"Bawnyawd"

The Thanksgiving Point Barnyard (or bawnyawd as Hallie would say) was a hit. Apparently she doesn't remember one ounce of living in Iowa and seeing any barn animals. She is constantly saying to me, "I never seed a cow (or a horse, or a pig, etc, etc)." I think to myself, "Are you kidding? We only went to a bazillion farms, barns, fairs, in Iowa." Needless to say, she loved it. She said at the end. "I like the bawnyard. I finally seed barn animals. Thank you for letting me see them! This is the greatest day ever!"

Hangin out in the Canyon

Something we've kinda made a tradition of doing is going up South Fork Canyon and hangin out. Pizza, yummy pasta salad, DDP, fire with smores and wonderful company in the mountains...doesn't get much better!

Isn't my coat sweet? I didn't bring any jackets to Utah and it got a little chilly. My mom told me to just get a jacket in the closet. And I found this beauty! The funny part was, when we got there my Grandma was thrilled to see it and said that was her coat when she was younger! How funny. I think I'll try and snatch it :).

Hallie left her smore on the bench and it didn't take Peyton long to snatch it up and devour the whole entire thing!

I love my sisters!

Aaron's Fam

It was great to see some of Aaron's fam too. Nichole was on vacation here from New Jersey the same time we came. It was so fun to finally see her and her darling girls. The girls and I were able to have a few get togethers with some of Aaron's fam and we had a blast!

Hallie loves to visit Grandma Gayla and Grandpa Bill. She was so excited to go and surprise them and spend some time with them. They spoil her rotten. Every time we left their house she would say in the car, "Grandma and Grandpa gave me too much stuff!" It was great to see them. I'm sure they wish Aaron was here too, but they are always so sweet to welcome me.

This picture cracks me up. Hallie looks like she's trying to choke herself and die with the look on her face. She actually loves Carter and thinks he's hillarious. Last time we came he would always talk like Swiper from Dora and say, "Oh Man!". And that's how Hallie always remembers Carter. Anytime she hears it on Dora she says, "Carter says that!" He is so stinkin cute.


Now she's gettin a little happier!

Gianna was so cute with Peyton. Peyton was a little grouch and didn't want to be touched this whole day. Gianna just couldn't resist. I love it. I love how she just wants to touch her SO bad.

And she could resist no more! he he.

Aja and Gianna are adorable. They were so cute with my girls. It was so much fun to see them and get to know them more.

Some more Splashin

We went up to the new Splash Park up in Highland. Aside from getting super lost, it was fun. The kids loved it. Peyton had me on my toes the whole time though. She is fearless and thinks she can climb on anything. (I'm not sure who that girl is pickin her bum, but Hallie didn't seem to care.)

Girls Night!

Natalie is always so great to plan everything when we come. We had a Girls Night with family from both sides and it was a blast. We did lots of American Idol karaoke, ate TONS of yummy food and talked forever. I am proud to say that I am the American Idol champion! Yes, Nat, I can sing and DANCE too and still win you:) (although my tune my not be quite as good). We stayed up so late talking and didn't have everyone leave until I think like 2 in the morning. I loved it.

Some of us ladies. I'm not sure where everyone else was.

cute cousins Erica and Jenny

I love my Aunt Kristy and mom. They were rockin it. We told them that they got more points if they did the dance moves like the singers. They were awesome! Kristy, I still like your move you did to Grandma. I can't get it down quite like you did though.


go my sassy sisters!

cousins Bobbi Ann and Debbie

cousins Megan and Melissa. They were so cute.

There's Only One Lagoon

We quite enjoyed ourselves at the beloved Lagoon. I won't lie. When I first arrived, I had flashbacks of when I'd go there with friends and scout out the boys and stuff (Lindsey Pack would appreciate the memory of the gold chained matching boys :)) So many memories! I wanted to see if I still had it in me to ride the Colossus:Fire Dragon and the Rocket and all the other great rollercoasters. And...I still got it baby! It was SOOOO fun!

Next year Peyton and Kate will be joining in on all the fun!

This was Hallie's favorite thing.

Poor Peyton, got to chill in her stroller for quite a bit of the day. She was a good sport.

Not a great pic, but she's totally lovin it at the beginning. Then....

this is her face about halfway through it. Guess she changed her mind.

Can't resist my people watching. I'm trying to convince Aaron to grow this hairdo. It's actually one he could pull off! ha ha. Isn't this sick? And he even went to the effort of bleaching it! GROSS!

Hallie says the cars and the Ferris wheel were her favorite. And makes sure to tell me everytime we talk about Lagoon that she hated the rollercoaster (Puff the Magic Dragon).

A Little More Randomness

A few more things we enjoyed:
Feeding the ducks
Late night chocolate fondue with mom and sistas
Hearing/Seeing pics of my Dad's trip to Denmark
Having Chels come home too from Chicago
Spending time with my brothers
Getting together with my high school friends. I love that we still get together! They are all so great. (Thanks Linds for the picture. And I loved your post. You're cute!)
Lunch with Lindsey

Loves her binkies upside down. Silly girl.

This is the first time back home since Grandpa passed away. I'm not gonna lie, it was hard. It was so different coming back and not having my cute Grandps coming up the stairs to greet me or hang out with everyday while my parents were at work. And having Hallie constantly telling me she was going to go downstairs and see Bampa Dick and get some licorice didn't help either. I usually don't like going to cemetery's. They kinda creep me out and Dustin and I both have vowed that we want to be cremated :)). But this was the first time going up there that I felt so much peace. It was really nice. Hallie wanted to make a picture to give to him and she took it to the grave. She was a little confused and when we got there she debated back and forth whether she'd give her picture to the bunnies or Grandpa and Grandma's grave. It was cute.

I stole this pic from Chels. Seriously, every time Chelsey pulled her camera out, Peyton would totally cheese it. It was so funny.

Hallie and I also got the stomach flu while we were there. It was not fun puking our guts out. And sorry to my poor Mom who got it the day after we left.

It was a wonderful trip as usual. Thanks to my Mom and Dad for EVERYTHING!

"You are not my favorite!"

So today was one of those days. Or should I say weeks. Aaron has been super busy this month with the SICU (Surgery Intensive Care Unit), which means the girls don't see much of him and they see ALOT of me. I don't know what the terrible 2's were that people talk about. For us, it's for sure the 3's. What happened to my sweet Hallie? For the past 3 days this is what Hallie has said to me:

Hallie:"Mommy, know what?"

Me: "What?"

Hallie: "You are not my favorite today. Daddy is my favorite."

And then there's this conversation today:

Me: "Hallie, please come here honey so I can do your hair."

Hallie: "rrrrrr. Mommy know what?"

Me: "What sweetie?"

Hallie: "You are just really driving me crazy today!"

Me: "Do you even know what that means Hallie?"

Hallie: "ummmm.....no."

She is a stinker, but a funny one at that I guess.

I have to remember that this little Hallie is adorable even when my patience gets a little thin after pretty much communicating these days with only a 3 and 1 year old about babies, princesses, Dora, and trying to get her to understand how she is not really a mommy yet.

I guess I did something right today because tonight she decided she'd say this.

"Mommy, you are not my favorite today. Daddy is my favorite. But it's okay. I still love you."

Lucky Daddy! Maybe he should watch her for a day so I can be the new fav :). Wish I could just play with her all day and not have to discipline. On second thought, I don't want to be the one working 88 hour weeks. I'll take not being the favorite I guess.