Finished

I am Finally finished!!!

(but I am in no way, shape or form taking credit for the outcome)

C's parents came into town in November and I mentioned I wanted to make  a quilt for J for Christmas and was going to ask for some pointers (yes, I realize it's past Christmas, but it was slow going for me, it was a first attempt :) ) 

C's mom is a huge quilter and she said, lets work on it while i'm here.  We sewed frantically each night.  We got the whole top done. She took it back to utah and put the back on it and had it quilted.  She attached the front half of the binding and pinned the corners (I had no idea how to do it) and then mailed it back to me to hand stitch the binding on.  I had seen her do it once and thought I knew what I was doing. It didn't turn out exact, and my fingers were literally bleeding by the time I was done, but  

I LOVE HOW IT TURNED OUT!

It's perfect for her.

I couldn't really get a great picture of it, but you get the general idea.

When I showed it to her she squealed and said ooohhhh, my blanket.  so happy.

Words of Wisdom

As I was rushing out the  door to go to play group yesterday our door bell rang. It was our landlord, he'd come to fix our toilet.  Needless to say I didn't make it to play group.

In the meantime, our landlord-who is pushing 70 years old- was laying on our bathroom floor trying to get our toilet fixed.

G was transfixed. 

He wouldn't move.

He just stood there watching and talking. He told him about K's birthday, about cupcakes, cooking with me, going to Chuck E. Cheese, you name it, he babbled about it.

During their very one sided conversation our landlord said 'stupid toilet'

G then proceeded to tell him that he should not say bad words.  

That 'Jesus only wants us to use nice words' and then Jesus would be happy. (we've had many a family home evenings on our language and the words we use)

I guess G's right.

I never thought I'd see the day when a near 70 year old would take advice from a 3 year old, 

but..with a chuckle he did.  

This little kid slays me.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to one great little boy!

It seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital and now he's turning seven and loving life and exploring all the world has to offer him.

We love to refer to K as mr. safety officer.  He has more of me in him than C.  He is always cautious of situations and has to think things through before making a decision.  

One of my favorite memories of him was when my family decided to hike into Timpanogos Cave.  C had taken him into the dark entrance and he just kept saying I don't think this is such a good idea...I don't think this is such a good idea.....I don't think this is such a good idea...

We love you K and we hope that you have a fantastic day!

big messes

Whoever said it can't be done, must not have had kids.

I KNOW there are days when they plot and plan against you.

There's nothing you can do about it.

You just have to brace yourself for it and hang on.

The other day I was frantically trying to get the upstairs clean.  Now when  I do this, I know G and J get into things, but I had no idea of the damage two kids can do in less than an hour.

I came down and found this.

He was so proud of himself, he looked at me and said "I got some cereal" 

Me thinking "apparently"

I love the look on his face, he is SO proud

I love this picture because of the tire tracks through the kix.  To be a fly on the wall and hear his thoughts...i bet that would be so fun to drive my car through these or i wonder what would happen if i brought my car up...

They were EVERYWHERE (please notice the floor)

I was met by this mess too.

This was only to be followed by an 'incident' in the bathroom, which I will spare you the details about, but needless to say, another mess in which I was scrubbing, cleaning and sanitizing.

And another mess when J decided to use shampoo as lotion and slathered herself in it, including her face and eyes.

How can I not just chuckle at this whole day.

Love these kiddos.

A Tropical Oasis

okay, so maybe it's not a tropical oasis per-say, but it was warm and a welcome break from the arctic winds and freezing snow.

We went to this great indoor water park in Erie PA.  

It is 84 degrees inside.  oh how blessed!

It was crazy to look outside and see the snow and to be walking around in a swim suit and not freezing to death.

If anyone goes, here's your warning.

Be careful of the hurricane hole.

It shoots you down this slide and into a crazy circle vortex of water.  It spits you out into 6 feet of churning water. Water is spraying in your face.  You faintly hear a whistle being blown. When you finally get your bering and find your way to the stairs through the tsunami, you try to gain your composure, make sure your swim suit is covering all the parts you want covered  and then you realize the life guard was blowing the whistle at you, trying to help you find the stairs (to no avail).

Be careful-only for the thrill seekers :)

The kids had a marvelous time.

My Hula Hoopin' Honey

We went to a museum and I found something about K that I did not previously know.  

This kid can do one mean hula-hoop.

  I remember the days when I used to be able to do them.  

If you want  a good laugh, buy a hula hoop for your family and have a contest to see who can do it the longest, I guarantee you WON'T win, and you will be slightly embarrassed at how poorly you do.  Besides, your kids will have a chance to shine.  enjoy.

Death Hike

My dad is notorious for taking our family on what we lovingly refer to as 'Death Hikes'.  We always start out and the trail is relatively short and flat..or so we're led to believe.  Hours later as we are ascending a never ending uphill climb we no longer believe that it's a short and flat hike and we start hoping that we will make it back to camp to live another day.

We had a similar experience the day after christmas.

C's mom gave us all snow shoes for Christmas.  We couldn't wait to try them out.  We headed out to a place I found on the internet.  It didn't give details about the hike, but it made it sound fairly easy. We bundled and packed the kids up and headed out. C carried J in a pack.  G started walking... and then.... please note the picture below.

He started thinking it was SO funny to walk about 2 steps and fall over. We went back and got the sled. C hooked it to the pack and pulled G along.  It worked okay, but G kept falling out and twice he fell out into water.  I tried to scoop him up quickly and he didn't get too wet, but none the less, he was still wet and it was cold.

K thought this tree was very cool

Leave it to G to make an adventure of exploring a tree.  He could have walked around, and we pointed this out to him repeatedly, but he decided to go the hard way.

After an hour of hiking and me thinking silently "I wonder how far this is", the kids started whining and saying they were hungry.  Luckily I had thrown an assortment of granola bars, beef jerky and a few goldfish crackers in the pack with a bottled water. We pulled this out and started eating.  We then continued hiking and hiking and hiking.  

It came to a point when you start thinking 'I wish...'

I wish I knew how much farther this is.

I wish I had packed more food.

I wish someone knew WHERE we were.

 I wish we had some matches.

I wish we had a cell phone.

I wish we will make it back to the car before dark.

I wish we make it out okay.

K started getting tired.  He could hardly walk anymore and I have to admit that I too was running low on energy.  We had been wandering around in the forest for 1 1/2 and we had no idea how much longer it was.  I was honestly starting to get worried.  C put Kellen in the sled.

He is now packing J.  pulling a sleeping G (even though every step C took, it threw little piece of snow all over G's little face-I felt so bad), and also pulling K.

I felt like we got to the point where C and I both thought we need to get out of here and as quickly as possible.  With all the kids getting a free ride from C (poor guy), we high-tailed it as fast as we could.  We finally got to a point where we recognized.  We knew we were coming to the end.  HALLELUJAH!  All of my wishing and silent prayers were being answered.  We didn't have to spend a night in the forest.  We wouldn't have to eat berries and bark.  We wouldn't have to make a shelter and line it with pine needles.  We wouldn't have to try to melt snow to keep hydrated.  We wouldn't have to try to keep 3 little kiddos warm through a cold night.

Next time we go, you know the first things I'll pack will be matches, food, and a cell phone.

Lesson learned.

Happy 32nd Birthday Cor!

Rather than doing the traditional 32 reasons I love you, I decided to do

32 Great and unforgettable times we've had together

1-  Watching fireworks at Alpine Days

2- Spending time at Tible Fork and making S'mores

3- Proposing on Easter

4- Marriage in Salt Lake Temple

5- Rolling Jeff's jeep and surviving

6- Honeymoon in CA

7- Building our first house together

8- Moving 8 times (and me being prego 4 times)

9- Lucie

10- Visiting Havutsupai

11-  K's birth

12- G's birth

13- J's birth

14- Vacation in Mexico and the great beaches

15- Sinking your blazer

16- Your day biking trips to Moab and St. George

17- Pulling you out of the ice at Tible Fork

18- Trip to Moab with Jeff, Mary, and Brett and riding 4 wheelers in the river bed

19- Trip to Connecticut when  G was just 2 months old

20- Bear Lake vacations

21- Hiking to Lone Rock 

22- Easter at the Bowery

23- Exploring Western New York together and finding great new spots

24- The Disneyland Trip with the Thunder Mountain Railroad/ Wheelchair episode (although you wowed me with your wheelchair moves)

25- Palm Springs retreat with Jeff and Mary

26- Goblin Valley 

27- Riding 4 wheelers at night in alpine

28- Going to Jo and Laurens and watching movies in their hot tub

29-Moving to Buffalo

30-Moab trips with my fam

31- Half Moon Bay in Sunny CA

32- Hawaii, Seychille Islands, New Zealand, Australia, Mexico....oh wait, that's where we want to go... more to come 

I love you so much.  Thanks for spending all this time with me and creating fabulous memories.

Hope you have a great birthday.  Here's to the next 32 great memories.

Christmas Morning Mayham

Christmas once again proved to be a great day.  It was full of laughter, flying wrapping paper (although this year the paper Santa used was VERY durable and wouldn't rip), J calling out more presents and sheer delight.

Except G.

On Christmas eve, the kids exchange their gifts with each other.  J handed G a small wrapped gift (a hot wheel).  He looked and it and said, "I hope it's my Batman Castle..."  he opened it, looked at it, threw it to the ground and started wailing.  He had asked Santa for a Batman Castle and that's what he wanted.  When he finally gave into reason, he was much more jolly and was looking even more forward to Christmas morning.

K with some of his presents...what else other than hot wheels for him

J's new baby doll set, she couldn't stop squealing  and saying ooohhhh

and yes, G got his Batman castle, he was so excited. I also have to add that Santa brought K and G soft fleece blankets to wrap up in and keep toasty.  G quickly announced, that 'aaawwww, I didn't want this for Christmas'  (don't hold back, tell us how you really feel)

the aftermath

(0ne quick side note.  please notice the box in the back.  it's a train table.  santa thought the kids would L-O-V-E it.  he gave it to all of them.  when they finally got the paper off, they all stood and stared at it, no one said a word.  and as if they had planned it, they all turned and walked silently away.

Christmas brunch with the sisters.. a little bit of everything. Christmas crackers, presents under the chairs, cinnamon rolls, yogurt drinks, orange julius.  

such a fun day.

hope  yours was too.