Connor

Today I just had to report on our youngest. I don't know if it's because he has two older brothers to glean information from, or if he's just a really really smart kid, (probably a bit of both), but sometimes that things he says and does amaze us. Now, the following stories aren't really anything amazing, but for a two year old-we think they are amazingly cute!

First story-last night he put on a pair of my flip-flops, then belted out in his best Mommy impression, "Well~is everyone ready to go?" Then he climbed onto his dump truck that he rides (see photo at top of blog) and said, "Come on! Let's get going! We have to go to Wal-Mart now!" I asked him what he was going to get at Wal-Mart. With no hesitation he said, "COOKIES!" See, I quit eating sugar a week ago. (I have binge issues that are triggered by sugar so I cut it out) Needless to say, we don't have much of anything with sugar in it in our home at the moment. It's only been a week! I can't have the temptations close by. Apparently, Connor decided he had had enough of this sugar fasting, so he was going to head on out to Wal-Mart to buy the family some cookies. Lucky for him, we did have some that we just needed to break open.

Second was this morning. This child wakes up with the birds. The worst part is~he not only wakes up really early, but he wakes up insanely happy! He is such a happy child. This morning he was up a bit earlier than usual. We hear him out in the living room acting out a scene from one of his favorite Winnie the Pooh dvds. It went something like this.

"What's that dragon doing in my living room?"

"No Tigger, it's just the vacuum cleaner!"

"Oh, Christopher Robin! Look at this big mess!"

All the while, running around the living room acting it out. He's such a character!

Lastly, the picture of him above with the sticky-uppy hair. Well, that would be the result of a half a tub of Eucerine in his hair. Then, he tried to add a little Elmer's glue to the mix. The worst part? That picture was taken after 3 hair washings!!! Again~what a little character. It's a good thing we love him! (o:

Another Week Gone By!

I can't believe how the days can fly by sometimes! This week was no exception. Sunday Travis and I spoke in church. It went very well. Travis especially gave an outstanding talk! His parents came over for dinner and we had a great time.

Monday and Tuesday were dedicated to cleaning and planning. I am still trying to get my head all together and things in order for the upcoming school year. We start the day after labor day just like the public school. I was intending on starting early because the request for a guinea pig is being granted for Joseph's birthday next month, but instead we have just been having "life lessons" and learning about guinea pigs for fun. side note*Speaking of the g.pig, Joseph has been working hard around the house and at his grandparents to earn money to buy the necessary supplies for a guinea pig. We made a big checklist of all required and we have been chipping away at it one chewstick at a time- the pig will be his birthday gift from his grandparents in 2 1/2 weeks*So, anyway, I have been spending a lot of time trying to figure out what two kids need to learn instead of just the one. Good thing I have one more year before I have to do testing with Joseph.

Wednesday Travis had the day off, so we drove up to Bellevue and had lunch, stopped by Deseret Book Store and bought a book, then took the boys over to the Temple to walk around a little and talk about the Temple. As soon as we got out of the car Travis saw a piece of garbage on the grass, so he picked it up and told the boys that if they see anymore, please pick it up to help keep the Temple grounds clean. I took a picture of them taking their dad very seriously! It was fun to take them there and hear the questions that they had when we left. Oh, and Joseph swears he's going to marry the only girl in his Primary class, Janina. (In the Temple, of course) I don't think Janina knows this and would probably say, "gross!" if she did know. (o: And the book we got..."Armor" by Kim B. Clark. (he's President of BYU-Idaho)It is an excellent book so far about putting on the whole armor of God (see Ephesians). Travis and I are reading a chapter to each other at night before we go to bed. We highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a good spiritual strengthener!

Thursday we went to Grandparents Nelson and played in the dirt for a while and threw some water balloons. Such great fun there. Friday we spent the day at Wal-Mart with Grandma Nelson buying some school supplies and getting one more item for the guinea pig. Then Grandpa came over and we had some frozen pizza and watched football together. (hooray for preseason!)

So, maybe that doesn't sound quite so busy, but it feels that way to me. It always feels good to have things to do. Luckily for me, I have three busy boys who love making messes, so I always have something to do. (o:

Below are a couple of the pictures I took at the Temple of Travis and the boys. Enjoy!

Hiking

Saturday we decided to go hiking at Discovery Park. They have a lighthouse on the point and so we thought we would hike to the lighthouse. It's the last day of the season for the visiting center to be open. We packed a cooler full of yummy lunch and headed up to Seattle. We drove around for a while trying to figure out how to get to the lighthouse. Apparently, you have to hike there-no driving. We figured that would be just fine. Our boys have tons of energy! We had a nice little picnic lunch, packed our camera and a bottle of water and headed off. The main trail is a loop trail. About 3 miles all the way around. The lighthouse is off the trail about .5 miles. Only problem is that the signs are very poor and we had no idea which direction to head to get to the lighthouse. Needless to say we went the wrong direction. By the time we got to the sign that pointed us to the lighthouse, we had been hiking for 1 1/2 hours and over 2 miles. The kids were getting tired and the thought of adding another mile to our hike didn't appeal. The boys didn't mind missing the lighthouse though. They had a lot of fun just hiking through the woods, saying hello to the many dogs that passed us, and playing briefly in the sand when we got to the beachy part near the water.

We had a really great time as a family and have planned a couple of things for the near future. One, we are going back to Discovery Park when it gets a little cooler and we can wear the long pants and sneakers. The sandals and flip flops were no big deal, but we could go faster and cover more ground if we had sneakers. And two-we are going to take the kids on a lighthouse field trip down the coast (mainly by Portland area)after Travis gets his Executive promotion. Before we had kids, Travis and I went down to Astoria and some of those places and saw some beautiful lighthouses. We'll spend some time learning about them for school first and then head on down. Should be lots of fun!

Happy 13th Anniversary!!!

That was then...

This is now!

Thirteen years ago today the most absolutely best day of my life occurred! I was married for time and eternity to my very best friend! It's been a sometimes bumpy road so far, but when I look back, I can say it's been great! We have managed to find a way to turn a lot of stumbling blocks into stepping stones in our lives. I would really hate to go through this world/life alone. I'm so glad that I have Travis by my side. We are proof that when something is meant to be, you just do it. We both knew the first night we talked that we were going to get married. It was a very long 4 weeks before Travis finally proposed. It would have been sooner, he says, but he wanted to wait until he could take me to Seattle. He didn't want to propose in Rexburg overlooking a cow pasture. (or give me a diamond on the baseball diamond-which was popular at school that year) So, he asked me on top of the Space Needle! And someday-when we are millionaires, we will take our boys up there and show them the exact spot. (o:




Now, before I get any complaints about the wedding picture being fuzzy-digital cameras weren't around 13 years ago and we have never figured out our scanner, so I did the best I could with what I have. (which is a picture of a picture) (o:

Teeth, Guinea Pigs, and Puke!

Yesterday was an extremely busy day. We had tons of fun though. First of all, we would like to announce that Spencer lost his first official tooth. Well, actually, two fell out at the same time! We say official because 2 1/2 years ago he had one of the front top ones pulled because he fell onto some concrete at Grandma Nelson's house and cracked it in half. (that one will grow back in another 2 years) BUT~he lost his two bottoms ones on Thursday night. Yesterday he received $2 from the Tooth Fairy. He put it in his wallet and is planning to wait until he collects all of his dough promised from his grandparents. Then he will get something really cool.

Now, after we collected the tooth money and sent Daddy off to work, the boys and I got dressed and walked over to Happy Donuts. It's about 1/2 mile at the most from our home. The boys got to choose one donut and we sat at the tables and ate and discussed all the important things that were on our minds. (like teeth, monster trucks, and guinea pigs) The boys have always wanted to go there, but I've never taken them. We finally got around to doing it.

Then on our walk home, we picked blackberries along the side of the road. Here is the Seattle area, blackberry bushes grow WILD all over the place. They are terrible because they are the prickely-est (I don't know if that's even a word) most dangerous things I've ever come in contact with on purpose. BUT~they yield some really yummy wonderful fruit, so it's all worth it.

Next we loaded up into the car and drove down to Federal Way to their Super Wal-Mart to get a few groceries. This is also a special trip. It's about a 25 minute drive-the next town over. The boys were really well behaved. They expressed their disappointment at the idea of going home so early after our shopping spree, so I took them to the Federal Way Mall. Never been there before. We shared a Subway sandwich and pop and wandered the mall. Then, a brilliant idea hit Joseph. Maybe we should go to Petco!

We told the boys that they could get a guinea pig for Christmas, but only after we have spent a month studying the creatures, learning everything we can about them and gathering all of the supplies we would need to properly care for said creature. Joseph, our animal lover, has decided that Christmas is an eternity away and would be willing to start school asap if that meant he could get his guinea pig by his birthday. (September 13th) So, we began our research yesterday on guinea pigs by visiting 3 pet stores and a Target. We got to hold a little g. pig and picked up some brochures. I priced a few things and figured it would cost us just under $100 total to acquire our new pet. I told Joseph that he would have to work to earn money to help pay for the supplies and that there would be no guinea pig in our home until we had every single supply required for proper care. We did go to Target and purchase a water bottle to kick off our supply, and then came home and made a big checklist of all we need. We'll keep you updated on how our list is coming along.

Now, lastly-the puking part. This morning Connor started following me around and holding his tummy. He said-ow! and then proceeded to empty the contents of his tiny tummy. (that holds an enormous amount) He has been sick ever since. We are hoping that the other kids don't get it, but last time Connor got sick, the entire family got very sick. (see previous blog on April 22) We are really hoping we don't have that happen again! Especially since Travis doesn't have a day off for a while.

Okay, that's all I'm going to report for now. I'm sure there will be plenty of updates on our guinea pig saga as the days go on. Joseph just counted his money and he already has $2 saved up from helping out his grandma and his mom. That would buy a bag of hay!

An Eclectic Week

Nothing super fantastic has happened this week for us. We went over to Travis's parents house to have lunch and check on his Mom. She had surgery on her knee a week ago. We've been going over and fixing food for them and trying to help out if we can. The boys also completely enjoy playing in the dirt and running through the sprinkler while there.

Last night Joseph and Spencer requested that they get to do something special with their dad before he had to go to work today. (Travis is closing this weekend) So, this morning, we all loaded up in the car and did our Seattle drive. We didn't get out of the car because of time constraints, but they really love driving to the city and looking at all the buildings and street signs. It was a nice drive and I would have given anything to have had my camera out when we were up on Broadway (the rainbow pride street) and saw a van painted to look EXACTLY like Scooby Doo's Mystery Machine! It was so awesome! Kids didn't really get it, but Travis and I loved it.

I took the boys over to Fred Meyer this afternoon and they helped me pick out some fresh fruits and veggies. I love summer because it's all so yummy and cheap! We got some really beautiful corn on the cob that we will be having for dinner tomorrow after church. The kids got a free cookie from the bakery and were really pretty well behaved.

Travis and I have been asked to speak in church on August 19th. We were asked last month and have really had a lot of time to prepare. We both are already feeling very good about our topics and both have an abundance of information and are going to be spending the next two weeks paring them down to 12(mine) and 15(his) minutes. The topics are Gratitude for the Atonement(mine) and Gratitude for those who came before us ie. pioneers and for their sacrifices etc. (his)

Oh, and lastly-can you believe that on August 16th it will be our 13th wedding anniversary? Crazy how time flies-yet it feels like we've always been together our whole lives.

Okay-enough babbling. I have cauliflower to go cut up. Have a super day!