Dallin's Perfect Day

 Kids are simple creatures. You can plan and save and make huge sacrifices so they will have fun and make memories, and all they do is complain. Then you have a normal, hectic Saturday going from one thing to another, and you feel like you are about to go crazy, yet at the end of the day, your nine-year-old tells you it was the best day he's ever had. That's what happened yesterday. 

It started out with the boys' last flag football games of the season. Luke's game was first. His siblings were supportive, though slightly unenthusiastic.

Luke's friend Cooper's dad was the coach this year. They had such a fun year. Luke is a bit of a giant compared to the other boys, but that's okay. One of these years his effort is going to match his size and he is going to dominate, I'm sure of it. This year he tried hard... on games when he knew he would get $$ for each flag he pulled. The other games were a little more... relaxed.

Here he is kicking off. Just pretend the ball is way up there.

Don't get me wrong, I love to watch my kids play sports. The problem is, I don't get to watch very much. I end up chasing the devil himself around for a few hours.

Don't let his innocent appearance deceive you. He never holds this still. 

He likes to follow around every animal within a five mile radius.

And we also spend a lot of time dragging him off the playing field. Sigh. Good times.

Then it was on to Dallin's game.

He had a great game and loved every second. He requested that I call this play, "The Touchdown Throw" because he threw this for a touchdown. So here's The Touchdown Throw. Pretty proud of that old boy.

Jason was hunting during the games, so that afternoon he decided to take the kids fishing to make it up to them. Boy, did that ever work. If there's anything Dallin loves as much as sports, it's fishing. Here is Dallin displaying a beautiful little blue gill. They were pulling them in on almost every cast.

Jason let each kid reel in numerous fish. Numerous times. They were in heaven.

Luke found a bird.

Unfortunately, it was deceased at the time. If you know anything about Luke's soft heart, and his love for birds, you can imagine his sorrow. He spent a lot of time trying to dig a little grave for it in the rock hard ground.

Isn't this a pretty spot?

You'd never know we were about 10 yards from a highway. It's a private place, but don't worry, we had permission. Jason knows a guy. A guy whose dad is rumored to own it. Jason swears the guy's dad won't prosecute.

Because I mean, I'm sure we were welcome there. Those keep out messages were just meant for other people. Other people who don't know the son of the guy who probably owns the place.

Jake had to be dragged out, but at least he had a smile on his face. Note to self: Jason's thumb is in a can of worms. Then he drove using keys that touched that thumb. Now those keys are sitting on my kitchen counter, about three feet away from me right this second. I will be disinfecting right after we are through here.

Well, that was a pretty exhausting day, for me anyway. Jason took us out to dinner, and we let Dallin choose the place.

He decided to channel his inner senior citizen and we ended up at Sizzler. Don't get me wrong, Sizzler is great. Just not on a Saturday night when every Mormon in Utah County has the same family-friendly idea. I was sitting at the table, shoveling food in five different directions, when Dallin turned to me and said, "Mom, this was the best day ever. Fishing, football and Sizzler." Then he gave me one of those smiles that let me know that despite everything else, it was all worth it. Non-washed fish hands and all.

Bald Eagles in Lehi!

The other night we were driving near our home and we saw an amazing sight! There were a few cars pulled off the road looking at something on 1700 West where we often see deer, so of course we pulled off to see what was going on. There were no deer, but we looked up in the trees and saw several huge brown birds with white heads... could it be? The emblems of our nation? Real bald eagles! We counted six of the incredible birds perched up in the tops of the trees just across the field. They were so cool! I couldn't believe we were actually seeing them in real life! It was about 4:50 pm, and we have since seen them a few times around that time of the evening. I talked to one guy who was out of his car looking at them and he said he has seen as many as seven at one time! He even saw two of them fighting! They often fly across Pioneer Crossing and are visible from there in the tops of these trees. According to a recent article in the Utah County Bird Watching Examiner, bald eagles are not seen in Utah County throughout the year, but from November to March they can be frequent visitors. What fun little visitors to have! If you want to see them, take Pioneer Crossing west out of Lehi and turn left at 1700 West. Go about half a mile and look out at the trees to the east. So cool!

The birds were so cooperative when I was photographing them. I told this one to look to the left.

Then look to the right... perfect, perfect...

And this one was just supposed to look like a jungle cat. Not too shabby.

This picture is zoomed out to give you some perspective so you'll know what to look for. I'm pretty sure the cow was humming the national anthem, but I couldn't be sure.

The Night Luke Found Love at the Rodeo

We were fortunate this year to get the last 3 tickets for the Friday night Lehi Roundup Rodeo, not to mention we had great front row seats and it was a perfect night. So I was just sitting there thinking how lucky we were when I look down, and there's Luke with some little stranger, getting a little lucky himself!! Talk about a good night for a 1-year-old!! I don't know who this little girl is, but she and Luke hugged and kissed and danced in front of the whole crowd for a good half an hour. People were seriously watching them more than the bull riding. It was the funniest thing ever. When we got in the car later, Dallin told me, "Mom, that was just making me sick watching them hug and kiss. I thought I was going to barf." But, other than being grossed out by the little lovers, Dallin had a pretty good night himself. He's been asking to go to the rodeo ever since we went last year, and he was thrilled to finally be there. And not only that, but he and Luke got to be in the parade for a whole two blocks with their faces painted like tigers with our ward float (thank you, everyone, for not telling them that the parade didn't end at Chad and Shelli's house - it was 97 degrees outside and I don't think I could have pushed that stroller any farther!). Then Dallin insisted on wearing his tiger paint to the rodeo. Jason washed Luke's off before we went, but apparently Luke still had a little bit of tiger in him. The dad of the little girl kept turning to us and saying in a really manly voice, "Must be like father, like son, heh heh." I was like, "ok, now I think I'm going to barf..."