Flying High

On our anniversary we decided to go out and celebrate FIVE years of a crazy, amazing, wonderful life that we have shared so far. We both had some pretty simple plans in mind (bike ride, picnic, tennis, lunch, etc.) until about ten minutes before the baby sitter showed up. Stephen thought of a different idea and so off we went (Our date was now a surprise!) We had lunch at a nice restaurant and then went to what looked like a mall. Inside however there were rock climbing walls, an indoor skiing slope, and a simulated sky diving center called Airkix. Can you guess which one we did?

That's right! Sky diving. To celebrate our fifth anniversary we did a little skydiving, only we didn't have to jump out of a plane. It was really cool. I have to say I was super nervous (thought I would be to tense to really enjoy it) but I loved it. Way fun. I'm so grateful for a supportive, loving, crazy, fun, spontaneous husband who is always there for me and are sweet boys.

Birthdays

We celebrated Stephen and Canyon's birthdays on Sunday since we were gone all day Saturday. After church we had some yummy dinner and I made a cake. Later that evening we did cake and presents. Canyon was really interested in the cake.

We got trick candles for the cake this year. Both Emerson and Canyon that it was pretty cool that the candles kept relighting. Canyon really like all the smoke that the candles made.

Before eating some cake we opened presents. I like how the one of Stephen has both the boys reaching for his Swedish fish.

The best part was watching Canyon eat the cake. He loved it. He ate tons. I'm surprised he didn't get sick with how much he ate.

Can't believe our little boy is already a year old. The time sure does go by quick. We love this cuddle little guy and are so lucky to have him in our family.

Temple

After Legoland we drove to a hotel near the temple to stay the night. We enjoyed a relaxing night eating dinner, swimming and watching a movie. The next morning we got up to go to the temple. Stephen had been asked to help out at the temple and so he ended up spending most of the day in the temple working. It was a very nice day and the boys and I spent most of it outside walking around the temple. We saw a couple friends and talked to them. Stephen snuck out for a quick lunch break and then when he had to go back in the boys and I went to feed the fish. The ducks were feeling a bit lazy and just slept near the pond while the fishes at all our food.

I took a couple pictures of the boys in front of the temple. Not many turned out. I really like the one of Canyon (even though he's not smiling).

After the temple we drove back home. We stopped at our friends for an unplanned pizza party and a little socializing and then went home and got some sleep. It was a nice day. It's always good to be near the temple.

Legoland

On the Friday before Stephen's birthday we went to Legoland. It's a theme park that has a bunch of rides, but the cool part is the all the decorations are made out of legos. Here we are in front of Viking World. Had some fun rides that Emerson could go on. He was a big fan of the boat that rocked "all over the place."

While we were in the Land of the Pharaohs we went on a couple of rides. This Pharaoh guarded a building that had a ride inside that went a little ways up and then dropped down (like the tower of terror only less scary and not as high and geared towards little kids). Emerson wouldn't go on the ride, maybe next time he will be a little braver.

During our lunch break we found a shady place to sit down. (It was surprisingly warm the day we went.) Canyon kept making silly faces while he was eating, Emerson was in a hurry to finish his sandwich so we could go on more rides, and Stephen sat and planned out where we were going to go next. Then afterwards Stephen and Emerson went to go on a couple more rides while Canyon and I spent a little more time in the shade.

Emerson is really into tractors right now and so this was really exciting for him....too bad there machine wasn't working perfectly. (I'm not sure if Emerson knew cause it seemed like he was enjoying himself.)

Emerson really like the Dino Safari ride. He got to "drive" a jeep around and look at a bunch of dinosaurs that were made out of legos.

Emerson and Stephen waited in a long line to ride the lego boats. Below are them finally on the boats going on a little ride.

We went to Mini Land and saw a bunch of historic sites that have been done very small in legos. Here is Emerson standing in front of Buckingham Palace. They had the Royal Wedding on display.

Canyon didn't get to go on any of the rides, but at the end of the day he was still all smiles. What a trooper!

Emerson's Birthday

When we got back from the farm we played a game and ate some pizza. Then after that we had cupcakes and sang Emerson "happy birthday." I found a candle that plays the tune to happy birthday - Emerson really liked it.

After eating his cupcake we opened presents. It was a lot of fun watching Emerson open presents this year. He got really excited about all the gifts and could open them by himself.

We can't believe Emerson is already three! He is a funny little kid and makes life a lot of fun and a bit crazy as well. He has his moments, but I could never imagine our family without him.

Old Macdonald's Farm

Stephen took the day off of work for Emerson's birthday and we went down to Old Macdonald's Farm. It was a beautiful day outside and we had a lot of fun together as a family.

Emerson is really into animals like horses and cows right now. That could be because we live out in the country and every time we drive into town we pass a lot of fields with farm animals in them. He was so excited to go around and look at all the animals close up. (I think he looks so cute in that hat.)

They had lots of fun things to do besides looking at the animals. They had a old water pump that you could pump out water with and it made this big wheel turn. They also had lots of tractors around the farm. Tractors are Emerson's other favorite thing right now. They had a fun little play area that we played in that had some 'diggers' that you could play with and all the slides looked like different tractors.

We found a rope swing that was a lot of fun and lots of playgrounds to play on.

After eating some lunch, we went around and fed some of the animals. They had these little designated feeding areas that you could put the food in. A lot of the animals were very anxious to get some food. Emerson really like feeding the animals.

We also went of a couple rides and went down a fun inflatable slide. Both the boys really enjoyed the slide. The second time Stephen took Canyon, he was smiling and laughing before they even started sliding. The ball zone was a lot of fun too. They had these machines that shot out balls and other ones that made the balls float in the air. Canyon was very determined to catch one of these balls.

We had a really nice outing together as a family. We are very grateful that Stephen is in a position to take time off for special days like these so that we can have fun together as a family.