Pioneer Weekend: Fiesta Day's Parade and Family Parties

Considering Cohen is 2, loves fire trucks and Papa Shoe was in the parade, we knew we had to attend the Fiesta Day's Parade. We didn't set out chairs the night before so we had to get up at 7:00 a.m. to set up a small spot at a church. In years past, I have usually gone to the city park for the parade, but I knew Cohen would be terrible there so I decided to try a church with a grassy area for him to play on. Right before we take Cohen to a big event like this, we always reconsider if we want to deal with chasing this wild child of ours. In this case, like many, I knew we had to do it because he would love it while we would have to endure it. To our surprise, Cohen actually was great; the weather being overcast and the parade being in the morning may have contributed to his mellowness though. Co sat very well with Brock and didn't try to run off until the last 30 minutes or so. Unfortunately, it did take me almost a block to catch him. I did learn that the end of the parade gets very long and boring so next time we may leave a few minutes early. Tal slept through almost all of it and when he was awake, he was very pleasant and enjoyed being outside. After the parade, we had two family parties, the Holley side and the Nelson side. I love hanging out with both sides of our family while Cohen gets to play non-stop with his cousins! We truly are so lucky to live close to our families and to be able to celebrate holidays together.

Pioneer Weekend: Sunday Night Baseball

Sunday Night Baseball at Grandma and Grandpa Nelson's house has turned into our family's favorite activity. Soon after the weather warmed up, Cohen talked everyone into coming outside to watch his cousins and him play baseball. In years past, we spent Sundays visiting and watching Sunday Night Baseball (SNB) on ESPN at Tyler's parents. Now, Cohen has started his own SNB and I can't tell you how much fun it is to watch. It usually consists of Cohen and Nolan taking turns (the best that can be expected at their age) hitting off the tee, Lilly crawling on the cement, Talon kicking in the shade, a 7th inning stretch for popsicles and water bottles, and usually some delicious dessert to enjoy after the game. I told Tyler the other night how much I enjoy doing this on Sunday nights. It feels so nice to be outside once it has cooled down after a hot day and I love watching Cohen running around with a red face smiling from ear to ear! There isn't a better way to spend time with our family than at SNB!

Pioneer Weekend: Park and Rodeo Time!

Some of my favorite activities over the 24th of July are eating delicious food at the park and going to the rodeo. This year was no exception! On Friday night, we took our kids and ate our favorite food at the park: Tri Tip from Big Papa's. It was absolutely scrumptious!!! I could eat that much more than once a year. After some delicious food, Cohen insisted (by running) on playing at the park playground. How can you say no to that request when he is waiting for you to catch up by the swings? Cohen was curious about the carnival when we walked by, but he is too little to understand that there are fun rides that he would enjoy given the chance (lucky for us, I know!).

On Saturday night, Tyler's parents took us to the rodeo. I know Tyler was a little nervous taking Cohen to this (from past experiences), but it turned out fine. It meant that someone was always on the go chasing Cohen, but other than that, we had a great time. Talon was an angel as usual. He fell asleep for part of it and then watched the second half. Even though his bed time was before the rodeo started, Talon managed to be a night owl and was the last one to sleep that night! We didn't stay for the end of the rodeo, but we made it until 10:00 which is pretty late for these little boys. I wonder how next year will be with a one year old and a three year old...

Happy 80th Birthday Grandpa!

My Grandpa Barney celebrated his 80th birthday on July 12, 2011. It was such a milestone for him to make it to this point and we were so excited to share his special day with him. On Friday after his birthday, we had a family BBQ with everyone that could make it. Many of my relatives live out of state and we don't get together as a family very often. I had such a great time visiting with everyone and watching Cohen interact with his cousins; he especially loved my cousin Rachel and asked his dad if she could sleep over. We promised him that when Rachel comes back to Utah that he could play with her again!

On Saturday, my grandpa had an open house for his birthday. I couldn't believe how many people came and supported him. It was such a neat experience to see all the different lives that he touched during his lifetime. He truly was so happy and had a wonderful time visiting with each and every person that came through.

This picture is of my cousin Michael. I think of him as his second mom! When I was young, I would go visit my Aunt Stacy and play with all her kids. I developed such a strong bond with Michael. It was crazy for me to see him holding one of my babies. I always have thought of him as little and to my astonishment, he isn't so little any more!

My sister Lindsay took this picture of our boys in June! I thought it was so cute of the two youngest great grand babies.

Cohen and Great Grandpa Barney on Father's Day June 2009

Talon and Great Grandpa Barney on Talon's Blessing Day June 2011

Happy 80th Birthday, Grandpa! I hope we have many more birthdays to celebrate in the future! We love you!!!

4th of July Weekend

We celebrated America's independence a couple weekends ago and I can't remember a more enjoyable weekend with our family. Tyler took Friday off and we spent the day in Park City shopping and eating some yummy lunch at Baja Cantina. Originally, we had hoped for a quick trip to Vegas with our kids, but we settled for Park City instead. On Saturday, my parents watched the boys for us and we went to see Brad Paisley at the Stadium in Fire with the Nelsons. It was one of the best concerts I have ever been to and I loved every minute of hearing Brad sing!

After fireworks, we hiked uphill to our cleverly parked car by 9th East, only to find a line of a million other cars with the same idea. The line we were in was the only lane that was a true right hand turning lane, but several other cars felt it was legal to make 3 more right hand turning lanes...hmm I don't know where the traffic control was here! After about 30 minutes, we were able to escape and make it home to our sleeping boys. Midnight was way past our bedtimes. I can't remember the last time Tyler and I did that! We are turning into an old married couple now! On Sunday night, Cohen discovered his love for buckets and what better place to put them then on his head! He loved spending the night marching around with a bucket on.

On the 4th of July, we took the boys to Grandma Pat's house for an afternoon of swimming activities. It started out with playing in the pool and the slip-n-slide, but by the end, Cohen had talked Grandpa Shoe into turning on the hose with a sprinkler attachment and adding the basketball hoop to the mix of things. It actually was so fun and relaxing, watching Cohen and Nolan play while Talon slept the afternoon away. I told Tyler it was a much more enjoyable experience than the SF Swimming Pool the previous week. Of course, it doesn't matter how many fun things there are to do, Cohen always wants something different. I can't tell you the number of times he ran in the house or wanted to go to the front yard; he isn't too content at relaxing like the rest of us. During the nice afternoon, Brock introduced water balloons to the boys. They had a great time throwing them at each other even though the balloons didn't break until they hit the grass usually. Once we were cleaning up, Brock thought it would be funny to hit me with a water balloon. Little did he know that I don't surrender and I retaliated against him. I chased him around the house, tackled him, and with the help of Nicole, drenched him in water. Hopefully he learned his lesson! What a great weekend we had!

Swimming Time

No summer is complete in a child's life without several days of swimming. We do anything from the backyard slip-n-slide to the splash pad and now to the swimming pool. Cohen hasn't been to a "real" swimming pool in over a year and when the opportunity came, I knew we had to take him. If only I could have known how bad he was going to be... My first indicator of a bad experience should have been when he ran from Grandma Pat 10 feet from the car and then he continued running past the pavilion to the swimming pool. Fortunately, there were many people willing to help spot the only kid running away from his parent. After I managed to get him to eat about 2 1/2 bites of his dinner, he downed his ice cream treat (of course), and was ready to go swimming. As I was getting Talon out of the stroller by the pool, Cohen broke away yet again and made a run for the pool. We were able to catch him with the help of Tyler's sister. I thought once I got him in the pool, with a life-jacket, everything would be fine. I wasn't expecting my two year old to tell me he wanted to do it. Meaning, he didn't need help and thought he could skip the baby pool and head for the deeper areas. The next 45 minutes consisted of Cohen doing cannon balls off the side into the 1 foot section, running around and slipping on the cement, wanting to swim in the deep, getting out of the pool and succeeding in jumping in the deep. Luckily, many hands helped grab him before he could go under. Needless to say, I don't think I want to go back soon even though the swimming pool was so enjoyable to him!