Gila Valley Temple and Some Funnies

Last Saturday we drove up with our friends, the Rowleys, to see the Gila Valley Temple. We had a good time visiting that area; we had never been there before, and like to see new places. The Gila Valley reminded me of where I grew up, so I really enjoyed being there. The kids were really good on the drive up and back, which made the trip even better. The temple is situated right off the main highway, which is really awesome. You can't miss it.
The temple was so beautiful! I loved the blue and beige color-scheme. It was very relaxing. As others have said before, the most beautiful part for me was the chandelier in the Celestial room. I could not stop staring at it. It was gorgeous. It was really a neat experience to be able to take the kids to see the temple. I hope they remember it. I only have been to one other Open House in my life, for the Las Vegas temple, when I was around 10, so I remember it. For those of you local Arizona folk, you should take the trip out to see the temple.
The kids have been saying some funny things lately. They crack me up all day. Part of it is that they don't know how to say things right, and part of it is that they are starting to imitate things that Peter and I say, and it just sounds so funny coming out of their little mouths.

For example, the other day, Levi was trying to climb up onto the table as we were eating breakfast. I counted to three, then took away his most prized toy, a little orange dog that he thinks looks like Tyrone from the Backyardigans. I put the toy on the fridge and told him he could get it back if he sat down and ate his breakfast. He reluctantly sat down, and Jonah reinforced the rule, "Now don't get on the table anymore, okay?" Then Jonah looked at me and said, "He's so cute, don't you think?" I started chuckling to myself and he said, "I love Levi." Then Eden screamed out, "I love Levi TOO!" I swear, she has only one volume setting: extra loud.

Then yesterday, Jonah came upstairs to tattle. After he told me that Eden was downstairs making a mess, he said, "Now you have to go be grumpy!" I couldn't really be too "grumpy" after that though!

Roy and Jen came over Sunday night so Peter could help them fix a computer problem. I thought this was a cute sight:
Too bad I cut Joseph out of the picture. Sorry, buddy!

Not much else has been going on lately, except major seasonal allergies for me. I think the kids will be ready when school gets out. I think we'll have a fun summer, what with swimming lessons, movie days, and Girls Camp for me! I'm pretty excited; I love Girls Camp but I haven't gone since I was in high school. Plus, we also have a family reunion in Carlsbad, CA, and it'll be so fun to take the kids back to the beach.

Hope you are all having a great spring!

Our Weekend

This last weekend, Pulte had another community party. It's always great to get outside and enjoy some free popcorn and hot dogs and let the kids jump to their hearts' content in the bounce castle. Seriously, I should invest in one of these. It would probably be worth the hundreds I'd spend on it; my kids could jump in these things for hours.

After hanging out at the fountain for a little while, we decided to go on a bike ride. We rode all over the neighborhood and even into the Meritage subdivision. Our kids were real troopers. Jonah finally mastered his brakes; Eden still needs some help with that. Eden started wimping out after a while, which was weird, since she's usually the one who doesn't want to stop riding. She eventually quit whining, especially when we stopped at the park for a snack and to play a little before heading home.

We are back in our routine now; it seems to take a few days to recover from a vacation and get the kids back on schedule. Summer should be fun. I signed up all of our kids for two sessions of swimming lessons. Even Levi and I are getting in on the action; no more watching the kids on the sidelines in the sweltering heat! I got smart; we're doing a toddler class together. We also got summer movie passes through Jonah's school for really cheap, so we'll be seeing some movies this summer as well. Fun! I'm not even dreading school being out now ☺

Levi got a haircut the other day. I didn't want to cut those lovely red locks, but with summer fast approaching, I find it only humane to let the boys save their shagadelic 'dos for the winter months. I just keep telling myself, "It'll grow back!" Good thing he looks cute with shorter hair too. (Is it just me, or does Levi have a huge forehead?)

BEFORE

AFTER

Yes, look at our lovely bougainvillea! I have to admit, I love opening the windows every morning to these lovely flowers! I decided to take some pictures of the bougainvillea (and the kids) today. Here's Jonah, acting like a monster from Scooby D0o. (By the way, Jonah is going through a major Scooby Doo phase. No, it's actually more of an obsession. I think I'm going to have to confiscate the Scooby Doo DVDs for a while so he doesn't forget how to walk. The kid could spend hours in front of Scooby Doo. No more!)

Eden, being sweet...

and silly!

And I know it looks like Levi is in pain here, but this is his "scary face." That face actually is pretty scary!

Have a great week, everyone!

Our Trip, Part 1: Utah

This year we took over a week off for our annual fair trip so we could spend some time up in Utah as well. Our plan was to attend General Conference (Peter, for the first time) and spend some time with family we don't see that often. We drove up to Logandale on Thursday night so we could stay at Grandma's and cut the trip in half, instead of pulling a 16-hour trip through the middle of Arizona and Utah during a snow storm that was projected for Friday. I'm really glad we did; we have never traveled that long in one day and even though our kids do great in the car, I don't know how I would have done!

The only problem with staying for a quick night's sleep at Grandma's and leaving the next morning was that we didn't hear anything for the next few days but "Are we going to Grandma's now?" Every time we got in the car the kids would ask us if we were going back to Grandma's.

Levi decided to take a nap on the way up, and "turned out the lights" so he could sleep.
We had a slight kink in the plans; on our way up, we got a call from Peter's brother (with whom we were going to be staying,) that their daughter was throwing up! We knew that we couldn't afford to chance getting sick, since we were heading back to Logandale for the next week and we'd get everyone there sick too. We thought about driving back to Logandale to drop the kids off and Peter and I would chance it by ourselves, but we were already in Cedar City. I called my mom to get some ideas. Thank goodness, my aunt Debbie was there on her way to California with her family for their spring break. She said that we could stay at their house if we wanted to. They live in Utah Valley, so we would be close enough to do everything we had planned. The only problem was that we weren't allowed to bring our kids to Conference. Debbie lined up a babysitter, one of her daughter's friends, to come over and watch the kids for us. I was thrilled that we didn't have to cancel everything!

We got to Orem and decided to get out of the car and kill some time at the mall. Our poor kids were not equipped with the right gear; they wear flip flops year round and I hadn't thought to bring their coats up. I mean, come on, people! It's April! Plus they had pretty much outgrown their sneakers, so we got them some shoes while we were at the mall. Then we headed up to Debbie's house. It was so nice to have a warm place to sleep. We had been freezing since we arrived in northern Utah. It was windy and cold and rainy practically the whole time we were up there.

It was beautiful being up near the mountain in Cedar Hills. The kids LOVED the snow, especially, Jonah, who, when he woke up the first morning we were there, looked outside, saw the snow, and exclaimed, "It's Christmas!"

So, General Conference... Long story short, we left on time, we drove fast, we couldn't find the parking garage, we missed the road because the road we were on turned into a bridge, we doubled back, we waited in traffic and construction, we passed the garage, we doubled back again, we parked, we walked really fast (one of us in 3.5-inch heels), we missed our door, we waited in the longest line ever for overflow, we almost made it in, but... we didn't. I cried, we walked around, and we went back to Debbie's to relieve the babysitter. I don't really want to relive it because I was really upset about it at the time. I had been planning a trip to take Peter to Conference for three years, and it just wasn't in the cards. Seriously, it felt as if the forces of nature were trying to sabotage our chance of getting in! Oh, well. I am okay with it now. Still disappointed, but over it. We had a great trip other than those few hours. I wish someone would have told us that we could have watched Conference from the Joseph Smith Memorial Building or something! They just told us it was full. I don't think we'll try this again soon, but good to know for the distant future!

On a happier note, our little niece stopped throwing up so we could go visit her and her sisters! We drove up to Alan and Glenna's house on Sunday morning so we could stay with them for that day and night. We had a lot of fun seeing them; their girls are adorable and Eden was in heaven playing with girls for a change! We were having such a good time, that I barely snapped any pictures. The Easter Bunny was kind enough to bring some treats to Alan's house for our kids.

We had a great time, but we had to head out on Monday. We stopped by to see my cousin, Camie, and her cute two little baby girls. It was so great to catch up. Her girls are so cute together. Sorry, no pictures! We spent the whole time talking!

Finally, we headed back to Logandale. We traveled all day through rough winds, rain and snow the entire way out of Utah! The downpour even kept us from stopping at the bank in St. George. We just kept plugging through and that storm didn't stop until we got out of the gorge, south of St. George. Phew! Thank goodness the sun was shining in Logandale.

The kids settled right into life at Grandma's: coloring, movies, playing out in the yard with Kit. They sure know how it's done. Eden was coloring with Marce while Sharrid was working on homework at the same table. She started singing "Paparazzi" by Lady GaGa and wouldn't quit. I swear, she sang for about a half hour. It was pretty funny. Sharrid was a good sport.

We also celebrated Peter's 34th birthday while we were there. We had already celebrated a little before leaving on our trip, but we made him a Peach Crisp and sang again. Marce had opened his present from Lexie that morning, but Peter had already opened all of his presents from me and the kids at home anyway!

Our Trip, Part 2: The Fair

The fair was a lot of fun this year. It always is, but I think this year was so much fun for me because I ran into so many old friends! Plus, our cousin, Nikki, came down with her little family on Friday. It was great to see her, her husband, and her two adorable little girls!

There were some great new acts this year, as well as the old staples. The kids loved seeing this tall cowboy right when we walked in.

We played hard this year. Lots of jumping...

and pony riding.

We got to see Grandma sing the national anthem at the rodeo on Thursday night. She did a great job. Sorry, there's no video; I took it with my camcorder.

We ate a lot of yummy barbecue, funnel cakes, corn on the cob, and ice cream. We rode the carousel...

and saw pirates...

and clowns.

The kids loved the small animal pavilion. It's one of my favorites too. This year, they had a camel inside. When Eden saw it, she said, "Look at those shoulders!"
Grandma corrected her, "Those are humps."

This little girl was manning the pig area and let the kids touch some of the baby chicks and the piglets.It was a fun trip, as always! We're glad to be back home, but we will be excited to come back next year!

Spring Break, Be Gone!

It's a blessing and a curse having two weeks off for Spring Break. I was sort-of dreading these past two weeks, but we have survived and have actually had some fun. I can't say that I've accomplished a lot by way of household chores or hobbies, but on Monday it's back to school, so hopefully I'll have this house in order soon. This poor kid probably couldn't wait for the kids to have a break from school. It's pretty sad when you're so lonely you have to use stuffed animals for friends.
Levi has been pretty much obsessed with Backyardigans lately. But we have been watching a lot of this...and listening to its soundtrack in the car. The kids can't get enough of it.

We've also been swimming in the backyard. Jonah didn't want to swim at first, but he finally gave in.Eden has spent almost the entire two weeks in this dress. According to her, she is Snow White, I am Ariel, Jonah is "the prince" and Levi is Beast. So no one is even from the same movie, I guess, except Jonah, who is from all the movies. I have found this little game to be quite helpful. For example, Eden helped me clean the entire bathroom the other day, as long as I referred to her as Snow White and I talked in my Ariel princess voice. Why didn't I think of this before? She is turning out to be a great helper (Snow White, that is).
The dress is getting pretty gross, however. It's not even washable- you have to just wipe it down. I might try a hand wash anyway. She has been sleeping in this thing as well as wearing it for about two weeks straight. I think I know what I'm getting her for her birthday...
This stinker has been taking his diapers off, even if they're not peed in, and trying to put on new ones. I am not ready to potty train him and I'm hoping he'll hold off until after summer and the kids are back in school. Maybe I'll do it during the summer, but vacations + potty-training kids do not mix well. We'll see.

A few months ago, someone at the store asked if these three were triplets. Levi was in the cart, so you couldn't see how much shorter than Jonah he is. I thought that was funny. I have been asked if Eden and Jonah are twins and also if Eden and Levi are twins, but never triplets. Although, sometimes it feels like they are!

Lots of Random Thoughts

So what has been going on lately? Well, I certainly haven't been doing the laundry. It's totally backed up and here I am blogging. I'll throw in a load later! Oh, and just as a warning, this post has no continuity whatsoever. Here we go!

So I finally joined the land of the living and saw Avatar. My review in a few lines? Interesting concept, SUPER-predictable plot, awesome graphics, 3D movies are pretty cool (it was my first), and I loved Zoe Saldana's character. And it was really long. Glad I saw it though.Zoe Saldana is one of my girl crushes, actually. She is seriously so pretty.
Speaking of girl crushes, everyone seems to hate Katharine McPhee's new blond hair, but I like it! Wish I could have looked like this during the Hair Fiasco of 2008:
Another crush whose style I really love (more of a fashion crush), when she's not being too crazy:
She's kind of got an updated Jackie O. thing going on...
But see what I mean? It definitely can get away from her. Maybe this picture is old; she has long hair.
Blair Waldorf is another fashion crush of mine. She has some serious style... (click on the picture)
Anyway, so who are your "girl crushes?" I know you have them...

You'd think I was pregnant, hearing the kinds of dreams I have been having lately. (I AM NOT!!!) Anyway, I had a dream that the house was on fire, one with Apollo Ohno that involved kissing... nothing more, don't worry. But still- I swear, every night for a few weeks I have been having some crazy ones! Why can't I just sleep in peace?

Oh yeah, and the biggest news of all this past week. We got bicycles! The kids each picked out a helmet at the store to go with their bikes. They have been loving riding around the neighborhood. They have never even really had Big Wheels or trikes, so I was afraid that they wouldn't be able to pedal. But they are doing great.
If you know our kids, you know that Jonah is learning a little slower and gets frustrated a little more, but he is doing fine. He had a few falls (okay like four) on the first day because of the curbs, but he would get right back on after yelling a little at his bike. So funny! Eden was a pro from the start. She got on that little bike and just rode around for two hours straight. She cried when she had to come in. It'll be fun to go on family bike rides now.

Peter got me this cute Cruiser with fenders and a basket. I love it; it's so comfy to ride.Now if only it would stop raining so we could ride! I have been so cold lately! It's supposed to stop raining tomorrow (finally) and we should have a beautiful sunny weekend! Yeah!

I'm reading The Goose Girl, and I really like it so far. And I'm seeing Alice in Wonderland 3D on Thursday. Can't wait!