Salt Lake City Fun

Monster Jams finally came to Salt Lake City! Jacoby is obsessed with Monster Trucks lately, so it was a big weekend for him. Last weekend, we were supposed to go to Ely, NV for our annual Speer family trip, but Jacoby got pneumonia and him and I had to stay home. So, he missed out on seeing Grandpa and going ice fishing and swimming - all of which he was really looking forward to. The poor kid just didn't understand why he had to stay home. To make up for it, Grandpa Speer came to Salt Lake to go to Monster Jams with Jacoby. They had a blast and Jacoby was in heaven.

We got to Salt Lake and I dropped Jacoby and Dominic off at the Trax station and they met Pops there and took the train to the Monster Jam show. Jacoby and Grandpa were having a great time on the train.

They got "Pit Passes". Before the show started, they had a Pit Party and you could get up close and see the trucks and meet the drivers. They had these little go-carts for the kids to sit in since they wouldn't let them actually touch the big trucks.


Maximum Destruction! Jacoby likes this truck and Grave Digger. He really wanted to touch the trucks and sit in the wheels. Security had to stop him more than once.

This kid loves his Grandpa!

Wearing his ear protection.


This is the end of the Pit Party. Everybody had gone to their seats and they started setting up the track.

Uncle Jeff and Cousin Brad were there too!

Wearing his cheap "Grave Digger" hat that cotton candy came in.

After the Monster Jams, we stayed the night at Bobbi and Matties with the family. We had a great night and the next day, we went to the Aquarium. Jacoby thought that was great fun too, but Riley was tired and grumpy. We didn't take many pictures because the camera battery was almost dead from the day before so I rationed the picture taking.

Jacoby measuring himself in the penguin exhibit.

Grandma and Grandpa with Riley.

Jacoby posing on the frog.

He was poking him in the face. Poor Grandpa was a good sport.

This picture turned out a bit blurry, but it's adorable!

And this was on our way home. Poor Riley was up early and did a lot of running around over the weekend. He was just getting over a double ear infection too, and he was wiped out. He slept the whole way home. Dom snapped this right as he was starting to wake up. It was a great weekend! One that Jacoby won't ever forget.

Valentines Day

This year for Valentines Day, I was a "Room Mother" for Jacoby's preschool class. I was told to bring a Valentine-themed game that would last 10-15 minutes. I couldn't figure out what to do that was Valentine themed and preschool age appropriate. Finally I decided on a "Pin the Heart on Cupid" game, but then I realized that some of the kids might now take to being blindfolded very well. So, I improvised and decided to just have the kids help Cupid find his hearts. I made a big Cupid poster and cut out hearts to have the kids find and give back to Cupid. While I was at it, I decided to just make home-made Valentines for Jacoby to give out in school too. It was fun to go to school with Jacoby and watch him and the class, but I could never be a preschool teacher.

Jacoby was helping me make Valentines. Sadly, I didn't get a picture of my cute Cupid poster.

We made Valentine Sugar cookies too. Jacoby was helping me roll out the dough.

Heart shaped cookies!

Riley liked the frosting.

Dominic frosted the cookie and Jacoby added the sprinkles. Then, the best part - eating! It was a great Valentine's Day!

Just a random picture of my cute Riley. His hair is getting out of control and is super long, but I can't bring myself to cut it yet.

Cheese! I love his cheese smile, and I love these PJ's!

Ice Fishing

Last Saturday, Dominic and Jacoby went ice fishing. Jacoby needed out of the house and Dominic wanted to go fishing, so off they went. It was a cold, windy, yet sunny day and the ice was slick. We haven't had any snow all winter long so there wasn't any traction on the ice. Jacoby fell a couple of times, but did good for the most part. He caught his very own fish and even reeled it in by himself! But, he had more fun playing in the sled and imitating the kids that were ice-skating.

Hanging out in the sled

I love his smile!

Catching a fish



A short video of Jacoby slipping and sliding all over the ice.

And here is a picture of my cute baby! He's adorable.

Riley adores Abby and climbs on her like this all the time. Look at his cute curls!

Jacoby wanted to "hold" Riley today and so I took pictures. They are adorable and so happy - most of the time.

I love this picture!

Football and New Pictures

Every January, Dominic has to go on a business trip to San Francisco. This year, he happened to be in San Francisco during the NFC championship game between San Francisco 49ers and the New York Giants. So, he called Nate, who is a huge 49ers fan and asked him if he wanted to go. Nate got a plane ticket, they got game tickets, and they got to watch the NFC championship game live from the 10th row behind the end zone where every goal was scored. It was an awesome experience for them and it will probably never be repeated.

The beginning of the game.

Game shot. They got rained on the whole time.

Aw, cute. Bromance.

Nate's team lost. This is apparently his pouty face.

Dom's team won so he's celebrating.

Spoiled.

The kids haven't been up to much this month as we've all been sick for weeks, it seems. We did manage to get a few new pictures of them smiling though.

Playing with his toys. He's such a happy boy! The poor kid has had an ear infection that won't go away though. We just started his second round of antibiotics and he's only been to school 2 days in the last 2 weeks.

This poor kid got some sort of a nasty sore throat that lasted for about a week at the beginning of the month and then he also got an ear infection. I think he's finally better though because he's happy again and fun. He's not so fun when he's sick. He can be the grumpiest little turd ever.

Riley has discovered the laundry basket. It's his new favorite toy. He climbs in it, drags it around, and empties it, if needed. It makes for a super cute picture.

He is also super attached to his blanket. He carries it everywhere.

Jacoby and I were snuggling and Daddy got the camera out. So, he's showing his tummy and saying "cheese" at the same time. Silly kid.

Christmas and New Years

We spent Christmas with Dominic's family at his sister's house in Salt Lake. It was a great weekend and I was so excited for Christmas this year because Jacoby is finally old enough to get excited and understand presents. Kind of. We built Christmas up for weeks and he seemed so excited until Christmas morning actually arrived. Santa didn't wrap the boys' presents and as soon as Jacoby saw his new monster trucks (the current obsession), he was happy as a clam and wouldn't open any presents. If you asked him if he wanted to open a present, he'd say "No, I'm good". Silly kid. Riley was grumpy and didn't want to open any of his presents either. We ended up bringing home most of their presents still wrapped. Thankfully, we got them to open them at home.

The first initial viewing of the gifts. Riley is playing with a toy phone and Jacoby has got his new fire truck.

Christmas morning. I was trying to get Riley into his presents. It didn't work.



Woo hoo! New trucks.

Riley got a new bouncy turtle and he loves it!

Playing with Jacoby's toys.

Monte and sweet baby Avery.


Jacoby is showing off his new toys.

Christmas dinner. My husband is more dog than man when he's got a big slab of prime rib in front of him.


Jacoby also got a USU football outfit, complete with helmet and small shoulder pads. He loves it! On New Years Eve, his friend Porter came and spent the night with us and Porter loved the outfit too.

He wouldn't wear the pants for these pictures. We'll have to try to get more pictures in the full outfit. It's so cute.

New Years Eve morning. The kids were watching TV and wouldn't look at the camera.

New Years Eve! We spent a quiet evening at home with Nate, Michelle, and Porter. Poor Riley developed a high fever and went to bed early, but Jacoby made it until after 10 - which is huge for him since he usually goes down at about 7:30.

Haha! It's the only picture of the 2 of them that we got. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of the boys playing.

Somehow, Nate managed to cram his big head into Jacoby's small football helmet. It was quite comical.