Live Laugh Love

Kennedy the "Hugger"

2013-09-28T22:31:00.001-06:00

Our little Kennedy has always been a big giver of hugs. Melissa always tells people that nobody will make you feel more loved than Kennedy. She loves to gives hugs to everybody. When she does so she usually precedes the hug with a big smile on her face as she warns you what is coming. Then she grabs you around the neck with both arms and pulls herself close to you as she squeeze tight. I (Christian) like to call them "Kennedy hugs," and sometimes I will specifically ask for one by making eye contact with her and saying "I need a Kennedy hug." She is often quick to respond.

The other day we went over to Dale and Mindy Cutler's home in Orem to have dinner with Dale's step-brother Lewis and his wife Heidi, who were in town. Kennedy was being held by me next to Melissa who was holding Austen. Kennedy on her own and out of the blue leaned over and gave Austen a big hug around the neck, to a chorus of "Ahhhh" by those who were in the kitchen watching. Then she gave one to Melissa and Mindy when they asked her for one. She is our little Angel and everyone is so glad to get a "Kennedy hug" now and again to perk us up.

Canyon Pointe Ward Campout -- 2013 (Spanish Fork Canyon)

2013-09-23T00:42:00.001-06:00

Our Ward in Spanish Fork (Canyon Pointe Ward) hosted a ward camp-out at a campground up Spanish Fork Canyon in September 2013. Dinner was served as a pavilion in the campground the night before as well as breakfast the next day, although Melissa and I did not camp-out as we were not able to borrow a tent big enough for two cribs for the twins. We did enjoy the food on Friday night however, well as conversing with some of our friends from the ward who were there. Our kids also had a great time running around and playing in the open field, as well as at the park. They both laughed and smiled as the rode down the slide, even learning how to go done by themselves. There were a decent amount of ward members who camped out as evidenced by the many tents there, but many did just as Melissa and I did -- showed up for dinner on Friday night and then left. It was a fun night.

Riding Their Bikes -- The Twins' New Favorite Pastime

2013-07-26T23:05:00.003-06:00

For their first birthday, Austen and Kennedy received some fun bikes from Grandma and Grandpa. The bikes have four wheels with a seat to sit-on, plus multiple buttons and accessories that can be pushed to make music or to explore and play with. Since day one the twins have loved these bikes. They started interacting with them by standing up and pushing them from behind. Then as they became more comfortable, they would climb on and sit themselves down, then push forwards or backwards with their feet to move. We have even seen them push each other around, and as pictured, have seen them climb on one bike together. Kennedy in particularity, loves to push a certain few buttons that play music, and even dances to the beat! It has been a blast watching them interact with these bikes as they continue to learn new tricks and explore the world around them.

Learning to Eat

2013-07-22T21:02:00.000-06:00

Austen and Kennedy have come a long ways in learning how to eat. When Melissa first tried to spoon feed Kennedy, it was at Christian's mom's house in California when they were about 5 months old. Kennedy just coughed and acted like she was chocking, even when they wasn't any food yet in her mouth. Austen didn't show much more interest either. We also remember teaching them how to properly hold a bottle. We started by placing the bottle in from of them when they were very little until they learned to reach out, grab it, and pull it up to their mouths. Eventually they learned how to hold it themselves and could drink as long as we laid them on their backs so that they could get some leverage. Finally they learned how to tip their bottle up so that they could feed themselves while sitting up and even while walking. Since then the twins have grown in leaps and bounds. They can feed themselves in their high chairs, and if Austen finishes first, he will walk over to Kennedy and cry out for her until we get her out of her chair. It is very cute.

Accessorizing With Shoes

2013-07-22T20:55:00.005-06:00

The twins, for one reason or another, having taking a liking to sandals in the house and have begun to use them as bracelets. We saw Austen do it first but Kennedy followed soon after. They slip their little arms through the sandals all the way up to their elbows. and then walk around the house with them on. They have done this for about a week or two now, and even graduated to using their own sandals or toy rings. I caught a picture of Kennedy the other day actually using three shoes: one for each elbow and one in her hand to chew on! These guys are constantly making us laugh.

Fun with Family and Kiely's Engagement

2013-07-13T22:26:00.002-06:00

Fun with Family Kiely's Engagement

Over the last couple of weeks, we had a couple of get-togethers with family members. The first was to visit one of Melissa's cousins on her father's side of the family who was in town from Virginia. Kim Hughes is the daughter of Dale's brother, Ronnie. She was in town staying at her sister's house just up Spanish Fork Canyon while her husband, who is in the Navy, was deployed. It was nice visiting with her and I think that this was just the first or second time that I had ever met her. We had an ice-cream social as the Nosack home where she was staying. It was a very nice visit and it was great to chat with her, especially considering that she has lived in Monterrey, CA and was familiar with the area where I grew up.

For the 4th of July holiday we went up to the cabin with Melissa's family. It was a relaxing weekend which including playing games and going on 4-wheel rides. One thing out of the ordinary that happened was when Melissa and I drove up to the cabin, there was a baby deer lying down right next to the basement door. We got close enough to take a few pictures. We were worried that it was left behind by its mother, but at some point its mother did come back to pick it up. We didn't drive down to midway to watch the fireworks, partly because our kids were fussy, which was disappointing. We we drove back into town on that Saturday, I received a phone message from Kiely asking me to call her back. We did so and she announced that she was engaged! Great news, and now we have a wedding in Arizona to look forward to. We also went swimming at Dale and Mindy's latter that day with the rest of the family who came down from the cabin.

Happy 1st Birthday to Austen and Kennedy!

2013-07-12T22:13:00.004-06:00

Happy 1st Birthday to Austen and Kennedy!

For the twins' first birthday, we decided to have a large birthday celebration which involved inviting both family and friends over on the Saturday after their birthday for cake and ice cream. Melissa had spent weeks preparing for the party by searching on Pinterest for ideas and finally settled on a blue and pink theme as well as a rainbow cake, pastel color balloons, and a handmade banner. She also chose out special matching birthday outfits for them. She decorated a table with blue and pink napkins, cookies, and punch. Everything coordinated very well. Additionally, we had taken pictures of the twins in their birthday outfits up at Payson Lakes the week before with our friend and photographer Shark Bird. We intended to have some of the on display as part of the decorations, but ran out of time the day of. We were very happy with how those pictures turned out.

We invited over several people, and ended up having a much better turnout than we expected. We originally intended to have a party with family first, and then to have friends come over one hour later. All family ended up showing up late so they arrived at the same time that our friends did. We also had my mom, two sisters Megan and Kiely, as well as Kiely's boyfriend Tyler (now Fiancee!) in town to visit.We gathered in the backyard where the table display was set-up along with chairs and a couple of umbrellas for shade. We had everyone help themselves to the ice-cream bar, cookies and punch, and then cake and ice-cream. Almost everyone brought presents with them for the twins, which surprised us because we didn't ask anyone to bring them, and were not expecting any except from family.

After eating outside we all gathered in the family room where we opened presents. There were a lot of people there and plenty of presents and wrapping paper. It was almost overwhelming but we were grateful to have this kind of support from family and friends. We took plenty of pictures and video. It was a great day and a fitting celebration for the 1st birthday of our precious Austen and Kennedy.

Climbing Up and Down the Stairs

2013-07-03T22:42:00.003-06:00

Climbing Up and Down the Stairs

Not too long after learning how to crawl, the twinners decided that they wanted to brave the staircase. At first Kennedy would just pull herself up onto one step while Austen did not even want to try. She would even climb a step or two at Grandma's house in Orem. Only a week or two after that however they both started climbing several steps, and even climbed the entire staircase in one try in what seemed like overnight. It took them a bit longer to learn how to climb back down but with a little practice and some tutoring from Melissa, they both eventually figured it out. Now we have to have a gate up in the family room to prevent them from leaving and climbing up the stairs, because they will do so any chance that they get. It's cute to see them smile and laugh as they race their way up the stairs when we let them. I'm amazed at how fast they picked it up.

Havasupi Trip

2013-06-28T22:36:00.003-06:00

Havasupi Trip

I (Christian) had a chance to go on a trip that I have been trying to do for several years now. One of my college friends, Kent West, emailed me one day back in March asking if I would like to join him and a group of people from his Ward in San Diego on a trip to the Havasupi reservation in Arizona. I told him without hesitation that I would like to go, so they added me to their list of people to call and make a reservation for as we worked out the plans via email over the next few weeks. We left during early May, which is a good time of the year to go I was told due to its relatively mild weather and less tourism. I drove down to Kingman, AZ where I met up with the rest of the group who had carpooled together in a van from San Diego. We drove together to the top of the canyon in Havasu, arriving around 10:00pm. We camped in the parking lot after setting up tents in what was one of the most uncomfortable nights of sleep in recent memory.

The next morning we got up around 5:30 and hiked all the way down the switchbacks to the base of the mountain, and then through the canyon into Havasu reservation. It took us about 4.5 hours to get town in into the town itself where we had to check in, and then about another 1.5 hours to get down to the campsite.

We set-up camp near a rock wall and some small trees so that we could get shade to our campsite at least part of the day. The way that Havasupi is laid out, the campsite it right in the middle of the main hikes so that it is easy to get to each of the popular waterfalls and other sites. The most popular waterfall of all, Havasu falls, was only about a 10 minute walk from our campsite, which was great. We made several stops there, including briefly on the way done with our packs. Speaking of our packs, they felt MUCH more heavy on the way down than when we first picked them up at the parking lot. By the time that we got to our campsite, we were more than ready to drop-off our packs for some much needed rest. Taking the weight off of our shoulders never felt so good as it did at this time.

There was only one water spicket for the whole campsite near the entrance, so we would take turns going to fill-up our water container there. There was also a pretty creek that ran from Havasu falls done the middle of the campsite that we had to cross over in some areas. The campsite was settled in a canyon with red-rock walls all around us with some scattered trees.

For the three days that we were there, we did several hikes and swims all around the area. My favorite swim was on our last full day there where we swam in a giant water hole in between two falls and right up underneath one of them. The water was clear and different shades of turquoise, with green plants growing at the bottom that just looked amazing. There was even a natural rock formation that we swim up to that looked like a natural hot tub. The water in several places honestly looked like someone had taken the Caribbean water that i had just swam in a month before and brought it to the desert.

The hike back up was a brutal hike. It took us about 4.5 hours to get from our camp to the bottom of the hill with the parking lot. It took us another 2 hours to hike the two miles or so up the switchbacks to get back. I honestly think that those last two miles were the worst time that I have ever had hiking as my shoulders and feet were killing me. I lead the way up the hike back up the that point, at which time I fell behind and was one of the last to make it to the top. In my defense, I was the only one that did not have hiking polls with them which makes the climbing much easier. We stopped and took some really cool pictures along the way on Kent's camera. It was a nice break and a great way to break up the hike. The moon was almost full so it was an amazing site to see the canyon in the moonlight like that.

Overall it was just an amazing trip, and one that I was glad to have attended. The water at the different falls and in the rivers was just amazing and unique (although very cold to swim in yet refreshing). The sheer power of some of the falls while standing at the base of them was awe-inspiring. I hope to go back again someday.

Cayman Island Vacation Day # 7 & 8: Seven-Mile Beach (Again) and Diving for Conch Shells

2013-06-21T10:35:00.003-06:00

Cayman Island Vacation Day # 7 & 8: Seven-Mile Beach (Again) and Diving for Conch Shells

On the last Friday and Saturday that we were in Cayman was created some of our best memories. Friday we went to 7-Mile Beach again, as well as walked around and saw some of the resorts there. Ryan and Betsy met up with us afterwards to grab some dinner. 7-Mile beach was not quite as fun as it was earlier in the week as there was more wind and therefore more waves and less visibility in the water. Nonetheless it is still a beautiful beach. We hung-out near the Governor's home at a beach appropriately named "Governor's Beach."

Saturday we went conch diving in the water behind Ryan and Betsy's house. This was the event that I was looking forward to the most all week, outside of visiting 7-Mile Beach. There was a white pole about 60 yards or so out on the water that indicated to boaters where a piece of the reef is that they need to avoid, and that was the area that we wanted to swim out to. We tried to swim out earlier in the week but some days the water was too high due to the strong winds. Saturday morning was just perfect. The swim to get out there was a bit of a struggle with the waves, but the snorkels helped as you could keep your head under water. I also wore a rash guard as I had been a bit sunburned from the trip to the back the day before. It helped keep me warm in addition to preventing further burn from the sun rays.

We saw several conches along the way there and back. Ryan carried a blue net sack to carry the shells back in. He and Betsy each picked up a couple at least, Melissa picked up two and I picked up one. We ended up putting one back as it was too young. We also spent some time swimming around the reef at the pole and saw some cool fish as well as a neat purple sea fan. I grabbed some great pictures with the underwater camera that Marleigh let me borrow. We only had to dive 10-15ft. to pick-up the conches so it wasn't too difficult to grab one. The hardest part was probably pulling them up as the conches were heavier than they looked.

When we got back to shore, Ryan and Betsy cracked a part of the shells to get the conches out, then cooked them in a frying pan with batter and lime which we ate later that day. They were chewy but delicious. Melissa even tried a small piece which was unusual as she hates seafood. It was a great day and a really cool experience.

Later that evening I took out their canoe and paddled around in the water for a while. I love canoes and it was great to paddle around in the calm water enjoying the view of an amazing sunset.

Cayman Island Vacation Day # 9: Rum Point and an Abandoned Home

2013-06-10T18:25:00.002-06:00

Cayman Island Vacation Day #9: Rum Point and an Abandoned Home

On our last two days of vacation activity, Melissa and I went to Seven-Mile Beach again and then on to a beach known as "Rum Point" the next day. Rum Point is located on the North Side of the Island where there is generally less wind and therefore calmer waters.The water itself is also very shallow for dozens of feet out into the ocean, making a perfect place for boats to pull up and set their anchor so that people can wade around in the water and socialize. We met up with some friends of Ryan and Betsy before we went to the beach to eat at a restaurant which is really famous for its fries. Out on the water just past the dock near the restaurant, there was someone riding a cool hydro-powered "jet-pack." It was a cool site to see. After that, we went to Rum Point beach itself and hung-out in the water and floated around in so blow-up pool toys that Ryan and Betsy brought. It was very relaxing being there and a great last day at the beach before we flew home.

The day before we went to Rum Point, Melissa really wanted to go see an abandoned home that was ravaged during a hurricane back in 2004. It was only about a mile walk form Ryan and Betsy's home and my mom had stated that it was a place worth visiting when they were there for their vacation just two weeks before us.The home, looked like something out of a "Titanic" documentary with books strewn everywhere, furnished which had been tarnished and left, etc.We walked around and took pictures, wondering who had lived here before and why they had never come back to re-build it. It was a very nice home with a pool and guest home even. It was a unique site to visit for sure.

Cayman Island Vacation Day #6: Botanical Gardens

2013-06-06T22:14:00.002-06:00

Cayman Island Vacation Day #6: Botanical Gardens

Day #6 of our Cayman vacation, we visited the Botanical gardens located closer to the west side of the island. It is about a 2 square mile area by my estimation that was covered with all varieties of trees, flowers, and plants. It was also one of the places were tourists go to see the famous blue iguanas, found only on the Cayman Islands. We were told by Betsy that this would be a very enjoyable place to visit, and we figured that it would also be a nice change of pace from all of the more rigorous activities from earlier in the week.

This wasn't the best time of the year to visit the gardens as several of the flowers were not yet in bloom, including the orchids which is one the varieties of flowers that we were most interested in seeing. Plus it rained a bit causing us to try and take cover under any type of foliage that we could find close by, which was not always effective in keeping us dry. Nonetheless we did see come cool things and got some nice pictures. Plus it was nice just to walk around together a bit.

One of the highlights of the day was finding a larger blue iguana relaxing under a large gazebo with some tables nearby. We took some pictures and sat down under the gazebo when it started to rain a bit. While Melissa and I were thus conversing, the blue iguana got startled for some reason we couldn't figure, and began to hiss and charge after us. It stopped a good 5-6 ft. or so away, but it was enough to startle us and make us stand up off of the bench. It was kind of funny, and luckily we had already taken our pictures of him at that point.

Cayman Island Vacation Day #5: Stingray City

2013-06-04T23:41:00.003-06:00

Cayman Island Vacation Day #5: Stingray City

One of the highlights of our trip and possibly the one activity that we looked forward to was attending "Stingray City." Located on a sandbar a couple miles or so out into the bay, Stingray City is a popular tourist spot where stingrays congregate to play with the swimmers and to be fed. Tourists can then play interact with the stingrays, including picking them and and holding them just out of the water. It truly is a unique experience and one that Cayman is famous for.

We took our boat tour with Captain Marvin's Tours, a tour group that has been a staple to the island performing these Stingray City tours for decades. Betsy drove us downtown in the morning to sign in, and then over to the dock where we met the rest of the passengers and the crew. After a few pictures and a brief orientation, we were off to Stingray City. The trip over only took about 30 minutes, and was a bit choppy. Luckily nor Melissa or I got seasick. There were actually three total stops for the trip, the first being stingray city itself.

When we arrived to stingray City, there were several other boats already anchored at the sand bar there. Additionally, there was a group of tourists who had stopped by as part of their tour on jet skis. Overall though there wasn't nearly as many tourists on our boat or at the site itself as there are with more of the cruise ships coming in so we had picked a nice day to go.

When got out of the boat by unloading on a ladder tied to the back of it. The water was surprisingly shallow for how far out we were in the water, only about 3.5 ft. deep. The tour guide, a native whose name was Keith, gathered us all around and demonstrated how to pick-up and hold one of the many stingrays. They also had a bucket of what looked like squid to feed them with. I was amazed at how many stingrays showed up and how friendly they were towards all of the tourists who were gathering around the sandbar. When I fed one of them a squid it sucked it right up so fast that I was afraid that it would also suck up my fingers.

Melissa was a little scared at first (or terrified if you ask her), or the stingrays as they came right up and rubbed against her legs. She was brave though and suck with it, even eventually holding one in her arms and letting one give her a back-rub as Keith our guide held it up to her shoulders. We both took turns holding stingrays and getting messages from them. I also used Marleigh's underwater camera, which she was kind enough to let me borrow. to take pictures of the stingrays underwater. It was a great experience which we will remember for the rest of our lives.

Our next two stops were snorkeling stops, one at the great reef and one at a location known as the "Coral Garden." We saw a lot of fish in these two stops, especially at Coral Gardens, including tangs, trigger fish, butterfly fish, etc.

In all the trip was about three hours. When we got back, we were picked up by Ryan and met Betsy and the girls at Legends Grill to get dinner.

Austen and Kennedy's First Play Day at the Park

2013-05-29T22:08:00.003-06:00

Austen and Kennedy's First Play Day at the Park

We took the twins to the park the other day to play on the slides and the swing for the first time. They sat on the slides and had a chance to actually slide down the slides as we held them. Kennedy seemed to enjoy it a bit more than Austen, although neither of them were particularly crazy about it. They did really enjoy the swings though. We pushed them slightly back and forth and they both smiled big and laughed. Then even looked at each other and smiled as shown in the photo as they were passing each other at one point. It was a fun experience and they enjoyed it more than I thought that they would.

Cayman Island Vacation Day #4: Beach Cruisers to the Beach

2013-05-28T22:14:00.003-06:00

Cayman Island Vacation Day #4: Beach Cruisers to the Beach

Things slowed down a bit for us this day, as we had a more relaxing day at Ryan and Betsy's house in the morning followed by a small bike ride to a nearby public beach. They were nice enough to lend us two of their beach cruisers, provided hat I (Christian) fixed the flat on one of the bikes before I rode it. I fixed the flat and we rode to a public beach nearby. The beach was a bit of a disappointment as it had large rocks right where the sand met the water, so we were not able to wad out into the water to go snorkeling easily. We met a nice group of Canadians who took the photo of us above. We decided to continue riding our bikes further past the beach after this stop, over to check out some local resorts, Unfortunately the bike that I was riding got a flat again, so the same Canadian group of tourists were nice enough to pick us up and take us back home with our bikes. Later that evening Ryan and Betsy drove us over to the resort for a nice evening dinner, so not all was lost.

At the resort that we dove to later that evening, we ate out at a restaurant that was out of the ocean at the end of its own dock. It was quite a view and there were even fish schooling near our table waiting to eat food that the guests throw into the water. There was even some Karaoke going on and I decided to sing "Brown-Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison. It was a fun night with great views.

Cayman Island Vacation Day #3 -- Seven-Mile Beach

2013-05-27T22:55:00.003-06:00

Cayman Island Vacation Day #3 -- Seven-Mile Beach

One of the highlights of our trip, and a destination that we were most looking forward to was visiting Seven-Mile beach. It is recognized as one of the greatest beaches in the Caribbean, and really was a site to behold. All of my life I have wanted to go to s beach that had teal colored water and was clear enough to look like a swimming pool, and Seven-Mile Beach delivered. Besty was nice enough to drive us there, and even surprised us with real coconuts to drink coconut milk from, sold by a vendor on the beach. We spent a good three hours or so on the beach, and enjoyed a sunny day with o wind and great views. We even tried a little snorkeling and saw some small schools of fish and even a barracuda. Great day.

Cayman Vacation Day #2: Snorkeling at Smith Cove and Dinner at Sunset House

2013-05-26T22:51:00.000-06:00

Cayman Vacation Day #2: Snorkeling at Smith Cove and Dinner at Sunset House

Before we felw out to the Cayman Islands, my (Christian) mom called us to give us some advice on what to see and do as they had just arrived back from their vacation to Cayman as well. One of the things that she said we had to do was to snorkel at Smith Cove. She said that Megan and Kiely were raving about what there was to see there. So, not wanting to wait around, Melissa and I had Ryan and Betsy take us to Smith Cove the day after we arrived as one of our first activities.

We parked in a parking lot across the street from the cove and walked over with a bag of snorkel gear. The cove was like a sandy park with lots of trees with winding trunks. We set-up some chairs underneath a tree in some shade. We took turns going snorkeling as Ryan and Betsy also had their kids with them and we had limited gear. The water was warm and the scenery under the water was just as advertised. I could not believe the amount of things to see including great coral formations and tons of fish, including even a school of blue tangs. Melissa was a bit nervous about snorkeling with the fish as they "creep her out," but she eventually got over that and had a very enjoyable time as well.

After snorkeling, Ryan and Betsy took us to one of their favorite restaurants, the "Sunset House," which was on a dock overlooking the ocean. The lobster bisque that I had was just okay but the view was phenomenal.

Cayman Island Vacation Day #1: The Arrival

2013-05-02T20:42:00.003-06:00

Cayman Island Vacation Day #1: The Arrival

Melissa and I had been anticipating this vacation for a long time and were finally able to purchase tickets to fly out to the Cayman Islands to visit Ryan and Betsy's family. It makes it easier to visit to an expensive tropical island like the Cayman Islands when you have a family member who already lives out there and is willing to let you stay the week with them. This was also the first big vacation that Melissa and I were able to go on since we were married about four and a half years ago.

We took the red-eye flight out of Slat Lake City on Friday night and arrived in Charlotte, NC at around 6:30 am EST. We had a two and a half layover in NC until our connecting flight to the Cayman Islands left, so we walked around a bit until we had breakfast at an Einstein Bagel shop that we found within the airport. We then caught our connecting flight from NC to the Cayman Islands and landed at the Grand Cayman airport at around 11:30 am, Cayman time. Ryan and Skylar were already at the airport waving at us as we got off the plane. Betsy and Marleigh met us in the parking lot after Melissa and I passed through customs in the airport.

After they picked us up from the airport, we stopped at a restaurant near seven-mile beach where we stopped to eat some lunch. It had a very nice view of the Caribbean ocean and was a nice introduction to the island. After lunch we went home where Melissa and I unpacked. We were both a bit tired so Melissa ended up taking a nap while Ryan and I, along with his girls, explored the ocean and beach behind their house. We saw some cool things, including a huge red starfish, crabs, different fish, and an anemone amongst other things. I shot some great pictures as well. This really is a beautiful island. The water here is very clear, colorful, and surprisingly clear. We even saw a couple of eels, one of which was very large and was just lying near the shore until ?Betsy scared it and it swam away. She said that she had never seen one that big before on this beach.

Clue Party at Our House

2013-04-30T23:17:00.004-06:00

Clue Party at Our House

Melissa and I invited some friends over to our house for a Clue themed party just a week and half ago. It was a party that we had been planning for some time and that we were really looking forward to. Melissa first got the idea from somewhere on the internet, and since I (Christian) am such a big fan of Clue I was totally on board with the idea of hosting this party.

We invited over two different couples from the Ward and in the neighborhood.These were Jed and Kim Robinson a well as Kelly and Shannon Wasdin. I had not really met the Wasdins before this party so it was nice getting to know them, although Melissa already had a great relationship with
Shannon as they had visited with each other several times before the party. We also already knew the Robinsons very well as we had had several get togethers with them before as well as one time when they babysat our kids when we were at a BYU football game.

Melissa made some creative invitations which said "Classified" on the envelope just like with the game. Each envelope contained homemade Clue card revealing which characters and weapons the participants receiving the envelope were to bring. Melissa even made her own costume as Mrs. White. I went as Mr. Green. Everyone showed up at our house the night of the party dressed in costume as their character as well as carrying a version of the weapon that they were assigned to. We ended up just having everyone place their weapons in a basket a the entrance because we were not sure what to do with them. the most creative weapon was the lead pipe which ended up being an air gauge which Jed Robinson brought.

We had a nice dinner and a fun game of Clue (Master Detective version). Unfortunately we were not able to watch the Clue movie as planed as the Wasdins had to get their kids to bed. The Robinsons ended up staying afterwards to chat with us for a while. Overall the night was a blast and I even ended up winning the board game of Clue that we played. We hope to do this again some time.

Day at the Museum

2013-04-21T22:34:00.001-06:00

So Mondays are a free day to the public at the Natural History Museum of Utah. So one of my best friends growing up who also has a set of twins invited me to go with her and another friend of hers who also has twins. I'm sure we were quite the site, three sets of twins in varying ages. It was fun to get out and go on a small field trip with the kids. They were still too young for most of the activities there but enjoyed the blocks that made sounds. These blocks had different items in them making different sounds and you had to try to match the sounds. My favorite part was the dinosaurs. They had quite the selection and quite a few from here in Utah. You could even watch people working on the fossils through glass, which was fun. Though I don't think if I were them I could get any work done if people were staring at me all day. One fun fact that I learned, was that millions of years ago there was a sea covering the middle of the U.S. It went all the way from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. So they had different families of dinosaurs on each side and only fossils they find in the middle of U.S. are under water creatures which is probably where they get that theory from. I had never heard of this before, I guess you can learn something new everyday. It was a fun to get out and do something new with the kids.

Half Birthday Celebration

2013-04-21T22:18:00.000-06:00

I scream, You scream, we all scream for Ice-cream! Who needs a reason to eat ice-cream? I sure don't, but what better reason could there be better than a half birthday? To celebrate my half birthday Christian and I went to our favorite frozen yogurt place here in Spanish Fork, Yogurt Bliss. Here's to being 27 1/2!

The twins have gone mobile

2013-04-14T19:24:00.000-06:00

The twins have gone mobile

Austen and Kennedy have learned to crawl over the last month, as well as how to pull themselves up onto just about anything that they can. It has been a joy to watch them learn to maneuver themselves around the house, and as they do so to see their excitement as they expand their world by discovering new things around them. The first time that Kennedy crawled was actually a funny story from one day about a month ago when Melissa was on the phone with her mom. She was talking on the phone and her Mom asked if the twins were crawling yet. Just as Melissa began to say that they are not and that Kennedy just does not seem to want to crawl, all of a sudden Kennedy crawled a few steps across the family room floor just as Melissa was finishing her sentence. Austen decided to crawl as well soon after that, I believe the same day. Now we can't seem to keep them in one place as they crawl everywhere around the family room, into the dining room, kitchen, front room, etc. The especially love the kitchen chairs as they frequently will crawl over to and play in them, even sometimes getting themselves stuck or falling back on them without knowing how to get back up, like Austen did as seen in picture above. Melissa recorded a video once of them both playing in the chairs and laughing hysterically at each other as they crawled around and looking back at each other through the chairs.They also enjoy chasing each other now and again and even crawling over one another. Another favorite activity of theirs is to crawl on mom and dad when we are laying down on the floor with them or pulling themselves up on the side of the couch to see what mom and/or dad are doing sitting up there.

Speaking of standing up, the twins learned to stand up right after they started crawling, and have used it as a way to satisfy their curiosity ever since. Austen stood up first by pulling himself up at the bathtub in their bathroom upstairs, and Kennedy did the same thing the next day on the bathtub in the master bath (pictured above.)The main challenge now is making sure that the don't hurt themselves out of their curiosity as we have already seen a few bumps and bruises due to spills.

BYU Alumni Traditions Ball and Visit from Grandpa and Grandma Rowley

2013-04-07T15:25:00.004-06:00

BYU Alumni Traditions Ball and Visit from Grandpa and Grandma Rowley

Two weekends ago Melissa and I attended the BYU Alumni Traditions Ball, held annually late March. The ball this year was held in the Gordon B. Hinckley alumni center. I (Christian) received an email about the Ball as part of the BYU alumni newsletter that I receive every now and again. Last year I desired to take Melissa to the ball, but forgot to register and ended up missing it. This year I planned ahead better and purchased us tickets.We dressed up in our Sunday best and enjoyed a night of dancing and entertainment. There was a live band, complete with vocal performance, as well as a piano solo performance upstairs on the third floor which was very good. Thee were lots of treats and fruit to eat, as well as rootbeer floats which has become a tradition with the ball. We also had a complimentary photo taken, participated in a waltz dance lesson, enjoyed some time in the gazebo on the patio, and read the display which taught of past tradition balls.

Grandma and Grandpa Rowley also came down not too long ago for a funeral as Grandmpa Rowley's sister had died and the funeral was here in Utah County. It was very nice to visit with them as due to health problems, they do not get to travel down much anymore form Washington. This was the first time that they were able to meet our twins. Mindy spoke and performed the cougar fight song on the piano for the funeral, as her Aunt was apparently a big BYU sports fan.

Easter 2013

2013-04-03T21:53:00.001-06:00

Easter 2013

This year the twins were able to celebrate their first Easter! Melissa took a lot of care the weeks leading up to Easter to make sure that everyone had an Easter basket and goodies inside of those baskets for Easter morning. She laid out the baskets and goodies and the twins loved getting into them and discovering all the new treats and toys that they received. We recorded some good video of them crawling across the room in excitement to get into their baskets. Some of these treats included a 2 new bottles of puffs, maracas, and even a TV remote control for Kennedy to play with as she is always trying to grab the Direct TV one.

After Church, we drove over to Grandma and Grandpa Cutler's house in Orem for dinner and the traditional Easter egg hunt. This year, Grandpa Cutler hid the gees int he backyard as opposed to the front where he usually hides them. The eggs for the adults and children always have money in them which is very generous of them to do. We plan on using this extra money for out rip to the Cayman Islands later this month.It was very enjoyable being able to visit with everyone.

Also of note was the Ward Easter Program that I helped to organize as a member of the Sunday School Presidency. We had small classes where we taught about an important moment of the Savior's life relating to the Resurrection. We also gave out food samples in relation to this. My class was on the miracle of feeding the 5,000, and I gave out sardines and honeycomb. The activity conclude with an Easter message given by thew 1st Counselor in the Bishopric. Overall it was a nice success.

Visit to Lincoln Beach, Utah Lake

2013-03-24T21:13:00.003-06:00

Visit to Lincoln Beach, Utah Lake

I (Christian) was told of pretty cool place to visit in Utah County not far from our home in Spanish Fork called Lincoln Beach. It is a small area where visitors can access Utah lake for fishing or recreation. We finally decided to try the drive last weekend and made a visit. It wasn't as exciting of a park as we had hoped for but we did enjoy the view and the fresh air. The lake still had ice on it so I imagine it will be a while before we try to jet ski on it. Maybe later this summer. There were some other families there visiting for either a picnic in the park, or some fishing. We even saw a photo shoot of some bikers who had a photographer taking some pictures of them on their motorcycles with the lake in the background. We enjoy little drives like this as a family and it is always nice to visit someplace new, especially when it is close to home.