Utah Highlights!

BOYS II MEN!!!

It really doesn't get any better than seeing Boys II Men live in concert--not to mention at the Scera Shell!! We went with the Schaack Clan to this and it was soo fun! I wish I had a recorded clip to let you all in on what you missed out on. Kenzie really enjoyed it and was dancing in the isle and with Lindsey most of the time; however this is kind of a silly picture and Kenzie doesn't look as happy as she really was. AND I think her moves were outdone by Papa Schaack's. I am refraining from posting a pretty good pic of him to save him from possible embarrassment. But i'm sure many of you can paint a pretty good picture in your head of what some of his moves might have been! :)

It was really fun to see Eric and Amber there! (and we give credit for this amazing night to you-thanks for letting us know about this concert!!--and then to my dad for making it happen) :)

It's always fun to spend time with family. Kenz had fun playing with all her cousins while we were there! We are so excited that this clan has now moved closer to us!! We think Mckenzie might have more of an influence on all these boys than we thought--who would have thought they would agree to a tea party with her?! ( ice cream incentive goes a long way I guess!)

It was fun to hook up with Grandpa Howard for lunch up in Sugarhouse while we were there! It was really great to see him and its always a good time when he's around!

One night we lit up the little fire pit in my parents back yard and roasted marshmallows and made smores. It had been way too long since I last did that. And the company was fun. Robbie and Jess came, along with Grandma Cook!! It was so fun to spend time with them all and catch up. And we enjoyed a little campfire music with Papa Schaack's guitar! Always fun when my dad starts busting out the guitar or banjo! It doesn't get any better.


My mom and Grandma Cook sitting around the fire. Aren't they cute?

We were able to make it over to Thanksgiving Pointe and the Dinosaur Museum while we were there. It was $2 day and we thought we would get in on the good deal along with the rest of the county. It was really crowded--but still interesting to see as we had never been there. Kenzie was semi-enthused by it...she tends to be a little cautious and timid with stuff like this-but I think she enjoyed hanging out with some of her cousins. I had to post this picture even though its not so cute and Kenzie looks a little challenged. I would like to draw your attention to the kid in the red shirt in the background though--if you haven't already noticed. :) So great- isn't it?! Love kids!

And last but not least we really enjoyed the wonderful weather and beautiful scenery (or not so beautiful). The mountain right above Russ's brother's house caught on fire while we were there and gave them a bit of a scare--but all turned out OK.

We also enjoyed spending time with some friends while we were there! Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures--but we were so glad to see you all and catch up!

Dancing Queen

This is just a funny little video that I tried to post a while ago, but couldn't get it to work. Its not the best quality (I think it turns sideways half way through) But it was taken at the 4th of July celebration and made us laugh. The girl has got some serious moves. She "danced" for at least 30-45 minutes straight, but I won't bore you with all the videos we took. It was almost embarrassing how into it she got. I think its time enroll her in some real dance classes so she can put all this energy to good use! :) Sorry Aunt Lisa...you definitely have your work cut out for you!

America's Favorite Past-Time

Last night we went to a Rangers baseball game with Russ's brother Jared and his wife Christy who are in town this week house hunting. Its been fun to spend some time with them. We are so excited they are moving here in a couple months! So....while I think those baseball games are fun...I wonder how baseball earned the title of America's "favorite" past-time. Its a pretty slow, uneventful sport for the most part. I usually find myself bored and analyzing how many more outs we need to end the game, through at least a portion of it.

So is it that we are able to eat popcorn, hot dogs, cotton candy, and other bad food and not feel guilty? Or is it really the peanuts and crackerjacks?

I personally love the beloved song that is sung in the 7th inning, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," and in our case, the song in the 5th inning, "Deep in the Heart of Texas", which the fans seem to get into maybe even a little bit more. (and we feel proud to say that Mckenzie just about knows all the words to both those songs) :)

But the best part has got to be the part when "the wave" goes around and around the stadium. I started contemplating "the wave" while watching it through Kenzie's eyes. Her look of confusion and excitement made me laugh. Why is it such a thrill to stand up and wave your arms and scream like an idiot over and over again?? We all know its silly, yet a part of us gets a little excited about it everytime.

I am not sure what it is that keeps us going back again and again...in my case most credit is due to my sports finatic husband who loves EVERY sport. But I do admit to being excited to go and having fun, counting the outs left for the game to end and wishing that we could leave early, and feeling a little disappointed at another loss at the end of the game, and then discussing when we would go next.

We LOVE Summer!

Its hard to believe that we are deep into summer now..almost ready to enter August! We have definitely been keeping with many fun summer activities.A few weeks ago we went with a few friends to a petting farm. While I thought this would be a great idea, I quickly realized that Mckenzie is all for looking at these furry friends but never really likes to touch them. She has always been like this with dogs-- but for some reason I thought this fear of animals would magically disappear when she was around goats, sheep, donkeys, horses, etc. Not much of a success for us- but it was fun to watch some of her friends get excited over the animals.

We also had a great 4th of July a few weeks ago! We went to a great fireworks show with a bunch of friends. Mckenzie enjoyed staying cool in the water fountains while we waited for the show to start and she definitely enjoyed the pre-show music! She LOVES to dance, especially if she has an audience. I will try to upload some of the videos we got. It was pretty funny. We also went to parade that was a little disappointing-despite my high hopes. It was advertised to be the biggest parade in Texas...and me being the parade lover that I am insisted on making the 25 minute drive to see it....but I'll admit it still didn't really compare to the good old Provo Parade.

Some of our other favorite summer activities include going to the pool, baseball games, playing at the malls, and Kenzie's favorite pick....the library. She LOVES books and really would be happy going there everyday if she could. She could be there for hours wandering and looking/reading all the books.

And our most recent summer adventure has been moving to a new apartment. New management took over our last place which brought a number of changes, including a significant increase in rent....so about a week ago we packed our bags and moved to another apartment about 3 minutes away from our last one. It was nice to be able to sift through some stuff, but its always a lot of work! But I always like change and I admit to liking the feel of carpet beneath my feet rather than hardwood floors. (although the wood definitely made for easy cleanup)

June blues...

May Madness brought a case of the June Blues. After one crazy month last month...June has come with its own bit of craziness. For us, June came with fevers, croup, dislocated arms, and a yucky cold. Mckenzie literally laid on our couch for a good 5 days going in and out of consciousness. :) I always feel so bad when she is sick. However, I'll be honest--I really could have done without the middle of the night awakenings....its really been like the newborn stage all over again. And then to top it all--last sunday about 10 minutes before church we (meaning I) inflicted a case of nursemaid's elbow(partially dislocated elblow) on her. She has had this before (self-inflicted that time) and its something that once it happens once, tends to happen quite easily there after. I was trying to do her hair and she was trying to run away..so I pulled her arm trying to get her to come back and well, lets just say the arm came, but she didn't. :) So rather than go to church we took our screaming little girl to the ER where they popped her arm back in and then rewarded her with ice cream and a popsicle. Some of you may ask...why were they taking her to church when she was sick?? In hindsight I say this is a good question. Sunday she woke up with no fever and only a bit of runny nose so I assumed she was getting better, and thought we could just take her to the first hour of church and then one of us would just take her home after that. And she actually had a good day Sunday (minus the arm thing) until that night and the fever spiked again--not to go away again until 3 days later. :) So basically, the whole church thing back-fired on us. Oh well...better luck next time I guess.
Luckily, she is feeling much better now and we are now looking forward to many fun, sunny days spent in the pool and at the park. We welcome summer and good health with open arms.

MAY MADNESS!

YEAH FOR VISITORS!!

We have had a super fun month with both sets of our family coming to visit. Russ's parents came down to watch the kids for our cruise (thank you so much!!), and then my family came for Jon's dental graduation. (hooray!). We didn't get too many pics this time with Grandma and Grandpa Jepson because we were away most the time, but were able to spend a week with my family and had some really good times.

This restaurant was in Ft. Worth and so we Schaacks definitely had to get our picture taken in front of it. Next time we'll have to try eating there too. :)

Mckenzie loves Grandma and Grandpa Jepson!! She is always trying to sing the new songs she learns from them and talks about her time with them at Ben's house constantly! We just want all of our family to know how much we love them and how much we enjoyed their visits!! We definitely wish we could see them more often!

Children's Museum

One of the stops we made while my parents were here was to the Children's Museum. The kids LOVED it...there were so many things to do and play with. And as you can see, there were a few things for the big kids to do too. :) When we first got there, we were a little worried because all the displays on the top floor seemed to be broken or really lame...but once we got downstairs it was great!!

The fire truck was probably the favorite kid pick. We'd leave and try and go do something else, but it kept drawing them back in. :)

This was outside the museum where we ate a picnic lunch.It's been so fun to watch Mckenzie and her cousin Jacob grow up together! They are so cute when they are together. They are either screaming fighting over the same toy, or laughing their heads off.