A Visit from the Smylies

The Smylies were in town visiting from California. They house hopped all the way up to Ogden and we had a blast. I loved seeing Ellie play with her cousins. The girls have gotten so big and they were all so sweet to Ellie. I got a glimpse of what Ellie and Lucy will be like in the future. We talked and talked and talked some more. The girls played, we ate pizza, went to the rope park and toured downtown and the train museum. 

Jared left the next day for a weekend in Portland visiting Gideon and Katie. Meanwhile here in Utah we had one last hurrah with the Smylies at Aunt Miriam. We had a special guest appearance by Uncle Isaac. 

These girls playing together is the cutest thing EVER. Pretty sure Eliza was playing dead in the bottom picture. There imaginative scenarios crack me up!

The Rest of March

So after Birthdays, Easter and a Family trip we were in recovery mode. We laid low and took it easy the rest of the month. I tend to stay home a lot more with two kiddos. Sometimes its just not worth the work and effort to get out the door. We are home bodies and I'm okay with it. Ellie maybe not so much, she will learn to be happy at home and that we don't need to be going somewhere to have a good day. 

I was able to share my watercolor skills with the young women in the ward during an activity night. Me teach others how to watercolor....I don't even really know what I'm doing. It was really fun, the girls seemed to have fun and I was super impressed by their artistic ability. I gave them each a copy of this quote. I LOVE the way it turned out!

We got a Jurassic Park book at the library that brought all Ellie's dinosaur dreams to life. The book paired with an app and the dinosaurs popped off the page. Jared and I had fun with it too!

Ellie with Arlo and Sarah (the triceratops) our new addition from our Vernal trip.

Movie night for the new Star Wars. Ellie dug it, she stayed interested through the whole thing. It was really fun for Jared and I to do something with just Ellie. Of course she thought Rey was the bomb and insisted we do her hair just like her the next day. Since then I think she has taken a liking to the dark side.

Gardening prep on Conference Saturday. We worked in the yard with conference on the radio for all the neighbors to hear!

Little Lucy sitting up and two teeth.

We recently discovered how amazing the raspberry bread pudding was from kneaders. Well we were going to go broke indulging in the delicious soggy bread so I found a recipe and it is spot on! 

Raspberry Bread Pudding

I'm trying to starts Saturday morning chores. I guess cleaning the toilet can be on Ellie's list.

Project paint the kitchen white continues. We are so close to being done. I can't wait to post the after pictures!

Dinoland | Vernal, Utah

We decided to take a trip to Vernal to see Dinoland in all it's glory. We visited the field house museum in Vernal and drove out to Dinosaur National Monument. I excepted there to be more at the field house museum, but the National History museum in Salt Lake actually has a lot more.The National Monument was really cool. Seeing the wall of dinosaur bones made the whole trip worth it.  Ellie enjoyed herself. She spent her birthday money at the gift shop. She got a new triceratops stuffed animal and a dinosaur flashlight. Ellie loved that the hotel had the disney channel and Paw Patrol was on. Thank goodness there was a Wal Mart. I visited it 3 times due to the fact that I forgot stuff ( baby food, snacks, etc. etc. ) We ate at a highly rated pizza place that turned out not so great. Apparently 5 stars in Vernal is about 3 Stars here. We drove home the northern route through Flaming Gorge, it was really pretty. There were signs all along the highway with dinosaur facts. Where they had found different species and when. It was really interesting. 

Jared and I are such home bodies and love spending the weekend working around the house and in the yard. We learned that there is a difference between a family trip and a vacation. We were both spent. Being away from home with two kids is hard and trying to sleep in a bed with a wiggly 4 year old is the worst. But we did it, we went on a family trip, YAY! Next trip.. Eureka.