Bear World!

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What a trip! It started out pretty bad, but ended up being great! We got to Idaho Falls late Weds night, excited for a good nights rest in a hotel. That was interrupted when JR woke me up in the middle of the night to show me his knuckle that had swollen up to the size of a golf ball! He had cut himself the previous Saturday, but thought it had healed nicely.....this was not the case. His only option was to go the Idaho Falls emergency room. So at 2:00 am, he trekked on over to find out that he had an infection called cellulitis in his hand! They casted it to keep it immobile so it wouldn't spread and gave him an antibiotic.

Thursday morning we drove and drove and drove and hour and a half out of our way to get to Bear World, oops, we missed the turn! We made it there, only to find out they weren't open until Friday! Ugh! We were a little disappointed, but we were determined not to let it ruin our day.

We cruised around Idaho Falls and shopped a little. In the afternoon we met up with my old good friend, Britney Christensen (Barlow). She has 2 adorable boys, close in age to mine. We hung out at her house for a while, then met up with her husband for dinner. It was great to see her....we have a TON of memories from BYU.....she was a constant in my life during those years and it was fun! I was also able to visit with her mom, Darla for a minute, which was also great....she did a lot for me during those college days, which I appreciate.

After dinner, it was a follow up visit to the E.R., which took almost 2 hours! He has to wear the cast until Monday, he's thrilled! ha ha We made it to Bear World Friday morning and it was terrific! The boys absolutely had a ball, there was a lot to do.....the drive through the park, the curator tour that let's you feed the bears, the petting zoo, the amusement rides....it was great fun! We spent a good 4 hours there and then headed back to Utah to JR's mom's house, where we dropped the boys off for the night. JR and I enjoyed a quiet dinner at Maddox Ranch House and a night at the Crystal Inn in Brigham City....it was a much needed retreat for us....and the boys loved staying at Grandma Marge's house; definitely a win-win situation!

We ended our vacation a day early (we had planned on driving to Boise, but JR's hand and the series of mishaps changed our minds!), but it is nice to be home, there is plenty to do-like laundry from the trip! ha ha!

Wyatt's 5!

Painting pumpkins-here's a tip- garbage bags with handles work great for smocks!
We used tempura paint....you can wash it off and then carve the pumpkins as it gets closer to Halloween!
Little brother Kash, always wanting to "help"- Wyatt blew all the candles out in one breath!
Here's a perspective of the treasure hunt....they couldn't quite figure out what had four legs and no tail (the table just in case you were having a brain cramp!). They needed a little help, but they found the clue!

Well Wyatt relished in a day of getting all the attention and a lot of presents.....what more could he ask for? I wish it was his birthday everyday (minus the party)....he was sooo helpful beforehand, cleaning up toys, his room, chores, and setting up, I couldn't believe it!

We had a smaller party than last year (16 kiddos last time!)....this year we invited 8, 6 attended. One boy made it to the house, but ended up leaving in tears....he didn't want his parents to leave him alone, I felt bad, so we dropped off a favor bag to him later this afternoon.

The party was a hit! The theme was transformers- a little hard for mommy to come up with games and activities for, but the decorations were cute! They painted pumpkins, had a transformers pinata, and had to go on a "treasure hunt" to find their favor bags. From what I could tell, the hunt was the funnest part, they got really into it. The goal was to find it as fast as they could. If they found the blue Autobot card, it gave them the next clue. If they found a red decepticon card, it gave them a task that slowed them down (sing your ABCs, freeze for 10 seconds, etc). They loved it. The bags were at the end, and we topped them off with candy from the pinata.

Wyatt is set with action figures.....transformers, ninja turtles, batman, and power rangers were among the presents he opened. All the kids were great- very nice and well mannered! Marilyn and Kim came down. Great grandma and grandpa, Betty and Rex came over; and Aunt Melinda and Uncle Kimball were here too. It was a rainy day, so our plans for an outside party, quickly had to change to inside. It worked out well, though and the day was fun!