Our Day Trip to Utah - Part 2

Oops! I forgot to post Part 2 of our quick little Utah trip. But better late than never!

After the Dinosaur Museum and Ikea we took the kids over to Temple Square.

They loved seeing the big Salt Lake Temple. No matter how many times we told Alice

that it was the temple, she kept calling it a big princess castle.

We took them over to the Church History Museum for a little play time

in the newly remodeled children's exhibit. They had a lot of fun.

And we couldn't leave the museum without seeing the replica of the

statue of Moroni...or as Sammy says, "Moro-knife."

Kate loved having her own camera to document our little trip so she could

make her own scrapbook with her pictures.

She took this one... a view of the temple from the Christus.

OUR FOREVER FAMILY

All in all, we had a really fun little trip and enjoyed spending the day together.

Our Day Trip to Utah - Part 1

A few weeks ago we took the kids down to Utah on a day trip.

Our first stop was the Museum of Ancient Life

Dinosaur Museum in Lehi. They had a lot of fun learning about

the different dinosaurs, seeing the fossils, and taking lots of pictures.

YIKES!

Kate's reaction when she first heard the "dinosaur noises" over the speakers.

Sammy said, "It's okay. The dinosaurs are all stinked anyway."

Kate's first sight of her favorite dinosaur, T. Rex!

The Allosaurus and the "Alice-aurus"

Building mountains out of the sand at the erosion table.

This is their genuine reaction to the shark attack.

(Kate took this picture.)

Digging in the fossil beds.

Our second stop was to Ikea for shopping and some lunch...sorry no pictures of that though!

A quick peek back at Christmas

This is our Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

We let Kate pick out the tree this year.

We were more that pleased with her choice

...especially because it was only $5!

We ended up waking up our sleepyheads

on Christmas morning. How many parents can say that?

That was our merry little Christmas in a nutshell. Hope yours was wonderful too!

Joe's Graduation

Here's a look back at the day Joe officially became an Idaho State Trooper...

All dressed up and ready to go to Daddy's graduation in the Rotunda at the Capitol Building.

ATC Class 37: Joe Chandler, Ben Comorosky, Dan Choma, JD Law, Tagg Williams and Brian Strading

Joe gave a speech as the class president.

Wearing his campaign hat for the first time.

Governor Otter presenting him with his certificate.

The wives each pinned their Trooper with the Idaho State Police badge.

I love my Trooper!

Most of the family who came to support Joe on his graduation day.

The newest Troopers in Idaho.

Congratulations, Trooper Chandler!

It was a lot of hard work and sacrifice to get here,

but we are very excited to be starting on this new adventure!

We're so glad when Daddy comes home!

Joe has been in training for his new career since July. He is required to live at the academy with a closed campus all week so we don't get to see him much and we really miss him. He is allowed to call but it's usually after the children have gone to bed. He does get to come home on Friday night for a couple of days so we really look forward to the weekends. The second he walks through the door everyone erupts with excitement and he is instantly mobbed with loves.

One of the kids' favorite things..."Daddy Train"

First, he was in the POST Academy ("Peace Officer Standards & Training") for 10 weeks. It is the standardized training all law enforcement officers in Idaho must complete.

POST Graduation Day

Now he is in the Advanced Training Course with the Idaho State Police. It is a 12 week, very intense, high-stress academy. It is very militaristic with marching everywhere, daily room inspections, and tons of physical activities. They originally had 10 recruits but now they are down to 6 and Joe was voted class president. We are so proud of him and are very excited for his graduation (2 days before Christmas) when he officially becomes an Idaho State Trooper. This will definitely be our family's best Christmas ever! After Christmas we will be moving to Region 4 (Twin Falls) where he has been assigned.

Halloween (better late than never!)

Joe with our trick-or-treaters...

Kate, the nice witch,

Super Sam,

and our little pink kitty, Alice.

Super Sam turned 4!

Sam turned 4 years old about 2 weeks before Halloween

so we had a super hero birthday party.

Thanks to everyone that came to celebrate with us and a special thanks to

those who dressed up like super heroes! We had so much fun!

(Unfortunately, my camera stopped working just minutes before

people started arriving so I wasn't able to get many pictures.)

Super Sam

Super Sam's awesome birthday cake made by the amazing Carlie!