In memory of...

What a wonderful day we have had today.

It was fun.

I am happy.

We started off the day at a super fun breakfast/brunch at a friends house. Yummy food...good company. The kids had a really good time running around and playing. Me...talking.

Next...home for the second round of lice treatment (not much fun, in and of itself, but HOPEFULLY it will be the last)

Then I got to go for a jog. First post pregnancy jog. 4 miles. Not too bad. I was just happy to be outside exercising and being by myself.

Lunch

Nap...always a good thing.

After naps we headed off to a local cemetery. We don't have any family buried nearby but really wanted the kids to understand and appreciate just what Memorial Day is a celebration/remembrance of. We explained all about the sacrifice the brave men and women of our countries armed forces make in order to fight for our freedom and the freedom of others. It was neat. They actually listened and were interested. I am so glad we did it.

The cemetery was BEAUTIFUL. There were hundreds of full sized flags lining the drives billowing in the wind...each representing a soldier buried there. We walked along reading some of the names, visited a few monuments/memorial and read a lot of head stones.

They had a small lake in the center of the cemetery. We enjoyed watching the swans, fish and turtles. A lady there was letting a red heart balloon go in memory of her daughter. She let it go just as the swans were coming near us. It scared the wits out of them. They started flapping their wings and tails...it was hilarious. The fish were huge and enjoyed scarfing up the bread people were throwing out to them and the turtles were sunbathing. The kids LOVED it.

We found several "Doody Doody Town Town trees" which the kids enjoyed playing under. (side note: Doody Doody Town Town was an imaginary friend of my brothers. He lived under a big pine tree (whose branches hung down to the ground (like an umbrella) leaving a hollow space underneath for Doody to live) in the cemetery in Orem, Ut where my grandfather is buried.) It brought back really good childhood memories. I had to call "Uncle Andrew" and tell him what we found. :)

We ended the day with a hot dog, bratwurst, and chicken BBQ...and left over cake and ice cream for desert.

What a good day.

Standing in that cemetery, watching all of those flags billow was amazing. I was filled with a great sense of peace and an even greater sense of respect and thanks for those men and women who are beyond brave and whose love for their country and their fellow men urge them to put their own lives at risk for what they believe in. You are amazing! Thank you!

Life has a way...and we survive

Life certainly has a way of teaching us by lending a bit of perspective. Things that once seemed horrible and not all that horrible in light of something even worse.

But...we human beings are much stronger than we think. At least we can be with Heavenly Father's help.

(and with the help of a WONDERFUL husband as well)

This weeks has been REALLY trying.

I have suffered from some pretty serious anxiety and worry but...I just kept going (thanks to a blessing I received from previously mentioned wonderful husband). I wondered at times if I would crumble but tried to rely on faith to get me through.

What an experience.

For now...things are better.

Hopefully this particular trial is over...if not, I KNOW I can deal with it. One step at a time.



Note to Jenn: Thanks for the encouraging words. Heavenly Father really does have a way of showing us just how strong we are. Your words REALLY helped.

Let a sleeping dog lie....

or in this case....a baby.

Kian is such a mix of looks from the family.
One things for sure...he's got his daddy's hair line. :)

Solution for a super fussy, gassy baby....pressure on the tummy...
zonked right out.

"Oh...now this is the life"

Must be dreaming of being a kangaroo.
Either that or he is practicing to star in the remake music video of
Micheal Jackson's "Thriller".

I love my little Kian.

He is so sweet.

Especially when he is sleeping. :)

How many people does it take...

to change the battery in the smoke detector?



Six (at least in our house)...



Two to form a human ladder,

one to take the (incredibly attractive backside) pictures of the before mentioned human ladder,

and

three others, wondering what in the heck their parents are doing and why Aunt Christy is taking a picture of it.















Maybe we should invest in a real ladder.

MOO!

This morning Gabe told me I am half cow.

His reason?

"Because you squirt milk and cows squirt milk."

"Yep,"I said. "That's true."

In light of the fact that I often feel like one...there was no use denying it.

Mother's Day Funny!

Sitting at the dinner table only a few moments ago Gabe asked:

"Mom...is Dad your slave today?" (He he)

Me (Rob and I giggling): "No...he's my helper."

Gabe (looking perplexed): "Oh."

I'm sure in his very observant, very magnificent brain he is thinking they look to be one and the same.

Awesome! Awesome!

Feeling good....

I'm feeling really good right now.

I have a lot of energy and am feeling really happy/positive right now.

Rob came home from work yesterday to find the kids and I singing and dancing to some lively tunes. I played around and laughed with the kids last night before bed and enjoyed some random hugs and kisses throughout the day too.

Rob made a comment last night about how glad he was to see me so happy.

Me too.

It feels good.

I rather enjoy it.

Funny/sad related story...

I grabbed Cael yesterday and planted a big slobbery kiss on his cheek and told him that I loved him.

He said, "Where are you going?"

I said, "No where."

It then dawned on me how sad it is that I usually only kiss my kids and tell them that I love them at bed time or when I am going somewhere.

The poor kid was a little confused.

New Goal:
To spend a little more time randomly "spreading the love".

Kian's one month!

I can't believe he is one month old already. Crazy!

Rob and I were just chatting last night about how surreal the whole experience is. We cant believe that one month ago this little bundle of joy was still inside my belly. It is truly a miracle.

He is such a joy to us. He is just loved to pieces around here.

He has already gained two pounds ( 9lbs 8 oz) and grown one and a half inches (21 inches long) and is getting too big for some of his newborn clothes. Sad! He wore his "take home outfit" to church on Sunday and, unfortunately it will be the last time he wears it. I had to tug it a bit to get it on. Sniff...sniff.

He is sleeping pretty well (only up once a night) and eats like a champ. He's cheeks are really starting to fill out. He's super cute.

Now for the pics.......

Bath time...I love it and he LOVES it too.


Again with the crossed-eyes! LOVE IT! Isn't he ADORABLE?!?!


Just plain sweet.


I LOVE THIS BOY!

Going ons....

Gabe finally decided it was time to take the last training wheel off his bike. And...he did an awesome job of it. Way to go Gabe! We're so proud of you!

A heaping pile of burrito babies

Cael has been attending preschool once a week with a group of friends. He loves it. On this day they were studying triangles. Here he is as part of a human triangle.

They also went on a field trip to see ponies as part of "P" day.
(no, that is not me in the picture...it's his "teacher" and the lady in our ward who owns the ponies)

Isaac sleeping in the stuffed animal box...super funny...not so comfortable!

Our couches are FINALLY here (after 6 weeks) and our home feels a little more like home (and the echo effect is almost non existent...YAY!)

My boys
(Gabe...fussing as usual about having his photo taken (we love him anyway!), Isaac, Cael and Kian) Aren't the so cute?

Baby blessing and more....

These pictures are a few weeks old but super cute nonetheless.

We blessed Kian two weeks ago while Grandma H was still here in Washington. Grandpa H flew up Saturday afternoon for the festivities. Grandma and Grandpa G, Uncle Caleb and Aunt Carrie and her family came over from Spokane for the party too. It was fun to have everyone here (too bad we didn't have our couches yet so there was actually room for people to sit).

The Boys

(Brett, Caleb, Rob and Kian, Grandpa G, Grandpa H)

Blessing Day

Sweet Sleeping Baby

Grandpa G and Kian


Sitting Up and Looking Cute


Cael and Kian

Random Visitor
This furry creature decided to visit us for a while...no worries...he's gone now!

From the mouth of my babe....

Today was fast and testimony meeting at church.

Cael often gets confused by the "tears of joy" shed by people. We are constantly trying to explain to him that people often cry when they are "touched by the spirit". Such an instance happened today.

A young girl in our ward was sharing her testimony and began to cry.

Cael says, "Why is she sad?"

I said, "She's not sad, sweety....she's being touched by the spirit." (We have explained to him that sometimes when we are really happy, especially when talking or thinking about spiritual things, we cry because our hearts are so happy and our spirits are so happy.)

So...after we got home from church we were eating lunch and Kian started to cry.

Cael says to me, "Mom...is Kian being touched by the spirit."


He he...awesome kid.

Hopefully some day I will be able to explain the "touching-of-the-spirit-crying-thing" well enough to him that he will actually understand it.

Until then...we can just laugh.