Idaho visit

Well here is the Idaho portion of our trip out west. We spent the first five days of our trip there with my family. It was so good to be home, even for a short while.

(Had to include this pic because look how darn cute my baby sis, Nancy, is!)

Landon jumped right in to playing with his aunts and uncles.

Uncle Lee showed up a couple days after we came so Landon was trying to get to know him here in this photo.

We visited Mesa Falls. Landon liked the rainbow he could see in the mist of the falls.

Goofing off with his Grandma Anderson

Look at all those awesome Anderson's hanging out with the Davis'.

Aren't we cute:) Ben and I visited Mesa Falls when we were dating in college.

Our little Katelyn always seems to have a stone face in pictures, but she sure warmed up to her Grandpa Anderson.

And Grandma Anderson enjoyed reading books to the grandkids.

While there we visited Jensen's Grove (a park in Blackfoot that has a lake).

Grandpa pushed the grandkids (Landon, Brooke and Isaac) in the tire swing.

Trying to get little kids to smile for a photo is tough. Brooke left a couple days before we did to visit her Grandma Charlotte in Brigham City, that's why she's not in the photo.

And to end the Idaho visit I got to stop in on my Grandma Anderson, who is living with Aunt Jean, on our way down to Utah. She's so sweet and is nursing a broken arm that she has to go to physical therapy for. She loved seeing the great grandchildren. She told me the kids look a lot like me, especially Katelyn. I'll take it! Most of the time everyone tells me they look so much like Ben (and really they do, especially our little man Landon).

I really enjoyed watching Landon and Katelyn get reacquainted with my family since it had been quite awhile since they saw them ( I think Katelyn was only four months old when we were there last). Landon was so funny because he latched on to his uncles like crazy and would walk around the house calling "Uncle Keven ( or Kev) where are you?" and "Uncle Ethan (who he called "other Ben" for the first day) Come play with me." Aunt Nancy did her fair share of spoiling the kiddos too. We were lucky that Krista and Juston (although I don't know how they escaped getting a photo taken--but don't you worry, I got you on the video camera!) lived close by so they could visit with us and have Brooke and Isaac come and play. Landon had a blast with the other children in the house and at the park. FAMILY I LOVE YOU! Thanks for taking time off to visit with us.

Huckleberry Mountain Challenge

Yes I have a ton of photos to share from our 10 day vacation in Idaho and Utah, but this deserves it's own post so you'll have to wait a bit for the other photos.

After our trip to Mesa Falls we stopped at a small diner in Ashton, Idaho. My family had heard of the 5 minute and 11 second Huckleberry Mountain Ice Cream Challenge. Basically you get six heaping scoops of ice cream topped with mounds of whipped cream, nuts, and huckleberries and you have five minutes and 11 seconds to chow it down. If you do, the $12.99 price tag becomes $0.00!

Well, can you guess, that Ben said he was up to the challenge? Oh, and my dad. It was a friendly competition between the father and son-in-law:)

All smiles in the beginning

Time to start--Dad was in the lead for most of the time.

Crunch time. The bites got bigger.

VICTORY FOR BOTH

(Ben managed to pull ahead in the end)

Way to go on saving $26!

And little Landon kept saying Ben was mean because he was scarfing down the ice cream right in front of him and not sharing. "Save some, daddy. Save some," was his tearful plea. So he got a little bowl of his own.

When he finished he held his bowl up and said, "I win too."--So he and dad took a winners photo holding up their bowls. Too cute, right!?

And what was this little princess doing during the whole thing? Why eating ice and hamming it up for the camera, of course.

Nursery

Our "baby" is no longer passed off between mom and dad during the last two hours of church. She gets to be with her big brother in nursery now. Can I just say how crazy it is not to have a child to take care of throughout the three hours of church. Because Landon and Katelyn are 18 months apart we've ALWAYS had a baby tagging along with us...but not anymore!

Staring up at the Nursery leader.

Daddy picking up BOTH kiddos. The nursery leader says that Landon watches out for his "Sissy" and makes sure none of the big kids take her toys away.

She sure is happy now that she gets to play with kids, toys, color, and eat! YAY for nursery.

Zoo trip

Taking advantage of one of the last remaining Saturdays before our move to the apartments in town (and packing up box after box) we decided to take the kiddos to the Zoo. Katelyn was overjoyed that she didn't have to ride in a stroller. She got to wear the monkey backpack with the leash for us to hold on to just in case it got very crowded (which at times it sure did depending on what exhibit you went into).

We love the Nashville Zoo, our only complaint would be that you have to walk a lot from animal to animal--but I guess that is good for the animals because they get more space to roam.

Katelyn walked the entire time, all except for the steepest hill. I'm glad we have a Zoo Pass.

Landon loved it even though he looks serious, and Katelyn, well she only spent a few seconds up there and then spent the rest of the ride crying in my lap.

A quick hug in front of the monkey exhibit.

Alligators. She thought they were the coolest things.

And a $9, one minute ride on a tiny train--not worth the money! But Landon said he liked it.

I'm sure we'll go couple more times this summer--but we'll have to make sure it's not too hot when we go. Tennessee summers are so yucky so you end up spending most of your day inside.

And they danced...

These two are constantly digging into the "storage area" which happens to be the playpen to get the big toys we put away. The swimming floaties seem to be a favorite of theirs and I walked in on Katelyn twirling away in hers like a little ballerina.

A one, two, three...one, two three...

Landon was a bit more haphazard in his dancing rendition. He kept saying, "Boogie, Woogie." I guess I can accredit that to the Wiggles music DVD we have :)

*Note: You might be wondering why Landon is always running around just in his underwear. Well, he kicks of his pants when he uses the potty and doesn't put them back on. That's why.

Mother's Day

I was spoiled on Mother's Day. Ben really made sure to pamper me and get the kids involved. It was one of the most enjoyable days I have had in a long time. Thanks, Ben. I couldn't pass up the above photo because just look at the cheezer Landon is pulling. So sweet.

I am blessed to be a mother to my two children. Raising them may be the hardest thing I ever do but it brings so much fulfillment and joy into my life I wouldn't have it any other way. Thankfully I have the world's most amazing husband to be the father of my children so that makes this journey of motherhood even more wonderful. I want to thank my own mother for being such a great example to me. I may not be as good (or any where near) a homemaker as she is but I do strive to walk in her mothering footsteps. I am also so grateful to my dear mother-in-law, Bonnie, for raising a little boy into the great man that he is today. Happy Mother's Day.

FIVE YEARS

FIVE YEARS! Yep, it's been that long already! Time really does fly when you are busy enjoying life. We have had some ups and downs but really we've been so blessed because of the "easy ride" our marriage has been thus far! It's great that our anniversary falls on a holiday (May 5) because while everyone else is celebrating Cinco de Mayo we're celebrating our marriage--so I kind of feel like we're sharing our own little secret that day :) Hugs and Kisses, and here's to an eternity to go.

We got a babysitter and were able to go shopping and out to eat. We LOVE Red Robin and haven't been there in so long that a cheeseburger was just calling our name. Delicious.

It was a wonderful evening where just the two of us got to reminisce about where we've been and think about where our future will take us.