Heidi's Kissy Face

I love this picture of Heidi. Enjoy while it lasts cuz shell probably take it down as soon as she sees that I put it up :)

McCoy and Ruby Sittin' in a Tree...

Trevor went to the Mall the other day with Kara and Craig. He came home with this video to show me and I think it's the cutest thing in the world. It really shows how much they love each other and how cute they are together. Enjoy (Link Below)!

Kissing Cousins

Our Brave little Stud

McCoy is such a true little boy...he Loves rocks, the outdoors, balls, cars, etc...He's always so active and in result, we are always looking for new ideas to out of the house and be active but still stay warm. We recently bought the "Pass of all Passes" for Utah county. I've decided that was the best purchase for our little family. 

Our first adventure to use the pass was to the new Lehi Trafalga Center. McCoy walked in the front doors, saw the roller-coaster and walked right up to the gate dancing with excitement. I was a little worried he would be scared as soon as it started moving but he actually loved it. And when I say loved...I mean he truly LOVED it. He was clapping his hands and screaming with joy. When you see your child creating fun memories and get that excited, it gives you almost the sense of pride in your child. I was so proud of him and was so happy for him to know that he enjoyed himself to the fullest. 

For those who get a little motion sickness, I wouldn't watch this...just a heads up. (Link Below) 

Roller-Coaster

This place is perfect for McCoy. There's things spinning and turning, things to look at here and there, mini golfing, mini bowling (cutest thing ever,) and even a play house--which McCoy, for some reason, doesn't like. We think it may be the dark but let's just say he's more of a bright light type of kid. 

I can't wait for the all the fun we're going to have with this pass. During the summer, it's water fun at Seven Peaks! Can't Wait! 

Happy Birthday #2

I can't believe my child is already 2 years old. He's now 37 inches, 29 lbs and has a vocabulary of at least 50 words now. He is super active and full of laughs. He's very polite and always says, "Please" when he needs or wants something. He can get frustrated at times but we're working on that. He has a very passionate heart and loves to give kisses and hugs. He is always cuddling with some type of stuffed animal or his blanket. His favorite things are: Cars, Rocks, Buz Light-Year, cheese, "Monster's Inc.," water (the bathtub or swimming,) his blanket and outside. McCoy does well to entertain himself and also plays well with others. He loves his cousin Ruby and Cousin Steele. They're his best pals.


This year for his birthday, we did something pretty low-key. We met up with family at the Skousen's house for Pizza, Presents, and Cupcakes. McCoy got a turtle cake this year in honor of his new favorite stuffed animal he got from Nanna B for Christmas. (Links Below)

Happy Birthday To McCoy

Digging In

McCoy loved each toy he received for his Birthday. His reactions where priceless. He's such a sweet little boy. Here's a video of him opening his first present. He was a little tired by this point but still such a happy little boy. (Link Below)

McCoy's First Present

McCoy loved playing with Steele's Buz Light-year so much that we surprised him with one of his own. (Link Below) 

Buz Light-Year

The Real Christmas post

I knew I wanted to share with everyone all of our great experiences during this Christmas season. I have a few movies to post and hopefully they'll do our enjoyment justice. 

Christmas was so fun this year with McCoy. It was so fun to watch him enjoy everything. Personally, I was the most excited to see how he would respond to all the presents. It was a week celebration for us and we got the chance to spend it with family. Traci had a fun week planed for us and we loved being able to spend time with everyone. 

We also enjoyed our Christmas Tradition to visit Uncle Jonny. We love going to see him and doing it just once a year isn't enough. McCoy loved playing at his house..From the trucks, cars, balls and antique toys to the planes and stuffed animals McCoy couldn't get enough. When I was younger, all I can remember is how conducive my Uncle Jonny's house was for little kids. It's such a welcoming home and visiting with him is so unforgettable. I hope McCoy grows up with the same feeling towards him as my whole family does.  This picture was taken with a classic Polaroid Picture...well it's a copy of it. 

 Uncle Jonny had these earphones that cancel out sound. McCoy loved them. Check out this video of his sweet laugh. (Link Below)

McCoy with Headphones

On Christmas Eve, Santa's Elves brought everyone PJ's. When McCoy heard the knock at the door, he went running. He opened it up, saw all the presents, gasped for air and said, "WOW!" It was priceless. His reaction to the slippers and PJ's he received was just perfect. He was so happy and excited. Trev caught this on tape. (Link Below) 

Christmas PJ's

Christmas Morning was exciting for us at the Skousen house. Elder Skousen was able to call us and we skyped for about 35 minutes. It was a perfect start to a Christmas day. It was 7 in the morning so the kiddos weren't as happy to see him as we all were. 

After talking to him, we made our way upstairs to see what Santa had brought us. McCoy so excited....he was actually more excited about what everyone else was opening up than what he actually got. Santa brought him a BIKE....and sadly, he could have cared less. He loved the little trucks and the Tech-decks. He made his way through his stocking and then through other's stockings. I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas morning.  (Links Below) 

Christmas Morning

Enjoying the Apple Sauce Santa Brought

McCoy Enjoying Steele's Present

McCoy wasn't sure about his bike that Santa brought him. He still has a hard time with it but I don't think it will take him too long to pick it up. Here's a movie Trev got of him working his way into the movement of the bike. (Link Below)
McCoy's Bike

Thanksgiving 2011

I know this is a little backwards but I wanted to post on this year's Thanksgiving.


We all traveled to Arizona to be with the Wood side this year. It was a week full of family time and laughter. We love our family and being able to see everyone all at once was unforgettable. We road down with Connor, Gabe, Kara, Craig, and Ruby. McCoy and Ruby love each other and that was made known to us even more on this trip. They play so well together so it made breaks that much funner for the two of them. McCoy did well on the trip. It was full of movies....lots of movies. These are some of the many stops we made. The kiddos enjoyed the much needed rest stops each time. 


We made one stop at the dam near Lake Powell. McCoy and Ruby loved being able to play in the sand. They loved it so much they even ended up swimming in a pit full of it. Even though there was red sand in every place possible, Kara and I were happy they were enjoying themselves. (Link Below)
Pit Stop

We loved being in the nice warm weather. McCoy especially. He loves, more than anything, to run and play outside. Also, Mesa has a ton of rocks everywhere. Since it's so warm and dry there they have rocks for the lawn instead of grass. As you can guess McCoy loved this...he LOVES rocks. Once we combined all the things that McCoy loves-Ruby, rocks, and outside activities- we've got ourselves a happy boy McCoy...He loved every minute of it.

Here McCoy is watching the boys play some Thanksgiving Flag Football (Dad was the Quarterback.) He's sitting on Grandpa's lap and eating a Rice-Crispy Squares...so priceless.

 One of the days, Trev's Uncle Van planned this whole Family BBQ that was awesome! He did such an amazing job at creating activities for everyone to enjoy. He rented this "Little Kiddos" Bounce house and it was filled with yet another one of McCoy's favorites...balls. He couldn't get enough of it. By the end I was tempted to go purchase one for his bedroom. (Link Below) 
Bounce House Fun

Here's a shot of McCoy and Dad sharing suckers at one of the family gatherings. If you notice, McCoy is feeding himself a sucker and feeding the other to dad at the same time. 

 The house that Keith and Kim rented for all of us to stay in was so beautiful. It was also huge and there was plenty of room for McCoy and Ruby to get into mischief. One afternoon Kara and I found both of them playing in the tub...fully clothed and thank goodness, there was no water. Grandpa came in and turned "UP" on for them and soon enough both of them stopped in there footsteps and got comfortable.

I can't help but to just love these two together. They play so well and I love that they love each other.

Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for the awesome week Keith, Kim, and all the Wood Family!

Christmas 2011

We had a blast for Christmas this year. We were back and forth between Heidi's parents' place and Mom's place. I know Ruby and McCoy had fun: here's photographic proof!

Oh Christmas tree oh Christmas tree

I can't believe Christmas is already here. Its a tradition for my family to pock out Christmas trees the monday after thanksgiving. McCoy loved picking out a Christmas tree but he probably loved running through that isles of trees just a bit more.

He was so excited to decorate the tree with what he called balls. I even let him put the star on it. I love how our "Charlie Brown" tree turned out.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

McCoy loves watching Monster's INC. He's been getting so into it lately and quotes some if it throughout the movie. We caught this on video and I'm so glad we did. The first time he did it, it was much louder and lasted longer. You'll know what I'm talking about once you watch it. I'm sure you'll get a good laugh. (link below)

McCoy's reaction to Monster's INC

Happy Halloween!

We were really excited for this Halloween because McCoy was old enough to dress up and go trick-or-treating. 

The first step to a great Halloween: carving pumpkins. 

 McCoy absolutely loved being able to stab and cut into the pumpkins. Once it got to the mushy gushy stuff, McCoy ran for his life. He really didn't even like to look at the pumpkins insides. 

 The second step: great costumes and a good neighborhood to go trick-or-treating. 

 I'm super happy with how our costumes turned out. We had something planned for about a month before but it just didn't work out. We gathered ideas for McCoy's vampire costume and my scarecrow costume Halloween day. 

I was kind of bummed we didn't get a better picture of the whole family. Steele's costume was awesome and according to him he was, "Dangerous! But I'm a nice Wolverine okay?" 

McCoy had a love hate relationship with his costume. He hated the cape when we first put it on him but once he realized that when he ran the cape would follow behind him, he had a hoot with it. We caught the perfect video of him while trick-or-treating. 

(Links Below)

House #1

McCoy's Cape

The third step: great leaves and great fall weather. McCoy seriously has a huge obsession with leaves. That's his new daily activity that he can't get enough of. I honestly think I have at least 5 movies of him paying in leaves. Here's one of my favorite. (link Below) 

Fall Fun

It was a special treat for McCoy to spend some time at the game center at Walmart. He spent at least 45 min in this ice team truck.

Day Off

Today was my day off and I always try to make it a good day for both McCoy and myself. Today it wasn't too cold and still sunny enough out side for a day out. McCoy and I went to the park and I let him roam free. He absolutely loves being outside so the colder weather scares me for the future. It was good to get out and I find myself being more appreciative for my iPhone. It's so nice to have a "point and shoot" camera at hand for what ever may come up. 

After we went to the park we were playing in the front yard of our apartment. The leaves are turning and the colors are absolutely beautiful. McCoy had such a blast playing in the leaves. (Link Below)

Fall Leaves

While we were outside, I saw this younger girl next door banging on her front door followed by the distressed look on her face before she covered it with her hands and sat down. I put two and two together and knew that she had to be locked out. 

When I was about 6 years old, I came home from a friend's house before my mom was expecting me. When I went home, no one was there and the doors were all locked. I remember going into the garage, scared and so lonely. I wanted my family to come home so bad and the feeling of being helpless was so discouraging. I remember saying a prayer to Heavenly Father and then falling asleep. The next thing I knew, my mom was waking me up from the fetal position on the fourwheeler in our garage. 

When I saw this little girl, my heart went out to her because of this specific memory of mine. I walked over there and offered her my cell phone but she protested saying that she didn't know any numbers to call. She then told me that her mother works at Wienerschnitzel in Orem,. Thanks to Siri on my iPhone, I was able to look it up in seconds and she was able to get a hold of her mom and it was all resolved. In the midst of all this drama, McCoy felt like it would help if he sat next to the girl. He climbed right up the stairs without hesitation and sat right down and started talking to her in his own little language. I couldn't help but to take a quick picture of how cute he was being during all of this. 

 McCoy has been doing the cutest thing lately. He covers his mouth with his open hand as he gasps. He kept doing this over and over every time the little girl would say something to me...it was almost as if he knew that it was a stressful situation for the girl and he wanted to show his concern for her. He even managed to do this with his little mittens on. This kid seriously makes me smile all day long! 

After that we came back inside and made some hot chocolate and homemade pizza. It was delicious! After Trevor got home we went and picked out our Halloween pumpkins. We got McCoy ready for bed and he picked out some books. Here's a couple movies of McCoy and Trevor reading some books while McCoy shows off his animals-noise skills. (Links Below)

Story Time

Animal Noises

McCoy Fun

The first picture is of McCoy watching Disney's Cars with headphones on an iPod.

The second picture is the product of a golden opportunity. Here we are at Costco. And McCoy starts picking his nose. Everybody saw it and I just happen to have my phone out. So I took advantage of the opportunity and got a great shot. Here it is.

Sunday Haircut

McCoy's before and after pictures from the haircut we just gave him. He really did not enjoy it but we're glad it's done because he definitely needed it.

Zion

IT's finally here! I've collected all the pictures from our once-in-a-life-time vacation. This trip was such an amazing experience. We had the chance to go just us two, Trev and myself. My mom watched McCoy for the 5 days were gone and it was such a great gift. 

Day 1: 

We arrived to a beautiful house that Traci and Dave rented out for us. It fit all 20 of us and we were excited to see the family all together again. We spent the night reminiscing and just spending time together. 

Day2: We had a great day going through Zion National Park taking mini hikes her and there and getting to explore the amazing nature. 

 This is called the Weeping Rock. Such an interesting experience and so refreshing after a heated hike. 

 Dave and Grandma Clo beat all of us every time. They cruised up every single hike. 

On the way into Zion, Trev and his brothers decided to take a more scenic route. Check out this video from the GoPro. (Link Below) 

Cruisin' through Zion National Park

The boys all jumped in the water for a cool break. Trevor took it another step and stripped all the way down to his undies. 

Here's avideo of the boys in the water. 

Cooling Off

Day 3:

This was our day to go on the hike of our lives. We had some amazing guides and they made it such an amazing day. 

This was our first repel. 110+ ft. So crazy but soooo amazing. Trev was a little more scared than I thought he would be but who wouldn't be, it was quite the drop off. We all did though and it and loved it. 

Yes, those little black spots are actual people down at the bottom...I told you it was high.

 I was the first one down. I knew that if I didn't just do it then it would get harder and harder. (Link Below)

Heidi's First Repel

 Trev went next. (Link Below)

Trev's First Repel

 There were 5 miles of hiking on terrain like this. 

 Then the water came...

(Links Below)

Getting Soaked 

 Water Fun

All in all....it was an 11 hour hike with 13 repels and we all had the time of our lives. 

Day 4:

We spent this day exploring the greatness of Bryce Canyon. 

Day 5:

We had the opportunty to spend time with Dave's mother, Clo. She got to show us her home town where she was born and raised: Kolab.We also got to shoot some of Grant's guns that he gladly brought.  And Finally we explored the Grand Canyon.  

Clo's grandfather built this house and it's now the historic focal point of the city.  

 A sewing machine from her age that we found in the attic.

 This is one of the first designed vacuums, also from the attic. 

Now it's shooting time.

 On the main road heading in and out of these canyons and little cities we passed by these police cars multiple times. After a few times of noticing that the cops inside didn't move one inch from day to day, we discovered that they were dummies and were just there to scare people into obeying the speed limit. 

 Then....the Grand Canyon. It was beautiful. To see such amazing creations and getting to enjoy it with everyone we love so much, was just so breathtaking. It was so great to enjoy God's creations. 

Now that this was the last day, we all crashed on the way home. Craig took this candid picture with his iPhone and it really does capture the moment. 

Thanks Dave and Traci for such an amazing family reunion!