Summer Part 2

Once again we find that time has zoomed past. Here we are almost in December and we still have not mentioned the rest of our summer. Even though we are in the winter months we wanted to do a brief trip back a few months. Lets start here.  The Oneida Narrows.

The Oneida Narrows is a big long river in Idaho. The Muffin’s family found this a few years ago. The first time we tried floating down the river was a few years ago. It was raining and cold that day and it took the Muffin’s family most of the day to decide to do it by the time they made it to the river it was late in the afternoon and by the time they were done it was cold and nobody could feel any part of their body. This year we decided to try it again but earlier. It paid off, You start by climbing down a little dirt hill and you get in the water and away you go.

 

We had so much fun. It took us a few hours to make it all the way down the river and by the end we had tube burns on our arms from paddling down the river. We saw some great things as well like a pelican, ducks, and some great landscape. There are a few parts of the trip that are a little rapid but it was so fun riding the waves… If you can call them that.

When we got done we made it just in time because the winds came in and the rain started. We had one moment where we were not watching our tubes and one of them flew in to the river. A stranger was kind enough to go after our tub that's what is in the picture above. All in all we had a lot of fun!

 

Utah’s Hogle Zoo

This was the first time in a while that the Muffin and the Brownie went to the zoo. We actually got free tickets to the zoo when we visited a used car lot sale and they were giving free tickets away. We decided that going to the zoo would be fun and it would be fun to take our little Oreo for the first time. The only mistake we made was going on a holiday it was so busy and there were so many people that it was hard to see everything but it was still worth the trip.

     

 

When you first get to the Zoo there is this big marble ball and rotates as water moves under it. This was a kid magnet because there were so many kids surrounding this marble ball that we had to wait a few min to get in so we could get the Oreo to feel it. It took him a min to figure it out but he had fun playing with the water and feeling the marble.

 

 

Next, we took the train around the park. It was the last day that the Zoo was going to do the train rides so we took advantage of the ride. The little Oreo loved looking at everything. We were able to see so many things and every animal that you could think of. The Muffin’s favorite animals were the polar bears, giraffes, elephants, and the tigers.

 

 

  We went to the zoo with the Brownie’s grandparents and they got him this really cute bear. He really liked playing with it and did not let it go the rest of the day.

 

At the end of the day we took this little family photo and as you can see the tigers right behind us. We had a great time and would do it again but maybe we will wait until the Oreo is just a little bit bigger:)

Summer Fun part 1

         Summer has officially come to an end. The Brownie started school and the Muffin and Oreo continue to be doing well. We have gotten a little behind but we still wanted to share some of the things that we did this summer. So please join us for our first adventure through Thanksgiving Point Gardens. We were invited to go to the Gardens by our grandparents and we had a great time. We were also able to go with the Brownie's sister and her husband and the Brownie's cousin and his wife. 

        We started our evening by going to dinner. We had dinner at the Harvest Restaurant. It was a very good meal. Both the Brownie and the Muffin got a buttermilk breaded chicken dish. We have found that we both have very similar tastes. You could put us in two different rooms and the likelihood of us getting the same thing is pretty high. And then all of us shared a plate of different imported cheeses and fruit. After dinner we then went to the gardens.

 

 

This is the beginning of the gardens

 

There are large areas of grass with trees and flowers all around.

 

There is a nice paved trail that goes through the whole park.

 

 

                            As you walk around you can see small bird houses in the trees.

 

            There are also benches throughout the garden & they make for some good family pictures.

 

The landscaping is just wonderful and there is always something to look at. We could have taken pictures all night. 

     After roaming through this beautiful garden there is still more to see. There is a beautiful rose garden. There are so many roses of all different colors and smells. There is also some very nice architecture throughout the rose garden.

      After going to the rose garden we made our way to the secret garden. It takes a minute to find and its a small area but it is just as beautiful as the rest of the gardens'. In order to get to the secret garden you have to find the little pathway/ tunnel to get inside.

       This fountain that is in the secret garden almost looks like it could be the fountain of youth. It's probably a good thing that there is no such thing, but its fun to imagine. And once again great family picture inside the secret garden. We tried to get the little Oreo to look at the camera but he was busy looking at the fountain.

       The last place that we were able to see (before the Oreo started to get tired) is a place in the garden that has statues of Christ and different events in the New Testament and also of Joseph Smith. This statue is one of the Muffin's favorite stories in the New Testament. This is depicting the story about the women who was caught in adultery and the Savior starts to write in the sand and says whoever is without sin he can cast the first stone.

      Then one of the other statues is of Christ carrying his cross. And underneath its says "Because of Love" it was a good reminder that Christ through his sacrifice gave us the opportunity to change our lives so that we could live with God again. And because of His sacrifice Christ knows all pain and sorrow and is able to help us. And He did it because he loves us.

Well that concludes our adventure in the Thanksgiving Point Gardens. We all had a great time and left with big smiles and happy hearts!

 

Mason's Baby Blessing

This was a special day in the life of the Oreo. On May 6, 2012, the Oreo was given a name and a blessing in church. In attendance for the Oreo's blessing were his grandparents (Engh's and Grandma Blackburn), Uncle Craig, Aunts' Chelsay and Marianne, his great-grandparents (Engh's, Williams, Harrington's), and the Higgins. The Oreo was wide awake during his blessing according to great-grandpa Engh who the Oreo is named after. The Oreo's blessing was spiritual and filled with hope and love that he will be all that his Father in Heaven expects of him. He has a lot to look forward to in his future.

Check out the Oreo's cute socks....paw prints! :)

The shoes were handmade by our landlord, Diana.

The Oreo looks HANDSOME in his white tux!

This is Uncle Craig after the blessing

All the Treats! :)

A great day in the eyes of a proud father

A proud Mom with her baby Oreo

Week on Wall Street

   Well I know its been awhile but the Brownie is going to report on the New York trip! I went to NYC for a week in May without my Muffin and Oreo. It was a fun little adventure but sad to be away from my two favorite treats. The reason for going to New York was to fulfill a school credit. There were about 18 students and 2 professors that went.
   We went to 9 businesses over the course of the week and visited companies like Goldman Sachs, Brownstone Investment, UBS, New York Stock Exchange, and the Federal Reserve to name a few! It was like a businessman's dream to go to the financial capital of the world!
   In the evenings we got to go sight seeing, shopping, and partying. Sight seeing involved places like Empire State building, Rockefeller Center, Central Park, the 911 Memorial, Grand Central Station, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and a Yankees game!
   I had to be creative with my evening free time because my friends enjoyed partying in clubs and bars so I hung out at the hotel. Here are a couple pictures from the trip...

The Empire State building entrance way

 The Chrysler Building

 New York City

 911 Memorial of one of the Twin Towers

 The Brooklyn Bridge

 The Statue of Liberty (closed for remodeling)

 Tour of Grand Central Station

 A 16 oz New York Strip at Michael Jordan's Steakhouse

              The  Metropolitan Museum of Art-- One of the biggest museums in the world!

 We got to go to a Yankee's game! That was super fun but HOT!

 A hotdog and cheese fries

 New York Stock Exchange- Market Maker was in charge of all 25 of these stocks!

 The famous Bull by the New York Stock Exchange

The New York Stock Exchange