An Incredible Family

Our family is incredible. But I am referring to the movie, "The Incredibles" for this post. Jack-Jack is the baby in the movie, and since that is our baby's nickname, it was the inspiration to our Halloween costumes this year. I am very, very proud of myself for making these costumes. I don't consider myself very crafty or creative. These costumes though turned out fantastically .

We wore them to the ward Trunk-or-Treat and they were a big hit. We were watching the movie "The Incredibles" before hand to get pumped up. James was running everywhere just like Dash. Jackman was being adorable like Jack-Jack. I was trying to run around getting everything ready just like Elastagirl. And Nathan was a little distracted by his phone, or watching the movie, or playing with the kids, just like Mr. Incredible. I'd say we were pumped and in character. Then we put on the costumes. James' favorite was the mask.

Yes, those costumes were incredible. What is more important is that family is incredible. Do you know the story behind how the powers were choosen for the Incredibles? The mom is flexible, because mom's have to flexible, so they made her very, very flexible. Dad's are supposed to be strong, so they made Mr. Incredible really, really strong. Teenagers want to be left alone, and sometimes feel invisible, that is why the teenager Violet's powers are to turn invisible and put a force field around her to keep everyone out. Little boys are full of energy and run everywhere, so they made Dash the boy very, very fast. Babies are full of potential and can be anything, that is why Jack-Jack the baby has all sorts of powers from turning to lead, to becoming a fireball, to laser beams from his eyes, to going through walls, to becoming that little devil thing, right back to becoming the adorable baby.

The movie also shows that when the family works together and uses their different talents, that they can overcome all forces of evil and do "incredible things".

My family is incredible, and we can do incredible things too.

Bet you'll look at the movie differently now, eh?

Monkey Mountain

James, Jackman, and I went to Monkey Mountain in Park City with Aubreigh and Quinn, and her sister Amber and her little boy Tucker. Monkey Mountain is a big jungle gym for little kids. Turns out it was a little big to have the boys climb on by themselves, but us parents got in it as well to help them out. There was this slide that was at least a story tall, and it was so fast. And it was a spiral slide. I seriously felt sick, but it was fun. There were also all these animals that were a sort of soft rubber material, and when you sat on them, they made the animal sounds! How cool is that?

James and Jack-Jack with the big rubbery elephant

A happy James going up the spiral staircase into the jungle gym.
Nothing shows you that you are bigger than climbing into that following your two year old!

Afterwards we had a very yummy lunch at Kneaders. Thanks guys, James is asking to do it again soon:) He loves saying Monkey Mountain.

Asian Star Dinner

Every year Grandma Hiller has as many people in her family as can come to the Asian Star for dinner for her birthday. The event keeps getting bigger and bigger, it is like a family reunion now. Grandma is such a matriarch to the family. She has had an amazing life, and is a example to everyone.

Grandma Hiller and Jackman. She loves the babies, and wanted to hold him.
Jackman is so good, and gave her lots of smiles and was great for her.
It is rare to get her to look and smile at the camera!

Lots of people and fantastic food!
My favorite is the walnut shrimp.
Thank you to everyone who came making it memorable for Grandma!

Hiking at Snowbasin

We went hiking up at Snowbasin as a family in September. James did great, and hiked a lot by himself. He also enjoyed riding in the backpack. Jackman enjoyed sleeping up against Daddy while we hiked. Now the leaves have changed to reds, yellows, and oranges. Next year we are going to take more advantage and hike more with our little boys:)

Big trees, beautiful trails, gorgeous weather, and family, what more could we ask for?

We even found moose tracks (reals ones, not the ice cream) on the trail going the opposite direction. I didn't really want to stumble upon one of those, though they aren't as scary as I've previously imagined. I also haven't seen one when hiking, but when running and it was in our neighborhood, it just hung out and ate grass as we went by.

What do you do for fun as a family?

October General Conference

Every October is the annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It is a wonderful time, filled with talks and family and love. On Saturday we listened to conference on the radio, and then during the second session we took a detour to Franklin, saw some beautiful fall leaves, but got a little lost and ended up going back to the highway:)

One of my favorite talks was by President Uchdorf, first counselor in the first presidency. It was titled "You Matter to Him", and really helped me because I've been feeling small, insignificant, and left out lately. Check it out here.

Besides listening to Conference we did some other fun things on the farm like take pictures:

Who you looking at, oh me!

Jumped on the trampoline:

Check out the air that James got by himself

Lady enjoyed the fall air:

And James got to do his favorite thing, go for a ride. He climbed up all by himself, then turned around and said "come on mommy"

Kristie, Tom, and Lilah were there too,and it is always fun to see them. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Haworth for letting us stay. Love you!

September Colorado Trip

Yep, I do like to visit home. This last time was to go to one of my good friend from high school's wedding. Andrew Glover married Jessica, a great girl, and everything was beautiful, we were honored to be invited. It was also like a high school reunion because I got to see pretty much the people I would want to see at a high school reunion. After the reception we went to Heather's house for some good old catching up. Heather, Josh Wickard, Andrew, Katie Butler, and I were all good friends in high school. It is neat to see where we all are now, and how we can talk just like old times.

Old friends, with some new ones too!

We of course got to see our family too. Uncle Kyle met his namesake, Jackman Kyle. That was neat. Uncle Kyle has been through so much, and is a wonderful example to my son of someone to live up to. He has beaten ALL (a type of leukemia that ususally strikes kids, but can be worse in adults), and now helps other cancer patients fight on through a program called Reel Recovery where they go fly fishing to help with the recovery and show others that recovery is possible. Aunt Carol got her baby fix with little Jack-Jack too:)

Uncle Kyle with Jackman Kyle

Good friend's of ours from since I was ten years old, Russell and Mina Colman, aka Grandpa and Grandma Colman, had us all over for dinner on Sunday night. They are so fun, and also great examples in my life. He used to be my Bishop in the Englewood Ward. Love them lots.

Grandpa Colman with James playing tractor

Playing with the kids on the patio

Of course there was Grammies and Bompa (my mom and dad), who love to hold and play with the little ones. James liked seeing their puppies, Lonie, Ellie, and Kelsey.

Grandma Kitty let us stay at Lincoln Meadows again, and I'm sure glad that she enjoys us visiting. We love her too. Family and dear friends are some of the most important things to us. On the way home we took a different way, and the leaves were gorgeous.
Fall is here, and I love it!

What I see everyday...

Finally got a picture with me and both my boys!! These two are so cute!!

Uintah Adventure

A few weeks ago in September we got to hang out with our good friends Aubreigh and Matt and Quinn Parks. The boys took all the little boys in the morning so Aubreigh and I could go shopping at the outlets in Park City. We met them (though not before getting a few phone calls about what to do with three little boys 2 and under) at a trail head in the Unitah's to eat lunch by a waterfall and go hiking.

Haha. Hiking?! What were we thinking?! We went about 30 yards, and figured out that going with Jackman, James, and Quinn would be lots of trouble. James and Quinn just wanted to throw stones at the water, but their little legs weren't as stable as their parents wanted them to be, they kept tripping, and we were afraid they would fall in. Throw in a case of both of them wanting to be independent and walking by themselves and not in the backpacks, and Aubreigh and I ended up taking the little ones home and let our big boys go out hiking and fishing.

When we got back to the Parks' home, it looked like a scene from the movie "Daddy Daycare". However, all three were alive, happy, and fed. Sometimes that is all you can do. I think that they appreciate us mommy's a little more, and we appreciate all they do for us in letting us stay home with the kiddo's (but it is nice to be able to go shopping sans kids with your girlfriends too sometimes! That night we got to watch the BYU game with them at their home. BYU lost, but it was a very fun weekend. Thanks guys for having us!

Matt and Nathan in the Unitah's