Sunny St. George

We had a wonderful St George weekend in August with some of our favorite people. Melis has a nice condo down there and it was a perfect weekend filled with good food, swimming, shopping, late night talks, games and fun! I drove down by myself with the boys and it went great...no stops! When we got there, we met up with the girls at Cafe Rio...




















Peyton loves sour things...didn't get that from me! Here he is enjoying a lime!















Little Chayce man is usually a go with the flow kid.















It was SUPER hot while we were there, so we spent a lot of time at the pool.



















































































Little Lucy is so DANG cute! We had so much fun spending time with her. She's got so much personality. She crawls and now walks circles around Chayce. I think I know who the leader will be :)



















































We had a yummy dinner at Brick Oven.















Lucy is drawn to Peyton when they are playing, but I think these two will have a great friendship as they get older. So fun to have cousins close to your age!















Cheesecake Factory! Yes we found all the best restaurants to eat at! That's what girls trips are all about right? We made a trip down to Vegas one day for a little shopping!
















































Ange and I in front of the water show...still my favorite thing to see in Vegas!



















The gardens never disappoint! It was beautiful as always!

Thank you Melis for hosting us at your condo! (And thanks for being my photographer while we were there...I kept forgetting my camera for some reason!) I love you girls so much and can't wait for the next time!

Chayce

So our little guy has taken his sweet little time to start moving. After about 13 months without much crawling I called Kids on the Move to get a little help. About a week after they came he caught onto crawling and is now climbing up stairs. He's walking around the couch and I'm hoping with a month or two he'll be walking. I had to post his signature "bum scoot" to show how he's been getting around the past few months. I'm glad he's deciding to move around like the rest of us!

Bushel and a Peck Preschool

We've entered into the realm of school! Granted preschool is a little more laid back, but exciting nonetheless. Peyton was SO excited to start...as you can tell...







































I looked for the preschool backpacks and didn't find one (maybe I didn't look hard enough; people were telling me they saw them all over :) Oh well. He still loves his over-sized Woody and Buzz backpack!




















At 9 a.m. he was dressed and ready to go. This was taken about 15 minutes before it was time to leave...you can see preschool from our front door so he was anxious! I feel so lucky to have a great preschool just down the street!















We made it a family affair to walk Peyton down for the first time. Even Canyon joined in. Even though I'm not a huge fan of dogs, Peyton LOVES Canyon and had fun walking him to preschool.















When we got there I told him to run in. He stopped and waited patiently for my neighbors to walk in also. After a minute or two I told him to walk around them and run in. Before he headed down the stairs he turned around and with his cute little voice yelled "Bye Mommy!" I was totally great with him going and that made it a little real to me. I'm going to have to start hearing "Bye Mommy" more and more as he gets older. This is the beginning of him becoming grown up and more independent. You learn quickly that its not so far off for Moms to cry sending their kids to Kindergarten!




















I know this is going to be a great year of preschool for Peyt and I'm so excited for him! He's a great boy!

Banff Canada

We spent the first part of August in beautiful Canmore and Banff Canada. My Mom's parents, Grandpa and Grandma Johnson, take the whole family on wonderful vacations every few years and this was no exception. What a wonderful week! We missed McKay SO much and I would love for him to see this beautiful part of the world sometime.




















The trip providers. These two are such generous, loving people. I have so many fond memories with them and am so grateful for the opportunities they've provided me to see some beautiful places. Thanks is not enough Grandma and Grandpa! You are such great people! My Grandpa is holding bear spray...more on that in a minute.



















My Mom mentioned Chayce looks like my Grandpa when he was a baby. He's very sweet with my boys!















We had a picnic lunch at Lake Barrier the first day we were there. It rained quite a bit during our trip, but this was one of the clear days. The water in this area is such a pretty color. It's due to a substance from the glaciers that mixes into the water.




















Peyton loves to go for walks with Grandpa and he's always willing to take him!







































Peyton found a way to entertain himself by throwing dirt everywhere. LOVELY.















My Mom flew standby and we both crossed our fingers she'd make it on my flight. Check in was stressful for me and I was SO grateful when she made it on! We had fun spending so much time with her! She's such a huge help to me!















We went to church in Banff on Sunday and heard from the missionaries in that area. It was a neat experience. Their branch only has about 12-20 active members! The chapel was full the day we went due to visitors! The YW president said there is one inactive girl in their branch...she said she never knows what to expect each Sunday with visitors...could be none to 15 girls any given week! I'm grateful for where we live in that respect!

After church we stopped at the Banff Springs Hotel. It's over 100 years old and beautiful!















Monday we drove to Lake Louise for the day. This place is amazing. Again the water is the most beautiful color.

































My Grandparents took the whole family to the restaurant at the Lake Louise Chateau hotel. It was great! We made it around half the lake before it started pouring rain!















Tuesday we took Jack to the shuttle back to the airport and shopped in Banff. They have tons of little shops...including yummy candy and dessert places which we had to try! The fudge was delicious!















Each night we'd all meet up for dinner. All of my Mom's sisters are in this picture...Melinda, Laurie and Julie (along with Shawn, Grandma, my Mom and Chayce). I enjoy their company and we have great chats and good laughs. We all took turns make dinner for each other and each of them were delicious!














Wednesday my Grandparents took everyone on the Banff gondola ride! I'm not a big fan of heights but I handled it just fine! The view at the top was worth it!














This was really the only wildlife we saw during our week...a little disappointed about that! These mountain goats greeted us at the top of the gondola.















Grandpa and Grandma on the gondola.



















Here's the amazing view! It's weird to be eye level with the top of the mountains!




















I took the extra 1/2 mile walk to the lookout point...this was at the top of it. What a fun experience this was.














All week I really wanted to see a bear (from inside the condo or car of course!) We had a few sightings on the lawn of our condo and one bear chased a man to the top of his truck! Sadly we never saw one...this was the next best thing at the gift shop at the gondola!




















We didn't make it to the Columbia Ice Fields, but this is the huge truck that drives you there. The tires were double the size of Peyt!















Thursday was spent doing odds and end things in Canmore (the city we stayed in). We made it to the grocery store to raid their shelves of Canadian chocolate (it's way better than ours!) Even Kit Kats taste better! That night we celebrated my Grandma and Brandon's birthdays. It's always sad to end such fun times!















This was Peyton's first time flying. The boys did great on the plane (thanks to my Mom...again!)

This was my first time out of the country and it turned out to be a great experience. I hope I can stamp a few places in my passport in the coming years. I love to travel and am grateful for this experience we had. Thanks again Grandpa and Grandma!

Bountiful "Bubble"

I had a wonderful childhood growing up in Bountiful. When my parents told us we were moving to Orem the summer before my 9th grade year I was so upset. Thankfully it all worked out and I made friends in Orem that I'll have forever. A few weeks ago my Mom decided to take us on a trip down memory lane and take the boys to the South Davis Recreation Center, formerly known as the "Bountiful Bubble". In the winter they would cover their huge pool with a big white tarp...thus the name of bubble. We had so much fun swimming here year round and it was fun to take the boys (although its completely different now!)















They have a really fun pirate ship for the kids to play on. I've heard the Lindon Pool has added something like this that I'd like to go try out!















Chayce loves the water much more than Peyton ever did at his age. I'm so glad because it makes for a fun swimming activity with both boys!















Peyt had a great time running around all the different water toys. I think the "shooting guns" was his favorite part...he hung out here for quite awhile.















Uncle Jack came along with us. He's so great with the boys! Thanks for hanging out with us Jack!




























What a fun summer activity! We ended the fun with a delicious dinner at the Mandarin restaurant. It is SO good. My parents loved to eat there when we lived in Bountiful, and I don't think I appreciated good Chinese food until later on. I think McKay and I need a date night there!

Thanks Mom for a great day of fun! We love Grandma adventures!