Utah Week 1

Every time we have gone to Utah in the past, we have kind of "flown by the seat of our pants" as far as a schedule is concerned.  It always ends up being really stressfull and we sleep at a different house every night.  So this trip we decided to try something different.  And when I say we, I mean, I convinced Jon it was a good idea.  Haha.  So we spent the first week in town with the Purdy family and the second week in town with the Brady family.  After all was said and done, I think there are pros and cons to both methods.  But at least now we have the perspective of the "other side."  So, with the Purdy family we tried to keep things low-key and kid friendly.  We arrived on Saturday evening, around 7pm.  Bradys came over for a few minutes because who wouldn't be absolutely excited to see these crazy kids?!  Sunday, we went to sacrament meeting but then took the boys home for naps.  Except Vanessa decided she needed to be with Grandma at all times.  So Grandma sat in primary with her through second hour and then she went to Relief Society with Grandma the third hour.  That evening, Becky and Brett came over and we feasted on some ribs and turkey and all the fabulous sides you can imagine.

 On Monday we went to Chuckee Cheese with the kids.  And then met up with Jon's family to go to the Desert Star Playhouse.  It was adults only, of course, so my parents watched the kids.  The play was Kicking The Hobbit.  It was pretty funny.  On Tuesday, we went to the zoo.  Always good times at the zoo.

 On Wednesday, my parents go work in the temple from about 2pm-10pm.  So we died Easter eggs in the morning and then Jon and I went to meet up with his friends from high school at Cafe Rio.  Miss that place.  We stopped by Bradys for a minute and ended up leaving Brigham and Vanessa with his parents.  Benson wanted to come with but Vanessa was hooked to her Grandma again.  And Brigham had squeezed out half a container of babyfood on his clothes so he was naked and got left behind too.  But he warmed up quick and loved the attention, I'm sure.

 On Thursday we took on Kangaroo Zoo.  All jump places are a kid's heaven on earth, in my opinion.  Benson loves them, but it definitely means a work out for mom and dad.  Who needs a gym, right?!

 We got some slushies for the kids and Brigham cracked us up begging Benson for some.  Thank goodness these guys are good at sharing.  Wish germs didn't share so easily.

 I don't think Vanessa stopped moving and chasing after Clay the entire time, except to drink the Slush.  Jon and I traded running around with Benson.  We each lasted about a half hour before we were pooped and sweating.  Benson seemed content with that though.

 On Friday, we took a girls day.  My mom, Steph and I left the kids home with the guys and went shopping at City Creek.  We spent way too much money and then met up with the guys and kids at Pf Changs.  Love that place too.

When we got home, my dad had picked this up for me and Brigham.  I personally love the Hello Kitty.  It was an ice cream cake.  When I was little I always wanted ice cream cakes for my birthday and this was the exact kind I liked!  I was amazed my dad remembered.  He had me going for a minute until he admitted he didn't remember but it was the kind that looked the best to him.  Haha!  At least he has good taste.

 Brigham thoroughly enjoyed his first birthday cake.  His preferred method of devouring was to just lick it straight off the plate.

It was so much fun to be with family again.  It makes me kind of sad about the bill all over again.  But, I am so grateful for our beautiful house and fabulous job that allows us to go and visit family.  It's easier to appreciate them when you treasure your time with them, anyway, right?!

The Drive To Utah

Plane tickets to Utah are ridiculous.  Or maybe it's just plane tickets in general.  Flying is not so affordable these days.  In light of this, we decided to drive.  It was nervous.  Because Brigham is at that age, the hard-to-entertain-in-the-car age.  He had a hard time, but did okay considering.  I took these pics along the way on my iPod.  Vanessa did great on the drive there.  She was so excited to see her grandmas and cousins.  She could hardly stand it.  We left after work around 5:00pm Friday night.  We drove until around midnight, stopping in Grand Island, NE.  Right by our hotel was a state park called Mormon Island.  We didn't have much time to look around, but I'm fairly sure it's really cool.  We were stocked up on goodies, as you can see.  I think I mostly consumed the entire bag of peanut M&Ms by myself.  They're my fav.  :)  It felt like it took forever, but we finally saw my favorite almost-home-landmark.  Devil's slide.  I remember always looking for this rock formation whenever we went on road trips as a kid.  It means home is only about a half hour away.  A beautiful sight at the end of a 19 hour drive.

 

Ford F-150

This is the Christmas gift we got the kids.  I think this was Brigham's first ride in it.  Vanessa loves to drive the boys around.  But Brigham's expressions in these pictures take the cake.  Vanessa has a few good ones in there too.  These guys sure keep me laughing.

The World Through Vanessa's Eyes

Vanessa took these pictures on our old point and shoot.  I love seeing what she likes to capture.  It's like looking at the world through her eyes. 

 I'm pretty sure she asked me to make a funny face, because that is what she likes to do for the camera.  I don't think I look like this all the time.

 I NEVER get smiles like this from Benson.  I should have her take the pics more often!

Bittersweet

This week has been so bittersweet. Early on in the week we heard that HB 109 had passed the Health and Human Services Committee. This is the first step In the legislative process, the first step in the right direction! A few days later we heard that the bill wasn't going to be voted on in the floor. Becky Lockhart is the current Speaker of the House and an RN. As we mentioned before, AAs are job competition and nurses in general are opposed to them. Nurses tend to stick together. Anyway, Lockhart killed the bill. As Speaker, she can refuse to let the bill be voted on and she did just that. We were so disappointed.  It feels unfair.  It feels like dirty politics. 
Amidst all the chaos surrounding the federal government, I've felt somewhat disappointed in our system of late.  I really do believe that our Founding Fathers were inspired by God when they drafted the Constituition.  And I think the system did work.  But how is it possible that such an inspired nation already seems to be dwindling and falling into corruption?
Remember these words found in 2 Nephi 10?

10 But behold, this land, said God, shall be a land of thine inheritance, and the ^aGentiles shall be blessed upon the land.

11 And this land shall be a land of ^aliberty unto the Gentiles, and there shall be no ^bkings upon the land, who shall raise up unto the Gentiles.

12 And I will fortify this land ^aagainst all other nations.

13 And he that ^afighteth against Zion shall ^bperish, saith God.

14 For he that raiseth up a ^aking against me shall perish, for I, the Lord, the ^bking of heaven, will be their king, and I will be a ^clight unto them forever, that hear my words.

Is this a conditional promise?  That Zion can only be fortified and saved, if there are more good than evil?  For a nation who is confusing separation of church and state with forgetting God completely, does the good outweigh the bad?  Is it simply the loud minority that makes things appear so bleak? 

I was surprised when I heard some news regarding a friend how much emotion came over me.  A "friend" via Facebook SMA group is pregnant and received the results of her amnio test.  Her unborn son has SMA.  I cried when I read the news.  As someone else pointed out, it may be a blessing for their daughter, to have someone else to always play with and have the same abilities.  They will always have each other.  But it is so hard to see yet another child born with this awful disease.  It is heartbreaking to watch them struggle to do things that most hardly think twice about, such as eating, putting on a shirt, raising their hand, etc.  I wondered how I would feel if I were in that position.  If we decided to have more kids, would I be able to handle another child with SMA?  Could we afford it financially?  Could I bear the heart ache and worry of how they will deal with the emotional and physical trial it gives to them at such a young age?

Ironically, I saw this news as I was on my way to put Brigham down for a nap.  As I literally wrestled with a very wiggly, screaming Brigham I felt an overwhelming grattitude that he did not have SMA.  I felt grattitude that even though I am in WAY over my head, I am sleep-deprived beyond my wildest dreams, and not nearly the mother I want to be, I have three beautiful, amazing children.  I felt grattitude that we listened to that tender voice that said, "It's crazy, but have another baby."  When I remember that voice, when I remember that feeling that I had, I know it was the right thing for our family.  I know that Brigham will be a blessing to our family, and especially to his siblings.  I sometimes worry how I'll ever know if and when and how we should have more kids.  But if it's anything like it was with Brigham, I need only to listen.

PS...I'm not talking "how" as in the birds and the bees, I'm talking Invitro Fertilizatoin with Pre-Genetic Diagnostics.  It is an amazing technology but it is definitely a post for another day.

The Mantel

I didn't take any great before pics of this room.  It is going to look so different once all the changes are complete.  Here is another step in the proocess.  Changing the mantel from this honey oak color to white.  Love me some white mantels.

We didn't sand all the color off, just all the shine.  I guess that worked out okay because it's pretty much done now.  We still have a few spots to touch up but we are going to do it after the flooring is in since it's where the carpet hits the mantel.

This was our attempt to use a spray gun.  It worked okay once Jon got the correct consistency but we will have to do some light touch-ups from the blobby spots.  But for a picture's sake, it looks pretty darn good doesn't it?

 I'll get a picture of the whole room once the flooring is in.  And I just might even take it during the day so we don't have yucky flash.

 And because I'm excited about our garden this year, here is the beginnings of it.  The kids helped me plant these so there are a few that have spots that have no seeds and a few that have five or six.  Oops.  They still seem to be okay.

Activities We've Been Up To

Jon has been building me cool things like this....

 There are only pictures of the boys because that is all we have printed at the moment.  We'll probably switch it up every now and then.  Can you tell which is Brigham and which is Benson?

 The kids have been doing lots of playing.  We played with the butterflies quite a bit until they were at the end of their days.  We let them go on a slightly warmer day and hoped they could enjoy their last few hours in the great outdoors.  One of them did lay some eggs, which we kept, but they didn't end up hatching.  Sad.

 We tried one of the sensory activities on pinterest.  I think it was called cloud dough.  It was pretty messy and the kids weren't that entertained.  Not a big hit for us.

 It has been so cold.  I know, Utah is colder.  But I am not a cold-weather fan.  Plus it's just cold, we don't usually get enough snow to go play in.  But one day, we did have enough to actually go out and stomp around and make a snowman.  Vanessa was stoked.  She was out outside before I had the boys even close to ready.

 We are definitely lacking in our cold weather apparel.  We tried our best to improvise but in the end, Brig was still cold and not happy about it.

 Vanessa helped me build a snowman.

 We threw a scarf and face on before Brig had a full meltdown.  We went inside and cuddled in some blankets to warm back up.

 We busted out some playdough recently, which we haven't done in quite a while.  The picture below says it all.  I have no idea how much play dough Brigham actually ingested.

 

 And this was just random toy activities but Brig just makes me laugh so hard in this pic I had to add it.  Check out his little man boobs and that belly!  Haha!