The Nitty Gritty

Happy Birthday William! We had a great party to celebrate William's 3rd birthday, Van's first, and my 30th! Food was superb--pizza, vegetables, grapes, and chips with my favorite kind of birthday cake, carrot cake. William is not a big fan of cake so he wanted me to bake his favorite cookie instead. Please note that this cookie has honey, whole wheat flour, and cinnamon--no sugar or chocolate chips. What a funny kid. We were spoiled with gifts. William was pretty overwhelmed by it all. He struggled taking his eyes away from the presents to smile at the camera. William! I can't say enough how easy it is to be your mom! You love to please and care about doing the right thing. You look out for our family and enjoy making us happy like pushing Van in the belly to make him laugh, sitting on the potty without a reminder and saying "Mom! You so proud of me!" or making up silly words when talking with Dad. You are a special child of God full of sweetness and a tender ...

Happy Birthday Van! We celebrated Van's first birthday by going to the zoo (I forgot my camera. Boo!) eating delicious shishka bobs grilled by Daddy and buying Van a toy cell phone. He loved the zoo and kept pointing at all the animals saying "Ooooo!" We also got to see the bird show which was the best part of the zoo. He was very cute and happy all day long. Van! I can't believe it was one year ago that I delivered you into this world. I remember waking up early in the morning and having consistent contractions. I fixed myself a sandwich because I knew it would be a while before I could eat again and I wanted energy for the natural childbirth. We called Grandma Bruiser around 6:00 AM. She came over and watched Thomas the Train (maybe Toy Story 2) with William while we went to the hospital. I walked in and said "I'm in labor." The nurse looked at me like "Ya right." Then we went and checked in. The office was busy because the TV was the...

I loved Summer 2011! The weather was bearable except for probably 2 weeks in August. The local city park passed out free sack lunches everyday for kids 18 and under so the boys and I tried to go as much as we could. It was so convenient to just throw the picnic blanket in the car and know lunch was waiting at the park. Going to the playground a few times a week was great practice for Will. He finally went down the big slides by himself and improved his climbing skillz. He is very cautious so I'm glad he is mustering up some courage. Other great things about this summer were: Family Fitness Day in Ogden. Isaac and I walked the 5K. He pushed the boys in the stroller and won first place for the male division. I won second place for the female division. It was my mother who won first place. She beat me by 24 seconds! Later she apologized for winning. Thanks for rubbing it in Mom! Ha! Seeing cousins and great grandparents at Uncle Terry's. We don't get to see the Bickmor...

Van loves the tub!

So every Memorial Day, Day Out with Thomas comes to Heber Valley. We took William last year and looked forward to doing it again this year. Well, we decided instead to go to St. George and skip the Day Out With Thomas adventure. I told Isaac I would plan my own version because Will had been begging to ride the "Big Thomas." I did and it turned out perfect. We ate lunch at the SL Central Station, boarded the Frontrunner train and rode it all the way to the end of the line which was at the Union Station in Ogden. There were plenty of trains for the kids to climb and we toured the mail train and hospital train. We invited his cousins and Will's friend Garrett to add more fun to the trip. Will even received a letter from Sir Topham Hatt and a special ticket for his ride. Sir Topham Hatt sent him on a special special (that's Thomas lingo) that asked him to look for three things: a conductor, railroad tracks, and other steam engines. William did very well and found all thr...

Remember Army Crawlin ? It is awesome and when Van started his army crawling weeks ago, Isaac decided to make a sequel, Army Crawlin II. Unlike most sequels, it is excellent. Enjoy!

The Down-N-Out Diner: Dinner for Thursday, July 21, 2011 : "Our dinner for Thursday, July 21, 2011 will be Hoagie Sandwiches. We are scheduled to feed 300 men. Please choose from the following and sign up..."