Utah Trip

We had the chance to go to Utah last weekend. We wanted to visit Utah before I go back to work (this Saturday is my first shift back) and we took the boys to the Draper Temple Open House (Arabella hung out with Grandma Bird). The temple was beautiful. Joey says his favorite part was riding the bus, walking through the tunnels (tents at the beginning), and getting to walk all the way from the bottom to the top-so basically the whole thing. Jon loved all of the pictures of Jesus. In fact, that was the first thing he said when we walked is was that he wanted to find Jesus. Saturday Peter and the boys went with G and G Rabner to a train show at Thanksgiving Point. We then met my family at Chuck E. Cheese for a birthday celebration. The boys had a great time playing games and earning tickets. They put their tickets together to buy cotton candy (blue sticky sugar, yeah!). We also went and visited Great Grandmother Rabner. She is looking really good and is anxious to be discharged from the rehab center she is in. Sunday morning the boys were thrilled to help Grandpa Bird shovel snow. We had a fabulous time!

In other news, Joey is doing great in his speech therapy and we are all thrilled. Jon is doing fabulous with his potty training and has nearly earned his final reward a Go Diego Go movie that is all about bugs! Joey and Jon have gone to 4 free lessons a local karate school and seem to like it. Joey is doing really well and learning to listen, focus and hold still when he is supposed to . Jon is still just trying to do what he is asked like stay with the class. We are going to sign them up and give it a try for the next several months. I think they will both really enjoy it. Arabella had her two month check and was up to 12 lbs and 22 1/2 inches long. She got her shots and had a fever of 102.9 that first night, poor girl! I have made three trips to the Regional Justice Center for a court case I am involved in at work. The first day I sat in the hall for 3 hours waiting to testify and never did. But, on Monday I spent 1 3/4 hours on the stand, yuck is all I can say! I was told I was finished and then I was called back at 4:00 that afternoon and then sent home again at 5:00. Oh well! Peter is keeping busy with work and chuch of course. He is putting together a lesson on Scouting for a combined lesson on Sunday.

New Year and Baby Blessing

Happy New Year to one and all! I hope this year brings peace to all of us as we strive to face these uncertain times with the strength the gospel can brings.

We had a great new year. On New Year's Eve we took the kids to the Las Vegas Zoo! Las Vegas has a zoo you ask?! Well, it is more like an animal rescue and there are not a ton of animals but it is a zoo. The boys had a great time feeding the goats and the birds. Jon was chasing the chickens and pigeons and trying to catch them. Then he got a little too close to some baby chicks and the mother hen fluffed up her feathers, spread her wings and went after Jon. He did not want anything to do with the chickens after that. And if he tells you that the "big bird is mean", that is because an ostrich bit his finger. There is a reason that there is a sign that says don't feed the ostriches, too bad Jon can't read and we did not keep him farther from the fence with his cup of food. That night we went to the Mayo's house (a family in our ward) for a party. The kids had a great time running around and decorating and building a fort out of two couch boxes. We visited with people and played some games. Joey fell asleep while the kids were watching a movie. After Jon decided to sit himself in their bathroom sink without his pants on (we have been potty training), we decided it was time to go. Peter and Joey slept in the backyard in our tent. It was freezing but they had a great time. Arabella made sure I was awake for the stroke of midnight.

Friday my parents and Peter's family came down to spend the weekend and join us for Arabella's blessing. Lindsay and Brady came down on New Year's Eve so we played with them on the 1st. Friday, we ate dinner with everyone at our house. Saturday morning we all went to the Springs Preserve and I am a nerd and forgot the camera. We spent about 4 hours there and loved it. If any of you are ever in Las Vegas we recommend it. We have even found a way to get discount tickets because it is a bit expensive. We actually got a family pass for the year and look forward to a few more adventures there. (I will remember the camera one of those times.) Saturday night we watched movies and had pizza at our house. Sunday we ate a delicious lunch (Peter smoked a turkey, yum! and we had a seasoned roast from Cope's meat in Springville, yum!). We took pictures with Arabella in her gorgeous blessing dress (Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Rabner)! We took the dress off to get to churh and I am glad I did because she spit up so bad it was all over the car seat. Peter gave a beautiful blessing and Arabella cried through the almost the whole thing. She started crying about two sentences into it and stopped the second Peter said amen. It was kind of strange though because it almost sounded as if she were far away even with the microphone right by her. We are so grateful that we were able to share this special day with our family and appreciate them driving down.

It felt nice to get back to our routine today! But we loved having a break! Best Wishes to all!