Midway and Swiss Days and Temple Square

As tradition follows, we headed up to my parents house in Midway for the annual Swiss Days.  Once a year, this little town of 2000 residents manages to host over 80,000 craft fair goers for a weekend.  It's quite crazy, but I love being there.  I've been going to this fair for as long as I can remember.  Then, the kids and I sent Jason home to work, and we stayed where it wasn't quite so hot.  Thanks for having us Mom and Dad!

Things about Swiss Days... portapotties and good treats, particularly snow cones.  Tod came home with a purple mouth, thank goodness for a dark shirt.

I walked around with Danny strapped to me, and by the time I made it back to my parents booth, he was officially passed out.

Jack's attempt at the rockwall.

Kimball's attempt at the rock wall.

Me and the kiddos playing in a little creek that ran right behind my parents drink booth, which became our hideout from the crowds.

Jason decided he wanted to cool his toes too.

After the fair, Jack disappeared, and this is where we found him (yes, he has no pants on).  We managed to put a pull-up on him just in case (I didn't want all my clean clothes to get peed on).

Nana is helping Kimball sew a little baby blanket for one of her new dolls that Nana got her.

Self portrait of Danny. Love those cheeks.

A trip to Nana and Papas isn't complete without a ride on the scooters. Here's my dad and Jack.

Kimball and Nana.

When Jason got back, we took the kids to Temple Square.  This little bench is where Jason officially proposed with my wedding ring.

It was too fun taking them around the temple and trying to get them to pose.  Danny was strapped to me the whole time, and didn't get any of the pictures.

Kimball kept asking why it was locked.  Good teaching moment trying to explain how to be worthy to be go the temple.

Okay, then it just became a climbing contest.

I love this picture, Tod wanted desperately to climb up to touch Jesus toes.

We met up with Jason's cousin Jesse and her kids.  Our kids had way too much fun playing in this fountain across the street from Temple Square.

And finally, we headed home, back to Las Vegas, after a fantastic road trip.  We were all exhausted. It was an awesome week of Swiss Days, swimming, playing the backyard, Temple Square, hangin' out with family and fun conversations.

It's Too Hot

Here are some of the things we've been up to, while we're waiting for it to cool down here in Las Vegas.  A week of excessive heat warnings led us to these crazy pictures.

One of the benefits of having a 3-letter name. If you want to know what happened to the other "d" you'll have to ask Jason's dad. 

Kimball loved the idea, but this is the only word I could think of.  The expression on her face just emphasizes this, don't ya think?

 Tod is really pretty good with his little brother, and doesn't try to hurt him too much.  Which is probably a good thing, because Danny is going to outweigh him very soon.  They'll be in the same size diaper in a week or two.

 The kids love to fight over the computer.  Kimball has mastered the Disney Princess website, and even the princess videos on youtube.

 Other skills mastered by Kimball.

Jack the photographer, at it again.  I think he just wants to have something to blackmail Tod with when he gets older.

To beat the heat, a couple of families from our ward decided to head up to Mt. Charleston.  It was a beautiful 75 degrees, and we all had a blast relaxing and watching our kids climb up the mountain and get extremely dirty.  Okay, my kids may have been the only dirty ones.

Kimball and Jack seeing how high they could climb.

 Jack showing off his dirty fish face w/ Jason.

 Tod decided to go for a raccoon look.

 Jason wanted to accept the challenge of holding all 3 of his sons at the same time.  What a proud dad!

Hafen Father and Sons Camp-out

Finally, it was the boys turn for their camp-out.  Jack has had to be so patient waiting for his turn to go camping with dad. Finally, the weekend of Aug. 12-13 arrived.  Tod, he didn't know he was waiting for anything, but was very happy to be included.

 Just some of the Hafen cousins that made it on this trip.

 Tod was really happy to be included and ready to get as dirty as possible.

 Chips and sippy cups can make any day in the "jungle," as Jack calls it, a good time.

Tod guarding one of the coolers.

Trying to skip rocks in the lake.

The only picture of Jason's face.  Jack was the photographer.

 A short stop at the park on the way home.  Nothing like a few pushes on the swing with Grandpa.

 

And a quiet car ride home.

This is one of these posts where I am going to brag about my husband.  I tried to convince him to leave Tod home because I was a little worried about Tod and how little he was to be camping.  But Jason wouldn't hear of it, and said it would be no problem.  And it wasn't.  Jason happily packed the boys up and off they went to their adventure, while I tried not to worry about little boys wandering in the wilderness.  As usual, my worries are for nothing and my 3 boys had a great time. I'm so glad our boys have an adventurous dad like Jason who is willing to make these memories happen.  Maybe next year Danny will get to go?  We'll see.

The Good Times are Over... but not really - a Picture Update

Jason finally had to go back to work (a very sad day for me - I've been so spoiled)... and we have survived a whole month without him during the day.  He's barely survived going back to work. But here's a quick montage of pictures of the crazy times at our house.

We've made it to the pool a couple of times on the weekends.  

Swim faster daddy!

 

The kids (and us parents) have discovered the joy of life jackets. It give Jack and Kimball a lot more freedom. They only keep them on for a little while, and then throw them off to practice w/o them.

Tod is still trying to master the "staying upright" technique in his life jacket. Thank goodness for a strong grip on the wall.

And Danny is trying to figure out if he likes the whole water thing, but being a member of this family, he doesn't have much choice.

 Kimball and Jack found the camera and took turns taking pictures of themselves.  These are just a sample of the 20 that were on the camera.

Are you awake?

Open my eyes now?

Bugger check

Blue Steel

 Jack got potty-trained.  Woo hoo!!  Good job Jack! and Jason who did most of the hard work.

An uncovered bowl of chocolate pudding in the fridge + Jack and Tod =  These happy messy faces.

Danny is getting bigger and bigger each day.  He is a very good baby and already giving me lots of smiles, some giggles and a full nights sleep.  I'm talking 11 hours!  I love him!

 

And one last video to show what really happens when no one is watching.

Kimball is 4 years old!

GUESS WHO HAD A BIRTHDAY??

Kimball turned 4 years old. She woke up pretty early because she got a sneak peek of her presents on the table the night before. She was pretty excited about her princess gear.

But even more happy about the Rapunzel doll and her long hair.

This is Kimball and her cake.  She got to pick the shape (the bundt pan), color (pink and purple), and help decorate this lovely cake. She looks a little nervous because Jack had already blown out her candles once.

So fun facts about Kimball... She has a very vivid imagination and the best memory ever, which means any movie or story or anything that she see or hears will be adapted and abridged into her own life story.  For example, after watching Alice in Wonderland she wanted some shrinking cake, so I gave her a cupcake. After eating it, she was very sad and upset that she wasn't actually shrinking.  A couple of weeks ago, she told my brother that her mom and dad put her in the fire but then Jesus came and saved her.  This was after she had seen a cartoon version of the Meshack, Shadrack, and Abednego from the Bible.  I just hope that no one calls CPS (child protective services) on Jason and I.  She also loves to say "Mom, remember when you were in my tummy?" or "remember when I got married and you were a little girl?"  Her sense of time gets a little lost in her imagination

Kimball is also a fashionista and loves to dress up.  I took her clothes shopping for her birthday and let her try on clothes and pick out one outfit.  She loved it. She ooo-ed and awed with everything she picked, but finally settled on the pink dress (the one in the cake picture).  I had to call and apologize to my mom for not being a fun shopper.  I know what she was missing. I have also had to hide Kimball's old clothes boxes because she digs into them and puts on 3 different outfits at the same time, as demonstrated in the picture.  She has on: a pair of tights, 2 shirts, a dress, and a pink fleece pull-over.  I'm hoping she will refine her tastes and then become my stylist.  She has also started picking out her own clothes, especially her pajamas - she's infatuated with her Christmas pj's and wants to wear them every night.  We love Kimball so much, and can't believe how much personality is pouring out this little girl.

She loves to watch herself performing her original songs and dances.