Tatooine or Bust...

During our last visit to St. George with the boys we decided to take a drive over to Las Vegas. We had promised the boys we would go to an authentic Las Vegas Buffett after they had seen a show highlighting one. Yep, those boys are easy to please. Just fill em up with food. Anyway, we left early with the intentions of touring around the city a bit. Showing the boys their old stomping grounds...old schools, old apartments, churches, etc. That didn't take nearly as much time as was planned and we didn't really want to spend the day walking the strip(aka spending money on overpriced things), so we decided to take a little road trip. Death Valley in July anyone???? Yep, we took a little excursion to Death Valley in the middle of July. The selling point for the boys was that it's where the scenes for Star Wars were filmed that depict the fictional planet Tatooine. The home planet of Luke and Anaken Skywalker. Obviously it wasn't too hard to sell them on that idea condisering they eat, drink and dream Star Wars. What they didn't anticipate was the heat. We watched the temperature rise steadily as we drove farther and farther into the valley. It became a game. How hot would it get? 122degrees!!! Yes my friends, it was a hundred and twenty two degrees outside of the car. I don't think the boys even had a vision of what that feels like. We eventually stopped at Bad Water to get out and check things out a bit. This is where I would insert a photo of us melting, but the camera melted too. It felt as if we were sitting in a furnace. Needless to say, we didn't hike around for long. The boys enjoyed seeing the filming location of their favorite movie and it was a nice drive. I just don't suggest doing it in July.

One a side note...when I walked into the windowless restrooms it felt exactly like sauna at Hannah's house. We don't need no stinkin' Finnish sauna...we got death valley, YEAH!

Exhausted

When the boys left after two straight weeks last Sunday night, we both let out a collective sigh of relief! Not that we don't love having the boys, because we do. But boy do they make us tired... More laundry, more food to fix, more fights to referee, more love to dole out, less alone time for us, more family activities. Plus we both still worked our normal hours while they were here. All last week, I just vegged out after I got home from work. No housework, no projects, nothing! I just wanted to relax because we didn't have all of the busy-ness that the boys add to our lives. It takes a lot out of you when you have to be a full time parent! I guess we should consider ourselves lucky for the time being and enjoy it while it lasts.

Week (or so) in Review

I guess it's been awhile and some people want an update on our lives. Honestly, I've just been very busy at work and haven't had time to post much lately. So, to sum up the last couple of weeks...Here goes.


On Friday of Father's Day weekend, my parents took Adam, Aaron and Jed and I out to dinner. They came up north for my mom's uncles funeral. So, it was perfect timing to celebrate Adam's birthday. It was great to get together with everyone, as we don't do it very often. I often joke that Jed had a better relationship with my brother Aaron, because he talks to him and sees him more than I do. The fly fishing bug has bitten Jed and he tries to go out with Aaron whenever he can. We picked up the boys on Saturday night and had them for a week. On Father's day, we had Jed open his presents. William was dying to have him open the gift we found for him. He kept giving away too many hints about what it was. I told him if he continued and gave it away, we would take it back. The boy can't keep a secret to save his life! So, what was the gift Will just couldn't wait to give? It was a lemonade stand drink mixer that looks just like the picture above. It really is kind of fun.
We also got Jed this... Apparently he HATES microwave popcorn. I never knew this until a couple of weeks ago. No wonder it never gets used unless the kids are here. It is so easy to use, we made popcorn nearly every day the boys were here. I have to say, it is much better than the microwave stuff!

The kids had a sleep over with the cousins a couple of times while they were here. That's always a treat(for the parents who don't have the kids at their house)! The boys went to the PG pool with the cousins, a Bee's baseball game with dad and Lori and the Transformers movie with the cousins. Jens got to go on a "Beacon" trek as well. Our stake is doing a pioneer trek this summer and they decided to do a one day trek for the deacons and beehives. They went up to This is the Place monument and spent the day learning a little about pioneer history and what it was like to live during that time. They had to push a handcart up a hill and do all kinds of fun pioneer stuff. He had a lot of fun. but said it was hard work. I think a little hard work is good for you. We're glad he was able to do that this week.


All in all it was a good week. We had fun with the boys and it was nice to have them for more than the week end. We'll get them for two straight weeks in July and then another week in August. So, I'm sure we'll have more adventures to talk about then.

The Lizard Men

Meet Iggy...the green thing, not the boy.

Iggy took up residence at our place a couple of months ago. This boy is enchanted.

And this boy loves his pet, even when he does have to feed him and water him and love him. Isn't it nice to have pets that are so easy to take care of. I like it that way.

Spring Break 2009

While it was snowing in Northern Utah, we were in St. George playing.

William got his face painted.

Jens, Rylee and William chased a kite around at the kite festival.
Alas, the wind was hiding, so the unicorns did not maintain flight for very long.

We then became pirates at the Pirates Cove place. Fun for the kids, not the adults. But then again, isn't it all about the kids anyway?

Bees Game

We went to the Salt Lake Bee's game the other night. They were supposed to have $1 chicago dogs. They didn't. Someone goofed up and didn't pull that promotion from their website.

How do you think Jens felt about that? We promised the boys all the Chicago dogs they could eat. Instead they got a plain hot dog, chips and a drink for way more than the $1 Chicago dogs would have been. After much persuasion and gnashing of teeth, Jed convinced the Bee's people they had better make up for their mistake. We now have a couple of handfuls of tickets to bees games. So, we will go back and enjoy the entertainment on behalf of the bees. YEAH!

Earthworm funeral

When I picked Will up from school today I noticed he was unusually dirty, with his legs covered in dirt. (yes he wore shorts today even though it was snowing/raining) So I asked what was up? Will told me he had to bury a baby worm that he found that was dead. He actually found a patch of dirt/mud and dug a hole and buried the poor little worm. It thought it was cute, funny, and well just so darned tender of him. He has such a tender heart and is always so concerned about how other are feeling. Let's hope this is one trait he will never out grow!

Learning the tricks of the trade(mama trade)

What it is it about kids and puking and not being able to contain the gross stuff all in one place? Seriously?! Jens came in Saturday and told me he had vomited in the bathroom. So, I thought I would go in and do an easy, breezy cleanup. NOPE. It was in the tub, on the floor, in the sink and on the toilet. If you start to puke in one place why not just stay there???????????? Yuck!!!

Doll Face

Jed took William to See's candy store to get me a Valentine's Day present. (have I mentioned I LOVE chocolate covered caramels) They carefully picked an assortment of Lori approved yummy confections and went to the check out counter. Now remember that Will doesn't have a quiet voice. Everything he says is in high volume.

The lady at the register said to Will "oh is this for your mom?" To which Will matter of factly replied, "no, it's for my step mom, and we call her bonus mom, but I call her Doll Face!" (he actually does call me Doll Face) Jed said it was just a classic Will moment. He was talking so loud that EVERYONE in the store could hear him and immediately started laughing because he was just so darn cute.

Doesn't this look yummy? Well it was.

AND we had lots of it. Jed made it when I was sick a couple of weeks ago.

I bet it would have tasted pretty good after shoveling all of this snow. Too bad we didn't have any homemade soup on this day. Don't worry, I think Jed warmed the boys up with a nice cup o' cocoa. That made them warm and happy.

You know what else was tasty? This prime rib dinner we had on Christmas day. It was cooked on the smoker. Yes, it was very tasty indeed.

Oh how I love the 10 hr. work week!

At the beginning of August, I began working 10 hr. days and get the benefit of having 1 day off during the week. At first getting up early enough to get to work @ 7 a.m. was torture. It is getting a little bit easier... Although Jed may beg to differ. He thinks that I am not a morning person. I have no idea why he would feel that way, I think I have a VERY SUNNY accountance at 5:30 in the morning. Truthfully though, I am loving the extra day off during the week. I get so much more done at home and that leaves me more time to spend with my hubby or do other things. YEAH!
The boys started back to school last week. I think they were quite excited to go back, Jens especially. He tested in the top 95% of the nation in science last school year and was invited to apply to a magnet school. He was accepted and is now going to Grandview for this acelerated program. We're trying not to let this go to his head too much. He seems to think he is smarter than everyone else around him, which might be true in the science area for me. We have to remind him now and again that he doesn't need to gloat about his accomplishment quite so much.

Fly Fishing

When the boys were staying with us last week, we took the opportunity to take a little trip up to Heber and go fishing. Jens wanted to work on a fishing merit badge for scouts. And I happen to have a brother that LOVES to fly fish. So, we hooked up with Aaron one night after work and took off to the river. We went to a little place on the Provo River just off of River Road. It was amazingly beautiful and peaceful! It really made me realize how blessed we are to live in such a beautiful place. It was so nice to get out and enjoy nature and not be bothered by electronics and the noise of the world. Aaron was great with the boys. He showed them how to use a screen to catch bugs so you can tell what the fish are eating. They had a great time with that...what boy doesn't like getting his hands dirty playing with a bunch of bugs. They talked a little bit about sportsmanship on the river. Then he gave Jens a lesson on how to cast and fly fish. They caught a couple of small fish. The boys were both pretty excited that they were able to reel in the fish after Aaron had hooked it. We'll have to go back again so Aaron can teach Jens about equipment and other things to finish up the merit badge requirements. Luckily for Jens, Aaron works in a fly fishing shop and has all kinds of stuff to show him. Thanks Uncle Aaron for a fun night of fishing!!!