anniversary weekend

We had such a great weekend. This past week was hectic and busy, so we were really looking forward to the weekend. Eli and I have some time together a lot lately with Will in school and Eli's naps slowly dwindling. :( So we like to take pictures! I love this boy so much, his big lips and his kisses are my favorite, I just can't resist. He is such a physical kid. He is always going, going, going, but he's NEVER too busy for a good hug and snuggle or kiss. I love it. He truly melts my heart.

That smile and those teeth just kill me. Such a handsome little dude, I'm one lucky mama!

And then there's Will. At Scott's home ward in Logan, an older fellow came up to us and Scott's introduced us to him. He looked at Will and said "Well, there's a chip off the 'ol block!" It's true. Will is a mini Scott. He has so many of Scott's great qualities and he definitely looks like his daddy. I love it. I love his little smile and laugh and LONG eyelashes.

Now that I've bragged endlessly about my adorable children, I can tell you about our anniversary weekend! It was great. Scott has no idea what were doing, I surprised him! I packed up our bags and dropped the kids off at my sisters house. We headed to Sundance, one of our most favorite Utah spots. It has become a sort of tradition for us. It is where we feel like we can "get away" without really "going away." It is always beautiful at Sundance, anytime of year. We walked around the resort for awhile and then we decided to get something to eat. We had plans to eat at our favorite Tree Room, and we were SO sad when they said it was closed until the 17th! What?! We were really bummed, but that didn't put a damper on our weekend. I had one more surprise in store.

We headed up to Midway and ate at a really yummy Cafe Galeria. It was seriously delish. Then we went to stay at Zermott. We love it there. We love Midway. I want to live there.

After our yummy dinner, we went to our hotel and sat in the hot tub. It was so nice! It was outside and the weather was getting chilly, so the hot tub felt great. We were able to sleep in the next morning and just relax. I have been training for my half marathon, so I made Scott come running with me..... nice anniversary gift - "Happy anniversary, now you have to work out with me!"

It was seriously GORGEOUS. It was sunny down in the valley and the temperature was perfect. I was afraid I would be cold, but I was shedding my jacket not even a mile into the run. Then we decided to go up some canyon road and I almost died. Literally, I had to walk and I was gasping for breath. I felt like a loser, since I'm the one whose been training for WEEKS! And Scott was totally fine, just trucking along! Finally, we decided to turn around since I was about to pass out. :) But before we did, this was the picture we snapped with our phone.... you can't see very good, but as we ran up the canyon, we ran into a storm and it was snowing, but still sunny and green down in the valley. The view was really incredible and we had a lot of fun running our 8 miles. We were pooped when we got home, took an extra long time to get ready and then we went to eat breakfast. We were also starving and it's pretty embarrassing to admit how much food I consumed.... so I won't. But it was tasty!

Happy anniversary Scott! I can't believe it has been 9 years! Here's to another 9 and then some..... I love you!

SIX

It seems like every year goes by quicker and quicker. Every year I find myself saying "where did the year go?!" Now I have a little six year old who isn't so little anymore! Will had a great birthday and is such a joy to our family. Will is a sweetheart. He has a big heart and loves people unconditionally. He loves to play outside and still loves Star Wars! Will loves to play the Wii and really enjoys drawing still. He is doing great in Kindergarten and is already looking forward to first grade!

To celebrate Will we had some family over and had some appetizers and Will's request for dessert: brownie bites, cherry ice cream, with whip cream and cherries on top. I did not complain, it was all pretty tasty!

 Will still loves the color green and wanted a "green" party. He was confused as to why we couldn't do another star wars party this year. I tried to tell him that we probably won't do a "party" every year and he was a little bit disappointed, but I think that once he saw that we were still celebrating him, he was okay with it. :)

We celebrated his birthday on a Sunday so our families could come be with us, and then on Monday, his actual birthday, he got to take treats to his class, and then we went to Olive Garden for dinner (also his request). After Olive Garden, he wanted to stay up late to watch Star Wars with Mom and Dad while Eli was asleep.

We had such a fun time celebrating Will and appreciate so much all of our family and their support for Will.

Grandpa taught Will how to squirt whip cream into his mouth, he thought that was pretty awesome.

And of course a party wouldn't be a party without a little Eli in it! He loved these glasses of Will's and wore them around all afternoon.

We love Will so much. He is such a good boy and we feel really blessed to be his parents. He is learning and growing into such a great kid! Here's to another year!

a little of this and a little of that

We've enjoyed going to storytime at the library every couple of weeks. The kids really have a fun time.... especially Eli. When Will was little, I used to take him to story time and he was so shy that he would just sit on my lap the whole time. Eli.... not so much. He is running all over the place, gets really into the stories and loves the songs and dancing.  This week at story time they did the limbo, it was pretty cute! I'm glad that all my pictures were blurry, except for my own kids!

Eli has been working hard at learning to get up this rock wall. He has finally mastered it and scares me to death every time he tries to climb up it! He is my little dare devil and loves to play outside. It has been so fun to watch the boys run and play everyday and it's so convenient to have a playground right outside our front door!

Last weekend, Scott and I had two nights in a row to ourselves! It was so fun. On Friday night, we went to the temple and then to eat at Los Hermanos. Then on Saturday we had another babysitter and we went to the adult session of stake conference, then to get ice cream with some friends. We had a great time and it was nice to have some time away as just adults. :)

buzzes and hikes

Time for the summer buzz cuts! Eli was not happy to be getting his hair cut. He sure is a cutie though, I love those little tufts of black curly hair! It is so much easier to take care of his hair when it's cut short and he looks so handsome. I love Will's hair cut short too, he's such a cutie!

 A few weeks ago, we decided to go on a little walk/hike on Sunday afternoon. We called my sister and her family tagged along with us. We had a great time and the kids always love to be together. The weather was beautiful and we had a lot of fun.

 The boys ran and ran and ran, they were exhausted by the time we got home..... and what's a hike without checking out bugs? Up close and personal (below) is how Eli loves to look at bugs.

At the end of our hike, there was a really pretty (although a little scary) waterfall. The kids always love to throw rocks in the water. Will just HAD to bring his back pack on the hike and it came home full of all sorts of nature creations. Mostly rocks and dirt!

I love this picture of Eli and Scott, they are such handsome boys. Those teeth of Ei's are stellar!

 Ali and Eli

We are loving the weather this Spring, it has been so nice! We even like the rainy days here and there. :) Utah has so much to offer for outdoors, we are loving living close to the mountains again!