Hay Ride and Pumpkin Patch

We had to break the Punkinaze tradition because we moved too far from it, so we went to the Big Red Barn in So. Santaquin to celebrate. The kids had a blast, there was a kiddie crate maze for them to run in, an old tractor to play on, and a hay ride to the pumpkin patch to pick a pumpkin. They also have awesome ice cream which we couldn't pass up. It's always fun to try their novel flavors like pomegranite, green pineapple or pumpkin pie and to share licks with each other so we can experience each flavor. I know it's not the most sanitary thing in the world, but we're family! We spent a good part of the day there and had a long drive (about 45min.) back to home.
We stopped by a gas station in Moroni for turkey sandwiches from the little kitchen inside. We had to wait over 30 min. for our food, apparently lots of locals go there to eat for Saturday lunch too. It was a pretty rough wait for the kids... or us...in a gas station with lots of isles of candy and a super cool halloween display that said do not touch all over it. A 80 year old lady enjoyed the entertainment that our kids provided, though. The kids can't wait to paint and carve their pumpkins tonight when Matt comes home!

Palisade State Park

We spent the day at Palisade State park. It's about 15 min. away from Ephraim. We had a picnic, took a hike around the lake and let the kids play on the playground. It was a nice day to be outside!

Nice view!

New life in Ephraim.

Oh yeah, I have a blog... I can't believe how much Sarah and Brigham have grown up since the last time I posted! The latest news for us is that we made a big move from Ogden to Ephraim on August 21st. It's way different here, I knew what to expect because I went to college down here. ATV's are a main mode of transportation here, wild cats are all over the place, I always see falcons soaring in the sky when I go outside, it stinks from the turkey farms when the wind is blowing the right way, and the scenery is beautiful. There is a Walmart here which should cover everything I need to survive. I miss Ogden a lot still, we had great friends, neighbors, and house there. Matt has a good job here though, and I hope that as we get more settled in here I won't feel so sad anymore.

Our first packed moving box. I thought we were moving to Manti because that is where Matt's job is, but we ended up 7 min away in Ephraim.

Moving day.

Saying goodbye.

Lots of stuff. We lost a couch cushion on the freeway :(

Speed limit signs in Ephraim/Manti also state the speed limit for ATVs.

We went for a drive up Ephraim canyon on Sunday. This is the view of Ephraim.

Sarah Jane playing behind our apartment.

From February to March.

Only six more weeks to go on Matt's degree! This upcoming week is Spring Break for Matt's school so I am excited to have him around more even if he is going to be studying downstairs in his "man room" most of the time. We are hoping to get some extra fun in this week though. One of our plans is to start working on our neglected yard to attempt some kind of a garden! Wish us luck on that!

Here's my favorite pictures from the past month:

Matt and Sarah Jane taking an afternoon nap after a long day over this weekend. Usually Matt is the one to put Sarah to bed every night so he has the special ability to make her fall asleep. Of course he isn't immune to falling asleep himself! I love Matt so much for doing that for Sarah. I don't have the patience and serenity at the end of the day to put Sarah to bed like Matt does!

One of Sarah's newest talents is to help me put the clean dishes away.

Matt and Briggy at the model train show. Brigham loved it! In the background is a model train and landscape made out of all Legos. It was so neat!

Brigham ate a breakfast of ice cream one morning. He put his dirty bowl and spoon in the dishwasher then put concentrated DISH soap in it and turned the dishwasher on to dispose of the evidence. The result: lots and lots of bubbles. it took a lot of time to get it all out the system. I thought it was funnier when he glued toys to his wall that day, but less funny than the tissue box glued to my nightstand (especially when I discovered it after the glue had set.)

This is at the safe kids fair in Sandy.

This is Brigham and Sarah steering a helicopter.

Brigham on a police motorcycle. I should of taken a turn on it too!

Sarah really enjoyed taking Amoxicillin for her ear infection. I wonder what they put in it to make it so tasty!

The future graduate, body spray overload, bubble beret, city streets paved in snow and power of chocolate cake.

Yes, I promise to give you everything I said in the title! It is amazing what I can accumulate in about three weeks! And I will try to make sense of it for you now.
I'm ecstatic that we have reached mid-February which means Matt is a few days away from the halfway point in his last semester of school! He is actively searching for all the jobs he can get with his future Spanish degree!

My latest Brigham story happened this morning when he went into our room and sprayed a whole can of Axe body spray in there. We smelled the trouble before we even saw anything! The odor was so strong that it made your eyes water and nose and throat burn! Luckily today wasn't freezing cold so I left the window open to air it all out. The smell isn't as powerful now but our room smells like a first date now- so still pretty stinky. My life is always so full with these kids! I'll share some more of it with some of my favorite pictures from the past few weeks.

Briggy as a Frenchman with a bubble beret!

Matt finally shaved off his beard to start looking like a serious professional that's ready to contribute to society!

Picture of Brigham at Ogden Winter-fest. My city paved the streets in snow for this event.

This was the only time Sarah Jane was happy this day. She had an ear infection and I didn't figure it out until I took her to the doctor the next day. Isn't the power of chocolate cake amazing... she is now on real medicine and feeling loads better without the cake!

This just makes me laugh!

So that's my life for now. I never know what's in store for me the next day!

Team Briggy and Sarah Jane

Matt just completed week 2 out of 16 weeks of school. We are so happy it is his last semester of school. We have been spending most of our time at home, saving what's left after paying tuition. Brigham and Sarah Jane have been playing a lot together lately, nicely for the most part. It makes me laugh when Brigham jams all the magnetic alphabet letters together on the fridge and tells me it says "No babies allowed", referring to Sarah Jane.
They both showed their ability to work as a team when Brigham snuck a chocolate pie out of the fridge and gave himself a slice and put the rest of the pie at the edge of the table so Sarah could reach it. She was so excited to eat the pie with her fingers! I'll post Sarah's pie picture, but since Briggy's in his underpants, I'll withhold his pie picture and stash it in my blackmail pile for later... He had the most guilty look on his face too!

Sarah's pie picture: dirty face, big smile!

Briggy giving Sarah his version of a big hug!

Wasn't expecting this when I went to check on them in the living room.

So cute!

I know this picture is off topic.. but this is Matt's first attempt at pizza dough and I'm so proud of him! It was so delicious! Big thanks to his parents for sharing their recipe and wisdom of pizza dough with us!

Christmas and our 5 year Anniversary

I have gotten behind on our blog so I have lots of pictures to share now:


It's our tradition to have our family Christmas picture taken by a fireplace. This is our first year borrowing someone else's fireplace for the picture.

Here's Brigham showing his Christmas spirit!

Our annual visit to the Ogden Christmas village.

Briggy's favorite house in the village had a train that went around a track when you pushed a button.

Sarah Jane and Briggy at Pa and Nannie's house for Christmas.

Brigham woke up first on Christmas morning, went through everyone's stockings and played with his new dragon castle before he woke us up. Here's Briggy in front of the dragon castle he's been telling everyone that Santa is bringing him.



We love that Brigham is really nice when it comes to sharing.

Matt and I left the kids with Pa and Nannie to celebrate our fifth anniversary up in Logan. We had so much fun! We had a date, stayed at the Anniversary Inn, went to the Pepperidge Farm cookie factory outlet and left with loads of delicious bags of defective cookies and french bread. We also went to the Logan temple for our first time. We loved every second of our exciting romantic getaway!
We are amazed by how much our lives have changed in just 5 years!