FHE at Cornbelly's

We went to Cornbelly's for FHE last Monday night along with my sister and her cute family. Despite it being pretty cold and us arriving a little too late to really take advantage of all the fun stuff there before the kids got tired, we had a good time. We started the night off with take-out dinner at the picnic tables while Joshua ran around and played (that kid rarely eats...how he is as big as he is, I will never know). Then we took a ride on the little tractor train thingy, did the kiddie corn maze, and took tons of pictures. Here are a few of them!

Joshua the truck driver

Joshua the ship captain:

The slide at the bouncy house (and some girl who wouldn't get out of the way...):

Our fun family:

This is the best smile he could come up with:

My sister, her husband, and their adorable daughter Maggie:

Before we went into the corn maze, we tried out the hay bale one:

Corn maze! Not sure what that look on my face is, but yeah...

They have these little spinny wheel thingies every so often in the kiddie corn maze, and you're supposed to spin them and do that action until you find the next spinny wheel thingy:

A sample of one of the wheels:

Mommy and Joshua:

Cody being Cody:

Joshua loved this little spider web:

Help! I'm caught!

Sliding out of the castle:

Swingin'--whoa, those are big feet:

Once again, Cody being Cody, and Joshua calling for me to come up in the castle with them:

Joshua the train conductor:

Random carousel horse:

That's a big pumpkin!

Cody doing a little jig on stage in the Princess Fairyland area:

Joshua wandering among the pumpkins:

Daddy and Joshua in the fire truck--perfect considering Joshua's costume this year:

Me on the big bouncy balloon thingy:

We had a great time...at least we know that, next year, go earlier so it's not so freezing! Hah!

Long Hair

"Mommy, I have long hair, just like you!

...except mine has animals all over it."

(please excuse the ketchup all over his face...didn't get a chance to wipe that off before I took the picture)

Duality

Cody takes me to work three days a week so that he can have the car to take Joshua to daycare and go to class. To get to the building where I work, we have to bypass a gate, where a BYU police officer sits and checks the ID of everyone who comes to the gate. This morning, I flashed my ID as usual, but apparently she couldn't see it, so she asked Cody to roll down his window.

"Are you a faculty member?"

I replied, "No, I'm a staff employee."

"Okay, I just couldn't see your ID very well. Thanks!"

And we drove on.

Then, from the backseat comes a little voice: "You're a staff employee? But I thought you were my mommy!"

I'm both, my son--both those things and many, many more. But it's comforting to know that, to him, I will always be, first and foremost, his mommy.

Animals and Dinosaurs

We took Joshua to the Hogle Zoo today. It was a brief trip, very hot and tiring, but he had fun. Some highlights:

Mommy and Joshua checking out some monkeys.

Look, it's an elephant!

They're doing some construction on the bear pavilion, so they had these little shovel thingies that the kids could play with. I think Cody had more fun using it than Joshua.

Giraffe!

My cute little (big) boy :)

Look, a dinosaur!

Love this gorilla.

ROAR!!!

Yeah, we were all tired and sweaty when it was over. Still, a pretty fun trip. Joshua had no problems going straight to bed when we got home :)

Five Years!

Then:

Now:

Then:
Now:

It's been a wonderful five years, full of highs, lows, and a lot of fun. We celebrated by doing some proxy sealings at the Mount Timpanogos LDS Temple, then having some yummy crab at Red Lobster. Good times. I love you, my dearest love!!!

Special Day

Today was a very special day for the Alleman Family--and I'm not talking about just our little family of three. Chad, Cody's older brother, was baptized today into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he asked his little (big) brother to perform the ordinance. It was Cody's first time performing a baptism, and it was humbling to have it be for his big brother. What an amazing privilege for both of them! It was a very spiritual event.

Chad and Cody in their white jumpsuits

Our family plus Chad and his wife, Ivy

They had a great little brunch after the baptismal ceremony--here's a lot of the family :)

The Alleman brothers, their dad, and their grandma

The Alleman crew!

The Allemans, plus Chad and Cody's maternal grandmother and her husband

Tomorrow we'll head to Springville again to be there when Chad is confirmed and receives the Gift of the Holy Ghost. It's exciting to be a part of these basic ordinances--the first ordinances of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love it.

Joshua the Artist

Joshua's creativity is really coming out these days. First off, his toy sculpture:

Next, Joshua the photog:

(Thanks for the flattering angle, Joshua)

And finally, his drawings, which just a week or two ago really started becoming recognizable as actual things:

This one is awesome. He drew a bunny, asked Cody to cut it out, and then glued it onto another piece of paper. The nose? A piece of couch stuffing (our couches are falling apart...).

A train, of course.

This is apparently a self portrait. Can't you tell?

Some of these are a little freaky-looking, but...yeah :o

And he even tried to write his name! Without help! I'm so impressed :)

The past couple of days when I've come home from work, he has been so excited to show me his latest creation ("Mommy, cwose your eyes! I gotta show ya somethin'!"). I can't wait to see what he makes for me tomorrow.