Swimming

Jaxon, Joshua & McKenna

Today we went swimming at the Lehi Legacy Center with Sarah (my sister in law) and her kids, Josh & McKenna. The kids had so much fun splashing around and playing together. At first Jaxon didn't like the big bucket (it fills up with water, then it tips over and splashes everywhere) but towards the end he thought it was fun.....i think he was more scared of the the noise it makes than anything!

Jaxon was keeping his eye on the BIG BUCKET the whole timeMillie waiting for her turn to get in the pool!

Millie had a great time, she liked splashing in the water....she should sleep well tonight! It was the perfect day to go swimming because the weather was nice, so we didn't freeze when we went out to the car. Jaxon is already asking when we can go back again!!

Jaxon & McKenna playing in the pool

Baseball with Grandma & Grandpa Drake

Today, Jaxon & Millie got to spend the whole day with Grandma & Grandpa Drake. It was the opening games/social for the baseball season for Uncle Josh and Uncle Brian. So most of the day was spent at the ballpark -right up Jax's street!! Grandma & Grandpa said Jaxon had so much fun and both him and Millie were very good!!! They had games to play, candy to eat, pizza for lunch, mascots to meet and ball games to watch. They even let Jaxon pick out a baseball hat & T-shirt to buy (of course - it had to be the same as Josh(9), Brian(7) & Sam(6) - he loves his Aunt & Uncles so much and always has to be just like them!!). Jax got his hat signed by some of the mascots that were there.....Bumble from the Bees, Leo from Real Salt Lake and some others too! He was so excited when we got home, and wanted to wear his hat to bed!! Now he can't wait for his Itty Bitty Baseball to start next week. Thanks a lot Grandma & Grandpa for all the fun!!

Surprise in the mail

So, last Tuesday when i got the mail, there was a package from Jaz & Jo (my brother & sister in law in England.) When i opened it, i found the CUTEST hat and mittens. They are for Millie for next year!! YIPPEE!! I can't tell you how excited i am. I know, I know it's only a hat, but....... when Millie was born, they sent me this cute hat with a scarf & mittens. Millie has faithfully worn her hat ALL winter long, and if i do say so myself.....she looked so CUTE in it. We got lots of compliments, wanting to know where we got it from. I had asked Jo awhile ago to see if she could pick me up another one for next year. But when she went to the store, they told her they wouldn't have any of them till about August. She happened to stop by their outlet store and she found this new CUTE hat & mittens.... It was the only one in the store and just happened to be the size we needed. She was so nice and surprised me with it. I just know that Millie will look so adorable in it. THANKS SO MUCH JO!! I LOVE IT!!!

Are the police coming?

Tonight at dinner, i asked Jaxon if he wanted to finish a yogurt. "Yes" he replied "it's delicious" Then he look at me and Kent and said "The police won't come for me?".....we both burst out laughing! What goes on in that little head of his??!!!

Yummy Melon!

Today Jaxon kept asking if we could eat the Cantaloupe i bought at the store this weekend. So finally i gave in and then i ended up eating almost the whole thing - it was SO delicious!! I put some in Millie's teething feeder (I LOVE THIS THING) and she loved it. I tried to take it from her to put some more in, and she started throwing such a fit!! Jaxon just kept licking his and posed for the pictures, but afterwards he told me he didn't really like it and wanted an orange instead. He is ALWAYS changing his mind!! Little Stinker!!!

Zion National Park

This was the first time that i have ever been to ZION NATIONAL PARK. It was great! We took one of the shuttles and headed up towards the Lodge. We did a little hike up to Lower Emerald Pool. We stopped at the beginning of the hike to look at a little lizard. Jaxon thought that it was pretty cool, until the lizard decided to move - it freaked him out and the whole rest of the hike he kept wanting me to hold him, and he kept asking if lizards & snakes were going to come and get him. He said so many times he just wanted to go back to the hotel - poor little guy!

Jaxon before he saw the Lizard!

Mum & Jax taking a little rest

Reed, Sarah, Madi, Lala, Jaxon & Millie (in baby carrier on Reed's back)

Waterfall at Lower Emerald Pool

On the shuttle they had said that you could go on horse rides.....well, when Jaxon heard that, he just knew he was going to ride on one. He kept going on & on about it, so finally we went to go & see how old you had to be....10 years old - sorry buddy!! He was so upset, i had to bribe him to stop crying by telling him when we went home i would have dad take him to his friends to ride the horses! At least it calmed him down for a little bit. (until he kept saying that he was ready to go home, so he could go to Nathan's and ride the horses!!)

After the first little hike, we went and ate at the lodge - Definately not the greatest food we ate on the trip. After we ate i was looking for my camera and couldn't find it anyway!! Luckily someone had handed it in at the front desk - Thanks to whoever turned it in, i would have been so sad if i had lost it!

View from Zion Lodge

We loaded onto another shuttle to take us further up the mountain to another hike. We got off at The Temple of Sinawava and went on the Riverside walk. It was kind of chilly, but definately worth the 2 mile walk! Jaxon did great, so did Millie - she slept the whole time in the carrier. Beautiful Views on the Riverside WalkThe Mountains were so high - i can't believe people rock climb up these!!Thanks Reed for carrying Millie all day in the Carrier!
We made it to the end!! Yipee - Jax you did a great job!We saw this little squirrel at the end of the trail. He was so funny, he was putting so much stuff in his mouth and kept posing for everyones camera!

After the walk we took the shuttle back to the van and drove through a 1.1 mile tunnel in the mountain. It was so dark in there! There were some cutouts that the natural light could come through, but still it was really dark.

That night we were all so exhausted after being in the fresh air all day. We had so much fun and plan to go back sometime soon!

There are so many beautiful things to see here in Utah, I definately want to make sure that i give myself and my family the chance to see as much of it as we can.

Kolob Canyon

One of the days we were in St George, we decided to take a ride up KOLOB CANYON. It was so beautiful!! Jaxon was so funny - we would say "Jaxon look at the mountains - they are so big" He just kept replying "I could drive up that on my dirt bike" or "My dirt bike would go vroom up that" - Like father like son!!!

Heading up the canyon

A View from the top of Kolob Canyon

Sarah, Madi, Lauren, Jax & Millie at the top of Kolob Canyon (notice the swim goggles on Jaxon's head)

We had just been to Target to get some swimming goggles. Jaxon would not take them off and insisted on wearing them all the way up the Canyon. I couldn't help but snapping this photo! So cute!

St George

For SPRING BREAK we went to St Gerorge with my sister and her 2 girls, Madi & Lauren. We went from Sunday to Thursday and had so much fun! Reed (my brother in law) came down on Tuesday to join the party. Unfortunately Kent couldn't get time off and had to stay home! We were sad that he couldn't come, but when we got home, we told him we had to plan a trip back to Zions. Jordan (my nephew) was in california with his friend so we missed having him there also. We mostly just hung out by the pool. We drove up to Kolob Canyon - it truly was breathtaking!! We also spent the day in Zion National Park. I had never been and it was amazing!!

Jaxon & Lauren Swimming in the Pool. They were like little fish!! Millie looks so cute after getting out of the pool!! She liked sitting in her little floating crab!So Cute taking a nap. She only took a couple the whole time we were gone! No wonder she was exhausted when we got home!!

We all drove down in my van (Which i LOVE) It was so nice that we could all drive together, and it was nice for my sister and I that the kids could watch movies- it made for a nice quiet ride. Poor little Millie was not feeling the greatest. She had a runny nose, a bad cough, poopy bum (all the time) and was not happy - which is totally not like her!! We were excited for the warm weather, but it really wasn't all that warm - it was so windy and was pretty chilly!!! Too bad it was warming up the day we left - just our luck. Nethertheless we had a great time.

We ate at some good restaurants, had Nielsons frozen custard, and had lots of laughs. Cute little Lauren lost her front tooth at breakfast one morning!!

We did have a great time, but like always it is SO nice to come home. Especially to see DAD!!! We missed you so much!! The first thing that Jaxon wanted to do, of course, was go to Grandma & Grandpa Drakes to jump on the tramp!! Millie was so excited to get home and just smiled when i took her into her bedroom. She slept for 12 hours straight the first night home.....now if only everynight could be like that!

Getting ready to go swimming!! Jaxon was so good at keeping his hat on (his face got sunburned the Saturday before we left - so i insisted he wore his hat ALL the time & he never complained!)- He is such a good boy!

What a week!!

What a busy week we have had! Here is a glimpse of what we have done this past week.

MONDAY:

Monday evening we went to the CHEESECAKE factory. My parents took all the adults out to dinner to celebrate all the birthdays in our family this month. (5 within 2 weeks) It was so delicious. It was our first time going to the new one here in Utah. We had a great time being able to chat without having to worry about dealing with the kids

TUESDAY:

After working for almost a month every night after work, to rebuild his trucks engine, Kent thought that Big Red was done....... little did he know what Wednesday would bring!
I went to Bunco and had another fun night out!! It was nice to see friends, and to top it off i won a cute Sunflower Wreath for my door!!

WEDNESDAY:

Wednesday was a great day! It was my birthday and i was very spoiled. When i went downstairs in the morning i was so surprised to find the bike i had been looking at, (at Costco) in my front room!! I was so excited - i have been wanting a bike so i can go on rides with Jaxon. My sister has a baby carrier that she has given me, so i can put Millie in, and pull her behind. Jaxon was almost as excited as me about the bike. He kept saying "this bike is awesome, i helped dad pick it" and "Put me on it so i can ride it." He is so funny!

Later we went up to my Mum's house, where we hung out and had lunch. We had to pick Kent up from work because had taken Big Red (his truck) on a test drive to work and when he got there he discovered the engine cover had cracked and he couldn't drive it home! (I felt bad after almost a month of working on big red he thought he was done. Now he has to take it apart again, replace the cover, then put it back together........as you can imagine, he was very mad & i think he almost cried....almost!) After we picked him up, we went to his parent's house. They had a babysitter ready so all the adults could go out to eat. They took us to Tucano's in the River Bottoms. It was delicious, and we could hardly walk out of there because we were so full!! Kent even enjoyed it...... what a miracle!! (he doesn't like to try new things!!) We then went back to his parents house and had ice cream with the kids. I had a great day and thanks to everyone for all my gifts and Birthday wishes!!

THURSDAY:

MILLIE is 7 months old today!! I can't believe she is so big already. She is such a good baby. I can't complain. She is loving her solid foods and pretty much anything that i give her now. She can roll over, sit up, and she wiggles her hips to move to where she wants to go. She loves to tease Jax, trying to take his binki (still haven't got rid of it!) and trys to get his Wa Wa's (Jaxon doesn't have a favorite blanket or cuddly toy - no, he carries around 2 wash clothes and tickles his ear with the tags!) We Love you Millie, and love to see you grow and develop. We love your little personality coming out. Our family would not be complete without you!!

I went out with my Mum to get a pedicure and then we met up with my sister to go to Texas Road house for dinner! (NO i haven't been home all week!) I love hanging out with my Mum & Sister -we had a great time.

FRIDAY:

Work..... what more is there to say!

SATURDAY:

Today was the MS Walk in SLC. Millie and myself went on the walk with my sister, her 2 girls (Madi & Lauren) and my Mum. We had a good time and the weather was nice. Millie ended up with little sunburned cheeks! So sad. So many people turned out this year. It was great seeing everyone walk for such a good cause!

My sister was diagnosed a few years ago with MS. Thanks to the injections she takes every week, she can lead a pretty normal life. She gets very tired easily, but she did great on the walk. I am thankful for the NATIONAL MS SOCIETY and all they do trying to find a cure for this disease.

We are going to St George tomorrow till Thursday, with my sister and her girls - too bad Kent has to work. We are excited to swim, relax and have a good time!

Silly Boy!!

The other day i was asking Jaxon where different body parts were. He was doing great until we got to his nose. This how the conversation went:
Me: Where is your nose?
Jax: I don't have a nose!
Me: Well how do you smell?
Jax: (after a quick wiff of himself) Nasty!!
I cracked up - he makes me laugh all the time....Silly Boy!!