Relief Society Broadcast

I just wanted to share a couple of things about Saturday's Relief Society Broadcast.  First of all, I got to go with my sister Sharon and my Mom both of whom are Relief Society Presidents for their respective wards.  And second of all, one of my callings is Visiting Teaching Coordinator... and it seemed like at least two of the talks were directly targeting all three of us.  It was neat to be able to discuss our feelings and excitment for what was shared with us.  I really liked Sister Allred's comments and also the talk about "Minding the Gap".  How lucky I am to belong to the great organization of Relief Society!

Maisy's baby blessing

Yesterday we got to go to Jer's sister's daughter's baby blessing... ( I should probably just say our niece...) It was a beautiful blessing and we got there just in time... but after the blessing in less than an hour we had quite the excitement.  A grumpy two year old that wouldn't sit still and had to be taken out twice and hushed several times, a hungry three month old, a misunderstanding about an M&M, a speaker that fainted in the middle of her talk, and having to drag a car seat, a toddler, a diaper bag and open the double sets of doors by myself.   It's a good thing that I know the church is true otherwise I might think it was more effort than it's worth to go.

Potty training update

So I'm not being consistent with potty training though I know it would probably be easier if I would be... Ada gets the idea pretty well though.  I had her sitting on the potty and when she went I praised her and said what a good girl she was....She looked a little taken aback and said, "No, I'm a big boy."  I told her that no, Sammy and daddy were boys but Ada and mommy were girls... and she said very forcefully that "I'm a BIG BOY!"

Corn, corn, and more corn

No... I'm not talking about the corny jokes that I make... I'm talking about the fact that Jer and I took the kids to the Thanksgiving Point Cornbelly Maze on Saturday.  It was a blast... of course the maze itself was a little too frustrating to an almost two year old and a mom with a double stroller, but that wasn't the only thing there.  They had several play areas including a jumping pillow, bike races, "gold" digging, a dress up area, and our personal favorite... the cornbox (you know... kind of like a sandbox but with corn instead of sand). Here are my favorite of the gazillion picture that we took... and it goes against everything I believe to have pictures of me on my blog... but I have to do it sometimes right?

Jer and Ada on one of the three large slides, they're built on bales of straw.

Ada in the dress up area.  They have a princess story time but we missed it.

Not ideal lighting but the only family picture that we took.

My favorite people ever!And yes this the cornbox.

Tickling Ada's toes.

If you look... that's a powder from the corn... When we all got out everyone was just covered in it.

Sammy driving a wooden tractor.

Choo choo all aboard!

Ada driving the train "to California".

Into the maze...

Yes, she's riding an armadillo... I tried getting her to say it, but I'm not quite sure what she actually ended up saying.

This is the jumping pillow...

This was the bike race... check out the neat bikes, and just so you know they are dang hard to turn!

Cute girl

So we went to play ward volleyball tonight and there was the cutest little girl... She is Ada's age so we went over so that they could play together... While I'm talking to the mom I hear,"Be rude."  I was a little confused... but I think it's a cross between don't be rude and be nice.  She also came up to her mom and said, "Mom, Jesus says be nice."  Cute.

Robyn photos

I'm taking a page out of Becca's book... even though I don't have a seperate blog for my photos... I'm going to post them as I take them... I might even back track and post some of my past photo shoots.  We'll see.  I usually play with them in photoshop after I take them... tweak colors etc... but I haven't with these ones yet.  And when I looked through them with Robyn, these weren't her favorites, but they were the ones that I liked.

Current pictures

Rachel and Ada at Aunt Marg's b-day party...

Sammy and Rocky hanging on the couch...

Sammy playing with cousin  Sophie...

Ada cheering for Daddy at his marathon...  

I think that Sammy and Sophie look like cousins don't you?!

Ada "cheesing it" for the camera... I don't think she looks like a baby at all anymore... she's turned into a little kid already!  When did that happen?

I'm so proud of them!

Well... this weekend was very exciting... Jer and three of his brothers and sisters ran AND FINISHED the Top of Utah Marathon.  It's really neat that they were able to do this together!  We went up on Friday so that Jer could check in early and we got to stay with my sister Janelle and my cousin Sarah (They're roommates if you didn't know...) The most memorable thing about the trip was not the half hour that Sammy spent crying... but Ada parroting the Harry Potter book on tape that we were listening to... Hearing an almost 2 year old try to imitate a giant saying, "Herme where Hager?" was just unforgettable.  Then we went out to eat with my sister, cousin, and their roommate, and Jer's three siblings and their spouses.  We were going to go to the Logan Temple while we were there... but we forgot Sunday clothes... we had our temple clothes with us... I just didn't feel comfortable walking into the temple in our street clothes.  The most exciting part of the day was trying to get Ada to sleep.  She usually sleeps just fine... You put her in her bed and say goodnight and you don't hear another peep... but because we were all camping out on the floor... she kept going from person to person trying to play.  Jer ended up sleeping in her bed and she slept with me so that Jer could get a little sleep.  My favorite was... she kept leaning over and kissing me... then she'd giggle and put her binkie back in.  Saturday... we got up at 4am to drop Jer off at the buses, then I went back to get kids ready to go cheer on dad.

Jer finished in 3 hr. 45 mins.... the same time that he got on the last marathon... but he said he enjoyed this one more... he had Jay to talk to the whole way.  Ada had a break down and was bawling from about 15 mins before Jer came in until about an hour afterwards.  I think she was very tired.  We met up with everyone then headed back for Janelle's place where Jer and Ada crashed...

it was really cute. Then we went and browsed through a toy store and went to the Bluebird for dinner.  We then drove over to Nibley to visit a mission friend that I haven't seen in over a year.  It was fun to catch up and see how she's adjusting to living in the States.  Then we headed home... got there about 11:30pm... 4am-11:30pm... it was a full day. 

This was really cute to see Amy's family all in red and running the last little bit with her... Yay for families!

Ada

Ada is just hilarious! Just in the last two days I've had to laugh about tons of things... (it's that or cry...right?) My three favorites...

I was putting on a diaper for the night and she put her two forefingers behind the rails of the changing table and said,"Where'd my fingers go?" Then she pulled them out and said,"There it is!" (I won't correct her grammar quite yet... I'm still amazed that she speaks in sentences and she's not quite two.)

Then during dinner tonight she started copying EVERYTHING that Jer said. First she copied him while he prayed and then when he started to tell me how work was going... but my favorite was Jer took a bigger bite than he usually does and said,"Well, that was a big bite..." with his mouth full of food... and she said,"That a big bite!" Then he said,"I guess I shouldn't talk with my mouth full." And she said,"With mouth full!" The best part is that her mouth was full too.

Then we were at Walmart getting my sister a birthday present. The little girls dress ups were in the same isle as the games... Ada usually ignores them... but this time we passed by a flappers dress and she picks it off the rack, holds it out at arms length and says,"Pretty." Then she carefully folded it into the basket. So guess what we bought her for Christmas?

My favorite things about Jeremy

Now... this one is harder because I have to be a little more selective. Not because of my audience but because there are so many things that I love and appreciate about the man I married... Here are just a couple that I've been thinking about lately.

I love that he works from home... and that he's willing to pause for a couple of minutes to help me if I have a child crisis going on.
I love that he always takes time to say good morning and good night to our kids... it makes them go to sleep a lot happier.
I love that he doesn't complain that I don't like to cook. I promise I try to do it... I just don't like it so it doesn't happen as well as it should.
He is so determined... when he starts something he tries to see it through... doesn't always happen... but mostly because he's gotten distracted by me or the kids.
That he's willing to read to me while I do projects.
That I have my own tech support at home... I'm sure that my mom appreciates this too... it's handy to have someone to call... even if he can't always fix it.
I love that he gets along so well with my brothers and sisters... it makes it easy to justify spending time with them and enjoying the time that we can spend together.
That even though I weigh quite a bit more than him... he never complains...
If I ask him to watch kids while I go exercise or VT or run an errand... he does... unless he has a meeting. Understandable.
That he tries to be positive about things without being fakely cheerful.

Love you Jer.

My favorite things about Sammy

Sammy is only three months old so this list will be shorter than the one I did for Ada, but I sure love him just the same!

I love that he has figured out how to "talk" to you. He tries to shape his mouth the way you have yours shaped and just makes whatever sound that will come out.
He loves to smile, especially when he sees Ada or Jer... I think he has favorites.
I love that he is usually a good sleeper... it makes it easier having a new baby when they learn to sleep through the night.
I love that he likes the blanket that I crochetted for him... he sits and stares at it forever, wraps his fingers in it, and bats at it with his fists.
I was playing the piano the other day, and usually Ada plays and sings with me... but she had gone to bed... Sammy started to coo and stopped every time that I stopped to switch to a new song. I think we've got two singers in the family.
That he doesn't pee when we have his diaper off... it's very convenient... that's one thing I was afraid of when I found out we were having a boy.