Summer days

As I was driving through the canyon yesterday morning the bright orange leaves made it blatantly clear that Summer is on its way out for the year...and I couldn't be any happier about it!! I am much more of a Fall person myself. I live for haunted houses, pumpkin walks, squash soup and as ALWAYS me and Stetson are hitting the corn mazes starting this week =)

As happy as I am to kiss the 100 degree weather GOODBYE...there are things about Summer that I will miss. We did so much this year and made many lasting memories.

We went to Jackson Hole to celebrate our 5 year anniversary. This is where we ran into this fellow.
Oh and the fellow had a friend too...meet moose #2.
Skylar also had his first experience at authentic Sushi....YUMMY! Also in Jackson Hole.
We got a new puppy! Meet Sassy pants. I call her naughty pants and Skylar pretty much calls her whatever four letter word comes to his mind first! We love her anyways.
We did fireworks with friends...
and cookouts too... There is nothing better than having a fire pit in your own backyard. HELLO tinfoil dinners!
Stetson graduated from the first two sections of swimming lessons at the Sports Academy. He LOVED them!
Swimming parties with friends and family.
Sitting outside on a hot summer day with Popsicles and messy faces...priceless!
Friends came to play.
Nanny came to visit. Not just once, but twice!
We spent many afternoons at the zoo. We love the turtles. Even when they are doing the hanky panky! The turtles are always our favorite exhibit.
Never underestimate these muscles!
Memories are priceless. Summer seems to have flown by this year due to a crazy school semester for me, but looking back, we did take time out to stop and pay attention to what's really important....loved ones.

My TWENTY-TEN olympic athlete!

Stets reached a big mile stone this month...when he turned 4 he "GRADUATED" from the class of 3 year olds into the 4 year olds at school. To celebrate, all of the "GRADUATES" participated in the olympics all week long. The parents were invited to attend the closing ceremony and to watch all of the athletes get their medals which was so much fun!! I was so proud...I won't lie. Any accomplishment is important to me and I hope Stetson will ALWAYS know that!
The kids also made their own tye-dye shirts for the ceremony =)

Showing off his torch....

Wow he is growing up. Can't believe it. Love him LOTS!

My little man turns 4!

Due to my dad being in the hospital on Stetson's birthday this year; Stets got TWO parties! My dad was hit by a truck yesterday while riding his bike. He has some broken bones that required surgery and he will be down for a while but he is definitely not out--My dad is a trooper and always an example to all of us of strength and courage. We are very grateful that he will recuperate and don't you worry, he will be back on his bike in no time at all!

See what I mean about being a trooper? This picture was taken in the ER right before he went in for surgery. We are so glad you are ok dad--we love you LOTS and LOTS!

We made a small birthday cake to take to the hospital and spent the afternoon with my mom and dad to celebrate. As you can see.....Stets thought the cake was pretty YUMMY!

He has been asking for the remote control Buzz Lightyear for WEEKS and he was sooooo excited to unwrap his present and find none other than the remote control Buzz!! See how big this toy is...Stets fit inside the box!
This contraption takes 14 batteries and it took all of us adults to figure out where they all went...while Stetson impatiently waited nearby.
We left the hospital and came home for Stetson's second party with the rest of our family that live close enough to make it and a couple of friends came too. We gave him the Buzz costume and it was a HIT. As soon as he saw what it was he started ripping his clothes off as fast as he could to put it on. It comes complete with inflatable wings and I have already had to remind him that just because he now has wings DOES NOT mean he is allowed to jump off of the furniture!!

He was spoiled with so many gifts! Thanks so much to everyone who came out to support us. We have such great friends and family.
Here's the party decor...nothing fancy.... We got Toy Story frisbees for all of the kids that came. Stets was so excited to hand them out to everyone.
Last but definitely not least because they took so much work...THE CAKES The one on the left is a spaceship and hopefully you can tell the one on the right is the earth. The small dot of green frosting you can see on the left of the earth is NOT a mistake....as Skylar so lovingly reminded me tonight; it is HAWAII. My mistake.

Planning a small party for a 4 year old is hard work! I am exhausted and I can hear a hot bubble bath calling my name right about NOW. Thanks again to everyone who came out to support us and for thos that called who couldn't come. Also, thanks for everyone who sent thoughts, well wishes and prayers out for my dad and the rest of our family. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

Happy Birthday my little man.

Love him.

Just wanted to say how much I love this man. He is my everything. He loves me the way I am. Doesn't try to change me. Doesn't judge me. Loves me for me. Unconditionally. This kind of love is hard to come by. Much harder than it should be. He completes me and I thank God every day that I have him in my life. There's no one Iwould rather come home to than him. He is everything I need in life and more.

Feeding the ducks

Whenever I would work a Friday night grave shift this Summer, Skylar would get up early and take Stetson out for the day so I could sleep. They would go get breakfast somewhere then hit up Great Harvest for some bread to feed the ducks up at the dam. Boys will be boys...


I am glad I am not the only one who has bad hair days!!

Their days out together would always end at Home Depot buying a gadget or one sort of another. Love my boys.

LONG TIME NO BLOG!

What can I say except LONG TIME...NO BLOG!?! Life has been nothing short of hell again this past semester and I felt like I never had five minutes to myself to sit down and take a breather; so blogging, (like all hobbies of mine) was placed on the back burner for a bit.

We have managed to fit in some really fun family activities this Summer so I thought I would start way back at the beginning of May when we went down to ride Thomas the train...AGAIN. This year was lots of fun because they had more activities to do while you waited to ride the train. Stetson wasn't as psyched for everything this year like he was last year but all he talks about now is when we get to go again so we will play it by ear and see what next year brings!

Like always, we stayed at the Homestead Resort which I HIGHLY recommend. It is GORGEOUS and we always have a good time there. We have only stayed there with Stetson but we keep saying we will go one time without him because they have hot air ballooning and scuba diving there too!

The conductors there are always so good with the kids! Here we are getting our tickets punched as we board the train.
Stets and Skylar played some miniature golf while waiting for Thomas...
We also love the Homestead because their swimming pool is AWESOME. We spent a few hours hanging out down there and had a blast.


Posing for the camera...

Sorry these pictures are in random order...this is Stetson waking up to find that a special package had arrived for him during the night! Inside was a VIP Thomas hat, whistle and badge!

At the hotel swimming pool...goofing around =)
Well I guess I am back in the blogging world after a long LOA. I will be back soon with more pics from the rest of our Summer so stay tuned!!

MOTOCROSS

When the cat's away the mice will play.....While me and Stetson were in Oklahoma last week Skylar went out and bought Stets a motorcycle---with training wheels! I had no idea they even made them for kids that small...WHAT THREE YR OLD needs a motorcycle?!? Like I said I had no part in it but I have to admit it has been fun and I love riding it too!! It is much more stable than his little four wheeler, although the only person to wreck the four wheeler has been my big brother Cody!!! Cod maybe when you come visit again you can take a ride on the motorcycle and keep all four wheels on the ground!

All of these pictures were taken out back behind our house on the track Skylar and Justin built for Stetson. They are busy working out there right now adding little hills in various places so I will post more pictures when they get it done!

Oh and don't get too mad at Skylar for going out and buying a motorcycle without asking me...I came home to a different BIG BOY motorcycle in the garage and couldn't figure out what had happened while I was gone?! Did he SERIOUSLY buy both HIM and STETSON one while I was gone and was I going to have to kill him for doing so? Nah...he sold his motorcycle the day I left and bought a new one that was cheaper and not as nice just so he could have the extra money to buy this little one for Stetson. See why I love this man so much?