A Great FHE followed by a Terrible Night

Because Matt doesn't get home from work until around 8:30 most nights, we often move Family Home Evening to his day off. This week, that was Wednesday. I decided that for FHE this week, we should go to our favorite local Pizza Place, Tony's Pizza. I think I have written about Tony's before, but as a refresher, it is a real hole-in-the-wall, local people only type place. 

We had a great time, and everyone behaved and the pizza was delicious, as always!  

The real trouble started later in the evening. Keldrie was very nice when it was time to go to bed. She was her usual sweet self, read a story with Matt and then said goodnight.  Russell was a little harder to get to sleep, but he still was asleep by 10:00 or so.  So Matt and I wandered up to bed, and turned out the lights around 11. By this time, Keldrie was tossing and turning in her room, but I figured that she would just go back to sleep soon.  

How wrong I was.

 At midnight, I wake up to her moaning/crying like only a toddler can, in her room. I can't understand what she wants, but I go into her room and she tells me that she wants some water. I get her some and she says she will go back to sleep.  That is until 1 am, when the whole process repeats itself. And again at 2. Finally, after that third time, she really did go to sleep.

 All was well. 

Until 3:30 that is, when Russell woke up crying. Took Matt and I about an hour to get him back to sleep. After all that, Keldrie still woke up at 7:15 that morning. 

It's nights like this that I am so glad to have a husband and co-parent like Matt around to help me. We tag-teamed it all night and gave each other lots of hugs the next morning as we pushed through the haze to go about our usual day. 

Luckily, last night was much better. Russell was the only one to wake up, and he went back to sleep pretty easy. I love being a parent, but on nights like Wednesday night/Thursday morning, I am reminded that it is the hardest job in the whole wide world. It is incredibly rewarding though, so I don't think I will throw the towel in!

Hudson and Nicole Visit!

Nicole and Hudson were able to come visit us again. The occasion was my cousin's wedding, which I forgot my camera, so there are no pictures, but we had lots of time to play besides that!

We went to both the J.V. and Varsity Football games.  Tyler gets a lot more playing time in the J.V. games since they don't want to risk injuring or tiring the first string of his position. In this picture, he is actually out on the field somewhere. 

Hudson was less interested in the game and more interested in the people behind us yelling. It was pretty much parents and siblings only, and they sure were loud.  Keldrie got in on the yelling, although I'm pretty sure Tyler couldn't hear her "Go Tyler!"

Oh, and Hudson was very interested in the snacks that we had brought. Those were a good distraction too. 

 Russell was a good boy too! He did not appreciate the yelling parents, especially his mom. He jumped in my arms every time I cheered.

The next day, we went to the park together!

At first, Hudson really didn't like me, but he warmed up after a few days. I think that I freak him out because I look a lot like his mom. 

"There you are,  mom!"

Little Man loved getting to crawl around on the grass, but did not like the concrete much. He just wouldn't stay on the safe and soft blanket I brought. 

Keldrie trying to get Russell to pose for the picture. She loves to hold his hand, he doesn't feel the same. 

Aunt Chelsea came to join us after she was done at college for the day. Keldrie was thrilled! 

We only got 4 short days with Nicole and Hudson, but we are sure happy we got them! Love you guys!

Our Visit to the Brigham Temple Open House and Russell's New Trick!

We headed up to the Open House at the new Brigham City Temple. I was so excited to take Keldrie because whenever Matt and I go to do a session, she talks about going to the temple one day when she is bigger. Obviously, we didn't take any pictures of the inside, but it was beautiful! The outside was amazing too, of course.

Keldrie behaved very well (Thank heavens) during the tour, so afterwards I had to let her burn a little energy. We wore our street clothes because we were hoping a non-member friend was going to be able to come with us, but they didn't end up making it. 

Keldrie is looking past me, and at the fountain behind me. There were a bunch of kids who were happily splashing away, but Matt had told Keldrie that she couldn't join in the fun. He was trying to teach her that the temple, even the outside, is a special place and we act different. I'm not sure the lesson sunk in, though. 

Russell missed his nap during our tour, so he was looking a little tired when we walked around outside.  Poor little guy!

This just made me laugh. There weren't any protesters that day, but I love that the church is experienced enough with opposition, that they were prepared for them, and even gave them a spot to protest right next to the temple. 

And here is Russell's new trick. He can now pull up on the furniture and has even begun to walk around the couches. My baby is getting too big, too fast. Matt keeps telling me that he has to grow up, but it just is speeding by. With Keldrie, I eagerly anticipated each new milestone. With Russell, though, I want him to take his time and I'm trying to enjoy each part of his infancy. Right now, I would just call him my little explorer. He keeps finding new corners of the house to discover.

Besides all that, I am loving this cooler weather! Fall is in the air and I can't wait to pull out the sweaters and boots and I'm all over Pintrest finding new fall recipes! Can't wait!

Labor Day (and a few other things)

Well, it is September and we have had Labor day already. I am so stoked for Fall. I love the season even though I was scared awake, like I said in my last post, by the huge thunderstorm we got a few hours after the month had officially started. Well, later that day I let Keldrie go outside for a few minutes and play in the rain. (When there was no lightning or thunder, of course)

She thought that was pretty cool. The storm clouds also made for some beautiful colors in the sky, and even a few rainbows. Some of the people nearby said they saw a double rainbow, but we missed it. 

Russell has a habit of sleeping with his back arched into a backwards C while he sleeps on his side and also of pulling the blanket over his face. I haven't gotten a picture of the C yet, but here is what I see most days when I go in and check on him. 

He always has the blanket right in his face. I always pull it away from his face whenever I check on him, but every time I go back in, there it is. 

This brings us to yesterday, Labor day. We started off our day with a run to Ikea to return something we bought for our bed that we got in the wrong size. Go figure. So we returned it, bought Kel and Ice Cream cone and turned right back around. When we got home, I made some cookies for my family's party and then we headed to my Grandma's house. Matt only got to stay for a half hour before he had to head to work, but he got some food, so it was bearable. 

After we had worn out our welcome there, we headed to my Mom's house. Keldrie was adamant that we go, because she had not been for two days! Holy Smokes! 

The kids had some messy dinner!

Granted, nearly every meal with Russell is messy these days. He thinks he should help with the spoon. After getting nice and messy, of course they needed a bath and Keldrie was super excited when my mom said she could get in her "big, big bath!" Russell just got the normal bath since it is easier for mom to reach.

What is cuter then a naked baby? 

Keldrie even got to take Cinderella and her prince into the Big, big bath. 

Afterwards, everyone sat on the porch and enjoyed the slightly cooler evening. I'm telling you, you can feel Fall right around the corner. And even the leaves have begun to change on the mountains!

What a fun way to end Summer and welcome in Autumn!

Park CIty Farmer's Market

Yesterday, after lunch, we packed the kids up and headed for the Park City farmer's market. Neither of us had been before and it seemed like fun. And it was! We walked around for a while and I saw this amazing looking baker's tent, so I went over and sampled some of the bread they had sitting out. It was delicious! I did take some pictures but they are on the I Pad and I haven't figured out how to get them over onto blogger just yet, so just imagine for the time being.

Matt had seen an Italian Ice Tent, so he had to go back and get some after he found nothing else that tempted him quite so much. Keldrie declared herself hungry and said "I want french fries, and chicken nuggets with ketchup." Of course, there was no french fries and chicken nuggets, but we did find some pizza and she was very happy with that!

The market was at the bottom of the Canyon's resort and they had the lift running between the market and the top of the resort, so we took a little ride up. Neither Matt or I had ever been there either, but it looked pretty awesome. There were mountain bikers everywhere. I figured there must be some great trails up there. After walking around for a few minutes, we took the lift back to the car. I think that was Kel's favorite part. It was a beautiful view of the valley!

In other news, I actually made one of the recipes I pinned on Pintrest. It is Brushetta Chicken and it was pretty tasty. We had some fresh tomatoes from Elaine's garden to top it all off. Matt ate two chicken breasts in one sitting. 

Keldrie did not eat any. She had pasta instead. Silly girl. Needs to branch out a little more. 

Last night, (or rather, this morning) we got hit with quite the thunderstorm. One minute I am sleeping in my bed and the next thing I know I am in Matt's arms, shaking. There was a lightning strike right by us somewhere and the thunder shook the whole house, and sure got my heart rate going. Matt, who had woken up a few moments before me, said I about jumped out of my skin but then I jumped into his arms instead.  The rain was just pouring down and I waited anxiously to see if any of the thunder would wake up the kids. Luckily it didn't. Russell has been sick and so I was very glad when he didn't wake up since it took us about 2 hours to get him to sleep. Quite the unexpected and strong storm. Glad to have a good roof and strong windows at those times!

And that about sums up our week! Now that it is the first of September, I think I will use my Saturday to put up my Fall decorations. Even if it is still going to be 88 degrees today. Autumn, here we come!