Danny's new love

Danny has been on the hunt. The car hunt. Saturday morning he said “Lets go on a drive up to Morgan, Utah (over an hour from us). There is a car there that I want to look at. I probably won’t buy it, but it will be a fun drive.” I declined. He was pretty persistent. But I was not interested in going on a “scenic” drive for over an hour with 2 kids. He finally won me over and reluctantly went. (I should have known right then and there that there was a hidden agenda.. I didn’t even realize it until we were at the car dealership and he actually decided to PURCHASE the car… that duh, he couldn’t get the car home if I hadn’t come.)

Danny’s dream car, an old school Cadillac. Ya, the grandpa cars. He loves them. He bought himself “the most beautiful car”.. in his eye’s for less than $5000. At least he is not hard to please, right?

We took the “scenic” ride home through East Canyon and he let me drive his new beauty by myself.. meaning no kids and it was very peaceful and beautiful. The leaves are just changing colors and it looks pretty amazing.

Danny said that since I was a good girl (meaning: I didn't complain, much) I could do a teensy little bit of shopping at my favorite spot in Park City. I got a couple of super ooper cute shirts on clearance, of course. The only type of shopping I do.

And in return, I got a sitter for the evening, and Danny finally got to see his Transformers at the dollar theater. Gotta love cheap dates.

Love this family picture too. Out of all the pictures I took.. this was the best one. Pretty awesome! :)

The Utah State Fair

One of Danny's favorite events of the year is going to the Utah State Fair. He pulls out his cowboy best and enjoys an evening of fried food and chickens. Sadly, we didn't see any chickens this year but there was still plenty to do!

**Highlight of the night was the old fashioned pictures we took with the Davis's.. I'm still laughing about it. They are to die for!! Angalee, was in a cute little sexy outfit and me (so self conscious of my body) was dressed in an indian /pioneer outfit.. completely covered from head to toe. I had a cowboy hat on and was holding a fake gun. I looked absolutely ridiculous.

After we had "completed" our picture taking the next group of girls came in and asked if they could look really sexy like that girl that went before. I'm sure they were talking about me. ;)

Stickers

Who would have thought that stickers would have been such an amazing tool for good behavior?? I wish I would have thought of it a year ago! But they have worked like a CHARM for Whitney. She loves earning her stickers and putting them on her sticker chart. I created a simple "behavior chart" and Whitney gets stickers for good behavior. If she is nice to Hank she can earn a sticker. Taking a bath, brushing her hair, cleaning her room, etc. Obviously she is not perfect and does still have her moments but her behavior has been so much better! After working hard for 2 months she finally earned her princess dolls that she has been wanting. We decided that she couldn't get all of the dolls at once but 1 per week after church if she earns them. Hooray for stickers, they have made my home a much happier place!

Minor Injuries

At the beginning of the summer Whitney had a nasty little "oowee" on her toe. She won't keep shoes on for the life of her and had stubbed it a couple of times. We kept a band aid on it and tried to clean it as often as she would let us. HOWEVER, Whitney is extremely dramatic when it comes to injuries and even the tiniest scrape is the end of the world.

One night I was explaining to her that we needed to clean it.. it was black from the day's adventures.. and she whined and cried Whitney style, of course and then I thought of a little idea and we had the following conversation:

Mom: Whit, why don't we pray to Heavenly Father and Jesus and they will help your toe feel better?

Whit (while whimpering): Ok, call them and tell them to come over.

Mom: Well, They live in heaven. They can't come down, but if we pray to them they can send the Holy Ghost to help you feel better.

Whit (now full fledge crying): I don't want a ghost to come to my house.

By this point I was losing her. She was SO scared a "ghost" was coming that the screaming and tears just kept on coming.

Goes to show how great of a mom I am. My almost sunbeam doesn't even know what the Holy Ghost is. We have a lot of work to do!

Our week of 1st's:

1. Whitney's 1st day of dance.

She started at Excite and absolutely L.O.V.E.S it!

She does tumbling and ballet.

2. Whitney's 1st day of preschool.

She is in Ms. Doyle's class.

Ms. Doyle is a great friend of mine and just started a preschool this year.

I couldn't be more happy with where Whitney is at!!

3. Hank got his 1st tooth!

It's about time.. my kids are late bloomers when it comes to teeth.

Happy Friday.. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Hanks 1st birthday

Hanks big birthday bash.. Every 1 year old should have one.

Being 1 has brought out a new side in this little guy:

He screams and points at what he wants and doesn't stop screaming until we get it.

He hits Whitney when she tries to take things from him.

{ both traits he has learned from the best, his sis.}

He is walking.. pretty much running these days.

And I love it! Being 1 is soo fun.

Hank sat on Aaron's lap pretty much the whole night. You give this guy some cheeto's and watermelon and he will love you!

thee guests.. aunt Sherri, gma Lindsay and Vicki.

gma Donna and Megan

Whit and Driggs

Jason and Jess

The crew

Cotton candy??? Yum! Sign me up.. We did have some wild kiddos on our hands!

got lots of clothes..

LOVE THIS PIC!

Gma Vicki has some mad sewing skills.. She made Hank an amazing quilt. We love it.

Not interested in his toys.. just the bags and paper.

He went to town on his cake.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE MAN!!! MOMMA AND DADDY AND WHITNEY {sometimes} LOVES YOU MORE THAN YOU COULD POSSIBLY KNOW!!!

We did it.

We did the Top of Utah 1/2 marathon in Logan last Saturday { my very first one} and it was AWESOME!

We OBVIOUSLY weren't the fastest runners but we had fun, the pair of us.

This is such a dorky, awful picture of the both of us, but I had to post it. We are true geeks TO THE CORE.. I've got the spirit fingers thing going on and Danny is shootin his guns. Oh boy. :)

**Thanks to my mom, dad, and aunt Jess for watching the lil ones!

Our Adventure..

.. to the Great Salt Lake.

I have lived in Utah my whole life and have never been to the Great Salt Lake. Jessie, our adventure planner, planned this fun little adventure.

And it was just what I had expected.. desolate, hot, bug-infested.

The company and conversations were great: grandma Donna, mom, Jess, me and the kids.

We looked like the only "natives" there. There were a lot of tourists.. Europeans from the looks of it, floating in the salty lake.

I asked a man if it was worth it and he replied, "yes, I love it. It's amazing." Uh-huh.

I didn't actually get in the lake but Jessie, my mom and Whitney did and they did actually float.

I can check this off of my bucket list {although I'm pretty sure it was never on it} either way, I CAN say that I have now been to the GSL and don't need to go back for a good 20 years. ;)

Thanks for planning this activity Jess! We are always up for an adventure. :)