Happy Birthday Daddy, Izzypop and 'Merica

The week of the 4th of July is always a big one around here.  Brian's birthday on the 2nd, Independence day on the 4th and Izzypop's birthday on the 5th.  It gets a little out of control.  But we have a lot of fun in the process.  We started the day off bright and early at the Murray parade.  Yes, everyone in this picture is with our party.  We took up half the parade route.

 

Skeeto actually got pretty into it this year.

 

He about had a heart attack when a guy driving a Bentley in the parade handed him a Hot Wheels instead of a Tootsie Roll.  I suppose that if you can afford to drive a Bentley, you can afford to throw Hot Wheels in the parade.

 

The Ute fan section....you know those are ladies glasses, right?

 

 

Izzypop made out like a bandit.  There was a ton of candy this year.

 

That may have been because it was an inside job.  Aunt Fig was in the parade with Bank of American Fork and made sure she took care of us.  Thanks Aunt Fig.

 

The best parade entry was definitely the dinosaurs.  They were a hit with the kids...but Skeeto definitely wanted to keep his distance....just in case.

 

Sure love these two cutie pies.

 

After the parade we went right around the corner to Grandma and Grandpa Bennion's for a special BBQ birthday party for Izzypop and Daddy.  There was of course a yummy (and festive) cake, not to mention some burgers and hot dogs from the grill. 

 

And presents.

  

 

And a few hugs and scuddles.  I think the pillow was the hit present of the day.  Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for the great time!!!

 

The last stop was Aunt Joan's house for some more family fun

 

The kids couldn't have cared less about the food or socializing.  They were only interested in two things:  the water and the trampoline.

 

Izzypop is a fish.

 

And even Skeeto liked the pool this year.

 

He also liked the slide.  But he spent most of his time on the trampoline making Grandma help him jump.

 

We are so blessed to live in this great country and even more blessed to live close to our great family.  We love you all.  Happy birthday America!!!

Skeeto's First Stitches

Well, I have to say today was not the best day.  I got a call at work around 11 from Skeeto's preshcool.  They said he had bumped his eyebrow on the fence and may need stitches.  So I rushed over to pick him up and took him to his pediatrician.  When the bandaid came off, it didn't look too bad (much like this pic)....then the doc spread it apart and I got a little woosey.  It was pretty deep.  He sent me up to Primary Children's where they could sedate my little guy and soucher him up.

 

So we headed up to PCH.

 

While waiting in the ER, I got another phone call from Izzypop's teacher.  "Izzy tripped and fell into the door.  She has a goosegg on her eyebrow..." What is it with eyebrows today!?! "...and hit her nose.  She says she has a headache now."  Sigh.

 

Thankfully I was able to get a hold of Brian by this time and send him to pick Iz up on his way to the hospital.  Daddy got there just before they stitched him up.  I was doing my best to hold it together, but was grateful I could step out into the hall with Izzypop and let the nurse do his job.  Izzypop only needed a little icepack and some hugs.  By the time it was all over, she was more worried about Skeeto than herself.  "I don't like the idea of Skeeto having stitches.  What if they get digestion?" (infection)  She is a great big sister.

 

Skeeto ended up with 3 internal and 5 external stiches.  The drugs, hospital iPad, toy trucks and Nemo on the TV did their job.  By the time we went home he was pretty loopy, but at least happy.  I got him home and sang some songs to him before he went to sleep.  As he sang with me, even though it had been a horrible day, I had the hardest time keeping a straight face.  Think drunken sailor singing Twinkle Twinkle.

A Walk Down Memory Lane...Er...Grove

I am appalled to say that we took our first walk down Memory Grove as a family since Skeeto could do it without the aid of a stroller.  Could that be???  We are way too busy.  Anyway, we had a nice relaxing stroll and enjoyed the weather and each other's company.

 

We even made a flower crown.  The kids loved it -- except for a skinned knee or two.  We're planning on going back tomorrow. :)

Soccer Season is Over

Izzypop's first soccer season is officially over.  She had a great time and even got a trophy that says "Valuable Player".  Pretty sweet.

 

She had lots of support from the fans.  (Grandma Sherrie came to a game or two as well, but I can't find the pictures anywhere.)

 

It really helped her focus on the game ;).

 

 

She also had a pretty official looking coach.

 

Best of all, she got to hang out with her friends from the neighborhood.  Pink shinguards and all.

 

Go Sharks!

The Next American Idol

Izzypop had her talent show yesterday.  She and two of her friends from class sang "Do, A Deer".  It was too cute.  I made some T-shirts for them to wear and I must say, they were adorable in them.

 

Sing it ladies!

Just For Fun

I made Izzypop pose for me during a beautiful spring afternoon the other day.  I love that flowering pear...and that little girl.

Skeeto Is A Three Year Old

Today is Skeeto's third birthday!  I can't believe my baby is three.  Where does the time go?  We celebrated a little early with Grandma Sandi and Poppa Bob.  We had a great time.

Cake always tastes better with Spongebob party hats.

And the favorite gift was from all the Boston Bennions.  Great job guys!  Thank you!

 

Tonight we celebrated with Grandma Sherrie and enjoyed the fine cuisine of Mr. Charles E. Cheese.  Skeeto had a great time playing all the games.

 

Izzypop may have had some fun too.

Skeeto won a ton of tickets.  He is the lucky birthday boy.

We had a bit of respite when the rugrats were imprisoned in the play structure.

I can't tell you how much I love this funny little guy.  I am so thankful he is part of our family and that I get to me his mommy.  Happy Birthday buddy, we love you so much!

Home Again, Home Again

The last few weeks have been crazy.  It has taken me a couple weeks just to get to the point that I could blog about it.

First of all, we surprised the kids and took them to Disneyland. We had so much fun! There is no possible way I could put all the amazing pictures on this blog, so here are a few.

We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel.  It was amazing.  It was great being so close to the park especially when the little ones were done for the day.  The pool with water slides was great too.

 Izzypop met lots of new people.  Skeeto was a little too shy most of the time.

 

 

Main Street, USA

In the tiki tiki tiki tiki Tiki Room!

Izzypop was pretty cool going on the big kid rides.

There were lots of hugs and piggy back rides.

 Some of the very few shots of all of us.

 

Facepaint!!!

 

 Cars Land was AWESOME!  Skeeto approved big time!

 

There may have also been some Jedi lightsaber fights.

Certainly not in the hotel room, though.



All in all, it was the best family vacation ever.  We all had a ton of fun.  The weather was awesome, the kids were great and everything went as planned.  The only thing that could have made it better would have been if the Boston Bennions were able to make it...but we'll take a new nephew instead!

After being home for a day, I got back on a plane and made my first voyage overseas to Ireland for a business trip.  My boss and I had a seven hour layover in Paris, so we ventured out into the city.  We saw as much as we could possibly see in 2 1/2 hours.  It was great.

 

My favorite moment in Paris was a simple one, but it really made me feel like I was in Paris if that makes any sense.

After another hour and a half flight, we were in Dublin.  I hadn't slept for 26 hours so I crashed hard core.  We did a lot of working, but I was able to get a few shots of some cool architecture.

Christ's Church

 

Some cool building by the river.

Irish stew and chips at The Old Stand Pub.

Lunch at the Potin Stil.  That's my co-worker Stephen at the door.

Myself, my boss, Richard, and a co-worker Nancy at the Drimnaugh Castle.  You can't see it, but we're standing in front of the surrounding moat.

Some random church I took a picture of out the window of the cab.

This is Noel, our cab driver.  We had him drive us around all week.  He was so nice and took us to some places we would have never seen (for free, mind you).  He told us great stories and gave us great recommendations on where to eat and what to watch on TV.  :)  We'll miss our new friend.  Also, that is my hotel behind him.

 
It was great fun, but I am really thankful to be home.  Someday I will go back with my hubby and we will see all of the above and more and will hopefully have much more time to do it.  We will still call Noel and have him drive us around, though. :)