New Kicks...

The kids absolutely LOVE Steve's new shoes. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the fact that they are fluorescent... they seriously glow in broad daylight!

Maddy is constantly saying "Dad, I love your new shoes!" The way he is standing in this picture reminds me of Steve as well.

P.S. I'm not a fan of "character" shirts for kids. But how do you say no when he finds the only remaining "Ben 10" shirt (which is his size) hanging on a Wal Mart rack for $2? Obviously I couldn't...

City Deals & a Request for Ideas...

City Deals is having some great deals right now and shipping is also free right now! If you've never checked them out before you definitely should. I've bought lots of restaurant gift certificates, Seven Peaks passes, etc. for extremely discounted prices. Today I just bought a Solase Massage and Oxygen Bar (in Orem) voucher. Included is a 60 min. "body glow massage" (you get exfoliated, deep moisturized along with a massaged-when you leave you are all nice and glowing and relaxed) AND 45 min. in the #1 massage chair AND 20 min. in the oxygen bar (I've always wanted to try this.) It's a $92 value for $36.80. I also bought a $25 Maria Bonita Restaurant gift card for only $10 (they have yummy food and it would be a great date night!) I also bought an Arctic Circle gift card worth $20 for $8. These are just the ones I purchased today. There are all sorts of other deals... haunted houses, restaurants, spa's, golf courses, Rodworks, etc. Christmas is just around the corner... gift certificates make great gifts!

If you use this link (and are a new customer) I could get a $10 referral credit and I would think you are the best...

http://www.citydeals.com/?ref=CDUOTAzODA

My sisters and I are also looking for ideas for souvenirs when traveling. We've heard of doing a charm bracelet for girls. So instead of buying that silly overpriced stuffed animal or something else that will clutter up the house and later be discarded, you buy a charm to add to your bracelet for each place you go. You end up with a fun piece of jewelry full of travel memories. We love that idea but are a bit stumped when it comes to boys. The only thing we can think of is a coin collection... but we don't find that very exciting.

Anyone have any ideas? If you do please leave them in the comments...

South Fork...

Friday my sisters and I loaded up the kids and went to South Fork Park up Provo Canyon. My Mom has stayed with me a couple days so she was able to go as well. We've decided that it is Provo Canyon's best kept secret. We were bummed we didn't think to bring some burgers and have a BBQ. It's kind of strange to have all the leaves turning colors and still be in the high 80's, but it is beautiful! Here are some pictures from the day...

The kids were all seriously crazy, fighting over things like squirt bottles. We were all a bit wore out by the time we got home!

So I was standing like this for a noticeable amount of time and Jamie just loves making fun of me and taking pictures of me taking pictures. She asked me what I was doing... lol! In answer to your question Jamie, I was trying to get the perfect angles (and lighting) for these pictures...

I snapped this picture (love all the different colors) while I was waiting for Jamie to catch back up with me on the drive back down the canyon. We were meeting up at Arctic Circle for dinner before heading home.

Maddy and Dallin.

They insisted that Dallin ride with us down the canyon and they were pretty entertaining to listen to. Dallin was telling him all kinds of stories about different animals (including elephants, lions and cheetahs.) As soon as he would finish his dramatic story, Maddy would request another. They were also talking about bad dreams they have had. Maddy told Dallin that he dreamed big snakes were biting he and Avery. Dallin told Maddy he has had way scarier dreams. Maddy's response was "Well one of my girlfriends had a bad dream that her boyfriend kissed her... " What a horrible dream... I was cracking up!

This picture is almost the same as the previous, but I absolutely loved it in this "old picture" setting so I decided to post both.

Friday 9/24/10

The Greatest Show on Earth...

On Wednesday Steve and I took the kids to the Ringling Bros. And Barnum & Bailey Circus. I have only went once when I was in middle school for a honor roll trip I believe. Anyway I thought it would be fun to go as a family. I got tickets online right when they went on sale and lucked out and got front row. We were in the front row of the closest section to where they come out of the curtain when they enter the arena, so we had a fantastic view of most of the show. I still haven't upgraded to a SLR camera (it's on my wish list) and just had my little Canon point and shoot so the pictures aren't that great. I switched back and forth through a few settings and just when I thought I had it figured out the lighting would completely change. Anyway I did the best I could with what I had and here are my favorite pictures from the night...

I'm always so fascinated by people on stilts!

I really enjoyed this portion of the show... they can do incredible things with their bodies!

The man on the bottom is holding up over 1200+ pounds.

By far the kids and Steve's favorite part of the show... motorcycles! Maddy had been asking all night when they were coming out (he saw them on the commercials on TV) and was so excited when they finally came out right before the intermission.

They had seven bikes all going at once in that cage-crazy!

Taking the kids out for a potty break during the intermission.

I couldn't get a good picture of this at all! The lighting was way too bright. They did lots of cool stuff and one of the guys even attempted a quad flip but missed... it has only been attempted like four times in the history of this circus.

The "Ring Master" and "Nano."

This was also really fun... the motorcycle drove right over our heads on this wire while the girl hanging below him did tricks.

The crazy finale... sorry it's so blurry.

I made sure we all ate before we left and had told the kids we weren't buying any food there (I had been warned how ridiculous the prices are.) They did so good and didn't ask for one thing (even though they had to watch the guy next to us buy every single thing that came by for his son... I'm not even kidding!) On our way out we decided to let them pick out a souvenir (they were so excited!) Maddy picked out a motorcycle and Avery picked out a car.

It was very entertaining and we had a great time together!

Wednesday 9/22/10

Under the Weather...

The kids both came down with the yucky cold/cough/fever stuff on Saturday night. Avery got the worst of it and was pretty wiped out on Sunday. After she woke up from her nap Maddy was still sleeping so she decided to go lay down with him. Then later we were all down stairs watching a movie and she came upstairs and never came back down. When we went up to check on her we found her curled up on the couch sleeping...

We were pretty surprised because it has never happened before and she is usually full of energy. We woke her up and tried to feed her before putting her to bed and this is what happened (yes she loves wearing Maddy's jammies)...

She also slept on and off all day Monday and was feeling a lot better by Tuesday.

Sunday 9/19/10