A Night at the Zoo

Mum and Dad were babysitting Mike's kids and decided that it would be fun to get out of the house. So Jeramie and I tagged along with our kids and we went to the "Night at the Zoo". They decorate the entire zoo with Christmas lights. The lights themselves were really quite good. The animals on the other hand were sub par. They were mostly asleep. I do believe that we picked one of the COLDEST nights. We were all bundled up in our warmest coats with hats and gloves .. and we were still cold. It was still lots of fun though!

At the back of the zoo we found ONE lit heater by a restaurant. Dad was nice enough to buy us all hot chocolate. Grandma said, "everybodies hand up!!"

PWS Christmas Party

Every year the Utah Prader-Willi Association hosts a Christmas party for all the kids. This was the first year that we attended. It was actually pretty fun. Baylee really enjoyed seeing friends from Kamp Kostopolus. Activities included coloring, word searches, puzzles, lunch and a visit with Santa.

Baylee told Grandpa while she was waiting in line for her turn on Santa's lap, "HE knows ME!"

Wyland's first encounter with the big man!
Jackson on the other hand wouldn't go anywhere near him. He says, "NO, he scare me!"

Annual Family Pictures

Every year we get the entire family together (usually around Thanksgiving) to take our annual family picture. Mum get's her picture to put in her Christmas card as I do mine. It's always such an event. We have to choose what colors to wear, this year we went with my suggestion. Orange, green, beige, and jeans. But picking the colors seems like the easy part. We then have to find a day that everyone is available to get together and do it. This year was the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Which as it turned out was the day that we celebrated Thanksgiving with my parents. Mike and Amber usually spend so much time going back and forth between families that it just has become easier to move ours to another day. The venue for our pictures this year was Wheeler Farm. Evan had fears that it would be too "Utah". But I think they turned out nice.

Picture includes 9 Howard's, 3 Howard-Kramer's, 1 Kramer, 1 White

This is a partial shot on the back of a wagon.

Jackson and Owen thought it would be fun to chase the ducks. At one point one of the ducks started talking back to Jackson. It was hilarious, niether was backing down and they were both yelling/quacking. It was such a video camera moment.

Jackson: "C'mon Owen I've got an idea!"

Owen: "Well, okay Jackson. Are we gonna get in trouble?"

All the Grandkids.

Zarley keeps the two boys in check most of the time.

LOL! This is just FUNNY!

Brothers Say Go Dodgers!

Jackson and Wyland in their Dodger outfits that Grandma and Grandpa bought them. Since we grew up in Los Angeles we are definitely a family of Dodger fans. SO CUTE!

Baylee Turns 11

For Baylee's 11th birthday we decided to postpone her party for a month so that she could get to know her new classmates and hopefully they would come to celebrate her birthday. She liked the idea of having a swim party at Dimple Dell. They have a really nice indoor pool where she takes lessons. After literally YEARS of taking lessons at the pool near Grandma's house this new pool seemed to agree with her and she finally learned to swim this year! Swimming is definitely one of Baylee's favorite things to do.

Zarley and Baylee

Jackson actually took to the slide which completely shocked me. Earlier in the year we experienced a VERY scary event at this very pool. We were there for Baylee's swim lesson and she was getting out of the pool. I was holding her towel which Jackson stood next to me and the next thing I knew he had turned around and just stepped into the pool. So there is he face down kicking around like fish out of water. I literally reached down and hauled him out by the back of his shirt. He was fine, just a little scared. I was .. well needless to say I now have serious anxiety when my kids are anywhere around water. With us spending SO much of our time around water because of the boat it's kind of stressful! SO anyway, Jackson didn't enjoy the water much for several months after the event. But at Baylee's party he had a GREAT time and was actually very independent. Thank GOD we made it over that hump, I would hate for him to have been scared of water for the rest of his life.

Baylee in her element.

Jeramie and Jonathan. This picture cracks me up because you can tell that they are definitely father and son. They look IDENTICAL to me!!! Just the way they hold themselves and their body shape. So funny.

After swimming we were allowed the birthday room for an hour. We got A LOT accomplished in that hour. Pizza for lunch, presents, AND birthday cake! It was a really fun party. In the end I think that Baylee did VERY well for herself and she of course really enjoyed having her special day!

Halloween Night

Although this was technically Jackson's 3rd Halloween, this was the first year that he "got it". Baylee was more than happy to show him the ropes. We actually lucked out with a relatively warm night this year. With the exception of the rain it would have been perfect. Wyland stayed back home with Grandma and Grandpa. Every year we skip the festivities in our own neighborhood and head straight up to my mum's house. This year was no exception. Ussually Mike and his kids show up towards the end of the night and Baylee may go for a second trip around the neighborhood. Jeramie doesn't mind because he gets to eat most of her candy anyway! So off we went juggling the usual digital camera, Flip camera (for video), and trying to keep track of the kids.

Jackson says, "Lead the way Baylee!"

"See now wasn't that easy?"

Jackson caught on pretty quick and away they went. I'm not sure what he really made of the logistics of the holiday. (1) Knock on door (2) mumble something about treats (3) they just give you candy?? Does this work all the time, or only when you dress in funny clothes? Okay .. so maybe that's what III think he would be thinking.

Baylee always finishes out the night by handing out candy. She continues to enjoy this part of Halloween more than the act of trick or treating. She loves to see all the costumes. Since she has such a generous personality she enjoys giving the other kids candy too.

Who's Who?

Which one is Jackson and which one is Wyland?

Harmon Music Group Halloween Party

Every year my mum's work put together a really great Halloween party. I usually take the afternoon off of work so that we can attend. This year was no disappointment. Baylee was Hannah Montana this year, costume creatively put together by Grandma of course! Jackson was a monkey, he even had a banana in his pocket. Wyland was a lion. The lion costume was Jackson's. I definitely can't say which one made a better lion, they were both equally as cute of course! Wyland didn't enjoy being in the costume too much as you can see from the above picture.

Miss Hannah Montana herself!

Mommy and Wyland

Grandma and the boys. I think the boys are a little ready to go.

Jackson is really quite fond of Wyland. You can see his love grows all the time.

Jeramie's Family

Jeramie has always been very close to his family since the day I met him. He redefines "Momma's Boy"!!! His mom is Robie (short for Roberta) and his dad is Gerald. Robie comes to our house every single weekday and watches the kids. We are extremely grateful for this! Even though she spoils them rotten (they expect it when I get home from work too), it's a blessing knowing that they are at home all day while we both are at work. They play with their own toys, in their own home. Not to mention we know that they are getting taken care of with the love of a Grandma, can't beat that.

Grandma Robie and Wyland playing with a singing kitty.

This is Jeramie's Grandpa Flores. He LOVES the grandkids, especially Jackson and Wyland. He has ONE picture frame that nobody can touch that sits right next to HIS chair. It's a picture of Jackson. He also gives them all nicknames, Jackson is "chili". Baylee is "boop", and Wyland is "cracker".
This is Grandma Flores. She's a very sweet lady. Once upon a time she made a living as a nurse. She's one sharp minded lady!

Scarecrow Festival at Wheeler Farm

We ventured out with Grandma and Papa and Mike's kids to the Scarecrow Festival at Wheeler Farm. There were lots of activities for the kids to do for a pretty cheap price. Build a scarecrow, decorate pumpkins, carnival games, dance show, see the animals and a hay ride. All of the kids had a lot of fun. I think they all enjoyed decorating the pumpkins the most (it was something that they all could do). Plus they got to go out into the pumpkin patch and choose a pumpkin.

Does it make you think .. what's the nursery rhyme about the lady who lived in a shoe?
Our scarecrow.

Oh .. CUTE Wyland!

Baylee choosing her pumpkin.

Wyland says .. don't wake me .. I'll wake you!

Owen and Jackson REALLY like playing together!

Grandma helps to decorate pumpkins.

Jackson and Owen.

Xavier and Wyland will hopefully grow to be best buddies like their brothers.

Wyland - 3.5 months

I think he still looks quite a bit like Jackson (little bit rounder face though)

Jackson has really grown to love his brother. He can't wait until he's big enough to actually play with him. For now he settles for setting trains in his hand just for Wyland to drop them right away. But he'll smile at Jackson like he's thinking, "you just wait brother"!!

He's really LONG, like 80% for his age.

The Children's Museum

I took the kids to The Children's Museum at Gateway for the first time. I wasn't sure what to really expect. I grew up going to the big museums in Los Angeles and so you never know what to expect here in Utah. I was pleasantly surprised with the day. Although it was nasty weather we fortunately only had to walk from the parking structure to the museum which was only about 20 feet outside. All of the museum is inside except for the helicopter, which I thought Jackson would be REALLY impressed with, but he wasn't. Baylee's favorite part was definitely the pretend television station, she managed to find another little girl to play with her for a brief period. Jackson's favorite part was just the oportunity to run around uncontained!!

Baylee enjoyed the pretend shopping center.

Jackson thought the Clipos were fun for a couple minutes.

The Life Flight Helicopter

Wyland just hung out in the stroller.

Evening News featuring Baylee.

Jackson dug the giant legos.

All in all it was a pretty fun day. I could definitely see us doing this again maybe next winter when it's cold outside and we are desperate to get the kids out of the house. I recommend a visit. However, it's expensive to get into and you need to actually do some shopping while you're there to earn some parking validations. (Parking is a RIP off)