A Day Out With Thomas

I was sooo excited to surprise Alex by taking him to Heber Valley Railroad for "A Day Out With Thomas". We didn't tell him where we were going, we just let him figure it out as we approached the railroad and he saw the signs.

It was pretty cool, they had the inside of the train decorated with Thomas characters and had Thomas music playing. It was so cute to watch Alex sing along.

Alex got to meet Sir Topham Hatt. We were pretty impressed that Alex wasn't the least bit apprehensive about going up to him.

One of Alex's favorite parts of the day was going to The Dairy Keen in Heber for lunch afterwards. They have a miniature track that runs the perimeter of the wall of the restaurant, with a Thomas train chugging along.

Alex sporting his new Thomas "ink".

I'm so glad we got to take Alex, he is more than ever completely obsessed with Thomas and trains, and this is such a perfect age for this sort of thing. Alex's only complaint was that as we were leaving, Alex said goodbye to Thomas, but Thomas didn't say goodbye back! I told Alex that I saw Thomas wink at him. Next year I'll have to have a talk with Thomas about his manners!

Homage to Jake

I had fun taking pictures of my nephew Jake who is about to graduate from high school.


Jake is... obviously handsome, with dimples to die for....

a sweetheart who my kids adore, sings in the school choir, plays violin, is active in church....

a talented soccer player...

who has an additional talent of knowing how to defy gravity...

Congratulations Jake, may you continue to fly and always land on solid ground.

Happy Mohyers Day

I was watching an interview on t.v. with singer/songwriter Hilary Weeks this morning. She said something that really struck me. One day while on a lunch date with her little girl she had a thought come to mind. She said, "I will spend eternity knowing Callie as an adult, but right here, right now, tonight and for the next few precious years I will know her as a child. What a gift to know the children in our lives as children." This thought really touched me, and just at that moment as if on cue, Steph and Alex walked in the room with a Mother's Day card that Steph helped Alex make. Steph wrote down the reasons Alex says that he loves me. A few of those were...

*Because I love hers so much.
*He is my Mohyer (mother).
*He kisses me on my cheek. (Alex gets a little mixed up with his pronouns!)
*I missed chu.
Steph told him he needed to write a letter so Alex instructed her to write "x. eodf."

I struggled to read it without getting choked up. Funny how the simple words of a 3 year old can mean so much.