GLASS: THE FAMILY, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND

Today at church

2012-01-29T20:56:00.001-08:00

Weston was giving a talk in primary today (his second one ever), so grandma and great-grandma came to hear him! They got to our church building a few minutes early, so when I went into the hall to take Sophie pottie near the end of sacrament meeting, there they were waiting on the couch in the foyer! Mom snapped this precious little picture of Sophie with great-grandma Van Buren (who we have been so blessed to spend time with these past 3 months)! I love these blue-eyed beauties!Here is Weston, anticipating his talk with great excitement... or possibly trepidation. I'm not really sure. But he did a pretty great job! He talked about how agency is a gift that we need to use wisely. I was proud of my little man.

the last day of 2011

2012-01-29T18:50:00.000-08:00

I quite accidentally happened upon these pictures this evening and thought they were worth posting! They were taken on New Year's Eve. Shae-Leigh was of course with me while Jason was working in Arizona, and we decided to go to the park. We went about half an hour before dusk, which gave us just enough time to kick around the soccer ball for awhile and play until it was too dark to see. It was an especially fun evening, probably because there was that exciting "holiday" feeling in the air, or perhaps because we were on the precipice of a new year... or because we knew we were going to be drinking sparkling juice later that evening (you just never know what scandalous things we might do next)!
The sky looked amazing, but I had a difficult time capturing it with Shae-Leigh's phone camera, which is all I had to work with that evening.

Looking at these pictures and remembering how much fun we had makes me want to go back to the park! I'm pretty sure my kids could use more park in their life!

a lesson from my son

2012-01-20T14:40:00.000-08:00

Since becoming a mom, I think my dad has mentioned the following observation, oh, I don't know, at least several hundred times: "Everything about our relationship with our children is designed to teach us about our own relationship with God."

As many of you already know, Weston has an extraordinary love for Ghostbusters. He was a Ghostbuster for Halloween (along with Jason). But that was really only the beginning. Weston is a ghostbuster pretty much wherever he goes! When his proton pack needs repair (or when his flight suit has been temporarily confiscated as a result of misbehavior), he does turn into his alter-ego, Spiderman, for awhile. But to Weston, nothing is as great as busting ghosts!

For the past week or two Weston has been on a real Spiderman kick, so I haven't given much thought to Ghostbusters lately (a welcome break, I assure you)! When Weston asked where his flight suit was a couple of days ago, I was confident it was hanging up in a closet, or maybe stuffed in the bottom of a hamper. It didn't seem to be in any of the usual places so yesterday we decided to make a point of finding it. First Jason looked. Then I looked. Then we all looked... for over an hour we searched in every nook and cranny of our house, to no avail. We thought maybe it had accidently ended up in one of the bags of old clothes that recently got dropped off at the DI. Every few minutes during the intense search, Weston would go to his room, drop to his knees, and say another prayer that we would find his ghostbuster uniform.

Finally, I was getting kind of worried. I actually felt a little sick to my stomach at the thought of some kid paying $3 for a flight suit that meant the world to my son (I also didn't like the idea of some random kid sporting a costume with the name GLASS on it)! So, I said a prayer. After the prayer I looked up in the closet where Sophie's backpack was hanging. It looked a little full so I decided to open it up and...voilà! There is was!

Today while Sophie was napping I had a rare uninterrupted moment with Weston. I cuddled him on my lap (which is getting increasingly difficult to do), and told him how much I love him and am proud of him. We then had the following brief exchange:

Weston: "Mommy, why did you pray for me to find my flight suit?"

Me: "Because it was important to you, and I LOVE YOU!"

As soon as the words came out of my mouth, the thought came to my mind: If it is important to me, it is important to God, because he loves me! I already know this in my brain, but it seemed to sink more deeply into my heart. I love my kids so intensely and so deeply. How is it possibly that God loves me just as much, and in fact, more? I don't know, but I am grateful that he does.

True glamour, Sophie style

2012-01-17T14:29:00.000-08:00

When I saw Sophie slathering globs of lipgloss on her lips, I was a little bugged...is there any personal item of mine that she doesn't get into!?
But I had to laugh out loud when I saw her face! I love how she didn't wipe her mouth before applying all that goop!

Finally, a school visit!

2012-01-05T12:59:00.000-08:00

Weston's preschool at Duncan has a bunch of rules that I wasn't used to, because they didn't exist in his preschool last year (at Tartan). At the beginning of the year I asked Mrs. Solem about possibly visiting or helping out in the class sometime, to which she responded that she would have to look into it because they are supposed to have some kind of special forms for that, yada, yada, yada. Apparently parents haven't even been let in the classroom to bring treats on their kid's birthday! At our parent/teacher conference before Christmas break I brought it up again, and this time (obviously exasperated by all the red tape) Mrs. Solem said that she has tried for months to get permission the proper way, and that she was just going to start allowing it. So, Sophie and I got to spend the entire two and a half hours of preschool with Weston's class today! It was so much fun, and both kids were rather excited this morning (as you can imagine)!
Sophie had a blast... and even though she is only 2, she fit right in with the other kids! She got to sit next to Weston during circle time, and he was so sweet to her. I would have loved to snap some shots there at school, but I guess that would have been a *little* distracting to the other students (understatement)! Here is a video of the two of them before we left in the morning:

As we were driving home I asked Weston the usual question, "how was school!?" He told me that it was good, but he just wishes that I could have stayed with him in his class today (he often says he wishes that I could be one of his teachers in his class). Then he burst out into laughter! Silly boy. I'm just glad he is still young enough to want his mom around! :)

Ordinary moments

2012-01-02T16:49:00.000-08:00

This post is a little random, but I've decided that I have missed too many ordinary moments. So here are a few!

Dec. 23rd:

Weston: "I wish all bad guys have to eat something spicy that burn their mouth and make their tongue yellow forever!"

Dec. 25th:

Weston: "I am a grumpy old fish!" It should be noted that this comment did not emerge from any conversation relating to fish whatsoever, or grumpiness for that matter! He was also running around like a kid in a candy store with glee after opening all of his presents...

Dec. 26th:

As we are discussing where to put the awesome US map I got for Christmas, conversation turns to what the United States is and why we love it. Again using the opportunity to teach Weston how blessed we are and how we have a responsibility to protect freedom, the conversation then turns to the "bad guys" that don't want us to be free. I assured Weston (again!) that we don't want to hurt or kill theses "bad guys," but that we just wanted them to lose their power.

Weston had a few inventive suggestions for how this might be accomplished which I found amusing:

1. Put them in a refrigerator so they get really cold and can't move. Then they'll lose their power for sure!

2. "Steam" them in the oven... this one got vetoed already, mostly because ovens aren't for steaming (lol)!!

3. Make them put something really gross in their mouths like LEAVES!

Kid logic is the best.

December 29th:

Today, while praying over lunch:

Sophie: "Heavenly Father, I bless all the people I like!" I guess she got tired of naming them all every time she prays. I had to hide a chuckle...

1/2/12

Today Weston called Sophie Mr. Bumpley. Where does he come up with this stuff?

Sophie tells me she is doing "ka-kratie" and sometimes "p-platies!" She really gets into it. It usually involves an initial pose, followed by a spin, and then a giddy collapse.

One of Weston's favorite silly activities is putting things on his head... like every night when he takes his shirt off to hop in the bath, he just leaves it on his head for a few minutes and then runs around like a tornado until I force him to actually get in the bath! Here he is doing the same thing with jeans...

So, at the YMCA where I work out they have one of those buttons you can push to open the doors automatically. Sophie LOVES pushing the button and watching the doors open, but she knows that she'll get in trouble if she does it just to do it. Fortunately for her, the last couple of days there have been people entering the building right as we are leaving. After pushing the button and opening the doors, Sophie exclaims (to the people entering the building), "there ya go!" She just sounds so darn grown-up! I was looking at some of the pictures I took during the month of December and was rather taken aback when I realized also just how grown up she is looking these days:

Whenever I get anywhere near Weston with the camera he quickly forces a frown (to be silly). Here is one of his ridiculous frowns, followed by a moment where I caught him in laughter!

I love that my days are filled with these two adorable, smart, loving kiddos. When I was younger I remember wondering if I would feel unfulfilled being a stay-at-home mom. I had so many ambitions and dreams (and still do), and I didn't know how I would feel. I even wondered if I would get bored. Instead, my life has been filled in new and amazing ways that I never could have fathomed before! To me, there is no greater evidence of the love that God has for his children than the gift he gives us in allowing us to be parents. One of the very greatest blessings in my life is getting to stay home with my children... it is a gift that I cherish more than almost anything in the world. There is no place I would rather be!!

Sweet words

2011-12-08T14:13:00.000-08:00

Weston never stops talking. Neither does Sophie. Some of the things that come out of their mouths are HILARIOUS! Sometimes as I'm busily putting away laundry or wiping a counter, I think to myself that while all this chatter is mundane and commonplace today, someday I will look back with fondness and affection and try to remember the sweet things that my little ones said!

I want to record more of their cute thoughts and words... so here are some recent funny moments:

11/30/11

After playing the piano for a few minutes, I asked Weston if he enjoyed the pretty music. His reply: "It reminded me of screwing a screw into some wood."

Earlier today I heard Sophie repeatedly (and emphatically) tell Weston that she needs to go to a meeting right now! When I asked her what kind of meeting, she said it was for church and asked if I knew where her high heels were.

Moments later I heard the front door open. As I turned the corner from the hallway to the kitchen, I beheld my favorite girl standing in the doorway with nothing on but princess panties and princess high heels, again insisting that she needed to go to a church meeting... I guess she's seen me rushing off to a few of those!

The other day we went to Springs Preserve to play at the playground there with friends. We went on a walk and looked at some of the signs that explain all about the spring that used to be there. Today, Weston must have told me a thousand times that he wished the spring was still there, and asked me at least 80 questions about how a spring works, how pressure can come from the earth to push the water up, and how the water goes away. He was extremely interested in the whole thing, to the point that it almost shocked me! I guess we'll be taking a trip back to Springs Preserve soon, this time to visit the museum!

Sophie wanted to say dinner prayer tonight. I reminded her right before she began to be sure and thank Heavenly Father for our blessings. She said, "Dear Heavenly Father. Thank you for daddy, daddy, daddy!! And please bless the taco salad..." It was so cute! Later I asked her who her favorite person was, and she said it was brother.

Tonight we had tithing settlement at the church, and Weston got to pay tithing for the first time from the money he earned this year. We had just discussed at dinner where the money goes that we pay in tithing, but when Bishop Perkins asked him if he knew what it was used for, Weston looked at me and whispered, "I forgot." Later I asked Weston how it made him feel to pay his tithing to the bishop to which he simply replied, "shy."

For some reason Sophie calls butt cracks "butt tracks." Why a little girl is talking about butts at all, I do not know... although it may have something to do with her 4 year old brother! She knows that I laughed the first time I heard the term, so sometimes, like today, she just jumped around repeating "butt tracks" over and over again...

12/8/11

Today when we went to pick Weston up from school, Sophie ran up to the chain-link fence to greet her brother on the other side. When he saw her, he enthusiastically ran up to her, stuck his fingers through and said, "kiss my hand," followed by, "you are my best friend, Sophie!!" I LOVE that they love each other so much!

Right now I can hear Weston watching Dora (a rarity in our house) and saying, "Swiper, no swiping!"

Grandma's Wedding in SLC

2011-11-14T16:16:00.000-08:00

On Friday we drove up to Salt Lake for Jason's mom's wedding. The kids were fantastic on the trip up... real troopers! We stopped a few places along the way including Provo, where I'm pretty sure a small piece of my heart still resides. We didn't have time to really stop and smell the roses, but we did make a fruitless stop at an antique store, and another one at the DI. Just being in Provo brings me joy, but we had to hurry up north.

The kids were beyond excited about staying in a hotel. We stayed right down town, and you would have thought they were in HEAVEN! It was adorable. Here's a pic of them checking out the room.

We dropped off our bags and headed straight for the Beckstrand's house. We were excited to see Jolee and Steven, who just had a baby less than a week prior (okay, Jolee is the one that actually had the baby, but you get it). We were pleasantly surprised when they offered for both of the kids to have the chance to hold Baby Noah! Sophie was especially thrilled...

What a cutie he is! And Sophie did a great job holding him and keeping his neck supported.Weston took his task seriously too...

And yes, I got a turn too!

Me and Jolee. I have missed this girl!

Sophie kind of has a crush on Steven...

She was showing him her nail polish, which she takes great pride in.

On our way up to SLC we had stopped at Old Navy in St. George to get Weston a winter coat. He really likes it. He also really likes wearing these earphones, even when they aren't attached to the portable DVD player (which is the case in this particular picture). He also wore that random lanyard the entire trip, and I have not a clue what he finds so great about that either. He is such an irresistibly funny little guy!

After visiting the Beckstrands, we headed over to the Gateway Mall for some dinner. I really really wanted to go to Z'Tejas (one of my favorite restaurants), but we opted for Applebee's since it is a more kid-friendly environment. I'm glad we did. The kids were well behaved (or maybe it just seemed that way because there were so many kids in that restaurant?) and Sophie was a real charmer. I think the kids kind of made our waitress' night. She told us they were the best kids of the evening, and kept gushing about what a doll Sophie is. I almost choked when she said that our kids were the best of the night!

Something else that I thoroughly enjoyed about our dining experience was this huge group of teenage boys sitting next to us. I know, it sounds crazy. But I cannot express how utterly refreshing and adorable it was to hear bits and pieces of their conversation. The worst word I heard was "freakin'." I obviously didn't listen to everything they talked about, but all the tidbits that were too loud to miss were unusually wholesome. And that is one of the things I genuinely love about Utah. Sophie, the social butterfly, kept trying to talk to them. They were very respectful and sweet back to her, and I jokingly mentioned that I guess it was ok, as long as she isn't that friendly to boys when she gets to be their age! Good luck, I know.

Back to the hotel we went, where Sophie and Weston kept fighting over who got to push the buttons in the "alligator." Sophie called the elevator the alligator, and I kind of didn't want to correct her because it struck me so funny!

I'm not sure what it was about the hotel that got these kids so excited, but they were wild every time we were in our room. Weston asked me if we were going to live in the hotel forever, honestly hoping that we would!

The next morning (Saturday), Jason headed off to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple for his mom's marriage while I let the kids get a little more rest before another huge day. We got all ready for the reception and even got to have the complimentary hotel breakfast... where Sophie again made a few friends. When she starts talking, Weston always grumbles something about how much she is embarrassing him. It is so funny to me! I guess it's funny because I'm a social butterfly too, and I am never embarrassed by that stuff. Poor Weston. I guess he'd better get used to it... he probably has a lifetime of such moments ahead of him!

Sophie and Grandma Laurie at her reception. It worked out well that Sophie and I both wore purple... we didn't even know that was the color everyone would be wearing!

Weston would rather sweat and be uncomfortable than take that coat off! At least I know it will get use.

I adore my affectionate little Weston!

Apart from seeing Grandma, Sophie was most excited to see Aunt Sadie and Aunt Shae-Leigh...

I guess she didn't get in a picture with Shae-Leigh... but I did!

I don't know why I didn't take more pictures, but I guess what I've got will have to suffice! It was a lovely reception. We left after a couple of hours and headed back home around 1:00. The kids were once again amazing little travellers, for which we were super thankful. We got home around 8:00 in that evening. Even though it was a bit of a whirlwind, we had a successful little trip, which is really saying something when you're travelling with a four year old and a two year old.

Weston's First Primary Program

2011-11-07T15:28:00.000-08:00

The primary program this year was highly anticipated... by me! It was Weston's first year to participate, and we practiced every day for his line in the program, "the scriptures talk about Jesus." He often (jokingly) would replace the word 'Jesus' with other words so as to say things like, "the scriptures talk about motorcycles!" That seemed to be his favorite variation. I was actually a little nervous about what would come out of his mouth when he got up there in front of everyone, but he pulled through and spoke the correct words clearly into the microphone! While the majority of the kids sang, Weston and the other Sunbeams mostly just wiggled around without singing. One girl played with her necklace the entire time, while another appeared to be dancing. Weston dealt with the situation (the situation being that he and the other 3 and 4 year olds didn't really know the words to the songs) by yawning excessively. He seriously just stood there yawning for the entire duration of the program almost! It was hilarious! I guess it was better than what his teacher said he did during the practice a couple of days prior... apparently he was chewing on the collar of his shirt. I imagine that time it was out of sheer boredom. Anyway, it was Weston's first time wearing a white shirt and tie, and he looked especially handsome... so of course I snapped a few shots that morning before church. I would like to point out that I diligently tried to get a picture of both Weston and Sophie looking happily in the same direction at the same time, but I'm afraid I didn't succeed this time. At any rate, they looked pretty cute! My mom, Jason's dad and his brother (Ryan) came to church to see Weston, so that made the day extra special! Oh, and in case you're wondering, I have no idea what Weston is doing in this first picture.

Cheeeeeesy grin...

Swim Lessons

2011-11-07T14:40:00.000-08:00

Sophie took swimming lessons every Saturday morning for the months of August and September. She had a blast, and was very brave (she went under the water every week)! Sometimes Weston was lucky enough to come along and swim with Daddy in the area of the pool adjacent to where Sophie had her lesson. On this occasion, we swam for awhile after the lesson, too, which is why Weston is in these first two pictures.

Doing the cheesy camera grin...

Chasing the ball...

Like Weston (and most little kids I guess), Sophie hates to get water in her face...

Kicking, on the other hand, is always a fun activity (and causes a lot less collateral damage in the water than on land)!

Random September shots

2011-11-02T22:14:00.000-07:00

I don't remember what was going on the days that these few photos were taken, but they are so cute! I love the expression on Weston's face here... and I swear he already looks visibly older than he did the day this picture was taken, even though it was less than two months ago!

No clue where his shorts are or why he's not wearing them!

How do you not fall in love with that beautiful smile!?

This Year's Bear Lake Adventure...

2011-11-02T16:08:00.000-07:00

The second week of September we took a trip up to Bear Lake to visit Mike, Carrie and Lily... and to escape the heat of Vegas! The first night we were there we headed over to a "construction site," partially because we wanted to see the house that they're building for Rich, but mostly so that Weston could soak in the construction goodness and ask Uncle Mike every question he ever had about how to build a house. That is when I decided it would be a good time to capture some images of the cousins.

Getting a picture of the three of them looking in the same direction at the same time was nearly impossible, but I tried all weekend anyway! Most of them turned out like this... at least you can tell they are having fun.

Weston was fascinated with the back hoe (or any construction vehicle for that matter).

He was pretty thrilled when Uncle Mike offered to take him for a ride in it.

As we were driving back to the house for some ice cream cones (as pictured below), Jason and I asked Weston why he hadn't asked Uncle Mike very many questions about building. For many months now, he has been asking questions daily about how to build things... after awhile I just started telling him to save all of his questions for Uncle Mike. But of course when the moment came, he didn't have much to say. Jason and I told Weston that for the rest of the weekend, he shouln't hesitate to ask Unlce Mike about anything... after all, we told him, Uncle Mike would be happy to answer his questions. After a few minutes of this conversation, Sophie piped up and said (very emphatically), "Yeah, brudder. Unlce Mike lubb you!!" It was so cute, and she just kept saying it over and over again!

Then next morning the kids thought they were in heaven... it was cool enough to play outside and Mike and Carrie have a huge, grassy back yard.

I love this shot of Sophie and Lily:Mike and Carrie chillin on their porch swing:

In the afternoon we headed over to Heritage Days, a local Garden City event. We got there just in time to catch trout! All the kids are allowed into this huge "pool" to catch as many fish as they can... with their bare hands!

Weston was a little scared of the fish. Sophie jumped right in at first, Sophie style... but then decided she'd rather be an observer!

A sweet little boy caught some trout for Lily.

Jason ended up jumping in since the kids weren't having any success on their own...

After the trout adventure it was on to the petting zoo, which I must say was WAY better than the petting zoos we have seen in LV!

We also each took a turn at the axe toss (well, the adults did - not the kids!), but I didn't get picturs of that... a little later on, we headed up to Fish Haven Canyon. We found a spot by a beautiful stream, which the kids LOVED!!!

The kids would have thrown rocks in the stream for hours if we had let them!

Weston especially loved helping with the campfire:

Sophie...

Weston...

Lily...

Watching daddy get the trout ready to cook, Sophie had a very concerned look on her face. She kept saying, "awwww, the fish is cuuuuuuuuuute!"Weston looked on with great interest as well.

I wish I could have caught the entire conversation on video... Sophie and Weston were really wrapped up into the whole trout cooking experience!

Carrie and Jason were especially thrilled with the trout. Jason cooked it up to perfection, and those two were in heaven. I'm not a huge fish fan, but even I will admit that they tasted pretty great!

Jason washing his hands up in the stream. What a beautiful area!

On to the marshmallow roasting!

As you can see, Sophie really got into it!

Carrie and Lily

Sunday, the final day of our trip, we went to go check out the cows. When I say "we," I mean everyone but Jason. He had a massive allergy attack and stayed in bed the bulk of our trip. The only time he wasn't suffering was when we went up into the mountains. It would appear that the guy who thinks he is allergic to nature actually does better immersed in it!

But I digress. Like I was saying, the cows...

The cows get a pretty sweet view, wouldn't you agree?

Then on to check out the house Mike and his buddy Rich entered into the Parade of Homes. It is GORGEOUS! I couldn't fit the entire house into one picture because the truck was in the way, so I took two separate shots.

On Monday morning we were sad to leave. I had to catch a few more precious moments of the kids playing together!

Weston had so much fun playing outside with this little truck. It's always the simple things that the kids seem to get the biggest kick out of!

I just love all that green. We always have such a great time visiting Bear Lake, but I think this was one of our favorite trips yet.

Videos for the Grandparents

2011-09-14T15:55:00.000-07:00

We spent this last weekend up in Bear Lake with my brother Mike and his family. A very long post will be short in coming, but for now, I wanted to share a few short videos of the cousins hanging out together (for my parents).

The New School

2011-08-29T21:36:00.000-07:00

Some firsts are better than others. Last year, when Weston was 3, because of a speech delay, he qualified for the school district's awesome pre-school program. I was so nervous to send my little "baby" off into the big wide world of public school, but the instant I met his teacher my fears melted away. Mrs. Shelly is the single most awesome teacher in the whole universe! Seriously, I think she has super powers. She is one of those people that just oozes warmth and goodness... and I knew she loved my Weston. She genuinely loved each of the kids in her class, seemingly from the moment she met them! She had a system for everything, and always seemed to know the right thing to do.

Jason and I thought Weston would cry his first day of school but he didn't. He loved it from day one which was something of a small miracle! The whole year was incredible. Weston learned to talk, made great friends, and thrived with his awesome teachers.

The last day of school after saying good-bye to everyone, I came home and opened Weston's Spider Man backpack. To my shock there was a letter from Mrs. Shelly saying that she was taking a different position in the school district and wouldn't be returning to run the preschool program at Tartan Elementary. I was overcome with a wave of intense sadness! I had just assumed Weston would be fortunate enough to be with Mrs. Shelly another year... and that I would be lucky enough to volunteer in her class, which was run so perfectly! I thought about Mrs. Shelly a lot this last Summer and how much we were going to miss her.

Then, another unexpected thing happened. Sometime at the end of July or beginning of August we received a letter saying that Weston had been reassigned to a different school - Duncan Elementary. Duncan has only been open for a year, and this is its first year with the preschool. It is supposed to be a great school, and is only 10 minutes down the road... but when you compare that with Tartan, which is only a couple of blocks away, the change seemed a little ridiculous!

We had the opportunity to meet Weston's teacher before school started, and she was (is) really nice. Jason says she looks like she's 10 years old. To be fair, she looks closer to 20. The classroom wasn't decorated yet, and there was barely anything in the room at all when I took Weston to our "meet the teacher" deal... and no refreshments! I don't particularly care about the food, but when we went to the school, we just weren't feeling the love. Everything was cold and awkward. I was pretty sad about the whole thing, but trying to keep a positive attitude for Weston.

The first day of school was MADNESS. There was no parking on any street going in any direction around the school. Jason and I literally spent 20 minutes looking for ONE spot to open up. So even though we went with plenty of time to spare, we ended up being late after hiking up to the school from our parking spot, which left no time for first day of school pictures in front of the school! I was bummed. That entire day I found myself constantly comparing everything less desirable about this new preschool to everything that was so great about the last one. It's a long list, trust me!

When Weston got home the first day, he wasn't too happy. He said he didn't play with anyone, because he missed his "best friends." He told us he didn't want to play with any of the toys in the room because he missed his old (school) room with his old toys! Poor kid.

It was then that I realized how good for him this experience was going to be. Life is ever changing! You can't spend your life longing for the "good old days!" I figure now is as good a time is any for Weston to learn that awkward and unsettled beginnings can sometimes turn into the best experiences of our lives! To be honest, this situation reminds me a lot of how I felt when our ward was first formed a little over a year ago. There wasn't a sense of cohesion at all those first weeks. Most people felt torn about leaving their old wards that they had come from and just didn't know where they fit in. Looking back, I am astounded at how far we have come! I don't know a soul that would go back to their old ward now, because we have truly become a ward family.

I look forward to seeing what this school year will bring. Weston will undoubtedly make new friends and love his new teacher as he gets to know her. Not everything is magic at the beginning... but that doesn't mean it won't turn into something wonderful with a little bit of time and effort!

Weston got to eat anything he wanted for breakfast on the first day of school. What did he choose? A turkey sandwhich and chips. Here he is pretending to have a grumpy face, but he loved it (along with all the extra special attention)!
I tried to take a nice, smiley picture of him before leaving for school, but he did his goofy, over dramatic "I'm smiling so big that I throw my head back in glee" grin. So here is a nice picture of Weston's neck! For the record, his back pack this year is Iron Man.

Sophie is TWO!!

2011-08-22T16:36:00.000-07:00

Three days ago, Sophie turned two. I think I am still in denial, although I don't know why since she has seemed like a little girl (and not a baby anymore) from the time she was 9 months old. For some reason her birthday really crept up on us! It seems like just a few weeks ago when Weston had his birthday, and that was 6 whole months ago. I can't believe my little Sophie baby is a big 2 year old girl now! She brings so very much joy into our family. She is truly full of sugar and spice... LOTS of spice!!

Here are a few of the cute things our little Sophie says on a regular basis:

"Come on now!" - this is particularly great when followed by "get up mommy/daddy/Weston/Auntie!"

"Good Job!!" - always said with tremendous enthusiasm... Sophie is our cheerleader! Whether it is opening a tight jar lid or putting a new battery in the remote control, she is always telling us what a good job we do.

"Cookie Monker" - She has a love/hate relationship with the cookie monster... sometimes she loves him, sometimes she's afraid of him.

"I just fine" - for some reason I find this one particularly funny. What little kid uses the term "just fine!?"

"I'm a do it" or "My do it!" - This oft repeated phrase is the primary reason we refer to Sophie as the sass-master. She wants to do EVERYTHING herself!

"You ok? You feel better?" - She is sincerely tender and sweet. Jason injured his ankle badly several weeks ago, and she asks him every day how it feels. Sometimes she inadvertently does something to hurt you, then immediately follows it up with a high pitched "You okay!?" The adorable voice coupled with the irresistible look of concern on her face pretty much melts your heart on the spot.

"Right he-ya" - As she gives orders or explains something, she will say (for example): "My owie is right HEYA!"

"Awwww... cute!" - This is always said in a high-pitched, melodic, ultra tender voice. So sweet!!

"I toot"- Pretty sure this needs no explanation. Let's just say she never deflects the blame... Sophie always fesses up to her flatulence.

"I cuddle you"

"I cuddle myself" - This is hilarious. It all began one morning after she woke up. I asked, "did you cuddle with mommy for awhile last night?" Her response: "No! I cuddle myself. Now I awake!"

"water-melna" - translation: watermelon, one of her most favorite foods.

"gummy juice" - translation: cranberry juice, one of her most favorite drinks.

A few fun facts about Sophie right now:

She loves her dark green hair bow that doesn't match anything. She wants to wear it everyday. I need to hide that thing!

She looks like my Grandma Knapp every time she scowls or makes a pouty face.

She adores her daddy. This really worked to my advantage for awhile because she only wanted daddy to change her diapers!

She also loves her brother and sometimes insists on him holding her. When it doesn't happen, she'll just jump up and hang on to him like some sort of monkey baby! Of course she is too heavy for him to hold, so they both topple over within seconds.

She weighs almost 30 pounds and is taller than most of the other kids her age (I'll be going to the pediatrician soon to get more accurate stats on that)!

Whenever she pretends to have phone conversations on her toy cell phone, it is always with a grandpa or a grandma. It usually goes something like this: "Hi grandpa. I okay. I just fine! How you doing?"

While all of the other babies and toddlers held on to their parents for dear life at our first swim lesson together, Sophie kept pushing me away while screaming, "No, I do it!" I think she finally realizes that she needs me though... at least while in the swimming pool!

A few recent pictures (not including her actual birthday, though... still waiting for a new card reader to come in the mail so I can download the many August pictures sitting on my camera right now):

I thank God each and every day for the privilege of being mommy to this little sweetheart. Happy birthday Sophie!!

Such a treat

2011-08-15T22:28:00.000-07:00

On the Saturday before the 4th (which happened to be July 2nd), we had a very special treat... in the form of a visit from some dear friends of ours. Matt and Jason were missionary companions in the great state of Louisiana several years back, and they have been friends ever since. (By the way, I have no idea if Louisiana is really so great, but Jason insists that it is, so we'll just trust him on this one...) The Caress' came into town for a family baptism, so we had the fortunate opportunity of getting together for a few hours!
This first picture was actually taken the next day when my good friend Jolee spent an entire awesome afternoon at our house, but it was just so cute I had to throw it in...
So back to the Caress family... Matt and Meagan have a son named Sterling, just 3 months older than Weston. They had a great time playing together, busting ghosts and who knows what else!

They also have a daughter named Gwen, about 8 months older than Sophie. Here are Matt and Jason with their little girls...
If you haven't noticed, there is a pattern here... the Caress' have a baby of a certain gender, then a few months later we do too. So when we discovered that Meagan is 5 months pregnant with a boy, I got a little nervous. Is this a sign of something soon to come!?
Truly, though, it was a great visit and I'm grateful we were able to do it... a small miracle considering that it was in the heat (both literally and figuratively) of fireworks season!!

Pioneer Days 2011

2011-08-15T14:24:00.000-07:00

Friday night, July 22nd... the weather was sooooooooooooo nice! It was breezy and beautiful.
For some reason, the kids were drawn to the horseshoe game area
It seems odd to me that they were surrounded by grass and yet somehow drawn to the one small area with dirt! Go figure.
Weston and the other "superheroes"
Saturday before we left for Stevenson Park, Jason's dad came over because he had a couple of gifts from his recent trip to Washington D.C.
My favorite gift was the little "money" bear he got for Sophie...she named it "baby Kayla," which is no surprise at all. She names EVERYTHING Baby Kayla!
Weston could not get enough of the bouncy house... it was the first place he went as soon as we arrived (at the blazing hot hour of 4:30). Grandpa had lots of patience and watched the kids jump for a long time.
Weston's other favorite activity this year at Pioneer Days was the water slide... I think he went down it a zillion times (for those who are wondering, zillion is more than a million, but still a little less than ba-zillion)!
This year, the young women and young men from our ward were in charge of a booth - the sponge toss. These awesome girls did a great job helping out the little kids that wanted to come play! Here is Jessica, Kira, and Shawna. I've got nothing but love for these beauties!
Aunt Shae-Leigh doing the sponge toss with the kiddos...
I think Sophie was mostly interested in her rice krispie treat...
Oh, and the glow sticks, which the kids are still fighting over on an almost daily basis (I seriously should just throw them away already)!
Cheese!
Just chillin' with the kids!
There is no way to capture how truly amazing the fireworks were... honestly, this year's display was one of the best I have ever seen. It was impressive!!
And thus we conclude yet another awesome Pioneer Day celebration!! After eating ridiculous amounts of yummy food, running around all night with the kids and enjoying a spectacular fireworks display, we went home satisfied... and a little worn out!

Garth

2011-08-07T17:31:00.000-07:00

I first knew Garth as Bishop Abbott. He was my bishop during a very crucial time in my life. I knew he was more than a bishop - he was my friend. He went out of his way to ask about my life and how I was doing... on a weekly basis! He would pull me into his office for a few minutes to ask how my date went the previous night, and ask me if the guy tried to kiss me. He would give me all sorts of pointers and advice, most of which I don't remember. What I do remember is that he genuinely loved me.

He exuded greatness, and had a personality that was larger than life. He was wise, funny, blunt, and never hesitated to stand up for what he thought or believed. He was bold. You never wanted to disappoint the man, not because you were afraid of him, but because you respected him so much and knew that he believed in you. At the time that he was my bishop, I always thought I was sort of special. Why else would he devote so much time and energy to little me? There were 500 young adults in that ward! As it turns out, every single person felt that he or she was special to him. And they were.

There was not a false bone in that man's body. He loved everyone that he served, and he had a magnificent, incredible capacity to reach each person individually. He was charming, and you just couldn't help but love him! Garth, whether in his capacity as bishop or friend, had an infectious quality that drew you to him. He could get away with saying almost anything because of his charm, but also because you knew he loved you. I'll never forget one time seeing him at a wedding reception where I had brought a young man that I was dating at the time. He kind of gave that dude the evil eye and then told him that if he ever did anything to hurt me he would break his leg!

I kept in touch with Garth even after he was no longer my bishop, as did many others. One of my nearest and dearest friends, Rachelle, married his oldest son (Jonathan), so I had the good fortune of running into him more frequently. What a blessing and honor it has been to know the Abbott family!

Garth died of cancer last week. My heart was heavy, and I just couldn't shake the sadness. As the opening hymn began at his funeral on Saturday, I started to cry. If I hadn't been in public, I probably would have bawled like a baby. Since there were many people around me, however, I attempted to control myself! As the memories and testimonies were shared, I felt the heaviness begin to lift and instead felt grateful. Grateful to have rubbed shoulders with this man. Grateful for all that he inspired in me. Grateful to recognize the tremendous impact that one great man can have on so very many people. Jason, one of Garth's sons, read the following quote:

"I believe that the first test of a truly great man is his humility. I don't mean by humility, doubt of his power. But really great men have a curious feeling that the greatness is not of them, but through them. And they see something divine in every other man and are endlessly, foolishly, incredibly merciful." ~John Ruskin

I'm convinced that the idea expressed in this quote is what made him such an effective leader. That and his incredible knowledge of the scriptures. And his boldness in speaking the truth, along with at least 50 other things!

If I were to describe Garth Abbott to a total stranger, I might say that he was fun, full of life, with a dash of crazy. Obviously that would only give half the story. The legacy Garth left is a living testimony to the truthfulness of the gospel he loved.

I left that funeral feeling grateful, inspired, and still a little sad. I was also reminded of a vital truth: no matter where we are in our life, Jesus Christ offers solace, peace and hope. I realized as I left that my heavy heart had been filled with hope, and it was the kind of hope that is found only in and through the Savior of the world! I hope to live the kind of life that leads others to Christ, that makes them want to be better. I hope for the day that I will see my dear friend again. The best part about the kind of hope that the Savior offers is that it is based in the truth. The hope I have is a sure hope! I also hope to live the kind of life that would make Garth proud.

The older I get, the more I understand how important our connections with others are. What a tragedy it would be for those connections to end at the conclusion of our mortal life... and what a glorious blessing to know that they extend into eternity!

The Fourth

2011-08-04T14:57:00.000-07:00

In the morning me and the kids went swimming at Jolee's pool... well, I can't say that it is her pool per se... but it is in her apartment complex, and it's lots of fun. Correction, it WAS lots of fun going swimming with her at that pool, but I wouldn't know if it's fun anymore, because she moved to Utah a couple weeks ago (a real tragedy, I must admit). Then we rushed off to Weston's first swim lesson of the Summer! Super fun. He did so great this year with his swim lessons. Every day he would dread going and tell me how much he hated it, but then he would have a complete blast and be grinning from ear to ear the entire time he was in the water. As soon as we left each day, he would go back to telling me how much he disliked it. What a funny kid! I'm really proud of him, though... his swimming skills have improved a lot.
Blowing bubbles:
His little swim class:

Weston loved his cute teacher:
In the evening, after rushing home from swim lessons, we got ourselves looking decent (read: I got myself looking decent, because let's face it, the kids are ALWAYS adorable) and headed over to President Shields' house (with Jolee, who was many miles apart from her hubby that day) where we sort of awkwardly hung out while Jason got all the fireworks set up for our show. President Shields was having a bbq at his house with some friends and graciously invited us over too... which was actually really nice. As we sat around eating, I realized that I should have brought swim suits for the kids, or at least for Weston, because all the other kids were swimming! Finally I just stripped him down to his undies and let him swim like that!

When we were finally ready for the festivities, we headed out to the street where Jason and his friend, Will, had been setting up fireworks for at least an hour. We had invited a few friends and family so Weston found his buddy Owen to sit with...
Sophie enjoyed the pretty lights but wasn't so fond of the loud noise...
It's virtually impossible to capture the fireworks well, but here is my attempt! What was especially awesome about this year is that there were like 5 aerial displays going on simultaneously all surrounding our own little show. It was nice!

I was actually in a couple of pictures, but I looked pretty gross by the end of the night, so instead I'm sharing a picture of two of my cute friends, Katie and Jolee!
And of course the kids were loving on their Auntie...
All in all, it was a successful, busy 4th.

Powerful

2011-07-22T14:28:00.002-07:00

If you were to ask Weston what his favorite word is right now, it just might be "powerful." He describes many things as powerful, such as a baby lizard that is able to crawl under a rock without getting smashed, or his bones and muscles, the power of which truly impresses him on a regular basis!
The other night after getting out of the tub, I reached for the towel he used to use as a baby. I thought it would be fun for a change, and I love the little hoodie part. I told him that in that towel he kind of looked like a Pharaoh. Of course he wanted to know what a pharaoh is, so I said it was a powerful ruler. This was his response:

"You mean powerful like he can drink his apple juice straight, without any water in it!?"

Powerful means different things to different people, and apparently to my four year old it means drinking un-diluted fruit juice. Ha ha ha ha ha!!

Knott's Berry Farm

2011-07-21T16:47:00.000-07:00

This post was written on June 12, but I just now got around to adding pictures and publishing it:

Last Monday I was asked if Jason and I would be able to help chaperon a group of graduating seniors from our Stake to Knott's Berry Farm for a day. I shrugged it off because I figured we were just to busy, but then mentioned it to Jason who said, "why not?" I felt a little bit of trepidation thinking about girls camp and the fireworks season coming upon us the very next week, but got excited when I realized it would be our first time spending a night and an ENTIRE day together without kids. And, it would be our first time ever going to an amusement park together... seriously, how had we not done this sooner?
We dropped the kids off with grandma on Friday night. As soon as we walked out her door, Jason announced that he felt FREE!! I had mixed feelings, as it was the first time either of the kids has EVER spent the night away from both of us. Saturday morning at 4:00 (when we woke up) came quickly. We all loaded a bus and headed to Cali. The bus ride was loads of fun! Three of my laurels went on this trip - Emily, Shawna, and Alyssa. They all sat near Jason and me in the front of the bus. Let me tell you - the back of the bus may be where the cool people usually sit (and where all the fun goes down), but we had a blast in the front! We played Scatergories, Madlibs,and MASH.
After 5 full hours of driving, we finally arrived and were a little shocked to be chilly! We headed towards the Silver Bullet, because that is the ride that everyone instinctively flocked too... I guess those who have been to Knott's Berry Farm in recent years knew this was one of the "best" rides in the park, and everyone else just kind of followed along. (By the way, when did Knott's turn into a crazy ride place? Last time I was there, I only remember seeing a short video of some kind, walking through a street that looked like it came out of a Western, and buying some delicious syrup. Of course, that was over 20 years ago when I was just a little kid... but I digress!) Let me just tell you that I am pretty much terrified of heights. But I didn't want to be the lame scardie-cat that stayed behind. The other two couples who were chaperoning with us kept talking about how excited they were for this rollercoaster... meanwhile, while everyone is laughing and joking in line, I am just giving myself a mental pep talk. The funny thing is that you can only see a small portion of the ride from line. So what I was mentally preparing myself for turned out to be much more insidious than I had imagined or perceived! Okay, maybe insidious isn't really the right word...
We finally get on the ride, and though I am privately scared silly - heart pounding out of my chest and all - I have built up enough courage to go. I'm getting that stomach-churning anxiety again just writing about how I felt! But I am an adult, and I should face my fears, right? Well, turns out that sometimes it is better just to cop out, because half way through the Silver Bullet experience, I realized that I was going to be very ill. Not only was the ride full of loops (which I can handle), it twists around and around the ENTIRE time! And I swear that was the longest rollercoaster ride I have ever been on in my entire life! It was almost a full minute! (I know, because I looked it up on the internet when we got home the next day.)
So, when we exited the 60 second nightmare, I immediately began looking for a place to throw up. I guess I wasn't thinking clearly because the first spot I picked was from way up high and probably would have hit someone. After puking a couple of times, Jason started asking me if I was ready to keep going. Um, no. They ended up having to summon a nice man from the first aid station to collect me with a wheelchair! And then I spent the rest of the day laying on a pretend bed in the musty smelling first aid clinic. Just what I had always hoped and dreamed of! Fortunately, I was feeling much better by the time we had to leave. And the bus ride home was pretty fun... so I basically had an awesome 10 hours of bus riding to and from Knott's, and a terrible time at the actual theme park.
The moral of the story? If you are terrified of heights, you tend to get nauseated easily, and you have had almost no sleep the night before, avoid twisty rollercoasters! Even if it means getting a little heckled by your friends.
Here are some pictures from the good parts of our adventure:
On the bus:
Arriving at the park:
Shawna and Emily... L O V E these two girls ridiculously much!

Awww, aren't we cute?
Sometimes we're just a couple of wieners, I guess.
I took this picture for Weston. He LOVES old cars!
Jason tried to win some prizes for the kids... he ended up winning a couple of inflatable baseball bats, which they enjoyed immensely for about two days until they broke them both. Shocking, I know.I wish I had one of those things to pound every time I got angry... what a great release that would be!

Knott

2011-06-12T15:17:00.001-07:00

My favorite little boy

2011-06-08T13:30:00.000-07:00

Weston is so stinkin' funny! Every day he says at least 10 hillarious things that I just know I will remember... but then I forget! My favorite thing that he has said so far this morning is: "I love my armpits!" So unpredictable. I realize that Weston isn't the only cute little 4 year old that says amusing things, but he also asks a lot of deep questions, like "Why does Jesus love bad people?" I must admit that I wasn't sure at first how to answer that, but after considering it for a few moments I told him that Jesus is perfect, and that is why he loves everyone. I love simple answers, and I think he actually understood it.

Weston is extremely interested in the concept of good and bad people. I keep telling him that people aren't really good or bad, they just make good or bad choices. And people can always begin to make good choices. So now every day when he prays, he says (exactly): "Snake you (thank you)that everybody become good guys." He knows he is supposed to thank Heavenly Father, and he also knows that he can ask for blessings... so in this one line he kind of combines the two, which I think is pretty great. I love that he wants everyone to be good. I also love that he gives thanks for the blessing before it is even given. I know he doesn't understand the deeper implications of that, but I still love it.

And then he continually wants to know how things are built. On several occasions he has asked me, "how is whole city built?" When I answer that it is a long, complicated process, he eagerly implores me to "tell [him] all about it!" Just about every day he asks me how something is built. Last night he asked how our house was built. I told him you start with a foundation, but I think that's as far as I got. Maybe he should have a little chat with Uncle Mike about how things are made!

So, this morning Weston starts bagging up ALL of his toys in plastic bags and dragging them out to the family room. When I ask what he is doing, he informs me that he is storing these toys for the Summer. I question him to verify that he really does want them to go away for awhile and then suggest we store them in the garage. Well, that does not fit his plans at all! Apparently he is planning on storing them right here in the family room, crowded all around the TV! I suggested that they didn't look good cluttering up the room, to which he retorted that to HIM, they looked very nice!! Very nice, indeed.Still rather baffled by this little dude, and realizing that he is occupied so I should sneak out and use the computer while I have a moment, he comes running in with one important question, "where are all my Summer toys?" It then occurs to me that he is expecting a bunch of different toys to replace his regular toys for the Summer months! What a siiiiiiiiiiiiilly kid!
What can I say? My days are never boring!

p.s. As he jumped out of the car today, Weston told me that he's not afraid of anything anymore... except for really terrible monsters.

Things my children say...

2011-06-02T16:35:00.000-07:00

Weston, it turns out, is a little boy with a LOT to say! He is constantly asking questions, mostly that begin with "why." Sophie naturally copies whatever Weston says, and therefore asks "why" about a thousand times a day (or so it seems). This morning while eating breakfast, Weston announced that he was going to the bathroom, eliciting the ever constant question from Sophie: "Why!!?" Apparently Weston is getting really fed up with Sophie's questions, because he bluntly responded that he was no longer going to answer her. I shot him a look like, "are you for real!?" He just said, "mom, she says why too much!"

I had to supress the laughter! I wanted to say something to him about getting a taste of his own medicine, but I thought better of it. Anytime I say a phrase that he doesn't understand, he asks a million questions about it until he fully comprehends the meaning... which can take a while when you're only four! It's actually a pretty great quality. Anytime I say something that he doesn't understand, Weston enthusiastically says "tell me all about it!"

So, as we were sitting at the table, Weston said that if he could get me any present in the whole world for my birthday tomorrow it would be "another stove." Really!? I was hoping he'd say something like an airplane, but I guess he was just trying to be thoughtful... although I don't think I've ever complained about our stove! What a funny kid. With a little more prodding he told me he'd also like to get me some pretty clothes. Then he specifically suggested a shirt that "maybe had some flowers on it." What a sweetheart! I love hearing his ideas.

Then as we were getting ready to leave for the gym (and after asking why I wear my "pajamas" to workout), he told me that I have a cute bubble butt!

What!?

He is such a funny boy. I guess he doesn't really know what a bubble butt is yet, or that it's not super cool to tell your mom that her butt is cute at all. I wonder where he even heard that term? Who knows.

Sophie has a lot to say, too. She runs around repeating pretty much anything. This little video is from yesterday...

Five glorious years!

2011-05-17T10:28:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday, May 12th, was our 5th wedding anniversary. I have been bummed lately thinking about the fact that I would probably never find our wedding pictures. You see, the photographer who did our professional pictures used old-fashioned film... and I'm pretty sure that film got destroyed by the heat while sitting in a box that was never supposed to be in the garage. Being in the Young Women organization of our ward, many opportunities have presented themselves to bring my wedding pictures to show the girls. Every time, I feel sad! I want to show "my" girls the pictures of my Temple wedding... especially since there is almost no other decision that influences your life more profoundly than how you marry!

So, on our anniversary morning as Jason drove off for work, an idea popped in my head... what if the photos my dear friend Julie took at our wedding reception were on my old laptop from college? Pictures from the reception are better than no pictures at all! A glimmer of hope sparked in me and I ran to open the old computer, praying that it would turn on. Fortunately it had been stored with its power cord. My glee quickly turned to panic when I realized that my computer had been password protected, and I had NO IDEA what the password was. I never even remembered having a password and figured that was something that had come about in the months that Jason attempted to rescue my ailing computer long ago. A quick call to the man of the hour revealed that no one on planet earth knew the password.

Dang it!

I tried every variation of every password I remember having ever in my life...

nothing. UGH! I could feel the anticipation mounting as I glared at that password protected screen, searching the recesses of my mind to no avail!

For some reason, all other responsibilities fled my mind and all I could think of was getting in that dang computer. It seemed to me the most important task in the world.

And then at last... some 45 minutes later, a word popped into my head: cleo. I had practically forgotten all about Cleo, my cat. That was the password! The second my desktop appeared, there it was! The file entitled WEDDING PICS lay right before my eyes! As I clicked it open, a glorious realization hit. Not only had Julie taken pictures at our reception, but because she wanted to learn some picture taking skills from a professional, she had followed our photographer around the Temple taking pictures of everything earlier in the day as well! THANK YOU JULIE!!!!!!! (It should be noted that Julie was friends with the professional photographer, Karen, who happily agreed to let Julie follow her around and learn from her)

So although the lighting isn't always perfect, I am just thrilled to have wedding pictures in my very own possession! This discovery pretty much made my day... and I just wanted to share. Unfortunately, blogger was down the ENTIRE day on Thursday. Better late than never, though. These are just a few pictures of me and my handsome groom just 5 years ago. Weird how those 5 years seem kind of like a lifetime all on their own!

The Reception... as you can see, I was more than a little embarrassed by the whole garter belt thing!So glad I married the right guy at the right time in the right place!

Trip to Salt Lake, Part One

2011-05-09T16:05:00.000-07:00

The last Thursday in April, we took off for Utah. The kids were SOOOOO excited!! All morning Sophie kept saying "me ready, go Utah NOW!" Weston also sounded like a broken record. When we pulled into St. George for a pottie break he asked if we were there yet. The kids were anxious, because they knew they would get to see some very special people who they love! The first people we got to see were the Olsens, our dear friends who we miss so much. They were gracious enough to let us stay with them while in the great state of Utah
(Jason would vehemently disagree on the use of the word great in that sentence... he has a SERIOUS mental allergy to the state).
The first evening we were there, Emma (age 5), was reading with her mom when Sophie just jumped on in! Emma is such a sweetheart - like her mom, Stephanie (one of my most favorite people on the planet) And Sophie felt right at home...

The kids had an absolute BLAST playing together. Weston had such a great time playing with Emma and Hope that he told me they were his new best friends!Here is Austin (almost 2) and Hope (4):and Weston, who is Spiderman wherever he goes (thanks to Austin for letting him "borrow" that mask all weekend)! Sophie and HopeIt was wonderful to see the Olsen kids... they are a joy to be around. Friday morning as we were getting ready for the day, Weston kept beckoning Hope to come play with him. Hope declined his invitation several times because she needed to "help" me do my hair! Cute. Weston did get plenty of attention from Emma and Hope though. I think he may have escaped with more than a few kisses from them (on his cheeks of course)! So Friday we arranged to meet Mike, Carrie, and Lily at Cabela's near Thanksgiving Point. If you do not know what Cabela's is, you are not alone. I had no idea! Turns out it is almost exactly like the Bass Pro Shop. It provided a huge indoor place to visit and some fun things for the kidlets to see too. We would have preferred to have gone somewhere out-doors, but it snowed on and off all day and was downright blustery... at the end of April!

It was wonderful to see my brother. I was just thrilled that we were able to get together. Sophie and Lily are only 3 months apart in age, so it was really fun to see them interact. We hadn't seen Mike and Carrie for 8 months (since September). I did my best to get some great pictures, but I was working with some antsy kids. :) Here's Lily, posing beautifully for the camera:I had to get at least one picture with me in it - to prove that I was actually there! Sophie looks kind of angry in this shot...maybe because she was about to forever lose MY favorite hairbow! Observing the fish was one of the kids favorite things (they also liked feeding them).Sophie and Lily both had a little obsession with the stroller! They took turns pushing each other...And sometimes they both pushed it together (thank you Carrie for guiding the stroller pushing activities)!Weston finally got in for a free ride at the end! After exploring the whole store (including the fish tanks, animal displays, gun museum, and various other attractions), we finally went to their furniture section and sat down on a nice couch set to visit until the kids went bonkers...which didn't take too terribly long.We also ate while we were there. While the company was superb, I probably wouln't recommend the food. :)I look forward to these little girls getting to know each other better as they grow up! I'm so happy Weston and Sophie got to see their (one and only) cousin. I really wish we lived closer to Mike and Carrie, but I sure am happy we were able to get together last weekend!!

Easter Morning

2011-05-04T12:59:00.000-07:00

Weston told me that Easter Sunday was a good day... which is really saying something for a boy that doesn't like Sundays (something I am confident he will grow out of in time)! So this is how it began...Searching for and finding their baskets...In their Easter baskets, the kids each got a book or two, some sidewalk chalk, a new box of crayons, gum and tic tacs (which Sophie managed to consume entirely at church that day). Weston also got a couple of cool spider man cups while Sophie discovered some little rubber duckies for the tub.Time to get dressed for church...Weston LOVES this pink shirt, which is hillarious because he despises having to wear nice shirts for church. The second we walk in the door, he is usually ripping his nice clothes off. Now that he has this pink shirt, he wants to wear it every day!Little princess!I love it when she grins so big that she squints her eyes.

Grandpa's Easter Visit

2011-04-25T12:48:00.000-07:00

The kids were excited for Grandpa (Jason's dad) to come over on Easter. They haven't seen him since February, so they went a little nuts showing off and vying for his attention. I'm sure it was just terrible for him (*nudge nudge, wink wink*)!After dinner, Grandpa went out to his car to bring in a little surprise for the kids. They waited on the couch by the front door, peeking out the front window with eager anticipation of what might be coming their way!He first brought in this box, which turned out to be a prank gift. Weston's reaction was priceless (as shown by video below).

On to the real gifts...You'll notice that Weston is much happier now!Sophie was pretty much thrilled with her Elmo phone. The main gift that Jason's dad brought for the kids was front row tickets to go see Sesame Street live and also special tickets to MEET Elmo before the show! They don't yet grasp how awesome this gift really is, but they are going to have the time of their lives actually going. I'm kind of excited to meet Elmo too... I wonder how tall he is?On to the Easter egg hunt... the funniest part was watching Sophie. She was so ambitious and fast! Weston, on the other hand, seemed to not see eggs right in front of him. It was pretty comical. The kids had a little Easter egg hunt at my mom's house a couple of days earlier, and it was the same thing there, too. She had been concerned that Sophie wouldn't get enough eggs, but that concern quickly melted away. Sophie has always been a real go-getter though, so I guess we shouldn't be surprised!Here I am giving Weston some hints to help him find the egg right in the basket ball hoop, and he's giving me this funny look!They ended up very happily since they both made out like bandits! Here's Weston enjoying one of his eggs with Grandpa.Sophie examining her loot... they both got Jelly Belly jelly beans (the only true and living jelly beans if you ask me!), gummy bears, gum, and money for their piggy banks. Sophie got some chap stick, and Weston got a couple of match box cars. I'd say they did pretty well!Yeah, it was a pretty great time. This was Weston's expression when he opened one of his eggs. I honestly don't remember what was in that particular one, but he was obviously happy about it!

Bright, Sunshiney Day!

2011-03-31T14:14:00.001-07:00

Today while we were outside waiting for the bus to come pick up Weston, I snapped these pics of the kidlets. Wow, what a bright day! I can't remember the last time it was so bright and sunshiney that the kids had "squinty" eyes in a picture! Ever since then I've had that song in my head. (Definitely better than a lot of other songs I've had stuck in there!) I love that Weston squatted down to be next to his sister for a picture. He is so sweet.

Lovely Patient

2011-03-31T14:07:00.001-07:00

The kids have been sick all week. Weston is almost better, but this poor baby had a rough day yesterday! While I was in the kitchen, she fell asleep in my chair. I was struck by how pretty she was, even at her worst. To me she looks like a porceline doll, with perfect little red lips, and crazy hair! Sweet girl.

Our Flowers

2011-03-31T13:49:00.001-07:00

For Valentine's day this year, Jason bought me a lovely big new pot and some heirloom seeds of various kinds of flowers. He said that way I could have flowers to enjoy for months! Sweet. We planted them in the new pot, an old pot, and in several spots in the back yard. Every evening the kids are anxious to help daddy water all the seeds. Sometimes they fight over the hose, but for the most part, I think it is a good experience for them! It is fun to watch the plants grow, and it will be especially exciting when we eventually get some beautiful daisies, poppies, and Sunflowers, assuming that Sophie doesn't dig up all the seeds before they have a chance to grow...she really likes playing in dirt. :)

Sophie's Bike

2011-03-31T13:24:00.000-07:00

Sophie got this bike at Christmas, but it was just too big. The other day she determined that it was time to ride! It's still a bit too big, but she sure had fun trying!

No worries, Weston is more than willing to give her a ride...

They now do this almost every day!

Funny Kid

2011-03-30T21:01:00.001-07:00

Weston makes me laugh every single day. Today he told me that his best friends were Marc, Owen, Evan, and Calvin Klein. What? I was aware of the first three, but the last one? Where did he even hear the name Calvin Klein?

He has now said three prayers all by himself. His first one was a week ago yesterday. Tonight he insisted on saying the dinner prayer. He is so sweet when he says, "Jesus Christ, thank you," and "keep safe mommy." But the best part of that dinner prayer had to be when he asked for privacy from Sophie while he is in the "bloom-bloom." Translation: he prayed for Sophie to leave him alone while in the bathroom. Jason and I kind of glanced at each other mid-prayer and tried not laugh out loud!

Here is a recent picture of Weston, wearing Spiderman pajamas and his ghost pack... I'm pretty sure he believes that he is Spiderman half the time and I know for a fact that he wants to be a ghostbuster when he grows up.

Go Weston!

The Package...

2011-03-23T23:17:00.000-07:00

Grandpa Knapp, who lives in Nebraska, sent the most awesome package for Weston's birthday. It was so great that it deserves it's very own post! I feel the need to issue a disclaimer: although Weston appears disgruntled in these photos, he was actually just serious, and seriously stoked about the contents of his special package! (YES, I did just use the word stoked, something I probably have not done since 1998.) Item #1: Duplo Legos! Very cool... but what lies underneath in the great mass of white packing peanuts?

A card, two slinkies, two flashlights, 4 cars...and PLENTY of adult vitamins! As a child, my dad repeatedly took advantage of my trusting naivete by telling me that all candies (especially chocolate candies) were actually "adult vitamins," and that it would in fact be dangerous for kids to partake of them! I think I was 15 before I realized that chocolate dipped Keebler cookies and chocolate covered wafers really wouldn't hurt me! So I guess I missed out on some candy as a child, but on the flip side, its pretty great. Every time my dad sends us a package of any size, it is always surrounded by oodles and oodles of chocolate candy!! Adult vitamins for Jason and me. Sweet! Grandpa was thoughtful in that he sent 4 cars - two for Weston and two for Sophie. I let Weston choose which two he got to keep. Sophie didn't care which ones she got anyway... she was thrilled! Plus, they each got their very own retro slinky, flashlight, and little carrying bags they can wear around their neck, kind of like a lanyard. Kids love that stuff, you know.

Oh, and Sophie also had a special little bunny waiting for her in that big box! She was pretty excited to try out the flashlight, and for some reason she thought this would be a good idea... but not for long! Happy little camper!

The package from Grandpa was long anticipated, and it did not disappoint!!

Weston's birthday

2011-03-23T12:15:00.000-07:00

On Weston's birthday, my mom and I went to his preschool to bring cupcakes for all the kids. The cupcakes were huge and delicious... not that I got to taste one, but everyone (especially the teachers) kept oohing and aahing about how wonderfully tasty they were. I guess most people don't make things from scratch anymore.It is kind of hard to see in the picture, but there is a sign hanging around his neck of the number Four. It it was really cute!Sophie was a little clingy... it was her nap time after all!Love my boy. That night, we decided to have a picnic in our living room while watching Wall-E. Weston said that was the movie he wanted, so that was the one we watched. I can't say that it fulfilled all of my hopes and dreams, but what can you expect from a movie where people have morphed into bloated creatures and robots fall in love with each other? Mid-movie, we got a knock on the door from Uncle Ryan and soon-to-be Aunt Sadie... it was a pretty sweet surprise!

Weston excitedly ripped open their present and discovered...

A Toy Story video game! Holy cow. He was pretty ecstatic until we realized that it didn't work. Poor kid.He did still have fun attacking Uncle Ryan!

Too cute. I will post shortly about his birthday party... after all, I know you're waiting with bated breath for the details!

FOUR WHOLE YEARS!

2011-03-04T10:20:00.000-08:00

I can't get over how truly amazing it is that Weston is talking so much. He began pre-school six months ago. It started off with a new word here, and a new word there. Pretty soon it was a steady stream of new words. After awhile, he had the confidence to try anything! Now, he consistently repeats the things he hears us say (for better or for worse). For the last three weeks, he has been reading a verse of scripture out loud every day!! We read a phrase, then he repeats. Sometimes he can only handle repeating one word at a time, but when I think of where he was just six short months ago at age 3.5, I can hardly believe it! He also prays at least once a day.

There are a few words that Weston still says his own way. Kind of like how he used to call Sophie "puppy" until he learned how to say "Sosie," and then eventually "Sosie" morphed into Sophie. Anyway, here are a few of Weston's words:

lope = yogurt

sirmut = syrup

vepables = vegetables

no-neets = noodles

Language development is not the only thing that's changed. Weston has grown so tall! He is taller than all the 5 year olds at school with him. I've had the chance to visit his preschool a few times now, and I've seen how he interacts with the other kids and with his teachers... he is so much like me! (Well, you know, except for wrestling with the other boys during outside play time.) He is an obedient student, a social creature, and somewhat of a people pleaser. Whenever he sees Sophie and me coming to visit his class, he gets all excited to include her in playing with all his friends.

Weston loves his little sister. Whenever she gets hurt, he kisses her face (always reporting to me exactly how many kisses he gave her... counting is one of his newest skills, after all). He'll comfort her by saying, "Okay Sophie? It's okay, Sophie!!" Weston doesn't just say things, though. He repeats them over and over and over again. He is extremely tenacious. He never gives up on what he wants, and he will e n d l e s s l y insist on something until he gets it. I'm not talking about the ordinary thing that all kids do where they just whine about something because they know you'll eventually give in if they just wear you down (although he has been known to try that, too). If he goes to sleep wanting something - assuming it is something we won't let him have - he will most likely fall asleep crying for it. But that is not the end! Whenever he wakes up, the first thing he'll do is start asking for that thing AGAIN! No matter how much you try to distract him or divert his attention to something else, he will absolutely NOT forget the thing he really wanted.

One day this past Fall, I thought it would be fun to look at some old pictures and watch some videos from when Weston was a baby. He loved this, but when he saw pictures from our trip to Disney world with Grandma, he became upset. He was upset because he saw himself wearing the Mickey shirt Grandma had given him, and he realized he didn't have it anymore (he had long since grown out of it). He began to cry, repeating over and over again that he wanted the Mickey shirt Grandma gave him! I wasn't sure if he was attached to the shirt because of his sheer, unadulterated love for Mickey Mouse (that really doesn't sound right), or because Grandma had given it to him. All I know is that I could NOT console the kid! He cried for at least an hour before the bus came, and he was crying so hard at that point that I had to carry him onto the bus and set him in his seat. When he came home from school three hours later, he walked in the house an immediately began crying about his shirt again! Needless to say, I found him a great Mickey shirt for Christmas... which he is equally attached to, I might add.

Not only is Weston extremely sentimental, but he has the memory of an elephant (okay so I got curious while I was writing this and just had to know if elephants really have the best memories of all the animals, and according to chacha.com, not that anyone has ever heard of them, either chimps or sea lions take the cake). In the people kingdom, I think Weston wins the prize. Of course, he has only now barely lived 4 years, so that remains to be seen! Let me share a story to illustrate my point. Yesterday we were going through his closet and sorting out his shirts. I looked at one cute orange shirt and said, "buddy, this is so cute, and I don't think you've ever even worn it!" He immediately recalled the one time he did in fact wear the shirt - several months ago while watching Back to the Future. He remembers details like that all the time.

When he was about three and a half (sometime in August), my mom came over to visit and asked me how the 24th went. She was referring to the 24th of July, meaning Pioneer Days... our Stake has a HUGE (and super fun I might add) celebration that weekend each year. We generally refer to it as Pioneer Days. We don't talk about it in terms of the date, so when she asked how the 24th went, I would have never guessed that Weston had any idea to what she was referring. And yet, to my utter surprise, he started telling her about the fireworks and how they hurt his ears! I'm sure at some point he heard someone say it was the 24th that day, and he just remembers things!

So last week Weston turned four. I was emotional that day, because it was also my mom-iversary! I thought about how his arrival into this world and our life was the best thing that ever had happened to me. I thought about the intense anticipation we all felt the day he was born. I also thought about how glad I was not to be reliving that day! When I think about all the life-altering moments in my life, Weston's birth tops them all. Of course my life changed dramatically for the good when Sophie was born too, but nothing in this world compares to becoming a mom for the first time. I don't think I really knew what love was until I had that tiny, adorable little boy in my arms! He had the most piercing, beautiful eyes, and large hands! He was long and skinny, but he quickly filled out. Now he is tall and thin again! He is tender and sweet like me, but he also has quite a sense of humor, which he clearly got from Jason. It is just so exciting to watch his personality emerge more and more as time marches forward. I am so proud of my little Weston!!

By the way, if you are still reading this post and you aren't family, you must be an extremely devoted friend! I will post the pictures of his birthday and birthday party, but for now I just wanted to record my thoughts on my little Bean, who is not so little anymore! We do still call him Bean sometimes, so just the other day I asked him whether he was a black bean, a pinto bean, a white navy bean, or a green bean (I didn't even give the option of being a kidney bean or a lima bean because they are just too gross). He responded that he was, in fact, a BLUE bean! I thought about that for a minute and then asked if he was a blue JELLY bean, which of course was what he meant. You've got to love that kid!!

The Valentine's Party

2011-02-18T13:46:00.000-08:00

The Friday before Valentine's Day (the 11th) we had a ward Valentine's Party. I can honestly say that I have never before attended a church Valentine's party, so I didn't have much to compare it to... but I thought it was pretty darn fun! The main event of the evening was a version of the newlywed game, with Jason as game show host. He was a real charmer - just downright funny. People were busting a gut laughing so hard!
Anyway, the theme was Sadie Hawkins. Each couple was supposed to dress up like each other. We had a good time at DI earlier that day assembling our costumes. At first we were going to be a couple from the 80's, because seriously, who doesn't love the crazy fashions of the 80's!? But that proved too difficult. I even made an appeal on facebook (barring those in my ward from seeing the post of course) and received some fantastic suggestions from people such as Cupid and Aphrodite, or Mary Poppins and Bert. My friend, Angie, suggested either being a dog and a fire hydrant or senior citizens. I wasn't too excited about the thought of being a dog OR a fire hydrant, but after surveying the situation at DI, we decided to go with the senior citizen idea. (It was the only thing we were sure we could pull off with the clothes selection there!)
But we weren't just old people, we were "active" seniors in our jogging suits and tennies. With the help of some old glasses, excessive blue eye shadow, and gray hair color, I think our ensembles actually turned out pretty cute!

What a joker...Jason as game show host:

Close up: Our costumes must have been good because when I arrived at the church (Jason went early to help set up) I couldn't find him anywhere! Turns out I just didn't recognize him...

I guess I forgot I was looking for a man with gray hair.

Hoodies, Hats and Headbands

2011-02-02T10:37:00.000-08:00

The other day while we were watching Weston ride his bike up and down the street, I went to go grab the camera so I could snatch a picture of him (you know, because it's not like I already have a zillion...). Anyway, Sophie felt a little left out, so I snapped a quick one of her also. I can't pinpoint why, but I think she resembles me quite a bit in this picture... which makes me feel good because most people tell me that she looks just like Jason. Something about that expression just makes her seem so grown up, too! And who doesn't love a cute little hoodie pic?

Sophie is a HUGE fan of my headbands... she is always trying them on, which I don't mind one bit. It keeps her out of trouble! By the way, she looks very much like me when I was a baby in this one too. (Seriously, who wouldn't want to take some serious credit for those irresistible looks??)

She also loves hats...I love her demure, feminine pose here. Yes, she's definitely a hat girl!

Portable Canning

2011-01-31T16:43:00.000-08:00

My first experience canning food was back in November. We took all the Young Women to the Las Vegas Home Storage Center (such a mouthful!) to fill some orders for the families in our ward... it was such an awesome experience! It totally inspired me to do some of my own canning. But since I'm allergic to half the stuff there, I signed up for the portable canner so we could begin storing stuff we would actually eat. Finally our turn came a couple of weeks ago. Let me tell you, it was much smoother than I imagined it would be! It was seriously such a simple process. We canned 18 number 10 cans in about an hour!In the end, we had 5 cans Joe's O's (Trader Joe's version of Cheerios), 4 cans of rice pasta, 2 cans of sugar, one can each of: green lentils, corn meal, brown rice, popcorn, barley, and garbanzo beans. The only problem with the last 6 items is that I still have no idea how long they're supposed to last!

Anyway, if any of you are thinking of using a portable canner soon, my one piece of advice is this: don't try to do it by yourself. The contraption that seals the cans takes a little manpower, and is much easier with two people. That's it! Just thought you'd like to know...

My Son the Scriptorian

2011-01-24T22:23:00.000-08:00

About a week ago, Weston discovered the word "why." Ever since then, he asks "why" at least 100 times a day. He'll say, "Hair. Why?" or "nonies, why?" (nonies is his word for "noodles") or "brush teeth - why?" You get the idea. There is no end to things he wants to understand, and although it is not always convenient to answer a zillion questions, I am loving it! After three and a half years of wanting to understand what goes on in the mind of my sweet son, these past 5 months have been amazing... especially now that I have the chance to explain so many important things and know that he is understanding and even repeating the things I teach him!

Today he picked up a Book of Mormon that had been laying on the kitchen table. He said, "Scriptures, why?" I told him that we read the scriptures to learn about God, and how to be happy. So he opens up the book, and directing his attention to Sophie who was in her high chair fussing, says, "Jesus Christs loves Sophie!" He said it over and over again. The rest of the afternoon he walked around with my scriptures pretending to read them. When I'd ask if he wanted me to read them to him, he would respond that he could read them "by self."

As I lay down with him before bed, he asked if I would tell him a story about when he was a baby. My mind drifted back almost four years as I recounted how he was born in a tub of water at Grandma Ruth's house. Sometimes I feel like I can barely remember him as a little baby. And yet, I will never forget certain things - like the absolutely consuming, powerful love and adoration I felt for that precious little life.

Exactly 3 years and 11 months ago today, I become a mommy. Here is a picture of Weston moments after birth (I am aware that I look terrible, so if you can just focus on him, I would appreciate it!)

About an hour after birth...And earlier this month at Disney on Ice:

How I love this little guy!

Our Little Princess

2011-01-22T08:33:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago when we came home from church it occurred to me that we have very few pictures of Sophie all dressed up, so I decided to snap a few shots of her while in her Sunday best! She kept running away from me and trying to hide, but eventually I got the money shot I was hoping for! I can hardly believe this little princess is 17 months old.

My very own American Idol

2011-01-20T21:42:00.000-08:00

Both my kids love to sing and dance. Sophie mostly just sings the words "rock and roll" over and over again while going around and around in circles... something she learned from her brother. Weston, on the other hand, sings about just about anything. He also recently learned the term "bootie shake" which is just what he was doing when I ran to get the camera to record. However, when I came back, he had moved on to his newest musical masterpiece...

V-8, Anyone?

2011-01-20T18:08:00.000-08:00

This evening I was drinking some V-8 and decided to see if Sophie liked it. I'll let you be the judge!

Weston's First Bike Ride!!

2011-01-09T21:54:00.001-08:00

There are few milestones in early childhood as important as learning to ride a bike! Granted, Weston is not yet four, so this bike has training wheels... but this has been a much anticipated occasion! Although he got the super awesome Spider Man bike for Christmas, it was in a box waiting to be assembled for almost TWO weeks. Poor guy. I wasn't going to attempt it though, and anyway it just didn't seem right to do without Jason.

But finally the big day came... BIKE day! It was pretty thrilling.

How does one explain the emotions that a little boy goes through on a day like this? He was extremely excited, but he waited patiently and boy was it worth it!Shortly after learning how to ride, Weston began telling me that he thought he should keep the bike. He must have repeated the phrase "keep bike" 20 times! It was cute. At one point he fell and began to cry. We had him hop right back up and keep riding, and of course turned it into a little life lesson moment. (How do you resist an opportunity like that, cliche though it may be?)Sophie got jealous and wanted to try and ride on her little tricycle that is still way too big for her... we gave it a whirl but after a few minutes I gave up on that idea and just pulled her around in the wagon with Weston following along...Weston was so sad and disappointed when it was time to be done that Jason busted out some special novelty firework items to help distract him.The firework trick worked like a charm, as usual. (thankfully!)

Sophie being her cute, sassy little self

As I lay, drifting off to sleep...

2011-01-02T16:13:00.000-08:00

It has been a dream of mine for quite some time to take a deep, long nap. Jason has attempted on various occasions to watch the kids for me so I can catch a nap on days where I am particularly exhausted, but unfortunately I can't tune the kids out so I just lay there listening to them scream and play. Sophie always screams when the door to our room is closed and she can't get to me... hence the scream part.
So today, I had my perfect chance! And boy, am I tired right now. Both Weston and Sophie were cuddled up to me in bed. There we lay, at the precipice of the frequently imagined but rarely experienced family nap. Glorious! What a thrill to be back on the 9:00 church schedule where there is at least a glimmer of hope that such family naps will potentially occur from time to time.
In the background I have a CD playing that we received when we were married. It is MOTAB singing soft primary songs with lovely instrumental variations. It is the most heavenly music for resting or drifting off. Suddenly the song "Our Savior's Love" came on and I had a memory flash into my mind of my brother and I at some point during my teenage years. He was saying something about how he loved that song. I agreed. That's it! The memory was vague and fleeting but it took me out of my half slumber into a state of alertness, where random memories began flooding my mind. It occurred to me in that instant how much I miss my brother! It also occurred to me how that memory literally felt like a life time ago. A life time! I tell the girls in Young Women's all the time how I remember being their age like it was yesterday, and I do! But those 14 years that have passed since I was eighteen have held many, many experiences. I have been home from my mission over 8 years. EIGHT YEARS!!!! Seriously? I still feel like I'm still 24!
After a few minutes of thinking about that, my mind wandered back to the music and I remembered when I was 20 or 21 and going to George Wythe College... a group of us would get together every Sunday, eat a lovely meal and then sing hymns for awhile. I remembered how I used to listen to this CD the first year we were married while I worked on finances, because it helped me feel peaceful and know that everything would work out. I remembered a time when I hadn't listened to it for a while... Jason must have been out of town and my mom too, because Weston and I went over to her house to watch BYU TV that day. He was sick and I wanted to be able to get some kind of "church" in for the day. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir was singing one of the songs on the CD... I don't know what it's called, but there is a lyric that says "turn around and you're two, turn around and you're four, turn around and you're a young man going out of my door." It's something about how quickly babies grow up. I think I sat down on the couch and cried.
Then I started thinking about how little Weston used to be. At this moment he's a very tall boy, cuddled up with Sophie's sock monkey and wrapped in his Spider Man blanket. Today he is officially in primary - a SunBeam! Wowsers, I can hardly believe it. Like every mom, there's a part of me that wants him to stay little. Today he told me that he's a baby. I told him that he was actually a big boy, but that no matter how big he gets, he will always be my baby. Somebody once said that deciding to have a child is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body - I don't know who that person was, but they were right!

So many of the songs on that darn CD bring back memories... some remind me of people, some of particular situations. But as I sat there rocking Sophie to sleep, I realized that the right kind of music really promotes introspection. (Well, at least when the kids are asleep!) I spend almost ALL of my time thinking about everything I am doing, everything I need to do, everything I expected myself to have done already, everything I will do, and when I need to do it by. It's all about DOing.
Doing things is important. But sometimes I want to just enjoy life for a while - read a book with my kids or take them to the park without constantly thinking about everything I have to accomplish as soon as I'm done. I miss thinking about things just for the sake of thinking about them, for the sake of pondering how to become the person I want to be, for the sake of remembering all the goodness God has always shown me in my life, and for the sake of putting my priorities back in their proper places. It was great for a few minutes to FORGET all the lists I have floating around the house of places I need to go, bills I need to pay, things I need to buy, blog posts from last year that I still need to catch up on, cards I need to write, people I need to call, activities I need to plan, rooms I need to organize, etc, etc, etc.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I have another list to write... you know, to condense all the other ones! (PROOF that I am my father's daughter, I might add.)

Christmas #1: December 23rd

2010-12-31T13:36:00.000-08:00

Thursday before Christmas, Grandpa Bob/Glass (Jason's dad wants to be referred to as Grandpa Bob, but we prefer the kids know him as Grandpa Glass. I guess we should just call him what he wants to be called - I mean, grandparents have earned that right after all. Ironically, Weston usually calls him Grandpa "Globe," which as far as I can tell is his way of mixing both names therefore pleasing his dad and his grandpa!!) Anyway, Jason's dad came over along with Ryan (Jason's brother) and Sadie (Ryan's girlfriend turned fiance - yes, we are thrilled for them!!)

We had them over for dinner before exchanging gifts, and it was the first time I ever made a turkey! I was really nervous, but it turned out better than I imagined! I stuffed it full of all kinds of good stuff, then made a mix of butter, olive oil, chives, cilantro, garlic, and several other herbs and spices which I rubbed both under and over the skin. I added a few sprigs of rosemary for good measure and mmmmm.... Jason said that turkey juice made the best gravy he's tasted since we've been married. Anyone who knows about Jason and his perfectionist cooking ways knows what a compliment that is! I was very pleased with the whole experience. :)

Then on to the presents. As you can see, Grandpa went way over the top this year! The kids were in Christmas heaven. Here are many pictures of the evening for your viewing pleasure:Grandpa and Sophie:Ryan and Sadie:Two beauties: Daddy and Weston:

Let the opening begin! Sophie was very camera happy that night... we love her cheesy camera grin! Jason's dad is big on gag gifts... here was the one that Weston got. The joke was lost on him, but Jason thought it was pretty funny!

Opening Weston's "big gift"While this smile is clearly posed and appears to be fake, Weston is in fact THRILLED with his Spider Man bike! He has been wanting this for at least a year now. A backpack of her own... Jason opening a new set of golf clubs:Sadie's gift for Sophie was a huge hit...She was extremely impatient while I got out her princess shoes, as evidenced by the distressed expression on her face!Ahhh, to finally hold them!This little princess has been prancing around in her "high heels" ever since that day - with great pleasure I might add! She seems particularly fond of the clicking sound they make when she walks on tile.Fortunately Sophie was kind enough to help Sadie open this box of chocolates... I'm sure the burden of doing it alone was downright overwhelming. :)Upon ripping this gift open, Weston immediately yelled "awesome!!" over and over again. It was super cute. Score for Grandpa! Another gag gift... this had been wrapped to appear as though it were some super amazing golf club but was in fact some old wood club from the DI. It is almost impossible not to crack up when you see Grandpa bust a gut!

By the end of the night Sophie was one tired baby girl. (But you'll notice she never took her princess shoes off!)

From the huge mess, you would have thought it was Christmas morning! I could hardly believe all the presents that showed up under our tree that night. It was an absolute blast. I married into a family that goes all out when it comes to presents... and who can complain about that?!

By the way, my very generous father-in-law got me an iPod as well as a VERY nice enameled cast iron skillet that I have been wanting for years. Ryan and Sadie got us party games - Balderdash and Scatergories - two of my favorites that I have been wanting for a very long time. I am one spoiled lady!

Cuddle Bugs

2010-12-30T20:15:00.001-08:00

Christmas 2010 Decorating the Tree

2010-12-27T22:47:00.000-08:00

I can't remember the last time we bought a Christmas tree from a lot - that is because almost every year we get a tree up by Bear Lake, where my brother lives. This year my mom was kind enough to bring us ours since we didn't make it up there. Oh how I love the smell of a mountain tree! As soon as I put the skirt around it, Sophie cuddled up on it as if it were a fuzzy blanket. Weston quickly followed suit, telling me several times that it was a "comfy skirt!" I absolutely love hearing all the silly things that come out of his mouth since he's started talking these last few months. It was so much fun decorating with the kids.Normally I am very concerned that the tree appear balanced, with all the ornaments spread out properly, but I quickly realized that such perfectionism was a lost cause! This picture illustrates my point perfectly:
This little duckie is Weston's favorite ornament because it says "baby's first Christmas 2007" and he knows that it is especially for him. He loves it so much that he wanted to hold it and play with it, but I knew it would get lost if I let that happen. The day after we decorated the tree he must have told me a thousand times how pretty it is! He is so sentimental... just like me.This bell ornament is from the year Jason and I were married. When Weston was about 15 months old (about the same age as Sophie now), my mom took us to Disney World where we each got one of these ornaments. It is such a fun memory, and I love that we got an ornament to remind me of it each year! (Reflecting back on it, and thinking of how wild Sophie is, I can hardly believe that we survived that 5 hour plane ride to and from Florida with little Weston when he was that age!)To top it off, Jason climbed up a ladder and put a bow at the top... I love having ribbons cascading down the tree!

Once the tree is up I always feel that the Christmas season is really here!

Mall Santa

2010-12-02T19:57:00.000-08:00

We have never taken the kids to see Santa at the mall before, for a number of reasons. Weston's first Christmas allowed us the opportunity to introduce him to Santa at a friend's Christmas party... which didn't go too smoothly since he was terrified. Since then, it just never seemed like it would be worth all the effort to go clear across town, wait in a super long line with either one or two cranky kids, and then pay $20 for someone to take a picture that I will never display in my home. This is the one Christmas tradition we have never experienced, but on Monday we thought it would be a fun FHE activity (and after watching Elf again recently I was tempted to tell Santa that he smelled like beef and cheese, but refrained.)

It was a fairly uneventful excursion except for the fact that Monday was "bring your pet to take a picture with Santa" night. Does that seem odd to anyone besides me? Fortunately there were no creepy pets around like rodents or spiders - all we saw were doggies, and the kids LOVED that! They made us sign a waiver in case someone got bit, scratched, or otherwise harmed by an animal... what a weird world we live in! What I found even more odd, though, was the "save the planet" coloring book the Santa handed to the kids as they left. I'm mischaracterizing it just a little bit, but the book definitely had an agenda... and it had NOTHING to do with Christmas.

Anyway, the best part was that the guy "playing" Santa was in fact a jolly old man with a REAL beard!

Sophie wasn't having anything to do with Santa, but Weston happily reported to him that he wanted spiderman gloves. Afterwards, he seemed really disappointed. We soon realized that he was sad to only have something like 30 seconds with the bearded fellow. :(

Fortunately, his mood quickly turned up again at the sight of the various little kid car rides you can put a quarter in and "drive." They even had a helicopter, which I thought was cool. Here's a picture of Sophie on the helicopter:

Overall, it was a lovely time. And Kudos to Jason's dad for taking these cute pictures - in all my brilliance, I had totally forgotten to grab my camera (although I did end up with the camera case in my purse)!

THE FAM

2010-12-01T20:20:00.000-08:00

Father and SonCan't take too many pictures of Sophie!

Weston is one handsome little dude!

Proof that sometimes it gets downright cold, even in Vegas!What I love about this picture is that it actually happens spontaneously in real life. Sometimes they just give each other a big ol' hug! They really do love each other. :)

What do you think?

2010-11-09T11:17:00.000-08:00

Do you think it is even possible that this girl doesn't have her daddy wrapped around her little finger?

Honestly, how do you not fall in love with a smile like that?

Our drawn out Halloween and AWESOME pumpkins!

2010-11-07T22:39:00.000-08:00

Halloween has never been as eventful as it was this year! It began the Wednesday before, when I got to chaperon the Stake youth Halloween dance, which was ridiculously fun. Here is a picture of Lara and I representing the Harmony Hills ward... dressed as nerds (like you needed an explanation!) Jason told me after looking at this picture that it almost seems like I was going for the "hobo" nerd look. Wow, does it get any worse than that!?
(by the way, that is nasal spray there on the lanyard around my neck!)The next day Weston had his Halloween party at school. He had planned to be Spider man, but when the teacher requested that the kids wear costumes that allowed them to still go potty by themselves, we had to switch plans. Weston was Elmo last year, and convincing him to be Elmo at the school party was actually much easier than I thought it would be!He was pretty thrilled with all the candy he brought home, but not as thrilled as Sophie!Sophie hasn't ever even tasted candy before, and yet she instinctively knew that she HAD to have it! Here she is digging through Weston's bag, dishing me up a darn cute camera smile! The next night, on Friday, I took the kids and met up with both Grandmas and Aunt Shae-Leigh at this super cool carnival/festival activity in my mom's Stake. This, again, was Sophie's first real exposure to Halloween activities (she was only 2 months old last year) and yet she "trunk or treated" like a pro! If I believed in re-incarnation, I think I would have to believe Sophie was a professional candy beggar in her previous life... it was truly impressive! Here's my little "fairy" in action:

This tiara was actually the one I wore the day we got married! Weston wasn't in the best of moods... we kept offering him food, which he did not want. Finally Auntie succeeded in getting him to eat cotton candy! (I'm sure she really had to twist his arm!)I couldn't seem to get enough pictures of my angelic little fairy!Saturday morning was pumpkin carving time! Jason is a pumpkin carving genius. Usually he does something really difficult - for example, he did President Monson last year and President Reagan the year before that. This year his pumpkins weren't quite as elaborate, but they were still extremely impressive I thought!Hard to believe that pumpkin was transferred into this:

This second pumpkin was done, of course, at Weston's request.

While daddy carved away, the kids found all kinds of treasures in the garage. (We still haven't unpacked everything that we recently got out of storage) Here is cookie monster from when my brother was a baby like 35 years ago. Now that I mention it, he may want that back. All I have to say is that he'll have to fight Sophie for it! Judging by her hair, I think she had just woken up from a nap in this photo.

Jason's dad gave us some various Halloween novelties and decorations including this skull which, when you pull the lever, opens it's mouth, belches, and then says (in a British accent): "Pardon me!" Weston pulled that lever at least a thousand times, or so it seemed. He was so BORED waiting for Jason to finish Lightening McQueen. He eventually fell asleep while waiting.But not before discovering his Nemo costume from a couple years ago! The second he laid eyes on it, his formerly intense need to be Spider man for Halloween completely vanished. While in the Nemo costume, he also rediscovered his "hulk hands" that Uncle Chris (who is currently serving a mission in Argentina) gave him for his second birthday. He got so crazy with the Hulk Hands that I ended up having to take them away, but I'm sure Uncle Chris would be proud!

Oh yeah - and Winnie The Pooh, formerly a character of no interest, suddenly emerged as a new favorite for both the kids too upon finding the Pooh bear and the Pooh sing along book!Ironically, the "real" Halloween activity - our own ward's Trunk or Treat, was a huge disappointment. We didn't even take any pictures. We just came home and watched Jason's favorite movie of all time - Ghostbusters!

However, the next night (we're talking day 5 of celebrating), was REAL Halloween. So, we went to visit Grandpa and boy did he let Weston load up on goodies! It was fun.

I think my favorite part of Halloween this year - besides Sophie being so darn cute that I melt every time I look at these pictures - is the fact that Weston got to dress up in all of his different costumes at least once. I never really cared much for Halloween before having kids - but now I genuinely look forward to all of the traditions we have created around it. I have managed every year to be very lucky when it comes to great deals on costumes... who knows, maybe next year I'll get ambitious and even make my kids' costumes! (Well, stranger things have happened, you know.)

Who's that girl?

2010-10-28T20:11:00.000-07:00

Who's the girl that takes one bite out of every piece of fruit in the fruit basket, then puts them all back?

Probably the same one who routinely hides things - like hairbrushes and train tracks - at the bottom of our clothes hamper, rubs oatmeal in her hair (maybe it is her secret to lovely locks?), and tries almost every day to climb up the kitchen cupboards onto the counter. (Maybe I have two kids that think they're Spider Man?)

Just the other day she was crying and screaming with the furor of a wild banshee (whatever that is). I couldn't figure out what to do to calm her down, but finally I started singing to her. She quited after I began "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," then burst out a decisive "YES!" followed by an applause when it was over. The same thing happened after every verse of "The Wheels of The Bus," and every one of the many songs that followed. It was precious!

Here are some recent snapshots of my full-of-life little Sophie:

She's been walking in heels since she was 10 months old! So, as some of you may know, styling hair is not my forte. I was secretly relieved when I discovered that my first child would be a boy, because I wouldn't have to worry about doing anything special with his hair. Well, Sophie's hair is getting long enough that I really need to start doing something with it - though it is darling in its natural state, too. So a couple days ago I attempted something new: pigtails. We went to Trader Joe's this way and got more oohs and ahhhs than usual. I guess I did ok!

Sophie LOVES to clap

There we go with the shoes again...

She has recently taken a liking to our produce basket...

Another daily trick: climbing up on the back of Weston's chair while he's eating and attempting to steal a few bites of his food! This little lady keeps me on my toes!

Pumpkin Patch: More Fun Than We Bargained For!

2010-10-25T10:50:00.000-07:00

Going to the pumpkin patch this year was a blast. I'm thinking it had a little something to do with the guy pictured here (Grandpa Glass):Our first destination at the Pumpkin Patch was the petting zoo (if you can even call it that... it was about the size of my kitchen! Not that the kids cared.)

Run, baby, run! Who knows what that crazy looking rooster might do! Those animals were nicely fed, to say the least. How many pellets can one billy goat eat, after all?

Sophie's goal was to grab onto the goats, and try to ride them if possible...It didn't work out too well for her. She ended up getting knocked over a couple of times - mostly because the goats tried running away from her while she was hanging on to them for dear life!

Finally it was time to leave the petting zoo and move on to some of the other fun activities...

While Weston bounced around in the bouncy house, I took Sophie down this gigantic slide. I thought she'd love it, but there was virtually no reaction at all! She gets a thrill out of jumping on the bed, but this massive slide just didn't do it for her. Go figure!

I think Weston did this obstacle course 10 times... not even joking!

Finally it was time to find the perfect pumpkins...

I'm still not sure if Sophie was trying to hug the pumpkin or pick it up...

Daddy has at least as much fun as the kiddos pumpkin searching - if not more!

Before leaving, Weston wanted to try this bouncey thing. I really don't know what it's called, but man does it fly high!!

A slightly reticent but brave Weston...

What a blast! He totally loved it.

Picking out pumpkins is always fun, but this year it was extra special because we went to such a great pumpkin patch - and most especially because Grandpa joined us.

An Unexpected Treat

2010-10-23T23:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was stricken with some kind of nasty 24-hour stomach flu. Fortunately,when I woke up this morning, I was feeling much better - though still weak. Usually our Saturdays are packed with errands and activities, which is the way I like it. But since I still felt too weak to go anywhere or accomplish much, we all just chilled at home together.
What a wonderful day it has been! It was cool enough outside to actually open some windows, and I didn't feel any pressure to get everyone fed and "ready to go" by any particular time. Today we all just enjoyed each other's company. It got me thinking about my kids, and how much joy they bring into our life. Here are some of the things I adore about them that I was so pleasantly reminded of today:

* They both love the Lawrence Welk show and dance to the songs on it.
* They are convinced that they are both ninjas! (thanks to daddy)
* Weston is fascinated with the concept of bones. We had to explain to him that not everything has bones. He asked if yellow has bones, and disappointed at the answer assured me that blue does have them!
* Sophie's favorite word is grandpa. If you ask her who her favorite person in the world is, she will say grandpa. If you ask her who is at the door, or who will buy her first car, or who is her biggest fan, or pretty much any other question at all, the answer will be the same: grandpa!
* Weston calls his football a "wupple." I love that he says so many things now. Not everything is perfect, but he is a talking machine - at last! (I knew that kid was going to be just like me)
* When you tell Sophie to fold her arms for prayer, she bows her head and coveres her eyes with the back of her hands... it is so darn cute I can hardly stand it!

Today was a happy reminder that there is no place I'd rather be than at home with my sweet little family! (Although being with them at Disneyland wouldn't be too shabby either)

August 19: all about the girl!

2010-10-21T15:28:00.000-07:00

August 19: One of the most important dates in the whole wide world. Why? It was the day my sweet, perfect Sophie graced us all with her presence by being born. To start off the celebration of her first birthday ever, we met Julie and kids at one of our favorite parks. Sophie began her special day in style - you know, by getting downright sandy!

Fortunately, Julie brought some healthy snacks for everyone. I guess I was just really focused on Sophie, though, because it looks like I pretty much only got pictures of her!

Later on (and many errands later), we had a lovely falafel dinner with family. It was divine, but I cannot take any of the credit. Jason is a fantastic chef!I had a million different ideas for the cake, but ended up going with something simple and classy... just like Sophie!

Weston, of course, just had to help blow out the candle!Grandma cutting the cakeEveryone enjoying the cake

Sophie really didn't know what to think of the cake at first. She didn't even put any of it in her mouth until I kind of got her started.But once she got started, she really dug in!The least expensive "hit" of the night was definitely the blowey-outey-thingies. Do those things even have a real name?

Weston and Sadie had contests with their party blowers. I think Weston blew so long and hard on that thing that it actually broke!Uncle Ryan and Sadie... maybe soon to be Aunt Sadie??? (Fortunately Ryan doesn't read our blog, so he can't give me any crap about that comment!)Uncle Ryan and the birthday girl having a good time... she sure does love her uncles! I was glad at least one of them was able to come to the party.

Horsing around Loving on my birthday girl who got a boo-boo!

Opening presentsSophie desperately needed help unwrapping all those presents! Fortunately, Weston was more than willing to oblige...

How can you not love this birthday hat?

Among others in the family, neither of my parents were able to come to the party. But here is Sophie with the cute little puppy dog that Grandpa and Grandma Knapp sent her.

My mom came by bearing gifts a couple of days later (when she was back in town), so the birthday goodness was stretched out over a few days - just the way I like it! Isn't this dress adorable? Someone at church actually stopped me in the hallway to tell me that it looked like it had been made just for her! I agree. Score one for grandma! All in all, the girl made out like a bandit. Sophie is such a sweetheart that it really is hard not to spoil her. How I love my girl!!

Grandpa's Visit, Part 2

2010-10-20T23:59:00.000-07:00

So, the first day that Weston took the bus to school also happened to be the first day that he went on the big kid swings! Grandpa was delighted to be apart of it. For some reason Weston would start losing his grip after swinging awhile, but then dad would say "Wow, Weston is a really big, strong boy! Look at the way he is holding on so tight with those strong hands!" It worked every time.

The first picture is from the baby swings, and the second is on the big people swings.It was such a treat to have Grandpa at the park, and Weston was not content to have him just "be" there. He grabbed Grandpa's hand and took him all over the place, leading him up and down stairs and all around! It was great. Here they are, going down the slides together. While Weston was at school, Sophie and Grandpa had some fine cuisine...

Or at least they sat at the table together...

On Tuesday evening we went to the Strip, so dad could see the conservatory at the Bellagio (among other things.)

I find it just amazing that those gigantic pumpkins are real.

This is Weston demonstrating the way the water splashed all around. He is a rather animated little guy!

I always feel like such a tourist taking pictures downtown. Oh well!

In the morning it was time for presents. After all, what grandparents do not come bearing gifts?

Weston was pretty darn thrilled to receive a whole container full of groovy cars modeled after various insects.

Sophie received a cute little bag with a brush and comb inside... she just loves to brush her own hair. She also loves hiding things in the cute little bag.

We also went to the Children's Discovery Museum during dad's visit. What was Sophie's favorite thing there? It had to be the cash register at the "grocery store." Every time I turned around she was running back to that stinkin' register just so she could push the buttons!

Weston enjoyed just about everything. Here he is making huge bubbles.

This thing is a mini tornado.

Dad had Weston climb up there to get a closer look at it...

It was about then that we noticed a sign saying "no climbing." But since he was already there, I figured it wouldn't hurt to snap one more picture!

Working a pulley...

Working on a car... definitely more fun! This is unquestionably one of Weston's favorite parts of the museum.

Sophie is not one to be left behind. If brother was working on the car, well then so was she!

The other exhibit with endless appeal (and I do mean ENDLESS!) is the contraption that sucks in balls and shoots them up into these tubes, where you can watch them work their way back down. You can control how the balls come back down to you through a series of pulleys and wheels, but Weston and Sophie were really only interested in watching the balls get sucked into the tube... it was more fascinating to them than pretty much anything else around! On the last day of Dad's visit, he was invited to read a story to all the kids in Weston's preschool. I thought this was a special treat. Plus, I got to go along and finally see what they actually do there and how Weston interacts in his class! Sophie, always the involved one, kept trying to leap off dad's lap to do what the other kids were doing! Here is Weston having snack time with the other kids.

It was cute to watch Weston. He was so excited to have Grandpa come and visit his class. He was also really well behaved, and did an especially good job of tidying up after himself - which I find incredible and amazing considering how much difficulty I have getting him to clean things up at home. At least he puts his best foot forward when in public!

I was happy with all of fun things we did while Grandpa was in town. Ever since he left two weeks ago, Sophie has been repeating "gram-pa" over and over and over and over and over again! She calls everyone Grandpa, too. I am so happy she finally got to meet her Grandpa Knapp!

Grandpa's Visit, Part One

2010-10-11T18:36:00.000-07:00

It had been two years and two months almost exactly to the day since we had seen my dad last. Last time we saw him (In August of '08), Weston was only 17 months old. It was so long ago that Sophie wasn't even a thought yet, so you can imagine how excited we all were for Grandpa Knapp's visit! But part one of Grandpa's visit post actually begins the day before - on Friday, October 1st. Why? Because something miraculous happened that day... it actually RAINED!! The kids had a blast playing outside in the morning drizzle, elated to have a real reason to wear Weston's rain boots!Don't mind the underwear shot... Weston isn't much for pants these days.Sophie had a heck of a time walking in those boots, but she sure did try!That day was a special "parent involvement" day at Weston's preschool where we got to go paint pumpkins. I just loved the little smocks they had for the kids!I'm not really sure where this picture fits in, but it was so darn adorable that I had to throw it in!

On Saturday when we were getting ready to go pick up Grandpa from the airport, Weston was having a good old time in the tub when suddenly I realized he and Sophie were giggling about something... together. Sure enough, my little diaper-clad rascal with the wild hair had climbed on in for some bubbly fun! She is not one to be left out. (Never mind the fact that she, herself, had just finished bathing!)

Then off to the store for some last minute purchases... obviously I usually don't just whip out a camera while grocery shopping, but this time I had it in my purse since we were on our way to the airport later. Trying to keep Sophie in a safe position while shopping is almost impossible. "Sophie, on your bottom!" is a mantra repeated almost endlessly in our family. In fact, just today I realized that Weston is starting to say it too. But he says it more like: "Bot - um!" It's cute.

The kids got so worked up with excitement over grandpa coming that neither one took a nap, so they both crashed in the car and were groggy at the airport... so I postponed pictures until the next day, when Sophie warmed up to Grandpa rather quickly!

Again, this picture has no purpose other than to capture that beautiful smile...

Here Grandpa is trying to put Weston "away" in one of the toy bins. Weston thought it was so funny that he got every container in the entire house after that and tried to convince Grandpa to stuff him in them, too!

I think this basket was pretty much the last one...

Now, it just so happened that my dad was here on Weston's very first day to ride the bus!It was a pretty big occasion, so we decided to take some more pictures...

Since Weston is only three, the bus came right to our front door!

What a big boy! I was so proud of him, he practically jumped up into the bus out of excitement!

Confessions of a truth seeker

2010-09-15T13:53:00.001-07:00

Have you ever noticed that while the truth is simple, it is not always an easy process to arrive at it? It seems that preconceived ideas, emotions and misinformation frequently gunk up our mental channels, thereby delaying the process. I am daily bombarded with my own thoughts. Ideas and questions constantly flood my mind, and sometimes I just want to get them out. I have noticed a metamorphosis happening within me in my perception of politics and government. I have come to believe that the media has us all so busy debating lies and half truths, that the truth about many things remains largely undiscovered (probably in ancient history books.) And it isn't just the state of our country that fills my mind with questions and a sincere desire for the truth; all things "mom" occupy my daily thoughts. Here are a few of the many, many questions I ask myself of late:

How does the international banking system really work? I have a feeling they control world governments far more than we know. How can we take almost all of the power currently vested in the federal government and return it to the states? How can we stop the tide of global redistribution of wealth? Is that even what is really happening? Are the mosques being built in the US teaching and encouraging Sharia law? Is stealth jihad a real threat?

Really, the list could go on and on and on and on.

What I understand and know to be true on a philosophical level - or in theory - so often conflicts with something else I believe when it comes to practical application. Therefore, arriving at the correct and wise solution to most problems is, well, problematic! For example, I believe in loving my fellow man and know that each person born on this earth is a child of God. I know that the way I treat His children is a direct reflection of my attitude and love for Him. I believe in helping people out, giving them a chance, and treating them with kindness. On an individual basis, this is not difficult... the problem arises when I begin to apply this truth to a large societal problem, such as illegal immigration. I served my mission among illegal immigrants living in New Jersey. I grew to appreciate and love Hispanic people for a million different reasons. I grew to love the individuals that I had the privilege of knowing and serving. Yet I know also that it is wrong to violate the laws of the land. I believe that things are to be done in wisdom and order - and clearly, immigration of the illegal variety is nothing but chaos. I remember women -some very young - telling me that they were raped along the long and dangerous route from their country to the U.S., but that it was to be expected. The drug cartels and violence associated with them often go hand-in-hand with illegal border-crossing. Many innocent Americans are being horribly impacted by the violence. The Christian in me cries out to care for these people that are willing to risk their life in hopes of a better life. But when I contemplate the endless myriad of societal problems created by this mass intrusion, I am left to believe that illegal immigration is also a colossal disaster that must be stopped.

What brought about all these thoughts most recently is a documentary on Thomas Jefferson. Like all of us, Jefferson grappled with the collision between true ideals and correct real-life application. I find the horrible dilemma that faced our nation at its inception with regard to slavery almost unfathomable. The Dutch had brought slaves into the country for many years. A good many American slave-owners (such as Jefferson) inherited their slaves. In Jefferson's case, he also inherited an enormous debt. He had a moral obligation to pay the debt, and was unusually upright in matters of finance. He could not pay the debt without his slaves, and he knew that he would treat his slaves with far more civility and kindness than anyone else would. He traded slaves in order to keep families together. He worked to pass legislation that would end the importation of slaves. Certainly it is abhorrent that slavery was ever tolerated. Yet, as I contemplate the writings of this remarkably brilliant man, it is clear that he felt bound by a system that he could not simply change. He felt that he would be doing his slaves (who he always referred to as family) a grave injustice by letting them go free, as they would have nowhere to go and no means of taking care of themselves. Interestingly, he advocated for the education of slaves so they could one day become free. It is a long and complicated issue, and I'm sure enough books have been written on the topic to fill an entire library!
My only point is this: life is filled with contradiction. What we often see as the obvious truth becomes far more complex in its application to real life. I wish it were not so. It makes wise decision making all the more difficult, particularly in matters of civil debate. I also find it ironic that there are some things we absolutely know are true, and yet find almost impossible to live. I have always been an idealist, but I think the somewhat unfortunate reality of our human condition is starting to settle in on me as I grapple in my own mind with the issues that face our country today.

He Liked It!

2010-08-31T09:30:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was Weston's very first day of pre-school! We'd been mentally preparing him for this day for a couple of weeks, and we weren't really sure how he'd react once it arrived.
As you can see, his smile is a just a little forced. We tried to get him all excited to play with the other nice kids waiting there with us, but there was really only one thing he was truly excited about - and everyone there knew it!!

Who can blame the kid? That Spiderman backpack was one of the best purchases I have ever made. The thrill of wearing the backpack overshadowed all of Weston's anxieties. So although he walked off to class biting his fingernails, we knew he would be alright. (We also knew he'd be fine when we saw the class head straight for the playground!)

As it turns out, he really liked his first day of school! I took this video when we got home to capture the moment: