Utah, Part One: BYU

My little brother Greg got married a few weeks ago in Utah, so we made the trip out there to celebrate this special occasion.  We had a fabulous trip.  It was packed with lots of fun things to do.  Having a lot of fun is really exhausting though.  We were so tired by the end of each day and fell asleep the moment our heads hit the pillow at night.  We went out to Utah a few days early so we could do some special things while we were there.  BYU was our first stop.  Josh and I both graduated from there and have a deep love for that school.  It was so fun to go back and show our kids where we made some of the best memories of our lives.  BYU is where we fell in love, got married, and where we had our first child.  It will always be a special place for us. 

Our first stop was at Timpanogos Hospital.  This is where Anna was born.  She loved seeing it.

 We then headed over to BYU to show our kids around campus.  We took the kids to the bookstore and let them pick out something to take home.  Being in there brought back so many wonderful memories.

 We showed the kids the library and where Daddy used to try to flirt with Mommy.  It worked, hence the four kids later....

 Andrew wasn't as into this but still looked cute.

 Daniel bought a new hat and football from the bookstore.  He was killing me with cuteness.  He thought he was such a big boy with his "hat like Daddy."

 Anna also got a hat and a BYU bear which she named, "Sparkle."

 Jenna was in heaven playing around the Wilk.  She's a true cougar.

 Enjoying lunch.  Our kids could take this same picture together in about 15 years.

 Andrew also got a hat and a BYU football.  It took all he had in him to not throw that ball all over the place.

 She's just sweet.  That's all.

 This was one of the most fun memories we had while we were there.  After lunch, I wanted to show the kids the ballroom.  No one was in there so we grabbed our footballs and played tag.  We ran and danced and laughed.  It was so simple but we had so much fun.

 Daddy dipping his daughter.  We were in a ballroom after all.

 That hat on that little body.  Soooo cute!

 It was the most beautiful day.  We went outside and played catch with the football under a perfectly blue sky and nice weather.  I loved showing the kids the "Y" on the mountain.  The thought it was really cool.

 My new favorite family picture.

 Playing catch with Dad.

 Anna took this.  I love it.  ;-)

 We fell in love here.  I love thinking about how far we've come in just a short amount of time.  I'm so glad I left BYU with Josh.  He's the best.

 Oh, I could just eat her up.

 We took the kids to Creamery on Ninth for a little afternoon ice-cream snack.  They loved it!

 We also went and saw the stadium.  Andrew really wanted to see where the cougars play football.  He's bound and determined to become a BYU football player one day.

 Andrew was so happy to see the real field.  We stayed there for a while and he was just in awe the whole time.

 The next day we took the kids to hike the "Y".  It was a pretty steep hike up the mountain.  We were pretty skeptical of how the kids were going to do.  Daniel surprised us the most.  He ran almost the whole thing.  After about ten minutes of hiking, the older two were saying things like, "I'm sooooo tired," and "I can't walk another inch."  I didn't know if we would make it all the way to the top or not.

 We used the opportunity to talk to our kids about how we have to stay far away from the edge to be safe.  We related it to keeping the commandments of God.  We have to stay far away from temptation so we don't get spiritually hurt.

 We did it!  I didn't bring appropriate shoes and walked up in flip flops.  Not the best idea.

 Josh carried Jenna the whole way up, and I carried her the whole way down.  She fell asleep on the way down.  It felt so good to snuggle her in my arms for so long.

 Here are the boys sitting on the actual "Y".  It was really steep and made me nervous.  I loved watching them do it though.

 Let me say this, we slept really, really well that night.  I'm so glad we got to do all of these fun things with our little babies.  It was something I will never forget.

Happy Birthday Daniel Joshua Lee

Daniel turned three years old on October 10th.  However, we were on vacation in Utah at the time so we celebrated a few days early.  Daniel is a really hilarious kid.  He almost always refers to himself as "Daniel Joshua Lee".  In fact, as I am writing this post, he is sitting next to me squealing with delight and saying, "Hey, that's Daniel Joshua Lee!!"  Daniel loves to call Josh and me his buddies.  He's also a really good helper and is always right by my side helping me cook dinner.  Even if he's watching a movie or playing a really fun game, he will stop what he's doing if he hears the pots and pans moving around.  He comes up and asks, "you cooking dinner Mom?"  I love it.  He is also my yard work helper.  He loves helping me cut the grass and always stays with me to the bitter end, helping me put grass clippings in trash bags.  I hope this great work ethic stays with him for the rest of his life.
Daniel has a big comedic side to him.  Every time he takes a bite, doesn't matter the circumstance, he makes a sound effect to be sure you know he's eating.  He loves to dance and has some pretty sweet moves.  Daniel is also the most stubborn, strong willed three year old ever.  He often tells me, "I don't have no legs," or "I can't walk" or "I don't have no hands".  All of this to get out of whatever he doesn't want to do.  He can also throw a tantrum with the best of them.  It's awesome....
We had a great day celebrating this little man.  He LOVED that it was his birthday!  He totally ate it all up and loved being the center of attention.  We started out with a special breakfast and birthday candles.

 We let him open one present in the morning, which was a Thomas the Train piggy bank.  Daniel is really into holding pennies in his hand.  He often has a bulging handful of money that he carries around.  Every time he drops them, which is OFTEN, he cries and gets really upset.  Hence, the piggy bank.  Really this was a selfish gift I gave him because I didn't want him to keep crying about dropping money. Win-Win!

 I know I'm his mom, but I think he's adorable!

 He really melts my heart.  I'm so glad he's mine.

 The other day he was saying "cooky cock" and I repeated it back to him.  He then turns to scold me and says, "Mom, we don't say that.  That's a bad choice.  You made a bad choice!"  Haha!

 We went out to Texas Roadhouse that night and had such a fun time.  Daniel danced on the booth and was just as happy as could be.

 The lighting was terrible in there, and I have no flash.  I'm still glad we got some though.

 Daniel really loves dinosaurs and was so excited to see this big fellow.

 His face kills me.

 I know this is terribly dark but Daniel got to ride on a saddle while all of the employees sang to him.  He was super shy about it but was completely in heaven.  All of the kids thought it was the coolest thing!

 Daniel really has a sweet heart.  Here he is sharing his birthday ice-cream with his big brother.  Adorable.  We feel so blessed to have this sweet little man with us.  He's the best Daniel Joshua Lee around!