Rascal Flats

For our birthdays, Brandon (Corey's brother) bought us tickets to the Rascal Flats concert. So last night was the big date for Corey and I. We took the kids over to the Jake and Kelsie's house and then headed to Salt Lake. We had dinner at the Gateway and then walked across the street to the Energy Soloutions' Center.

Jessica Simpson opened for Rascal Flats. The minute she stepped out on stage all the guys in the crowd were ohhhed and ahhhed over her. She actually did not do a bad job on stage. I was surprised at the number of songs I did know of hers. 

At the break Corey and I enjoyed the stage and lights crew setting up for Rascal Flats. We watched 4 guys climb over 200 hundred feet on a tiny rope latter to some suspended lights. That is a job that I would not want!

Rascal Flats came on stage with a booming stage entrance. An actual explosion made me jump in my seat. They sounded amazing! Sometimes when you here a group live, you can tell the difference in sound, but not with these guys. Rascal Flats sang song after song with a great light effects for the background. They even had battle of instruments by local people here in Utah. Corey and I had a great time at the concert. Thanks to Brandon for the tickets and the Dahls for babysitting!

What?! More snow.....

When we opened up the blinds this morning we were all surprised by the ground covering of snow! Our snow for the most part (except in the backyard) melted 2 days ago. What is going on here? 

Gymnastics Festival

Today was the big day for Peyton's gymnastics class. Peyton's class had to preform by themselves on the balance beam, the floor, vault, and the bar. 

 

First the class had warm ups. Peyton's little arm pumped back and forth as he ran (Peyton has pumped his arm since day one of walking). He had a hard time running. Peyton would try to watch himself in the mirror and he liked watching his audience watch him.

Once Peyton realized he had an audience, he was thrilled. He would sneak and extra turn at routine. Then he would smile real big and wait for everyone to clap for him one more time. He was so pleased with himself he could hardly sit still on his little carpet without smiling (The kids had to sit on the carpet tiles in between their turns).

 

After the class preformed all of the routines, there was an awards ceremony for the class. Peyton was so proud of his ribbon! He did a great job on all of his routines. We are so proud of him.

Today was absolutely beautiful! It actually reached 62 degrees! All I wanted to do was be outside. I have a bad case of spring fever and cannot wait for spring and warm days. I will be so glad when things turn green and flowers are in bloom. I am so tired of the snow and the brownness of winter.

I tried to be outside as much as possible with the kids today. We played with sidewalk chalk and bubbles. We walked around the yard looking for flowers popping through the dirt. Believe it or not, I have a few crazy tulips that are in a hurry. The little tips of the plants are showing in the dirt. We even walked to the park. Half the neighborhood was outside playing!

 Annisten loves her food. Playing outside wore her out so much that she did not even finish her lunch! 

Now that is a rare occasion at our house. I went to get a refill on my drink and when I turned around Annisten was out for the count. If you listen close enough, you can hear her snoring.

After dinner, Peyton asked me if it was bedtime yet. Surprisingly enough, it was not even 7:00! So we had a movie night. The kids love to watch movies with milk and popcorn.

Annisten and time out...

 

On Saturday Corey and I tried to clean out the garage. It was a gorgeous day out, and so the kids played outside. Annisten kept running into the street. She thought it was a game. Annisten would run into the street and then we would run after her. After the millionth time of bring her back to the driveway, I thought I would try a timeout. 

At first she thought this was funny too; until she tried to leave the corner before time out was up. When I made her stand there, she did not think that a timeout was so much fun. After a couple of times of time out, Annisten quit running out in the street.

Congratulations Brandon and Ashely!

 The big news- Brandon proposed to Ashley on Valentine's Day! 

Brandon took Ashely on a picnic and the gave her a box of chocolates afterwords. When she opened the box, she saw a jewelry box. When she opened it, Brandon got down on one knee and proposed.

Everyone is so excited to have Ashely apart of the family now (and her cute little girl Aspen)! 

congratulations you two!

Valentine's Day

  For Valentine's Day, my Mom and Justin watched the kids. Corey and I had a couple massages for the first time. What a great way to relax. This is one of our engagement pictures. Sometimes those days seem forever ago; on other hand, it seems like not so long ago. No matter the amount of time that passes, I love my honey even more. He is a great husband and father to Peyton and Annisten. I am so grateful that we get to spend not only our lives together but have eternity too. 

 Peyton and Annisten had a great day as well. Nana T gave them a treat bags with stickers, candy, and necklaces. Well the necklaces were Anni's, but Peyton thought he needed one too. Plus they hung out with Justin and Nana.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Shepard's come to visit....

My family from Missouri came to visit us in Utah. We had a Rock Band competition. Some really rocked while others were booed off stage. 

We also had family pictures taken. Their is a reason we never get family pics. Trying to get three toddlers to smile and look in the same direction is not easy. It will probably be a while before we try that again.

For the weekend, we all stayed in a condo in Park City. The weather was snowing and everything looked so beautiful. Corey, Travis, and I taught Brekka and Justin how to ski. We made it through the day with no casualties, which is always a bonus for an accident prone family. The rest of the time they were here we hung out, ate great food, played games, and enjoyed sighting in Utah. 

Oh and of coarse people got sick. For some reason when ever family comes to visit, people get sick ( the last time our family came to visit, we had 15 people fighting over the bathroom because they were all throwing up). Corey had an allergic reaction to food that had sage in it. My Mom and Justin had the flu and cold. Gwendolyn had the three day measles.  

Despite all of that the time went by so fast and everyone had a great time. Our family was sad to say goodbye and we will miss them. We all wish that we lived closer to one another.

Gymnastics

Peyton started gymnastics and absolutely loves it! I cannot even tell him until about 10 min. before we leave that we are going to gymnastics. Otherwise he asks question after question; plus he gets really upset if we do not leave that min. to go to gymnastics.

The class has been great for extra energy and fighting winter boredom. Plus he is learning new skills. 

 His favorite things to do at gymnastics are the trampoline, sponge pit, and the bars.