Yesterday I took the boys to get some pictures taken. When we got home I figured should take advantage of them all cleaned up and try and take some of my own. Unfortunately I think they were sick of taking pictures at that point because they were not cooperative at all. So here is what I got. Hopefully the ones I had taken will turn out better. Of course they had to get one with the kitty.

I think these last two are my favorite.

Happy Birthday Mark!!

Every year for Mark's birthday we have gone to the zoo. It started right after we got married 8 years ago. I was trying to figure out something fun to do with Mark and found out that he had never been to any zoo before. Every year since then we have managed to make it and every year is seems to be more fun. I am sure it has to do with the kids enjoying it more and more. This year we told Jaimin a week or so earlier that we were going and he got so excited he started screaming hooray and didn't stop talking about it. Every time I would pick him up from school he would ask if it was the day to go. This year all the cousins, my parents, and younger sister were able to join us. The kids seemed to love it even though it was a bit chilly. I think I would rather it be a bit chilly rather than too hot. They are already asking to go back. Here are the three oldest Haley Star, Jones, and Max enjoying their snacks.

One of their favorites the Merry-Go-Round. Jaimin did act like he was going to be sick towards the end but still loved it. Jones thought he was pretty cool for being able to ride on a snake.

My favorite boys! Don't know what Jaimins deal was he kept doing this every time we would try to get a picture of the three of them. Every year we go we try to get a picture at this same spot and it seems like only one has turned out really good. Although I think it is fun to look at each one and see how the boys have changed. Last year Jones refused to even get in the picture. It is amazing how their personality changes so much in one year.

Here are Jones and Jaimin watching one of their favorites the penguins. At one point one of the penguins started nibbling at the foot of one of the zoo keepers and Jaimin started busting up laughing and then started yelling at the penguin to stop.

You can tell a little bit from this picture but Jaimin broke out into hives the day before. He was put on a steroid for it but for some reason this day it moved to his face. He looked horrible! Amazingly he didn't complain about it once. I wish I had a picture to show how bad it really was.

All the kids playing on the Rhino.

Watching the elephants eat.

Here are all the boys riding the train. I love that they all get along and always have fun being around each other. I guess we can look forward to next year.

Ice skating

We decided to try something different and put the kids in ice skating lessons. They had never been before so we were a little nervous to see how they would do. They loved it! Jones was able to do it all by himself and Jaimin had someone help him most of the time but still did pretty good. I guess Jones fell pretty hard once and hurt his bummy a little. It was kind of funny, as soon as we got home he asked if he could get in the bath to make it feel better. Every time he runs he holds it and says it hurts I can't help but laugh at him. Here is Lydia she wasn't as fond of it as the boys were. The lessons last for 6 weeks so she has plenty of time to get the hang of it.

The boys couldn't stop talking about it and every time we drive by the rink they ask over and over to go again. I am glad they enjoyed it so much. I guess we will have to take them during the open skate time so they get more practice.

Winterfest 2010

This year Ogden had a Winterfest. They had all sorts of activities you could do so we decided to head down and check it out. Unfortunately it was raining so things got a bit muddy and cold (especially since I didn't have a coat to fit over my cast). At least it didn't stop the boys from having fun. We watched human dog sled racing, skijorning (skiers and snowboarders pulled by horses through a course), snowmobile drag racing, and skiers and snowboarders free riding down a snow covered street. The city spent a few days bringing snow from around Ogden and covered the streets Here we are trying to get warm inside the hotel where registration was. We could sit and watch people sled, ski, and snowboard on all the snow hills.

Here are the boys getting ready for the only even we actually signed up for, Human Bowling. The kids couldn't wait!

As you can see from the video it wasn't all that great, I guess the rain ruined the original track so they just quickly made this one. Oh well the boys still liked it.

Is It Warm Yet?

I thought I was the only one in my house getting sick of the kids being stuck inside all day. I guess I was wrong. Yesterday Jaimin didn't have school and Jones did so Jaimin got a little bored. I guess he is sick of playing with the usual toys. This is what we walked into yesterday. Jaimin had made a bed for the cat, his friend that he made and named Elana, and himself and then made popcorn for them all to share. He actually had conversations with his bristle block friend and made us talk to it. It was pretty cute! Here he is earlier making beds outside in the freezing cold. He actually tried to go out in his flip flops and no shirt but we made him put a coat and shoes and socks on. As you can tell the coat and shoes came off pretty quick. He also laid out towels on the patio. I think he was wanting to get the pool out.

Hopefully he will have his backyard back soon and I will have my clean house back.

Alright people I need your help. My family is trying to plan a trip to Disneyland and would like to find as many deals as possible. We are planning on sometime in May. So please tell if you know of any ideas. Thanks!

This new years day we took all the grandkids sledding. They had so much fun, Jaimin actually got out of the car this time. He was fearless, even after Him and Lydia had a run in with some trees. Here is Jones getting Mark back for white washing him.

Here is Jaimin trying out Jones' new snowboard. Both of them were a lot better than I expected.

Jaimin riding with his cousin Haley.

Hopefully we will be able to make it out again before the snow melts.

Here are a few pictures from Christmas night at my parents house. Jones and Jaimin both got Hulk masks and gloves. They loved them, every time they hit each other the gloves make noises. They ended up having a small boxing match. It was pretty funny. Here is Jaimin on his way down, he would pretend that he was dying and would slowly fall to the ground anytime Jones would hit him.

Here they are eating their cookies and getting excited to open presents.

Merry Christmas!

Tis The Season

Well as you can tell my boys are very excited for the Christmas Season. All day long they are singing Christmas songs and talking about Santa, it is so much more fun now that the boys are older and getting more into it. Christmas just doesn't come fast enough for them. This year hasn't quite been the same for us for both good and bad reasons. Mark has started a new position, so hopefully I will get to see him more which is good. In the past few years we hardly got to see Mark during the holidays due to him working in retail ( their busiest time of the year). So Mark will get to enjoy Christmas a whole lot more this year. Me on the other hand is a different story. Once again I have Mono (yes that will be the second time in the past 8 months) and my Pancreas has decided to flair up again. It has made it really hard for me to get into the spirit. Getting out Christmas decorations alone wore me out. I am hoping that since Mark will be home more I will be able to rest more and get over this quickly. The good news is I have almost all of my shopping done except for my neighbors and everything is wrapped. So hopefully it will be stress free from here on out, cross my fingers. Here is Jones wearing the Santa hat and some stockings. He thought he was pretty funny.

Here are the boys playing in the backyard in the little snow that we have gotten this year. This is actually the first year Jaimin was willing to put boots and snow pants on.