Competition

I need to just say that I hate competition period... It doesn't matter what it's in, I think that just the principle of it is against the plan of salvation. It also promotes those people that participate in them to only really respect those that are top ranked... even if they continue to give praise to those that are not, they don't really respect or love those that are not. For example... the commentator at the last marathon that I went to... All of the top ranked people that came in, he made sure that the crowd cheered for them a ton and the last of the 1/2 marathoners coming he would say things like "You made it, that's the important thing." I think I'd rather come in to no comment than to something like that. It also causes the people that participate in it to only talk about it rather than life. I think I'd rather talk about life.

Now I used to fence and I loved it! I didn't do it to compete... I did it because I enjoyed it... there were no commentators, and no one looking down on me. I even qualified third in the region which ranked me for the Junior Olympics... That is where I felt the other competitors were jerks and judged you by how you performed. I didn't care if I came in last, I just wanted to fence... and there aren't many fencers in Utah County... or at least there weren't when I was fencing.

Nap time

I left Ada with Jer while I went to my follow up doctors appointment... She usually eats lunch at noon and then takes a nap... at 11:30 he calls me to tell me that she'd wondered off somewhere and he had to spend forever looking for her... when he found her she had gone into her bedroom, closed the door, and fallen asleep on her bed. She really must have needed a nap because it was more than twice as long as it usually is!

And on a side note, we got a new nephew today. James Rockwell was 7 lbs 11 ozs and is a healthy boy that I hope we get to meet tomorrow.

Baby smiles

I have to say that I absolutely love when babies start smiling. Sammy will just sit and watch you, then you say hi to him and he just grins! I don't have a picture but here are two from yesterday...

Thank goodness for being old enough to understand!

So... this is kind of ironic... it happened because she's so little and doesn't always listen to what you tell her, but because she's old enough to understand what you tell her we were able to get her out of it.

Ada and her friend Lizzie were playing in our downstairs bathroom. They like to hide in the shower curtain and say boo whenever people come by... Lizzie came out and was playing with her mom when we heard a big crash and Ada start crying. Ada had somehow knocked over the ironing board that we were storing in there and it had wedged itself across the room and against the door. The hinges were on her side of the door and the window is one of those tiny bathroom ones that are only meant for ventilating the room. Mary and I could only get the door to open a couple of inches by both of us pushing on it... but that got it to the point that Ada could reach the legs of the ironing board and lift them. If she hadn't have done that when she was told, I don't know how else we could have gotten her out without actually cutting a hole in the door.

We have arrived...

We did it... we are now the proud owners of a minivan. I never thought that would be exciting for me... I even vowed that I would never own one, but after our last camping trip with two kids and trying to pack all the essentials... well it was either leave the sleeping bags or the kids. Now I think it's great to own something that you can fit everyone and everything in to at the same time... I told Jer that the only thing we're missing now are the little stickers of people that you put on your back window... then we'll truly be a utah minivan driving family.

Interactive baby

So Ada thinks it's great when any kind of sound comes from little Sammy. If he coos, she giggles... but if I'm burping him she says, "Baby says 'urp'". She also makes a little farting sound with her mouth anytime he farts... At least she's not ignoring him!

We're not!

Cousins Mariah and Adam were playing together all weekend during our family reunion. We caught a picture of them playing in the crate that the pinewood derby track is stored in. Grandpa saw them and told them to stop playing in the crate. Adam innocently looks up at him and says, "But we're not!"

Pictures of the last 2 weeks

Roger and Moana.

Aubrey, Sophie, McKay and Devin.

McKay and Devin, Moana and Ada, Roger and Aubrey.

Samuel and Roger.

Samuel during the reunion.

Jim and Jon during the pinewood derby.

Ada , Jer, and I at the zoo.

Aubrey, Devin, Ada at the zoo.

Sharon, Ada, McKay and Aubrey at the aquarium

Janelle and Aubrey at the aquarium

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

Devin, Ada, and Aubrey

Pictures of Bear Lake

Camping at Bear Lake, Ada and Jer

Ada sleeping is one of the best sights... when I'm tired at least!

Napping with Grandpa Wilcox

Samuel and Jer napping

funny story for the week

One thing that happened that wasn't funny at the time was one of the times that I tried to go jogging during the reunion. I started to get ready to run on the treadmill so that I could be there for the kids while Jer went on his run. I got dressed and got my shoes on, then I found that Ada and Grace had unloaded all of Jim and Judy's nice books out of their bookcase... So Becca and I got them put away and I took the kids to where they could play. I went to stretch and then the baby got hungry, so I got him a bottle and Becca fed him while I finished stretching. I went to check on the girls and found a puddle of something wet and sticky on the play table with all the books and puzzles and the girls were jumping on the bed holding markers and crayons...(the markers were all missing their caps). By the time I got all that straightened out the baby was crying again and didn't want me to put him down... When Jer got home from his run I handed him the kids and said, "See ya later." It was a little ironic that it took me a hour and a half to get started on a run that lasted me just under an hour. Oh well...

Latest update...

Wow... I'm so glad that the last weeks are over now. They were a lot of fun but they were so busy that the kids were grumpy half the time and I was tired the rest of the time. My brother McKay and his family came out to visit from Georgia for the week. They got here Monday two weeks ago... we had a barbeque and let the kids play. The next day we hung out at Mom and Dads for most the day... from then on was where it got crazy... it was our wedding anniversary so my parents took the kids while we went to do some stuff. We went to see the movie Up and I absolutely loved it! I think it's the best Pixar yet, we went to Cold Stone for ice cream and went to the bookstore to read and we bought a couple of new books, and we went out to eat at the Macaroni Grill. Wed we went to the Oquirrh Temple openhouse. It was very beautiful, and the kids thought that the baptismal font was pretty neat. Then we went from there to the Draper aquarium. That was so fun! Ada started showing me how fish swim and my favorite was the octopus... it kept going up and down the tank... it was neat. Ada liked the frogs and the stingray petting area. Thursday we went to the Hogle Zoo. That was fun too. It was perfect weather... not too hot and sunny and it started raining right as we got in the car to go home. Ada's favorites were the cheetah and the giraffes. She kind of liked the camels too. It was funny too... as soon as we pulled out of the parking lot, she was out like a light! Then we went to a coupon class at Amy's house. That night was the beginning of Jer's weekend family reunion. From Thursday til Monday we ate food galore, made and raced pinewood derby cars, played games, watched movies, had a chocolate tasting party, a talent show, etc... as well as trying to keep up with our work, callings, adn Jer even finished the slide for our stairs. We watched the fireworks from Jim and Judy's roof and set off a few of our own. Ada thought they were pretty cool, especially the sparklers. We had Tuesday to rest and clean the house, then Wed we went out to visit Ada's best friend that moved not to long ago... I started teaching piano lessons again... Thursday I went shoe shopping and did some catch up on stuff while my parents took Ada up to Bear Lake. Then Jer and I followed them up on Friday so that we could be there for my family reunion on Saturday. Jer, Ada and Samuel all caught a cold, but Ada had fun digging in the dirt and Jer had a good run, even though he said that it was one of the hardest ones that he's done. I jogged 2 miles with him before he went 14 more. It was fun to catch up with aunts and cousins. Then we drove home with a grumpy toddler and a sunburned husband. It was funny though... because Ada kept asking to see trains on the way home... usually we see maybe one... but this time we saw 5.

All in all it was a ball!