirds at the end performed for about 30 min and the formations were amazing. Meili hated all the noise. She cried most of the time. I got one good picture of her early on before the defening thunderbirds hit us. Good luck with the 4th of July festivities little lady. Kailer enjoyed most of it, but probably his favorite part was all the free airplane models they gave away at different booths. Although, later he said his favorite thing was the big jet that made a lot of noise. Rich had a blast and I would have enjoyed it more if I didn't have a screaming babe the whole time. It was still worth it though. SHE is CRAZY. Gotta love it, here are some pics of the lovely event...

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

We got an opportunity last week to see the Oquirrh Mountain temple while they were having the open house. It was a super cool experience to be able to take Kailer and Meili in the temple. Kai was impressed with how beautiful it was and Meili, well she showed her appreciation in her own little way too. They pulled us aside with another family to one of the sealing rooms to talk a bit about families being sealed forever. Just as one of the patrons started to talk Meili decides it is time to relieve herself and lets out a couple juicy big ones. You go girl! Way to pick the time and place! We tried not to giggle, but it was really hard. Anyway, the temple was intricate and beautiful and we got some great pics. What an awesome thing to be able to do with your kids!

UP

We took Kailer to his first Drive-In movie up near Ogden. He had the best time. We saw Pixar's new movie UP and it was pretty good. It was very clean, which was great, but it was a bit deep for a 2 year old. It was an emotionally packed movie. There was even a funeral! To which Kailer said, "Oh look it's his birthday!" (Because he had a balloon) Love it. It was a bit much for him to grasp, more geared toward a 5 year old or older. There were also some scary dogs, which didn't do anything for his already existing fear of dogs, but it was an ok show overall. I don't know if I'd buy it though. Anyway, I forgot my camera at the drive in so I'll post pics later, because my sister in law took pics for us. Thanks Sarah :)

Here's a random photo.

Rich has been busy studying like mad for the boards, he takes them on the 13th and 16th. Wish him luck! I have been hanging at my sister's house in Saratoga Springs playing with the kiddos. We did get to go shopping today. We took my niece Savannah, and she was so awesome, we got a ton done! What a difference shopping is with a babysitter! Love it!!!! More later :)

P.S. Sorry, I didn't update the slideshow pics for the month before I left home and they are all on my home computer! So you'll have to wait a whole month for those! I know, so sad :(

She will be missed

A dear family friend of mine passed away last week in a car accident and I had to post because I just found out tonight, and I'm pretty shocked. When I lived in Minnesota, I was great friends with a girl in my branch in Bemidji. Allison and I were two of a handful of LDS kids in 3 grades at school. We were buddies. When she and her 2 brothers died in a housefire, I became close with her mother Wendy. She, 15 years later, continued to leave tender "Motherly inspired" messages on my facebook account with words of love and support. Somehow, I think I helped her feel a closeness with her daughter who was no longer hear on this earth. It is my belief that she is now with her children and rejoicing, but my prayers are with her 2 remaining children and other family members at this time. Oh, how life can change so quickly. Don't forget to tell those around you how much you love them. She will be missed.