Monday, August 31, 2009

Back to School & Yoda

Brigham's First Day of School: I thought I would cry, or at least I was told I would cry. It didn't happen. He was fine, I was fine. It was no big deal. Is something wrong with me? Maybe. He's a confident little guy, which made me feel okay about the whole thing. Here's some pics of the day:
With Jordan, his buddy
Mrs. Ball, his teacher
With Matthew
Cameron, Briggs and Matthew
Jordan, a new friend, Cameron, B, and Matthew
Kesley (his sweetie pie), Cameron, B, and Matthew, with Jordan and Ethan in front
Okay...here's the cat. Yes. He's really weird. He's ugly. He was named Cocoa when we got him. We've called him several different names...such as: Smeagol (the character on the Lord of the Rings) and Yoda. He has a smashed-looking face, bright green eyes, and dark brown fur. He's sweet, but makes the strangest snoring sounds. We'll put up with him, I guess.


Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Payson Lakes, Rainbows & Randolph

When I got into our truck after church, Jonathan said, "I have an idea." Uh-oh. What could it be? I wasn't in the mood to go home and make a big meal. I didn't want to go visit anyone (I know, I'm grumpy). He said, "we're going to pack a picnic, and drive up to Payson Lakes." Oh. That's cool. So, we did. It was so fun. We loved it. We had a ton of snacks and food, and put on "Annie" on the DVD player for the kids. Here are a few pics of our adventure...

"Somewhere over the rainbow..." dreams really do come true... Okay, enough cheese!!! We get some awesome storms in S.S., but what's really cool: we get rainbows. It's so beautiful! Here's our symbolic "pot of gold" at the end of our rainbow. Again, we love it here.

Last week, I was starting to really miss Grandma Thornock. She just makes me happy. So, I called her on Monday to see if we could come visit for a bit on Wednesday. She was so sweet, and said "of course!" We drove up there, eating the whole way. We chatted as we made "dinner" (the Randolph version of lunch...it was noon), then ate a delicious homemade meal. Did I mention that she's 88 years old? It was fabulous to see her. I love her so much. A tender moment: Grandma and I were looking through her books of family history and pictures. As I listened to her tell me about her siblings, I teared up (good thing she can't see very well). She told me that her brothers always treated her with kindness and respect, even though she was so much younger than all of them. When we looked at a picture of her beautiful sister Donna, who died at 19 from diabetes (frustrating, that we now have so many medicines for this!), Grandma told me how much she misses her and all of her siblings. She told me that she looks forward to being with them again. (drip, drip! I was a boob!) My grandma has a sincerity and purity about her that is unlike anyone else I have ever known. I am so blessed to still have her in my life.


Out on Grandma's porch, where we painted her fingernails...

Briggs took this one:

Grandma was so excited that Chanel finally warmed up to her. It was a great trip, and well worth it!

The Return of Nelly Goosey

It has happened AGAIN!!!!! Chanel has another big fat goose egg. This time, it's right next to her eye. Awesome. I'm doing dishes last night, and I hear a "BAM!", which turns out to be the sound of Chanel's head hitting the coffee table after her jubilant leap over the ottoman. Jonathan was right there, so he grabbed her to check out the damage. "Holy crap! It's really bad!", says the not-so-calm EMT-Intermediate Firefighter. I grabbed ice, Tylenol, and Ibuprofen asap, and we just cuddled her. Jonathan let her watch Dora (he had to change the channel from one of his classic TV shows, like "Scariest Police Shootouts" or "The World's Dumbest Criminals"). She got to have a warmed-up chockies (chocolate milk in a sippy cup). I went upstairs to be with Briggs, and Daddy and Nelly had some bonding time watching Dora.

She only cried for a few minutes, but I think her parents were a little traumatized. I mean, COME ON!!! This little crazy girl is going to get us a few more stares from the stranger at the grocery store, I'm sure! These pictures were taken this morning. You can't tell that the bruising continues across her eyelid. So sad!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Baseball, new truck, more yard work, baby, Anniversary!

We had so much fun watching Brigham's first season ever of baseball. He's an incredible athlete for only 5 years old! It's almost comical watching him take it so seriously. We're very proud of him for working so hard, practicing whenever he could with Daddy, and for trying his best. Okay, there. I'm done bragging.


Jonathan's new love... A Toyota Tundra. It's like some sort of manly right of passage. ? I know. We just don't get it. However, I love driving it. I feel invincible and HUGE on the road.
Daddy was holding Nelly and she fell asleep...
Crazy girl loves her necklaces!!! Thanks, Ethan, for giving her the most treasured gift she's ever received!!

At the Bees Game! This kid loves baseball. he watched the whole game, and even moved down a few seats on his own, so he could see better.
Nelly and Mama.
Sorry this pic is turned! This is Riley, our friends' lil' babe. She's a beautiful, easy, and snuggly baby. We got to babysit her for a few hours last week. It was a great experience! I was so baby hungry that day!
Brigham said, "can we keep her, mom?"

After babysitting Riley, I was thinking a lot about how much I really want another baby. Later that night, I realized that I was having weird symptoms (like PMS), so I took a pregnancy test, just for kicks. (you ladies out there know this feeling...you know it probably will be negative, but you just take it anyway!!!) It was positive!!! I started to cry, and went upstairs to our bedroom. Briggs, Nelly, and Jonny were up there, just hanging out. I set the preggers test on the bathroom counter in our master bathroom, then went back into the bedroom. I watched Jonny's reflection in the mirror, just waiting for his reaction. He walked back and forth, looking at himself in the mirror, about 5 times!!!! I was laughing quietly to myself. Then, I asked the kids, "wouldn't it be fun if our family had our OWN baby?" They were like, "ya!!!" Then Jonathan says, "ya, kids, wouldn't we love to have a baby?" I said, "ya, like our OWN baby." He looked up at me and his face read mine. He was like, "really??" I nodded and we hugged and giggled and told the kids that we REALLY were having our own baby!!! We were so excited!!!

The next day, we left on our anniversary excursion. Lisa and Rusty took the kids (and the dog!!!)...thanks, guys!!! Then, we stayed one night at the Grand America, where we thoroughly enjoyed a couples massage at their spa. We felt like we had the hotel to ourselves. It rocked. We ate at Settebello Pizzeria (awesome!!!), which was absolutely delicious! On Saturday, we went to Transformers 2 (yikes. don't take your kids), then picked up our kids and headed home.
The next day, this past Sunday, we got to sing in church with April Moriarty and Todd McCabe accompaning us! ????? Seriously!!! We had such an amazing experience with them. When we were practicing, I was lucky enough to be guided by April as she suggested various pauses, note changes, and where to emphasize words...etc. What a spiritual and fun opportunity for me!!! I loved it. She was very sweet to me, and we instantly became soul sisters. Todd is an amazing talent on the piano, and April was on the piano. They offered to play anytime we needed them! Huh?? Us? The amateurs!?? Awesome. I haven't had really awesome musical experiences for a loooooong time. It meant so much to me.

Enjoying the yard...and dollying up the Dad.
Poor Charlie. He puts up with SOOOOO much!!

Pouring concrete in the walkout basement. Rich, Lenny, Jason, Tony, Heber...and others came to help!
Jason and Crystal...the yard experts! Jason helped us with sprinklers, concrete, the walkout basement...and much more. Crystal: thanks for dinner!!! You're so sweet to us!
Zack, helping his daddy.
RV pad pour...the last of our concrete adventures!
Yard pics...for those who want to see our hard work finally finished!!! (we don't really have plants yet...that will come later. We're tired!!)