Splash Park

Wow, this activity was a treasure trove of great pictures! Thanks Maia for these cute pictures (the smaller ones).

















Connor brought his dinosaur squirter to play with at
our Splash Park playgroup. He wasn't really interested in it once he saw all of the cool built-in squirters in the park.

He spent a lot of time splashing in the water these big blue buckets poured out. He would wait for the buckets to fill up and would cleverly avoid it dumping on him and then jump in it's puddle. He thought that was so funny!

The Shafers brought water balloons. Connor called them rubber balloons because when the kids threw them, they didn't pop! It was so funny to see the kids run up with a mischievious look on their faces and throw a water balloon at you only to have it not burst. Their hopeful anticipation turned to disappointment really quickly. That didn't keep them from trying though! It was classic kids play.

After the balloons, the kids played on the playground. Connor and his friends Luke and Ayla couldn't resist climbing up a large boulder. Then they pretended to be "sleeping." It was really cute.

The Shafers also brought popsicles for all the kids. They
were a real hit. Thanks Ashley! What a fun morning we had.




















































































Check out some more great pictures of this day that the Shafers took: http://lukekatelynrebekah.blogspot.com/2008/05/splashin-with-my-friends-ayla-and.html

Melanie and her projects

Warning: This post is a bit of a "journal" entry that gets to be somewhat long winded but this is intentional so that if I ever get the crazy idea of doing this sort of thing again, I'll rethink it and save myself the frustration. So, bear with me. I'll try to be more concise in the future.

Ok, so for those of you who know me, you know that I am always in the midst of some home improvement project or other. In our previous house, I did a lot of projects including repainting all our cabinets in the kitchen and bathroom inside and out, painting all the walls, re-landscaping the front and back yards (Ammon put in a fence all the way around too), trimmed our 7 huge full grown trees, started (and failed) several gardens, helped Ammon pull out our old carpet and get new carpet, tiled the kitchen, dining room and bathroom, and started finishing the basement all in the 3 1/2 years we lived there! Now that we're in this house, all that stuff really isn't "needed", although I would like to upgrade (don't tell Ammon). I do have some projects planned for this house though, including painting the interior walls, putting in a garden, ceiling light fixtures throughout and Ammon wants to put on a balcony coming off of our bedroom over our back porch. Still a lot to do! So, I had to start somewhere and since we now have two dining areas, I wanted to get a big dining table (without paying the big new dining table price tag, mind you) so, I knew I had another project in the making.

This "new" dining room table is my most recent project. I had never refinished a table before so I was excited to learn a new skill. It was a lot harder to do than I initially thought! Here are my various before, during and after pictures.









I found this table on Craig's List for a real steal. You can see that it was a honey oak color with dirty country plaid chair cushions to begin with. Since all our furniture in our house is dark, Ammon and I knew we wanted it to be dark too. Initially I thought I would just stain it darker but found that the stain colors weren't taking evenly. I bought soooo many products to try and make it work including an orbital sander, buffer, various shades of stain, conditioners and all the stripping and staining equipment. Quickly I could see that my "real steal" was getting expensive. This exciting little project turned into a huge, expensive and frustrating project that took up my weekends for several months and I was really getting tired of it! I didn't want to just paint it because it has beautiful grain. So, luckily I finally found just the right finish- one that had stain and top coat in one. Yeah! Once I got the product right, I still had the problem of which tool to use to get it on there well. I tried a foam brush, a roller brush and finally found a good paint brush that did the best. I got so tired of stripping, sanding and trying again that I ended up lowering my expectations a bit. There are a lot of flaws in the final product but at least it's the color we wanted...and it's DONE!! I also recovered the seats in a simple black vinyl. That way they can be wiped clean and won't stain. Whew!

Rockclimbing

Here I am rockclimbing for a Laurel/Priest activity up at Windy Point on Mt Lemmon. This rock was 60+feet high and was way harder to climb than it looked! I had only climbed a rock wall (with hand holds) once before. This was a real challenge since it was the real thing. There were several areas where there was no place to put your hands or feet and you just had to dig in and pull yourself up. That was tough but was so exhiliarating once I did it. I had my doubts in a few spots as to whether I would finish but I told myself that I had to because all my young women had done it and they were watching me. I had to be determined and get to the top. That's what motivated me and I did it! Thanks girls for cheering me on!

Chocolate Fondue

This is Connor's new favorite treat! He's always loved strawberries but mommy did this for Mutual and had extra and oh boy, did he love it! The next day he wanted more and mom couldn't resist (but only after he ate some breakfast).

Tickle, tickle

Daddy tickling Connor as they return from their jog. Connor is really ticklish just like his daddy. Look at him bend and squirm to get away from the tickling arms.

Connor likes to jog

Well since Ammon is a runner it's only natural that Connor would want to follow in daddy's footsteps. Here they are on a short jog past our house. He's run up to a mile in less than 15 minutes. He's going to be a little speedy runner someday I'm sure.

Ducks and waterfalls

After the zoo, we went to the Reid Park on the same property. We followed the train around, went to the rose gardens and then ended up alongside this little lake and waterfall. Connor loved chasing the ducks. He would sneak up on them and then start running so fast that they would "escape" into the water. He repeatedly did this laughing all the while.

He was also fascinated by this waterfall. He excitedly said "look at all the waterfalls!" What fun.

"We're going to the zoo 3 times"

This is what Connor said when I told him we were going to the zoo yesterday. I had to think about that for a second and then I realized that he meant that this was our 3rd time going to the zoo here. He was right! What an iron memory kids have.






The first animal he wanted to see was the elephant. He excitedly said "look at his trunk mom!" and "he's so big!" He enjoyed looking at the peacocks that wander around too. This was an unusual all white one. Pretty cool.



Connor by the water wheel. He loves to see the "water carousel," as he calls it, every time we go to the zoo.


The zoo has a new learning area with this fun turtle shell that kids can climb in. Connor got in it and said he was shy (like turtles- that's why they go in their shell). Then he decided to venture out a little bit and show that he wasn't scared anymore. Cute.

Kanab, here we come again

We took a short break about halfway home for a breather. It was a fun time to spend some time with Connor that wasn't in the car. We really liked these pretty flowering trees that were in bloom.

You know, we have mixed feelings about Kanab because that was where we broke down for our interview trip to AZ during Thanksgiving in 2006. Jason, Connor and I were stranded there for a day. Ammon caught a ride, rented a car and took off for 2 interviews he had set up for that day. One of them worked out to be his current position now. I guess it was meant to be.

5 minutes with Jason

Ok, so our time with him was not that short but it was a quick visit. We saw him the morning we left UT for AZ. He goes to the Y so we just swung by his apartment and picked him up for breakfast. It had been about a year since we'd seen him (remember, he was the only one missing at our Feb trip to MD). We took this quick picture as we were dropping him off at school, all the while holding up a long line of traffic. The people behind us just loved us. Good to see ya Jason!

Spending time with grandma

Connor enjoyed coloring with grandma before going to bed the last night we were in Utah. He covered his face because he didn't want his picture taken. For the next shot he at least uncovered one eye.

Connor had his own fun

He really enjoyed this pinwheel he found on one of the grave markers. It also had this cute bumblebee balloon. Perfect for a little guy like him. He also walked around with his uncle Ricky and found this cute Winnie the Pooh statue. This is a flack cannon that was in the cemetery where grandpa was buried. It had a cool wind chime on it that Connor joyfully rang. Connor on daddy's shoulders. Those high ceilings in the gym are good for something! And here he is with his first cousins once removed, Randy and Hunter, doing "knuckles." They did this at the last family dinner this past summer. They would do knuckles and then say "let's go crazy" and yell "ahhhh!" Fun times.