Kids wanna have fun

Recently we went to a family birthday with cousins (Marx side of the family). There is a ton of little ones for Clayton to play with (and soon Vivian). I just wanted to share a few pics from the party, mostly of the kids having fun:



























And the biggest kid of them all:

Vivian's baby blessing

A bit late in getting to it, but wanted to share some beautiful photos of our baby girl! She was blessed last weekend (first weekend of the month). Lots of family and friends were there to support us, and we are truly touched. Those who couldn't make it, we missed, but we know your hearts are with us.

Now some pics of the beautiful baby!






She is so healthy and growing so fast!

Keeps snowing

I was hoping that Winter was winding down, but looks like mother nature has some more white weather in store for us. I am ready for the winter to end and for spring to come. The good thing is I have a big helper to clear the snow...



And the other good thing is we need the moisture. Can't wait for the warm weather to come back and stay this time...

Playing in the leaves

With the change in weather it is time to spend time outside gathering leaves. Clayton is such the little helper, he has his own rake and he is constantly telling his dad where to put the pile, how to rake and telling me that I am doing a good job. He hangs out with his mother too much...



Clayton sees his father with the camera so often that you would think he wouldn't bat an eye. The opposite is true. He often hides when I get out my camera, making it a game of don't take my picture. The best time to get him is when he is playing. Of course I think that is the best time to get pictures of any kid!



Of course just cuz you are playing doesn't mean that you don't need to watch out!



Yup that photo ended the session as I had to clean my lens which got mud (mixed in with the leaves) Clayton plastered me with. I will say it was worth every minute of it!

Nathan’s hot’n tasty BBQ

It’s true; Nathan is famous for his tasty barbecue skillz. People come from miles around just to taste the smoked delicacies off his hot grill. Kidz go CRAZY for the taste and adults can’t resist. A real palate pleaser Nathan’s is the place people go for a full and happy belly.

After his Grandfather started a famous hot dog stand in Coney Island New York; on an urge Nathan moved to Utah bringing with him his vast knowledge and skill set in dealing with animal proteins. Ask Clayton his son about the great tasting meat that come off the grill and you get an enthusiastic nod (he’s speechless). Clayton particularly likes the hot Ball Park Franks his dad grills with tender care (Disclaimer: due to high fuel prices Nathan’s hot dogs stay in New York, but Ball Parks are universally available for a great price; hey you make sacrifices where you have to).

Just look at the wild excitement as these kids get a taste for Nathan’s BBQ ribs.



We asked Nathan how he does it ”It is important to buy good meat but if you know how to BBQ things right you can make meat from an old dead dog taste like it is grade AAA prime beef! More than that I can’t tell you, the military has placed a restriction on my sharing that sort of information” Upon probing deeper about the dog meat, Nathan replied ”The name hotdog is not an accident, more than that I cannot say”.

BBQ so delicious they can’t put the meat down to say hello.


Mom's approve and everyone, and we mean everyone leaves happy from Nathan’s BBQ palace!



So if you are ever in the neighborhood, stop by for some tasty home grilled delicacies that will make you stop and wonder…

Disclaimer: Young children can choke on meat, and should not eat food in general as all food is considered a choking hazard. It is recommended that children under the age of ten are fed intravenously by the food patrol, watching people of America.

Our new house

We have been busy moving into the new house we bought in Westpoint (I know some thought we dropped off of the face of the planet). The house is an 80's style rambler, in a beautiful quite neighborhood. The schools in the area are all new, and from what we hear very good (Clayton is only two so we have no first hand experience).

There are beautiful, mature trees in the yard, Trumpet trees grow along the front yard, a beautiful silver leaf maple in the back and a small leaf lindon in the back (the tree is medium sized, the name is small leaf lindon). I love the lindon as the tree has a beautiful spade shape. I love trees period, way better than cats! You only need to clean up after a tree once a year, cats on the other hand the clean up is nearly a daily requirement.

There are rose bushes planted around the home in the planter locations, as well as a couple of lilacs. Enough of the descriptions lets have a photo:



We have a lot of plans for our new house and are hard at work making it our home. The yard is a bit overgrown and needs some work, and well the interior is a little dated (working on that too). Wish us luck as we work on making our new house our new home. Maybe, just some day, some of Anji's sisters might actually visit us in our new home...

First day at the new church

We recently moved from our Bountiful town home we lived in for 5 years to our new home. We no longer live in Bountiful but now live in Westpoint (Sad, but we now have a home we can live in for years to come). We bought an 80s rambler that sits on a corner lot (the house is a story for another day). Moving means new neighbors, learning where things are etc. We may have only moved 35 miles from where we lived previously but still it is an area we are not familiar with.

It was Sunday morning and we trying to get ready for the first meeting at our new church. We had just dumped all of our worldly possessions on the garage floor late Saturday afternoon, as such finding things to wear was as much of a chore as anything else we could have done that morning. We got Clayton ready for church first, then proceeded to get ourselves ready. We were running late when we were finally ready to leave.

“Get the kid, we gotta go now, were late” what a surprise when we found Clayton. We bought him markers to go with his easel during our last trip to IKEA. I am sure he had fun drawing on the easel for the first 5 minutes he had his markers, but the last 10 minutes were when the real “ART” happened.






With that color of marker one might guess that we had an albino aborigine on our hands. No, that’s my boy!



Yes he colored walls also, but the color on his arms, shirt and face went with us to church (we decided to just go to church tattooed son and all). With a son covered in red marker, we fit the white trash stereotype to the letter. To top it off we walked in during the middle of the sacrament prayer. Yes our entrance was very much the grand entrance we didn't want and I am sure very exciting for our new ward that doesn’t see much change in membership. I am sure we have made a lasting impression on the members of our new church.