One More.

I saw this sign on the drive home from the wedding.

We had to pull over for gas anyways.

But the sign made it worth it.

population: 1

Pictures of the Wedding from James' perspective

The following pictures are what happens when you let your 5 year old take pictures at a wedding.

My beautiful cousin, Angelina.

 Bro Sam.

 Lane, Tante Nina's husband. And we were so happy to see him there!

 I guess this picture was an accident, but I'm not at all convinced that it is.

 Bro Sam. Again.

 Oquirrh Mountain Temple. James saw the Moroni on the top and he said: Look mommy! A TRUMPET!
Well, take a picutre! I said. So, he did. I think it's actually a pretty good shot.

Takin' pictures of people his own size.

 Daddy. Funny face.

 Mommy.

 Granna. THIS lady is amazing. I love her so.

 The day was beautiful: not too hot, nor too cold. Windy, but not too windy. Clouds floating lazily in the distance. Majestic mountains. It was a truly lovely experience.

At the Hotel. And a restaurant.

We stayed at The Little America in Salt Lake. It's a great hotel. They have a great cafe, delish room service, and family in spades.

Amy taught James how to play Sushi Cat.

He still asks to play it.

Sorry kiddo. I'm not technologically advanced.

 Mona Lisa needed to rest her feet. So, I told her to put her feet up against a wall. Oliver decided he wanted to do that too:

And he was so sweet about it too. He just walked up to Mona Lisa, sat down, swung his legs up and laid there.

 Later that night:
We went to Buca Di Bepo to celebrate with the WHOLE family: Granna (my grandmother, my father's mom), Uncle James and his family, My mom and dad and our family, Tante Nina (which, translated means Aunt Aunt in German and Spanish), Uncle Stevie and Nettie and their family, Brittany and her family. It was a big party. James was excited about pizza and bubbles.

 And so was Oliver.

It was so great to meet Brittany- FINALLY!- and to meet her family too. She's a DARLING girl, and will fit in so well. Way to go Jacob! She's great!!

Zoo for you

We went to the Zoo. The Hogle Zoo. It was great too. 

Woo hoo.

moving on.

We had a great time at the Hogle Zoo. Jacob came with us and the rest of the family met up with us.

The Zoo was having a "Zoo-rassic Adventure".

Which means they had animatronic dinosaurs placed around the zoo.

This is James' reaction once he saw the dinosaur.

 Jacob in front of the water-spitting scary dino. Seriously, freaky dino.

 This sucker was so scary that my FEARLESS child was not getting anywhere near that thing.

 Check out that straight-on view! Enough to freak me out a bit.

 But then we found wooden horses to ride. That's WAY more our speed.

 And Jacob's speed too:)

 We passed by the elephants- that was cool. But the Carousel was better...

..... for some, but not all.

 Don't worry, once the ride started to move, he got this fantastic look of dawning realization that: 1. this ride will not kill you; and 2. it's actually supposed to be fun. Once he got that down, he loved it.

This is my father. He's absolutely one of the neatest people I know. And everyone who knows him just loves him. I love him too. He's sooo amazing that he persuaded my terrified-of-the-T-Rex 5 year old to come and pose for a picture. Now THAT'S talent.

From the left: Bailey (my parent's new daughter. Well, not REALLY, but she is awesome and my family loves her. She came pasear:), Sam, Amy, James, Jacob. For a point of reference, Amy is about 5 feet tall. Yeah, my brothers are tall.

 And what do you do when you find mini- diggers in a sand pit clearly intended for use by children under 70 lbs. and 4 feet tall? Why, if you are a part of MY family, you weigh around 180 lbs. and you're over 6 feet tall, YOU PLAY ON THEM, OF COURSE!

We had a great day at the zoo! Sorry it was so hot Ft.Mac-ers. But I had no control over the weather:)

Fun in the Sun (hot hot hot)

We had a bit of fun at the Gateway Mall in Salt Lake. When we lived there, I always wanted to take James to play in the splash area, but he was too little. Then there was another pregnancy and junk with my health and, long story short, it never happened.

Until!

I promise this boy was dressed when we left the hotel.

And then Spiderman decided to show up.

 And he stayed around for a little while.

 These kiddos were all congregating around this one area that seemed to shoot foam instead of water. Odd.

 I didn't upload the funniest part- because I accidentally deleted it. (shakes fist at sky- why?!!! HOW?!!!)
The splash park plays music every 15 minutes and has a mini-water show. It's neat because the water gets choreographed and the kids go BONKERS. My child was no exception. As soon as the music started, he was dancing, bopping, running, jumping, and striking hero-poses ALL OVER the place. It was truly hysterical. It also really made me appreciate my high-energy boy-o. He's just so genuine- genuinely interested and excited by just about EVERYTHING. Which can be exhausting most of the time. But that day at the Gateway, all I wanted to do was enjoy him for the little individual he is!
Sweet boy.

And after he got done in the water, he needed dry undies and shorts (I had held onto his shirt while he was running around in the water. Thank heavens!). Unfortunately, I don't just pack extra undies and shorts. So, I had to send out Amy and Ethan to get some. They came back with some awesome undies, all Halloween themed. Eyeballs, Weird Science, monsters/spiders. And he wears them as often as possible. I don't blame him. They are sweet.

Here's my moose. And Joseph!

Why we went to UT in the first place

 Can you seem them?

 Here they are! All the good photo angles were taken... grr.

 ahh. Much better. Isn't she lovely?

 And he's so handsome!

 Jacob: What IS this?

 Jacob: How do I put this thing on?

Jacob: uhhh, new wife? Can I get some help?
Brittany: Sure honey. As soon as I'm done loving on the children.

Welcome to married life!

because....

This post has been a long time coming.

And it's not because I've been procrastinating.

Like I have been on all the OTHER posts I'm trying to talk myself into working on.

One thing at a time here.

But this post has an awesome story behind it.

My birthday came this year with no fanfare at all.

Not that I NEED fanfare- that's not the point. Because I don't.

But my birthday was a crazy day. Its was the first day of school for my Kindergartener (insert stressed sound here), I had to teach piano, teach Young Women's in the evening... and all the blah blah blah things I do everyday just trying to keep my family in working order.

Any ways, is was an un-awesome birthday.

The next day, the Pioneer Woman had a give away on her blog.

I always do those. 

Because, in the immortal words of my high school AP Gov teacher: "Ya know, ya never know"!

The giveaway was for an awesome pair of boots.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

Yeah.

I won.

Crazy right?!!!

Anyway, after a couple of SNAFU's, here they are in all of their glory:

Why, YES that's leopard print distressing on the leather. And YES, they are made of a soft and supple cognac suede with a shiny chestnut patent leather inlay. YES, the design is an eagle and they ARE located on the toe, shaft, heel and back. YES, they are very comfortable- felt like broken in shoes right out of the box.

And yes. I'm in love with them: Ma Bouuts.