Hiking and swimming

Last summer it was all about going to Lagoon (season passes are the best!), but we've decided that our two main activites for this summer will be hiking and swimming. Tyler had the brilliant idea of hiking every trail in Farmington before summer is over, so we got right to work last weekend. Something really cool about Farmington is the great trail system they have, so many beautiful, secluded trails right in town or close by. I've been wanting to check this certain one out (the trailhead is in our ward boundaries) as I drive by it often so we decided to make it our first trip. Here we go :)
We threw Cole in the backpack and Kate in the front pack and took off. It was quite warm, but we had a blast! Here's a cool log we had to cross to get over a stream.

Cole LOVED it! "Me hiking mommy!"

Look at what we saw in the trail! Almost didn't see it laying out in the sun. It's pretty long, right?!

Check out this view at the top!! B-e-a-utiful!

This guys is talented! Look at his arm in our glasses.

Kate's hiking outfit, I was going for the pioneer look :) Actually I wanted a hat that would give her some shade and that's all that we had. How cute is she! And look how chubby she's getting.

Here's our second summer activity, swimming! I guess that's not too interesting, who doesn't go to the pool. But we've made it a daily event. The pool also has this cool splash park by it, so it's pretty fun. We go from the park, to the pool, to the park, to the pool. We go during Kate's nap so she sleeps in the shade the whole time we play :) Cole never wants to go home.

He's wondering if it's time to do the park or the pool. And I promise he does eat really good at home, he's sucking in air so that's why you can see his ribs :) The farmer tan however, we have no excuse for.

Looking forward to some more great summer!!

The best two years

We celebrated Cole's 2nd birthday last week! It really has been the best two years of my life in so many ways. Being a mom is everything that I wanted it to be and then some! And sharing it with Tyler makes it doubley-good. How can you not love opening the door and seeing this...
My two handsome dudes coming home from church! Cole is so tired he's about to fall off Tyler's shoulders, it's hard work kissing all those cute girls in nursery (really, it is).

Or what could beat sitting out on the deck at bedtime in the middle of a rainstorm and seeing THREE rainbows?

We had the BEST birthday party for Cole, we had mom, Christine, and Tegan in town and they made the party fun! We made some party hats...Cole likes his Tiger one.

Christine's party hat stayed on the WHOLE day!! She definitely knows how to party. Cole has such great aunts that play with and love him.

And amazing grandmas! Thanks for all your help mom.

He doesn't look like he's giving her up any time soon.

The only thing Cole talked about wanting, other than "messy" cake, was a pinata. He went to our neighbor's party and he loved swinging the bat to get the candy out.

Sorry for breaking you, horsey! But not too sorry, cause I'm still enjoying your candy :)

Now on to cake! It's not a party without Funfetti cake, and Cole was much more civilized this year as he wanted to use his fork to eat his piece. Yum!

Sorry Kate, you'll get cake next year. If you ever decide to wake up.

Christine started this fun tradition of making the nephews shirts for each birthday with their age and name on the back along with other fun stuff. Cole loves his "2T" shirt. He knows what size he wears!

It was a really fun day! Some other goings on...

Kate is more alert and awake now, although she LOVES sleeping. She is a great baby, we can't believe we got two in a row! Cole is still so cute with her and very helpful in bringing things she needs. He has been great lately about not touching her face or head, and I love how he reaches in her carseat in the car to hold her hand. He also likes showing her things or telling me what she's doing, like yesterday we saw some horses on the way to the library and Cole says, "Mommy, baby Kate looking at the horses too!!" or when baseball was on tv, "Baby Kate watching baseball players hit the ball hard!" It's cute how he wants to include her and pretend she can do things.

Kissing toes...

She really enjoys her baths! She even fell asleep for a few seconds during the last one :)

Cute Cole dressing up like daddy (Tyler's bandana he wears to scouts).

So life is good and I'm excited to see what the next two (or twenty) years bring! But for now I'm LOVING these two precious kids and feeling so blessed to get to hang out with them every day. What a great job I have.

Hugs and Pwisses

Not only have we been blessed with a new baby recently, but she also brought along with her grandparents and aunts that are willing to come be with us and help! Rod and Lisa were here right after she was born and then my mom and Tegan came after that. Cole has loved all the extra attention and he's adjusted to life as a big brother very well (for now anyway, is there a honeymoon period or something I don't know about?). He just can't stop kissing and loving this little girl. He really loves being a big brother and having super important jobs such as shooting baby Kate's diapers in the garbage can and getting me her blanket when she's cold.

I've been feeling so great that I've been able to join in the fun a little and enjoy spending time with my favorite people in the world - my family.

The boys did the pergola while Rod was here while Lisa and I hung out with the kiddos. Thanks so much for coming all the way over here to be with us! We already can't wait to see you in August if not sooner.

When mom and Tegan came I was feeling a little more ambitious and we went to the zoo for Memorial Day! We also had some beautiful weather so we played outside and did some art. I'm always up for making a big mess!

Cole loved the sprinkler.

Tegan had fun too, what a great aunt!

Before we played in the water we did some soap fingerpainting.



We also had a great time at the zoo on Memorial Day. The weather was perfect and dad even came out for a couple of days to be with us. Thanks for such a great time mom and dad! Cole is still talking about this train ride.

Here's a funny video of Cole and Tegan playing in the sprinklers in the backyard. Cole loves giving pwisses!

So we are excited for the summer and looking forward to lots more time with friends and family.

Today was the last day of school and I took little Kate over to meet my class since they saw me through my whole pregnancy. It was so fun seeing them again and saying goodbye (that part was a little sad). The best conversation we had was, "Did they have to cut your stomach open to get her out?", "No, that's called a C-section and they didn't have to do that." "Well how did she get out then?". Silence for a couple seconds, me getting ready to give the, "that's a great question to go home and ask your mom about" response, when suddenly a very excited little girl interrupts and asks about Kate's outfit and the previous question is forgotten. Whew :) I will miss my little first graders!!