Catch of the Day

Mommy: What are you doing?
Jr.: I'm riding a zebra.
Nichole: Vrrm Vrrm.
Jr.: Push the button.

Catch of the Day- Prayer Works

As we sat down to take pictures at the North Window Arch in Arches National Park, a gust of wind blew Nichole's hat right off her head and over the edge of a dropoff. So sad. Jeremy went down to see if he could get it or if it was gone for good. The kids and I stayed sitting right where we were and said a prayer to ask for help for Jeremy to be able to get the hat if it was possible. If not, we would try to get Nichole a new hat, but this was her special hat. I saw Jeremy coming back up with empty hands, but he gave me a thumb's up so the kids and I immediately said a prayer of thanks. Apparently after the dropoff it became a more gentle slope, so Jeremy was able to go around on a bit of a switchback to where Nichole's hat fell. If it had been blown just a few feet more in one direction, it would have ended up in some crevices where Jeremy could not have gotten it. After that Jeremy kept Nichole's hat in his pocket. We were very grateful for the blessing of getting Nichole's hat back and for the reminder once again that prayer works.

Arches

Jeremy had a show in Monticello, Utah, this last weekend, so we all headed down for a few days. We got a good start, hoping to leave at 9 or 10am, we actually left at 11. Not too bad with 2 toddlers.

At the rest area on the way, the kids had some cool down time with the misty mates (pump 'em up, turn 'em on, mist away). Jeremy took time to photograph lizards.

On the way to Monticello, we stopped at Arches National Park to see a bunch of rocks. I'd never been there before so I didn't know what to take pictures of so Jeremy turned off at every viewpoint and I jumped out of the car to take pictures. At Balanced Rock we decided to let everyone out, and of course it started raining. Lightning in the distance and thunder rumbling. At least it wasn't too hot for August. It was also quite windy and the kids' hats kept blowing off. At one point, Nichole's hat blew off and almost blew off the trail. I said I would have sent Jeremy off the trail to get it if it had, even though they had signs saying, "Please, stay on the trail."

We went across the street from Balanced Rock to picnic. It was fun to watch the ants with food we accidentally dropped. Man, those pincers on the ants are huge when zoomed in with the camcorder. I know it says don't feed the wildlife, but I didn't mean for the chips to fall.
We drove on looking at more formations until we got to a nice walking/hiking area. Actual arches. In the Windows Section of the Park- North and South Windows and Turret Arch.
As we were walking up to the North Window, some of the people walking down were cheering Jr. on for doing such a good job walking up. Some others saw his baby cougar BYU shirt and showed their approval.

We spent some time at North Window where there was a beautiful arch of a rainbow through and above the rock arch. It was a bit of a dropoff through the arch, so I made the kids sit down by me while Jeremy took pictures of us with the rainbow.

After the windows section, we headed out of the park by way of the Visitor's Center, which was closed by then but the bathrooms and drinking fountains were open. That and they had some animal statues that the kids played with. My hair got totally windblown while we were in the park. It was pretty fun.

Before we got to Monticello, Jeremy mentioned that he'd been thinking about how there was the construction on the road in front of the motel last year, but there wouldn't be this year. So as drove into town, guess what? Construction on the road outside the motel. It made us laugh. Also as we pulled into town, we saw a building not too far away that looked like it had a gold statue on top. I didn't realize there was a little temple in this area. Cool. Saturday before we left we took the kids by it so they could see it and Nichole could sing, "I Love To See The Temple."

Good family trip.

The KAT's Meow

Nichole: Now you can sing. Can you sing, "Blah Blah Blah?"


Nichole: I'm not feeling very well. Maybe pancakes will make me feel better.

Where do the kids sleep in the middle of the night?

This happened to me one night:
I couldn't sleep so I was up for a few hours in the middle of the night. When I decided to go back to bed, I turned off the light and went into my room. Climbing into bed, I felt an extra body that wasn't there when I had left. My husband was still there but my daughter was now lying there as well. I picked her up and carried her back to her room, practically stepping on my son who was lying right inside their doorway asleep. I guess he didn't get as far as his sister.

Catch of the Day

Daddy, I'm making balloon animals.

The Purple Turtle

Jeremy and I were working on a big project all week, a project that involved me making lots and lots of balloon animals and not giving my children enough attention. We all had a rough week and we were all somewhat sick with something. The project is over, the balloons have all been popped and thrown away, so today we celebrated. Jeremy volunteered a couple Thursdays doing balloon animals at our local park. To say thanks they gave him 4 cards each good for $5 worth of food at the Purple Turtle. For you non-Utah Valleyites, the Purple Turtle is a kind of land mark in Pleasant Grove. It's this little fast food restaurant, the shape of it and roofing makes it look like a turtle shell. And it's purple. Hence the name. It's one of those places most people around Utah Valley know what you're talking about when you say The Purple Turtle. It's been around for years. Well, it just so happens that we now live a couple blocks away from the Purple Turtle. We pass it quite often, and Nichole is very familiar with the Purple Turtle by sight. Blah blah blah, ramble ramble ramble, now back to the plot. As soon as we got inside today (packed with people like most days), Nichole started getting really excited. "The Purple Turtle," pronounced by her without the R's (so cute). "I want ice cream." So, this is what we got: a kid's combo with corn dog, small fry, and a small drink, we got a chocolate kiddie shake, a hot fudge sundae (meaning vanilla ice cream with some fudge on it- I wasn't all that impressed), a turtle deluxe (hamburger with beef and ham/bacon and cheese and the usual toppings), sweet potato fries, and a Bubblegum shake (with real pieces of bubblegum) all for $2.65. That's what we had to pay after the $20 off. The prices at the Purple Turtle are horrible for fast food, in my personal opinion. But they're always so busy it seems. This is only our second time going. The last time was years ago. Anyway, the food we ordered all ended up being everyone's food. Well, we were all sick with the same thing so it couldn't get worse, could it?
We didn't finish all the "ice cream" so we brought them home. Luckily we live so close because they were enough of puddles just sitting in the car for the short ride. They are now in the freezer ready for the kids to enjoy them later.
When we got home Nichole wanted to show off her "hair brushing." She's so cute. Yay for celebrating.