Arches National Park

About a month ago Alan started a new job (no particulars here since this blog is public). Although he liked his old job, it was time for a change.  He was very overworked and under-appreciated, not to mention the fact that he would never ever be able to take time off during our kids' spring and fall breaks. Well, since he started a new job, he was able to take a couple of days off and we went to our family favorite, Arches!  

We went during the same weekend as two of my brothers and their families, a friend of my oldest brother and his family, and some friends of ours that we knew from our first married student ward at BYU who now live just a few blocks away from us.  We spent some time with these friends of ours, but we also did a lot on our own.

We camped for two nights in the campground in Arches National Park.  I was nervous taking Evelyn, not quite sure how she would sleep, and it turned out I was right to be nervous. She did NOT like sleeping in her pack-and-play in the tent, and consequently spent 1 1/2 nights sleeping in the car with Alan.  Maggie was also up lots of times during each night.  Ah, well, I guess we don't go camping to get a good night's sleep, right?

 Our first day, before we drove into Arches, we actually went on a hike near Moab to Corona Arch.  This was a new hike for us, and we loved it!  It was very hot and a bit long for Maggie, but it was worth it.

My siblings and I bought this new child-carrying backpack as an early birthday present for Alan.  It arrived the day before we left on our trip and worked wonderfully!

 Near the end of the Corona Arch hike, there were lots of little cairns that people had built all next to each other.  Jared built his own, about 3 inches high.  :)

Some crazy adults were climbing to the top of Corona Arch and swinging off the top.  We saw several of them do this.  Can you see the guy in the middle and also someone standing on top of the arch?  You can also look up YouTube videos of people jumping off this arch.

Alan and Evy

Resting in the shade of Corona Arch

This picture was on the way back after seeing the arch.  This is also where Maggie had her first experience peeing in nature without a toilet.  :)

All of the next pictures are in Arches National Park:

Jared and Alan climbed on top of Sand Dune Arch

Maggie loved playing in the sand with her cousins at Sand Dune Arch

This is the only picture I am in on the whole trip!!  Ha ha.  We hiked to Landscape Arch.

Tunnel Arch

Pine Tree Arch

Alan and Evy underneath Pine Tree Arch

Jared and Maggie sitting underneath Pine Tree Arch

Maggie climbing in Double Arch

Alan took this video. Sorry it is sideways.

Maggie looking a little sad by Double Arch.  This was minutes before a big meltdown.

Jared and his cousin by Double Arch

 We also hiked around the Windows and into Turret Arch:

Turret Arch

Standing under Turret Arch and seeing one of the Windows behind him

The "spectacles" with the nose rock between

My attempt to get a picture of Maggie by some pretty yellow flowers

Jared was a more willing model

On the primitive loop trail around the Windows

We loved our little trip to Arches and can't wait to go again soon!

Aviary

One day during Jared's spring break we went to the Aviary.  It is not super close to our house, so I feel like it takes some effort to go.  Ha ha.  But Jared and Maggie both love it!  It is not as cool as the zoo, but they have so many amazing birds that we have enjoyed it every time we have gone these past couple of years.

 We saw a peacock with it's feathers fully extended!  I love all the peacocks that are wandering around and perched on top of roofs.

 This picture was in front of the ibis cage.  You can't really see the ibises, but they are beautiful red birds native to South America.

There is a toucan in the background of this picture.

I didn't get any pictures of the eagles, the hornbill, the condor, or the owls, but we loved those, too!    (Click here to see the post about our trip to the aviary a year ago.  It includes a few cool videos.)

March in Review

I just realized that I need to catch up on some things before I start blogging about the whirlwind of birthdays that our family has.  

This first video is Maggie practicing her very first talk that she gave in March as a sunbeam in Primary.  The topic: I can gain a testimony of Jesus Christ.  She did a great job during the actual talk, but I'm sure it was hard to hear because she was too close to the microphone, practically licking it.  Ha ha.  For this practice video, she was a bit camera shy and speaking very softly, but here you go anyways:

Here is Evelyn napping.  The silly rascal took off her own shirt before she finally fell asleep.  She is really starting to fight her morning nap, something that is very tragic for both her and me.  We more often than not have a very tired and grumpy baby during the day.  

This was Jared's "trap" for a leprechaun for St. Patrick's Day.  Jared thinks that putting a bunch of green things together will lure the leprechaun to leave gold treats (gold chocolate coins and Reese's peanut butter cups). I guess it works!  I forgot to take pictures of our St. Patrick's Day activities.  However, the evening before we had an amazing green party (complete with games!) planned by Grandma Stout, and the day of we had green jello, green eggs, and green waffles for dinner.  It was fun.

Spring means we get to play on our awesome playground in the backyard. Evelyn LOVES the swing!

Maggie wanted a picture, too.  She is such a sweet girl!

Cute Sayings

We finally bought a new computer, so I can hopefully get back into blogging more regularly.  Yay!

I have just been thinking about a few cute things Jared and Maggie have been doing lately that I wanted to record:

1. Jared pretends that he can control the weather.  He will wake up and say things like, "Mommy, the reason why it snowed last night is because I turned my snow machine on.  I need to turn on my heat machine to warm things up."  (I think this is loosely based on Snow Miser and Heat Miser from The Year Without a Santa Claus.) Jared talks about this so much that he even had a cute 2nd grade girl in his carpool slightly convinced that he does, in fact, control the weather.   :)

2. Maggie likes to "tuck in" her dollies and stuffed animals.  I will walk into my room and see some of her toys lying on my bed and tucked in under a blankie.  I will also find her doing this in other random places in our house.  It is so cute.

3. Maggie loves to play hide-and-go-seek with Alan and Jared.  Maggie will tell Alan where to hide and then pretend she doesn't know where he is.  "Where can Daddy be?  Is he in the closet? No...." Then she will find him and pretend to be surprised at where he hid.  When it is her turn to hide she will tell Alan where she will be.  It is so funny.

4. Maggie knows all of the sounds of all the ABCs. She is on the verge of being able to sound out three-letter words like CAT and BOX. Maggie also says things like "W starts with the letter D, and Y starts with the letter W!" (She's right--sound it out for yourself!)  She can spell her own name.

5. Maggie is obsessed with Frozen and has a lot of the songs memorized.  She is so cute!  She wants me to do her hair in an "Elsa braid" every morning.  I am just trying to figure out which of the dozens of Frozen toys out there should I buy her for her 4th birthday in May (???)

6. Jared wants a magical snow globe for next Christmas that will grant him wishes (Anyone seen Elmo Saves Christmas?) He talks about all the wishes he will make.  One day he asked me if I would rather be an eagle or a snake.  When I said eagle he said, "Well, Mom, after I get my snow globe for Christmas, you might get your wish..."

I can't think of anything else right now.  Maybe I will add more to this post later.

A Post about My Girlies

Here are some pictures from the past couple of weeks of my sweet girls:

 Evy loves the "play" the piano while Jared is practicing, too. Life is a bit crazy now that she is so good at crawling.

 I love Evelyn's open-mouthed grin.  She seems to smile all. the. time.  It's awesome.  I also really love this beautifully smocked dress from my mom that Maggie also wore.

I love this picture!  

This was the best picture I could get of my cute girls on Valentine's Day.  These matching shirts were Christmas presents from Grandma and Grandpa Stout.

Evy watching Maggie ride her new bike

Maggie got a new little bike and I finally put it together a few days ago.  We had a couple of warmer days this week, and Maggie has had fun riding it.  (You can't see them, but yes, there are training wheels.) I can't believe how this girl has grown up lately.  

I just love my two princesses.  I can't believe how time flies (Evelyn will be turning one soooo soon!) I am so grateful to have them in my life.

Another Fun Visit

The first weekend in February we were lucky to have Kent and Janice out for a short visit because of some exciting things happening with Alan's brother Spencer (that should be a whole different post!) This was the first time that Kent has been together with all of his children (at the same time) in like 25 or 26 years.  It was a really great visit.  We also loved spending a little bit of time with Alan's sister Marilyn, who lives very far away from us. 

We went to a fancy buffet together at the Grand America for lunch. This is Jared's monster face.  Thanks, bud. 

Now Maggie's not looking.  Well, we tried.

We have loved getting to know Kent and Janice and are anxious to see them again sometime soon!

January 2014

I really hate January.  As my mother-in-law says, you could take away the six weeks between New Year's and Valentine's Day and not miss too much.  I completely agree.  I hibernated during most of the month.  Seriously. Anyway, here are a few pictures. 

One afternoon I took the kids sledding.  Evy looked super cute bundled up.  Our sledding trip didn't last too long since Maggie had to go to the bathroom AGAIN.  

Here is Maggie playing princesses with her cousin Summer:

I finally moved Evelyn from the little tiny baby tub to the big tub with Maggie.  Here is her very first "big girl" bath.  In the second picture, she is smiling, not crying.  Ha ha.  She LOVES baths and always tries to lunge in the tub before I'm ready to put her in.

Evy pulled up to standing early in January.  She's so cute, but now nothing is safe on tables or couches!!

Jared got to dress up like an old man for the 100th day of school.  This was the best we could come up with on short notice: flannel shirt and these silly glasses.

Here's to January being over!!!!!!