Long time...no blog

So I've honestly been meaning to blog about our recent trip to California...but I am so so sooooo mad that we forgot the camera!!! I really really tried to get the pictures I took off my phone, but I couldn't get them uploaded on blogger....so if you would like to see some visuals, look on my brother Ben's blog post "Firsts" and you will see part of the weekend. For those who don't mind a post without pictures, read on....

Chad & I both had several days off work the beginning of this month, which I thought would be well spent in California. Visiting my brother's cute family and making the last 3 months of training pay off in a 1/2 marathon. Yeah, thats right. I'm running again.

***side note*** when traveling.....always book hotel rooms @ priceline/hotwire. We got a screaming deal @ a nice hotel!!!

After our 1st night of catching up and bbq-ing, the next night we were on our way to Sacramento...where the American River Parkway 1/2 was. We had a great night @ John's Pizza Co. Where they had a pizza/pasta/salad/dessert buffet, which was perfect for our carbo-load, and tons of games & rides for the kids. It was a really fun night.....Jaden claims the BEST day ever!!! He had a lot of tickets to redeem for cheap cheesy prizes, that broke before we got home.

Saturday...race day. Very nervous runners, wondering what weather we were going to wake up to.....night before was a downpour!! Luckily it was just a little more than a sprinkle. We got to the park in perfect time to pick up all our race junk, stretch & line up! I guess in the 5 years of racing vacation I've had, there have been changes. No more chips? just a tag you can cut off and throw away. Super nice running material shirts, and little bottles with as much goo as you want to take with you on the race. Pretty nice. Anyway, my brother was unsure he would be able to run the whole way, he was planning on walking a bit, but we went at a slow enough pace we didn't get too worn out. 11 min. miles was the average, and we finished just under 2 1/2 hours. Seems crazy huh? With a lot of stretching and good food after we were able to not be too sore!!! Yay!! We were pumped!

So after a fun filled weekend of playing games and eating, we headed back home. It was so fun to play with our California nieces & nephew. We even left with some going away presents from Jaden. :) Megan & I got in some much needed pedicures, and I could not stop holding/queezing/pinching/biting Lanie's cheeks!!! Cute cute kids!!!

Back to Nevada, and time to camp!! Last year we were out a month earlier, so we have been itching to sleep outdoors. Chase & Chad getting ready to 'catch fish'.

If you look close you can see what Chase is fishing for (Bud light). Redneck fishing is what popped into my mind. He'd catch all sorts of garbage with his pole and throw it back in just so he could think he was catching something.


And of course the truck has to go everywhere with us these days. Including his crib when he goes to bed. He'll have 2 or 3 of his favorite trucks/buses that have to go 'nigh night' with him. Usually the horse trailer is full of matchbox cars or other toys.

Happy Mother's Day! After a great breakfast and surprise flowers, we were ready for church & decided to take a few pictures of who made me a mommy. I wondered why Chad kept telling me to move left, right , down....perfect. (yes that's the newest addition)

Chase is never afraid to pose for a picture, but you won't always get a genuine smile!

Happy Spring Break, Easter & Birthday!!! Caution: Picture Overload

We had a few days off work the first part of April so we headed down to sunny St. George. We really love it down there and it will always have a place in our hearts as long as we have a place to stay!! Thanks Grandma & Grandpa Marrott for the vacation home. Not too many pictures from there, all Chase wanted to do was 'catch fish' and watch the cars & big trucks driving on the freeway.

Chase wanted nothing to do with the hot tub! The other grandkids practically live in it so we were very surprised. It wasn't quite warm enough while we were there to hit a real pool, and I guess its a good thing since he was not interested.

The next weekend was Easter, and we were excited to spend some time with the Wright cousins. You might notice a lot of 'ball' eggs for the boys, but there is a crown & flower in the mix for princess Ella!!!

Chase was taking way too long of a nap, so he was not able to participate in the coloring of eggs....we were too excited to wait!!! What a cute group!!

Here they all are lined up ready to go on their hunt!! They had so much fun playing together all weekend.

The hiders that fun putting the eggs in hard places. Don't poke an eye out Chase.

Now these are our kind of baskets!!! Racecars and spiderman...what could be better?

Ella with her Ballerina Bunny. It was almost was cute as Ella!! Thanks to Aunt Sara, there were some fun prizes along with candy in the eggs. The boys got 4-wheelers, swords & stickers, and Ella got play food, a doctor/nurse play set & of course the adorable rabbit.

That night we went to the Jazz game, thanks to Chad's friend Joel, and a guy in my dad's bishopric that has season tickets. Mom & I had row 4 seats for the 1st half, then I traded with Dad for his row 15 at halftime. Both were amazing seats....close enough to get a picture of the bench!!! We love going to Jazz games, but it was hard to swallow a loss to Golden State that night.

This was the real reason for the trip to Utah Easter weekend. Chad's deer & elk were finished and needed to be picked up from the taxidermist. It makes us sad we aren't able to hang the elk up at our house, but we just don't have a big enough wall for it....Elk are such large animals & so unique looking we would love to add it to our collection, but we are going to need a bigger house. And that won't be happening any time soon.

I know everyone has been talking/blogging about how much snow and how crazy it was, so I just have to add my totals as well. Over 18 inches combined over 2 days!!! It is almost melted so we really can't complain about our prayers being answered for MORE MOISTURE!!!

Chase threw the biggest fit Wednesday morning when I dropped him off at Rachelle's house. He wanted to play in the snow soooo bad. I promised him we would play in it all afternoon and we did. It was fun to wrestle in the snow for a few hours with Chase, while daddy cooked dinner. It wasn't even that cold either....

We decided to head to the marina to feed the ducks a loaf of bread that was WAY past its due date. Chase was loving all the birds swarming to him....I on the other hand after the first 20 got a litte nervous. Luckily it was a small loaf.


Chad's birthday was this weekend, and so we went to this awesome cafe in Lamoille to have breakfast. Afterwards on our way home we decided to take a drive up Lamoille canyon and see if we could see any big horn sheep. We've both had a lot of patients tell us they are everywhere so we went to check it out!!! There was one sitting right on the road!!! We had to drive in the opposite lane of traffic to get around it.

The amazing thing about these sheep is the way they scale up vertical inclines!! And because of the snow storm there was a lot of waterfalls too....it was AMAZING to see them just dart right up a wet slick surface. I'm guessing that's why this one has a chunk of hair missing-! Great Nevada wildlife for my great wildlife husband on his birthday.

Hope you feel up to date on the happenings of the Marrott Family!

Tagged: Ten C's

10 Things I love that start with C:

1. Chad

2. Chase

3. Chocolate

4. Candy

5. Christ/Christmas

6. Camping

7. Chicken enchiladas

8. Country music

9. Cafe Rio

10. Clean house

I really feel like this was actually a great letter for me...I feel like if you know me, you know these are all very true!! Thanks for the tag Trish!!

I tag:

Janae: H

Dayna: D

Natalie: J

Anyone else who wants to be tagged!

Birthday P.S.

I hope this works, I've tried a couple of times to download this video from Chase opening presents...I just want to say that he taught himself to speak "elk"...Enjoy!!

Chase was playing with his new tractor the other day and making the sound...haha choo, like the tractor was snoring....it took me a minute to realize what he was doing. If you are familiar with "Cars" then you know he was tractor tippin'. How funny the things kids remember!!!

Happy Birthday Chase!!!

Chase turned 2 on March 3rd, and it's crazy to think what we would do without this little guy!! He is so much fun and is learning so fast!! We waited until the weekend to celebrate since 'mama' and 'papa' were coming out to visit!! They treated us to a nice and yummy dinner at the STAR, and helped with our spring projects in the yard!! We are so glad we live close enough for an occasional visit!!! Happy Birthday #2 our cute little Chase!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!

Chase has really been into trucks & cars lately so we thought the fire truck cake was perfect for his 2nd birthday!! The frosting was starting to melt inside so we had to move to the garage for our construction.

I promise it wasn't a trick candle, and how did the closest candle to him not get blown out? I did cheat and have 3 candles technically, but I like the number candles anyway.

As soon as Chase figured out the truck wouldn't move, cuz he tried to 'push' it several times, he started diggin' in...if only all his food was covered with candy...he loved his cake, and kept asking 'more firetruck mommy...pease'. I can't believe how much he talks!!!


Now this is not an obscene gesture, this is how old he is....and he was showing mommy his sticky fingers...I purposely had him wear a red shirt that day...


Each year the Wright cousins exchange names for birthday presents and give a gift representing all the cousins....this year Jaden/Megan/Lanie (pretty much meaning Natalie) had Chase. And let me tell you he LOVED this present!!! It is a singing dancing tool box with all the tools from Handy Manny's cartoon on Disney channel. I can't tell you how many times he pushed the button to make them sing and dance....I'm certain he will pick up some of the spanish words they say...What a cute great gift!! And can I just say how loved Chase is....all his older cousins gave him a call to wish him a happy birthday...I know they all wish they could have had cake & ice-cream with us...we miss you guys!!!

$10 Kid Cuts

We sure miss living closer to Aunt Adrienne! Chase's hair was getting really long & shaggy so we had to splurge & take Chase to get his first haircut in a shop. Boy are we spoiled to have Adrienne cut it for us in Grandma's kitchen!! Chase loves getting his haircut, so it was no surprise that he was so good...he didn't make a peep the whole time!! The girl cutting his hair thought it was weird he wouldn't talk to her at all...but he is only 2, I guess he's learned not to talk to strangers....so he looks so nice and handsome and then they give him a sucker and his face is covered in blue sticky sucker syrup, and ruined the cute face!! I'm sure in a few months we'll be back to eating dirt & grass!

He may be shy at the beauty shop, but he is not shy when it comes to the camera!! He just smiles and says CHEEZ like he's paid to do it!!! Then he sits down and poses, all the while saying, "smile...cheez!" He is at such a fun stage right now. He is saying so much-his latest word is 'noise'. We are getting really excited for his birthday in a couple weeks! Can he really be 2 already?

Winter Wonderland

For my Texan, Californian, St. Georgian friends and family that are missing out on the beautiful snow....this post is for you!!! If only I could call in sick and play in the snow with Chase, he is loving eating the snow!!! He will follow Chad around and eat the snow off his pants & shoes-! I really really love fresh snow! I think it is the most gorgeous looking of all seasons! Emphasis on fresh snow...after a few days of snow plows pushing blackened snow on to the sides of the road and it freezing there at -2...I'm back to wanting fresh powder again. I haven't skiied in several years, but after 15 inches on Monday I am really getting the urge!!

This is the view out our back windows, the ruby mountains are some of the most rugged terrain of mountains, I've heard people say they should have been part of the rocky's. Kind of odd they are in the middle of flat nevada? We love being so close to them!!! Now who can argue with this scenery?