You will have significant experiences. I hope that you will write them down and keep record of them, that you will read them from time to time and refresh your memory of those meaningful and significant things. Some may be funny. some may be significant only to you. some of them may be sacred and quietly beautiful. Some may build one upon another until they represent a lifetime of special experience. - President Hinckley



Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Virginia Trip!




I got to spend a week with the Queen (AKA my sister Lynn) in her new home in Virginia. It was so fun. I got a sitter for my kids and she came daily while Travis worked - it was great, the kids were well behaved and Travis got to work and I didn't have to worry. I got to Lynn's and we sent Jake off to some school thing he had to do and we went to work. We bought chairs and put them together we painted the big bird yellow walls a muted beige (after we had tried a horrible cement color), we watched way too many episodes of friends, we ate Subway, we laughed, we tried to get her new baby Jack on a schedule, we went for a walk, cleaned the NASTIEST shower ever (literally I spent over an hour on it), and we unpacked, and ran lots of errands! Whew! I loved every minute. We worked so hard, parts of the ceiling were so high, we had to rig our own extender to paint it all, but it looks FABULOUS if I do say so myself. I played with Annabelle and loved on Jack. We didn't do a ton of sight seeing but what we did do was fantastic. We saw the Lincoln Memorial, Arlington cemetary, Washington Monument, and WW2 memorial (which Annabelle wanted to swim in), and walked the "mall" by all of them. It was hot and muggy but fun. At one point we thought someone great was coming through because a several policeman blocked off the intersection - I was so excited but all they were doing was blocking it for tour buses- blah! I should've posted this sooner, but didn't and now can't remember great details....oh well. Great trip- the pictures are a little out of order but you'll get the idea. I took an empty suitcase and she sent me home with a whole new wardrobe (that's why there'a picture of me with new clothes on). Oh, and we were able to see my cousin David and his family for one afternoon!

The last leg of my flight home from Denver I thought I was going to die. We hit microbursts about 30 minutes before landing in Boise. The plane would drop and then rise and drop and then rise what felt like 100's of feet of freefall. At one point of the flight attendants came on and said if we needed to evacuate to leave all of our things behind. I was ready to die, but scared out of my mind. Every part of my body hurt when I finally got off. One of the flight attendants after we landed said he'd never been in anything like it in his 10 years of flying.




























Saturday, August 14, 2010

Boys!









The Doodle Turns 2!

Holy smokes! It's been 2 years since he got here. I love this kid. He's a crazy one and probably more "normal" than all of my others in the way of getting into things, fighting back, and just being 2. He was so sick - vomiting and diharrea. His room was transformed . In fact on Monday (the day after this birthday) I took Dallin, Gwendalin, and Tyler to the pediatrician. I came home with 9 perscriptions. Today they are all feeling much better. I am pretty proud of myself, Dallin had birthday cake and got 2 presents which I spent a total of $10 on ( a great craigslist find!). Here are a few pictures of our small gathering.


While in "puke mode" the room looked like this....(below) garbage bags to catch the nastiness and all bedding removed except the sheet.










Here are a few things about Dallie Doodle at 2.
*He loves to scream (happy or sad, it makes no difference) - MaHm!
*He loves his siblings.
*He has the determiniation of 5 determined people....he WILL accomplish whatever he's trying.
*He has to be "tented" into his crib or he won't stay.
*He lays on the kitchen floor to have his milk - but his blanket must also be present.
*He adores being outside
*He loves riding bikes
*His giggle is contagious
*He likes to swing and swim
*He loves "seetza" (Pizza)
*We can't keep him in the house b/c he knows how to unlock every door.
*He loves to get in the fridge and smear yogurt on the carpet.
*He is cuddly.
*He hates nursery.
*When the vacumn is out - he wants to be using it.
*He speaks very well!
*His smile can melt you.
*He cries if mom or dad leaves and wants to go.
He's such a sweet baby. I am so glad he's mine!

Open Water

We had a RS activity at the lake. I went with the intention of not getting in the water because I despise being cold. I took my suit "just in case." And when the third boat came to fill up with people the only ones left were the ones who had intended to stay on land. I felt guilty so I changed and went out on the water. I surfed...I have only ever water skiied like 2 times and it's been 15 years at least. Anyway, I ended up getting up on the first try - it was a lot of fun. Only problem was how sore my legs already were from my workout that morning. I paid for these activities (working out and surfing) until yesterday when I could finally walk semi normal again. It was fun - I got to know a few people better and mom even went - I think had she not been feeling so sick she would've been in the water and up on her first try :)!