Big Hero 6 Party

This year we decided to do a Big Hero 6 theme for Karson's 8th birthday. That's right, I said 8TH birthday!!! How is he that old already?! He originally wanted to do his party at Jump Time... but I'm selfish and I don't like going to those places. So instead I rented a bounce house... super fun! We rented it through Idaho Inflatables, and they were great! They brought the bounce house over a couple hours early and picked it up about 1.5 hours late, so we had it for 7.5hrs instead of the 4hrs we paid for.

The problem with April birthdays is that you never know what the weather is going to do. Unfortunately, it was a little chilly and it rained almost all day :( but the kids didn't mind. Karson had a soccer game at 1:30 (which we found out about after I had sent out the birthday invitations), so he was a little late for his own party. The party guests were excited to surprise him when he got home though, so it all worked out.

I had a handful of activities planned out to keep the kids entertained, but didn't end up doing any of them. The kids just wanted to jump in the bounce house, and I was fine with that! Definitely a fun party :) And my parents came up, which always makes things even better!

"Honey Lemon" Lemonade

Baymax Veggies

GoGo's Bubblegum and Fred's Invisible Sandwiches

Wasabi snack mix... yum!

This fruit dip is heaven on earth... just FYI

Mad cake decorating skills LOL

Baymax cupcakes

Spring Break in Saint George

For Spring Break, the kids and I packed up and headed to Utah. We stayed at my Mom's Wednesday night, then drove to Saint George on Thursday. Poor Chloe had a miserable cough that she had acquired a few days before our trip, so she wasn't the happiest of campers :-/ The drive was long, and the kids weren't super excited about being in the car... but we made it and spent a nice weekend with family.

My grandparents live in Saint George during the winter months, so we were able to spend some quality time with them before they went back home for the warmer months. My Grandpa recently bought a Razor, and he took us to Sand Hollow to drive it around... so fun! The kids had a blast riding around on the beach and up the big rocky hills. I was able to drive around a bit, but was just content soaking up the sun :)

My uncle Nolan and his family came up to visit from California. It was so fun to see them! Karson and Chloe really enjoyed Aiden and Regan's company. The drive back to my parents' house was long, and the kids hated it, but we made it safely.

Here are a few pictures from our trip...

Swimming at Grandma and Grandpa GG's pool

Fun at the park

Chloe tipping the Elvis impersonator

Karson and Grandpa GG ready for a cruise

Chloe in the Razor

Granny and Chloe :)

Who doesn't love a carousel?

Hello 2015...

Happy New Years!!!

Of course since the new year has started,  resolutions are on my mind. A recent tip I read was to really look at last year's goals and figure out what went wrong/right and why, then use that information to help direct your new goals. So my goals last year were:

• Redecorate the house (being done slowly but surely... I painted the living room and redid one of the bathrooms)
• Take a trip to a new place with the kiddos (Done! We went to the Uintas with my family in October, and Cris and I went to Mexico... FUN!)
• Pay off some credit card debt (Still in progress, but I'm definitely making good progress... maybe 3 more months and it'll all be paid off!)
• Work on my communication (This one will be deemed ongoing... Chakra clearing is still on my to do list, all other advice for improvement here is greatly appreciated)
• Be more patient (Also ongoing... I like to think that I was more patient in 2014 than in 2013... but who knows??)
• Master headstands/handstands (I have to admit I hardly even thought about headstands after that exhilarating class last January, but I do work on headstands here and there and it is my pose of the month to focus on)
• Eat healthier (Compared to the year before I met this goal, but it is a work in progress)

Overall, I think I'm happy with that. So for 2015 my goals are pretty similar, but it's because they're important to me to continue to work on. Of course, I will continue working on the things I didn't quite get done last year, but those things wont be at the very top of my list. I saw something on Pinterest that inspired a different way to go about making my resolutions here. Some of these are a little stretched, but hey I tried :)

• Break a bad habit: declutter the house (aka, stop saving garbage that I could turn into crafts, etc.)
• Learn a new skill: I have been wanting to get a nice DSLR camera and learn how to take amazing photos, so maybe that will happen this year... and I am really hopeful that this will be the year I start a yoga teacher training program :)
• Do a good deed: Volunteer my time at the Women and Children's Alliance
• Visit a new place: Washington/Oregon Coast, here we come!!!
• Read a difficult book: Bhagavad Gita, and my Love and Logic parenting book
• Write something important: keep up on my journal and record all the special/funny/frustrating/crazy things that my children do in day to day life
• Try a new food: I want to get better at cooking this year and try out more of those yummy Pinterest recipes I've been looking at... and I would like to experiment with making lots of freezer meals to throw in the crockpot on lazy days :)
• Do something good for someone who can't thank you: I found this really cool website (thanks Pinterest!) where you can find different locations to donate extra food from your garden... last year we let a lot of produce go to waste, so we're going to see how this works out for us :)
• Take an important risk: this one is pending... I took a huge risk a few months ago by taking a job in the NICU, which has turned out great so far... but I'm not sure what kind of risks I'm ready to take in the new year. I will keep you posted when I decide :)

Watching fireworks (the day after New Years Eve because I had to work)

Christmas Crafts

Christmas seems to be the time of year when I can make lots of time for craftiness. It is so fun to create things for friends and family, and I wish that I could do it more often. Here are some of my projects :)

Crocheted ninja turtle hats for the boys, so fun!

Wine glass candle holders

Elsa hat for Chloe :)

Beanbag chairs with matching blankets

Changing Leaves in the Beautiful Uintas



Ruth Lake

A couple weekends ago, I decided to take the kiddos to Utah to visit my family (because seeing them less than monthly is pretty much unbearable). I sent Cris off to go hunting with his brothers in Oregon, packed the cars, stocked up on some candy to bribe the kids to be angels in the car (haha...fail), and hit the road.

The drive was loooonnnggg... and I can understand why Idahoans were called out as the country's worst drivers. The speed limit was recently increased to 80mph for most of the drive, but instead of people going faster they just sit in the fast lane and block those of us who read the new speed limit as "85mph." Just get out of my way!!!! So frustrating! I guess it wasn't too bad though, we made it in pretty good time.

Chloe is mostly potty trained now and almost made it the whole way without an accident, but she fell asleep less than an hour out... and ooops. Oh well I guess. She did better than I anticipated in that area, and made it the rest of the weekend accident-free!



Barbie Princess

My sweet grandma planned a family dinner and made us Navajo tacos Friday night... soooo yummy! It was nice to see everyone, and the kiddos loved the attention they got, especially Chloe :) She wore a princess dress that my mom got for her when we were in California, and she looked adorable!

Pack horse #1

Saturday morning we packed up and drove up to the cabin. It was a little chilly, but not too bad. Once everyone was ready we drove out to the Uintas. The drive was beautiful! All of the leaves were changing to wonderful shades of yellows and reds, and the contrast of colors became more and more amazing as the day went on. Adrianne and Chloe were able to sit back and enjoy watching Frozen while we drove :)

 



 

We decided to hike up to Ruth Lake, which was an easy 3/4 mile hike. I was most excited about trying out the new backpack I got off of Craig's List for Chloe. Colton packed her up to the lake, then we wandered around for awhile admiring the lake and snow-covered mountains. I packed Chloe on a trek around the lake with Adrianne, then my dad packed her back to the car. Chloe absolutely loved being carried like that. The pack was a little heavy for me and made my upper back/shoulders sore, but I think if I adjusted it right it wouldn't be so bad.

"Awkward" family photo

Me and my dad :)

On the drive back to the cabin, Chloe took a little cat nap. Considering the small amount of time she slept in naps for the weekend, she was a really happy kid. Everyone loved her, and she ate it up :) My aunt and uncle came up with their daughter Alexa, her boyfriend and his mom... after they finished their (insane/freezing) boating adventure down at the lake. Karson took Alexa and Court on a 4wheeler ride, which ended in some bruises, but they kept riding so it must not have been too bad. We all roasted marshmallows around the fire and had a great time!

Exploding ketchup bottle

Sunday we let the kids go on the 4 wheeler for a bit, then headed out to Park City. We went to the bike park so the bigger boys could ride around on the pump track while Kars and Chloe played on the playground. After we'd had enough of that, we went out for lunch at a nice little sports grill. Chloe was exhausted at that point, and it was hard to keep her entertained. She spent most of the lunch hour making "gravel angels" on the ground (since we were lucky enough to be able to sit outside). It was such a gorgeous October day...the weather was unbeatable for this time of year! When we finished eating, we headed our separate ways. The kids and I had another looonnnggg drive home. Chloe was grumpy, but we made it, and couldn't have been happier to be done driving :)



Pack horse #2

Chloe and Uncle Dalton :)

Ski and Karson



Pack horse #3

Backyard S'mores

A week or so ago Cris decided to make s'mores in the backyard. He and Karson started a nice little fire, and Chloe and I prepared the graham crackers, chocolate bars and marshmallows. I think Chloe ate about half of the chocolate before the fire was ready, and maybe a couple marshmallows, but who can get mad at such a cutie :) We made s'mores with Hershey's cookies 'n' cream bars, and some with regular ole' Hershey's chocolate... both turned out delicious! Chloe really didn't care for the messiness of the whole s'more, so she chose to continue stealing pieces of chocolate instead... too cute :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great SLC Yoga Festival 2014

This labor day weekend I was fortunate enough to go to the Great SLC Yoga Festival, put on by Yoga For People. Last year was my first experience with this yoga festival and I loved every minute of it! This year was just as great of an experience, and I was able to share the experience with my best friend Ashley and my mom.... amazing company :)

We did yoga with our eyes closed to focus more attention inward; we painted ourselves with glow-in-the-dark paint and did yoga in a black light room (it was like a yoga dance party!!!!); we started one class running laps and doing jumping jacks to get warm, and no one could help from laughing at the unexpectedness of it; we did Bhangra Yoga again... too fun to explain; we did a calm and relaxing Yin class, and it was nothing short of amazing; there was also walking meditation, happy heart yoga, blind folded yoga (which I took as an opportunity to just lay down and nap), and a class on back bends. I learned something to incorporate into my daily life in every class and had a really good time :)

In 3 days, we did 15 hours of yoga (if you count the class we slept through... LOL). What a great weekend! We are all trying to wait patiently for Labor Day to come again.

One of my goals this year was to do more yoga, so I decided to use all of that yoga to kick off my personal 30 day yoga challenge. So wish me luck, and here we go :)

Yoga henna :)

So happy after Atma's Happy Heart Yoga and meditation :-D

Bhangra yoga with Atma... so much fun!!!

Ready for "glow-ga"



"Glow-ga" dance yoga party... that's my bright glowing orange shirt :)