Utah trip

Note: Here's a post I started last May. Since I promised my dad I would post something by New Year's Eve and I didn't, I'll just post this. It's about our trip to Utah in April.

I suppose I shall just ramble on a bit about a million different things since it's been so long since my last post. I really loved the movie Slumdog Millionaire. It was moving and inspiring without being sappy and forced (Ron Howard should take lessons). I especially liked watching the relationship of the two brothers grow and change. The older brother was a punk, but he loved his younger brother and he often felt hurt and neglected which caused him to be mean and spiteful. Then he felt bad and would try to be nicer, but then he would get hurt again when his brother cared more about his friend (the girl) than him. The movie had some of the same themes as the Tale of Despereaux did. Funny that, an big studio animated movie about a mouse and an independent movie about a poor kid in India have the same themes of hurt and forgiveness and bravery and courage and being true to yourself. Anyway, I highly recommend Slumdog Millionaire.

The kids and I have done a lot of fun things the last couple of months. We took a trip to Utah for Logan's Easter Vacation. We had a good time staying with our friends Dan and Rachel and really enjoyed seeing uncles Brandon and Kolby every day. While in Utah, we tried to get out and do fun things every day. It was hard, since we actually spent the whole vacation getting sick, one at a time. Logan actually woke up sick the morning after we left with a fever that lasted two days and a sore throat. Then by Tuesday night, it was Rowen with the fever and throwing up. Then on Wednesday, I couldn't get out of bed and had a fever. It was quite miserable. We ended up coming home on Friday instead of Saturday. I've actually been a little afraid to call Rachel since we got back, cause I'm scared that they all ended up getting sick after we left and that it's all our fault. What nice friends they are that they didn't kick us out of their house as soon as we got there.

We met up with Becky, an old roommate of mine one day at the park. Our kids ran around and played together at the park. They didn't want to leave. It was so much fun to see her and see how we've changed by being moms. She looked the exact same, I can't believe it's been 10 years since we lived together. She did kind of scare me about what it's like to live in Utah. I don't know that I want my kids growing up with those kinds of attitudes about the gospel. And also, how bad the air is for kids with asthma.

We went to Wheeler farm. We took Josh, and he loved the animals. Except for the geese, but that's because one bit him on the leg. In the goose's defense, we didn't know that he was protecting a mommy goose that was sitting on her egg close by. We all got to milk a cow. Of course, as soon as I start, the cow decides to poop, and it splatters all over my pants. It was really gross. And it was in front of about 50 people. Highlight of my day.

The best thing we did in Utah was go to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden. It was well worth the drive. If we lived in Salt Lake, we would have annual passes. The kids loved it. It was like a Discovery Science Center, but all based on literature and culture.

Pictures

Here are some pictures from our Utah trip.

Boys at the park

Moms and daughters
Kids at the park
Rowen and Brandon


Rowen Logan and Josh feeding a horse

Josh milking a cow
Logan milking a cow
Rowen milking a cow
Logan and Josh on a farm wagon

Picture time again

Another month gone by

It's been a pretty fun month, which is just the thing after being sick. We had to cancel our trip to San Francisco, which was a bummer. But it just wouldn't have done. So, after we all felt better, we came up with lots of things to do.

The kids and I went sledding at Mount Baldy on February 21. We went with Aunt Colleen and with the twins from Logan's class, Ariana and Alexis. They are such nice girls. They're very sweet to Rowen, too. They are a good example to Logan. The kids all had fun sledding and the snow was perfect. It was soft and powdery, and just wet enough to stick. Poor Rowen got snow down her boots and didn't tell anyone so after about an hour, her feet were freezing. So Colleen was nice enough to sit in the car with Rowen for a while so we could finish sledding. It wasn't too far of a drive, so it was fun. I'll have to remember that place for next year and we can go more often.

Last weekend, the kids went to San Diego with Gramma and Grampa. They went to the Wild Animal Park because they had passes that were expiring. The kids were so excited to go and stay in a hotel. They ended up having more fun swimming at the hotel and going to the movies than they did at the Wild Animal Park. But they each came home with a little stuffed animal that they adore. Logan picked a jaguar and Rowen got a tiger. My parents took them to see the Pink Panther 2, which my mom said was very painful. But Logan really liked it. I'm just glad it was them and not me.

While the kids were in San Diego, Steve and I got to go to Knott's with Jen and Rich. It was fun, even if we only went for a few hours. We went on a few rides and saw a really pointless show. If you go to Knott's, do NOT go to the Mystery Lodge. There's no real mystery involved, and no actual plot to it, either. It's just some silly rambling that is less informative about the native California indians than it should have been. Oh well, it's not the worst 1/2 hour I've ever spent in my life, but it certainly wasn't entertaining.

It will be nice to have a Saturday with nothing to do and to just stay at home and relax. Getting ready for all the weeks of parties the second half of this month.

There have been a ton of things to post about lately, but it's time to get on Logan about doing his homework. For such a smart kid, he sure hates to do his homework. I guess at least it comes easy for him and once I get him working on it he gets it done pretty quickly. It would be worse if it took him a long time to do it and it was near impossible to get him to settle down to do it.

~Jenn

Being Sick

As a mom, I'm used to comforting sick kids and feeling miserable for them. Now, when it's me who's miserable, they are sweet and comforting me. Steve was great last night and fed the kids dinner and got them dressed for bed. Then he brought them in to our room for family prayer so I didn't have to get out of bed. After the prayer, I told the kids that I couldn't give them hugs and kisses because I didn't want them to get sick. They walked across the hall to their room and Logan just started crying, almost bawling actually. Steve couldn't get him to say what was wrong, but I figured it was about me. So I called to him that he could come back and tell me his knock knock jokes. That got his attention. So he and Rowen came running back to my bed and climbed up. I think Rowen told me her jokes first, while Logan finished with his sniffles. Then Logan looked at me with big tears in his eyes and said "knock knock". I asked "who's there" and he replied, "sick ... I mean, I hope" and I asked "I hope who" and he said "I hope you feel better and I love you". So of course, against my better judgment, I had to let him hug me. He has such a gentle heart some times. I need to remember the times like this one, the next time I get angry at him for not listening. I really love Logan more than I can say. And Rowen too, of course, even if her knock knock jokes usually involve chickens, eyeballs, or apples on orange trees. She was sweet and wanted to give me kisses. I finally let her kiss the top of my head, cause I figured germs would have a hard time getting there.

Disneyland Pictures

Disneyland with Gramma

The kids and I went to Disneyland last week for my mom's birthday. It was fun. We only went from 2-8, so the kids didn't have time to get exhausted. Of course, we didn't get to do everything, but we got to do more than I would have thought. That could be because I never let anyone slow down or take a break. After all, that's what standing in line is for. We went on Pirates, and then Peter Pan (which was by far the longest line we stood in all day). Then we went on Roger Rabbit and talked Logan into going on Gadget's Go Coaster. He hadn't been on it in almost 2 years. And he liked it. We even went on it twice. It was a lot of fun.

Then we went on Big Thunder Mountain, cause it's my mom's favorite. We put folded up paper towels in Rowen's shoes just to make sure she was tall enough, but then they measured her again right before getting on the ride and she was tall enough without the paper towels. She loved it. Logan was sitting in between his gramma and grampa, so he wasn't going anywhere. And he seemed like he was ok with it, but he was still a little nervous during the ride. Rowen was sitting next to me and was smiling and loving it the whole time. And she kept sliding around. She even held on with one hand and raised one arm in the air for a few seconds. She's awesome.

Then, after going on Star Tours, she wanted to go on Space Mountain. She was tall enough, and I warned her it would be dark and she still wanted to go. But I was hurrying trying to return a flash drive to some people who dropped it, and she was chasing after me. As I rounded a corner, she cut it too close and ran right into a hand rail, which at 40 inches tall, is perfectly eyebrow level. Within 2-3 minutes, it was swollen and purple. But as she was crying, she said she wanted to go on the ride, so away we went. And she loved it. She held onto my arm in the dark, but she still loved it. She keeps talking about it ever since, too, saying that she wants to go on it again. Logan stayed off the ride with Gramma. But he's getting braver. Rowen just happens to be braverer.

Anyway, here's some pictures from our day at Disneyland.

~Jenn