First Dentist Visits

I finally brought Luke and Ashlynn in for their first visits to the dentist. Luke was such a good boy. He made me so happy! Ever since he was a baby, he has always been an angel at the doctor's office so I didn't really expect anything different from him at the dentist. I reminded him that his Uncle Craig is a dentist too and that made him happy and confident when visiting the dentist.
No cavities...just a mouthful of beautiful teeth and a cute little smile!
Oh man...if looks could kill, the Dentist, the Assistant and Mommy would be dead! I think she was bugged at me for attempting to take a photo at such a traumatic time! I actually expected Ashlynn to freak out and she did. 3 people had to hold her down while they did an exam.

He-He... and Ben thought they would be able to do a cleaning too! No such luck here.

Camping in the Backyard

At the beginning of August (yes, I am still trying to catch up on blogging), we decided to try camping in the backyard as a test run. We wanted to see how the kids would do in the backyard before we spent a lot of time and money at a real campground. Can you see the growing hyperactivity and excitement on their faces? This photo captures a rare moment when Luke was actually IN his sleeping bag. We bought a few snacks and treats to eat in the tent while we read stories with a flashlight. These two had so much fun but the hyperactivity level was out of control!!!

I think we could have used Ashlynn's hair as a measurement of hyperactivity. As the night proceeded, her hair grew taller and taller. While Ben and I tried to sleep, our heads kept getting stepped on because the two of them were playing, singing and dancing!!! 10pm passed quickly, 11pm tested our anger management skills, and at 12am we offered them one last chance to go to sleep. A little before 1:00am we finally decided that neither of them was going to fall asleep, so we packed things up and put them in their own beds in the house. Within 5 minutes, both of them were sound asleep and Ben and I were so angry that we had to watch a little bit of TV to calm ourselves! We won't be trying this again for a few years!!!

Crack Me Up!

Luke fell asleep with a butterfly net on his head. I'm just glad he could breathe okay!
A homemade Buzz Lightyear helmet brought to you by the one and only... Luke. Can you tell how proud he is of his new creation?

Best Friends

Oh...this one melts my heart.

They are either best friends or worst enemies. I think I need to frame this one.

It looks like the 'dressing up gene' has been passed to Ashlynn. She emptied out the closet trying to find something to dress up with. I know what she's getting for Christmas...

Antelope Island

A few weeks ago (yes, I am ALWAYS behind at blogging), the kids and I went to Antelope Island with my friend (& former roommate), Danielle. I haven't seen Danielle for 4 years! We had a lot to catch up on. We were actually only roommates for a few months, but we had a lot of fun together. I love hearing stories from her life...they always crack me up! We definitely need to get together again...SOON! Cuteness! I love this photo of Luke. He is trying on a farmers hat at the ranch at Antelope Island. The original homes and farm are still there as a museum for you to walk through.

Luke and Danielle's 2 cuties were trying to rope some steer (did I say that right?).

I was a dork this morning and left without 2 important things- my camera and gas in the car! So, these photos were taken courtesy of Danielle (thanks!). As for the empty tank of gas...we just drove around hoping the car didn't stall near a herd of Buffalo.

For those of you who do not know, Antelope Island is one of the islands on the Great Salt Lake. I don't know why, but this place amazes me. Here is a photo of the kids with the Great Salt Lake in the background. At the visitor's center, you can see a small aquarium full of brine shrimp that live in the lake water. You can also read how vital Antelope Island is to so many forms of life-especially migrating birds. It looks like a barren wasteland-but it is full of life and is so important to the environment.

Here is Danielle and I (and a scowling little Ashlynn) after 10 years of knowing each other. We had a lot of fun talking about roadtrips, boyfriends, our sweet babies, travel, family and etc. What a fun day!

(click here and here for more info about Antelope Island)

Luke's 3 Favorite Things in the World

Today Luke said, "Mommy, do you want to know what my 3 favorite things in the world are?" I was very curious and said 'yes' of course. He then recited his list to me,

"I love Halloween, Christmas and Family Home Evening."

I wasn't surprised by the first two on his list, but the third one made my heart leap with joy. If you have tried to do one of these with your children, you will know why I took that as a compliment from my 4 year old. At the end of FHE, I usually feel I spent the entire evening telling the kids to listen or to stop fighting. I haven't put together a FHE for several weeks now, but with a compliment like that- how can I not try a little harder to spend that time with my family?

(If you want to know what Family Home Evening is, click HERE)

Discovery Gateway

I forgot to post these photos from last month. A friend of mine gave us free tickets to the Discovery Gateway. So Much FUN! The kids had a blast!

Here I am consoling my daughter after her first fight with a boy! The scoundrel tried to take her toy away so she gave him a light push. The boy then scratched her face and pushed her 10 times harder than the push she gave him. She stood her ground and I had to pull her away from the nasty little boy. Luke has never been in a fight like this-he usually just walks away. My children are so different from each other. I love Luke for being a peacemaker and I love Ashlynn for her fiestiness!

Ashlynn has never been a fan of trying new things. Even with DaDa at her side, the plasic horse was terrifying.

I swear I could tell her personality from the second she was born. For example, when Luke was born he made one small 'yelp' noise and that was it! Ashlynn came into the world screaming "What the @#$! was that all about??!!" She wanted everyone to know she was uncomfortable and scared.

Nope. I don't see any fear here. Only pure enjoyment.

This was a much safer activity for Ashlynn.

A construction zone-how fun is that?

Planting flowers.

Playing with water without getting yelled at by mom and dad-now that is a fun time!

Sitting in a Life Flight Heliocopter.

They also have a pretend grocery store, a rock climbing wall, theater area, movie making area and so much more. Thanks Caitlyn for the tickets!