Timpanogos Cave Hike

We took our girls for a nice little hike to help prepare them for all the hiking we will be doing in Yellowstone. Nate had just bought the girls there very own hydration packs and they were so excited to use them they were constantly drinking gatorade from their camelbaks, which made going for potty breaks a major necessity.

What a beautiful hike. It is all paved which is very nice. However it is straight up basically. You reach an elevation of just under 7,ooo feet at the distance of just 1 1/2 miles. After reaching the top, you have to wait in the holding area so there are not too many in the cave at once. We apparently climbed pretty fast because we were waiting at the top for our turn in the cave for over 30 minutes. No wonder I was out of breath at the top. Once inside the cave, it is amazing, and quite chilly I might add. What an extrodinary discovery. You can tell that everything in there is living. There is constant water flowing and changes every second. Pretty neat, Mikaela said. By the time we reached the end of our tour Mikaela was quite an expert on how the cave was discovered how many caves you go through and all their names. She could tell which were stalagtites and stalagmites. Both Mikaela and Lydia were quite fascinated with Martin Hansen's discovery. I never knew that the cave was found because he was looking for a mountain lion. The things you learn...amazing.

First Day of Summer Vacation

For our first day of summer vacation the girls and I went to Classic Fun Center for the day. Our good friend Shannon told us about this great deal they are having for the summer. You pay $10 your first day and every day after that each activity is only $1. What a bargin. I think the girls and I will be spending alot of time in Sandy this summer.
Highlights of the afternoon: Kendyl went on the BIG slide 2 times. Lydia finally found that she didn't need her arm floats in the kiddie pool. Mikaela can go anywhere she wants because it is all fenced in. To sum it up my afternoon was fun and stress free because I didn't have to worry about them going in the deep end of the pool, because there really isn't one. I wasn't running back and forth between kiddie pool and big kid pool. Plus I had a great time catching up with friends. What a great first day of summer!!
Sorry no pics I forgot my camera. I am sure we will be back next week though.

What have the Cox's been up to???

Lydia at her graduation from preschool. Kindergarten here we come! Lydia's teacher Miss Shannon.

Mikaela's Birthday celebration at school. Along with a picture of her teacher Mrs. Kincaid.

Nate's work party this summer was at the Bee's game. We had alot of fun, however I think the girls enjoyed the unlimited food more than the game itself. Good times.

Pictures of This is the Place Heritage Park~ What a blast!

Just a couple of the fish Mikaela and Lydia caught while we were camping at Echo.

A little hike we took up Little Cottonwood Canyon on Father's Day.

Well for all you faithful readers who have been asking what is going on? Let me just say a little of everything! The past several weeks have been so crazy! Sorry to you all for the long a waited blog update. Are you ready? Here you go!!

Mikaela turned 7!! She is just about finished with the 1st grade and looks forward to her summer break. She loves school and will really miss her teacher, but this has been a big change being gone all day. She misses just being a kid, and I don't blame her. Between homework and reading she has very little "free time". She was telling me the other day that she just wants to stay in bed in the morning. Which is a shock to us since she is the first one up usually. She has lost 3 more teeth and looks a little funny. Her favorite things to do are going camping with the family and playing with friends.

Lydia graduated from Teeter Tots Prechool on May 21st. What a cute presentation the kids put on. They basically went through the entire year with a musical type performance. So adorable. She is so looking forward to going to the Big School with Mikaela. She is a little disappointed that Kindergarten is not all day. She has a few friends that have that priviledge and would like to move for that reason alone. Lydia is very creative and loves to learn. However we have been informed by her that she does not enjoy running. You can't have it all I guess. She has been playing soccer this spring and has really enjoyed playing even though it involves running. Lydia is still taking dance and even though she has missed many practices she did beautifully during her performance and we are so proud that she didn't just give up.

Kendyl is talking up a storm now. Her sentences can be choppy at times, but usually we get the jist. She still loves Hannah Montana and will frequently ask to watch her. Amazingly she can even sing the songs. Watching her dance around and sing like a rockstar is hilarious. She loves being outside no matter what the weather is like so that can be challenging at times. Mostly she is a very good little girl who enjoys life and even takes a rest once in a while from it all.

Here are just a few pictures for you to enjoy! :)

Camping for Conference Weekend

For conference weekend we headed down to Manti for our first camping adventure of the season. I will admit I was not too thrilled to go camping, because of the weather. Thankfully we had full hook-ups and a killer time. While it was raining and snowing outside we found some activities that keept the kids entertained. They even got to express their natural born talents. Here is Mikaela singing her heart out, while Conner, my nephew played the drums with Guitar Hero World Tour

Here is Lydia taking her turn on the drums. She really did a great job. Maybe this is a sign that I should get some music lessons going.

Mikaela trying out her talents on the drums. She really looks like she is enjoying herself.

This is my nephew Ammon working the guitar.

Lydia and Kendyl singing "Beat It" by Michael Jackson. Of course they have no idea who Michael Jackson is.

This would be me trying to sing a song that I did not know and could not see the words to very clearly. It was still fun! That is my other nephew Matt and my niece Kelsey helping Mikaela play the guitar. Notice Nate in the very back of our trailer. He did not JAM with us once. Boy did he miss out.

This is our Duck we named Drake. He may possibly be the exact same duck that Nate caught last year while camping in the exact same place. Still not too smart. The kids loved chasing him all morning. He just kept coming back for more.
Kendyl running to tell me she found a DUCK DUCK DUCK!

On our way out Sunday afternoon we stopped by the Manti Temple for a few pictures, but there was no where to park. This picture was taken while driving in the truck.

Conference weekend was wonderful. The messages that we given by our leaders were inspiring. I especially loved Pres. Uchdorf's message about life not being a race of speed, but a race of endurance. You need to do your best everyday. Striving to be better everyday, and never giving up. Build up the endurance that will power you through the entire race and not just sprint your way through life. Definately words to live by.

Happy 2nd Birthday Kendyl

On April 5th Kendyl Jae turned 2! Here is a little look back at this small wonder and joy of our family. For those of you who don't know I have never naturally gone into labor on my own. I have always had to be induced to start anything. Oh I had my contractions but they never progressed past the annoying stage, until my doctor induced me. Kendyl was no different. We woke up Thursday morning earlier than planned. Too much excitment! Moments later the hospital calls and says "We need you to come right away the other women who were in front of you delivered last night." Story of my life. Anyway we rushed to get ready and flew out the door. Arriving at the hospital just 20 minutes later. We checked in, then the nurse leads us to the biggest hospital room I have ever seen, besides an OR. Welcome to "Hotel Cottonwood". Everything was good we settled in and my nurse prepared me for my induction. 2 1/2 hours later the doctor comes in to move things along, because ofcourse my body is too stubborn. I opted to have an epidural placed so I could enjoy my delivery. However, about 30 minutes later I start really feeling my contractions and they are painful. (I was not just feeling pressure, so everyone thought) My nurse Kathleen comes to check me and I am only at 5 cm. However the epidural has been in for over 30 mins and I feel no relief. Plus I could feel my legs and move quite freely. So the conclusion was the epidural did not take. WHAT!! What do I do? How do I breathe. No one has ever taught me this. I start to panic because the pain is really getting intense. I scream for someone, anyone to help me breathe. Finally I start to get the hang of it somewhat and I calm down. That is until the next contration and then the next and so on. Finally I get to the point where I know that my little daughter is going to make her debut into this world. Oh boy I will not tell you what all happened in the next twenty minutes, but let me just say...OUCH!! Two wonderful pushes later it's over. I hear my little baby crying and the pain was gone. It was amazing! They laid this precious child in my arms and I cried. Daddy cried too. As you can see in the first picture both mom and baby took quite a beating. Mikeala and Lydia meeting Kendyl for the first time. I think that they like their new sister!June 3rd was the day of Kendyl's blessing. She was so calm as always. What a beautiful blessing in our lives.Kendyl is 3 months old in this picture. This was one of my favorite outfits for her.Kendyl and the girls with their cousins Shelby and Alison who had come to stay with us for the week.Kendyl absolutely loved her Jumperoo. I did too. It was the only thing that kept her entertained while mommy cooked dinner.Kendyl's 1st Halloween. Meeting Great Grandma Bishop for the first time.This is Kendyl and her friend Kyle playing in Wyatt's kennel. Kendyl would climb in there all the time with her blanket and books. For her Birthday we got her a little rollercoaster. As you can see Kendyl is not the only one enjoying this fun gift.
Now that Kendyl is talking, her personality is really starting to take shape. She is so fun-loving and enjoys being happy.
Happy Birthday KJ
We all love you XXXXOOOO

I did it!

Well this morning started out as the last three had up around 2:30-3 in the morning after hearing one of my kids in their sleep making noise. I have a real problem with this, and I don't know how to just go back to sleep. As I lay there in bed thinking about EVERYTHING. I start thinking maybe I should just get out of bed and go running. The alarm was set for 6am to get up this morning already, so I decided to turn off the alarm around 5:20 and start getting ready. I walked outside and it was raining, not very hard though just a sprinkle. The temperature outside was actually nice, knowing that I was going to work up a sweat anyway the cool air felt great!
Off I go! After I ran my first 4 miles I felt great, and decide to go another 4. Now I have run 8 miles and still I felt great. With the music on my ipod pushing me on I start into my 9th mile. Again thinking maybe I should head home because it is starting to rain harder. I keep going 10 miles yea! This time my left hip starts hurting a little so I slow it down just a bit to compensate, the pain lessens and I keep going. Now heading into my eleventh mile the pain in my hip starts up again after jumping over a deep water puddle. However there is no turning back now I have one more mile to go to get home so I could either walk or push through it. I was determined to push through it and maybe take some ibueprophen when I get home. I did it! TWELVE MILES!!!. 800 miligrams of drugs and 4 hours later I feel great!

Leprechaun Trappers Extraordinaire

Did you ever wonder what it would be like to catch a Leprechaun? Does he grant you three wishes! Are you blessed with great fortune? Well I guess we will just have to find out next year! As much as the girls wished their clever traps would snare the mighty leprechaun, it did not happen. However we did manage to get one of his gloves...Next year mighty leprechaun, next year!

As you can see that is Nate on the ground surrounded by his leprechaun catching daughters practicing their technique. This year eventhough we did not successfully capture the crafty leprechaun we did get some yummy gold....Lemonheads!

This morning we enjoyed breakfast of green oatmeal and green milk. I wonder what the rest of the day will bring...maybe green eggs and ham. Happy St. Patrick's Day!!