Day hike with Kylie's family (Oct 20, 2012)

 

Kylie and Clara invited us to go on a beautiful, fall day hike with them. Dave had to work on our semi trucks, so the boys and I went without him. It was up the canyon by the Bountiful temple. What a pretty little hike. We left early in the morning, around 6:00 am. My boys were complaining a little about getting up so early to hike, but once they were with their cousins they loved it. The 5 kids were always ahead of us. The good thing about that was that we were able to take as many breaks as we wanted, which we did. The end of the hike takes you to elephant rock. Kylie crawled out there with the kids, while Clara and I watched from the trail.I really enjoyed this time with my brother and his family. We need to do it again.

Grandma Roos's Halloween Party (Oct 19, 2012)

 We had Mariana with us that day, so she went with us to my parents house for the Halloween party. Look, Will and Mariana match! She had fun playing with all Will & Tyler's cousins.

The older grand kids got together and played a few hands of Phase 10. I'm rather impressed nobody got accused of cheating.

I love these traditions my Mom has made for her grand kids. I hope one day to be able to do the same for mine. Dave and I are starting to try to get some traditions. We have "Daddy dinner" the first Sunday of every month. Coming from divorced families is sometimes hard. His x wife is trying to hurry and claim every holiday she can, so we aren't left with that many options. I'm glad we already set up our dinners. It is so nice when we can get all the family together. We love it.

Scouts Court of Honor (Oct 10, 2012)

This was Tyler's first Court of Honor to get badges. He is doing really well. Now that it is January, he has already earned all the elective merit badges he needs to get his eagle and he is still only 11 years old!

Here is Will earning some more merit badges as well.

My Cute Halloween Nails (Oct 2012)

Ever since I got my nails done for the photo shoot, I decided I love having my nails done! It's a luxury that I quite enjoy. Here are my cute Halloween nails.

Happy Birthday Kaylyn (Sept 21, 2012)

Kaylyn had to work on her birthday, so we had a birthday cake waiting for her when she came to pick Mariana up. I consider Kaylyn one of my best friends. It is so easy to talk to her, I can tell her anything. Kaylyn is a wonderful person, good down to her core. I am so very thankful she is part of our family. I enjoy talking with her after work and will miss that once she has my grandson Michael.

Craft Time (2012)

Being home, I have found I have more time to work on crafts. Her are a few of my latest creations.

I made the wood creations with Marcy. I got to spend most of the day/night with her while we made crafts together. I had a lot of fun! She is much better at the wood crafts that I am and was a huge help to me.

 I made Mariana this owl hat. It makes me feel good because she really seems to like wearing it.

I had made my boys a set of Winnie the Pooh stuffed animals when they were young. When Mariana saw them, she thought they were for her and she started packing them up to go home. That also made me feel really good, so I decided to make her her own set for Christmas. They turned out pretty cute.

Mariana and Will (Sept 17, 2012)

 

Sometimes to my irritation, Will has an endless supply of ideas on how to entertain Mariana and make sure she is 110% happy all the time. Will makes a great uncle. I can only image what a great Dad he will be one day!

Welcome to the Family Blu (Sept 12, 2012)

Well, we have a new pet, one that I never thought I would ever have. Will got onto some kick about wanting a pet bird. But not just any bird, he wanted one that you can hold and will talk to you. I completely dismissed it the first 10 times he told me he wanted a bird. After all, how many times have they asked for ridiculous pets like hamsters or chinchillas. When Will asked why not, I gave him the usually answers, like for example "we have no idea how to take care of a bird." Will took the challenge of my answers and started doing research into what kind of bird would make a good pet and how to take care of them. I must admit, I was a little impressed with how my homework he did on the subject.

One afternoon on our way home from Walmart, Will asked if we could just go inside and look to see what kind of birds they sell there. For who knows what reason, I actually agreed and we went inside to see what they had.

This is what we found. . .

He was a 3 month old Green Cheek Conure. The worker at the store let us get him out of the cage and hold him. He was very loving and responded well to us. When she put him back in the cage, he started bobbing his head up and down at us and was following us around his cage. It was then that this little tiny bird started to work his way into our hearts. The store clerk said they wont put a hold on living pets, so we needed to decide rather fast if we wanted him or not, because they sell pretty fast.

I had a talk with Dave that night that I never thought I would have. We talked about whether we should buy this bird or not.We knew we couldn't wait for Christmas to get this bird for Will, it would be gone and they could not guarantee if they would have another green cheek conure. Plus, we wanted this bird, not just any bird. This one had a good personality and loved people. Apparently, he wasn't always that way. The store owner said that at first Blu did not like people, so they gave him extra attention and hand fed and cared for him He turned out to be one of their friendliest Conures. I believe it, because Blu loves to be with us!

Much to our surprise, we were agreeing to let Will get his bird. We went back the next day and bought him. He was a little over $300 and with the cage, food and toys, we were closer to $600. But, I like to look at it like this, he is still cheaper than my $4000 cat (with her surgery).

They recommend you give Conures  at least an hour of attention a day. These birds are not like the little (much, much cheaper) birds that you probably wouldn't want to take out of their cage, because you would never be able to catch them to put them back in. Conures love human interaction and thrive off of it. I can honestly say our bird spends much more time outside of his cage than he ever does inside his cage. Sunday is the day he spends in the longest, and that is only because we are at church. When we get up in the morning we get him out and he stays up until bedtime with us.

Blu tends to have an affection towards tall males. He LOVES Dave. No matter who has him when Dave comes home, he will leave us for him. He snuggles up to Dave's neck. He also will rub his head on Dave's hands to get his head rubbed. He has fallen in love with Mountain Dew. I would say that is his favorite food item. If Dave holds up a can, Blu will go nuts bobbing his head up and down, until he gets a drink.

I am writing this in January, and since the time we got him in Sept, we have let his wings grow back. His flying wings are a gorgeous blue color (hence Will's name for him). The flying wings haven't all grown back yet and it's kinda funny to see him fly because he is a little nervous. He needs to think about it and get his courage up. We can take him outside, to Petsmart and he does not leave us. He also loves car rides and to eat whatever we are eating.

He has found his way into our hearts. We love him, we would like it better if he didn't poo, but then he wouldn't be known as the poop mister. Here are some pictures of our newest family member.

 No matter what you are doing, he wants to be there with you while you do it. Like playing the piano (above), or trying to steal your paint brush (below).

 

He will literally eat out of your mouth if you let him (Will does this all the time, I call him the Mommy bird) or nibble on your lips and/or tongue (above), he also like to chew on things like ears or earrings (below).

With the greens, yellows, reds and blues, he sure is a beautiful bird.

Mariana used to love to hold Blu. It was very cute, until one day, when he got his flying wings back and he flew for her shoulder, which made her nervous. She turned her head, which caused him to land on her nose instead. Since then, she still loves him, but doesn't want to hold him.

Happy 1st Birthday Kanyon (Sept 8, 2012)

His Birthday was on the 6th and we celebrated it on the 8th at a park. It must have been birthday day, because a lot of people were there to celebrate birthdays. It is hard to believe that Kanyon is 1 already! He is such a cute boy! I love it when we get to spend time with him. Happy Birthday Kanyon!

 Keenan, Kanyon & Kiersten

 Mariana and Tyler

 Hunky Husband & birthday boy

Kanyon & Ga mama

 Mommy and son

 Kanyon

 Mariana & Kaylyn

Kim & Dave