November in a Snapshot or Two

The first weekend in November Jordan and McKay hand-tilled our back yard and planted grass. McKay kept Jordan going by reminding him of how much he had done and Jordan appreciated his 'help' to keep going. His arms/tendons were sore for a couple of weeks afterward. We have enjoyed watching the grass grow... it LOVES all the rain we have been having.

The epitome of cheap entertainment.
My onion powder turned to rocks due to the humidity but I needed some for a recipe I was making and got enough powder to make the rub. The boys had a ball transferring the tiny and the not-so-tiny rocks from one container to the other. They would have been entertained for hours but I cut them short to hopefully limit the mess I would have to clean up!

Maxwell turned 18 months November 20th and went to nursery without a backward glance. There are a couple of 'rough' boys in there that have made it a bit harder for him to be excited to go to nursery but overall Maxwell seems to enjoy it.

McKay and his cars sat on his stool looking out the window and waiting for Nanna Anna, Grandpa and Chantelle to arrive for Thanksgiving. After about an hour we called to see where they were. Grandpa told McKay what time they would be there according to the GPS so he got the clock from the bathroom and notified me each time it got a little closer the time Grandpa told him. I knew they had arrived when I heard McKay run out the door to greet them. Excited? I think so.

I did a terrible job of taking pictures while they were here so most of what I have is what my mom took. They arrived on Wednesday and on Thursday we had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner once the turkey finally got done. It was nice relaxing and visiting. McKay loved having so many people to play hide-and-seek with. Friday we went to Old Town and ate at Coyote Cafe. Then we hurried over to the Mormon Battalion for a tour.

After the tour Mom and Dad went to Lancaster for a massage and we took senior pictures of Chantelle around Old Town and then with the sunset at the beach. Jordan & I enjoyed taking pictures of someone who smiles and does what you ask!

Panning for gold.
We spent Saturday at Sea World. Jordan finally had people who could go on rides with him (at least rides that don't go in circles) and it was nice having more laps at the shows and hands to hold between! We went to a 15 minute Polar Express in 4D and hit all the major shows: dolphins, sea lions, and Shamu. The boys and I were entertained by the penguins while the others went on one of the rides. The day was just warm enough that they were able to go on the 'wet' rides and not totally freeze. It was a lovely day!

McKay was very disappointed when it was time for them to leave. I forgot to remind him they were leaving on Sunday so it was a bit of a surprise. He is already asking when they will be back again or when we will be going to Arizona.
Thanks for visiting!

The new grass at the end of the month, after 3 1/2 weeks of growth. Not bad!

Visitors

October 6th Jordan's parents came to visit us. The boys were SO excited! Jordan was able to take Friday off so we went to the zoo. We got some free passes with our membership in March and this is the first time we've had visitors to use them! We hadn't seen the panda bears yet because the line was always too long. Now they have finished the exhibit though so there isn't even a line anymore.

McKay was our official map reader. As soon as we finished with group of exhibits, he'd grab the map to see where we should go next and direct us where to go.

McKay wasn't too excited about climbing on that lion and was even less excited when his hat was taken for the picture. But they are cute anyway. We happened to see the lions when they were getting their lunch.

The polar bears were by far every one's favorite exhibit. Every time we've seen them they have been very active but this time they were especially playful with each other and with the big balls in the water. It was very cool.

Even though we had the double stroller, McKay insisted on walking the whole 3 hours or so that we were there. We were all ready to be done walking by the time we left!

Maxwell loves to play peek-a-boo. He is so much fun.

After leaving the zoo we drove to Coronado and drove around looking at the unique and beautiful homes there. Jordan's parent's had never been there before. It was a little too relaxing though and it was a bit difficult for some of us to stay awake.

McKay usually has unlimited energy for his Saturday soccer games but the zoo wore him out and we could tell he was tired as he played.

McKay REALLY wanted to go outside with Daddy and Grandpa who were out cooking a tri-tip roast on the grill. Not exactly shoes but at least his feet were covered! Uncle Todd came to McKay's game as well as Grandma and Grandpa and it was fun having them. Afterwards we had a delicious lunch of tri-tip bbq sandwiches, corn on the cob, grilled Italian squash, and fresh avocado dip and chips. Then Grandma and Grandpa went with Todd to his house to visit with them.

The real reason we had visitors was that Erin & Domingo blessed their sweet baby Brooklyn Sunday afternoon at Todd & Lisa's home. We were happy we were able to attend. McKay enjoyed playing with everyone, as usual, and it was great to visit and to meet Domingo's sweet sisters.

Max ate almost the whole ice cream sandwich and really didn't make too big of a mess. That doesn't mean I wasn't concerned he'd make a huge mess though.

Come again soon Grandma & Grandpa Moser!

Sea World

We bought passes to Sea World yesterday and all of us enjoyed ourselves. Max quickly caught on to watching the animals through the glass and loved standing up close. He got especially excited about the Beluga Whales, the walrus, and the penguins. It was fun to watch him point to the animals; McKay was ready to move on well before Maxwell was!

We went to the dolphin show first, then to the sea lion show and then to Shamu Rocks. The Sea Lion show was very entertaining, especially the pre-show! McKay saw the vendors walking up and down the stairs and noticed the fist-fulls of money they had. He suggested we ask them for some of it. :) He was teasing me. Maxwell decided he wanted to 'give knuckles' to a lady sitting behind us. He wouldn't give up until she figured it out and 'punched' his fist. Of course she loved it!

Shamu Rocks started at 8pm and was awesome. We are glad we thought to get passes before the summer night shows are over! We got to the stadium early and cautiously sat on the second to last row of the soak zone. The boys had fun dancing to the music before the show, entertaining them and those around us!

Both boys tasted cotton candy for the first time too. How I wish I could have had their reactions on video! After he knew what to expect, Maxwell loved it and helped himself to handfuls at a time. McKay liked it after a minute but was too busy watching the show to eat much.

We also splurged and got McKay a 'light stick' as he called it. He was one happy little boy! Max thought it was pretty neat too until the cotton candy arrived.

Both boys fell asleep after Shamu Rocks. We went later on in the day purposely so we could see the fireworks that night. We had time before the fireworks at 9:50 we wandered tiredly through aquariums and stroller-friendly exhibits until it was time for the show.

We woke McKay up so he could see the fireworks he had been so looking forward to seeing. Poor kid was tired and the show was just a few minutes long. When it ended he said 'I wanted long fireworks!' Our house was super hot when we got home (AC broke this HOT weekend) so McKay just slept in his underwear... until 8:45 am. Yes, we successfully wore him out!

Summer Vacation: Moser Family Reunion

Tuesday was our down day. We didn't have anything 'planned' and that is exactly how I wanted it! Jordan and McKay went fishing with Grandpa Moser and I helped Kathy with some bookkeeping while Max took a nap. I don't think we got dressed until after lunch. :) Yes it was a much needed relaxing day!

Wednesday we went and spent a few hours at my Grandma and Grandpa Cardon's house and had a delicious lunch with them. Then they watched the boys while Jordan and I went to the Logan Temple with his parents, all his siblings and spouses, and his nephew and spouse who recently were sealed. (20 people total) It was lovely to be in the temple. Then we all went to Hamilton's Steak House for dinner. Kent and Kathy just thought we all were going out to dinner. They didn't know we had been planning for months (okay years) to do something to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. We invited some of their closest friends and family for a surprise dinner. It was a fun evening.

Shawn & Yuri, Frank & Kim, Tyson & Mandi, Derrick & Kelli, Ira & Nicky, Lisa & Todd, Kathy & Kent, Me & Jordan, and Robin & Reese.

This shows things as they really are.

Kathy, Yuri, Me & Nicky

Jordan's sisters did an excellent job decorating with Kathy's wedding dress and pictures from various stages in Kent & Kathy's lives as well as baby/childhood pictures of the kids. Nicky also put together a slide show. :)

After the dinner Kent and Kathy were given several bags with various objects we each had picked to represent a memory with them and they had to guess who it was and what the memory was. It was entertaining.

We were later than we thought we would be so we got the boys ready for bed at Grandma and Grandpa Cardon's house and they both fell asleep on the drive home. I am so glad my boys were able to spend some time with my dear grandparents. I also realized I need to get more pictures (or at least post more) of Maxwell's curly hair since Grandma didn't realize his hair is so curly!

Thursday after lunch we went to Willow Flat and set up camp. The water from the spring was moving quite fast but McKay was pretty good (definitely not perfect) about not being near the water without a Mommy or Daddy there.

Nicky was trying to get all three boys in the picture but McKay was walking away so Kelli said 'Wink at Nicky!' And he did! :)

He and his cousin Desmond quickly became friends as they threw rock after rock into the water. They have met before but McKay wasn't quite 18 months old at the time. :)

McKay loved being on the 4-wheeler with Grandpa Moser. We needed to get to higher ground to make a phone call so we 'had' to go for a ride. Max was asleep so we took the opportunity to go.

Grandpa told McKay to hold on to the 4 wheeler while he took Nicky's bikes off her trailer for her. He was impressed that McKay never let go until Grandpa said he could.

After we made the call we went to the ice caves. We didn't think to bring a flashlight so we used the flash on the camera (of course I had that!) until our eyes adjusted. It was amazing how much snow and ice there was! By the time we left, McKay was shivering.

It was neat to see and McKay loved being there with us.

I realized as we were riding just how blue the sky really is. Now that we live in the 'city' I don't see the blue skies I grew up seeing every day.

Kamden & McKay

I think McKay ate 3 s'mores. He couldn't get enough!

That night was a terrible thunder/lightening storm. We didn't get much rain but there was so much thunder and lightening it was hard to get to sleep. It was also very cold. McKay didn't sleep well so I kept my hand on his chest and then he was okay. I also kept waking up to make sure Maxwell had blankets on. Then, sometime during the night Jordan & I must have been woken up by some loud thunder because we were both awake when there was a huge clap of thunder and a bolt of lightening at the exact same moment. My eyes shot open and I listened and looked intently to hear a tree falling or to see fire. It took a while to fall back to sleep after that!

Max woke up probably around 5:30 or 6 with the sun and was happy being with Jordan and I until he saw McKay who was still sleeping. He wanted to say 'hi' to his brother and was not happy when I wouldn't let him. So Maxwell cried and cried for a long time. I think McKay was the only one around who slept through it!

Kim brought these visors with tons of stickers for the kids. McKay loved it! He spent all afternoon working on one for him and then on one for Maxwell. Kamden spent quite a while working on his too.

McKay, Ryan & Kamden

Ta Da! I didn't take a picture of it but BOTH sides of the visor are covered with stickers. I'd say this craft was a hit!

McKay and Kamden spent a lot of time climbing on these rocks together!

As soon as I saw the clouds rolling in Friday afternoon, I decided Max and I would go home to sleep that night. As soon as we got there, I gave Max a bath and put him to bed. He slept GREAT and I actually had to wake him up in the morning to go back to Willow Flat! Jordan stayed up till 3 am that night playing Mofia, which killed his plans for hiking to Bloomington Lake at 5 am. :)

McKay went on another ride with Jordan on Saturday. In fact, every time someone went for a ride, he thought he needed to go to. Grandpa gave him a few rides around the camp site and Max got one short ride too, which he loved.

While Jordan & McKay were gone on the ride (with the camera) Maxwell and I hiked up to the spring with the rest who didn't go on the ride. It was beautiful. Max INSISTED on putting his feet in the water. If I had let him he would have jumped in. Silly boy!

Check out that grin!

Ryan, Daxon, McKay, Tannon & Truman

Jordan as been itching to go on a ride so I am glad he was able to go on a couple.

"Hey, did you see that sky today, talk about blue!" (Kronk)

Saturday night after dinner we had a fireside devotional and talent show featuring the Gurney flash mob dance and Tyson & Jackson singing 'Mean' by Taylor Swift. Maxwell was 'all done' so he and I spent most of it outside the circle with Max playing with various people. He has the personality that makes it impossible to ignore his grin and 'hi'; that and he'll keep saying 'hi' until he gets a response! We had everything all packed up and slept at Jordan's parents house that night. Then Sunday morning we started the drive home. Max was so done driving it wasn't long into the drive that he started telling us he was 'all done'. Poor kid.

We drove to Mesquite Nevada and got a hotel with a pool. McKay had fun practicing what he had learned at swimming lessons and it was fun to relax a little after having been in the van all day. We closed the curtains up tight and didn't get up until Max woke up for the day at 9 am. :)

It was wonderful to visit family and to see so many we hadn't seen for such a long time... but it was also nice to be home in our own space again.