Funny, Funny, Funny

Kade has to go to a work conference this week in Minnesota and so he was telling Kellin about it. He showed Kellin where it is on a map and told him he had to fly all the way there. A few minutes later Kellin asked me where Dad was going to again. Here's how the conversation went:
"Mom, where's Dad going to?"
"He's going to Minne-sota."
"Oh, is that where we get all the soda's from?"
I cracked up laughing for at least 5 minutes. He loved how funny I thought he was so he kept saying the joke all night long. So funny!!!

Spring has Sprung

In our home spring means collecting bugs & all kinds of creatures. Last week we went on a hike to Red Cliffs Falls (?) and found two caterpillars. We were so excited to bring them home and watch them turn into butterflies. We put them in our old lizard habitat and gave them leaves to eat. Overnight (!) one of them spun himself into a chrysalis and the other has climbed onto the chrysalis and we think he is about to do the same. We also went on a walk over to a nearby pond to do a little tadpole hunting. We caught several small tadpoles and two big ones. We are anxiously watching them to see if they will turn into frogs! Two of them already have the begginings of little frog legs. Last but not least on our list of pets is our little goldfish named George (after Curious George, of course. He is, after all, the inspiration for all our little adventures). So I've included some pictures of out creature collection and will post updates as they grow and change. I need to do some internet research though on what tadpoles eat - maybe I can feed them some of George's fish food???



Also, about a year ago Kellin was playing at McDonalds with some friends and fell off the table and smacked his tooth on the edge of the table. It bled a ton and when we were finally able to look at the tooth he had knocked it loose. So for the past year he has had a loose tooth that turned gray just hanging out in his mouth waiting to fall out. We took him to the dentist and he said that it would eventually fall out and then he would be without a tooth for a few years (!) until his adult tooth grows in. Well, it happened. Kade and Kellin were wrestling and it got knocked looser and Kade pulled it out. So here is a picture of our little Kellin and his first missing tooth at age 3 & 1/2. He is having fun with it, he says he can stick his tongue through it and suck his lips through it when he drinks his chocolate milk! Cute, cute, cute.



Meanwhile, Ethan is mobile - it took a while, with all that weight to pull around, but he figured it out. He is doing a little army crawl using his arms to pull himself forward across the floor. Needless to say I have some baby proofing to do around the house now. I love how kids come with their own little personalities. For example, Kellin had no interest in cabinets and drawers, we never had to worry about him getting into the cleaning supplies or drawing on the walls, he just never even tried it. Ethan, on the other hand, is much more curious about those things and I think I will need to be much more dilligent with him. It makes me excited to see what he will grow to be interested in. Anyways, enjoy the pictures!

Kids say the funniest things!

So here are some of my favorite conversations we've had with Kellin over the past few weeks:
Kellin: "Mom, can I play with your blow dryer?"
Mom: "No Kel, that's for grown-ups."
Kellin: "But I was a grown-up yesterday. But not today, today I'm a big boy. But when I'm a grown-up tomorrow I won't need a mommy anymore."
Mom: "So tomorrow I won't get to be your mommy anymore?"
Kellin: "Nope, but on 'Mondsday' you can be my mommy again."
We're not totally sure what day Mondsday is, but we think it is somewhere after Tuesday and before Wednesday.

Yesterday we were driving in the car and Kade and I were marveling at how smart we think Kellin is (of course we're biased) and Kade said to Kellin:
Kade: "Kellin, you're really smart."
Kellin: "I know Dad."
Kade: "I want to be smart like you. Can I have some of your smarts Kel?"
Kellin: "Dad, you just have to go to the store and buy some."

Easter 2008

For Easter this year we stayed here is St. George. Kellin had lots of fun at the Easter Egg hunt at the park with his good friend Aiden. We went out to breakfast afterwards with some friends. On Sunday the Easter bunny dropped off baskets for Kellin & Ethan and also hid eggs all over the house. The boys had fun finding eggs and eating lots of candy, well, okay, Kellin had fun and Ethan had fun watching!

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

I recently had the once in a lifetime opportunity to go to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with my parents and brother Jeff on a Yacht!! Seriously, it was amazing. I felt like P-Diddy or Mariah Carey cruising around the coast of Puerto Vallarta. We were there for 5 days and had such an amazing time. Unfortunately my camera battery died half way into the trip and I forgot the charger so I only have a few pictures from the first couple of days. The first picture is me on the coast in a little town called Yalapa. We sailed the Yacht along the bay down to this little town which can only be reached by boat. Once we arrived, we took a little water taxi boat ashore and hiked up to a little water fall (which I'm sure is a big water fall during the rainy season). Then we stopped at this restaurant on the beach and shared enchiladas and I was coerced into buying this necklace which I doubt I will ever wear again (only cuz I'm not very daring in my jewelry choices). The next picture is of the yacht we were on. It was such a nice boat and there were two crew members, Eli & Bailey. They are a couple, Eli is the captain and Bailey is the Chef/everything else. They were really great people and we loved hearing all of their stories about their adventures all over the world. The third picture is the islands called "Los Arcos" (the arches) and the fourth picture is of a church along the coast of Puerto Vallarta. Kade wasn't able to come on this trip with us (he had to work, poor guy) and I left the kids with my sister Vivian for the week (THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!). So I actually spent a lot of the time just relaxing, listening to music, reading, and talking to my brother Jeff. It was really weird at first to adjust to not having the kids around, especially since Ethan is only 7 months and it was the first time I have been away from either of them in a LONG, LONG, LONG time. Once I was able to settle down and trust that my sister could handle things, I really enjoyed relaxing and de-stressing. By the end of the trip the tension that has built up in my neck was gone, although it soon returned after holding my 22 lb. baby for a few days!! My favorite part of the trip was when we went on a zip line tour through the jungle. It was me, my dad and Jeff on the tour with 2 guides that take us all through the jungle (actually where they filmed the movie "Predator") and we hung on zip lines and sped through the trees and over rivers and cliffs. I had a blast!! I would recommend Puerto Vallarta to anyone wanting to do a Mexico vacation and I enjoyed it more than Cancun and almost as much as Hawaii...almost.

Eat, Pray, Love

I've been reading a new book recommended by a friend of mine that I happened to come accross at the airport just before my flight back home from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. I am only just finishing the first chapter but so far I have really enjoyed going on a vicarious journey of self-discovery with the author. I'd like to share my favorite quote from the book (so far, at least). "I will leave with the hope that the expansion of one person-the magnification of one life-is indeed an act of worth in this world. Even if that life, just this one time, happens to be nobody's but my own." For me, my discovery when reading this was that it might, just might, be okay to try to magnify one's life. It just might be okay to take pride (gasp!) in certain aspects of one's self and to not constantly be so self-depricating. For most of you I'm sure, you are thinking, of course, no duh, we know that. But for me, for some reason (which I know but won't share) I have always felt like I needed to downplay (not the best word but I can't think of a better one at the moment) any positives about me and up-play (again, forgive the word choice) any negatives about me (and about my family for that matter). So, for example, when someone gives me a compliment, I immediately tell them why they are seriously mistaken in their compliment and then commence with listing the several reasons why their compliment is completely wrong and unwaranted. This behavior, or thinking error (that one's for you Barry Fell) as the therapist call it, has become such an ingrained habit that until now, I hardly realized I was doing it. And the worst part is, I do it not just with regards to myself, but also to Kade and to my boys. For example, the other day at Costco a woman came up to me and said that Kellin was such a joyful little boy and has such a great outgoing personality. And what did I say in response? "Thank you, I think so too." Nope, not me, instead I replied, "oh gosh, I'm sorry, he bugs people wherever we go. He just loves people and gets too excited, sorry! Kellin, get over here and leave those people alone." I can only imagine what this lady thought about my response, but more importantly, I am sad to imagine what Kellin felt at hearing my response. Because truely, I would rather that lady have walked away possibly thinking that I was proud (and maybe even a little too proud) of my fantastic son than to have Kellin walk away thinking there is something wrong with the way he loves people and is kind and friendly and talkative to anyone and everyone he sees.
So anyways, I went a little far on that tangent, but the gist of it is, for me at least, is that it's ok to strive to magnify your life. It's ok to be proud of your good qualities and it's ok to take a compliment with a simple "thank you, that means a lot" and go about your day enjoying the compliment. So, the next time someone gives me a compliment, I'm going to try it. And maybe even be brave enough to give one in return. Any thoughts?

New Address

We are moving into our new house this week so I wanted to post our new address in case I missed someone in the emails I sent out. Our new address is:
99 N. Lee Lane
Saint George, UT 84790

I can't believe we are moving this week, it seems like we haven't been here that long and it's actually been almost 2 years. I'm also surprised at how sad I am about moving out of this neighborhood. I really wish we could pick up our new house and plop it right on top of this one. Our rental is just too small for our growing family so we need more space but this neighborhood has been unbelievable. We have seriously loved living here. The neighborhood is filled with kids and Kellin has made some really good friendships with many of them. I know they will still be friends, but it's so nice being close because Kellin can just go right next door or up the street or over to the park and have tons of kids to play with. I am praying that our new neighborhood will be just as fun as this one has. The park has been such a great social catalyst and really the main way we have formed our friendships. It's so nice to go over to the park and sit on the bench and chat with whatever moms are out with their kids too. I know that we will meet people through the ward but I often struggle meeting people that way. It's hard for me to get past the cordialties and actually form a friendship outside of church. That's what I have loved about this neighborhood is that many of our friends aren't even members and it's actually really refreshing to get outside the "mormon culture" and get to know people on a different level. I'm probably going to be stoned for this, but does anyone else relate to what I am saying? Sometimes it seems that when I meet people through a church setting, it's hard to get past the "I'm a perfect person" facade and really get to know them and become real friends. When I think about most of my really close friendships, none of them are people I have met at church, they are friends from work, school, or neighbors, even though many are LDS. It's like that front isn't there in other settings and so it's easier to get to know people. So I'm not saying that LDS people are fake, I'm saying that for some reason when we are in the "church" setting, we sometimes put up a front and that makes it harder to make friends. Anyways, I'm babbling now so I will stop. Curious to hear other thoughts on this.