This Is Where I Visited

This is the house I grew up in and loved as a young girl.

This was my street where I rode bikes, carried my first dog home and acquired the scars on my knees.

This is my bus stop where my brand new dress got splashed with mud from a puddle.

This is where we ate meals and where I peed on the carpet during a thunder storm.

This is where Mom rocked us in her rocking chair and Santa left footprints on the hearth.

This is where I impatiently waited for many peach cobblers to come out of the oven.

This is where I hid and played with the pots and pans.

This is where I potty trained.

This is where I went to timeout and drew on the walls.

These are the sisters I grew up with in this home. They just moved back in. Lucky girls.

Children's Museum

A couple of weeks ago, Larkums took the kids and me to the Discovery Gateway Children's Museum. That's one really cool place! Hannah was obsessed with the pint-sized grocery store and mini house. Hoss wanted to ride the little scooter cars and push the tiny carts.

There's a KSL News set that Hannah had fun with. She stood in front of the green screen, talked about a bunch of nonsense while watching herself on the monitors. It's pretty legit.

My favorite experience was sitting in the helicopter display. It's a REAL helicopter! Hannah was sitting in the front seat and I was in the back. All of a sudden, it started shaking and got really noisy and I seriously freaked out for a sec, thinking we were lifting off. I had to look out at the blades to make sure we weren't moving. Hannah reassured me it was just a noise.

It was a really fun day. I highly recommend visiting, even if you have to rent a kid to go.

Give me your dresses

Do you have any old formal dresses lying around? Tosh and I started a foundation that gathers and donates gowns to girls who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford them. Click this link to visit our website, Shine: http://shineutah.blogspot.com! Thanks!

Halloween Party for Hoss

Guess who turns 1 this week?! Hoss the Toss!

His due date was originally October 24th. But, I didn't go into labor until midnight on Halloween. Since I love Halloween, I was so excited for his birthday to be so close to it. Last year, I decided we needed to do a Halloween party for him and we did! It was a great night with lots of awesome costumes and creepy food. Here are some pics. Try to figure out who's who!

Bubbling Witches Brew, Bacon-Wrapped Roaches, 7-Layer Spider Dip

Eyes of Newt, Cotton Swabs with Earwax, Throw-up, Mummy Dogs

Friar and the Cowboy

Ninja Turtles

Kiss

Jessie

The Cowboy

Jessie & the Clown

Steve Jobs (too soon?) and iPad

Party Crashers

Bacon, Eggs & Toast

Turtle from Master of Disguise

Jessie and the Friar

B-day boy eating his b-day Pumpkin Pie - Hannah's Idea

Presents!

The partiers, minus Steve Jobs & iPad

Haircut for Hoss

With his first birthday around the corner, we decided to whack off Hoss's mock mullet. I'll miss his whispies.

Calm and unsuspecting.

Ok, now this is getting strange.

Baaah! Clippers! Hands! Leopard-print cape! You did this to me!

Below is a video clip. I really think he was just doing a siren impression. Poor, tortured kid.

After. Getting strangled by sis.

Best Trip Ever

Be jealous. Be very jealous because what you are about to see is the very coolest place to vacation in the entire world! I've been to Paris, the Swiss Alps and the Grand Canyon. But, this really does top them all.

Behold my grandparents' farm in New Hampshire.

We took the whole fam there this summer and had a mini family reunion with my parents, siblings & their little ones. We totally forgot to take a pic of the whole crew because it was just that much fun! Words can't describe the warmth of this expanded and updated old country home. My Grampy felled trees from above his horse pastures and made the hardwood floors all by himself. He's amazing. And Grammy has such a taste for antiques and beautiful touches. I've been vacationing here since I was a baby. I'm the luckiest girl in the world and even luckier to share this special place with my kids.

Their Home: Left portion is original farm house from early 1900's. Grampy built the rest.

Tons of windows in addition. The tall one is in the stairway.

Grampy built this barn when I was young. We loved playing in the loft.

Panoramic of the pastures and creek north of the house.

Out to pasture with their uncle, Ashton.

2-sided fireplace, wood floors and exposed beams - love.

In the original side, they left newspaper in tact that was used as insulation. It's fun to read!

Hannah on Sun, the stallion. Have you ever ridden a Tennessee Walker? Smoothest gait ever.

Hannah & Grampy. She loves this guy & he loves all his grand babies.

Me, Hannah & Grampy

Is it Anenome or Anemone?

Did you know Hannah reads? She started all on her own about 1 month ago. She loves to sound out small words of 2-4 letters. It started with recognizing her name (which she's done for over a year now) and then writing it (which she started doing successfully about 2 months ago). Then, she'd see BYU on everything & yell, "Mommy, Daddy, that's the college you went to!" Yesterday, we even read a simple book together, taking turns reading every other word.

How did WE do it? WE didn't. No formal lessons - just Hannah's pure curiosity & love for learning. She asks for information every day, saying things like, "tell me about outer space," "tell me about the tsunami that flooded Japan," "tell me about traffic cones," "tell me about car jail (the impound - don't ask me where she heard about that)," "tell me about the sun." Many times, I find myself at a loss for answers, as I get confused as to how many planets are in our solar system and if the earth orbits the sun or the moon or if the moon orbits the earth that orbits the sun or any which way. But, we try to give factual answers to the best of our abilities. I'm not sure why I say "our abilities" because Logan actually knows all of those answers with more detail than the average intelligent person. So, it's really me forgetting those lessons from grade school. I forgot them on purpose - outer space creeps me out! And while we're on the topic, the ocean is creepy, too. Eww - sea creatures & the deep, dark waters. I have chills.

Anyway, just wanted to give that update. Later, y'all.