utah trip-part three

i'm really not sure how many posts i'm doing for this utah trip.  it gets a little daunting when there's too many posts, so hopefully i'm done soon.
of course while in utah we had to go visit my sister and her family who live close to the hedins.  we packed up our stuff for the night and made ourselves at home.  it was so fun to visit with erin again, especially because i got to meet  my new niece, ellie for the first time.  ellie is a petite little doll.  when she's outside her hair looks red, when she's inside it looks brown. 

and can you tell that she loves to stick her tongue out?

we thought it would be fun to get out some colored bubbles for the kids, but that turned out to be messy.  let jacob attest to that.  he got some on his fingers and started rubbing his face, and i'm pretty sure it ended up on the ground, on clothes, etc.  we quickly put those away.

later on that day we got out the blow-up pool which was a huge hit with the kids.  the hose with running water was a huge hit as well.  you can see from these pictures who dominated the hose.

i just love tanner's face in this picture.  the ice cream truck was driving by, and i think he was really confused as to what it was.

by the end of our visit with erin, tanner was worn out.  he actually fell asleep sitting up on the couch, the poor kid. 

i should also add that erin and thomas treated me to my all time favorite restaurant, brick oven.  it was delicious, and i can't wait until i can go back again.

we had a great time visiting with the grover family although it ended much too quickly!

utah trip-part two

while in utah we kept our schedule full of fun activities.  one of the night we were there we headed up the canyon to cook some hot dogs and roast some marshmallows.

we had to a a keep an eye out for this little man while we were there.  he is nicknamed our little runaway for a reason.

i'm always the annoying one at family functions and get-togethers with friends who takes way too many pictures.  but afterwards, i'm always glad that i do because i love looking back at the pictures later. 

tan wanted to try his hand at cooking a hot dog.  it landed in the ashes only about six times, but he still had fun.

both kiddos roasting their own marshmallow a safe distance away from the fire on their kid-sized chairs.

being up the in the canyon, it cools off quite a bit as it gets later into the evening.  katelyn snuggled right up to the fire to get warm.

and miss reagan was there as well.

the fam together.

and look at me.  always looking cool.  one thing i hate is being cold.  i am more than happy to sacrifice looks over my comfort. 

also while we were there we headed out to the children's museum in ogden.  such a great place to take the kids. katelyn spent her time discovering each section while tanner ran around as fast as as his little legs could carry him.

two very good students listening to their teacher.

this cow was a favorite of tanners.  when you squeezed the udders water came out, so he actually stopped for a minute to try it out for himself.

a cute cowgirl.

my kids wouldn't stop to dress up for this picture, so i made emily and lori do it.

katelyn the future doctor.

utah trip-part one

towards the end of june we headed out to utah to attend a wedding. tyler's brother was getting sealed in the bountiful temple to his beautiful bride, jessica. it had been so long since both tyler and i had been to a live sealing, and it was absolutely beautiful. we are both so grateful for these holy and sacred temples that dot the earth and are so grateful we were able to come to utah to be a part of their day.

the kids looked cute in their outfits that grandma found for them.

this was the first time we got to meet our new niece, reagan.  she is adorable.

katelyn and her uncle parker.  she adores parker.

emily and her family.  it was fun to see all of them again.

my cute little family.  it's a little blurry, but it's all of us together.  i sure feel lucky to have these three in my life.

katelyn got to hold this sign as the bride and groom were coming out of the temple.

don't be fooled by this little grin.  tanner was not a happy camper that morning at the temple.  we flew in from wisconsin the night before, so he didn't go to bed until 1:00 in the morning.  needless to say, he was very, very tired, and everyone at the temple knew it.  he threw a monstrous tantrum during pictures.  it was so bad we had to leave so we could put him down for a nap.

and the lovely bride and groom, jessica and andy.

four year pictures

these took me so much longer to get up than i originally planned.  i think i have really bad timing when it comes to scheduling pictures and weather.  thankfully, i have a husband who is helpful whenever i need him and a daughter who was excited no matter when we took the pictures.  although the excitement certainly wore off around picture number 2 when she kept asking if we were done yet.

i think i have a major problem with over and under editing.  i'm sure i'll look at these tomorrow and wonder why i posted them already.

anyway, we love this girl.  she sure is a joy to have in our home with her sweet smile and her happy, bubbly personality.

our little munchkin turned four

our katelyn dear turned a whopping four years old in may.  definitely the highlight of our month.  katelyn was looking forward to this for ages.  we are so glad to have this sweetheart in our home.

of course every year i tell myself i am not going to spend time making those crazy decorations that look oh so cute but aren't necessary. but darn you internet, i got sucked in again by all the pretty pictures and made them.

katelyn's birthday party theme request was snow white, otherwise i probably wouldn't have chosen red, blue and yellow together for a girl.

we have early morning church, so we didn't have a lot of time to play together. but the kids were being silly, so i decided to snap some pictures. 

i don't think tanner heard me right when i told him to put his face through the bars of the chair.  i'm pretty sure he thought i said: tanner, make the fattest face you possibly can.

after church katelyn couldn't wait another minute for presents.  we let her pick a couple of presents to open then made her wait until tanner woke up to open the rest.

dress up from mom and dad

clothes from grandma and grandpa bastian

round two of opening presents.  katelyn decided she needed a new dress on.

camera from grandma and grandpa hedin

purse filled with goodies from grandma and grandpa hedin

thank you, thank you, thank you everyone for your generous gifts.  katelyn was thrilled with everything.

i think we ended the day with a bang when we finally had katelyn blow out her candles and eat her cake.  she was practically drooling over her cake when she saw it for the first time in the store. 

she was waiting very patiently for the cake.

we took both kiddos out that afternoon for a picture of them on katelyn's birthday (and mother's day).

i think katelyn's fourth year will be a wonderful year.  thanks to everyone for making her day so special.