January 2019

We started 2019 off strong, continuing our fun in Utah!

We did our traditional family ski day at Brighton. Not everyone could make it this time, but Gavin & I, Megan, D, Hailey, Jake and my dad spent time together on the slopes. So fun! and so beautiful!

 This picture is a funny memory of the day: I spy my dad sliding down this hill! He fell and lost his ski at the very top of this hill, and the ski went all the way down the hill until someone caught it! So he had to slide down the hill on his butt because he only had one ski.

Side note: Gavin had an awesome fall in this exact spot. He didn't lose his skis, but he slid all the way down this hill on his back!

We also took Owen skiing at Alta. We took him last year but this year went much smoother. Owen was nervous but he actually enjoyed it... as long as we were holding on to him! He loved the free kid's chairlift, which surprised me. I can't wait to take him back!

Then it was back to Dallas! Gavin had a week of paternity leave left so we tried to squeeze in a few more fun things with him.

The third Thursday event and Texas River Ranch Horse Park.

and we went swimming at the Plano Rec Center!

Gavin went back to work (4 days a week), so I had to get used to doing things without him again. It was fun while it lasted haha!

Can you tell that the boys loved having their dad home?

Gavin went back to work, I went back to the day-to-day grocery story runs,

Trips to the park,

Getting outside,

and playing at home.

Owen started up joy school again, and started swim lessons!

(joy school bake sale complete with Owen's choice: shark cupcakes)

(giving farm animals a bath)

I'm sure I missed some things because January was a fun and eventful month! I wish I got more pictures of my boys with our families while we were in Utah, but we'll be back soon (6 weeks soon)!

December in Utah 2018

We spent half the month in Utah- celebrating Christmas with family, and taking advantage of what Utah has to offer in the winter! Here are some of the fun things we did while in Utah during December...

We took Owen Ice Skating! This was one thing he was so excited to do! Last year, Owen was really scared to go Ice Skating, so we were glad he didn't really remember that experience, and had fun this time around! We went to the new outdoor rink in Herriman.

We took family pictures with the McCleary family. We did take family photos at a studio, but the picture we stopped and took at Costco is the photo that made the Christmas card.

We caught up with friends and family we hadn't seen in a while...

Grandma and Grandpa Cook at my mom's house:

My girl friends at Bahama Buck's:

Gavin's friends (and the Miles baby who is the same age as J) at Cubby's:

I dressed up for our annual Mocktail Party at Brent Devey's house. My "fun" goal for the year was to dye my hair pink, so I had to make that happen before the year ended!

We took Owen sledding at a little hill in Riverton. We really had to coax/talk/force him into it at first. He's a nervous kid! but he ended up loving it and got braver and braver as time went on. I think sledding ended up being his favorite part of being in Utah!

We went sledding again a few days later with my siblings at the hill in Sandy where we grew up sledding. It was a blast! Owen got really brave and he played hard!

We did a lot of relaxing, playing, and hanging out.

 And of course we celebrated Christmas! That deserved it's own post!

October 2018

I listened to a podcast (because I'm into those now) about the importance of journaling. They mentioned to just start where you are and not feel overwhelmed by the thought of catching up. So, maybe one day I'll catch up.... but here's where we are at now!

Our October started out in Utah! We went out there to bless J. Fall is Gavin's busiest time of year for work, so Gavin just came to Utah for the weekend- to celebrate his birthday and give J a blessing. Then Gavin went back to Texas to work, and I stayed in Utah with the boys for another 10 days. It always amazes me how fast the time goes by there! 
We spent lots of time with family, doing festive Halloween things, and enjoying the beauty that is fall in Utah!
We went to Gardner's Village to do the witch scavenger hunt with the kiddos. Owen's "Catboy" costume was a gift from my mom. It wasn't intended to be his Halloween costume, but that's what he wanted to wear through the whole month of October, so it worked!

Drove the Alpine Loop in between conference sessions. For personal records sake- this was the highly anticipated conference where they announced the new two-hour church block!

 I freaking love this picture- Megan is helping Owen pee into the weeds, and I'm trying to keep J warm while breastfeeding him. We were in the wild, ookayy?!

Bells Canyon- gotta take advantage of the being able to hike while we're in Utah!

 

We flew back to Texas just me and the two boys! It was a lot of work, but they did great!

We only enjoyed this peaceful scene for about 20 minutes, but I'll take it!

Owen is a nervous kid. He was really nervous driving the Alpine Loop (and I'd be lying if I said it didn't freak me out a little too), and he was pretty scared to ride the airplane too. There was a lot of hand-holding through it all, which I don't mind!

Back in Texas- this was the coolest (temperature-wise) October we've had here, which was nice! It rained a lot, so we had to spend more time indoors than usual. Here are a few things we did:

Arbor Hills Nature Preserve- every time we go, we get off the path right here and throw rocks in the water.

 

 another breastfeeding in the "wild" picture!

Play Street Museum- these little indoor play museums are all over Texas and they are so cute!

We went to a Pumpkin Patch

 And celebrated Halloween as the PJ Masks crew!

Here are a few other random pictures of our cute little boys this month!