Early Christmas Surprise

This year we wanted to do something different for Christmas. We're tired of buying toys that the boys get bored with 2 days later and decided we wanted to spend our money on memories instead. Rob and I booked a family cruise and decided to surprise the boys after school. 

The little boys get home from school a good 15 minutes before Ethan and it was torture for them to wait. Porter was convinced that we got them a Wii, and I prayed that he would still be happy when he found out it wasn't.

We left them with a note with 2 choices and crossed our fingers that they would choose wisely.

Thankfully they chose the big box. When they opened it, Ethan took a quick glance inside, didn't notice the envelope, and stormed off thinking we had just played a joke on them. 

When they all realized what it was, they were so excited. We can't wait to start our new tradition of memories for Christmas.

First Day at a New School

It was the first day of 5th grade for Ethan today. He got into the STEM school and is excited about this new challenge. It will be the first time at school without his brothers since kindergarten. Time for him to be more independent. He's ready, I'm not.

A New Toy

After Porter and Ethan went with Dad to help his cousin pack up for their move, he gifted them a skateboard. They took turns figuring out how to ride it, whether it was on their feet or on their belly.

It was pretty cute!

Beach Day

A beach day with the Heywood's is always a good day! I just love how much these cousins love each other.

Budding Artist

We found the paints yesterday and Bryson hasn't stopped painting since. He has made some pretty cool pictures. I love the way he sticks out his tongue in concentration.

My Fearless Boys

While at a swim party at our friend's house, Porter was loving jumping from the highest spot. 

Bryson, following his brother's lead, started jumping too. Luckily from a lower spot, but still pretty high for a little guy!

By the end of the afternoon, they were a little too brave for my liking and started trying flips and twists in the air. 

Bryson just wants to be a big kid so bad and didn't want to be left out.

They even got a couple of jumps in together, so cute!

Utah Trip- Day 7- SLC

We met up with Trevor at his friend's house and drove together to Temple Square.

It was so good to see my little brother!

I asked Trevor to take a picture of Rob and I and he pulled a fast one on us. Always a prankster!

He was a good photographer though.

We went into the tabernacle to show the boys where they used to hold General Conference. I tried to get them to take a nice picture. But with boys, you can't expect too much!

We noticed outside the Joseph Smith building a sign that said, "BYU Creamery ice cream inside" and we had to go take a look. They had all the good flavors that they were missing in Provo the day before. The boys loved the graham canyon flavor.

The next stop was the capitol building.

The inside was pretty impressive and mostly made of marble.

We wondered around for a while and found a neat display for movies that were filmed in Utah. It had Forrest Gump's running shoes, and the sunglasses Tom Cruise wore in Mission Impossible among other things.

We let the boys run around for a while out front to get some energy out. The boys took advantage of the nice hill and rolled their way down.

Then we taught the boys how to play red rover. We were playing for a while when a group of Asian tourists stopped and started watching us. I don't think they were familiar with the game. They found it very entertaining and started taking pictures of us. 

We picked up some fast food for the boys, then met up with Trevor's friend for dinner at the Bombay House. The food was so good!! We said our goodbyes after dinner and went back to our hotel. It was so great spending the day with Trevor. 

The next day we drove straight through all the way home. I was nervous being in the car that long, but the kids did awesome. It was a great trip!

Utah Trip- Day 6- Provo

It was raining Monday morning, and we weren't prepared for the cold. Our first stop was the DI for some sweatshirts for the family. We went to the Creamery for lunch and some of their famous ice cream next. We were bummed that they were out of their best flavors, but it was so yummy still. We really wanted to hike the "Y", but we weren't sure if it was going to rain. We made our way up there, and decided to go for it. Soon after we got started, Bryson's legs we "tired" and he quit walking. Rob and I started trading off carrying him, and even Ethan took a couple of turns. 

It was a much harder hike than any of us expected. The big boys were such troopers and marched along. Our biggest problem with Lincoln was that he wanted to stop for every rolly polly he saw and they were all over!

We finally made it to the top, and spent a long time enjoying the view and catching our breath.

The way down wasn't much easier. Bryson's legs were still "tired".

We did find a grasshopper on our way back and that made him happy.

After our hike we spent some time at the Provo Temple.

We went back to our hotel for the night, and I saw a picture that Trevor posted on instagram that he had been in Provo the same day. I called him to see if he was still in Provo, but he was already back home in Logan. I was so bummed we missed him. I talked him into meeting us the next day in Salt Lake though, and the boys were excited to see their Uncle Trevor. Porter even gave a little fist pump action when I told them. I was excited too!

Utah Trip- Day 5- St. George

We went to Grandma's ward for sacrament, and then did some sight seeing in St. George.

We stopped at Pioneer Park and hiked around for a bit, before we went to the temple.

 We hung out at the visitors center checking out all the exhibits. While we were there we met a sister missionary that was from Uruguay. Rob started talking to her and found out that he knew her grandmother while he was a missionary there. She used to feed him dinner all the time. She was very excited to talk to him and wrote his name down to write home about. Such a small world!

Next we went to the tabernacle where Lorenzo Snow received revelation and counseled the saints to pay their tithing and promised them that if they did that it would rain and they would not be in a drought any more. It was so neat for the boys to hear the story of their ancestor, and we took lots of pictures at the pulpit.

Next we went to Brigham Young's winter home. We learned a lot about him. 

We hit the road and drove up to Orem. Porter was a great helper on the trip with Bryson. During the drive I looked back and saw his arm around his brother and Bryson holding his hand. It's the little things like this that make these trips worth it.