SLC, Day 3

Oh my, I didn't write anything down last night, and I already hope that I can remember everything!

The morning started early for everyone; Evan woke at 7am, and Aubrie at 6:40am. So we went up for breakfast where everyone else was already up, too. After breakfast, the boys started helping Bud clean out his garage, and took several loads of stuff to be donated over several hours. The grown ups and kids stayed in the back yard for for a long while. The kids played in the water table, and we even had the best picnic outside. Aubrie was being a little pill (love you, princess, when you read this one day, but you were!), and it took her a while to fall asleep. I was kind of stressed out after listening to her cry so hard that she almost choked herself for almost 20 minutes. So, it was very nice to finally get her to sleep and to enjoy some time outside in the beautiful weather.

After the boys got back, Alia and I ran some errands for Aiden's birthday party. I can't believe that he is already 2 years old! He's such a fun, sweet little boy!

Later in the afternoon, we ate some amazing taco salad that Joy made. She found the recipe on AllRecipes.com, which is amazing. Then we made our way to the Gateway Mall area, where we listened to a country music group, and the kids played in a really cool water fountain. It was so much fun watching the kids dance to the music and run around together! I'm so glad and thankful that we were given this opportunity to be here and see everyone together.

We were all pretty tired by this point, and were all happy to head home and hit the sack. Aubrie was back to her sweet self last night, and was all cuddles and kisses when we put her down for bed. Evan blew me kisses as I went up the stairs. I love moments like those, it sure does make being a mommy much easier!

(pictures coming later after they are downloaded).

SLC, Summer 2011, Day 2

This morning, Aubrie woke up at 6:15am, while Evan slept until 9:15am (that's 10:15 Houston time!). Aubrie, Aiden, and Ansley were all awake to eat breakfast together, and I think they all really enjoyed being together.

After breakfast, we got all of the kids dressed and headed to Sugar House Park to feed the birds. The kids LOVED it! Aubrie would have just jumped right into the water just to pet the birds if we hadn't stopped her. It was so cute to watch all of the kids together. They are all so precious!

After the park, we decided that we would continue to feed some birds, and we headed to the Great Salt Lake. It was so much fun to watch the kids trying to throw whole pieces of bread to the hundreds of seagulls that were hungrily waiting. Evan seemed to have a great time, but it was hard to get him to give us a good picture. He wouldn't smile, but he would give us his best "pirate face!"


After going through about 10 bags of bread, we left and headed to the Kennecott Copper Mine. On the way there, Nick was explaining to Evan and Ansley that they would be going inside a mountain, and was getting really into explaining what we would see. Ansley got really scared, and wanted to go home! But we managed to talk her into it, and it looked like she had a good time. The mine is huge. It's one of the few things that you can see from space! It was really amazing to see the change from when they started in 1900 up until the present day. They also had some small "digger" replicas to show all of the different types of trucks used in the mine. Evan REALLY wanted to play with them, and didn't understand that they weren't toys! He was so bummed!



When we finally got back home, Aubrie and Aiden took a long nap, while Ansley and Evan played outside with Joy. Apparently, since Ansley has been warming up to us being here, she and Evan had their first "argument" on the swings. Alia asked Ansley if she had like the mine, and while she was trying to say no, Evan thought that he would jump in and tell her that she did. He was explaining everything that she liked, all while Ansley was trying to get in a word to say no, that she didn't. Everyone was laughing while watching the two of them "duke" it out!

After naps, the kids got to play in the yard again, and some of Bud's family also came to visit. It is so nice being able to spend time just sitting outside and playing with the kids. The weather is so nice, the food is so good, and the company is amazing. The kids love being here, too. I can tell that my kids are having an amazing time, because all they want to do is play!

And lastly, just to get out of the house, Nick, Alia, Chris, Bud, and I went to just hang out and eat some wings at a place down the street. We actually got to walk to the restaurant, which was great! The food was really good (maybe better than Wings 'N Things!), and we all had a great time. Now it's midnight Utah time, and I'm dying to go to sleep! We're getting ready for another exciting day tomorrow!

(pictures coming tomorrow... it's just too late tonight).