Aquarium

Since today is such a special day (1st day of college football), I thought I would do something extra special and actually post something on my dusty neglected blog. Did you guys give up on me already? Dang it.
Well, way back in July sometime we went to the Aquarium in Sandy. They have penguins and since we missed them at the zoo we promised Jordan we would take him to see them there. We rode down to Bountiful with Benji on a day where he only worked half the day. I don't remember what we did in the morning, but then in the afternoon we drove to the aquarium. We had a good time.

We spent a long time looking at the penguins. Little known fact: Penguins are one of my favorite animals. Jordan and I have a lot in common. They were fun to watch swim by in the water, they were fast!

I loved the octopus!

I know Sam was having a great time because by the time we were getting ready to go he was crawling, wiggling, and walking like every animal he saw.

He would announce, "I a fish."

Or, "I a crocodile!"

Here they all are walking like penguins!

So as much as Jordan loves penguins this pretend boat was his favorite thing they had there.

BUT I'm starrrrrrrving.

I love when my boys beg for an apple and then I find it an hour later like this.

Camp Hillary 2011

We have an annual tradition of camping in Benji's parent's back yard during the summer. We call it camp Hillary, because that's the name of the tent.

It's fun to have dinner, hang out with everyone, play games and then camp. My boys love it!
I didn't take very many pictures this year. I had to run out in the morning and get a picture before they took the tent down.

This is Sam pretending he's asleep:

26 weeks

These are my last few weeks before my 3rd trimester. Baby Hannah* will be here soon (but not soon enough).

*Name subject to change.
*Don't tell Benji I put her name on my blog.
*He probably doesn't care though.

Dear blog (and readers of blog).

I am in an intense nesting phase of pregnancy and have no time to blog. I have many new stories and pictures, but no time. I spend most of my day cleaning and organizing things. I even painted my bathroom the other day. And then when I'm too tired to do any of those things I write long lists of things that I want/need to do. Those lists make me so tired I want to sleep.

So, you see, I have no time for you right now.

But hopefully I will soon.

Sincerely,
Melissa

24th of July

So for Pioneer Day we went down to our cabin in Fairview for a few days. We went down to work with Benji on Thursday and went to the Tracy Aviary while he worked. When he was done we drove down to the cabin to have fun. We got there kind of late, so we put the boys to bed and Benji and I watched a few movies.
The next day Benji went fishing and the boys and I played at the cabin.
We went for a walk down to the creek in the morning.

I enjoyed the cool shade while the boys threw rocks in the water.

Jordan is really good at posing with rocks:

The boys took turns taking rides with me on the four-wheeler:

Later that day we went and got ice-cream at a local place called Shave n' Cream:

I wanted a picture of just Benji, but Jordan slid right into the picture, how cute is he?

That night my mom came so she could join us for the parade the next day.


I would like you all to know, I do not enjoy parades. I feel like they are just big advertisements in the hot hot hot sun and I kind of find them boring. My boys love gathering up the candies thrown at them and there are some fun floats and things to see, so it wasn't a waste of time, and I wasn't completely miserable.

We saw plenty marching bands.

And beauty queens.

And rodeo royalty.

And pretty horses.

And babies on the back of trucks.

And babies in trucks.

And demolition derby cars.

Benji said it was pretty much just like Mardi Gras.

We had a good time.

Except when you have sunscreen in your eyes (like Jordan did) and if dad puts you on his shoulders and you're afraid (like Jordan was).

We then went back to the cabin for a fish lunch, more 4-wheeler rides, more fishing, some relaxing and Sam proudly picked me this flower.

Then that evening we packed up and went home.

The end.

Scouts

My calling in our ward gives me the chance to help out with scouts and go to pack meetings. I have loved getting to know the scouting program and I'm excited for the time when my boys are scouts because I've seen what a positive thing it can be in lives of some boys. My boys love that they get to go to scouts and have enjoyed pretty much every pack meeting we have attended. Last week we went to Box Elder campground to roast hotdogs and smores and explore the wilderness around us.

My boys loved it, and are begging to go back already. Their reaction to playing at the campground made me want to return soon too because I could tell they genuinely had a great time. Jordan kept saying, "I had a SUPER fun time!" and "thanks for taking us to the campground!" They were gushing all the way home on what a fun time they had.