Their 1st Parade!

Cayden and Laura went to their very first parade yesterday morning - the Pleasant Grove Strawberry Days parade. We left the house just after 9, found a place to park and sit about 9:30, and the parade started at 10. Cayden loved the firetrucks, the policemen riding their motorcycles, and the horses. I still don't think he understands why people kept throwing candy at him and I never could really get him to jump up and go after any so the only candy he got is what conveniently fell in his lap. The kids did much better than I thought they would in the hot sun. Cayden sat on his little blanket and just watched and watched and Laura napped most of the time. We ended up leaving around 11:30 even though the parade wasn't over yet as we were all tired, thirsty, and very hot. I think the kids had a lot of fun and I had more fun than I thought I would. I can't wait to take Cayden to another parade and perhaps even a rodeo sometime. :)

Sienna, Cayden and Laura waiting for the parade to start. They were seriously so well behaved!

How Laura spent most of the parade. She reminds me of a little chipmunk or squirrel here with the way she is holding her hands. Sweet girl.

He Remembered

The Provo Towne Center has this cute little train that drives around the mall that you buy tickets for and can ride in. We don't make it to that mall very often because it is much further from us than the University Mall, but this past weekend we made a trip down there. Several, several months ago we were at the Provo Towne Center when Cayden first saw the train and was dying to ride in it. Not having any cash on us and being extremely busy I told him that he could ride it the next time we saw it. Fast forward almost 6 months to this past weekend. We pulled up to the mall (we hadn't even gotten out of the car yet) and Cayden got so excited and exclaimed, "Let's buy a ticket mom and go ride the train!" I turned to Chad... Seriously?! Almost half a year later and the kid remembers that I told him he could ride the train. What could I do except buy my little boy a train ticket?!

Cayden picked the blue "Thomas the Train" car.

"Bye mom and dad!" He was so excited to ride!

Off he went. I made Chad follow along behind the train to make sure Cayden was ok since we didn't ride with him.

Cayden rode the whole way with his little hands hanging onto the windowsill. He just looked and looked at everything with a permanent smile on his face. Cute boy.

Wyoming: The Bermuda Triangle for Cars

On our way home from Colorado over Memorial Day weekend and in the middle of nowhere Wyoming, Chad's car died. We were driving along just fine and then boom. Nada. No power. Nothing. We coasted over to the side of the road and after checking things out Chad said he thought it was a timing belt issue. We called our insurance and luckily we were only 40 minutes outside of Laramie, but it still took the tow truck over an hour to come get us. Since the cab of the truck couldn't hold three adults (us and the driver) and two kids in their car seats we got to ride in our dead car ON TOP of the tow truck. (I seriously didn't know you could do that.) Once we got the car to a shop in Laramie and got it looked at we were told it was a timing belt issue, but that the shop wouldn't be able to work on our car until Thursday (and it was Tuesday). Not wanting to spend the next few days in Laramie without a car - not that we wanted to spend it in Laramie with a car either - we rented a car and drove the rest of the way home. What should have been a 7-8 hour trip took 12+ hours.

The following Saturday Chad got up bright and early and drove back to Laramie to return the rental and pick up our car from the shop and then drove back home. It was a long day for Chad, but we were just glad to finally have two cars again. So... a $900 car repair + $200 car rental + about $120 in extra gas = one very expensive trip home.

Exactly where our car broke down. Right in the middle of mile markers 278 and 279. Poor Chad had to run about half a mile to figure out where we were. Lol.

The view from our car ON TOP of the tow truck. The only good thing about this experience was Cayden's excitement. He couldn't believe that Mater the tow truck came to pick us up and that we got to ride on him. The kid giggled the whole way back to Laramie. (By the way, it's kind of hard to be frustrated and angry when your two year old is giggling in the backseat.) For days afterwards Cayden pretended that a white car had broken down and had his Mater come tow it away.

Moral of this story... Never take your almost 20 year old car on a road trip (especially if it's through Wyoming). Frank has now been banned from all long distance drives and is only a local boy. Poor guy.

Happy Daddy's Day!

To the best daddy a little boy and girl could ask for! We love you lots! And we had a lot of fun spoiling you yesterday. :)

(P.S. Love Cayden's faces. This kid cracks me up.)

Laura's Blessing

During our crazy Colorado trip we managed to squeeze in Laura's blessing on Sunday. Laura was a little fussy beforehand so I was a bit nervous for the actual blessing, but she was great! Chad gave her such a sweet blessing! We have been blessed with such a precious and special little girl and she is loved by so many (not only us, but by her Heavenly Father too). I cannot wait to see her personality develop and to watch her grow up and see all that she accomplishes with her life. Love her. P.S. Laura was blessed in the same dress that I was blessed in 26 years ago. Kinda fun. :)

 

Pretty little girl.

 

My cute little family!

 This one just makes me laugh! While we were taking pictures a crazy lady (like seriously nuts) came running over from across the street and was blabbing about something. We really had no idea what and I think this picture captures our thoughts on what was going on perfectly. Even Cayden looks confused. Lol.

My grandparents were able to be there for Laura's blessing which was special because they weren't able to make it to Cayden's. Love them.

Because My Kids Are Cute...

I set Laura on the couch the other day to do something and when I came back I found this:

 

Cayden reading stories to Laura. So cute! Love my kids.

Whirlwind Weekend

Our little family made the trek to Colorado for Memorial Day weekend. On the agenda: my little brother Greg's high school graduation, Laura's blessing, and my other little brother Connor's Eagle Scout court of honor. It was a crazy week, but a lot of fun! Here are the few pictures we have documenting the trip...

 

Laura sporting some sweet bug glasses! (Rumor has it that Uncle Connor likes to wear them too!)

What a smarty pants! Greg graduated with an AP diploma. So proud of him! I'm also so excited that he'll be out at BYU this fall.

Greg and my momma.

  The kids during Greg's graduation. Apparently they had a blast banging away on the piano. Chad was willing to stay home with Cayden and Laura so that I could be kid free during the ceremony! Love him!

 Pretty girl on her blessing day! (More details and pics coming.)

 Random picture of Cayden. I'm not sure what is up with the monkey arms...

Playing with daddy. Cayden is getting a little too big to throw into the air, but he sure loves it!

Connor getting his Eagle Scout! He achieved his goal and did it before he turned 14! So proud and excited for him!

Found Chad and Laura sleeping like this one morning. So sweet!