Random Thoughts and Pictures

I took these pictures the first morning we were back in St. George.  This is my mother in law's view from her back yard!  I really took these for my dad.  Let's hope it tempts him to relocate here:).  I can not get over the views here.

Not a bad view, huh.  These pictures don't do it justice though. There are soooo many gorgeous views in St. George.  I'm sure I'll always be posting some.

I love this picture of Julien and Cooper.

 And this smile warms my soul!!!!!

 For a few days, two of our trees in our backyard looked like this!  I can't even tell you how much I love having a backyard!  It is everything I knew it would be.

Back tracking here.  The kids started school and love their new teachers, friends, and school.  This is on their first day... 

Jonah entered public school for the first time, once we moved here.  He is a big Kindergartner.  He loves school.  In Utah they do half day kinder, so I get to have him home until 12:15, which I love.  One of the highlights of my day is to take him down to the bus stop; not because I am sending him off, but because he looks ridiculously cute in his new shoes (not shown above) and backpack; and my heart is extra filled with love as I watch his confidence grow, and although I don't want him to leave, I am so proud of how far he has come.

Jonah had a little Easter egg hunt in his class; and Rich, Cooper, and I popped in to watch.  It was cute to see him in a classroom atmosphere. 

 After joining Jonah's class for a bit, we walked over to peek in at Julien's class, but they weren't there.  Just as we were leaving, his class was walking down the halls from recess  and the look on Julien's face when he saw us was priceless.  He yelled out, "MOM, DAD!"  He ran straight to me and gave me a big huge hug and kiss right in front of his guy friends and totally made mama's day!  Then some kid asks, "Julien, this is your mom and dad??  You look just like them!"  Hehe.  He then hugged Rich and gave Cooper a big squeeze and said to his class proudly, "this is my little brother," as he kissed him!  He even looked teary-eyed as we went our separate ways.  I love that he isn't embarrassed of us (yet).  Jonah, on the other hand, makes sure he kisses me before the bus comes everyday.  It's so funny how different they are. 

Here is Jonah before school last week.  I just think he is really cute!

And just so I don't look back and think everything was sunshine and smiles, here is what Cooper has been  up to a lot more often lately...

He has become a lot more whinny since we moved here, for some reason.  Actually, it's been since we put him in a big boy bed.  His binki is also a thing of the past, which he misses a lot, so I think that is contributing to this crankiness.   These pictures were taken right before I took the plunge and started potty training him.  So far we are having much success.  Knock on wood!  I'm so proud of him!!


I think that catches me up for now! 

Family Easter Picnic 2012

We had our family Easter picnic on Easter Saturday.  We enjoyed good food, kite flying, baseball, beautiful scenery (still not over that since we moved back), an Easter egg hunt, and of course good company. 

 Candy, candy, candy!  No wonder they were all sick this week!

We had a great day. 
 **More pics are on Facebook.

My Sister's Visit

My sister and her family came to visit us!  We hadn't seen them in over a year and we had never met her baby who, at the time, was 11 months.  It was so fun to have all of our kids together and watch them play.  I had been dying to spend time with all of them, so it was a real treat!  We took a lot of pics.  I posted most of them on Facebook, but for the blog's sake, here are some of my favs.

 We took them up to Pioneer Park to take some cool scenery pictures.  Too bad I don't know a thing or two about my camera.  But the kids still look adorable, and I love me some red rock.  We took a hundred like these above for my dad.  Love those kids!

Aren't they sweet?!  Makes me miss them so much!

I know we are going to look back on these one day and cry about how little they all were. 

We captured some sweet moments!

Baby Kinley was something to be fought over during this trip.  Man, was she cute!  And so itty-bity!!

It was the first time we had all 5 of our kids together.  I wish my sister would just move here already!  (Probably never going to happen, but I can dream).  I can't wait until we can see them again!  Thanks for coming guys!  We love you so much!!

Jonah's 6th Birthday!

Well, we finally made it to St. George.  We've been here for a month and a half but it feels longer than that.  It almost feels like we never left.  My life in San Antonio is already seeming like it was years ago.  Strange how that happens.  We love it here.  It was a great move for us.  Besides a slow start, business wise, it seems like life is just so good.  I feel so incredibly blessed.  I guess I could go on and make this a totally different post, but lets jump to my adorable son who turned 6 while we were traveling.  Jonah was promised a birthday party once we got to St. George, since we were confined to a truck during his real birthday.  It wasn't ideal for me to throw a party about a week after we got here, or to try to do it while we had company, or to attempt a "cool" birthday cake on top of all that, but some how I pulled it off.  And Jonah deserved it because he has never had a real birthday party and he didn't complain or ask for anything on his real birthday, even though we were driving all day and ate Jack in the Box for dinner (which he fell asleep before he was even able to eat it).  The theme for his birthday was "geography" because he is a 6 year old geography genius..at least in my bias opinion.  He spends much of his computer time on google earth, traveling the world.  He loves to study maps too.  I asked him if he liked the geography theme for his party and he got super excited and gave me the go-ahead.  I started thinking we should get him a globe for his birthday and sure enough, he ended asking me for one for his birthday.  I searched high and low in St. George for that globe.  Funny stories that went along with that, but eventually Barnes and Noble saved the day! 

I'm so not the party planning, cake baking, gatherer type of Mom (wish I was though), but he didn't notice.  He thanked me many times for giving him this party and said he loved it = happy mommy!

As I mentioned, I made the cake.  This thing brought me a lot of stress that day!  First off, I do not have the proper cake decorating tools (just a butter knife) and because I didn't freeze the cake ahead of time, the cake started crumbling when I started frosting it.  The only way to avoid ruining it completely (by it crumbling and having crumbs in the frosting) was to spread a lot of frosting on and not worry about getting a smooth look.  I definitely learned my lesson on that one.  But somehow it still turned out okay and somewhat resembled a globe.  My kids thought I was the witchiest mom around while I was frosting that thing because they were hovered around me; the cake was starting to come apart: they were poking and getting wayyy too close, and I was running out of frosting....that put me in panic mode, so anyone around me got snapped at.  I couldn't relax until Jonah blew out that candle!  I learned that I really don't like stressing about this kind of stuff!  But Jonah felt loved and thought the cake was awesome.  So for the sake of all the stress it caused me, let's take a look and appreciate my efforts.

Some of the lovely faces of people who came to show Jonah some birthday love....

Thank you to everyone that came!  It means so much!  Aren't they all so cute!?!

I couldn't wait to see his face when he saw his globe.  Here it is.  And later I caught him kissing it.  Priceless!

He got some binoculars for his birthday and I found him outside playing with them.  I love these pictures of him...

Happy Birthday to our sweet Jonah!  I am SO thankful to be your mommy!  You are precious beyond words and I love you so very much! 

We're Moooving!

It's that time again!  This is one of the most exciting moves for us.  I know most of you know, but we are moving back to Utah.  Back to what I call my happy little town, (aka St. George).  I fell in love with that place long ago and it feels like home to us.  Before I go on, first, here is the outside of our new rental. We couldn't be more excited!!!!

We love the house (even though we've only seen pictures (I have more than I am posting here).  IT'S A HOUSE.  A HOUSE!  NOT AN APARTMENT.  A BEAUTIFUL SINGLE FAMILY HOUSE.

Something that we have been dreaming of for years now is to have a back yard.  A fenced in, private area that our kids could play safely in.  A place that our family could soak up the sun and relax without having to pack a bag or leave the house.  A place for the kids to explore on their own.  The list goes on.  It's a dream come true for us.  Having 3 boys who love being outside; this was top on our list.  It's not the biggest backyard, but it is the biggest one we have ever had (with grass).  It is plenty for us and we are over the moon excited about it!  The play set is actually going to stay for a while, until the owners figure out what they want to do with it.  It may end up staying the whole time.  If not, it just means more room to run. 

Our backyard has a peach tree that apparently produces a ton of peaches (especially around August).  That's a bonus for our friends and family as well:)!

We can hardly contain ourselves over here.  I'm even writing notes on the bathroom mirror.

And we are dancing, screaming, jumping, and praying prayers of gratitude every day (we've known for a couple of weeks now). 

As far as the house goes, it's the little things we are most excited about.  Number one, being the fenced in backyard.  Other things that are making us jump for joy are things like:

*Having a real garbage can, not a trash system like here in our apartments.  One that is just so conveniently on the side of our house and a trash man comes! 

*Having a hose...yes a HOSE!  When something gets barfed on, pooped on, or covered in mud...oh just simply take it out back and hose it off (maybe with a lot of soap for the barf and poop, but you know what I mean)!  A hose is also exciting because it means we can wash our cars on our driveway.  And of course kids can always find entertainment with a hose in the summer time.

*A driveway.  Right now we have a spot in front of our garage (which is a two car garage, but it's a tandem garage, so on the outside it looks like a one car garage) and when we get in or out of the car, there is a curb that we trip on constantly on both sides of our van.  It makes getting in and out (with a toddler too) a little challenging.  I know it could be worse, way worse, but it is annoying and we are looking forward to that driveway.

*No more hearing neighbors above/next to us slamming doors, running, pounding...waking up my sleeping babe.  Not to mention, they can't hear us.  It may take some getting use to again, but I know I'm going to love it!

*Having a neighborhood, not an apartment complex.  Awe.  The thought just makes me want to take a walk.  Maybe even start up jogging....wait a minute here...I'm getting carried away.

*Windows on all sides of the house.  This makes me so so so happy.  I love light.

*Being able to open my blinds without my neighbors being RIGHT there looking in.

*A place for our guests to park.  Holy toledos, that is so cool!  Right now our guests have to park down the street to come see us; and Rich can't even park near our apartment.  At the new house, they can park on our driveway, our R.V. parking, or right in front of our house along the curb.  How convenient! 

So honestly, those are the things that are exciting us the most about being in a house again.  It's such an amazing feeling to know we will have those luxuries again.  But what we are most excited about, (and this is not an exaggeration), about moving back to St. George is being near FAMILY again.  Truly!  I would live in an apartment again just to be near them again.  And I was willing, but this worked out to our delight.  Having that support system is seriously the greatest thing that we have missed.  I have my dad here, and I don't want to take away from the support he has given us or how much I love being near him.  It's just that in UT we have more people.  The kids will have grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  And best of all, we will be living just minutes away from most of them!!!  I'm going to miss my dad like crazy and trust me, I want to pack him in my bag, but I can't.  (This is a post in itself...lets focus on the positives here).  Birthdays, holidays, baptisms, sports, and just everyday life....oh how we have missed having a big family around.  We can't even begin to express what it means to us.  Family is everything.  Another perk about being back in St. George is that it is in reasonable driving distance to family out in Las Vegas and CA.  Again, there are no words for our excitement in that!  I will get to see my sister, her hub and their beautiful babies again, more frequently!!!  I haven't seen my mom since the beginning of 2008 and I haven't seen a lot of my family since 2007.  It's very exciting.  And I am looking forward to seeing friends in St. George, northern UT, and CA again too!!   It's the people that give us the most warm fuzzies when we think about this move.

But since I'm on a role with making  lists today.  Here are a few things I love about St. George besides what I listed above:

*The temple with a visitor's center.  We love going there, especially on Sunday (to the temple grounds), to let the kids walk around and feel the spirit.  It's so lovely.  I love the temple here, but unfortunately the temple grounds are closed on Sundays and it isn't a place to walk around; it only has a parking lot.  Love the temple though.

*Lakes near by!

*St. George has the best parks!  We haven't found any that compare (besides CA), and as you all know, we've lived in many places.

*It's centrally located to many fun places.

*It's easy to get around and find places.   It's not too big or too little.

*It's beautiful. We miss mountains.  And we love the red rocks against the green grass.

*It's just an overall great town that feels happy, safe, and homey, hence "my happy little town."

Texas has been good.  We really like San Antonio.  I think it's a great place to live, especially where we live in San Antonio.  There is a lot to do here, entertainment wise.  But it just isn't the same as having a lot of family around.  We'll be looking forward to visiting San Antonio again when we come to see my dad.  We like a lot about it.  But we love St. George.  We will be arriving in St. George sometime between the 29th of Feb-March 3rd.  We aren't certain when we will be leaving at this point.  Can't wait!!

A big shout out to Rich's brother Russ!  If it weren't for him, we more than likely would not be moving into this house.  When we found the house online, we immediately sent them an email and a family picture.  We later found out that they said, "this can't be real.  It's too good to be true."  Because we were out of state, they also felt sceptical about replying.  So we actually never heard back from them right away.  The next day, Russ called the number since he had the same area code (hoping to increase our chances) and they answered.  It turns out that the owners and Russ knew each other from church and because of the kind of people Russ and his wife are, they became open to us renting their home.  I won't write it all out, but it worked out so quickly and smoothly and we consider it to be a huge blessing!  Thanks Russ and Ren!!!!!  Times a million!

Valentine's Day 2012

I found this idea on another blog and adopted it as our new February tradition.

What you are looking at is the aftermath of a family home evening activity where we wrote what we love about each member in our family (on heart shaped paper), and then hung them all over the kitchen to feel the love all month long.  We had that FHE a couple of weeks ago.

It worked out great, just as I had hoped.  The goal was to make each person feel special and loved, and boy did it work.  It was so fun to take turns reading what we love about each person and to see their smiles light up and collect their pile of hearts.  The kids helped me hang them all up when we were done. 

They all melted my heart.  Here are some of them:

On the real Valentine's day I took Jonah to Julien's class Valentine party.  He was super excited about getting to participate!

Julien was SO excited to have me come to his class.  He couldn't wait for me to meet his BFF, Henry.  I've been excited to meet little Henry too because Julien has made him out to be the greatest friend ever.  He just adores Henry.  We tried to have him over, but he hasn't been able to come yet.  So at last, I met Henry! 

And he was cute as a button and had the best smile! 

This here is Julien and Heidi.  They are also friends at church.

And a few more friends.

And his lovely teacher, Mrs. Branch.

They frosted cookies and exchanged Valentines.

Rich and I had planned to go out, but he needed to work and with everything going on right now, we decided to postpone our date.  We still exchanged gifts.  I got him Apollo 13-the dvd, some candy, and I made him a scrapbook of all of the love letters/cards we have ever written each other.  It was a trip looking back at some of those early letters.  It made me cringe at how immature I was.  I'm sure glad he stuck with me because I'm a lot more mature now (wink wink).  He loved the scrapbook, and that made me super happy!  He got me the cutest tote bag on the planet.  Well, maybe not the planet, but the cutest one from Target, that's for sure!  It's green (my fav. color) and my camera fits in it!  I'm smitten by it.  One of these days, in the near future, we plan to cuddle up and watch Apollo 13 together and hopefully go out to eat and call it our Valentine's date.  Hope you all felt the love this Valentine's day too!!

Cooper's First Haircut

Out of our 3 boys, Cooper's hair took the longest to grow.  He is 25 1/2 months and we finally gave him his first haircut.  It was a tough thing, especially for Rich.  We both love baby hair and those curls at the bottom.  Rich wanted to grow it out longer.  But it was really starting to get too long.  So he agreed that we should probably trim it up.  Let's take a look at just how long it got:

So we took him to the family barber; Rich.  Cooper was a little uncertain and nervous about the whole thing.

If you are wondering why our kid is covered in rashes all of the time, it's because he suffers from eczema.  

We tried to relax him by clapping whenever Daddy would snip some hair off.  He joined in and it helped.

We weren't sure what we should do with his hair.  At this point we realized we would need to use the clippers.

He tensed up a bit.  So we did the clapping thing again.

He looks like a new kid.

I miss his long hair.  But I'm slowly getting use to it. 

Once we comb it, it looks better; we definitely don't style like that (above).  Rich still wants to blend it a little better because sometimes it looks like he sporting the bowl haircut.  I think part of the reason we have a hard time cutting their baby hair is because it makes them look like big boys.  Our baby is growing up!

He Prefers Showers Now

Every time someone around here is about to get into the shower, Cooper rips his clothes off faster than we can stop him. He wants in!  He LOVES showers.  Even by himself.

It gives us a good laugh.  He is growing up too quickly!

The Karate Kid(s)

Those who know me well, know that I have no attention span to watch movies.  Actually, it depends.  If it's something that I REALLY want to see or interests me in some way, then I will willingly watch it.  (This doesn't happen with t.v., just movies).  Around here movie nights are huge and (unfortunately) I often do my own thing because I start twitching (just about) if I am watching something of no interest to me.  I hate it because I want to be a part of what the family is doing but I end up not being able to focus on the movie because my mind won't stop pestering me to get up and do something more "productive".  I realize spending time with the family IS productive, but when it comes to watching a movie I have the hardest time.  It's one of my selfish things that I am working on. 

Anyway, with that being said, Rich recently brought home The Karate Kid (the new one, with Jaden Smith).  Right away I knew that I was interested (I LOVE when that happens!!), and I knew I would be joining the family for movie night.  I loved this movie!  So did everyone else!  It definitely made me teary eyed and I got into it (also love when that happens).  Julien was extremely inspired by the movie.  I had a feeling that would happen since he loves movies like Rocky.  Afterward, Julien busted out his "karate" moves.  The next day, I was "invited" to watch the boys' karate match (is match the right term here?).  They are too funny.  And they think they know what they are doing.

I even got a ticket that I had to hand them to come and watch.  That is a very common thing around here (the tickets).  Julien gets very serious about this stuff and I think he is adorable.  I have most of those tickets from all the various events that I've been "invited" to and I will have to do a post on them one day.

Here is a sign from another day recently, but this was the only picture I got from that day...

Like I said, he takes this stuff very seriously!  I love his passion.