Day at the park...

This week hasn't been the greatest, but the last few weeks have been BEAUTIFUL out! Spring like weather in later January and early February?! It has been awesome! Needless to say, we've taken several trips to the park to enjoy the nice weather. Last week we went as a family and had a great time!

The boys love their time on the swing!

Austin typically spends his entire time at the park on the swing, which means I spend all of my time behind him pushing away!
Ryan likes the swing as well! Unless there are some other kids running around, then he'll join in their fun instead. We decided to take the soccer ball and goal and start playing since Ryan's going to be on a team pretty soon. They had a lot of fun! Austin even gave it a shot! Ryan learning how to step next to the ball with your off foot... ...and give it a kick!!! He was so funny! Last summer I played soccer a few times with some friends and he apparently was watching. He kept kicking his leg so high in the air that he would lose his balance and fall over. It was cracking me up! I asked him why he was doing that, and he told me he was trying to get the ball to fly in the air like when I would kick it in soccer. So funny! I had to explain to him that once he gets the technique of kicking the ball in the first place, then we could later teach him how to kick it high into the air!
Just chillin'!Just being Austin! Little goofball!!!

We can't wait for more beautiful days to spend outside!!! Keep 'em comin'!!!

My Valentines...

I'm late in posting, of course, but we had a fantastic Valentine's Day!!! I spent the day, well evening, with my three most favorite people!

Valentine #1 was my hubby Justin!

And Valentines #2 and #3 were my boys Ryan...
and Austin!!! We had a lot of fun! Justin brought me these beautiful roses... ...which we added to the table decorations Ryan and I did for our special Valentine's Dinner! At each persons plate was their special valentine gift! Star Wars toys for my handsome boys!!! And a video game with chocolates for my sweetie! We enjoyed some heart shaped pizza and sparkling soda!!!
Cheers to you Valentine!!! We had a wonderful Valentine's Day spent with those we love the most and hope yours was amazing too!

'Til We Meet Again!!!

On Sunday afternoon, Uncle Trevor became Elder Schmidt! He was set apart to serve in the New Mexico, Farmington Mission by President Perez and is the first missionary to go into the field from the Lincoln Stake!

Ryan and Austin enjoyed a few minutes with Uncle watching Star Wars!

Austin loving on Uncle!
Ryan loving his Buddy! Trevor with Dr. Dave Pettey our family dentist! He served in the same area that Trevor is going to and brought pictures and stories to share with him. So fun to have that connection! Justin, Austin, Ryan and I with Elder Schmidt! Uncle Trevor and Tyler Ashley, Tyler and Steve with Elder Schmidt I cry when I look at these pictures! After the open house, we enjoyed a few minutes as a family before we had to leave to come home. We knelt in prayer together before giving Elder Schmidt our final goodbye.
Ryan saying goodbye to Uncle Trevor before we left! He told Trevor that he loves him, is proud of him being a "mission boy!" Austin loving on Uncle! Such handsome boys! We are so grateful for Trevor and his willingness to serve the Lord! We know that he had been called of God and will be a diligent and valiant missionary! He is an example to us all! Two years will fly by right?!

Last Hurrah!!

Elder Schmidt reports to the MTC today, February 2, 2011! We are so excited for him and the experiences he's going to have!

This past weekend we gathered together for a last hurrah before he headed off! On Friday the boys enjoyed riding quads around the yard, then headed off for one of their favorite pastimes out at Hillbilly Hill!

Uncle Trevor and Austin!

Ryan and Daddy! Uncle Allen and Austin! Friday night we enjoyed some Wong's Garden then spent some time together at Nana and Papa's house. Ryan and Austin found the horse's and taught Auntie Aubrey and Auntie Megan how to ride them!

Austin and Megan raced across the room. It was hilarious!

On Saturday we were supposed to go to Squaw Valley and ride the goldola and go ice skating. Once we saw the price, we changed our minds and decided that we would just go to the cabin in the late morning for the boys to go snowmobiling and to spend the rest of the day and the evening together. We'll just say that things just weren't going as planned. We ended up leaving much later than we had anticipated, but made it up there ready for some fun!

Austin was ready to get out to the snow! He put Meg's boots on and headed outside himself!A little heavy for those skinny legs! After a while, we finally got bundled up and headed out into the snow and off to the sledding hill! Austin hitched a ride from Auntie Megan! Ryan ran to catch up... ...and got a ride too! Once we got to the sledding hill we had a great time! There goes Ryan! Ooops!!! Such a happy boy playing outside!!! Austin had a buddy to go down with each time! First with Auntie Megan! Then with Auntie Aubrey! Ashley flying by! She learned it's all a little different after you've had a baby! Haha! Megan in her awesome snow suit! After we were sledding for a bit, the guys drove up on the snowmobiles after a long ride in the mountains! Ryan jumped on right away with Dad! Steve, Trevor, Justin and Allen! Steve and Trev Justin and Allen As the guys got back from snowmobiling, Steve ran by the house and came back to get us. After being there for only 3 hours, Dad had a call from the Stake President wondering if he could be there for a quick meeting/interview. We had to head back to take care of our kids they were watching! Mom and Dad headed back down the hill to find that Dad had been called to be Second Counselor of the newly created Lincoln Stake! All of us knew how important it was for us to head home and be there to sustain him in his new calling the next morning, so we headed home after eating Saturday night! So, like i said before, our weekend didn't go as planned, but we had a lot of fun and some amazing and spiritual experiences as a family!