Zoe and Zander

Our Family

So we have the cutest dogs ever.  Zoe is 4 yrs old she will be 5 in September. Zander is 5months old. Zoe is a full breed Boxer and Zander is a Bulloxer which is a mix of boxer and American bulldog.  Our dogs are just apart of the family.  The kids can not get enough of them especially Lola.  She loves Dogs.  We have had some problems with a neighbor and Zoe. Our neighbor seems so think that Zoe can eat him through a 6ft fence so to eliminate problems we set up a dog run.  It really bothers me that our dogs have to spend more time in the 10x10 dog run then our huge backyard.  Tonight we went to bring them in they were so dirty from being out in the dog run so we had to give them a shower before they could get up in our bed.  Zoe Loves the shower she will get in with you even when you don't wont her too.  She is so good about the whole process.  She even Loves to get her hair done with the blow dryer LOL

 

She is a really good dog.  She listens well and we are really happy about her.  I have always loved the Boxer breed but it took some convincing to get Alex to get a boxer.  After having Zoe Alex has fallen in love with our Boxer Dogs.  They have so much personality.  Zoe is so protective of the kids and I that Alex can not even play fight with the kids with out her going crazy.  She will get right in between Alex and the kids.  She is so loving but if someone ever came in this house and threatened us she would eat them for sure.  I really love this dog. 

We got Zander on Christmas day.  He was not planned it was a spur of the moment idea and yes from me.  We had been looking at American Bulldogs and had run across some pictures of Bulloxer and we loved the look.  They have the boxer look but thicker and we also heard that they aren't as energetic as a full breed Boxer.  We loved the idea of this breed but weren't in a rush to get one.  On Christmas eve I was looking at KSL and showing the pictures to Alex and Rose of these cute puppies by the next morning I had convinced Alex that we should get him for the kids.  (both of our dogs have been Christmas presents for our kids)  Alex wasn't  100% on board at first but Zander has the sweetest personality and won Alex over quick.  He is not spazzy and loves to cuddle.  He is such a chill dog.  He has really been my favorite puppy ever.  He just isn't as energetic as most puppies.  He has gotten so big.  We can't get over his fat head.  We call him fat head. LOL  He weighs 50lbs and Zoe weighs 65lbs. Zander's feet are twice as big as Zoe. It looks like Zander is going to be much bigger than Zoe.  We all love his thick look.  Zander is such a chill dog that giving him a shower is no big deal.  i don't think he loves it like Zoe does but he will just deal with it without a fight.  He does not like the blow dryer! He is seriously a sissy.  He gets scared of everything.  He won't even jump off our bed.  While Zoe was in the shower Zander cried at the edge of our bed cause he wanted to get down but was to afraid LOL.

After their Showers Alex took them both on a walk one by one and they were in heaven.  They love being with us.  

Here are some random pictures of our Dogs with our family

 Zander 5 months

Zoe has to be involved with everything even story time with Rose

Payton fell asleep with Zoe in the living room

When Lola broke her leg Zoe was one of the only things that made Lola Happy

The boys can play for hours with the dogs

 Jaxton Loves cuddling Zoe

Zoe even Loves to jump on the tramp

Zoe and Zander

We really Love our Dogs and the complete our family.

Payton got to meet one of his hero's

In March My brother Troy had been to the zoo and he came home excited cause he said "Steve Irwin" was coming to Utah and I was laughing and I said to him no way unless its his body.  Troy laughed and then realized he meant to say Jeff Corwin.  Jeff Corwin is an active wildlife warrior and someone Payton has looked up to since he was 2 yrs old.  I was so excited for the opportunity to take Payton to see him in action.  Its rare that we have the opportunity for Payton to be around someone that shares his same passion.  We were able to get tickets last min. and got the 9th row.   So we decided to take both of the boys and we would make a day out of it for the four of us.  We started our day going to the new city creek in SLC.  It was beautiful but a zoo.  There were so many people there that we ended up leaving Fairly quick.  After that we headed up to parkcity we had a lot of time on our hands so we went to lunch at a pizza factory.  After lunch we walked down the street to get some ice cream.  We also enjoyed checking out some of the shops.  It was fun to just have time with the boys.  I forget sometimes how much energy Lola takes from us all :)

After hanging out for a while we headed over to the Eccles Center.  Payton was so excited he could hardly stand it.  We didn't really know what to expect cause we have never been to a show like this.

When we got there we were able to buy a couple books and they told us that if we stuck around after the show that he would sign the books for us.  Payton was so excited.  He could hardly believe he was going to meet Jeff.

We had to wait for about 30 min. before they opened the doors.  This is us just waiting

Jaxton is always dancing

We finally got in and got in our seats.  We were in the 9th row but it was the row where there is a big space for wheelchairs and stuff.  It ended up being the best seats cause Jeff walked off the stage and right in front of us many times.  At one point he stood literally a foot in front of Payton and I.  Payton's eyes where huge just in amazement that this was happening. 

The show was great.  It was so much funnier than I imagined.  Jeff is very funny.  He basically brought different animals out on stage and talked about them .  He asked questions and had the audience anwser.  He also brought people up on stage to help.  At one point it was getting close to the end and I could tell Payton was going to cry and so I asked him what was wrong and he got so emotional as he told me that he really thought he would get picked to go on stage.  It broke my heart so we had to explain to him that he is really lucky he got to be here and that most of the kids don't get to hold animals as much as he does.  His response to that with tears in all was " I don't have a baby American alligator"  It was sad :(  We then explained to him that he was going to get to meet Jeff and get his autograph and he shifted. 

It was so cute cause as we were getting close for Payton to meet Jeff we realized how funny people looked while taking pictures cause they wouldn't touch him so I told Payton to put his arm around him and he said "of coarse mom I may never see him again"   I just Love that boy he says the cutest things.

On the way home we had a great talk with the kids about being grateful and supportive because Jaxt was acting like he didn't like it cause Animals aren't his thing. So we talked to him about how Payton and Lola come and spend two days watching him and others dance to support him and that dance isn't their thing.  He got it and felt bad for being ornery.  We also took the opportunity to talk to them about focusing on the positive so we asked Jaxt and Payt what their favorite thing about the show was and they both agreed that it was the owl.  The owl was so funny cause Jeff had said I heard this guy doesn't like men and that owl did not like Jeff.  At one point the owl got ornery with Jeff and Jeff said to the owl in a funny voice "oh no you didn't"  The boys thought that was hilarious.  By the end of the drive they were laughing and focusing on the things they loved about the day.  It was a great opportunity for Alex and I to spend with our boys and to remind them of some things we would love for them to live their little lives by.    What a great day we had in parkcity being together and supporting Payton with his passion

Lola got Hand , Foot, Mouth Virus

When we were at Jaxton dance Competition this last weekend we noticed Lola just didn't seem 100% and then Saturday she started running a fever.  We came home on Sunday and went to my moms.  When I got to my moms we noticed Lola had what we thought was a cold sore, but she seemed to be feeling a little better.  On Monday morning I went to get Lola cold sore medicine and was talking to the pharmacist and he told me that its rare for a little one to just start getting cold sores so to maybe take her to the Dr. By the time I got home from Walmart Lola had 4 sores on her lips.  I then asked her to open her mouth and she was covered with sores.  So we decided we better take her to the Dr.  by the time we were at the Dr. she had them in her nose and on her feet and hands.  Our poor Baby has a really yucky virus.  They said there was nothing we could do but wait it out and it could take 7-10 days.  Here are some pictures of her sores.  I know they are gross but I want to document it. 

 I Hate when they are sick and there is nothing you can do for them!



Jaxton 2nd dance competition

So we headed up to Logan last Friday for Jaxton 2nd dance competition.  We were all pretty excited now that we knew what to expect from these events. Jaxton had been working hard since his first competition to improve and they added a couple of new things to his routine.  One of the things that Jaxton got feedback on with his 1st one was that he needed to smile. So we all had been reminding jaxt to smile.  At one point Jaxton looked at me and started to cry.  I asked him what was wrong and he said to me "I can't smile and dance at the same time"  It was so cute.  He is such a perfectionist and he seemed overwhelmed with the idea of something as simple as smiling.  I finally told him not to worry about it and to just dance.  It was very cute cause when he started his dance he had such a serious face and then he did one of his moves and the crowd went crazy and his face went from serious to all smiles.


                                           This next couple pictures captured this change :)

Jaxton Did so good.  He had been really concerned about this competition because he was going to be competing against Aspen who is from the same studio as him.  One day  he said to me "I want to win but I really don't want Aspen to be sad"  He is so tender hearted like that.  He asked if  he could get her flowers that way if he won he could give them to make her happy and if he lost then he could give them to her so she knows he thinks she is great.  This boy has one big heart.  Aspen did win.  She is incredible. Her performance was amazing.  I was so impressed cause Jaxt was really happy for her and never said a thing about not winning.   So Aspen got Queen and Jaxt took first place.  

                                             Jaxton and Aspen after he gave her flowers

Jaxton also asked if he could give his "girlfriend" Sawyer flowers. Sawyer has been wonderful to Jaxton.  She has gone out of her way to show him the ropes and to make sure he feels included. She is one of the neatest young ladies I have ever met.  We really Love Sawyer!

Jaxton and his Teacher Jason Pickett.  We have been so impressed with Jason he is 17 yrs old and spends his time teaching young kids to dance.  He is a hard worker.  He is a great example for Jaxton.  Jason is working hard in school and just has his head on straight.  I couldn't have picked a better role model for Jaxton. 

                                                              
                                                              Jaxt loves his trophy!

 This is all of the Soloists from Inspire.  We love Inspire Dance Studios it really feels like a family

                                                              The girls love Jaxton

We left after Jaxton got his trophy and we didn't realize that at the second award ceremony that night that they do overall winners in each division.  There were 22 novice dancers.  Jaxton got 3rd overall.  He was so sad cause he missed that.  That is such a big deal that he placed that high.  We were so excited.  Now we know that we need to be at all the award ceremony's :) Sorry Jaxt!  He was sleeping when they were doing these awards. The next day they gave Jaxton his ribbon. 

This is Jaxton and Whitney. She is the studio owner.  She is holding the trophy the studio got for sweeping the competition.  Inspire studio had 16 teams perform and 13 got 1st place and the other 3 got 2nd place.  Jaxtons hip hop Crew got 1st

Over all this dance stuff has been so fun.  I had no idea what any of this looked like cause I have never been into dance. I would have never imagined having a child that loved dance like Jaxton does. In fact when I was a kid my best friend Breck Yates and I had a joke that she use to tell me that I was going to have sons that wanted to dance and I told her that she would have girls that wanted to play sports. She was a cheerleader and I played the sports.  Her prediction was correct and I am so happy.  Jaxton is learning so much and works so hard.  He said to me on Sunday that he knew he was going to have to learn all other styles of dance to be as great as he wants to be.  That is big improvement cause he use to say he only wanted to do hip hop.   This is also my son that at three told Alex and I that he never wanted to work cause working was hard.  So we are so happy to see him working so hard he dances for at least 6-8 hrs a week.  And he never complains he is always excited to dance.  In fact there are times where I just want him to hold still :)  LOL

I also have to add that our other kids are so good about the long weekends. Payton is such a good sport. Its not his thing but he doesn't complain.  Lola loves watching the girls dance and is constantly telling Alex and I that she needs to talk to Whitney (the dance studio owner) so she can start to dance.  This weekend Donna (Alex Mom) had asked if she could come with us.  This was the first time our kids had really spent any amount of time with her and it was a great experience.  We were so grateful that she wanted to be apart of it.  She was a great help with Payton and Lola.  Lola was running a fever and we weren't sure what was going on with her so Donna took her and Payton back to the hotel and let Lola rest.  I am grateful that she took the opportunity to get to know our kids and that our kids got to know her. 

                 I love the little portable DVD players they can all be watching their own shows

                     Payton was watching Ace Venter Pet detective.  He loves this show

Lola was not feeling well but we didn't know what was going on.  I can't get over how attached Lola is to Alex.  It is so super cute to me.  He is so in Love with this little girl.                                                 

This is the rest of the pictures (sorry its a lot but I want to remember it all)

At Breakfast before heading to Logan

                                                                
                                                                Alex and Donna

The Very Beginning of his Performance

 He worked really hard on this move.  He has been able to do the stall but he really wanted to be able to get his head off the floor and he did it!  It was so awesome!

Waiting

                                                                Alex and his boys

                                             
                                              I got a new hat and Lola had to wear it LOL