The Nate and Sara Project

Evan turns 2! And an Idaho Christmas

2012-01-12T21:16:00.000-08:00

I have to start our Christmas post with this pic. A house in our neighborhood goes all out with lights. Every square inch of yard, roof, and house is covered. This scene is Evan's very favorite part, and he would ask to see it every time we got in the car. It is pretty dang cute.

We had so much fun spending a couple days with Nate's brother and his family before we headed up to Idaho. Too much fun, I didn't take any pictures there! We also stopped on our way up to Idaho to have dinner with my sister and Evan helped her make sugar cookies. Those are two very talented cooks!

She gave him an early birthday present. He wasn't totally sure what to do with it at first. But don't worry, by the end of our vacation, Evan was a pro at opening gifts!

She gave him bones gloves that glow in the dark, and they terrify him! It's hilarious :)

Once in Idaho, Evan had a blast having Daddy around all day, every day!

All Evan had been talking about for at least a month was building a snowman when he got to Grandma's. We only got snow one day our entire trip, and it was pure powder! No snowman, but we still did go play in it and kick it around before it melted.

We FINALLY got to meet sweet Millie (she's 8 months!), and she and Evan hit it off right away. She is more adorable than all of her pictures I've seen, and we were so thankful to get to spend some quality face time with her parents. We miss you, Hartwell's! (They are working on a PhD at Purdue).

Evan reminded Grandma Fuller every day to turn on the Christmas tree. He would go and examine it and talk about all of the ornaments he could see, every night. Here he is on his birthday with Grandma's tree!

This birthday was lots more fun than last year's, because no one was sick this year! Hallelujah!!

I made mini funfetti cupcakes to celebrate.

They were a huge hit with the birthday boy!!

I think he was most excited about having all the balloons on his chair, but he quickly got the hang of opening presents, and learned to automatically give me a cheesy smile any time I said his name ;)

I was excited he immediately started reading his new $1.00, last minute purchase, book. This boy LOVES to read, and it makes me so happy!

He didn't need any help at all with that wrapping.

It really was pure joy on this boy's face, all night long. It's like he couldn't believe these were all his. I guess that's what happens when you only get to open presents once a year! You forget what it's like!!

He was spoiled just enough for his birthday, and learned the words to "Happy Birthday", which he likes to make me sing to him regularly.

Apparently Evan's birthday tradition is to go bowling, because we have been in ID so far for each of his birthdays, and it's kind of the only thing to do in town! This year he was big enough to get his own cute lil bowling shoes. I was obsessed with them.

And good ol' Pop-n-Pins has a special kid ball that weighs about 4 pounds. It was way funny how excited Evan was to have his own ball, and that it was pink!

I guess he's been bowling often enough (as in like 4 times ever), that he's got it figured out. He knows right what to do, and doesn't even need any help.

We were having so much fun, we didn't even realize how very much past bedtime it was. Note: I look so tired in every picture because Evan decided our first night of vacation, that he would no longer be sleeping in a crib. He just up and jumps out. Transitioning from crib to no crib on vacation is a terrible, horrible, rotten, exhausting thing. Thank you, son.

I feel lucky that we were able to go to the cemetery on Christmas Eve with lots of family, and teach Evan about this very special tradition. We light candles and sing Christmas songs, and talk remember loved ones lost. I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to teach Evan about death, resurrection, and eternal families. That's a bit much for a 2 year old, but it was a good teaching opportunity for me, and it's never to early to start! Lucky for us, there was no wind this year and it was a quite pleasant 14 degrees that night, the warmest it's even been since I've been going!

I took hardly any pictures Christmas morning, because I was too busy soaking it in. Christmas was so much fun with Evan this year. His just couldn't get enough of it! We have him this cute little pup tent, and had it set up Christmas morning. He saw it first thing and started laughing and squealing, then played in it most the rest of the morning. After he would open a present, he would take it in the tent to play with it.

And of course, mommy and daddy had to play in it, too. It's just the right size for all three and half of us.
It was wonderful to go to church on Christmas, and like everyone else, I think that should be mandatory from on. It set a nice tone for the rest of the day, even though it made us shower and get dressed for the day. Not our Christmas norm :)

We attended a neighborhood Christmas party in ID, and Nate had a VERY proud moment in teaching his son to play ping-pong for his first time. Evan appeared to love it just as much as his dad does. My favorite part is that he is so excited waiting for the ball to come, he can't contain himself and hops up and down. (Sorry for the shaking camera, I was laughing too hard)

Awesome times bowling! And Evan randomly says a few times a week, "I wanna go bowling, Mommy...please?" (Imagine a small whine to go along with that each time I say no.)

SO last year...

2012-01-10T20:55:00.000-08:00

It may or may not be taking me a little while to get back into the swing of things after being on Christmas vacation for two weeks. None the less, I hope all my blogger friends enjoyed a wonderful holiday season. We sure did, and now I'm off to work on getting all of those blog posts done.

YES-that is my pregnant belly that Evan has his heart shaped hands on. No, I am not actually that big, just thanks to the angle of the shot, and the way my couch was squishing me. No, it's not a couch or a basketball that Evan is holding. Yes, of course I am wearing a shirt. A pink one, in fact, to further acknowledge the fact that we will be welcoming a GIRL to our little family in about three short months. And yes, the above picture is a shot from my phone, taken at my mom's house, of my Christmas card hanging on her wall. Any other questions/comments/snide remarks about my Christmas card this year?? :)

Shanell and Shamu

2011-12-21T13:26:00.000-08:00

We had a great surprise when my fabulous friend Shanell decided to come out for a visit!

We stopped by the beach after the airport, for a windy stroll and some yummy lunch. It wouldn't be California without some beach!

I found this little display on the Boardwalk so amusing. It's just not right to have ocean behind your Christmas tree! Silly Californians.

While she was here, we obviously had to go feed our wild burros. I don't know who loved it more between Evan and Shanell!We seemed to take it pretty easy the during her visit, which I think was what she needed. Not like there is really a whole ton to do in town anyways, but Evan couldn't have been happier to have a playmate with him all day every day. He and "Nell" are great buds, and he still asks me every morning "Where Nell go?"

Shanell left us on a flex, so we took her back to the airport and continued onward to Sea World to make use of our passes one more time before the year was up.

Evan was old enough this time to enjoy the rides, and enjoy he sure did! The firs picture is right before the ride was to start for his first time. He was SO excited!! Nate and Evan rode this Elmo's flying fish ride more times than I could count over the next 24 hours. The bottom pic is at the end of his last time riding. Pure happiness :)

He also loved this spinning ride, which I thought he for sure would not. It's like the teacups at Disneyland. Nate let Evan be in charge of spinning it if he wanted to, and they spun a lot! Luckily, they got to ride this one a few times, too.

It was a lot fun to be there at Christmas time and take in a lot of there fun Christmas shows, which I always forget to take pictures of. I'm just enjoying myself!

We watched the Polar Express 4D experience, and were so surprised that Evan sat through the whole 20 minutes and kept his glasses on, too! He actually really loved it, and always talks about the "choo choo movie with bells".

I did manage to get pictures at the Shamu show, because we were sitting so stinking close! Our goal was to get wet, because it was a very warm 65 degrees. Shamu didn't even sprinkle us, but managed to completely soak a little family and baby about 30 rows up. Soak zone my eye...

We let Evan go wild here after seeing Shamu and the dolphins, and not getting wet once. He was soaked from head to toe by the time we made him leave, and was definitely the only kid to play in the splash zone. Stay tuned for some awesome video...

And if the splash park was not the highlight of his Sea World trip, then this definitely was. Everytime he sees this picture, he laughs SO hard and says, "Elmo, cookie monster so funny. Say cheese, Evan!" (He obviously doesn't know who Grover is, just assumed a blue monster was cookie monster.)

Somewhere in this same week, Evan and I also had the chance to go to Disneyland with my sister and her kids. Evan got a kick out of the huge tree, and even got to see Minnie walk right by him. He was in shock.

We saw It's a Small World on crack, Christmas style, as my sister calls it. There was so much to look at, Evan couldn't keep up. We came out just as they turned the lights on outside, and he could not look away.

I thought the castle looked extra beautiful, and want to make it over there one day. I don't ever manage to take pics of my kid at Disneyland, because we are usually so busy making efficient use of our time, I just snap pictures of stuff I like from my phone as we are running from ride to ride :)

Disney Christmas is pretty magical, and I was convinced they had gingerbread blowing through the streets.

The best picture I got of the kids was riding the bus back to the parking lot, which is probably Evan's favorite ride. :) They are usually so hyper after we are done, this is really as much as you can make them hold still!

Evan at Sea World Splash Park

We probably let Evan play here like this for at least 20 minutes. We have several different videos of him trying to "catch" the water. By the end of this one, he was starting to get an audience! It made me so happy to watch him so thoroughly enjoying himself. We sure do love that kid.

All Aboard!!!

2011-12-03T20:51:00.000-08:00

Our favorite family tradition came and went this week: The Train Man! The Sagebrush Shortline Railroad becomes more and more incredible to me each year. And although a new piece or two is added each year, they usually aren't anything real spectacular; it just continues to amaze me how much time, effort, dedication and pure heart goes in to making this happen year after year. It's also becoming more fun every time we go, because Evan is grasping it more and really loving it. This year, our tickets were set for a really windy day (the day of the infamous wind in Utah!), and I was worried our train ride would be cancelled. But by the time night arrived, the wind had calmed down a bit, it was just awfully, awfully chilly! We braved it anyway, and it was SO worth it! because no one else was there!!! We walked right on to the train, and rode back to back at least twice, maybe even three times. Plus, visited with Santa, and all of this in less than an hour. Evan hasn't stopped talking about all of the things he saw on the train ride since, and asks me at least once an hour if we can go ride the train. :)

I was thrilled to see the "no pregnant riders allowed" rule removed from the tickets this year (although I had planned on riding no matter what!)

Evan's favorite sights along the train ride that he chatters about constantly: "boat, skeletons say, 'phew, phew!'; penguins playing; big polar bears; castle guy play drums; Santa reindeer; moon; choo choo train; bridges on water".

Oh, and I can't forget, "Santa, Merry Christmas, lap, candy!"
I was shocked that Evan wasn't scared at all to go sit on Santa's lap. We told him as we were walking over we were going to see Santa (which I wasn't even sure he knew who that was) and he just said, ok! we walked in to Santa's tent and Nate went and sat him on Santa's lap, we told him to tell Santa Merry Christmas, which he did, then Santa told Evan to say cheese so Mommy could take a picture. Evan pointed to the candy canes, looked Santa right in the eye, and said, "Candy?" So Santa gave him his cane, and Evan immediately turned to me and said "Cheese". What a pro! No crying, shaking, screaming, nothin'. When Nate picked him up off Santa's lap, Evan just turned and waved, and said, "Bye!" He was so darn cute.

And my favorite part was watching him like the kid in The Christmas Story that can't move due to his coat :)

Thanks to my sister for reminding me of a favorite Christmas treat that I can't buy here, I made my own chocolate covered cinnamon bears. It definitely satisfied my craving for them, but I may need to make them again before we get to Utah, because Nate I finished them off way too quickly! Yummy, yummy, yummy.

Evan is definitely almost two. We have our rough days together, but he always makes up for it by having lots of good days to follow ;) When he's good, he's really good, and so much fun, and so creative, and so grown up! He talks so much, and I am always laughing at the conversations we have together. I don't know where he gets some of his information...

These were his "funny socks" that he could not stop laughing over. He kept running between me and Nate (in different rooms) to show us his "funny socks". Then he kept telling me people that he wanted to show his funny socks to. Since it was late, and most of those people don't live here, I promised him I'd take a picture so we could show everyone he knew :)

He can be so sweet, and lots of times when we are sitting on "Evan's couch" (this is where we have to go to have a rest from playing, according to him), he turns to me and tells me to take a picture. His words "Cheese, please, Mommy" . And just so you don't think he is asking me for food and I'm taking his picture instead, he has a certain "cheese" smile he gives me, that is usually faded by the time I can get a camera out.

Tonight he was laying like this and looking like he was playing a flute while singing, "doo doo doo". I seriously don't know where he gets this stuff! But I'm glad he does, because it sure makes my days lots more fun.

Giving Thanks

2011-11-29T20:09:00.000-08:00

We got to stay here in The Ridge for Thanksgiving and it was SO nice. My men began the day heading off to kick field goals (cause who wants to actually play football?) while I got lots of cooking done.

Apparently I was preparing Evan to go play football Thanksgiving morning in Utah. A thermal top, mittens, fleece jacket, and beanie. Nate informed me that all came off within probably half an hour, because Thanksgiving day ended up being beautiful weather. Weird! I'm still not used to this silly desert weather.

We got together with three other families and had such a feast. I wish I would have taken pictures of how much food we had, but I was too dang excited! It was absolutely awesome. The couple whose house we had dinner at, prepared entertainment for all of the kids for after dinner while parents cleaned up and rested :)

Here's the kids competing for the coloring contest; the best turkey won. What do you know, they all won 1st place and a prize?! (PS-yes, that is my husband passed out on the floor in the corner of someone else's home...)

It was also one of the mommy's birthdays, so after Thanksgiving, we continued on and had a birthday party!

Nate literally slept through singing, noise makers, and children walking on top of him. All that eating must have really worn him out. ;) (There was indeed a weigh in before and after the meal, along with before and after pies).

We had such an enjoyable, lovely day, and I was feeling overwhelmed with gratitude to get to spend time with my little family, to enjoy such great company with good friends that can make family feel less far away, and just for the comfortable life we live, in general. It was a nice day for reflecting on my many, many blessings.

One thing I love about staying here for Thanksgiving is that I get to spend the entire next day fully jumping into Christmas mode!

Evan and Nate put up the Christmas lights on the house, and they look great! Evan thought it was hilarious to see Daddy on the roof, and he always loves when he gets to be a helper. (His hat says Santa's Little Helper!) He's kind of adorable :)

I spent the day taking down fall decor, and trading it in for lots of red and green!

I didn't realize it until I started unpacking my boxes, but apparently I am starting quite the collection of Nativities. And I love it! But I don't know that I have room for any more :)

I pulled out all of the stops with Christmas music blasting all weekend, and we finally got to get out the Christmas jammies! I know, I really get way too excited for the little things in life.

Evan was also quite thrilled by his new penguin jammies. But who wouldn't be excited over $3 pajamas? With penguins on them?!

This son of mine is truly his own character. He is growing up so much, and has quite the mind of his own.

There is no water left in this tub. But he REFUSED to get out. I don't know if he was just being (nearly) 2 and stubborn, or if he was super tired, but there was nothing that would get him out. At one point he started telling me about hearing the ocean...As much as this kid can drive me absolutely crazy, I absolutely love him and he cracks me up every day.

We loved having a long, easygoing weekend at our house. It is the first time in quite awhile that we have spent that much time together as a family, just us. We needed it, and even though Nate and Evan came down with some runny noses towards the end of it, I think we all felt rejuvenated and charged up to let the busy, wonderful month of December begin!

...Singin' In The Dead Of Night

2011-11-10T23:01:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, we joined a friend (whose wife was away for the weekend, and he needed to entertain his boys) down in Lancaster to visit The Blackbird Museum.

Blackbirds are these black, ridiculously sleek, smooth and fast-beyond-fast jets. They go coast to coast in one hour. ONE hour!! Can you even imagine?! I imagine these things sing in middle of the day, just as much as in the dead of night. I am sure these bad boys are loud!

I learned that a Blackbird has never been shot at. Well, technically, shots have been attempted, but come no where near hitting, because by the time a shot is in it's radar, the Blackbird is long gone.

Evan was thrilled to see "big jets, way fast!!!" He was completely beside himself when Nate lifted him up to let him touch this one :)

Once Evan and his buddy Tyson saw this "old firetruck", they couldn't leave it. They thought it was way cool, and wanted me to take lots of pictures of it.

Besides Blackbirds, this museum had another park of all different kind of planes. We saw an F-14 that looked just like the one Goose flew in Top Gun :) And lots of other cool ones, too.

This is a B-52 bomber. I cannot describe how LARGE this plane is. We are talking, the killer whale of all airplanes. It is absolutely enormous, and can hold, literally, thousands and thousands of pounds worth of firearms.

They even had a real pilot's seat to try out, and Evan thought this was way neat. He wanted everyone to sit in it, too.

Of course, we can't go out of town without hitting up Costco. Plus, my friend introduced me to this spinach and artichoke hummus from Costco that I have been desperate to have in my fridge! So after a busy, fun day, Evan was out as soon as the car was on the road home. I love watching him when he sleeps; it helps me remember how oh-so-very-sweet he can be :)

Evan is a very busy boy, and is quite the helper, most of the time. Mind you, I did not ask him to help me unload dishes at this point. He opened it and got in all by himself.

I did figure though, if he was going to be in there, may as well make him useful. Like I said, a good helper. He seriously loves putting dishes away. Let's see how long this chore stays fun for him.

When he was done, he obviously needed a break. He asked me for a "tiny water", then opened the dishwasher again and had a little rest. Crazy kid.

As of lately, I am finding him in the oddest places, doing the strangest things. His creativity switch must have just flipped on, because he is exploring everything and telling the strangest stories these days.

This is one of those times I show the world how great of a mom I am. Evan was telling me wanted to swing, but wasn't patient enough for me to get over to him to help him up into the hammock. He tried to get in himself, and this is what happened. Instead of immediately running to his aide while he kept repeating "I stuck! I stuck, Mommy!", I took a picture first. I know he'll appreciate it one day.

He thinks he is so funny. And if you do happen to laugh at whatever he was doing, he laughs so hard and loud, and says, "Evan funny!" This is one of those times.

A few nights ago, Evan woke up about 330am just screaming and crying and having a fit. Nate went and got him and could not calm him down, so he brought him into our bed so I could help Evan chill out. Between both of us cuddling him, he was able to compose himself and fell back asleep. Neither of us cared to attempt putting him back in his room and risk going through all of that again, so we just let him sleep in the middle of our bed for the rest of the night. I say, sleep...I don't really know if Evan ever actually sleeps. He is all over the place! Which means neither Nate or I got any sleep. Evan refuses to be underneath blankets, so try as we might, he was constantly on top of our bedspread, which made having the covers actually on us a bit difficult. At one point in the night, he was laying exactly perpendicular between us, on our pillows, with his hand raised above his head, holding onto my ear (what a strange way for me to be awakened!), and his feet literally pressed into the back of Nate's head. And when Nate tried to move Evan's feet away from his head, they would immediately go right back and assume the position. Thinking about it now, is actually making me laugh pretty hard, but we were not amused at the time. (I wonder if he just liked the way Nate's hair felt in between his toes?) At one point in the night, Nate actually picked Evan up and moved him all the way down the bed, so he would be nowhere near his head. This just led to Evan feet kicking him in the back, and Evan using my hips and behind as a pillow. On top of all this, Evan was up and ready to go for the day at approximately 648am. Nate and I were exhausted and ornery before we even got out of bed for the day. Later that morning, I was going out for our usual walk, and needed to work out a little more stress, I suppose, so I jogged for about a mile (note:I haven't ran yet this pregnancy, and probably not for several months before that!). But it felt great, and Evan seemed to really be enjoying it. When I got home and went to get him out of the stroller, what do I find?! Sleeping Evan, in the middle of the morning!!! That's why I thought he was liking the jog so much, he was totally out. Apparently, HE had a rough night ;) I was so mad he thought he could sleep, while I was working hard and relieving stress that he brought on to me! :) But then I couldn't help but melt as I watched his sweet face. I left him in the hallway in the stroller, and got in some uninterrupted yoga in while he slept more. We were both in much better moods when he woke up, and he still took another nap that afternoon. :)

Way too much Halloween fun

2011-10-31T14:40:00.000-07:00

Does everyone remember how very much I love Halloween? It is really my favorite. And it just keeps getting better every year, because I can push my love for it onto Evan and he absorbs it like a sponge :) Saturday was FULL of Halloween fun for us, and I loved every minute of it!! Let's remember one of my favorite costumes of the past; being pregnant at Halloween is super awesome!

This year I had some favorite touches of my own for every day happiness :)

Evan and I only had three costume changes for the day!!! SO MUCH FUN!

Saturday morning, I took Evan to Albertson's for lots of Halloween festivities. Here he is with his buddy Tyson waiting for the costume contest to begin.

Which Tyson won! He was a pretty darn cute lil' Woody.

We set out that afternoon as pirates to a friend's house for a little party. Evan is saying, "Arrggghh!" to the camera.

The pirate with his two Woody buddies. We had lots of fun pinning legs on the spider, playing ball toss for candy, eating bite sized caramel apples, and frosting sugar cookies. We walked away with lots of fun treats and goodies!

And I think the best costume was saved for last!

Evan absolutely loved his bones! And they were glow in the dark, which made them even more awesome!! There is a cute little pumpkin for his heart, and spider dangling from his rib on the other side. Eek!

Hooray for Halloween! Our ward trunk or treat was just right for Evan. We were done in about 45 minutes, and that was so perfect. He was much more excited about people's trunks being decorated than any of the candy they had to offer. We had such a great night.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE being pregnant at Halloween! It makes it that much more fun. And I love my husband even more for going along with my craziness and always making my costumes so dang awesome. Just as he created the pumpkin farmer from above, he mastered this skeleton baby, too! Nate, your the best!!!

A change will do you good

2011-10-23T23:00:00.000-07:00

Are you singing? :) Our annual October recruiting trip to Utah State happened earlier this month, and we had lots of fun in Utah and Idaho. Evan thought it was great fun to have some change, be with Dad, and hang out in a hotel. (Since he had spent the entire month of September stuck inside with just mom).

Too much fun. He managed to take up an entire queen sized bed, every night. Luckily, there were two in the room and Nate could get some sleep in the other. Me, on the other hand...not so much.

He is becoming quite the artist, but has to be in this exact position to draw. Every time. I don't mess with his creative genius.

My sister and my dad are bringing sexy back with their twinner glasses, although there is a good 30+ years age difference between the two. I think they are both rocking the look!

Evan is growing up to be quite the little boy, not so much a baby anymore. He wanted to do homework every night like his cousin, Trayson, and had to have snacks and milk, just like him, too. Although Evan was forced to do his homework downstairs away from Trayson, because Evan was quite distracting :)

We went to Union Station in Ogden one night for a craft boutique (I miss these in the desert!) and got to play on the trains for a while first. The boys thought it was SO cool!

I had never been inside the actual station part of Union Station, and I thought it was really neat. I liked imagining the hustle and bustle of people in here in the olden days. My, how it's changed!

Evan had his first pedicure, thanks to Aunt Stacey and Grandma Susan. He loved it! So weird. And constantly wants to show everyone his pretty toes.

I was also able to get my first glitter toes, and I love, love, love them!! Maybe that's why Evan loves his pretty toes...

The night before we were leaving, Trayson could not help but cuddle and hold Evan. He kept saying how cute Evan was. I don't know where this change of heart came from, but it was hilarious!

Nate's car decided a bit ago to quit turning right, so he got lucky and came home from Utah in this baby. He loves it. Evan loves it. Enough said.

My sister's friend (mwe have never met) sent Evan this Elmo costume all the way from Mississippi and we think it is super awesome!

Evan may look a little nervous here, but he honestly loves it. He stares at himself in the mirror and just laughs and laughs. He just hates holding still for pictures. He wants to "run and see it" before the picture is even taken. The kid has no idea what it's like not in a digital world!

We have friends moving in next door and we are so excited!! Evan and I got to play with their baby Abigail while her mommy was unloading stuff from the car. Evan adored having the baby at our house. He wanted to show her all of his toys and do everything that she did, like lay down on the mat and play ;) So sweet.

Nate went on a backpacking trip awhile ago, and amongst his camping stuff that has been out, Evan has become seriously attached to this roll out pad. I hide it while he's sleeping and he always finds it. He is constantly playing in it, coming up with all sorts of uses for it.

See? We honestly watched an entire cartoon like this one morning. It's getting to be a bit ridiculous.

Halloween is coming and it's my favorite!!! We took Evan to see the Halloween house, or the crazy Wizard of Oz house. It's this guy in town who is apparently just obsessed with The Wizard of Oz. A lot of his stuff is up year round, but more of it comes out around Halloween, and he usually has a TV on his front lawn playing the movie. I shot video of it that I will post, because you really can't get the whole effect from these pictures.

Evan kept calling Dorothy a witch. Come to think of it, I don't know if there is a witch in the whole scene...I know there are flying monkeys...I'll have to go back and check. I don't mind :)

With fall, usually comes boredom on my part because nothing is changing in the desert and I think it should be. So, I usually dye my hair.

It's not as dark as I would like it to be, but it still looks better than the drabness it was before. So I will take it. For now.

Funny story, remember this picture? It was taken middle to late August 2009.

While my hair has changed and the background has changed, not much else is different these days...

Bebe' Fuller numero 2 is set to join our fam come middle of April!!!!!!!!

One thing hasn't changed around here: Evan is still the cutest dang kid I know (even when he is sideways. Sorry) This is his Halloween song:

Perhaps a tad mushy; for journaling purposes, really...

2011-10-18T17:08:00.000-07:00

5 years ago today I was convincing my Exercise Physiology lab instructor to just let us play games for class that day (instead of our usual grueling Wednesday workout of running our guts out) in celebration of me getting married the next day. Walking into the Fieldhouse that day, everyone kept saying, "What are you doing here? You're getting married tomorrow! Don't you have better things to do?" I did not, in fact. I felt pretty darn prepared. I had at least taken the day off work, which was a big deal for me. But after that last class, I met up with my mom, my good friend Tosha (ie the decorator) and Nate's close friends Colby and Penny to head up the canyon to set up everything for the reception. That night, my best friend from elementary came up to Logan to spend the night with me. After meeting up with Nate's family after dinner at the church to decorate and set up the luncheon, Marilyn and I stayed up way too late reminiscing of our younger days. We painted nails and slept on the floor, (since all of my things had already been moved to "our"house) our last of many, many, many sleepovers. 2 days prior, I had met in my surgeon's office to hear the most wonderful news, that the lump they had removed from my breast and biopsied the week before, was indeed not cancerous, but that I needed to keep an eye on things. This was the best way to start my week, and helped ease a lot of already there wedding stress. Later that same day, my Athletic Injuries professor informed us he was changing our test from Tuesday to Thursday (my wedding day!) thinking he was doing us a great favor. I managed to convince him I really was getting married the day of the test, and could I please take it early. He told me no, he didn't want any questions leaked, and that he would allow me to take it when I returned from my Honeymoon on Monday, assuming I would not be talking to any of my classmates over the weekend :) Escaping these few minor last minute stresses, along with silly things like not having pen or book for guests to sign in, I felt prepared. I pleaded with Nate upon departing the night before our wedding, to please, please, please not be late picking me up the next morning for the Temple. I told him if he were late every other day for the rest of our lives, so be it, just please don't be late tomorrow. I informed his two old mission companions who had traveled long distances to join us on our day (one from Las Vegas, who I'm quite sure thought he was in Canada by the time he finally reached Logan, UT), and would be staying with Nate that night at our house, that if they kept him up all night and made him late to pick me up, I would never forgive them. :)

He was late. Thursday, October 19, 2006 was a bit overcast, a perfectly brisk, fall day (later making great pictures, since there was no sun to squint at). In the Sealing Room, holding hands with my groom, taking in at least 50 of our closest friends and family members, the Temple felt so warm and bright and quite possibly, bursting it's walls with joy. I didn't realize that day that this would be the only day for all of our lives that would be solely and completely about US. Just us. I wish I could have made my younger self realize that on that day, because that is pretty darn special. My eyes were teary from the moment the Sealer mentioned my grandparents, the only set in the room, as an example of longevity in love, still holding hands. I was overcome with emotion for the rest of the ceremony. Nate never let go of me all day. I remember thinking to myself that night at our reception how absolutely wonderful it was to spend an entire day with him (which hardly EVER happened in our 1+ years of dating), by my side, holding hands the whole way through.

I'm so thankful he decided to stick it out with me, when after approximately 36 hours of being married, he awoke to me in the middle of the night puking in the guest bathroom of our log cabin retreat in Jackson Hole, WY. I knew then that he truly loved me, when he came to my side, gently rubbed my back, and held my hair for me. He sweetly gave up on our breakfast dream of going to Village Inn the next morning, watched tv in the other room and let me sleep in until about 1230 in the afternoon. Once I finally woke up, he quickly took my order for what I needed and ran to the nearest gas station, picking up my Coke, pretzels, and Advil, along with a juice and muffin for himself. If my happy newly-married-wedding bubble hadn't already been popped, reality slapped me in the face on Monday as I gave my most important presentation of the semester in my business class at 730am, proceeded with the rest of my classes that day, ran a 3.5mile warmup! in my lab, took the test I'd missed out on the week before, and headed to work until 730pm. I think Nate came home about 9pm that night. And that was our new life.

Today, I am scrubbing the kitchen floor, by hand; something I despise, loathe, abhor. Because the man I fell in love with what seems SO very long ago, the man who couldn't take his eyes off me 5 years ago as we set up tables in a church, the man who, with watery eyes and on bended knee on a special rock in a river in Idaho, told me he could not imagine life without me, never wanted to be without me and loved me more than he knew he could, asked me to scrub the kitchen floor, and told me how much it would mean to him if I did. And today as I started scrubbing, it gave me a lot of time to reflect on him and our life. While I probably had more fun 5 years ago, playing kickball and dodgeball at school, taking a day off work, and contemplating the butterflies in my stomach on how the next day was supposed to be the best day of my life, I didn't have a sweet son napping in his Aggie room, who makes my world go round. I didn't have the full-time job of being a mom, something I never knew I would love and appreciate so much. I didn't have a hard-working, dedicated husband who sincerely loves his family, his job, his church calling, and his new truck :) I didn't have fish in the backyard to watch over,or a house to call mine. I didn't live far from home and family, and wasn't forced to have faith in my husband and my God that all would be well. In the long run, 5 years doesn't seem like anything to be worked up about. But looking back at our last 5 years, I really can't believe we are where we are, and am truly glad that my husband, the man who had me immediately smitten and head over heels, decided he needed someone to eventually scrub his floors. :) The funny thing about love is, as I scrubbed and scrubbed that darn kitchen floor, I soon forgot how intensely I hated it. I could only think about how lucky I am, how good it felt to do something that I knew he would sincerely appreciate, and how very, very much I love my husband. Happy 5 years tomorrow, Love.

This picture was a candid shot taken by my uncle. It's very us. And I adore Nate's "real" smile in it.
(I couldn't get my scanner to work, so I took a pic of the pic in the book on my phone. Real quality stuff. :)

Evan is a dinosaur!

2011-10-01T15:43:00.000-07:00

That's what I had to tell Evan to convince him that the green spray the hairdresser had just sprayed on him was not scary.

Throughout our haircuts that day, no matter what you asked Evan, his answer was green. Sometimes he would think for a minute before answering, "Evan, how old are you?" "Um...green!" And other times he would just be talking to himself, like at the play kitchen naming all of the foods, "Green (banana), green (cob of corn), green (sandwich)..." I don't know what weird kick he was on that day, but we walked out of there with a green balloon, a green sucker, and green spray in our hair.

After she first sprayed his newly cut spikes, Evan's face was terrified. He looked like he was about to cry. So the hairdresser sprayed a piece of my hair, to show him it was okay, because mommy had some, too. He was hating the idea of all of this more by the second, until I said, "Evan is a dinosaur! What does the dinosaur say?" "Raarr!!!" Immediate smile, and he got down off his chair, and ran to the other stylist to show her his dinosaur hair. He was pretty proud of it for the rest of the day. But we both got baths as soon as we were able. Green's not really my color :)

Cutest little dinosaur I ever did see, though.

Since we've been home...

2011-09-26T15:08:00.000-07:00

(I would really like it if all of you could please sing the title of this post like Kelly Clarkson's "Since you've been gone", 'cause I sure do. Thanks!)

When we first came back to reality after our fun summer, Evan was pretty bored with me and asked to go to Grandma's a lot.

Evan's buddy Tyson turned 3 and had the best birthday party ever!

Everyone got to make their very own Lighting McQueen's!

Evan loved it so much he wouldn't let it go.

So cool! And we even got to take it home.

There was racing and a romping game of red light, green light!

Best day ever! :)

My Sundays usually consist of baking a trying new things; these delicious brownie bites were a recreation from my sister-in-law's wedding back in April. They were yummy, easy and so pretty!!

Nate has been working like a mad man, because it is the end of the fiscal year. (We are now on our last week! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Evan is so tired of spending all of his days with just me, and it is still pretty hot, so we are usually stuck inside. One night, I had just had it, so Evan and I went and got a pizza for dinner and ate it a park! It made a huge difference in our moods. He is telling me "Cheese!!!" in this picture; he's really good at that. :)

He kept saying, "Woah, woah!!" and acting like he was riding a horse. I guess that might be what you would say if you were riding a dinosaur. Who knows?

He has just discovered his new favorite place in our front yard. He runs here as soon as we are outside and says, "Cheese, mommy!"

Then he laughs and laughs and laughs as we play peek a boo in the tree.

We took a few days to go visit my sister and her kids, so we could have a break from missing daddy. Evan was thrilled to push this stroller everywhere during my niece's soccer game. And I can't believe this is the only picture I took our whole time down there visiting!

Evan has been introduced to story time at the library, and then he loves to go read books afterwards at the little kids table. One day we found this cute little book and thought of our sweet friend Millie in Indiana. We wished we could have bought it and sent it to her, but this pic will just have to do.

Nate was in charge of getting Evan ready for church one Sunday, because I had to be to the church early. They showed up and I couldn't help but laugh at Nate's style. He made Evan look like an 80 year old man, with side parted hair and all! Still pretty stinkin' cute though.

We went to a Labor Day barbeque with Nate's team from work, which luckily is made up of a lot of our friends from church, too. Tyson, Dexter, and Evan always have a great time "hanging" out together.

This is Evan's favorite new stance. He will be walking somewhere and suddenly decide he needs to be on his head. He does it in the bathtub, the hallway, the store, the park, you name it. There is never any rhyme or reason to why he is doing it, but it cracks me up every time, nonetheless.

On September 11, our patriotic town always puts on the Parade of 1000 Flags. Last year, Evan and I got to participate by helping out our cub scouts. This year, since dad was busy working on that Saturday, Evan and I decided to walk down and enjoy it. It is a touching parade, and Evan was thrilled by so many flags and sirens and policemen, etc.

The flags are all walked to the park near our community center and planted there. It is a beautiful sight and it makes me thankful to be a member of such a unique community. Evan and I went and visited the flags several more times after the parade before they are taken down. For me, it is a wonderful way to remember.

Here is my most recent Evan, taken a couple of days ago. I just adore him.

Summa, Summa, Summatime! Part 7: The Wedding

2011-09-12T20:19:00.000-07:00

Nate and I had planned our vacation home a long time ago, so we could be to his reunion and get out of the miserable heat for a bit. Then my dear friend Shanell got engaged and was going to be married the middle of August. There was no doubt in my mind I would be there for her wedding, so I somehow talked Nate into letting me just stay for about 3 weeks without him, instead of driving back to Cali with him, then turning around 2 weeks later and driving back to Utah with Evan by myself for the wedding. I'm grateful to him for letting us do that; I know it was hard on him to be a bachelor again. But we missed him lots, too, and I don't think we will be doing that long of a time apart again!!

A couple of nights before Shanell's wedding, she had a bowling pizza party in leiu of a reception. It was the best idea ever! Evan and I had a blast bowling, and did pretty dang good!

That's an 81 for Evan's score, if you can't tell. By himself! (With the help of bumpers and a ball stand)

He was generally pretty worn out every day of our vacation. Most evenings were something similar to this...two hours before bedtime.

He melts my heart.

I got to leave Evan our last Saturday at Grandma's and head to Logan by myself for Shanell's wedding, the reason for our whole month long vacation. I was thrilled to see the incredible progress of the Brigham City temple from the freeway!

And even more thrilled as I pulled into Cache Valley. It's so refreshing, calming, satisfying, just a general sense of GOOD every time I make that last turn out of Sardine Canyon.

I was so happy to be back at the Logan Temple. This is my temple, that's all there is to it. It feels like home, and all I wished was that my husband could have been here with me on this beautiful day.

This was seriously the most fun, relaxed wedding I have ever been to. The ceremony was at noon and then there was a dutch oven lunch (that was beyond incredible), and that was it! Day was done by 5, and it was perfect. But most of all, I don't think I have ever seen Shanell so deep down happy, and that made everything worth it. I love that girl.

Before I left for the wedding, I was asking my mom if I could borrow a purse, since I wasn't going to need to take my entire diaper bag. This was one of the ones I left out, and I guess Evan really took a liking to it. Shh, don't tell his dad :)

Summa, Summa, Summatime! Part 6: Willow Park Zoo and Carver's Petting Zoo

2011-09-12T19:18:00.000-07:00

We spent a day in Logan catching up with lots of friends and eating all of our favorite foods! I took Evan to Willow Park, and it was pretty much the best thing that has ever happened to him. He love that he could see the animals so close, and it was a perfect evening for strolling the park. (When is it not a perfect summer night in Logan? Sigh.)

Evan is certainly getting used to having his picture taken. While watching the ducks, he just turned around and said, "Cheese, Mommy!" So I obliged :)

He was laughing so hard at these ducks that were so close to the fence. And I was laughing so hard at the sight of him!

The monkeys were our very favorite part. They were awfully friendly, and more than happy to put on a show for us.

Here is Evan and our friend's daughter, Penny. They had a blast together and were so cute at the restaurant.

I got my very first pedicure, and I am in love!!!

We made our way over to the Valley with Grandma Susan and Trayson one day, and had a blast at Carver's Petting Zoo. It was nearly the same price as Hogle Zoo, but way worth it! The kids could feed and touch any of the animals. I highly recommend it!

We ended our fun filled day at Five Guys Burgers and Fries (not Iggy's, as you might think from this picture. Iggy's is next door to Five Guys), which has a new location in Ogden and that is super awesome!!!

Summa, Summa, Summatime! Part 5: Aquarium and Dinosaur Park

2011-09-12T18:20:00.000-07:00

Grandma Susan came to Idaho to pick Evan and I up, and we didn't even make it through Logan before Evan had his very own ice cream cone.

She just can't resist him.

We had to take a picture of Trayson's giant flower (I can't remember what the name of this was), but eventually the whole bush was full of these giant things!

Trayson wanted to take me and Evan to the Aquarium in Salt Lake because we had never been there. It was no Sea World ;). but we still liked it. Evan laughed really hard at the jellyfish!

And he has been obsessed with Octopus ever since.

My favorite thing was the tiny seahorses! I did a school report on them once.

Aunt Stacey and Evan were mesmerized by the big spiky fish

The penguins were too fast for my camera, but we could have stayed and watched them all day!

I sent this picture of the these two Shamu love-whales? and sent it to Nate, telling him I got him a souvenir.

Aunt Stacey loves it when Evan and I wear matching clothes. This day we even got Grandma Susan in lime green, too!

Evan's new favorite activity became sitting on Grandpa Dan's lap with Grandpa's headphones on, watching whatever Grandpa was doing on the computer. It became a daily occurrence.

We spent many a day at the pool, and the best part was getting to snuggle with Grandma Susan during breaks from the water.

We loved going around and around the lazy river, waving to Grandma and doing tricks when we came past her.

Evan has always had a hearty appetite, and he has always loved pizza (takes after his mommy), but I learned in Utah that he really loves cold pizza, and he will eat a tleast one entire piece by himself!

A rare occasion, Sunday afternoon snuggling in bed. This lasted about 5 minutes, but it was enough to document that it did indeed happen!

Trayson, Evan, and myself got to spend one morning at The Dinosaur Park while Grandma had to work. I think I took this park for granted as a kid, because I went there a lot. But having not gone for several years, I was really impressed and we had a great time! In front of the Triceratops, my favorite, Trayson is trying to scare me.

And here Trayson is getting scared because I told him he was about to get eaten!

Trayson said this dinosaur was the perfect Evan sized dino, that he could ride him.

And here are the Trayson sized dinos. Perfect!

We love this dino catching a fish in the river. So realistic!

And the playground after the park is always a big hit.

Trayson was really helpful with Evan at the playground, and he liked telling us info on all of the dino's. We had a lot of fun.

I'm really glad I got to relive this childhood memory with my own child! It's a beautiful, really well-done park, and we are lucky to have it so close to Grandma's.

Oh, and remember the playset in the backyard? It didn't take long at all for Evan to decide he was brave enough he didn't need anyone to be with him going on the slide. I turned and saw him like this and was terrified and shocked! I ran to get him, but thought to take a pic first to send to Nate (cause I'm a really good mom like that). Not even moments after this picture, he fell. Lesson learned right? For both mom and Evan.

Summa, Summa, Summatime! Part 4: Fuller Cousin Fun

2011-09-12T16:39:00.000-07:00

We headed back up to Idaho for several days to spend some more time with Evan's Fuller cousins. All the Fuller grandkids got to be there to play together, except for sweet little Aubree who was busy being born!

The kids loved watching all Grandma's Disney movies together.

I was able to let Evan stay at Grandma Fuller's and I headed up to Idaho Falls to take my friend Shanell through the Temple. It was an absolutely lovely day, and I wish I had remember to get a picture earlier than when I was getting back on the freeway!

Evan always managed to find the bike helmets at Grandma Fuller's and play with them on his head. Atleast he was safe! :)

A cute picture of the Fuller granddaughters on a bench near Grandpa's office.

They had lots of fun swinging their hearts out while Sadie was busy picking raspberries and making money :)

It was so funny to watch the kids' imaginations run wild. It was mostly the bigger kids, and Evan just followed along with whatever they were doing. This particular day, they made nests out of the cut grass, and would hide like little birds when cars drove by.

We had SO much fun playing in all of Grandma's pools in the afternoons. This is what summer is all about!

Another bike helmet day...so funny.

Grandma Fuller made several individual houses, and Evan loved to eat his snacks inside.

Popsicles nearly every afternoon, thus is the life at Grandma's!

Aunt Maren was so nice to take everyone on a great bike ride. I hear they loved it!

We got to have a wonderful family home evening about music. Grandma taught the kids how to lead music, and then everyone got to choose a favorite primary song to sing.

I looked out the window and what did I see...

We may have sung "Popcorn Popping" more than once :)

Sometimes I show Evan a video on YouTube of Andrea Bocelli singing a lullaby to Elmo (look it up, you'll love it!) when he is going to bed. This night, the kids were all wanting to watch it on my little phone! It was fabulous.

You can't tell me these kids aren't so stinking cute...

Silly face!

I don't know what this one was supposed to be, but it's still pretty cute!

I think it's safe to say we may have a couple of models on our hands :) Thank you Grandma Fuller for all of the fun! We were so lucky to spend so much time with our cousins that we don't get to see very often. We loved every minute!!

Summa, Summa, Summatime! Part 3: Water at Grandma Susan's

2011-09-12T15:45:00.000-07:00

The first day in Utah at Grandma Susan's (the day Nate left us to head back to Cali), it rained!!! And it
was wonderful! Aunt Stacey was so kind to take Evan out to play in it, since he never has!

We went shopping with Aunt Mandy and we both got new red shirts! Mommy an Ogden shirt and Evan a Lightning McQueen shirt.

Evan liked to take a little rest after his naps on Grandma Susan's bed and watch a little bit of Cars in his new "queen" shirt, while eating his beloved Pirate's Booty.

Evan got to go to swim lessons at Grandma Susan's pool! Ok, so it was really just swim "time", not lessons, while cousin Trayson had actual lessons, but it was still the highlight of our day!

We love spending as much time as we can in Grandma Susan and Grandpa Dan's backyard. The playground Grandpa Dan recently built is very exciting, and Aunt Mandy loved to play on the slide with Evan.

Evan also discovered this horse in the garage, which I loved watching him play on, because it was my very favorite outside toy when I was younger!

Summa, Summa, Summatime! Part 2:Birthday and Reunion

2011-09-12T15:28:00.000-07:00

I got to spend my birthday while on vacation, and the day started with Nate leaving about 6am to go fishing with his dad. They had an incredibly successful morning!

That morning, we attended a 10 year reunion for Nate's high school Executive Council (ie Student Government, in Weber High terms). This was them then: 2001. Can you spot Nate crouching in the middle there? Isn't he cute?! :) I know there are pics of them now, at the reunion, but I must have taken them on Nate's phone, because I don't have them.

We came home from Exec reunion and I was surprised by the Fuller's with my fave pizza from Preston, cake, a birthday queen crown, and lots of decorations! I whisked off to Logan to attend a bridal shower for my dear friend Shanell, and headed back real quick to Preston to make it in time for Nate's class reunion.

Class of 2001 (those that attended the reunion, anyways)

They played some really fun Minute To Win It games. Nate won the Oreo on your face game, but he won it so fast, I didn't even get to take a picture!

These are some of Nate's closest friends from high school. I'm glad these girls took good care of him for me :) I know he enjoyed himself getting to catch up and visit with so many good friends.He had such a good time in high school, and it's fun to hear him relive his glory days ;)
L to R: Chris, Natalie, MaryBeth (sorry about the pic MaryBeth!) Shanna, Sarah, and my Nate!

It was such a busy, busy day, and I basically didn't see Evan from 10am to 530pm, the longest amount of time ever! But I didn't have a thing to worry about, because when we came home, I found him frolicking his little heart out in Grandpa's giant backyard, while his cousins did hard work picking peas :)

That night we headed to my parents, after eating dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant in Logan. My mom got pin the sticker tail on the donkey (which I lost, because I was the only one who didn't cheat, I think!), and I opened a couple of presents from my sisters, which were mostly made up of things consisting of Justin Beiber. It was quite the party. :) We ate red velvet cake from Costco, and it was a delightful end to my day.

Summa, Summa, Summatime! Part 1: Rodeo and Carnival

2011-09-12T14:52:00.000-07:00

Let's start with some cute pictures, before we dealve into our Utah/Idaho-ness, shall we? This was a very mad baby one Sunday that hadn't gotten enough sleep. Isn't he cute?! Tee hee hee

He wanted to be just like mommy, apron and spatula. I'm teaching him really good habits, aren't I?

Who knows what was going on here, but I'm pretty sure it was really funny.

Evan insisted one day to have his fireman hat with him at all times. He can be so funny!

I think this day he was just looking extra adorable to me.

This was his crazy rooster summer hair. We got it cut just before we left on our trip, but it was getting PRETTY bad.

Evan loves playing "phew phew" with his Daddy.

We started our trip off in Idaho. We were grocery shopping with Grandma Fuller and found this super awesome hat, which Evan wanted to continue wearing it through the whole store!

It was Rodeo weekend and we were ready! Evan loved watching the parade each night, and really loved all of the horses!

He was quite the gentleman, taking off his hat for the cars driving by ;)

Isn't he the cutest lil' cowboy you ever did see?

We had such a blast at That Famous Preston Night Rodeo, as always! It's our favorite time of year.

Evan even got to ride some rides at the carnival!

I think it's safe to say he loved it all!

Due for a celebration!

2011-09-01T15:48:00.000-07:00

Not only has it been at least a month since I've updated the blog (PS-how FABULOUS is my husband?! Love, love, love him.), it has been 2 WHOLE YEARS since we moved to Ridgecrest! Time is flying! We actually ended up celebrating our big anniversary by leaving :) It was a fabulous mini-vacation, just what we needed to remind ourselves that living in Ridgecrest is not that bad. The more we leave, the better it is! It was a shock that Nate wanted to take time off work to go out of town, because he has been working every weekend since the middle of July (which helped give reason to why Evan and I left for about a month and went to visit the promised land of Utah/Idaho. Another reason why the blog has been neglected; posts on our time there are in the works, soon to come).

Anyway, out little fam headed South with some wonderful friends to:

our LA Temple. Thanks to kid swapping and the Temple apartments, Nate and I got to attend a session TOGETHER, which hasn't happened for, literally, years. It was completely wonderful.

The temple grounds were so lovely, and the kids so loved being there. I love this temple; it is definitely a place of sanctuary in the crazy world of Los Angeles.

Since we were making a trip out of it and celebrating not being in The Ridge, we spent the next day at the beach! One of our favorite family activities in the world. :)

We have to restrain Evan at the ocean, because, multiple times, he just walks right in with no fear. He is a water baby, for sure!

We loved spending time together, and it ended up being a beautiful day (aside from the $58 parking ticket we got that morning at a bakery. Major bitterness...) Nate said he would smile, he just didn't tell me he would try to make as many chins as possible.

These boys were so good all day, despite next to zero napping. They had the time of their lives building sand castles, finding sand crabs, and watching their daddy's boogie board to their hearts content.

Once the dad's decided they could tear themselves away from the ocean, they came to play with the boys, and look what happened!

Evan and Tyson seemed a bit confused about being buried, but I think they liked it ;)

We are feeling overwhelmed with gratitude for so many things these days: the opportunity to serve in the temple, belonging to a beyond awesome ward, a secure job (and the fact that Nate loves going to work every day doesn't hurt), wonderful friends that can feel like family when far from home, and much more. When we moved to the Ridge 2 years ago, I promised Nate I would not pester him about finding a new job for at least 2 years. I told him some people served a mission, I did not, so this could be my sacrifice :) 2 years later, I know for a fact we will be here for at least 1 more year. I just hope that next year, when this anniversary rolls around, I won't be saying the same thing :) I would like to thank the city of Ridgecrest for the enjoyable cool down in weather that has significantly brightened my mood. 102 degrees is a world of difference compared to 109.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARA!

2011-07-30T13:56:00.000-07:00

I wanted to do something that Sara would appreciate for herbirthday and since I have never, ever posted on this bloggity thing, I figuredthat’d be a good way to go. I’ve beenmarried to this beautiful woman for almost five years now and I thought I’d writea few things (in no specific order) that I love about her:

She is a wonderful mother to our little man
She gets along with anyone and everyone that Iforce her to meet
She is incredibly kind and sweet , even topeople that aren’t her favorite
She’ll make anyone and everyone delicious treatsfor any little kind thing they do for us
She is very loyal to her friends
She supports me even when I have crazy ideaslike going skydiving with my friends
She and I have never fought as husband and wife(disagreed yes, but fight no)
She hates when we’re not together just as muchas I do
She’ll live in Ridgecrest with me
She’s my best friend

So Happy Birthday to you my dear, I love your face.

Nate

P.S. I tried to put a picture on here but couldn't get it to work in the small amount of time I had

My Baby Went To Nursery Today

2011-07-10T13:57:00.000-07:00

And he absolutely loved it.

And they said he didn't cry once.

And he was dancing like a fool to the Primary songs in the middle of the room when we went to pick him up.

And I may have teared up a little.

And Evan is 1 1/2 and can't hold still, which is I cannot take a decent picture of him these days.

I'm also kind of numb from the whole nursery thing today, so this is all I feel like updating.

Well, I guess I could give you a little teaser...

Evan had another big first recently:

What do you know? He loved that, too. A lot.

And for quite some time after this, all I heard was, "Mommy. More. Side. Pease."

And I love him more than ever.

June Happenings

2011-06-17T15:20:00.000-07:00

June always starts with a bang at our house because it's Nate's birthday!

Lucky for him, it fell on Saturday this year, so I gave him the best present ever and let him sleep in. And sleep he did, that's for sure!! When he woke up, I made his favorite breakfast, crepes, and we had a plethora of deliciousness for toppings: Nutella, powdered sugar, lemon juice, sugar, raspberries, strawberries, and cool whip. Yay birthdays! Later that day, we had friends watch Evan and I surprised Nate by taking him to see the new X-Men movie. We never go to movies anymore, since the child came along, and that is one of Nate's favorite things to do. We enjoyed being out together, and really liked the movie, too! We came home just in time to have roast and potatoes for dinner before friends were going to show up for treats and games, and found this in our kitchen!

The picture is blurry because I was laughing way hard. I was just as surprised as Nate was to see this, because it wasn't me that did it!

Nate got a new backpack for hiking, since he is using the same one he received when he was 12, a Dilbert book from his parents, a Jack Johnson cd, and lots of cards and phone calls from loving family members. We enjoyed banana cream pie and orange dream cake with our root beers, and played some games. Nate says he has now "officially reached his prime". I just think he is old as mold ;)

The party continued with Stacey arriving the next day for a California vacation! We spent a few days in Ridgecrest, relaxing in the sun, blowing bubbles, shopping at KMart, getting frozen yogurt, and obviously, feeding the burros.

Evan is a pro at saying, "hee haw! and kicking like a burro. It's awesome!

We then headed down to the "land of milk and honey" where my other sister lives, so we could have some real California fun. :)

We got to see Addie sing her heart out in her 2nd grade play, Geology Rocks. She was the cutest little canyon I ever did see (she has the wavy hair, right in front of the microphone), and I still catch myself walking around the house singing her song about erosion. We also got to watch part of Kolby's baseball game, where he helped pitch his team to 3rd place! Go Padres! It is always a lot of fun to me to watch these kids performing in whatever they may be doing in life at the time. They are always busy doing something!

Evan really loves playing with his cousins, and it has been a lot of fun seeing more of them. They all are so good to Evan! Here Kolby was showing Landry and Evan how to play some soccer game he learned in school, and they were very impressed! They sat like this for probably 15 minutes! So funny.

Landry had a pretty bad cough when we arrived and we would often find him like this at the end of the day, completely exhausted.

Some of us headed to the beach one night, because (in the words of my mom) "why be in California if you're not going to be at the beach?!"

It was freezing! A combination of the sun going down and a strong wind kept us to just dabbing our toes in the water, but we basically had the beach all to ourselves. :)

Evan never cares if it's cold; he ALWAYS wants to be in the water.

This day was a day of animals. Earlier in the day, I was attacked by a rat (it's a story that can only do justice if told in person, so if you need more details, feel free to ask. I even have battle wounds to prove it.) And then this poor thing (pelican maybe?) looked like he had just been washed up right on our beach where the kids were playing.

But it all ended on a very happy note, when shortly after this picture was taken, we spied a couple of dolphins catching some waves. It was beautiful. I've only seen dolphins at Sea World, never in their natural habitat! And they were as close as the wave in the picture above. I didn't grab for a photo, because I was totally stunned and in awe.

We had lots of fun having visitors and visiting, but shortly after we returned to the Ridge, Evan came down with the same fever and cough his cousins had, and the weather finally hit triple digits. It's been a miserable couple of days.

Besides having lots of fun in June, we learned a couple of new things. First, Evan is a popcorn-aholic just like his mommy. Maybe even more, actually, because at least I share.

I air-popped some popcorn one Sunday night, and it makes a giant batch. To my knowledge, Evan had never had popcorn before. He crawled up on the couch next to me to see what was in my giant bowl, tried one piece, quickly sat down and stole my bowl! And when either Nate or myself would reach our hands in to get some popcorn, he would get very angry! It was hilarious, and I'm quite sure he ate nearly that entire thing by himself.

I have also been getting my craft on (I go in major spurts), and along with some wreaths to add to my ever growing collection, a friend and I put this together:

I have always seriously admired edible bouquets, turns out they are SUPER easy! I wish I had tons of parties, barbeques, etc to attend this summer so I could make these all of the time.

We are looking forward to a yummy Father's Day, (let's face it, the best thing I can give Nate besides sleep is food) but not looking forward to Nate leaving for Scout Camp next week. Spending time with my sisters' this last week has me counting down the days until we get to go home to Utah and Idaho for a visit. Can't come soon enough!!