Anna's Big Birthday Party!

Anna turned the big TWO on Monday, August 23rd. We threw a fun "favorite things" party for her. Think of the Sound of Music song... "these are a few of my favorite things... Puppies & Ponies & Polish & Painting!" The invites turned out so cute. So we had a little station set up for fingernail painting, a big roll of paper on the sidewalk for water color painting, puppy cupcakes, and pony rides. She loved it!

She got the pink big wheel from Marnee & Papa... and loves it already! She's been scooting around all week!

Cute little apron that Marnee gave her... perfect while enjoying the chocolate frosting on her puppy cupcake!

She was so intent on most all of her gifts... just excited and happy to be there!

Good ol' Willie. Can you believe T even did the braids and bows? What a guy!

Nicole & Mylie painting nails...

She was in this "lip gloss" position for a good 5 minutes. Thanks Sardee!

I found this cute wallet for Anna - she loves opening mine & pulling out all my cards, so I made her some cards of her own. Pictures of all the family, plus some of the horses, flowers, etc. She got a kick out of it!

Some fun info on Anna: She is in the 35% percent in height & weight, so just a little thing! She still is wearing 6-12 month jammies from Old Navy! She is sweet & stubborn at the same time. She loves – I repeat – loves green beans & broccoli. She also loves cookies, chocolate, & any other treat. Won’t eat a sandwich, no matter what kind it is. Will eat bacon & hot dogs though! Loves loves loves getting her hair done, her fingernails & toenails painted, and putting on makeup. She doesn’t want to be left out of anything (she gets that from me). She wants to be doing everything that Owen does… so she is constantly saying, “Anna!” She also loves the horses and the dogs. She could be outside petting and touching them and feeding them all day long. She sleeps well; usually going to sleep on her own (I used to have to rock Owen to sleep). Oh yeah, she also loves sunflower seeds. Crazy girl! She has been known to throw a full on tantrum (at the age of 2?) but also is the most well-behaved little girl ever. She will sit on my lap through church, parties – anything! And she isn’t the type to get into things and make a huge mess – which is so nice. She is dainty. Eating is a process with little teeny bites…She loves her dad like crazy. Loves loves loves. I love her like crazy as well! Happy Birthday my sweet little girl!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

On July 18, 2003, T and I were married! So that makes this year our... 7th anniversary. We decided to go to Park City for the day. So what happens next is typical for us: T decides to go bear hunting in the morning - it's the only free day he has in the next two weeks you know. (note my sarcasm). So I decide we are leaving no later than noon. If we happens to be chasing a bear and is stuck on top of the mountains looking for bears or dogs - oh well! The Anniversary Bus leaves at noon, and if he isn't on it - well, he would never hear the end of it.

So as I drive up to the house from church, I was pleasantly surprised that he is home AND ready to go! Wow... I truly wasn't expecting that! We actually had a GREAT day... I repeat. GREAT. Loved it. We shopped on Park City's main street outdoor fair, took a ride up the mountain, ate at Training Table (#1 favorite) and also Red Lobster (#2 favorite). I can't get over their halibut. Oh so yummy! We also scoped out some bike trails for our next Park City trip.

This is funny. I told T a few weeks before our Anniversary that I would love to make a tradition out of having a carrot cake on our anniversary every year. That is what our wedding cake was - and by the time we got done with our reception line - all we tasted of it was what was smashed in each other's faces! So being a sweet little husband, he called his sister Kelli and she whipped up an amazingly tasty carrot cake. I seriously LOVED it. Ate almost all of it myself, in fact! But note the "Happy 8 Years" message. See first line of post. He got a little mixed up. He said he was counting the year we met. Too funny!

This is what I woke up to that day.

What a sweetie. Thanks hon!

Foam Day

Lehi City's Foam Day was more fun than ever! I was asked to be on the committee to help plan the boutique and entertainment, which was a great experience! They estimated about 3000 people which was probably double from last year. Even though everyone else seemed to be having a blast, Owen wasn't into it as much as last year.

At one point, Owen got "lost" in the foam. He went to see the fire guy spray the foam, I held Anna ('cause she did NOT want her feet in the foam) and I look over and he was gone. So I wasn't worried about him actually being LOST, but I guess he found an adult, who took him to the "Lost and Found" tent. The "guy" who was helping happened to be my Uncle Kim (who Owen doesn't really know that well), and he helped Owen find T. Not a big deal, but to Owen it was!

This was hilarious... he usually does thumbs up in pictures - like almost always! But he thought the foam deserved a "thumbs down" I guess! Maybe he was a bit tired??

Love Love Love

I love summer! I love the time of year when I get the flag out and T hangs it up for me... It just makes our porch so festive!

I love our porch. The kids love to sit on the porch and have otter pops... I love to sit on the porch and watch them ride their bikes & scooters... I love to sit and watch the rain... have I mentioned that I kinda like my porch?

I love little treasures! Just a new little "addition" to the yard... thought it turned out cute! My mom is always dropping by some little treasure... this time it was this green box. I put all of our horse brushes in it - 'cause that is one of my favorite things to do in the summer as well - go out and love the horses!

I love flowers! Such a dandy... I have a few of them and love it when they bloom each summer!

Thanks summer! I love you!

T & the Draft Horses

T is such a hard worker. A lot of horse-shoe-ers (aka farriers) will shoe 3 or 4 horses a day... T will fit in as many as he has daylight for. Which sometimes kills him! To stand underneath a horse and hold its weight is hard on the knees, back and just downright sucks! But he is good at what he does, and it is good money - so it works for us! I used to hate the smell of horse poop on his hands when he got home (when we were dating), but now if he comes home smelling like horse poop, it smells like money! Which is a good thing!

Anyhow, a regular sized horse wears a size 1 or 2 shoe. He shod a couple of draft horses the other day that were a size EIGHT. Yes, an 8. Look at the difference...

You have to realize that in this pic, T is pointing at the shoe... and T's hands/fingers are not normal sized. They are super sized. I am not kidding! If you saw them, you would almost think he has some sort of disease...

The size of the nails that he uses is normally about 2 inches long, and the nails to hold those bad boys in are about double that... they are huge! (wish I had a pic)

I couldn't believe it when I saw these pics!

The white draft horse probably weighs 1500 lbs.

Love you hon!

4th of July

The 4th of July seems to be a little quiet around our house... T just happens to always be on shift, so we go to the annual Fireman's breakfast, play in the water, then watch the neighborhood fireworks! We usually watch the show at Thanksgiving Point, but we were all beat and ready to call it a night... Here are a few pics:

I gave Anna and Owen each a little bucket filled with 4th of July goodies... Anna's favorite was the American Flag. She seriously held onto that thing the whole entire night! It was so cute!

Wasn't quite sure what to think about the sparklers...
On the other hand... Owen loved them & is always ready for a picture!

Our little Uncle Sam...

And one final wave of the flag...

Owen's Trip to Nevada

About a month ago, my mom & dad took Owen & Macie to Nevada to see their Uncle Matt, Aunt La-La, and their cousins Ava & Dylan. It was Owen's first time on a plane, and first time away from home without mom (at least since he was little). He did great, and loved his whole trip! Marnee and Papa threatened that if Owen & Macie fought or weren't good - they would have to get on the plane and fly home by themselves! It seemed to work... :)

Owen got to sit in the pilot's seat, and even push some buttons!

They spent the day at the "ocean"

Swam a lot...

Played on a "real" beach...

And played with cousins!

I know they also got to ride a huge ferris wheel INSIDE a building! Owen thought that was pretty cool! I am so glad they got to go and hang out with their Ekins cousins! Wish they lived closer... but thanks Matt & La-La for planning fun things & to Marnee & Papa for taking them!

p.s. Owen LOVES his "Nevada ROCKS" shirt! He always picks it out to where & makes sure people around knows what it says... :)