Trip to SV

Since Joe was going to be at the VMWare conference in San Francisco all week, I decided to take the boys to Wyoming to visit my parents. Since Joe's flight left on Sunday (the 29th), we drove him to the Salt Lake airport and just kept heading north. My friend Andrea was kind enough to loan me her DVD player for the car, so the ride went pretty smoothly. Here is the view just before we get to Grandpa and Grandma's house.

 Grandpa and Grandma were so excited to have the boys come and visit. Unfortunately it seems we brought cloudy weather with us. There was not a single sunny day while we were there! We went from temperatures in the upper 80s and low 90s to daytime highs in the fifties and sixties! Brrrrr! We actually had to go buy the boys jackets because I didn't pack any. I didn't think it would be that cold!

So here are some fun pictures I took while I was out with Mom and the boys. She took some time off to spend time with us- hooray!

Here is the world's largest elkhorn arch. You are impressed, right? I think I took this picture on our way too Thayne to visit my sister Deanna. I brought her some peaches and tomatoes from our garden.

The next day Mom and I went shopping with the boys. Since there really isn't anywhere to shop in Star Valley, we went to Idaho Falls. While we were driving around I had to stop and take a picture of these round hay bales, which are EVERYWHERE.

We went shopping a couple of places and stopped at the Verizon Wireless store. Since I can text now, I wanted a phone that was a little easier to text with. So my mom got a new phone before we got to Star Valley and gave me her old phone. So we had to get it transferred to my account.

It wasn't long before our shopping time was done. Mostly because the boys were done. Mom and I could have kept going, but not the little guys. So we headed home. Ephraim passed out immediately, but Jacob managed to stay awake. So we decided to stop at the square ice cream shop on way home. I can't remember what it is called, just that it is is Swan Valley and they have had square ice cream cones there for as long as I can remember.

Ephraim stayed asleep in the car with Grandma while I ran in with Jacob. We got some yummy ice cream. Jacob's favorite is any kind of chocolate.

I thought the lake was pretty nice that day too. Can you see all the clouds that were hanging around?

We had our fair share of rain while visiting Star Valley, but I don't think the boys really minded. They had a great time just hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa Heiner!

Jiminy Cricket!

While picking fruit earlier in the week we caught this little guy.

Today we decided to let him go. I thought he might just hop away, but surprisingly he actually stayed put on Jacob's hand. He had a great time watching the grasshopper crawl all over his hands...

 ... right up until it pinched his hand with it's mandibles. Then the fun was over! I was pretty sure Jacob was not mortally wounded, but he cried and howled and said "Mommy, I never want to catch another grasshopper ever again!".

Somehow, probably because he is a boy, this statement just made me laugh.

Dinosaur Museum with Daddy

Today we went to the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point. It was $2 Tuesdays this month, so we all went for a great price. Luckily we went in the evening so the museum wasn't too crowded. The boys had a great time with mommy and daddy, looking at the all the dinosaur bones.

We don't usually get to take Daddy to the museum with us, so it was fun to have him along this time. It's definitely much easier to keep and eye on the boys. Without him I probably would have had one of them in the stroller!

We had fun looking at all the exhibits. Of course I also made the boys pose by some of the statues.

Ride 'em Devereaux boys! Yee-haw!

We had fun playing at the erosion table and looking at our favorite fossils. I also had to include a picture of my favorite one. Isn't it just cool looking?

The boys had a great time at the museum with Mommy and Daddy. The best part was that by the time we got home it was bedtime! Hooray!

We actually went to the dinosaur museum after stopping at the Verizon Wireless store to get Daddy a new phone. He accepted the VMware job for the IT department at UVU. Joe really enjoyed his job with the School of Technology and Computing, but his new job comes with a significant pay increase, he jumps to the top of his pay scale, which is two entire tiers higher than his old job, and his job title actually reflects what he does. He is now a Systems Administrator III- VMware. His new job also means that he will be attending the VMware conference the first week in September. He has been working like crazy to get things situated with his old job and getting ready to go to the conference. The funny thing is that his first day at his new job he will be at the conference in San Francisco!

Another side effect of the new job is that Daddy needed to have a smart phone. So he got a Droid 2. Here are some of the first pictures that he (and I) took with his new phone.

He sent this next picture to my mom for me. She is pretty excited that now I will have text messaging. I think it will be convenient to have, but I don't plan to get too crazy over it. The nice thing is that UVU will be picking up a large portion of our cell phone bill to cover the data and work usage of Joe's phone. Cool, huh?

Swimming in Sauce

Oh my goodness! August is definitely the start of home canning season! Just check out what I picked from my garden the other day:

Tons of tomatoes and more than a bushel of peaches. I already canned 14 quarts of peach pie filling over the weekend (on the 21st) and can't believe I still have so many peaches! But at least they are pretty, right?

So yesterday I decided that I'd better get busy. The boys love to help me use the strainer attachment for my Kitchen Aid to get rid of the tomato seeds and skins. So I quarter the tomatoes and Jacob and Ephraim help me squish them down. What great helpers!

It took me a few hours to get through all those tomatoes. Then I had to add the onions and spices and cook the spaghetti sauce for a bit. The biggest pot I have is my pressure cooker, so I used it. 23 quarts and I filled it up to the top!

Then I bottled the sauce. I was up until after 11 p.m. last night getting it done. Boy was I tired! Probably even more tired than these boys:

 But the spaghetti sauce sure is delicious... and beautiful!

Now if only all those peaches weren't still sitting there waiting for me! Oh the joys of home canning. At least my pantry will be full over the winter, right?

Utah County Fair

Today the boys and I went to the county fair with Stacy and her son Caleb. Since the fair was being held in Spanish Fork it just made sense to go together.

I have to say that I was a bit disappointed. Growing up in Wyoming the county fair was a big deal. The Utah County fair did not have nearly as many animals, displays, or exhibits as I expected. We did get to see some pigs...

and some of the sheep were very friendly!

They also had some old tractors were pretty cool.

We ended up staying at the fair for an hour tops. Then we went back to Stacy's house. I didn't intend to stay for very long, but the boys were having a fabulous time on the trampoline.

I think they had more fun jumping on the trampoline than they did going to the fair. I guess we will have to go hang out with Stacy and Caleb more often!

The boys had a great time and wore themselves out so much that they both took naps. Hooray!

Family Photos, Fall 2010

After going to the Zoo, on Saturday morning Melinda was kind enough to take some family photos for us. We were supposed to go with them up to their cabin, but decided that wouldn't work out. This week Joe applied for a job down in the IT department and UVU. We heard that he was their top candidate, but it had been a couple of days since his interview and we still hadn't heard anything. Then the job offer was a bit less than he had hoped. Needless to say Joe was a little stressed about accepting the job (or not) and the big changes that would come with it.

So maybe it wasn't the best day to try for family pictures because there was a bit of stress, but some of the pictures turned out quite nicely, don't you think?

This one is my favorite, and the one that is currently hanging up in our living room. The next two are pretty nice as well.

Then we took a few pictures of the boys. Aren't they cute in their blue shirts with their bright blue eyes! Such cuties!

We also managed to get a nice photo of Joe and I together.

Thanks Melinda!

Randalls and the Zoo: Take Two!

What a fun and fantastic Friday! The weather was gorgeous and we got to go to Hogle Zoo with Melinda and her three cute girls. I love that the boys and I can get in for free since the Randalls are zoo members AND that we can all drive up together in one van. What fun!

It's also nice that our families are on similar schedules so we can get to the zoo early before it gets hot and crowded. Of course the first thing we had to check out was the water ball at the zoo. It's always a favorite for the kids.

This time we decided to head over to the playground first thing. That way the kids could play on all the fun equipment while it was still cool. They had a great time, and aren't they a cute bunch of little hatchlings?

Then we all had to take our turn inside the tortoise shell. Here are my Jacob and Ephraim turtles.

Melinda wasn't sure that I would fit inside the shell, but I think it looks best on me, don't you?

I love all the fun play equipment at the zoo. The kids went down the python slide, climbed on the spider web, and played on the springy teeter totter. Here are the kids riding on a crocodile.

When we were done at the playground we decided it was the perfect time to take our ride on the train. When I told the boys where we were going this morning the first thing Ephraim wanted to know was if we were riding the train. They all just love it. This time the kiddos decided to all ride together. Aren't they cute?

I turned into the official photographer for our zoo trip, which I figure is fair since I have one less kid. Here is one of my favorite pictures for the day; Melinda and her girls on the train.

When our train ride was over we went and watched the elephant show. Jacob absolutely loves elephants right now, and it was fun to see all the things that Christy the elephant could do. The boys enjoyed watching her flap her ears, trumpet, left her legs, and retrieve objects. They also thought baby Zuri was really cute.

After the elephant show we had to stop at the restrooms next to the carousel. Since there was no one riding we decided to go ahead and take our ride. We had the whole carousel to ourselves, which was so much fun. Here are the boys on their rides of choice. Ephraim rode a leopard and Jacob rode the elephant (of course!).

Next we checked out Asian Highlands. The big cats were pretty cool, but I always like to visit my favorite vintage bike.

Next we went to see the giraffes. We got to see one up close, which was pretty cool. Melinda took this nice picture of me with the boys, which proves that I was there at the zoo too!

On our way back through the zoo we stopped and saw the penguins. Today they were actually swimming around in the water, splashing their flippers and having a great time. It was hilarious because they would get in, splash around, and get out. Then two seconds later they would all get in and do it all over again. Silly penguins!

We also stopped to see Akari on our way back through the zoo. She is a young orangutan that the Randalls are very fond of. I got this pretty nice picture of her hanging out on the log platform.

We finally made it up the last hill and back to the van. The timing was perfect because the kids (and mommies) were all getting tired and hot. It was incredible how crowded the parking lot (and the zoo for that matter) was getting when we left.

We had a great day at the zoo! We may have to look into getting our own zoo membership sometime in the future because the boys just love it!

Super Swimmers

Today was our last day of swimming lessons! Hooray!

For the past two days the kids' regular teacher was back. So it was back to the regular routine. One thing they did was practice their front and back floats. Check out how well Jacob is doing.

They also go to play games and kick their legs at the edge of the pool. What a bunch of cuties.

Clara and Ephraim played little monkeys on the side of the pool (with their teachers being the alligators). They had so much fun are are way too cute!

I think one of Ephraim's favorite things was getting to go to the deep end. Whether by pool noodle, or really big kick-board.

For the last day of lessons the kids got to go down the waterslide. Jacob had been looking forward to today ever since we started swimming lessons!

 
Jacob went down twice with his teacher. Micah got to go down by himself because he was tall enough, and he went three times. We even got Alyssa to go down the slide once. What fun! Since Ephraim's class is so small, he got to go down the slide with his teacher three times!

We also took some more fun pictures of the kids. I managed to catch a pretty cool picture of Jacob all the way under the water.

Can you believe this is the kid that didn't want to put his head under the water at the beginning of the summer? Now he has turned into a fish! He will even go under the water without his goggles on.

All the kids had fun on the last day, playing games and splashing around in the water. When lessons were done the kids went to get a treat and their card from their teacher.

Jacob passed his class! He was so excited and I was very proud of him! That means that Jacob and Ephraim have both passed one level of swimming lessons this year! What talented swimmers I have. Here are the boys and all their friends at swimming lessons this session:

Ephraim, Alyssa, Lily, Jacob, Micah, Clara

I know the boys really enjoyed their lessons. When I asked Ephraim about it, he told about me all the fun things they got to do. I asked him if he liked his teachers and having class with Clara. Ephraim told me "Clara Ephraim's best friend." So cute!

So swimming lessons are over for the year. It was a lot of work to get the boys ready and to the pool every day for two weeks (twice!). But I am glad that we took two sessions and that the boys did so well!

When we got home from swimming lessons the boys helped me use my strainer to get the seeds and skins off of a whole pile of of tomatoes. When finished I put the tomato sauce in the freezer so I will be able to can a whole bunch of sauce all at once.

What great (and silly) helpers I have!

It was a pretty busy day for me. After saucing the tomatoes I put Ephraim down for his nap and worked online. Then I had to get dinner ready and go to work. It was a busy and productive day.