Sweets Factory

We went to the Sweets Factory in Salt Lake with Brooklyn's preschool group this week. It was a lot of fun, it was a 40 minute tour of their factory. We were all lucky enough to wear the lovely hairnets, it reminded me of working in the school cafeteria in junior high. So embarrassing! I thought the tour was really neat, it was interesting to see the whole process of how candy is made and packaged we even got some free candy a long the way. We couldn't take pictures inside the factory, so we just took a couple of pictures at the candy store in the lobby. I'd have to say that the purple gumdrops were my favorite, I usually hate gumdrops but these were sooo chewy and soft, I loved it! I knew that walking through a factory full of candy at hands reach would be a hard temptation for Weston to resist so I brought along his bear leash. It's funny because sometimes I get glares from strangers that I'm treating my child like an animal, and other times I get moms coming up to me asking where I got it. I figure if his bear leash makes my life easier and if it keeps him from getting lost or running off getting into trouble then it's a great thing to have. Weston thinks it's cool too, he pretends it's Diego's rescue pack!
My kids were on a SUGAR RUSH the rest of the day because they ate way to much CANDY, but they had a great time and a fun memory was made.

Draper Temple Open House

We went to the Draper Temple Open House today, we watched a short movie about temples at a chapel near by then we were bused up to the temple. Brooklyn has always wanted to ride a big bus like this, anytime she sees a school bus or a big greyhound bus she gets so excited. She thinks once she turns 5 and starts school this year that she gets to ride a bus to school, I keep telling her school is just down the street so she wont ride a bus, but she really doesn't believe me. She's going to be very disappointed.

Blake looks like a little fat man in this suit, his button is about to burst. He was a pretty good boy during the tour.

Weston thought the bus was "AWESOME!", but he thinks everything is. He did think the temple was pretty but his favorite part of the trip was the free cookies at the end of the tour.

You cant really see us in this picture but you can see how beautiful the temple is. The celestial room in this temple was probably one of the prettiest celestial rooms I've ever seen. The Los Angeles temple's celestial room has always been one of my favorites, it's really beautiful but now I have another favorite. The chandelier in the celestial room is absolutely breathtaking, Brooklyn kept saying how "sparkling" it was! This was a really neat experience to go inside the temple together as a family, I'm so grateful for temples and for the feeling of peace I have when I go. We really are blessed to live in a area surrounded by temples.

My Picky Eater...

Dinnertime with Weston is a struggle every night! Tonight was a good night for him. His pediatrician has always told me to never cook special meals just for him, he should eat what I fix for the whole family. Easier said then done!! I have to admit I'm not always consistent with trying to get him to eat dinner, it can be very exhausting and it can ruin dinner time for the whole family. He will literally sit at the table for hours just staring at his food crying! All I really ask of him is to eat two bites! That's it!! Sometimes it's easier to just give him what he wants which is either a bowl of cereal or a peanut butter sandwich. So one of my new year resolutions this year is to be consistent with dinnertime, if he doesn't want to eat dinner then he'll have to go to bed hungry and wait until breakfast to eat. His doctor said he wont starve missing a meal, it's just kinda sad when he keeps saying how hungry he is. I really hope I can follow through with this and not give in!

Oh man... chicken is yucky!

Aahh, do I have to??

Please mom don't make me!!

I'm not so sure about this??

Yeah! I did it!! And it tasted pretty good...

I think I'll have another bite.

Look who's turning 1!

Blake is turning one tomorrow, and I cant believe how fast this year went by. It seriously feels like I just brought him home from the hospital, but as you can see he's not a little baby anymore! Rich's grandparents were having a new years party, so we had a little party for him at their house. I love the newborn stage, but I really love the age he's at now. He's walking now and has really discovered his voice. It's been fun to watch him interact more with Brooklyn and Weston, he likes to get in on the wrestling matches they have. He's been been a joy to have in our family. Happy Birthday Blake!

Building a Snowman...

Rich helped the kids build a snowman last week. Here is the finished result, our snowman has a camo hat, a lava lava on, my red scarf and orange construction paint for his eyes and mouth. Rich and the kids were very creative!
Brooklyn and Weston are very proud of their snowman, I think I'm going to have two very sad kids when their snowman melts away.