Isaac's Three!!!

It's been 3 years, 3 days, 21 hours, 30 minutes, n seconds-and-counting since Isaac's first breath.

Many thoughts speed through my mind as I contemplate this: Where did the time go? My baby is no longer a baby. I'm craving something smothered in chocolate. Isaac's growing in both body and intellect. Life keeps moving forward. Etcetera.



Isaac is bright, cute, energetic, huggable, sly, a great salesman, and still innocent--well not as innocent as he was a year ago, but still quite so. *sigh* My baby. . . *sniff* Enough of this sentimental stuff, I know you're dying for the cute stories. Here are two cute-worthy stories:

Leah is interacting more and more with her brothers each day. What does this mean? More and more of their Lego towers, brick bridges, and forts get touched, knocked down, and/or demolished. Isaac has learned quickly to use his body to shield whatever project he is working on when Leah is near. However, this physical barrier is not always enough to hold back the tide of Leah. When the tide comes in you hear this phrase shouted by Ike, "NO! NO! Leah-Leah!" I love how he says her name twice. It's soooo cute!

and the piece de resistance. . .

Over the past 2 months, Benjamin has been drilling into Isaac's mind that we were going to Chuck E Cheese for his birthday. Every single day Ben would tell Ike, "We're going to Chuck E. Cheese for your birthday." And every day Ike would in turn ask me, "When are we going to ChuckieCheeses for my birfday?" Two whole months of being indoctrinated by his brother. Two whole months of me saying, "We'll see if we'll go to Chuckie Cheeses. Your dad and I need to discuss this." The night before his birthday, Tom asked Isaac, "Do you know what day it is tomorrow?" Ike looked over his shoulder, gave Tom a mischievous smile, and whispered, "ChuckiesCheeses." There we have it.
However, we did not go to Chuck E. Cheese because we did not want to set the precedent of birthday party==Chuck E. Cheese. Ike was only somewhat disappointed. He was more excited for his Birthday candle and present.

Happy Birthday Isaac.



Warning: I apologize about my singing. It's quite bad, especially at the end.

Reacquaint Yourself

Please hum Jingle Bell Rock as you watch this video.

First Snow Fall

That's right the title says it all. Last Wednesday we experienced the first sticking--unfortunately it didn't stick for long--snowfall of the winter. Each season has its epitome of beauty. That definition of beauty is different for each person. For me winter beauty is defined as thus: After a good snowstorm, there's always a breathless awe as I look out the window--The world blanketed in fresh unmarred white. But enough of my lame attempt at descriptive writing. On to better things. . . my children. :P

Benjamin and Isaac were ecstatic.

They would, could not wait to get their snow gear on and play in the snow.

I think eating snow is one of Benjamin's favorite snow activities.


Isn't Isaac adorable?!



Leah couldn't go out and play. Instead while the boys played outside, she enjoyed the attention from Mommy and Auntie Anna .

Halloween 2008

Trick or Treat!!! Halloween came and went as fast as a Jackalope in the sights of hunter's shotgun. Before I go into who was what, jack-o-lanterns, and candy mountains, let me say this:

Halloween is a dying holiday here in the United States. Fear and lack of community are holding Halloween hostage. Parents are afraid to let their children go trick-or-treating door to door for fear of weirdo's, oddballs, and/or crazies. The lack of community feeds that fear. Most home/apartment/condo dwellers do not know their neighbors. Many neighbors are too caught up in the lives, too busy with work, and sometimes even, too self-absorb to get to know their neighbors. Other neighbors are shy and timid; thus keeping to themselves in their safety zone. What is this world coming to? Hmmmmm?!?

*breathe in*

*breathe out*


okay.... I'm done.


Thankfully, we live in a wonderful neighborhood where there is a sense of community, a sense of family. Neighbors aren't just neighbors, but they are friends. We are very blessed to have such wonderful neighbors.

Benjamin and Isaac enjoyed carving pumpkins; wearing their costumes; handing out popcorn (I give out individual microwave popcorn packets instead of candy to change up the monotony of candy--if there is such as thing) to trick-o-treaters; going trick-o-treating; and most of all enjoying their candy haul.

We read this wonderful article that give a great way to regulate candy. In short, you let your kids eat all they want after trick-o-treating and then allow them to only have candy for snacks and dessert. The kiddos are allowed to hold their own candy if they stick to the rules. This regulating of Halloween candy teaches them how to eat candy in moderation. This seems to work. The boys are learning responsibility; and they don't feel like we're withholding their treats.

Isaac loved being a dragon. When you asked him, "What are you?" he would reply "I'm a dragon!" then turn around, wag his bum, and say, "See my tail!"

Ben loved the muscles on this Spiderman costume. He'd sing the spiderman theme song: "Spiderman Spiderman. Spiderman Spiderman. Spiderman Spiderman. Spiderman Spiderman." (sung to the Spiderman Theme song)

Trick or Treat!!!

We did pumpkin carving at Grammy's home. It was fun to watch the boys do their thing. :D

The boys enjoyed cleaning out their pumpkin innards.

They each drew a face on their respective pumpkins. Tom tried to decipher their sketch and cut out the face. The final products are found below.

From top to bottom, Tom's jack-o-lantern, Ben's jack-o-lantern, my jack-o-lantern, and Ike's jack-o-lantern.

I don't know how to end this post. . . . so um. . . THE END!

Spontaneous Vacationing

Tom and I decided to take advantage of Cindy's mom's--who is the wonderful Rilla--generosity and go down to their condo in St George, Utah for a little R & R. This is as spontaneous as vacations get for us. We decided on Sunday, September 28th and left Friday, October 3rd. Jimdy and Lora Beth joined us for our little reprieve from the real world. We arrived at the condo Friday night, unpacked, put the kids to bed, and enjoyed a little Tom and Aimee time before the rest of the crew arrived. It was a very leisure weekend.


On Saturday, we watched General Conference (For those who are not LDS: Every 6 months, the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hold a conference for all members giving spiritual and uplifting sermons or talks), did a puzzle, ate lunch, watch conference, went swimming, ate dinner, talked politics, put the kids to bed, played games, talked some more.


On Sunday there was conference; and we went to Snow Canyon State Park for some hiking and nature appreciation. The landscape was breathtaking.

Enjoy the pictures.

We went home after a wonderful weekend of vacationing the right way: taking everything slow.

Month of Family Togetherness

Instead of cleaning the kitchen, folding laundry, vacuuming, disinfecting the bathrooms, or even catching up on world wide news, I decided I would use this 'free' time to let you--my friends and my family--know what a wonderful month September has been.

If I had to label this month I would label it: Family Time. Tom and I are working harder to spend more valuable time with our kids. "What do you mean by valuable time?" you might ask. What I mean is more direct interactions with the children. We try to do more kid friendly activities like miniature golfing, bowling, hiking, or even picking grapes as a family.

Here a few activities we enjoyed as a family.


We celebrated Grammy's birthday on September 11th.

Happy Birthday Grammy!

The Huggies bought a boat and invited us one Saturday to go boating with them on Utah Lake. The boys had a blast. Isaac didn't like the cold water as much. He ended up taking a nice nap on the bow of the boat with Claire. Ben and Mike had fun jumping off the boat and swimming in the lake. However, it took Ben some time to gain the confidence to swim around the boat by himself. Ben and Mike even went on the tube. Funny thing is the boat wasn't going fast enough so the tube submarined and dumped Ben and Mike into the water. But Ben got back on the tube and went again. I'm very proud of him. He was very brave.


We went miniature putting at Trafalga. It was a lot of fun. Tom beat me somewhat fairly. :D I should have won, but my tennis elbow started acting up. ;)


We went to CornBellys. Ben and Ikey really enjoyed the different activities there. Isaac's favorite activity was watching the chicken robots sing and tell corny jokes. Ben enjoyed watching the piggy races.

Ducky races: On your mark. . . get set. . . GO!!

Let's play in the corn kernals!!!

Summer Lovin'

What a wonderful summer it's been! I'm sad that it's coming to an end. Anytime is a great time to bond with family and friends. However I've learned over the years that summer-fun makes those bonds even stronger. Those sun-kissed strengthened bonds weather the cold and harsh winter months of below freezing seclusion--say that 10 times fast. :D What a wonderful season to get to know those you love and have yet to love even better.

Summer is a great time for everyone and everything. Yessirreebob! :P

Instead of reading about our wonderful summer so far, you get--yes GET--to watch my rough/sloppy attempt at film editing.

Please feel free to pop some popcorn, grab a soda and/or mineral water, kick up your feet, and enjoy our family's summer.


ENJOY!!!!

So Much to Share. . . Part III

I'm always Bursting at the Seams, Laughing Out Loud, Rolling on the Floor, etc when I see a video of a toddler falling asleep at the table while eating. Now I have a video of my own. :P

All you have to do is turn your screen counterclockwise 90 degrees to get the full effect.
Prepare for a laugh attack!



For archival reasons this happened May 15th.

Terrible Twos are here!

Isaac had his birthday last Thursday. He is the big 2. I know I always comment on how time just flies, but it's true. My baby is no longer a baby. The first two years of any one's life are when one changes the most. Let's look back on how much Isaac's grown.

*Nostalgic music plays in the background.*

2 weeks old

1.4 years old

1.7 years old

2 Years old

He got his big boy bed as well last week. Isaac was/is still so excited about sleeping in a big boy bed. Benjamin and him are sharing a room. It's actually working out well. The first two nights in the new bed, Ike had trouble staying in bed, but since then he stays in bed when it's bed time. I attribute that to Ben's wonderful example. The only down side to this arrangement is Ike gets up at the crack of dawn with Ben now.

OH!!!! Tonight, when getting Ike ready for bed, I asked him if he wanted to go on the potty. He nodded enthusiastically. He was a bit frightened when he tried to sit him on the seat However as soon as we assured him he wasn't going to fall in, he relaxed enough to be placed on the seat. After a few moments, the wonderful sound of tinkle tinkle echoed off the porcelain seat into our ears. He peed!!! It's the small things that make a parent smile. This is just another indication of how much he's matured intellectually and physically. I know I've mentioned nothing about terrible twos. I thought I'd keep this post positive and happy. After all this is a tribute to Isaac's two years. :)

And So IT Begins. . .

Over the last couple of weeks--that means 2, not 3, but 2 (This quick aside is for Tom. We've had 'discussions' on the exact use and meaning of the words: "couple" and "few". He claims few and couple can be interchanged at pleasure. If that's the case, what's the point of giving them the specific definitions found in our reliable Websters?)--Isaac has quickly learned he can undressed himself if given the time and motivation. He mainly strips in his crib, but I'm sure it is just a glimmer of what's to come.

The camera is never near (Isn't that just like a camera?!) when Ike's been found in his birthday suit. But here is a glimpse of his mischief.

I already have another son--cough, Ben, cough--who enjoys running around in circles in his birthday suit. Ah the phrase 'birthday suit'. Ben likes using that term a lot: "Mama, when I came out of your tummy I was in my birthday suit!" "Can I be in my birthday suit when we take a bath?" "Haha, Isaac's in his birthday suit!" etc. . .

And so it begins. . . Isaac, who has only been a toddler for a short time, is emerging into BIGboyhood. They grow up so fast. Cherish each moment. They're only 723 days old once!

Annual Cabin Trip

Every year for the past few years, we rent a cabin/hotel (whatever seems fun) with our friends. The criteria for such a place are the following: needs to comfortably accommodate 8 adults & 8+ children, have snow, snowmobiles, and close enough to get to. This year we rented a nice little cabin near Heber City, Utah. Not a tedious or long drive for us, but far enough away to call it a mini-vacation.


We cabin-nobbed with the Hughes, Jorgensen's, and Jobes. It snowed early that day, and we had a huge snowstorm the weekend before. Lots of snow === lots of fun. It was a lot of fun.

Look at how much snow there's been!

To get to the cabin, you needed 4-wheel drive or chains. Thankfully we have our Trailblazer and not our tiny Corolla. Everyone was able to drive up to the cabin except for the Jorgies. It took the men about 20 minutes to decide which vehicle and who were going to go down and get the Jorgies (who were waiting in the lower parking lot). In the end, all 3 men--Tom, Cam, & John--decided to go. John was going to take their ford (front wheel drive with front chains) which had enough room to shuttle the Jorgies up, and Cam & Tom were going to follow in Cam's Truck "Optimus".

They left excited about their mini-adventure. I looked out the window about 10 minutes after they 'left' and saw Optimus still in the driveway. I thought nothing of it. I thought they were only a tiny bit stuck. Another 10 minutes went by and there was Optimus in the same place with Tom running towards the cabin to get a shovel. Someone was definitely stuck. Turns out, John was unable to make a turn and got stuck in a snow drift of some sort. Optimus couldn't get out cause John's car was blocking part of the driveway. After 30 minutes of digging, packing snow, and sly maneuvering the manly men were able to get the car out of the hole and somewhat out of the driveway. You're probably thinking "YAY!!! The car is unstuck!" Unfortunately, it was even more stuck.











However, it was enough out of the way for Optimus to exit the driveway and get the Jorgies. On Saturday, the men were able to get the Jobes' car completely unstuck.

The kids had fun playing with each other despite tears and misunderstandings. They enjoyed playing in the snow.

Noah & Ben

Mikey, Claire, & Isaac.
Ike would not sit up. He was a limp noodle in that sled.

The best parts of the trip were when the kids were in bed. :P

Bed time boys!

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed watching Benjamin and Isaac play with the other kids, but it was nice to just hangout with our friends without having to worry about ending the night short because the babysitter needed to get to bed. I enjoyed talking/catching up with the girls.

Tom had a lot of fun snowmobiling with the hubbies. There were no major injuries on the snowmobiles (thank goodness). From their report, the boys didn't get into as many 'stuck' situations like they did last year. However there was that ravine and Cameron meeting each other unexpectedly. :P

Unfortunately, I had my bouts of headaches, nausea, and just plain pregnancy annoyances. It didn't make the trip any less fun, but I'm sure next year it will be even more fun. I'm more than grateful to the girls. They let me to take a nap while keeping an eye on my boys. Thank you, girls!!!!


I can't wait till next year.

Oooooh!!!!! On our way through Heber on Center Street, we saw the coolest (figuratively & literally) tree in someone's front yard. Enjoy!!!!