A Little Catching Up

Here's another one of those catch-up posts I try so hard to avoid... Such is life!

Two weekends ago my parents moved into their new house. Corbyn was a big helper.



And Peyton was entertained by this little chair that she claimed as her own. (Appropriate because it belonged to my dad's mom, Joan, who Peyton is named after - Joan is Peyton's middle name.)



That same weekend McKae and Anthony came to Utah for a mission farewell for one of Anthony's sisters. So we had them over for dinner and we invited Taylor and Martha and everyone who helped with the move as well. It was a big group! Peyton's favorite part of the meal was the corn on the cob. She finally has the teeth to eat the corn right off the cob.



We were so excited to meet Rocky especially because we didn't think we'd get to meet him until Thanksgiving! Corbyn wasn't too terribly impressed.



But Peyton loved holding him and giving him hugs and kisses.



Last week I realized Peyton's hair is finally long enough to fit into a teeny tiny ponytail. It looks pretty dang cute and I can finally use all those clips I made before she was born!



Rog had a busy week at school with 2 tests and projects. Thursday night we took a break from life and watched Now You See Me - it was incredible.

Friday morning the iPhone 5s came out. Jared absolutely could not wait to get his. (He's been waiting for this day since he got home from his mission in July!) My mom and dad got to the AT&T store at 6:30 am - a very early hour especially for my mom! I met them there a little before 8:00. I could have waited, but since my mom and Jared were getting one I figured I would get one too (as an early Christmas present).



Friday morning we had a field trip for Corbyn's joy school. We hiked Grotto Falls up Payson Canyon. Peyton got to tag along and Rog got in some quality study time while we were gone.



The boys were very intrigued by a caterpillar they found - until one of them killed it. We told them not to, but boys will be boys.



Friday night we ran the Electric Run 5K with Bill and Mariah at Thanksgiving Point.



While we were waiting for it to start, they threw out a bunch of swag - mostly glow sticks, but Rog caught this awesome hat.



The whole course has different music and lighting effects along the way. It isn't your standard 5K - it's more like an awesome running party!



Most of my Saturday was spent messing with my new phone. It wasn't letting me transfer my apps, so after trying everything I could think of, I decided to restore it and start over. It got stuck in restore mode and even the people at the AT&T store couldn't get it out. They told me to take it to Simply Mac, but by then it was too close to game time to brave University Parkway. Jared plugged it into his computer, tried one thing, and just like that it was working again. He really is the iPhone master. (And now that it's working I love it! Especially the fingerprint passcode!)

We had a successful tailgate party with perfect tailgating weather. (Much better than last game when we ended up tailgating in the car!) Peyton didn't eat much of the meatball sandwiches I made, but she approved of the donuts Grandma Lori brought!



It was a terribly disappointing game. It has been way too long since we beat Utah and it's so depressing to think we don't get another chance until 2016! We lost 13-20, but at least we looked awesome with our warpaint!



On Sunday I made Swedish meatballs for Jared. He said they tasted just like the homemade meatballs he had on his mission - score!



And that my friends, brings us up to date!

Summer Bucket List Report

There's no denying that summer is over, so it's about time I report on our summer bucket list!



Hike the Y: Nope. We've been saying we should hike the Y when it's lit for homecoming for years, so maybe we'll actually do it this year!

Movie in the Park: We got rained out, but it was rescheduled for September 26th. Hopefully we'll have better luck with the weather that night.

Go Camping: Check.



Paddle Boats: Check, part of our camping trip.



Visit a National Park: Check, Bryce Canyon National Park - one of my absolute favorites.



Watch Fireworks: Check, after the Rockies game the night before the 4th of July.



Do Sparklers: Check, on the 4th of July.



Throw Rocks in a Lake: Check, Navajo Lake.



Hike Grotto Falls: Check.



Go to the Brigham City Temple: Nope, but as this is also one of our goals for the year, we'll be going before the year is up!

Hike Timp: Check, during our week at Aspen Grove.



Kiss Under the Stars: Nope. This would have been easy to accomplish, but we didn't plan it, so it didn't happen.

Float the Provo River: Check.



Watch a Parade: Check, 24th of July.



Go to the Zoo: Check.



Make Homemade Ice Cream: Check. I used my dad's recipe (which I'm guessing is actually my Grandma Joan's recipe). Eating it brought back so many memories from my childhood! (Side note: We got these cups for our wedding. Until about a year ago, Rog did not know why we use them almost exclusively for ice cream. He didn't realize that they are made to look like an ice cream cone. Yeah, he's cute!)



Go to a Carnival: Check, 24th of July.



Swim in the Spanish Fork Pool: Check.



Take Family Pictures: Check. I cannot wait to get them back!!

Eat Snow Cones: Check. We had one to kick off summer, one on the 24th of July, one at the KLAS summer party, and one to wrap up summer. For me (a huge lover of snow cones), that was not enough!



Roast S'mores: Check, when we were in Colorado for the 4th of July.



Watch a Sunset and a Sunrise: Nope. This one should have/would have been easy enough to accomplish. But again, we didn't plan for it and it didn't happen.

Go to a Baseball Game: Check, Rockies game the night before the 4th of July.



It was a pretty spectacular summer!

Five on Friday

1. For FHE Monday night we went raspberry picking with the Petrosinos. We had never been before, so we didn't know to come prepared with a container to put the berries in. We used a grocery bag we had in the car which worked fine - the berries got a little squashed, but that was ok because I squashed them anyway when I used them to make this Raspberry Cream Pie and can a few jars of jam.



2. Tuesday night was the finale of So You Think You Can Dance. I didn't really care about the guys, but I was so excited that Amy won! She was my favorite from pretty early on. I'm sad that the show is over, but also excited for NCIS and Glee to start.

3. Corbyn had his first day of Joy School on Thursday. (It was supposed to be Tuesday, but he had a little croup early in the week.) He was a little nervous about going - he kept saying that he wanted me to be the teacher. I had to explain that I am one of the teachers, but this week wasn't my week to teach. He did great after he got there and had a fun time learning about the letter A and the number 0 with 3 of his best friends - Carver, Johnny, and Rhys.

4. Yesterday I checked out Snow White from the Spanish Fork library. Corbyn was terrified of the hunter and the queen/witch, but thought the Seven Dwarfs were hilarious!

5. Today Peyton put two words together for the first time. As we were going inside from playing with Cinnamon (the Petrosino's dog), she said, "Bye dog." Corbyn didn't do that until much later, so I was pretty shocked!

BYU Beats Texas!

Last Saturday was like crazy busy.

I wanted to start off the day with a run. Because Corbyn was at the Fathers and Sons Campout with Rog, I didn't want to push the double running stroller with only Peyton in it. I got the single running stroller out of storage (it was in the way way back), but then I couldn't figure out how to put the back wheels on. I even found the owner's manual online and tried to find a video on YouTube. I finally ended up borrowing Bill and Mariah's running stroller. Of course when I got home Rog and Corbyn were back from their campout (earlier than I expected them). So I should have just waited and Rog could have watched both kids while I ran without any stroller at all. (Hindsight is 20/20!)

We went over to Bill and Mariah's for a pancake lunch. (Bill had been in charge of making pancakes for the Fathers and Sons Campout and had a TON leftover!)

Then Rog and my dad went golfing while I got all the food ready for the tailgate party. I made pulled pork sandwiches with homemade rolls and coleslaw. While the rolls were rising Corbyn and I went to Walmart to get a few things. (My mom stayed at our house while Peyton napped.)

I barely got everything ready in time to rush off to the tailgate party!

{Bill and Mariah with Charlotte in her cute BYU outfit.}



{The kids and me in our gray BYU shirts!}



In the middle of our tailgate party, a huge crazy storm came out of nowhere! My grandpa, mom, cousin Taylor, Rog, Corbyn, Peyton, and I all crammed in my grandpa's car while everyone else went into the stadium to take cover. We were listening to 102.7 to hear what was going on, but then my grandpa's battery died. We had someone jump it, but we didn't want to use the battery on the radio, so we were kind of in the dark about what was going on.

Rog, my mom, and Peyton weren't going to the game (we had the adult session of stake conference that night and our bishop had made it clear that Rog was to attend), so they went home when the rain died down a bit. Corbyn was using Rog's ticket, so he stayed with me. He was bored in the car and my phone was almost dead, so I couldn't entertain him with that. We found a break in the storm and went into the stadium. Luckily Rog had grabbed a poncho at the last second, so Corbyn stayed dry.



We found my dad and Jared under the stands and hung out with them. Corbyn was again easily bored and started complaining that he was hungry. At that point they announced that the game would start in 50 minutes, so at least we knew an end was in sight! Jared took the poncho and went back to his dorm room to get us all sweaters to wear. I didn't have any money, but my dad bought Corbyn some popcorn that kept him entertained and helped fill him up.



The game finally started and we couldn't have been happier! Corbyn didn't like wearing Jared's sweater because it was obviously overly large on him, but he would let me me cover him in it like a blanket while he sat in my lap. His favorite part was looking for Cosmo and cheering at the end of the fight song. For having an unexpected 2 hour rain delay, he did great!! It was fun hanging out with just my little buddy!



At halftime we decided I should take him home and bring Rog back. Unfortunately for Rog, nothing very exciting happened in the 4th quarter, but at least he could say he was there for part of the game.

Texas was ranked #15 and after our depressing loss to Virginia, we didn't think we had any chance at all. But Taysom Hill (our QB) had the most amazing game ever and we ended up beating them 40-21!! It was by far the best game we've had in a very long time!

Zoo Pics

We had such a good time at the Hogle Zoo. About half of the zoo is under construction right now, but there was enough to see that we didn't feel gypped.

Peyton was so excited to see all the animals. She'd point and make noises (usually a growl which is conveniently correct most of the time).



They have a new play area (called the Lighhouse Point Splash Zone) that is pretty fun. The lighthouse slide is one of those slides that you end up pulling yourself down most of the way. Rog and I both took turns taking Peyton down it. I regretted it very much because a tiny hole near one of my back pockets turned into a giant rip and I got to walk around the rest of the day like that!



There is also a shipwreck where Corbyn got to pretend he was a pirate and a fun tide pool.



The Rocky Shores area is also pretty new. The otters were out and about giving us a great show. And this otter statue was a great photo opp.



This bear was right up at the glass just looking at everyone.



The kids loved the bear cave. We seriously had to drag them away!



We got to see the polar bear eat his lunch and then take a nice swim.



Then it was time for our lunch!



After lunch most of the animals were napping. It was pretty warm, so we couldn't blame them! This jaguar was conveniently napping/hanging out right up front.



This lion drinking fountain is a classic that has been at the Hogle Zoo since my mom was a little girl (and possibly even before that). It wasn't in its usual spot as that area was under construction, but I was happy to see that they had moved it to another area!



This gorilla measuring chart is also a classic. Peyton didn't quite get the point, but was adorable nonetheless.



I have such fond memories of visiting the Hogle Zoo every summer as a little girl. It's fun to take my kids there and see everything they are doing to make it a more modern zoo. (Although it does make me a little sad to see some of my favorite things missing - they better never get rid of that lion drinking fountain or I may have to have a word with zoo management!)