If Life Was Easy

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T19:16:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
I'm a little, okay let's be honest, A LOT behind in the blogging department. To say the past 2 months have been busy would be an understatement. We have been extremely blessed and by many standards are very lucky. Life has kicked us down, dragged us in the mud, and yet we're better off than many others. I have new family pictures to post, events to document and things to be grateful for. I have 1 last project that needs to be done by the end of the week and then I hope to catch up on our events of late.

New Job

2011-10-28T20:28:00.000-07:00

It's been crazy the past few days. I have a new job that I didn't really apply for...but I'm happy about it. Here's how it all went down.
Last Saturday I was visiting my mother-in-law at Legacy (a skilled nursing facility) nearby and was walking in the hallway with her. As we walked back to her room there was a physical therapist getting a patient in the hall. My mother-in-law is quite proud that I do what I do and introduced me as "this is my daughter-in-law who is a physical therapist." Well this PT also happened to be the Rehab director, he looked at me and asked "When do you want to work?"
I had the boys with me of course so I asked if I could call him the following week. He later dropped off his business card to my m-i-law and she passed it to me. I called on Tues, he had left for the day. Wednesday I happed to be up in that area so I printed off a resume and wandered in to see what it was all about. He saw me and asked "Do you have something for me?" I told him I had a resume and he escorted me to his office handed me an application and told me that he had to have me fill it out to go through the proper channels and told me to just put "see resume" on most of it. As I did that he wrote down days that he needs in the next 2 months.
I walked out 20 minutes from the time I got there and had a job that I hadn't necessarily intended to apply for. I actually worked today and REALLY enjoyed it. So I'll be picking up a few more shifts. That's got to be some kind of record, beginning a job that I hadn't really applied for and starting less than 48 hours later.
Man, I LOVE that I have a job that I love and have so much opportunity to work and help others.

2 birthday parties, 1 day, EXHAUSTED

2011-09-25T21:34:00.000-07:00

We may be a little crazy, okay a lot. But in the end We still feel that it was worth it. We decided to have 2 parties on the same day, 1 in the morning for Jace, 1 in the afternoon for Levi. We figured that for the most part is was about the same amount of work. We made the decorations interchangeable, rented a bounce house, made a bunch of cupcakes, a cake and a ton of frosting.

Jace wanted a Pirate Party so his invitations were a message in a bottle (forgot to take a picture of course, but they turned out super cute). I found pirate costumes for $1.00 at littletikes.com (1.50 with shipping) figured I couldn't put together a treat bag for that price.

Invited about 16 kids (not all were able to make it). Some kids weren't too thrilled about dressing up as they are a little shy. We even had cousins that were able to come down from Garden City to be here.

Levi showing his sword skills. I decided to do cupcakes for Jace's party, that was probably the way to go and should have done the same for Levi's party. Oh well, live and learn.

Levi wanted a transformer birthday and it was very important that there be a transformer on his cake, thus, I made a cake instead of cupcakes. The invitations were a shirt that had a silver autobot symbol on the front and a black decepticon symbol on the back (again cheaper than a goodie bag) The invitation read:

Are Youan Autobot or a decepticon?

Chooseyour side and join us for the ultimate Battle to celebrate Levi’s 5^thBirthday

Yes, in this picture there are 23 kids (and a few weren't able to come), and a couple had already left to go home. This was definitely the more lively of the 2 parties as they are a little older and had a blast on the bounce house/slide.

Of note, Levi received 13 transformers and has be busy ever since. We grabbed a couple to the side in order to space the transformer mania out. This Friday is Levi's actual birthday and Rick has 2 more transformers for him and his Grandma Cook has another one. So it looks like we'll be getting a bigger bucket to keep them in.

All in all it was a super fun day, we even had pizza for all the cousins (who came to both parties) aunts and uncle for lunch in between the 2 parties. We tried to have some "quiet time" as well but the kids wanted to get back to the bounce house as soon as possible. My sis-in-law was able to get her younger ones down but the rest were too excited to be with each other and play.

But by the end of the day, Rick and I were EXHAUSTED. At 8:00 the boys had crashed with very little of the bedtime stalling. I felt like it was after midnight and I had been out partying (oh, the college days), boy, we're getting old.

Canning

2011-09-25T20:49:00.000-07:00

Last week I spent a whole day canning. 9 quarts of pears, 34 pints of tomatoes. Still planning on apples, apple juice and hopefully grape juice. My sister-in-law just gave me peaches...and I got called in to work for tomorrow. Guess I'll be canning when I get home. It shouldn't be too many peaches, maybe 7 quarts.

Building

2011-09-25T20:44:00.000-07:00

About a month ago I quit one of my jobs and am able to spend a little more time at home with the boys now. I'm still adjusting to having more "down" time. Actually I now get to pursue some of my interests.
So far I've done about 3 builds. I get most of my ideas from ana-white.com. It's a fanastic website that has tons of free intructions for building furniture and things. The first was a pantry shelving that attaches to the pantry door. It's definitely not perfect, but it gave me a ton more space for spices, etc. In fact, I now have an empty shelf in a cabinet. Of course I don't have a picture of it. The next build was this closet organization. before it was just a clothing rod with 1 long shelf over it and about 3 feet of unused space above it. So instead I built some shelves, moved the bar and added another one. So much more space, my clothes are no longer crammed in. Last build was a silverware drawer organizer, need to make a few adjustments to it still.

Little Helpers

2011-09-25T20:32:00.000-07:00

The boys love "helping" out in the kitchen. On game day they were making the infamous Cook cream cheese dip. And yes, Rick is standing on a chair.

First day of School

2011-09-25T20:26:00.000-07:00

Levi's first day of preschool was September 6th. He is attending the same one as last year and has really looked forward to seeing Miss Mindy again. About 1/2 the class is the same as last year. He's been sounding out words trying to spell them. It's crazy how much bigger he is than last year.

Jace's birthday

2011-09-25T20:19:00.000-07:00

Jace had his 3rd birthday this month. I've been slacking a lot on blogging our happenings, but Jace wanted a Pirate Party. This was the birthday cake for our family party with the grandparents. A treasure chest, he was pretty excited to dig into it all day. I had to hide it for awhile.

Jace loved opening the gifts from his grandparents and has had a lot of fun playing with them since. His favorite present was from Levi, a gumball machine (Levi picked it out himself), this kid loves gum.

Tip-Toe

2011-09-01T21:00:00.001-07:00

About a month ago we took the boys to Lagoon. As we were leaving Levi saw a group of Lagoon security officers and wanted to talk to them. He told them how old he was, his name, blah, blah, blah. One of them asked him what his favorite ride was and he replied "The one I had to stand on my tippy toes for" They replied "we didn't hear that"

That ride would be the roller coaster which he is just a bit too short for.

The Backpack

2011-09-01T21:00:00.000-07:00

Since Levi got a backpack for preschool (of course he needed a new one, the one that he used 2 hrs/day, 3 days/week just wouldn't do) Jace inherited the one from last year. Since then he has been toting it everywhere.

Today we went with my sister-in-law and her daughter to scout out photo locations in Logan for her upcoming shoots. Jace got his back pack ready to go. The contents:

3 sippy cups (which actually came in handy)

1 flip flop (the one I've been searching for the last 2 days)

fish crackers in a baggy (a treat of course, not sure how he got those, maybe left from Sunday)

1 coloring book

1 colored pencil-blue

and a spindle of DVDs (no idea

Ready for Summer (maybe not)

2011-06-05T14:28:00.000-07:00

Summer is just around the corner and we have a lot of plans for some fun activities, a family reunion, Raspberry Days, swim lessons starting next week.

Levi's last day of school was last week. I was able to take off of work in order to attend the little program. What we weren't counting on was Levi doing a "back flip" on the FiestaSac and splitting his eye open 90 minutes prior to the start of that program. I saw that it was deep and since it was on his face I decided to rush him over to the InstaCare. Luckily we walked in about 3 minutes before they opened so we were the first to be seen. A little over an hour later we walked out with "stitches". The were able to glue the laceration and we were on our way. He was able to participate in the preschool program, messy hair and all. Here he is with his preschool teacher "Miss Mindy". He has really loved preschool this year.

We also weren't planning on this past Friday rushing to the emergency room...

Friday night Rick was out getting a movie at Redbox when Levi came down and started talking to me. I reminded him that it was 8:45 and needed to be in bed. He went upstairs and I turned back to the laptop. A few minutes later I heard some rustling up in his room and seconds later heard him start crying... that hurt cry that you know something is wrong. As I hurried up the stairs, I turned the corner to go up the second flight of stairs and realized that the crying was from outside and the front door was locked. As I flung open the front door I realized a parent's worst fear, my child had FALLEN out of his bedroom window. I rushed to him and began to inspect him for injury but it was dark and so I scooped him up and got him inside to look at him. He was bleeding inside his mouth and had grass in there also. I couldn't find any evidence of concussion or major trauma but knew we needed to get him to the hospital.

I called Rick and asked where he was, he was almost home, I told him what happened and to get home. I next called my neighbor and asked if she would come sit with Jace who was in bed. She got here the same time Rick pulled in. I loaded Levi in his car seat and scrunched in next to him. Rick wanted to take him to Davis but I said "No way, go to McKay" He replied "I can be to Davis in 5 minutes" I said "I don't care, go to McKay" (since I work there I know the procedures there and am more comfortable with the care they provide, besides, they LifeFlight to Primary Children's if need be). I have no idea how long it took to get there, Rick drove pretty fast. As we were driving I called up to the Emergency Department and told them what had happened.

Rick pulled up to the door and I rushed in with Levi in my arms.

The staff was incredible, they asked if I was the one who had called and ushered my right back to a trauma room where a whole staff was waiting for us. They quickly hooked him up to monitors and the doctor examined him. There was no evidence of head trauma so following the exam we went for x-rays. While in the booth I could tell that his right arm was broken but of course they were very professional and wouldn't confirm what they saw.

During the waiting time that followed our Bishop arrived (he's our next door neighbor whose daughter was watching Jace), he had been at a movie with his son when she called and left a message. He and Rick administered to Levi and Levi was able to go to sleep and rest.

Awhile later we found out that he had fractured the radius and ulna bones in both arms and would need to be splinted tonight and then casted in a few days. And while swim lessons are now going to have to wait until August, at least that's all that happened. He is a lucky little boy.

Here he is with his new "robot arms".

He was much happier after his dad brought back a new "Lego Hero Factory" toy.

Evidently he was "waving good night to Kasyn" his buddy down the street. You can see where his little hand went right through the screen. We didn't think he could even open the window. Lesson to everyone out there, put a mechanism in the window to keep in closed, or at least not open easily. There were 4 other incidents like this earlier in the week and 1 even resulted in a death of a 2 year old. We were planning on putting something in the boys room soon. They're in place now.

We are very grateful to the staff at McKay Dee hospital. We are also very grateful and lucky to have great neighbors who dropped everything to help us out.

Now we just have to keep Levi "down" for the next few days until we get the casts.

The nicest Mom

2011-05-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Levi asked if he could do something, I said "no". He said "but Kasyn's mom let's him" I replied "well Kasyn's mom must be nicer than your mom."
Well a few days ago we ere at the store when Levi noticed a boy doing something that I would not have allowed him to do and stated "HIS mom must be NICER than you" Yep. At least he realized that I wouldn't have allowed him to act that way.

Naked

2011-04-19T13:09:00.000-07:00

Recently Jace likes to strip down to nothing and run around. Levi thinks it's part of a superhero game.

Levi: "I am Pajama Boy and you are my sidekick Naked Boy" (picture not included for obvious reasons)

Opening Day

2011-04-03T10:03:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was opening day at the local amusement park, Lagoon. Originally we were going to go to Disneyland this May but the thought of 10 hours in a car each way with Jace deterred us. Instead we decided to do a "Stay-cation" (later this spring) which includes season passes to Lagoon. After a day at Lagoon, we made the right decision. Boy are we glad!!! The day started off great! Our first ride was the bumper cars, the boys loved them. Then we headed over to the Dragonfly...and that pretty much was Jace's last ride... They had to stop the ride so that he could get off. Can you see the look of terror? Then we tried the little cars, no go... The day continued on about like that. Levi on the other hand went on about 20 rides, big and little and LOVED it.

The weather was perfect, overcast but warm enough for short sleeves and jeans. That is until you go on the slide that you sit in a raft and go down a tube with water. Rick and Levi fared okay but Jace and I had a wave go over us and were both soaked. Brrrrr. Jace at least had a dry jacket so we stripped off his wet shirt at least. Luckily shortly after he fell asleep and I was able to bundle him up with Levi's jacket. Myself, I think I get mommy points for tuff-ing it out until we decided to go home 4 hours later. It took a 20 min HOT shower to not be chilled. Overall we had a great time and look forward to going again, hopefully Jace will warm up to the rides and get more brave. Pretty glad we didn't find out that Jace doesn't like the rides after spending the $$$ to go to Disneyland.

Spring

2011-04-03T09:55:00.000-07:00

We've had some terrific weather the past few days, so we pulled out the sidewalk chalk and let the boys play for awhile. It was so nice to sit outside and enjoy the warmth.

A Much Needed Break

2011-03-06T19:35:00.000-08:00

Rick and I decided to celebrate our anniversary a little early this year. We are anticipating big changes in the next 3-6 months or so and decided now was the time to spend some good ole one-on-one time with each other.

Saturday Feb 26th we flew to Los Angeles and boarded the Norwegian Star on a 7-day cruise to the Mexican Riviera. My brother & sister-in-law were brave enough to take our 2 little guys for us. It was nice knowing that they were being well taken care of and in good hands. Not to mention Levi would spend every waking moment if he could with his cousin Evie. The itinerary was to leave L.A., a day at sea, then a day in Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerta Vallerta. Due to violence in the region and a unexpected medical emergency for another passenger, we ended up with a lot of days at sea and 1 day in Cabo and 1 in Puerta Vallerta.

We saw a lot of beautiful sunsets at sea, unfortunately didn't see any sunrises as we slept in every chance we got.

In Cabo San Lucas we went snorkeling at Santa Maria Bay (haven't taken the waterproof camera to get developed yet).

After snorkeling we had a few hours to grab some lunch at the Gigglin' Marlin, shop for a few souvenirs and hold an Iguana.

Next we were off to Puerta Vallerta, we got in early and took a taxi to town and walked around on the beach for a few minutes before we boarded a bus for our zip line adventure.

We had such a fun time. There was a total of 14 zip lines that spanned approximately 2 miles of the tropical forests there.

It was crazy fun speeding along the zip line over ravines. Some of the rides were tandem with one of the guides in which they spun us around and had us hang upside down.

A little dangerous but totally worth the ride. We had lunch, super yummy fajitas and guacamole, salsa and chips.

It would have been nice to do a little swimming in the river but we didn't think that we shad enough time. Then headed back to the ship.

While on the ship we enjoyed shows every night, ate way too much food and just relaxed. Most of the time it was really nice weather. I laid out on the pool deck and got a little sun while reading a book. We took naps every day (a rarity at home) and just enjoyed spending time with one another. When we landed back in L.A. Rick's sister and brother-in-law Chris and Jurgen came to pick us up and we were able to spend a few hours visiting them and seeing their new home before heading to the airport. We got home yesterday night and it was really good to see the boys again, we missed them a lot, even though we did need the break. They had SO much fun at their cousins but were excited to see us also. Jace wanted us to hold him the first 10 minutes and just kept stroking Rick's shoulder and saying "Daddy". Levi had just woken up from his nap and was a little groggy but said "do we get to go home now?"

A much needed break but good to get home.

My favorite picture of the trip...

From the mouth of Levi

2011-02-13T20:29:00.000-08:00

The other day Levi came up and asked me if my belly was big. I replied "no, does it look big?" He simply said "yes" and walked away. Ouch, I know I've got a few pounds to lose but really???
The next day he came up and said, "Mom, Erin's belly is big because she has a baby in there, right?" Me "Yep", Levi "Mom, maybe we can get a baby and then go to the doctor and he can cut open your belly and put the baby in so your belly will be big too" Me "buddy, it doesn't quite work that way"
He put a lot of thought into that though. Can you tell there are 17 women in are ward that are pregnant? Some thing in the water...

"RC"

2011-02-06T21:29:00.000-08:00

Levi has been going through a stage (I hope it's only a stage) where he has major tantrums. He'll run up the stairs, slam the door and stay in his room over the smallest things. We've tried many different methods and hopefully we've landed on one that works. We have a chart for each boy numbered 1-10. Each day that there are no major meltdowns and that he behaves, he gets a sticker. When he gets to the end, he gets a prize.
Well today was the day. He got the 10th sticker today (it only took about 3 weeks, and over 1/2 the stickers have been in the past week, he has finally caught the concept)!!! He was pretty excited. His first prize was a transformer "RC" which is a motorcycle one that he's been wanting.
He was so excited when that was what I gave him. He said "Mom, this is the very best present that I've ever got!" I asked "better than Optimus Prime, or spiderman?" Levi "oh yeah, it's the best, I'm going to sleep with it tonight."
He's up in bed asleep now, "RC" is resting on his tummy.

Barking Spider

2011-02-06T21:21:00.000-08:00

In our home there are 3 boys and 1 girl. Needless to say crude humor is a given. Last week our home teachers were over and Jace was snuggling on my lap after his nap. David (who's 14) was sharing a scripture when Jace ripped the biggest, longest toot ever. His eyes got big and he looked around and said "Barking spider?". It was all we could do not to bust up laughing. I have to give David credit, although he had to suppress a giggle, he kept on going and share his lesson that he prepared.

New Years Resolutions

2011-01-08T21:52:00.000-08:00

My attempt at "organization". I actually don't do much with New Year's Resolutions. But it just so happened that I was working on this and it is the start of 2011. We had most of the bins before but hadn't put the labels on. HUGE difference!!! Now the house isn't sparkling clean but it is significantly more picked up since the boys can sort the toys into the appropriate bins. Plus, when they want a particular toy, they go to the right bin instead of dumping 3 to find it.

Christmas 2010

2011-01-08T21:20:00.000-08:00

We had a very Merry Christmas. It was a very fun year. The boys are beginning to understand the true meaning of Christmas and were very excited about all the presents that Santa would bring.

A few of the favorites were a bunch of "dress-ups" (boy style). There were transformers, spiderman, ironman, Captain America, power rangers, and pirates (thank you Halloween clearance). The boys love to get dressed up and run around for hours.

Another favorite was Imaginext Bat Cave. It's been great for the boys to play together with and learn to share better. They actually do play together very well with it.

Rick got his new girlfriend (a 47in HDTV) and I got a vacuum and a compact camera.
We have been very blessed this year, and know that the next year will bring new challenges but are looking forward to facing them head on.
We are looking forward to many more Christmas' together.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-07T20:31:00.001-08:00

It's pretty busy this time of year, from our home to yours: "We wish you a Merry Christmas"

First Snow

2010-12-07T20:24:00.001-08:00

The first snow that stuck around long enough to play in

Family Pics 2010

2010-11-14T20:17:00.001-08:00

My super talented sister-in-law took our family photos again this year. I'm sure grateful that she was able to schedule us into her busy photo shoot schedule. I think that I ordered one of every picture. Wish I could post them all but it would take forever.

One of my favorites is this one of the boys, Jace was so proud that he was doing what the big boys were doing.

Halloween

2010-11-14T20:06:00.001-08:00

I know, I've slacked on posting Halloween pics, the boys were a Pirate and a Pirate's Monkey. And yes, that is Levi's monkey costume from 2 years ago. It was too cute to not use it again, so I decided to "upcycle" it. The boys had a great time and really got into trick-or-treating. Too bad it was raining and we only got to do about 10 houses before we it got too wet. Luckily the boys didn't know the difference and had fun playing with their cousins.
My pirate's monkey.

Levi giving his best "aargh".

Tonsils

2010-10-24T09:08:00.001-07:00

Our family is now tonsil-less. A few weeks ago I took Jace in to see our ENT physician to take a look at his tonsils for several reasons: 1. He is a constant drooler (we thought he would outgrow it). 2. I am concerned with all his allergies and want as much space in his little throat as possible if he has an anaphylactic episode. 3. We've met his deductible for the year.

The doctor thought that they were large for his age and would need to come out within the next year or so anyway so we decided to just go ahead and get it done.

The morning of the surgery we got there at 6:45 a.m., way too early if you ask me... Jace was the first surgery of the day and they were waiting for us. They did such a great job and really try to put the kiddo at ease. After getting weighed they let him pick out a stuffed animal. Then we spoke to the surgical nurse, the anesthesiologist and finally our surgeon. Then the anesthesiologist came back to give him a "ride" in the wagon (off to surgery).

The surgery lasted all of about 20 minutes and then Dr. Barlow came and told me that Jace did well and they took out a lot of adenoid tissue and his tonsils looked like they had been chronically infected, don't know why our family is so prone to strep. And we didn't even know Jace had a sore throat, usually they say under 2 they don't get strep throat, instead they get ear infections. Anyhow, he has done pretty well since, likes to cuddle a lot (that's a change), but we have been struggling keeping the pain under control for him. Hopefully we're past the worst part and he'll just continue to get better.

Pause

2010-10-17T17:56:00.000-07:00

The other night I was reading stories to Jace and Levi in the little one's room. Levi pointed at me and acted like he was using a remote control and said "Pause", ran to his room, came back and made a clicking motion again and said "Play". Obviously too much TV.

Black Island Farms

2010-10-11T21:07:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went to the Black Island Farms in Syracuse. We bought the combo pass that included the corn maze, courtyard activities, and hay ride. I got a ton of fun pics:

In the courtyard they had a big bounce house shaped like a pumpkin and slides made out of hay bales and PVC pipe. Some of the slides looked really big and I thought that they might be too big for the boys. Levi saw the really big slide and ran right up and slid down several times. Jace followed right behind (I went on the big slide with him but he did the rest on his own).

We just did the kiddie corn maze (I get lost way too easily in the big mazes, I've actually never found my way out of one, just follow others that figure it out).

They had some barrels painted like pigs and cows for the kids to ride in, I couldn't fit it them darn it.

The hay ride was a lot of fun. The kids got to pick out their own pumpkin and really liked riding behind the tractor.

Levi actually picked the smallest pumpkin for himself. Jace's pumpkin was bigger than he was.

Admiring their haul.

It was a fun family outing.

SuperHero Birthday Party

2010-10-03T20:06:00.000-07:00

For the past week Levi has woken up everyday and asked "am I 4 now?" Each day I would tell him not yet and he sigh and lay back down to sleep and be a little ornery for awhile. Well Levi's birthday was Sept. 30th and that morning we went through this same routine but he asked with a super sad/defeated voice, when I told him that he was now 4, his eyes got really big and he shouted "Hoooooray!!!"
All he ever wants is to play "super hero". He couldn't decide on which superhero was his favorite so we just combined them all. We had a Superman cake,

Transformer pinata,

Batman for a sidekick,

and a very happy Superman.

We invited all the kids from Levi's primary class and a few neighborhood friends. Suprisingly all but 2 showed up (brothers who were sick that day). We had anywhere from 15-20 kids, I didn't really count, I know that I made 24 cupcakes and barring the 2 the boys had at lunch, I passed the rest out to the kids.

We rented a bounce house/slide which was probably a little over the top, but the kids had a blast. I ended up with a sinus infection that day and was pretty miserable but how do you tell a 4 year old that he can't have a party that he's been looking forward to for a month.

Thankfully we had already rented the bounce house and it was worth every penny to have them come set it up, take it down, and not have to try to entertain 15+ 4 year olds or run games for them. They could just play, play, play, stop for presents, play, stop for the pinata, play, have treats and go home.

Our boys played on the bounce house off and on all day long and we invited a couple cousins to come over early, I think we got our moneys worth. I think that we may do that again.

Girls Night

2010-09-17T21:10:00.001-07:00

My sister procured tickets to the Lion King and we had a night out. We went to Boccia's for dinner, mmmmmmm! Then we walked up to the theater and enjoyed a spectacular show. The costumes and artistry were amazing. The Lion King has always been one of my favorite cartoons so it was neat to see it brought to life. I think that it will be something that I take my boys to when they are older and can appreciate (sit through) it.

Birthday Boy

2010-09-17T20:50:00.001-07:00

The big 2. He is such an independant little boy and loves to do anything that his brother is doing.
I think that his favorite phrase is "I do it". He also loves to climb on just about anything. It was a little suprising when he let Levi help him blow out candles and open his presents. I think that Levi was more excited for Jace's birthday than anyone.

At Jace's 2 year old doctor appointment he weighed 33.25 lbs (94th percentile), and was 35.5 inches (77th percentile). Yes, he is on his way to be a linebacker.
During his immunizations I told him that he was going to get a shot and that it was going to hurt but it wouldn't hurt for long, so he needed to be a big boy and not cry. He said "okay, I big boy". As they gave him the shot, big tears welled up in his eyes and he began to cry. I told him "it's all done" He looked up at me with those big blue eyes and said "All done" wiped both cheeks with the back of his hands and said "No tears, no tears, I big boy". It was pretty cute.

Birthday Cake

2010-09-02T21:35:00.001-07:00

Jace turns 2 tomorrow! I can't believe how big he's getting. I will post pics later of the party. I decided to try to make a Lego cake. My cake decorating skills leave much to be desired but I wasn't up to trying to do Fondant.

Preschool orientation

2010-09-02T21:28:00.001-07:00

Levi's orientation for preschool was on Wednesday. He got up and didn't want to get dressed until I told him that we were going to meet his teacher (that was at 7:30). He quickly got dressed and put on his backpack and said "let's go to school". I told him that I had to go to work for a couple hours but then would be back to take him. He wore his backpack until I got home at 11 and met me at the door ready to go.

His teacher was really nice and he talked about going back all day long.

Bear Lake 2010

2010-08-29T21:26:00.000-07:00

We went up to Bear Lake for Raspberry Days. How is it that we love going up there to visit my brother and his family but we never make it over to get the famous raspberry shakes? We tend to get so busy that it's suddenly Sunday and we are heading home.

The kids had a ton of fun playing on the inflatable toys and seeing cousins.

We went to the town breakfast and the raspberry syrup was stinkin' yummy!

It was a fun little get away.

Train Ride

2010-08-29T21:11:00.000-07:00

On another much needed day off, Rick and I decided to take the Front Runner to Salt Lake and go to the Children's Museum. The boys were very excited to ride on the train. Bribery to ride on the train worked fantastically. Waiting for the train.

On the train, can you see the excitement in their eyes?

The Children's Museum was fun, there was a ton for the boys to do, float things in water, be in a construction site,play on life size animals,

Climb walls,

Dress up and be a star on your own stage,

and figure out how to make things work.

At the end of our outing we had two very tired little boys on our hands.

Scaredy Cat

2010-08-29T20:35:00.000-07:00

Last week I had the day off so Rick and I took the boys to the Tracy Aviary to get our annual pass ($40/year and admission to a ton of great activities). It is amazing to see some of these birds so closely.

With the vulture.

During the bird show we sat right under where one of the perches that the birds fly to during the show. The barn owl below buzzed our heads. I didn't have my camera in sports mode dang it!

After the fly by, Levi wanted to leave and said that he was scared (Jace was digging it!). Rick turned to me and said "I think that we have a little scaredy cat" Levi turned and replied "No Dad, I'm a LOT of scaredy cat!"

Levi-isms

2010-08-16T21:38:00.000-07:00

Levi has been cracking us up lately. Some of his funny sayings this past week:

At cousin Nate's wedding: "Ariel looks like a princess... She is beautiful...Mom, you are beautiful too"

When Rick was putting him to bed: "Dad, am I afraid of the dark?"

Eating cinnamon burst bread from Great Harvest (in a very serious tone and matter of fact): "Dad, this is fantastic"

Jace and Levi playing hide and seek with Dad. Jace was standing at the top of the stairs and Levi opened the closet door, "psst, Jace come hide in here"
A separate time playing hide and seek (they giggle the whole time and aren't very good at hiding) Rick walks into Levi's room (boys hiding in the closet) and said "Are my boys in here?" Jace "No" giggle, giggle, giggle

I've taught the boys correct terminology for body parts, sometimes that's a good idea...
I was ordering Levi jeans online and was measuring Levi's waist and inseam. Levi looks and me and says, "Mom, do you want to measure my penis?"

Boogers

2010-07-15T20:51:00.000-07:00

4 a.m.
Levi: "Daddy, I have a bloody nose"
Daddy: "Don't pick your nose, that's why you get bloody noses."
Gets him cleaned up and back to bed
7 a.m.
Levi: "Daddy I have another bloody nose"
I go get him cleaned up and ask "Why did you get a bloody nose?"
Levi: "cause I was pickin my nose"
Mommy: "are you supposed to pick your nose?"
Levi: "but I like to pick my nose"
Keep cleaning him up
Levi: "I got 3 boogers out of this side and 2 boogers out of this side"
Mommy: "What did you do with the boogers?"
Levi proudly: "I ate them"
Mommy: "Don't eat your boogers, that's yucky"
Levi: "I like my boogers... they taste good... my boogers have juice in them..."
I keep telling myself, it's just a phase.

Choosing a movie

2010-07-06T21:24:00.000-07:00

4th of July

2010-07-06T20:56:00.000-07:00

We had a great 4th of July weekend! It started on Fri when I got called off of work and was able to take the boys to meet my sister-in-law and take them swimming at the Bountiful rec center. There was a pirate ship that they could slide down and the boys loved being in the water.
Later that day Rick and I went out to celebrate my birthday by going to Maddox Steak house for dinner and then to a movie. I had a shrimp steak, sounds a little weird, but it was FABULOUS!!! Then we went to the movie Eclipse. It was funny to hear all the people cheer and such for different parts in the movie.
Saturday we went tot he Clearfield parade. The boys had a blast getting candy.

Jace didn't care much for the sirens, but loved the doughnuts.

Levi did well until Jace pushed him backward and he konked his head on the curb.

My boys with their buddy.

After the parade we went to Cherry days in North Ogden while Rick went golfing with his brothers. As soon as I had parked on the curb and opened the van doors Levi bolted into the crowd while I was standing there trying to get Jace out of the van. I was able to grab a 12 year old girl walking by and asked her to help my by staying with Jace at the van. I then ran after Levi. He had run to the bounce house and looked at me with those big eyes and said sadly "She said I can't go in without a ticket." I explained that he couldn't run off by himself EVER. We went back, thanked the girl profusely and then met our friends. We looked at the booths, let the kids play on the blow-up toys, and ate yummy food, funnel cakes, Mmmmmmm.

After naps Rick and I took the boys to Fisher Park in Clearfield for the festivities and fireworks. Jace made a break for it and after giving him a treat, looking away long enough to put the treat away, he was GONE! Rick and I began searching for him (in a crowd of 35,000 people). Jace went about 50 feet away, decided to come back and waddled his way back. We'd have never found him. Scared me to death!!! Next time we'll be in a crowd, he's wearing a leash!

Birthday Wishes

2010-07-06T20:46:00.001-07:00

On my birthday (Wed the 30th) Rick had class, I had work and so we decided to celebrate on Fri. However he suprised me that day by picking the boys up from the sitter, bringing them up to the clinic to give me flowers and sing "Happy Birthday". They were so super cute singing to me. My patient thought that they were adorable. I have to agree.

Bathroom Etiquette

2010-06-26T20:55:00.000-07:00

About a week ago Rick walked in on Levi using the toilet. Levi said, "Hey, wait your turn!"

Guts

2010-06-19T17:19:00.000-07:00

Today while running errands Levi sneezed and then said "my head guts are coming out". Head guts?

The Rules

2010-06-11T20:18:00.000-07:00

Per Levi:
Rule #1: You get me milk
Rule #2: You get me milk
Is it past bedtime or what?

On a side note, the other night I was working on a craft project and left my bag on the couch. Rick found Levi after the damage had already been done. Levi found it the next morning and pulled out...you guessed it, the super sharp craft scissors.
Rick found him after he had made several cuts into one of the throw pillows. My fault totally but he still got disciplined. His first reaction was "but it was an accident" I told him that it wasn't an accident so he said "but I'm sorry..." I said that I knew he was but he was still in trouble. He finally looked at the pillow and said "you just need to put some tape on it". Why didn't I think of that solution?

The Reasons for Naptime

2010-06-06T20:42:00.000-07:00

Several months ago Levi decided that he doesn't need a nap. We disagree...

Typically he has "quiet time" while Jace is napping (whether it is here or at daycare). Usually he watches a show or just plays inside. The problem however arises about 4 or 5 pm. He gets super cranky and if we don't keep an eye on him, he is asleep. Especially if we drive anywhere. Then, if he does get 20 or 30 min it is a fight to get him to bed at night.

Today we caught a break, we went to my parents for dinner and let the kids play until about 8 which is a little past Jace's bedtime but we didn't want Levi to go to sleep on the way home if we left too early. About 5 min from home Levi fell asleep and we were able to transfer him in to bed and get Jace down quickly. At 8:30, both boys were in bed and it was quiet in the house.

We may go for a drive at 8 every night.

My New Toy

2010-05-23T19:02:00.000-07:00

I've been researching these bike trailers for over 6 months and debating whether to get one or not and if I should spend the extra money to get one that converts into a stroller as well. Well the debate is over and I'm super happy I got this for me and the boys. I finally broke down and purchased this a few weeks ago online. Levi and I picked it up last Wed. He of course immediately wanted to go for a ride. I still had to go back to work but promised him that we would go out that night after dinner.

As dinner cooked I quickly got it put together and the boys were so excited to go! As I pedalled I could hear them giggling and talking to each other. Levi would say "Give me five...up high...cut the pickle...tickle, tickle" They had so much fun. We were only out for about 30 min ( I wanted to make sure everything was secure before we got too far from home) but had fun.

The next night after I got off work I asked if they wanted to go for another ride. Jace didn't even want to come inside so that I could change my clothes! We haven't been able to go the last couple days because of bad weather but are looking forward to going soon. We've even ordered an extra bike attachment for Rick's bike so that we can take turns and easily switch the trailer from bike to bike.

If you were wondering I did go for the stroller option, just in case we needed it. We now have 4 different strollers (and only 2 kids), the single jog stroller, double jog stroller, umbrella stroller, and the new one. I guess it's nice to have the option of which one to use.

Line It Up

2010-05-23T18:44:00.001-07:00

If you'll notice the line extending beyond Jace... He started doing this a few weeks ago. Levi used to do it with cars when he was Jace's age. He would have cars lined up extending 15 feet across the family room and would even line them up by size. I'm sure Jace will have animals going across the room soon enough. (Man, look how clean that room 2 years ago was with only 1 kid, it's rarely that clean now!) Jace above with animals, Levi below (2 years ago)

Hard Work

2010-05-09T19:57:00.001-07:00

Rick had a week off between finals and summer term so he watched the boys a lot (while I was at work) and got some projects done. I helped after I got off of work and any time I could find a minute. We did some small projects like painting trim in the bathroom and fixing vents, and then when the weather cooperated we (he) tackled the big projects.
#1 on the list: Get rid of the island in the front yard. He hauled wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of dirt to the garden, flower beds and a neighbor even came and took some of it home. Then he laid the sod. You can still see the edges but hopefully it'll blend in well. I can't even describe how good it looks and how nice it is to have that monstrosity gone.

Next on the list was the kid's play area. We leveled the area, laid weed guard, brought back in the playground stuff we had and got some of the rubber mulch. The kid's have a great time playing in it. It took a few days to get the border down and finished. The bright green stuff on the edges is "bare-spot repair" Hopefully the grass comes in soon before Jace pulls it all up.

I also planted strawberries and got the garden ready to go (still unplanted). The last big project in the back yard is to put up a fence to keep the kids out of it. Currently they play follow the leader up and over the rows.
Last fall I planted a bunch of tulips and daffodils. They are coming in GREAT!!! I'm so excited because they have come a long way from the weed infested, bark covered, clay soil area it was just a few years ago. I hope to get some more landscaping rocks and get more plants in soon.

It's finally starting to look like someone cares about this yard and is trying to take care of it.

Home Again, Home Again

2010-04-19T20:31:00.001-07:00

We spent last Wed through Fri night at McKay Dee hospital. I thought that Jace just had a little cold but on Wed he started wheezing so I took him over to the kids care clinic and after 2 breathing treatments and a round of oral steriods the doctor informed me that he was going to need to be admitted to the hospital, run home, grab a bag and get to the hospital ASAP. We spent the next 2 days with intermittent sleep, lots of breathing treatments and a lot of waiting around.
Jace thought that he was having a fabulous time, flirting with the nurses, running up and down the halls with a mask on, playing with the toys they brought and spending one on one time with mom. He would run up and down the halls with a mask on wheezing away and stopping to laugh and say "hi" to everyone and giggle at the nurses.

I have a super cute pic of him getting ready for a bath with his little bum hanging out of the back of his gown. I would post it but don't want to get reported for obscene photos. But it's dang cute.
They diagnosed him with reactive airway disorder (RAD) similar to asthma, when I took him for a follow-up today the doctor thinks that it was probably due to a reaction to a virus (another kid at daycare was diagnosed with croup the same day. The doctor said that the same virus can affect kids differently depending on age.
Anyhow, we are now home and Jace is doing much better. We are doing breathing treatments every 6 hours now (instead of 4) and continuing to wean down. He's still happy as ever and actually seems to enjoy the breathing treatments.

He has been listening

2010-04-06T21:22:00.000-07:00

Tonight at dinner Jace was a little upset that he didn't get to say the prayer, so I asked if he wanted to say it. He folded his little arms and bowed his head. I helped him start by saying "Dear Heavenly Father" he repeated then strung together a whole sentence on his own..."Tank oo for dis day" Rick and I stared at each other in amazement. He HAS been paying attention and understands so much more than we think he does. Now I've tried a couple times later today and he won't do it again, but I swear that he said it clear as could be.

Easter Hunt #2

2010-04-06T21:09:00.000-07:00

On Easter Sunday we went over to Rick's sister Cathy's home for dinner and an Easter egg hunt for the kids. As you may notice, there are no pics. I think I got several good ones but couldn't seem to remember to bring my camera home. So it is sitting at her home and I'll get it in a few weeks. The kids had a good time and it was fun to watch the older kids totally bypass the all the "easy" eggs in search of the $$$ eggs. There were 8 $$$ eggs ranging anywhere from .50 to 1.00 and one having 5.00 in it. They were pretty competitive. All in all the kids had a good time.
Monday morning at 3 a.m. I was rethinking how much candy I let the boys eat. Levi woke up puking, but after him losing his stomach every 1/2 hour till 6 a.m. I realized that it was not just the candy. Turns out everyone who was at my parents Sat night ended up getting the same thing to varying degrees. So we have been pretty busy the past 2 days. The boys both seem to be doing well now and despite being sick, have been troopers.

Egg hunt #1

2010-04-03T19:51:00.001-07:00

We decided to forego the "free" Easter egg hunts at the city park after reading about my cousin's bad experience at one last week. We already had plans for a hunt at my parent's home today and one tomorrow at Rick's sister's home.

Jace's first egg hunt. He got the hang of it pretty quickly.

Levi found his eggs and then was very helpful to his brother and cousins.

Nice Outfit

2010-04-03T19:49:00.000-07:00

There are really no words to explain.

Let's go fly a Kite!!!

2010-04-03T19:46:00.001-07:00

It has been super windy here lately with a bunch of storms blowing through. We took advantage of the wind and took the boys to the park with kites.

Did you swallow your blocks?

2010-03-28T19:05:00.000-07:00

When I got home from work the other day Jace looked as if he had swallowed all of his wooden building blocks. Instead he had just shoved them all down his shirt and DID NOT want them to be taken out. Wouldn't that be uncomfortable? It was one of those things that isn't worth having a power struggle over. So we just let him keep them in there for the next hour or two until bedtime. At that time I wasn't going to let him sleep with them so there was a little bit of a struggle.

Yesterday I wished that I had gotten my camera. Levi fell down outside and banged up his lip. He wanted a bandaid on it and even though we explained that it wouldn't stick, he was insistent. So we got a 1 inch square bandaid and put it on his lips so that it covered both the top and bottom lips. He kept it on for about 2 hours and was stinkin' funny. He would talk out the side of his mouth and was pretty adamant that he needed it on.

2010-03-06T20:57:00.000-08:00

Jace started doing this all on his own. He went from not speaking to speaking in phrases. One...Doo...Tree is his very favorite. Often he'll launch himself onto you, even when you're not looking.

Elliptical

2010-03-06T20:53:00.001-08:00

I'm not the only one who loves the elliptical. We have to keep it behind a child gate so the kids will stay off of it.

Oreos

2010-03-06T20:49:00.000-08:00

No one ever gave me the mothering advice to not give Oreos to your toddler. Not only is it black & messy on the in, but on the way out as well. Blueberries have a similar effect. Motherhood is always an adventure.

Allergic

2010-02-20T16:54:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I got a panicked call from my babysitter after she fed Jace a peanut butter sandwich. He was not a happy camper. We had fed him PB before and had wondered if he had a little bit of an allergy to it, he'd get a little rosy cheeked, but nothing like this. Luckily he didn't have any trouble breathing and after a dose of Benadryl, it got better quickly. I was able to go home and get him and Rick was done with school for the day so I headed back to work while Rick kept an eye on him. We'll follow-up with the doctor in a few weeks.

The New Love Of My Life

2010-01-31T19:13:00.000-08:00

Besides my husband and kids, this is the new love of my life. We have been wanting to get an elliptical for 3+ years and finally did it! We kept putting it off because we hadn't saved enough money or it was now good weather and I could take the stroller out with the kids. But now with me working more and it still being miserable weather, we decided to finally get one. Last year I was able to go 3-4 x week on the walking trail by our home but this year that won't be happening too often. I'm hoping that I'll still be able to get outside 1-2 times/week. I found this at ICON sporting equipment in thier refurbished/scratch-n-dent store. It's made by Reebok and I got it for a great price.

I finished putting it together Friday night and had the rare occasion to not have any kids Saturday from 1-3. Jace was taking a nap and Levi was playing at a friends house. I was able to climb on the elliptical, get in a cardio workout and then do some strengthening as well. It felt so good to workout again. If it wasn't Sunday today, I'd be working out right now. I've been feeling a little squishy lately.

Popcorn

2010-01-31T19:10:00.000-08:00

For Christmas we got a popcorn popper (no more microwave popcorn for us!). Since then we've gone through 1 1/2 bags of popcorn. We've had plain popcorn, buttered, flavored (kettle corn and white cheddar) and a few batches of caramel corn. Mmmmm.

The boys like to sit and eat popcorn and watch a cartoon. I just have to vacuum after!

Oops

2010-01-31T19:07:00.001-08:00

I left a pen down. We were wondering why Levi was so quiet in the other room.

Check out this website

2010-01-10T18:16:00.000-08:00

A few months ago I saw this website on Good Things Utah and have been hooked ever since. I check it at least once a day and have been able to save some money. This was especially helpful during Christmas time. Many items I was able to get at more than 50% off and often get free shipping!!!
Melea (the blogger) has great ways to save money and even gives you the direct links right there so you don't have to search for them. I've started getting some of the free samples in the mail and it's fun to see what's waiting for me each day in the mail.
So if you would like to save some money, check out this blog!
www.freebies2deals.com you can even just click on the button on the right.

Happy New Year

2010-01-03T21:13:00.000-08:00

We've had a lot of snow lately and I found a great place to sled by the old McKay Dee in Ogden. There are large and small hills that are perfect for kids. So for New Year's Day we decided to go sledding in the morning (after our action packed New Year's Eve of watching a movie after putting the kids to bed). We borrowed a couple of sleds from the Blass's and headed up to the hill.

Jace wasn't so sure what to think. When I put him down, he just stood there motionless.

This was Levi's first run. He lasted about 3 runs total and would rather just play in the snow. We were there about an hour and had a fun time.
This next year will be full of challenges, good times and bad. But through it all we will have each other and the gospel. I'm not sure how the quote goes exactly but the trails we face today will be seen as blessings when we reflect on them later.

As we all face the challenges of today, we wish you all the strength to endure and the ability to see the lessons that are to be learned.

Happy New Year!!!

Christmas Morning

2010-01-03T20:43:00.001-08:00

Christmas was a lot of fun this year with the boys. Levi went to see Santa 3 or 4 times and always asked for "a car, a monster, and a truck". I think Santa got the message and was able to deliver everything except the monster.
Levi really understood what Christmas was about this year, as far as the presents and Santa went. We're still working on the true meaning of Christmas with him. Jace could feel the excitement in the air and was happy to be in the action.
Christmas Eve we went to Rick's family party in Woods Cross. It is always a little crazy there, but with 90+ people from my mother-in-law down, how could it not be a little chaotic. We have dinner and get to visit with everyone, it's fun to see everyone and how fast the kids grow. There's usually someone pregnant at almost all times in this family so the family grows fast and it's often hard to keep track of everyone. After dinner, Grandma Cook gives out a gift to each person, yes, all 90+ of us. Then the kids get to do a pinata while the adults try to keep the little ones from getting too close.

Levi wanted to open every single present as fast as he could. Until he got distracted by a new toy and would then play with it for several minutes before realizing that there were more gifts to open. One of his favorite presents was this "Cars" track that was given to us by a neighbor who was planning to send it to Deseret Industries. All we had to do buy a "Car" brand car to go on it. Both he and Jace have had a ton of fun playing with it.

After we had our Christmas morning we relaxed and let the kids play for awhile before heading to my parents for brunch and more presents. Levi was pretty excited with the scooter he got from my parents and has been zipping around on it since.

Jace and Levi have enjoyed playing Candy Land 3-D style.

Rick and Jace had a good time sitting back and watching the chaos.

Around 2 o'clock Levi started to ask "can I go home, I'm tired, I just want to go home". We still had to go to Grandma Cooks for dinner and more presents.
We had a good time at Grandma Cook's and got to see Jon, Cecily and the kids.
Next year I think we are going to invite everyone to come to our home so that the kids can stay and play with their new toys.

Family Pics 2009

2010-01-03T20:34:00.001-08:00

I have a very talented sister-in-law who charges way too little and spends way too much time editing all the photos she takes. However, I am very grateful that she is willing to share her talents and help us out. I don't think I'll ever need to go to a photography studio again.

Cecily actually took pictures of my entire side of the family and did a great job with the big family photo as well as the individual families and kids. We ended up meeting with her another day to take our little families photos because the 3 year old had enough that day and was no longer cooperating.

If anyone needs some photos taken, I can get you her contact info.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-21T20:47:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

With the holidays here already, we have been super busy with work, school, and daily events. So far this year we have been to the Christmas Village lights in Ogden, made gingerbread cookies and just tried to survive the daily grind.

Lately we have had the most destructive children. I'm looking forward to the day when my boys haven't gotten into something naughty or broken something. I'll elaborate:

About 2 weeks ago my babysitter went to get Jace up from his nap. For the past month or so he wakes up from his nap, stands in the pak-n-play and then works open her dresser drawer (it has no handles and she has a hard time opening it, yet my boy gets in daily), he then proceeds to pull out all her underclothing. So she decided to move the pak-n-play to a different spot. She found him after his nap covered head to foot and sitting in a puddle of massage oil! Suprisingly, the oil washed out.

Last week Levi decided that he wanted to jump on Abbie's (her daughter) bed, he then jumped over to the Pottery Barn little kitchen set. You guessed it, crash, boom, bang, it broke. Levi cried but I think he was just scared more than he was hurt. Hopefully her husband can fix it.

Then today I get a picture text message showing that Jace had pushed off the top of the end table (it was glass of course) and it shattered. Levi was sitting inched away. Luckily no one was hurt. One more thing for us to fix.

Like I said, looking forward to the day when the boys are not in destructo mode.

Thankful

2009-11-21T12:18:00.000-08:00

With next week being Thanksgiving I thought it would be a good idea for me to acknowledge the things that I am thankful for. The past several weeks have been... in a word, CRAPPY. Rick had to have surgery AGAIN. The economy has finally hit our little family as well as the thousands out there who have lost jobs and are also struggling.
Rick's job/business (he works with the stock market) is basically in the toilet right now. He is still working but we won't be able to receive any income from it for a very long time. And because he has been "self-employed" for the past 5-6 years, he doesn't qualify for unemployment (although we have contributed our fair share to the government). We have decided that he is going to go back to school and work in a field where he will have a little more job stability.
So here is where I need to start listing what I am thankful for, because though there have been many tears, frustration, and "pity-parties", we have truely been blessed.
I am thankful for:
1. A husband who tries so hard to provide a good life for us and has always supported my dreams.
2. 2 healthy boys, though at times they try our patience, they definitely bring joy and love into our home.
3. Did I mention that we are healthy? (Despite the recent surgery)
4. We have incredible parents who have taught us well and continue to be supportive of us.
5. I was able to find an additional job, apply, get a job offer within 1 week and start working the following week. With this job, I should be able to work 1-2 days extra per week and we will be able to be okay financially.
6. An education that allows me to make a good living and provide for my family. We sacrificed for a few years to get me through school and it is definitely paying off.
7. A Heavenly Father who though His plan for us isn't always the same as my plan, he is watching out for us and helping us to face the obstacles in our paths.
8. I have many other things to be grateful for, and during hard times, those are the things I need to remember most.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-01T18:26:00.001-08:00

Levi and Jace were Cowboys for Halloween. Who knew that it would take >30 min to get 2 little boys in jeans, shirts, chaps, vest and shoes?

And that 2 little boys who normally LOVE the camera, would be SO uncooperative? (The best picture that I could get of the 2 of them.

All in all, we had a busy, fun time. The festivities started on Thursday with a party at my work for the employees and their families. Always nice to get paid to go eat food (there was a short meeting).

Friday was Trunk-or-Treat along with chili/soup and good friends to visit with.

Saturday we headed to Rick's sister Cathy's home for the night. They always have a big pot of chili and a pot of cheesy potato soup that are SO yummy, there's usually some tasty bread as well. This year we brought homemade cream soda and rootbeer. Mmmmm. Rick's mom always brings Marie Calendar pies. We always eat good and go away stuffed. We've been going to Cathy's for Halloween pretty much since we got married, it's a fun tradition.

Following dinner (or what we could get the kids to eat) we headed out trick-or-treating. Levi really understood the whole concept and got into it this year. It is fun for the cousins to get to play together and they are all within about a year in age.

The kids lasted about 1 1/2 hours and had a great time running from house to house. Jace hung out in the stroller and was a good sport. At one house Levi was running away and the owner's puppy (a black lab) got loose and chased Levi and knocked him over, Candy went everywhere! Levi was no worse for the wear and it was pretty funny to watch.

Levi and Evie "cheese-ing" for the camera.

Jace loves to find everyone's lazy susan and sit in it. He likes sitting in cupboards in general. His favorite is to carry around 2 cans of tuna that I usually have in there.

Pumpkins and Jack-O-Lanterns

2009-10-25T17:44:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago my sister-in-law Cathy invited us to go to a pumpkin patch in Farmington. Levi had a ton of fun running around with his cousin Logan and seeing his Grandma Cook and aunts, uncles and cousins.

We got to wheel carts around and pick out our favorite pumpkins. Then at the place to weigh and pay, there was a spooky farmer sitting on a hay bale with pumpkins around him. Over in the corner behind the kids backs there was a guy with a microphone who would talk to the kids and say their names. They thought that was pretty cool and would talk back to him.

The boys weren't very cooperative at my picture taking efforts.

Last week for family night we set to the task of carving the pumpkins. I'd forgotten how messy pumpkin carving is. Levi tried to help a little but ended up supervising us more than anything.

All in all, I think that they turned out pretty good. I'm looking forward to roasting pumpkin seeds tomorrow for family home evening.

Old Friends and Information Overload

2009-10-18T14:47:00.000-07:00

The past couple weeks have been busy for us. I finished my canning for the year!!! Last week I was able to add 16 pints of chicken and 17 quarts of grape juice to our food storage. I have yet to go down and get it all organized... but I'm excited that we have been able to accumulate some things to have during the next year. I've cleaned the equipment, and now just have to get it all put away. That is, unless I decide to do apple juice, hmmmmm.
The boys also keep me busy. Rick's newest theory as to why kids have so much energy is that they suck all the energy out of you to use.
This last weekend I went to the APTA (American Physical Therapy Association) conference for the state of UT. It was good to see old colleges, meet new ones and get a whole lot of good information. The orthopedic presenter was Todd Ellenbecker a physical therapy in AZ who specializes in shoulders. I learned a lot from him over the 2 day span and got some new ideas for treating shoulder patients. There were about 7 classmates of my graduating class there so it was fun to catch up with them too. It was a good two days but mentally fatiguing.

Three!!!

2009-10-02T18:51:00.001-07:00

Wednesday was Levi's birthday. But in all actuality, he's basically had a party all week long. It started with his friend party on Tuesday night, a last minute change in the date due to the storm that was to blow in on Wed. It rained and dropped 40 degrees so I was glad we had made the switch. We had his friends from the neighborhood come over for a "terrrrr"ific time to play, eat cupcakes, do a pinata and then have icecream. I made T-rex masks for each of them and cupcakes that had a little dinosaur on each of them.

As I said before they played and then had cupcakes. When it was time for the pinata all the kids ran over, except Levi. He was over at the picnic table hoarding all the little dinosaurs from the cupcakes that the kids had left on the table. Once I convinced him that he could have them later (ha,ha) he had fun taking a whack at the dinosaur pinata.

I also made a dinosaur cake, it ended up looking more like a alligator, oh well, I tried. I should have gone with my first instinct to cover the cake with coconut to look like grass and stick plastic dinosaurs on it. That would have been a lot easier (and not looked like an alligator).

Wednesday we had the grandparents over for dinner and dessert. They brought fun toys for him and he has been playing with them ever since. Jace likes to play with them too, Levi doesn't like that so much but he also confiscated Jace's b-day toys, turn-a-bout is fair play.

This is how dinosaurs eat cake. Levi was pretty mad that we wouldn't let him eat the whole cake this way.

He continues to thrill us, infuriate us, make us laugh and make our hearts melt.

The Fruits of my Spoils/Labor

2009-09-10T19:44:00.000-07:00

Above is just a little picture of the Fruits of my Labor (or however that goes). So far this year I've canned 21 quarts of peaches, 14 quarts of apricots, 10 pints spaghetti sauce, 10 pints tomatoes, 14 pints of salsa (chipotle lime, regular, some with cilantro), 12 jars of jalapeno jam, and 16 jars of blackberry jam. I've also frozen 2 gallon bags of apricot puree, 1 bag of peach puree, 1 bag of peach halves, and 5 1/2 quart bags of blackberries. But hey, who's counting...
I am planning to do some more salsa and spaghetti sauce (or at least help my friend do hers), do apples and applesauce, and I may even get to do grapes. I met a gal last week (my sister-in-law's friend) who has grapes and wants to do apples. So I think we may get to do a trade. Also chicken is on sale so I'm debating doing some of that.
For all of my friends out there who knew me way back when, did you ever think that I would be so domesticated?!? I'm quite the little Betty homemaker if I do say so myself. Realistically, this doesn't happen that often...

The Birthday Boy

2009-09-06T13:48:00.000-07:00

This past week has been a busy one. I canned 42 quarts of peaches with my friend Erin (we each went home with 21). We had zoo day, picked berries, and most important of all... celebrated Jace's 1st birthday!!!

We no longer have a baby in the house, he's officially a toddler now. We haven't been to the doctor for his 12 mo. checkup but that will be this next week. I know he's at least 24 lbs and is on the go all the time.

To start the day we went walking and then invited our friends Angie, Addison and Jake to go to the zoo with us. After the zoo it was nap time for the boys while I finished preparations for Jace's party. We had aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents over for pizza and dessert. We did a basketball themed desserts with a cake for Jace, ice cream sundaes, basketball rice crispy treats and cake balls for the rest of us.

Jace was a little tentative at first to dig into his cake but soon got the hang of it and thoroughly enjoyed himself.

Happy birthday little boy!

The rest of the week was just as busy, Saturday morning the boys and I headed up to my Aunt Linda's house after we got back from walking. Aunt Linda had a little gift for the boys for their birthdays and had invited us to come pick a flat of blackberries. Jace napped while I picked and Levi went and saw the chickens. While we were there my cousin Ashlee and her family came to pick also. It was good to see them and get a chance to catch up. Levi and Caleb had a great time exploring the property and playing with each other. It took about an hour to get my flat picked, the berries are huge (about the size of a quarter). They are now waiting for me to do something with them. I've frozen a bunch and have enough set aside to make jam tomorrow. I just ran out of time on Saturday to get everything done.

I also prepared a batch of fresh salsa using a recipe that I've been wanting to try before I make a bunch to can. It was yummy, I'll definitely be using it to can our salsa (if we ever get enough tomatoes). Saturday night I joined my mother-in-law and sister-in-law for a girls night out. We went to Costa Vida and then to see Julie&Julia. I always enjoy Costa Vida and was glad to get to spend some time with the girls.

Walking

2009-08-23T14:04:00.001-07:00

Jace has started walking!!! He doesnt' like to perform for the camera though, so I've only caught a few steps on video. I still can't get video to work on blogger so you just get a cute pic.

He actually started last Tuesday, August 18th. He took 6 steps. Now I can't remember if "walking" is defined as 5 or 10 steps. If it's 10 then he officially walked today! He also has finally figured out how to go down the stairs.

Ribbon Frames

2009-08-23T13:38:00.000-07:00

Last night (before Jace woke up) I spent working on baby shower and Christmas gifts (I know, kinda early). I made a ribbon frame for my cousin who is having a girl. I got this idea from "Good Things Utah". I'm addicted to the show, mostly for the great ideas I get.

The idea can be used to either make a hair bow holder or to weave pictures in it. All you do is take a picture frame, remove the backing and glass, put tacky tape on 2 of the inside lips (on opposite sides), put your strips of ribbon in and pull them tight, replace glass then backing ( I put a piece of white paper behind to hide the brown of the backing, but you could paint it or use scrapbook paper). It turned out really cute, the hair clips aren't hard to make either.

I'm sending it down to St. George with my mom next week to take to my cousin, I doubt that I'll be able to go down any time soon.

A "Craptastic" Day at the Aviary

2009-08-23T12:59:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law described her day as "craptastic", sometimes that's how I feel too. So I thought I'd plaguerize her saying to describe our trip to the Tracy Aviary (at least part of it).
I seriously don't understand how it can take 20 minutes (or more) to leave the house when everything was ready an hour prior to departure. The diaper bag packed, lunch bag ready. We were just waiting for Jace to wake up from his morning nap so we could leave. Yet it still took much longer than expected to leave.

Not that we were in a hurry, it just took forever.

On the way down we were in the commuter lane, cruise control set at 71 mph, a good distance behind a motorcyclist. All of a sudden he starts looking back at us, slams on his brakes and flips us off. Then he speeds up, slams on his brakes again and moves over into the left shoulder of the freeway, we had to swerve to get around him.

A few minutes later we are being pulled over by the highway patrol because a car in the far right lane (behind us) thought that we were trying to pass the motorcycle while in the HOV lane. Luckily the officer believed us and talked the motorcycle guy out of giving us a citation.

Lesson to be learned: Stay AWAY from motorcycles!!!

We had a pretty good time at the Aviary until at the end of the bird show Levi started to be naughty. He has recently started spitting, I don't know where he picked that up, but he spit and almost hit a guy in the back. He was of course disciplined but it just makes me so frustrated!

Finally we headed home and the boys went down for naps.

The rest of the day was uneventful until Jace woke up at 10:30 p.m. and just wanted to be held all night. Guess how much sleep I got?

Davis County Fair

2009-08-23T12:03:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday, Aug 15th, we took the boys to the Davis County Fair after naptimes. We thought that it would be a fun way to spend time with the boys after being gone all week. It was a great deal too. Entrance to the fair was free and parking was only $1 if you brought 2 cans of food. (of course the rides, toys and fair food add up quickly).

They had a petting area where you could feed the animals, pet them, and Levi even got to milk a cow (with help of course).

Jace had a good time seeing all the animals.

Rick and I enjoyed the funnel cakes (Levi thought it was pretty good too, but who doesn't like fried breading mixture with sugar, chocolate, caramel, etc all over it?). Levi was pretty excited to get a little toy horse.

There is nothing like seeing unabashed joy on the face of your child as he is spinning around in a circle or jumping in a bounce house.

The best part of the day is when you look at your boys, know that they are happy and that they are friends.

Vegas, baby, Vegas

2009-08-15T19:09:00.000-07:00

As I said in my last post, Rick and I were going to Las Vegas to see Phantom of the Opera Spectacular! It was AWESOME!!!

Let me just say my hubby did real good (I know, fantastic english). He surprised me back in June for my birthday with these tickets as a combo gift for my birthday and our anniversary (tomorrow will be 8 years!). He did all the planning and I just had to pack and find somewhere for the kids to stay. Our good friends the Blass' offered to take them for 4 days, 3 nights. We owe them...

We stayed at the Stratosphere, I would highly recommend it. It was really nice there because there was a lot to do without having to go through the casino much. Also it is at the north end of the strip and so it wasn't as busy, as well as convenient access to the freeway.

We got there Tuesday night and got checked in, walked around to check out the place and had some dinner. Wednesday we slept in!!! Then we bought an all-day buffet (one price, go whenever you want) so we ate there for the day. Following breakfast (at 11 a.m., gotta love sleeping in) we went up to the top of the Stratosphere to ride the rides. We got an all day pass there also. They have 3 rides, the Big Shot, the X-Scream, and the Insanity. NEVER, EVER go on those rides in the heat of the day after eating (let alone a buffet).

Our first mistake was to ever go on the Insanity. It has 5 arms that hold 2 people each and then starts to spin as in moves you over the edge of the tower so that you are looking down about 1000 feet to the ground. Not for acrophobics, but also not for anyone who wants to keep their lunch.

After the Insanity (aptly named) we had to go in where there was some air and get our equilibrium back, as well as let our stomachs settle.

Next we went on the X-Scream, much more fun. It is like a little rocket that shoots you off the side and then after a pause over the edge... it drops a few more feet so that you are looking down about 900 feet to the ground. The front seat is fantastic!

Our favorite ride by far was the Big Shot. You start at about 1000 feet up and then the thing rockets you up another 180 feet before free-falling up and down a few times. It's similar to the one at Lagoon, only a million times scarier. The following pics give you an idea of how it was.

We went on X-Scream and Big Shot several times (once was too many for Insanity). Then we took a nap, oh the luxury. That afternoon we went to the IMAX and saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The first 20 minutes were 3-D which was pretty cool. Following dinner and another nap we headed back up to the rides. They were super cool at night. We must have rode the Big Shot 7 or 8 times.

Thursday we went to the pool and then shopping to the Outlet Mall. It was more a mall than an outlet. But after Rick had been there 1 1/2 hours I decided that he'd probably had enough shopping (he made it 88 minutes more than he usually does). After yet another nap we went to the Roxy Diner (at the Stratosphere), it was a 50's type diner and had fantastic burgers and fries. The strawberry milkshakes were yummy too. They had some live entertainment, one of the waitresses sang to a couple that had just gotten married 2 hrs before and she was great.

Then we headed to the Venetian for the main event...

The Phantom of the Opera Spectacular

Before the show started we walked around the Venetian and saw the living statues, the Grand Canal (with gondola rides), and watched one of their shows while eating gellati. It wasn't exactly the same as it was in Venice but it was close.

The Phantom was AMAZING...I can't even begin to describe how good the show was so I won't try. We had a great time.

Following the show we walked around for a bit and then headed back to the hotel. Friday morning we headed home and though we were anxious to get back to the boys, we certainly are going to miss our naps, staying up late and sleeping in.

Rick, Thank you for such a great surprise and a much needed vacation.

Summer Update

2009-08-09T17:36:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe what a slacker I have been. My last post was May 30th, oops. I check out other people's blogs but don't update my own. So here goes...Summer has been busy for us. We have been enjoying our Tracy Aviary pass. We have gone to the zoo a few times and been able to invite TeeMarie in June, Cecily and the kids in July, and my friend Erin and her kids just a couple days ago. We have had amazing weather every time we've gone and it has not been too hot thankfully. Jace's favorite past-time is pulling all the bibs and kitchen towels out of the drawer...at least it's quieter than pots and pans!

Over Father's Day weekend we drove up to Bear Lake for Fri and Sat for the boys to play in a Father's Day golf tournament. The boys took 5th or 6th place and my dad won a shirt for closest ball to the hole. I hear that the shot he made hit a golf path and took a couple hops toward the pin. It was nice to relax and let the boys play with their cousins.

At the beginning of July we went to the Aviary for a member's only night and got a little tour. During the tour a bird trainer came up and showed us a horned owl that had imprinted (meaning it thinks it's human). The bird began begging making a sound that Levi immediately imitated (and sounded just like the bird). Usually owls make a hoo-hoo sound but when it was begging it made a aaa-ooo sound. Our group stood there and was entertained for several minutes by Levi and the owl. The next morning Levi wanted some of my breakfast and began making the owl begging sound, it took me a minute to figure out what he was doing. He's a sharp little guy.

Levi has been super funny lately. I've been trying to keep track of some of his sayings. Here are a few... At our nephew's wedding his Uncle David asked "Levi, what are you doing" Levi replied "I being good." A few days later Levi grabbed Rick by both cheeks and said "Look at me when I'm talking to you" On the 4th of July he was saying good-bye to Grandma Cook and said "you go home, sleep all night, you get money, yeah" (Yes, we bribe our child to sleep all night) Just tonight Levi brought an apple to Rick and asked him to take the wrapper off (the skin?!?). We get a kick out of both our boys. Just the last week Jace has been scrunching up his nose and breathing hard through it. It is one of the funniest things I've ever seen. When I try to get it on video he won't perform.

On the 4th of July we helped TeeMarie move in to her new home in Woods Cross, just a few weeks prior Jared and Tera bought a house in Washington Terrace. Wow, we are all adults now. It's hard to believe that my baby brother is as big as he is, this Sept. they are having baby #2, another boy. My poor mother is granddaughter deprived. Jared's boy will make 7 boys and only 1 girl in the grandchildren department.

After helping Tee move the majority of the day we brought the boys home for naps and then met our friends Erin and Nate and kids for the fireworks at Fisher Park. Jace was amazed and totally captivated by the fireworks, Levi was scared and hid on various adult laps. He started to enjoy them the last few minutes.

Our next adventure was to Yellowstone National Park for the Cook family reunion. We stayed at my parents timeshare condo in West Yellowstone, MT. It was so nice!!! Levi got a little beat up every day scraping some body part or another. We didn't see any bears but did see a lot of bison and a few elk. It was crazy how close you could get to the bison. We stayed >100ft away at all times but some people were within 10 ft. We got there on Thursday, the reunion was Friday at a park and then spent Saturday with Rick's brothers David and Jon and their families at the geysers and hot springs near Old Faithful. I'd been there before but don't remember seeing all of the other geysers. Sunday we drove to see the Upper and Lower Falls before heading home.

On the 24th of July we had some friends over for dinner and then lit fireworks in the driveway. The kids had a good time.

That's an update on our recent activity. I'll try to update more often.

Rick and I are leaving Tues through Fri for Las Vegas...alone. I'm a little nervous to leave the boys that long (our first time ever to both be gone overnight). We are going to see Phantom of the Opera Spectacular!!! We're looking forward to sleeping in, laying by the pool and not having to plan our day around naptimes.

Life as usual

2009-05-30T12:38:00.000-07:00

Not too much has happened over the past few weeks, thankfully. Everyone is healthy finally and the tonsillectomy recovery is pretty much over (Rick still isn't 100%).

My boys continue to shoot up like weeds. Jace has his 9 month appointment in a couple weeks and I'm sure he'll be at the top of the charts as usual.

On Memorial Day we took the boys to the Dinosaur Park in Ogden. For Mother's Day I got a pass to the Tracy Aviary which includes access to the Zoo, Dinosaur Park, Thanksgiving Point and other places. It was only $40 for a year!!! There are some limitations but it will give us a bunch of things to do that we will all enjoy.

We had a great time at the Dinosaur Park. Levi liked the playground best of all, suprise, suprise. He kept talking about how the dinosaurs were going to eat him.

Quick update

2009-04-24T11:12:00.000-07:00

Rick and Levi had their tonsils out yesterday. Everything went well and both are home recovering. Levi was bouncing off the walls yesterday (I thought pain meds were supposed to knock you out). Today he is a little more subdued, one minute he looks like he's about to pass out, then next he's running around.

Rick has had a rougher time, as we expected. But today his pain and nausea seems to be under control. Thanks to all our family and friends who've helped and called to help.

Easter and I Lied!!!

2009-04-18T14:44:00.000-07:00

So I'm starting to feel like Typhoid Mary (If you're not familiar with her, she was a nurse back in the day who spread typhoid fever to thousands of people). I thought we were all better, I thought we could go out in the community, I thought that we had "turned the corner". Not so much. Over the weekend my babysitter called and she and her little boy had strep, from us (as you can tell from the following). They were on vacation in Arizona for the holiday weekend (SORRY).
Easter morning we got the kids up, fed, bathed and ready for church. Since we have the 11-2 p.m. time (right during lunch and nap time) I usually bring snacks for Levi, you know, grapes, string cheese, less messy stuff. I looked over to comment to Rick and began to panic as I thought Levi was choking on a grape. No, he just had swollen glands... The size of GOLF BALLS!!! I whisked him out, looked in his throat, called my brother (a physician's assistant) and then sent Levi home with his dad. I would've gone too but had a lesson the next hour.
When I got home Levi was still awake so I grabbed a flashlight and looked down his throat again. Sure enough, he had strep.
Then on Tuesday, Rick finished his antibiotic and by Wednesday morning his throat hurt again. Long and the short of it, we took them to a specialist, Levi has tonsilitis and had to get bloodwork done because the doctor thought he might have mono as well. Rick has chronic tonsilitis and now they will be getting their tonsils out this coming Thursday . Hopefully we'll be all healed to go to Bear Lake the following weekend. At least Levi doesn't have mono like we originally thought. If he had, we'd have been Typhoid Mary of the Wedgewood ward.

The Zoo

2009-04-18T14:36:00.000-07:00

Since we've finally been healthy we decided to take advantage of Good Friday (Rick has it off work) and go to the Hogle Zoo. We got up and took our time and had a yummy breakfast of Orange Rolls and bacon. Then we packed up and headed out. The weather couldn't have been better.
The kids enjoyed being out and about and loved looking at the animals. Jace was very entertained (more by Levi than the animals). We took the double stroller but Levi walked most of the time.

Turning the corner

2009-04-03T06:38:00.000-07:00

I think that we have finally "turned the corner". Since March 13th, we have had one illness after the other. First Jace came down with pink eye. Next (while hosting a St. Patrick's day dinner for our parents) my brother DJ diagnosed Levi with impetigo and myself with Strep throat. A day or so later Rick wasn't feeling so great. Then came the RSV weeks. On a Tuesday Jace started being a little conjested and the next day (at daycare of course) he was really lethargic and conjested. Being the mother of the year that I am, I thought it was just a cold and waited until Friday to take him to the doctor. Sure enough, RSV. That Saturday night I ended up taking Jace to the emergency room for the RSV clinic. Luckily he didn't have to stay, they just deep suctioned him, did a breathing treatment, suction again and then we got to go home. Since then there were ups and downs and I about took him back to the hospital a few times but over the past 2 days he has made remarkable improvements. He's happy, taking fabulous naps, and in general is pretty happy. I even got to sleep in my own bed (the first time in 1 1/2 weeks. Not only that, but Jace slept all night long. (I still checked on him a few times) Ahhhhhh. What a mostly full night of sleep will do for you. Rick had to go to the doctor again and he had strep throat yesterday and started antibiotics. So as of 9 a.m. he will no longer be contagious!!! As I said before "I think we've finally turned the corner" (hopefully I'm not speaking to soon.
Levi has also been letting his little personality shine and cracks us up. The other night I told him it was time for bed and he looked at me and said "I said NO!" Oh really.

St. George

2009-03-22T16:03:00.000-07:00

We went down to my cousin's wedding in St. George the first weekend of March. It was so nice to be somewhere that had nice weather. We all stayed at my parent's condo, it was a little crowded, but we had a good time.
The wedding was very nice and I'm very happy for my cousin and his beautiful new bride.
Levi was upset that I was going to the temple without him so I promised that we'd go the next day. When we got there he didn't understand that we couldn't go in, and kept saying "mommy, Levi go in temple." When trying to explain that he couldn't, he got a little ornery with me. Finally I told him that when he got big and goes on a mission, then he can go in the temple and later get married there. He looked at me and said "OK", end of it. He hasn't asked to go in since. Guess he recognizes truth and I hope he never loses his desire to attend the temple.

6 months

2009-03-22T15:58:00.000-07:00

I can't believe Jace is 6 1/2 months old already. He just started this nose scrunchy thing when he's happy lately. It's so stinkin' cute.

Anyone who knows my boys know that they are big (little) guys.
Jace is in the 85th percentile for height at 26 inches, and 95th percentile for weight at a whopping 20 lbs.

He's as big as his cousin who is 4 months older, and bigger than some of the 1 year olds in our ward.

The Temple

2009-03-04T20:27:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had the opportunity to go to the Draper Temple open house with the boys. We had a good time. Earlier that day I asked Levi if he wanted to go to Heavenly Father's house. His eyes got really big and he whispered "yeah" Then I asked if he knew the name of Heavenly Father's house. He continued to stare at me until I told him it was the temple.
For the remainder of the day he would walk up to people and say "Levi go Temple, Hevly Fadders howse". He was soooo excited to go. While in the Temple he held Rick's hand and I carried Jace in my front pack. Both boys were in awe. The most memorable moment was when we walked into the celestial room and both boys looked up with wide eyes and jaws dropped in awe. I about cried, you could tell that they felt the spirit and that they remembered their heavenly home. What an awesome experience to share with my boys and husband.
Two minutes later Levi discovered that he could make an echo sound...we left quickly. He heard another kid make a sound and realized the echoing possibilities.
All in all a very rewarding outing.

First Foods

2009-02-28T20:16:00.000-08:00

Jace turns 6 months old this next Tuesday and we decided that we could go ahead and start rice cereal today.

He looked a little offended every time I put more in his mouth.

He liked to play with the spoon more than anything.

And he really enjoyed sitting up with the rest of the family.

Pay It Forward

2009-02-27T19:36:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine started this
It's kind of like the movie...but better because you get to ACTUALLY be involved!!The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice--for you! This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make! (I can only hope)
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It WILL be done this year.
4. You have no clue what it’s going to be … it may be cards, a bookmark, something delicious or a complete surprise to you (and me!) … who knows?
5. Most importantly, you must offer the same deal on your blog - the first 5 people to comment on your blog get something made by YOU!

New Wheels

2009-02-24T13:27:00.001-08:00

I just got a new toy! I've been researching double jogging strollers for several months and purchased one last weekend. There are a lot of options out there and strollers over $1000. Who has that kind of money...not us. I even looked at kslclassifieds but was able to finally purchase this one. I can't wait to use it!

I think the boys are excited too.

Finding new orifices

2009-02-24T13:22:00.000-08:00

Levi continues to potty train...it feels like it will take forever for him to be done.
The other night Rick was putting him to bed and part of the routine is to allow him to sit on the potty (sometimes for a 1/2 hour! I really think that it is just a stall tactic). Anyway Rick came down and told me that Levi was sticking his fingers up his bum hole. I shrugged it off thinking he couldn't stick his finger in too far and that he was just exploring his body.
A few minutes later Rick went to check on him and Levi was holding up his "clean" finger and said "Levi no eat poo". Ewww. Hopefully he didn't actually try.

Our little mover and shaker

2009-02-24T13:10:00.000-08:00

Not even a month ago Jace began rolling over. He quickly discovered how to roll to get where he wanted to go. A little over a week ago he discovered the army crawl. Boy, can that kid move when he wants to. He LOVES to get to his brother, or Levi's toys, or just about anything else he can get into. We are currently re-baby proofing the house.
Jace likes to be wrapped up to sleep but quickly wiggles out of it when he wakes up.

Dance Party

2009-02-24T12:58:00.000-08:00

Levi LOVES to watch Shrek. He asks to watch it on a daily basis. Whenever the music starts he begins dancing around, whether it is on the couch, floor, wherever. We have found that we can just watch him and would rather do that then watch TV.

Bath Time Blues

2009-02-24T12:29:00.000-08:00

About a week ago I got the brilliant idea that it would be so much easier if I could bath the boys together. I remember bathing with my siblings. So Levi and Jace had their first bath together. You can see how well that worked out.

Needless to say we'll be bathing them separately for awhile longer.

Our Love Story

2009-02-12T06:58:00.001-08:00

This is how our life together began...at least how I remember it

Our story began in October of 2000 when my best friend Kertsi called me while I was at work one Thursday night to tell me that I had a date for the next Tuesday. I, of course said “Absolutely not, no blind dates!” She went on to tell me that I already knew who he was and played volleyball with him every Friday at the Institute at Weber State University. Kertsi then talked me into the date saying that it was just playing racquetball and that she would owe me big time (she really wanted to go on a date with Shane). I asked her the guy’s name but she had forgotten. I finally agreed to go with the understanding that she was deeply indebted to me.
The next day at volleyball the guy (Rick) talked and flirted with me. I made sure that I was on his team and listened for his buddies to say “good job ____” but they never did. Then on Saturday, Kertsi ran into them at the WSU football game and still was unable to get his name.
During the next few days, Kertsi and I devised a plan to get a “real” date to come from the racquetball date. When we met them the next week we made a bet on the outcome of the games, best out of three, losers makes the winners cookies. Kertsi and I thought we were pretty good players but after losing the first two games (still listening for the guy’s name) we went to get a drink of water. I remarked to my date, “We said best of 5, right?”, He replied, “Sure…for dinner”. Kertsi and I winked at each other, they were playing right into our plan. Finally during the last game, Shane said, “Nice shot Rick”…Alas, we knew his name. I’m surprised that they didn’t notice us looking at each other, both thinking “Finally, his name”. So after a full week, a volleyball game, football game and racquetball match, we finally knew his name!!!
We set up a day to pay up on the dinner bet and over the new two weeks I ran into Rick in between classes and we played racquetball again. He also invited me to go skiing the day after we were to make them dinner.
The day of the dinner I was talking to a guy in my class and saying how excited I was that it was snowing so much that day because I was going skiing with a guy and his buddies the next day at Powder Mountain. He said he was headed there also with his brother and friends and maybe we’d see each other there.
Now, I wasn’t much of a cook, but we made them dinner and it must have been good enough to extend the date and they took us to watch the WSU hockey game.
The next day I was to meet Rick at the football game and then we’d head up to the resort, as I met them at the game I looked down the isle and saw the guy in my class from the day before. Sure enough, it was his brother (Jon), we weren’t just going to run into each other on the slopes, we were going with him.
Unfortunately, Powder Mountain did not open that weekend like we thought that they were, instead we went to Rick’s friends house to watch a boxing match and play games. We saw each other the next 4 days for different dates, skipped a few days to get through with finals and then were together pretty much every day since.
His brother Jon came home from the boxing match and was pretty upset. When his wife asked him what the matter was, he replied “Crap, Rick’s getting married” She laughed and said “They’ve only gone out once or twice.” Jon said, “I know, but dang it… he’s getting married” For a long time I thought that he didn’t like me but he just didn’t like that he wasn’t going to get to spend as much time with his best friend/brother anymore. Jon knew long before we did.
We were engaged the following May and married in August of 2001. We now have 2 boys, ages 2 ½ and 5 months old.

Milestones and the Treehouse

2009-01-22T14:07:00.000-08:00

Each of our boys hit milestones today!!!

Jace finally rolled over (while we were watching)! He has actually been rolling belly to back for over a month now, we just have never witnessed it. I would put him on his stomach and run to the other room, when I got back, he'd be on his back. Another time Rick was sitting in the room with him and still didn't see it. Today I had just missed it again while across the hall doing laundry so Rick rolled him over and he rolled 4 or 5 times in a row for us! It was fun to see him figure it out.

Levi hit a milestone of his own... He pooped in the potty!!! The past few days he has been wanting to sit on the toilet a few times but never accomplished more than playing with the toilet paper and frustrating me (though I did sit there patiently with him). Today before nap he wanted to go on the toilet and after 15 minutes and me asking several times if he was done... he pooped!

Last Monday Rick didn't have to work so we took Levi to the Children's Treehouse museum. He had a great time...

sitting in the "oval office"

"going" to Japan and many other countries, and just being a kid. He didn't care much for the slide, it was too fast and flipped him upside down.

Last week my best friend Kertsi was in town from Chicago with her girls and stopped by for the afternoon. Levi was not in a sharing mood and wasn't very nice to Ava. The next morning he kept asking "Ava play?" and was sad she was gone.

Left to right... Jace, Ava, Amelia, Levi.

Kertsi and I have shared so many memories together. We met in college about 6 months before my mission and for the 3 months prior were inseperable. Since then we have done a lot together, traveled to Europe, camped, shopped, played and have even shared many milestones of our own together. We were married 2 weeks apart, had our first kids 1 week apart and the second kids 1 1/2 months apart. I wish we lived closer so that we could see each other more.

Levi discovered stickers this morning, not really a milestone, but he had a grand time.

Oh sooo gooodt and "snow fun"

2009-01-08T21:29:00.000-08:00

Levi received some scratch-n-sniff books for Christmas and he loves them. I read one to him and scratch-n-sniffed it and said "oh, so good" the first time I read it to him. Now he loves to scratch-n-sniff it himself and says "oh, sooo goooodt". He also loves to cheese it for the camera, if you couldn't tell. I'm hoping to get a video of him rocking out to the music while we're driving sometime. It makes me laugh every time. I'll try again later to download the video, but can't get it to work right now.

Jace always wants to sit up now. We have to make sure to strap him in everytime we put him in the swing or bouncer.

The other day we went to my friend Erin's house (she watches the boys while I'm at work). I had originally planned on going to my parents but due to the snow I opted to stay close to home. She was kind enough to let me use her washer as mine died and the new one is on back order and I won't get it till Feb. (I got it the day after Thanksgiving) Her husband was off work that day so while we stayed in with the little kids, he played out in the snow with them. He taught them to make and throw snowballs, pulled them around in the tobaggan and then built a little ramp at the top of their 5 ft hill for the kids to sled down. They were all laughing and having a great time. I had to run out and get some pics of Levi's first time sledding. We finished the morning off with hot cocoa and then headed home for naps. Thanks guys for helping us so much. It's awesome to have such good friends.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2008-12-27T19:35:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!!!
Levi really loved Christmas this year. Everything was entralling for him, from the "kwismas ites", to the tree, the presents "more pwesents...pweeease". Christmas definitely is more fun when you have kids. Levi's favorite toy was a race track that he can race up to 4 cars at a time, even though he tries to do all 10 at the same time.

Jace LOVES his exersaucer (a regift since it was Levi's hand-me-down)

Rick and I enjoyed our stocking stuffers and revelled in how we have been blessed during the past year. We decided that we had enough gifts this past year with buying a home, a new van, and most recently a new washer/dryer.
On the 23rd of December we got a lot of snow during the night so Levi and I played in the snow while Jace took a morning nap and before I had to go to work.

My favorite pic of Levi in the snow.

Our pitiful attempt at a snowman. It was too powdery to stick together so our snowman was all of about 10 inches high.

In reflecting on the past year, we have been extremely blessed, we have 2 handsome boys, (I have to digress for a moment, last Sunday as I got Levi ready for church I told him a couple times he was very handsome. While Rick and I were getting dressed, Levi went into our room, tilted the full length mirror so he could see himself and cocking his head to the side said "handsome", what a hoot!) we have a nice home and wonderful friends and neighbors, a loving, supportive family and our most important blessing of all is the Gospel of Jesus Christ which binds us together eternally and brings so much peace, joy and love into our home. I am grateful for the experiences that we have had recently that have increased my testimony. I hope that others have been as blessed as we have been.

Christmas Village

2008-12-10T22:33:00.000-08:00

Last night we took the boys to Christmas Village in Ogden. We originally planned to go the night before but due to weather we took them to see the mall Santa for FHE and then went to the lights the next night. Levi was very excited to see the "kwismas lights".

We lucked out and there wasn't much of a crowd there. We were able to let Levi walk around and run ahead without worrying. He loved looking in the little houses with Christmas scenes in them. He was especially enamored with the Elementary kids that were singing Christmas carols in the amphitheater.

Jace was in the Snugli front pack and slept a good portion of the time. With a blanket covering him, he was probably the warmest one. He is growing leaps and bounds. He rolled over from front to back on Monday night. I had put him down for tummy time and Rick was sitting with him downstairs and all of a sudden he was on his back. Of course we didn't see it but no one turned him over. He is also a very happy baby and loves to smile!