Pony Boy (&Girls!)

We LOVE our local library! They had an amazing summer reading program with great prizes and activities. For their end of summer celebration they had a petting zoo come to the library! SO fun & FREE TOO! Bonus? PONY RIDES!!!

Waiting in line for the pony rides... SO hot... SO worth it!

Waiting in the SHADE while mom waits in the hot sun. Good thing they are cute... VERY CUTE!

B was juuuuuuust a little excited if you couldn't tell...

My little pony boy : )

Bailey was pretty nervous at first but she did great.

Bailey was a lot smilier on the pony with big sister!

Braxton's favorite zoo animal to pet was the piglet.

McKenzie's fave was mother goose!

Bailey would only pet the bunny through a little hole where his fur stuck out. It was pretty hilarious!

 

Kenz kept sneaking back to pet sugar some more. 

The Goat/Bailey Evolution

Touch THAT? No, how bout i just wave "Hi" /  Ok fine.. i will touch it  /  HEY! WHAT THE HECK! I FINALLY GET UP THE NERVE TO PET YOUR STINKY BUTT AND YOU RUN AWAY! BOOO!

Bailey must have had a blast.since she couldn't even get through lunch!  Pony Girl Lightweight : )

UTAH TRIP (Part 3)

Sheesh... hopefully I can finish my Utah blog posts before an entire month goes by... 

Mckenzie's favorite part of the trip was making cookies with Grandma! They made a TON of cookies... and we ATE a ton of cookies : ) Grandma just can't ever tell that little face no. That's what amazing grandma's are for though : ) A couple cute pics...

Wednesday morning the kids and I went out to lunch with my dear friend Amanda Schaaf and her kiddos to chik-fil-a! Our kiddos were best buddies when we lived in Logan and they all acted like we never left! I didn't get any good kid pics because they were too busy playing to hold still for a photo op haha. Bailey loved her hat though so she let me take a quick pic : )

This is baby Brynlee Schaaf! She is so sweet! Don't worry Rich... as cute as she is i still didn't have an "aw i need another one" moment... NOT AT ALL!!!

Next we went down to visit Grandma Buttars! She was so excited to hear we were coming in town and she always treats us like GOLD so we were thrilled to go see her! She is such a wonderful great grandma. I don't know how she keeps tabs on all of us so well and makes us all feel so special... She is just that wonderful! While we were there Grandma pulled out Grandpa's scrap books. I learned so much about that amazing man and I only got through a fraction of the books. It was a great afternoon! Bailey was pretty attached to her Great Grandma! She warmed up so much faster than usual. As I was typing this Bailey climbed on my lap and sees the pic below and starts shouting "DAMMA, DAMMA!" (Grandma) Grandma showed the kids her raspberry bushes and they ate every little one they found! Her garden is so beautiful! She certainly has a ridiculously green thumb! We had a wonderful afternoon! Thank you Grandma!

After Granma's we met Andy & Jenni at MADDOX! Mmmmmmmmm! And then Aggie Ice Cream for dessert! SOOOOOO yummy! Rich's best friend, Jordan, and his family came to play with us too!

Thursday morning we went and saw my BFF Kelsi & the boys! Braxton and Graham were best friends when we lived there and apparently they still are! So glad we got to see these guys. We miss them like crazy! I got a cute pic of Kelsi reading a book to Bailey but kelsi wouldn't think it was so cute... so you're welcome kels HAHA. Braxton just saw this pic and said "Mom please print that picture so i can put it on my wall!!!!!"

Next everyone packed up the card and headed down to Mike & Sharon's for the Bee's game! They bought us all killer tickets! They are awesome! But fiiiiiirst Quinn had a little surprise for his sweet girlfriend Chloe... HE PROPOSED!!! This is Jenni's collage of the cuteness...

We were so honored that Quinn wanted us there for such an important event. We seem to miss quite a few of those living so far away but we were grateful to be a part of this one! We just LOVE Chloe and we are so excited for them!!! Now to celebrate... a night at the ballpark!!!

We had SUCH a blast. Thank you SO MUCH Mike & Sharon for spoiling us rotten!

A little collage pic explanation... (Starting top left...) Bailey LOVES Uncle Mike, Bracky LOVES Quinn & Chloe (& their dippindots haha), We LOVE the Cardinals but we really miss this mountain view, Bailey LOVES G, the girls LOVE being silly, Braxton LOVES cotton candy (& this was his face when he asked for some and i said "NO"), Bailey LOVES Stef!, Bailey LOVES sunflower seeds (she sticks em in and spits them immediately on the ground then begs g for more... hilarious!), Mckenzie LOVES her pink poodle balloon animal (and threw a 30 minute bawling fit when it popped then kkat saved the day and gave mac hers - best cousin award!), Bailey LOVES Papa (are we seeing a theme here? haha), Kkat cracks me up!

Friday... sad times... our last full day here : ( We went with Jim & Juanita to Clarkston to see Grandpa Buttars' grave. It was such a beautiful day! 

Next stop... BOWLING ALLEY!!! 

McKenzie HAD to get the pink ball! She is of the bowling school of "if i lean right the ball will go right... right?" She leans a LOT! Haha. Braxton just likes to chuck it as hard as he can in as many different styles as he can. Bailey "Nee Daddy" to bowl. This was her first time bowling and she had a blast! I think her favorite parts were using the metal ball roller downer thingy as a jungle gym and dancing/stomping around in her new "feet" (bowling shoes).

After bowling we chowed down at El Hole (El Sole) and then went to Grandma & Papa's for smores! 

This pic cracked me up. James was bound and determined to pick the lock and get in the shed... i guess it worked! haha

Stef made the girls these INCREDIBLE dollies! Her talent just never ceases to amaze me!

Saturday... time to pack up and head home... BOOOOOOO! We decided to hang ot with everyone at the City Creek Mall in downtown SLC first though! Grandma Buttars came to play with us too!!! This mall is brand new and pretty unbelievable. It is right next to the LDS Temple. It has a retractable roof and a creek running through the center with trout in it! SWEET! We had so much fun! The kdis loved the Disney Store and the dinosaur softplay area the most! 

Then came the goodbyes... always BRUTAL, especially with kids. So hard to leave  "home" and the people we love! Thank you so much everyone for making our week so special. And a HUGE thank you to Jim & Juanita for letting us overrun their home and for spoiling us ROTTEN as usual! We love you all and miss you like crazy!

UTAH TRIP (Part 2)

Monday was the BIG DAY! FAMILY PICTURES!!! (If the men were writing this blog there would not be quite so many exclamation marks on the end of that sentence HAHA) We spent the morning relaxing at Grandma & Papa's and playing with the kiddos. I love this silly picture!

 We made and ATE 3 POUNDS OF BACON and papa made us some delicious omelettes! Then it was nap time and picture prep time. McKenzie just HAD to have her hair straightened. She looks so beautiful but straight hair makes her look SO much older that it makes us sad! We took a few of our own pics of the "fun" of the photo shoot. Braxton actually went camera happy and took a few of these himself!

Can't wait for the real pictures to come back! Ashley Mae is A-MAZ-ING!!!

The next day was Pioneer Day! Another wonderful thing that i miss about Utah! So grateful for those who sacrificed so much so long ago! We headed out to the parade and got a sweet spot by the fair grounds. The kids loved the parade! McKenzie, Kayla & Bailey loved the "princesses" (Dairy Queens, Pageant winners, etc...) and they had to make sure to wave at every single one of them! Bailey loved snuggling grandma! James loved running as fast as he could when no one was looking haha. Braxton freaked out when he saw THE REAL LIFE SPIDER MAN!!! (I think he is retired now... he gained a few LBs haha) The kids saluted to the soldiers and Jenni loved fighting other kids for the candy HAHA just kidding - she was much better behaved this year than she has been in the past : ) HAHAHA Love you Viva! 

As usual Stef & Jenni got way cuter pics than I did. Here are there collages from the parade!!! Someday i will be as good at this as they are!

Stef's Wonderfullness...

I wanted to try something new so i collaged Jenni's collages... didnt work that great but here it is anyway...

Next stop... Willow Park for snacks and BOUNCY HOUSES!!! I was taking video and so I am steeling Jenni's Bouncy pics...

That night we had backyard burgers and fireworks at Papa's and the other Bowman's joined us! Mike, Sharon, Garrett, Quinn & Chloe came to relax and play with us!

The kids decided to have their own version of the olympics... or BOWLYMPICS!!! Here are some pictures of Wrestling, Gymnastics & Equestrian (with Rich as the horse)... and McKenzie mad because she wasn't the jockey hahaha

SPARKLERS!!! aka traumatizers for Bailey & Bracky anyway... "it's hot" means "touch it now" apparently.

 SWEEET! - < Missile Sounds> - MOM IT'S HOT! - (SOOOOOOOBING) - Q fixed the battle wound!

Not you TOO!!!

Some of my favorite miscellaneous pics of the evening!

More Utah fun to come... Stay tuned for Part 3! 

UTAH TRIP (Part 1)

It has been WAY too long since we have seen our Bowman Fam!!! 14 months to be exact since I got to squeeze my kkat and (not-so)babehjames! We flew in Friday night and stayed up WAY too late and gabbed with Jenni & Andy, Grandma & Papa and then around 1 am or so Andy informed us we better get to bed so we could have breakfast at 8:00 at Herm's! THANKS GIEGE! Herm's is a new Cache Valley restaurant that we were told we HAD to try. They were not joking! Such a cool place! French Toast like CANDY and a 16" family pancake! Perfect way to end my diet! Hahaha. Waiting for grub...

After Breakfast Juanita & I got our hair done while the kids played at the playground and on the Slip N Slide at Grandma's! (Collage courtesy of Stef! She is SO good at these!)

After some fun in the sun the ladies took the kiddos to see Brave in 3D!!! It was so fun but I do think this will be Bailey's last visit to the movies in a while... she was... ummm... "less than perfect" gotta love this age.

Another amazing Stef collage! (Hope you don't mind!) The kids looked so cute in their glasses! 

Aaaaaand Bailey and her favorite thing in the ENTIRE WORLD!!!.... "POP POP!!!!!" She stole the bucket from Kenz and couldn't figure out how to get her hand in the bucket without spilling it. Solution? See below...

Next on the agenda... Sleepover at GRANDMA & PAPA'S!!!

Sunday we went to Church and had a typical Bowman Sunday. I miss those SO MUCH!!! Laying around gabbing, sleeping & eating! The boys worked their chefy magic on a smoked brisket that was MIND BLOWING!!! It's days like these that make me miss Logan and family so bad it hurts! After stuffing ourselves stupid (as usual) we headed over to the playground with the munchkins while the boys went "geosnaggling" haha. I am so glad Stef brought her camera since I forgot mine AGAIN! I suck stef!

I had to get a picture of these two best friends literally holding hands and skipping home!

Bailey (and ALL the other kids) LOVED playing with Grandma's Ipad!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE BOWMAN SUNDAYS!

More Utah fun to come... Stay tuned!

Bailey's First Plane Ride!

VACATION TIME FINALLY!!! We decided there was NO way we could drive with sweet yet terrible road-tripper Bailey. Just driving 2 hours to Quincy with her is enough to kill us so a 21 hour drive to Utah was NOT an option! The kids were ridiculously excited to fly on a plane! "Bailey do you want to go on a ride on an AIRPLANE?" Bailey: "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" (See picture below... i asked her the question then captured the answer with this pic!)

Hurry up and wait!

And wait

Sitting on the back row in front of the bathrooms... ewwwwww. Bailey was SO STINKIN EXCITED THOUGH!

Bailey just had to see out the window every 10 seconds  which meant climbing over the top of Braxton... you can tell he was thrilled HAHAHA

B - Zoned in watching a movie on the laptop

 Mckenzie sat on the row next to us so I couldnt get any decent pics of her. She loved being all on her own. She was so funny pordering her own sprite and cookies from the flight attendant! TOO big for my taste!

Bailey & Daddy waiting for Grandma & Papa to pick us up. WAY past her bedtime but she was still SO excited!!!