Last Week of Summer--Chuck E. Cheese

Today we are kickin' off our last week of Summer with a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. Elizabeth and Zachary absolutely love Chuck E. Cheese and always have so much fun. Elizabeth loves all of the different games. Now that she is a little older, she is able to play more of them really well. She always does great and wins a lot of tickets!

Zachary loves this bicycle game but his little legs are not long enough for him to be able to ride. Elizabeth is such a sweet sister and plays it for him. She always gives him all of the tickets that she gets when she is playing on his behalf!

Zachary always has fun running from game to game. He is really thoughtful and looks at all of the games before he decides which games to actually play. It is fun to see the personality differences between Zachary and Elizabeth. She is wild-and-crazy and spends her tokens in 5 seconds, while Zachary could play on his tokens for hours!

The kids love a game called Deadstorm Pirates. Zachary and Elizabeth are able to play together. They get so excited and keep feeding those tokens in each time their characters life ends. I really believe that they would play this game the entire time, if I didn't force them to stop. It makes my heart so happy to see them enjoying something together.

One of my favorite things to watch is the Chuck E. Cheese parade. Every couple of hours, Chuck E. Cheese comes out and invites all of the kids to join him in a parade around the play area. It is so cute to see all of the little kids light up as Chuck E. Cheese waves and walks around.

After parading around, Chuck E. Cheese leads a little dance party near the back. They usually do the Hokey Pokey or Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. Once the dancing is over, Chuck E. Cheese throws a bunch of tickets in the air and all the kids scurry to pick up as many as they can get their little hands on. So cute! Elizabeth and Zachary love this part of our visits to Chuck E. Cheese.

Before leaving, we had to enjoy some of the rides. Elizabeth is getting a little bit old for the rides but Zachary cannot get enough. Elizabeth likes one that when you petal it raises up really high...it almost touches the ceiling.

Zachary loves the little carousal and usually rides it 4-5 times. Elizabeth is a good sport and rides it with him. Elizabeth is such a great big sister and does a great job of protecting and taking care of Zachary!

There is one ride that Zachary loves that once you are done with the ride it takes a photo of you with Chuck E. Cheese. Zachary is such a ham and was making crazy faces once it told him to get ready for the photo. He really is a crazy-kid. He is so full of life and joy. We cannot imagine our lives without him and his crazy self! Man, I love this kid!

I am so grateful that we have such a fun place to come and make memories together. It is great to be able to get out of the heat and head inside to play.

I cannot believe that there is only one more week of Summer. We are going to make the most of it and play all week long. Tomorrow we are heading out to the Discovery Gateway Children's Museum!

Grandmas Are The Best!

While we were out school shopping with Grandma, Elizabeth fell-in-love with these Frozen Princess Pajamas. She hugged them, and kissed them, and begged for them. Elizabeth just had to have them...and grandma just had to buy them for her!

Seriously...grandmas are the best!

The Aquarium with Uncle Bill and Alyce

Today we were able to meet up with Uncle Bill and his friend Alyce at the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium. Alyce lives in Florida but has been visiting Utah for a few weeks this Summer. Since the aquarium just opened, and we have a membership that gets guests in, we decided to invite Uncle Bill and Alyce to come with us!

The kids and I have been to the aquarium a couple of times, so Elizabeth and Zachary were excited to show Uncle Bill and Alyce their favorite areas. Zachary loves the area about South America. There are lots of insects and spiders, turtles, birds, and even a rope walk!

Elizabeth's favorite is the Ocean Explorer area. She loves to touch the stingrays and gets super-excited to watch the penguins jump and swim.

My favorite area is the shark tunnel. It is amazing to walk through the tunnel and watch all of the sharks and fish swimming over your head.

We are so glad that Uncle Bill and Alyce were able to join us. It was fun to show off Utah's beautiful aquarium. We hope that they enjoyed spending the day with us because we had a great time with them!

Mrs. Kaylene Anderson

Today we learned that Zachary will be in Mrs. Kaylene Anderson's morning preschool class. We are excited to meet her and to get to know her better throughout the upcoming school year!

Seriously...

My kids are being terrible today! I should have known that today was going to be rough when this conversation happened within 5 minutes of waking up...

Me: Good Morning Elizabeth! We need to go downstairs and get some breakfast, and then we need to get dressed because you and Zachary are gonna go hang out with Papa for a little bit this morning!

(Expecting cheers and a smiling face...I get the following...)

Elizabeth: Why? So you can sit around here and be a lazy-butt?

Seriously...she said that! When does school start again?!

No Cavity Club!

Elizabeth and Zachary went to the dentist today and both of them did great! I am so proud of them and how well they did during their appointments. Elizabeth sat quietly and let the hygienist clean her teeth. She did a good job of holding still (which if you know Elizabeth, is quite the feat!) and held her mouth open wide! The dentist counted 22 teeth and said that they all look great! That means no cavities!

Zachary has always been a little difficult at the dentist's office. Most of the time, he usually screams like he is being murdered while 2-3 people are holding him down. Not today! Zachary is definitely growing up! Today, he sat in the chair all by himself, opened his mouth, and did not make a peep! He wanted me to hold his hand, but other than that he was totally fine! Zachary has 20 teeth and they all look great. That means no cavities!

Since the kids did so great, and to celebrate being members of the No Cavity Club, we stopped at Target on the way home and I let the kids pick out a new Play-Doh set. Elizabeth chose the Cupcake Tower from the Sweet Shoppe collection. Zachary went all boy and chose the Brick Mill from the Diggin' Rigs collection.

I love these kids and I am so proud of them for taking such good care of their teeth!

Odgen Temple Open House

Today we had the opportunity to attend the Ogden Temple Open House. The Ogden Temple has been closed for renovations since April 2011. A few months back it was announced that the temple was nearing completion and an open house was scheduled so that all could come and tour this beautiful building. We have been counting down the days until today, when we could finally go inside. Elizabeth and Zachary were looking forward to being able to see the inside of the temple, since they are not usually able to go in.

We had asked Uncle Bill, and his friend Alyce if they would like to join us...and they did! Unfortunately, there was a little mix-up with our meeting spot so we ended up finding each other once we were both done with the temple tour. Oh well!

The Temple was absolutely amazing! It is so beautiful. I cannot believe all of the time, effort, and resources that are dedicated to creating one of Heavenly Father's temples. Each room of the temple is more beautiful than the last. Just when you cannot believe that there can be anything finer, or more exquisite, the next area of the temple amazes you.

The entry area to the temple is so warm and inviting.

Once we zig-zagged a bit and went down some stairs, we entered the Baptistry. I am so grateful to know that those that have passed from this life are still able to make this covenant with our Heavenly Father. It is a blessing to know that we, as members of His church, can be baptized on behalf of our friends and relatives who have departed this life. You can find more about this amazing opportunity here.

Elizabeth and Zachary kept "ooohhhing" and "aawwing" with each new area of the temple. One of my favorite moments was when Zachary exclaimed, "Even the stairs are made of gold!" Everyone in the area started giggling because it was just so innocent and cute.

As we entered the Celestial Room, Elizabeth was wide-eyed and exclaimed, "I want to live in here!"

I am so grateful for the opportunity to go to the Temple Open House with Elizabeth and Zachary. It was a blessing to be able to have this experience with them. I loved seeing them in awe of the Temple. It was a great opportunity to teach them about the Temple and to express to them my love of the Temple. Being there with them was overwhelming. I am so grateful for the blessings of the temple and the opportunity to be sealed to Matt, Elizabeth, and Zachary for eternity.

Once we were done with the tour, we headed to the Tabernacle to watch a video about the temple and the teachings that happen within it's walls. We were suppose to watch the video before the tour, but we got mixed up and ended up in the Temple first...ooops! During the video, they showed images of many of the Temples from across the world. The narrator said something to the effect of "...there are 141 operating temples throughout world. There are temples in the United States, Canada, Europe, .....and Latin America." Zachary immediately yells, "Captain America! I love Captain America!" All I can say, is good thing he is cute!

After the tour and the movie, we met up with Uncle Bill and Alyce and went to tour the temporary visitor center tent that they had set up for the Open House. Inside the tent, we learned more about what the different rooms of the Temple are used for, what some of the teachings of the LDS church are, and got to view up-close some of the art that is displayed in the Temple. 

As we sat around the beautiful fountain and looked up at the Temple, I asked the kids what their favorite part of the Temple was. Elizabeth immediately said that she loved the Celestial Room. She said that is was so shiny and sparkly and she felt so happy and peaceful when she was in there. Zachary said, "My favorite part was when I could take the booties off my feet." 

Again...it is a good thing that he is so cute!

As I have reflected about today, I just have to say that I am so grateful for the Temple. It is such a blessing to have Temples, especially to have 17 Temples in Utah. We are so spoiled! Each time I see a temple, the Primary Hymn, I Love to See the Temple comes to mind. To listen to the song, click here. The words are beautiful and express the importance of the Temple. 

I love to see the temple.

I'm going there someday

To feel the Holy Spirit, 

To listen and to pray.

For the temple is a house of God, 

A place of love and beauty.

I'll prepare myself while I am young;

This is my sacred duty.

I love to see the temple.

I'll go inside someday.

I'll cov'nant with my Father;

I'll promise to obey.

For the temple is a holy place

Where we are sealed together.

As a child of God, I've learned this truth:

A fam'ly is forever.

Class Lists

Today the Class Lists were posted at Neil Armstrong Academy. Elizabeth was so excited to find out who her new teacher is and if any of her past classmates were in her class again. We are looking forward to working with Mrs. Matsumura this year. Elizabeth was super-excited to learn that Molly, Stevie, Bradley, Bailey, and James are in her class this year!

Only 21 days until school!

#shareacoke

There is a marketing campaign that is popular right now where the Coca-Cola Company is advertising that we should share a Coke or Diet Coke with someone. As part of the campaign, they have printed names on all of the cans and bottles. Elizabeth and Zachary have seen commercials on TV and have been searching to find their names. Today, we finally found them!

The kids were so excited! I am grateful to share my love for Diet Coke with my little munchkins...even if it is only as a special treat every once in a while!