Want s'more?

Over the 24th we went camping in Big Cottonwood canyon. We had a great time. I wasn't sure how it would work with Brynn-in between crawling and walking- and having to hold Ammon for a long time. They actually played in the pack-n-play when we needed a break and the weather was perfect for staying outside. Coleson had fun exploring the "dead Tiki room tree" and crossing the river (stream) with his cousins. We all ate tons of smores, but I think Ammon won for the most marshmallows eaten. I guess I let him have too many because he woke up in the middle of the night and wouldn't go back to sleep. So Brian and I took turns listening to him be awake --you can't really rock him to sleep or do much when you are in a tent to soothe someone. The next day we hiked Donut Falls and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. It was just so nice to get away from life for a day.

Cocoa Beach

(Danger do not feed the alligators)
I know we went to Florida like a month ago but I never finished posting about our trip. We went to Disney's Animal Kingdom, Coleson got a little scared on the Mt. Everest ride (there was a huge drop in the dark-he always tells people "wouldn't you be scared too if you were like 100 feet high and started dropping in the dark"). The Finding Nemo play was amazing. Another favorite was the Bug's Life 3-D show where you have the giant grasshoppers and spiders coming down from the ceiling and your seat move with bugs crawling under you. Disney did a great job at making you feel like you are in other countries to see the animals, but I think I would have rather gone to a zoo to see more animals.


Brian and I went to the beautiful Orlando Temple and then that night we took Coleson out by himself. We had so much fun. Our first stop was the Lego store-that is his favorite place. He has done chores for months to save up to buy another set. If any of you have never been to a Lego store, it is really fun. They have stations around the store to build your own creations. You can race your own lego car down a ramp, or make your own lego person. It's a free place to play, however we have to drag coleson out and explain why we are not going to buy every $100 box of legos. Then we went to Joe's Crab Shack to eat. We ordered a large steam bucket of crab to all share. We wore the bibs and sat together on the same side of the booth and never touched a fork. Coleson just loved it. Probably the eating with your hands and getting dirty part, although he really does love crab. We laughed and ate and it was fun just to be with him. Coleson doesn't really get alone time with us. Between Ammon and Brynn, someone always needs something. Coleson is my awesome helper and I know he gets burnt out too. To have one night without asking him to do anything to help with was so nice. For me just eating without holding anyone or feeding someone else at the same time was so nice. It was great to have our moms babysit!!


Our favorite day turned out to be the beach. I love the beach, I could go there everyday and be happy. Cocoa beach was perfect for our family. Coleson boogie boarded for like 2 hours straight by himself. Occasionally I would say let me take you out a little farther-no mom I want to do it by myself. In the past when we have gone to the beach I am right next to him every second to make sure the waves don't take him away. Or I pull him around with the leash. Not this time. Coleson was on his own. He caught some pretty good waves. There were some shark sightings so we had to get out twice. Brian and I saw a manta ray in the crest of a wave and some jelly fish. I loved the freedom of just swimming in the ocean and boogie boarding. Brynn and Ammon both ate a handful of sand. Ammon loved walking in the water. Brynn would not put her feet down-which is funny because she loves baths and water. Coleson learned it was a lot harder than it looks to build a perfect sand castle. When we go to the parks in our neighborhood, he always wants to build sand castles. So I tell him wait until the next time we go to the beach. He had been waiting for a long time. Well he had a picture perfect idea in his mind and my building skills just weren't cutting it. I thought I was pretty good, it had a mote and bridge and secret tunnel, but it didn't look like the picture. Brian and I got badly burnt on our backs which made the next day's airport adventures that much better. The kids did great on the flights even though we didn't get home until 1:30am. Thanks to both of our mom's help and Brian's frequent flier miles, we had a great vacation.

Happy Birthday Brynn!

Our baby girl is one year old. I can't believe it. On one hand, this year has seemed like it has lasted forever. It has been like having twins except they are at different stages. On the other, I still treat her like my newborn precious little girl. She's teething this week, so she's been a little grumpy, but generally she has been the perfect baby. Her gift to me this week was that she finally slept through the night. She was wide awake this morning at 5:30am, but to get a good 6 hours of sleep was great. It's been more that a year since I have slept that long at once. Today she was clapping, which she just started doing and she folded her arms for prayer for the first time. She mostly crawls, sometimes she will still scoot on her stomach if she wants to get somewhere fast. She walks around furniture and anything she can climb onto. Her daily rituals include pulling everything out of the diaper bag, everything off the fridge, out of the pantry, and Coleson's Legos-if she stretches as far as she can. She puts everything in her mouth. Last night we went to the park and she put wood chips in her mouth, even the one stuck between her toes. Some of my favorite things she does is pats our backs when we are holding/hugging her, kicks her legs and waves her arms as fast as she can when dad comes home, plays peek-a-boo anytime anything covers her face from our view, smiles, smiles, smiles. She started saying mama, da for dad and dog, it's so cute. Even though she is on the move and wants to get down and explore she still loves to hug and snuggle. We love you Brynn!

We're in Florida!

Right now were are in Orlando and loving it. I just thought we would share some of the highlights from our vacation so far. We have gone to the Magic Kingdom, Gatorland, and the Kennedy Space Center. At the Magic Kingdom we experienced Florida's humidity, heat, and down pours all in one day. We would have to wait until the storm passed to continue on some rides. We were totally soaked, even with ponchos, but then when the sun came out we would dry up instantly. The rides were fun, but I think Coleson enjoyed running through the rain just as much. Brynn is at the stage where she puts everything in her mouth and tends to bite me on the shoulder when she is hungry. We were on the Jungle Cruise ride when a lady tapped me on the shoulder and said my baby was eating plastic. She had chewed a whole through my poncho! We left Ammon with my mom at the hotel-which is very nice. he got to spend the day with grandma, go swimming and enjoy the scenery. He doesn't tolerate the heat well, or anything that is too bumpy or moves like an elevator because he gets startled real easily. Well that is pretty much everything at the Magic Kingdom. Anyway, so we were on the ferry boat going across the waterway to the front gates and this young man next to us sticks out his hand to shake and says i'm Andrew. He was in a wheel chair and probably has cerebral palsy. So we shook his hand and started talking. He just loved Brynn. He kept telling us what a beautiful baby she was-we had to have his dad tell us what he was saying because it was very mumbled. I was just impressed that he could communicate so well. I was trying so hard to understand him and have a good conversation. So we talked the whole boat ride. He was from england and it was his last day. You could tell he was just having a great time.



Gatorland was definetly a touristy thing, but it was fun to see all the big gators(not crocs). We saw real white alligators, poisonous snakes, and gaters jump up to eat raw chicken.

My fav. has been the Kennedy Space Center. To see the real thing, where the shuttle blasts off, to see the transporter, the path it takes, was awesome. Everything is a lot bigger in real life. Every person, every job is important. I think I like it because they try to be efficient, resourceful and there are so many inventions/things that make our life easier because of things they have started there and passed down. Like computers, diapers, cell phones, etc. I think a part of me has always wanted to be the first to do something or part of a discovery. When I was in elementary school I remember watching the Challenger. I wished that Christa McAuliffe was my teacher. We watched the challenger blast off and then sadly blow up. We were all crying and I remember wanting to be the first girl to go in space and be an astronaught. Well obviously as I grew up i didn't devote my life to the space program, i think my dream ended at byu in my first Physics class. I always thought I was good at math and science and figuring things out until i took that class. Maybe Coleson will want to be an astronaut.

April Happenings

At the beginning of the month Brian and I were lucky enough to go to the Saturday morning session of conference with some friends. It was awesome. It's always amazing to feel the presence of the prophet when he walks in the room. Brian's mom was kind enough to watch Brynn at the visitor's center for us. I was hoping to take pictures afterwards with the beautiful temple square flowers, but it was cold and rainy and the tulips hadn't bloomed yet. Still a wonderful day.

We had a wonderful Easter. It is such an uplifting occasion to reflect on the things the Savior has done for us especially making it possible to return to live with our Heavenly Father again. I helped with primary on Sunday and I couldn't keep back the tears as I talked about Jesus and sitting in the front row was Ammon sitting in his wheel chair. His head was kind of hanging to the side and I just felt how helpless he must feel sometimes, not having the ability to control his muscles like most of us can. I couldn't help him at that moment and neither could his teacher. Sometimes I feel helpless and frustrated not knowing what to do to help him. The answer for both of us(for all of us) is relying on the Savior. He has been through it all. We just have to know that he will guide us if we put all our trust in him.


Coleson has had a great month. He is still wearing the medal he won for the read-a-thon from last month. Thanks again to everyone who supported him. It really did boost his reading skills. He has been playing basketball on a community team. It's very beginner level and it's like watching bunch ball soccer, but with kids fighting over a basketball-sometimes it gets dribbled and sometimes just carried. Coleson gets really excited about the possibility of someone making a basket, so he is usually on the side of the bunch jumping up and down, hoping the ball will go in the basket, or that it will come out of the bunch for him to grab and shoot. It's great entertainment for me. He did make a basket in one of the games. It really bothered him that they weren't keeping track of points of the score board, though. This last weekend he was in two talent shows. On Friday it was the Stake Show where he performed with about twenty kids, singing disney and musical songs. He was really cute doing all the actions perfectly(except he told me he made two mistakes) and singing. Then on Saturday the ward primary went to a retirement home and showed their talents. It was a great activity. Coleson showed how he is a Lego designer and makes Lego cars. He was showing all the cute old ladies how you have to make sure the wheels are just right and balanced so they all move and nothing falls off. Then he put his creations in a container and patiently walked up and down each aisle to show each person his cars and answer any questions they had. They were all very interested, I'm sure.