Family Pictures.....

We recently had some new family pictures taken. The last ones we had were when Alicia was pregnant with Jackson and Izzy wasn't even a thought! We went up to SnowBasin when the fall colors were in their prime. It was breathtakingly beautiful up there! Alicia arranged for Amber Togisala take them. She was super cute and really good at getting the kids to smile, especially Izzy who was sick that day. I highly recommend her! 

http://togisalaphotography.com

A Whole Lotta Updates......

We'll start with Izzy's 2nd birthday. Seriously. She's 2. Where does the time go?? She was (as usual) spoiled by all and she had a wonderful time. She's crazy about sunglasses, pretty shoes, and anything pink. As you can see, we had all of those things in abundance!

A few things about the little lady...

She's not shy at all. She says "hi" to just about everyone she sees.

She loves to watch Princess movies, sing along with the Backyardigans and dance along with Bubble Guppies.

She ALWAYS wants her hair in pigtails. She then takes out said pigtails within the hour. 

She absolutely will not eat meat of any kind.

She wants to do everything her big brother does.

Her vocabulary is really starting to take off. I'm thinking she's going to speak as well as Logan did. Strangers always thought Logan was older than he was because he spoke so well. 

She has the cutest little girl voice. I really can't get enough of it! :)

I've titled this picture, "Three men and One Toy."

Logan started 1st grade this year. These first 3 days have been short day schedule so I haven't yet felt the full impact of having him gone all day. He seems to be doing pretty well. I could tell he was pretty nervous all summer but after we went to back-to-school night and he met his teacher, his nervousness disappeared. 

Up next is Bear Lake. We rented a condo with the rest of my family at Ideal Beach. Our family used to go up there and stay all the time when it was Sweetwater because my grandpa had a timeshare. I have quite a few fond memories of my cousins and Bear Lake. Hopefully, we can make it a tradition with our kids. 

Izzy and Jackson fought quite a bit of the weekend. They're so close in age and personality that they clash quite often. Here they are fighting over the tubes. When we were in the condo they would play right outside the door on these tubes. 

I found this picture particularly funny. Jackson is playing the, "I'm going to touch Izzy's tube" game. Izzy is playing, "Jackson, DON'T TOUCH MY TUBE!"  Jackson found his game hilarious, Izzy not so much. ;) Clearly, instead of intervening, I stood by and took pictures. Ha!

One day, they will be the best of friends. At least that's what I tell myself. 

We took the kids out to Antelope Island the other night. I haven't been out there in at least 15 years. It was pretty much the same. ;) We went out near sunset and the light was so golden and pretty!

Logan's Birthday.....

Logan turns 6 this week so last weekend we had some birthday festivities. This year was the FIRST EVER year we let Logan have a friend birthday party. He is obsessed with Angry Birds lately so he chose this as his theme. He was soooo excited I thought he was going to explode into tiny, squirming particles of pure anticipation! We rented a bouncy house, played a life size Angry Birds game and pounded on a pig piñata. It was blistering hot but crazy fun! 

Playing the life size Angry Birds game.

The next day we had the family over for cake and ice cream. 

This is Jesse's "I'm only tolerating this once so you better
get it right the first time" look. 

Logan is growing up so fast! Here's are a few fun facts about him"

• He finished Kindergarten this year so next year he'll be in school ALL DAY LONG. I'm sure how to feel about this! :-{
• He's a smart little bugger. The other day, completely out of nowhere, he says to me, "Hey mom, how did the first human get born? You know, the VERY FIRST person?" I should mention that we are not religious and don't go to church so he hasn't been exposed to stories like Adam and Eve and such. I thought that was a pretty deep question for a 6-year-old.
• He's still such a picky eater that I really don't know what he's going to eat for school lunch next year. 
• He's starting to show a real talent for art. He draws really well... not surprising when you realize he has Luke's and my dad's genes. 
• He's definitely starting to come out of his shell. He's still pretty shy and hesitant when it comes to new things but overall I'm really proud of the progress he's made. 

Easter Fun.....

We generally kick off the Easter Festivities around these parts with Baby Animal Days. This year was no exception. Izzy really enjoyed herself this year. She has limitless energy and loved running around and petting the animals. This girlie is not afraid of anything!! Logan is a bit more reserved. He still won't pet any of the animals but he likes to stand back and observe. To each his own!! 

 Next on the agenda is dying eggs. Izzy was old enough to participate this year. She preferred to chuck the eggs into the cups rather than place them carefully. It made for some close calls!

The Easter Bunny got her this stroller. She LOVES running around pushing it. 

Later that Sunday, we went to my mom's for an easter egg hunt. Izzy and Jackson participated for about a minute and then they just wanted to play. Logan had tons of fun and we came home with a crap load of candy! 

Jackson and Izzy are made from the same cloth... always busy! Here they are getting along and actually sitting still. As you can see, we bribed them with food. :-)

Logan and his Uncle Jesse. 

This has nothing to do with anything but I feel compelled to point out that my kids have an Uncle Jesse and an Uncle Ben. If you lived through the 90's you'll see why this is humorous to me.

Seattle.....

This year for my birthday Luke and I decided to take a quick weekend trip to Seattle. We both LOVE the Pacific Northwest and we'd never been to Seattle. I really enjoyed the city. There were all these random sculptures and murals on buildings.. super fun. 

Two of my favorites. I love the popsicle. There was absolutely no reason for a popsicle sculpture in this particular spot... totally random. 

 We also went on a Savor Seattle tour. It's a tour where a guide leads you around downtown Seattle and you get to sample gourmet foods for a bunch of different yummy restaurants. It was the highlight of our trip, I highly recommend it if you're ever in Seattle. Below are a few of the highlights.....

We started at The Yellow Leaf Cupcake Company. Luke and I got there early so we decided to have a pre-tour snack! Mine is a Boston Creme Pie and Luke's is the triple chocolate, put you in a sugar coma, that I could only take one bite of! When the tour started we sampled a Tomato Soup Spice cupcake and a Pancake and Bacon cupcake (bottom). Sound gross?? It's totally not. They were soooo good!

Orange Drop Martini with a sugared rim. Delicioso!! 

Seafood Risotto

My handsome hubby sampling Pho.

That's our guide in the background. He was too funny... very entertaining. 

Aaaaaaaaand here we are at the gum wall. Don't get too close... super gross!!!

Downtown Seattle at night from the top of the Space Needle.

The second day we drove up to Mt. Rainer. It was stormy and shrouded in clouds so we didn't get to see its majesty, but it was super pretty driving around in the park.

It was raining in the valley but when we got higher up it changed to snow. I thought this snow line on the forest was interesting.