My Bi-yearly Post

This is for you Jessica. Nothing in the last 3 years (including the birth of my third child) has motivated me enough to post another entry in my blog...until now.

Watching the "New" Willy Wonka :)

At least you look cute! I should have made Chris take another picture! But don't worry, I'm pretty sure no one is following my blog anymore, so no one will see this. :)

Thank you so much for being such a good friend! I'm so grateful for the years I spent getting to know you from across the parking lot. We will always have Turtle Creek.
I miss you already! We all miss you! Good luck in Oklahoma!

Summer Fun

We did a lot of fun stuff this summer, and I was way too busy to blog about it, so I am going to roll it all up into one:

• Koen took swim lessons
• Chris grew his hair out

• We had a birthday party
  
• Koen got a new bike
• Morgan threw a lot of temper tantrums
• Chris went to Scout Camp
• We visited family in Salt Lake (this is Great Grandma Buchanan)

• We went to the Oquirrh Hills Temple Open House with Oma Bateman

• Took the kids to Wheeler Farm with Aunt Tenessa
• Went to Snow Canyon with Aunt Melissa and Cousins Brinley and Connor

• We took the kids to the Washington County Fair

• We suffered through the heat and decided we really are cold-weather people (the kids too)
  

First Day of Preschool

Koen started preschool today! We have been looking forward to this all summer. Koen is excited to make new friends, I am excited for a 2 1/2 hour break from two kids, and Morgan is excited to finally have some one on one time with mom or dad.Koen said for their first day they did gymnastics, sang songs and read a book. The teacher told me he refused to get paint on his hands when they were fingerpainting, so they gave him a marker. I guess my hand washing OCD has rubbed off a little. Sorry Koen.

4 Years Old

We had Koen's 4th Birthday Party this weekend. His friend Chloe's birthday is one day after his, so we decided to have one party for both of them. We chose a surfer theme and Chloe's mom made this awesome cake!

She's a pro! Plus, when Koen found out it wasn't going to be a Pirate cake he was very upset. (he's into pirates right now) So Sara turned the "Surfer Koen" on top of the cake into a pirate. I was very impressed, and Koen was happy.

We were very happy so many of our friends were able to join us for the party.
Of course, there was swimming:
...and presents:

Happy Birthday Koen! We can't believe you are growing up so fast!

Koen's 1st Fish!

We went to Pine Valley (to fish in their puddle) and Koen caught his first fish! I'm not sure who was more excited, Chris or Koen. It was fun!

Selective Documentation

Growing up I knew that I had always been the perfect child. I would look through my scrapbook at all of the pictures of me smiling for the camera, being cute, blowing out candles, giving kisses and always with perfectly clean clothes and curled and primped hair. My parents couldn't have told me I wasn't perfect, there was just no proof.

Well, now that I'm a parent I realize that we only take pictures when our kids are being adorable and I wonder, Why is that? Are we encouraging selective memory? Sure, we want to remember the fun, happy times. But I also want my kids to know they weren't always perfect and that they owe me big time for not shipping them off to live with monkeys.

Why not take pictures when the kids are fighting, writing on the wall, flushing keys down the toilet or sticking pennies in our car CD player (really happened)? Let's not forget: chucking rocks at the neighbor kids, sticking peas up their nose, managing to get their diaper off and peeing on the floor or waking me up at 3 am to watch TV. Why not cherish the memory of your child on the floor throwing a tantrum in the store/restaurant/church (all of the above)?

That way, when they come to me at 16, and want to know why I won't give them $70, haven't bought them a car yet or still make them do chores, I can pull out my photo album and they will thank me for keeping them and loving them still.

Our kids should know how much we love them, but it can't hurt to let them in on what a pain in the ass they were sometimes as well. (sorry mom, I'm getting the soap right now)

Easter Duds

We were all well enough to go to church on Easter, and it's a good thing too because the kids had cute new church clothes to wear.

Our Latest Projects

My husband sure is handy. Just wanted to show off some of his latest work.
He built Koen this bed so he could have more room to play. Isn't it awesome?! Koen hasn't fallen off of it yet, but it sure is hard to tuck him in at night.
Our patio has been an eyesore for a while,so we decided to tile it. (OK he had some help laying the tile, but he did an awesome job grouting it!)

No gifts please

While Chris and I were on a date a while ago, our friends were watching the kids. Koen loves playing with their girls and Morgan is even okay there most of the time.
But this time was special...

Apparently Koen and Kelsee got married.We were sad we couldn't be there, but at least they took a picture for us.

I really need to find him some boys to play with. :)

Nice Moves

Morgan has decided that dancing simply involves shrugging her shoulders. I'm not sure where she got it from, but it wasn't me! (she dances much better than I do)
Go Wiggles!

False Alarm

It seems I do not have anything to worry about...for now (besides high blood pressure). But the health scare I just experienced has made me acutely aware of the possibility of losing everyone and everything I hold dear. And so, that much more appreciative of everything I do have. I am so blessed.
I want to thank all of you who helped me get through the last week. Thanks for checking on me, for trying to make me laugh and for keeping me from going crazy. I am so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends. In case I haven't told you lately- I love you!

I love you Chris, Koen and Morgan.

My heart goes out to those who have dealt with and are currently dealing with cancer. I can't even imagine how one would get through that and have the strength to fight.

Please, Mom?

The kids found a little ATV at Costco the other day that was "just like Opa's". Koen reluctantly let Morgan sit on it with him, but he was pretty disappointed that he couldn't drive it around the store.

Morgan is having fun! (Koen is looking for the eject button)

Every time Koen finds something he wants at a store that I won't buy him, he informs me that "Santa will bring it for Christmas". I sure hope this year gets a lot better by December! I guess it's our own fault for getting him everything he wanted for Christmas last year. (his wish list is a lot pricier now)

Before and After

It's been almost a month since Koen got his hair cut, but I finally have some pictures and a computer fast enough to load them.

Koen (aka Shaggy) with his Christmas.

Koen getting his hair cut in a police car.

Koen, post-Cookie Cutters. You gotta love that place!

I Blame Twilight....

for my lack of posting recently. Chris got me 3 of the Twilight series books for Christmas so I decided to re-read them. I didn't know I wouldn't be able to get anything done AGAIN until I was finished. Sorry everyone. Well, I'm not sorry, I love those books! And if you don't know what I'm talking about then you have not read them! (or you're not a girl- I'm not sure they would have the same hold on a guy)
I think I will lock them in the attic for a while so I can get something done like clean the house or make dinner.

Morgan Update

Morgan has changed so much! Here's a little video of what she's learned.

She is still terrified of everyone but Chris and I. She says a few words (papa, mama, ball, poo, baiper). She squeals and laughs a lot. Sometimes she thinks Koen is pretty funny, but mostly he just beats her up (I guess that hasn't changed). She loves shoes, Care Bears and playing peek-a-boo.

She recently learned how to walk, so I bought her a couple pair of shoes. She loves to wear them and also carries them around all day.

Wiggle Car

We went to a Christmas show called the Dicken's Festival the other weekend, and found these awesome little "wiggle cars". Koen (and Chris) tried them out and had a blast! We wanted to buy one, and might have, if they weren't $65.

Anyone know where to get one for less? (I did find a few on eBay)

Dinos in Lehi

Our last trip to Salt Lake, we took the kids to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. We could have spent days there- Koen loved it!Koen building a dinosaur island.

Morgan pushing buttons. (oh yeah, she can walk now!)

Fiesta (not so) Fun!

We took the kids to "Fiesta Fun" the other day. We were bored, and we wanted to see if Koen would like miniature golf.

Turns out, he only liked it for 6 holes and then got really frustrated and threw a fit. Even though we paid $5 each, we didn't mind stopping. The course is pretty lame. Every hole was the same- straight and uphill with a shovel or bucket as an obstacle. (kindof made me miss the Fun Dome).

We went inside to play some video games but gave up after 3 separate games ate our tokens.

They do have a soft play area that the kids enjoyed. Next time we will just stick to that.
(The car Morgan is sitting in did work!)

Zion

We took advantage of our proximity to Zion National Park two weekends ago and decided to take a day trip. First we hiked Weeping Rock, which is a quick, easy 10 minute hike... and then we decided to get ambitious.
We hiked Angels Landing- up to the chain! It took us 3 hours round-trip (Chris carried both the kids most of the way up)!

Am I glad we did it? Sure! Would I do it again? No! It kicked my butt!

Nice views though.

Boston

I recently took a trip to Boston with my sister Tenessa. The trip was awesome! We went to see the city and visit my friend Carol. Daddy watched the kids all week. Thanks Chris! Maybe we can do it again next year. :)

Some things I learned while in Boston:

1. The scariest thing about a "Ghost Tour" is the tour guide.

2. The City Planner for Boston needed a lesson in the grid system.

3. Massachusetts needs some mountains and Utah needs more trees.

4. You can't get pancakes in Boston but there is a Dunkin' Donuts every 20 feet.

5. General Hooker was a Civil War hero.