Swimming Lessons

Maddie's been doing swimming lessons every morning and is loving it! I put her in level three but was unsure if they would bump her back down, but on day one they told them to jump in and swim across the pool and Maddie was to afraid to tell them she couldn't and just jumped in and started swimming. Luckily she made it-I didn't know she could swim that far with out a break but she did.

Swimming with the Girl Scouts

I took Maddie and the Girl Scouts swimming today. They all had a blast and I felt like a little kid again having races with the girls down the water slide over and over again and playing games.

a surprised like as they flipped their tube coming out of the water slide-

I love the look of pure adrenaline mixed with pure happiness on Maddie's face-

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Hotel Swimming

After the zoo we went to Chuck-a-Rama for dinner. The kids loved picking whatever random foods they wanted.
Then we finally got to swim in the hotel pool. The kids had a blast!!! Maddie was swimming from one side to the other all on her own! Everyone was pretty worn out when we finally were ready for bed around 10PM

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a fun filled Thanksgiving weekend this year. I have to say this is the first year we've really got to enjoy Thanksgiving since the first 8 year of our marriage Andy worked retail and always had to go in at 3 or 4AM to work Black Friday and even work some Thanksgiving days, making it very difficult to travel and be with family.

We left Thanksgiving morning and got to Berry and Debbie's home just in time for Thanksgiving dinner. It was very good and the kids enjoyed playing with Andy's cousins and Maddie especially loved holding the puppy.



That night we stayed in a hotel courtesy of Jann and Boyd. They messed up our room so we got upgraded to a much bigger room. The kids were overly excited about the hotel and our vaulted ceilings and echoing room. It wasn't till bedtime that Sophie decided she didn't like the room anymore and ended up sleeping with me all night (good things the beds were king sized)


Maddie refused to share a bed with Garen since he kicks so we made her a bed out of the ottomans and chair-

Friday morning Andy and I got to leave the kids with his parents and first do some black Friday shopping and then head to Salt Lake. We spent some time at the Gateway and had a very fun and yummy dinner at Tucanos Brazilian Grill where the servers keep coming to your table with 18 different skewers of meat, veggies, and grilled pineapple.

at the gateway-

After dinner we headed to the Jazz vs. Lakers game (I gave Andy the tickets for his Birthday). The game was so exciting and it helped that the Jazz won in the end!!! I forgot how much more fun and exciting it is to be at a live game opposed to watching one on TV.

the final score-

I guess the Jazz game wasn't enough excitement for one night cuz we caught to 11pm showing of Harry Potter. The movie was excellent just like all the others. We froze just a little bit on our 3 block walk back to our hotel at 1:30AM.

Saturday morning Andy and I headed to temple square. First we went to the Joseph Smith Memorial building and watched the Joseph Smith movie in the Legacy theatre. Next we headed to the Beehive House which I thoroughly enjoyed! Brigham Young is my direct great great great Grandfather and we have his desk in my parents home. The last time I took a tour of the Beehive house was when I was in Young Women's so it was really fun for me to go back and actually listen this time. :)

the music room in the Beehive House

On our way back to Logan we stopped at Famous Dave's for dinner (another birthday request of Andy's)

When we got back to Boyd and Jann's house the kids told us about the great time they had there. That night we took them swimming at the hotel pool. Maddie got to the point where she was swimming across the entire pool on her own.

Sunday morning we joined Jann and Boyd at church had some lunch and headed home on some yucky roads. But we made it home safely with memories of a wonderful weekend.

swimming at the hotel pool

I think Maddie's swimming suite was a little big-

Another (windy)Summer day

This morning I took the Girl Scouts on a one mile hike followed by a game of kickball. Garen and Sophie got to play at Milan's house.

Aren't they a cute group of girls-

Right after that Maddie headed to 4-H camp, where she's been having fun all week. I pulled her and friend Abby out of camp a bit early so we could all go swimming.

I got lots of glares from parents as I held Garen in the water while he screamed for 10 minutes, but no worries, once he realized it wasn't scary he had a wonderful time! I was tired of this water phobia he has acquired this Summer and I finally forced him in so he could realize that it's fun. I did have to threaten him that I would put his face in the water if he didn't stop crying and if he kept running away-I know, such a sweet mommy I am-but it worked!