Yuck

This is what I had the joy of waking up and walking to the gym in this morning. The TV by the treadmill I was on said there was close to 4 inches near downtown. Seriously, this is like the worst April Fools joke ever... a day early.... uugghhh....

People always ask me if living in Oregon during the rainy winter months is depressing... honestly, living in Utah this winter is what is depressing. I think it snowed 3 times the entire time we lived in Eugene, not 3 times a week.

Atleast someone was excited about getting in one more snowman. It didn't cheer me up much though. ;-)

Our Happy Easter

Because of time constraints... we neither hardboiled or colored eggs this year... I know, sad. But the boys did get up and search out their easter baskets. Even though they weren't really hidden, they still seemed to have a hard time finding them.

Henry took no time at all to discover how to force his easter eggs open and start pounding jellybeans. He was afraid to look away from the basket for a photo, for fear that it might all disappear.

Gavin wasn't nearly as into the candy first thing in the morning, but he was, of course, opening and sorting the eggs by what he liked best.
We also weren't much on the ball with getting a traditional easter dinner together, but ended up having some yummy boneless honey-barbeque wings that Caleb made us, and some baked-potato salad that Rena whipped up. Luckily we have friends like the Loos who are as low-key as us, and didn't mind hanging out eating random snacks for Easter.

After dinner we headed up to the Salt Lake Cemetery, which I had run by the day before. One of the girls on the run had said that she had taken her kids there to look for the headstones of different prophets. So, we thought it might be fun to do that too. The cemetery turned out to be really huge, but we finally managed to find half a dozen (though there could be more)... I am not going to tell you who they are, in case you want to have a fun filled afternoon of hunting sometime soon. We also found a few other prominent church leaders and some people who practiced plural-marriage to the fullest extend. It was really interesting, and a good way to spend them evening.

Gavin Turns 3!

Whoa! Yesterday, Gavin turned 3. We are pretty much in shock that he is no longer a baby, and that time has gone so quickly with him in our lives. He surprises us everyday with the things that he knows and thinks of. He has been so active since he was born, and still never seems to slow down. He loves to have us read to him and will recite his favorite books to almost anyone who will listen. He longs to be a "shining armor" and often refers to "the handsome prince charming". He is a great big brother and so much fun to have around. Gavin is now 41 and 3/4 inches tall and 37 pounds. (For those who are tracking the wild man, that is almost 5 inches and only 2.5 pounds this year... yikes.)

I thought is would be fun to take a look back...

Ooohh. Can you believe he was ever so small? And with such dark (jaundice) skin?

...And then so chubby... but always so happy. (1 year old)
Growing up all the time... This was him at 2.
Oh Goodness... turning 3, with a Thomas the Train cake. What a big boy.

We had a great party at our house, and despite the fact that it snowed, we didn't get as crowded inside as I thought we would. Gavin really loved having all of his friends come and even brave the cold to sit on the porch and watch for them. He kept saying that it wasn't his birthday until his friends came over.

We have new windows

This week, we had an exciting house transformation... with a grant from the Utah Lead Safe program, we were able to get 6 new windows in each side of our duplex to replace the old original 1910 wood windows. We were kicked out of our place for about 2 days while the contracts came in and spent only about 3 hours of skilled labor to replace the horrid nonworking old things with these fabulous new windows. I don't have many before pictures because there were also some hideous old blinds covering a lot of the bad windows, but I have now gotten rid of those too and we are enjoying the new light. As well as the prospect that on a warm day, we will actually be able to open a window in the living room (or 4!) and a couple in the boys room as well. This was a tremendous blessing for us, and we are now fully aware of the appeal of having a skilled laborer get paid to do work on your house. It was so fast and flawless.
The painter wasn't able to come and finish his job of painting the window sills on Friday because on the inclement weather (yes, it snowed again), but he will be back soon to tidy up the job. I just couldn't wait that long to post the good news.

The boys loved staying at the hotel and just running around and having a good time without ever having to go home. Caleb and I liked it a lot less, we are certainly getting old, and our life revolves more around getting things done and making sure our kids get enough sleep. Sad, huh? But the program also paid for us to stay away from home, since we both still had to work and go about our lives, so honestly we can't complain about any of it. Most of our wait was due to the fact that they had to test the surfaces and air for lead dust before we could be cleared to bring the boys home. Gavin started out calling it the "show and tell" and then it just turned to the "tell". Pretty funny... though really he just liked watching Scooby Doo on the cartoon network the best.

Yearly Photos

Last week I braved the forces of nature and went to get the boys pictures taken for their birthdays. It was actually one of the best photo sessions that I have ever had, and the results were pretty cute, if I say so myself. Gavin was a great sport and even though he was complaining beforehand, he jumped right in and was posing and smiling all over the place.

Here they are looking super cute together.

What Silly Boys.

Gavin had to sit this way to keep Henry from trying to get away.
This was Henry's general attitude about sitting for photos, but we did manage to get some cute ones of him. Gavin calls this "The one where Henry is ready to leave." And it was the only one that Gavin would have bought if he was in charge.
Here's the cute Henry we know and love.

I can hardly believe that Gavin is 3 this week, and that he sometimes acts so grown up, I am usually quite shocked and amazed. When we were getting ready, he kept complaining that his shirt was stuck in his pants (I had tucked it in) and when I told him it was supposed to be, he said, "That makes me look silly." He is certainly his father's son.

Gotta love that adorable face and crazy hair.

This is how we knew it was time to leave...

I got tagged... by Jessi

What is your occupation? The ways that I make money are... Gap Kids Sales Associate (hurray), Companion for a girl named Anne, and oh yeah, I do have a graphic design degree that I plan to use again in the undetermined future
What are you listening to right now? Word World on PBS kids, and Henry talking himself to sleep in his bed
What is the last thing you ate? Toasted carmel crunch cereal
Do you wish on stars? No, but I like looking at them
If you were a crayon what color would you be? Red
How is the weather right now? Very sunny, but cold in this endless winter
Last person you talked to on the phone? Caleb, I think, I am trying not to go over my minutes... hehe
Do you like the person who tagged you? Of course, everyone does ;-)
How old are you right now? 28, I think
Your favorite drink? water probably, sometimes a caffeine free Mountain Dew that I split with Gav
Favorite sport to watch? basketball
Have you ever dyed your hair? hehe... umm yeah
Your favorite job? tough one... there have been a lot... probably picking sweet corn in the early morning hours with my friends when I was 15
Any pets? Only imaginary ones
Favorite month? September, still warm, but getting ready for fall
Favorite food? cheese... with pickles with it... and dark chocolate M&Ms, seperately of course
What was the last movie you watched? Bugs Life, for the thousandth time this morning
What do you do to vent anger? Put myself in time out, its better for everyone that way
Fall or spring? Fall, of course
Hugs or kisses? Depends on who they are coming from
Living arrangements? Our 2 bedroom duplex in Salt Lake
When was the last time you cried? I think about a month ago when Gavin headbutted me in the nose while we were wrestling and I thought my nose was broken, it was super painful and bled everywhere
What is on the floor in your closet? Caleb's shoes and snowboarding stuff
What did you do last night? Worked with Anne
What inspires you? Caleb- he makes me want to be a better person
What are you afraid of? The dark, and not teaching my kids all that they need to know in this life
How many cars have you had? yikes, 8, I guess
How many keys are on your key ring? 3, soon to be 2 when mom and dad sell their house
How many years at your current job? the Gap- like 7... sad, I know
Favorite day of the week? Saturday
Where have you lived? Texas, Iowa, Oregon, Utah
First cd you ever bought? Savage Garden, I think
Favorite vacation? Any and all vacations, though Vancouver, BC was super cool
Favorite tv shows? The Office and Arrested Development



I tag Melodee and Heidi and and anyone who hasn't been tagged in a while.

Happy Birthday Henry!

On Wednesday, the 27th, Henry was officially in our family for 1 year! What an exciting year it was. We like to refer to Henry as "the Brute" around here because of his amazing strength and his desire to see things crash and hit the floor. He also loves to make any loud noises that will get him attention and generally squeals in delight when his little screams startle someone. He is full of emotion and usually that emotion is Happy and excited. He has such a sense of humor and seems to sense when someone is being funny, since he will always give a boisterous laugh.

Henry has grown by enormous feats and now weighs 28lbs 8 ounces and is 31 inches tall. He already loves to wrestle and is just plain loads of fun to have around. Though we certainly can't take our eyes off him, he is honestly into everything. He woke up bright and early on his birthday morning and it the best mood.

For Henry's birthday the boys got a wagon for two. It is really great and we already really love having it. Here is my great wrapping job and Henry was getting anxious waiting for Gavin to wake up, so he was taking a peak at it.
A Wagon! WOW! Thanks!
Here they are getting ready for a ride. We have already taken quite a few in just a couple of days. The only problem is when they start fighting in there, though it is also slightly funny as well.
For Henry's birthday we had dinner with some family and some friends at Red Robin, of course because this was Henry's place of choice... not because we all just really like the food. He loved it. He ate a lot and loved seeing everyone sitting with him. He got to have cake for the first time and he actually ate the entire piece. Aside from the frosting that got all over him, there wasn't much of it that missed his mouth, which is quite impressive for him.