The Rands Go to California!

So it's been a couple weeks, and for those of you that didn't know. We went to Disneyland!!! It was a such a great trip. We went for 12 days to California and we got to go to Disney, Universal Studios, the San Diego Zoo, and Sea World. I'm not going to put it all into one post, so enjoy the next few posts.

We started off on Saturday Morning and DROVE to California. Let me caution anyone who wants to do that with a 4 year old and a 15 month old. Bring Sedatives!!! We got to Las Vegas and Zoey was through being in the car, and was quite upset when she realized we still had a long way to go.

We did make it to California and the next day we headed over to Disneyland. Parker was excited, but didn't know why, and Zoey was along for the ride but was unimpressed. Until we got to the t-cups that is. She enjoyed that ride alot! She liked all the colors and fun music, and Parker was just happy to be on a ride.




Parker really wanted to show us that he could lift these....poor guy dosn't know they are cemented to the ground.

Parker really loved meeting Mickey and Pluto, he really didn't have much interest in anyone else. He is now obsessed with Micky...has already told me all the Mickey things he wants for Christmas. I think we're in Trouble

Parker loved all of it. To my surprise, Parker really liked Splash Mountain. Kyle took him first and after he came running off and wanted to do it again...with mom. That's Kyle with his hands up in the back, and Parker is sitting right in front of him, holding on for dear life.

The parades were a lot of fun for the kids. Zoey liked the Disney parade more, and Parker loved the Pixar parade. Zoey blew kisses to Ariel, and Parker yelled at the top of his lungs when he saw Buzz Lightyear "He's real mom...he's real he's real!!" It totally made the trip worth it. So we'd seen Disneyland. Then it was off to our next park.

He's off to School!

I can't believe that it's already time to start thinging about school for Park-man. I swear I just birthed him! The summer has flown by and now he gets to start pre-school with Miss Lisa. He was so excited to go last night to the open house, although he thought he was starting school and got to ride a big yellow school bus. I infomed him that I would be the only bus service.

He got to do his first project and play a fun game of BINGO. Then after it was off to buy him his first backpack.....bet you cant guess what he chose. Anyway we are looking forward to him starting school. I think it will help him focus.

Not realizing that he was starting school a few months ago, we scheduled a vacation the week after to Disneyland, so we are also looking forward to that, and LOTS of good pictures!

I Love you Parker and we want you to always do your very best in school...and remember that you are a really great kid!

Parker's Party....and Mommy's 30th!!

Well the Birthday extravaganza ended with the party of the centry for Park-Man. He got his Transformer Party that he'd been asking for, for months! He got to have four friends over and he chose his very favorite people. Caden Romph, Jared Keller (his cousin), Zach Yrungaray, and Nathan Gaisford. He calls them his very most favorite friends.

I thought instead of party hats this year....we'd do masks....and am I glad I did!!! I thought this was the funniest thing I'd seen! They didn't stay together very well...and they came off after about a minute, but it was well worth the money spent for the picture.

I had assigned each boy a Transformer name, just to keep with my theme and it looked really fun on the invitations. As you can see, Caden was Optimus Prime. I thought it fit in rather well with the party....don't you?

Among the games I had them do a relay race to "earn" their treat/prize bags. The very last obstacle, which went over better than I thought was carrying a spoonful of water to a bucket. They had to fill it up at least half way, but they were having so much fun, they filled up the whole bucket. I thought this photo of Nathan being so careful was really cute.

And finally to end Parker's birthday, and start my own birthday celebration, we let off popper fireworks in the back yard. They loved it! It was such a great party, and I have to say that Parker has some of the most wonderful friends!

The next day after the mess was cleaned up and I was completly exhausted, it was MY birthday. So Kyle did the most wonderful thing ever and suprised me with a manicure/pedicure while he watched the kids!!! It was three hours of "me" time and it was the best gift he could have given me. Then when I was all relaxed and happy, he took us to see a movie and then out for ice cream. All in all turning 30 wasn't so bad.....I feel terriably old....but as it says in the song "Lord have mercy on my next 30 years!"

Parker's 4th Birthday!

We started Parker's birthday weekend with a dinner out with Grandma, Grandpa and "Doots" (Aunt Steph). We went to Joe's Crab Shack and Parker got through his meal as fast as he could to get outside to the toys. Parker usually likes to get chips and dip with Grandpa at Applebee's, but he was content with what Joe had to offer.

On the day of the birthday Kyle and I were so excited to give Park's his present. We thought he would think that a big boy bike would be the coolest thing ever......we were wrong. We put the bike in the kitchen and ask him if he'd like to go see his present, so he went running to see...looked right at the bike and turned and ask where his present was. It just takes the wind out of your sails when you are more excited than the four year old. He is starting to come around to the idea of the bike..but it's going to be a long road to get him riding it confidently.

The highlight of the birthday for Parker was his cake. He told me for months that he wanted a Transformer birthday cake that transformed from a guy into a car......Dream on son! I can do some cool things with cake....but that is NOT one of them. I decorated it while Kyle took him to the store and I got the best reaction when he came home. It totally made up for the bike reaction.

No better reward for me than that big smile on my little guys face! It was a great birthday...and the party was still to come. I can't believe that he's four already...and starting pre-school in just a week or so. Now I get to look forward to what next years birthday will bring....

Fun At the Fair!

August has been a busy busy month for the Rands and it all started with the Salt Lake County Fair!! This was Parker's first experience with "wild" animals up close and he wasn't very excited about this picture. He was terrified of the cows, and the goats, and the pigs. He did like the rabbits and pigeons however. They were more his size and speed.

Zoey however was unimpressed. It was hot and she had to ride in the stroller for most of the day. She did get to have her first Tiger Paw and sips of Pepsi and I think that was the only highlight of her day.

The game workers were kind enough to give her prizes as well. Parker couldn't wait to play the games to win himself some junk. He wanted the blow up light saber and other assorted "treasures". Zoey got a flower and a blow up dolpin which was alright with her.

This was the reason that we went to the fair in the first place. Kyle had gone online and saw a cake decorating competition and let me know about it, so I thought I'd give it a go. I didn't win, but I had a great time coming up with my cake idea. The judges loved my pretzel and the blue ribbion. For all the work that it was, I think next year I will do a cake that will really blow them away...and win....not that I'm bitter or anything.

All in all the day went really well. We got to fill that need for corn dogs and tiger paws, and we got to participate in all the fun activites, but I think this picture says it all. At the end of the day it was about sitting in a shady spot and enjoying a cold drink...Best part of the fair!

What a difference a year makes.....

So Kyle found some pictures we took last year, so I thought.....Hey why not some pictures of the old people in our famiy, plus I was much lighter from just having Zoey, so I look pretty dang good in the picture if I do say so myself. We took these last year for Kyle's parents. They hadn't had a picture of all of the children since they had only one grandchild, and now since they have five we thought that they could use an update. This one would have turned out as a super great family picture for us, except for the cars in the background....oh well!

I have no idea why the photographer....let alone myself thought that a picture of me from the backside would have been an awesome idea. I do like this picture for a couple reasons....We could not get Parker to focus on the photographer at all...He was much more interested in all the goings on at Wheeler Farm. I also love this picture because you can actually see how small our Zoey is. I think she's only about three weeks old at this point but there's few pictures that actually show how itsy bitsy she was.

Parker thought that this was the best thing in the world. He was actually allowed to climb into the chair of the tractor and pretend to drive and the parents didn't care.

Didn't care too much for the yellow tractor....but still wanted to give it a try.

This is all of the cousins together (from left), Griffin, Harrison, Zoey, Lauren and Parker. It was a really fun time by the end of it. We were all sweating and the children were done with all of it, but we had a really good time. I cannot believe this was just last year.

Zoey's First Birthday

So I got the pictures a little backwards this time, but Happy Birthday Zoey!!

Zoey turned one on June 25, 2008, and it was a great party!! I can't belive how fast this year has gone. Zoey decided to walk before her birthday....but was shy about showing it.

She is finally starting to show a little more personality, and heaven help us she has her mothers need to put on a show. She loves to crawl around with her brothers underpants (not clean ones mind you) on her head. She loves to put them on top of her head and wait for mom and dad to notice so she can get her laugh.

I didn't think it would be this much fun to dress up my little "dolly" and get her to smile at me. She is such a little lady and knows when she looks good.

This however was the face we got when it was time for the birthday cake. She knew that something was going on for her...but was uninterested in most of it.

Since she couldn't have an opinion this year....Mom got a Care-Bears party. I'm never one to over-do (wink wink), but I think that the cake was particularly cute this year.

Like Parker, Zoey was a little leary of this thing that we set in front of her. I'm amazed that as parents we expect kids to dive into something that they've never seen or tasted before. We spend the first year of their lives telling them not to touch things or get messy....then on the first birthday...here kid mush this big cake all over your face!

Being the tender girl she is, she just ran one finger into a little bit of the frosting. As you can also see her brother's little mit was very eager to help Zoey eat her cake.

All in all it was a great first birthday and she got to have her cake and eat it too! I can't wait to see what else this little girl has in store for us. She is an amazing little soul and I love every minute of her being in our family!!

Fun with the kids!

I haven't been very good at keeping up with my blog, so I'm remedying that now. For Father's Day we took the kids to get some pictures done. A neighbor of ours does the most AMAZING pictures, and I just love the ones he got of the kids. It was cold that day, and had rained the night before, so the ground was wet and Zoey didn't like that, but I think they turned out. Parker is such a handsome little guy. He really enjoys getting his picture taken.

Classic Parker....sweet little guy with a hint of mischief in his eyes.

I had to hold Zoey most of the time. She was not having any of it. She wanted a warm blanket and her trailer.

This was one of my favorites. Parker is growing up so fast. It just seems like yesterday that I was bringing him home for the first time and now he's this little man.

This is another favorite of mine and Kyle's. Parker is such a protector. He doesn't want anyone hurting his little sister...and the feeling is mutual. When Zoey sees her big brother she's nothing but smiles and giggles. I hope they stay close as they grow up.

Finally a wonderful picture of my girl. She is a very happy baby. I can't believe it's been a year already...it has been faster than Parker's first year. I think she's laughing because me and her dad were pulling funny faces at her, or she could just be laughing at us which is the more likely scenario. After the photo shoot we took the kids to breakfast and then shopping. It was a really fun day, and I hope it was fun for Kyle.

May 19, 2008

So I got thinking about my kids today. I am so blessed to have such happy kids. I am not a great mother, and I know lately I've complained about temper tantrums, but all in all I have some pretty happy kids.

Parker is always so happy to see people and meet new friends and I love that he is so outgoing and loving. I need to remember this when he tries to push my buttons.

This baby in the blue towel is Zoey...not Parker. Isn't it amazing how similar my kids look

Parker loves Zoey so much...and she thinks he is the center of the universe.

Parker at I think three months old....again if he wasn't wearing red and blue....it could be ZOEY!!

My Zoey at three months old

Just thought I'd share some pictures of my wonderful kids.

May 13, 2008

Not a special day, but the day I start our family blog. Mother's Day was this weekend. I opened my present about two weeks early (NOT MY FAULT), so I got to wake up to a wonderful breakfast and happy kids!! That is sometimes better than a present. I guess the only other thing I need to say today is there's nothing like a good mother's day, and there's nothing worse than the cleanup the next day. Sheesh!