The Stout Family

Cute Pics

2012-02-05T20:34:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to put some cute pictures of the kids on here...one of Megan (thanks to Adam's ability to catch her in perfect poses) and Jordan's special VIP attire he got from school for his special VIP week!

Jordan Turns 6!!!

2012-01-24T20:39:00.000-08:00

Jordan turned 6 and had a blast doing it. He ate his favorite foods, got fun new star wars toys and got to spend time with his friends. He had school on his birthday and I surprised him by going in to help out that day so I could spend time with him. I sat by him in a little tiny chair and he kept leaning over to me and would whisper in my ear, "Mommy, I love you with all my heart!" How I love this special boy and am so glad he came into this world 6 years ago!!!

I like how Megan is "helping" blow out the candles from where she's sitting.

Jordan's birthday party with some of his friends. I love the difference in these 2 pictures. Once they were all warmed up to eachother, it was all laughs, screaming, wildness and craziness...good thing it was only a 2 hour party!!

Christmas...Better Late Than Never

2012-01-24T20:30:00.000-08:00

Seeing how it's nearly February, I figured it's about time to do a post on Christmas. This year we had no mantel to hang our stockings from because the gas fireplace didn't work and we ended up covering it up with an entertainment center. We had to get a little creative about what to do with the stockings and came up with the above creation. Andrew made the whole thing and stayed up extra late on Christmas Eve so it would be ready in the morning.

Our breakfast of cinnamon rolls, egg nog and breakfast casserole was delicious and this was the first time we ever used our china.

They can hardly stand the anticipation as they wait for Andrew to set up the camera so we can take a picture and start our jingle bell parade that leads us to the Christmas tree.

We realized that this was the first time since Jordan was born that we've been able to do the parade without me carrying a baby in my arms.

Meeting Baby Cindy for the first time...love at first sight and have been inseparable ever since!!!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-28T22:50:00.000-08:00

We had our Christmas Eve nativity play at my parent's where Megan played Mary and Jordan, the angel. Of course, Megan wanted to play the part of Mary because that meant she could take care of "baby Jesus" and so the whole day she practiced her part, with a towel over her head while she rocked her baby. She even made sure to put her baby down for a nap so it would be well-rested for the play. As soon as I put the costume on, she acted the part with a very serious, yet sweet expression on her face. She rocked and kissed her baby while we sang "Away in a Manger".....such a sweet moment on such a special night.

Jordan was thrilled to play the part of the angel, although he and Megan kept arguing throughout the day whether angels are boys or girls. He also took his role very seriously and I loved watching him as he listened so intently to the words to know what he should be doing.

Christmas Eve is never complete without some string serenading.

Matching jammies from Grandma Sally

We had forgotten our camera, but luckily Uncle Adam brought along his camera to get some great shots. He loves taking pictures of our Megpie because she loves to pose for pictures and really hams it up, as you can see......

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

2011-12-28T22:31:00.000-08:00

Ta da!! The finished product...well kind of. The top of the tree was very bare when they were finished and we had to do some rearranging. We laughed as we found branches that had 4 or 5 ornaments all clustered together and found ornaments that were hanging off of other ornaments.

We put our Christmas books under the tree and I've been reading to the kids every day by the Christmas tree. Megan loves it and decided to delight her babies with the same experience.

It won't be the same this year.....

2011-12-20T20:36:00.000-08:00

I've been struggling with getting into the Christmas spirit this year because everything about Christmas reminds me of Marianne. Ever since I was 8 years old and she went away to college I was always so excited for Christmas because it meant that I could be with her again. Every Christmas of my life, other than the one when I was on my mission in New York, I have spent with my sister. The other day I was making dinner and decided to put on a Christmas CD that Marianne used to listen to. I always thought everything Marianne had was just the best and coolest thing, so of course I went and bought a copy also. Everything was going along fine until the last song came on. I never had really listened to the words before, but as I listened, it totally summed up how I've been feeling. It's called "It won't be the same this year" and talks about how difficult Christmas can be when you miss the ones who have passed away. As I listened to the chorus..."All the stockings are hung, Silent Night has been sung, Christmas is finally here....it won't be the same this year," the floodgates opened because it was exactly how I was feeling.

This advent calendar is so special to me because Marianne and I made it together. We spent so many fun weekends together while I was at BYU making the little ornaments. When it came time to make the actual wall hanging, Marianne guided me through each step, showing me where to cut the fabric and what pieces to sew together. When it was all pieced together, I held it up, so excited to see the finished masterpiece only to discover that for some reason it was crooked and looked horrible. In frustration, I wadded it up in a ball and said there was no way I was going to take all the stitches out and redo it. I never really thought about it again, but how surprised I was the Christmas I got home from my mission, to see that Marianne had done just that. She's taken it all apart and redone it and finished it for me. Usually this is the very first thing that goes on my wall once December hits, but this year I just couldn't bear to bring it out...too many memories that would just make me sad. Finally, into the second week of December I realized that Marianne wouldn't want me to leave it in the closet. She would want me to enjoy it, so on the wall it went even though it opened the floodgates once again.

People say this gets easier, and I'm sure it will. I'm so grateful for my precious little ones, for my family and everyone who I hold dear that I hold to a little tighter now, knowing just how precious life truly is. The birth of the Savior has added significance in my life this year also, for it is through Him that I know I will be with my dear sister again.

Getting Ready for Church

2011-12-06T21:10:00.000-08:00

Megan was spending quite a while getting "ready" for church last Sunday and I couldn't figure out what was taking her so long because I had already gotten her dressed and done her hair. It wasn't until I heard her walking ever so carefully and slowly down the stairs in her high heel shoes that I realized just what she'd been up to. I convinced her to wear different shoes and that sunglasses aren't really necessary for church, but she was very pleased with herself when she walked into church adorned with ALL of her beautiful jewelry.

Halloween Catch Up

2011-11-23T22:39:00.000-08:00

With Marianne passing away on October 29, Halloween was a difficult holiday this year. We went through the motions...carving pumpkins, costumes, trick or treating and candy. The good thing about children is they force you to just keep going even when you don't feel like it. Life just has to go on and for that I am grateful. I didn't take any pictures on Halloween night, but luckily we had gone to a Halloween party at church the weekend before and got some cute pictures of our fearsome dragon trainer and our darling princess.

Celebrating My Dear Sister's Life

2011-11-10T09:38:00.000-08:00

I sit here at my computer, just wondering where to even begin. It's hard to put such deep and tender emotions and feelings into words, but I will do my best. I don't have any pictures from the weekend. We brought our camera, but taking pictures was the farthest thing from my mind. Luckily, a photographer was taking pictures and someday I will get those pictures I'm sure, although I have some pictures in my mind that I know will never be erased. Here are a few of them....

Watching my mom and Marianne's husband, Mike walk arm in arm behind Marianne's casket as we walked into the chapel and thinking how fitting that was since they were the two who so lovingly cared for her during her final months.
Standing in the bitter cold wind at the graveside service, wrapping my arms around my nephew Brigham so tightly to not only keep him warm, but let him now how much I loved him. I wiped his tears from his cold face as we listened to the bagpiper play "Come Thou Fount of every Blessing" as Marianne's casket was carried to her final resting place.
Feeling my sister's arms clutched so tightly around me as we watched my mom make the final adjustments and tell Marianne goodbye before they closed the casket. Feeling so much love for my sister, Alison as we cried so hard together at that moment and how comforting it was knowing that someone else knew exactly what I was feeling. Also, looking over at my brothers at that moment and seeing they were doing the same thing.
Riding in the limo to the cemetery with Mike, my siblings, their spouses and the handful of nieces and nephews who were old enough to attend the funeral and feeling such an overwhelming feeling of love for my family. We talked about the funeral, the special words that were spoken and even managed to find a few things to laugh about, which is never hard to do when we're all together. Amidst the sadness, we still found joy in being together and it felt really good...like maybe life could really go on, somehow.
Playing "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" with my siblings at the funeral and feeling so much comfort as we blended our instruments together as a testimony that...Yes, our Redeemer does live and we know that Marianne lives too. As we played this song together I felt such a sweet feeling of peace.
Speaking at Marianne's funeral and seeing the chapel full of people who shared my love for Marianne and being able to read Marianne's testimony of the Savior to them. It felt good being able to read Marianne's own words and sharing with people what I knew she would want to say to them if she were still alive. Here is the excerpt from my talk that was such a priviledge to share, even though it was difficult....

"Marianne and I sent each other daily e-mails during the past two years and I was always amazed at her incredible attitude as she faced this tremendous trial. I would like to share with you an excerpt from an e-mail Marianne sent to me in August of 2009, as she was just beginning her chemo treatments again and had just learned of her terminal diagnosis 2 months prior….

"Here it is 12:24 a.m. my time. Everyone is asleep and I have been feeling sick all day and now I am hungry. So I am eating cottage cheese, applesauce and a glass of milk, just hoping it will stay down. Chemo is so awful. I felt great yesterday and today I cried when I left chemo because I already felt so lousy. Mike and Mom just keep reminding me that I will feel better again soon and Dad says he would trade places with me in a heartbeat.

I have some great talks with my Heavenly Father during these late night times. He is always awake and knows what I am feeling. I sometimes have mini melt-downs about what I have to endure and also the fact that I don't want to die. He is always there to comfort me with peace and let me know that it is His plan for me and it will be OK. I am so grateful to have the knowledge of the Atonement in my life. It has only been in the past few years, since my knee injury, that it has come to mean so much more than just repentance and correcting mistakes. Before that I felt so much mercy, forgiveness and love when repenting. I still feel that when I repent, but I also feel so much comfort, peace, understanding, and incredible love when I lean to my Savior and the Atonement through my physical trials. He knows how yucky I feel, the sadness of leaving loved ones, and all the emotions that hit me each day. I believe He also feels the incredible joys I feel when I have a good day, when I get to see my family, and when I spend good quality time doing something for me or for others. We are so truly blessed.”

I was expecting the grief. I knew there would be tears and heartache, but what I wasn't expecting was the overwhelming LOVE I felt...love from Heavenly Father, love from Marianne and so much love poured out from everyone around me.

The grief is still present and hits me at random times. Alison and I found ourselves at symphony practice on Monday night, crying our eyes out in the hallway as we were rehearsing the slow movement of Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony. The melody was just too sad to hear, let alone play. I feel like Marianne took a little piece of my heart with her because there's a little hole there now. I know it will fade as the days and years go by, but will never entirely go away...but I wouldn't want it to, because that would mean I had forgotten her and the special place she had in my life.

Marianne gave me this little angel last Christmas when I went to visit her. The little tag says, "No matter where I am, I will love you forever. Love, Marianne." I cried so hard when I opened it, but I cried even harder when I read it 3 nights ago when I came home from Utah. I know my sister does still love me, because I felt her love all weekend. I know that she is still involved in my life even though I can no longer see her and I know that someday I will be able to see her again...and what a sweet reunion it will be!!!

September Fun

2011-10-16T19:56:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we took the kids to Northwest Trek. It's a natural wildlife park where we got to see lots of animals and ride on a cool tram ride that the kids absolutely loved. Megan's favorite part was there were 2 brand new baby deer right next to the road and Jordan liked the herd of elk we watched swimming in the lake.

We watched this beaver for a long time as he was building his den. The little guy was camera happy and every time the camera would flash he would do a little trick and come back to the glass, waiting to do it again.

We finished off the outing with sundaes at McDonald's...or as Megan says...IcDondald's. I love this picture of Megan with her favorite things, ice cream and Daddy!!!

Andrew's birthday cake this year was a simple jello cheesecake. The kids helped me make it and put on the candles and were squealing with delight when he walked in the door from work, so excited to show it to him.

I wanted to put down some funny things the kids said this week so I don't forget them. The other day we were in the car and totally out of the blue Jordan said, "Mommy, Megan's a little too weird for me, let's just give her back to Jesus." Megan's funny thing lately is every time I tell her I love her she says, "Well.....I love daddy."

Video for Grandma Sally

2011-10-06T12:25:00.000-07:00

I took this video of the girls so I could send it to my mom, since she is missing everybody while she's caring for Marianne in Utah. For some reason, I couldn't get my e-mail to send it, so here it is Mom (and for anyone else who wants to take a peek.) We love you Mom, and are thinking of you and Marianne all the time!!!!

Jordan's first day of kindergarten

2011-09-09T08:44:00.000-07:00

We just put Jordan on the bus for his first day of kindergarten. I think he was a little excited because he woke up at 3 and had a hard time going back to sleep. He helped me make his lunch, we packed up his backpack and off we headed to the bus.

Our neighbor Colton said he would watch out for him and help him on his first day.

A little part of me wanted to shed a tear, but how could I when this is the last thing I saw? Does he look excited or what?

Our "Marianne" day

2011-09-08T15:35:00.000-07:00

When Jordan saw these pictures he asked if they were from our special Marianne day, so that's what I'm going to call them, but as you can see from the pictures, Marianne is the only one missing from them. As her health is declining, we wanted to get together to have one last hurrah to take pictures and just be together. At the last minute, she was unable to come after all. It was a very bittersweet day. On the one hand, it was fun to be with family and watch the cousins play together, but on the other hand, Marianne's absence was a huge void and we all missed her so much. I guess we just got a taste of what our future gatherings will be like when she is no longer with us....at least for a little while, because this I know...

OUR FAMILY WILL BE TOGETHER FOREVER!!!!

Grandma Sally's Teddy Bear Picnic

2011-08-13T21:09:00.000-07:00

As you can see, this year's picnic had a western theme.

Discovering the teddy bear's picnic after our walk through the woods

"Mother Goose" came to read stories to the kids. As you can tell from Megan's face she was very confused by the costume and actually burst into tears a few minutes later. She then promptly stood up, gathered her lunch and continued eating elsewhere.

Waiting for the puppet show to begin

This picture basically sums up a perfect day...a little girl completely worn out from a day of laughing and playing, with a smidge of chocolate on her chin, clutching her new pink teddy bear!!

A Little Princess

2011-08-09T20:45:00.000-07:00

Summer Days

2011-08-05T16:02:00.000-07:00

The sun has finally decided to stick around for a little bit so we've been "swimming" in our hot tub.

Andrew and Jordan had a lot of fun going to a hot rod show a couple of weeks ago. Andrew put Jordan in charge of the camera and it was fun to see the show from a 5 year old's perspective. There were lots of pictures of flames.

Megan has branched out in her matching and now likes to wear clothes that have the same print. This was her polka dot day. You can't really tell from the picture, but she was actually saying "Cheese." That girl might be little, but she sure has one big mouth.

The good thing about living in Western Washington is that the beach and the mountains are both just a few hour drive away. Usually the beach wins out for our anniversary trips, but this year we shook it up a little and went hiking at Mount Rainier instead. It was pretty cloudy the whole time so we couldn't really see the mountain, but it was still fun to get away for a couple of days.

Here's Megan on one of her "yellow" days.

Baby Love

2011-07-07T22:54:00.000-07:00

The kids met their new cousin, baby Leena for the first time tonight. They just couldn't get enough of this tiny little baby, not even a week old. Luckily, Leena has 3 brothers and so she was used to all the bumping and jostling that was inflicted upon her. Jordan decided it's time for us to have a new baby and asked if we could go get one tomorrow...if only it were that easy!!!

4th of July at the Cabin

2011-07-06T22:43:00.000-07:00

We spent 4th of July weekend at the cabin this year, which is always a fun time. We enjoyed the beautiful weather and spent the weekend doing all our favorite things at the cabin...horseback riding, playing games, hiking, swimming at the lake and being with family. Here are some pictures of our adventures:

Battleship is a fun game to play, but I'm not sure if it's so fun to play first thing in the morning, which comes awfully early for Jordan. Good thing Andrew's a morning person too.

A tree fell on the swingset and bent it all up, but the kids still managed to find a way to play on in it.

Baby Taylor has made it to the top of my kid's favorite things list. Jordan likes to make him smile and Megan likes to scrutinize him and then mimic what he does...since she still insists that SHE is a baby too.

I took this picture of Megan, not really knowing where she was headed with her squirt gun. Grandma Sally was pretty surprised when she discovered she was the target.

Jordan found a little friend at the lake. Luckily Grandma Sally wasn't around at this moment since she is deathly afraid of snakes.

There was a fire burning the whole time we were there because we were burning lots of brush. Jordan lived off a diet of marshmallows and hot dogs. It was funny watching him roast his hot dogs, which at times were several feet away from the fire.

Jordan's first ride with Mommy! My allergies weren't bad this time at all. I found the secret this trip...just have my dad saddle the horse for me and just make it a point to ride the horse without ever touching it. It worked great this time!! In the past few years, horseback rides have left me incapacitated the rest of the day.

Just had to throw in some cousin cuteness in here!!

We got home from the cabin the night of the 4th, just in time to see our culdesac's firework extravaganza. Megan was terrified and wouldn't calm down until I had shut all the windows and closed the blinds. She eventually did get used to them and enjoyed watching them through her bedroom window. Andrew told her they were fairies and that did the trick.

Pinatas and Televisions

2011-06-16T16:26:00.000-07:00

The other morning while I was in the shower, Jordan took a stick to the TV and beat it until it completely broke, as evidenced by the above picture. This act was so out of character for him and I couldn't figure out why he would do this. It wasn't until I asked what he was watching at the time that it all became very clear. He was watching "Curious George's Birthday" which is all about a pinata and I guess he just wanted to join in on the fun, not really thinking that it would actually break the TV. He had just hit a pinata over the weekend for a birthday party, so I guess it was just a little too fresh in his mind. Needless to say, it makes me think twice about getting the 47" LED flatscreen Andrew's had is eye on.

Megan Turns 3!!!

2011-06-13T20:32:00.000-07:00

Grandma Sally and Papa joined us for a birthday celebration on Megan's birthday. I made her favorite dinner, spaghetti, but she was too excited she didn't even eat one bite.

I love how the candle is still smoking in this picture. This little girl has it all figured out and wastes no time!

The night before Megan's birthday I scored on finding a little dollhouse that was in someone's "free" pile at the end of their driveway. It has a little dance floor that spins and plays music. I think Jordan's had more fun with it this week than she has...who knew a star-war crazed little boy would have so much fun with a dollhouse?

Megan got a new doll from Grandma Sally with a matching nightgown for herself. Every night we have to put the baby in her nightgown and Megan takes books to bed with her so she can read them to her baby. I love listening to her through the closed door reading away to her baby in her cute sing-song voice.

She also had a party with her little cousin Colton, who turned 2, at the Stout's home. I think she was just a "little" excited about the birthday cake.

All the kids took a bite out of the cake and thought it was so hilarious- except for Colton. He was a little confused by the whole thing....

....then the big boys had to join in on the craziness!!

Happy Birthday to our sweet Megan Rose...so full of love, laughter and beaming with joy!

Twinkle, Twinkle

2011-05-26T21:04:00.001-07:00

Feeding the Horses with Papa

2011-05-13T14:33:00.000-07:00

Latest Pictures

2011-05-06T20:59:00.000-07:00

I took this picture when I was playing hide and seek with the kids one afternoon. They always act so surprised and burst into giggles when I find them, even though from the moment they find their hiding spot they're both calling out, "Mommy, we're over here!!"

I came downstairs to find Jordan basking in the sunlight one morning. The sun has pretty much been hiding here in Western Washington and makes a very rare appearance every now and then. The other night at dinner, the clouds parted for a minute and the sun was actually shining on us. Jordan looked very confused and asked, "Mommy, what is that?" I told him it was the sun and they both got down and went to find their sunglasses. By the time they made it back to the table with their glasses on....the sun was gone.

Sunday afternoon nap

Jordan went through an Incredible Hulk phase. Consequently, we have a sign on our fridge that says, "NO YELLING! NO GROWLING!" Luckily, he's moved on to Star Wars now and the Hulk only makes an occassional appreance.

Megan finally showed interest in wearing her Halloween costume. Too bad it was 6 months late.

Another Hulk picture...The good thing about Jordan being into the Hulk and now Yoda is that since they're both green, he's now convinced that if he eats green food he will also turn green. I've never seen him be so quick to eat celery, broccoli and lettuce as he is now.

Here's our proud little girl who actually made it through her first day today with a dry diaper. Potty training is pretty easy with her because Jordan's helping out. If she goes potty I give them both a jelly bean, so Jordan is asking her all day if she needs to go potty and keeps giving her drinks so she'll go more often. Literally all I have to do is pass out the jelly beans...it's great!!!

Here's a couple more things about Megan right now that make me laugh. Whenever she's being really affectionate with us and giving us kisses and cuddles she says, "I love you Mommy....Merry Christmas," in a very tender voice.

When she sings "Book of Mormon Stories" during family night she scrunches up her little face and tries to look angry. I guess that's just her reaction to singing in a minor key.

Matching

2011-04-29T21:50:00.000-07:00

Megan loves to dress herself and pick out her outfits everyday. Because she was coming up with very interesting outfits, I explained to her the whole concept of matching. I wasn't sure if she would actually get it or really care....but I was wrong. She's gone way overboard with matching. Not only do her clothes now have to be the same color, but her binky, her sippy cup, the toys she plays with, the blankets she uses, the books she wants me to read to her all now have to be the same color. Usually her color of choice is pink which makes it easy....

but occasionally she picks a different color. This is her "green" day. What you can't see in the picture is that her green pants were dirty so she went and found a pair of Jordan's green underwear to put on over her diaper to wear for the day. Luckily we didn't have anywhere to go that day.

Easter/Birthday Celebrations

2011-04-24T16:08:00.000-07:00

I can't remember if Easter has fallen so close to my birthday in years past, but it was a very eventful day yesterday having 2 birthday parties and 2 Easter celebrations all in the same day. I got to spend the day with my favorite people, eat my favorite foods and watch my children smiling and having fun all day long. Andrew's mom made me my favorite cake and my mom made me peanut butter pie. Even the weather was beautiful which was a miracle condsidering the very wet, cold spring we've had so far. I guess you could say it was simply the perfect day.

Megan was cracking us up because she would only put pink eggs in her pail. She did give in and picked up a couple of blue ones, but had second thoughts and promptly threw them on the grass for someone else to pick up.

I guess I've reached the age where it's easier to light my birthday candles with a blow torch rather than a match.

This picture made me laugh because Megan's pail was so heavy she couldn't even lift it and her cheeks are stuffed with candy.

A Day at Grandma's

2011-04-20T23:00:00.000-07:00

While I was at the beach last weekend, the kids spent a day at Grandma Erin's with their cousins. Holly took some pictures of the kids and it was fun for me to see these on Facebook while I was away, missing my kids and wondering what they were up to. Isn't technology great?

Such a loved little girl

Alexander and Jordan are 6 weeks apart. It's crazy that our little babies have now grown up into 5 year olds, soon to be kindergartners. Where has the time gone?

I love how all of Megan's eggs are pink.

Watching expectantly for the garbage truck.

There he is!!!!!

Good bye garbage truck!

Beach Getaway

2011-04-20T14:45:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we had a Mother/Daugthers getaway to Lincoln City, Oregon. The weather wasn't the greatest, but we had a blast eating way too much food, laughing our heads off, doing crafts, watching the first season of Drop Dead Diva, shopping and just being together. Here are some pictures of our fun trip....

Goodbye beautiful Oregon coast....until we meet again!

A Mind of Her Own

2011-03-30T21:39:00.000-07:00

I've taken some interesting pictures of Megan lately that just prove this little girl has a style and mind of her own.

Megan likes to wear her rubber boots when she rides her bike. She's learned how to actually ride it and circles the culdesac with her tiny bike, huge helmet and her rubber boots that are always on the wrong feet. The neighbors just smile and laugh when they see her.

This is what Megan has worn the past 4 days. She calls it her "pinks" and if I put her in something else she takes it off and finds this outfit in the laundry basket. It's covered in jam, peanut butter, honey and spaghetti sauce, but she doesn't care one bit. She's also been into wearing these sunglasses and always makes sure her baby has a matching pair.

The obsession has begun...like mother, like daughter.

I snuck this picture the other day of Megan reading to her baby. The stack of things next to her were the baby's toys, food and clothes and she transfered them from room to room all day long. It kept her very busy. I guess she's figured out that mommies are supposed to stay very busy because that's certainly what she sees from me.... and she makes sure of it.

Jordan's First Concert

2011-03-13T14:30:00.000-07:00

Last night I had a symphony concert and since it was a children's concert, we decided to bring Jordan along. We weren't really sure how he would do since the concert started at about the same time he goes to bed, but he did great and loved it...and I loved having him there too. I loved seeing his big bright eyes and sweet smile when I walked out on the stage and saw him waving at me. I loved looking down during my rests and seeing him looking through his binoculars, which made me smile because he was sitting right up front in the second row. I loved looking down during the slow movement of the second half and seeing him sleeping on Andrew's lap.

One of the pieces we played was called, "The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" and it featured all of the instruments in the symphony. Jordan informed me after the concert that his favorite instrument is the string bass...not my pick since they're so expensive and a pain to transport. Maybe I can lean him toward the cello instead. We've got a few years to figure it out. One thing's for sure...Jordan will now be a regular to my symphony concerts...and that makes me happy!!!

The Perfect Valentine's Date

2011-02-18T20:09:00.000-08:00

Andrew planned the perfect date for Valentine's Day this year. We went to dinner at a fancy restaurant in downtown Seattle and then went to a Seattle Symphony concert where Pinchas Zukerman was the guest viola soloist. Zukerman in was one of the great masters of the viola and I've grown up listening to recordings of his playing ever since I started playing the viola when I was 10 years old...and there he was standing right in front of me. As you can imagine I was in heaven and loved every second of it. One of the pieces he performed was the Telemann Viola Concerto and the whole time I had a huge smile on my face and I had to restrain myself from bobbing my head along to the music. I remembered playing that piece with my junior high orchestra when I was in 8th grade and how I would listen to my cassette tape of Zukerman playing the piece as I prepared. The night left me in awe of this great performer, feeling like I need to practice a little harder and be a better teacher so I can pass on this beautiful art to others. I guess I could say the night left me falling in love with the viola all over again. Thank you Andrew for the perfect night!

Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?

2011-02-10T15:50:00.000-08:00

A couple of days ago I was pleasantly surprised to see flowers growing in our yard. The kids have been a little overly excited about it too and it has been difficult keeping Megan from picking them. Yesterday when she picked one, it instantly fell apart, which resulted in a melt-down and her asking if we could tape it back together.

It seems a little early for flowers to be blooming but this whole gardening thing is a new experience for me. This is going to be our first spring in this house so I have no idea what's in my flower beds and when they'll bloom. I know I have a bed of roses, but have no idea how to take care of them and they seem a little intimidating to me. There's one bed that's full of moss and when I went to rake it all out I discovered a bunch of bulbs...don't know what they are, we'll just have to wait and see.

So, how does my garden grow? Right now that's a mystery... I guess that question will just have to be answered in a couple of months!!

Miss Megan

2011-01-29T20:59:00.000-08:00

I love to watch my little Megan sleep. When she's awake she's so full of energy, life and emotions and has such a big presence in our home, but when she's asleep I'm reminded that she's just a very little girl...who still likes to call herself a baby. Here are some things about Megan that I don't want to forget.

1. She is a girl of many names...Miss Megan, Megan Rose, Megs, Meg, Meg-pie, Nutmeg, Rosie, Little Miss and Jordan's favorite...Meggers.

2.  My most favorite thing about Megan is her laugh. She is a very petite thing, but her laugh is anything but that. She has a very deep, loud belly laugh that can really fill up a room...kind of like Grandpa Alan. I would venture to say that we have taken her out of sacrament meeting more often for laughing than crying. We've also had to take her out for playing peek-a-boo and shouting "Hi" and "I love you" to her cousin Lily who was clear on the other side of the chapel.

3. She is my lounger...definitely like her mother. I'm not really sure when she actually wakes up but when I go into her room around 8 or 9 I always find her just lounging in her blankies. Many times she doesn't want to get out and lays there a little while longer.

4.  For some reason, she doesn't like it when I sing. During church she covers my mouth and says, "No singing Mommy." It's really kind of annoying but she always lets me sing to her before bed.

5. She has a shy side and when she meets someone new she always puts on this little show where she won't look at them, she sticks out her bottom lip and does deep breathing. Not really sure why, but it makes me laugh.

6. She loves her babies and I always sigh when she brings her baby to the dinner table because I know that means I'm fixing an extra plate...with silverware and a drink. She likes to make sure her babies are properly cared for and have all their needs met.

7. Not only does she love babies, but she likes to make it very clear to everyone that SHE is a baby. She loves to say, "I'm a baby. I'm soooooo cute" in a little quivering voice.

8. She has a very strong opinion about her clothing and likes to pick out her own clothes (which always makes out for very interesting outfits) and dresses herself.  She likes to wear underwear over her diaper, her pants are often backwards and her shoes are always on the wrong feet. Lately she has been wearing a Bob the Builder hard hat and her fairy tutu everywhere she goes.

9. She is a pure delight and even though sometimes she makes us want to pull our hair out we love her to pieces and she loves us too. She's always quick to give kisses and hugs and whenever I (or Andrew) enter the door we always know we'll be greeted with outstretched arms and a very animated "I MISSSSSED YOU!!!!!!"   Yes, we love our Megan Rose!

Jordan Turns 5!!!!

2011-01-16T20:34:00.000-08:00

This past week was one of celebration, parties and presents. Jordan turned 5 and had a lot of fun doing it. We started off the week at the Stout's with cake and presents.....

He got a cool bubble maker that attaches to his bike from Grandma Erin.....
a dinosaur lamp from Auntie Noel....
a shark game from Mom and Dad....what do you think...did I score on picking the perfect gift or what?

We finished off the week with another party with the other 2 Bolles cousins who also have birthdays in January.
Here's some things about Jordan for him to look back on about what his life was like at the age of 5.

1. He LOVES going to preschool and Ms. Shauna has made it to the top of his favorites list. He asks every day if it's a preschool day and will quickly do his homework when I tell him it's for Ms. Shauna.

2. He's a very early riser and literally bounces right out of bed ready to attack the day. I know this will be a great thing in the future, but the 5 am and sometimes even 4 am wake up calls are a little too much for the rest of the family....well, mainly just Mommy.

3. He's very sensitive when others are upset and many times if someone gets hurt he's crying harder than the one hurting.

4. Just give him a pen and paper and he's content to draw for hours. His drawings are amazing, with such detail...definitely something he inherited from his Daddy.

5. He loves to snuggle, give kisses and still loves to hold his Mommy's hand and out of the blue will give her hand 3 squeezes...our secret code for "I LOVE YOU!"
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JORDAN!!!!

Our Home is Complete

2011-01-03T21:09:00.000-08:00

Over the Christmas break my brothers were all in town so they helped move my piano from my parent's house over to our new house. It feels like life is more complete now having a piano in the house. Tonight was our first night having Family Home Evening with it and it was so much fun. I actually heard my kids sing. Megan stood on the bench next to me and belted out "I am a Child of God" and Jordan sang, "Holding Hands Around the World." Yes...our home is finally complete!! Now it's time to find a piano teacher for Jordan. I've tried to give him a few lessons, but he insists on doing it his own way...with only one finger...which won't get him very far!

SNOW!!!

2011-01-03T21:01:00.000-08:00

We've had some snow here in Washington, which doesn't happen all that often. The kids have had fun playing in it, but it's real dry, powdery snow so you can't even make a snowball with it. Jordan keeps asking me if I will make a snowman, but it just won't stick together. There's a house in our neighborhood that has a gigantic snowman out in front and I've been tempted to go knock on their door and ask them to help me, or at least tell me how they did it. Maybe got out the hose and wet it down? Not really sure...it's a mystery. Someday we will build that snowman!!

Christmas Day

2011-01-03T20:56:00.000-08:00

Christmas day was very busy, but fun. We're lucky that both families live close by so we can see everybody. We opened presents at our house, then went to the Stout's where we had a very yummy breakfast and then to my parent's for the afternoon. The kids loved seeing all their cousins and opening presents all day long. At the beginning of the day, Megan was a little hesitant and very careful when opening up her presents, but by the end she had it all figured out and was ripping open her presents and everyone else's too.

Our little sassy fairy princess!

Christmas Eve

2011-01-03T20:46:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve we enjoyed a night of food, music and reading the Christmas story/nativity play at my parent's house. Here are some pictures from our fun night:

The Bolles Quartet minus one, plus 2 new additions played "Away in a Manger." I like this picture because it captures the look on my dad's face listening to us play. I usually don't get to see the expression on his face when we play, I just know it makes him cry...which really isn't all that hard to do!!

Matching Cousins= Cuteness Embodied

2010-12-25T21:15:00.000-08:00

I just downloaded my pictures from today and I will do more on Christmas another day, but I had to put up these darling pictures of Megan and Lily in matching pajamas. They did a little photo shoot for us after their bath, which was a very wild and splashy one, I might add.

Superheroes!!!!

2010-12-07T19:41:00.000-08:00

They've discovered a new activity which involves hours of uninterrupted, non-fighting, non-mess- making play. Hope this lasts!!!!

Quick Trip

2010-12-06T20:57:00.000-08:00

My mom and I went to Utah for the weekend to spend some time with Marianne. We had a lot of fun shopping, eating good food, talking, laughing and just being together. On Saturday we were able to go see the BYU folk dancers perform "Christmas around the World." It was a super fun weekend....just went by way too fast, at least for me. Andrew would probably have a different opinion about that, although he's always happy to let me go and have a little getaway. I'm a lucky gal!!!

Thanksgiving

2010-11-26T14:05:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed a nice Thanskgiving afternoon at the Stout's with lots of yummy food. We forgot our camera, but Auntie Sarah snapped this picture of Megan coloring so intently with her Uncle Evan, who she adores.

We then came home and decorated our Christmas tree and surprisingly only ended up with a couple of broken bulbs. When the kids went to bed we had to rearrange things a bit because all the ornaments were on the lower half of the tree, sometimes 3 or 4 in one spot and all overlapping eachother. It made us laugh!!

Jordan was surprised to see a violin just his size and tried to play it.

Christmas love is in the air!!!

Treasure

2010-11-17T21:43:00.000-08:00

Jordan discovered my little chest of rocks my mom gave me after my grandpa passed away. He was a rock collector and loved polishing and making things out of the treasures he found. The chest was locked and Jordan asked if we could find the key and see what treasures were inside. It was so fun watching the anticipation on his face as we unlocked the chest. He spent a long time looking at all the rocks and when I came back a little later I was not surprised when I saw what he had done with them....

Here he is on the same day. He cut out all of these spikes made out of paper and had me tape them to his back so he could be an ankylosaurus...you know, 2 years ago I had no idea that there was ever such a thing as an ankylosaurus. It's amazing all the things you learn when you become a mother!!

Little Helper

2010-11-08T13:43:00.000-08:00

The other day while Jordan was at preschool, Megan and I spent some time in the yard raking leaves. I raked the leaves, while she picked up the piles I made and put them in a bucket. I thought for sure it wouldn't last very long and she'd get distracted with something else, but she was my little helper for a good hour or so. The little bucket she carried around was almost as big as she was and she looked so cute with her little baby backpack on. Who knew a 2 year old could be so helpful?

Halloween Craziness

2010-10-31T20:11:00.000-07:00

Today has been a crazy, hectic day...and not just because it's halloween. This weekend was Andrew's turn to be the on-call nurse manager. He had to go into work for a couple of hours after church to fill in for one of the nurses...usually no big deal, other than the fact that he locked his keys in his car.

Megan was taking her nap when he needed to come home, so when my home teacher called and asked if he could come visit I asked if he could do a favor instead and run the car key out to Andrew's work. When the home teacher showed up I went to get the car key off my car ring to disover that it wasn't there. I called Andrew and asked him where my car key was and he told me that he had taken my car key because he couldn't find his keys this morning and he had to be at a church meeting at 6 am. Our home teacher left and I went on a mad frenzy trying to find Andrew's lost keys so we wouldn't have to call a locksmith. A while later I did find them, went over to ask the neighbor girl if she could sit in my house for an hour with my sleeping baby and Jordan and I drove to Andrew's work.

When we got to Andrew's work and delivered the key he said he was coming right behind us, so when Jordan asked if he could ride with daddy we didn't think twice. I threw the car seat in Andrew's car and off I drove....bad idea.

I got home to a ringing phone, which ended up being Andrew telling me that I needed to come back and pick up Jordan because one of the nurses had a family emergency and had to leave so Andrew had to cover for her until they could find a replacement. I woke up Megan and back we drove to Andrew's work.

When I got there Jordan was happy as a clam because Andrew's boss had taken Jordan trick-or-treating in her office and he was carrying around a huge basket of candy with an even bigger smile on his face. He was getting a lot of special treatment and attention from Andrew's co-workers and patients.

After driving back and forth for 2 hours, we enjoyed a nice relaxing evening at home. Jordan passed out the candy he got from Andrew's boss to all the neighborhood kids who came trick-or-treating. Every time he gave someone candy he would say, "I'm a good neighbor." It was very cute....a nice way to end a hectic day.

We've had some fun halloween festivities the past week. Here are some highlights....

We went to a pumpkin carving party at the Leonard's house

They had lots of yummy food, which Megan enjoyed thoroughly

Our ward had a halloween carnival complete with a huge slide

Andrew won the halloween contest at work. I didn't get a picture of him in it, but he was a cowboy, decked out with the full ensemble- chaps, spurs, lasso, fake gun, saddle bag. Jordan had fun dressing up like daddy one morning.

Here's Jordan passing out his candy to the trick-or-treaters...being a good neighbor!

This pretty much sums up Megan's mood today...and maybe mine a little too. Happy Halloween!!!!!

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-22T14:06:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here at my computer at 2:00 on Friday afternoon in a quiet house...except for the angels I can hear singing in my head...Halleluia!!!! Both kids are down napping, which doesn't happen all that often around here anymore. Jordan's been waking up the past couple mornings at 5:30, so a nap was needed today. I thought I'd take advantage of the precious time by putting up some cute pictures we took last weekend when we went to the pumpkin patch. Usually fall days around here are cloudy and rainy, but we've sure lucked out with sunny weather the past couple of weeks.

Jordan and Andrew had to take a little detour in the corn maze when Jordan was having a potty emergency. What a convenient place to have an emergency!

The cutest little gingerbread I've ever seen...if I do say so myself!

Field Trip

2010-10-17T20:45:00.000-07:00

Jordan went on his first field trip with his preschool last week. It was the highlight of his week and he's been talking about it ever since. The first thing they did was they went on a cow train ride...

This is about half of the train. It was so cute watching them ride off with their little heads bobbing.

We went on a hay ride

They played in a room full of corn kernels. Jordan was buried in corn by his friend Alexis.

We also went through a corn maze, saw animals, fed the goats and of course, picked out a pumpkin to bring home. Here is Jordan with his teacher, Ms. Shauna and both of her preschool classes.

Enjoying our Culdesac

2010-10-14T16:24:00.000-07:00

One of the things we love about our new house is that it's at the end of a culdesac, which makes riding a bike much more fun. Jordan never learned to ride his bike until we moved here because the road at our last house was a little too busy. He loves to ride his bike now and gets out there every chance he gets. As you'll see in the pictures, Megan also joins in on the action. She always wants to wear the biggest helmet she can find and never really "rides" her bike. She pushes it around, sits on it for a little while, then pushes it somewhere else. She mainly just tries to follow Jordan around, pushing around her bike with her gigantic helmet on. She cracks me up!!

We're Home!!!!

2010-10-07T20:36:00.000-07:00

Well, we're all moved in and it feels great!!! I was telling Andrew last night that for the first since I left home to go to college 13 year ago, I feel like I'm truly home. I think the best part about unpacking was that I actually got to unpack my china. It's been sitting in the original box wrapped up in the bubble wrap since we got married and it felt good to rip off all the bubble wrap and throw it away....because we're here to stay. Here are a few shots off our new place...

I grew up in a yellow house, so this color just seemed perfect to me.

I've never had a living room, so I'm excited to get my piano in here and fix this room up.

I took this picture standing in the kitchen. The family room is down 2 steps and there's a den and laundry room/bathroom off this room.

This is my view as I'm standing at my kitchen sink. I love looking out and seeing a wall of green.

This is our mimosa tree in the backyard, which Jordan has named the "dinosaur" tree...not really sure why, but not really surprised.

HOORAY!!!!!!.....Ughhhhh!!!!!!!

2010-09-16T19:12:00.001-07:00

Our house that we made an offer on back in January was finally approved (it was a short sale, hence the 8 month wait). We are thrilled and excited to FINALLY be able to move in. That's the HOORAY part. The UGHHH part is this:

The dreaded packing. I am so sick of packing. This is our 5th move in the 8 years we've been married and I am tired of it. It's a good thing this is the last time because I don't think I'd be able to bring myself to do it. At least this time I'm not recovering from a C-Section with a newborn baby in tow, so that's a plus. As you can see, the kids are "helping" by decorating the boxes and if you look closely you may be able to spy a T-Rex!!!

Preschool

2010-09-09T20:00:00.000-07:00

Today was Jordan's first day of preschool. To say that he was excited would be an understatement, especially when you consider the fact that I woke up at 1 am to him calling out, "Mommy, time to wake up! Let's get ready for preschool!" We snapped this picture before we headed out the door. As you can see, Megan was caught up in the excitement and wanted to wear her backpack too.

Swimming

2010-08-26T11:27:00.000-07:00

We are enjoying the last days of summer around here. We took the kids to a park yesterday that had a little kid pool and fountain. This is Megan's version of swimming....

...just getting the little tips of her toes in is enough for her. Whenever I tried to coax her in and get her a little more wet she would squeal, "No thank you Mommy," in a very high pitched, frantic voice. The water was pretty cold so I really don't blame her for just wanting to chill and be our little sun bathing beauty!

Cabin Adventures

2010-08-21T20:27:00.001-07:00

We just got home today from a little trip to the cabin. We were only there for 2 nights and it just wasn't long enough. By the time we were all settled in it felt like it was already time to come home. I was telling my mom the other day that the cabin is finally fun again. I went through a period when the kids were just little, where it seemed like all I was doing was keeping them from eating the dirt and they never slept well which meant they were tired and cranky...and so was I. Now Jordan is getting to the age where he can do more things and it is so fun to watch him playing and doing all the things I remember doing as a kid at the cabin.

We went on a hike to Boulder Cave. I wasn't sure how the kids would react to being in a cave, but they loved it. When we got to the end Jordan wanted to walk back through it to the entrance and then we turned around and went back out again. The whole time he was shining his flashlight all around and said he was looking for dinosaurs.

He found a "not so comfortable" rock recliner for a little rest.

Collecting baby frogs at the lake

Megan was actually adventuresome and went on a ride in the kayak. She usually doesn't like trying new things so we were pleasantly surprised. Whenever we ask her if she wants to ride a horse her reply is always, "No, I ride stroller.

Even Baron is smiling in this picture!

Other activities that we didn't get pictures of included: Andrew took Jordan shooting for the first time, our nightly hikes to the river to wear the kids out before bed and seeing 30 head of elk peacefully grazing in the meadow...that is until Jordan started doing his elk call, which scared them all away.

CHEESE!!!!!

2010-08-01T20:35:00.000-07:00

This picture is from a few months ago, (you can tell by the blue easter egg dye on her face) but it just makes me smile every time I see it. This is what Megan's smile looks like when she says, "CHEESE!"

Lincoln City

2010-07-25T20:44:00.001-07:00

Andrew and I spent this past weekend in Lincoln City, OR for our 8th Anniversary. The weather was beautiful and we had a nice, relaxing weekend spending time together. We realized when we got home that we didn't take as many pictures as we had hoped to, but here is a sampling of our adventures.

We toured a historic lighthouse in Newport built in the 1870s.

We went to Shipwreck beach in Fort Stevens State Park where rough seas and wind grounded the "Peter Iredale" in 1906.

We went on a hike through a forest on top of a ridge that opened up onto this large meadow overlooking the coast. It was so beautiful!

Owen Beach

2010-07-16T21:28:00.000-07:00

We took advantage of the nice weather the other day and went on a picnic to Owen Beach at Point Defiance Park. Jordan was in heaven throwing rocks in the water and climbing on all the logs and Megan enjoyed her favorite spot in the backpack. It was a fun little outing!

What a week

2010-07-09T19:45:00.000-07:00

Andrew's been away at scout camp for the past few days, so we've been having some fun of our own. We had fun at the zoo with cousins...

Jordan didn't freak out like the last time we went to the aquarium. He just kept saying over and over, "Walruses aren't scary."

We also went to the Seattle Children's Museum which was super fun and a good place to be, considering we were having record heat. I was a little nervous walking with Jordan on the busy city streets with the busses whizzing by, pushing Megan in her stroller. Jordan kept saying, "Look Mommy, we're in the city!"

Jordan was a little disappointed when we got inside that there were no huge dinosaur skeletons in the museum like he reads about in his books, but he did get pretty excited when they brought out this tub of dinosaurs and asked him if he would give them a bubble bath.

Story time

This bed was literally as hard as a rock. Megan lay down, looked very uncomfortable and then went and found a little bag of bird seeds that she put under her head as a pillow.

Megan cracked me up in the grocery store section. She was walking around very quickly, with a very serious look on her face and putting things in her basket as fast as possible. She was definitely on a mission....I guess I know where she learned that from.

I've kept the kids busy, but we are all missing Andrew. Megan kept crying, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" with huge alligator tears running down her face tonight. We are all looking forward to seeing him tomorrow!

This and That

2010-07-03T20:42:00.001-07:00

I just downloaded the latest pictures from my camera to the computer and thought since I'm already sitting here, I might as well put some of my favorites here for you to enjoy:

Just relaxing on the hammock. This was taken last weekend when I went up to the cabin with the kids since Andrew was working all weekend. Lily and Megan are just like sisters- they can go from loving, hugging and giggling with eachother to ripping eachother's hair out and screaming in less than 2 seconds.

Jordan has become an expert at Legos. He no longer asks me to build anything with them because he's realized that he is way better at it than me. Here are is T-Rex, Brachiosaurus and his latest creation...Triceratops which you can tell he is very proud of.

Megan crashed out on the couch after a long day of playing...didn't even have time to drink her bottle before Mr. Sandman came and snatched her away!!

Dress-up

2010-06-21T14:42:00.000-07:00

When I came out of the bathroom after getting ready for the day, this is what I discovered. What a good daddy. He'll do anything to make his little girl happy!

Dinosaur Mania

2010-06-21T14:40:00.001-07:00

Dinosaur pajamas....check

Dinosaur pillow....check

3-D dinosaur book....check

cool 3-D dinosaur glasses...check

Perfectly contented little boy all ready for bed.....check

Andrew's Pinning

2010-06-16T19:23:00.000-07:00

Andrew had his pinning ceremony last Saturday to officially recognize his completion of nursing school. He was pinned by his dad, which was significant because he graduated from the same program 14 years ago. We thought this day would never come and it has been a long time coming, but are so happy it finally arrived. Way to go Andrew!!!!

Megan Turns 2

2010-06-06T21:53:00.001-07:00

Where has the time gone? Our little baby turned 2 today. I was reading what I wrote on the blog entry for Megan's first birthday. Last year I wrote, "she is a perfect delight and has no idea how incredibly cute she is." I'd say the same statement rings true this year, except that now she DOES have a pretty good idea of how incredibly cute she is! We love our little Meg-pie to pieces and had fun celebrating her special day at Grandma Erin and Grandpa James' house tonight.

Blowing out the candles turned into a group effort.

Grandma Erin made her the cutest little "baby bundle." She came up with the idea without a pattern or anything and it turned out so cute. It was a perfect gift for our little "mother" who can never have too many babies.

Happy Birthday to our sweet Megan Rose. We love you and cannot imagine what our lives would be like without your sweet, yet sassy personality to brighten our family.

Teddy Bear Picnic

2010-06-04T20:29:00.000-07:00

The teddy bear picnic was a little early this year since Jordan and his family will soon be moving to Texas to go to Endodontics school. The weather was rainy so it was at the church this year, but was still a lot of fun. Treasure hunt, crafts, relay races, puppet shows, games, candy, good food...all make an excellent combination to show the kids a good time.

Story time with Little Red Riding Hood

Puppet shows

Games

Bear Bingo

Birthday party for Matthew and Megan who are 1 week apart

Pinata

Here's a video of the kids playing Freeze Dance.

As a side note, it is now 8:00 and I called my parent's house to talk to my mom. I thought for sure after such a long day putting on this picnic she would be sitting with her legs up relaxing. I should have known differently, my dad said she was out mowing the lawn. Yes, my mom is amazing...or maybe just a little crazy! Thanks Mom for the great day!!!!!

Memorial Day

2010-06-03T14:02:00.001-07:00

We spent Memorial Day weekend up at the cabin, which was kind of a celebration for us because Andrew had just finished his last quarter of school. The weather wasn't the greatest, but we still had a lot of fun and the kids actually slept great this time which has never been the case in the past. I think we'll be seeing a lot more of the cabin this summer than we have the last couple of years...in fact, we'd live there all summer if it were up to Jordan.

It's so nice having older cousins around. Megan just adores them and loves the attention they give her.

Here's Jordan with his bucket of dinosaurs. This is actually the bucket of dinosaurs that began his whole obsession. Last 4th of July Jordan discovered these dinosaurs that Grandma got as cabin toys, and we've never been the same since.

Megan tried on every boot by the front door, until she settled on these as her favorite pair.

I promise Andrew and I were there too. For some reason, we just never seem to end up in the pictures. Andrew spent the weekend helping my dad with all sorts of projects, including fixing plumbing problems, cutting down some dead trees and clearing the horse trails. As for me, I just enjoyed the fresh air and loved watching the smiles on my kid's faces as they played and did manage to slip away for a little while to enjoy a nice, quiet walk in the woods. It was a great weekend!!!

Babies, babies and more babies!

2010-05-19T18:41:00.000-07:00

I thought I would do a post on Megan's fascination with babies. She loves mothering all her little babies...feeding, changing, burping, rocking, she's got it all down. All of the baby pictures in the house have kiss marks on them because she loves kissing the pictures. The other day I had to laugh when she was playing with a calculator and all of the sudden she squealed, "A BABY!" I couldn't possibly imagine how she connected a calculator with a baby and when I went to look she was pointing to the number 3. Everything in her little world is a baby. Here is just a sampling of the many pictures we have of Megan with her babies.

She loves looking through my baby photo album and kissing all the baby pictures of me.

She makes little nests for her babies all the time, gathering her blankies and lining up her babies. She did this all on her own.

When Andrew got home from a church meeting, Megan brought all her babies and stuffed animals for him to hold. She does this with my violin student's parents too. When they go to leave they are covered in babies and animals.

Here she is wearing her favorite shoes... the ones with the highest heels. She always acts very serious when she's wearing them.

I snapped this picture of her sleeping the other night, surrounded by all her little ones.

Mother's Day Surprises

2010-05-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day was full of surprises this year. Andrew surprised me with breakfast in bed, complete with blueberry pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs, strawberries and even a little chocolate (he knows me well). Jordan surprised me with this cute card he had made for me (with the help of Andrew). I was also surprised when Jordan went up with the primary children to sing during Sacrament meeting that he actually sang along with the other kids. Alison is the primary chorister and had told me that usually he's pretty quiet and doesn't sing much in primary.

I also drove to Spokane on Mother's Day to surprise Marianne who was recovering from a major surgery to treat her colon cancer. The 4.5 hour drive was heavenly...a quiet car all to myself, left alone to my thoughts, music and books on tape. It went by a lot faster than I was expecting. When I walked into her room, Marianne had a shocked look on her face and kept saying, "What? What? How did you get here? What is going on?" Then we both burst into tears and had a good cry. I could only stay for 24 hours but it was well worth the drive just to be able to spend some time with my sweet sister. I'm in awe of her strength, her optimism and faith. She's fighting for her life and handling her trial without complaining and with a smile on her face. She is absolutely amazing!!!!
You are probably not surpised that this was a Mother's Day I will never forget!!

Letterboxing

2010-05-08T12:30:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we took advantage of the beautiful weather and went on a little hike around Deep Lake in Enumclaw. We went to Letterboxing.org to print off some clues that led to some hidden treasures along the way. We only found 3 of the 9 boxes, but still had a lot of fun following the clues and looking for them.

This was the first treasure we found and Jordan was so excited to find it, but very disappointed that we had to put it back for the next person to find. I forgot a stamp pad and paper so it was kind of anticlimactic to find the stamp and then just put it back without doing anything with it.

It was such a beautiful day, beautiful surroundings, with my beautiful family....doesn't get much better than that.

Sous Chef

2010-05-05T18:27:00.000-07:00

I have enlisted the help of Jordan as my assistant when cooking meals. This is for 2 reasons. A) The kids are always fighting while I'm distracted in the kitchen and can't see what they're doing and B)Jordan will more likely eat the dinner if he's helped prepare it, especially since the whole time we're oohing and ahhing over what a wonderful dinner he made.

As you can see, he's also become artistic with his food. Now if only I could get him to actually eat the artwork.

Fun-filled weekend

2010-04-28T20:47:00.001-07:00

Andrew and Jordan had their first camping trip this past weekend for the Stake Fathers/Sons outing. Jordan was SO excited. He packed his backpack the day before and wore it all day. When Andrew put Jordan down to bed in the tent he took out a special glow stick and they read "Danny and the Dinosaur Go Camping." Jordan has been talking about it ever since and now when I ask him who is favorite person is (which has always been me, and that's why I ask) now Jordan replies, "Daddy, because he takes me camping." I'm going to have to come up with something pretty exciting to get first place again.

I like how Jordan is throwing rocks into the river right by where Uncle Adam is fishing. Needless to say, they didn't catch anything.

I had my birthday on Sunday. My mom had us over for dinner because Andrew was scheduled to work at the hospital, but luckily he got called off so he got to come too.

I just love watching my kids play on Grandma's swing. It brings back many sweet memories from my own childhood. It was a nice, relaxing evening.

Fun in the Tub

2010-04-14T20:19:00.000-07:00

Primary Activity

2010-04-10T16:06:00.001-07:00

This isn't the best picture, but I wanted to document Jordan's first primary activity, a pancake breakfast with his teacher. The reason I wanted to document this is because of Andrew's reaction to this activity, not so much the activity itself.

Me: Andrew, can you go take Jordan to the church? They're having an activity for primary.
Andrew: You mean you just want me to drop him off? I'm not supposed to stay?
Me: Yeah, you know...a primary activity, without parents.
Andrew: Do you think he's ready for that?
Me: Andrew... it's at the church...with his teacher...and it's only an hour.

Andrew ended up hanging around the church for so long that by the time he came home it was almost time to go pick him up. A little overprotective don't you think...but that's why I love him!!

Easter Egg Hunt

2010-04-06T20:21:00.000-07:00

Megan would put a candy in her basket, then one in her mouth...basket, mouth, basket, mouth. We were pretty amazed with how many jelly beans that little girl could fit in her mouth.

As you can see, not one hard-boiled egg ended up in their baskets. Jordan just played with them and Megan would pick it up, see it wasn't candy and then hide it somewhere else.

Enjoying the stash!

Easter Eggs- A Story in Pictures

2010-04-06T20:14:00.001-07:00

A few days and a couple of baths later...she still has traces of blue egg dye on her face!

Bolles Family Beach Trip

2010-03-24T19:37:00.000-07:00

We just got home from a fun-filled trip to the Oregon Coast. We hadn't been since Jordan was a little baby because we outgrew the house we used to stay in. Luckily, we found another house that held us all comfortably, with room to spare, so it looks like the beach trips are going to continue. The only bad part about the trip is that it went by way too fast. Here are some pictures from the trip...

Meal times felt a little like being in a school cafeteria.

Aunt Marianne painted the girl's fingernails. It was the first time Megan had her nails painted and she loved it. Every now and then I catch her admiring her sparkly fingernails.

We had a birthday party to celebrate the 5 March birthdays. Megan tried to eat the cupcake without eating the frosting, but most of it ended up on her face. Jordan's the exact opposite because he only eats the frosting. I guess they make a good pair.

I love the look of pure delight on his face, flying a kite for the very first time.

The last night we were there was so pleasant. It had been windy all day, but the wind died down at the end of the day and we all headed out to watch the sunset and have one last frolic on the beach. It was a great way to end the trip!!

Painting

2010-03-04T09:55:00.000-08:00

Computer Time

2010-02-09T18:48:00.000-08:00

Jordan has figured out how to navigate the computer all on his own. I've put all of his games on the favorites bar at the top, allowing him to have easy access to all his favorite games. Of course most of them are dinosaur games, but he also plays Curious George. I always know when he's playing that game because he laughs his head off.

One of Megan's favorite things to do is sit on Andrew's lap and watch YouTube videos of opera performances. She conducts and claps and gets really into it. Andrew and I were laughing the other day when we realized that all of the videos in her Favorites folder are in Italian: Largo el Factotum, Nessun Dorma, O Mio Babbino Caro.... just to name a few. Looks like we have a little opera connoisseur in the making.

2010-01-31T15:05:00.000-08:00

Too Cute!

2010-01-27T20:34:00.000-08:00

Jordan Turns 4!

2010-01-15T21:09:00.000-08:00

This was a week of birthday celebrations. It all started last Sunday when we had the Stout family over for a party.

He has to get used to not folding his little pinky in when he shows how old he is.

Here's Megan looking very proud of herself as she finishes off the last crumbs of the cake a few days later.

On Jordan's actual birthday I surprised him with his birthday present. It was the perfect gift for a little boy who loves legos and is completely obsessed with dinosaurs.

Tonight we had a party with the Bolles family to celebrate the 3 January birthdays.

The 3 birthday kids! Happy Birthday Jordan!

This and That

2010-01-07T20:27:00.000-08:00

I had to put this picture on here because it totally depicts my children's relationship. Megan is always trying to give loves and hugs while Jordan simply "tolerates" it, waiting for the torture to be over.

Our little future missionary- marking his scriptures

The other day Grandma Erin came to play and was sticking the bulb of a medicine dropper on Megan's nose. Our little Pinocchio thought it was so funny.

Grandma Erin brought these fun dinosaur stencils and made a special pillowcase with Jordan. Grandma...dinosaurs...painting, a good combination for a fun time.

The finished product!

Christmas Festivities

2009-12-29T10:22:00.001-08:00

As you can see, Megan's first encounter with Santa at the Ward Christmas Party didn't go so well.

In the "greenroom" on Christmas Eve, waiting for the Nativity play to begin.

Jordan got a lot of dinosaur toys, of course. I was so happy when I even managed to find a Pez dinosaur.

Megan got her most favorite thing, a new little baby to kiss, hug and cuddle.

Sleepy Megan with Grandpa James on Christmas morning

This is a beautiful quilt Marianne made for me. We both cried when I opened it. So much time went into this gift and I am so glad to have this special keepsake that I will treasure forever.

Cousins, Cookies and Crafts!

2009-12-26T18:42:00.000-08:00

We got together the other day with the cousins, Grandma Sally and Marianne for some cookie decorating and craft making. The kids had a lot of fun being together and spending time with Marianne. Jordan was more interested in eating the cookies than decorating them. He did decorate one cookie...and then promptly ate it.

These are the ornaments the kids made. My mom had made the same kind for us when we were little so she wanted us to have matching ones for our kids.

Cookie-covered, cousin kisses. I don't think it gets any cuter than that!

Puppets Please!

2009-12-22T15:29:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week we went to a marionette puppet show at the library. Jordan loved it and was laughing and smiling the whole time. They had a frog riding a unicycle and Jordan was laughing so hard that everyone else was laughing at him. In fact, we had such a great time that we went to another performance in the afternoon with Alison's kids. Here are some pictures of our fun day...

Christmas Dance

2009-12-18T14:34:00.000-08:00

I had a little magical moment the other night that I want to document so I don't forget it. I was listening to Christmas music while I was busily making dinner so I could get everyone fed before my violin student came. When the song, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" came on Jordan came up to me and said very sweetly, "Dance, Mommy?" I swept him up into my arms and he put his head on my shoulder and we danced by the Christmas tree for the whole song. Usually when I dance with Jordan it's always my idea and he tolerates it for just a few seconds and then wants to get down and play, so it was a miracle that he lasted for the whole entire song. The sweetest thing happened when at the end of the song he whispered very quietly, so I could barely hear him, "Merry Christmas Mommy, I love you Mommy"....definitely a moment I don't want to ever forget.

Sunday Afternoon Nap

2009-12-06T20:44:00.001-08:00

Christmas is Here!

2009-11-28T22:17:00.000-08:00

As you can see, we had a lot of fun decorating our tree tonight. Andrew and I laughed after we put the kids to bed and discovered Jordan had put some of his dinosaurs in the tree. We have learned that nothing is ever complete in this house if there are no dinosaurs involved. We quickly learned to put the glass ornaments up high after Megan managed to break one after only a few minutes. Celebrating Christmas with kids is so fun....feels so magical!

Girl Talk

2009-11-20T19:58:00.000-08:00

Whenever Megan gets a phone in her hands she always starts talking jibber jabber. She doesn't like playing with toy phones, it has to be the real thing and once she gets going she just keeps on going. It leaves me wondering what I'm in for when she's a teenager.

He's Growing Up

2009-11-15T21:02:00.000-08:00

Jordan is officially out of his crib. We've had the bed in his room for a while but he never wanted to sleep in it. Since he never tried crawling out of his crib I never really pushed the issue. This week my mom brought over a headboard they didn't need anymore and we put it next to Jordan's bed. That night when Andrew put Jordan to bed he showed him the "Special Grandma Shelf" and that's all it took. Jordan wanted out of that crib and near that shelf. In fact, he told Andrew he wanted to sleep ON the shelf. So far it's been working out pretty well, but I have to admit that the 3 AM wake up call the other night when he turned on our light and started yelling in my face, "MOMMY, WAKE UP!" left me second guessing.

Jordan went to his cousin Tyson's birthday party where there was an army theme. It was the first birthday party he'd been to that was just for the kids and I wasn't with him.

When our Ensign came in the mail this month Jordan adopted it as his own. He's been carrying it around and calls it his "Special Book of the Prophets." He likes to look through it at all of the pictures. I figured it's about time that I order the "Friend" for him. Maybe then I can get my magazine back! Big boy bed, potty training, birthday parties....my little boy is growing up!

I got a haircut this week. This is the first time my hair has been above my shoulders. I was a little apprehensive but Andrew talked me into it.

First Love

2009-11-11T19:51:00.000-08:00

Megan is completely in love with her daddy. I have come to the realization that I will never win at jumping contests...she goes to him every time. I dry her tears when he leaves the house and watch her squeal with delight when he walks in the door. Yes, I have a full-fledged daddy's girl on my hands....and that makes me happy!

Halloween

2009-11-02T13:04:00.001-08:00

This past weekend was a lot of fun with all of the fun Halloween festivities. We carved pumpkins, went to the trunk or treat at the church, went trick or treating and went to a party at Alison's house.

It was also a very stressful weekend at our house because our computer crashed earlier in the week, which wouldn't be such a big deal if it weren't for the fact that Andrew is taking a web-enhanced course for school. He's been struggling to get caught up and meet the deadlines for his assignments. He only got 2 hours of sleep last night and 4 the night before. Luckily, he managed to get caught up and doesn't have school or work tomorrow so he can now get caught up with his sleep too. Here are some pictures from the weekend:

I walked into my bedroom and found that Jordan had made a little bed on top of our dirty clothes. Such a funny little boy! He told me he was nice and cozy and stayed there for quite a while.

Megan was afraid of Halloween costumes this year. If I put anything on her she would just start crying and screaming, so we just had her wear this cute Halloween outfit from Grandma Erin.

Jordan wanted to wear his costume when we went to the store on Halloween. It was a good thing because they were having a costume contest and here Jordan is enjoying the cookie he received for participating.

Jordan loved going trick or treating this year. In fact, the past couple of days he keeps asking me if we can go again.

Potty Training and Honey Buckets!

2009-10-24T21:45:00.000-07:00

Jordan is pretty much potty trained and that makes us very happy. There are some moments, however, when it is much more difficult not having him in diapers. Today we had one of those moments. I took the kids to the park today because it was actually not raining for once and Andrew was sleeping because he's been working night shift this weekend. We were there for a little while and Jordan had to go potty. We rushed to the Honey Bucket and Jordan was TERRIFIED, as any little kid would be sitting in a Honey Bucket for the very first time. He kept saying, "No Thank you, No Thank you!" The problem with this particular Honey Bucket, other than that it was extremely stinky and disgusting, was that the door wouldn't latch and it opened right up onto the road. I had Megan with me too and because Jordan was upset and wanted out of there, so did she. Once we were all in there, then one of them would open the door and go running out and while I was bringing them back, the other one would then come out too. This happened several times and throughout this whole episode there was a little old lady across the street raking her leaves, just smiling at the whole situation. I really didn't find anything humorous at the moment and it was all very stressful. Eventually Jordan did calm down and I managed to get him up on the seat, hold him so he wouldn't fall in, all while holding Megan who was very wiggly.

Hopefully Jordan's next encounter with a Honey Bucket will go much better!!!

Update

2009-10-17T19:04:00.000-07:00

I realized today that it's been a while since I last updated . That's partly due to the fact that last week I was in Utah with Marianne and this week has been very crazy with not a lot of extra time on my hands. Andrew just left to work a night shift tonight and the kids just went down to bed so I figured I'd take advantage of this time to update my blog.

Last Thursday I flew to Utah to spend some time with Marianne. I was supposed to be going to help her during chemo but she had a cold so the doctor let her take a week off. We had a nice, relaxing weekend together playing lots of games, watching movies, eating good food and laughing so hard at times that we were crying...and of course, there were some tearful moments as there always is lately when we get together. She kept apologizing that she didn't have anything fun planned and I just kept telling her that it didn't matter... any time spent with her is precious time and it really doesn't matter what we're doing, I always have a great time when I'm with her.

Andrew's back in the crazy school mode again after having the summer off. He doesn't have much free time between work, school and his calling as Scoutmaster. The finish line is in sight and that's what keeps him going. Only 2 more quarters!

Here are some cute pictures of the kids:

All I have to say about this is, "Like father, like son!"

Jordan is completely obsessed with dinosaurs right now. He wears dinosaur pajamas, reads dinosaur books, watches dinosaur movies and plays with dinosaur toys. At dinner he likes to eat his "dinosaur food" and before bed we brush his "dinosaur teeth." Every prayer consists of "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for dinosaurs".... and then he continues to name them each of them. His nursery teacher bought extra dinosaurs for the nursery just because she knew he would love them and at our house, Old McDonald no longer has cows, sheep and pigs, but triceratops, stegosaurus and iguanodons...try coming up with noises for those animals. You can imagine his delight when I was going through a box of his old clothes and found this pair of dinosaur pajamas and then his dismay when he realized that they didn't fit him anymore. He was satisfied when I put them on Megan and so was she. She had a look of delight on her face and loved the attention and smiles she was getting from her brother.

One of my violin students made this airplane for Jordan in her shop class. Such a spoiled little boy....loved by so many people!!!

This and That

2009-10-06T13:38:00.000-07:00

We've been having a little bee problem at our house. The bees have made a nest in the roof above our back porch. We bought some spray and Andrew went out there one night to spray the nest and get rid of them. He is allergic to bees, and even though I told him that bees don't fly at night and that he would be fine, he insisted on protecting himself from head to toe. When I asked him what was up with the belt he said it was to prevent the bees from flying up his jacket. He also gave me a fly swatter and told me that it was to get the bees off of him when he came inside. Surprise, surprise....he didn't see any bees. No, not even one.

I wish I had gotten a video of this, but the picture was all I got. Megan picked up one of her favorite books, "The Teddy Bear's Picnic," and plopped herself down on Jordan's lap. He then proceeded to read it to her, well actually sing because that's how I read it to him. It was very cute and by the time I made it back with the camera they were finished.

We took this picture while we were watching General Conference. The kids actually did pretty good, but I do have to say it was wonderful when they both went down for naps at 1:00 on Sunday afternoon, just in time for the last session to start. The next morning, Jordan came downstairs, got out the swing and said, "Mommy, watch the prophet?"

A Day at the Beach

2009-09-27T21:56:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Andrew and Adam took Jordan and Luke to Ocean Shores to fly Adam's new kites. They had a lot of fun and all came home covered in sand. Adam's kite was so big that when a big gust of wind would come it would drag them through the sand...which really doesn't sound all that fun to me.

Megan and I had a nice relaxing day together. We went to lunch at Taco Del Mar where we "shared" a burrito and went shopping. By the end of the day I could tell she was missing Jordan because she just wasn't herself. When he walked through the door she started laughing and kept on hugging him. Here are some pictures from their fun day. Enjoy!

Latest Pictures

2009-09-18T20:22:00.000-07:00

This week Andrew celebrated his 30th birthday. I say a week because the festivities have lasted through the whole week. On Sunday we had his family over for pizza and cake. On Monday was his actual birthday and we had a little party with just our family before he left for work. On Tuesday we celebrated by using the Papa Murphy's gift card that my parents had gotten him for his birthday and Thursday we had pizza again when we went out to an Italian restaurant with a gift card his parents had gotten him for his birthday. It was definitely a week of pizza- a sure sign that Andrew's birthday had arrived!

Andrew snapped this picture as I was topping Megan off before we headed out the door to church.

Megan has a fascination with Jordan's hair. She is always trying to rub it and grab it and usually he doesn't go for that at all. During their bath the other night he let her wash his hair. She was in absolute heaven. Maybe I have a little hairdresser on my hands.

Every night before Jordan goes to bed the very last book he always wants to read is, "Dinosaur Roar!" In fact, we've read it so many times that he now has it memorized. Tonight as I was putting Megan in her bed Jordan ran into her room with the book. At first I thought he wanted me to read it to him but he opened it and started reading it to Megan. He read it perfectly from start to finish, said "Goodnight Megan Rose, I love you Megan Rose," and patted her little head. It's moments like this that melt my heart and make me so happy to be a mom to my precious little angels.

Marianne's Make-A-Wish

2009-09-10T16:14:00.000-07:00

When Marianne received her prognosis back in June I was talking to her on the phone and asked her, "Marianne, what do you want your Make-A-Wish to be?" Out of all the things she could have chosen to do and all the places she could have gone, what she wished for did not surprise me at all because it's probably what my wish would have been too. Her wish was to spend some time at the cabin with all of her siblings, their spouses and Mom and Dad.

This past weekend we made her wish come true and had a blast doing it. The weather wasn't the greatest but it really didn't matter because we were together and that's what it was all about. We played games, went on horseback rides, the girls went to breakfast at Whistlin' Jack (a tradition we've had as long as I can remember) we laughed, we cried and just enjoyed being together.

The highlight of the trip was we had a campfire on Friday night and shared our favorite memories of the cabin and our testimonies with each other. It was a tear-filled, spiritual night where many special words were spoken that I will always remember. We then watched a video that Jared had made of Marianne's life. We had to hook the projector and laptop up to the generator because of the lack of electricity at the cabin. At the very end of the video there was a touching song, "Please Remember," by LeAnn Rimes. It got us all crying and then the generator ran out of gas. We all just started laughing and took a brief intermission to fill up the generator and dry our eyes.

Thanks for the fun time everyone, thank you to Grandma Erin and Auntie Sarah for taking such great care of the kids while we were away, and thanks to Marianne for having such a fun Make-A-Wish that brought us all together.

Sunday Quiet Time

2009-08-30T17:35:00.000-07:00

I find myself sitting here on a Sunday evening in a completely quiet house wondering, what should I do? I can't remember the last time I had a quiet evening by myself in my own house. Andrew took the kids to see his parent's, but I stayed behind because I'm playing a musical number at a baptism in a couple of hours. I was looking through some of the pictures on my camera and thought I should put some of them on here.

I have decided that when you become a mom they should offer classes, like "How to build anything with Legos." Andrew can build anything with Legos...dinosaurs, bulldozers, bicycles, you name it...Andrew can make it. The problem is that when Andrew's at work and Jordan brings the Lego bucket to me, I think "Oh no, what's he going to ask for this time." Most of the time he's happy with what I come up with, but there have been a few occasions when Mommy doesn't get it right and he has a melt-down. As you can guess, Andrew constructed the above picture of an "Animal Train."

I told Andrew the other day that in the dictionary for the word "Munchkin," there needs to be no definition, just a picture of Megan. She is definitely a little munchkin. This is her new hang-out spot...in my rag box, under the counter, between the garbage can and the wall. As you can see, she thinks she is so funny when she goes to sit in there.

I was having a little problem with Jordan running the other way when I told him to come to me. I remembered Alison having a similar problem with her kids when they were little and how she had a family home evening about obeying. For our activity, I had Jordan run to me when I would say the word, "obey," and we made a game out of it. He had so much fun and it actually does work when we're at the park now. I just feel a little weird when I yell out "Obey," like he's a dog or something.

Jordan got a little carried away with his painting the other day, which is a little surprising since usually he doesn't like being messy. He likes to paint my old symphony music that I had saved for scratch paper. One time he got a hold of some music that I actually did need for a fireside I was playing in. My stand partner got a kick out of it.

A couple of weeks ago I ended up sleeping in Megan's room every night because Andrew was congested and his snoring was keeping me awake. After I stopped sleeping in there, Megan had a really rough night and was crying out in the night. I realized it was probably because I wasn't in there anymore and she was lonely. I put her baby in bed with her and that did the trick. She just needed a friend!

We got a book a while ago from the library about mommies and one of the pages says, "My mommy cuddles me." Lately, every morning when I get Jordan out of bed he asks, "Mommy cuddles me?" He gets his blankie and gives me mine and we just lay there together for a few minutes giving kisses and cuddling with eachother. It is precious time that I look forward to every morning.

Well, I just got a call from the Relief Society president. A sister in our ward could use a visit, so I'm off. I think my quiet time was well spent...what do you think?

Teddy Bear Picnic

2009-08-22T20:58:00.001-07:00

Today was the long awaited day of the annual teddy bear picnic my mom throws every summer for the grandkids. Every year it gets a little more elaborate and I always leave wondering what else my mom is going to come up with next year. My dad was joking with me and said that maybe next year she'll just hire the circus to come. It would be a lot less work and a lot less money.

It's starts out with us walking in the woods on the property where bears are lining the trail and we come upon a picnic all set up for us. We then had a lot of different activities including story time, crafts, a treasure hunt, puppet shows, lawn games, a pinata, bear bingo....like I said, every year it gets a little more elaborate. Here are some pictures from our fun day.

Jordan was so excited to find his treasure in the tack room. Something funny that happened during the lawn games was there was a game that had a little pirate head and all of the sudden it disappeared and was nowhere to be found. A little while later my brothers spotted Jordan walking sneakily to the playhouse with some toys in his hand. They followed him and sure enough, he had a stash of toys, including the pirate head, he was stowing in the playhouse. I guess he was just making some treasure of his own. It really didn't surprise me because I've caught him trying to sneak toys down his shirt out of the nursery. Looks like I have a little clepto on my hands.

The best part about today was that Marianne flew in for the weekend to be there. She can only stay for a couple of days because she has to get back for a chemo treatment next week. It was so fun having her here. Megan took a nap in her arms and I loved seeing my sister rocking my baby in her arms. It was a moment I tried to burn into my memory bank.

I love that Marianne is laughing in this picture. It was such a fun day and I wasn't surprised when I put Jordan to bed tonight that the story he wanted to read was, "The Teddy Bear's Picnic." Thanks for the fun day Mom. You made a lot of children very happy today!!

Here's a video of us walking in the woods at the beginning.

Potty Training Drama

2009-08-09T21:28:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot of drama this week in the Stout household over the matter of potty training. I found some dinosaur underwear at the store and knew that Jordan would love them. Well, he did love them....just a little too much. There were 6 pairs and the problem was that he wanted to wear all 6 pairs. I would put a pair on...he would look in the mirror....take it off...bring me another pair...I would put them on...over and over again. By the end of the day my back was sore from bending over, but I just went along with it because I had finally gotten him out of diapers....or so I thought.

The next day, however, he was back in a diaper and refused to wear the dinosaurs because he just wanted to carry them around. He even threw a fit because I would not let him bring all 6 pairs with us when we went into the store.

Even Megan managed to get involved in the drama. As I was putting Jordan down for a nap one afternoon I could hear her upstairs whining and crying about something. When I came upstairs I discovered her struggling to put a pair of Jordan's underwear on. I helped her out and she looked very pleased with herself. She just kept looking down at them and would get a little smile and look of delight on her face. At this rate, maybe she'll be out of diapers before he is!!!

Evan and Sarah's Wedding

2009-08-02T12:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a very special day because I now have another sister. It was a beautiful celebration, with a couple of stressful moments, like when Jordan got away from me at the luncheon and threw a cupful of candy into the baptismal font while the Elder's were filling it, or the time I discovered him running down the gravel road without any shoes on at the reception. With that being said, the kids did better than I expected and we had a wonderful day. Congrats Evan and Sarah! We love you guys!!!

Megan's Best Friend

2009-07-23T22:33:00.000-07:00

We watched Lily for a little while today while Alison took her other kids swimming. Megan was just delighted to have her little friend over. She just kept laughing and laughing when Lily came. As you can tell from the pictures, Lily was a little groggy and more interested in the Baby Einstein movie than she was in Megan, but Megan didn't seem to care. When Alison came to pick Lily up, Megan started crying and then quickly walked over to the window, pushed the curtains out of the way, stood on her little scooter so she could see out the window and waved bye-bye for the first time.

I think these little girls are just beginning to forge a bond that is going to last for a very, very long time.....and that makes me happy!