Friday, September 29, 2017

March 2017 Happenings

This amazing owl was in our neighborhood, and I noticed that is was not normal.  It is a Great Grey Owl, and not native to our state!  I called our Uncle Karl Hiller who is a big birder.  He lives in Centerville, and he immediately left his house and drove up to see it!  Unfortunately it wasn't there once he arrived and I felt terrible.  Then next day I spotted it again, and then I spotted Karl!  He had come up early and was determined to see this beauty.  He told me don't tell a lot of people because it would become very popular.  Word did get out of course, and 1000+ people did come through the month to see it!  Wow!  Karl got these pictures that was amazing!






BEauTiFUL!  I can't believe that I spotted him!  He stayed for weeks, and would roost in trees and hunt during the day right along Silver Leaf Dr!  I was fortunate enough to watch him even dive to the snow and catch a small rodent!  He probably made his way south because the snow this year has been even heavier up North and in Yellowstone more than normal.  I'm glad he's finding meals in my neighborhood :)

Check out this new time trial helmet!  Visor all the way around!


Grammies was still here and got to spend time with these precious boys

Jack reading Ranger Rick to her

Funny faces :)>

My cutie Jonathan!  He fell asleep with me!  He is at such a cute age right now, I never want him to grow up.  But I'm reminded of Grandma Haworth's wisdom, and she said "Be grateful that they can grow up, and they will be able to become wonderful young men because some will never be able to."  I love that bit, and so am grateful for this season.

Multi-tasking...

We've been really into doing puzzles lately!  This one completed!

Watching Lizzie and she fell asleep next to me while watching a movie.  This little girl does make me wish I also had one.  She is the girl version of Jonathan :)

Wow, 7 months already.  Lots of people say that it went by fast, but maybe because I'm in the thick of the parenting part, I don't think it has. I still love it, but I also love each new stage, too.

The boys got dino eggs for Christmas, and in March we were still working on digging out all of the bones to put together.  With each kid getting their own egg, it took months really!

Look how he adores his daddy!

Still our big eater, Jordan enjoys trying new things all the time now.

Cute playdate buddies Eve, Jack, and Bridger.  Eve broke her elbow, and these two boys are very protective of their friend!  Here we enjoyed pretzel bites at the Pretzel Maker in Morgan. 

Jordan still falls asleep in my arms each night while having his nightly bottle.  I know it won't last forever, and so I'm enjoying and soaking up this little guy and and his sweetness. 

Coming home from an evening church meeting, and this view took my breath away...wow.  I had to pull over to take this picture.  I look at every season, and am reminded all the time that I'm really blessed to live where I do. 

Happy Birthday Nathan!  33!  Whoo-hoo!  And of course how does he want to celebrate?  With a ride, what was expected :)  At least the roads were clear...



Clear skies after a storm the night before make for dramatic views.

Lady just trying to hide the fact that she's in the living room where she's not supposed to be, and Jordan giving away her location and crawling on her:)  She is such a good doggy for the boys, who maul or climb over her.

Falling asleep while eating...not a common occurrence, ha!

This cute little guy in the tub, he's really smiley and loves his bathtime.  He's a great sleeper as well, and the bath is the trigger that bedtime is next, and it's time to sleep all night.  

Grandma Kathy had a birthday part for Papa at Grandma Hiller's house...
...complete with yummy cake and cousins galore...

These two biking buddies.  I love that he loves to go with his dad.

I also took Grammies back to CO, and got to be with Grams

I put the pictures up on her wall in a collage again in her new place, and I love how it turned out.  Also, a very Grandma Kitty picture, because her eyes are closed!


Love this family!  I took Jordan and Jack with me to have some "Mommy/Jack time".
At my parents house Jack got to be an "American Picker" and used a flashlight to pick treasures.  "Wow mom, it's like the show!"  Yes Jack, yes it is.

I also went out to get somethings that Grandma wanted to give to me when she moved into the smaller assisted living apartment.  Side note, she ended up passing all her occupational tests, and doesn't actually need assisted living...and so now insurance is a problem with how to pay for it...but anyway...I rented a trailer to get a few pieces of furniture for me, for Kirstin, and for my mom, all of which was moved into Uncle Kyle's garage for the time because we were dealing with Grandpa and Grandma's loss and funeral when Grandma Kitty was moving.  We FILLED that trailer!  I only honestly got for my family a nightstand and an dresser for me...so the then I took the trailer to the antique gallery to leave the right things there.  Mom said, "oh that's okay, just take it my house".  But then I said, "how are you going to get the stuff from your house the gallery, let's cut out the middle stop here."  That ended up being the plan, and boy was that stuff to move!  
Stopping for a picture with his bud.

Aunt Carol loves on the babes.

Boompa and Jack showing off some die cast jets

Stopping at Target, and this was the a cutie that was enjoying being in the cart

On the way home from CO I was taking Jack through a drive-through at McDonald's, and made the turn just sharp enough that I got the trailer stuck!  I tried to back up (I wasn't super great at that so had avoided all situations where I'd have to do that), and was getting it stuck even more!  I yelled, hit the steering wheel, even went so far as to get out of my car and announce to the line of cars behind me if anyone knew how to drive a trailer that could help me...nothing.
So I got back in the car, and Jack said "mommy, we should say a prayer".  Wow, so humbled by that little one.  We did, and I thought, "you have to be the adult here, there is NO one else".  And so I centimetered (not even inched) it out of there, with a little scrape, which is why I bought the insurance (came in handy). 
After that incident, the rest of the trip was uneventful...luckily!  We got home and the next morning took Kirstin all of her stuff, and then finally unloaded the only two pieces of furniture that I had wanted.  A lot for just those two pieces.  But my plan is to redo them and they'll look like some things I've seen from Pottery Barn that I would like. 

Later in the month, Jonathan giving love to his brother in a cart.  

We finished the month by having a "Great Grey Owl Party" at the Asian Star.
Karl loved getting those amazing shots of that magnificent, rare owl and wanted to celebrate. Can't say no to that!
Fun that so many could come!


View from this angle...


Finally a picture with a favorite lady.  One thing that was emphasized by Grandpa and Grandma's passing was to ALWAYS take a picture when you visit, and to try to visit often.  I love the relationships that I have with my family. 

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

On the way home...

Monday we took the day to get home from St. George.  We first stopped in Beaver for lunch, got a pizza from a place there where everyone was dressed like they were going on trek, and took it up a canyon to enjoy the mountains and have a little picnic.


We all had fun throwing sticks, rocks, and leaves into the river.

 I am loving that Jordan can walk around now!

Then a little later we stopped in Scipio, and lo and behold, the petting zoo was finally open!  
I'm so glad we stopped.

We even got to feed Wednesday...the Camel (get it, for hump day, ha)


A Zonkey!  Ever hear of that?

A cross between a male zebra and a female donkey.


Jack with his favorite!  BUnNnIEs!!



And by breaking the drive up (not going straight from Las Vegas)
everyone had a happier time...and we finally got to stop at the petting zoo!