Mother's Day

There are a few things I always want to remember about this Mother's Day.  I want to remember being woken up to Ethan racing into my room with a bottle of syrup yelling, "would you like some maple syrup?"  Caden followed close behind and offered me his "baketball."  Clark and my Dad followed behind him with breakfast and juice in bed.


The best part of my day that I don't think I can ever forget happened at church.  The primary kids ages 3-11 came to the front during the meeting to sing some Mother's Day songs.  Ethan was so excited, he marched up to the front and went directly to the podium and pulled the microphone down by his mouth.  "Oh no, oh no, surely someone will move him over by the other children," I thought...but no one moved him.  When the song started you couldn't hear the piano or any of the other kids as Ethan's cute 4 year old voice belted out, "Mother I Love You," over the microphone!  Oh my word, we laughed so hard we cried.  Every once in awhile he would peek his little head out from around the podium and give us a thumbs up sign and a big grin.  After the first verse the Bishop stood up and lifted the microphone so it wouldn't be right in his face, but his voice still rang out quite strong!

What could be in my Mother's Day presents?

2 Cute Boys!  What a surprise!  I'm the luckiest mom around!

I want to remember how Ethan decided the gift bags were really a jack in the box.  I thought it was pretty creative.



I want to remember the Whoppers I won during Relief Society for being the mom to have had the biggest baby.  Caden won me the treat with his 10 lbs. 1 oz.  There was another woman there that had a 10 pounder so I won by one ounce.  Hoping and praying this third baby will not win me any future Whoppers.

I want to remember the fun bubble popping dance party we had after a delicious dinner prepared by Clark, my Dad and my brother James.  It was awesome!

I thought some nice mother-son photos would help me really remember the day...but getting one of those is easier said than done!  Here are a few though to remember the Mother's Day I had with a 4 year old, an almost 2 year old, and a baby on the way.

 

Baby Talk

For the last 2 years I have felt like a mom of a toddler and a baby, but the last few months I have realized my baby has turned into a toddler.

On Easter he just started talking, before he said several words, but that morning he woke up and turned into a mocking bird.  He repeated EVERYTHING he heard, and it was like his vocabulary expanded x10.  It is pretty cute to hear him talk, he has such a low little voice.  I love how when he wants a piggy back ride he says, "piggy backer," and I love how he says, "baketball," for every type of ball.

I've also noticed lately that he eats as much as a little boy, sometimes more than an adult!  He's got attitude, spunk and opinions like an adult as well!  He keeps us on our toes and keeps us laughing.



Can this age be any better?

Since I no longer feel like I have a baby, I guess it is time to announce that we are expecting baby number 3!  Next week I will be done with the first trimester.  A few weeks ago we were able to see the little heartbeat on an ultrasound, it was amazing!  We are so thankful to welcome another baby into our home in November!

Gone Fishing

Today we went to CJ Strike Dam for a little fishing trip.  It was a cool day, definitely not a day you would want to get in the water...unless you happened to be trying to untangle your son's snagged fishing pole and slipped on the rocks and fell all the way into the water with wallet and cell phone in your pocket...and then you would be Clark.

And this is how poor Clark attempted to warm up the rest of the day!

The rest of us managed to stay dry and rather enjoyed our day on the lake!



Could it be a day on the lake without a drumstick?

 

Ethan enjoyed Grammy's music as much as the fishing.  When I asked him what he likes more, fishing or dancing...he replied, both.



Caden enjoyed a nice nap on top of a pile of life jackets

Grandpa finally caught a fish, it was a family effort to get it in the boat.



This is the second time these boys have gone fishing here.  Lucky boys!

Groupon Saturday

Last Saturday was all about the Groupon.  I think it is fair to say that my mom is THE Groupon queen.  I've had my fair share of crazy experiences because of Groupons I bought that I didn't know much about...Saturday we added 2 more to our list.

Clark and I took the boys to the world famous Circus Gatti, okay so you've probably never heard of it either, but it was a great deal.  I have to admit despite the low budget it was entertaining and our boys loved it. 

But there were quite a few things that cracked me up.  First of all we noticed a tall structure that just didn't look safe, there were several shims of different material and sizes holding up the sides.  We quickly realized the structure was for the tight rope walkers, and there was no net underneath.  When they started their routine it looked like their costumes were about 3 sizes too small (maybe they were substitutes?).  A man in a black T-shirt came and stood under the wire, I'm assuming to catch the walkers if they fell?!  In the middle of the act, the man did fall, he somehow caught himself with his foot and climbed back up on the wire.  It was crazy!  I thought we were going to see a death, but he cut his act short and didn't ride the BMX bike across after he started.

Another favorite was the fact that Caden could stand right on the edge of the elephants with a strong barrier of Caution tape to protect him from being smashed.

Ethan got a free moustache from the clown with a magic marker.

Note the baby in the stroller outside of the ring.  During the show we noticed a stroller with a baby struggling to get out down on the circus floor.  He was all alone which concerned Ethan a lot!  After the circus one of the ladies went and pushed him a little closer, just the life of a circus baby I guess.

 

 It really was entertaining.  Tonight as I was tucking Caden in he kept saying, "circus, circus," I guess it made quite an impression on him too!

The second adventure the Groupon queen found for us Saturday was to go cheer on the Treasure Valley Roller Girls at Rollerderby!  Oh my fishnets!  It was an adventure to say the least.  I don't know what was more entertaining the crowd or the roller girls. 

 I can now say I know roller derby, I learned terms like jammer, hip check, fresh meat, and fishnet burn. 

Some of my favorite roller derby names of the night were:  G.I. Jane Saw, Demolition Barbie, Hellen Brimstone, and the crowd favorite Udaho. 

Thanks for a fun day of Groupon adventures Grammy!  By the way, if she signs up for roller derby her name will be Gram "Bone" Cracker.

Our Travels to Destination I: Boise (Part 2)

We made it!  This is our last move until we move to Colorado to start residency!  It took us about a week to get from Durango to Boise, and it was a jam-packed week.  We got to Salt Lake City late Sunday night, and Clark flew out the next morning to Des Moines to take his final exam to earn his Master's Degree in Anatomy.  This was a big test...a pass/fail situation that determined if he would get the degree or not.  He flew back to Salt Lake Wednesday and got an email later that afternoon saying that he had passed with flying colors!  Yahoo!!!  What a relief!  We were so excited!

While in Utah we got to spend time with my Grandpa and Nada, they were so nice to open the Turpin Hotel to us for so many nights.  We got to spend an afternoon with Kelly and cute Sara.  We spent a few nights with Weston and Erica and got to see their amazing progress in their home renovation.

With Erica we went to Temple Square and took the boys to the Book of Mormon children's exhibit at the Church History Museum.  It was amazing!

 We got to be there to celebrate James' graduation for his Master's Degree in Engineering from BYU.

I call this one the bitter beard face.

That weekend James took us out for a ride in his boat.  Despite the chilly water James, Clark and my mom all skied, and the boys played in the water.

Yes that is snow on those mountains!  (And the BYU Y)

Little EE was so warn out he fell asleep as we drove back to the dock.

Then I got my real treat of the week!  On Sunday my Dad, Clark and the boys returned to Boise.  Clark gave me a few days off to spend with my mom in Salt Lake.  We had a great time!  We had to set our alarms every morning just to make it to breakfast by 9 am.  We shopped at the new City Creek, ate yummy food, and went to 2 plays!  What a fun little getaway for me.    

Erica and Erica joined us for a night at Desert Star.

We are so happy to be in Boise now and for Clark to start his FINAL rotation!

Images of Spring

The last couple of weeks we were in Durango just seemed like perfect spring days.  The weather was getting warmer, we had a picnic with Lucy and her boys at the park, and it was just so pleasant to be outside. 

Clark, Jay, Seth and Sam ran a 5k.  We had fun cheering them on.  We stood at the bottom of a big hill, Ethan would run down the hill with all of the runners we were cheering on.

We went to the REC center a few times and both of my boys LOVED it!  They especially like the big water slide, Clark and I got lots of exercise carrying Caden up all those stairs over and over again!

The boys never got bored of thumbing down Grandpa for 6 wheeler rides, or watching the tractors work.

The boys tried catching the kite while they jumped on the tramp.

Spring weather also brought wind.  One day after putting the boys down for a nap I noticed it sounded like a hurricane rolling through their bedroom.  I went in and they were shrieking in delight that their curtains were blowing open over Caden's crib. 

 

One blessing of the crazy moving this year has brought us was being able to spend time with family.  I feel like my boys had a chance in Durango to get to know their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins...and they love them! 

Easter 2012

  

Easter was so fun this year, it was special because we got to spend the day with family in Durango.  We had a lovely day at church and then came home and enjoyed a delicious dinner with all of the family.  I made some fabric flowers for our centerpiece and I think they turned out pretty cute!

 

After dinner Derek, Delanie and Seth hid over 100 Easter eggs for the younger boys to search for in the backyard.  They loved it!  

The fearless egg hiders!

Henry and Ethan are best buddy cousins!  Ethan misses Henry and asked if we could bring him with us when we left Durango.

All of the cousins in Durango on Easter.

Sam is Caden's favorite!  He was so good with him the whole time we were in Durango!  Caden misses him, and I do too, it was so nice to have such a good buddy to keep Caden safe and entertained! 

Beautiful weather and a great family to be with made for a wonderful day!