Family St. George Trip

At the end of July Casey and I decided to go on a little St. George trip.  We left on Wednesday, July 30th and came home on Saturday, August 2nd.  Casey's brother Phil and his wife Shauna came with us. We enjoyed every minute we were there. 

Wednesday--I went to pick up Casey from work around 1.  We stopped at Arby's for lunch then started our 4 hour drive to St. George.  Mason and Tanner fell right to sleep.  We stopped in Beaver on our way down, where we let Mason run around for a bit.  We drove the rest of the way and got to St. George around 5.  We unpacked the car then Shauna, Tanner, and I went to the store to buy groceries while Mason, Casey, and Phil went swimming at the pool.  When we all met up again we had Pizza Hut for dinner then went to bed. 

Thursday--Our little family woke up around 8.  We had a cereal breakfast then headed to the pool while Phil and Shauna went hiking.  For some reason Mason hated the pool this trip.  He would swim for about 10-15 minutes then find the key to the pool and walk over to the gate and want to leave.  We spent about 30 minutes at the pool, before we decided to go back to the condo and fix lunch and put Mason down for a nap.  While I layed Mason down for a nap, Casey took care of Tanner. 

 

 

After Mason woke up from his nap we went back to the pool, where we stayed for another 30 minutes before coming back to the condo to fix dinner. 

Mason is like his dad in the fact that they are both home bodies.  Trying to convince Casey to go on a vacation is like pulling teeth.  Mason had a hard time vacationing on our vacation, so Casey would take him on rides in grandpa's Jeep.  Every morning Mason would wake up, run downstairs, and point to the garage where grandpa's Jeep was.  Mason was one happy camper when riding in the Jeep. 

After dinner we went to Nielson's for frozen custard then came home and put the boys to bed.  After putting the boys to bed, Casey, Phil, Shauna, and I stayed up and played an intense game of Family Feud. 

Friday--Our little family woke up and went to Burger King for breakfast.  After breakfast we went shopping while Phil and Shauna went hiking in Snow Canyon.  The boys were pretty tuckered out after our shopping trip so we came home, fixed lunch, then put them down for naps. 

 

After naps, Casey, the boys, and I went swimming.  Mason just wondered around and Tanner sat in his stroller while Casey and I played in the pool.  After about 30 minutes Mason was done!  By this time it was about 4:00 in the afternoon so Casey and I decided to take Mason to a park.  BAD IDEA!  It was like 105 degrees outside and no one wanted to play on the park in the hot hot sun.  Our little family decided to go to a jump on it place.  We happened to be the ONLY ones at the Jump On It place and we all had so much fun jumping around.  Mason especially had fun since we had the whole place to run around in.  We jumped for about an hour. 

After jumping, we went to Cafe' Rio for dinner, Nielson's for dessert, then back to the condo to put the boys to bed.  Casey and I rented a movie to watch after we put the boys to bed, but I accidentally fell asleep by Mason and woke up around midnight to find Casey watching the movie without me. 

Saturday--We cleaned up the condo and drove the 4 hours home.  We stopped again in Beaver for a restroom break where we got Dairy Queen ice cream. 

We had so much fun on our little family vacation.  I hope we can go again soon.   

24th of July

I'm so sad that all the summer holidays are over.  I look forward to this time of year every year, but at least we made the best of all my favorite holidays this year.  The 24th of July landed on a Thursday this year, so we had a long weekend to celebrate it. 

On the 24th of July morning, Casey and Mason woke up early to run another 5K.  This 5K was in Provo and it was called the Temple to Temple run.  They ran from one temple in Provo to the other temple in Provo.  Casey pushed Mason in a stroller, Ry pushed Mabel, Will and Cait pushed Isaac, and Phil and Shauna ran.  Everyone had a great time and did a great job!!

That evening Amy and Jared invited everyone over for a 24th of July BBQ and fireworks.  We had a delicious dinner and a fantastic firework show.  The firework show was even better then the Stadium of Fire firework show.  The grand finale was a pallet full of fireworks that Jared had wired all together so they would go off one after another.  We were all a little nervous because of what has happened in previous years, but it went off without a glitch.  After the firework show was over I looked at Mason and Tanner and they had both fallen asleep.  Tanner on my grandma's lap and Mason on my mom's lap. 

We had such a fun time celebrating the 24th of July on Thursday, but our celebrating didn't end there.  Casey had Friday off work so we decided to head to the pool.  After a late night the night before, all the kids were a little groggy at the pool so we didn't stay long.  We came home and put Mason and Tanner down for naps.  That night Amy and Jared invited our little family to the lake.  The water was a little choppy, so we spent the night boating around Deer Creek then ate dinner out on the lake.  After dinner Casey got in the water and Mason followed in right after him.  We had such a fun time boating with the Hess family and we are looking forward to when we get to go again. 

We continued our celebrating through out Saturday as well.  Mom and dad's ward threw a 24th of July party at the park.  Dad got his friend, Russ, to bring his horses and wagon for people to ride in.  Casey and I decided to take Mason and Tanner to their ward party so they could ride in the wagon.  We rode around once in the wagon then Mason wanted to go again so I went with him again and we got to sit up front.  Mason loved every minute of it. 

That evening our little family went to Springville to attend the Mecham family reunion.  Casey's mom and dad had it at their house in their backyard.  We had so much fun playing games, eating dinner, and breaking the pinata. 

Isaac, Tanner, and Casey's cousins' baby

The family reunion ended our weekend fun full of celebrating the 24th of July.  We had a great time and we are already looking forward to celebrating again next year.

Mason at 22 months and Tanner at 4 months

Time has snuck up on me yet again and our two boys are already a month older. 
Mason turned 22 months on July 16th.  His second birthday is sneaking up on me faster then I can blink.

Sleeping:  Mason has pretty much shifted to one 3 hour nap a day.  He still does great sleeping through the night.  At about noon he'll fall to sleep in the most random places, I'll usually let him take a small nap at this time then another nap around 2:30.

Talking:  Still no improvements have been made with Mason's talking.  He talks gibberish all day, but I can't make out what he is trying to say.  When I say something to Mason, like "go throw it in the garbage" or "go find your monster trucks" he'll do exactly what I tell him.  He seems to understand what I say to him, but he still can't form any words to tell me something. 

Eating:  Mason still loves food.  The real fight comes when we try to have him sit in his high chair to eat, so lately we have been letting him sit on a stool at the snack bar and eat.  He does a much better job and he doesn't throw a tantrum when it's time to eat. 

Other:  I can definitely tell Mason is almost 2 and he definitely has throwing a temper tantrum down.  I love this age Mason is at.  He'll do the funniest things, he's happy (most of the time), he entertains himself when I need to take care of Tanner, he has the sweetest personality, he loves to laugh, give kisses, and be by his daddy.  When Mason doesn't get his way he throws a tantrum.  He usually gets down on his knees and does a fake cry. 

I love this little happy boy.

Tanner turned 4 months old on July 25th.  I'm loving every day I get to spend with this happy baby Tanner of ours. 
Here are Tanner's 4 month stats:
Weight--Tanner weighed 11.5 lbs. which is in the 4th percentile.
Height--Tanner is 23" long which is in the 12th percentile
Head size--Tanner's head is 15" which is in the 30th percentile

Sleeping:  Tanner takes about 4-5 naps a day.  Some are 2 hours long and others are 20 minutes long.  Tanner usually will wake up once and sometimes twice.  Our little man still loves to be swaddled at night when he sleeps and he loves to be snuggled and rocked to go to sleep. 

Talking:  Tanner's little coos are enough to melt any ones heart. 

Eating:  Tanner eats 4 oz. every 3.5-4 hours.  He does really good not to spit up too much right now (knock on wood).  I haven't introduced solids yet, but it's definitely in the near future for our little guy. 

Other:  Tanner has made a complete turn from just a few months ago.  The baby that would cry for no reason and the baby who wouldn't let me lay him down if I wasn't holding him is gone.  Tanner is such a smiley happy baby and it makes being a mother so much more enjoyable.  Tanner has started laughing too, it's a soft, gentle laugh, but it's so cute.
At 4 months Tanner is now rolling over.  He is like a steam roller.  Tanner learned how to roll 2 months sooner then Mason did, it seems as though Tanner is growing so fast.
Tanner is also grabbing at toys, he loves to play under his jungle gym and swat the toys.    

Tanner is such a joy to have in our family. 

4th of July

My favorite holiday has come and gone, yet again.  We had so much fun celebrating the 4th of July with family this year. 
Casey decided to run the Freedom 5K again this year.  He decided to push Mason in it this year.  On the morning of the 4th of July, we woke Mason up around 5:45 to get him in his 4th of July outfit and ready to go.  He was a little groggy at first, but as soon as he got to ride in my parents van he was just fine.  My dad, Amy, Weston, Lin, Justin, Garrett, Casey, and Mason all ran in the Freedom 5K.  They did a great job and had a great time.

After the race we met up with everyone at the parade spot and watched the Provo 4th of July parade.  As usual we ate donuts and snacks while watching the parade. 

Tanner pretty much slept through the whole parade.

Tanner and Mason in their matching outfits.

After the parade, Mason was so tired that he fell asleep
 in the stroller as I was pushing him back to the car. 

After the parade we went to the Sno Cone shack for some delicious snow cones.  Then we came back home to put the boys down for naps before we continued our celebrating later that evening.

At 5:30 we went to our annual 4th of July BBQ at the Crandall's.  We had a great time eating delicious food, playing games, and tying quilts for Primary Children's hospital. 

The party ended around 9:00.  Casey and I decided to just come back to our house and do a few sparklers, since Mason was a little scared of fireworks.  When we got home the neighbors across the street were doing a little firework show, so we sat on our porch and watched them.  At first Mason was a little nervous about the fireworks, but by the end of the night he enjoyed watching them as long as he was able to sit on Casey's lap. 

The next morning, Saturday, we decided to take Mason and Tanner to watch the hot air balloons in Provo.  Mom and dad came to pick us up around 6:30.  Mason was loving every minute of the hot air balloons.  He couldn't stop pointing and saying wow.  We had a great time watching the balloons. 

That afternoon we went over to the Mecham's for another 4th of July BBQ.  Casey's mom called and told us to make sure to bring Mason's swimming suit so Mason could play in the irrigation water.  The water was a little cold so Mason only played in it for a little bit, but Casey and his brothers had a blast in it.  I stayed on the sidelines and watched over Tanner. 

That night Amy and Jared invited everyone over for a "small" firework show.  The Hess' sure know how to throw a firework show.  I was a little nervous about how Mason would do, since just days earlier he was screaming and crying whenever a firework would go off.  Mason did surprisingly well as long as he was right next to Casey. 

The next day was Sunday.  By the time Sunday rolled around our boys were totally exhausted.  We went to Merilee and Garrett's for dinner.  It was a perfect way to end such a perfect 4th of July week.