Happy 2nd Birthday Sarah Jane.

We celebrated Sarah's birthday at home and then threw her a big family party over the weekend. The party was lots of fun and we had all of Sarah's cousins there (minus the three that live in Washington). Matt had to make a last minute run to burger king to get some crowns for the boys because I had cute stuff for the girls and nothing fun for them! I really tried finding something for the boys before the day of, but the best I could find were plastic swords and I knew much better than to hand them over to a group of wild boys at a party!
I'm so happy to see Sarah growing up and I'm already amazed at how much she changed in just two years! I'm so thankful to have her and her sweet personality in my life. I've really enjoyed hearing what she is thinking about now that is starting to talk! The majority of what she has to say is about treats, Briggy and her family! She is so lucky to have so many cousins around her age to play with! Happy Birthday to our little raccoon, rah-rah, boo-boo, aahh-jane, little girl!

This is Sarah celebrating her birthday with us. She loves her Daddy!

Of course I did a homemade crazy birthday cake for her big party like I always do for both my kids. This year it was a pink and purple pony for Sarah. I used the same cake mold that was used for my birthday when I was a kid and in love with "My Little Ponies". I knew I had better use it this year before Sarah is old enough to choose what cake she wants because kids never choose what mommy wants!

Sarah fell asleep while everyone was eating pizza and I was worried for a little bit that she wouldn't wake up to open her presents and blow out the candles!

Uncle Trent, Aunt Katherine, Cousins Tyler and Peter.

Uncle Jon, Grandpa Larsen and Aunt Rachel

Uncle Nate.

Blowing out candles.

Ready for Cake!

Aunt M, Grandma Larsen and Grandma Brown (a.k.a. Nanni)

We had lots of available help for opening presents!

These are the "Larsen" cousins (minus Olivia and three Washington cousins)
Hannah, Brigham, Tyler, Sarah, Eric, Bella, Peter, Ethan, Clay and Patrick.

Larsen cousins + cousin Lucy and Mollie.

Halloween 2010

We had a great time preparing for Halloween, Matt carved the family pumpkin while the kids painted their little pumpkins.

Brigham L-O-V-E-D pulling pumpkin guts out.

Sarah is our future little artist, she loves to paint, draw and color. She was so excited when I set paint and a pumpkin out in front of her. I love how focused she is, with her little tongue sticking out in this picture.

This is Brigham's masterpiece. I love the colors and the mouth with sharp teeth.

Brigham working on another pumpkin.

Icky hands!

I finally captured an awesome picture of the kids where they are both smiling and looking at the camera... and then Matt has to misbehave!

Proud of my pumpkins!

Our little pumpkin family.

We went over to Grandma and Grandpa Larsen's home to celebrate halloween and trick or treat with family.

Sarah Jane as a fairy.

Brigham as a dinosaur (holding a gun). I don't think you can find anything more dangerous than that! I call this creature the Brigosaurus!

Looking cute and ready to go trick or treat!

Cousin Ethan the bee and Sarah Jane.

Trick or Treating. It rained the whole time, we only could catch a break on covered porches.

Our family all dressed up except for Matt who is too cool for a costume.

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.