Sorry mom....

This is the conversation I had with Luke this morning.
"Sorry mom, but we can't give you a piece of the world for your birthday."
"Oh really?" (I am totally clueless what this kid is talking about)
"Yeah, but how about a crab instead?"
"Okay that would be great too."
After the conversation was over I had to think what on earth he was talking about. Then, it dawned on me. Every year on my birthday or Christmas the boys ask me what I want and I always tell them, "Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men." Well, they have been asking me what I want again this year, and I have been giving my usual response. It now occurs to me that my sweet little 4 year old is trying to figure out how to buy a piece of the earth for me. What a cutie pie. As for the crab I have no idea!

My Baby is One!

Well, actually he's 14 months now, but this is one of his adorable one year old photos that I just had to share. I finally got some printed and I think he is too cute for words. And yes, those are his actual eye color, no photo editing at all on this photo. I just love this kid, he is such a busy BOY. That is what everyone says about Max, he is all boy.

A Memorable Memorial

We had a fun-filled Memorial Weekend. First, my dad invited all the boys in the fam to go on his ward's father and sons outing. My boys were so excited. Of course I spent some time Friday morning having the boys pack all the possible things they might need for the campout. In all it wasn't too much stuff, only one bag for the boys to share. Apparently my sis Alisa was a good mother too and made sure her boys were prepared, but we both got sufficiently mocked in the end for overpacking our boys. It is true that boys can just plain do without all the stuff we girls think they need. This was definitely evidenced when my brother "packed up" all his gear for the campout. He came up the stairs with a sleeping bag, a sweatshirt and a hat. 'Nuf said!

They all had a great time making memories with grandpa and the uncles and cousins, but everyone missed the out-of-state boys.

My cute camping boys. Randy snapped this pic because he had never seen anything like it before. Yes, that's Mike reading a book. That's what a good woman will do for you. The filthy little pigs. I'm pretty sure those hands never got washed, not even before eating.

The report upon returning home was that the best part was the tug-of-war and the snake they found on their hike.

While the boys were off being manly, the girls all stayed at grandma's. We went out to dinner, chatted on the patio and experienced some trauma. Max wasn't invited on the boys campout so he had to stay with the girls. This was the result.

(this was after a bath and 2 popsicles to bring down the swelling)

Max is so blessed to have his cousins that love and take care of him. I felt so bad for both Max and his loving little cousin mother when they took a horrible fall leaving the restaurant. Max ended up somehow smashing his face on something when they fell and split his lip, tore the frenulum (that little thingy inside your mouth that connects your top lip to your gums), bloodied his nose, and skinned his nose, lip and chin. There was so much blood and he was crying so hard. I guess I have been out of nursing practice too long because I had to try to keep calm. I just didn't want his little cousin mother to be more traumatized than she already was. It was so sad, but amazingly he has healed up so quickly like kids do. The fall was Friday night and this is how it looked only 24 hours later. The "Homer Simpson" look was gone quickly. I just hope Bev's little heart is feeling better now too.

And now less than a week later it's just a little scab.

On Monday we took the kids hiking in Big Cottonwood Canyon. We started out heading up to Doglake, but after crossing the creek twice and looking on to the steep rocky cliff that was ahead we decided to go down to the Lake Blanche trail instead. The kids did awesome and had a great time. On the campout they had been a little rusty on their hiking, so we got it back in their blood really quick. When we were done they didn't want to leave, they had to climb a few more rocks first. Max was a little trooper in his "maxpack".

It was a great weekend and now I can't wait for summer. Thanks for all the memories.

Look who's walking!

I can hardly stand it! My baby wants to grow up to quickly. I knew when he was 3 months old that this kid was going to walk early, but I still like to think of him as my brand new baby. He is so funny, he loves to walk everywhere now and is always in a hurry like a walk/run combo. He has been walking pushing his little car for a couple of months, so I knew any day he would just take off on his own and he has. He gave up the crawling just a few days before his 10 month birthday. I am thankful for the sake of his poor knees that he has given up crawling just in time for shorts. I started feeling guilty everytime I would dress him in shorts because his knees would get such bad rug burn. Jack and Luke love that he can walk. They try to bribe him to walk to them, its a contest to see who he will walk to. The winner is usually whomever has the best sock to give Max. That boy loves to chew himself a good sock.

I Hate Guns

As far back as I can remember I have always hated guns. I used to go shooting with a friend's family in middle school and I remember hating it then, but I haven't shot a gun since. Ever since Randy first met me he has tried to change my opinion of guns since he loves to shoot and now he has an ally in a dear family member who loves guns more than a person should (this person will remain anonymous). So, they finally got the girls out shooting, and I must say it was fun...after the initial shock. I really didn't mind shooting the little guns like the .22 revolver and .22 rifle, but the big guns still scare me. Maybe someday I could see the fun in such a hobby, but I'm not a full believer yet.

As you can see I don't look natural in any way shooting a gun.

It's kind of like that old mom saying "it's not that I don't trust you...I just don't trust the other people out there". I feel that way, I trust myself with a gun, but I don't trust anyone else to be as careful as me.

Thanks for the fun day everyone, and special thanks for not killing me or anything else. I do have a question for you out there...does anyone know if it is safe to shoot a 100 year old gun with 100 year old bullets? (oh well, I'm just glad they didn't explode)

By the way, after all the anxiety of handling and shooting guns all day, I didn't sleep a wink and had the most horrible nightmares. I think it's going to take a lot more shooting therapy to get me over this intense phobia.

I am so happy it SNOWED!!!

No, I haven't completely lost my mind. (that is up for debate though) I was so happy it snowed because I finally had my car in the garage for a storm and didn't have to scrape the snow and ice off my car before leaving. I also didn't have to risk my life and Max's life carrying the carseat to the car on the slick driveway.

Randy told me I couldn't make a big deal out of it, but I am totally throwing a party or something. We haven't been able to park in the garage since we started finishing the basement and all our storage went to the garage. Oh, and by the way it only took us 347 years to finish the basement. Well, the basement got finished just before Christmas and we were waiting for a nice day to purge the garage of all the junk that got tossed out there the last 347 years. Since Saturday was an absolute dream day, we worked all day on the garage and got it done. I must say it felt a little like "casting our swine before pearls" pulling all our junk out of the garage for all the neighbors to see, but at least now the kids can get their bikes out of the garage and I don't have to be so embarassed.

Unfortunately, Randy only got his car in the garage for a short time. We still have to sell his weight bench and all his weights, return a borrowed ladder and take one dresser to the DI that didn't get hand-me-downed, then he will get his spot back. (understanding it will only be until I start my next furniture project) I have determined in all the excitement of having the garage back and organized that it is still too small. Oh well, we will make do, I am just happy to have it.

On a completely related and unrelated note, I want to make it clear to everyone in my neighborhood that our return to parking in the garage had nothing to do with the totally insulting talk given in church a couple of weeks ago. Come on, you all know I wouldn't do it because someone told me I should. That would go against every stubborn, hard-headed bone in my body. For those of you who didn't have the pleasure of hearing the talk, we were told that we've all seen neighbors who have so much junk in their garage that they can't even park a car in it. Then we were told that "those" people should have spent their money on their food storage instead of all the junk in their garage. It was a shining moment for my thoughts at that moment. I really wished it would have been in a lesson so I could make a comment, but it wasn't, so I swallowed my mouthful of mean things and spewed them on Randy after church. Maybe my food storage was sooooooo huge and organized that it filled my entire garage, maybe my best friend was homeless and I made an apartment for her in my garage, maybe my husband turned it into his mancave with a bigscreen and weights, maybe I was operating an animal sanctuary and rescuing abandoned puppies, maybe I had an elaborate drug making facility running in there, maybe I got so much hand-me-down furniture and was finishing my basement without going into debt that I needed a place to put it....I mean how do you know why people don't put cars in the garage. Come on!!!

Okay I have now taken a deep breath and will return to my praises. I am happy for all I have, even if it is sometimes a pain in the neck. And I was really grateful that Randy and I completed a big project together without wanting to kill each other at the end. Now that's a good day!!

Oh, the JOY!! (that was my happy dance)

Max was an awesome helper while we worked.

Weights for sale! (maybe I should ask Randy first) But seriously, any takers.

The Kids

I have the most amazing kids. I can't believe what a great life I have. I thought I would share an update of the sweet, cute, smart, funny, happy little ones that make life awesome.

Max is 7 1/2 months now and is such an active little tiger. He has the nickname of Rascally-roo at home. He loves to explore everywhere. As you can see from my previous post he loves to splash and today was found splashing in the toilet. He has been physically strong since the day he was born, so he has always seemed older than his age which makes me sad. I want him to stay small and brand new for a long time. At three months he was rolling over, 4 months sitting up by himself, 5 1/2 months rolling across the room to get what he wanted, 6 months crawling like a crazy inchworm and pulling himself up to furniture, now at 7 months he is everywhere. He loves to walk the furniture, play in the curtains, clean the crumbs from under the table (yuck!), and of course loves a good wrestling match with the big brothers and daddy. He gets right in the middle of anything his brothers are doing. He especially loves to crawl into their bedroom when they have friends over playing. He really does think he's just one of the boys. This kid loves his lunch. He will eat anything, and is starting to like things with more texture. He got two little teeth on the bottom the day after turning 6 months and loves to put them to use. He melts my heart when he talks. Some of his words are "mama", "bah bah", "hi dad", "ahh duh" (all done). He is such a happy, easy, well-natured baby, and we love him so much.



Luke is 4 and is an amazing little one. He is so intense and full of energy. He loves Star Wars or as he says "Staaa Whoas", karate, learning to read, playing with legos, playing with his brothers, soccer, basketball and mashed potatoes. It is so fun to just sit and listen to Luke; he will tell a great story (the truth), then after he has heard it come out of his own mouth he will have to retell the bigger, more embellished version and try to convince you the latter is the way it really happened. A favorite saying of his (and Jack's) is "seriously mom, no seriously" (I seriously don't know where they get it from) it is so funny to hear him try to convince me of things. "Seriously Mom, Grandma told me I could watch movies all day, no seriously." That's the one I heard today. Luke loves the tough guys. As an infant he always preferred dad and the grandpas and uncles holding him, now he looks up to his dad so much and wants to do anything that big strong guys do. He does his own little workout routine everyday. He even came up with his own pushups where he puts his feet on the couch and stretches out and does full, awesome pushups. He is playing indoor soccer right now and loves it. He wants to go outside and practice everyday. He is such a happy, sweet, fun boy and we love him so much.


Jack just turned 7 last month and is growing up so fast. He is a very curious boy and loves to read and learn. He is also very artistic and loves to draw, and make things, and is a very good reader. Star Wars and Legos are at the top of his to do list everyday, and now he has combined his two loves and looks forward to playing with his Star Wars Legos and Legos Star Wars on the Wii everyday. Jack is a very good helper and an awesome big brother. He loves to roll around on the floor with Max and take care of him when he needs help. He loves to rescue him when he's into mischief. Jack has such a funny personality; he makes me laugh everyday. Recently we were planning our weekend and he was in the middle of a big Legos project. We had been talking about going to the grandparent's house on Sunday. Jack interupted Randy and said, "Dad, are we going to grandma's house on Sunday, I need to know these things you know." He was planning out when he would have time to finish his big project. He is an awesome example and wonderful big brother, and very patient with the little ones. He is such and easy, happy, fun, boy and we love him so much.

(all of us at the Temple Open House in February)

What a wonderful life I have!

I Just Love This Kid!

We took the kids swimming last week, and that was all it took for Max to figure out that bath time could be so much more fun than it had been. He is now a wild man at bath time and the whole bathroom requires a mopping when he's done. I do love this kid. He makes me smile every day.

Go UTES!!!

What a game! We couldn't be more proud at our house to be UTES this year. A big congratulations to our National Champions! Even though we didn't end up going to the game, they didn't need Randy's good luck after all and pulled it off big time without us there.

Go UTES!!!