Grammy & Poppy Days

So Dakota has the BEST grandparents in the whole world! Both my parents and Zach's are so sweet and cute with him and he just loves them to death!

So this last summer Zach's mom Vicki decided to start having "grammy days" with Dakota once a week. She teaches preschool during the school year so she doesn't have as much free time as she does in the summer so she wanted to take advantage of her grammy time. It is SOOO cute how much Zach's parents LOVE being grandparents. I hope when I have grandchildren I am as cute as they are. They will drop ANYTHING for their grandkids.

Well, Vicki had last Friday off for UEA and so Doug (Zach's dad) decided to take off work too so they could have a "grammy and poppy" day and sleepover with Dakota and Houston (Zach's sister Ashley's baby). Of course Dakota was more then thrilled. As soon as they showed up I told him they were here and asked him if he was going to have a fun day with them. His response: "Yeah. Bye Mommy." He could have cared less about me...it was grammy and poppy!!!

Vicki is ALWAYS so good to take her camera and snap pictures all the time which is great for me because I am so bad at it. So here are some fun pics from their day...

His face says it all!

Going down the slide with Houston!

My Grammy!

Going for a walk!

Climbing on Poppy!

Where did Poppy go???

More fun pics of other grammy and poppy days:

They got this sweet tractor for the grandkids to ride.

Helping Poppy work!

Snuggling with grammy!

More snuggles!

Going for a bike ride with grammy!

Riding in style!

We are so lucky to have such a fun grammy and poppy!

We love you guys! Thanks for all you do!

Funny/Sweet Moments:

(I'm gonna start adding these to the end of some of my blogs to help me write down and remember all the little things that make being a mom so much fun and so I don't forget them...I don't have the best memory. :) )

1. So Zach LOVES to scare people, anyone, anywhere. He often hides around the house and scares me on a pretty regular basis. He has started to do it with Dakota and they hide together and scare me. Real funny...I know. So today for the first time Dakota scared me all by himself. I was in my closet putting clothes away and I could hear him walking around looking for me. Then all the sudden he screamed and really did scare me in the doorway. It was so funny he thought to do it by himself and did a really good job at it. It was really cute but I don't think that I can handle two boys trying to scare me EVERY day! :)

2. Yesterday as we were driving in the truck he out of nowhere just said, "Mommy, you look pretty." It was so sweet and just melted my heart.

3. Zach has taught him how to count to ten in spanish and he does a really good job. With a little prompting every once in awhile he says every number in order. It is so cute to hear his little voice and watch his little mouth say the numbers in spanish. You are so smart buddy!

Also, sometimes when Zach speaks spanish to Dakota or if you say a word he doesn't know he says, "Don't say that." Like it's not good or something.

4. Every morning in his sweetest little voice he says, "Good morning, mommy or daddy." He says it with so much happiness and enthusiasm. It is the best start to my day!

5. The other day he was playing at his best buddy's across the street, Tanner. Tanner's mom, Terra was making them some lunch and they were sitting at the table together. Tanner said, "Mommy....(and talked to her)." Dakota looks at Tanner and says, "That's not mommy! That's Terra!" Tanner didn't like that so much but Dakota did have a good point. :)

6. He LOVES his buzz lightyear pull-ups right now and he only gets to wear them when he goes in the potty. So now every time before he puts them on he tells them as he holds them up to his face, "Don't worry buzz. I won't get you dirty." (he still does but it is cute that he tells them that)

7. My parents live in Arizona and at least a few times a week Dakota tells me, "I'm going to Zona. I'll be right back." It is so cute that he remembers they are there and wants to go there. I wish we could just go and be right back too. :)

Bunco!

So I am an official member of a bunco team, squad, group, league...whatever you wanna call it. I played my first time with this awesome group (besides being a sub once) on Thursday night and it was a blast!! The best part about it all is the fun girls, the amazing goodies, and of course the prizes. I went that night with full intentions on walking away with the grand prize (I am very competitive :) ) but unfortunately I didn't win anything except best costume (we dressed up in Halloween costumes to be festive ya know)...which hey that counts for something right?!

Before I reveal what I was to win this grand prize, I want all of my millions of readers out there (that's a joke) to guess what they think I am...

You better have guessed a dang Q-tip...it's totally obvious! :)

So I first got this brilliant idea of being a Q-tip back in college. Me and some friends were going to a Halloween party and you know in college all the girls gotta try and dress cute and sexy (at least they think) to impress the fellas (there's always the sexy cat, angel, cowgirl, you know what I'm talking about...maybe you were one of them. j/k) So me and my awesome friend Ashley thought, what is the sexiest costume of all?!

Q-tip of course! :) I mean don't I look so hot?! Except Ashley and I went ALL out! We painted our faces white and wrapped our entire bodies in blue saran to really distinguish the Q-tip look. We had a blast.

So needless to say when I found out I had to dress up and I didn't want to spend any money, I only had twenty minutes to get ready, what did I turn to...the trusty Q-tip. And heck, it even won me a prize! :)

The best part of it all was Zach and I trying to figure out how to keep the batting on my head. I couldn't remember what I had done before so Zach was just taking the scotch tape to my head like there was no tomorrow. It was pretty comical. He was a great sport!

Our Bunco group!!!

(I'm trying to clean Amber's ear but I couldn't get close enough :) )

Thanks so much Chantell for being a great host, especially when you are having a baby within three weeks. You are the woman!!

Ohhhh Relief Society

Alright, so last night was our wards relief society meeting. I had forgotten about it until my awesome neighbor Terra asked me if I was going. She told me we were supposed to bring something that has strengthened our faith, and so on.

So to be completely honest life has been a little too crazy and busy and I'm not gonna lie but I probably have let my house become the dirtiest house on the planet. So finally yesterday Zach and I had discussed that we can't live another minute like this and that Tuesday (yesterday) was gonna be our day to clean it. Well, we were gone for most of the day and it was already evening time and we still hadn't done a thing. So as 7:00 (time for relief society) was rolling around, I was a little overwhelmed with the house cleaning I needed to get done, Dakota was a little whiny and needy because he hardly napped because we were gone all day, and Zach was not in the best mood and wasn't wanting me to go because of all we had to do. To be completely honest, I was not that excited to go either. Now if we were doing a craft or something super fun it is sad to say but I would have had a completely different attitude. I hate to admit that but that was how I was feeling, which is exactly why I forced myself to go. I said because I don't want to go, is why I am going. Obviously I need a little spiritual boost because I have such a poor attitude. Zach is on this little kick of forcing himself to do everything that he doesn't want to do. It has been kind of nice because I can ask him to do things and it forces him to do it. :) Example: Me: Hey Zach will you take this out to the garbage? Zach: I don't want to so now I have to. (and he does it) Not that he wouldn't do things before, but it is cute how he has such a good attitude about doing things he doesn't want to do. It has been a great example to me... So anyways, that got me thinking about not wanting to go and forcing myself to do it.

So, I ended up going and am so grateful that I did...it was AMAZING!! Obviously Heavenly Father knew that I needed it. This amazing lady in our stake came and spoke to us about faith in Christ, strengthening our own faith and testimonies to help us through our lives and trials. Now I'm not a huge crier (You can ask Zach. He knows when I do cry it's a big deal and he always gets a little worried when I do. :) )but the spirit she brought was so strong, I couldn't help it. After she got done we all went around and shared what we has brought that has strengthened our faith in Christ. Now I have to tell you that I am in the best ward ever and we have the most amazing woman in our ward so it was so powerful and neat to hear each person share their experiences. Everyone was just so real and it strengthened me to see what trials and things others have been through that have brought them closer to their Saviour. So often, I think it is easy to think man, why is life so hard for me and everyone else has it so easy but that is never true, we just don't always see the trials others are going through. I have learned so much through our trials and although every day Zach and I dream about a day when life will be a breeze and there will be no worries, I really am grateful for what we have had to endure because it has brought me closer to my Saviour and has helped me become a better and stronger person because of it. I could hardly even talk when it was my turn to share because I was being such a bawl baby so I'm not sure that anything I said was understood but it was great for me to have to think about for myself what has strengthened my faith and testimony in Jesus Christ.

So anyways, I left relief society last night so grateful that I had gone, thankful for the spirit that I felt, thankful for my faith in my savior, thankful for the wonderful woman of our ward, and just thankful for my many blessings!!

So, if you are ever feeling like not going to relief society...you better go, because that is when you will get the most out of it! :)

GIRLS NIGHTS!!!

So, I don't know what I would do without my girls night outs!! I LOVE my family, don't get me wrong...but every so often it is nice to get out and just be with the girls! I feel so blessed to have such amazing girlfriends (both old and new) who are so much fun and just give me a little boost to keep me going!

Thanks to ALL my girls out there!

Dinner at the Olive Garden. This was such a fun night. It started with some dinner, then we couldn't be so close to Children's Place and not stop in. (Always thinking about those kiddos, even when you aren't with them) Then we ended the night with some delicious Farr's ice cream. That was my first time there and it was AMAZING!!! I am all ready to go back if anyone is up for it! :)

And of course the crafts! I would have no crafts if it weren't for these crafty girls who come up with these great ideas!

Check out the fumes from the spray paint!

I didn't leave Heidi's until 11:30 that night but I FINISHED all 3 of my cute Halloween crafts. Thanks Heidi for setting it up and letting us stay so long!

Back in July, my two best girls from high school came for a girls weekend all the way from Colorado and Arizona! It was such a great weekend and it felt like the good ole days!

The thing I love best about great friends is that you can just be yourself and they love you no matter what! I am such a dork so I need that! :) And no matter how long it has been since you talked or have seen each other, you just pick up right where you left off, like you haven't missed a day!

Abbey and Katie...miss you girls!

We went for a hike to Waterfall Canyon...so pretty! We evened hauled Katie's baby Dominic on our backs. He was such a trooper!

We made it!

I LOVE MY GIRLS!!!

Deer Hunt

So, because I am not good at all at keeping up with life...and Hiedi had already blogged about Zach's deer hunt adventure with Jake...I figured, why waste my time and retype it all. So thanks to Hiedi letting me steal this from her blog, here is Zach's good ole deer hunt story with his incredible friend Jake! Written from the words of Hiedi (Jake's cute little wife). Thanks Hiedi!!

Last year after the deer hunt, Jake and Zach were talking about it and Zach said he was going to put in for the hunt this year! Jake put in for mussel loader and Zach wanted to do Archery and we were all praying (and still are) that his vision would be back so that he could have the opportunity to shoot a deer himself. Well the hunt rolled around and Zach still hasn't gotten his vision back and so that meant Jake was going to be his hunting partner and the one to shoot it for him. Jake had a bow a little while back, but sold it to his brother JOsh because he hasn't gone Archery for 7 years, so Jake had to borrow Josh's bow so he could practice before the big hunt! Archery is about 4 weeks long, so they had good odds that they would get one during that time. We have a family friend that has property up on sunridge and so that is where they were planning to go. It didn't work out the way they were hoping (to stay in the family friends cabin for the weekend), but they did go up and would just drive home each morning or night that they would go. They ALWAYS have so much fun when they are TOGETHER and ALWAYS have the funniest stories when they would get home each day/night. They saw a nice 3 point there first night going up, Jake shot at it and missed. SHUCKS!! They were both bummed, but like I said had plenty of time to go back up and try and find it again. The next night they went up, spotted a 2 point, so he got out, shot at it, hit it, but they weren't able to find it after it ran off. The blood trail wasn't very good, so they had NO LUCK finding it. BUMMER again!! Well thursday night (the 2nd of sept) they went back up again, Jake wore different camo because he said his other stuff was bad luck and they spotted this deer with a doe and fawn and so Jake told Zach to walk up the hill and walk towards it so he would push it down the hill towards Jake so he could get a shot at it. Zach did, Jake shot and sure enough he hit it. Zach came back down to where Jake was not knowing that Jake had hit it and so Jake told him, well bud that was a good push!!! Zach replied, "did you shoot at it?" Jake: "yep" Zach: "did you hit it?" Jake: "sure did"!! I got that phone call at 9:30 when they were heading home and they were both so GIDDY, so I knew he got one (we both had a feeling he was going to get one that night and of course, I kept telling myself to send the camera and of course I FORGOT) It wasn't a very big one, but Zach told Jake from the get go, he didn't care how big it was, he just wanted him to shoot whatever so he could have some jerky!! Well, they got home and I came out and took pics of it before they headed out to Friedli's to skin and hang it. Here is the deer ( yep, it is a small one... BAMBI, ha ha)

SO PROUD!!

Thanks Jake for being such a great friend!! (Tessie's words :) )

It still has its velvet on the ears, but HEY IT'S A DEER and now Zach gets his jerky he wants!! They had SOOoOOo much fun, like always and it was fun for them to go up like they did. I am so proud of Jake and know that Zach is grateful for such a good friend!! Jake would do anything for anyone and I am so grateful for that!! Him and Zach have been best friends over the years, but I think ever since things changed in his life last Aug, their friendship has become even better and they wouldn't want it any other way!!

NICE WORK BOYS!!!



PaRTy aNimAl

So last night Zach's cute grandparents had us over for some fish dinner, which was EXCELLENT!! Now I'm sure your wondering so why is this blog entitled PARTY ANIMAL...well, just take a look at this picture and you will see for yourself! :)

So they asked if Dakota would want to dance...you know how it's fun to watch kids dance. Well, none of us knew what we were in for when they turned on the music. Dakota just went crazy and seriously just danced FOREVER!! He pulled out moves I had never seen before and was just going crazy. Poor Grandma got roped into dancing with him and if she sat down he would run over to her, grab her hands, and say "dance grandma!" She was so cute to just keep dancing with him.

You have never seen moves like these before! His expression says it all!

He was the life of the party!

The other half of the night when the music was off, Dakota was LOVING Grandpa's boots. (For those of you who don't know...he LOVES cowboy boots and wears his most every day, no matter what the outfit is.) Grandpa's boots were so tall and heavy for him but it did not stop him from putting himself in them and getting out of them for a loooong time!

One foot...

Now the other...

Success!!! What a cute little cowboy!

He needed a little help to actually move around in them because of how heavy and awkward they were on him. He loved it though!

Two cute cowboys!!! Dakota LOVES his grandma and grandpa!

Thanks SO much for the fun night grandma and grandpa! We sure love you and are so grateful to have you in our lives!

Of course there is always more funny moments to add that I can't forget. (Probably boring to you all, but moments that make being a mom so much fun.)

The other day at breakfast he had his truck up at the table with him and was trying to feed his truck some of his oatmeal. He would say, "You want some truck? No, he doesn't" and then take the bite for himself. How sweet it was to share his scrumptious oatmeal breakfast!

"You want some?"

"No, he doesn't"

(And yes, cowboy hats are definitely needed for breakfast)

Lastly, so we are working on the potty training you know. He has some sweet Lightning McQueen pull-ups that he LOVES! So when we put them on every day I tell him, "Now don't get lightning dirty, he will be sad. Go in the big boy potty," Hoping this will give him some motivation. Instead, he now says after he messes in his "big boys," "Lightnings dirty. He's sad. (with a very sad face) I'm sorry Lightning." At least he says sorry...how can you get mad at that? I'm sure Lightning forgives him too!

That is all for today! :)

ABC's

So a few months ago Dakota started singing some of the ABC's. He knew bits and pieces and with help he could do pretty good. It kinda suprised me when he started though because I really haven't done a whole lot with teaching them to him. He just kinda picked it up from hearing it every once in awhile. Well, he started getting better and better and then about three weeks ago he was sitting on the pot and we were just filming him cuz he was being silly...then Zach asked him to sing the ABC's for the camera and he sang the whole freaking thing without any help. It was amazing. Both Zach and I gave each other the look... "what the heck," you know the look. Since then he just sings it all the time. His favorite is to call people just to sing it to them. Just tonight he has called four people just to sing to them. He is pretty proud of himself. So if you ever wanna here him sing it you'll probably have to give him a call because he does get a little shy on the spot if there is a crowd staring at him. I can't take any credit for it really cuz I didn't do anything special. He is just a smart little boy and suprises us every day with what he knows and does. I know every parent thinks their kid is so smart but I really think he is! :) You can just add me to the list of one of those proud parents. :)

We are so proud of you Dakota! You are the smartest little boy we know! Thanks for making each day so much fun and so full of suprises! We love to watch you grow and learn, but I want you to stay my baby FOREVER!!

 

A couple of other things I need to write about my cute little boy I don't want to forget is awhile back he started copying what I say to him, "Guess what?" Except he didn't understand that you need to have something to say after that, so he would just constantly repeat, "Mommy, guess what? Me: What? Dakota: Guess what?" over and over and over. Just recently he started to understand that he needs to have something to say, so now his favorite line when it's time to go to bed is, "Mommy, guess what?" and then whatever comes to his mind. A lot of times its "I see animals" (talking about the circus). Tonight it was "Snowflake (our horse) is scared of the dogs." The funny part is he will keep saying guess what and something hoping that it will distract me and he won't have to go to bed. It usually gives him a couple of minutes to spare because I love to hear what he has to say.

The other cute thing he did the other day was he started calling me "honey" like I call him. He just kept repeating, "honey, honey, honey."

I am LOVE, LOVE, LOVING this age right now. Everyone calls it the terrible two's but so far it has just been a blast. I mean sure we have our moments, don't get me wrong...but for the most part he is such a blast. He can carry on conversations with me and understand what I'm talking about. He has such a sense of humor and likes to try and scare me like his daddy. He is getting an imagination and plays so cute. He is just soooo much fun to be around and makes us laugh every day!!!

We love you buddy!

He LOVES glasses and he found this sweet pair in the store. Couldn't resist! :)