State Fair Fun

Last month we went to the State Fair.

Here is what I took home from the experience:

1. You don't break tradition. It was rainy and mucky, but we still went.

2. Rainy and mucky = no lines and no crowds. Worked out pretty well-especially since the rain stopped about 30 minutes after we had been there.

3. Animal barns provide shelter from the rain.

4. Going with Ryan & Jolea always promises good times.

5. As if the absurd attractions weren't enough entertainment alone, even more absurd and entertaining is the fact that Jolea paid to see "The World's Smallest Woman & Smallest Horse". She would have done this one if we would have let her too.

6. My brother once told me of a Dad who paid for an hour/half worth of pony rides for his son...I'm pretty sure Max would have been okay with that.7. Max didn't get the worst Loveless trait...motion sickness. He rode all kinds of whirly, twirly rides...which means I had to ride them too as Dad observed from steady solid ground.8. Luke is a joy to take anywhere.9. Some things shouldn't be deep fried...like peanut butter sandwiches. However, the Beatty family reported that the deep fried brownie was worth trying.

10. Admission-$12; Dinner-$20**; Watching Your Kids Boogie Down-Priceless.

**Note to self: Don't eat dinner at the fair. You can leave and come back in. Lesson learned. Dually noted.

Worth Checking Out

Many of you might know or know of my amazingly talented friend Michelle Virtue. Or you may have seen her as a regular on Studio 5 showing how to decorate for many and all occasions. Well, what you also need to know is that she has a little side business where she makes the most adorable albums for weddings, babies, baptisms, families..etc! I happen to own two very special baby books from her! She delivered one for my little Luke just today. Check them out here! She also manages BYU's Campus Craft and Floral which deserves a dropping by if you are ever at the Wilkenson Center on campus. All her stuff, like her, is cute, cute, cute.

Also worth a perusing is my awesome friend Emily's jewlery shop (make sure to check out her 'sold' items as well as she can make more!) and her jewlery blog. If you love vintage or dainty jewels, you gotta check it out. She also created a great new earring set for YW. If you need a great value activity for you YW, or advancement or Christmas gifts, this is such a great idea!

WOW. I have amazing friends.

This About Sums Them Up

...the best noise in the world...

Dress Up & Dolls

Max's Idea of playing dress up and dolls.

Dress Up= Old Chicken Halloween Costume

Doll=Luke

NANA'S PLACE

Nana takes the grandkids out to the pond

Mom is about to start school again which means we won't get to see much of her so we went Idaho over Labor Day weekend. Jolea's family, Carrie's family, Jim's family, Kelsey, Eli & Mom were all there too. Aunt Kelsey makes play-dough cakes with Addie Brandon & Carrie make a quick trip Handsome Brothers-Jim & Eli

What a great time we had hanging out, visiting, eating, and playing. I love that we all live relatively close and can get together and I hate that Cory and Ashley live so far away. Every time we are together I feel sad that they aren't with us too! Nana helps out with Luke Cole loved the splash park

Max loves playing with his cousins. These kids are so lucky that Nana lives in such a great place with lots of outside room to run around, skip rocks, and dig worms. Max gathers rocks to throw in the pond

Eli turned 19 while we were up there so we got to celebrate his BIG DAY with him, which included a game of lazer tag.Happy 19th Eli! Uncle Eli is loved by all the kids!

Nana also lives close to a really great park with a full on FREE splash pool, indoor carousel, and an awesome playground.Jordyn, Avery, Sarah & Max getting dry Nana's park has a Carousel...and a FREE Splash Park!!

It is just so beautiful up there. Ryan and I went for an awesome run through the hills and up to the new temple. The air is just so clean and crisp there. Pretty in Pink Climbing Trees

We are so lucky that my Mom lives there. Our kids are making such wonderful childhood memories.

Lineman Luke

(It's a little late, but...On August 24th...) At 26.75 inches and weighing in at a whopping 20.11 lbs., it's 6 month old Luke Loveless. If the current trend continues... Luke might be our future lineman.
Other milestones:

• 5.5 months-- eating rice cereal & rolling over. Sitting up mostly on his own.
  
  
  


• 6 months -- Got his first two teeth on bottom! Sitting up all on his own. Rolling, Rolling, Rolling. Loves sweet potatoes & carrots. Hates pears and other fruit. Loves to play with his brother, with his basket of toys, and to be outside. Went on his first run in the jogging stroller! Absolutely loved it! Has lots and lots to babble about. First ER visit. Had croup and ear infection. Then he got croup again and two more ear infections.

Roady without Daddy

Generally speaking, Ryan and I like to do most everything together, trips being one of them. But last month Ryan needed some serious quiet time to wrap up his studying for another portion of the CPA exam, so I attempted what was bound to come at some point in time...a road trip, with my two kids (age 2.5 & 5 mos) sans Ryan. Some of you might think that the 4 hour drive from Lehi to Rexburg does not constitute a road trip, but it does when you travel to Rexburg via Twin Falls then up to Rexburg; on the way back it was Rexburg to Lehi, via Logan. So by the time the trip was over I had spent about 16 hours in car.

Thankfully I had Eli with me the first two legs of the trip to sit in the back and shake the rattle at Luke for two hours at a time to keep him happy. On the third leg of the trip I was lucky again to have Kelsey with me from Rexburg to Logan. Her bottle feeding skills are in good shape. The last leg of the trip was hellacious as I had to stop twice to put Max back in his buckles and twice more to try to nurse Luke. Nothing seemed to soothe him and he pretty much cried from Logan all the way home. Needless to say, I was wore out by the time I returned to Ryan after 6 days. But what a fun trip it was.
Here are some of the highlights of my first trip alone with my kiddos:

• Twin Falls- our first stay-over at Carrie & Brandon's new home. We arrived around midnight and after being there only 5 minutes, Max tripped on their beautiful stamped concrete walkway and smacked his head on their step. Max loved Addie's toys--especially her power wheels!
  


• Rexburg-- Nana's house had lots of room to run and play and Max loved gathering rocks and throwing them in her pond. Max loved her neighbor's dog Tanker and all the farm animals down the road. Running--Max showed the first signs of being a future runner. We went to the track at the college one night and Max ran a mile (on his own free will) by himself, without stopping! I was shocked. He threw himself down on the track and cried when we had to leave because he wanted to keep running... a trip to the snow cone shack calmed him down. Nana and Mama were so proud to have witnessed our little running prodigy!

To Logan with Aunt Kelsey--we got to take Kelsey back to Logan as she had car trouble and it was so nice to have her all to ourselves for a few hours. Now Max asks where "Selsy" is all the time. I was ready to come home and get my kids back to a normal routine and see my husband but I just wished Icould have somehow packed up Nana, Eli, and her beatiful, peaceful, place and brought them with me. Thanks Nana for making our first Road Trip such a fun one!

BeLaTeD BiRtHdAy ShOuT OuT!

August is a special time because we always celebrate two of our favorite people's birthdays...Jolea and Jeff. Jolea's birthday was especially fun this year because Mom, Eli, Carrie & Kelsey all came to the PARTY! I always love a good get-together with any portion of my family. We surprised her with a well deserved shopping gift certificate and I made her favorite-- a German Chocolate cake!
We actually celebrated Jeff's big 30th first with just us and then again with his parents; but we were lucky enough to have him all to ourselves on his actual birthday. Max just recently figured out that Birthdays are really fun and mean that candles, fire, and singing are all involved. All week he was talking about Jeff's birthday. We practiced changing the Birthday song from "Jolea" to "Jeff" for days and he had it down and delivered it very well on his Uncle's big day.

Jeff's birthday was also exciting because he bought himself a fancy-smancy new CAR! It is lovely-- a black '09 Camry sporty thing. Now every time Max sees a black car he thinks Jeff is nearby. And what do you get the guy who just bought himself a new car for his birthday?... A fatty carwash package!

We love you JOLEA & JEFF!

The Perfect Time of Day

Luke 5 months, ready for bedtime!

I love my husband for many reasons, but one of the best times of our day is when we get to get our little boys ready for bed. Ryan is always a big, big help. Most nights he bathes Max and I usually get Luke bathed or ready for bed simultaneously. I love it when my little guys are all dressed in their jammies and we and just sit downstairs in our family room and chill together. We all cuddle up on the couch together, Ryan and I holding our clean babies, breathing in the baby lotion, and watch an episode or two of Curious George. If Max is really tired, we can snag something on the Food Network or our old favorite, Everybody Loves Raymond.

Max (2.5 yrs) & Luke (5 months)--Jammie Time

Then it's off to bed, with prayers, scripture time, and of course, story time from Max's current favorite...a 200 page Disney Classics book. Luckily, he doesn't want us to read to him each word, he just goes from page to page asking what is going on in the pictures (he now knows all names of the 7 dwarfs but could care less that Snow White is poisoned by an apple). I just love this little routine. It is one time a day that we can just all sit and be together...what a perfect way to enter into slumber.

Rewind: Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House

Towards the end of July, Jolea told me that she would be taking her family to the open house of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple and she invited our family to go with them. We love doing things with the Beatty Family and what could be better than exposing our little ones to the beautiful temple. I was really excited as I realized that we had taken Max to the open house of the Rexburg temple when he was just a year old, and now Luke, even as little as he is, would be going to his first open house too! What a beautiful little temple it was and Max did relatively well practicing his reverent skills, considering he is 2 1/2 years old. I had been showing him pictures of the temples and as we got closer to the temple he saw it and shouted "Mom...Teeeple!" He was especially excited about the 'swimming pool' (aka, The Baptistery), the 'Cows' (aka, The Oxen) and the elevators that we got to ride time and time again (as we had strollers with us.) He was equally excited about the cookie he received at the end of the tour. I was thrilled that just last Sunday we were able to go to our meeting house to be a part of the beautiful dedication of this temple. Ryan and I had just attended the temple together and it just made me wish I could go every week. I am so glad that Max and Luke were with us as we walked through that holy house and that at such a young age, Max knows that the 'Teeple' is a special place.