The New Pony

 We were excited to get to Utah and meet the newest addition to the Newman family. A little brown pony named, Shorty!

It was love at first sight for Zackary.

 He could have stayed in the saddle for hours.

 Behind that binky is one seriously happy little boy!

 Max was patiently waiting his turn so Zack had to get off the pony. He was not happy about it.

 Max with his Papa. (and pony)

Somehow I ended up with this one and only not so amazing shot of Mia on the pony. 

 Oh well.

They love visiting the ranch!

Mia and the horses

Mia loved the horses on her Grandpa's ranch. She spent a lot of time running out to visit them.

 This was too much of a little house on the prarie moment to miss.

 Little Mia in her pretty dress made it her priority to feed those horses lots of hay.

 Such a sweet little miss :)

The Rodeo!

 We made it to the Fiesta Day's rodeo on Friday night! Max busted some serious mutton! He scraped his arm up pretty bad when he fell off the sheep, but he was brave about it. (Next time long sleeves!)

We all really enjoyed the rest of the rodeo. The talent and the animals were amazing.

It was even enough to entertain our toughest critic!

Besides Max's mutton moment, the highlight of the evening for me was during the barrel racing. The last contestant was a young woman who had been competing in rodeos since she was a little girl. She had been in a terrible car accident and was paralyzed from the waist down. She must be one determined girl because she rode her horse better than most. It was amazing and inspiring to watch. After the rodeo we all got home too late and fell asleep.

A Little Bookmarking

Max spent yesterday acting very odd. He was tired and weak. He only wanted to drink water and sit on the couch. We discovered last night that he has a case of strep throat! We started him on antibiotics this morning, but it looks like we are housebound for a little while until he starts to feel better. I am spending the day carrying snacks and drinks back and forth from his room while he watches movies. I am taking advantage of the time inside by cruising the Pinterest website. So much fun! I am bookmarking some great ideas and recipes!

Check out these Parmesan Cheese Pretzel Bites from Get Off Your Butt and Bake. They are made with Rhodes roll dough. Super fun yummy idea.

Doughnut Muffins from How To: Simplify. I have seen these around the web for a while and they need to make an appearance in our muffin/doughnut loving household soon!

Ham and Cheese Sliders from The Girl Who Ate Everything. Perfect party food.

You get the idea! Lots of good stuff out there!

I am hoping everyone else stays healthy and that we can get back on our feet soon!

Happy Wednesday!

We Made It!

Yesterday we made the long drive to Utah. We got an early start and made it to Las Vegas around 11:00. It was already 103 degrees there! We stopped for a snack and some wiggle time and then we were back in the car. A few hours later we stopped in St. George to visit with Ty's grandparents. Grandma Newman fed us yummy homeade rolls with jam, loaded us up with baby blankets, gifted Mia and I with beautiful beaded necklaces, and even sent us away with some of her famous candy. It was a very happy visit. We filled up with gas before leaving St. George and then drove straight through to Payson. We arrived at 7:00. Ty ran to Taco Time for our dinner. Oh how I love stuffed mexi-fries and crisp bean burritos. It's probably best there are no taco times nearby in California or we would all get very round. Zackary became instantly obsessed with the horses. His very favorite is the new pony named, Shorty. He crawled under the fence right into the corral with him. He cried every time we tried to bring him inside. Ty suggested putting his bed in with the horses to make the night easier for everyone! In the end Zackary ended up sleeping inside the house, but he was ready to go back out and visit his friends first thing this morning. We are happy to be here and glad to be done driving for a while!

Swimming

 We spent Saturday afternoon at my parents house. The kids wanted to get in one last swim before our trip to Utah.

 Max loves the water and he is our best swimmer. He has a lot of confidence and is willing to try all sorts of daring things.

 He loves to jump in over the waterfalls.

 Mia still prefers to keep her life vest on and to use a floaty ring. She is a little more cautious. She still loves to be in the water, just using lots of flotation :)

Zackary got in for a while too. I was feeling a little lazy, can you tell???

We had a happy sunshine filled afternoon.

Happy Stuff and Plans

What an exciting week we had! I was so happy to learn about our little girl that will be joining our family. I can't wait to buy little baby girl clothes! 

We are going to put the crib up in our room and keep the baby in with us until she is sleeping better and then we want to put Zac and Max in a room together, and Mia and baby girl into a room together, and then use the extra bedroom upstairs as a playroom. When Max gets older, if he needs his own space, he can move to the bedroom downstairs, but for now I think we will keep everyone close together!

This weekend we are busy getting ready for our trip to Utah next week. I am doing lots of laundry and putting outfits together, filling the snack bag, planning games for the car, and baking biscotti to eat on the drive. We leave on Monday morning and will be gone for 1 week. We will be staying with Ty's parents in Payson. We are going to the Spanish Fork Fiesta Day's rodeo where Max will be mutton busting (Riding a sheep, or hanging onto a sheep as long as possible!). I am going to spend some time with my youngest brother and his special lady friend ;) I am most excited to have Ty with us for the entire week! I feel like he has been so busy lately. It is going to be a wonderful break for all of us.

Lots to look forward to. Happy Saturday!

Max's Gator

 My kids love art projects and they really love to paint.

We love taking trips to Michael's to pick out little projects. The last time we were there Max found this Alligator.

 There was a picture on the package with the gator painted with green and blue stripes and Max worked hard to make his look just alike.

He did a great job!

Scary Gator ;)

Remember to:

Well.........

we had an ultrasound and it looks like a little..............

GIRL