Family Photos

They're here! We took family pictures at the end of June, and we just got our prints back. We love how they turned out. I know I'm a little biased, but don't I have the cutest boys ever? And, surprisingly, my naturally curly hair didn't get too curly when I was out there sweatin' and trying to control these crazy boys in the humidity. phew. :) Fun times.

St. George

Last week, I took the boys on their first road trip. All by my lonesome self! We went to St. George. They did so well! (I was super nervous about the drive down.) We went with our good friends, Leslie and her three darling, tiny blonde kids: Lily, Lucy, and Luke. We had six kids ages 5 and under in a two bedroom condo. It was a bit crazy at times, but we kept our schedule super relaxed, and we had an enjoyable time. It was so nice to soak in some nice, warm sun. Especially after our rainy month of June.

My oldest and youngest went from total fear of water (Jackson wouldn't even get in the pool) to lovers of the water. I'm so glad!

We also went to a darling little splash park that the kids really enjoyed.

And we spent a lot of time eating popsicles. They were a great relief in that heat!

Thanks, Leslie, for sharing your condo with us. It was a blast!!! (Oh, and sorry about the mouse,

Becky... Becky joined us for the last night and she had to get a new room because of a stinkin' mouse... sheesh.. haha)

So much to catch up on!

Goodness, where does the time go. It's been a busy, crazy June, but loads of fun! (and of course, I forgot my camera for ALL events... bummer)

Midway

On the 14th of June, Mark took a week off of work, and we headed up to Midway to Gma and Gpa's place. We affectionately call their vacation home the "Party House." The boys were so excited to spend a whole week with Daddy. They kept saying, "I go Pahty Haus? Daddy coming?" over and over. Alex was beside himself with excitement. Poor kid couldn't handle the excitement and thus took it out in roughness on his brothers. Made for a rough start, but we all "chill-axed" by the end of the week.

We tried to get some swimming in, but it was a crazy, wet, chilly month, so that didn't happen much. We played Legos, football, soccer, and went for walks. We headed to Park City one evening to play on all the mountain rides. Alex had never done the Alpine Slide, and neither of us had done the Alpine Coaster. So up the mountain we went. It was a blast! The babies hung out at the base, riding the Merry-G0-Round and the little electric powered backhoe. They loved it too!

I think Alex's favorite activity of the week was bowling. This was another first for him. Mark took him into Heber to a little bowling alley, and Alex was in heaven. He begged to go again, so the second time, we took the brothers. Ha. Interesting experience with AJ running around and down the bowling alleys. Good thing it was fairly empty! I'm sure the manager gave us a few concerned stares.

Girls' Night Out

On Friday, we drove the kids back home, and Mark took over the parenting reins while I headed back up to the Party House with 7 other girlfriends. We stayed over that night, and played and hung out on Saturday. It was such a blast! I'm so blessed to have so many wonderful, neat ladies surrounding me! We talked until 4 am (I never realize how late it is... my, how time flies!) and got up for an early morning jog. (9 am seemed VERY early.) Can I just say that my body doesn't move well on 5 hours of sleep and a diet of cookies and candy? Sheesh... I can't imagine why!


While we were on our jog, there were all these decorated vans driving by. There were also people standing on the side of the road. Then we noticed runners with numbers on their shirts. We passed some "official looking" folks who had walkie-talkies and they said, "What're your numbers, ladies?" We obviously responded that we didn't have any and finally realized that we were running on the course of the Wasatch Back. This got it into some peoples' heads that we should do that next year, but I'm going to gracefully bow out. Not my thing.

Anyway, it was a good time!

Boating


On Tuesday, the 30th, we went to Pineview Reservoir with our good friend Becky and Gary. This was the first time that Alex, AJ and Jackson have been boating. They loved it! They did so well, especially since it was such a long day. This was the first time in the babies 26 months of life that they've skipped a nap and they did well! (The next day was payback, but even then it wasn't horrible...)


AJ absolutely loved swimming in the lake. It was fairly cold, but he didn't mind at all. When I tried to get him back in the boat he kept saying, "No boat! I swim! No boat!"

Jackson started the day by sitting absolutely still on someone's lap, with his cap over his eyes, and his hands over his ears. But finally, by the end of the day, he had relaxed and was enjoying himself. He even took a couple of cat-naps on people's laps.

Alex loved every minute of it, and even rode on the tube. He was having so much fun, and asked if we could go again soon.

I hope we can go soon too! Thanks to our wonderful friends for a great time!

Nails and Girls' Night Out

Well, unfortunately, the nails I'm talking about are not fingernails or toenails.

Poor little AJ fell down on a broken part of our fence and got an old, rusted nail through his hand. Poor kid just sat there with the nail poking through, making a point on the backside of his hand, but not breaking the skin on the backside. Daddy came to the rescue and pulled AJ off, only to get a teary-eyed, muddy little kid wiping a bloody hand all over his face. So sad.

Two days later, we decided to head to the doctor's because his little hand was all red and swollen. He's current on his tetanus, but it was looking infected. 45 minutes later, and an prescription for an antibiotic in hand, we were home with a lovely blue bandaid and a happy boy. Glad to say that all is well now! (We're still giving kisses to his hand on a regular basis though... at his request.)

.......

And in other news, I had such a fun time last night with a bunch of cute ladies from my ward. We had a quick little Girl's Night Out (GNO) because a bunch of mom's were already frazzled from school being out and kids being stuck indoors with all this rain. (love the rain, by the way... every day! my fav!)

We headed to Olive Garden, chowed, then came back to our house for some So You Think You Can Dance. I love watching it with ladies that are as fanatic about it as I am! So fun! Thanks, ladies. Can't wait for our slumber party next weekend!

Love summer!

I don't even have kids in school yet, but I already love, love, love the onset of summers. Summer used to be my least favorite season (in adulthood) because it meant that I had to wear summer clothes that were ill-fitting, then freeze in my air-conditioned office. Then I had to come out to a sweltering hot car and melt until the A/C finally kicked in.

But now...? Oh, I can't get enough! Sweaty faced kids that smell of sunblock; sprinklers and hoses getting everything wet; swimming and conquering fears of water at Gma's pool; late summer nights, enjoying the cool of twighlight; shaved ice; awesome thunder storms; picnics at the park with friends; lazy days; Otter Pops; free concerts at the park; sidewalk chalk; lying in the shade of a tree, just watching the leaves flicker in the breeze; riding bikes; playing ball; watching the clouds form into dinosaurs; skinned knees and bruised shins...

Ahhhh... the list goes on and on.

Welcome summer! We missed you! We hope you hang out for a loooong time.

Coupons

I joined the coupon world. Mark's thinking of taking a new job, so I'm doing my best to save a few $$$ while we make the transition.

My first attempt?

Spent $3, saved $38.

Not too shabby, huh?

I got four Marie Callender's meals that Mark can take to work, 4 bottles of Kraft Zesty Italian salad dressing, 5 bottles of Kraft BBQ sauce, 2 cans of shaving gel, and 2 packages of hot dogs. Not too shabby for $3! (pat self on back...)

The concept is to stock up on super great deals while using coupons. So... hopefully in the next 3 or 4 months, we'll get some useful items in our food storage!

Jesus' Team

Alex and I were driving home the other night, and he says, out of the blue, “Mom, Christmas isn’t about the presents, huh? It’s about love. And Jesus.”

Then he proceeded to talk about it for many minutes. “I don’t like the presents. They’re not my favorite. Jesus is my favorite! And love!”

After a few minutes of this he says to me,

“Mom, who’s team are you on?

Because I’m on Jesus’ team.

Not Satan’s team. His team is naughty.

We’re on Jesus’ team, huh?

Give me five, Mom!

Go Jesus!”

A good moment...

I'm sitting here checking my e-mail, and my two little two-year-olds are chasing each other in a circle, just giggling and laughing and falling to the floor in exhausted heaps. It's so fun to watch these two interact and have so much fun together. They get so excited and want to say so much to each other that their little voices just escalate higher and higher into unintelligible gibberish. Then they look at each other and just bust up laughing. It's so fun! For all the bickering, toy-stealing and squabbling that comes with twins, it's moments like now that make me realize that this is a fun and unique blessing to have these little guys in our family. It still amazes me that there are TWO. I just love these special little guys. What a joy.

Boots!

These crazy kids insisted on wearing their boots. We're headed out to plant flowers, so boots it is!

AJ's attitude. Sooo him.Jackson being silly. Blurry, but I love that face.

Color

Here's my attempt to cover the gray. I'm too young for gray, dang it! This is the first time I've colored my hair in 10 years or more. Kinda fun!

RUB-A-DUB-DUB

THREE MEN IN A TUB...

Fun at Thanksgiving Point

We had a great time at Thanksgiving Point with Aunt Wendy, cousin Mallory, cousin Jen and her baby, cousin Kam. Let's do it again soon!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

My babies are two! And I'm so happy! I'll take two-year-old tantrums over new babies and no sleep, anyday! They are such sweet little guys! Love 'em!

Jackson: Loves to "EAT, mom!" my big snuggler; mama's boy; calls his water "puhple" for the color purple of his water cup; master drama king; funny body language and silly faces; rolls his eyes at me (already!); speedy runner; sensitive and sweet.

AJ: Explores, and explores some more; eaten Tide, opened 400 degree oven, dumps stuff down heater vents, cracked eggs on the floor, master escape artist, etc.; totally obsessed with the vacuum; loves to sing and dance to music; contagious laugh; just kinda rolls with the punches (literally and figuratively).

Alex was ecstatic about their birthday. He stayed up late to help me wrap presents, and declared, "I've wanted one of these my whole life!" about three different times. Who are these for, anyway?

Miscellaneous happenings...

This is a direct copy and paste from an e-mail I sent my missionary mother. Just thought I'd update for posterity....

How was your Easter? Our Easter bunny came on Saturday, and Sunday we went to Jen's baby's blessing. Then we went to our church. Then we put the kids to bed for naps, got 'em up, and went to Gma C's. It was quite the busy day.

We're all still stuffy and sick. Jackson isn't coughing nearly as much though, so that's good. I'm wiping snot noses dozens of times throughout the day, however. (including my own poor stuffy soul.)

Today on the way home from my workout, AJ pulled his usual, "No!!! No Home!!!!" in a high-pitched, girly squeal. So, instead, we drove uptown, called Daddy to meet us in front of his building, and we walked around temple square. Needless to say, the boys were in heaven. The sun was warm, the air was cool, and the flowers were obviously breathtakingly gorgeous. The boys loved all of the various fountains the best, of course. (And the Lays potato chips that Daddy brought them.) It was a fun little change of scenery.

On the way home AJ and Jackson both cried off and on for about twenty minutes. "want daddy! daddy! daddy!" Kinda funny.

Well, I have a whole load of pictures for you.

1,2,3: Remember that night I was talking to you, and I said, "Oh, how cute. The babies are at the piano, turning the pages, playing and laughing at each other." ? Well, here are some pictures from that. 4,5,6: These are the boys in their t-shirts that Daddy brought home from his business trip. They loved them. The blurry picture of AJ is compliments of our budding photo journalist, Alex. He is in LOVE with the digital camera. I deleted about 20 pictures that he took, but I'll include a few of his classics in this e-mail. 7: Silly Alex using his Easter basket for a hat. I thought it was pretty creative, because I never would have thought to put it on my head! 9: One of Alex's pictures that he took.
10: Another Alex picture. Not too bad, huh? Gotta love Jaxie's runny nose!

11, 12, 13, 14: More of Alex's pictures. Pretty funny, huh? He's quite the detail oriented kid. I especially love the one of the recycle garbage. Funny kid. 15: Alex being sweet to Jackson, for once!

16: I love this picture. This is of all the boys just before bedtime. Everyone just had a bath, orange Triaminic, and teeth brushed. They love to sit on our bed and draw on their magnadoodles while watching a "kid show." They were all so tired and cute, I couldn't resist taking a picture. Just a moment in the life of us....mmmm... if only you could smell their yummy lotion!!