Isaac's 7th Birthday

For Isaac's 7th Birthday, he got to invite Uncle Joseph for a sleepover and a night at Trafalga in Lehi. They had pizza for dinner, played all of the games, did some mini golf, slick track, climbed the rock wall, played lazer tag, and the floating bumper boats. He wanted a Star Wars cake this year with light sabers on it. He had a great birthday.

Isaac at 7:

If Isaac could go outside and play with friends all day long, he would. He loves his friends and makes them easily.

He loves to ride his bike all over the place.

He loves all video games and is really good at them.

Isaac is learning to play the piano from his Aunt Sarah, and he is progressing very well.

He loves school and learning.

He is an excellent reader and likes to read his science books before bed. He loves learning new and interesting facts.

He is a very sensitive child and has a big heart, he doesn't like when others are sad or feeling bad.

All the ladies at school love Isaac, he has girls calling him for play dates all the time. (Hey, girls love a sensitive man) :)

He is an amazing big brother, he was the oldest in our family for a reason.

We love you Isaac!

Iceland

Dan and I got to visit Iceland the end of September. Dan's company is part of an organization called the International Printer's Network (IPN) and they meet twice a year to exchange ideas and knowledge. One stateside trip, and one international trip a year. I have been lucky enough to accompany Dan on a lot of the international trips. I was stoked when I heard this year's trip was going to be in Iceland. That is one place I thought I would never see in this lifetime. It was amazing! The landscape was so dramatically different than anything we have in the states. They have hot pots and volcanoes, and lava rock everywhere. It was a very memorable time.

I always like to get a candy or a food item that is native from the area we visit, and in this case, it was chocolate covered black licorice. I was in a little grocery store and they had a bulk candy section that happened to be on sale the day I was there. Little Icelandic children and teenagers were attacking the section like their lives depended on it. I asked a teenage girl for some recommendations on true Icelandic candy and she kept scooping up shovel-ful after shovel-ful and dumping it in my bag. I thought it would be weird, but I actually liked it a lot!

Coming Home....

A yummy yogurt called Skyr, which was packed with protein. We ate it a lot on this trip.

A geyser

Whale bones by a lake... how did they get there?

Our goal was to get a picture of this guy from Belarus. He had shifty eyes and popped up right next to you when you least expected it. He might have been a spy, we're not sure.

Waterfall


The Blue Lagoon! I was stoked to go here because the Bachelorette went here last season. It has amazing natural mud that you soak in that has healing qualities. It was awesome, except for the European naked dressing rooms. yikes.

A natural spring where we filled our water bottles... this guy just took a drink as is.

Dan looks silly in this pic because the wind was pushing us over. It was hard to stand upright.

We got a private dinner in this home- turned restaurant, by a world-renowned chef. The food was amazing!

This was where we stayed.

We had dinner the first night there in this restaurant on top of these water tanks. The restaurant revolved. The locals told us that they have slowed it down since it opened, because if you left to go to the bathroom, and you came back you could get quite lost because the whole place would revolve while you were gone. They said it's especially bad if you had too much to drink.

Toula

We added a new puppy to our family for Father's Day. Dan and the kids wanted a dog, and I was hesitant. I would be the one home with it all day, house training, feeding, brushing, bathing. So I finally caved and said Dan could get a dog, but I got to pick it out! :) So after a ton of research, we decided the Coton de Tulear would be perfect for us, and she has been great! Plus, she is adorable! Look at that puppy dog face... so here is our Toula!

Amelia's 4th Birthday.... 4 months later

Yes Amelia turned 4 in May, and yes it is now September. I haven't sat down at my computer in some time now. So now I must play catch up, because I do want to document our memories, I just don't want to take the time to do it. :) We did a Sweet Shop Party for Amelia this year, where the kids earned "candy cash" throughout the party and then got to go shopping for sweets at the end. It was really fun! We played gumball twister, pin the cherry on the cupcake, don't eat pete, opened presents and ate cake and icecream. I had to do a gumball machine cake for Amelia because I had one just like it when I was her age. She is turning out to be such a sweet, helpful girl. She loves to help me with whatever I am doing, like baking cookies or folding laundry. She lives in pretend land 24/7, she has one heck of an imagination. And she can't say her "r's" which is adorable at the moment. We love her so much and our lives wouldn't be the same without her!

Easter in Vegas and Mom's Birthday!

This year we spent Easter in Las Vegas because it happened to fall on my Mom's 50th Birthday and we wanted to PAR-TAY! So we spent Easter morning in a condo but the Easter Bunny still managed to find us. (It took some letters and emails but he still found us!) The kids found their baskets quickly and we spent the day lounging, listening to Conference, playing games and eating candy. My dad got tickets to The Lion King, so my mom and him went to see that. We went shopping, and swimming, went to see the Lions, and had a grand 'ol time.