Disneyland!!!

Randy, Hank, and I are taking off to Disneyland with the rest of my family tomorrow. We're leaving the little Mino man behind with Grandma Jeri and Scott. Can't wait to see Mickey and Minnie! Many, many thanks to Jeri and Scott for taking care of Max for us. I'm sure he will have much more fun with them than he would stuck in a stroller at Disneyland all day. At least that's what I keep telling myself. See you all soon!

What To Do....

As winter fast approaches I'm very curious what other moms with a 3 1/2 year old and a 1 year old do to pass the time. Am I the only one who feels like their child is turning into Spongebob and slowly becoming a computer junkie? I really want to do fun things with my kids but I am totally out of ideas. What's fun for Hank is misery for Max. For example, I took the kids to the Living Planet Aquarium last week and Hank had a blast. That place is really cool but as you can see by the picture, Max was hating it! Don't worry I bought a season pass so if anyone ever wants to go with us, I'm down.

Hank loved the sharks!! He sat and watched them for a good 20 min while I chased Max.

Hank and I had fun but after two hours Max was completely out of control. Then we came home, ate lunch, Max took a thirty minute nap and it was only 2:30!!! Yesterday, around 4:30 when both me and my kids were bored out of our minds, the boys were fighting over toys and it got me wondering if other moms are in my situation or if they are making crafts or doing service projects to make the world a better place. I don't know what people do without t.v. or movies? I guess they are much better moms than me. I realize my kids are at hard ages to take places and perhaps it's just a phase where we really can't do much. I'm sick of winter already and it hasn't even started!

Metallica

The Metallica concert was on Monday night and my hearing has just returned to normal! I know I don't appear to be a metal head and I admit I haven't always been a fan but Randy loves them and I never pass up a concert. My uncle Phil hooked us up with some great tickets and I must say it was one of the best concerts I've ever been to. Yes it was loud, yes it was full of weird looking people, and yes my hearing may be permanently damaged but whether you hate Metallica or love them you have to admit they are incredible musicians and they put on a great, energy packed show. Thanks to reality t.v. and all the tabloids we have access to now, the lives of rock stars aren't as much of a secret as they once were. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll right? Apparently not for the aging stars of Metallica. They don't drink, or do drugs anymore (after years in rehab) and I'm pretty sure Lars was drinking beet juice after each song. I love him by the way! The truth of the matter is they love what they do and it was really apparent. After the show they spent a good twenty minutes chucking drum sticks and guitar picks to the crowd. Even though I may not look the part of a Metallica fan (thank goodness) I can still rock with the best of them and it's as close as I will ever get to being a rock star in this life time.

On a side note, I got up the next morning at 6:30 to vote and I will only say one thing about the election... if you think Obama is a terrorist or is going to harm our country in some way, please don't say it around me. I for one am inspired by him and I really hope he has what it takes to turn it around. That's it for now...oh and 5 weeks and 2 days with no sugar!!! But who's counting?

Golf Date with Grandpa

After months of failed attempts, my Grandpa Sherm and I finally went golfing on Saturday. We've been trying to get together all summer but something always seemed to come up. Luckily the weather cooperated and we had a fantastic time together. We golfed at Alpine Country Club and the course is absolutely gorgeous but there are a ton of sand traps as my grandpa can attest. I can't remember the last time I spent a morning with my grandpa alone and it was such a treat for me. I admire him so very much and respect his opinion and knowledge. How lucky am I to have both of my grandpas in my life? They have both contributed greatly to my life and I wouldn't be the same person I am today without their guidance and support through the years. They are my biggest fans and always make me feel like I can do anything. I played pretty well especially on the front nine which made it even more fun. Thank you so much Grandpa. I love you and will cherish that day forever. I can't wait for our next date, hopefully my Grandpa Karl can come with us next time. P.S. How amazing is it that my grandpa's are best friends! I love it!

Halloween '08

Halloween was so fun this year. These pumpkins are our second attempt at carving. Our first pumpkins were really cool, we had a wolf howling at the moon and a skull but we carved them a bit early so in Hank's words "they died". Hank and I carved these on Halloween then we went to Sarah's school to see her class in their costume parade. Hank loved all the kids dressed up. The kids and I were jamming out to any Halloween music we could find all day--Hank's favorite was "Ghostbusters". Finally trick-or-treating time came so all of the cousins came over. I love this picture-Dyson is trying so hard to wrangle Max! Things were completely out of control when Lucy and Isabel came, so I didn't get any cute pictures of them but Lucy was a High School Musical cheerleader and Isabel was Belle.

This is the best picture I could get of Hank and Max together--Max had a slight accident before this picture. He fell of our front step and scraped up his face. Poor little guy! It didn't seem to bother him much.

Hank was such a trooper with his mask on, but he got really sweaty and took it off half way through trick-or-treating. He was really fun this year--so excited about everything.
All the grandparents came over for soup and cornbread and we had yet another fantastic Griffin Party. I absolutely love having everyone together and kids make holidays so much fun!

Max's poor face looks worse today, but he is still adorable! My little bruiser!

Poor Frankenstein!

Why do they make things look so much cuter in magazine's than they are? These Frankenstein Rice Krispie treats are not nearly as cute as the picture in Parenting Magazine. I'm actually a little embarrassed to show them to the world. I thought it looked like such a fun thing for Hank and I to do but they turned out a little sad. Hank lost interest about 10 min into the process, so that left it up to me...(sad I can't blame them on Hank's lack of artistic ability). He had his Halloween party at school today and got enough candy that I don't think he needs to go trick-or-treating tomorrow! I feel like we've been celebrating Halloween for 2 weeks straight. I was planning our ward Halloween party for a month, (even though you couldn't tell by the total mayhem that ensued), and we've frequented pretty much every pumpkin patch and corn maze in Utah this fall. I'm ready for it to be over now. However, I can't wait for Max to get into his bumble bee costume tomorrow. I think he should wear it every day for the rest of his life! Now that Halloween is almost over I can focus on our trip to Disneyland. I can't wait!

My Boys

This picture makes me so happy. My cute little family, in beautiful American Fork Canyon, not a care in the world. I am so lucky and so grateful to have these boys in my life. Oh and I shouldn't neglect Little Bear of course. He is the little mascot at Hank's preschool and we got to babysit him for a week. Hank was very concerned about him getting too close to the cliff. He took such good care of Little Bear and made sure he went everywhere with us. He was very sad on Tuesday when Little Bear had to return to Miss Molly.
We wanted to see all the pretty leaves but we were about a week too late. They looked really pretty on the ground! Check out the snow on Timp.... Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!