Family Vacation

This past weekend Rick and I took the boys down to Moab. Rick only had to work 1/2 day on Fri. so we left shortly after. We first stopped at the Living Aquarium down in south Salt Lake, had lunch then headed to Moab. We stayed until Sunday and then headed home. We spent our time at Arches National Park. What a beautiful place that Heavenly Father created for our wonderment. I'm always amazed at how many beautiful places there are on this earth. I'll post more pics later but we're low on sleep (the boys didn't do too great at the hotel). We had a GREAT time!!!

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Rick is quite proud that he has taught Levi not to bang on the piano but rather play 1 key at a time. Levi loves to sing Twinkle, twinkle little star, at bedtime, naptime and frequently in between. He also loves to sing his ABCs and recently started singing I Am A Child of God. We love to hear him sing. Any time there is a musical number during sacrament or when the hymns are being played he is very reverent. During musical numbers he is captivated by the singers. I am really glad that he enjoys music and hope that his appreciation will carry throughout his life.

I actually hope that Rick's musical abilities will carry over to his children. I didn't know how musically talented he was until after we were married. He plays the piano, guitar and drums! He actually was in a scholarship competition for piano (he lost, a very sore subject secondary to the circumstances surrounding it). I really LOVE my husband and appreciate all he does and what a devoted father he is. I just sit back and smile when I watch him play with the boys and you can tell how much our boys love him.

Happy Thanksgiving. The above and many other things I am so very thankful for.

Rest

I am taking a little rest today, the boys are down for naps. Well... Jace is asleep and Levi is having "quiet time" which lasts from about the end of lunch till 4-4:30. He usually doesn't actually fall asleep until 2, after I've reminded him, usually with a lot of emphasis, okay I raise my voice, no shouting yet, that he needs to be quiet, not sleep but be QUIET.

I went walking with my friend Angie this morning, Levi in the stroller and Jace in the snugglie. I'm going to miss walking every day now that the weather is getting colder and I'm headed back to work.

During my siesta I plan to make a grocery list for the week and get preparations for Thanksgiving thought of. I'm hosting my side of the family this year. Not a lot of people compared to Rick's side, but I think that my mom is quite relieved to not have to do all the cooking this year. She did however buy a lot of the food. The turkey, cranberry sauce, potatoes, I now just have to do the cooking.

The house is mostly clean, don't look too close because it's just a surface clean, I'll save the deep cleaning until later this week, probably next Tuesday to be honest.

I may even start wrapping Christmas presents so that they are done and hid away. Levi is all over the place, except for in the crawl space so that is where we will be hiding the gifts. I don't think they'll even get put out until Christmas Eve or Levi will unwrap them.

Levi has been loving to climb in Jace's bed in the mornings while I feed Jace. Keeps him occupied. He is really starting to like his little brother a lot.

Life as we know it

Life as we know it is about to change (that is the past few months of life). I'm about to head back to work and that means taking the boys to a sitter. Levi never had a sitter until he was 10 1/2 months old, Rick just watched him until Levi started being able to get into everything.

Jace gets to start much earlier. Luckily I have a fabulous sitter, my friend Erin, who has a 4 & 2 year old. Levi loves it there. Every time we drive by he points and says "Abbie houawse" and we have to tell him not now but maybe later.

We are still working on the finishing touches of the house, minor paint spots, sealing the trim, etc. Levi's vocabulary is expanding daily. He recently began coming up to me and saying "monkey says ooo,ooo, aaa" and "rooster says cock-a-dooooo" not cock-a-doodle-do, just cock-a-doooo. He would make the animal sounds before but now likes to bring them to us and tell us.

Jace is also growing so much. He is a very happy baby and likes to grin all the time. He likes us to hold him but is happy to just be hanging out with us. Levi has been "helping" by shoving a binky in Jace's mouth. I love when he is laying on my chest and wrinkles up his forehead and lifts his head to look around.