For fall break we took a road trip to Sacramento to visit Great Grandma & Grandpa Miyake & Auntie Cook & Uncle Bob! We seriously had a BLAST! The whole trip was amazing! It was so great to see family, and both of the kids did so great on the loooooooong drive! While we were there Derek kept asking how we could make the time go slower! We are so glad that we were able to go!
Before we left, Ryan made sure we had enough snacks for the long car ride!
Taking a lunch break in Elko, Nevada. We ate on the grass & brought our soccer ball & frisbees so we could all run around and play for a bit!
The first night we stayed in a hotel in Reno! It was a lot of fun to stay in a hotel - we went swimming and watched cartoons and just played - and it was also nice to break up the drive a little bit!
Cooper J. - happy to be able to move around!
Daddy and Scooter! ...yeah, they look pretty happy to be out of the car too!!
While we were in Reno we were able to go to Trader Joes - I've always wanted to go there! We bought some super yummy snacks there because, hey, we needed a few more snacks, haha! But seriously, it was fun to go there! I wish we had a Trader Joe's in Utah! Anywhoo... this picture is not of us at Trader Joes, but there is a Trader Joe's yogurt container on the table which made me think of it...
The next day we made it to Sacramento! And the following day we went to this cute amusement park! Derek loved riding all of the rides!
And Coop enjoyed watching! (I love how you can see his teeth in this picture!)
Cooper and Great Grandma!
Me and the boys!
Derek loved all of the rides - I think he could have just kept going on them all day!
And Cooper loved the carousel...until it started moving! Then he was trying to climb off that horse & he was hanging onto my shirt for dear life! haha!
Getting brave! Derek started waving his hands in the air!
We have so many fun pictures from our road trip - that I decided to post them in 2 parts! So.... part 2 is coming soon!!!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Road Trip! - part one
A Visit From Grandma and Grandpa!
In October we were so lucky to have Grandma & Grandpa come for a visit! We were so excited to have Grandma come with us on Derek's first field trip - to the fire station!
And we went to the Discovery Gateway! It was such a blast! Here Grandma & Derek are enjoying a "ride" in the car!
Derek filling up the car with gas!
Cooper J. checking out a boat!
Lets go shopping!!
Sitting in a life flight helicopter!
Building with magnetic blocks!
Derek is so kind, and he loves sharing with Cooper J! Here he is sharing some ice cream with him!
Cooper is always happy when Derek shares with him!
Cooper J. having some attitude! haha! I love this picture!
Daddy's trick!
We were so glad that Grandma & Grandpa were here during General Conference. It was fun to watch conference together! On Saturday we went down to my moms and had a lot of fun hanging out with everyone!
We got to meet Erica's new doggy, Harley, while we were down there!! What a cute & sweet dog!
Best Mom's ever!! We're so grateful for our Moms!! They are just the best!!!
Happy Boys!!
Sharing some peaches with Cooper! He loves peaches!!
Playing outside!! We played frisbee and soccer with Grandma & Grandpa, and Ryan pushed Derek up the hill in this car!
We had such a great visit with Grandma and Grandpa! Thank you so much for coming to visit! Please come back again soon!!
Monday, October 17, 2011
Pumpkin Patch!
This past weekend we went to the pumpkin patch! This is an activity that we look forward to every fall - and this pumpkin patch was one we'd never been to before! It was really fun! You pull this cart out into the field and pick the pumpkins that you want! Here is Scooter running to pick out some pumpkins with Ry!
These are the pumpkins we picked! I had never seen a white pumpkin before - I thought it was so cool!
Hitchin' a ride in the cart!
They had this tractor that the kids could play on!
Running through the hay maze! 
Sunday, October 16, 2011
The Finish Line!
About a month ago we went up to Logan to watch Erica run a marathon! It was so much fun - and so AMAZING of her! I told her that never in my life have I even run ONE mile before noon, and she ran 26 miles before noon! We are so proud of her! It was so much fun to see her along the way and to cheer her on! And Lins mentioned that it reminded her of Heaven - and I thought that was such a great thought! Because really our life is like a marathon - but we have so many people cheering us on along the way! And think of how great it will be when we cross that "finish line" - knowing we've done the best we can!
Here are Derek and Mauri holding up their signs for Erica!
Almost at the finish line! Way To Go Girl!!
We seriously had so much fun watching Erica! We were so glad we were able to be there!! We're so proud of you girl!!
While we were in Logan we also went and visited President and Sister Norton - my mission president! It was so great to see them! At first Derek was so shy- but then President Norton gave him a sucker - and he even told Derek that he could have 2 suckers when he came back next time! Derek has asked me a few times when we're going back to see our friends from my mission again!
What a great day!!
Friday, October 14, 2011
Smiles!
So Derek and Cooper were both sitting on Ryan's lap - a favorite spot of theirs!- and Derek said "Mom! Take a picture!" It was so funny because Cooper J. kept moving and then Derek would look in the other direction! It was cracking me up trying to get a picture of all of them looking and smiling! Oh man - all three of these boys make me so happy! How did I get so lucky?!
