Stake/State Fair

Here are some cute pictures of our stake fair and the State fair - all in one day! Poppy loved them.

Playing at the children's farm. Poppy loved collecting the plastic produce in her bucket!

Going down the huge slide with Mummy. Mummy wasn't a big fan.

Paul with his first ever snow cone.

Train ride!!

Can Summer Stick Around for a Bit Longer? Please??

Unfortunately, Summer is coming to a close. I never thought I would care that much, since I don't really like the really hot weather, but since we've had Poppy, I've had a change of heart...summer is awesome! I don't know what we'll do when we can't play outside, take trips to the lake or swimming pool, or enjoy the likes of the zoo, wheeler farm, or some long walks with Georgie. Even in the dead of winter, we always took walks with Poppy. I know our neighbors probably thought we were crazy, but walks are always a sure-fire way to calm down an upset little Poppy. And it was a valuable tool during the colicky months! The pics below are some of our favorites. We were at a barbecue on Labor Day at my parents' friends' house, the Watts. My dad has always played bass, banjo and guitar with John and his band, so we listened to some music after dinner, and Poppy and the cousins had a blast! It also helped that they had a colossal back yard to run around in, and horses, goats and chickens in the yard adjacent, because we all know how much toddlers like their farm animals! Poppy has been very spoiled this summer with the number of trips to the zoo, Gardner Village, the aquarium, and even the State Fair, to see all of her favorite animals! My personal favorite were the sea lions at the State Fair -- so cute. Would've been even better had we not had to stand in the blistering sun for 45 minutes.

Other updates (since we seem to update not-so-occasionally now): hmmmm, Poppy has been talking more lately. She says "bye bye" a lot, but curiously, she usually only says it to the bathwater as it's going down the drain. She also loves to put blankets or towels over her stuffed animals and say, "Night night!" Which is pretty darned adorable. And of course, she can certainly say "No!" with force. Paul and I love that she is almost always willing to give us a kiss whenever we ask for one - right on the lips with a big smack of her lips! She is so much fun (well, about 85% of the time). She has definitely reached the toddler age of throwing tantrums pretty much anytime she doesn't get what she doesn't want. We're working on it, but if you have suggestions, by all means! Also, we'll take suggestions on how to get Poppy to attend nursery at church successfully. I know that most kids don't like it at first, and crying is normal, but we're talking about crying the whole two hours. I kind of feel bad for the nursery leaders at this point. So, once again, if you have suggestions, suggest away!

Anyway, enjoy the pics, and maybe I will try and do some more frequent updates, so I don't have to think of everything we've been doing in the past month or so. Hope everyone's doing well, we love and miss all of you that we don't see very often!

We bought the cowboy boots mainly for Poppy's halloween outfit, can you guess what she'll be?? Love 'em.

Dancing and clapping along with Edison and Maia. And some other unknown child.

Brrrr - it got chilly towards the end of the evening.

Poppy enjoys hiding under blankets. She finds this hilarious.

Dancing with grandma

Having a great old time. Gaby, Aunt Alison, Uncle Darren, and Luke in the pic.

So much fun. Grandpa playing his banjo in the background. He regularly plays for the grandkids; they love it.

Bear Lake - fun, fun fun.

Yesterday we got back from a much anticipated and needed family vacation to Bear Lake. We left on Friday and came back yesterday (Sunday) and are currently enjoying a nice lazy day off work to recover. We really had such a fun time, even though we were only there two nights. In total there were eight adults and four kids, which sounds like a recipe for disaster, but apart from a couple of kid meltdowns, it all went swimmingly.
When we arrived on Friday we headed straight to the Bear Lake Pizza to indulge in the famous Ephraim Pizza (28 inches). It was super tasty and really quite huge. Not only did we enjoy the pizza but also ran into some of Anna's extended family; Jed and Betsy, and Mark and Nancy (and all of there kids) were also at Bear Lake Pizza, and were also enjoying the Ephraim. They did finish their one though - however they had significantly more help!. After dinner we headed up to the condo and a fun evening, eating, taking and playing games (who wants to play Toilet Bowl).
Saturday was our main day to have fun, so we got up early(ish) and headed down to the beach. We rented a jet ski and had a whole bunch of other toys to play with too. Poppy just loves the water, she would spend all day in it if she could. The water wasn't too cold and the beach was pretty empty, so really a perfect morning. After the beach it was off to La Beau's for some tasty lunch and back to the condo for naps.
While we were at the beach, Jon and Joanne (friends of Greg and Valorie) were heading up to Bear Lake with their boat. They have such a nice boat and were kind enough to drive up for the day and take us out on it. We had to go in two shifts, so we originally stayed back with Tracy and all of the kids while the first group went out. Then when they got back we headed out for turn. I have so confess I was originally not too fussed about going out on the boat, but let me tell you - it was such fun. There was bearly (see what I did there!) anyone else out of the water and it was so picturesque and tranquil, it was glorious! We had all sorts of fun on the boat (see below for pics) - thanks Jon!
Sunday was our day to go home - so we packed up, checked out, and headed out to a really nice quiet part of the lake for one last morning at the beach. The place we found was the nicest yet, the water was crystal clear and a little warmer. Again Poppy had a lot of fun and it was the perfect end to our trip. 10 Minutes after we got in the car to come home she was fast asleep - and I don't think she was the only one!

About to tuck into the 28inch pizza - mmm tasty.

I look somewhat demonic here - but I am about to eat a huge slice of pizza, so who can blame me.

This is all that was left - some of you may be surprised that there was any left at all (this pizza was huge).

Poppy fell asleep in Tracy and Eduardo's little boat - it was quite relaxing. You'll note that I am also relaxing, thus meaning Anna was rowing (rowing is way harder than it looks and I just couldn't figure it out)

We also rented a Jet Ski and had lots of fun - I am not the biggest fan of the jet ski, but Anna had a blast.

Poppy snuggling with Mummy whilst she dries off.

After a morning at the beach we headed to La Beau's for hamburgers and shakes - delicious. Poppy is taking a sneaky peak to see if there is any shake left.

Hanging out of the boat - it was lovely.

We were quite brave - not only did we jump in (the water was - erm - bracing) we also had a turn on the ''Donut of death", also known as a tube. It was, perhaps, the most fun thing I have done in a very long time.

It seriously was so much fun - I was really nervous beforehand but had an absolute blast AND we didn't fall off (although my wrists now hurt from holding on so tightly).

After the tubing it was time for some wake-boarding - Eduardo went first and, as you can see, was a natural.

Then came Anna's turn, not such a natural. I would post some pics of her go, but they are just splashes of water. I didn't have a turn but it did look pretty tricky.

Darren also had a turn, and after a few attempts, seemed like a natural too.

Hanging out on the lovely boat.

Eduardo also had a turn driving, you'll see Jon in the back water-sking.

My cute wife.

Just before we left we decided to try and take a nice family picture, Poppy wasn't having any of that...

...and neither was Edison!

She did calm down in the end though - thank heavens!