Good Day Sunshine!

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Now that the sun is out and the weather is nice, we have been able to start visiting the Thanksgiving Point farm again. We love our Thanksgiving Point passes! All winter we go to the dinosaur museum, which the kids don't seem to ever get tired of, and during the summer, we get to visit the other awesome places like the farm and the children't discovery gardens.

Dave has been working some more on the treehouse. He put in a bridge between the two platforms, which is really nice and the boys love it!

The other day I was taking a break in my room and heard the boys quietly plotting. All I could see out my bedroom door was them walking past carrying pillows & blankets. A minute later I decided to see what they were up to. I got to the top of the stairs and found them snapping on helmets, sitting on top of all the pillows. I told them, "Guys, the pillows aren't going to slide down the stairs. Someone is going to get hurt." Jett responds, "No mom, we got helmets! We not going to get hurt!" Now, by this time of the day, I'm too exhausted to care, and I mean, they did have helmets. But this was the end result:

It also got hot enough to pull the pool out! I couldn't believe how hot it got! The boys were really excited about it and now throw their trunks on as soon as it gets warm enough during the day. 

Yep, Jett pushed Cruise. He can dish it, but can't take it.

Cruise really wanted to swim with his two most prized possessions: his bird hat and his Teddy.

Poor Teddy.

Welcome, Tooth Fairy!

Cruise lost his first baby tooth yesterday! It's been wiggly for awhile, but yesterday he got off the bus clearly distraught. The bus driver informed me that Cruise was upset about his tooth. After inspection, I determined that it was definitely ready to come out! I brought him in the house where he complained about the tooth hurting, so I got him a popsicle and asked if he would like me to pull his tooth. He reluctantly agreed to getting it pulled, so I prepped for the grab and yank technique I perfected back in 1st grade. I guess you could say I was the unofficial (and unlicensed) classroom dentist back in the day. Girls would come to me with their wiggly teeth and I'd escort them to the girl's restroom during recess where all I needed was a paper towel and a good grip. Voila! Many girls returned home with Tooth Fairy bait in hand. So I guess you could say I'm a tooth-pulling expert.

It took me some time to get a good grip since the last time I had done this my fingers were much smaller. I finally got a grip and out came the tooth! Cruise reacted with excitement and horror all at once. I've never seen such a conflict of emotion! But after the bleeding stopped and my explanation of what Tooth Fairies do with baby teeth (give them to babies of course!), Cruise got insanely excited and ran around the neighborhood showing off the new gap in his mouth.

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Before bed, Cruise came up to me and asked what Fairies eat. I told him they eat what we eat, just smaller portions. He asked if they liked fruit snacks and finished his letter to the Tooth Fairy, complete with his tooth taped to the paper. What's the going rate for teeth these days? I guess $1 is pretty good, right?

Pablo the Snake

Cruise has asked and asked for a pet snake for awhile. In fact, he even prays about it. One night, Cruise's prayer went something like this:

"Dear Heavenly Father, thank Thee for this day. Bless the snakes and that Mommy will buy me a snake. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

That prayer alone made we want to break down and buy the poor boy a snake, but luckily Dave balances out my over-emotional decisions. However, our compromise was that if we found a decent sized and calm Garter snake, we could keep it as a pet. So luckily Dave found one the other day doing yard work. We went to D.I., found an old fish tank, went to the pet store and purchased a screened lid and some frozen baby mice (eww) and went home and set the little guy up. Oh, and Cruise named him Pablo. Cruise loves him.

Fathers & Sons Campout 2013

I haven't been able to get Dave to write about the Fathers & Sons campout, so I'll just post pictures and comment on what I can:

Hamburgers & Hotdogs for dinner.

Bedtime!

Breakfast: OJ, chocolate milk, pancakes & sausage.

My little Tree-climbers.

Time to come home!

7 Years Without The Itch!

Today is Dave and my 7 year wedding anniversary and 11 years since our first date! We got to celebrate a bit early. On Saturday, my parents watched the kids while we went up to our favorite place for dinner: Sundance. We decided to try the Tree Room since we have always gone to The Foundry Grill. It was quite the experience!

The Tree Room is a bit pricier and the food is more artistic. The chef is French trained (which is always a bonus). After ordering, they brought us each a shot glass of something yellow. I remember them explaining what it was, but none of it made any sense to me. It was like hearing a completely different language. I looked at Dave and said, "Do you think it has alcohol in it?" Luckily it didn't;  it was just a thick liquid that was a strong lemon flavor with frozen blackberries on top. I guess it was to cleanse the pallet before beginning our meal. It was very good but we could't stop giggling that we had no idea what was going on. 

Next, the same guy came by with a plate of purple olives covered in herbs and then doused in olive oil. Then he described the breads we could choose from, which, as before, we had no idea what on earth he was saying. So I just randomly picked mine that turned out delicious, as did Dave. The olives were strong in flavor, but absolutely wonderful. Dave was a little turned off by their strong taste, so I ate most of them.

They then brought our appetizer we had ordered: scallops with caviar on top. They were melt-in-your-mouth delicious! I don't think I'll ever be satisfied by another scallop for the rest of my life. They were absolutely incredible!

Our meals came looking delicate and picture perfect. David had ordered the wild boar and I ordered an off the menu special which was a sea bass. We both were taken aback at how small the portions were, but we ate every bite and the meals were delicious, as to be expected.

We giggled at all the rich yuppies sitting around us, arguing about boats and expensive wines. I told Dave, "Of everyone in this room, we probably enjoyed and appreciated our $100 meal the most," mostly because it is a very rare occasion that we spend that kind of money on a meal.

We declined to order dessert since I had a hankering for a Dole whip. So we headed out of the canyon and drove to Farr's Fresh where we enjoyed big bowls of pineapple and raspberry Dole whip with fruit mixed in. It filled in all the cracks and we were finally full! 

After all the trials and struggles, adventures, children, and laughter, there is still no one else I would rather experience them with, than Dave. I am so grateful I married my best friend and that we refuse to give up on each other. I am so blessed to have a worthy Priesthood holder in my home whose #1 priority is his family. I thank my Heavenly Father every day for such an incredible person to be my mate for all of eternity. I am amazed at how much he serves me and helps around the house without a word of complaint or resentment. It makes being pregnant a lot more bearable to have someone who is so positive and a strength every day. Seven years has gone so fast and yet, we have grown closer and stronger together every year. I wouldn't trade this guy for anything in the world. He is my world and has given me the greatest gift of all: to be a wife and a mother. Happy Anniversary David! I love you more than ever! 

Da Baby

We finally had my ultrasound the last week in April  and despite what Cruise prayed for and what everyone on Facebook said, we found out it is a BOY! We brought both the boys to the ultrasound which was enjoyable until the gender reveal. Poor Cruise had tears in his eyes and the saddest look of complete and utter devastation on his face. I started to cry because I felt I had let him down. But after Dad took them to get a Happy Meal from McDonalds, smiles returned again. I am actually impressed that the Happy Meal does what it advertises.

But we are thrilled to welcome another little boy into our family! Despite their constant need for destruction and their lack of aim into the toilet, I just love little boys! Cruise, since the ultrasound, will bring up the fact that it's not a girl and despite being still disappointed, he is getting used to the idea. By the time the baby comes, I'm sure Cruise will be beaming with excitement!

Everything in the ultrasound looked great and he seems to be growing perfectly and is healthy! We got to see him open his mouth a couple of times and after comparing his profile between the two boys', we think he's going to look more like Cruise.

19 Weeks

The nausea and vomiting are still kicking my butt but hopefully it will be on it's way out in the next couple weeks. Hip and joint paint have begun along with my old nemesis sciatica. And despite what everyone else says, no, my 2nd trimester never greets me with energy. I'm exhausted as usual. But despite all that, it's so fun to feel the little guy kick and wiggle. Those signs of life are God's little tender mercies for expecting moms.

Can't wait to meet the little guy!  

Easter Weekend

I know I'm way behind, but it really isn't my fault. It's true! The last pictures I took before my camera bit the dust were of Easter. So obviously I couldn't blog about it without pictures! The only reason anyone would even bother reading the blog is for the pictures. You know I'm right.

So, onto Easter.

Friday night, Cruise was so excited for the Easter bunny to come, that he wrote him a note and left him carrots without any urging. I told him that the Easter bunny usually only comes Saturday night and he'd have to wait another day, but after the boys went to bed, I figured, "What the heck!" And put out their Easter baskets a day early.

They both woke up sick with strep throat unfortunately, but they were over the moon when they saw that the Easter Bunny had come to their house early! After looking at their treasures, we got everyone in the car and took them to the Instacare where they enjoyed a poke in the back of the throat and left with prescriptions. We grabbed some breakfast, filled the prescriptions, and headed back home where we quarantined the house off from any friends or visitors. The boys played with their Easter treasures and munched on chocolate.

We were supposed to go to the Ybarra's house for lunch and an Easter egg hunt, but we had to miss out. Dave went for a bit and returned with a bunch of eggs from the hunt so we could do our own in the backyard.

So Sunday morning, since we couldn't go to church, we had the boys watch The Living Scriptures video about the atonement and we had a little lesson about what Easter really is about. Then while I started on preparing the feast, the boys dyed eggs and then did their Easter egg hunt.

Later that evening, we had my sister Abby and her husband Casey over for Easter dinner. Luckily, the boys' doctor said they wouldn't be contagious by the evening. Abby & Casey brought some AMAZING mashed potatoes and I provided the ham, rolls, veggies & cheesecake for dessert. It all was wonderful! And the best part: we had leftovers!