Monkeys and Fishies

Last Tuesday, Jenica and I went for a walk around the neighborhood with the kids. While Emily was the "leader" in front, Jon and Addie trailed behind, holding hands, and giggling. They were too cute!

The next day was the last Wednesday of the month, so it was FREE DAY at Hogle Zoo. Since Elaine and I have been teaching the kids about wild animals in preschool, it was a perfect field trip opportunity. We arrived just as the gates were opening and enjoyed a few hours of fun before it got too busy.

My little monkeys swinging on the railing in front of the monkeys.

admiring the Zebras
Addie and Jonny took turns pushing each other in the stroller. Sometimes, they were both in the stroller, and other times, neither of them was in the stroller. Half the moms there were pushing empty strollers because this is the "I do it myself!" stage, right? ;)climbing on the tiger Whenever we go places with friends, the girls like to walk together and hold hands. Sweet Etta will usually start it, and Emily just loves it.
Jon wanting to climb up and play with the squirrels

Thursday, we played at the pool and Jon was quite the fishy. He loved the water! Here he's trying to "get da bubble."

1....2....3....

Jump!

Draper Temple

Wade and I attended the Open House for the new Draper Temple on Friday, Feb. 20. It was a special experience to be able to take our children and show them how brilliant and beautiful the temple is-inside and out. We also had our little friend, Addie Hiatt, with us, so you can imagine the big smiles we got from everyone as we walked through the temple with three young children. They thought Addie and Jon were twins and would comment on how reverent they all were. (Thank goodness we had practiced!)

It was sweet to see the children's faces light up as we entered the Celestial Room, and they saw the awesome chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The room was so gorgeous and peaceful, and it felt a lot like heaven being there with our little family.

I'm so grateful for the blessings of the temple that make it possible for our family to be together forever. I don't know where I would be without the Gospel. It gives me hope, even in the scary world we live in, and it gives me joy, knowing our Heavenly Father has a plan for us.

Making Mischief

Last Thursday, I walked into the kid's bedroom to check on Emily and see if she had fallen asleep during quiet time. Nope...instead I found Jon's crib filled with about 100 books! Emily immediately exclaimed, "I did it by myself, mommy! It's for my treehouse." She then went on to explain how she had storytime in her "treehouse" and how Dora {the explorer} is in her class and reads books with her everyday. What an imagination on that girl, I tell you what!

I just don't know what to do with her. Emily used to sleep during quiet time, but now, she spends the entire time reading books and then "redecorating" the room by taking all the books off the shelves, all the clothes out of the dresser, all the blankets out of the closet, moving her bed and the rocking chair, and having just the time of her life doing it. Whenever I go to check on her, she always gives me the biggest grin expecting me to be SO proud of her work (which sometimes only takes her 5 minutes to make!) It's a tricky age because she seeks approval for her "hard work," which is difficult for me to do when I'm mystified by the mess. I have to stop and take a deep breath and compliment her on how creative she was building her fort or her treehouse, but then insist that SHE be the one to clean it up. I'm afraid my 3 1/2 year old may be done with naps, but I still feel it's important for her (and me) to have quiet time. What do I do???

A short half hour after I found Emily's mess, I walked into my bedroom, where Jon takes his naps in the pack-n-play, and I discovered he had climbed out of the pack-n-play, found the Christmas wrapping paper hidden under the bed, and had unwrapped ALL of it. It was everywhere! Oh, and he had found a leftover sucker to enjoy. When he saw I wasn't happy with him, he started crying.

And later that same day, I caught Jon climbing on the stools so he could reach the phone, probably wanting to call Grandma or Grandpa to rescue him from his mean mommy! ;)

Valentine's Weekend

Last Friday, while I was preparing some Valentine's songs to teach at our Mommy and Me Music Class, Jonathan climbed up on the couch and copied me by writing in his notebook, just like mommy. What cracked me up was how serious and contemplative he looked while writing. Where does he pick this stuff up anyway?

That night, Emily and Jon ate ramen noodles and carrots for dinner, while I was preparing a special Valentine's dinner for Wade. Such a nice mommy, huh? I saved the good stuff for us!

I made Chicken Cordon Bleu, mashed potatoes and gravy, green salad, and homemade rolls. It was delicious!

The next morning, Emily was walking around with a blanket draped around her hair like this saying, "I'm Mary. And I love Joseph. I'm going to marry him." She adores the Christmas story, can you tell?

Shortly after that, Jonny got in a fight with the bed frame, and the bed frame won. His front teeth cut through, but once we got the bleeding to stop, we called Dr. Jared Allen in St. Louis (Kathy's husband and our favorite doctor). We were hoping he could give us advice, so we could avoid the E.R. or even Insta-Care. Well, we called the right guy because after some peroxide and super glue, Jonny was as good as new. Thanks again Jared!

That afternoon, we went shopping and the kids discovered how fun it is to play in between the racks of clothes. It was driving me crazy because they were REALLY good at hiding and being quiet in their hiding spot (I wish they were that quiet at CHURCH!) It was frustrating, but then I stopped and realized that they're only kids once, and I may as well snap a picture of them having this much fun, so they can look back at it later.

After we dropped our kids off with Margaret in West Jordan for the evening, we attended the temple with Wade's family and then went to the adult session of our Stake Conference. Since my parents were coming in town that night and wanted to stop and see Jason and Margaret before heading to our house, they volunteered to bring Emily and Jon back to our house to save us time. Since they weren't home with our kids yet, Wade and I spontaneously decided to grab the Breakfast Special at Denny's at 9pm. It was such a blast-just Wade and I being goofy and enjoying some tasty food! Whenever I go to Denny's, I can't help but think of Becky. She'll know why. ;) And I have such fun memories of the cast parties at Denny's after the high school musical each year with Sarah, Karolee, Katie, and Cynthia. Those poor waitresses had to put up with a lot of loud teenagers with their cheese fries and chocolate shakes!
Monday on President's Day, we had a nice visit with Wade's dad and step-mom in Tooele before driving out to the Clover Creek General Store. It's this amazing store and restaurant that Wade's aunt owns, just outside of Rush Valley. We love this place! It's like a get-away from the world, where you can stop for a home-cooked meal and then eat an ice-cream cone out on the front porch and just relax.

Here's Emily hanging out with her Grandpa Reed, waiting for lunch to arrive.

They even sell penny candy there, just like when we were kids. Emily brought her money that she had earned from doing chores at home, and she was so excited to buy the penny candy. :)

When we returned home, I went grocery shopping while Wade and the kids watched Cinderella. Wade was really into the movie, and I decided that the world needs more dads who watch princess movies...by choice! lol

Tuesday, Margaret came over to scrapbook with me, and as always I enjoyed hanging out with my sister. She's just great!

However, these two cooky girls may have had even more fun that day! Here's Hailey and Emily eating my home-made fruit popsicles. I just pour some of our morning fruit smoothie into the popsicle tray and throw it into the freezer for a perfect afternoon snack! Margaret thinks it's weird to have spinach in a popsicle, but it tastes great and the kids love it, so I keep making them. :)

Flashback Friday

My cousin, Kristen, inspired me to start Flashback Friday because I've really enjoyed her awesome pictures from the past and the story to go along with it. So here are some pictures of our trip to Disneyland 3 years ago.

What made this trip so much fun was that my entire family was there. Disneyland is amazing when you can enjoy it through the eyes of a child. My nieces and nephews all loved it, even though you can't tell that from their facial expressions in this picture. ;) The look on Alex's face especially cracks me up!

Cath, Emily, and my mom

a very happy baby Emily

That smile on Wade's face kills me! He's such a boy at heart. And Alex is just happy to be hanging out with his buddy, Uncle Wade.

Looking at these pictures make me smile. Disneyland is called the "happiest place on earth," and I've been thinking about happiness a lot lately. With this economic crisis upon our entire country, many of our loved ones have lost jobs and struggled to find hope. Last Monday, when Wade got turned down for yet another job, I was bawling for an hour, pleading with Heavenly Father to help me understand His plan for us. Buying our first home and having another baby were contingent upon him getting that job. We had felt such peace about it, and then were left confused.

But the Lord works in mysterious ways because the next day, Wade received a phone call from the office of Harris Simmons, the CEO of Zions Bancorporation, letting him know that Harris wants to have a business lunch meeting with Wade on Feb 18th to discuss career possibilities. This news could not have come at a better time because we have both felt so discouraged lately with the adversity that we've been facing. But I can't focus on our trials because I'm humbled again and again at the way I've seen our friends and family fight their own battles everyday! I think about you more than you know, every one of you, and the pain you experience as well as the joy in this roller coaster called life. I'm just amazed by your strength of character and your faith. Thank you for living your life in a way that makes me want to be better.

I love this boy!

I just wanted to say I feel pretty lucky to have this boy in my life. Jon is always doing and saying things that crack me up. This particular morning, he had taken his pajamas off by himself, and I found him in the hall with his swimsuit half way up his legs. It was a hilarious sight! So I helped him put it all the way on, and then he trotted around the house as if he were posing for a photo shoot. What a character!

Then a few weeks later when we were with Wade's family, Jonny picked up Caleb's toy gun and automatically knew what to do with it. He is such a boy! He had never played with a toy gun before, but there he was pretending to shoot everybody with sound effects and all.
Then last Monday, I went to lay down on the couch to rest, and Jon came over to me and said, "Snuggle, Mama?" So of course I pick him up and snuggle with him for a minute. Then out of the blue he says, "Tickle, tickle!" and starts tickling me. So I tickle him back and we're both just laughing and laughing. It was a sweet moment, and I'm glad Wade captured it on camera.

Jon's favorite food is cereal, and he asks for it EVERY morning, even on the mornings that I make fruit smoothies, oatmeal, or french toast. He has the cutest way of asking, "Cereal please?" His favorite kind is Honey Bunches of Oats, and lately, he asks for it several times a day, even when he's just eaten a big meal. I usually have to distract him by suggesting we read books or play cars instead, so he's not eating cereal all day long. He's such a fun, sweet boy, and I sure love him!

Par-tay!

We had a birthday party for my cousin, Karen, and my sister, Margaret, last Thursday at my Aunt Anne's house. There was good food, lots of laughing, and even more screaming (with that many little girls in the house, you can count on that, right?) Here are a few cute pictures of the kids.

Then Saturday night, we had a big party at our house with a bunch of the couples in our ward. If you can't tell, I love throwing parties, and we're lucky to have enough room to fit a lot of people at the same time. After everyone scarfed down Christine's amazing home-made salsa with chips and other yummy snacks, we played a few games of "Werewolves" (a twist off the game "Mafia"). So much fun!Then we all took a turn playing "Rock Band."

Wade was a natural at playing the guitar! :)

But I didn't even try the guitar or the drums this time, because I was having too much fun rocking out on the vocals!

The party was such a blast, and I can't wait for the next one!