A UofU & BYU Household

As many of you know I graduated from the University of Utah and Rob graduated from BYU. This has made for some fun rivalries for our family but mostly we just enjoy watching the games together and making good memories. Rob and I had tickets to the UofU football game and it just happened to be a big snow storm the day of the game. We bundled up in our snow gear and went to the game and had a great time. It was cold but the U won and that made it not so bad.

The snowy field.

Last week we headed down to Provo for a BYU Basketball game thanks to Zach and Lauren for giving us their tickets. It wasn't quite as exciting as last year with Jimmermania but it was a lot of fun. Jack let Cosmo lift him up on his shoulders and Cam just freaked out and tried to crawl away from him. It was funny.

We just love being with these two little guys and so it was fun to do things together as a family.
Go Cougars! Go Utes!

Mueller Park Canyon

Jack and I went up to Mueller Park Canyon with his friend Miles and his aunts Jeni & Emily and with Nana. Miles and Jack are great friends who go to school together and spend a lot of time playing legos, bionicles, and spy games.

Jack and I in some of the leaves. My big 5 year old!

Here is the group on a a little hike. It was just so wonderful to be outside and to smell all the leaves and enjoy some of the fall sunshine.

Handsome Boys

Aren't they handsome!!! I love them all!

Quilt Show

Every other year the Holiday Quilt Show and Auction takes place with all the proceeds going to LDS Hospital. This is something that Mom participated in for many years and was involved with the quilting and the displays that they create for the show. This year one of the quilts that she actually pieced together and donated was in the show. She made it in honor of her father, my Grandpa, who spend some time as a patient at LDS hospital. I don't have a close up picture to see the hand stitching but it was a very beautiful quilt and we were proud of her. Nikki, Sarah Jane, and I went to the show and as always there were many beautiful quilts displayed and so many, many hours of work that went into making all of them.

Halloween

The boys on their way out to trick or treat. Cam picked up on this very quickly and was so excited to get a piece of candy and put it in his bag. Jack had a great time as well and it was such a beautiful warm evening we just enjoyed being outside together.

Pumpkin Patches

We went with cousins to the pumpkin patch in Farmington and it was cold cold cold. The kids had fun and Cam just loved picking up pumpkins and dropping them in random places. Jack found the perfect pumpkin about every other one so we ended up with a cart full of pumpkins but only getting one!:) Phew!

Annie & Jack trying to stay warm.

One of the many pumpkins moved around this day by Cameron.

Nikki & Sarah having fun.

Cute brothers.

There is also a fun little hay maze which the kids had fun running around in. If it hadn't been so cold I think they would have had more fun!

The other pumpkin patch that we went to was the one that we grew in our own backyard!

The boys picking one of our few pumpkins.

We had two really big ones like this that grew this summer. Jack loved watching them grow and get bigger and turn orange. We never actually carved it, but Jack loved growing them and finally being able to pick them.

The pumpkin farmer.

Halloween Program

Jack's pre-school class puts on a Halloween program and again this year it does not disappoint. They memorize a lot of songs and little poems and then each of the children come up and tell a Halloween joke. Jack's joke this year was
What kind of music do mummies like best?
Wrap music!
He did a great job telling his joke and got a lot of laughs.
It is fun to see how much Jack has grown up over the past year. last year he really didn't sing too many of the songs and I don't know how many of the poems he knew but this year was a completely different story. He knew all of them and wasn't afraid to sing out. I am still even enjoying some of the songs and poems an we are well past the program.

My cutie! He is dressed as the transformer Bublebee.

The Wedding

Rob's youngest brother Steven was married to the beautiful Erika Johnsen on October 22nd in the Salt Lake Temple. It was a beautiful day outside and the wedding and party were so much fun. They were so happy and it was fun to celebrate such a great event together as a family.

Rob and his siblings, Rich, Jeni, Steve, Emily, & Rob. I love this picture!

Waiting outside at the temple. Rob, Cameron, Rich, & Ryan.

The boys and I outside the temple. The boys were so great and did so well all throughout the long day.

Here they are in their matching outfits. Cam loved his tie and kept showing it to everyone. He was very cute and Jack as always is great at smiling in pictures!:)

Their reception was at the Salt Lake Hardware Company and it was a lot of fun. It is an office building by day but transformed into a fun party place at night. Erika and her family did a great job transforming it with lights, pictures, etc. Cam hanging out with Grandad.

Ryan enjoying the festivities!

Erika dancing the night away! She had planned as a surprise for Steve a flashmob dance. I will admit I was a bit hesitant at first but Rob and I learned the dance and it was a lot of fun. It started off a fun time of dancing.

Rob dancing with his boys. Jack loved hanging out on Rob's shoulders and singing a long to the songs.

I couldn't finish the the post without a picture of our cute Melanie. She is Rob's cousin and she and her family, Troy, Ronan, & Max (I am sad I don't have a picture of all of them to show) drove down from Seattle for the wedding. We loved seeing them all and had a great time catching up.
We are so happy to have Erika in our family and just love to see how happy she makes Steve. It was a great day and we all had a lot of fun together.

Hawaii

We just returned from a fun vacation to Hawaii. I love being at the beach and the kids and Rob had a great time playing in the sand and getting in the water. It was beautiful weather and just so nice to forget about normal life for a while. We stayed at the great area of Ko'Olina. I love it here and the beach set up is so great for the kids.

Cam getting buried in he sand. Cameron was a bit scared of the waves coming in, and they were very small where we were so he wasn't seeing any of the crashing waves further out. He kept saying "bubbles" when they would come in. He spent a lot of his time sitting in the sand with Rob.

My three boys!

We have been to Pearl Harbor before but we have never been out to the Battleship the USS Missouri, or Big Mo as it is called. It was very cool and so big. This is where the Japanese signed the surrender papers to end the war in the Pacific. It was very interesting and we all had a good time there. Jack and I also went through the submarine the USS Bowfin which is cool. I could never spend much time in a submarine, it is so small and tight, it is crazy.

The boys outside the Missouri, and then Jack showing how small the beds are. Even in the big battleship they have such small sleeping quarters. They seriously are made for 5 year olds, it looks like the perfect size for Jack!

The boys playing around on a fun palm tree at one of the Lagoons. We had some beautiful sunsets that we watched. When we first arrived Jack saw the palm trees and asked me what are those? I told him they were palm trees and grown in Hawaii and other places that are warm year round. He started calling them "Hawaii trees" which I thought was cute.

We of course made a stop at the Dole Pineapple plantation, much to Rob's dismay, so that I could enjoy the delicious dole whip. It is a pineapple whipped up dessert and it is so yummy. We took the train ride out into the fields which was fun to see how the pineapples grown, an they also have a lot of other fruits, coffee beans, and plants growing. It was a fun afternoon activity.

Our great friend Erika decided to fly out from CA at the minute to spend a couple days on the beach. We loved having her and thanks to Rob I was able to have some great girl time just relaxing on the beach reading, drinking a Diet Coke, getting some sun, and cooling off in the water. I think I need to make a semi regular trip to relax with the girls there. Rob kept reminding me to enjoy it because we have the long cold winter ahead of us, and I did the best I could soaking it up!

Disney has recently finished their new hotel in Ko'Olina, and it is great! I love Disney stuff, but this is very non disney character themed. It is so beautiful inside the hotel and really you wouldn't know it was a Disney hotel by just looking at it or being in the lobby. That said yes they do have a character breakfast which we decided to take the boys to at the last minute. As you can tell from the picture above Cameron was TERRIFIED of the characters. I am not surprised because they do look a bit strange, so we did our best to keep him away. Jack loved it and it was fun to see Mickey, Minnie, & Goofy.

Cute boys on the beach.

We drove around to the other side of the island just to see some of the scenery and to see some of the real waves. It was of course gorgeous and so picturesque. Rob and Jack looking at crabs and little fish that are left in the tide pools.

This is at a place called the Spitting Cave and it was recommended by a friend who grew up in Honolulu. We would have never found it without her directions and it was a perfect little "hike" for our family. It really was just a short walk from the car down a path out to see the ocean from the rocks. We left Cam in the backpack, very good decision, and Jack was good to stay close. It was great views out to the ocean and back to Honolulu and there was an area where the waves come crashing in and then come spitting back out, hence the name Spitting Cave.

We also enjoyed some delicious shaved ice at Wailoa's in Honolulu. I highly recommend this place it was great and I wish we were able to go back for seconds and thirds.
We had a great trip and it was wonderful to just relax a bit and get away from the normal routine of daily life.
ALOHA!

Lego Star Wars Party

The "pupcake" tree blue frosting on cupcakes what could be better

We had a great birthday party for Jack, with a Lego Star Wars theme. Jack was the one who set the table up and was in charge of who sat where, he loved doing that.

Jack invited some of his best buddies over for a fun night of food, games, and movies.

The boys and Annie Kate eating some dinner.

Pupcakes with blue frosting were fun for everyone to eat.

Presents are always fun and Jack's friends were so nice and generous.

Just a view of the plate settings. Like I said earlier Jack was in charge of how the table should look and I think he did a great job!