Cox Farm

On Friday Mark took a much deserved day off work and we drove over to Cox Farm. It was pretty chilly but we bundled up and decided we were going anyway. We had so much fun! It is this big fall festival and they have so much to do there. The first part of the farm we went to was the "farm chores" area. They had these little tractors that Mason could sit on and steer and play with the gear shifters. He was in heaven. They had this huge plastic cow with a rubber udder that would squirt water into a little bucket if you milked it. They also had a sandbox-like thing filled with corn kernels you could dump onto a big belt that would carry the kernels up and the kernels would rain down into the sandbox.
After dragging Mason away from the farm chores we ate our little lunch we had packed and decided to try some of the slides. I had heard they had some big slides but I wasn't expecting them to be this big. As if the slides weren't big enough, you sit on a piece of material while you slide down so you seriously get flying. Mark was laughing and screaming just as loud as Mason. We didn't even get to all the slides but they were probably the best part of the farm.
They also have a big hayride that takes you around for about 20 min. There is wood cut out and painted to look like different movie characters and props that Mason liked. There is also a big corn maze but we didn't go in it. I didn't think the stroller would do very well or that Mason would really enjoy it.
There are all the classic farm animals there too. We walked around looking at each of them but the goats definitely steal the show. They have "Goat Village" where the kids (and parents) actually go in with the goats and get to feed them goat food from an ice cream cone. These goats and so little-they only went up to Mason's hips. Mason found an especially tiny one and followed him around the whole time.
To top it off, they serve you free apple cider and as many apples as you can eat all day. Then as you are leaving you get to pick a little pumpkin to take home with you. Mason's little pumpkin goes everywhere with him. It sits at the dinner table while we are eating, it sits on my lap while I read Mason stories, it rides in the car with us. You get the picture. But, I refuse to let him take the pumpkin with him to bed. So each night we have a little break down and have to say bye to the pumpkin for the night. He has started rolling it around like a ball (the stem broke off long ago) so I doubt we'll have a pumpkin around for too much longer.
Cox Farm was great and we loved having Mark with us for an extra long weekend. Thanks Hun for working the extra hours so you could take the day off to come play with us!

National Zoo

I tried to get a picture of the two boys together but appearantly next to the monkey cage is not the best place to make this attempt. Mason couldn't hold still and kept making a monkey sound so this is the best of the dozen or so pictures I took of the two of them together.

These pictures are in the opposite order I wanted them to be in but, oh well. We went to The National Zoo a week and a half ago and had a blast. It is part of the Smithsonian museums so it is really well done and it's free. We had beautiful weather. We have taken Mason to the zoo before but now that he is older this was a whole new experiance. He was so excited and thrilled by all the animals all day. Nap time didn't matter-he couldn't get enough of the zoo. Besides, that's what the car ride home is for right? When we were in the monkey house Mason was jumping up and down in his stroller squealing at the monkeys. Everyone in there kept looking at him and would laugh and make come comment about how cute he is. Dallan on the other hand couldn't have cared less about any of the animals but was still the content little thing he always is and just enjoyed the ride in the stroller (and sleeping in the stroller).

To anyone thinking about visiting D.C. I highly recommend visiting this zoo-especially if you have kids. We spent most of the day there and still didn't see everything. Although with the two boys being so young we are extremely slow. It was a ton of fun and I can't wait to go again soon.

Dallan-What a Blessing!!!

We blessed Dallan in Beaver last week and it was great! We were able to see so much family and spend some time with them. It was a pretty quick trip but we were still able to do quite a bit in the shout time we were there. We flew into Salt Lake on Thrusday. Mark's mom flew in at almost the same time as us so we got a rental car to share. We met up with Mark's brother, Neal then had to run a few errands to get some things for the blessing dinner. We then drove down to Beaver. When we pulled up to my parents' house Mason's cousins were there to greet him and he was thrilled to see them and couldn't wait to go outside and play. I can't even describe how good it was to be home and see everyone. I know it hasn't been that long since we saw everyone but it is different knowing you CAN'T see or visit.

Basically Mark's whole family came to the blessing. They all live so far apart that it is rare to get together. On Saturday the guys drove to Provo to the BYU game. The cougars won -a miracle ;). Mark loved spending time with his brothers and nephews. I stayed in Beaver with our boys since they are too little to enjoy a whole football game and adding 4 more hours of travel to our weekend just didn't sould good at all. So me and the boys had a blast just hanging out playing outside (we can't do this in DC) and swimming in Grandma Graff's hotel pool.

The actual blessing was great. I was pretty nervous that Dallan would cry through the whole thing since he was wide awake and surrounded by an army of men. He didn't make a single sould though. Even Mason was good through Dallan's blessing. Dallan is so blessed to be surrounded by so many priesthood holders. It was touching to see so many men supporting and blessing my baby. Plus, considering that Dallan is over 4 months old, and huge for his age, I'm sure Mark appreciated the physical support they gave as he was trying to hold Dallan through the blessing.

After the blessing we had a big dinner. Man, I don't know what I would do without my mom! I didn't do a single thing as far as planning or preparing for this dinner and we had about 100 people there. Thank you so much to everyone who brought salads, desserts, and everything else. I am reminded again and again of how great family is. We had such a good time just visiting with everyone. After the dinner we all went over to my parents' house and hung out in the backyard. All the nieces and nephews loved playing around, the guys loved checking out the cars, and the girls just hung out visiting with each other.

We had to leave the next morning and it was hard to say bye but we had such a great weekend. Thanks to everyone who came and to those who helped with the dinner. We love you all and hope to see you again around Christmas!

More pics from Dallan's Blessing Weekend

My mom watched our boys for a bit so Mark and I stole their truck and headed up the mountain. Mason has major separation issues since moving to DC and Mark has been working crazy hours so we haven't done a date or anything for quite awhile. I LOVE the mountains. They are definately in the list of top things I miss about Utah.

Just hanging out in my parents' backyard. This might be the first and only picture we have of all four of us together.

My happy baby right after his blessing. Man I love him! He is such a fun and happy baby. He is a cuddly little thing and loves to be held or to at least be holding onto a blanket he can cuddle with. He also loves Mason. Mason has started showing Dallan all of his toys and talking to him and Dallan just laughs and squeals. Mason loves that he gets this kind of reaction so he starts laughing and dancing more. So the two of them just laugh and squeal at each other. I LOVE IT!