Family Vacation! Part One

I have been trying to get to Yellowstone for a long time. We finally made it.  This was our first, just our family, vacation! We usually piggy back vacations with people in my family because they have World Mark condos. We had such a good time.  We started off in Bear World. 

This was such a fun place.

They have a fun little petting zoo area.

Wesley loved the petting zoo...Jaycee did not. She came in for a little while, but she thought the chickens were out to get her, so she watch from outside the fence.

They even had a couple of little rides for the kids.

The bears were really fun to see.

We drove through 3 times. Wesley said this bear was being attacked by flies, and it was! Don't they look so cute and cuddly, and scary at the same time?

Bensen liked that bottle better then the bears.

This was just the first day of our vacation. Overall we liked Bear World. It was a little cold, but it was nice that it wasn't crowded at all.  I think we would definitely go back.

Hiking

For Family Home Evening we went up to Snow Basin and did our usual fall hike. It wasn't as colorful as it has been in the past. Everything was mostly dead.  It was still beautiful, and the kids liked it. 

 Wesley was still getting over being sick so he wasn't as energetic as he normally is. 

The kids love this tree!

We had fun.

Every time we go hiking I tell Mike we should go more often. The kids really like it, it's just hard finding the time to go. Especially now that school has started and both the kids are playing soccer.  Fall seems so crazy busy! 

Be Prepared

We decided to do bag meals again.  I have missed having them.  It is so nice to go into the pantry and know I have something I can make for dinner, and that it will be done in about 20 minutes! The church cannery doesn't sell canned beef anymore, and to tell you the truth, I hated their canned beef! I looked around and couldn't find anywhere around here that sells canned beef. I found a place in Ohio that sell ground beef, but it was going to cost about $90 to ship it here. Yikes!

I have been wanting to can beef since I canned chicken. I loved having canned chicken, and it tasted pretty good. It was a pretty big job, but Mike did most of the dirty work. Canning beef was much easier. We bought about 30 lbs from Winegers for about $3.50 a pound. Mike found THIS tutorial online that I followed.

I just lightly browned and salted the beef, and added water. Mike helped me put everything into the jars. He is the best!

We did pint jars. 

We had enough to do two batches.

33 cans in all and the best part is that every single one of them sealed!

So we were able to finish up with our bagged meals.  This time around we did White Chicken chili, Carmae's Chili, Enchilada Soup, TexMex Goulash (my kids favorite), Taco Soup, Baked Ziti, Chocolate Chip Muffins, and Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes. These were my favorite.  There were several last time that I didn't like, and wouldn't eat.

It's so nice to have a stocked pantry again.

Wesley took Bensen to the beach while we worked.  They are sitting on the beach next to the water.  He even made the sky, which was taped to the light.  He is so creative.

Later that night me and Jaycee went to The General Women's Conference. Wesley and Mike made food people.

Here are a couple of pictures of Wesley on his birthday.

He got two parties this year one at the Borgstroms.

And one at the Baileys.

Unfortunately he was sick for both of them.  But I had already made the cakes, so the party must go on.  He ended up with croup! 

He still had fun. We sure love this boy.

Wesley My Love

Wesley turned 5 today! Crazy...right? Wesley will always be my miracle baby. I will always feel so blessed to have him in my life.

 

Wesley's First Birthday.

Wesley was such a good baby.  Even though he was sick all the time, he was pretty happy.

Second Birthday.

Wesley is such a sweet boy.  

 Third Birthday.

He is shy.

 Fourth Birthday.

He can be silly when he wants to be.

 He likes to tumble, and is pretty good at it. Last week he did 10 back hand springs in a row! He recently learned to ride his bike, and he loves it. He is the best brother.  The other day he helped Mike with something, so while at the store Mike told him he could pick out a treat.  He made sure to get Jaycee one also, even though she did not help at all. He is very good at sharing.  He loves to take care of Bensen. If he starts to cry, he is the first one there to help him. He is pretty indecisive, he gets that from both me and Mike.  Since we have moved into our house his little attitude has come out.  He has even started to tell me NO sometimes! That didn't ever use to happen. He is still sweet as can be, and even lets us hug him once in a while. Especially in the last couple of weeks. He even hugged my parents last Sunday before we left, that never happens!

We love Wesley so much, and we are so grateful to have him in our family. He is truly a blessing, and we thank God for him everyday.

 

 

 

Family Photos

My mom has been asking me for a updated family picture for a while, so on Saturday we decided we would give it a shot.  We got all ready, and had my sisters come and help us.  We went to my sisters neighbors back yard, the Goldings. Wesley was not all that happy to be taking pictures, Bensen wasn't either. He hasn't been feeling well, and I am pretty sure he is getting teeth.  We were able to get a couple good ones though.

One of these is going to Grandma LouLous.

We got all done and I came home and found the one I wanted and tried to order a large canvas for my wall.  I have the pixels on my  camera turned down so I can put more pictures up on the blog, apparently for a large canvas they need to be turned up higher! So about 5 hours later we went back to the Goldings to take more pictures! You can see how trilled Wesley is, he wasn't happy the first time around.  I still think it turned out pretty good. We got a nice fake smile out of Wesley.

This was the original picture I chose.  We will still give this one to Grandma Carmae.

Wesley actually did like doing this picture.

Look at those faces! We are so blessed!

Like I said earlier Bensen is usually the happiest baby ever, but the last couple of days have been rough.  He has a cold, and hasn't been sleeping well.  Ever since he learned how to sit up, and now stand he wakes himself up enough to sit or stand, then he can't get back down. We've had some crazy nights! And he is getting teeth on top of that. All thing considered he did really well.

He is still pretty cute.

In this one Wesley wanted to hold Bensen, and Jaycee didn't want to be left out.

Jaycee was the only one ready and willing to cooperate! She loved getting her picture taken, so I got a lot of good ones of her.

Isn't she lovely?

Wesley was less then thrilled. But look how handsome he is, and he looks so grown up.

When did he get so big?

Here is one we took later in the day.

We really only had a couple of mishaps. Other then closed eyes and such.

Good times.  I'm glad we have a couple good pictures to show for it.

 

 Today was the Ogden Temple re-dedication.  I am so grateful for Temples, to have them so close and for the beautiful ordinances that take place there. I love my family so much, I am so glad we get to be together forever.