Razors, Soapstone, and Bubbles

If you read the title of this blog, you may think I am blogging about taking a shower.  Oddly enough, the words in the title in no way refer to hygiene.  Rather, they sum up what we've been doing since the beautiful month of June has arrived.

Mckay's Uncle Cole has a bubble machine that is, hands down, the COOLEST toy ever!  Mckay will spend hours outside with Cole chasing the bubbles.  One day I caught him just staring, awe-struck, at this amazing toy.

Last weekend we went up to Kamas to visit the England cabin.  This cabin (courtesy of the fantastic imaginations of Todd & Jeannette) has been under construction now for about 2 years, but, as you can see from the picture, the vision is falling into place.  It is almost done!

Adorable.  Enough said.

While in Kamas, we decided to try out this nice new Razor.  We have wanted to explore some of the ATV trails near the cabin for awhile now, but it is kind of hard with two kids.  This is the perfect vehicle.

We had such a blast going up Soapstone Canyon (a canyon about 15 miles from the cabin somewhere up in the Uintahs).  It was so beautiful, and the trails were pretty smooth, which made for a great ride for us.  Mckay's words of, "Oh!  So fast!", pretty much sums up the entire experience.
All in all, I would say our summer has got off to a great start.

England Family 2012

Last April we took a trip to California with our England side of the family.  We did so many fun things that I blogged about before.  Among our many activities, we took family photos.  I was a little bit worried about this photo session, mostly because I felt like I still looked like I had just had a baby (Logan was 3 months at the time), and was feeling a little self conscious.  But our photographer was great, and I felt like she made us all beautiful, and really captured our family so well.

 Yeah, he was not in a good mood.  But still so cute!

 Awww. . .

 This is hilarious.

Here's where the real fun began.

 You go, girls!

To date, this is the most fun I've ever had in a photo sitting!  I love my family!

Memorial Day Weekend

I love Memorial Day.  It's the official kick-off to summertime!  But for all that, ironically, it snowed the first half of our Memorial Day weekend.  We spent Saturday afternoon in Kamas with the England boys.  It was fun in spite of the snow.  Chase and Mckay even braved the hot tub with the other guys while I was a chicken and stayed indoors with Logan.  (I would have loved to have gotten pics of this . . .but I left my camera at home.)  I felt very honored to be the only girl among 10 boys.  Todd even made me a SALAD for dinner (which was so so nice!)
I think my favorite activity of the day was when we played Ticket to Ride as a family.  We all did pretty good, but at the very end, Cole was the determined winner.  I will have to have a rematch!
Luckily, the weather changed for the better come Sunday.  On our way down to Payson, we stopped at the Sandy Cemetery to visit Grandpa Sainsbury's grave.

 Note to self:  NEVER bring a toddler into a cemetery unless you've also brought a flag for him to play with.  This particular flag we borrowed from Grandpa Sainsbury's grave just so we could enjoy a few peaceful moments.  I am hoping his great-grandpa didn't mind:)

 After our stop at the cemetery, we journeyed down to Payson. We enjoyed volleyball games, 4-wheeling, swinging on the porch swing, playing board games, and just enjoying each other's company.

 Little Logan loved being on the farm . . . until he got a terrible cough/cold that lasted until the following Tuesday.  Poor little guy!

But now he is better, and in celebration, we brought out his little exer-saucer.  He loves it!

The merry month of May

One of my favorite things about blogging is that it encourages me to capture the day-to-day moments that make up our lives.  We have lots of fun as a family.  I give the credit mostly to my kids (who are full of energy and curiosity, and give me lots of incentive to keep them engaged!) and Chase (whose energy level is something that I envy/admire:)

Here are some things that we have done in the merry month of May:

 I know I have said this before, but I cannot get over just how much I love the fact that we live in a place equipped with a playground and about 30 little friends for Mckay to play with.  Here he is with neighbors Titus and Charlotte, taking advantage of the alligator/dragon/dinosaur (he really is an ambiguous green creature!)

 Sandboxes are a kid's dream.  Mckay always ends the day with about a tablespoon of sand in each shoe.

 This week we went on a walk up Millcreek Canyon.  They have a wooden boardwalk perfect for strolling along.  Mckay was a bit of a pill this trip because he thought the boardwalk looked like train tracks, and kept screaming "train!"  He was pretty upset that no train appeared.  Finally, we had enough and dumped him in the river . . . just kidding!  But this photo documents that we certainly did think about it;)

 Afterwards we went to Coldstone.  For Mother's Day I received a $15 gift card to this blessed place.  I think, however, that I have been usurped as the ultimate ice cream love of this family.  If the contest was based upon who made the most mess, I certainly am outdone.

 Friday night we went to Chuck E. Cheese's (however you spell that) with friends of ours.  Mckay loved the merry-go-round and shooting hoops. . .

 . . . although he was a bit of a cheater when it came right down to it.

You may have noticed that this blog did not contain many pictures of Logan.  It is not because he is not as loved or as cute as Mckay.  It's just that this one picture captures how he behaved through most of our fun activities.  My sweet little Peanut is a very content little baby, happy with looking at the world.  

Fud Feud 2012

This Saturday was the 2nd annual Fud Feud!  For those who are unfamiliar, the Fud Feud is a cooking competition for the amateur chef.  It was created by Chase's cousin Lindsey Smith, so I have been lucky enough to participate in this competition from the beginning.
This year the competition was held at the fabulous Orson Gygi's store.  There I, my three sisters-in-law, and mother-in-law, enjoyed competing, tasting, and winning prizes.  My favorite thing about this competition is that you, along with some judges get to vote on which foods you like the best.  That means you have to TASTE the food, and since everybody brings their very best, it was an afternoon of yumminess!

My entry:  Chocolate Pot de Creme.  And yes, it was as yummy as it sounds!  Thank you Julie's sister-in-law, for letting me get that recipe from you.

Here I am next to my entry in the "Dessert Wing" of Gygi's kitchen displays.

 Here I am with my sister-in-laws and Lindsey Smith, creator of Fud Feud.

 Chase was awesome, and watched both kids the entire time I was here.

Here is the best part of the competion . . . the sampling!  There wasn't a bad dish here, and the recipe book will be coming out soon.  I think I will purchase one. . .

Now it's time for the bragging portion of this blog.  This year we England girls represented ourselves pretty well.  I won third place in the dessert category, Cassidy won second place in the side-dish category, and Chelsea won the "Taster's Choice Award" for the side category.  So prizes were won, glory was had, ideas were shared, and food was feasted upon.  It was a great day.

Jammin'

This week the strawberries were on sale.  I have been waiting for this for a long time.  One of my favorite childhood memories was coming home from school or play to the warm, sticky smell of my mom canning peaches, applesauce, cherries, apricots and, yes, strawberry jam.  I think that homemade jam is so, so, so yummy, and so when the chance came, I bought myself a case of strawberries, convinced my mom and Julie to come up to my little kitchen, and there, we proceeded to relieve my childhood memories.

Not bad for an afternoon's work.

Mckay Turns 2!

Two years ago on May 1 at 11:28 a.m., weighing 6 lb. 14 oz. and 19 inches long, Mckay Chase England was born into our family!  After a brief stint in the NICU, he was returned to us healthy and happy, and our lives have never been the same since.  We are so glad he came into our family!
Mckay is such a fun little boy to have around, and he is getting so big and so smart.  He can say a lot of words now and loves to speak.  Sometimes we even understand what he is saying.  Some of his favorite phrases are, "I did it!", and "That's awesome!"  He also uses the words "no" and "mine", like a typical two-year-old.  He can also identify most parts of the body, and most animals and their sounds  (how many times have I heard the words, "Horse!  Eeeeiigghh!" while driving to my parents house or to Kamas?)
Mckay loves to play.  His current favorite toys are still the choo-choo-train and Legos (which he likes to call Logi's).  Sometimes he gets so busy playing that he forgets that he needs to eat or have his diaper changed.  Those are mere distractions to him.  He has been known to spend hours (and a whole box of wet wipes) wiping down his toys.  These cleaning tendencies, I believe, are from his Mom:)  His love of putting things together and then taking them apart (or vice versa) are from his Dad.
Mckay loves his family.  He is a wonderful older brother to Logan (or, as he calls him, "Logi!"), and will give him lots of smiles and attention.  He is still a Daddy's boy through and through, and would shadow Chase all day long given the chance.  He still likes to call his Dad "Chase", even though Mom has been very diligent in calling Chase "Dad" lately.  He loves his Grandmas and Grandpas, and adores his aunts and uncles.  He also has lots best friends who live in our court that he loves to play with.
Mckay had a wonderful birthday spreading over the course of three days. One party for the England side, one party for the Sainsbury side, and one party at our court's weekly barbecue which happened to fall on Mckay's birthday!  He is so blessed to have so much love and support, and we are so blessed to be a part of his life.  We love you Mckay!

 What else would his cake be?

 Loving his new legos!

 We got him a bat & some balls for his birthday.  Mckay loves to swing that bat, and even manages to hit the ball sometimes!

Playing with his buddies outside on his birthday.