Our Week at Catherine's

We just finished our week at Catherine's house, meaning we are also done with Utah county. We kicked off the week with a BYU Football game with Mike's parents. Rumor had it that they sold a "Cougar Braut". It is a maple bar with a braut in the middle. We had to try it. Surprisingly, it tasted like breakfast: the doughnut was like a pancake, the frosting was like maple syrup, and the braut was like the sausage. Sadly, the cougars lost, but we still had a great time being back in cougar country.

These three hooligans were quite the team. They all got along so well. Henry really should be part of this photo because when he wasn't in preschool, he was the ring leader of them. Maggie fell in love with Henry's energy.

While being in Utah, I have wanted to show Maggie as many temples as possible. I know that we won't see all of them, but it has been so good talking about temples with her. This first temple is the Provo City Temple (you would think that they would come up with a more distinctive name). Maggie was not liking all the loud cars near by. At the Provo temple, she had to use the restroom. Normally, I would let her do her busy on a tree, but I didn't feel like that would be appropriate here. She was so excited to go inside to use their restroom in the visitor's room.

We went to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. It was more for older kids, but really well done.

Sam loved the area where you can dig for bones in the sand. I was a bit nervous of him head diving to eat the sand, but luckily only came out with two mouthfuls.

Life with cousins is the best.

This photo comes from a very eventful night. Maggie and Hazel were playing in the basement by themselves really quietly. I had just told Mike that we should probably check on them, but we didn't. Two minutes later, Maggie comes up with no pants or underwear on. Mike asks her where they were. She tells him that she went poop on the floor, but that she is cleaning it up. Oh great. Sure enough, she had pooped her pants, and managed it to fall on the floor as she was taking off her pants, and was smearing it across the floor as she tries to wipe it up with toilet paper. Mike didn't see it on the floor, so he stepped into it. While I was trying to clean all of that up, Sam got a hold of his strawberry oatmeal and dump it over his head. I officially lost the battle.

Larena came up that Saturday to watch kids play soccer and help them decorate spooky Halloween gingerbread houses. Maggie was in heaven. Her face looks horrible because every time we tried to take a picture, she would stuff another handful of candy into her mouth.

We just can't stop going

We are trying to get in everything possible in this month that we are in Utah county. Here is more of what we have been up to.

We are playing Pretty Pretty Princess, Maggie's new favorite game.

Sam loves all the new toys. He finally rolled over onto his tummy for the first time yesterday.

We have enjoy going on wagon rides down the street as a family.

 We went to Discovery Children's Museum with cousins one day. Maggie loved the play house while Sam liked to people watch.

I am really trying hard to convince Mike that we need a trampoline now. Maggie goes on it everyday, multiple times a day. She has learned the game, "Crack the Egg" and think is it hilarious.

Sam loves being outside, especially trying to sneak grass in his mouth when I am not looking.

Sam is getting his flirt on with all the girls around.

One of the best things is that our Science Spectrum pass has worked at Thanksgiving Point. We have been 3 times in one week. We really like it there.

All the Matthews got together for a Zoo day. Both the kids absolutely loved it. Maggie tells me that her favorite animal was the giraffe. Sam really liked the kangaroo.

We ended the day with a train ride and even though the wait was long and the ride was short, Maggie talked about the train all evening all.

Enjoying Fall

Although we are here for two months, it will go so fast. Therefore, we are trying to fill as much in as possible. Last Monday, we went up American Fork Canyon for a little "hike". I laugh because Maggie can only so so far before she gets distracted or wants to be held. We are working on it.

 I love how Maggie always wants to find a hiking stick.

We ended the night with fall donuts. What a great FHE.

It is so nice to hang out with family instead of a quick visit once a year. On Thursday, we watched Ben play soccer. It was so exciting to see him finish his season undefeated.

 We spent conference weekend up at the cabin with Mike's parents and his sister's family. Maggie loved running around with James and cracking "chocolate in your eyeball" jokes.

 This week, we met up with Emily to visit the new Bean Museum (highly recommend) and the BYU Paleontologist museum (don't recommend). It was my birthday and Amelia and Corbin picked out cute gifts for me that Maggie quickly claimed as hers.

It has been so fun staying with Allison's family. The kids are so good with Maggie and Sam. Cody is very curious why babies act like babies, such as why do they drink milk, why do they sleep so much, why can't he eat chocolate cake?

Another perk about staying in PG is that we are 7 minutes from Catherine's. We met up at the park this morning. I don't know why it is, but if someone is Maggie's cousins, they become instant friends.

Utah Bliss

We are in Utah now, at least for the next two months. We have had so much fun. We have been in real homes, backyards with soft grass, nature, and surrounded by family and friends.Two months is a long time, there is so much that we want to do and people we want to see that it will go so fast. Here are photos from our first weekend here. 

That first day, Maggie probably spent more time outside than inside. We found some bikes in Grandma's shed and had fun trying to ride it. Poor Maggie. All her friends have bikes, but her legs are too short for her to really ride one. She tries so hard though.

Swings!!! It is the small things that bring so much joy, like swinging while waiting for dinner.

Cousins are the best. We had Laura's kids come over one afternoon while the canal was "turned on"? I don't quite understand how these irrigation ditches work except that a couple times a week, the back yard floods. It makes for great water fights.

Sam gets to play with a ton of new toys. This is definitely not helping with tummy time. Why struggle on your tummy when you can just sit up and play with all the toys? He is definitely related to Maggie-both had no desire to move.

Grandma Schwabadissen was in town when we were in Brigham City. You can't tell it from these photos, but both kids actually really liked her. Maggie would teach Grandma all about the different princesses. I love this lady so much and am glad that I can be a part of her family.

We are spending the first two weeks with Mike's sister, Allison. Talk about a girl's come true. They have multiple doll houses, dress up dresses, Fancy Nancy, Pinkalicious, Easy Reader Princess books, an amazing backyard, and the best cousins. Especially Tally. Tally is 9 years old and loves to play with Maggie and help take care of Sam. Joey and Emily have been so generous in letting us borrow their van for while we are here, since Mike will have the car to get to work.

Maggie loves temple. Allison loves just down the street from the Mt. Timpanogos temple. The kids enjoyed visiting it and learning more about them.