mother's day

Granny Lilly was in St. George for Mother's Day and so everyone gathered for a visit. I have to admit I was very reluctant as I had missed Relief Society so much, but I am so glad I didn't send Adam alone like I was contemplating. Lily got up to sing in Sacrament meeting with the Primary, and we got to hear Terrel speak as well. Another quite memorable moment was Oaks, who had a humongous blister along the entire bottom of his foot from stepping on a hot coal from a dutch oven dinner. Someone was describing how "Kurt told him about a hundred times not to touch the coals" and Oaks interjected very angrily "It wasn't a hundred times, it was only three!"
Lily was very excited to meet "Grandma Lilly" and gave lots of hugs throughout the trip. She thought it was great that they had the same name.
All of the grandchildren with Mimi and Granny. Jack was being especially cooperative as he had a Nintendo to play with.
And all of us! I really love this family. Maybe because we don't live in St. George? haha j/k We spend enough time there to practically live there.

I also got to go with my parent's to see Amy graduate from Dixie. She was chosen to be a speaker and it was so neat to hear her! She is so amazing, and has worked so hard along with Phil.

some wonder

I finally feel like the garden/outside is finished! Four years later. Lots of lessons learned, perhaps the most prevalent being that I have no natural instinct whatsoever for gardening! Anyhow, there are our strawberry blossoms in the area that was overrun with a useless ground cover plant that looked awful in the summer and that took me forever to clear out. The kids now know to kill the "evil yellow flowers" that pop up around the bird bath.
We took out the huge pine tree that I was constantly cleaning needles and pine cones from - really brightened our yard a ton! Although I doubt I am going to get much (or anything) from this area, I 'tilled' (slowly loosened the soil by hand) soil pep in to balance out the acidity and planted a few veggies. The kids are such a huge help in the yard, we love to be outside.
I just thought this was neat enough to share. Janet and Terrel found a hummingbird nest and we got a few shots of the mom, the eggs, and the babies after they were born. Fascinating! So tiny.
And lastly I have to include this picture of my dad as I am reminded of it most times I glance over at Adam and realize how big his mustache has gotten.

"i didn't realize you were that pregnant"

That is what Britt said when I went to visit her to apparently just sit on her couch the entire time (she had other ideas). So, quite a few things have transpired these past few months. The Ogden Temple closed, so the kids and I went to say goodbye. Lily also had a small program at school - we are trying out a different preschool next year that I am very excited about, and so is she. She continues to love love love tumbling - the balance beam is her favorite and she can go the entire length without help, and will even dip her toes down when she demonstrates on the top of the couch for us.
Adam passed his second CPA section - Financial. Half way done! It is very exciting. He took another section last week and is studying for his last to take in St. George over Memorial Day weekend, so he is a busy guy. To celebrate that and the fact that I wasn't spending all of my days on the couch being sick and lazy, he bought me a bike! I know, not that great for him but we had been going out to eat for the past 2 months straight since my desire to cook went down the drain, so we were at a loss as to how to celebrate. We have taken the kids out once in the bike trailer and hopefully we can do more of that before my belly gets too big. (Isn't it gorgeous?)
This is what it looked like the first half of April. I was so worried about my bulbs but they managed just fine. Just a few small outside projects this year to do - it's so nice to have the backyard done! And let's be honest, nothing big is going to be accomplished during this pregnancy (besides the obvious, and hopefully good, outcome).
Yesterday Jackson was tested to see if he qualifies for Early Intervention preschool. Because his comprehension skills are so high the average with the speech is borderline, so we are still waiting to see what our options are. Today he was tired so went and put himself down for a nap; he spends 100% of his free time outside trimming with my clippers, filling up his dump truck with gravel, leaves or dirt, or soaking his shoes, socks and pants with the hose while 'watering' the garden (i.e. watching it slide down a hill of dirt or the sidewalk so he can say 'wheee!').
If he ever gets a hold of the camera he goes nuts. Adam directed him to take this one, which cracks me up every time I see it.
I'm sure my neighbors think I'm nuts (proof: the cops checking up on me a few months ago...) but my kids play outside a lot, and a lot of the time I'm not there. But Sunday I was at some meetings and when I got home found out that while Adam was watching TV, Lily walked up to Delena's house (about 6 houses up), knocked on the door and asked to borrow some stickers. Delena called and asked Adam if he knew she was there, and the answer was no. So at least that has never happened with me! :)
Side note: Every so often in Lily's play she will ask me to babysit her kids to she can go to a meeting at the church. I am so glad they are usually on Sunday so Adam can be home with them (I canceled the TV).
Which brings us to Easter! We went to St. George and had a ton of fun spending time with family. Jackson was in heaven as he had free access to desert sand and dirt pretty much whichever house we went to. After the weekend Adam headed home and I drove on down to California to visit Britt. With no air conditioning in the car, but oh well. It was hot but not nearly as bad as it would have been in the summer.
A few mishaps occurred which raised my stress levels a bit higher than I like (Adam's Honda breaking down without me to help out with transportation, for one), but it was wonderful as always. Britt used a pass of hers to get us into the San Diego Safari Park for cheap, and the kids loved it!
I remember taking this safari ride when I was younger, and I couldn't believe how much more space the animals had compared to Hogle Zoo. I love how the giraffe's necks are all stretched out instead of bent over. A few fun things we saw: a flock of flamingo's taking off from the lagoon; 2 of the last 9 white rhinoceroses left in the world; a tiger actually moving instead of just sleeping; a baby elephant have it's first dip in the water - it was so teeny tiny, I couldn't believe it.
We also saw a bird show (after a volunteer was chosen, Lily kept on asking me when it was her turn to go up there) and went to the Butterfly Garden where the kids walked around with their arms stretched so a butterfly would land on them. It was really neat and the flowers and butterflies were gorgeous! All in all I was exhausted from pushing the stroller up and down those hills and felt like crap from not eating enough (although I ate all of Britt's snacks she brought) but it was definitely worth it.
The next day I made it very clear I wanted to go to the beach and that was it. This year was opposite from last; Jackson got one feel of the water and ran back up the sand to the umbrella saying "cold!", but Lily was playing in it with Eleanor for most of the time. It was super windy and I had clothes on, so I didn't put sunscreen on my legs or arms. Bad idea! I got burned pretty bad in a few areas. After a while Jack realized he was missing out on playing with all of the water available to him, so he yelled for me to come and get his bucket. I asked if he wanted some water in it and he said "yeah", pointed to the ocean and then turned around and walked back to where he was playing.
The ride to St. George went super well and I had a day to rest before leaving for Ogden with my Mom to help me stay awake. We met Dad at the Hansen's for a lunch with most of Mom's siblings, then headed over to Draper to meet Adam to listen to Dad give a speech in a contest for Toastmasters. Adam has been growing his mustache and loves to get attention so be sure and comment if you see him! I wasn't giving him enough feedback so one day he used my mascara to darken it so I would be sure and notice.
April and May get me so homesick for St. George, we have been lucky to spend so much time with family these last few months. Plus I got a call from Amanda last night saying she wants to come and visit in October after the baby is born!!!!! I get excited just thinking about it!!!!! Good food, good babysitter, good conversation! I can't wait and if she changes her mind will probably go deep into depression. (yep, totally a threat)