Happy Birthday Colby!

Our first-born has turned six years old!  And he is pretty much your typical puddle jumping, rock throwing, bug collecting, bike riding, dirt digging, worm hunting, wii playing little boy.  And not only does he act just his age, but he looks it now too. Check out his new "big boy" haircut!!! I can't believe it happened, but it did. It may or may not remain short...

A few fun facts about Colby. Lucky for him he inherited some serious indicisiveness. It's pretty funny...and maddening...to watch him make a decision. But I really think it's because he is just so easy to please. He's never been crazy for any one thing like Legos, or trains or lots of things that boys his age go nuts over. He likes everything. He's not picky. He does, however, LOVE to create. He creates all kinds of things with paper, glue, scissors, a pencil and a hole punch. Or he loves to build things out of wood with is dad. He also loves to plan events. He's been planning a "running contest" since January with the neighborhood kids and is still waiting for that perfect spring day to do it. He also loves to sell things. His latest selling attempt was lemondade. He was given half a cup of lemondade from his friend and instead of drinking it, he decided to divide it into about 10 cups and try to sell it. Each cup had about a quarter inch of lemondade and had a pricetag of $10. To help him out, I made him a little more lemonade so that the lucky buyers would have at least one good swig. And I threw in some canned goods that the Boy Scouts neglected to pick up from my doorstep a few days before. Before I knew it, he and his friends turned in to door-to-door salesmen and sold almost every cup of lemonade and every can of gourmet chili. Should I try to hone in on this skill or channel this elsewhere...?  A few days later his next selling efforts where in drawing some signs to hang on your door, made out of white cardstock. They all say "bath." They're quite cute and very functional. They are still available for a limited time and I bet Colby will even do custom orders. You know, incase you want a sign that says "pantry" or "linen closet." If your house is like ours, you're always opening the door to the bathroom when you wanted the pantry so a sign like this could be very handy.

Since he was 3 days old, Colby's always been easy to smile, easy to laugh and he thrives on positive praise. He's always happy. Except when he's mad. Then he's really mad. This is when you just stay out of his way and let him work it out. And in no time, (somtimes it takes longer than normal) he's forgotten what he got mad about and is back to his jolly self.

His big day was complete with his favorite breakfast, lunch and dinner, a trip to ToysRus to pick out a new bike and mini golf at Boondocks.

He also got to invite a few friends over for a late-night.  In case you don't know what a late-night is, it's the latest substitution for sleep-overs.  The kids come over and stay until 9:00. Or sometimes 8:00, or maybe even 7:00 if you're feeling lazy. As long as you get dressed in your PJs, pop some popcorn and turn on a movie, it's a late night and everyone's happy.  Anyway, I was out of town and Cameron took on the late night solo. What a good guy.

Here are some of Colby's favorites:

Breakfast: bubble-up pancakes
Lunch: nachos
Dinner: homemade mac and cheese
Dessert: any kind of icecream
Book: Where the Sidewalk Ends
Wii Game: Super Mario Brothers
Game: Sorry
Color: blue
Cereal: Life
Sport: Baseball
Favorite thing to do: play outside and/or with friends

Happy Birthday little guy! We love you!!

The Cake Dive

Dreamy

I've always been one who loves the change in seasons. I never thought I could live somewhere where the weather didn't go from one extreme to the other. You don't appreciate the good 'til you experience the bad, right?
I'm pretty sure I could live with today's weather...FOREVER.  I don't even know how warm it was, I'm guessing the mid perfects. It was overcast. I was in pants and a short sleeved T-shirt. Not for one minute was I too warm, nor too cool. No wasps to speak of. Okay, there were some, that was today's only flaw. I could have stayed outside all day.

Best day ever.  I could get used to this.

Easter and our first outing.

What is the deal with Easter Egg Hunts? Can I just say they are L.A.M.E. It's more like... Easter Egg whoever's- the-pushiest-and-fastest-and-meanest-kids-gets-all-the-eggs event.

Hundreds of kids gathered around a field with haphazardly tossed eggs dotting the damp, muddy grass.  After a quick countdown the kids shove their way through the crowd to get their greedy little hands on as many eggs as they can, all lasting about 15 seconds. Colby may be small, but he's quick and actually ended up with a few eggs. After losing Kara for a few minutes, I found her walking aimlessly with a few candies in her basket that she claimed some nice people gave her. And when we met up with our darling neighbor's kids, we found them with huge grins on their faces and empty baskets because they are the sweetest kids ever and at ages 6 and 4, already know the true meaning of Easter and it has nothing to do with candy filled Easter eggs. But, I was proud of my little squirts when they gave up half of their eggs (which was 2) to their friends without any questions asked. Meanwhile there were tons of kids bawling for one reason or another. Good times.

I don't mean to hate on Kaysville city or anything- I mean, they're just trying to provide a nice, family activity for us tax-paying citizens. Okay, maybe we're not Kaysville residents, but they never said anything about it being restricted to just Kaysvilleites. We just heard that Kaysville city had bigger and better eggs. Ha ha. I'm just kidding. Anyway.

Now at Grandpa horsies' house, the eggs are actually hidden. And you have to look for them. And there are only 6 or 7 kids. And it lasts for at least 10 minutes, except when Grandpa keeps taking eggs out of the kids' baskets while they're not looking and re-hiding them just so he can make the hunt last as long as possible. Now that's an egg hunt.  But I think because of the weather, he opted out of one this year.

This outing was all in honor of our first year anniversary of our outing sebatical. I haven't taken my kids anywhere fun (unless you'd count the grocery store trip that ends up in tears and time-outs fun) for literally an ENTIRE YEAR.

With that said, we did it and despite the egg hunt lameness, we had a great time!  Here's to more outings to come. I'm shooting for maybe 2 outings a year now...

Check out the loot! Um, yah-totally worth it.

Ty in his stroller wishing he could be part of the choas.

We dyed Easter eggs that afternoon.

This the fort the kids sat under to "watch" conference. It was fun while it lasted- about 6 minutes or so.

I forgot to take more pictureson Easter morning. Besideds Cameron being gone, we had a nice day. I love hearing from our prophet and the apostles and I think the kids actually understood what Easter is all about this year. I wasn't sure until we were driving home from the egg hunt and they started chanting, "Jesus died for u-us!" It was...cute? I wasn't sure how to react to that except I thought it was cute and funny and pretty much hilarious.

We also had a very nice dinner at my brother's house. It was especially nice because we had my brother with us who's been sick and is doing so much better. I LOVE my family and I love that we get along so well and I cherish these times we have together.

My Baby is One!

Dear Ty,

Today is your first birthday. One year since you joined our family on that highly anticipated night of April 2009 and boy, what a ride this last year has been. As a one year old, the most prominant thing about you is this: You know what you want. And you'll go to great lengths to get it. Though this may drive your mom and dad crazy at times, I believe this will be your most valuable attribute.  In the future, I see you as determined, ambitious, strong.

You are smart. I think this is why you refused to take a binky.  You knew that it was just a fake and you weren't one to be fooled. This is why you refused to drink from a bottle for a long time. Again, you knew what you wanted, and it wasn't what I was giving you. 

You are careful. You don't dive into just anything. You take your time, slowly reassuing yourself that it will be okay. We thought you'd be a picky eater when you spit out everything we put in your mouth. But as you've allowed yourself to venture out, you are becoming more and more versatile.

You are very sensitive. You've had a sensitive little system from the beginning. Constant diaper rash, reflux and an upset tummy. It doesn't take much to make you upset. It also doesn't take much to make you smile and giggle. Even when you were tiny, a simple click of the tongue brought a grin to your face. You love to be tossed around, play peek-a-boo and most of all, you LOVE to have your head/neck/face/back tickled. I believe your sensitivity will help you to be a kind brother, a good friend, and a great husband someday.

You are trying really hard to communicate. You sign "milk" all day long and would suck on that bottle 24 hours a day if we let you. You love to say "uh-oh" and will purposely drop things over and over so you can repeat it. You also say "all done" and "up" along with all kinds of jabbering that makes it sound like you're talking in sentences.

You love your brother and sister. And in return, they adore you back. Whenever we say goodnight to you, Colby says, "You're awesome! You're the best little brother in the whole world!"  You two are close. We can tell you take after Colby and your daddy because boy, can you crawl! You're quick and you're coordinated. Kara loves to tote you around and loves to mother you just like her dolls. Even after a year, Colby and Kara still ask to hold you all the time.

You're just so darn cute. Those eyes kill me. So big and so expressive. I still can't leave you for very long without longing to kiss your round little cheecks, hear your infectious little giggle, and watch you excitedly crawl as fast as you can to me so I'll pick you up. 

We are so grateful you are in our family. Your sweet, determined spirit adds so much life to our home and I know you will do great things. Happy Birthday little monkey. We love you!!

Love, Mom

Happy Birthday Mom!

It's my mom's birthday today and she doesn't love birthdays but she should because most people would be shocked to find out her real age if by some off-chance she actually revealed it. Really, I only hope to look half as good at her age and be half as healthy.

Here are just a few things she does that most people wouldn't be able to keep up with while in their twenties. She works all day, 3 days a week as a dental hygentist. She keeps her home immaculately clean. She still makes blankets for her steady stream of newborn grandbabies. Man can she still cook. All I can say is spare ribs and mashed potatoes. She serves in her ward's Relief Society presidency and seems to constantly be involved in planning, making things for the sisters, going to the temple, etc. She plays the organ in the temple every Saturday. She still makes all of her cards by hand. She makes cookies with my kids almost every time she watches them. She throws an extravagent tea party for all the daughters, daughters-in-law and grandaughters complete with 3 different kinds of cute little sandwiches, chocolate dipped strawberries, at least 4 different kinds of cookies, tea, (I know I'm forgetting some food items- seriously, it takes her months to prepare all of it) and a fun craft/activity for everyone to do, every year.

She's been through a lot this week, but is extremely strong and such a good example to me.

Happy Birthday Mom! I hope you have a great day. We all love and appreciate you so much!

Such a good sport about my kid poopin' all over her. It was Ty, not Kara.

P.S. Take a quick glance at my last post if you haven't already. It was posted at 11:59 last night.

APRIL FOOLS!!!

We're not going anywhere. At least not for now...



Wow. That was fun. I didn't expect anyone to fall for it. My kids had been saying things all day like, "Mom, there's a basketball on your head! April Fools!" so I had to join in the fun. I do have to admit, I'm a little let down myself. I was busy today telling so many lies to sell my joke that I started to believe it myself and I really do think it would be cool to move to Chicago. It was exhausting! Good thing I'm not in the habit of telling lies, well- atleast 364 days out of the year. I don't know what it is about this nobleist of holidays that I can't let go by without doing something. Remember this one? It's fun for awhile and then I usually end up feeling kinda crappy. As for my family. Come on. This is my most believable yet and the first time you didn't fall for it. I guess I'm becoming too predicatable.  Good times. Good times.

Jenny- After reading your comment, it has seriously made me a little sad that we aren't moving there! We have considered it a few times since Cameron really would have a much better schedule.  I've heard nothing but good things about Chicago.

Andrea and all of you bookclubbers- After reading the comment about flying home once a month, I thought, 'Ya, I'm pretty sure if this move was really happening, I'd make that happen.' A once-a-month trip home to attend bookclub. And see my family of course.  I'm not kidding, I really think I'd do it.

Bring on the deep dish, stuffed pizza

Chicago...here we come!

It's official. We've decided to take the plunge and move across the country where Cameron can have more seniority with SkyWest and a much better schedule.

We've been considering this for a while but kept is a secret until we knew for sure. We decided to do it after getting a small taste of Cameron's new schedule the last few months here in Salt Lake. He's never home!

We're scared and excited at the same time, but we love new adventures.

Now if only someone would just buy our house without us even having to put it on the market....so, if you know anyone who wants a cute 2-story in a great neighborhood, let us know!