Family Shirts

We went for a walk to take pictures in our "family shirts" as Vanessa has coined them.  It didn't go as planned.  I got these two shots that I love....

 But the family pic ended up something like this.  We had some nice scenery picked out that was down the street but Vanessa fell and that was the end of her happiness.  And then the sidewalk ended and the street suddenly got busy....basically we gave up.  This bench was convenient.  Although someone was crying or grimacing in each shot.  At least they're cute little stinkers.

 And this little stinker is lucky he hasn't been sold to the gypsies.  I tell him as much everyday; every time he steals food from the kids or drinks from the toilet bowl.

Kansas City or Bust

We finally made it.  Being far from a temple and having little kids makes it really really hard to get to the temple.  Let's be honest here.  Who wants to watch your kids for an entire day?  So when it finally worked out for us to go with another family and do a kid swap, we were so excited!  It was crazy, don't get me wrong.  But the blessings of the temple are always worth it.  Jon and I were both head bobbing on the drive home, which is never a good thing.  We had to make a pit stop and load up with some goodies to make that 3 1/2 hour drive.  Three and a half hours feels really long when you're really tired.  We didn't get the temple pictures I was hoping for.  But I am sure we will have more opportunities.  We had to do something fun for the kids so we took them to a special lunch place where a train delivers the food.  And we also went to Kaleidoscope, which is basically a very cutely decorated giant craft room for kids.  We also stopped at the fountains for a few minutes.

 These are the kids sleeping at the hotel.  It must be genetic because they HAVE to be touching someone while they sleep.  And all of them do this.

 Kaleidoscope.

 Fritzs, You can't see how the train delivers the food in the pic, but it has a track around the ceiling and drops it down onto a tray that lowers to your table.  Brig thought it was awesome, that boy never lacks enthusiasm.

Easter

It's hard to believe this, but this was our first Easter with just our family.  We were in Florida by ourselves one year but Vanessa was so young, we did egg hunts with friends but not much else.  This year we did the whole shebang but I took video of the hunt so we don't have pictures.  We started our own family tradition of doing the holiday festivities on Saturday and keeping Sunday focused on the Savior.  I loved doing it this way.  I felt like it kept Sunday special and stuck with the precedent we are trying to establish that Sunday is a "different" day.
When we talked to the kids about the resurrection, we told them that Benson would be able to walk because he wouldn't have SMA anymore.  Because said, "OK!  Let's do it!"  He was okay with having to wait until the Lord decided it was time though.  He also told us all the things he would do if he could walk.  They all included things that he can already do in his power chair.  I know he would like to walk, but I don't think it is as painful for him as I sometimes worry it is.  I think it helps that this is the way it has always been.  He seems pretty good with how life is and has no problem telling kids he can't walk because he has SMA.
Vanessa never ceases to amaze me with her love for learning about Jesus.  I know she is already gaining a strong testimony of the Savior and has a sincere love and eagerness to learn about Him.
Brigham is still crazy.  He has a very dynamic personality.  But at the tiny age of two, he is very tender.  He gives hugs and kisses whenever someone is hurt.  He is very concerned for people when they are sad.  And he always picks things up off the floor for Benson.  Considering he is only two, he is amazing at sharing.
I feel so inadequate and lucky to have these kiddos.  They teach me more and more all the time.  Being a mom has made me a better person and keeps me trying harder and harder to improve myself, for them.

Shirts!

Bounce over to Benson's blog and get yourself a shirt!!!! (link below)

Benson's Blog

Front Yard

We did a little front yard landscaping.  I'm really excited for the prospect of what it will be.  I forgot to take a good before pic, but here is an in process one.

And here it is all done.  In between the trees are some hydrangeas.  Don't worry, you can't see them.  But I have big dreams for them and I think they'll be beautiful.  We are planning to add rocks for mulch, so I'll add those pictures when they are in too.  I need to add something on the right side but I'm not sure what because it will throw off our symmetry.  The left side has our spigot and I don't really want to block it, since that's a pain.  I'm pretty sure that is the worst planned spigot in the history of landscaping.

Garage Sale Mania

We did a garage sale.  It's over and I can finally breathe.  It was a smashing success, so I'm not complaining.  But it was A LOT of work.  We let the RS in our ward know that we were doing a garage sale to raise money for a van for Benson.  It's the largest expense I see in the foreseeable future that feels totally unattainable.  So, we are starting fundraising now.  And hopefully by the time he is 6 or 7, we'll have the cash to get that van!  I figured a couple people from our ward would bring a few things by.  We had TEN families donate.  Our two car garage was packed completely full!  I spent the entire week prior organizing, pricing, making signs, and baking.  We were seriously blown away by everyone's generosity.  Up until now, I wasn't sure many people knew who we were except for the family with a little boy who has an awesome power chair.  With kids, church has little social time.  I couldn't believe how many people asked about the sale, how many donated, and how many seemed to genuinely care.  I was really touched.
I also did a small bake sale.  We sold Chocolate chip cookies, oreo truffles, and peanut butter truffles.  We sold out of all of them.  I am kicking myself for not taking pictures, but I really didn't have my head on straight at all last week.
My visiting teacher, and a dear friend, came over and helped me three days in a row!  I seriously don't know what I would do without this woman.  She is my mom away from home and I feel so blessed to know her and call her my friend!
Vanessa sold lemonade and the baked goods and I was so proud of that little lady.  She did great talking to all the people she didn't know and talking so they could hear.  She also sang little songs occasionally to try to get people to buy some lemonade.  She made over $40!  She doesn't really know what that means, all she knew was it was enough for the two barbies she wanted.  I don't think she even knows she has some left over.
We also met another family that has a six year old daughter with SMA type 1.  It was awesome to meet this family and Benson loved talking with their nurse.  He chatted with her for a good ten minutes, telling her all about getting his tubie put in and Ninja Turtles.
On Friday, a friend watched Brigham which saved me.  But on Saturday we had the crazy tyke with us all morning.  It was considerably slower on Saturday so it was okay, but in the chaos of the event, Brig did manage to get away with Jon's keys.  And they disappeared.  It wouldn't have been such a big deal except we don't have a spare.  And it also happened to be our only house key as well.  I prayed and searched all morning.  That night, we had family prayer and searched.  The next morning, the kids found the keys tucked inside the tree of their pet shop tree house!  It was an awesome experience to talk with the kids about how our prayers were answered and we found dad's keys!  That saved us a whole lotta cash!

Don't Let the Bed Bug Bite

We are having a hard time convincing the kids that they like sleeping with space, by themselves. But at least it makes for some funny pictures.

Texas

Jon had a continuing education conference in Texas so we planned for the kids and I to tag along.  It was a ten hour drive, which sounded tiny compared to the twenty hour drive to Utah.  It felt a lot longer than ten hours though. Haha.  On the way down, we stopped in Fort Smith, Arkansas to throw rocks in the lake.

We split up the drive and stopped in Dallas for a night.  We went to the Dallas Zoo.  Someone had an extra ticket for a pony ride, which Vanessa was really excited about.  It is something I would not have paid for because it was literally less than two minutes.  The kids favorite thing about the Dallas zoo were all the animal statues they had.  They may have loved them more than the real animals.  Except the birds, they really enjoyed feeding the birds.

 

Benson has an obsession with turtles right now.  He sat and talked with this turtle for over five minutes.  He stroked it, hugged it, protected it from Brigham.  I think they bonded.  He wants a turtle for real.

In the mornings, we walked across the street from the hotel and played in the sand while Jon was at his conference learning about all things anesthesia.  The water was too cold, but they definitely liked the sand.

Our plan was to go to a place called Moody Gardens, but there was also a flight museum right next door so we stopped by there for a quick look around.  It was pretty cool to see all the planes.

 Then we hit up Moody Gardens for the aquarium.  It was a pretty impressive aquarium, although they didn't have much in any touch zones.  I think Seattle takes the cake there.

On a different day, we went to the Rainforest pyramid at Moody Gardens.  It is a giant pyramid with plants, birds, butterflies, fish, turtles, etc typical of what would be in a rainforest.  Vanessa was very excited for the butterflies.  She has an obsession with butterflies.  She loves that her name means butterfly.

 A huge caterpillar from the butterfly exhibit.  And some cool ducks.  They are called Mandarin Ducks.

 Apparently, we should have been looking up a little better because there were some birds nesting right above where we were standing.  Jon got some love from one of them.  Yuck.

We kept the rainforest theme going and went to Rainforest Café for dinner.  Never the best food, but it does entertain the kids so there is a tiny bit more peace during the meal.  Brig was asleep when we got there and was quite surprised when he woke up.  He was shaking with big eyes, pointing at everything; but barely getting a word out.  He was also quite startled by the thunderstorm.

One of the nights back at the hotel, Brig was being crazy and disappeared into the bedroom for a second (since the hospital pays for our hotel, we got a nice one with two rooms;)  I went to check on him after a few minutes of silence and he had just passed out.  I guess that means we had a fun day!

It was a first for our family doing a vacation like this.  We have spent plenty of time in hotels with all three kids (we spent three weeks in Arkansas in a hotel while Jon finished up clinicals).  But it was our first vacation to somewhere other than Utah with all three kids.  It was fairly exhausting.  Brigham is a runner.  He loves to take off and he thinks it's pretty hilarious.  That basically means you have to be on your toes with him at all times.  I also felt like I should be providing non-stop entertainment and they seemed to share that feeling.  So sometimes it was a little challenging to keep them having fun so it would be something memorable.  But overall, I think we had a lot of fun.  I'm also thinking for the next couple of years we may stick with camping.  It's just so much cheaper and the kids love playing in the rocks and dirt just as much as they like an expensive aquarium.  We'll see.  It's hard not to want to go somewhere new when the hospital will pay for travel and room expenses.  Thanks Mercy for a fun vacay!