Timp Cave

Cody and Grandma Tammy: hiking buddies

Inside Timp Cave

Kodachrome rock

On our way up to the cave

We had so much fun hiking with Tammy and our family. Tammy used to hike up to the cave every day for exercise so she was the best tour guide. Cody was a little worried about going into the cave but once he saw how cool it was he had the time of his life. Now he talks about all of his favorite formations: popcorn, bacon, and carmel topping.

Hike Around Silver Lake

Last Monday we hiked around Silver Lake up Big Cottonwood Canyon.

Cody loved the birds and squirrels.

Cody was so excited to hike. He was running around with his "ones up."

hiking Mt. Olympus

Yesterday we went hiking as a family up Mt. Olympus. The hike was steep and the kids did awesome. We didn't see any other kids on the hike and many hikers were impressed that we brought them with us. We just can't help being so fun.

Towards the end Kylee conked out. This is her last yawn before a nap.

The flowers were beautiful this time of year.

a week long birthday...

I had a great birthday week this year. Even though my birthday is Saturday the festivities started on Thursday. Steve's mom was in town and took the kids for a fun sleepover so Steve and I went on a date. We went to Texas Roadhouse and then shopping at the mall with my birthday money. Everything was perfect about it: no wait at the restaurant, found cute things at the mall in my size that I could afford (wow!), and used all of my money just in time for the mall to close. Does that even happen? Then, the next morning we went to pick up the kids and hung out with Steve's fam while we helped pack up their Utah house. The next day was my birthday and we hung out with my fam all day and then had Sunday dinner the next day after that. I think four days of celebrating is the minimum amount of celebrating.

Steve's new computer came Thursday (nice glasses!)

We went through all of Steve's stuff at his parents house and found this lasso which entertained us for a while.

My turn with the glasses.

The traditional sleepover shirts and fun Aunt Lacey

Cody got to take home some of Steve's old toys we found.

Steve's cowboy hat.

Kylee the cowgirl

Soccer glasses modeled by Kylee.

Aunt Raquel and Kylee and Cody

Birthday cake compliments of Lacey! The best cake ever: Reeses pb cups, pb m&m's, and ice cream. Mmmmmm. Thank you, Lace!

After our yummy birthday cake.

Playing croquet with Grandpa Duncan

After a yummy Sunday dinner with my family.

curl up with a good book...

...and a cute little boy.

Cody is in love with books! His number one favorite thing to do is have someone read to him for as long as possible.

One day we were reading books and after an hour or two my eyes started slamming shut. Finally I asked Cody if I could close my eyes for a minute and then I could read some more. When I woke up 15 or 20 minutes later Cody was still sitting next to me with his head against my arm and a book on his lap. As soon as he noticed that I was awake he scooted the book over to my lap and said, "read."

If my kids only knew how much I loved it when they cuddle with me.

Cody's new version of Wheels on the Bus

I was trying to pack the kids some food on our way out the door and Kylee wasn't being very patient. She was crying and Cody and I were trying to make her happy so we started singing The Wheels on the Bus song...

The wheels on the bus go

round and round

round and round

round and round

the wheels on the bus go

round and round

all through the town

(Kylee is still crying)

The horn on the bus goes

beep beep beep

beep beep beep

beep beep beep

the horn on the bus goes

beep beep beep

all through the town

(Kylee is still crying) We sing a few more verses and then we got to the baby verse.

The babies on the bus go

waa waa waa

waa waa...

Then Cody stops. "Mom, we don't need to sing 'waa, waa, waa' because Kylee is already doing that part." So we started over. And Kylee is still crying, of course.

The babies on the bus go

(Kylee crying)

(Kylee crying)

(Kylee crying)

the babies on the bus go

(Kylee crying)

all through the town

Our Funny Little Cody

I am getting behind again on the funny little things Cody does and says. Here are a few more I wanted to share…

1. A few days ago Cody was riding in an elevator with my mom. He knew he was going to get that butterfly feeling in his stomach so he wrapped his arms around her leg and braced himself. After the elevator stopped moving he said, “That makes my bum cheeks squeeze together.” (He doesn’t ever say bum; it’s always bum cheeks.)

2. Whenever I am trying to settle Kylee down or distract her I can always count on Cody to do one of his “Cody Shows.” I’ll say, “Quick, Cody! Kylee needs a Cody Show.” A Cody Show can be any number of things. Sometimes he will climb on his bed (which is the stage) and jump and do tricks (like a somersault) or make loud noises and sing songs. My absolute favorite Cody Show was when he put his toy airplane that he can ride on and his little rocking chair on the stage. Then he sat in his rocking chair and asked us if we had any questions about the airplane toy. So I asked questions about how it worked and what the different parts were and Cody sat in his chair and answered them matter-of-factly, making it all up as he went along. He would periodically stand up and point to different parts and show how they worked. That was a very educational Cody Show. You never know what the Cody Show will be but they always require tickets that Kylee and I have to give to Cody before the show starts (any piece of paper) and they always help Kylee feel better (and me too).

3. Cody is learning to read and understand new words everyday. A few words are still a little tricky for him to say though. He says “tee-corse” for turquoise. Empty is pronounced “dempty.” And Potato Pearls are “Potato Curls.”

4. When Cody says his night prayers he usually prays for one thing. If he is hungry because he didn’t finish his dinner and has to wait until breakfast to eat he will pray for a really nice breakfast in the morning. If we are getting ready for bed quickly so that we can watch a little bit of a movie before bed then he prays that he can watch a movie. The other night he was having a hard time getting to sleep and so Steve went in and told Cody he could say a prayer and ask Heavenly Father to help him get to sleep. He said, “Please help me to go to sleep because I can’t and I want to.” That was all it took because he was asleep in no time. I guess he is really learning to pray for what is on his mind and for what he feels is most important, which is a good lesson to learn.

We love our Cody so much and the way he makes us laugh everyday.

it's fun to be ONE

Let's start with the night before the big first birthday bash (Sunday night). Steve has a great yellow cake recipe that he loves to make any chance he gets. The only problem is that he forgot to add sugar. Let's just say it looked like German Pankcakes only about 10 pounds heavier. If he was going to make a mistake at least it was an edible one: it makes a great breakfast dish if you add syrup and powdered sugar (gotta make up for those 2 cups of sugar that didn't make it on the INSIDE of the cake). It's always tradition that something go wrong with the birthday cakes in our family.

And here is the finished product (with the cake that turned out right). This cute little Elmo might look familiar to Nana who mailed Kylee a cute Elmo card and book. Thanks Nana for the inspiration!

On Kylee's birthday we took a little walk to Target so that Cody could pick out his very own present for Kylee. He thought it was so cool to have a surprise for her. He made sure she didn't see it at the store until we checked out and then once it was in the bag he would show her the bag and tell her that there was a surprise in there for her.

This is after we came home from Target. I started using a sun hat for Kylee's little head and so Cody has been wanting to wear his hat too.

I had to include two pictures of this pose. This one is better of Cody and the other is better of Kylee. Isn't that how it always works?

This is Cody with his newly wrapped present for Kylee. He was trying so hard to be patient.

In this picture we are just about to sing to her at the Snowbird condo my parents have for the week. Kylee is waving at the camera. Anytime someone would say "Happy Birthday!" she would say "birt-day." She has learned a ton of words in the last few weeks.

She was looking at all of us like we are crazy while we sang for her.

Kylee didn't touch one bite of her cake. She just chucked it off the edge. One thing about our kids is they don't mess around when it comes to letting you know how they feel. Chucked might be too calm of a word. SLAMMED would be more appropriate. Look at that scowl.

Kylee did like the pizza though. This is her AFTER the cake incident. She had already had pizza before the cake and then went back for more. Maybe I should have stuck a candle in a pizza decorated like Elmo with tomatoes or something.

And here is the glorious present that Cody picked for Kylee. It had to be the first one that she opened (of course). His smile pretty much says it all.

Cody got some ice cream on his elbow and he was trying to lick it off. It was hilarious.

See that little tongue? It's just not quite long enough.

Kylee had fun opening her presents.

Her favorite was probably a little doll. She says "baby" really well. The video below shows her saying it.

We love our little Miss Kylee so much!

a typical day with 2 MoNkeYs!

Almost every time Kylee wakes up from a nap Cody climbs in her crib and they play. I laid Kylee down right after we got home from playing with some friends so that's why she still has her jacket on. You can see her try to take it off in the video. Welcome to a typical day with our two mOnKeyS.

Snowbird with the fam

This is at the condo my parents were staying at up at Snowbird. Good times. And everyone is looking at the camera including both of my kids! Now that is a special moment.