Snow Canyon and Brian Head!

So I guess since I am off for the summer I have no excuses for being behind on my blog! We recently got back from a mega vacation. It started with me going to girls camp for 2 days. I am back in YW so I decided I wanted to go since I had a lot of fun last year and didn't want to leave! It was great to stay 2 days. I got to do a lot of the fun activities with the girls and get to know them better! After girls camp, Marc picked me up in St George and we stayed there for 2 nights. We took Casen to his first movie in the theater, Toy Story 3 and he loved it. We also went hiking in Snow Canyon. It was so much fun. Here are a couple pictures of us in Snow Canyon.
Marc and Casen climbing the big mountain as Casen called it. He was fearless and actually climbed pretty high. I was a little nervous!

Here is me being silly. I think this hike was called Jenny's canyon. It was this narrow area between the mountain that had all these cool holes. I would recommend a trip to Snow Canyon for sure.

After St George, we headed to Brian Head for a double family reunion. The first 3 days were with my immediate family, all 34 of us, and then the next 3 days was with the Cox family, Marc's dad's mom, siblings, and their offspring. It was a lot of people but really a lot of fun! With my family we hung out, made tie dye shirts, went hiking, and managed to avoid too much drama.
Here is a picture with my dad and all of his grandkids. We found a shirt that said Poppy's team so this is Poppy's team! My sister took a bunch of professional shots but she is still on vacation so I don't have those yet. This picture was taken with a view of Cedar Breaks in the background. It was an awesome view but quite the drop right behind where they were sitting.

Next was the Cox reunion. We had a lot of fun because our almost sister in law, Hannah, came up and let us use her family's 4 wheelers. We got to play games, go 4 wheeling, play horseshoes, shoot guns, and also go on the ski lift. The ski lift was so cool. We went to the top of Brian Head Peak. It was a little nerve wracking on the way up but I got over it. Casen came up with us. There was still some snow at the top so he had fun playing in the snow and running around. It was a really fun adventure.
Here is a picture of the Cox family great grandchildren. They all made little cowboy hats for a little craft time.

Here is me and Casen on the 4 wheeler. Don't worry, Marc rode behind him for the actual ride and Casen actually held on pretty tight. We just went for a very short and safe ride with Casen so he could try it out. Marc and I also got a chance to go with Shane and Hannah and that was a lot of fun. We went several miles all over the mountains and to a really cool lookout spot. We were gone for over an hour and I was covered in dirt.

By the time we finally got home from our vacation, I had been gone for a week and a half and I really appreciated my bed! So far we have had a really nice summer, just swimming and hanging out and going on trips! This will be the trend for the next month and a half until I have to go back to work =(

Disneyland again!!

We just got back from another wonderful vacation to Disneyland! We decided that we are really glad that we got these passes for our Christmas present! This time around we spent 3 days in Disneyland and a day at Newport Beach. We also had Marc's brother, Shane and his girlfriend (now finance as of last night!!), Hannah come with us this time, which made it even more fun! They were nice enough to help out with Casen so Marc and I were able to actually ride some rides together instead of taking turns alone! The trip started off a little on the wrong foot when we got stuck in bumper to bumper traffic for the whole way. What should have been 4 hours took over 7! I do not recommend driving to CA on a Sunday afternoon, it was awful! Luckily the rest of the trip made up for it and the drive home was much better!

This serves as our Happy Easter picture! Casen loves Winnie the Pooh and the adults like Splash Mountain so we spent a lot of time in Critter Country. We took pictures with most of the characters and here is us with Rabbit!

Mommy and Casen in front of the Castle. Casen loves to point out the castle whenever he sees it. He calls it Mickey's castle!
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Shane and Hannah on It's a Small World! They were nice enough to go with us since Casen loves that ride as well!

Everyone's favorite ride this year was Buzz Lightyear so we could see who could get the most points...that is until we discovered Toy Story. That ride is so much fun and has even more games. We now understand why the line is always so long. Next trip we will be hitting that up every day! Hannah was the winner on Buzz every time and poor Shane just kept trying and couldn't compete! I was also proud of Casen for actually watching the fireworks this time. He got traumatized by the fireworks in October because we were in Fantasyland right where they set them off, so has been afraid ever since. While we were sitting and waiting he kept asking to get out of there. He sat on Daddy's lap and we kept telling him how cool it was and he decided to watch. I wish I had a picture of his face, it was a pained smile that said "I am still not sure about this but I think I like it".

We took a break from Disney on Tuesday and spent the day in Newport Beach. It wasn't as sunny and warm as we would have liked but we still braved the water, built a sand castle (sort of), and had a picnic. Casen loved the sand but not the water so much. Hannah was holding him at first and he would just lift his body and do anything to avoid the water. I guess he is going to be like daddy and run from the cold water! Daddy showed him how to run from the waves and he loved that. He also loved to roll in the sand and collect shells. He collected all the shells we used for the "sand Castle". Here is Casen, Shane, and Hannah by the sand castle.

After our fun at the beach we decided to stop at the Newport Beach temple since Marc and I had never been there before. We had a nice walk on the grounds and took some pictures. It was such a beautiful temple! Hopefully we will get the chance to do a session there some time. Here is Marc and Casen by the temple!

We had so much fun. We are glad that Shane and Hannah came with us and that they still like us and each other =)

Better Late than Never!

So this is a bit old now but we had our first ever Sweetheart Cafe this year for Valentine's day! I had some friends that did this growing up and this year seemed to be a good year to try it. We invited all of Marc's brothers and their significant others but his parents were out of town and only Shane and his girlfriend ended up coming over. I probably went overboard on the decorations but it was a lot of fun! We even had little hearts on our fake wine glasses. Marc brought me the flowers to work on Friday to celebrate the 11th anniversary of the day we met =)

Shane and Hannah with my delicious dinner in the background.

Casen enjoying his Valentine's dinner!

Hockey Game Gone Wrong...

We went to our very first hockey game last night. It was the Las Vegas Wranglers at the Orleans Arena. It was a pretty cool game. There was a fist fight and all kinds of action.
Here is a picture of me and Casen. This is the last picture of Casen's nose before he gets a nice little injury that ruins the hockey game!


Sorry, this picture is not for the squeamish. So we are not postive about what happened because I only saw from the corner of my eye because Casen was sitting in the chair next to me. All of the sudden I see him crying and bleeding. He was still on the chair facing away from the rink as he had been but he was bleeding. I immediately just rush him out as fast as possible and they actually took us to the paramedics. When I got a look at the injury I felt sick to my stomach. There is actually a chunk of skin and tissue missing from his nose. I started feeling a little freaked out but I stayed very calm. That must have worked because Casen stopped crying and was so tough the whole time they cleaned him up. After he got all bandaged (there was no possible way to stitch it), I asked Casen what happened and he said..."The dog hit my face". I was a little confused but there was a seeing eye dog sitting directly behind where Casen was sitting. Once we started thinking about it, we believe Casen. The wound is too deep and weird to have been caused by the back of the chair which is the only other possibility based on his position. Marc went back down to get all of our stuff and look around for the missing skin and the guy didn't say anything. He had to have seen what happened. Anyway, they filed an incident report and we will probably call next week as well to let them know we are pretty sure it was the dog.


The wound is so gross and scary looking. We will probably have to consult a plastic surgeon in order to actually get his nose to ever look normal again. He is also on a heavy antibiotic to prevent infection and just in case it was a dog wound. The best part was that as soon as we got the bandaid on Casen was begging to go back to the hockey game. He was having so much fun he didn't want to leave. We had to step in briefly to say goodbye to the hockey game. We will try not to let this ruin our chances of attending another game!

Family Cruise & Disneyland

We had a great opportunity to have a family cruise with Marc's family as our Christmas present. We planned to go a couple of days early to take advantage of our Disneyland passes. It was so much fun! Marc's mom was nice enough to watch Casen on Saturday night when we got their so we could go on all the big rides that night without Casen. It was great! The next day we took Casen with us and had just as much fun as last time. Casen got so exhausted though. We ate lunch in Downtown Disney with Marc's mom and brother. Casen was so tired he fell asleep eating. When he woke up a couple hours later (we went to the hotel for a break). He was asking for his ketchup since that was the last thing he remembered! I tried to post the video but I couldn't get it to work. I will have to try it on facebook and see if it works there.
Here is a picture of Marc and Casen at Small World. That ride was closed last time so we made sure to check it out this time. Casen loved it the most out of any ride. He smiled and sang Jingle Bells the whole time. Casen actually got to meet Mickey Mouse in person this time. He was very excited at the idea but when it came down to it, he was a little shy. You can see the uncertainty in his face and he would not go any closer than that. On Monday morning we left for a Baja California cruise that goes to Catalina Island and Ensenada, MX. All of Marc's immediate family was able to come and it was a great family vacation. We love Catalina personally. Marc's mom agreed to watch Casen in Catalina so here is a picture of just Marc and I heading over to the Island while Casen was still sleeping. We went kayaking and ate delicious cheese fries without Casen. Then we decided to rent bikes (we included Casen this time) and we all went with Marc's parents and brothers. It was so much fun. I haven't ridden a bike in several years but it wasn't so bad. We went up a nice hill and then got tired so we coasted all the way down. We decided next time we will have to do that again! Casen thought it was pretty cool to be on the bike with daddy. Here is a picture of our family at La Bufadora in Ensenada. It is a natural blowhole in the ocean. It is pretty cool because the water will just spray straight in the air. We were lucky to witness someone with his back to the Bufadora get completed soaked when it shut up so high and then splashed down. I wish I could have had a video on that moment. Casen loved watching the water. We sat there for 20 minutes just watching and then had to drag him away. There is also a lot of shopping and bartering at La Bufadora. We didn't buy too much this time but it was funny because Casen wanted everything and the people were trying to guilt us into buying toys for him.
We also had a day at sea and a chance to go swimming (in the hot tub because it was a bit chilly) and watch the fun shows, etc. One of Casen's favorite parts was towel animal that was left in our room every night. We took a picture each night. This was a sea turtle in the picture. The first night we got home we got Casen out of the bath and I went to dress him on my bed and he asked where the turtle and pig were (we had a pig one of the nights). It was so hilarious. I had to break the news to him that we were back to real life now.

It was so nice to have a real break for a week and just have fun. It was also nice to come home in time for the 3 day weekend so that we could recover. Today is the first day that I am not swaying. We had a lot of fun and we highly recommend a vacation to everyone!

Merry Christmas and a Long Overdue Update!

I really need to get back on the blogging wagon! I have been so lazy about it! Here is a preview of our whole December! We have had a great time celebrating Christmas all month long! We started out by going to the Boulder City Parade. Casen loved all the lights and fun things. He sat and watched the whole time.
Here is a picture of Casen and Brooklyn all bundled up watching the parade!

We also had to check out the lights at Ethel M. This is always so much fun because the lights are great and you get a free chocolate sample! We actually went twice but I didn't have my camera the first time so the pictures are on my mother in laws. The first time we got to see Santa with Brooklyn and the next time we got to sit in Santa's chair and take our own pictures.

Here is Casen decorating a Christmas cookie at a Christmas party we went to. He was basically licking frosting the whole time which was right up his ally.

We also decided to try something new this year and we went the Springs Preserve Winter Lights. It was pretty neat because they had face painting, and a concert, and cookie and craft making, and some different rides. Overall, we would have to say it was not worth the cost. It might have been because it was freezing when we went but you had to pay for all the little rides and the lights were not even as good as Ethel M. The good news was that we got to see Santa and Casen could tell him that he wanted some cars and some candy for Christmas. That is what Casen will say everytime you ask him what Santa is bringing.

I told Marc that if we ever got a dog I was going to dress it up just to bug him. Sasha actually looked so cute in her Christmas outfit though. All my nieces and nephews loved it when we showed up with her like this on Christmas morning!

Last but not least is Casen so excited with all of his presents on Christmas morning! He also got a small Thomas train set that is not in the picture. He loved it so much it was difficult to convince him that he should open his other presents. Once he got going he didn't want to stop. When we got to my parents he started opening so quickly he was opening other people's presents and we had to stop him. Then when we got home in the evening he started whining, "where are my presents, I need to open my presents". It was so cute. I love his smile in this picture.

Our Christmas will actually finally end today when we celebrate the Cox Family Christmas with Marc's family. They were in Utah until today so we will now get to open more presents and have more fun! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! It is always so nice to be off work and to spend quality time with family reflecting on our blessings! Have a happy New Year everyone!!

Casen's First trip to Disneyland!

Since we had a long weekend and we didn't have any real vacations this year (only family reunions) we decided a cool trip would be awesome. I am really not sure where the idea came from but Marc was stoked for Disneyland. I am so glad that we went, it was so fun and surprisingly relaxing. We opted for the limited annual pass so we will be able to go a few times next year and it made it less stressful because we weren't concerned about hitting every ride. We really worked the fast passes and also the rider switch program so Marc and I could go on the big rides and just had fun. Casen was in such amazement the whole time. We told him we were going to Mickey's house so after the first day, he kept talking about going to Mickey's house. He was even whining "I go Mickey Mouse clubhouse". It was also funny because on the 2nd day we went on a few rides that were a little more scary for Casen so he learned the phrase "It scare me". So then he started saying that on every ride even if he was smiling and clearly not scared. It made me laugh though. He is so full of it sometimes. I posted a lot of pictures!!
Here is a picture of the awe and amazement that Casen experienced during Playhouse Disney Live. His expression did not change the entire time. He just kept staring in awe trying to sing along but his lips could barely move! This look was worth the entire trip!

Daddy, Casen, and Pluto. Casen was not too fond of the characters close up so Daddy had to be with him!

Casen Riding the carousal all by himself! Casen loved the carousal so much we had to ride it twice! I think he thought he was pretty cool up on the horse by himself!

Casen and Daddy on the tea cups. Casen thought he was making it spin so he thought it was so much fun. We went on those twice as well. I had to convince Marc they were not too scary.

Casen at the Halloween pumpkin carving. It was really neat, they had an old guy their doing all these cool carvings that you could watch. There was also a petting zoo that Casen loved!

Mommy and Casen in Tarzan's treehouse. I was proud of Casen walking up the stairs all by himself. It was pretty cool to walk through, I am not sure if I ever have before. Casen thought the bridge was the coolest. He ran across it so fast.

If you look carefully you can see the drool coming off his chin! Marc had him on his shoulders so he could see Mickey and Friends dancing with their band. We were really close to the action so I think Casen was in utter amazement.

We finally gave in on the last day and got Casen some Mickey Ears. I was originally just putting them on so I could take a picture but then Casen didn't want to take them off. I guess we should have gotten them earlier because he loved wearing them. He will have them on the next trip though! I think that really completes the Disneyland experience!

We ended up staying 3 days and getting home late Sunday night. We stayed at the Holiday Inn and that was great, we used priceline and got a super deal and then they even gave us a free upgrade to a mini suite. It worked out great because we had a separate room for Casen to sleep in and he always does better when he wakes up and doesn't see us. Overall, it was an awesome experience! If anyone wants to go, let us know and maybe we will join you!