November

   We didn’t do anything super exciting in November, but the weather was still amazing so we had fun enjoying it. Owen loved Dan’s cowboy hat and wore it all morning one day while he played with his tractors and trucks. He is the cutest. My Grandma Phyllis has been living with my mom for a few years and she recently moved to Idaho to be with her daughter (my dad’s half sister). It was sad to see her go and we have really gotten to know her well over the years since we didn’t see her a lot growing up. Owen really loved her and still goes into her old room to look for her. I started working part time in November and it has been awesome! I generally take off Wednesdays and Fridays and it has been so nice to have those days off completely and not even turn on my computer! On one of my first days off we rode on TRAX down to the Children’s Museum at Gateway. Owen was really nervous at first, but after a few minutes, he loved the train.

 

We met my friend Nicole and her little boy Jack. The kids were so busy that we didn’t get to talk much and didn’t even take a picture! But it was still fun and Owen was in heaven with all the fun things they have there. It is a little pricey, but a fun thing to do once in a while.

  We went to the zoo one day as a family and it was beautiful weather and Owen appreciated the animals a lot more than last year when we went. He still was more interested in running around and playing, but he still liked to check out some of the animals.

We got a new Christmas tree! We started putting up Christmas decorations a little early the year that Owen was born and we really loved it so we have kept doing it. We listen to Christmas music and put up the tree about a week or so before Thanksgiving. It just makes us happy! We had a tiny little tree for our old house but we have plenty of room for a big tree and we found an awesome deal and this tree is gorgeous. I really love it! We have since taken down the weird wood boards on the ceiling and patched all the holes around the house so it looks much  better! Dan also hung some shelves for me and I have started putting up frames which I also love.

When I vacuum the floor, I put all of Owen’s toys on the couch and now he thinks it’s the funnest thing to climb on his dump truck while it’s on the chair or couch. He asks for me to do it even when I’m not vacuuming and he wants car keys as well so he can pretend to drive.

We have taken quite a few trips to Ikea lately and we realized that they have a big play area with all of their toys on display for kids to play with. There is a train table, kitchen, work bench, and most of their toys out for kids to play with. There are a bunch of chairs and a tunnel and it’s really fun. So we will sometimes just go to Ikea to play with the trains and Owen is in heaven! Good thing he is getting a train set for his birthday next week!

October

This is way late, but I’m not giving up on blogging! October was lots of fun and we started with pumpkin painting with Steph, my mom, and Steph’s good friend Courtney. We did it during priesthood session and it was lots of fun! I’m the least creative person ever, and I have no patience for crafty things, but the food and company was worth it! The next day we had some of Dan’s family over for conference and lunch since his parents usually host conference and they were out of town. We have been able to spend so much more time with family now that we live close and we just love it. We have had people over to our house a lot and it’s awesome!

The next weekend Dan and I took off to Bear Lake for a weekend alone! The only trip alone we’ve had since having Owen was Ragnar and that DEFINITELY doesn’t count. Not romantic, and not relaxing whatsoever! So we were excited, and we left Owen in good hands with Grandma Debbie the first day and with Grandma Nae Nae for the next two!

We took our time driving up and stopped at Nordstrom Rack (Dan’s dream come true!) and Sportsman’s Warehouse (my dream come true!) on the way. We had dinner at Firehouse in Logan (oh the memories!). That place is good and Logan in general just left me flooded with so many memories. I absolutely love that place and I felt so nostalgic when we drove around. It has been a while since we were there and I just had so many memories of fun times at school with friends and then getting engaged and being there with Dan. It was wonderful.

  We stayed at a condo about 1/2 mile from the Bear Lake marina. It was right by the cabin we stayed at with my family last summer. It was really nice and spacious and a great price. It was so awesome to just relax together and not worry about chasing Owen (although we love him!). We watched some football, I read my book, we ate yummy food, and sat in the hot tub! It was basically perfect!

On Saturday we went for a long drive to Bloomington Lake. I had been there in college with some friends and it was awesome, so we decided to check it out again. The drive was really long up the canyon, but it was beautiful and we loved it! I didn’t get car sick, so I was a happy camper. We finally made it to the lake after a short hike and it didn’t disappoint! Dan loved it and it was just gorgeous and so peaceful. Dan was itching to swing on the rope swing into the water, but it was a little chilly for that!

My mom sent plenty of pictures of this cutie and his new dump truck (he’s only slightly spoiled…). He was in heaven! We face timed with him once and my mom said he got a little homesick once or twice, but he did really well and we knew he was in good hands. My cousin blessed his baby in Hyrum on Sunday so we met the family at the blessing and picked up Owen. It worked out perfectly and we had a great time and we so happy to see our cute boy again!

There is a great farm near our house and we took a few trips to the pumpkin patch so Owen could drive the tractors. He was absolutely ecstatic, despite this picture. He would literally sit there all day if we let him!

More construction equipment for this kid. He has quite a collection of tractors and construction equipment and driving it in the dirt was pretty much perfection for him!

Dan and I had a shared family dinner eating Thai food. It was DELICIOUS and very fun. My sister even brought yummy cupcakes! We also said goodbye to my Grandma Phyllis about a week after this, as she moved to Idaho to live with her daughter. Having her around the past few years was really nice and I loved getting to know her more and seeing her with Owen was really awesome for us. We will miss her!

This is Owen’s favorite thing to do and this picture is the best. He loves to sit by the wall and eat “cracker bears” or “cracker monkeys” with dad. He adores Dan and just wants to copy everything that he does! I love them so much!

Halloween was a blast and the weekend before we did a trunk or treat with my mom’s ward, which was great. Owen got the hang of saying “Trick or Treat” and he was ready for the real thing the next week! I actually dressed up this year and I was pretty proud of mine and Owen’s home made no-sew costumes!

       Owen freaked out when I put his costume on, but I didn’t give up and eventually he gave up the fight and just wore it! He looked adorable and we went to Danny’s brother’s neighborhood in South Jordan for trick or treating. Owen did great and got lots of good candy!

His cousins were adorable to help him and wait for the littler kids like Owen and Weston. We did more houses than I expected, then headed back to enjoy some treats and visit with family while the older kids kept going.

   I got lots of great presents (but no pictures!) for my birthday and it was another awesome day. Dan and I went to dinner at Market Street Grill (heaven!) and did some shopping as well. I can’t wait to see what another year brings for me!

September

September was another goodie and now October is almost done and I am just writing this…oh well. We celebrated my Dad’s birthday at the beginning of the month and went to dinner at Hires. I can’t believe I didn’t take any pictures, but with a 2 year old around, you barely have time to eat!

We went to the state fair and my mom joined us. It was pretty fun, but Owen wasn’t happy about sitting in his stroller so Dan mostly held him the whole time. He did like the animals a lot and it was fun to see all the “interesting” people! Dan wore his buffalo shirt and got a turkey leg. He fit right in! Below Owen wanted to ride the horses, but freaked out when it actually came time to ride and he wouldn’t get on! We were ticked that we paid $5 but Dan is a champ and asked for our money back and they gave it to us! Hurray!

We took a few trips up the canyon to enjoy the pretty colors and Owen had fun throwing rocks.

I sure love these cute boys of mine.

Owen found Dan’s hat and put it on and surprisingly left it on for quite a while! It was really cute.

Owen loves to lay on our bed and will lay by me with a book while I read. He doesn’t hold still for long, but I love that he loves books!

We had several dump trucks full of topsoil delivered to our house, along with a ton of gravel. It was the day of our neighborhood party which was in our circle, so our dirt pile became the entertainment for the kids! We didn’t mind, but I felt bad for the parents who had filthy kids to clean up! Dan also borrowed a skid skeer to move the rocks and dirt and Owen was in heaven! My mom took him Saturday and we worked our butts off and got tons done. It was such hard work and so hot, but our yard looks amazing! We added gravel on the side for a parking strip, and raised up all our garden beds with topsoil.

 

We went up the canyon with some KFC and roasted s’mores. We didn’t realize that we had to reserve the sites at this place, and the lady made us pay 20 bucks to have a fire for a few hours! We were ticked, but the fire was still fun.

Owen loved throwing rocks in the river! I can’t remember if it was on this trip up the canyon, but he barfed on the way home. He gets carsick like me, yay! Our most recent carsick adventure was driving 15 minutes to my in-laws and he puked right before we got there. Grossest ever. Poor kid.

I love these two pictures. Owen just takes off wherever we go and loves to explore everything. He is so much fun!

We have been going to story time at the library almost every week and Owen loves it! The first time he was a little hesitant, but now he loves Tami, and knows the words to the songs. It is so cute and fun and I love going with him.

The picture below is really dark but I love it. Dan took it without me knowing and I was reading to Owen before bed. He was sitting on my legs and listening really carefully to the story. I think the book was “Owen” and it’s adorable and about a little mouse named Owen who loves his blanket (very familiary!). He loves it and is getting so big and will listen to books a lot now. He will ask to rock a bye with mommy and wants me to read to him.

Owen loves taking baths in the “tubby” and of course has to bring half his toys with him. I let him take things that won’t get ruined and I was laughing when he started drinking water from his tractor. Funny kid.

He had two big falls on the same day and scratched up his face and got a goose egg on his forehead. It looked like he was in a car accident or something! He got a lot of pity from people and he was fine, but it was sad to see his cute face scraped up!

August

We started August by FINALLY going to the temple together! We haven’t been in a long time and we are working on switching with some friends every month so we can go more often! We have never been to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple and it was gorgeous. I’m so glad we got to go!

I just really love this picture of my cute boy laying on my bed. Love him.

Owen managed to get the camera turned on while playing with my phone in the car and took a jillion selfies. He loved the shutter/clicker sound and I had to keep a few of the cute pics he took of himself!

We love jumping on the tramp around here and I love that these pictures show our awesome fence that Dan put up! He did it all by himself (with some help from his dad) and it looks great! He worked so hard in the heat and got it up quickly so that we didn’t lose our home insurance (tramp with no fence = no coverage boo!). We love it and it’s so nice to send Owen back there and know that he can’t escape! We have an empty lot next to us so it’s going to be nice when someone builds there as well.

     

Cute boys at church! Owen has been a bit of a pill in nursery so that has been a struggle. But I know it’s totally normal, so we are working on it!

This kid is OBSESSED with driving anything and everything. He loves to pretend to drive things and will sit in a car or truck for hours driving if we let him. He recently started saying “drivin’ the library”! I love how he has started to pretend! He was in heaven when we went to Home Depot and they had riding mowers out front. Taking him off was another story…

I got to go to the season opener U of U game with Julie and Everett and we had a blast. I almost didn’t go, but I’m so glad that I did! I got a bit teary walking into that stadium and thinking about the hundreds of games we attended while growing up. My dad was a HUGE fan and I couldn’t stop thinking of him the whole night. I even parked on the street he grew up on! He would have loved it and I’m so glad I got to cheer on my Utes!

   On Labor Day weekend, we went to Rockport again with some of Dan’s family. We didn’t camp but spent the afternoon there. Some kids were blowing huge bubbles and it was really fun to watch them.

Owen did WAAAY better than when we were there on the 4th of July. It was nice and hot in the afternoon and he loved playing in the mud and water. He didn’t care to ride the waverunners, but had a blast digging and playing with his cousins.

These two just chillin after church one day. Owen just adores Danny and follows him everywhere. Dan is such a good dad and plays with Owen as much as possible. They are just the best ever and it’s amazing how two people can be my entire life. I love them and I’m so glad I have them both! What a lucky lady I am!