mumford

2010-01-03T19:26:00.011-07:00

We had a pretty good 2009. We're happy, mostly healthy, love each other as much as ever, and have the gospel, but I think we're just fine saying goodbye to 2009. Here are some of our highlights and happenings of the year:

Red Rock Relay – 173 mile run with a team of twelve! The hardest thing we have physically ever done, and we are so proud of the accomplishment! Our knees are still recovering…
Minneapolis Trip - the National American Planning Association Conference. Steve went to a Minnesota Twins game, the Mall of America (which has an indoor amusement park with roller coasters and all), and touched the Mississippi River.

Bike Ride through Sun Valley all together taking turns on the Tandem and pulling the kids in a bike trailer, Countless board and card games, A trip to Red Fish Lake, Craters of the Moon, and Everyone getting violently ill.

Josie’s Gymnastics classes

Car wrecked – bought a new used second car. We now own two Nissan Altimas

Thanksgiving with almost all of the Krohns

Living Planet Aquarium, Toadally Frogs Exhibit, Museum of Ancient Life (the Dinosaur Museum), The Bean Museum
Housing Candi’s sister for several months and then a soon-to-be sister-in-law for another couple.
Second ever camping trip with the kids. They were too excited to sleep
Two 5K races – One we ran together

Candi’s first ever Triathlon in Pleasant Grove!

Thanksgiving Point, Hee Haw's, and other Fall fun.

First ride on FrontRunner & more trips on Trax
Steve swallowed a camera…literally
Grandma took the kids on the Polar Express
Lights at Temple Square
Moving Candi’s parents from Seattle to Provo. Now our kids have all their grandparents within about 35 miles
Got a kitten – Swiper the Fox

Candi wrote a song for her brother Nik to sing at his wedding. It was performed wonderfully by her and her brother sang awesome! Definitely a highlight.
Remodeling the house – we added beadboard (the individual boards), chair rail, baseboards, painted, etc.
Candi won a Biggest Loser competition put on by her friends
Jackson insists that getting his first ever train set was the best thing that happened to him this year.
Our kids are growing up and are just as cute and wonderful as ever!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Red Rock Relay 2009

2009-12-10T23:05:00.014-07:00

Candi and I were a last minute addition to a team of friends from the ward. That meant that we didn't get to train very much - really just a month or so. Not good. Anyway, we were excited to do our first ever relay race, and also a little worried, since we both didn't grow up running through life.

The Red Rock Relay is a 180-mile race through the beautiful red rock country of southern Utah, starting at Brian Head Ski Resort, going through the Dixie National Forest, Cedar Breaks Monument, Zion National Park, Sand Hollow Reservoir, through St. George, and Snow Canyon. We ran in the middle of the night (with headlamps and reflectors), through rain and hail, up and down hills, on dirt trails, on busy streets, while being followed by a team of runners in a van.

I was the first runner, and the first 20 minutes of my race was a nice ride up the ski lift (it was freezing, but scenic). The 3 mile trail run was a lot of fun, and I passed two people!
Candi was the fourth runner, and she started with a doozy - 6 1/2 miles! She was all set with the water belt, the ipod, and sunglasses. She did awesome, of course, on a very roller-coaster leg (lots of ups and downs). We saw some fantastic scenery while waiting for runners. We can't support them all the time! This is the whole team (except for Candi, as she was the runner through Cedar Breaks National Monument). They definitely have floods in southern Utah - look at this bridge, torn apart above a river bed.
And, of course, Zions National Park was amazingly beautiful. We actually drove through most of it (with our crazy friend driving like a mad man to try to knock off a couple of minutes from our time). The roads being narrow, and it being a holiday weekend...kind of made it more dangerous to run through...so we sped through instead.The rain always seemed to pour just a couple runners before me. We even had some really bad hail that gave Shantel bruises. Anyway, interesting weather patterns. I got to run in the rain a little bit too. Kind of fun when its hot.
This was one of the few people I passed during the relay...worth a little celebration! This was my second leg - absolutely beautiful, next to the reservoir, passing ponds, waterfalls, etc. It was a nice steady 6 miles. Still takes everything out of you though.We didn't get any pictures from my third leg or Candi's second leg, as they were both in the dark and we were all exhausted. Candi ran a huge leg (about 7 miles) on a very dark road, sporting the vest and headlamp the whole way. It must've been about 85 in the middle of the night too! Made for a tiring run. My third leg was through Saint George, about half of which was on a trail in the darkness. Kind of spooky, actually, as I couldn't see a thing and there were no runners anywhere near me. It was about 6 1/2 miles.

Then Candi finished up with a 3 1/2 miler, running along with a group of 5Kers. Kind of funny. She finished strong!
Well, 30 hours later we made it to the sweet finish line. Actually, our team finished our last legs, then we went back to the hotel and tried to sleep a bit (not very successful at the sleeping), then went to meet our team at the finish line. We all ran across at the same time! Actually, most of us limped across...as our knees were done for, as well as our feet (blisters aplenty). The whole race was 180 miles, a drop of 8,000 feet in elevation, and a ton of fun. What an experience!

Random Josie and Jackson

2009-12-10T22:51:00.004-07:00

Just some random pictures of Josie and Jackson. They're definitely kids.

Fun with Nikon

2009-12-10T21:57:00.011-07:00

Well, these were obviously not taken in December. It's about time we posted some pictures from the summer! This was mostly just trying out my new camera. It's just a Nikon D40, but it's been a lot of fun, and is a great starter camera. The blog pictures don't do it justice, as the quality is compromised when uploaded. I need to figure that out. Anyway...we have such cute kids, always posing for the camera.

Josie's first gold medal

2009-07-18T07:53:00.003-06:00

Josie's a gymnast! Well, she had her first gymnastics meet in May, and she was so excited! Of course the kids need help every step of the way...but she really enjoys tumbling, roll-overs, jumping on the board, the bars, the beam, and all that gymnastics stuff (those were her own words)! Gold medal here we come!

Birthdays!

2009-06-02T19:53:00.008-06:00

March is our month of birthdays, with three birthdays in 8 days! Josie felt left out...but she had a birthday in May, so it wasn't too much of a wait.

Candi's low-fat strawberry shortcake birthday cake! She's on week 3 of her biggest loser competition!
Steve's homemade (by Candi, of course) gourmet red velvet cake with blackberries! mmmm, mmmm delicious. "Best tasting cake I've ever made," says Candi.

Jackson's 2nd birthday was at the Dinosaur Museum (at Thanksgiving Point) with Ben and Josh (& Kristin) and Grandma & Grandpa Mumford, (and Josie, Mommy, & Daddy, of course)

We had to throw a real party for Josie, now that she has a lot of friends and had been to others' birthdays too. So they all did the slip 'n slide, made bead bracelets and necklaces (yes, even some of the boys), had some cake, and had a blast.

Jackson figured out that if you cover a hole on the slip'n slide, the rest of the holes shoot higher!

Josie's friends making necklaces and bracelets - a bead frenzy!

Josie and cousin Ben warming up after slip'n and slide'n

Tee hee hee...look at all my presents!

Looks like Josie definitely had a pink birthday

Josie's 4-yr birthday pictures. What a gorgeous little girl!

Random Photos from January - March

2009-05-31T16:30:00.005-06:00

Josie after a long hard day of having fun

Josie's Sticker Chart - for being nice to Jackson (that's hit and miss), staying in her bed during the night (we still haven't conquered that one), sharing her toys, using the toilet (conquered - hooray!).

Jackson loves taking rides in the milk box from Costco - we're just amazed that he fits in there.

Sporting the new hairdo at the BYU basketball game

Josie's wild hairdo - Mommy sure is creative

Wow...that's what happens when you straighten Jackson's hair. Scary.

The new fun and stylish hairdo

2008 Highlights & Random Facts

2008-12-28T20:20:00.005-07:00

2008 Highlights & Random Facts
(In No Particular Order)

Jackson learned how to walk and talk...and he has never stopped either of them!
Josie completed her 1st dance class, recital and all.
Spring trip to Moab, Arches, Canyonlands w/ Laurie & Andy Bailey.
A quick trip to Portland Oregon for a friend's wedding, some sight seeing (Multnomah Falls, Portland Temple), and some gracious relatives (thanks Alan and Jill!).
Witnessing the Cougars blow out the UCLA Bruins.
Steve's promotion to Planning Director.
Jackson's amazingly curly hair!
The Ward Choir (and Kristin's Oboe) performing Candi's amazing arrangement of a Christmas song.
Steve hiked Mt. Timpanogos for the 1st time!
The whole family went through Timpanogos Cave.
Steve's work conference trip to Denver.
Countless fun with Grandma & Grandpa, Ben and Josh, Liesel, and all of the relatives that live close by.
We bought a 2nd car...twice (the 1st one was a dud).
The snow igloo we made a week ago - big enough for two adults to sit inside.
Watching Josie master the balance games on the Wii.
Steve was blind and now he sees! LASIK is a miracle!
1st Camping trip with the kids was a success!
Dinosaur museums (Thanksgiving Point & Ogden)
Ward Clerk and Primary Presidency callings.
4th of July in Huntsville.
Candi writing music - always coming up with music and lyrics throughout the day.
After a drought of 10 or 15 games, Steve finally beat his dad at Ticket to Ride.
Krohn Family Reunion in Midway - everyone was there! Quite a feat.
BodyWorlds in Salt Lake - the human body is amazing beyond words.
Josie getting so excited on the various carnival rides.
Parades, parades, parades. Never seen so many horses.
Hayrides, huge slides, petting zoos, and fun in a huge corn playpen.
The jailbird, jack the pumpkin king, and cannibal jack-o-lanterns.
Josie's ladybug halloween costume - bright red hair and all.
The Living Planet Aquarium - sharks, jellyfish, manta rays, starfish, octopus, etc.
Playing at the park how many times? Endless.
Reading books with the kids.
Steve's new hairdo...the "no hair"do.
Josie's bedtime stories - she tells us stories for her bedtime!

We had a fun year. I'm sure much more happened that we failed to mention, of course. Mostly we're thankful for our health, our wonderful kids, a good job, a place to live, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and family and friends - without whom we wouldn't have had such a great year. We love you all! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

The Living Planet

2008-12-06T09:02:00.009-07:00

This is the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy. We recently bought a membership, which will pay for itself after the 2nd or 3rd visit. It's kind of small, but there are sharks, manta rays, an octopus, sea horses, jellies, a ton of starfish, and even native utah species (a bunch of kinds of trout). Oh yeah, and frogs, of course!

The Manta Ray "petting pond" is too deep for the kids. They'd be up to their necks if they tried to touch them.

Here's the Octopus and a starfish. Unfortunately, the Octopus is always stuck to the glass, so we never get to see him in his full glory.

The Jellies are definitely a favorite of ours. Apparently they are more like plants than animals...they don't have a brain or eyes, so they can't think or see anything. They just float around. What a life.

Josie and cousins Ben and Josh searching for frogs.

What's Fall without a pile of leaves?

2008-12-06T08:53:00.003-07:00

The Real Mumfords...coming out on Halloween

2008-11-16T19:49:00.011-07:00

Ok, so Halloween was fun again, of course, because Candi got to experiment with makeup and dress everyone up! We decided Josie looks cute with bright red hair and makes a great ladybug. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of Jackson (he wore his batman pajamas and a batman cape). We went to a friend's halloween party earlier that week and had a blast just being us again...well, what "us" would have been in the 70's!

Looks natural, doesn't it?

The pants are definitely a keeper...they came from Steve's dad's closet!

Candi's true diva self coming out on Halloween

We even met Obama at the party...I think he'd been working a
little too hard on his campaign - you can see it in his face.

HALLOWEEN '08

2008-11-16T18:36:00.009-07:00

We had our annual Mumford / Krohn pumpkin carving festival, which included Josie carving one, of course! This year we decided to go a little wild on our designs, as you can see...

Candi and her Cannibal Jack-O-Lantern

Josie and her masterpiece!

Candi's sister Laurie, brother-in-law Andy, & Jack the Pumpkin King

Steve performing a very delicate surgery

Our ultimate pumpkin-carving achievement - the pumpkin prisoner!

The whole gang...they're a fiesty bunch.

Fun at the Pumpkin Patch

2008-11-15T16:43:00.011-07:00

Steve and the kids on a hayride

She's a brave little girl...seeing as the duck took a bite at her during this shot

Do cows do anything???

Josie buried in corn...she loved it!

Jackson was more than happy to throw corn on Josie

Life of a Toddler

2008-10-18T11:07:00.005-06:00

Ah, the life of a toddler...always wearing myself out

2008-10-18T10:44:00.016-06:00

Fun with the Cousins at the Eccles Dinosaur Park in Ogden

Fun with Slides...is there anything better when you're a kid?

Thanks for taking us Grandma and Grandpa!

It's a little dark...but that's what the T-Rex prefers.

BYU stomps on UCLA 59-0

2008-10-18T10:36:00.005-06:00

BYU vs UCLA

Can you see the score on the scoreboard?

First Family Camping Trip

2008-10-18T10:19:00.004-06:00

Our first real camping trip as a family (with the kids)! The ward campout - up above Heber somewhere.

Josie's First Dance Class

2008-09-12T13:36:00.008-06:00

We've been so excited to enroll Josie in a dance class, and yesterday was her first day! She's naturally rhythmic, so we thought this would be a great place to start.

Josie & Jackson

2008-08-21T11:16:00.008-06:00

Belated 4th of July

2008-08-21T10:42:00.011-06:00

Ok, so we never posted these photos from the 4th of July...so here they are! We went to the annual Huntsville Mumford family 4th of July party.

Parade watching - Josie & cousin Ben, and Jackson & cousin Josh

The kids playing with their loot from the fair/carnival

It was a beautiful day...and so much fun that Jackson didn't want to stop playing even for a second!

Mount Timpanogos

2008-08-21T07:44:00.017-06:00

A few weeks ago Steve decided to hike Mt. Timpanogos with his brother, Ryan, and his brother-in-law, Joe. They got up early and started the hike at about 6:30.

Ryan, Joe, and Steve along the trail. We started at the Aspen Grove trail (Sundance), which is a beatiful trail, full of waterfalls and wildflowers. Not to give away the ending, but we went down the Timpanooke Trail to get the full Timpanogos experience.

The scenery along the trail is incredible.

The hillsides were full of mountain goats. I think they were pretty domesticated, because you could get pretty close and they wouldn't run away. This is the first time I had ever seen mountain goats in their "natural" habitat.

Emerald Lake - beautiful, and fed by glaciers! And yes...we hiked in the snow too!

At the top! 11,749 feet high - the second highest peak in Utah's Wasatch range. Second only to Mt. Nebo, which I conquered back in 2004! This was about a 9 hour hike, including an hour on top for lunch. It's not quite Everest, but it's definitely a satisfying hike.

A Belated Birthday Blog

2008-06-04T10:39:00.014-06:00

On May 10th we celebrated Josie's 3rd birthday! She is officially a "big girl" now, in her words, and in our eyes too. We can't believe it has been 3 years! Here are some fun things that we did at her party. We did sidewalk chalk, freeze dance and of course, had cake and presents. She had lots of aunts and uncles as well as cousins and grandma - even her newest little 2 week old cousin came!

Here is Josie blowing out her candles! Enjoy!

Arches National Park and Canyonlands Trip

2008-05-05T11:09:00.033-06:00

Steve and I just got back from a remarkable trip to Arches National Park, Canyonlands and Goblin Valley. We went with Laurie (Candi's sister) and her husband Andy. We camped along the Colorado River and saw as many things as we could in 3 1/2 days. So here are the highlights! This is a long blog, so the pics are going to be hard to format. Sorry!

The pictures above and below are some sites from the Devil's Garden Loop. There is landscape arch that is 306 feet long, and some other ones. Steve is laying in what we call "the crypt" because it is just long enough from a body to lay inside. Balanced rock is a few pics down.

Here is the famous delicate arch. At Sandune arch, Steve and Andy are standing on the top. I am not sure how they got to the top, nor do I want to know. It was way too nerve racking for me.

These next pictures below are from the guided tour hike of the Fiery Furnace. We were meandering through caverns and very tight spots where, as you can see, made for some interesting hiking poses. But you do what you gotta do to not fall 15 feet down!! It was an exhilarating hike!

Our most favorite hike was in Canyonlands. It was a beautiful place. We found out about this hike from Steve's boss. You can't find it unless you ask a ranger and call it by it's real name. It is supposed to remain a bit of a secret to preserve the grounds, but if you get a chance to go, you will be able to find out more. Here are some pictures from this strenuous hike. We hiked into this huge alcove of rock! It was truly amazing!! You can see a video at the end of the blog.

Below are some pictures of other places in Canyonlands. There is upheaval dome, where theory states it may be a site of meteor impact. Others find geological explanations for it. Dead horse point is on the right. There we are at Mesa Arch where we were sitting on a ledge with a 500 foot drop off behind us!

We ended our trip with Goblin Valley. Steve and Andy are off in the distance climbing on just about anything they could! Steve and I drove through Manti on our way back to see the temple. It was a beautiful trip and we feel blessed to live so close to God's beautiful and wondrous creations!

2008-04-01T12:01:00.008-06:00

After 9 years of constant headaches, and countless trips to various doctors, we finally disovered the cause of Steve's headaches...his hair! I know it sounds ridiculous, but he's really been studying the Old Testament recently, the story of Sampson in particular, and he kept feeling that he had some sort of connection with this ancient prophet...besides just his incredible strength. It turns out that Steve's hair was "cursed" so to speak...it gave him headaches. We were suspicious of this after several recent short haircuts where he went an entire week, sometimes two feeling almost no pain at all. Laugh if you must, but we're overjoyed! So...introducing the new Steve! Check out our poll and vote to see who Steve looks most like!

OK - the part about the headaches being connected to the hair was an April Fool's Day joke! Unfortunately they're still my constant companion. The part about the new hairstyle, as well as the Sampsonesque strength, however, are very real indeed.

Another Birthday Celebration

2008-03-29T20:41:00.016-06:00

I know, I know, we already celebrated right?? Well, we had to do it this time around with my family and friends on this end of the valley. As you can see, Jackson's smile indicates that he remembers what cake is, and now has a new fascination for fire. What started out as a little finger poking around in the frosting turned into huge handfuls being stuffed into his mouth! I think by the end he felt a little sick. . . Needless to say he didn't have much room for his real dinner after that. All the kids took turns playing outside and playing with toys inside. Although it was fun to BBQ, it was a little chilly so we spent most of the time inside. It was as wonderful birthday!

Here to present the newly one,

handsome little stinker,

Jackson Mark Mumford!

Hogle Zoo

2008-03-20T19:32:00.022-06:00

Steve had Monday off so we went to the zoo. It was very frigid, and we were some of the only people in the park. It was great because we could take the forbidden stroller into the exhibits and nobody was there to care! These pics explain themselves. That pic of the tortoise was taken 6" away from his face, no glass. Probably not the smartest thing to do. . . The animals were very active that day! Even the Python took a special interest in Josie.

3 Birthdays in 8 Days

2008-03-20T18:39:00.018-06:00

This week has felt like a celebration everyday! Steve, Jackson and I all have our birthdays within 8 days of each other so we have been doing birthday stuff all week long! We started with my birthday. The highlight for Josie was getting a piece of that chocolate cake! She screamed with joy when she first saw it and couldn't keep her fingers out of it before we blew out the candles. Needless to say, she got the first bite (see hand in the picture)!

We had a combined party for the three of us that weekend. Here are some pics highlighting that. Jackson loved his birthday cake! He must have a stronger stomach for sweets than Josie did by her first year. Josie threw her cake up after 5 minutes on her first birthday!

Jackson loved his adorable clothes and his lawnmower! Josie, loves the lawnmower too, and actually uses it more than Jackson. Steve and I had a date out to celebrate our birthdays together. We went to Pei Wei (which was so spicy) and then hit up a laser light show at the Clark Planetarium. It featured music by U2 and was so much fun! Definitely a fun way to celebrate our birthdays! Thank to everyone who gave gifts and sent cards. You are all so wonderful!

Having Fun

2008-02-28T10:13:00.012-07:00

We have just been goofing around this week and having so much fun. Josie loves flying in the air with daddy. Jackson, with his adventure with finger foods, has become disenchanted with Kix cereal, and now plays a unique game with them. Unfortunately, they end up on the floor and we crunch them under our feet, but it is so funny to watch him. Jax also has quite the fro after bath time, as you can see below. Josie planted crocus bulbs with me last saturday. She had fun soaking the bulbs and patting the dirt. It will be a few weeks before they germinate and become flowers, but it is fun to teach her!

Valentine's Day

2008-02-21T15:38:00.009-07:00

Valentine's Day was really fun for us as a family. Josie and Jackson made a big heart valentine for daddy to wear all evening long. We even finished the evening off with some dancing (see video above!) Here are some other funny pictures of Josie and what she has been doing around the house.

Jackson Walking and Talking

2008-02-21T15:25:00.005-07:00

Well, our little man isn't so little anymore! He just turned 11 months old and took a bunch of steps the other day! In these videos you can see him walking and saying apple. He says so much now! Hi, daddy, wow, apple, tiger, no (learned that from Josie), monkey sounds, and more. He says uh-oh when he throws his binki our of his crib so we know when we have to go back in. He is quite a curious boy! This is his latest feat (below), climbing. Yes, he did this all by himself. He also likes to hide in our entertainment center.

Salt Lake Children's Museum

2008-02-13T11:59:00.016-07:00

Two weeks ago I had the chance to go to the Salt Lake Children's Museum with Kristin (kids Ben and Joshua) and Emily Kohlhase (kids Nathan, Anna and Adam). I had just as much fun as the kids! Josie loved the water sation where she could float all these ping pong balls in the water obstacles. By the time she was done, she was literally soaked up and down!

The kids went to a class on dinosaurs where they read a book on them, and made playdoe. They got to make their own dinosaur. Well, Josie and Ben's were just mashed balls, but it didn't matter because they still had lots of fun!

One of the highlights was the wind tunnel. The kids got to experiment with learning what floats. To say Josie was completely mezmorized is an understatement. She was at this station for half and hour. There were also a large blockset that was really fun too. Nathan made a huge tower. Even though there were tons of things to do and play with, Jackson found this barrier most interesting (below). He probably thinks, "I can play with toys at home, time to explore!" He is definitely the most curious baby. This deer was probably the most "baby" approved toy upstairs.

I can't wait to go back!!

Oh yeah, Josie is too.

Trip to Portland, Oregon

2008-02-13T10:33:00.019-07:00

Steve and I went to Portland Oregon this weekend and just had a blast! Tresa, who I grew up with, was getting married so we flew out there. We saw so many beautiful sights, one of which was Multnomah Falls along the Cloumbia River Gorge. Here are some photos of that. The Falls were just breathtaking and below you can see a video of the falls thundering down. The rain and mist from the falls got us totally wet! We were not prepared. Everone else that was visiting were rain proofed through and through. We should have had ponchos.

After we went to the falls we attended the rehersal dinner and then slept at Steve's Aunt and Uncle's house in Tualatin. The next morning we visited the Portland Temple, one Steve and I had not seen before. That evening was the wedding, and I got to say a prayer; I felt honored that they would even ask me. The ceremony was beautiful and we are so happy for Tresa and John! We had a fabulose dinner and danced our hearts out (we thought we'd do everyone a favor and not video our dance moves! They are just to awesome to share, and we didn't want to make anyone feel bad. . . yeah.) We were spent by the time we got home! It was a very memorable trip for us!

Snow Bear

2008-01-18T17:40:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Well, we had another good snow and Josie was ready to make another snow duck, but we convinced her to make another animal instead. Mommy and Josie decided to try their hand at a snow frog. . . but as you can see it evolved into a bear.

Literally seconds after taking the picture above, tragedy struck. . .

Here is what we could salvage.

We still had a blast! Josie was still convinced that it was a snow frog.
Here are some other pictures and events from our week.

Jackson started to take his first steps!! He did four shuffle steps!!
He just turned 10 months old. He also started saying words!
He says daddy, kitty, uh oh, and a rough version of thank you.
He has managed to evade the camera for both of these events so far.

Josie is reading us Brown Bear. She loves this book!

She says very still. . . so I take advantage of it.

Snow Duck

2008-01-12T09:27:00.000-07:00

Some people like to make snowmen. . . Well, we like to make animals!
Here is Josie and her snow duck that she and daddy made in our backyard!

Kids look so funny when they are trying to run in the snow in there puffy snow gear and boots! Here is Josie trying to do just that!

After and hour in the snow, Josie was cold and ready to come in!

Christmas at the New House

2008-01-10T22:56:00.000-07:00

We had Christmas this year in our new home - actually, our first real home, since we own it! We got a Christmas tree (a great deal) from a lot down the street (Steve carried it home), put up the lights, trimmed the tree, and all the rest of the little decorations somehow went up as well.

Steve took a couple days off of work, so he had about a week-and-a-half total to spend time with the family! The kids loved having daddy home...
as did Candi, and Daddy loved being home too!

Christmas Eve officially started with the reading of Luke 2,
performed via flannel board by Josie and Ben.

Jackson put his time to good use by exploring where dinner had previously taken place.

After unwrapping some gifts from cousins and Grandparents things got a little bit wild!

Christmas Morning was a blast! It is so fun with your own kids! Josie was so excited that Santa fulfilled his promise of bringing her a dolly. (She didn't like it at first, but after a few days "Lucy" began to grow on her! Thank goodness!)

She took a great liking to her Unicorn and carries it with her where ever she goes! Unfortunately it has become the new weapon of choice when attacking Jackson. She holds it by the horn and uses it like a whip. Don't let that angel face fool you. . .

Josie left her presents behind when she started playing with this toy! She went off on her own, didn't want to open any more presents and had fun learning her letters and phonics skills.

Jackson proudly displays his new jammies! Santa knew exactly what
he wanted (needed) for Christmas!

Here is Jackson, king of the present!

We had a really fun holiday being together as a family and with friends!
We hope yours was wonderful too!

Timpanogos Temple Trip

2007-11-13T09:08:00.000-07:00

Last week I took Josie and Jackson to the Timpanogos Temple. Josie woke up that morning talking about the temple and how she wanted to see it, so I decided to take them on a little trip. Josie touched the temple for the first time!

Jackson was pushed in his stroller by Josie much of the time. He liked looking around, and we just about put him to sleep.

Josie's favorite thing was seeing Moroni on the top of the temple!
It was fun to take her and teach her.

Fall Leaves

2007-11-08T11:52:00.000-07:00

Almost all of the leaves are now down in our backyard, so we took some
pics of the kids playing in them! Josie loves throwing the leaves
up in the air and jumping in the piles, while Jackson enjoyed watching her.
I even got a few poses of the kids to put up in our living room!

Jackson got a good mouthful of leaves that I had to keep fishing out!

Crawling in the leaves made this boy sneeze! Here is his sneezing face!
I wanted to put this one in the living room, but Steve protested for some reason.

These pictures below are now hanging on our wall in our living room.

Happy Halloween

2007-11-01T11:18:00.000-06:00

Halloween was great! Steve and I went as old people, Josie was Tinkerbell, and Jackson was a baby bat! We went to My brother Kris' house in Orem and
trick-o-treated his neighborhood.

Steve's day started at 6am where we started a process of using liquid latex and make-up to coat his face and make him look 50 years older!

Outfit courtesy of DI.

and here is the happy couple!

Here is my brothers' family that we went with.

And more family friends, the Millers.

Josie and cousin Liesel rode in the cart for a while.

After a while though, Josie insisted on walking like all of he other big kids.

We had quite the group!

Pretty soon everyone was tired enough to want to get in the cart.
Josie was still adamant about walking, but we were more adamant
about her riding in the cart!

Jackson was a great sport about everything! He just kicked in his stroller
even though it was starting to get chilly.
Josie was starting to get tired by the end of the hour.

Here is Josie and her Loot.

Here are the cousins!

Jackson was quick to explore and run around after sitting for so long!

Carving Pumpkins

2007-11-01T10:56:00.000-06:00

We had a lot of fun carving this year! We had Laurie and Andy over,
as well as Candi's Sister-in-Law Jill.

Even Josie did a pumpkin!

Steve carved a wolf.

Candi did the haunted house. Jill did the cat.

Pumpkin Patch

2007-11-01T10:26:00.000-06:00

We went to the pumpkin patch two weeks ago and just had a blast! There were animals, mini mazes, hay rides, tractor pulls, slides and of course, a pumpkin patch! Here are some pics to highlight!

These Goats were crazy aggressive! They were ramming each other every time we came by, so we just fed the nice one.

Check out this Corn Fight!

This is Josie doing corn angels!

This was a maze made out of hay bails.

In the Pumpkin Patch, Jos loved sitting on the pumpkins!

Here is the tractor pull.

The only thing Jackson enjoyed was sitting in the pumpkins, other than that he was really bored! We brought lots of pumpkins home!

Jax is Getting Everywhere

2007-10-16T13:02:00.000-06:00

So, our crazy baby turns 7 months old in a few days, and he moves around everywhere! He started inch-worm crawling at 5 and a 1/2 months, and was crawling by his 6 month. He sits, pulls up to standing on everything, and even climbs stairs!

(We should have known this was coming. . . Josie was way too easy!)

He just turned 6 months in this picture below. He is off the ground!

He is just so proud of himself!

What a little stinker! We know he just loves to make us nervous!

Here is Jackson laughing. I am tickling his back! He is always so giggly and ticklish.

First Foods

2007-10-16T10:56:00.000-06:00

Jackson is just getting so big! Here he is last month with his first try with rice cereal. He has been rejecting it the last little bit so maybe we will start him
on some veggies and fruits!

He sure liked trying to "help" us feed him.

More please!

Summer Fun Summary

2007-10-07T18:58:00.000-06:00

We had a blast this Summer, especially Josie!

Here are the highlights that we caught on camera!

What is Summer without swimming?

Josie Pool Diving

That's my pretty girl!!!

She had many late nights, this one with Camille and Sam.

Early mornings then looked something like this.
You don't want to know what I looked like...

Josie and Jackson had a visit from Great Grandma and Grandpa.

Ben and Josie played a lot in Grandma's garden. . .

and in her sand box too.

Jackson enjoyed laying around outside.

We took Ben and Josie to the Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake
where they got to see lots of large birds!
(I am happy to say that the goatee is gone)

Jackson and cousin Josh got to stay behind with Grandma.

Josie had some hair firsts this Summer too.
It was long enough for a french braid. . .

and I am not quite sure what to call this. . .

4th of July in Huntsville

2007-10-07T18:28:00.000-06:00

It has been a crazy Summer for us, and we have just barely moved into our
new home (a two month process),
SO we thought we'd give you the run down of what
happened in between the craziness! Let's start with the 4th of July!
We went to Huntsville to celebrate with Steve's family.

The day began with a town parade.
Josie and her cousin Ben had a blast running around together!

When we told them to give each other a hug,
they thought it meant kiss!

Jackson enjoyed just being held by Daddy.

All sorts of games awaited the kids back at Steve's Grandma's house!
Josie loved fishing in the pond.

Playing Rocket Launcher with Ben was also a highlight,
although sharing it was quite a test for them...

Both of them looked for coins in the shavings hoping to strike it rich.

Grandpa and Jackson were so tired by the end of it all.

Josie gathered her little prizes and
was ready to go home by the end of the day too.

Josie's Birthday

2007-05-27T21:41:00.000-06:00

Josie officially turned 2 years old on May 10!
She had a party with Grandma and Grandpa Mumford, and then a party with several friends. She actually loved the whole thing and would have a birthday every day if we would let her! Happy Birthday Josie!

Grandpa and Grandma Mumford took me to Willow Park Zoo, where I saw a lot of neat animals, and my first ever real live Thanksgiving Turkey! It's so beautiful and ugly at the same time. I hated hearing the peacock call out, but I loved being there. Then we had a picnic at Willow Park in a cotton storm. Crazy, but fun. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

I got a bucket of chalk for my birthday, and we all had fun on the back patio!

Mama's Chocolate cake was delicious! There wasn't much left over after the party. Kids love cake, let me tell you.

I sat in my new swimming pool (from Grandma and Grandpa) to open all of my presents. I got spoiled, of course.

Maui the cat also loved the new swimming pool, but only with paper rather than water.

If its hot outside...I'm in the pool. I love it. I especially like to splash the ants and to have Daddy throw the water really high!

Philadelphia

2007-05-20T21:39:00.000-06:00

American Planning Association
2007 National Conference

Philadelphia, PA

Independence Hall
(Formerly referred to as the Pennsylvania
State House)
The Declaration of Independence
and the Constitution were created here.

Philadelphia Convention Center
This is where the APA Conference was held. It's a pretty incredible building right in the heart of City Center (Downtown)

Elfreth's Alley
The Oldest Residential Alley in America

Franklin Boulevard
A HUGE boulevard witha great tree-lined sidewalk right down the middle. Goes from the City Center to the Museum of Art.

Museum of Art
The site that's famous for Rocky Balboa running to the top and jumping up and down. Unfortunately, it had scaffolding all over the front.

The Franklin Institute
A Science Museum dedicated to Benjamin Franklin. He actually invented many of the things that we use quite frequently today, like the odometer, swimming flippers, and of course did the most work with electricity, the weather, and much much more.

The Korean War Memorial
I actually didn't even know these memorials were in Philly. I was on a long site-seeing walk during one of the few brief moments that it wasn't raining, and I stumbled upon these memorials.

The Vietnam War Memorial

So the one at BYU isn't the real thing? I actually really liked this shot, with the fountain in the background.

Philadelphia has some pretty fantastic murals painted on the walls of buildings all around town. It helps beautify the city as well as keep the buildings free of graffiti.

Residential rowhome street near the downtown. All are lined with large trees, and some are just wide enough for one car to fit through (although a truck may not make it), and others are lare enough for a row of parking, which is the scarcest commodity in the neighborhood.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
This tomb is in Washington Square, and represents thousands of unknown soldiers that fought in Washington's army during the Revolutionary War.

A beautiful evening view of City Hall from Logan Square. This is a perfect example of a terminating vista, where the view down the street is terminated with a building or a feature of some kind. In this case, its the City Hall, which contains a statue on top of William Penn, the founder and original planner of Philadelphia.

That's the first time I had been anywhere in the eastern U.S., and I was actually very impressed with the mixture of old historic buildings with modern downtown skyscrapers. I was also happy to be able to see the Liberty Bell and many of the historic buildings used by our founding fathers. If only we could keep planning cities like those founded in the colonial years. The only down side of the trip was the weather - it rained 90% of the time. The conference was very good, the food was great (they had an old indoor market that reminded me of Pike Place Market in Seattle), and the site seeing was excellent.

Jackson

2007-05-19T13:53:00.001-06:00

Here are some pictures of Jackson from the last couple of months. He's a great baby...so calm. He loves to smile, loves Josie's bouncer, likes to watch Jazz playoff games with Daddy, and he's growing like crazy already!