Carnival

We couldn't resist taking the kids to the carnival when it was here a few weeks ago. James couldn't get enough of all the rides. Lynnlee could have cared less. She was more content watching James go on the rides.

The roller coaster was James's favorite.

You would think she was being punished by how unhappy she was on the train ride.

Cars 2

On Saturday we took James to see Cars 2. Of course Lynnlee came too even though we knew she wouldn't be as excited as James.

This is how excited she was to see it.

This is how excited James was to see it. You couldn't wipe the smile off his face all afternoon.

Cooking Class

For a Mother's Day present from my Mom to my sisters and sisters-in-law, my mom gave us a cooking class at Orson Gygi. Betsy, Katie, and I chose the Hawaiian-Asian class which we attended with my Mom this past Saturday.

I definitely recommend a class there. I'm not a great cook and I don't explore very many recipes. I don't know if I want to admit this but I've never cooked with ginger. I honestly would not be able to pick it out of a line up. A few of the recipes called for ginger and when I saw it I thought, "so that's what it looks like." Yep I need to start branching out and I think I will after taking this class.

Here we are at the amazing kitchen in Orson Gygi. In a dream life I would have a kitchen this big and beautiful.

My sisters, Katie and Betsy. You can see our yummy ribs in the back ground to the right.

After you make the food you get to sit down and enjoy it.

Thanks Mom for the awesome Mother's Day present!

Summer time

Before summer was here I was good about staying on top of house work, cooking, grocery shopping, laundry, etc. Now that summer is in full swing I have fallen short in all areas. Isn't that the great thing about summer though? You can take a break from the normal routine and it all works out in the end. James might be eating more hot dogs than normal because of my lack of cooking but at least he's fed. Since we spend most days at Seven Peaks there is less laundry. Since we don't spend as much time at home the house doesn't get dirty as fast, at least that is what I would like to think.

It's been a great summer so far! Lynnlee and James are at the perfect ages to be able to enjoy most anything. It's only going to get better as they get older and more independent.

We went to This Is The Place park for a family reunion in June. The petting zoo was a hit. Lynnlee was fearless around the animals.

Seven Peaks has been fun because James wears a life jacket so I don't have to keep such a tight watch on him. Lynnlee stays by my side and it's been fun.

We celebrated the 4th of July at my Aunt Kathy's house in Salt Lake. James learned how to go off the diving board or "jumping board" as he calls it.
I had high hopes of running a half marathon and marathon again this summer but that was shot to pieces so I decided a 5K was good enough. We ran the AF Steel Days 5K as a family. Marshall pushed the stroller. He never ceases to amaze me. He hasn't been training, he never runs with the stroller and yet he still beat me across the finish line. You better watch your back at the next race, honey, I'm coming for ya!

Here's to the rest of the summer! I hope to enjoy more family BBQs, swimming, and 5Ks before its over.

15 months

Lynnlee is 15 months. I have a little journal that I keep all of their stats in so I don't normally put them on the blog but I decided this one is worth blogging about. Heart babies normally have a hard time growing but Lynnlee has proved us wrong. She has been in the 60% since her surgery in October. She weighs 24.65 lbs and is 31 inches. That's my girl!

This was taken while driving in our car and listening to her favorite song. She and James love to jam out.

She's always on the go now and if you saw her you would have no idea she has a heart defect.

"Lynnlee, how old are you?"

Silly Boy

James has been showing off his silly face lately. We are now in the, "Mom watch this" stage. It's fun but tricky when we are in the car. May as well be texting and driving because the distraction is the same.

He and Lynnlee jam out to their favorite song and it's the best time to take a picture of him because he's really smiling.

We took advantage of the Father's Day special at Krispy Kreme where you bring in an ugly tie and get a free dozen of donuts. James couldn't get enough.
The other morning we were sitting at the table eating breakfast. James got up and went potty. Next thing I hear him say from the bathroom, "Mom do you like me?" and I said, "Yes James I LOVE you!" and he said "No, do you LIKE me?" and I said, "Yes James I LIKE you!" Then he said, "No will you WIPE me!?" I was totally hearing him wrong the whole time. I'm not used to him asking that and maybe I need my hearing checked!

Havasupai

Marshall got to go on a man trip last week to Havasupai in Arizona. It is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Too bad it's not more kid friendly or I would go every summer. It involves backpacking 10 miles and once you get there you get to enjoy beautiful waterfalls! The water is pretty warm and there are lots of fun pools to swim in. Here are some pictures from his trip.

Eric doing a back flip into the water.

You can barely see Marshall.

Now this is zoomed out and you can barely see him. Crazy how small a place like this makes you feel.

Marshall, Eric, and Michael.

It's seriously heaven on earth. So beautiful and so relaxing to spend your days swimming in the crystal clear water.

Indianapolis

Last week we went to Indianapolis for a garage door convention. I know what your thinking...."They have garage door conventions?" Yeah pretty much they have conventions for everything. While we were there we saw a muscle man, ball room dancing, and gamers convention all going on in the same building. So yeah there are garage door conventions.

We were invited by my in-law's to go now that Marshall is working for his Dad. We had planned for my parents to watch my kids. We ended up learning the hard way that Lynnlee needed to come with too. When we planned the trip a few months ago she didn't have favorites and went to babysitters without problems. Then a month later I left her and James with a babysitter and Lynnlee cried the whole time. I feel so bad for the poor babysitter because I had no idea Lynnlee would have a hard time and be such a Mama's girl. Crying isn't so good for Lynnlee's little heart so after that night I decided that Lynnlee would have to come with me to Indiana because I couldn't bare leaving her for 4 days and risking her crying a lot.

So we flew out Wednesday morning. Marshall did some planking while we were waiting in line to check our bags.
While we were in Indianapolis we saw the Indy 500 track. It's 2 1/2 miles around!

We walked along a beautiful canal that runs through downtown.
We went to the Indianapolis Children's Museum. It was awesome! I wish there was one like it in Utah so I could go every week.
We walked through the old Union train station that is now a hotel. There are hotel rooms in this train. Pretty cool idea!
My father-in-law's name is Dan so we had to take a picture of this vehicle that had his name on it.

The rest of the time we were around the convention. Lynnlee was a trouper!