Flowrider

Well it was my sister's Katee's birthday and she wanted to go to the flowrider in Ogden. It's an indoor surf/bodyboard place. So Brian, Kate and her boyfriend Travis and myself enjoyed an hour of craziness. I didn't dare surf, the bodyboard was enough for me. I really couldn't believe how powerful it was. It really was so fun. I may be getting older but I was in the water while none of my other YOUNGER siblings would do it!  See, I'm tough!  I love that Brian and I are the same in that way:)

WELCOME HOME!!!

Toff is home from Iraq! He came home last weekend and it's great to have him back. It was great to see him and mostly to have him out of all the danger. It was also a great weekend because my dad was able to make it from North Dakota for his return. Family is the greatest and I love all the time I can spend with them.

Grandpa Kelly and grandkids

Grandma Kris and grandkids

Spoke too soon!

Please refer to the post on Jan 19 and change a few words. "Am not ready" needs to be changed to "guess I'm ready," And I would also like to change my statement of "my favorite" since I obviously wasn't remembering the 1st weeks, oh it's not fun at all! Anyway, this is the surprise of the year and we're trying to adjust to the new plan. The funniest thing is that when I posted the previous post I was already in my, um... current condition, just didn't know. I guess that's God trying to get me to warm up to the idea! After the initial shock has worn off we've had a chance to get more excited. Guess we'll start looking for a minivan!

Plug for Rachel!

I had Rachel take some pictures of Evie a few months ago and thought I would share her talent, and of course show off cute Eves.

Happy St Patrick's Day

Asher just started drawing people and it's my absolute favorite! This leprechaun is wearing a big hat and a four leaf clover on his chest. I can't figure out how to rotate this picture so just turn your head!

Tub time fun!

I figured out this great assembly line, where if I can get the kids to lay next to one another I can go straight from one kids face to the next, one set of hands to the next, ect. Much easier than chasing the kids around the tub trying to grab body parts as they fly by. Asher has given the thumbs up so maybe this system will work!

Viva Las Vegas!

My sister Klare her husband Dan, and Brian and I went on a get away to Vegas. We found a super cheap flight and 3 nights stay, so decided it was a great chance to get away from the kids and take a break. So off we went to the smoke filled, thong wearing, brightly lit, casino infested city. It is not my favorite place, but it was a fun break. We are so cheap we went to two time share presentations to get free dinner and show tickets. Should I be embarrassed? Hey a few hours of saying "yes, they are beautiful, yes we probably would use them, but no thanks" for $100 at Beni Hana's, tickets to the top of the Stratosphere, another dinner and two different shows was time well spent! It was a blast and I think our kids had fun too. Asher is so into scheduling, so if you want to know where they played and how many nights they stayed at each persons house, just ask and he'll inform you. Thanks Robyn, Katee, Mandy and Tawny. What a kid shuffling 4 days!

Their relationship

This picture defines their relationship perfectly. Evie is all over Asher and Asher just goes through the motions to make us happy. Compared to how they used to be, they are BFF!

My Favorite

I'm so not ready for another baby, but I really loved being pregnant and the birthing process. How fun to meet your beautiful new babe for the first time. I just found this picture and it makes me so happy, although I look huge!

Evie

Evie is getting so big! She started nursery and Asher is now in sunbeams with me. The nursery leader commented on how opposite they are, and it’s true. She is just content and quiet and independent. She won’t really talk. I’ve noticed a few attempts. Like when she wants to brush her teeth she says “shh” for brush, and the other day I heard “goo” when geese where flying over our house.  She just learned how to jump. She loves it. She just bounces until she finally lifts her feet off the ground. She is in love with Baby Einstein. But it has to be the one with all the animals. She knows all the animal sounds and would watch it over and over if I’d let her. She has the greatest cheese smile whenever I tell her to look at me, even if it’s just to clean her face.
She just got her first haircut! Kristi did a beautiful job! It's an adorable bob. I don't have very good after pictures so you'll just have to believe me!

She also loves to read. She'd rather look at a book than play with any toy.

She is our adorable girl!

Asher

He’s the cutest boy “I’ve never seen!” This is how he expresses when things are really great. He still has the strongest personality ever! He insists on wearing my boots. They go up to his knees and he wears them EVERYWHERE! I finally ended up buying new boots for myself because they are so stinky and gross! This is only part of his permanent wardrobe. He will only wear 3 specific shirts. Nothing important about these shirts, they’re just the ones he wants. So he has a full closet of things he won’t even try on. He also will only wear shorts. I have to convince him to put pants on whenever we leave the house. It is very cute to only see about an inch of leg between his boots and his shorts, but it’s just not the season for his new trend. On the rare occasion he will put underwear on, he still insists they’re backwards. He wears gloves all day long- and why shouldn't’t he, he’s probably freezing with his shorts and t-shirt.  It’s awesome! He loves chicken. Everything good is "like chicken". A few months ago, before the boot obsession obviously, he was trying on shoes at the store and I asked him how they felt, and he replied, "feels like chicken".  I knew he loved them.  He is currently obsessed with garbage cans. Every where he goes he wants to know if they have a garbage can and what color it is and if it has wheels (?).
We built a snowman the other day. He put an extra glob of snow on the snowman's chest. I asked if that was his heart and he informed me it was not, but another part of the anatomy. He was quite upset when I wouldn't let him finish adding parts to this, apparently transgender snowman.
He also occasionally has an imaginary pet chicken. He likes me to invite the "little yellow chicken" to dinner and ask if he wants pajamas on. He's defiantly not lacking personality.

Happy belated....

Okay, I missed Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. I didn't even send Christmas cards this year! So let me just give glimpses of the holidays.

Halloween was great. Evie was a beautiful fairy/ ballerina, (I don't know what she really was just a tutu and wings, whatever that adds up to), and Asher was the meanest pirate ever. Thanksgiving was terrific. Kiel came from Oregon and we split the day between Cindy's and Klare's. I wish all my family could've been here. Maybe another year.
Christmas was so fun. The kids are such a great age for the excitement of Santa. All Asher wanted was a "way big gun to shoot bugs and monsters." So when Asher woke up he saw all the gifts then said oh-no and ran to the front door. He poked his head out and said "Maybe Santa had to go to everybody else's house and then will come back and give me a way big gun." Once he found his way big gun, he picked it up shot it a few times, and hasn't really picked it up since. I don't know if he imagined it so much better or if it was just the idea of the gun he like, but he doesn't really care about it and hasn't asked for a different one. Evie loved her princess slippers and wants to wear them always. It was a great Christmas! Our camera is broken... again, so I don't have any pictures of Christmas- way sad.

Asher...

I know I've been blogging about Asher a lot, but he is doing the funniest things lately! He has a few favorite things to pretend. He wants to be a mailman. He has this certain bag he carries around delivering mail. One day it was quiet so I started looking for Asher. He was down the street delivering mail!
Next, he loves to be a pirate. We got him pirate accessories for Halloween and he couldn't wait to open it. He now wears his pirate hat, eye patch, earring, and hook all the time. The best is he's sometimes a pirate doggy! Anyway sometimes he only wears part of his costume. That's when this picture was taken. Remember when this was cool? Earrings and a backward hat.
One day he was in full Pirate attire and was in the driveway singing "yo ho, a pirates life for me". The neighbor came out to talk to the pirate and asked if he was Jack Sparrow. Asher replied, "no I'm Johnny Cash!"
Which brings us to the next phase.  Because he loves to "jam out", Brian thought that Johnny Cash would be perfect jamming music, so we turned it on for him. He sat and listened to the entire album 3 times! So of course he can sing a few songs with no help. Brian's brother, Uncle Rico, (Brian thought it would be a fun nick name and it has stuck!) Anyway, Tyler asked if he knew Johnny Cash and Asher said, "Don't take your guns to town Bill, leave your guns at home." This is a line from one of his songs, I wouldn't have known that if it wasn't regularly playing at our house. He can really belt out Ring of Fire.
Asher's favorite place to jam out is in the car. The only music we can listen to in the car is Jack Johnson, so I'm quite in love with it- sarcasm-.   Anyway Asher keeps a pink ukulele in the car so he can jam out every time we're in the car.
This pretty much sums up Asher's imagination right now. I'll keep you posted.

Question and Answer

This list of questions was posted on Becca's, (one of my favorite mission companions) blog and I thought it would be fun to have Asher answer these questions. Here is what he had to say.

1. What is something that Mommy always says to you? “do not touch cars"
2. What makes Mommy happy? "daddy"
3. What makes Mommy sad? "fall down stairs when I big shoes and knock me down and get pocky and go to doctor and fall down stairs."
4. How does your Mommy make you laugh? ”funny faces"
5. How old is your Mommy? “1.”
6. How tall is your Mommy? “this big.” arms up
7. What is her favorite thing to do? “color.”
8. What does your Mommy do when you're not around? “don't let people give me treats.” (Interpretation- don't take treats from strangers.)
9. If your Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for? “famous? Like a truck and carpet.”
10. What is your Mommy really good at? He pointed his finger.
11. What is your Mommy not so good at? “push us.”
12. What does your Mommy do for her job? “do this" pointing his finger, (I guess I'm a terrible mother!)
13. What is your Mommy's favorite food? “cereal.”
14. What makes your Mommy proud? “Five.” showing me 5 fingers
15. What do you and your Mommy do together? “Play games.”
16. How are you and your Mommy the same? “Elmo.” (?)
17. How are you and your Mommy different? “you don't have brown, you have blue.” (meaning the color of our shirts)
18. How do you know your Mommy loves you? “Mickey Mouse, yeah I like him and Goofy”

1. What is something that Daddy always says to you? "Don't get up." (out of bed, well the floor, at night)
2. What makes Daddy happy? "laugh at him". "jibberish"- that's Asher speaking Spanish, so I guess Spanish makes daddy happy.
3. What makes Daddy sad? "I don't know."
4. How does your Daddy make you laugh? ”Be funny, ha ha. He fell down and conked his head"
5. How old is your Daddy? “free,(three) like me.”
6. How tall is your Daddy? “bigger bigger like this" arms up.
7. What is his favorite thing to do? “Work. Walk in park.”
8. What does your Daddy do when you're not around? “works.”
9. If your Daddy becomes famous, what will it be for? “Giant. Big giant hits us and the big furry spider will die, and I don't want to touch him, he's really scary.”
10. What is your Daddy really good at? "a game."
11. What is your Daddy not so good at? “get a new belly.”
12. What does your Daddy do for his job? “help with Fred and Becky." (They are helping Brian finish the basement.)
13. What is your Daddy favorite food? “cereal.” (I think I've seen Brian eat cereal 5 times our whole marriage- he's not a big fan.)
14. What makes your Daddy proud? “Proud? Proud is not happy."
15. What do you and your Daddy do together? “Play games.”
16. How are you and your Daddy the same? “shirts.” (He always wants to match Brian)
17. How are you and your Daddy different? “we not different."
18. How do you know your Daddy loves you? “laughs"

My mom always says, you know what kind of a parent you are by the way your kids treat dolls.  Well, I just found a new way!"

Happy Birthday to me!

I got a package the other day from my brother Toffer. I opened it up and it was a huge gas station size box of snickers bars. I thought, "how did he know I like snickers? Maybe I liked them when we were little, or it could be that pretty much everyone loves them. hum, lucky guess." I of course opened it up immediately and enjoyed a tasty treat. A few hours later I looked at the receipt that came in the box and realized it wasn't a receipt, it was a message. "Now you can be a busy mommy and sill have Snickers!" I realized he sent them because of my last blog entry about my terrible day and just wanting a snickers. Surprise, surprise, my eyes welled up with tears. Thanks Toff, that was so creative and yummy. Thanks everyone for the calls and wishes. Happy Birthday to me!

Motherhood-

Ever since I've had kids I've become an emotional wreck! I cry every time I watch Dumbo, or read the book I love you forever, (you know the one... rocked him back and forth back and forth). Yes I've even cried in 30 second commericals. Anyway, today Asher and I were watching the Living Scripture's animated video of Abraham and Isaac. I cried so hard I couldn't breathe. I was trying to explain to Asher why I was sad, "Abraham listened to Heavenly Father even though it was so hard because mommas and daddy's love their kids so much". Anyway, it just made me really think about the joys of a mothers love. Today was a perfect day for the reminder. Asher threw his yogurt across the kitchen, and slammed Evie's fingers in the door. Evie fell off the couch and is teething so wanted to be held ALL day, and all I want is a snickers bar, but couldn't leave the house because either Asher was in time out or I had Mckaillie!
I think this pretty much sums up motherhood. Some days they drive you absolutely crazy, but once you have them you can't help but love them and never want to be without them. So here's to mom's!

"I wanna be a doggy my love"

Asher is now obsessed with being a dog! He barks when I ask him questions, he pants, and wants to eat on all four. When he licked my leg the other day, I decided I didn't like the new pet, and I wanted my cute boy back. Well the best part of the doggy obsession is that dogs don't wear clothes. So that means Asher, I mean goofy (yes he's still goofy. Conveniently goofy is a dog so that plays well into the role.) insists he should be naked as well. He always wants "to be naked for a little while". This afternoon I checked on him while he was supposed to be napping and found him naked sitting on the chair in regular doggy stance, barking as I walked in. And this morning when I went to put Mckaillie on the bus, he ran out on to the porch in his birthday suit, barking at the bus driver. Oh the joys!
He now calls me "my love" which melts my heart every time he says it. I can't help but smile even typing it.

Mustang Pride!

It's been 10 years since I was a mighty mustang.  I can't believe how time flies.  I had so much fun at the reunion!  Maybe I wasn't expecting much, or maybe I had forgotten about all the fun people I went to school with, but it seriously was a blast!  I was a little nervous about how I've... chubbed, but I figured even though I'm 30 pounds heavier, I don't have snagel teeth and my head isn't shaved so it's a wash, right?!  The downer to the whole situation was that Brian was conveniently golfing in California, so I showed up solo.  So he's playing on the beach and golfing while I'm home with 2 kiddies not able to show off my hottie husband at the reunion.  Somethings wrong with this picture...   Anyway, it was so great to see everyone.  

Brian living it up on the Californian Coast.

My greatest mom!

I was just thinking of my mom and what a staple she is in my life. (Off topic, but I just heard in my head Asher saying, "staple it together mom, great job!" from the Jack Johnson song). Anyway, my mom is the greatest! Some of my favorites about my mom:
She is the most forgiving person I think has ever existed through all time. Seriously, she is amazing!
She is such a constant. I know my mom will always be there for me. Whether I want to complain, talk about old memories, ask advice about how she would parent, or just laugh about life. She's there. She's a regular, continued part of my daily life.
She is so kind.
She is humble.
I love her desire to do good.
I love her crazy fascination with serial killers- she is so interested in how their minds work. (Maybe she doesn't want me to share that?)
I love that she is so stylish. Shopping in her closet is the greatest, maybe second only to Kristi.
She is always ready to debate, especially about abortion or the Holocaust.  Sheesh!
I love you mom and am so grateful you are part of my life!

The kids birthday party

We figured the kids are young enough we can combine their parties and then the family doesn't have to travel as much.
Asher is always so excited to see "everybody". He is such a fun age for birthdays. He loves to open the presents and to blow out the candles. Last night he asked us if he could have a new truck for his birthday. We laughed and told him he had a long time until his next birthday.    Evie was just happy to see everyone and play outside.

Yes, Asher is licking the ice cream off the driveway and yes, rather than telling him that's gross and he shouldn't do that I opted to take a picture.

Happy Birthday Asher!

Asher's wishes came true when he finally got his big truck. He's been talking about this "big truck" for months. Anytime we told him his birthday was coming he would immediately say "yeah and get a big truck with back door to put cars in like Jacob's".
Here are our some of our favorite things about Asher:
-He's been sleeping on the floor for months. He falls asleep in the doorway of his bedroom and then we move him to his bed EVERY night.
-Flip flops are "sip sops"
-He is incredibly patient when he is a monster and stomps on the floor through out the house. He will takes about 30 seconds from one loud step to the next. His favorite attire is a tiger mask with a golf cub over his shoulder.
-He LOVES the Jack Johnson CD. He insists we play it loud every time we're in the car. He knows all the words.
-He is terrified of the sound of power tools.
- When he's upset and you tell him to go to time-out he yells, "No thank-you!"
We love our Asher and are so happy he's part of our family! Happy Birthday Asher!

Tagged I'm it!

Three Joys:
1. My family
2. Feeling peace in my life
3. Shopping
Three Fears:
1. Death of anyone I love
2. Being viewed as an ignorant person
3. Loosing my memory
Three goals:
1. Volunteer internationally
2. After my kids are grown, them remembering me as a great mom
3. Have a HUGE savings and not spend it!
Three Current Obsessions:
1. Chocolate chip cookies
2. Making my yard as beautiful as my dads- I'm failing miserably
3. Finding that dumb nursery bag that was stolen at church!
Three random surprising facts about me:
1. I enjoy working on genealogy
2. My favorite meal is a hamburger, fries and pepsi (although that may not be too big of a surprise when you see my love handles!)
3. I have to constantly work on not being lazy-

Happy Birthday Evie!

This week was Evie's 1st birthday! I can not believe how quickly this year has flown by. I think the second child grows a gazillion times faster than the first. Here are some of the fun things in Evie's life:
When you hold her she pats your back
She will "talk" back and forth with you for as long as you'll keep going
She has 6 teeth
She loves to conduct music with her arm up and dance
She's walking
She crinkles her nose when she smiles big
She laughs anytime she hears anyone else laugh
She still loves to suck her fingers and hold her blanket
She loves water and to be outside
She loves to tease Asher
We bring her into our bed in the morning and after a few minutes she'll get right up in your face and smile to wake us up- it's the best way in the world to start a new day.
She growls
She cleans the table and unloads the dishwasher
She loves to put clothes, (especially Asher's) on her head

Moving right along...

I just needed to update the last post. Asher is potty trained! It is wonderful! About a week after the poo incident, he just started always going in the toilet. He hasn't had an accident since! I must admit it's not always as convenient as a diaper, like when your at the park and he has to go RIGHT NOW. But it is so nice to have him be such a "big boy". Way to go Asher, you did it!

Evie is now a walker! She can walk from room to room with just a few stumbles. I love the sound of little feet walking!  I'd say it's my favorite, but I've decided I have many favorites...

Potty Time!

That's right we have begun potty training. Asher is doing really well. He's been sitting on the toilet for a few months, nothing consistent and usually not productive, but then he started informing me when he was peeing and pooping and then began waking up dry... so I guess that means I have to be ready too. The first day was amazing and then pooping had to happen. It was a wonderful experience!  (I hope you can feel the sarcasm!) I walked into his room, with him standing in a puddle of poop! I took him to the tub as I tried to figure out how to begin the clean-up. He had his underwear down and around one ankle as he lifted his foot and began shaking his leg to get them off. I've never seen poop in so many places at once! In my hair, down my shirt, on the wall on the opposite side of the bathroom... everywhere. Good times!
He does look cute in his undies though! He insists on wearing them backwards so the big picture is in front where he can see it. He really is doing well since the christening of the bathroom.

Let the drama begin

Everyone has told me girls are really dramatic and I didn't believe this would happen, not to our sweet Evie, but oh, I was wrong.  She's upset because I insulted her with a bottle when I should've know that is NOT what she wanted!
She is doing a lot of fun stuff. She is now able to stand by herself for about 2 min, and she has tried to take steps a few times, but since she has not successfully landed I don't know if this counts as "first steps".  She mimics us by trying to put on necklaces, her hair bows, talk on the phone and points to pictures in the book like we do. She loves to put things in and out of other things. She loves water. We've taken her to the pool a couple times and she wiggles all she can to be as much in the water as possible. She still loves to play games with Asher, like throwing her bottle and him fetching it, although he doesn't like this game nearly as much as she does.

Watermelon

Who doesn't love watermelon? But seriously most of us wait until it's been sliced! I started to cut the watermelon and left for a second, and this is what I came back to! Silly boy.

Wonderful Dads!

I just wanted to tell Brian that you truly are an amazing dad and we love you so much! I appreciate all you do for our family. You are a hard worker, basement finishing, sprinkler fixing, child chasing, church calling fulfilling, story reading, child and wife hugging fool! We love you and appreciate all the sacrifices you make for us.  Here are a couple of the many sacrifices you make regularly for us:   -Driving the not so nice car so we can use the other   -Helping me clean the house after your full day of work.   -Always reading stories with the kids at night so I can work on other things   -Giving up any and all spare time you have to be a wonderful husband and dad   -Never thinking twice to change a poopy bum!   -Being OK if we go to Wendy's for dinner, because I don't want to cook!   - And spending time with us, even at your golfing expense- We love you daddy!

I also wanted to tell my dad that I admire him and all he's taught me.  I remember if my dad could tell something was wrong he'd ask me "what's your biggest concern in life? What can we do it fix it?" That would always help me put everything in order in my mind and help me address what was most important. It was amazing he could recognize this in me even if I didn't know I was particularly upset.   -  Asking regularly, "has anyone told you they loved you today?"   -Telling me when I was a teenager, "if your going to sneak out of the house at night will you leave me a note so I know where you are?"  -Flirting with my friends- crazy dad!   -Teaching me how to be independent.   -Always taking care of me; warming my car on cold winter mornings, carrying anything that needs carried, (even now he carries the kids or diaper bags), opening doors, ect.  -Being truly Christian; doing good to others, helping those in need, being kind and sincere in concern, and always being willing to comfort.  -He taught me to follow my heart.  -Thanks for being such an amazing dad! I hope that I'm able to magnify these values you've taught me-

Garden-

We've finally finished planting the garden. We have spinach, peas, beans, carrots, onions, garlic, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower ... I think that's all, besides our peach, apple and pear tree and grape vines, of course. What was I thinking? I'm excited to eat all this fresh produce and share with everyone who will take it, but what in the world am I going to do with the rest of it? If nothing else the kids had a blast in the dirt- Sorry dad, I mean soil.

Evie-

Evie is always SO happy! We noticed after she was in bed asleep, she was poopy. So we took her jamas and diaper off to change her and she was smiling even before her eyes were open! Happy girl!
She is starting to dance now. I love this stage. If she hears even 3 beats she immediately recognizes it's music and starts bouncing and her arms are up like she's conducting It's my favorite!

Hats

Asher came running out of his and Evie's room saying "here she comes mama!" Evie crawls out of her room with her hair bow box on her head. Asher was so excited of his accomplishment and Evie was thrilled Asher was playing with her! Asher still loves his goofy hat and insists he wears it to bed, to the store and of course when he watchs goofy-

River trip

 We have a friend named Jason. There are many great things about Jason; He visits me during the day with adult conversation, and he shares my passion for Albertsons chocolate chip cookies, and he has a raft! This last weekend we left the kids with grandmas, (thanks Cindy and mom!), and went to Moab area river rafting! I love to do this, but haven't been able to go as much as I've wanted since I've been pregnant with August babies. We do the west water run, which is MUCH MORE than a little white water, and sometimes the daily, which is a much more relaxing than the first.  Jason is always very prepared and so he wouldn't let me get on the raft until I could tie this specific knot, (I don't remember the name of the knot- Jason would be so disappointed!). I had to be able to tie this knot with my eyes closed, behind my back and from 3 different angels! No fooling around! The water was really high and Jason was nervous which made me nervous since he's the expert. It was a crazy ride, but we all lived!