The Chronicles of the Neighbor Weirdness

We have new neighbors. They are snowbirds, meaning they only live down south here in St George for about 4 months of the year. And, let me tell ya, that is a GOOD thing, because THEY, my friends, are WEIRDOS.

I think they have lived here for maybe 2 weeks, and here are a couple of nosy neighbor pictures I have taken through the window on our front door that faces their house. Please, observe the oddity that lives next door:

Now, you may be saying, "Hey, give the old man a chance." Well friends, that is a chainsaw he is holding and we have landscapers. So, what do you think his plans are with that chainsaw? By all means, tell me your ideas, because I got nothin.

And then today Howie starts barking like he is going crazy, and I look outside and lo and behold, there is a cowboy just laying in the driveway. Just a random cowboy LAYING in the driveway.

I feel like now is the perfect time to say, "Curiouser, and curiouser"

But don't you worry your little hearts, I'll keep you updated on The Chronicles of the Neighbor Weirdness. This, at least, if nothing else would do the trick, will surely keep me blogging.

Bummer!

In our house, if somebody yells "Bummer!" it's not what you'd usually think. Nobody is upset and something didn't usually just go wrong. It's actually more of a war cry...it's what we yell when we are gonna rub our bums on somebody. It's hilarious and I love it. And if you hear it, you better get running, or else you gonna get bummered. Boo-ya.

One Lucky Girl

It feels like forever since I have written anything, but I just needed to take a quick minute to say how incredibly blessed I am. I have a 5 year old and a 2 year old who play nicely every single morning so that Mommy can sleep a little longer. And then I am able to wake up to the soft sounds of my brand new baby, and they are happy sounds, because he is just content to wake up on his own and kick his feet and just be happy. I get to spend time with him, talking to him and loving on him before I get up and spend the day with the 4 people who make me more happy than anything else in the world.
It has just been one of those weeks where every time I turn around I am reminded of how happy I am. What can I say, I'm one lucky girl.

Hoffman Family Reunion 2012

This year for the Hoffmann family reunion we went up to Eden, Utah. We had such a good time seeing the family and getting away. On the way up there we needed to stop for some food (preggo here was staaaarving) so we pulled off at a truck stop in the middle of nowhere. The truck stop also happened to have a petting zoo! It was random, but so cool!

The poor zebra looked like he could use a good brushing, but the kids didn't seem to care one bit. They just thought it was the tops to be so close to a zebra.

 All of the animals would come up and sniff your hand to see if you had any food. We never did, but that didn't stop them from coming up to the kids to see if they did!

These next two pictures crack me up because my kids are just not so sure about giant birds. They were alright with the ostrich that was on the other side of the fence, but that emu that was just chillin' in the common zone was NOT something they had any desire to go by.

 We have been lucky to have the chance to go out with all the grown up kids in JD's family one night (minus Lynn and Alicia because she was about to pop out a bebe) of the reunions and it is always so fun to get out. It's great to have family who is willing to take all of our crazy kiddos for an evening so we can jump ship for a bit :)

One of the days I went upstairs to check on JD and Ian when JD was putting Ian down for a nap and had been up there a while. This is what I found. Asleep holding hands. Melts my little heart :)

These next pictures are from an evening that we spent down at Grandpa Don and Grandma Judie's house. They had these blow up things that are for adults to put on and be like sumo wrestlers. The kiddies thought they were great.

I was so excited to be able to take Ian to the treehouse museum in Ogden. We had taken Morgan there a few years ago and I was excited to go back and give him the chance to see it. Morgan didn't remember much of it, so it was great fun for her too!

"Mr. President, there's been an emergency. T-rex on the loose. Please come take care of this."

When Ian found the dr/medical part of the museum he was all business! He started listening to the baby in mom's belly and personally, I think he is just about the most adorable little doctor I have ever seen. 

We have some more pictures from the Treehouse trip and a trip to another petting zoo but they are on the tablet and I have yet to figure out how to get them off of it :) I will post them soon though because there are some great videos of the kids on there! 

85* in July? No stinkin' way!

Yesterday it was overcast and I couldn't believe it but the high until about noon was only 85! We have been living in 110 to 115 degree hotness for the last 2 months so when I saw it was only going to be about 85 we loaded up and went out on a nature scavenger hunt.

JD had already been out hiking since 7 that morning for an independent research credit class he is doing this summer (researching lichens....ooooooooh and aaaaaaaaah :) but when I was buckling up the kids he called and said he was headed home so he met us for another 2 hours of hiking. Sometimes, I just really love that man :)

The scavenger hunt consisted of:

   Something fuzzy

   Something smooth

   Something straight

   2 kinds of seeds

   Something rough

   2 kinds of leaves

   Something green

   A chewed on leaf

   A stick

   Something you think is beautiful

   A beautiful rock

   Something you think is a treasure

The kids were pulling some seeds off this bush. It's a good thing that JD is smart about plants because I would have never guessed those things were seeds!

The kids (okay and the grownups too) were so excited to see this guy! There are people who have lived in St George their whole lives and still never seen one of the local desert tortoises. We felt special to be able to see it.

                               And this guy reminded me SO much of my childhood!

The kids had a blast. Ian was cracking me up carrying around his "purse" but the best part was JD's response every time Ian would say purse. "Son, it's a bag. You're a boy. It's a bag." hahaha!

I didn't find anything fuzzy or smooth- I wasn't really looking. But one thing I did find, was something that I think is a treasure. 

They were kind of hard to miss :)

Spring Break Staycation!

My husband is...pretty much amazing.  I was begging for a vacation for spring break. I begged and pleaded. I NEED camping. I NEED Vegas. I NEED, I NEED, I NEED...blah blah blah. Turns out what I needed, was my husband :) JD decided that since our lives were boring, consisting of school and work and kids, kids, kids...he would jazz up our week. A declaration was made: It will be a week filled of fun in St George!

Sunday after church we went for a family walk up to a pond and fed the ducks and fish. Those fish are GI-gan-tic. We are talking 2 foot long gold fish. CRAZY.
When we got home, we played ourselves a rousing game of Build It Sorry. And, may I say, Morgan didn't seem too sorry to keep kicking my sorry butt back to home.
Monday, after working on the Motorcycle, we went to the Wildlife Animal Museum. We had so much fun, and my kids have seriously asked to go back 3 times a week since then.

Gotta love my boys :)

Mom, do you SEE these animal tracks?

Ian never learned how to turn the binoculars the right way :)

So many scary bears. Everywhere. We should scream. Okay! (we didn't actually scream, as that would disrupt the museumish atmosphere)

Ian was obsessed with this fox. He just kept screaming, "Eat! Eat 'im! Eat him! He...EAT... TWEET TWEET!!!!"

I still am not sure if I believe this thing exists. It looks like a fraggle.

Oh my family is perfect...wouldn't you say?

Alright, so then, we came home and spent some time with Morgan on her bike. I am going to put up a post on that all for itself, because, hello, huge accomplishment.

Tuesday, JD had to actually be responsible- poo- and go to work. But before he did, we managed a picnic at the park for lunch.

We had a few other fun little outings throughout the week, and just a lot of family time, which is what I was really wanting anyway.

We finished up the week with the airshow, which the kiddies thought was awesome. Ian still loves, "Jettttt planes"

"He's upside down, Mom! He IS UP-SIDE-DOWN!"

The "copter-plane"

Okay, so maybe we didn't actually go to the airshow. Maybe we went to a church that was like a half mile away and free. But hey, my kids got to ride their bikes when it got boring :) And this is Morgan talking herself through a risky maneuver :)

She was so proud of herself :) And, as you can see, we are not the only church-user air show stalkers.

Ian kept laying his trike down on it's side (which took a lot of effort) so it could be on it's side like Morgan's.

The kiddos watching the planes

I just love him.

My favorite plane of the day :)

All in all, it was a great week. My family is all I really need.

Right now JD is playing his new Zelda video game he got for his birthday and the kids are sitting with him. Ian keeps randomly tackling him, and JD "sits" on him while Ian laughs like a maniac. Morgan is loving the chance she has to sit right by her Daddy and talk about the pointless silly game. They are having fun together and I just get to watch. It's a perfect moment :)