April Birthday's....

We get to celebrate 2 birthday's in April.  Evan's and Addisons.  Evan turned 10 this year and Addie turned 6.  Hard to believe I have 2 kids in the double digits, sigh.  This year we didn't do a "friend party"...we alternate years on that.  So we spent a low-key weekend opening gifts and going to Chuck-A-Rama for dinner (kids choice).  Evan surprises me because I always fear he will be bitter about sharing a birthday with Addison but every time I suggest we do something separate for him, he gets upset and says he wants to share the day with Addie.  Here are a few facts about each of them and then pictures to follow:

My BFF Shannon and her kids came to the park for Evan and Addison bday.  We love them like family :)

Evan:  He still loves Sharks and dreams of becoming a Marine Biologist one day.  Really, he is an animal lover all the way around and that has not changed from day one.  Even though he is 10, he is still like a little boy in some ways and I love that about him.  Ian has always seemed a few years older for his age but Evan prefers to act his age :)  He loves stuffed animals, he loves anything that someone gives him and will keep it forever - even a rock - in other words....Pack Rat!  He enjoys playing outside, even with the little kids.  He is so good with the younger kids in our apartment.  He loves attention from mom.  He has a humongous appetite right now.  He is in the 4th grade and struggles with doing his homework.  He would much rather be outside playing.  We love him and his sense of humor!

Addison:  She still remains the house Diva.  But, she is starting to learn that sometimes she doesn't get what she wants.  She is losing teeth now and not looking like my little baby girl anymore.  She loves clothes and shoes and makeup...I often find her playing in mine.  She loves to sing and dance and play outside.  She is a little monkey, climbing anything she can.  She has thick callouses all over her palms from the monkey bars at school!  She is really into Barbies right now.  She begs me for fake nails all the time - which I don't understand since I never wear them!!  She definitely keeps us on our toes.  She is the messiest one in the house.  The front room is usually full of all her stuff and she hates putting it all away, lol.  She has been in Kindergarten this year and loves every minute of it!  I never have to beg her to go to school.  She loves her family and we love her!


I took Addie with me to get a mani/pedi for her birthday she was soooo excited until we got there.  The people that own this salon are Cambodian I think and they were all talking very fast and loud in their language.  She was wide eyed and got even more freaked out when they pulled out the massive cheese grater and started scrubbing my feet. Haha!  But, she finally relaxed and enjoyed every minute of it!  Especially by the time they got to her hands.

These are some example of their artwork.  Both of these kids are really artistic and LOVE drawing, painting and coloring!  I am always amazed at  their work...it was never something I was very good at.
This is Evans copy of the famous Salvador Dali painting.  He really likes Dali's work.

This is Evan's watercolor of the desert.

This is Addison's chameleon!  So cute.

She just lost her first front tooth.

We waited a week for warmer weather and had a BBQ at the park with my brothers and family for their birthdays.

Here is my nephew Soren :)

Nathan, being silly.

 Uncle Jeff

 Aunt Alisa with baby Jude

My other nephew, Jude...sweet baby.

Ian, being silly...runs in the family apparently.

 Pretty birthday girl Addison....

Musings....

I just got done browsing and boo-hooing over a bunch of blogs about kids with cancer. I know... seems like a strange thing to be doing but there is an acquaintance of mine here in the Village whose 7 month old baby was diagnosed with Leukemia last year. She has just come home and is finally in remission. She had a blog about the experience with links to other blogs of families that she met at the hospital during her daughters fight. It was sobering to say the least. Some of the kids didnt make it. Some did and are still fighting. It gives me such perspective to read things like this occasionally, even if it is difficult. I have 3 healthy, beautiful, children. Aside from some stitches and a couple of minor surgeries, my kids rarely see the inside of a hospital.

I am so grateful for that fact. Cancer is no joke. It has devastating affects both on the person who has it as well as on their families who fight along side them. I pray that I dont have to go through anything like that with my children. Also, yesterday and old high school acquaintance had quite a scare. She got a call informing her that her 15 year old son was lost in the high Uintah mountains. He was there for scout camp. That mountain has claimed the lives of many a scout who found himself lost. It is not a place you want to get lost in. I was so worried for her and thought it must be a mom's worst nightmare. Of course there are many events that could qualify as "moms worst nightmare". We cannot keep our kids sheltered and within our loving grasp at all times, unfortunately. All we can do is hope that they are watched over by a power stronger than a Mother's love and that we teach them what they need to survive in the big bad world. Thankfully, they did find my friends son, unharmed although probably a little shaken. He had hiked 20 miles out of the way after taking a wrong turn on the trail. Yikes....but what a relief that all is well.

So what else? I had lunch with my hermanos the other day. We went to Ruth's Diner up in Emigration Canyon. Great place to eat if you are in the area. I only got a picture of Nathan though...sorry Jeff!

Addie was excited to get "bigger" earrings. Apparently the teeny tiny (fake) diamond studs just werent cutting it anymore so with her birthday money from Mawmaw she bought an assorted variety of "bigger" earrings. Haha...here she is in her hoops ;)

Friday, Ian had to go to the dermatologist to get a massive wart removed from his knee. He wanted me to promise that it wouldnt hurt but I told him I had no clue what they were even going to do to remove it. The wart was very large and thick and therefore required freezing, a shot of anesthetic (or two), burning, and then finally cutting it off. Wow. I could have never predicted that he would have to have all of it done. Poor thing. If you know my son then you know the kind of noise he made over it. VERY melodramatic...the doctor was laughing and saying "we know who to call if we ever need a set of lungs to scare off bad customers".... haha.

Let's just say Ian does not tolerate needles and pain very well....I tried my best not to laugh. Really I did. But the whole thing was rather comical. In the end I apologized by taking him to see Harry Potter for the second time. He also has a wart on his elbow but the doctor opted to just freeze it and put a little acid on it rather than repeat the fiasco he had just experienced. Unfortunately, if the wart doesnt go away from that treatment, Ian will have to come back and repeat the bad way....let's hope it goes away!

Addison has decided she wants long hair. I was hoping to keep it shorter for a couple more years so it could get a little thicker and not have as many tangles. But, if she wants it long then thats fine too. She got some headbands today and I thought she looked cute. Wonder how long it will take for her hair to grow? If its like my hair...forever!

A Visit from Marcy.....!

I was so excited to receive a call from my cousin Marcy a couple of weeks ago announcing that she was coming to Utah! She was taking her oldest son's to BYU for volleyball camp and going to spend the week here. The best part....she wanted to stay a few days/nights with me! It was just what I needed....having a girlfriend here to chat with and keep me company. She brought her youngest son, Camdon, with her and my boys were thrilled to have him as well.... Here is Camdon who is always ready and willing to take a great picture (wink, wink..)

We had a great time. We saw a couple of movies and of course we made the mandatory visit to Temple Square

*warning: a lot of pictures to follow....*

I was pretty much invisible for the entire time that Marcy was with us. Addison thought she had died and gone to heaven with Marcy here. She was spoiled and so infatuated with "aunt" Marcy....it was cute and I didnt mind a bit. She was pretty sad to see her go....

It is difficult to take a bad picture of this temple. Gorgeous.

The day after the temple, we went up the hill to Red Butte Gardens. This is another place where it is difficult to take a bad picture! So beautiful....

Thank you Marcy and Camdon for visiting us! We hope you can come again soon....it was so much fun!

More 4th....

Before I moved into student housing, we lived in my Grandma's neighborhood just down the street. We also went to her ward (church). I have missed that ward greatly since we moved and think I may go back. Every year this ward has a pancake breakfast on the 4th.

It's a pretty big deal and they encourage former members of the ward (like us) to come back and attend. We did just that. Bright and early we trudged over there for breakfast and a kiddie parade of bikes and scooters. It was a lot of fun seeing the familiar faces. It just felt like being home again... I miss going to that church.

Since we watched our fireworks early on Saturday night, I had no plans to go see any more fireworks on Monday the 4th. We decided on having a BBQ with some neighbors that we go to church with here in our apartment ward (church). Technically,fireworks are not allowed on any campus property, including family housing which I think is so lame (especially since the fire department is across the street). But I did buy some sparklers and thought we might go to the park and light them.

Our neighbor Seth had a different idea. He had bought some "baby" fireworks (smoke bombs, spinning flowers, etc) at Costco for his little kids and invited us to watch out on the basketball court.

Pretty brave considering the rules...of course someone did call campus police on him but they didn't show up until after he had finished. We walked out to the edge of the property and finished up our sparklers...

Sadly, the wind picked up and blew a chunk of sparkler onto Addison's foot.

I didn't realize just how badly she had been burned until we went inside. Kinda put a bummer on the night. But it was a nice relaxing 4th and I have to say one of my favorite holidays!

Stadium of Fire.....

For the 4th of July this year I decided to break down and buy tickets to the Stadium of Fire in Provo, Utah. It is a large production held every year at the football stadium on BYU's campus. This year the entertainment included David Archuletta and Brad Paisley. The tickets didn't come cheap but it sounded like fun and something different than our usual holiday fare. I have to say it did not disappoint! The singers were great and the fireworks were fabulous but I was the most impressed with the attention to patriotism that was paid not only to our country but to the soldiers fighting for our freedom. I can hardly hear the national anthem without crying anymore and forget trying to say the Pledge of Allegiance! We even got to see 4 F-16 fighter jets fly over the stadium. It was so awesome! Here are a few pictures of some of the fun we got to experience...

We checked into a hotel even though Provo is a short 45 minute drive because the traffic is HORRENDOUS during any special event at the stadium. I knew I wouldn't want to fight the traffic at midnight so we just got a hotel across the street from the stadium. It was super convenient and money well spent...even if the hotel left a lot to be desired.... We got there early on Saturday and the kids hit the swimming pool for a couple hours.

Here are some pictures at the stadium... David Archuletta is such a cute kid. Seriously...what a great voice and so nice. I loved him~ Brad Paisley impressed as well.

Even the kids had their toes tapping to some of his songs. Very entertaining!

The firework show was amazing. It was big and fiery and really really cool. There is a reason they call it the Stadium of Fire...I sure wouldn't have wanted to be very close to the fire explosions. We could feel them from our seats and trust me...we weren't that close!

We checked out of the hotel the next morning and just drove around Provo for a bit. It is always weird for me to go back to that town. It has a lot of great memories of college and friends...before I had to be a grown up completely....Before the bills and worries of adulthood had set in. Seems like a lifetime ago. The kids laughed at how many apartments I had actually lived in. I think I moved every 6 months....haha. Around noon we went to my friend Linda's house and had lunch and visited with her and her family for a few hours. Here are some pictures I took at the park before we hit the Tanners.

It was a great little trip and we had a lot of fun. I think we will do it again next year!~