A week of Utah Fun

Ethan woke up the next morning saying, "Papa! Mom-mom!" We were here at last, and he was so excited, and SO SO SAD when both had to go to work. But there were cousins to see! We met Laura and Alakai'i at the mall (shopping for the wedding) This was Laura's & AJ's first time meeting....let's just say I had my hands free after that. It was fun to watch Ethan with Alakai'i, but he was on the hyper side...and therefore a little too daring. While I was looking at a kiosk that had bows and things for AJ, I heard this cry..Ethan's cry. He had wandered to the escalator, stepped on, and the rest was too scary for him. Laura ran after him and caught him before he reached the bottom (he was on his knees facing backwards). I think she commented more than once, "Wow...he's got a lot of energy!" How can you answer "This isn't normal" at a time like this and have them actually believe you? So I just agreed. I hoped he would calm down.

The rest of the week was exhausting (playing, that is)

Grandpa swung with Ethan for over an hour the first day.

Grandma taught him how to jump on the trampoline

Kendra, Trisha and Angela came down from Logan to stay at Mom & Dad's while we were there. I do not think Ethan could have had more fun. He was literally surrounded by everyone that is posted on our fridge (at his eye level) He and Kendra especially developed a true '2-year old' love/hate relationship. (Love it when you give me your toy; Hate it when I see you hold a toy that I just NOW got interested in playing with myself!! When is it MY turn?! ) Thank goodness Grandma has multiples of the same item!
Ethan couldn't say "Kendra" very well so he called both of them "Trisha"...which probably really confused Kendra when he called "Shisha" to her!

They really were cute together and had a lot of fun!

AJ received much attention too. Her smiling face captivated everyone around her...especially Grandpa! Sometimes you just know that they remember 'long ago' in heaven when we were all together, planning out families and such.

I wanted to go see the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. Mom, Angela, myself and the kids went to view it one morning. The clouds were threatening, and it sprinkled some, but it is beautiful!

After visiting the temple we trekked up to Bingham Copper Mine. I knew Ethan would just love all of the big trucks. I was seriously doing a "UT sightseeing vacation"! The wind was blowing like crazy. AJ's hat string kept whipping in her face, and pretty soon the thunderclouds crashed together and let out a huge rainstorm. Angela and I were in the gift shop making a purchase when it happened and we ran out to the van, dripping, and skipping over puddles that were quickly accumulating into streams and rivers.

Angela, her kids, Tori, and myself and kids also visited Wheeler Farm. It has been a long time since I've been there, and I knew Ethan would enjoy it. We actually went for a free fun day that was going on there, but most booths were all packed up and gone by the time we arrived. (again, it was threatening rain) It gave us more time to walk around the grounds and revive my memories of the place. It has changed a lot since I've been there.

It's a fun place to take pictures.

Getting to UT

The first half of June Ethan, AJ & I went to UT. Brian joined us on June 11 for Emilee & Will's wedding. It was a fast decision...going without Brian. But my dear friend, Lee, was driving with her 4 kids and graciously accepted my proposal that I ride with her (with my 2 kids) That Suburban was packed! They were endlessly patient as I had to stop to nurse AJ and provide plenty of potty breaks for Ethan. We made it to Glendale, NV (in between LV and Mesquite) before the fun really began! After a potty/nursing break we were loaded back in the car....it took Lee a couple of times to get the Suburban started (uh-oh!). As we passed Mesquite the "Check Engine" light came on. We were heading into the canyon on I-15 where I knew there would be no cell phone reception. We said a prayer that the car would get us through the canyon. We were blessed with safety and once we received cell phone coverage we called the dealership. He advised us to get to a local dealership asap. Thank goodness there was one immediately off the first exit. 3+ hours later...which included a 10 minute walk to McDonald's for dinner and a new fuel pump, we were back on the road again (thank goodness for warranties and extended service hours). Lee and I commented to each other at practically the same time (as we were closing in on McDonalds) that we were glad we weren't making this trip alone, and that we had each other to help out with all of these kids! It was a super long drive, but the company was great. The cutest thing I heard was from Caleb T, "When is the sun going to go down?" (This was after I explained that we wouldn't 'get there' until the sun went down...I thought it would be easier to understand than the 'eternal mileage' or 'hours' tactic) We pulled into my driveway at 12:30AM.

Long Drive to UT

I am happy to report that Ethan and AJ were angels in the car on the way to UT. Brian put Ethan in a diaper in the morning, but with the instructions to "Stay clean & stay dry" "Yeah" said Ethan...and he DID! (all 14 hours in the car) Poor guy wouldn't venture beyond going #1 in public restrooms, but that day will come...soon, I hope. He also got his first taste of 'going in the wild'. I hope he doesn't think this is acceptable behavior that 'the world could be his toilet' but merely for emergencies only. I think only a mom would be worried about that.

Sent from Heaven

I heard Ethan say, "Yay!" and when I peaked in he had given the mop handle to AJ. "Yay, she's helping!" he said.

Ethan loves to watch AJ, and is a strong supporter of her tummy time

I love our kids!

First Girls Night Out

The following story is true....just let your imagination go wild!
Friday afternoon Ethan and Brian went camping! I was so tempted to do 'catch-up' work around the house, but I decided if I didn't start a new tradition now...it'll be harder to start it later. So...I waved to Ethan and Brian until I couldn't see them anymore and then I raced back inside the house, scooped up AJ and our fun night began!
First we went shopping! I had the freedom to look, look and look at everything around me. (It's hard to do that with a little boy who has 'grabby' hands) AJ didn't mind...she just merely mentioned when she was getting a little bit hungry. So we bought what we needed and went to spend a fun-spa-night-at-home...after our dinner & dessert, of course.
AJ lounged in a hot bath, while I massaged her head, hands, feet, tummy, and back. She got a manicure AND a pedicure! After so much pampering AJ asked to sleep in my bed, to which I complied... This was definitely a sleep-over as we both got up for a 'midnight' snack (TWICE!), and then slept in until our tummies grumbled for breakfast.

Seriously, it was much more fun than any 'chores' I had to do!

bathing beautie

First Fathers & Sons campout!

I just sent off my 2 year old and husband to their first (of many, I hope) Fathers & Sons camping trip. Oh, how I would love to be invisible and watch them both!

We were prepping Ethan last night and this morning that he would be 'sleeping outside', going 'bye-bye' with Dad, 'Mom's staying home with AJ', etc. When Brian walked through the door all Ethan had to say to me was, "BYE!" while waving his hand. I barely got a kiss from him as he was running out the door.

I told Brian to take at least 1 picture (sometimes cameras are easily forgotten with all the fun!) preferably with both of them in it. Tonight it's just me and AJ ...another start of fun traditions as moms and daughters...too bad she just fell asleep on the floor.

Memorial Weekend=Beach

This was only a pose after I caught him trying to ride the skim board

He's dragging this out to the ocean!

Friends: Riley, Tate & Ethan

We ventured out to the beach the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. Good for relaxing. Bad for potty training. My heart was pumping as I raced with him in tow to the nearest bathroom that was so far away! He hated it, and refused to go (no# 2). I myself was practically sick from the stench. He's not a big fan of visiting any public restroom (don't blame him, but sometimes you don't have a choice) so I think we'll adopt the chant we've heard our friends say with their little girl, "It's not scary, it's not scary" the next time we need one. Because I know the day's gonna come.