Mining Trucks, Landscaping, and Cute Kids

 We had a major landslide up the mountain here (go here and here for pictures and info). They're using mining trucks to move a lot of the dirt and boulders. We went to see the trucks one night before they took them up the mountain to work.

All the boys, big and little, in front of one of the dump trucks.

 A closeup. I love Crue peeking through the ladder in the right.

 Jared serving as a great example of what NOT to do for the little boys. :) Max put his truck next to the truck for a size comparison.

 Crue and Cooper fit in the wheel. I wonder if they could hold on when the truck drives away? :) 

The sunset over Cedar from where we were at.

We've started working on our front landscaping (hopefully we can actually be outside this summer at our house!). It's a lot of work but it'll be nice to have it done.

 We started clearing and leveling a 4 ft section along the sidewalk where we'll put mulch and either some flowers in wine barrels or bushes. Just beyond that (going toward the house) we're putting boulders as a retaining wall to raise and level the front yard. Crue was being a big helper (we got the boys gloves for Christmas because they were always hurting their hands before when trying to help in the yard).

Along the west fence we had some fence posts in cement that were only for decoration. We're not really sure what they were for. The cement was only on our side of the fence and the posts were not attached to the fence in any way. Jared dug around the cement and used his truck to pull it out of the ground. Our neighbor on the other side of the fence wants to cut the posts off for something else and then we'll get rid of the cement during the city's annual cleanup. Cooper was being a big helper.

It's so cute watching the boys help with stuff. The other day I was working on more clearing and leveling. I used Crue's big Tonka truck to put dirt in and he would take it and dump it where it needed to go. They love that we're outside more so they can play outside and with friends. Our yard had too many stickers and wasn't fun to play on before so we didn't get out much until we got the swingset in back.

 We were at Ace one day (getting some of the free paint they were doing) and the boys decided to sit down with their popcorn. Cooper liked the picture taking and told me later when he sat somewhere else to take a picture of him.

I went to check on Aly to see if she had fallen asleep. She sure had. While she was sitting up so she ended up like this. Good thing she's flexible! She absolutely LOVES that afghan she's holding on to. The other night she had it with her and I tried taking it away so I could change her diaper for bed. She didn't let go. She usually doesn't have it except for going to bed (I wrap her in a flannel blanket and then wrap the afghan around that) but I've learned how much she likes it and have it out more often for her.

Laundry Riser

I had seen some laundry risers online that people have made to put baskets underneath and I decided I wanted one for my new washer. We finally got it done and in the laundry room last night. I'm loving it! To save you from a long post I'll put a few pictures on here of the riser with the cute helpers and you can check out my other blog if you'd like to see more details about it.

Cooper was a big helper (as much as a 2 1/2 yr old can be). I think he was handing Jared screws or something. Either way he was loving it!

 Crue grabbed his chair and the rest of his sack lunch from earlier and watched us prime and paint.

Aly was helping dad and Uncle Kyle put the shelf on. She's a great supervisor.

 Look at that cute face and those blue eyes! No wonder I can't stop kissing that face all day. (I try with the boys but they don't let me as much as she does.)

 She's much cuter than the laundry detergent!

The finished product. I love it! (The shelf between the machines pulls out.)

It came!!

I ordered my washer two weeks before Thanksgiving. It came today! I was surprised to get a call from Lowes this morning to schedule the delivery. Cooper thought it was pretty cool too.

I love how big it is (I can finally wash our sleeping bags at home - we have HUGE ones) and all the options. And the seriously incredible deal we got on it (otherwise it wouldn't have even been an option to get it).

Valentine's Day/Harlem Globetrotters

We don't do much for Valentine's day. Usually dinner and maybe a movie at home later. This year we got a little bit more. That morning we found out Jared won a contest our local country radio station was doing. He won a custom love song that was sung live on the radio that morning for his Valentine, a gift certificate to Morgan Jewelers, a gift certificate to Rusty's or Milts (enough for a dinner for two), and two tickets to the Harlem Globetrotters that night. We saw them the last time they were in town a couple of years ago (Jared also won tickets that time) and it was good so this time we took all the kids. We only had to pay for Crue's ticket as long as the other 2 sat on our laps. There ended up being enough seats that we spread out.
Our song on the radio: (anyone know how to get an mp3 to load on here?)

Before the game

I tried to get a family picture. This was the best I could do.

Globie (#0)and Mini-Globie (#1/2) - the mascots

 Big G - he has some serious dance moves (along with the team in the background)

He climbed on the hoop like it was nothing. I think he did it a few times. Crue told Jared "he's being naughty".

 The tallest player of the night next to possibly the shortest player both on the left. I like the two guys on teh right as they're about to hug. #14 was the comedian for the night (Big Easy was the one that did most of it last time we went).

 This guy put the kid's jacket on and hiked his shorts clear up (Handles - #14 was saying the kid was his son and had him shoot so he could get an autographed jersey).

 Everyone doing the YMCA

Slam Dunk

 Final score (along with daddy's work that Crue pointed out)

 The happy winners

Kelci's wedding

My sister got married the first of February up north and had a reception in Cedar the following weekend. While I didn't do much, the things I did do were time consuming, especially when you add kids, church callings, and babysitting. That's why I've been slacking in the blogging department. One of the things I made was her cake. All the layers except the top are styrofoam. This one has a real cake for the top so they could cut into it at their Bountiful reception (and save it for their 1st anniversary if they want). That's why the top doesn't look so good. I had let the cake thaw too long before trying to make the top piece so it was falling apart and was a mess. A lady in my ward that does cakes helped me with the cake and did a lot of the flowers on it. I was glad for her help and I learned about fondant so I'll be able to do better the next time around. For the Cedar reception we did another styrofoam top.

The happy couple after their cake fight.

Before the reception we ended up having a coolant leak that Jared had to fix before we headed home the next day. We made it to the reception about 1/2 an hour before it started. So much for helping. At least we were able to make it home. And I'm really glad Jared's able to fix vehicles!

The wedding party. Each family/sibling picked a color. We were blue, Lex was orange, Desiree was purple, etc. The two little girls were all the colors (in a tutu and their bows). We didn't have any blue so I made the boys' ties (all 3 of them), my shirt, and I made the two girls' bows.

 Boys and girls separated (and no kids) in rainbow order.

 The sisters. I'm glad Kelci had regular shoes on so I wasn't the shortest. :)

 All of my mom's siblings came. It was awesome! Uncle Kelly, Aunt Nanette, Uncle Jerry, my mom, Aunt Susie, Aunt Shenla.

My Uncle Kelly is awesome. After we cleaned up he played with Cooper. He grabbed him by his shirt/pants (not sure which) and swung him around. Cooper was laughing so hard. He loved it! 

 Cooper running away from Uncle Kelly. My little boys looked so cute in their black pants, white shirts, and ties (thank you DI for the clothes - except Cooper's shirt).

 The next day before leaving we went to a park near my parents' house so my brother could show us his gas powered RC truck. I loved all the boys standing there together - big and little.

 Lex chased Cooper with it a little. You can tell how big it is.

 Crue brought a Jeep and motorcycle and was having fun driving them around the sidewalk going around the toys.

On the way up north we stopped at Ikea. It was a pretty cool place. I was excited because I got a salad spinner for $2.99, a set of 2 funnels for $.99, and a small frying pan for $2.99. My sister put the kids on some comfy rugs we found. We ate lunch there too. It was pretty good.

 Seriously, have you ever seen a cuter girl?

 Some of the furniture was set up like it was in rooms so you could see what it would be like. Crue loved going in each one.

Info about my shirt (especially for Holly that asked about making stuff) and the boys' ties:
Tie pattern from Ottobre Design (search through the pictures for the neckties picture and click on that for the pattern). My friend Erin introduced me to it and I finally made some. I did Jared's the same way but used one of his ties that I took apart, as a pattern and followed the instructions on Ottobre Design's pattern.
My shirt is a Simplicity 3750 pattern. I did view A but did the length for view C (same pattern piece they just have you cut the other a little shorter). The blue is just the symphony broadcloth or something like that at Joann's that I was able to get for $2 a yard with a coupon. The white is satin from a jacket a lady in my ward made me for prom since my dress wasn't modest. Here's a good website to check out for help with sewing patterns and other things. http://sewmamasew.com/tutorials.php. This site has some good patterns if you want to try out something simple (http://www.made-by-rae.com/tutorials/ and http://www.made-by-rae.com/patterns/ - try the newborn pants and the itty bitty baby dress, both are free). Another piece of advice that I found out - pattern sizes DO NOT match your current size. My pattern size was actually about 2-3 sizes bigger than my clothes size. Measure yourself before you go to get the pattern and then you can match your measurements to the ones on the back of the pattern to make sure you buy the right size. If you have any questions let me know.

Siding Problems

Gotta love the Cedar wind. Especially when it does this to your house.

We've been a little preoccupied and unable to fix it. However, it is now tied for priority number 1. If only we can figure out where to get matching siding (Home Depot doesn't have it).

On a side note, these boys were playing cute together in the kitchen one day.

Crue was helping feed Cooper his dinner one night. Sometimes he'll ask for us to feed him (not sure why) and when we're busy Crue will help him.

Pants and Dresses

I am going to Salt Lake this weekend and will gladly take any orders from my blog naptimecraft.blogspot.com to anyone and not charge shipping. Also, if they pay cash and not purchase through etsy or my blog, I will only charge $15 for the pants (that's the normal rate, the higher rate is adjusted for fees I'm charged). Just have them email me at naptimecraft@gmail.com and have them give me your name as the referral. The Bandana Dresses are the same price no matter what. Thank you for passing the word along!

Christmas

This year for Christmas Eve we went to Jared's grandma's house in St. George like every year. His Aunt Louise makes the best Wassail and homemade Clam Chowder. We have a potluck and sing Christmas songs. This year Santa even stopped by real quick and gave the kids some candy. We drove home that night to have Christmas at our house and then went back the next day. We were able to visit Jeremy and Molly and see what their kids got and then we went to G&G Peterson's for a family dinner where Nick and Erica joined us. The kids had SO much fun playing together! It's great that they're all close in age - there's a 6 year old, two 4 year olds (including Crue), another that turned 4 a week later, Cooper was 2 and another turned 2 about a week later, and then a baby that turned 1 a few days before, and Aly that is 8 months. We missed Jared's sister and her family that live in another state. The boys got really spoiled with all their presents. It was a good Christmas. I didn't get pictures of them opening everything but I did get before and after pictures.

I found some kid Santa hats at the store and got a couple for the boys because they've wanted some. Our boys have big heads. I was reminded of that when I brought the hats home. They fit Aly perfect though and since she looked so stinkin' cute in it I kept the one and took the other back. I found some adult ones for cheaper that fit the boys.

The kids with Santa at our ward party. Cooper cared more about his candy than the camera, or even Santa! Aly obviously did not like being handed off to someone else. Crue's used to smiling for me and loved Santa. :)

A family in our ward invited us over for dinner the night before Christmas Eve. Another family came and almost everyone had a part and acted out the Nativity. Aly was the only baby so she was Jesus.

Crue was a shepherd.

Cooper was whatever. He cared to play more with the toy nativity than to act in the live one. He also went and played with Aly during the show. It was funny. They recorded it and we watched it after. Jared and the other two husbands were the wise men. They had robes on and were absolutely hilarious!

Grandma Peterson with her two youngest grandkids. Aly and Caitlyn who are only 4 months apart.

Hanging with Grandma.

The kids and me with Great Grandma Spendlove. Why we didn't get Jared in the picture since it's his Grandma, I don't know. Please excuse the pj's. This was as we were leaving and it was past their bedtime so we put them right into bed when we got home.

I was hoping to have new pajama pants made for them to open and wear Christmas Eve but I ended up not getting them done until 1 or 2 am Christmas morning. So I put them on the floor outside their doors to find in the morning (Cooper - dinosaurs, Crue - snow board/ski, Aly - fun animal print).

Jared blocked the hall when we went to bed so we could video the boys' reaction to their presents. You can kind of see the vacuum on the chair on the right. Jared found a little newer version of our vacuum for $5 at a thrift store so he got it since ours has been slowly getting worn out. When Cooper saw this picture as I was typing he said "there's my vacuums!" There was a vacuum on each barstool with the blanket over them.

 The tree with all the presents.

The stockings. Aly only got bows since she can't eat the candy and the stocking on the far right was for my brother that lives with us. The boys each got a new sippy cup and an LED headlamp for camping. No stocking stuffers for the adults this year (I guess Santa ran out of coal before he got to our house). :)

 We found a good deal on a Power Wheels Jeep up north so my mom picked it up for us. Crue's been asking for a toy jeep that he can drive. Mom and Dad delivered. Santa brought a new battery so it can go a little faster (the battery it came with is a good around-the-basement battery). 

 Crue got a hummer with a guy and motorcycle from Santa.

 Cooper got a tractor (that makes noise) with a trailer that had a four-wheeler and hay bales loaded. They also got matching Cars tents that they got to use that night at G&G Petersons, Cooper got a Cars sleeping bag (Crue got one a previous Christmas), gloves so they can help when we work on our front yard this spring, and lots of other things. They were sure happy!

My parents found a couple of ping pong tables at a store that was moving and they had some of the bigger stuff marked way down. They got one for us (we're the only ones with a house and somewhere to put it) that Jared finished setting up Christmas Eve and they got one for them. 

 Did the 2011 Christmas Tornado hit your house too?

 That night after putting Aly to sleep at G&G's house we took the boys to see the temple lights. Crue ran right up the stairs and Cooper wasn't far behind.

 I love this shot of them with the lights and the temple behind them.

My mother-in-law has two things of candy - one with peanut m&ms that I usually raid (and Jared and the boys a little too) and one with Hershey's Bliss that the boys can reach a little easier and love to get. Rather than going to the kitchen garbage nearby, Cooper would sit under Grandpa's computer desk, open his candy, eat it, and throw the wrapper in the garbage right there. It was the funniest thing.

 We were thinking of taking the boys to a parking lot so they could learn to handle the Jeep a little better without as much to hit as our basement had but then Jared just took them to our front yard. It worked great. Jared had seen where people put real rubber tires around the Jeep tires to give them more traction so he did that. It works great but it's a little more bumpy on the sidewalk/driveway.

 Cooper drove a little too. They both love it and are really good about taking turns driving. Notice Cooper's tongue hanging out. :)

I love their faces in this one.

Every time Crue drove, Cooper just sat there calm as could be with his hands in his lap. The front "windshield" would fall down sometimes and they'd both reach and pull it up. They were so cute together!

(I have a video to post with them riding around in the Jeep but for some reason I can't load videos to the blog. I thought before it was because they were HD and too big but I did a different setting and it's still not working. Anyone know why? It says something about server rejected.)