Spokane

I finally got to go back to Spokane to visit Becky and see her new house thanks to mom who was willing to drive up there with me. I had so much fun! (and took lots of pictures) Mom and I drove up Thursday morning and got in by sun down that night. The kids did great on the drive up; I didn't even have to use the tablet for movies. They played and watched for things out the window. We stopped once for gas and lunch half way there, and then again for 10 minutes for a bathroom break because they drank so much pop at lunch time.

We got settled in and the next day we worked outside planting spring bulbs and clearing out weeds, flowers and lots of pine needles out of Becky's flower beds. Becky found a giant slug that the kids played with and watched for a while, and they have a pretty cool rope swing in their back yard that even mom and I had to try out. That evening Becky took us to a vintage fair so we could get some mom/daughter time for a few hours. There was a lot fun stuff to see and explore and I think we all took at least one thing home. The rest of the weekend we listened to general conference.

 Monday we worked in the yard some more to finish clearing out the flower beds. One day Zander went outside to play on the trampoline after it had rained. As he was jumping he slipped and fell hitting his face on the bar of the trampoline. He split his eye and bruised it around the socket and across his nose to his forehead. That boy is one tough kid I'll give him that. This will be his third black eye this year. The rest of the week we shopped and ate and played with the kids. All the kids, including Hannah and Ezra, were either trying to one-up each other or compete in one way or another...it was probably mostly due to my kids; they compete with each other all the time but they had a great time with their cousins.

We went to Green Bluff at Walter's farm to get the kids out of the house for a while and pick out pumpkins. I love this place! We took a tractor ride through the apple orchard, the kids played in the pea pit, the slide, pallet maze (that we couldn't get out of), and watched the sheep. What a great day.

Lance=best uncle ever! Lance watched the kids for a while so we could do some more shopping withe the babies. We came home and found the kids sliding down the stairs on Ezra's mattress. Boy did they have fun!

 Our last adventure before we had to go home was to the Finch Arboretum. It was a nice sunny day to take a stroll through the park and have a picnic. The boys tried some Elderberries, climbed rocks, saw wild turkeys, and poor Lucas bruised his eye by tripping on the asphalt in the parking lot and face planting it.

Saturday came and it was time for us to head home. We stopped in Boise to visit with Grandma Watson for a little bit. It was really good to see her and see what she has been up to since the reunion. The boys were a little rambunctious from sitting in the car for 6 hours, so we didn't stay long for grandma's sake.We had to make an emergency stop on the side of the road between Boise and Twin because Lucas thought it'd be a good idea to stick a sixlet up his nose. Leave it to Lucas...I got out of the car to help him blow it out, but it was stuck in there pretty far (probably because he kept sniffing instead of blowing) luckily it had been in there long enough for it to melt a little so he was able to blow a good chunk of it out. He was screaming and crying the whole time until it came out and then he was calm and fell right to sleep.

We stayed a few extra days in Twin with grandma and grandpa since Stephen was in D.C. that week. The boys painted the pumpkins they got at the farm, raked and played in the leaves, chased grandpa around the house, and made dinner for the missionaries. Dad also took me to the Blue Lakes house to see the progress they had been making. We had a really fun two week vacation, and we were ready to be home and see dad.

Cascade Springs Adventure

Yesterday at breakfast I told the boys we were going on a surprise adventure over the weekend. Lucas looks over at Zander and says matter-of-factly, "It's Candyland, I knew it." That made me laugh...if only there was such a place. We actually took the family to stay in South Jordan at a hotel as a staycation since Stephen and I had a free night from our trip to Vegas in April.

We took the boys to Chic-fil-a for dinner so they could play on the toys for a bit, then we headed to the hotel and changed into our swim suits. I knew the boys would be excited to swim, and Hannah. I brought a floatie for her to sit in so Stephen and I could could better handle the boys since they can't swim, but she wasn't a big fan of it, so we took her out and she was happy as a clam splashing around on the steps. The boys didn't wander too far from the steps either. I really need to get them in swim lessons next year. We were there for a bout an hour, and the water was somewhat cold so everyone was shivering as they swam.

Next was bedtime. The boys got to sleep on a pullout sofa and boy was Zander excited for that. They got to lay down in bed and watch tv until they fell asleep. Stephen and I had our own room with Hannah. I don't think anyone slept very much that night. At one point all three kids woke up at the same time, and I never really fell asleep after that...it was 1:00 AM.

 We ate breakfast at the hotel the next morning and headed to Cascade Springs up Timpanogos Mountain up Provo Canyon. Stephen and I have been there before and it was really pretty, so we wanted to take the kids because it's a paved trail so we could take the stroller for Hannah. The colors were AMAZING! We did a little bit of exploring, and thankfully beat the crowd. We found a hollowed out tree, lots and lots of acorns, wild flowers, waterfalls, crunchy fall leaves, and a little fuzzy caterpillar.

 On our way out of the Canyon we stopped at Salamander Flats for a picnic; everyone was hungry. If you give Hannah chips she will be your best friend forever. It was the perfect day for an adventure and we look forward to many, many more to come. We tuckered the kids out on the two hour ride home. What a fun day!

As of Late

September has been a really quiet month over here. I didn't have one thing written on my calendar until last week. We're going to take a little staycation here in South Jordan tomorrow at a hotel with the kids. We have a voucher for a free night stay from our trip to vegas earlier this year, and it expires next month.

Anyway, we've just been at home working outside weeding and prepping for fall and winter and working a little inside, having dance parties in the living room, learning letters, planning Zander's birthday party, teaching Hannah to walk, and teaching the kids how to all get along with each other without fighting, hitting, screaming, or whining (that's an never ending process). I have been doing a few things for my new calling as a compassionate service leader especially since we have at least a dozen pregnant ladies who are all due this fall. I'm still trying to get to know everyone in the ward and neighborhood. We have tried several times to invite people over for one thing or another, but those haven't been as successful as I'd like. Stephen and I decided to try to invite at least one family over for dinner a month, so hopefully we can keep that going.

Stephen has just been busy with work working longer hours because of some high profile cases. He's been traveling a lot this year and not just to St George or Vegas. He'll be gone again off and on through October as well. He's still doing Scouts on Tuesdays...I can't say if he likes it or not. It's just hard to plan stuff out when he's caught up in work. He is still an excellent cook. He bought a sous vide a few months ago and uses it constantly. He's also baking all sorts of breads all the time and they always come out perfect.

I've been busy the last two weeks trying to get everyone's Halloween costumes put together including my own. I've searched in several stores for all the parts I need, and have had a lot of success this year, probably because I got to it earlier than I normally would have. I've been anxious to put up my Halloween decor, but not too soon because I get really tired of looking at it by the time Halloween night arrives. We are going to be a family of Star Wars characters this year as per the boys' requests. Zander will be Luke skywalker, Lucas is Darth Maul, Hannah will be Darth Vader, I will be Princess Leia, and Stephen will be an evil Sith Lord. We've also been waiting to see who and when someone is going to move in next door.

Zander is really excited to start a wrestling class this fall. It's only for four weeks but it won't start until November. It's put on by the high school, and I've heard a lot of good things about it so I'm excited for him because he's so excited. Zander has also started a hip hop and break dancing class. He was wait listed for a few weeks but got the green light last week. He is the youngest by far in his class because the kids are supposed to be at least five years old to start, but I talked to the owner of the studio and she let me add him. All the other boys are at least 2-5 years older that him and repeat students, so he has a lot of catching up to do but so far he's been doing really well and loving his class.

Zander is still learning the alphabet but can sing his ABCs in the right order; we just need to practice writing them and learning to write his last name. He's been loving the Sesame Street learning games online during quiet time in the afternoons to help him learn his letters better. He really loves to play with any and all kids in the neighborhood no matter their age; he's really a social butterfly.

Zander idolizes his dad. The other day I asked him what he wanted  to be when he got older and he replied, "A gym guy and a worker guy just like Dad!" He doesn't even know what dad does, but he wants to be just like him. Every Saturday morning Zander follows Stephen outside to mow the lawn...he literally follows behind him as he mows the lawn. Back and forth, back and forth right in Dad's footsteps for an hour. He is always wanting to help Stephen with his projects and any other time he needs help. Like the other day Stephen shattered a glass pan in the oven. Zander ran over to see if Stephen needed help. He was told he couldn't go in the kitchen because he needed shoes on, so Zander raced downstairs and put his winter boots on so he could walk in the kitchen to help out and pick up pieces of glass. he always wants Stephen to play with him the second he comes home from work. Even though Stephen is tired from a long day in the office he always plays with the kids; they just love him as do I.

Lucas is still up to no good most of the time. He loves to play tricks, tease, and tease some more. I love his sense of humor and the light mood he always seems to be in, but a lot of times it gets him into trouble and a smack on the back by his big brother. Lucas is also always giving. He will give up what he has to someone who is sad or seems to want what he has more. He is the first to give hugs and kisses to everyone. He loves his baby sister and has to be the one to go get her in the mornings to say hello and give her a hug and kiss on the forehead.

Lucas is also the first one up every morning right around 6:00 am or earlier to watch his new favorite show on Netflix Booba. spending so much time with Zander and his obsession with Star Wars, Lucas is genuinely getting into Star Wars too. He likes to play the Start Wars video game with Zander after his nap. He loves to go to nursery each week and has to show off what he did that day in class.

Lucas is definitely a button pusher and is always testing his boundaries and limits. He likes to be read to and can also recite the alphabet in order and count to 11. He is my lover of all things sweet...or really just food in general. He plays with his food at the table and makes as many messes as he possibly can. I can't get enough of his laugh; it is so infectious.

Hannah  will be 14 months next week. She started standing by herself this month. I thought she'd be walking in no time, but she is taking her time. She gets shaky and nervous if she's on her feet too long so she falls to the floor where she's more comfortable crawling. She is also a lover of all things sweet, and is generally a good eater. She is essentially the girl version of Lucas...literally. They look and act the exact the same way. I am really anxious to see her little personality reveal itself.

She is a thrill seeker who likes to be tossed, twirled around, and tickled. She is very dramatic when she wants something. She loves her mama and can be quite shy around people she doesn't know. Hannah loves bath time! She splashes and splashes and has quite the time in the tub. Her favorite place to play is on the top step of the stairs, and she doesn't like to get dressed, ever. It's like the worse thing that can happen to her at times by the way she screams and flails around on the floor. She loves her bottle and refuses to drink from anything else despite my best efforts to wean her.

We are all enjoying life right now, and are looking forward to our staycation tomorrow. Next week we'll be taking an adventure with Grandma to Spokane to visit Becky, I can't wait!