June in Texas

We had a very fun and very full summer. It's hard to believe that the kids are back in school already. It's hard to figure out where to start, since it has been 4 months, but I figured why not start at the beginning?

We drove to Texas for the first time since we've been married back in June. It was 1200 miles each way, which was pretty daunting for us (I know we are wimps compared to some of you, but hey we're rookies so cut us some slack). To make the drive a little easier, we did it in 3 days for each direction.

Our major rest stop on the way down was Mesa Verde National Park. It was amazing to see what people could do with no technology on the sides of cliffs (And I can't even keep up with my yardwork). After chasing around Jackson all day, it also made me wonder what their two year old mortality rate must have been. Here is Mom with the 2-year-old firmly in hand:

From MyFamily\2012\TexasTrip

From MyFamily\2012\TexasTrip

Anyway, a lot of miles later we finally ended up at our destination:Grandma's House! Mom and Dad were very, very gracious hosts and we had a really good time. We did so much stuff, that I probably can't list it all, but I'll share a few pictures. We all really enjoyed the animal park. Especially Mason (who loves animals) and Jackson. Here is a cute picture of Jackson who doesn't know what to make of it all:

Then of course we had fun at Grandma and Grandpa's Ranch. We did horseback riding, paddle boating, and of course we also made very good use of the Pool. It was nice to have it basically to ourselves. I think we swam in it 4 times?




We also got to go the Hurricane Harbor which was exciting since its much bigger than the waterparks here. We left Jackson with Grandma and took the older three.  Mason was a little nervous but he loved all the slides.  (Esp the ones in the kiddie area, but he braved some of the big ones too)  Ryan and Colin had a blast until we were forced to leave around 3 by a huge storm.  One last Texas picture - Ryan and Colin picked up the art of frog catching from their mother and absolutely loved going outside and catching little frogs all over Grandma's yard:

On the way back home we got to visit Joel and Ashleigh for a day and see their son Cardon get blessed. Joel and Ashleigh were also gracious enough to hold a joint birthday party for Ada and Jackson.  And Joel introduced us to his awesome lazer tag set, which we promptly bought when we got home.




And here is Uncle Neil doing his usual video game corruption:


It was a lot of fun seeing everyone, and thanks for hosting us!

Dinosaurs

So Christine was nice enough to take us boys on a dino adventure for her birthday weekend. I have fond memories of dinosaur national monument from when I was young, so I have been wanting to take the kids there for a long time. Unfortunately, the dino wall and visitor center had been closed since we got here due to structural concerns. I think the park got some stimulus funds though and rebuilt everything to open last fall. It was a lot of fun to visit. We meant to get out there during spring break, but had to cancel the trip, so I could train to be a refinery operator (strike training).

We had a blast. You can look at the whole album here and I have shared a few photos below.

Ryan and Colin absolutely loved learning about all the different dinosaurs. They had lots of questions for the rangers (luckily it wasn't crowded) and for me.

Mason even had a good time. He struggled with the hiking a little bit (we did about a 1.5 miles), but he maintained a great attitude the whole time. His favorite part was the allosaurus. He brought home a mini one and it likes to eat everything in sight. Since it's such a naughty dinosaur, he spends a lot of time in time out. Mason is such an interesting kid. He loves Mommy the most (He loves daddy just a little). The other day though he told Christine that he loves his Donkey Kong Wii game more than her. Though he doesn't want to have to choose.

The petroglyphs were really neat to. Apparently the natives were really into lizards:

Jackson is of course our little Doll. He goes with the flow and enjoys whatever we are doing:

Also, don't forget the ice cream:

Mining for Copper

Originally posted April 21 2012

It's been a pretty and fun busy week for us. Unlike Mom and Dad Krogue who are putting the finishing touch on their botanical gardens, we're struggling (somewhat unsuccessfully) to keep the dandilions from taking over the yard and to get the grass to look a little greener. We spent part of today picking out some of the weeds, spraying others and applying fertilizer. We also got the sprinklers turned on for the season.

Yesterday we got the news that Ryan and Colin had been accepted into the spectrum (full-time gifted and talented) program. In Davis county this is quite an accomplishment (they accept about 2 kids per school per grade). Unfortunately the elementary school with the program is a 22 minute drive. Ryan and Colin are unsure they want to leave their friends. We have to decide one way or the other by the end of the month. Any thoughts?

Last night I took Ryan and Colin to see Chimpanzee. It was an enjoyable film about an unlikely chimp adoption story. We really liked it.

Today we went out to the Bingham Canyon Mine to take the tour. Ryan and Colin absolutely loved it, and Jackson went along for the ride. Mason was perpetually bored, but what else is new. It was fun to see the big trucks, the huge open pit and learn new things. They have quite the operation.

From

On the way home we swung by the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. It was really pretty and there were several wedding parties loitering around the grounds.

And no day would be complete without ice cream of course!

Pinewood Derby Time

It seems like it has been too long since the last time I posted an update on here. Christine's mother suprised us last week by offering to come watch the kids so we could get away for the weekend. It was a nice suprise, since our last attempt at a get away was thwarted by an unfortuante accident (my mom fell down the garage steps and shattered her radius or maybe it was the tibula), and work has been really busy lately. I had to work one weekend to get some compliance testing done at the end of March and we had to cancel our planned trip to Dinosaur National Monument during spring break so that I could conduct emergency strike training (the Union was slow to ratify their agreement). We decided to just stay in Salt Lake, and it has been very relaxing so far. Christine is napping, so I figure I could attempt an update.

Last night was the pinewood derby. Ryan and Colin both really enjoyed designing, painting and building their cars. Ryan's car finished middle of the pack, but he was looking more for a repeat of his "best design" award from last year, so he was pretty happy when his truck won the "coolest design" award this year. Colin went more for a sleek aerodynamic design and came away with 2nd place overall, which he was very happy with. Anyway here are some photos and video from the races:







Ryan's Car Race:



Colin's Car Race:



Ryan and Dad



Colin and Dad



Ryan and Colin had a great birthday. They got electric scooters as their main gift and they sure enjoy them. For their party, they chose to have a "mad" scientest come and demonstrate some cool chemical reactions. Other than the scooters they got quite a haul. Mason was also quite pleased that he recieved a Wii game too - it's his new favorite game.









A few weeks ago we went to Kaysville's newest enterainment place - a giant trampoline park. The favorite activity by far was taking leaps into huge foam pits:


Anyway that's about all I have time for. We continue to enjoy living in Utah, although it has been a lot lonelier since J.D., Marissa, Neil and Kelli moved away. Jackson is still the cutest little thing (IMHO) and continues to grow. He's still meeting with a speech therapist and her official diagnosis is that he is lazy. I guess three caring older brothers will do that to you. Mason keeps us on our toes and definetly has issues with authority. He loves his little life here though and has multiple friends over everyday which is good since he is very poor in the self entertaining arena. Ryan and Colin just completed research assignments at school. Ryan did his on the "Amazing" Narwhal and Colin chose the Tarsier. They both did a really good job of course. We'll have to see if I can get more posted someother time. Hope all is well with you.

-JA


p.s. Oh yes and one more picture of my four wonderful sons eating some frozen yogurt at our favorite place: