Carrie's Birthday

Since my birthday fell on a Saturday, I could choose do do pretty much anything I wanted to celebrate. I wanted to do something fun with my family, to eat French pastries, and to go to the theatre with my husband.

First stop - This Is The Place Park, Salt Lake City. I haven't been here in years and I was excited to take Tyson and my children. They've really remodeled and built the pioneer village up. It was fun!

We took a train ride all around the village, watched a shoot out, explored some cabins and other period buildings, visited the general store, Tyler made an arrowhead necklace, Lydia sat on a horse, and Tyson and I got our exercise.

This is an actual cabin from 1880. Can you believe it housed a family of 9?

Next stop - Gourmandise in downtown SLC. My sister Lisa discovered this gem of a French bakery and I have not stopped craving it since. Can you blame me?

Check out some of the desserts that we chose after lunch -

We came home for naps, a birthday cake made by Tyson and cut by Tyler (when his parents weren't in the room - wish I had a picture of that), and then a date with hubby to see The Civil War, a musical review at Centerville's new theatre. Thank you family for the memorable birthday!

4th of July

Happy America's Birthday! Here we are at the Layton 4th of July parade. The kids really liked it.

Afterwards we went over to Grandma and Opa's to play in their little pool. Lots of fun!

Our new house offers a view of the city's fireworks from our front yard, which is so nice. Lydia could go to bed (the noise didn't wake her up at all) and the rest of us could watch from the yard. Happy 4th of July!

Antelope Island

On Saturday, July 2, Tyson had to work all day. I was trying to figure out what to do with the kids all day when my Dad suggested an Antelope Island adventure, so off we went!

We drove all the way down to the ranch house and there caught a golf cart ride out to see the buffalo.

The tall buildings in the background are SLC.

Antelope Island terrain.

All the brown lumps are buffalo/bison. If you look really close in the center of the background, you can see the Bountiful temple.

Exploring by the ranch house.

Who knew it was this beautiful out here?

What a unique place! I'd like to come back and take family pictures, go float in the lake, or play with my camera. Thanks Dad/Opa!

Check Out This Cute Photoshoot!

How cute are these! Since Lydia turned 1 on the 1st of June and Tyler turned 4 on the 4th, we took them to get their pictures taken. I love 'em! The kids and the pictures.

Tyler chose this background set up himself. He's been studying cattails and swamps lately.

Great job AMH Photography!

Happy 4th Birthday, Tyler!

Happy 4th Birthday to our sweet, smart, handsome Tyler. We love you so much! I look at past pictures on our blog and can't believe how big you have grown.

Aunt Kristen had to film on his actual birthday, so she came over a few days earlier with this little baby. Tyler checked it out thoroughly.

Coincidentally he happened to have scored a free bike helmet at the Kids Safety Fair a couple of weeks ago.

Tyler turned 4 on June 4th - his golden birthday. :-) After lunch at his favorite restaurant (Red Lobster. I know. He's 4. But he loves crab and to pet the live lobsters!), we had a "Worker Man" party for our little Builder Man.

Tyson built him a sandbox, which Tyler adored.

We were able to drag him out for a BBQ in our backyard. Aunt Lisa brought some of Tyler's favorite puppies (Snatch, Molly, and Baby Polly) and Cougar (the latter 2 which she rescued when they were left behind on our CA trip), complete with party hats. Tyler was thrilled!

It's so nice to have our very own house. This was our very 1st backyard BBQ. Many more to come, I'm sure!

Present time! Thank you everyone, for your generosity!

Fitting with the theme, Tyler got a tool set and tool box. I've got to get a picture of him carrying it around while wearing his safety glasses and hardhat. Adorable! I love having a little boy.

The birthday cake. Yes, I did make this one. If you don't look too close, it looks pretty good! Tyler was just antsy to get the tools off and washed so he could add them to his collection.

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!