Haymore Happenins

Fall and Halloween

2012-01-06T13:04:00.000-08:00

I can't get these in order, oh how I hate blogging sometimes! Sorry!

Evelyn is excited for trick or treating. Thanks Rachel and Jason for the cute costume!

Joseph's pumpkin

Lovin the new jammies.

My spiders for our Halloween dinner with my family.

Benjamin and Garrett in awe of the dry ice in action.

Some more fun in the leaves.

Benjamin is concentrating hard while decorating his Halloween cookies.

The boys were adventurous and helped scoop out their pumpkin.

At the ward Halloween party.

We won best family costume-which surprised me because there were much more creative families but we'll take it. (Joseph was at his playoff game thus he is MIA in this picture.)

Sorry these pumpkin patch pictures aren't so great out of order. We were trying to take a picture with the kids. It took a while for them to figure it out as you can see....

I love how well the kids can teach us. :) Joseph told me he didn't want to go to the patch with us because it wasn't his kind of thing. So we went during the day without him. As we left Benjamin said, "Mom that was soo much fun, next time can we take daddy. Let's go with daddy too." I told him to ask daddy about it. Ha ha ha love it!

Football

2012-01-06T12:47:00.000-08:00

Joseph was an assistant defense coach for Timpanogos this year. He LOVED it! We went to the end of the year banquet in December and it was fun to see the young guys swamp him, well until the evening was over and chat and laugh with him. They went to playoffs the Friday before Halloween and did pretty well until the last minute of the game where the other team had a couple of big plays and scored. That was the end of the season and his football fun this year. (I didn't feel too bad though, if they won he would miss Halloween with the kids for the third year in a row.) He is looking forward to coaching again next year.

The kids loved watching the football games...actually they just drove their monster trucks up and down the bleachers but they loved it.

They got to go down on the field during half times and after the games which made them feel pretty cool.

The boys, Joseph and I went to BYU's homecoming football game and had a great time. Every time we drive by the stadium they ask to go again.

I promise it's coming...

2012-01-05T08:19:00.000-08:00

It's pretty bad when your friend tells you your blog must be broken because there isn't anything new since September. It's not broken I have just been slacking off. So my goal is this week to put something new up. I always procrastinate because it take FOREVER to load pictures, but I will make an effort to get it done.

Adults can grow up too

2011-09-11T20:10:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time ago I knew that there was this organization that existed. It was the military. I didn't feel a connection or patriotism for them and what they do.

I do now. They are my friends, they are my friends husbands and fathers to their children. I have experienced and understand what their job entails for them and their families. With today's memorial events, I now realize and can understand a soldiers drive. I know the sacrifice and more maturely appreciate it. God Bless the soldiers and their families.

It's Time

2011-08-27T21:47:00.000-07:00

It's definitely time that I update the blog! I can't believe summer is all but over. Especially because next year Benjamin goes to kindergarten! We have been very blessed and Joseph found a job! It's with Multiling, the company he worked for before he got his masters. It's not anything exciting but they are willing to work with his schedule so he is able to still help coach football at Timpanogos. He got into that by volunteering since he was soo bored when he was unemployed. We don't see him much but he is LOVING it! I will be teaching ballet again at one of the studios I taught before moving. Also I am so excited to choreograph a dance for BYU's Ballet Showcase Company.

A dear friend of mine from Alabama is living in SL while her husband is deployed. We got together and had a lot of fun one afternoon.

Thanksgiving Point has $2 Tuesdays in August and I took the boys to the dinosaur museum. They loved all the little learning activities.

Evelyn looking cute at Joseph's football scrimmage game and BBQ.

This girl loves blankets! Especially the nursing cover. She was rolling around in it one afternoon and I thought she was pretty cute.

I took the boys to the zoo with some friends and had a fun time. The boys as always plugged their ears when we went on the train.

Garrett is our restless sleeper. Sometimes he stays in bed and sometimes he ends up in Benjamin's bed.

Here are the kids in their Go Daddy's Team game wear.

Summer fun

2011-07-27T10:18:00.000-07:00

Sleeping in a tent in the backyard and watching a movie.

Days of 47 Rodeo

Hiking the Y, Benjamin did most of it all by himself!

Hiking Bridal Veil Falls

Making clay pots after a tour with Aunt Heather at BYU's museum of Peoples and Cultures.

At a small dinosaur museum at BYU.

I went to a small Mitt Romney ralley. He is awesome!

Out of order again! Touching a fossil at the dinosaur museum.

Hiking Big Springs

Going to the Owlz baseball games.

Parading in the front yard.

Some words on the kids

2011-07-20T13:05:00.001-07:00

Benjamin-Still refuses to try to learn alphabet letters and his numbers. But every once in awhile will point them out, like the time he looked at Joseph's shirt and told us all the letters. He LOVES Disney movies and could watch the same one every day for a month. He also loves grandmas house. When asked if we should go to AL he exuberantly says, "No lets stay at Grandmas." He loves swimming with daddy at the waterpark. His new favorite activity is miniature golfing. We go first thing in the morning when it is empty so we don't have to rush and the kids can enjoy it. He hasn't had a true golfing lesson yet so he still swings at the ball like baseball. He is so wonderful in that as soon as he wakes up he gets dressed before coming out of his room. The other day during bath time he discovered that he could make Evelyn laugh if he pretended to sneeze at her. They all loved it. We are starting piano lessons and working on playing middle c with the #1 finger. It was pretty cute one day as I saw him try to give Garrett a piano lesson.

Garrett-He is one goofy funny kid. He is either way happy or crying. I was shocked as I tried to sing the ABC's with Benjamin that Garrett was singing most of it with me. For all the lumps he has taken to his head, I think he will be alright. He loves to count. I think he mostly just has the order memorized, but still I love that he tries. He is one restless sleeper and is all over his bed at night. Half the time he wakes up on Benjamin's bed. He and my dad have a special bond and he gets away with things no one else could. My dad is always more than happy to have Garrett come in his office and sit on his lap while he works.

Evelyn-She has hit a few growing moments and is now a mischievous, active little girl. My sister was putting her pj's on and asked, "She doesn't hold still does she?" Evelyn is constantly moving. Church is impossible to sit through. There is no resting or calmness with her. She is 9 months tomorrow and is climbing stairs, standing, waving, pulling out movies and all that other curious monkey stuff. Her hair is quite the fuzz ball and needs something done to it, but I am not quite sure what. She is still a momma's girl and daddy is the only one who can hold her for more than a minute without her crying, twisting, and reaching for me. It has been fabulous the past few nights. We put her in my mom's office at night and she and I have had much better sleep and better attitudes in the day. It makes life much more bearable now.

Those are my kids. :)

4th of July Parade

2011-07-17T13:00:00.000-07:00

Benjamin was thrilled to have been given this water bottle from the cyclists.

Yummm, pink doughnut.

Multi-tasking

Loving the bubbles.

Sensitive ears

As big as Garrett's head is, looks like it still doesn't fit daddy's hat.

Senator Orrin Hatch

Trekking to UT

2011-07-12T20:29:00.000-07:00

We were fortunate on our drive back to UT compared to our drive out to AL. It only took 3 1/2 days this time and the weather was great. Our only trouble was one night we pulled in for dinner and realized that the truck being towed had partially come off the trailer and the trailer dragged on the road. We have no idea how long it was happening for but all was well.
At our first hotel we were pleasantly surprised to find a nice big jetted tub. The kids loved it and looked cute way down at the bottom.

K, the blog switched my pictures up and I can't fix it. Joseph was awesome and took Benjamin for all but the first day. With my book on tape for two days all went pretty well except a few tantrums by Evelyn.

Back to another cute bath tub picture.

Benjamin was so excited to show me this moth when we left a hotel.

We arrived in UT just in time for Orem summerfest.

Oh yeah and there is the Arch is St. Louis we drove past.

Here is my cutie as we waited to hear if she was a baby contest winner.

Garrett got a rolling down the hill lesson from Aunt Andrea. Love the sideways rolling rather than downward.

More will be coming

2011-07-03T06:25:00.000-07:00

I have so much to update on the blog but Joseph has the computer all day while searching for jobs. I try to sneak in on it every once in awhile. It doesn't help that I can't figure out why my pictures are posting all mixes up. Soon I will get it all together....

Brothers Big Birthday Party!

2011-06-24T12:26:00.000-07:00

In March, after attending his friends dinosaur birthday party, Benjamin told me he wanted a firetruck party. This was a brilliant idea as his birthday was before our expected move date in July. So the plan was to take a tour of the firestation for his party. Then we got the early move notice. I was broken hearted for Benjamin to not have his firetruck birthday party since he had made so many friends and he had wanted one so bad. I figured that it was a good way to say good-bye and so we did a combined birthday party for the boys since Garrett's was a few days before we left.

We were privileged to get a private tour of the station, living quarters, and trucks.

The station was awesome and took care of the goodies and gave all the kids hats, coloring books, pencils, badges, stickers, and rulers. Score!
We then had cake at the bowling alley across the street.

My sweet friend made the cake for the party. It was sooo helpful as we moved the next day.

Here are the boys and their friends in Alabama. Oh how we miss them!

And here are my friends, love you ladies!

Happy Birthday Garrett!

2011-06-23T13:15:00.000-07:00

June 3rd was Garrett's birthday and we enjoyed the chance to take a break from packing and play all day. We started out at the library for storytime where the boys made these cool drums. I had to laugh because Joseph really didn't want to come with us. He did and by the end of the event he had all the kids around him showing their drums and telling him stories.
We went to the Aviation Museum for the last time. I finally read some of the plaques and realized how cool some of the things in there are.
We went to Pizza Hut for a delicious lunch.
We decided since we were moving shortly we didn't want cake left on the counter for days as we tried to eat it all. So we went to the cupcake shop and let the boys pick one out. After a pb and j dinner Garrett got to open his presents. Including a motorized quad which he was so excited to use! (Thank you Wal-mart and the ridiculous price of $15. I got one for Benjamin too so he didn't bug Garrett for a ride.)
Ok something is weird and I can't get the pictures to load in order and I can't move them. So sorry they are way out of order.

In the cockpit.

Family Beach Pictures

2011-06-23T12:50:00.001-07:00

We had in mind to get family pictures on the beach before we left AL. And then we found out we were moving in about 10 days leaving us only one more beach trip. Unfortunately the night before we planned to go was a terrible night for sleep. The kids and I were up for more than half the night. So we got a late start on our drive and missed the softer sunlight for the pictures. Thus you will see that all our eyes are closed. I posted a lot because I love looking at the pretty beach and my cute kids. Hope you don't mind.

Fathers and Sons

2011-06-23T12:35:00.000-07:00

Way back in April or May our stake had their Fathers and Sons Campout. I felt pretty lucky as my husband took both boys on this adventure. The boys had such a good time and I enjoyed some girl time with Evelyn and some friends.
Joseph was smart and let the boys watch a movie in the van at night before going to bed. Playing in the morning.

Eating lunchables and teddy bears mom sent just in case while waiting for breakfast.

A few moments in Alabama

2011-05-29T12:55:00.000-07:00

They must be brothers or something....

We love Graham Crackers! Mom, however does not love the mess they leave behind.

Evelyn went crazy one day getting under her toy and lifting it up and down on top of her.

Tired of the boys lifting up the blinds, I opened the front door when the garbage truck came by. It is always mesmorizing for these guys.

We have had some pretty crazy storms here. We were lucky to not be hit by the terrible tornadoes. One mild storm in the afternoon caused this tree to fall in the back yard though. I was pretty curious how it held strong through major wind storms and yet crashed during this small one.

After that it started downpouring. Here is our little pool filling up after only 10 min.

Two months or not....

2011-05-24T19:29:00.000-07:00

And the answer is not! Joseph got his paperwork back today, way quicker than we were told. June 6th is his last day rather than July 18th. So many things to do, yikes! I am so not prepared.....

Loving my baby girl!

2011-05-18T13:15:00.000-07:00

Two Months

2011-05-17T12:08:00.000-07:00

The boxes are collected...soon to be filled. Only two more months till the big move.

Boys and a Girl

2011-05-08T15:47:00.000-07:00

Is your dad this cool? Best part, Garrett is asleep. :)

Poor Garrett, apparently he has some pretty sensitive skin. Our friends watched the kids while we went to dinner. All 4 boys ran around outside and only Garrett looked like this when we picked them up. A couple of people at different places this last week have asked me if he had chicken pox. A week later they are finally starting to heal.
Our little princess.

If you think she looks pretty small compared to Joseph, she is. She had her 6 month appt. last week and she is only 13 1/2 lbs and in the 8 percentile. We have a follow-up appt for her sinuses in two weeks and they are hoping she will be up in weight then.

I had fun dressing her up for church today and had to take a picture to show off. I posted two because I just think she is pretty cute, and love how different she can look.

Just a little on the sappy side

2011-05-08T11:32:00.000-07:00

Mother's day this year brought me to reflect very much on the then and now. I was able to see something I longed for and waited years for. My little Benjamin, all grown up now, walked all by himself to the stands where all the Primary children were. (Whose parents weren't late to church.) He ended up in the back completely hidden by older children, but ever so politely stepped around and in front of them so he could see the family. He stood there looking at us pleasantly the whole time and then sooooo proudly, grinning ear to ear walked back to our seats after the children finished singing. I remembered 5 years ago when I went through the sadness of my miscarriage. It was a mother's day weekend and it was a hard time. I don't usually reflect on it too much these days but I remember how I felt that day watching the kids sing. Today I felt differently and was so happy to know Benjamin, Garrett, and Evelyn are mine. It's so heartbreaking to see people who have made bad choices and think that they were once someone's baby and their mom felt about them they way I feel about my kids. I pray that I will be able to make right choices and teach my children to make right choices. It is devastating to think of an eternity without your children. I am so grateful that it is possible to have them forever.

Comparisons

2011-05-01T12:29:00.000-07:00

Just for fun-here is all of our children at 6 months. Can you guess who is who? Yeah it's not that hard.

How about the two when they are almost two?

Craziest Zoo Ever!

2011-04-25T12:04:00.000-07:00

There is a "zoo" out here that you here stories about but can never imagine how real they are. Lions, tigers, and bears in a backyard...oh they are very real. McClelland's Zoo Critters-land owned by a bleached mullet wearing guy with an Australian accent with a wide assortment of dangerous animals on it. He is very close with all his animals as he told us of letting the tiger and bears roam around at night riding on the golf cart-except the bear is too heavy now and tips it over. He even lets them eat marshmallows out of his mouth.

A non wild midget/dward cow with the lower jaw jutted out. One of the goofiest looking cows, but I am sure well loved by this guy.
He currently has a grizzly bear cub he traded a black bear cub for from a zoo. Apparently the moms wanted nothing to do with them. I was trying to get a picture to see how Evelyn sized up to an 8 week old grizzly bear.

This guy was just cuddling away with his baby. He let people hold it until, just like a human baby, it got antsy and wanted to run around.

Wow we were able to pet a grizzly bear. :)

One of his many tigers.

Garrett got knocked over by a goat and was pretty nervous the rest of the tour. Fortunately it meant he stuck right by mom.

A beautiful white tiger.

Benjamin was so brave and choose to hold a snake. I was not so brave and yet ended up with one around my neck and another on my head (even with Evelyn in the baby bjorn). My friend took the picture with her camera so I don't have it yet to post.

Then he asked for volunteers and brought out this big guy, 168lbs. He turned to me and my friend and told us to hold onto the kids and get back because the snake can eat up to 40 lbs and could eat them. If this guy was nervous about it, it made me very nervous. We stayed back and walked out with all our kids.

And last a cougar! Go Cougars! :)

Talladega

2011-04-25T11:32:00.000-07:00

Joseph signed up to work a detail at Talladega and had quite the experience. The Army helps with parking for it and so Joseph got lots of sun time. He forgot sunblock and got burned pretty bad the first day. He has some fabulous tan lines now. He got a nice view of some great red neck behavior. As trailors pulled in they would get out the lawn mower and mow their "yard" around the trailor.

He saw a mullet or two.
For the most part he was bored and didn't see much, but was lucky and enjoyed watching the races. He got to watch from inside and outside the track. I think he was pretty excited to see the fast cars.

DISNEY WORLD!!!

2011-04-12T05:25:00.000-07:00

We decided that we would never have the opportunity to visit Disney World like this again, so we went for it. Only a 7-8 hour drive and a military discount on hopper passes, it had to be done. It was the best! A vacation that actually felt like a vacation. We were definitely busy, but it was a perfect pace. Though the boys won't remember much, they were the perfect age for the trip. They could sit in the stroller and we were able to go as long as Joseph could push them and I could carry Evelyn. They didn't get worn out walking around. They were also to young to know what they were missing-park food vs. homemade lunches, other rides, and all the souvenirs literally in their face. (An employee at one kiosk threw a big inflatable ball at Benjamins face.) It was so great. The kids did so well and never had complete melt downs though we got them up every morning and had long days. We were so blessed on the first day. It was rainy=no one else in line. We walked right on to the rides at Magic Kingdom, sometimes even doing them twice. (Later on in the week we saw the lines for those rides 45-90 min.) We had gone on all our planned rides before lunch! It was great. By going early in the morning every day we were able to enjoy a lot before crowds arrived. While the boys didn't jump up and down with happiness, they definitely came off rides with big smiles. They loved the rides. I am so glad we went, our trip could not have been better.

I will admit as we arrived to Magic Kingdom after crossing the ferry I got choked up. I never in my wildest dreams as a child thought I would get to go to Disney World. I was on the west side and it was so far away and expensive. Here I was taking my kids to the happiest place on earth.

Life can be good when you marry a guy like this: The boys wanted to be held in line and Joseph was so nice and did it. They are heavy!

Garrett looking at all the amazing intricate work in "It's a small world".

The spinning teacups. It wasn't bad, and when I told Joseph he decided to take us for a real spin. He didn't do it for long since Evelyn just ate.

Benjamin loved riding on the speedway.

Yeah for Donald!

Tom Sawyer's Island

Getting ready to fly on Magic Carpets.

Loved the parade!

This band was awesome. Even cooler was that they were older.

A perfect day!

Day 2 Hollywood and Epcot

2011-04-11T13:46:00.000-07:00

A very helpful book for planning our trip said to hit the new 4-d Toy Story ASAP. They weren't kidding! We got to Hollywood studios 30 min. early and when they opened EVERYONE ran to this attraction. I was with the boys walking in the line and bent to help Benjamin with his shoe. This lady grabbed her older son and walked right over me. I guess you have to have one crazy rude experience with lines at Disney. Joseph was not interested in staying in line, but after the ride said it was worth it. It was pretty awesome!

Benjamin getting his game on. After Toy Story we sent Joseph to this ride-

while I took the kids to a Disney Jr. live show. Bad idea, they just wanted him the whole time and were pretty difficult.

Luckily I have a good guy who also decided that the big 'fun' rides weren't worth missing things with the kids. Hollywood is mostly shows, which we weren't all about (especially Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast). We did however go to and enjoy the Indiana Jones stunt show and the car stunt show.

We met Herbie and saw cars jumping on trucks and such. It was pretty cool. However the end with fire and small fireworks scared the boys. Oh them and their sensitive hearing.

In front of an oversized toy dump truck at the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. It was pretty cool, but much to easy to lose your kids.

The big centerpiece of Hollywood Studios.

Since we didn't have much to do at Hollywood we hit naps and then headed to Epcot.

There were only two rides meant for kids-Nemo and Talkin with Crush. The boys LOVED them-even the big boy. ;)

We found a little play area for the boys to get out energy before waiting/sitting for a night show. It was a fairy garden, but Joseph let them play in it any way.

I know the picture isn't great, but doesn't he look so happy?

It was the international garden festival and there were some really neat floral characters. Lightening McQueen was a favorite of ours.

We ended our night watching Illmination. It is a light and laser show over this lake of water. It was pretty cool.

Day 2 was a success!

Day 3 Sea World-Fantasmic

2011-04-11T11:35:00.000-07:00

We decided day 3 would be a good day to slow our pace and go to Sea World. Since we were there early, no one was in line for the 'big' rides and Joseph got his thrills in without having to wait at all. Garrett is pointing to the big roller coaster prepared to say a huge "whoaw", thus the funny face.

Ever since I was little Sea World meant the killer whale show. I was so happy to actually attend the show, it was surreal.

A mama and her baby.

Catching a rest.

There was a little area with young children type rides. Benjamin was so excited to ride his first real roller coaster. He did pretty good and thought it was fun afterward.

After seeing some dolphins, turtles, sharks, penguins, fish and other sea creatures we headed back for some naps. At night was the big Fantasmic show at Hollywood and so we went there for our evening fun. We waited 60 minutes (our longest wait) to ride the new 4-D toy story ride again. It was nice that we rode it the day before so Benjamin was patient because he knew what was at the end. The line winds through a room with oversized toys (like tinkertoys, chutes and ladders, etc.). I loved this packaging for a Buzz toy.

We met Mater and Lightening McQueen.

Had a blast eating dinner at the Pizza Planet. ;)

We got in line at a great time for seats for the show. Garrett and Evelyn passed the time dancing.

We brought our light-up Elmo toys so we didn't have to feel guilty for not buying our kids all the glowing stuff for sale.

I am amazed at the creativity of Disney. These pictures are projected on walls of water sprayed up from the base.

The show was a little intense as they grouped all the villians together. I never realized how evil they are. But it was amazing to watch and it all ended well for Mickey Mouse.

Another fantastic day!

Day 4-Animal Kingdom and a Magical Ending

2011-04-11T09:24:00.000-07:00

The last and final day was begun at Animal Kingdom. True to our plan, we arrived early and was able to enjoy the park without long lines.

Here is the circle of life tree with lots of animals carved in it. It was HUGE!

We went on the Kilimanjari Safaris and had a cool chance to see animals close up while driving through the land. Benjamin's favorite part was the jeep/truck vehicle we drove in.

Here are some gators. Giraffe's

Elephants

Rhino's

We took a leisurely walk on the Pangani trail and saw this group of wild gorillas. The workers haven't gone in and they had someone in front ask you to not make any big movements with your arms or loud noises. There was a baby chasing some bunnylike creature. It was pretty fun to watch it run around after it.

We took a train to Rafiki's conservation place.

We decided that we would stand in the lines to meet Mickey and Minnie since we hadn't done so the whole trip. Garrett is showing how he can't keep in his excitement. (Actually he just woke up from a nap in the stroller.)

Evelyn met Pocohantas. I figured she would appreciate it someday.

Minnie Mouse

Evelyn couldn't take her eyes off of Minnie.

Yeah for Mickey Mouse!

We decided to go to Magic Kingdom to end our vacation with the electrical light parade. Evelyn enjoyed the chance to lay down at dinner.

We rode one of Benjamin's favorites again-Buzz Lightyear's ride. The boys were so good about waiting in lines-maybe because we only really waited in 2 lines longer than 10/15 minutes. Here they decided to show some brotherly affection.

We rode the people mover which had the best padded seats.

Benjamin wanted to do the speedway and it is one of the few rides we did that Evelyn and I didn't go on. We watched the boys from the grand stand. Evelyn enjoyed chewing on the bottle, but still refuses to take it, even with just water.

Benjamin is ready to take off.

After enjoying a few more good rides, an enjoyable dinner, we headed to stake out spots for the parade. We got there with perfect timing and got front row.

It was a wonderful parade and the perfect way to end our trip. The next day we went to Wal-mart to get the boys some souvenirs. (So much cheaper, though they didn't have the ear hats.)

Here the boys are on the drive back enjoying their memorabilia.

I am so glad we got to go. We had such a great vacation. Yeah for Disney World!

With Anticipation

2011-04-10T19:01:00.001-07:00

So much fun and waaay to many pictures (385 to be exact). Once the laundry is done, the house is recovered, and my routine back in place, I will share with you our experience at the happiest place on earth-Disney World!

A little obsessed

2011-03-27T13:50:00.000-07:00

I used to take the boys to JCPenney's all the time to get pictures taken. Here there isn't really a place to take your kids for pictures, at least for 40 minutes. I have a friend who has taken a few of the boys before Evelyn came, and I didn't want to keep bothering her for more. I hate that I have a little girl to doll up, but haven't taken any pictures to put on the walls. So I may be an amateur, but I got some pictures of her that with maybe some help editing I could put up. So here were the ones I thought ended up ok to edit sometime.

And a one of big brother Garrett.

Westward Ho!

2011-03-24T13:17:00.000-07:00

I have just written up quite a few posts, so hopefully I have enough left in me to explain well.

Westward ho! Back to UT we go. Most likely in July and not just for a visit.

Joseph has put in to be self-eliminated from the flight program and the Army.

Contrary to what will be popular belief, this was not my doing. Nor is it a result of my choices or desires. I have come to a point where I know that I can make a military life work. If it is to be, I am at peace now. I may not like a lot of things, but I am at peace with it.

Joseph however is not. Since he left for basic he has continually thought about getting out. It has come up for questioning at times, but we didn't feel like it was the thing to do at the time.

Last Tuesday I came home to see that he had already started a memo to turn in self-eliminating himself. I was totally shocked that this was coming up again. He was well into training, had flight time and seemed happy. It turns out it has been heavily on his mind again. This time we are at peace together and are following through with this. He turned in the beginning of the paperwork last Thursday. This came about so suddenly for me. It still seems surreal. We are very excited and talk about the great things we can do when we get 'home'. So July 18th is our projected leave date, but we will see. Anything can happen with the Army. Now he just needs to find some work so I can start hunting for a place to live. Can't wait!

Beach, Friends, Sprinklers sounds a lot like Summer (in March)

2011-03-24T12:50:00.000-07:00

One hot afternoon we talked about letting the kids run through the sprinklers since we can't set up the pool this year. Joseph didn't even have to say something. He turned it on and in went Benjamin. Yes his shoes are still on because here in the South we don't have real grass. Just weeds and what's called wiregrass.

Our dear friend Jacob had a birthday party which included lots of bubbles. Garrett was in heaven! He was so doused in bubble solution.
And a week ago Joseph's class finished a section of training early thus resulting in having Friday off. And so to the beach we headed and we were lucky to meet our friends there.

Some homemade stairs.

Benjamin and Jacob loving the sand!

We are definitely going to miss the beach!

Let's go fly a kite

2011-03-24T12:19:00.000-07:00

One beautiful sunny afternoon Joseph got an itch to fly kites. After a quick trip to Wal-mart we headed to the park. We were impressed with how well the kites flew for only being a dollar. The boys loved it! Benjamin only let go twice, once crashing in a tree and once making Joseph run for a long time far far away. (It is helpful to have such an athletic husband at times like these) ;) Garrett however held on real tight....as he ran around with it. He didn't quite get the whole idea of standing with a kite. It was pretty cute.

Fun around the house

2011-03-24T11:19:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, she isn't pouting. Evelyn has recently discovered her mouth and tongue. She can make some pretty cute faces.

The boys just helping Joseph get in a hard workout.

One afternoon after a long day the house got real quiet. I checked in on the boys and while reading Garret konked out.

And cute videos of the cute kids. Garrett decided to try jumping one afternoon. He at first would jump and push his feet out from under him. I was trying to record that but then he figured it out. And here is Evelyn practicing her jumping and showing off her mouth.

The Other Wife

2011-03-05T16:56:00.000-08:00

It's all a joke now and we talk about it in fun. But there was a time when I felt like Joseph had another wife-a helicopter. And that he chose her over being with me.
I still have very strong sentiments against the whole situation, but life goes on and I am slowly dealing with it. A huge step for me (yes it seems childish, but it was a big deal) was to take a picture with her in it. Joseph's flight class had family day and a dear friend got me to finally get in the picture rather than behind the camera. So here she is...

It was nice to go out for the afternoon and the boys were happy to see daddy as always.

Evelyn enjoyed it as well.

Bright Eyes

2011-03-05T16:26:00.000-08:00

When I took Garrett to Urgent Care two weeks ago, a little girl in the waiting area commented about Evelyn, "Can she see me? Her eyes are really freaky." The next week at church a young man told his mom that Evelyn, "has really big eyes". When she wakes up they are huge and so open. We love our little bright eyes.

Loving her little musical pink pig.

Garrett adores her and is so happy when I get her out of bed. Such a good brother.

Giving her loves.

Big smiles.

Good morning bright eyes!
(If you look above her right ear you can see some curl she has right behind her ears. I love it!)

Family Day Videos

2011-03-05T14:27:00.000-08:00

Here is Joseph flying in the training helicopter-known in the civilian world as a bell helicopter. In June he will be done with this section of training and will then know what type of helicopter he will be flying. (Apache, blackhwak, chinook, or kiowa)

Benjamin sharing what he sees in the sky.

Enough all ready-for the kid's sake

2011-02-20T19:02:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Garrett had just a few spot on his legs and tummy. I called a nurse about it, thinking he may be allergic to penicillin. She assured me that it was a normal reaction and to continue the medicine. This morning I freaked as he was covered in these spots as they grew and began to really irritate the poor kid. Should have gone with my gut yesterday.

I took him to Urgent Care today, the poor guy was miserable. I got there right when they opened and the line was out the door and across the parking lot. We eventually got inside. I felt so validated when the check in clerk was telling me how ridiclous Lyster (the army health clinic we are forced to go to, and is absolutely useless) is for healthcare. They told me Lyster had way too many patients and that was why they gave meds out and tried to push people through as fast as they can. Thus resulting in a lack of being thorough. For example, I thought Evelyn might have acid reflux. I said this to the dr., he gave me a prescription without asking questions and dismissed us. I also was told I would get results the next morning from Garrett's chest x-ray. After not hearing from them I called three times before someone would give me an answer. Then when we went to the follow-up appt the nurse reprimended me for calling in and not waiting for her-two days later when she did call. How ridiculous is this.... let me show you. Exhibit A-our current medicine for the kids and Joseph.

Garrett-amoxicilin (now to be discarded since he is allergic to it), cough syrup, steroids, and benedryl

Joseph-pain killer for his foot (another example of not being thorough, they gave him this instead of finding out what was causing the pain)

Evelyn-orajel, zantac for acid reflux, and antibiotics (yet the nurse who prescribed this said she had nothing more than a cold)

I would love nothing more to hop on a plane and take my children to their old dr in Utah, where I trusted and had good faith in the pediatricians.

Here is hoping for a healthier household this week!

My kiddos

2011-02-20T18:39:00.000-08:00

We have had a week of 65-70 degrees-beautiful! The kids have loved being able to play outside.

One of Benjamin's many happy faces.

For Valentines day I made some cupcakes and gave the boys coloring books and a little box of chocolates. It was so cute to hear from the other room Benjamin's excitement and genuine surprise. We had the missionaries over that night for some yummy homemade pizza-also that way Joseph had an excuse to forgo any Valentines plans without getting in trouble. ;)

Through the eyes of a child

2011-02-20T18:17:00.000-08:00

I picked up the camera and realized Benjamin had played with it. Here is a sample of the many pictures I found.

Planning is so overrated

2011-02-15T11:20:00.000-08:00

I had a perfect planned night and day. It went like this-go to bed at 9, wake up 4:30-5:30 with Evelyn, stay awake and get in full exercise routine, go to commissary and get groceries and valentine candy on sale, go to park with friends, watch my friends kids for an hour and then visit with her. Sounds lovely right?

Reality check-you can't plan.

Go to bed at 9:30, Garrett cries 10:30-12:30, 3:30 Joseph woke me up while getting read for work, 5:30 Evelyn wakes up. There is no way I have enough energy for my full routine. Try to sleep more, fail. Only get in my running. Off to the commissary. While selecting valentine candy I receive a phone call from a mother who came over for a church meeting yesterday. Her son, who she brought over has RSV. Garrett and Evelyn have been coughing for weeks now, guess I will go ahead and see if it is something more than a cold and have checked out for RSV. Have to abort grocery shopping to get to the Health clinic on post or wait to call tomorrow to see dr tomorrow. Leave in plenty of time to make the trek across the parking lot and in the building. Absolutely no parking! Yell in the van, "I HATE THE ARMY!" Get to the clinic. After hearing we had been exposed to RSV, they put masks on the kids. All three screaming and trying to take them off. Garrett has two ear infections and something in his lungs. Got a chest xray, but they won't even look at it until tonight. Tomorrow we will find out if it is anything. Dr says don't worry about RSV because they already have colds. (Is she that dumb?)

You just can't force a perfect day. I guess that is what makes them so perfect, they happen unexpectedly.

The family

2011-02-10T14:31:00.000-08:00

Sneaky little Benjamin, popping out just in time for the camera. And there goes the clean windows.

As most babies start with and then grow out of reflux, Evelyn is growing into it. She throws up tons and Garrett was so sweet to give me a break and on his own decided to wipe her mouth.
Loves to say 'cheese'.

Optical illusion right? Who is bigger? I actually frequently get asked if their twins.

A more normal smile.

Daddy was a little too tired and fell asleep while on the 'putting Garrett down for a nap' job.

I was supposed to go out to dinner with a group of friends one Saturday. After a full week, a scout camp out and a friends b-day party, Joseph convinced me to go out with the family instead. His intentions were good and much appreciated, however the kids were horrible-even for their usual.

Oh well, dinner in peace another time.

It's Garrett's turn for the cool motorcycle ride.

I was quite impressed with my friend's pirate costume for her son's birthday party.

Car Trouble

2011-02-10T14:26:00.000-08:00

I guess it's time. We have to start looking for a replacement for our green car. Since we live where there is no market for them, we are trying to by some more time by replacing a small part here and there. We knew it was near the end when Joseph looked under the hood (due to squeaking) and saw that one of the parts that spins the belt wasn't spinning, in fact it was gone. As you can see that round part on the left is missing on the old piece. That is a lot to be gone.

Joseph has just informed me that the solution didn't work for long. Anybody want to drive a car here from UT?

Merry be-lated Christmas

2011-02-10T14:17:00.000-08:00

My brother and his new wife were so sweet and sent us a gift card to Toys r us for Christmas. As we had already had Christmas and the too large of an accumulation of toys, I was tempted to use it for diapers or something more practical. I then thought about the sender, my brother. He loves toys and still has his bouncy ball collection. I knew that this card was meant for toys and that it would be what my brother wanted to give. So we searched the store for something they don't have, would love and use, not to many small parts to be scattered all over, and something for all 3 kids. I think we did pretty good. I have wanted to get Evelyn an Olivia book forever. It's time to start making some girly additions to the bookshelf. I figured it was a double bonus because my sister-in-law loves Olivia (so I hear).

Thanks Uncle Jake and Aunt Kylee!

Proper use of a treadmill

2011-02-10T13:58:00.001-08:00

We have had our treadmill for one year now, and I haven't used it for drying shirts yet. In fact there has only been 10 weeks I didn't use it. 4 during the summer when we didn't have a/c and the 6 weeks after Evelyn was born. I am back in the full swing 5 times a week. Whoo hoo! The boys like to try it out when I am done. They think it's fun. Oh how nice it would be to keep that mentality.

Benjamin's face is in mid zoom making for his planes.

No more patience-please

2011-02-10T13:54:00.000-08:00

I prayed for patience. Big mistake. If I can just make it a little longer....one day... one night, maybe my baby will stop screaming, maybe she will even sleep. Maybe the boys will let things stay clean for more than 2 minutes and play nice. Maybe I will even lose my baby weight. One day....

Pictures

2011-01-21T18:23:00.000-08:00

The Sunday Garrett was sick I stayed home with him. While we watched a movie, he gradually relaxed into this position and feel asleep on his little couch. It was so sweet to finally see his body resting....

only to roll off 30 minutes later in the 'stink bug' position.

I gave the boys a lesson about life back in Utah. We at Wendy's french fries and dipped them in frosty's. They loved it!

First thing Joseph did when issued his flight gear is try out the helmet on Benjamin. Looks like Spaceballs, don't you think?

We don't get out much and no one gets to see some of the outfits Evelyn wears. So you may every now and then get a picture fashion show. :)

They may not be dressing all out, but I love these one pieces.

So Much to Say

2011-01-21T11:52:00.000-08:00

Soo much to say, not many pictures though. Where to begin... hmm. Let's start with illness. Last Thursday we went to a recipe swap for enrichment. Friday afternoon I received a phone call from my friend asking if my kids were throwing up because everyone who went had at least one family member who started throwing up that afternoon. The boys were perfectly fine and splashing in the bathtub. Phew. Off to bed they went. At 8 Garrett started screaming. And he had thrown up, and again, and again. He threw up 5 times in 2 hours until his stomach was empty and he was just dry heaving. It finally calmed down and we dared put him to bed. 2:30am, Benjamin started screaming. He threw up and then again while I was cleaning him up. Garrett is in the same room and woke up. Ugh, it was a bad night! Yesterday (Thursday) was the first day Garrett ate and didn't throw up. Benjamin fortunately was just that night. And of course what goes around stays around and now Evelyn is sick. It has been the weirdest illness. No fever and highly highly highly contagious. There have been two people from our ward in the hospital for dehydration. Luckily that hasn't been us. My poor mom, I have called every day with questions. In 5 days I did over 15 loads of laundry. I am done cleaning after this illness!

Ok next...flying. Joseph started flying last Friday. He made him self motion sick that first day. He has finally realized the pressure to study. The first day he got called on for a question and he said everything in his mind went blank. He wasn't the only one unable to answer but he was the only one sent to the flight commander's office. The flight commander wanted to know why he was told to give Joseph the best instructor. It was due to his position as the CWOB's aide and now he has this extra expectation. So he is hitting his studying hard. His day is now like this, get up at 3:30am, leaves at 4am. Comes home at 4/5, studies, eats dinner, studies and goes to bed at 8. As much as I would like his help when he comes home, it is harder on the boys. Benjamin really lost it yesterday when Joseph couldn't play with him all evening. I tried to remedy the situation and took the kids out for ice cream. June 6th the hardest part will be done, if only the boys understood time.

Evelyn is 3 months! Crazy, that went by so fast and I already have to change out so many of her clothes. The silly girl has the hardest time staying focused to eat as she just sits there and smiles at me. I love it, but not when she yells at me an hour later because she forgot to eat. She has the perfect baby rolls. We put Garrett in a real bed so Evelyn can have her crib now. I am trying to put her down in there to take real naps as she won't nap for more than an hour a day. A huge part of it is the boys unfortunately. In a small place with hard wood floors, sounds echo and magnify. We are working on a house of 'quiet' so that Benjamin's yelling and Garrett's shrieking doesn't startle her every few minutes. I swear sometimes those boys wake up with the pact to be good friends, and other days they agree to be each other's nemesis. Benjamin is terribly possesive of toys. He will even hide Garrett's toys in the closet so Garrett can't play with them. We have the missionaries over and one tried out a magic trick on Benjamin. He took a lego R2-D2 and 'ate' it. Before he was able to pull it out of his ear Benjamin fell apart yelling at him, "don't take my toy, that is bad, we don't do that." Oh boy. We are working on that.

I think that is all I will unload on you now. If you made it through, here is something to make you giggle. Benjamin was on the toilet with some loud gas. As I walked past he was sitting there plugging his nose. It definitely made me laugh.

For Grandma-more of your granddaughter (and grandsons)

2011-01-13T11:46:00.000-08:00

Who better to help Garrett eat his ice cream than big brother Benjamin?

Can you believe it? This little girl is almost 3 months!

Don't know if Garrett is feeling a little jealous or just really likes her toy. But he does this everyday.

In the big city's little mall we have this fun carousel. We thought we would give it a whirl.

It was Garrett's first ride so he was very nervous. But after seeing he was on a lion he kept roaring and loved it.

Joseph starts flying today. He is pretty giddy about it, but STRESSED. They have so much studying. They have less than 2 weeks in the classroom before they fly. June 6th will be the end of his primary training, then we find out what he will fly and then one more training and then we will be out of Alabama and the 6 year countdown will finally begin. It's finally starting to seem like we are moving along. Yeah!

2011

2011-01-07T15:12:00.000-08:00

Here is a bit of what we have done in the year 2011.

Growing and growing. She has gained 2 lbs in 2 weeks! We have quite a few rough days each week with only 1-2 hours of napping and the rest of the day is screaming. But she sleeps 8:30-5/6:30 so I can't complain.

Garrett's first time finger painting. It took a while for him to be comfortable with the slippery feel, but he enjoyed it!

Joseph took Garrett with him to California for New Years and made a best friend. Garrett didn't even care to say hi to me at the airport when we picked them up. He was so distraught the next morning when he woke up and daddy was already gone to work. He layed at the door crying for quite a while.

Eventually I got him to smile.

Evelyn and her new toy. Sometimes she likes it and sometimes not.

It was slightly more peaceful without Garrett for a few days. Benjamin was less mischevious and quicker to obey. One afternoon he decided to go read for awhile on his new couch. It was cute to walk past his room and see him quietly reading.

Benjamin rarely notices Evelyn, I was much surprised to walk by this.

And a special treat for mommy! One of my ballet teachers from BYU has a son here training to fly as well. She came down for Christmas to visit him and I got to meet up with her. It was so nice to see her!

Holiday Cheer

2010-12-26T19:36:00.000-08:00

Christmas Morning. We were able to skype my family while the boys opened their gifts. It was nice to feel like we were together that morning. The boys have loved playing with their new toys. It's what they get up for in the morning and the last thing they do at night.

Christmas Pajamas, a family tradition.

Thursday-Friday before Christmas we decided to make a spontaneous trip to Atlanta (4 hour drive one way) to visit Joseph's brother, his wife and their son. It was Garrett's first experience sleeping without walls to reign him in. This was the result in the morning. (The green and black sleeping bag is his.)

Our version of a white Christmas. Wednesday (yes sorry this is out of chronologiacl order), we headed to the beach as we heard it would be 70. It wasn't quite that warm, especially with the wind, but we had a good time anyway.
Lesson learned though, it's not a good thing to be one of the few on the beach. The seagulls will attack you. The second I pulled a cracker out they all flew right to the edge of our blanket and hovered at my eye level. Creepy. Then we ate our sandwiches. Benjamin held his away from his mouth just a second too long and a bird grabbed it from his hands. (It was almost a full sandwich too!) Joseph ran around us in circles as we finished eating. Just before we left I held out a gummy bear to Benjamin, forgetting about the birds. My finger got bit as one grabbed it out of my fingers. I did not like the birds one bit that day!

Evelyn's first beach experience.

Garrett is armed and ready to attack.

It was crazy windy. Too bad, otherwise it would have been a decent temperature.

And of course, I just can't get enough of dressing Evelyn up on Sunday. To those who danced at BYU, yes I did. She has a lot of short sleeve and sleeveless dresses. I didn't want to cover up them up with a sweater, so I made an under shirt out of tights! Just like our cover up shirts. I cut the sleeves to short on this one though.

We made some gingerbread houses for daddy's birthday.

Garrett being silly and trying out mommy's pillow.

Hope you all had a merry Christmas!

What we have been up to

2010-12-15T17:36:00.000-08:00

Watching morning cartoons in the cold mornings.

Getting chubby.

Sibling bonding.

Learning to smile.

Baby blessing.

Going to the downtown Christmas Parade. Benjamin was so excited to tell everyone in it "Merry Christmas!".

Evelyn

2010-12-02T07:04:00.000-08:00

This week she hit 6 weeks. We made it! As she learns what to do with the air she swallows, she gets better and better. At night she is amazing! 10pm-3/5am, oh I am so so grateful! I am really enjoying my little baby. I swear today she is smiling at me a lot. Poor little girl has a cold though. Thank you Garrett. Here are some pictures of my sweetheart.

Benjamin

2010-12-02T06:53:00.000-08:00

10 minutes after announcing to me he was tired and went in the other room.

Bowling all by himself.

He is not a little boy anymore. As I went to make an annoncement in Primary I saw him sitting in the Sunbeam section as Nursury visited in prep for the new year. I can't believe it, Primary! He has interesting conversations between his toys these days. Ones that include a toy being scolded and sent to timeout, just to be let out by a beeping noise. Hmmm... just like when he has to wait for the timer to go off to get out of time out. He still hasn't really noticed baby sister. Though I am sure he will when she gets into his toys. This year he is starting to understand who Santa is. At the mall he told Santa that he wants presents. Not to hard to please him. We went to the city's Christmas parade the other night with his friend and he loved it. He was so happy, waving to the floats and saying back "Merry Christmas". He loved all the tractors and trucks in it. Such a boy! Oh and he is addicted to hot chocolate. That is my big boy Benjamin!

Garrett

2010-11-30T12:47:00.000-08:00

(Checking on baby Evelyn in the morning.)

Oh boy where to begin with this child. He continues to grow bigger and gets heavier. I swear I can't lift him much any more. We are slowly getting him to say words instead of grunting at everything. He is working on baby, belly button, milk, yes, no, all done, amen, and please. He loves to imitate Benjamin. Benjamin will yell 'no' to me and then to Garrett he will say no no no no no no no. Garrett has picked up on this and it is so hard to keep from laughing. He can kind of say Evelyn's name. He loves to hold her quickly put his face on hers and say the vowel noises of hi evelyn. Also he like to rub her hair and does a pretty good job at being soft. He has finally got two more teeth making his grand total to 8, yeah! I can't wait until his teething is finished and I will have my happy Garrett back on a more permanent basis. Sunday was his first day of nursury. It didn't go so well. He is one stubborn boy and after crying for an hour the nursury workers brought him to me because they were nervous about it being bad for him to cry so hard for so long. He gets really splotchy all over his face and everyone thinks something is wrong when the see him like that. He is a fighter when he wants to be. He is so helpful and always closes the dishwasher for me. He gets so excited to stand on the stool in the bathroom like big brother Benjamin and wash his hands. Already I can see his desire to be like Benjamin.

The final touch

2010-11-30T12:34:00.000-08:00

Christmas tree up and decorated, check. We were fortunate to have Joseph home for two whole weeks and took advantage of the time to scope out a tree. We searched hard for the perfect tree, at the local Lowe's. It was sad to not be able to go tree hunting this year but oh well. We decided to get whichever smelled the strongest. The boys had fun decorating the tree. Benjamin ended up putting the majority of the ornaments all together in one spot at his level. Garrett was mostly just intrigued with holding the little pink balls in his hands.

Breaking all the rules!

2010-11-23T08:00:00.001-08:00

79 degrees, that was the high yesterday. How in the world am I supposed to get into the holiday spirit with that kind of weather. I can't. And since we aren't coming home for Christmas, I have no snow to look forward to. So we broke all of my rules about Christmas music and decor-4 days early. Yesterday we found a Christmas music playing radio station (that works half the time) and pulled out the decorations. We have picked out where we are going to get our tree and will probably do that today. We went to Wal-mart and spent time window shopping in the Christmas department. Sorry Thanksgiving, I still recognize you, but I just need some festive cheer. Let the festivities begin!

We survived and all are alive!

2010-11-16T12:12:00.000-08:00

Daddy is back and all is well. I was alone just for one week (thanks dad for the other two weeks) and was hugely blessed with only a few moments of wanting to pull my hair out. I called home only once to get comfort while my third colicky baby screamed in the background. But we survived and no one got hurt. I can't say much really about Joseph's experience at SERE, but it was not a pleasant experience. Glad I never will go through anything like it. He only lost a few pounds but he is terribly skinny. Yesterday he was able to take paternity leave which will give us both a chance to help each other get the rest we need. The boys were so happy when he came home. They wouldn't stop wrestling and jumping on him. They used up any energy he had left within 10 minutes. I am so grateful for his help at home. Joseph has a personal furnace and is always hot. This has been so helpful with Evelyn. She will rest peacefully in his arms while in mine she just screams. He also reminded me about the fact the swing will help and put his leftover batteries in it. That also has been a huge help. We are so glad he is home!

Halloween Fun

2010-11-11T15:35:00.000-08:00

Waz up? Typical jock look right? Hat down over the eyes. Or dad's hat just doesn't fit right. We went trick or treating with our friends and had a great time. Luckily we live in a religious area so trick or treating was officially on Saturday 5-7pm. (I thought it was weird that they posted times.) This year I went simple and we went as BYU athletes. I didn't think about it that no one probably knew who we were. Oh well.

The night before we had our ward party. They had trunk or treating and Garrett opened up and started eating a sucker in the car before we got home. Someone apparently likes candy.

Here is one of Benjamin's best friends-Jacob.

My silly boys

2010-11-10T15:34:00.000-08:00

After halloween the boys got hands, foot, and mouth disease. As I was talking to a nurse about Garrett, because his spots were on his bum and not hands and feet, she asked how his temperment was. I said he is definitely a lot more whiny but that could be because we brought home a new baby, daddy left for 3 weeks, he is teething, he moved in the same room as his brother and isn't sleeping, or because he is sick. Take your pick. Besides this the boys have really done well. I expected a whole lot more emotional trauma from them. Benjamin just screams for daddy when he gets in trouble, so not to bad. Thank goodness my dad came out for 2 weeks. It was a huge blessing! I was so grateful to have him there. The boys loved playing with grandpa!

I took my dad to the 'big city' where we ate at Olive Garden. This face is just too funny! He has really thickened out.
And of course it is impossible for Benjamin to smile naturally now.

Playing with their new monster trucks from Grandpa. They love them!

Joseph and I told Benjamin we would go to the pumpkin patch and then never had the chance to go. I told Benjamin I would take him with our friends. After the 40 min. drive we pulled up to hear that our friends weren't able to come after all. I had a slight moment of panic as this would be my first venture alone with 3 kids, but then gathered my courage and got out the stroller.

Benjamin loved the bunnies and kept whispering to them. It was sweet.

Didn't you know pretzels make great glasses?

Evelyn

2010-11-10T15:10:00.000-08:00

Finally a baby whose wardrobe includes dresses!

Her hands are everywhere, I swear she can't hold them still.

Joseph's old boss was really kind and sent me a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

My goodness she has grown. At her two week check up she had gained a pound and 3 oz.

7/12/07-6/3/09-10/21/10

2010-10-25T15:40:00.000-07:00

7-12-07 Benjamin Joseph Haymore 8 lbs 12 oz 21"

Garrett Todd 6-3-09 8lbs 3oz 20 1/2 "

Evelyn Mae 10-21-10 7lbs 3oz 20"

Pumpkins

2010-10-19T07:28:00.000-07:00

As Joseph leaves on Monday for 3 weeks he will again miss Halloween with us. We wanted to have some holiday celebration with him so we carved our pumpkins early. And since nobody on our street hands out candy or goes trick or treating we figured no one would care if our pumpkins weren't fresh on Halloween. The boys liked looking at the pumpkin guts and enjoyed even more talking into the hollow pumpkins with the echo. As typical I go for the simple and typical pumpkin face every year. Joseph however always go for complex and even brought out his wood carving tools this year.

The boys admiring the finished work.

Ta-da!

But of course, could it be anything else besides a helicopter?

Now can you name which kind?

And Joseph's other side. We still bleed blue!

DONSA

2010-10-19T06:23:00.000-07:00

When Joseph first got his schedule for his current training we saw that Monday the 11th was empty with the acronym DONSA. Apparently it means day of no scheduled activities and it was because of Columbus Day. Didn't know people got that off for a holiday, but cool we will take it. We decided that it would be a fantastic day to get in the last beach trip of the season. It was perfect! Not very many people were there and the weather wasn't too hot.

Garrett is showing which direction daddy went.

Joseph is brilliant and brought our double tube. He and Benjamin loved floating out in the ocean on it. One time it flipped oved while Joseph was pushing them out. I yelled from the beach, "get your son, get your son!" Good ol Benjamin while flipped upside down in the water still held on tight to the handles. (Actually making it harder for Joseph to turn him back over, but he was safe and all was well.)

I felt so brave going out in swimwear with only 1 1/2 weeks left. I think only a few people eyes were popping out of their heads at me. Definitely hate going out in public the last month as people's comments get bolder and eyes get bigger. One guy told me to lay off the calories and another asked if I was having twins. Sheesh people, it would be better if you just don't say anything.

As usual tradition when going to the beach we stop in at the real city and get some Cold Stone ice cream. Joseph always ends up with the flavor I really want and didn't realize until too late. At the outside mall with Cold Stone there is a playground that the kids love. It wasn't too hot this time so they were able to play.

We like DONSA!

Air Show

2010-10-19T05:10:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago our little city actually had an event to attend. Yeah! Many airplanes, helicopters, and military vehicles were on display. There was a small air show, but we didn't go at the time they were up in the air. It was ridiculously hot, you had to shower afterwards because of being drenched in sweat, but otherwise a great time. Benjamin first of all loved the inflatable slide.

Looks a little like something from Indiana Jones, don't you think?

A MASH vehicle for you mom.

The boys were able to sit in the helicopters.

Benjamin had to sit in every one available. He very much enjoyed it.

Here are a few planes coming down the runway as the were landing.

It was quite an event and the boys loved it!

My two boys

2010-10-09T05:06:00.000-07:00

My little boys are awesome! Benjamin has finally decided that it is good to wear underwear and stay dry! Just in time. Yeah! We still have the night time to conquer, but a dry day is much appreciated. Garrett is growing up fast. He doesn't say much, just please (putting his lips together and blowing through them), mama, dada, and boo. But he understands a lot. Now whether he obeys or not... sometimes he is such a rebel. He can climb into the van and in his car seat. All these things will be helpful with 3. I have really appreciated them being so good as we have been to the dr's 8 times in the last 5 weeks. Between the baby, routine check-ups, and my never ending ear infection we have spent a lot of time in the waiting room. These boys have been so patient.

Here are some pictures of their big grins. We decorated Halloween cookies last night, a tradition for years (missed you family). You can see their delight in eating cookies.

Garrett has learned to pose for the camera. Love his smile-with only 6 teeth. He only had 4 until 3 weeks ago. Unfortunately his teeth are slow and oh so painful.

Benjamin helping daddy build k'nex during conference. Joseph was such a little boy and wouldn't let the boys touch it until he was done. They were such pesty little brothers during the making process and it was funny to see all 3 of them react to each other like older/younger brothers.

As I have been preparing things for #3, I rearranged things in the boys dresser. Benjamin rediscovered his hat, necklace, and puppy dog slippers. He was so excited and had to put them all on (right before bedtime) and danced around the house.

My friend threw me a baby shower to help get ready for a girl. It was surreal to see the pink decorations and open pink gifts. I felt like it was someone else's shower. One of my friends went all out with a diaper cake, tying shampoos, lotions, toys, and binkies around the outside. The boys woke up the next morning infatuated with the cake. They played with all the little things excitedly. And then Benjamin saw something in the middle. "MOMMY THERE IS A BOTTLE WITH CANDY IN IT!" You would have thought it was Christmas morning with how excited he was. Had to show off Garrett's posed smile again, and then another picture to show how intrigued the boys were.

Go BYU!

2010-09-29T10:38:00.000-07:00

One of the experiences I was heartbroken about leaving behing in UT was taking the family to a BYU football game. We were told this summer that BYU was coming out to play Florida State in Sept. Joseph and I lit up and hurried to the computer to see how far away it was. A 2 1/2 hour drive, we could do that with the boys! And so Sept. 18 we were able to have the family experience and memory I wished for. Overall we had a great time. Yes they lost but that wasn't why we went. It was 94 degrees plus humidity so I ended up missing most of the game as I would switch off the boys and take them under the stadium to cool off. Benjamin actually for the first time asked to potty because the bathrooms had a/c. :) If it weren't for the awful heat, I think they really would have done well in the stands. They were pretty good considering. I was really surprised how many BYU fans were there. It was such a comfort and I felt like I was at home again being amongst so many others dressed in blue.

I forgot how pregnant I was as I went up and down the stairs over and over. I would have to hurry and stretch my calves to keep from sudden cramping. While walking back to the car, there was sadly a point when my body couldn't carry Garrett any more and Joseph ended up carrying both of the boys. My leg would just stop working and I couldn't move it. (Can't wait for my body to be normal again.) As we walked back to our cars after the game, I realized how grateful I was for my college experience. Seeing everyone wasted and such made me think about the type of fun I had and the experiences I had.

We were excited to eat out for dinner as we live in a town with only the fast food chains. The only sit down restaurant (that doesn't serve everything fried) in our city is Ruby Tuesday. As I thought of all the great places I miss that we could eat at Benjamin announced he wanted Pizza Hut. We are so nice, even though we have one at home, we went for him. It was a very long day, but it was such a good day. We loved every minute of our family time!

Benjamin and Joseph went down to the field before the game started. The band was playing so Benjamin had his ears plugged.

One of the many bottles of water we went through. (Glad we have a 'baby', they let us bring in the bottles.)

Benjamin intently watching the game.

Though his face says otherwise, Garrett is cheering for his team.

Garrett's favorite part-playing cars on the bench.

Benjamin wanted to go to the top and then fell asleep on daddy.

Under the stadium in the shade moments before we left. The Haymore boys savoring the last moments of attending a BYU football game.

At Pizza Hut Benjamin tries to tackle his pizza slice.

Garrett is so happy to be out of the heat and eating greasy food.

And as if this post isn't long enough, here are a few more things. Joseph had a scout campout so for entertainment I took the boys to Oktoberfest on base. It was pretty disappointing as there was nothing to see or do. (Seriously, we walked around the whole thing in less than 5 min.) There was supposed to be a pumpkin patch, but instead it was a booth selling pumpkins you could paint there. I felt like the boys deserved some fun so I got them pumpkins. They loved painting them. We got in the van and Benjamin said, "Thanks for letting me paint my pumpkin. It's so much fun. My pumpkin's beauuuuuuutiful." These smiles at home show how much they love their pumpkins.
And here is a picture of my pink cheeked Garrett.

The boys LOVE imitating daddy when he does his push-ups. They run over and start doing them when they see him start.

Food for the baby

2010-09-24T11:46:00.000-07:00

*Conversation while making lunch with Benjamin*

B: You don't need any honey mommy.

M: Mommy needs to eat food too Benjamin.

B: No you don't need to eat food.

M: Mommy has to eat for the baby. If mommy doesn't eat food then the baby doesn't get any food.

B: I need to eat honey for hims in my tummy.

B-day party and a 'hike'

2010-09-14T09:40:00.000-07:00

Our scroll isn't working properly on the computer for some reason so I am unable to rearrange the pictures. Sorry that this post will be so unorganized. Last Saturday was our friend's 2nd birthday. They had a party with a fun house and pinata at the church. We were the only ones able to make it with kids so the birthday girl and our boys got plenty of bounce time and had sooooo much fun.

Garrett's shirt says Little Linebacker. I thought it was pretty cute he would pose with the football like that.
Benjamin with the birthday girl Rielyn.
Labor day we went on a 'hike' on post. Without mountains there isn't much hiking, just walking through dense forest. Off to the sides of the trails are spots for Army exercising/stretching. Most of them are pretty lame and aren't much more than you do in elementary PE. But we came across two that were entertaining for the boys.

Benjamin and a silly face.

Garrett and a silly face.

Benjamin and some very blue eyes.

If you can see the rings are just as tall as Joseph without reaching his arms up. They are used for stretching. Seems too easy for a military exercise.

Garrett is sooo happy to play with the stick he found.

Joseph was able to get into the training that ends on my due date, so he will be able to be there, yeah! It was such a miracle usually they go by who is still waiting from other classes and then alphabetically. They happened to skip some of those still waiting and a huge portion of the alphabet before him. So grateful that he got in. And if all continues as scheduled he will be home from the three weeks gone for SERE just a few days before Thanksgiving. That will be so nice. And the countdown continues... 5 1/2 weeks and then baby #3 comes. Yikes!

Boys will be boys

2010-09-06T05:28:00.000-07:00

We have had a glorious week where Joseph was able to spend a lot of time home during the day. It provided the boys with a lot of extra fun and energy. We made bean shakers with paper bowls for maximum shaking noise, which the boys loved for a few days. Many times throughout the day both boys can be caught jumping away on Benjamin's bed. Usually accompanied by some tickling by daddy. And as the weather has cooled off to 88ish we have been able to spend some time outside and have a bit of summer fun. We walked around a small lake on base one morning. A great way to get in 2 miles of walking for the pregnant lady. The boys have had lots of fun playing with daddy in the yard. They love the wagon we got for Benjamin's birthday. And of course since we have boys the week had to end with a trip to the ER for Garrett's head to be glued back together. He threw a fit and crashed into the corner of a wall. Blood came gushing out to where I almost couldn't stand the smell. After the bleeding stopped, he was just fine. But his head was split open pretty wide. So I took him to get it glued back together. Note to self have a thing of super glue on hand and save yourself the 2 1/2 hr wait at the ER. Having daddy home has been so much fun, but it wore Benjamin out.And for your entertainment, Garrett's demonstration video on how to properly use a bean shaker.

Unexpected

2010-08-30T18:23:00.000-07:00

Joseph told me that his old boss was a lot more mellow now without his position. I learned for myself this Sunday a little more about the man and not the soldier. He and his friend (an inactive member who Joseph has been befriending) asked to stop by Sunday afternoon. The boys and I have only met up with him a few times. Which he had been friendly, but he had been drinking before the kids and I got there. I figured he was coming by because bored and lonely while he was waiting to move. They stopped by and I realized that he was a single lonely guy who himself was nervous around people. He told us that he and his friend went to get toys for the boys and the friend picked them out because he didn't know what Mormon kids were allowed to play with. And he knew I wouldn't let them have beer. He previously would joke about giving it to them and then I would tell him he got to take them home if he did so. Anyway, he was really thoughtful and got them both light sabers that were the same so they wouldn't fight. And GI Joe's. They loved them! Garrett woke up from a nap while they were here and couldn't stop giggling with excitement as he pushed his light saber like a vacuum on the floor. I couldn't believe how nice it was of him to think of them and go out of his way like that. Today Benjamin used markers and stickers to make him a thank you card. We figured that since he didn't have his own children's artwork to hang on the fridge we would give him Benjamin's. Before he left he asked to take a picture with our family.

What an unexpected and yet pleasant surprise.

Latest Trauma

2010-08-28T18:59:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time ago when Benjamin had his 2 year check up, the doctor told me that he was of the age where more than getting sick they got injured and to keep an eye on him. Well we had another 'incident' last Sunday. Benjamin while brushing his teeth, hooked his elbows on the sink (we have a small stand with out a counter) and started swinging his legs 3" above his stool. He fell down. It wasn't too bad, just a few tears. Back up to the sink he went and started swinging again. Lesson obviously not learned! Well this time had a much different result. His mouth started bleeding. Not abnormal right? Well it was from his cheek. After a hard night of trying to get him to sleep and failing he went to the doctors. His cheek was swollen huge and was purple on the outside where he had bit it. In hysteria because he didn't sleep, couldn't eat, and he HATES the doctors, he hit and kicked the nurse and dr. I felt really bad. Joseph was trying to hold him down while I was wrestling with Garrett who had gone on a destruction rampage in the room. We left with 3 prescriptions for pain and infection. A week later the swelling and coloring is much better though I still have to fight the urge to tell him to chew food I think he has in his cheek.

Benjamin's 'model' shot.

The pink is creeping in! I finished some blankets this week and am quite proud of myself. 7 1/2 more weeks. Physically I feel like it is tooo long as I have a braxton every time I pick up toys or do dishes. Or my right leg freezes and my muscles stop working while I am trying to walk. But when I lay down to sleep, I think "I am not ready to get up with a baby at night." So I guess I will wait patiently.

Change of Command

2010-08-22T14:13:00.000-07:00

So here is the one real true pregnancy picture I will post for you Rachel. This was at 30 weeks. So hard to not hurry and delete this.

Relieved of duties! With being private I should be able to say more about what Joseph's been up to. Joseph was the personal aid to the CWOB of the Army. His work included but wasn't limited to being a rent-a-friend, carrying coins around for him to hand out, having phone numbers on demand, fetching water, bringing my cookies and brownies to work (my payment to have my husband home for the weekend), being a person to yell at when the guy had a problem. It was pretty miserable for him and made for tough times at home as well. This week was the change of command and Joseph's boss informed him and his company that he was still requiring Joseph to work for him until he left in Sept. (Even though he had no office, no gov. vehicle to be driven in, and no work duties.) So life would continue this way. With the nearing the end, Joseph's boss gave him an award (as all of his past aides have received). It is the Army Achievement Medal. Sounds pretty prestigious even though it was for unnecessary work. He also gave him a knife for display. He called Joseph Joe-Joe, and now that is what everyone out here calls him.

Then at the boss's farewell luncheon Joseph was surprised with a SERE level H completion certificate. I for a moment got my hopes up that it would mean he didn't have to go to SERE for the three week training. But it was for Surpassing Every one of R...(name of boss) Expectations level for Harassment. It was given to him by the commanding general's wife and it was nice for him to be recognized for the nightmare he had been in.

With the change of command the new CWOB asked to meet with Joseph. The new guy, now higher than Joseph's boss since he was changed out, told Joseph that he could hand out his own coins and didn't need an aid. Also that he wasn't allowed to report to his boss and apologized for his treatment. That what he experienced wasn't normal and not how the Army worked. YEAH! Freedom! After this he reported back to his company where they told him to go away and turn his phone off until Monday. So we took a quick spontaneous trip to the beach Friday. The family time was very much needed and appreciated. Joseph was so happy!

Garrett loved this hole we dug for him and even more he loved to eat the sand!

Garrett's mouth is always in this position. Unfortunately due to teething and Tylenol's recall, his face isn't happy while his mouth is open. He has been a wreck! IBuprofen hasn't helped him at all and he has had so much trouble sleeping. During the day he has periods of time where he just rolls around screaming on the floor. Food, drink, toys, holding him, nothing can get him to calm down. It gets really bad at church. We have had a few weeks of this and so I am hoping that it will be ending soon. I miss my happy Garrett.

Good stuff

2010-08-16T09:58:00.000-07:00

I am on a happy high. These are reasons why. This weekend I went to a baby shower for a friend in the ward. Joseph stayed home from a priesthood meeting because he was scared he would fall asleep on the way home and crash. (He had stayed up until after midnight working on his boss's speech and then got up at his usual 4:30am.) It is such a relief to have the kids with dad and asleep. It is like heavy football pads are taken off your shoulders. So I thoroughly enjoyed myself and the chance to chat away and laugh with friends. Also this weekend was Super Saturday, which I got put in charge of last minute. It was glorious again to have Joseph home with the kids for the 6 hours I was gone. I really think the kids and I needed a break from each other. That afternoon we did haircuts for all three boys. I finally convinced Joseph that with his boss leaving in 3 weeks I didn't need to cut the top of his hair so short. My husband again looks like the person I fell in love with and I can look at him and think 'Joseph' rather than 'someone enslaved by the military'. That night we had dinner with some friends which included Suzi Wood's son and his family. (For those who know her.) Joseph was pleasant company for the evening (a rarity, since he dislikes socializing) and we really had a good time. Church was a struggle with Garrett-I swear he was possesed. In the mother's room we went to drown out his shrieking. He was rolling over in my arms and going crazy. Same on the floor. He would roll around and try to burrow his head under the chairs. He could not be calmed. It took an hour and a half before I could get him to see an item I was trying to distract him with to calm down. However Benjamin asked me if I wanted to come to nursury again this week with him. (I substituted last week.) Made me happy that he wanted me to come. Benjamin said his first prayer by himself. He was cute and repeated much of mom's prayers but added just a few things of his own. Both boys ate their dinner yesterday without a fuss. Wow-a miraculous event for Benjamin. He convinced daddy to play a game with us and when the dice hit the hard wood floor, Garrett freaked out from the noise. This gave Joseph and me the giggles because it was too funny. As Benjamin helped me make brownies for Joseph's boss he just burst out singing,
"Follow the Prophet, Follow the Prophet, Follow the Prophet." I couldn't believe what was coming out of his mouth. I have played the primary cd's frequently and will sing with them. But Benjamin hasn't ever joined along. Joseph and I were amazed at how grown-up and impressionable Benjamin is. Joseph forgot to take the brownies to work this morning and so I brought them in to keep him from getting in trouble. We were able to take them up to his office and meet the secretaries. They adored the boys. The best part was that Joseph was all smiles. He had lots of smiles this weekend. That has made it a great weekend.

What makes a birthday

2010-08-09T05:42:00.000-07:00

These are the things that made my birthday great yesterday:

Substituting in nursury. Was able to get more out of church then usual because I am typically in the mother's room for three hours while Garrett fights sleep.

Watching Veggie Tales and eating popcorn with Benjamin while Garrett and Joseph slept for a few hours.

Finding Garrett's long lost shoe which has caused me much distress. It was hiding in the kitchen cupboard under the crock pot and popcorn maker.

My gift to myself of eating whatever I wanted and in the amounts I wanted guilt-free for the day. Of course I ate way to much sugar and didn't sleep much last night. The baby was definitely on a sugar high and couldn't hold still. Didn't think it was possible for a baby to much that much that fast.

Talking to friends and family. My favorite part. To say hi and visit with the people I love and miss.

Baby Bracelets

2010-08-03T13:51:00.001-07:00

So I have some beads to make baby bracelets and wondered if those of you that use them prefer elastic bracelets or ones with clasps.

Will this count?

2010-08-01T14:51:00.000-07:00

I have had a few requests to post pregnant pictures. Ugh, I hate pregnant pictures. Will these count? I watched my friends boys and they brought over their toy stethescope. Benjamin every 5 minutes checked the baby's heartbeat and told me it was ok. Thanks Benjamin, glad everything is ok! Only 12 more weeks. Not quite sure if I want to fly by or take it's time. I swear it's so much more uncomfortable this time either A) I am not teaching and therefore aren't using my muscles B) Carrying a girl may be different then a boy C) Let's face it, it's my third pregnancy. So it would be nice if it flew by for that reason. But as I get in the car, give baths, or feed the kids, my mind panics and thinks I will be doing this for three kids instead of two. Just have to remember that my mom and many others have done it and survived. I can too. Wow, aren't our moms amazing?!

Going Private

2010-07-28T10:26:00.001-07:00

Going private with the blog. Send me an email, or if I have your email, just let me know if you want to be added.

Our visiting friends

2010-07-18T14:40:00.000-07:00

Last week my sister and cousin came out for a week to visit. It was wonderful to have them here! I loved seeing them, having the extra hands, and having someone to talk to around the house. For not having much out here we were able to keep pretty busy. (Sorry Teresa, just realized we never get you to Piggly Wiggly.) Unfortunately our ac is broken, after 3 1/2 weeks it will finally be fixed next week, so they got the full effect of the southern heat. But they were troopers and played with us. After their long journey here we immediately the next day made the trip out to the beach. It was a day clear of oil, whoo hoo! The boys love the beach! Garrett eats and eats sand. He thinks he is so sneaky and tries to shove in a handful when mom isn't looking. Benjamin will stay in the water the whole time if he can. We had fun burying Amber's leg in the sand. Do you like Benjamin's beach look?

The next day we gave them a day on base starting with the airplane/helicopter museum. Garrett was hilariously excited to get in the cockpit.

Benjamin and his friend Jacob flying high.

Back at home, Garrett really enjoys kicking back.

Monday was Benjamin's birthday and one of 'his' presents was a wagon for the family. He immediately wanted to use it.

We took him bowling for his birthday and he had so much fun. Didn't matter that the ball was heavy and his shoes were slightly big, he loved it. After anyone bowled he would punch his fist in the air and yell "YES." He still keeps asking to go again.

Benjamin using his birthday goodies. The cute mechanic Cars shirt is from our friend Rachel and the garbage truck getting a ride is Benjamin's favorite. Aunt Teresa spoiled him with it and it is now the toy that never leaves his side.

Sadly the week came to an end and we had to return these lovely ladies back to their normal lives. Thanks for visiting guys, we miss you!

4th of July and such

2010-07-11T13:45:00.000-07:00

One more sewing project I had been working on was an experience of 'it is better to give a man a fish than to teach him'. Joseph's motorcycle seat fell apart. I told him to take it to get reupholstered. He said it would be easy to make one himself and would do it. After helping him get the fabric, appropriate needle and thread, I washed my hands of the project. That is until I heard my sewing machine go clunk clunk clunk from the other room. Turns out Joseph has not used a sewing machine before. I ended up making the seat in the end. It was definitely not a professional job, and don't look to closely at the uneven seams, but it is done and that is what matters to me.

This cat always comes by thinking we are it's home. Benjamin was trying to offer it a stick. It politely declined.
Back in the day I grew up with a very slanted driveway and a little red wagon. We loved to go to the top and freely let the wagon go down while in it. Our boys have discovered the same thrill when Benjamin one day decided to do so with his 'motorcycle'.

Can I say huge and disgusting?

This is to give you perspective on the size of the beam the spider almost stretches out to.

So not only do I have bugs flying at me constantly, now I have birds doing the same. Went to water my fern (which has previously had a bird fly out and hit me a few times) and out fell on me a baby bird. I was a bit upset with the one more yucky thing in Alabama. Joseph grabbed a bucket and put it back in the fern. We found a little hole of an enclosed nest, but failed to put it back there. The mom came later and was there a whole lot of chirping that day.

Here are the beautiful flowers Benjamin got from the Easter Bunny and grew himself.

Garrett's first experience eating a PB & J by himself.

It will be awhile before he does that again. (He is laughing at me.)

We set up a bed frame for our visitors and I walked in to find this. Benjamin happily declared, "He's sleeping mommy!"

Missing Provo's Freedom Festival was really hard this year. Not much goes on here. They have a 'Freedom Fest' on base that we went to, it was pretty disappointing. As they have nothing else but helicopters here, they had them out for display. Benjamin enjoyed his turn in the pilot seat.The really big helicopter, the chinook. These are pretty much never available for the students to pick. And for variety, a real live race car.Oh the south and their ways that I don't think I will ever care for.
It says Deep Fried Oreos, Snickers, and Brownies. There also was boiled peanuts and toasted corn cobs everywhere, but no cotton candy to be found. There was one booth with cotton candy amongst the gazillion selling the corn cobs. Benjamin last year was terrified of fireworks. This year was ok as long as he plugged his ears. Garrett however loved the show. (The shorts are gone due to a forgetful parent and a very wet diaper.) They don't sell fireworks at the stores here and you have to go to stands that are way out there. We found a few little ones to enjoy as a family. They don't have a whole of restrictions on fireworks here, it was crazy to see what they sell. Garrett was happy to help and watch.

That is the closest Benjamin got to a firework. He refused to even do sparklers or snaps.

Happy 4th of July!

Growing Up

2010-07-04T17:56:00.001-07:00

So I haven't really done much writing about the boys and their growing up. Here I go. Benjamin is sooooo talkative! He has become extremely attached to his toy airplane and helicopters. They always come in the van (just to be placed in the cupholder the whole time, on his own accord). We have in our bathroom a weird cupboard where it is hinged on the bottom and the drawer inside is missing. It is Benjamin's 'oven' or so he calls it. I swear half of his hotwheel cars and his airplanes are in there all day. He loves to put things in the 'oven'. He is very much a boy and loves tractors and riding lawn mowers. He calls Lowe's the lawn mower store and has to sit on all the displays there. He has a friend he loves to play with because as Benjamin states, " Jacob has tractors. I like playing with Jacob's tractors." In nursury they call him Ben and for the last few weeks on the drive home he tells us this. I ask him if he wants me to call him Ben and he says yes. I then say "ok Ben" and he then tells me "I not Ben, I Benjamin". He loves to read. I will find him just laying on his stuffed animals and looking through tons of books. He then always asks me, "you want a book mommy?" Joseph yesterday sat on the porch reading a book. Benjamin kept running back inside and outside to get new books so he could read with daddy. Every morning he comes out and announces to me "mommy I awake". He can put on his flip-flops by himself, yeah!

Garrett-my fiesty little guy. He is walking pretty much everywhere and loves it! He can tell when I am asking him something and will always respond back "Yah". He finally has his top front teeth bringing his total to 4 teeth. What a adventurous little guy. One day in the bath tub he was sitting and decided to plunge his head in the water and bubbles. He came back up looked at me, wiped the bubbles, smiled and did it again. And again. I was a little freaked thinking he was going to drown himself. My friend who is an awesome swim teacher told me to encourage it and showed me some things to do in the pool to put his face safely under water. He LOVES it! I sometimes am shocked by things he does and forgot just how old he is. I was watching Benjamin put on his shoes and Garrett came over to me carrying his shoes. He sat down by us and tried to put them on. When I started helping him he kept lifting his feet up to help. It has been kind of interesting to see him learn more of who Joseph is. Garrett is usually pretty friendly to strangers and likes people in general. Joseph was one of those to him, a person around here and there who could make him laugh. Lately, I can't really describe how, but his relationship is starting to change and I think he starts to see Joseph as daddy. He is getting as involved in the tickling and wrestling as Benjamin. He will choose to go to Joseph and is more excited to see him than before. Though it made me happy with love to hear that while I was gone visiting my friend, Garrett sat at the door waiting for me to come home.

Number 3-yeah not much to update there except I am getting bigger. I feel like it is too hard to move, too early. I was laughing with someone about the first time your pregnant you can't feel the baby move all too early because it hard to recognize it moving. The second time you can tell earlier. The third time-I feel sea sick! Hopefully it doesn't mean she has extra attitude! Fearing the day for sure when I have to buckle three car seats every trip. Three kids to get dressed at a time. Yeah, pretty sure I won't be going anywhere for awhile. Looks like Joseph is going to be doing his SERE (a 3 week prisonar of war camp/training) right after I have the baby. Praying real hard for an easy baby.

And those are the Haymore kids in Alabama!

A woman

2010-07-02T13:04:00.000-07:00

Last night as I went to bed my mind went through my day and I thought my day was full of things a woman is for. It started out with trying to potty train Benjamin. He will not for the life of him or me do it. He refuses. No treat, no reward or toy, no consequence (not even being in wet undies) will get him to sit down. I have to bend him to make him sit so we have not had any luck with it. That day I tried to talk/reason with him and of course it didn't work. However, it was a morning spent trying to educate my child. I received news from a friend back home of her devasting loss. Sent her words of sympathy. Received news of a friend here who lost her sister in a car accident the night before. Off to the commissary to get things to make her dinner and cookies. At the store, had to keep a hand between Benjamin and Garrett to stop them from fighting. (Yes Garrett is an agressive little hitter, how do you discipline a 1 year old besides saying no, and stop). Back at home made dinner for my friend. Made dinner for us. After serving my family dinner went to my friends and stayed to visit for a few hours. Came home in time to comfort Joseph before going to bed. He said he is ready to commit suicide working for this guy who yells at him all day and tells him he is incompetent for the guys own mistakes. ie the guy can't remember his own password and never told Joseph it so obviously it is Joseph's fault and he gets yelled at. Basic run down-teaching children, comforting friends, keeping house, and being there to uplift your husband. Last night I realized that these things are the work of a woman.

Really?

2010-06-27T12:06:00.001-07:00

I just can't catch a break! Argh! Joseph was supposed to have 4 months after being gone for Officer training that he was going to be home almost everyday by noon. And because they are in a 'bubble' or waiting period for the next training we supposedly can get pass easily and take summer family vacations. Apparently this family time before they disappear again for training was not meant for us. Joseph was assigned the detail 4 out of 1500ish people get a year. To be the personal aid of someone high up there here at Fort Rucker. Meaning he works 5-5 M-F and is on call 24/7 always having to be prepared to answer his phone and go in. He is not allowed any time off for pass or leave. No family vacation this year. This Saturday (July 3rd) he has to attend the holiday celebration as the aid and not as our dad. It might be worth the hours to work with people high up in the chain of command, but unfortunately his boss is not a concern for others kind of person. I think that is the best way to publicly post the situation. This has made Joseph just as depressed and moody at home as when he worked at a desk, completely defeating his purpose of joining the Army. Anyway... the only supposed benefit to this detail is that if he does his job well we are able to get the station we want after Alabama. (Of course it is always with the Army an I'll believe it when I see it situation.) Well the chain of command is changing and Joseph's boss will be leaving. Not in time to relieve Joseph of his detail, but late enough that he will not be here when we are assigned a station. So we have cherished what time we have in the evenings. And then he got called to YM's. So there went Wednesday night. Ok I am still fine. Teresa and my cousin are coming out in a week and will be here for a week. I am so happy to see them and we thought that we might take advantage of them and go to Birmingham Fri-Sat to go to the temple. Who knows how long it will be before we get another chance like this to have a night to ourselves. Then today we discover that Joseph has a Scout campout that weekend. Seriously...can't I get a break?

A little bit behind

2010-06-26T05:44:00.000-07:00

Garrett turned 1 this month and we had a little party for him. I thought it would be way fun for the kids who came over to have a pinata. So I made one and it turned out pretty good. I was relieved. The kids loved swinging at it. Benjamin learned that if you use the bat backwards, you get better hits.

Joseph's new hat.

As Garrett had previously shown, he is not afraid to dig into cake.

Garrett wanted to try on my glasses. He looks pretty good! PS-go to the beach at 8 in the morning. It's is plenty hot enough and no one is there yet!

Yeah! I finally finished my first quilt. My grandma helped me make the top back in January. I have been one slow poke with the hand quilting. Now onto so many more sewing projects.

One afternoon we had an awful storm that left a mess. It killed my garden, broke braches, and left junk all over our yard.

Wasn't too happy about this one. My peppers and cherry tomatoes are still doing well. I had to buy zucchini and about cried. A gardner should never have to buy zucchini. Unfortunately my garden has been a failure out here this year. It's really hard to stay motivated and keep working on it. But as the primary song says The Prophet Said to Plant a Garden.

The Hard Truth: brough to you by Sesame Street

2010-06-23T09:05:00.000-07:00

Last week a Sesame Street show came to the base and put on a free half hour performance for military families. They gave every child an awesome free toy which the boys loved and helped entertain them while waiting for the show. The show was well done and I was quite impressed with the dancing in the costumes. The show started out with Elmo telling his friends he felt bad and was sad because he missed his daddy who was gone. I thought: Oh how sweet of Sesame Street to do a show specifically for the kids of the soldiers to help deal with deployment. Those kids really have it rough emotionally and I am glad Sesame Street does such a great thing to help them. HARD TRUTH: A) Those kids are my kids. My kids are those kids. My kids are now the children who have to deal with life without dad. He is not a constant factor in life. He is here and not here at someone elses whim. My children are those who have that life. It KILLS me that it is so. B) Deployment is not the only time that daddy is gone. Constantly they are gone for trainings and such. There is no steadiness to their schedule. As far as Benjamin knows, daddy will be gone one day and he has no idea when he is coming back. It has already happened a few times and we haven't even been in the Army a year. 8 more years to go still! Benjamin every morning does these things in this order; announces he woke up, tells me he wants breakfast, asks if Daddy is going to be home for dinner. The rare times Joseph is still here at 6:30am, Benjamin knows in his sleep and will get up extra early those mornings. The hard truth I am in the military and my kids fall into the category of emotional children because dad is gone. Brought to you by Sesame Street

Benjamin showing off his new toy.

I know the picture is fuzzy, but can you see how much Garrett loves his new toy?

Never in Utah

2010-06-23T08:44:00.000-07:00

I mowed the lawn today for Joseph. It wasn't too hard. Just really hot with sweat dripping down my face like crazy. Then I turned a corner. As I lifted the lawn mower to make the turn, stuff flew out of the bottom. Not highly unusual. Except for with the grass clippings was a frog. Ick. I muffled a startled scream and continued on with the thought This never would have happened to me in Utah. I was a good mom and showed the boys the frog even though I would have preferred it didn't exist. I however didn't show them until I was done and we were on our way inside so I didn't have to worry about Benjamin trying to play with it. I did have one happy discovery as I mowed. We have had these thorny bushes growing in the front yard that Joseph has wanted to kill, rip out, cut back etc. I kept telling him I didn't think they were weeds and to let them go. Turns out they are berry bushes! Not quite sure what kind and if we can eat them. Do you know Grandpa?

Bugs, bugs, and more bugs

2010-06-21T09:22:00.000-07:00

They are gross. I don't find them beautiful. They are invasive, everywhere, destructive, and kill good times. They are bugs. You don't need to go to South America to get the outrageous bug experience. Just come on down to Alabama. I have never needed pesticide for the garden. I started using it when I was only able to use 1/4 of the stuff I picked. They covered my garden! The pesticide has been very helpful. At night it sounds like popcorn at our kitchen window because beetles keep flying constantly into the window. Huge and elaborate spider webs are all over our back porch. It is impossible to walk outside with a free mind. Constantly you are watching to not walk into a web or on dead bugs all over. The spiders are ridiculously huge. I could kill a spider in UT, out here I am not quite sure. It gives you the chills to even think about crushing one with a shoe. Joseph was luckily here and killed the only one yet we have seen in the house. He even had hesitations. At night the June bugs keep you up. They are pretty obnoxious. I had an experience the other night that made me yell out "I hate Alabama, I want to go home!" Have you seen Other Side of Heaven? Where he loses it with the mosquitos, throws his stuff on the ground and screams? That was me. I went outside to get a beach toy that had been left on the porch. Out came a ton of beetles. They kept flying around and hitting me. As I grabbed for the door to safety a huge ugly cochroach ran to the door and just waited for me to open it so he could get in the house. I was stuck. I screamed for Joseph to get a shoe to kill the cochroach the second I opened the door while freaking out because I kept getting hit by beetles. It was an awful night. No, I don't like bugs. One of the reasons I am not a fan of Alabama.

Anniversary Weekend

2010-06-21T09:01:00.001-07:00

Friday was our 6th anniversary and it was a great day. We had great friends who volunteered (we didn't even have to ask) to babysit for us that night. I signed Joseph up to go scuba diving the next day so I didn't have anything to surprise him with. I made a ton of cookies and snuck them in the car for Friday hoping that it would put his boss in a kinder mood and give Joseph a good day. It kind of worked! His boss said next time to send some wine and he would give Joseph the day off. We had a crazy crazy half hour right before dropping the kids off. A meat wholesale company came to the door (which I was geniunely interested in), my friend called, Joseph got a call from a guy offering us tickets to a dance (more on that later), I had to make reservations for the next night, call and get a babysitter for the next night, feed the boys dinner and do something with my wet hair. We finally got out, dropped off the kids and headed out on the long drive to town where there is something good to eat. As we drove Joseph asked me to get out the GPS. As I did so something rattled in the drawer. I looked at the cigarette lighter and noticed that we didn't have any plugs that were missing. I further investigated and found a box of diamond earrings. Totally surprised and I love them! Turns out that Joseph and the boss went to the PX (a one store minimall on base) to get them and ran into the General (for those who don't know, he is in charge of the Fort, you don't get higher than him here). He jokingly asked what they were doing there during work hours and Joseph's boss said that they had to get Joseph an anniversary gift. The general asked when our anniversary was and he told him "today sir". The general then chastised him saying that he should have already bought the present and have given it to me that morning! Ha Ha Ha. I love that Joseph was taught a different lesson by the Army than how to shoot people. He is not typically a gift giver and so he was already going way above and beyond by getting one. And the one time he does, it isn't seen as enough by someone Joseph has to listen to. Makes me laugh. We had a great time at this small and very classy Thai restaurant. It was perfect! The first food I had eaten in forever when eating out that didn't make me sick! Definitely had a good night.

The next night we went to a second chance prom put on by a country radio station out here. It was pretty funny to see drunk people of all ages (even elderly grandparents) out on the dance floor. We didn't do much dancing, but we had a good time out. We were really lucky to have two nights to ourselves! It was a good anniversary weekend.

Once Upon a 6 Years Ago

2010-06-18T12:34:00.000-07:00

Once upon a 6 years ago, we walked out through the temple doors as husband and wife.

Can I just say how much I miss his hair?

Benjamin in the lime light

2010-06-16T11:11:00.000-07:00

Benjamin was picked to model for some aprons and his pictures are at http://bluefanfare.blogspot.com/p/boys.html. He looks pretty good! My mom has started an apron company to sell true BYU spirited apron wear. She has got her licensing and is now starting the business. Whoo hoo mom! Look for her at the 4th of July parade as a vendor.

In your opinion

2010-06-11T06:07:00.000-07:00

I was at an enrichment mtg where they talked about someone teaching us how to make bracelets. The thought occured to me that I would have a baby girl and actually would be able to use the little bracelets I have so admired. Before I would notice how much I liked cute things like that, but then erase it from my mind. Boys don't wear bracelets, or cute crochet hats, or flowers/bows, or headbands, or nailpolish. As I am looking to get new baby things to go along with a girl I have thought about purchasing these type of items. If you have a daughter, how much do you use these type of items? What ages do they work best for in your experience?

Underestimating

2010-06-09T05:56:00.000-07:00

I have a slight tendency to underestimate medical procedures. When I had my D&C I thought I would be in the hospital for an hour and then would be able to go to work. As I checked in and they checked vitals it was then I asked and realized I would be going under and that I wouldn't be leaving until the late afternoon. Oops, didn't plan on that. While it took longer in the hospital than I expected I was able to walk out of the hospital. (I think that they didn't wheelchair me out though because my mom couldn't remember where she parked.) :) Yesterday I had part of my big toenail removed. Didn't think it would be a big deal. Go in, get it done, pick up the kids from my friends house and go home, make dinner and clean house. Ha ha ha what a joke I played on myself. I was able to walk out, or more like hobble out of the office. But I was supposed to elevate my foot for the next two hours. I could do that while driving, as long as the cops didn't mind. But what mom of young kids at dinner time can sit down for two hours? So I was quite the funny sight as my foot was propped up on the rolling stroller as I hopped/rolled around the kitchen. I am still hobbling around and realize it's going to be awhile before I am back to normal speed and functioning capabilities. Glad I did a lot of cleaning yesterday. But it means no jogging for awhile. Darn.

UT pt 2

2010-06-08T05:33:00.000-07:00

I wish I was an amazing photographer, but I am not. This wreath of vines and purple flowers on Temple Square was so pretty.

Brigham Young's grave. Did you know this place was in the middle of a housing block in Salt Lake? It has Eliza R. Snow's grave there as well as.

We took a fun trip to the zoo with my sisters and parents. The boys loved it! Here is the baby elephant they have.

Two affectionate monkeys.

It's cute to see Benjamin realize it stinks and plug his nose.

Garrett's favorite pal for the trip-Grandpa.

Benjamin loves helping mommy make cake. We made on for Garrett to celebrate his birthday with my family.
Special birthday toys from Grandma to help with the plane ride back.

Loving his cake!

Snow! A reunion party with my ballerinas from BYU. It was so good to see everyone.
We went to Thanksgiving Point where Benjamin was so big and rode the horse by himself. (I walked beside him of course for safety measure.) Garrett was so excited to ride. Before the horses started moving he was rocking back and forth to get the pony going.

And when we came home, I had 5 flower bouquets. Of course Joseph the day before I came home had gotten in trouble with me because of a prank by his new boss, but he said he had planned on doing it all along so I gave him full credit.

So Much To Say

2010-06-04T12:51:00.000-07:00

So I have lots of updating.

First-we are having a girl! She is due Oct. 22/23 and I am so excited because she was way still during the ultrasound, whereas the boys were kicking and moving around like crazy. She just might be the easy baby I need.

Second-The Army is as awful as I thought. We have had the misfortune of having terrible experiences that many others don't. I have more on this, but that will be posted later.

Third-I had a fabulous two weeks out in UT. Before I went, Joseph was awesome and got me this great Mother's Day gift. I know, we are so outdated, this is our first ipod. All our cd players have had trouble lately so we figured it was time to move on.

In UT we had lots of fun things to do. We kept up the annual visit to CAL Ranch to look at the baby chicks.

Aunt Teresa showing Benjamin her new pet rats. Benjamin kept calling them Ratatouille.
The main reason for our visit back. Jake and Kylee's wedding. It was one of the few days of good weather out there and it was beautiful. Aunt Andrea learned just how hard it can be to wrestle these two. Jake and Kylee. Two very happy people!
Benjamin was actually hungry and devoured his PB&J.

Garrett waiting for someone to make his bottle.

The wedding wore these two out. We hadn't even had the luncheon yet.

My dad let me drive his truck around while we visited. The boys LOVED it!!!

My mom and I attended the temple and it was wonderful. Being 3 1/2 hours away from the temple without even Joseph around has made it terribly difficult to go. It was grateful to go in UT.

My beautiful mountains! A glorious view from my house.

On a walk up to Bridal Veil Falls. It was so pretty!

The ceiling of the Joseph Smith Memorial Bldg.
Beautiful flowers on Temple Square. When we walked by on our way back to the car, all these flowers had been ripped out. They were replacing them with more heat resistant flowers.

That is all I will load on you now. If I get the time again, part 2 will be up soon.

Day 2 and 3

2010-05-11T09:48:00.000-07:00

The post from day one ended up before Garrett's video. That is where our trip begins.

The next day started out with yummy doughnuts from Krispy Kreme. Have you tried their Smore or Cheesecake filled doughnuts? Definitely not your traditional type, but way good. You already have seen Garrett's enjoyment, now Benjamin will show you the proper way to eat a sprinkle doughnut. Eat the sprinkled top only.

Then we were off to the beach. We had a great morning relaxing, splashing in the waves, and digging in the sand. The young boys loved playing in the sand. Benjamin enjoyed wading in the water with daddy. Garrett did too until his face got wet. Before that he would laugh with excitement as we let him play along the shore.

Here are the boys in the sand.

The big boy unknowingly posing in the water.

Definitely white from those Army uniforms. Otherwise I think he looks pretty good.

I convinced Joseph after the beach to take me to the outlet mall. I have been deprived of serious fun shopping forever! It was so great. There was a Banana Republic outlet store with a Mother's Day sale of 20%-40% off of everything! I really enjoyed myself. Joseph also picked himself out some new sunglasses. After dinner we went to an outdoor mall with a Cold Stone. They had this fun playground in the middle. Benjamin had a lot of fun on it.

Back to the beach we went for a night family walk.

The next morning we went to an aquarium. Benjamin was pretty tempermental and didn't enjoy much of it. It was an ok aquarium, the one we went to in Vegas was way better.

The boys favorite part of the aquarium, the mechanical rides. Even without the quarters to turn them on.
And so concludes our beach trip. Now for our UT trip!

How can you not laugh?

2010-05-09T18:01:00.000-07:00

I am still working on posts from our little vacation this last week, but this was just too funny to wait to put up. This boy LOVES food. He is never full! This is what happens when he gets a taste of something sweet and yummy.

Day 1

2010-05-08T12:15:00.000-07:00

Joseph has finally finished WOCS! He has only been waiting here since November for this. He is now able to come home at night and be a member of the family again.

The day after he graduated he was given a 4 day pass meaning he didn't have to check in for 4 days and could go anywhere within so many miles of the base. I took the initiative and planned a short family vacation in Destin, FL. (Which I learned how terrible I am as a travel agent. Our hotel was pretty bad.) The beach is only 2 1/2 hrs away and we were so excited. We ate dinner at this place called Graffiti and the Funky Blues which I had a $25 off of $35 coupon. We pulled up and looked at each other nervously and wondered if the atmosphere or food would be any good. No need to be worried. Their bar was in a seperate room closed off with a door. It was pretty quiet when we went and the food was great! Better than the Ruby Tuesday we have in town.

Daddy and Garrett enjoying tickling after eating.

We then went to the beaches to pick one out for the next day. We found one that was great. It was useless to try to keep Benjamin out of the water that night.

Like father like son, watching the aircraft overhead.