St. George

Paul was off in Florida on business, so where do the kids and I go...off to St. George of course! And it was HOT down there. So we spent the majority of our time at the splash pad or in the little inflatable pool my parents bought for the back yard.

 I am sure there will be many more St. George visits to see Grandma and Grandpa Stewart that were just like this one!

Red Rock Traditions

Just about every New Year's of my life, I can remember climbing on all over the Red Rocks of Southern Utah. Growing up we always visited my Grandma and Grandpa Anderson in Beaver Dam over the New Year's. During that vacation we would always make a trip out to Valley of Fire and spend all day climbing all over the beautiful red rocks. Although I didn't always love the drive out there, (because I never love a drive anywhere) it was so exhilarating to get out and enjoy nature's playground.

This year I was spending the New Year's in Florida with Paul, but flew in to St. George to get the kids the first week of January. To carry on the tradition, we found some climbing for the kids. And they were in heaven, they loved the freedom and scurried up those rocks as fast as their little bodies would take them.

I love this picture! It is the perfect representation of Lily & Stew's relationship. She is the best big sister he could ever ask for. She is always trying to help him and make sure he is okay and happy. She is the sweetest thing, a dream for any mom!

Thank you to my sweet parents for all they do for me and my children! And for teaching me as a young  child to love the beauties of the world all around me. I am just much more grateful when I get to enjoy them outside of a car :)

Off to St. George...again!

Paul traveled to Florida for the ISPA tradeshow this last week. It was almost a week long trip so the kids and I packed up and headed to St. George to save our sanity. As always, we love visiting Grandma and Grandpa Stewart, playing out in the hot sun, and just lounging around for a few days. 

Stewart got really confident on the wiggle car and went cruising down Grandma and Grandpa's backyard sidewalk. He had a whirlwind of emotion on his face with sheer nervousness and terror on his face at the top of the hill but as he managed to turn the wheels and end up on the patio instead of tipped upside-down in the grass, he was so proud of himself and showing a ginormous smile. I love watching my little guy grow and do new things.

Lily was so sweet to help her little brother when he did get stuck in the grass. She is an amazing sister and Stewart is so lucky to have her. She is always taking care of him and making sure he is safe and having fun. I hope their friendship continues to grow as they get older.

Grandpa has some lively, terrifying Halloween decor including a hooded, skeleton man that rumbles and glows if you walk by him. Stew was trying to be as brave as he could be. Whenever someone was holding him and would walk by, he would growl at the skeleton and show him he wasn't scared. But the minute you would put Stew down by it, he would turn and run as fast as he could and start bawling trying to find someone to save him. It was the cutest thing!

Grandma and Grandpa bought a pumpkin for Lily to carve. She was so excited. As much as I always try to be a good festive mother, I don't always get around to doing all that I should with the kids. I think that this was Lily's first time really carving pumpkins. She thought it was pretty awesome. And of course, being the slightly twisted girl that she is, she wanted a mean, angry pumpkin. (So weird that she is fascinated with the scarier things of life, in every movie or show, her favorite parts or characters are always the dark villians - funny girl, hope I shouldn't worry too much about her).

Stewart loved that he got to sit on the counter and watched Grandpa carve away as he devoured the pumpkin lid of our Jack-o-lantern. 

Once our pumpkin was all carved and scary, we added a flickering light and enjoyed him out on the porch. We all loved our visit to St. George but were glad to get home to Daddy. Plus, Paul had a great show, meaning he will have lots more business trips to come so it won't be long before we pack up and head to St. George yet again!

St. George Visit

With Paul away to Arizona on business, the kids and I were off to St. George. We soaked up way more sun than is healthy with the ridiculously too hot of temperatures, but we had a blast and our babies SPF 50. Cort and Leanna overlapped us a few days which was a life-saver for Lily. Her and Alyssa are the best of buds and just ran wild playing and laughing. Stewart had his ball, Grandpa, and Grandma so he was also in heaven. And then me... with the help of my sweet parents, I wasn't a single mama for the 4 days and 3 night that Paul was away so I couldn't complain :)

St. George has the greatest parks ever. I even feel like a kid at them, no worries about germs or grossiness, just all play. Stew was getting sickly dizzy on this particular toy, but I couldn't resist spinning him cause it was hilarious! 

My dad hoping on a toy, let alone even touching anything, speaks VOLUMES about this park...

Downtown St. George has this awesome little river with waterfalls that is perfect for my little man. He loves anything to do with outside & water, so we had to come twice to really soak it up here.

St. George vaca

Paul is out installing Blend Bars, training spas, and attending events in Louisiana, Cali, and Florida. He is building quite the little business and getting Salts into some amazing locations! We are super proud of him but with that comes lots of days and nights away :( So me, the kids, and Grandma Stewart packed our bags and headed to St. George for a care-free week. What better way to pass the time when Paul is traveling than having our own little vacation!

Stewart's first swim! He was way more interested in his swimsuit draw-string than the water but he was the cutest little thing ever. Seeing him float around the pool reminds me how fast he is growing and how quickly he isn't going to be my little baby anymore...

There are two things Lily just can't get enough of - movie night & popcorn! I can't think of a better way to relax with my two little ones than in a little homemade bed of blankets in front of the t.v. and cuddling together. The only thing that could have made that night better would be to have Paul snuggling with us.

We love St. George because you can go to the park in the middle of January and not freeze your buns off. Lily has been park deprived since it is much too cold at home. She soaked up every minute running up the stairs to go down the slide and swinging on the swings.