Halloween 2009

It is Halloween time. My kids always get so excited about Halloween and all the dreams of getting a ton of candy to eat and going out in their costumes. One of the activities that we did last Halloween season which the kids loved was going to a pumpkin patch and picking out a pumpkin. So we bundled everyone up and headed off to the pumpkin farm. Part of the activity is getting on a tractor trailer and riding over to the pumpkin patch and picking the perfect pumpkin for each family member.

Here are a few pictures of them at Days Farm.

Just a little side note. When we came home and started carving out pumpkins, I was shocked by how Luke reacted to the smell of the pumpkin. When he carved into his pumpkin and took off the top of the pumpkin he couldn't handle the aroma of the inside of the pumpkin. You would of thought by how he was reacting, that he was carving into a dead body. He was covering his mouth, gagging and just couldn't handle it. We decided that next year he wasn't going to get a pumpkin or he just needed to paint the outside of the pumpkin instead of carving one out. My kids never cease to amaze me.

The big decision that every kid has to make in October is what are they going to dress up like for Halloween. We decided that since Luke lost both of his front teeth a month or so before Halloween and all you could see was his fangs anyways, then a vampire was the perfect costume for him. Dylan really didn't have much of a choice in his costume. I got his costume last year after Halloween. He was going to dress up like Prince Caspin. But, he was happy that he not only got to wear a costume, but also have a sword and a shield. As for Mason, I had a sheep costume that I had both Luke and Dylan wear when they were 2 years old. But Mason wasn't going to put that costume on for anything. He freaked out about wearing something on his head and body that was white and fury. The only thing he would let us do was color his hair. So, we decided that he would be a punk rocker. His costume turned out really cute and he loved wearing it.

Here are some pictures of the boys in their costumes:

Luke was all about wearing the make up and putting a lot of red blood around his mouth. He really got into the role of Dracula.

Dylan loved wearing his costume and showing everyone how heroic he is.

He is a natural rocker. He has the attitude and the look.

Overall, they had a great Halloween filled with a lot of candy and good memories.

Here comes Batman!!!

Mason really likes Batman. He always wants to wear his Batman pajamas. One night I found a Batman mask and he just went wild. He started to do some Batman moves and was running around the house trying to save us from the villians. It is nice to have a superhero in our home.

Mason's buddy Emma

Mason loves playing with Emma Brinkerhoff. He talks about her all the time and how he wants to go play with her. Whenever we drive by their house, he always yells her name and says he wants to go see Emma. She is such a cute girl and they play really well together. I feel really blessed to have such great neighbors who not only help us out a ton but are fun to play with as well.

Spending Time with Aunt Lindsay and Uncle Pat

One of the things the boys love is when Uncle Pat and Aunt Lindsay come and visit. They are a ton of fun and the boys always have a blast. They play with their nephews and always make them smile.

Pat had the pleasure this summer (after a lot of coaxing on my part about how he needs to learn this skill sometime) of bathing Mason and getting them ready for bed for the first time. I have to admit I had a ulterior motive when I asked him. I really did want Pat to learn how to bath a child but I wanted a good laugh too. I knew Pat would be a good sport about it but would make humorous comments along the way. He didn't let me down. It was pure enjoyment watching him put Mason through the night regime of getting ready for bed. He did a great job and I can't wait for him to do it again when he comes back to visit. What is the saying, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and he feeds himself for a lifetime". Just kidding Pat. We love you and appreciate your help!!

Take a look at the pictures Lindsay took of Mason getting ready for bed. Priceless.....

Are you ready for some Football!!!

I was visiting teaching Amy Sorenson and I brought up the subject that I really want my children to be active in some type of sports so they can have a good time plus be healthy. She suggested that I look into football with Syracuse city. The football league starts kids playing football at age 7. Luke actually brought up wanting to play football several times with me, but I think it was because he really wanted to wear all the gear not because he wanted to actual play the game. Luke is all about the uniform.

When I found out that they actually did have a program that he could play, I asked Luke if he was really interested in playing football. He answered with a resounding "YES". I told him that it would be very hard and that football isn't like all the other sports he had played previously. They were really going to make him work. I tried to scare him a little so he knew that it wasn't going to be easy. But, that didn't deter him and said he was very excited to play.

Honestly, I didn't even know how much of a commitment football was going to be. They had drafts and expected a 100% commitment from the boys once they were on a team. We are the Syracuse Storms. Football has been our life for the past couple of months. They practice Tuesday thru Friday for about 2 hours, and then they play a game on Saturday. We have gone to almost every single practice because we wanted to support Luke and know how he is doing in practice. Jordan has been really committed to football and has even offered to take stats for the games.

Overall, the season has had a lot of ups and downs. We haven't scored a touchdown the entire season. We still have one last game, so I am crossing my fingers.

The first game we played was a rough one. We played against Bear River. They must have been on steroids because they were HUGE. Luke was playing Center and was against the "X" man. He weighed about 105 pounds compared to Luke's 60 pounds. He rammed Luke over every single play. After the first hit, Luke was terrified and was crying saying that he didn't want to play football anymore. I felt really bad because he was getting pummeled the whole game. But he finished the game and was a good sport. After the game, I asked him what he liked about the game he said "Half Time". I just laughed. This poor boys first experience with football is getting tackled by a boy who probably looks like Goliath to Luke.

After that experience, Luke had a lot of head trash. It effected his practices and the coach finally had to switch his position because he was too scared. Since then, he has had some good moments and not so good moments. But, overall I think he will have good memories when he thinks about football. One thing that I have been amazed by is Luke has been doing football for a month and a half and he never once whined or complained about going to practice or going to a game. That is amazing because I have whined and complained several times about how I wish football was over because it has been such a huge time commitment for our entire family.

I don't know if he will want to do football next year. He is really a tender hearted boy and hitting and tackling people is really against his nature. Jordan and I have really tried hard to get him to believe that it is O.K. to hit people hard when you play football. It is the only time he is allowed to tackle someone and he won't get into trouble. But, he still has a problem with it. He wants to be everyone friend, not the guy who tackled and hit them. But, I am really proud of him for completing something that has been hard for him.

Here is a couple of pictures that Lindsay took of Luke playing football. They are amazing!!!

Hanging out in Logan Canyon

For Labor Day this year we wanted to go outside and enjoy nature. We decided to head up to Logan Canyon and go on a hike. Even though I went to USU, I don't think I realized how beautiful it is up there. I really didn't appreciate the beauty of this area when I was a college student. Logan has a walking trail at the beginning of the canyon that we walked on. I knew the boys were going to last long on the trail, but we took a couple of hours and let them play, climb and skip rocks in the water. They had a good time and enjoyed getting outside and burning off some of there energy.

Here are some pictures of the boys doing a little rock climbing.

The one thing my boys LOVE to do is skip rocks. Luke finally mastered the task of skipping rocks and having them skip at least 3 times on the water. Dylan tried really hard but still couldn't get it. Mason just dumped every rock he could into the water.

Mason is happy as a clam throwing rocks into the water.

Here is glimpse of the trail that we walked on.

The boys had a great time and wants to come back and do it again.

Happy Labor Day!!

What the Rowell Family does on a Saturday

I really didn't know what I was signing up for when I had my boys play both soccer and football this fall. I was really stupid because I didn't really think it through about how much time it would be to have them go to practice and play games.
So Saturday's for the past month and a half have been all about getting the boys from one game to another. On one Saturday we had 3 games back to back. We went from Dylan's soccer game to Luke's soccer game and finally to Luke's football game. It took most of the day.

The good thing is the boys really enjoy playing sports. Dylan is a natural at playing soccer and gets right in the game and does his thing. He runs the whole time and really goes after the ball.

Luke's first game at soccer after playing football for a month was amazing. He completely transformed as a soccer player. Last year there were times when he stood around the field and just let the ball go right past him and really didn't make an effort to play the game. But, his first game of this season he ran the whole game and scored a goal in the first couple of minutes. I guess all the conditioning for football really had an impact on him. I also think he realized that soccer isn't as aggressive as football and he was so used to feeling the pressure of getting out there and making it happen with football that he jumped right into the game of soccer and made it happen on the soccer field. Jordan couldn't believe his eyes. This wasn't the same soccer player that he used to watch last year. He was phenomenal.

My Dad dropped by for a couple of days and was able to see the boys play sports. The were very excited to have Grandpa Marvin see them do their thing.

Here are some more pictures that my very talented sister Lindsay took of the boys.

This is a picture of Dylan and Grandpa Marvin

Hanging out with The Storm Family

This summer we had the opportunity to have my brother and his family come and visit us. Unfortunately, the day they came Dylan pukes in the car. It always amazes me that whenever they come and visit us someone gets sick and within days we are having a barf-o-rama on our hands. They tried to evade the sickness and stay at a friends house and a hotel but unfortunately, it didn't work. Each member of the family got sick. But, between the vomits we were able to have fun and do a couple of fun things. One of the things we were able to do was go to the Davis County fair.

Here are some pictures of us at the fair....


Luke hanging out with a cow chewing there cuds.

The kids were fascinated with watching Momma pig feeding her babies.

Callie petting a cow and loving every second.

The entire gang having beautiful smiles on their faces. I love this picture!!!

Each of the kids got to ride on the ponies. They were all in heaven.

Go Annie Oakley!!

Luke finally isn't scared of horses and enjoys his pony ride.

Mason riding all by himself.

Dylan couldn't get enough of feeding the animals. He loved it.

This was a sight. Harley is a world's famous pig at the fair. He won several awards for his size.

Read the writing above him to see how big he was. Wow!

Mason riding on the plane ride.

Say cheese!!!!

Even though we had a lot of sick people in our home, we really did enjoy the time we spent with them. Hopefully, next time they come (if they ever dare to enter our home again) we will all say a prayer that no one will vomit and we can have a normal visit with lot of laughs and good memories.

New York, New York

My sister Lindsay and her husband Pat had an internship in New York City this summer. So, I decided I needed a trip (by myself) to go and visit her in the Big Apple. So, I left at the end of July and headed to the big city.

We did a TON of fun stuff while we were there. I had already visited New York so I didn't do the traditional site seeing stuff but I got to see and do so many other fun things. Some of the things we did were:

Central Park
Blue Man Group
Wendy Williams Show
Mary Poppins
Apollo Theatre
Little Italy
China Town
Shopping
Times Square
Spending time with my sister and brother in law

Here are some pictures of the trip.



Taking a walk through Central Park. I was amazed because I had no idea how big the park was and how shrubbery there was. It is so weird that you could be in the craziness of New York in one minute and then walk into Central Park and feel like you have been transported to some National Park in Idaho or Utah. I really enjoyed it.


The two love birds making out in Central Park.

Pat trying to re-enact the scene from Dirty Dancing on the log.

Lindsay and myself at Central Park

Many times while we were walking around in New York we got caught in a rain storm.

When it rains in New York, it rains!! I actually really liked it because it cooled things

down. It was REALLY hot and when it rained it washed the sweat away from my face.

Here I am waiting for a subway soaked from Rain.

I wrote the boys a post card from New York. Here I am in the post office (drenched) trying to write a message on a post card which was hard to do because I was dripping all over the card. But, they got it and were really excited to get some mail. Mason still carries his post card around the house. Don't under estimate the power of mail.

We saw the Blue Man Group show. It was really good and I really enjoyed myself.

They did a lot of fun acts and I was thoroughly entertained. I give it a thumbs up!

I have never heard of Wendy Williams but she is a black woman who has a new talk show. How she made her mark in the entertainment world was she has a radio talk show host and I guess her and Whitney Houston got into a fight or something like that. Anyways, Pat was able to get us some "VIP" tickets from his work.

It was a really entertaining experience. I loved watching all of the people who attended the show and being a part of the process of putting the show on. I was close to being on the show as an audience member asking Wendy a question, but at the last minute they changed their minds. We decided it was probably because my question was a bit to deep for her to answer on national television. I was going to ask her "Wendy I want to adopt a black baby. But, I am nervous because I am a white woman and live in Utah where there aren't a lot of black people. I don't want to make the child feel uncomfortable. What should I do?" All of the cast members of the show liked my question and was coaching me on how to ask the question but right before she started doing questions, they pulled me off. Oh well, fame comes and goes. It was fun while it lasted.

Here are some pictures of the Wendy Williams experience.

Sitting in the "VIP" section waiting to go into the studio.

Yes, we were "VIP" guests at the Wendy Williams Show.

Pat has connections.

Lindsay and Pat shaking their booty. They have a dancing section with the audience members

right before the show. Lindsay and Pat were one of the few white people who were showing everyone how white people can bust-a-move.

Waiting for the show to start. Lindsay actually got approached from an individual from the Wendy Williams show and asked her if he could take a picture of her as part of their fashion section. Nothing every happened from that. But, I think they will use it for future shows on how to dress as an audience member. She looked so cute that they had to capture her look. I don't blame them.

Here I am in Little Italy. It was a really neat section of New York with AMAZING food. Italian food is my favorite, so I was in Heaven!!

One of the things that I really liked about New York is there is so much diversity from one street to the next. One street is filled with Asians and feels like you are in China, the next street is filled with Italians and the next street is filled with a completely different nationality. Even though we are in the US, many times it felt like we were in different parts of the world. Because of this, we got to experience some really cool things. For example, we ate at some really good authentic restaurants from different countries and cultures.

Here we are in an Indian food restaurant. It was decked out in lights and gaudy decorations. It was really fun and the food was good. You don't see a restaurant like this in Utah.

Feeling very cultured while order food from an Indian restaurant.

We saw Mary Poppins on Broadway. It wasn't my favorite musical but it was a good show that had some really cool special effects.

Lindsay lived in Harlem. One the way home one evening, we saw a car fire. New York is certainly never boring. There is always something going on.

In Harlem right next to the Apollo theatre, they had a HUGE Wall filled with people paying tribute to the King of Pop. Their were flowers and pictures and people writing their feelings about how Michael influenced them. It is amazing how one person can have such an impact on the world.


One night we went to the Apollo Theatre. It was really entertaining. You have a huge theatre filled with mostly black people who give their opinion on people's talents by either clapping or booing. I felt bad for people who were trying their hardest to sing or dance and people would just boo them off the stage. But, that is how they do it. Lindsay had no problem with giving her opinion by booing the contestants. Besides my heart breaking for those individuals who got booed off, it was really fun.

That about sums it up. As you can see, I had a great time. Thanks Lindsay and Pat for showing me how to live large in the Big Apple.

Catching Up.....

I will admit it, I suck at doing my blog. I really don't enjoy it, but I know I need to have some documentation of my children's lives. I don't scrapbook and I don't write in a journal, so this is my feeble attempt at capturing my children's lives.

Unfortuantely, I don't update my blog as often as I need to. Because of this, I get behind and then I feel overwhelmed because I have too many events to blog that it seems too big of a feat to tackle.

But, I have decided to try to catch up on some of the things we have been doing for the past couple of monthes. I am going to make one entry and post some pictures of what we have been doing with a little description of what the picture is. So, here is my attempt to update my blog.

Here it goes....

5K Race

At Bluff Ridge Elementry, they had a fund raiser. It was a carnival and a 5K Race. Jordan signed up and ran his first race. He ran the whole time (without walking) and made good time. I was very proud of him and I think he was proud of himself. After the run, they had some fun little rides and activites for the kids.

Here are some pictures of carnival.

Here is Jordan with his number in the race. He felt stupid taking a picture of himself in a 5K but I was proud of him and wanted to document the event.

The Stihl Timber Sport Series (as told by Jordan)

I have always had a fascination with the timber sports, from the chainsaws, to the pole climbing, to the log running. I think it is cool!!! Well they finally came to Utah and I told Jodi that I was going to take Luke and Dylan. We had a great time and Dylan actually won a toy chainsaw in a little contest they picked him to enter. Rumor has it, it might even be televised in November on ESPN2. Here are some photos of the day. They had a lot more than just the cutting and chopping events. There was a mechanical bull, petting zoo, and a whole lot more. I will definitley go back if they come again next year.

Here is a picture of Luke and Dylan while we were waiting for the springboard chopping event.

Here is Dylan attempting to lasso, he is a real cowboy at heart.

Luke is a natural at calf ropping, but it's kind of hard to lasso anything with your eyes closed.

This bird would only dance on Luke's shoulder, he absolutely thought he was the coolest kid on the block that day.

Dylan, just before he got bucked off, he gave it his all but his lack of boots, chaps, and a cowboy hat did him in.

Dylan at the petting zoo.

Dylan's second attempt at the lasso was much better, he was grinning ear to ear.

This was Dylan's favorite part of the whole day. All he wanted to do was play with the baby rat. I told him that he'll have to clear it with his mom before he can get one of his own.

Luke with the baby rat at the petting zoo.

Layne Frost, I mean Luke Rowell getting the full 8 seconds in just before he was bucked off.

The 4th of July

We are very lucky to have such a terrific nanny to watch the kids while I work. Her name is Breanne and she is wonderful. She loves the boys and the boys love her. We really didn't have anything planned for this 4th of July, so Breanne invited us to go with her to her Grandma's house and watch the Clearfield Parade. Her grandma lives right next to main street so we had great seats to watch the parade. The boys had a good time watching the parade and collecting tons of candy.

Dylan got a loose tooth the day before the fourth. Out of nowhere he came to me and told me his tooth was loose. When I touched it, it was really loose. I couldn't believe it. I asked him if he did anything to make it loose and he mentioned something about a door, but I didn't quite understand what happened. Anyways, I tried to get him loosing his tooth on video to capture the important moment, but he didn't want to pull it out. We tried a couple of times, but he didn't want to pull it out. So, I let it be. Well, on the 4th he was playing with it and I told him not to play with it because I want it on video.

Dylan loves candy more than anything. He wanted to eat candy from the 4th of July parade, but he couldn't eat it with his tooth. Frustrated that he couldn't eat candy, he yanked his tooth out and stuffed candy into his mouth within the next second. He came to me holding his tooth and saliva from the candy coming out of his mouth. So, Dylan lost his first tooth on the 4th of July.

Later in the day, we had the boys do poppers and sparklers. Obviously the boys loved doing the poppers and lighting sparklers. Mason wanted to hold a sparkler. So I sat with him by the curb and helped him hold a sparkler. The minute he held the sparkler one of the sparks landed on his

foot and burned a hole through his socks and skin within a matter of seconds. I tried to pat it out with my fingers and I got a blister from it. When I took off his sock, his skin had several layers gone and it was pure white. I couldn't believe how bad it was for just a few seconds. It makes you think how horrible and awful it must be to have burns all over your body. Obviously, Mason didn't do any more sparklers after that.

That night we went with Breanne and her family to the Clearfield field and watch the firework show. It was really great and it was Mason's first time at watching fireworks. At first he was a bit scared but after a while he enjoyed himself and had a good time. We all had a great time and are so grateful to live in this country and have the freedom and opportunities we experience on a daily basis.

Breanne and the boys watching the parade.

Breanne and the boys waiting for the parade to start.

The boys throwing down sparkling in the street on the 4th.

God Bless America!!

Swine Flu

Everyone knows that the Swine Flu has hit the world and has created a pandemic. At first, I was really nervous about getting swine flu, because the media has made it into just a huge thing that you think if you get it you will die. So, when Jordan came home from Wee Care (his second job that that he has the Sunday night) and told me that he had the Swine Flu, I couldn't believe it. He had been feeling a bit under the weather and had a hard time breathing because of his asmtha, but he didn't seem really sick. He didn't even stay home from work because he didn't feel that bad to call in sick. But, when he went to Wee Care and told them he had was having a hard time breathing they tested him for the Swine Flu and it came back positive. So, needless to say he didn't go to work for the next couple of days. Actually, it was like a mini vacation because he felt fine and was able to hang out with the family and not go to work. Hurray for the Swine Flu!!!

Here is a picture of him and the boys trying not to spread the Swine Flu.

Mills Montessouri

Dylan have been going to Mills Montessouri since he was 3. He has enjoyed it and has learned a lot. I really enjoyed the school and felt it was worth the drive and money (It took 40 minutes round trip to take him to school each morning and another 40 minutes to pick him up). But, eventually I knew I would have to put him into the public school system because they only go to 3rd grade. So, when Dylan was picked out of the lottery to go into North Davis Preparatory Academy, it was a perfect time to make the transition. He is very excited for his new school but has really loved Mills and will miss them alot.

Here he is with Mr and Mrs. Mills.

Going to California


It has been 3 years since I have been home to California. So, when Luke and Dylan started talking about visiting Grandma and Grandpa at their house, I knew it was time to go. So, when my sister Kim had a baby I knew the time had some. I really don't like road trips, expecailly with 3 kids but they had done so well going to Vegas that I thought it was doable.

Jordan had to work, so I ventured off to California with the boys by myself. The ride down was really good. I couldn't believe how good they were. They watched movies for about 10 hours. I don't know how our parents did road trips without a DVD player. I know their was a lot of fighting and the time went by slow. I am grateful that we have the technology to bring movies into cars. It makes me a much happier mommy.

Anways, the trip was great. We went to the beach, I went to the Sacramento temple to do a session, I went to the American Idol concert, hung out with friends from High School and most importantly we got to hang out with family. Everytime I am around my family, I feel so lucky to have so many wonderful people in my life.

It was also good that my boys got to spend time with their cousins. They really don't get to see them very often. Maybe once a year. So, whenever we get an opportunity to spend time with them, they treasure it. They really get along very well and have such a good time with them.

It was a good trip and I was sad to go. But, I am sure I will go back in 6 monthes or so. My parents are renovating their house and I want to come back home to Califonria and see it when it is completed. So, I am sure we will go out next spring.

So, we got into the car and headed home. I should have known that when I took the wrong freeway home (it added about 2 hours to my already 10 hour ride) it wasn't going to go well. I will spare you all the gory details ( I actually don't want to rehash the hell I went through), but I had 3 sick kids in the car. They were crying, screaming and making my life a living hell. I actually think they had the swine flu or some kind of version of the flu. At one time, I had all 3 crying and Mason had dihirrea coming out of his collar around his neck. It took us 2 days and 14 long and grueling hours in the car to make it home. I had to stay in Lake Tahoe because the boys weren't going to make it any longer because they were so miserable. It was a horrible expereince that I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. But, I made it. I won't say I am a better person for it, because I wasn't very calm and patient during the whole ordeal. Honestly, I was angry and upset the whole time because I had to endure this by myself while Jordan was in Wyoming working. Come to think about it, the last time the boys were vomiting all over the house, he was on a work assignement. Obviously, Heavenly Father is trying to teach me compassion and patience. We all know that isn't going to be easy to teach me. Oh well.

Well, here are some pictures from the trip...

Some of the gang from High School. Names from Right to left: Rachel, me, Jennifer,Gina, Mandy, Missy and Brittney.


Me with my new niece Lyla. She is adorable and I love her!!


Luke and Lyla. He is baby hungery. He couldn't get enough of her. He wanted to hold her every minute he got. He loved her.


Dylan and Lyla.

My two nieces Julianna and Lyla. Aren't they adorable!

A girls night out!!

Grandpa Marvin and Uncle Tyler with the boys. They loved seeing them. As we drove away from their house, both Luke and Dylan said, "Boy, I am sure going to miss grandma, grandpa and Tyler. We sure do love them!"

My mom and sister waiting for American Idol concert to begin!!

Going to Puerta Vallarta!!

Jordan and I were finally able to get away by ourselves and visit the beautiful place of Puerta Vallarta. My mom was kind enough to fly in from California and take care of the kids while we got away. We were able to spend 8 glorious days at Puerta Vallarta at a beautiful resort called Villa Del Palmar Flamingos. We didn't know what to expect but we were pleasantly surprised. Puerta Vallarta is a place that has beaches but it also has the mountains. So, we had a lot of time laying out by the pool and go to the beach but were also able to go and take some time to go up into the lush green mountains.

So, we started off our vacation by getting off the plane and being snatched up by a guy wanting us to do a time share presentation. Just a little background about Jordan and I when it comes to time share presentations. We have sat through a ton of them, so going to a time share isn't a big thing for us. So, we went to two time share presentations while we were at Puerta Vallarta and because we went to these presentations we got all of our tours and activities paid for by the time share companies.

Some of those activities we participated in are the following:

Snorkeling

Sierra Madre Tour

Swam with Dolphins

Massages

Dune Buggies

City Tour

All of the activities we went on were fun. Here are a few pictures that we took (I have to admit I didn't take a lot of pictures because I hate pictures of myself)

This is the resort that we stayed at during the week. It was gorgeous and a ton of fun!

We went on a tour called the Sierra Madre. It was a beautiful tour where we explore the mountains as well as go to the beach. This is a picture of what it looked like on the way up the mountain.

Here is the place that we went snorkeling. I haven't really gotten sea sick

before, but the ride to go snorkeling what very choppy and extremely rough.

There was a hurricane coming toward Puerta Vallarta so the water was

extremely rough. After the first 15 minutes on the boat, I started feeling really

sick. The ride lasted about an hour and a half one way but it felt like 10 years. About

20 minutes into the ride the little boy next to me started throwing up. Then another girl across from me started to throw up and then it was like a domino effect. People were very sick and were throwing up. I closed my eyes and tried to make myself feel better, but it didn't work. Once we finally made the destination for snorkeling, I wanted to die. I thought getting into the

water would make me feel better. I was wrong. The water was really rough and I couldn't handle

it any longer. I threw up in the water while everyone was snorkeling. I am sure a few people

caught a glimpse. I was miserable. I couldn't go through this again. I wasn't going to get back on the boat and go for another boat ride that would last another couple of hours. So Jordan used his Spanish and got us to go back to town with a local Mexican guy. We had to take a water taxi and then take some local buses to get back to resort. We really got a glimpse of real Mexican life. It was very informative and actually very interesting. After this snorkeling trip we canceled all of our water tours and rebooked them for activities on land.

Here we are taking a water taxi back to land after I spewed in the water. YEAH!

One of the tours that we also went on while in Mexico was a Dune Buggie tour. We had a tour guide take us though the city and back country on a Dune Buggie. Within 2 seconds of getting into the vehicle we were completely covered with mud. Obviously, I didn't have a clue of what this tour would be like because I wore a white T-Shirt. That T-Shirt was thrown away after the tour because it was stained brown by the time I finished.

Jordan had a fun time driving the dune buggie and considered the experience a good time. I wasn't as thrilled about the experience but I can mark it off things I have done in my life list. One thing I did realize about myself from this experience was that I don't like getting completely dirty. Being clean makes me much happier.

Here we are before we started the tour...

Here we are after the tour. We even washed ourselves

half way through the tour in a river but we still got mud

all over us by the time the tour ended.


Here I am trying to clean off some of the mud and filth that I had

covering my entire body. I felt like a new woman after this little dip in the water.

Jordan and I after our dip in the water.

On the Sierra Madre tour we got to visit a private beach where all the locals go and visit.

It was really beautiful and very quiet.

Here is the vehicle that we took to go on our Sierra Madre tour. Jordan was

totally impressed with the vehicle and wanted to drive it soooo bad. Unfortunately the closest he

got to the steering wheel was when we took this picture.

Here is a picture of a little crab. We ran into several of them at the resort. They are endangered

in Puerta Vallarta so they don't touch them or do anything to get rid of them. I thought they were funny looking and I found it intriguing to watch them walk around and interact with people.

Here is Jordan and I at a little village in Mexico.

Jordan hanging out with the local Mexicans in the little village from above.

He fits right in.

One of the things that we did every night was go to a nice restaurant. Jordan was in heaven.

He got to try a whole bunch of really good food and experience the ambiance of fine dining.

Here we are at one of his favorite restaurants during the trip. We got to eat outside and view

the ocean while eating great food. This was one of the highlights for Jordan.

One of the tours we went on was to get in the water with dolphins. We got to touch them, they

gave us kisses on the check and we were able to watch them do several tricks in the water.

The tour lasted about a half hour but it was fun and we had a great time. The only bad part

was that they wouldn't let you take pictures with your own camera. They had their photographers take pictures of you and then charge a fortune for the pictures (a CD with 8 snapshots was $100.00 dollars). So, we don't have any pictures of us with the dolphins but I did get a quick snapshot of the dolphin.

Overall, we had a great time and it was a just what we needed. I feel so lucky to have had the

opportunity to see a different part of the world and create a ton of great memories.

Big News for Lucas!

Two days after his birthday, we were sitting down and were about to read scriptures when Luke yells out in excitement "I see a black hair on my leg!"

Just to give you a little background, Lucas wants to be like his dad so badly. He wants to shave, dress and act just like his dad. One of the events that he is really excited for in his life is when he is old enough to have black hair on his arms and legs like his dad. He keeps asking when his arms and legs will have black hair on them. I tell him when he is older. Well, I guess he thinks that since he just turned 7 that means he is older and he should be getting black hair on his legs.

Well, the other night he thought he saw a black hair on his leg. He ran over to me and wanted to show me the hair. I looked at his leg and of course did not see any black hair. I told him I couldn't see it, he quickly responded "You have to look at it in the right light"

"ohh, you must be right" I said.

He smiled and felt proud of himself because he just thought he saw a trace of adulthood on his legs.

Lucas is 7 years old!!!

Lucas has been sooooo excited to turn 7. He has been counting the days for months. He wanted to be 7 years old so badly because he wants to be a grown up. Even though 7 still isn't a grown up, he is getting closer and closer every year and he knows it.

This year I gave him a choice, he could either have a big birthday present or a birthday party. He decided to choose a birthday party. So, we took him and 12 of his friends and his brothers to the Classic Fun Center.

The Classic Fun Center has Laser Tag, Bouncing activities, Skating, video games and a pirates play area. All the kids had a fun time. I think they were a little over stimulated because they couldn't play in one area for more than 5 minutes without running to another activity. It definitely kept me busy for 3 hours. I was so busy helping with the party that I didn't take a lot of pictures. So, here is the one picture that I have from the birthday party...


I was really surprised, out of all the activities at the center Lucas LOVED skating. He put some skates on and hardly took them off the whole time. He was pretty good. He had such a good time skating that on his actual birthday (which was only 2 days later) he wanted to go again. So we went to Classic Fun Center again to roller skate. The minute we entered the place, he put on the skates and didn't take them off until we left. He had a very good time.

For his birthday his friends, his family and his grandparents gave him some clothes, a swimming pool, a baseball game, rocket, a Jazz jersey, water toys, more toys and a yo-yo. Out of everything thing he received his favorite gift was a $3.00 yo-yo. Go figure!!

Anyways, Luke is growing up right before my eyes. He is a good boy who has so much potential. We love him very much and have been truly blessed to have him in our family. Happy Birthday Lucas! We love you soooo much!!


Luke receiving his swimming pool from Grandma.

Getting some new swimsuits.

Lucas being really excited about opening up presents.

Happy Birthday Lucas!

Dylan is finally playing Soccar!

Finally, Dylan is old enough to play some organized sports with the city of Syracuse. He has watched Luke play sports for a couple of years and always asked when he can play sports. I always told him that he will be able to play when he is 5 years old. After a long and grueling 2 years, he is finally old enough to play sports. The first sport he participated in was Soccer. He was so excited to go to his first practice. He counted down the days until his first practice.

The big day came and he was SOOO excited to go to Soccer practice. But, the minute we walked on to the soccer field, he started to get nervous and began crying. I couldn't believe it, Dylan was freaking out and saying he didn't want to play soccer and he wanted to go home.

Just a side note: Dylan has a really hard time with change and doing anything new. Even though logically he wants to do something, when he actually confronts the new situation, he emotionally can't handle it. It is very frustrating to me, because I am not like that. But, I don't let him back down and I help him to deal with the new situations.

After walking him over to his team and pushing him to play ball, he finally stopped crying and began to kick the ball. After 15 minutes, he was fine and was having a great time. After the initial freak out, Dylan has been in heaven playing soccer.

He did pretty well. He really does a good job at going after the ball and dribbling it down the field. The problem was he would get the ball all the way down the field and then he would stop right in front of the goalie. I think he thought the goalie was going to stop the ball, so he would stop it for them. But, I am happy to say that after 6 or so games, he overcame that and finally made his first goal. I was so proud of him and he was proud of himself.

I think he did a great job at soccer. I really think this will be a sport he will enjoy and be very good at in the future.

Here are some pictures of him playing at a game.

Here is Dylan with his Soccer coach.



Here is Dylan trying to run after the ball and the other team trying to hold him back.

Below is a small clip of Dylan playing soccer. He does a good job at hustling after the ball, he just has a hard time getting it all the way down the field and into the goal. But considering this is his first time playing, I think he is doing a phenomenal job.

Counting to 20!

I have been working with Mason on counting to 20 for a long time. Some days he is better than others. Here is the latest attempt of him trying to count to 20. I give him an "A" for effort.

Just a note: Sorry this is sideways, but it was how I filmed him and I can't seem to change it.