An eye for an eye....

A few nights ago and I was reading stories to Thatcher before going to bed, I fell asleep with my cheek pressed against the top of his head. I don't know how long we were like that, sitting up in the rocking chair, holding a book open and sleeping, but before I knew it Thatcher was squirming and rubbing his eyes. It took me a minute to wake up and realize that I had drooled on top of his head and it had run down his forehead and was getting in his eye! Poor baby!

After laying him in his crib and walking back to my room I had to smile as I realized now we were even....

A few days before that, I was sitting on my bed working on the laptop and I just happened to glance up as Thatcher came walking out of the bathroom carrying the toilet plunger. It's funny how quickly thoughts pass through your mind and you are helpless to react because you know there is no way you can respond fast enough and prevent the inevitable. This is what I saw in that split second, Thatcher came out of the bathroom and I realized that he was going to drag the plunger across my pillow that was laying on the floor in his path. I sat helpless, knowing that there was no way to get there fast enough to save it. Sure enough, the nasty thing rubbed itself shamefully across my nighttime friend as Thatcher traipsed by.

Could you imagine if I didn't see that? I would be sleeping on who knows what!

The thought send shivers up my spine. :)

A babe of many hats!

Some kids have a favorite blanket that they can't live without, but our son has a fettish for hats. He is always wanting to wear a hat, whether he is playing inside or out...

Taking a bath.....

Or going to sleep.

'Bout the cutest thing ever, that dear boy of mine.

One of those days....

Today was one of those days where you are getting ready for bed and you happen to glance in the mirror on your way to the bathroom, only to be stopped dead in your tracks, as you realize,......

"Wow, I didn't even brush my hair today...."

Ever tried waterskiing in a snowsuit?

This morning it was 37 degrees at 7am.....and guess where we were? We took the boat out on Lake Sammamish to do a little skiing and wake boarding before Jason went to work. The kids literally were in their snow suits, with mittens, hats and sippy cups full of hot chocolate.


We had dry suits to wear, but it was still freezing once you got up. Because now your head, hands and feet were wet and the cold 37 degree weather was now blowing on you. Jason's friend, Scott, came with us so that we could be legal and have a flagger. Actually most times we go out Scott comes with us... (Jason and Scott are like 2 peas in a pod) Or as Anne of Avonlea would say, they are "Bosom Buddies" ..at least they are when it comes to boats and wake boarding. This is actually a picture of Scott wake boarding, but it really showed all the steam coming off the lake that early in the morning. Frigid, I know.



Remember when you were in middle school and you planned a double wedding with your best friend? Well, Jason and Scott, bought matching boats within 2-3 weeks of each other and then bought matching wake board towers as well. It's like middle school all over again, but in a good way. But I digress....


Tonight we had a new family from our neighborhood over for dinner and it was really fun. They are originally from Canada, but recently moved here from Wenatchee. They were really fun and I was surprised to hear that they love to play DDR (Dance Dance Revolution). It was a blast to play with another family that would actually get up and do it with us. Most people are too embarrassed to try and so Jason and I end up making an exhibition of ourselves.

The dad, Cam, was really impressed with how well Dallin could play the XBOX. I don't really know if that is a good thing though. :) Dallin has gotten really really good....Jason has been hoping to find an XBOX competition somewhere and enter him.

"As long as he is so good we should make a little money off it!" :)

...always the entrepreneur.

These are a few of my favorite things!

Sometimes I feel like my very favorite hours of the day are from 9pm to midnight.

Sittin' on the couch in my jammies....

Snuggled in a blankie....

Watching a show or two....

Quoting "Seinfield" because we have seen every episode at least 3 times....

Eating ice cream....

Or Kettle Corn.....

Sometimes both....

Just hanging out with the guy I'm still crazy about....

And enjoying the stillness of the house.

Like Balm of Gilead to my crazy life.

Shots, shots and then....more shots.

Today was a sad day. Dallin had his 4 yr old check up and he had to get 4 shots for vaccines plus another one for his flu shot. While we were at it the doctor asked us, since we were already there, did I want Thatcher to have his flu shot as well?

Sure, why not? Bring it on!

Dallin was crying as the nurse walked in because I had mentally tried to prepare him that he was going to get a poke at the doctors office (I conveniently omitted that he was going to have to get 5 pokes!!!) but if he was a good boy (and to ease some of his mama's guilt) that afterward we would go to McDonald's!

Thatcher went first and cried for a few minutes and poor Dallin was so scared he was crying for me to hold him which I did and covered his eyes as well. It was truly sad and I really wished that I could have done it for him. He kept saying that he wanted me to go first. :) But, he really was brave and afterward we went to QFC and got him some grape chewable Tylenol (which are actually quite tasty compared to that nasty cherry liquid stuff) and then went on to McDonald's. I don't know which eased his pain: the Tylenol or McDonald's but after our little outing, he was completely cured and suffering from no side effects. I actually felt like it was worse having your 4 yr old get shots compared to having your baby get shots.

I double checked with the nurse before we left and she said no more shots until age 11! Hallelujah.

Dallin turns 4...finally!

Dallin has been counting down for MONTHS until his birthday and I am not kidding. I went back and forth about whether or not I wanted to have a "friend" birthday party for him but after all his excitement and anticipation I really did want to make it a special day for him.

So this is what we did: In the morning we woke up and opened presents.

And after a few short minutes, this....

Was reduced to this!

Then we got cleaned up and played with Dallin's new toys before going on over to Chuck E. Cheese's for Dallin's birthday party. This was our party table.

Dallin invited 4 friends: Preston, Ryker, Little Matthew and Kiana. It was absolutely adorable to see them all soooo excited to be at the birthday party. For a lot of them, it was their very first friend birthday party and they felt grown up. :) We had pizza and pop....

Then we played all manner of nasty germ infested games, (but we earned lots of tickets and so it was worth it!!!)

And then we had cake and ice cream and opened more presents. Thanks everyone! Dallin is still talking about his birthday at Chuck E. Cheetos!

Dallin you are definitely the "biggest boy." I remember just a few short years ago that I used to call you "Tiny" but you probably don't remember that. I can't believe how fast you have grown and it makes me sad. I miss you....is that even possible because you are just in the next room, breathing deeply and occasionally talking in your sleep. What I mean, is that sometimes I miss your little you. Oh! don't get me wrong, your big you, is very fun too. Completely full of life and a little mischief and a lot of independence. Sometimes when I think about you having to be the oldest child, it makes me sad. I am definitely not a perfect mom and every time you get to a knew stage it always takes me awhile to "figure things out." I am sorry that you have to be the guinea pig for our family and for your siblings. You are sooo smart though, I know whatever you choose in life, you'll be fantastic.

And I'm not just saying that because I am your mom. :)

I love you a million trillion dollars!

Liquid GOLD!

Have you ever wondered what liquid gold looks like. Well, my friends, take a gander at the little beauties above and fill your eyes with an absolutely breath taking view.

I canned peaches for my very first time and while I didn't find it to be much cheaper, I took pleasure in 2 things: I learned a new skill that was actually really fun in a self-satisfying way and after Jason had his first taste he declared, "Oh honey, I don't think you made enough....these won't last a week at our house!"

I have to admit that I am keeping a tight reign on how often we are allowed to open a bottle of peaches, I am hoping these things are going to last us until the millennium. It's true that every time a bottle is opened I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Just knowing that I am 1 more bottle down for all my hard work....it's right up there with all those sick things like spilling freshly pumped breast milk.

*Go ahead and shudder, I know you want to*

Yeah, but can your 3 yr old do this?!?!?!

A couple of months ago Dallin learned how to ride a bike without training wheels. I couldn't believe it. I helped him 2 different times to practice riding and on the 2nd time he was yelling at me to let him go....I figured that he would crash and burn and that would be the end of his independence, but to my utter amazement....he rode away from me and turned around and rode back. I went right in and called Jason.

Jason: Hello?

Jen: Hey hon, I just had to apologize but I accidentally taught Dallin how to ride a bike.....

I figured that this was something that Jason would want to teach Dallin and somehow I had taken that away from him.

Jason: Yeah, it's something I would have liked to do with him, but I understand....there's just no holding that kid back!

Ain't that the truth!

Surprise, surprise!!!

Sung to the tune of "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree"

I looked out the window and what did I see?

Jason bought a boat and it's in our drivew-ee.

We've been out on our boat everyday we see the sun,

Wakeboarding and skiing is sure a lot of fun!!!

For the past year, Jason has been researching boats and watching Craigs list. Last spring he started ground on creating his own company called Wakeshares (basically ski boat time shares but for really nice ski boats. :) And when that didn't happen he has been dying to get his own boat. All along I was firm on...."No, we are not getting a boat. Our kids are too little and we don't have a permanent place to live yet." Nevertheless, Jason was persistant in finding something that would work for us. He became so obsessed that every other word out of his mouth (for the past 6 months) was either: boat or wakeboarding.

I do have to admit that on especially sunny days as we would pass the Lake as we drove in that car I would think to myself, "It would be so fun to have a boat!" But, then I would remind myself..."Get a grip girl, do not let your guard down for 1 minute."

Well, it happened a couple weeks ago that Jason found this little gem of a ski boat.....in San Francisco. He sent his brother Jeremy to look at it with a check list of about 50+ things to look at. Jeremy and his family took the boat out on the water, drove it around and gave Jason a big thumbs up. It was then that I had a moment of weakness. After talking to Jeremy, seeing all the pictures they took that I said...."Hmmm, it is kindof a cute boat......" Jason looked at me and was ever so hopeful. "OH, ALRIGHT! You better call the guy right NOW and make a deal before I change my mind in the next 5 minutes." Which he promptly did....and voile! We had ourselves a boat. The only problem was that we were here and the boat was in California. Minor details. Jason spent the next 4 days driving down to get the boat and back home. Crazy boy.

But, I do have to admit. We are LOVING it! The only thing I can say about my moment of weakness was "WHAT TOOK ME SO LONG!"

This is our first evening out on Lake Sammamish. And this is what I loved so much about having a boat growing up. We were always eating pizza on the boat and after we would each take a couple ski rides. Now the legacy lives on. :)

I always thought the kids were too little to enjoy being in the boat and out on the water but they are really loving it. And they get braver and braver every time we go out....which is everyday the sun in shining....no joke!

O Canada! continued...

I know I left everyone hangin' on that last entry but I want you all to know that everything worked out and Jason was able to come back into the US. It did have me worried though, I kept imagining him being denied as we got on the ferry back to the States and I was going to have to run home and get his birth certificate and drive back to the border or apply for an expedited/renewed passport as he sat in a hotel in a different country all alone. Believe me, my imagination ran wild with all different scenarios. You may think, why didn't you just contact the US Embassy and get things straightened out so you didn't have to brew about it your whole vacation....well, little did we know that the next day, July 1st, was CANADA DAY!!!! And nobody was working....and the next day nobody was working either.....and the next day, was the day before our US Independence Day and nobody was working and the next day, July 4th.....yep, you guessed it nobody was working. Those darn workers at the US Consulate in Victoria, they were double dippin' in both Independence Day pots and so ....we didn't or I should say we couldn't contact them.

Our hotel was amazing! It was a 2 bedroom suite with a kitchen that had a double balcony that opened up right over the main harbor in Victoria. (I found a guy in CA desperate to sell his time share because they were no longer going to be able to use it and so we got a great deal.) It was perfect for watching all the seaplanes and for watching all the great fireworks on Canada Day. Above is a picture of us standing in front of the harbor, a little ways down from our hotel. Behind us is the famous Empress Hotel.

We spent the first evening walking around the city and getting acquainted with some of the famous buildings right around the harbor. The picture above it a life-sized cut out of famous people from Canada. You can go and stand behind it and have your picture taken. Do you see my parents and our kids? ;)
This was a park filled with a whole bunch of totem poles we played around here while we were waiting to get into The Old Spaghetti Factory which has been a favorite since I was a little kid. Once we found out Victoria had a Spaghetti Factory there was NO question where we would dine tonight.
As we walked back to the hotel, the Parliament Building lit up. Come to find out the light the whole building up every night. It was really cool!

The next day we took a city tour on a double decker bus. There's just a bit of British influence here. :) It was fun and we got to see a bunch of stuff and hear interesting facts that we wouldn't normally have learned had we just gone off to see the stuff ourselves.

Then we went and took a tour through Craigdarroch Castle. It was really interesting, but our kids were getting a little tired by this point and they were running through the rooms and trying to get away from us. This is me, holding Dallin in a vice-grip trying to get him to hold still for a picture. Needless to say, we didn't fully get to read about each room and a lot of the history we found out later as we read through the brochure while waiting for the bus. That afternoon we went to Butchard Gardens. My Dad said that he wasn't all that excited to go see some gardens (Jason felt the same way) but they were amazed and glad they had gone by the end of the trip. The kids even had fun, because there was a lot of winding paths and little streams for them to play around. This garden was my favorite. It is called Sunken Gardens.

Even though this picture didn't show much of the gardens, I thought it was a cute picture of my parents.

Dallin found his favorite part in the Japanese Gardens....

It was Jason's favorite part too. :)

The gang hangin' 10 in the Italian Gardens....

Dallin decided to feed Thatcher some of his muffin...

The next day was by far the most fun. See, the great thing about going on vacation with your parents is that if you want to do something that the kids can't do, then they stay with Grandma and Grandpa. :) Jason and I went on a huge zip line in the morning while my parents watched the kids and then that afternoon my parents went on the zip line while Jason and I watched the kids. It worked out perfect and it was SO much fun!

And then by the time we got home, we needed a vacation from our vacation.

O Canada!

Since my parents were already up here to watch Dallin and Thatcher while Jason and I went to Youth Conference we decided that we would all take the next week off as well and go to Victoria B.C. It was so much fun. We have lived here for 4 years now and this was the first time we had been to Canada. First of all we rented a minivan so we could all ride in the same car together and then we drove up to Anacortes and took a ferry through the San Juan Islands before landing on Vancouver Island.

It was about this time here, while we were driving off the ferry our first 50 feet on Canadian soil, that Jason looked at his passport and said....."Holy Cow! My passport expired 6 months ago!" Now, for all of you thinking that my Jason is a big joke-ster....um no....this was no joke. I was sick. Here we had planned this whole vacation and made alot of reservations and I was thinking they would probably turn us right around on the ferry and send us home. You would think getting into Canada with an expired American passport is tricky but the guy at customs assured us it was A-OK. Just as we all breathed a sign of relief thinking that our trip was going to still be fantastic, Jason asked if it was going to give us trouble getting back into the United States. "Uh, you might have a problem there...." the customs agent said, at which time our hearts all re-constricted and doom sat upon our shoulders.

To be continued.....

Babies babies....and still more babies.

Dallin has been "talking babies" at our house quite a bit lately. We went and saw our good friends Spencer and Kathie Arneson who had just brought home their new little girl and Dallin was enamored.

When we got home later that evening Dallin said, "Mommy, lets bring home 3 babies to our house too." Meaning Dallin, Thatcher and new baby = 3.

"Is that a plan?" he asks.

"Yes, that sounds like a great plan to me," I answered.

"And lets have a sister baby!"

and then out pops this little gem

"I won't hit her mommy!"

Just so you know, Dallin, I am holding you to this. ;)

This perception has actually gotten alot better, he used to ask me if we could bring home another baby to our house and name it Thatcher too. Then we could have 2 Thatcher babies!! "Is that a plan, mommy?" We are forever making plans....

Youth Conference 2008!

Jason and I were in charge of our ward Youth Conference this year and even though it was a lot of work we had a blast.

This is the cabin were we stayed near Leavenworth Washington. It was gorgeous....I thought it was funny because the owners, John and Hollie Hansen, kept telling everyone not to get their hopes up because their cabin was only 1 step above the uni bomber cabin. Ha, yeah right!!!

They had an old barn in the back and we set up a zip line out to a tractor in the meadow. It was a lot of fun. We started to get a little crazy and try new things....This is me being pushed out of the loft of the barn...ha, jk.

That first day, we did a service project at Wenatchee State Park by doing a beach clean up. We hauled away 4 truck loads of driftwood from off the beach. It looked really nice after we were finished. The park rangers were amazed to say the least. :)

That night we had a speaker and he talked on our theme which was "Build Upon The Rock" meaning the rock of Jesus Christ. We gave the kids bracelets that said "Rock Solid" on them. They really liked them and I tried to get the kids to make a pact that they would wear them for a year until the next Youth Conference, but they didn't go for that.

For the late night activity, we projected Shrek 3 up on a sheet for a really cool outdoor movie. After it was over, we had about 4o minutes until midnight (lights out) and so we put in Brian Regan. He is a comedian that is VERY clean and so funny. We were all ROLLING on the ground it was so funny. I don't know if he is really as funny as we all thought but, maybe it was that we were all really tired. :)

The next day we went on a white water rafting trip. It was so fun and the water was really high because of the late thaw we had this year. Which translates into: Late thaw = Big water = Really Big Rapids! = An unforgettable good time!

Later we had a testimony meeting which was really neat because we all sat in a circle and went 1 by 1 around the circle and everyone bore their testimonies. It was really spiritual and it was great to hear the testimonies from some of the kids that you don't get to hear from that often. I felt like after this night, we really grew closer as a group.

That night after a campfire and smores, the kids all wanted to watch the 2nd DVD of Brian Regan and so we did.... :)

The whole 3 days was such a fun experience, Jason and I felt like we were really blessed to have been a part of it. The whole time I was up there I just felt like one of the kids. It was awesome.

We only had 1 minor problem on the ride home. A little swerve and drive off into a ditch so as to not hit a car that suddenly stopped right in front of the YM President. The good thing was that it was right next to a little Espresso stand and so Jason bought us all Strawberry Smoothies while we waited for the tow truck. :)

The best part of the whole trip was that my parents drove up here from UT to stay with Dallin and Thatcher at home and so I didn't have any worries about them. Jason and I could just concentrate on the schedule and making sure everything ran smoothly. And it did....slick like butta.