Utah Trip 2010!

We left Utah 3 years ago and hadn't been back (except for a super-quick wedding trip to St. George) and we were thrilled when Scott's parents decided to have a reunion in Blanding this summer. It was wonderful to see all of Scott's siblings, his parents and grandparents -- about 34 people in all. Plus,  Ian and Joseph had the time of their lives playing with their cousins. I think we will skip Disneyland -- they really couldn't have had more fun than they did out in the wilderness with a dozen playmates.

 We got to Blanding the day before the Independence Day festivities began. It was fun to be in a small town for the holiday--  it seemed like everyone who has ever lived in Blanding returned just for the parade!

Someone told Ian that a firetruck was coming down the street. Seriously.

We had the perfect shady spot on the church lawn to retreat to. But the candy kept enticing the kids to the street.

After watching some fireworks from Scott's parents back porch and getting a good night's rest, we headed to the beautiful Blue Mountain.  Don't Scott's parents have an incredible view from their front porch?  

All kinds of fun activities were waiting for the cousins at the reunion. A favorite was "treasure rocks" hidden all over the campsite. Grandma had covered small toys in plaster and painted them to look like real rocks. The kids loved cracking them open to discover the toys and then storing them in their little personalized canisters. All sorts of other treasures were toted around all week in those cute little things.

Here are the little twins: from the back these little tow-heads (Joseph and Adam) were difficult to tell apart!

The kids made paper bag hats, adorned with paint and twisted pipe cleaners. Joseph seemed to feel really cool exploring the woods in his.

 Aunt Megan rallied the family into an exercise program earlier this year, which culminated in a series of races. The kids all did 100 meters. Longer races also took place for the adults. I am so glad she started this tradition! Maybe next time I will even participate..!

 Here are the kids all lined up, with Grandma and Grandpa Pope at starting/finishing line.

And here is the finishing line. The race was just a big loop around a median, and about midway Ian started to veer the wrong direction -- back towards the restroom. I ran along side him and encouraged him to finish. At the end, all the kids ducked under the tape! Then Ian proceeded straight to the restroom.


 After breakfast the longer races commenced. Joseph and I stayed back at the tent for a nap. I was exhausted after a mostly sleepless night in the tent and I dosed off before Joseph did. I woke up to Joseph having fallen asleep with his head rested on my tummy. It was adorable! It is one of my favorite memories from this trip.

Meanwhile, Scott helped shuttle some of the runners to the 5k starting point. Then Ian decided he wanted to run the race too. So he ran on the trail along side Scott in the car. I hear he ran at least a mile this way, with lots of short breaks to examine bugs and rocks along the way! His race ended when he tripped and fell flat on his belly, wetting his pants. Fortunately, we were all wearing layers against the frigid Utah weather (poor Texans) and after removing a few of his pairs of pants, he was dry and ready for more.

Scott climbed a tree when we first arrived, which kicked off a whole tree-climbing epidemic among the cousins.

The boys were introduced to flavored boxed milk. Instant love.

Cousin mischief of one kind or another.

We had a great time with everyone! I am so lucky to have married into such a wonderful family. We can't wait to all get together again!

More on our Utah trip soon!

18 Months and 3 Years!

 A sweet moment captured on terrible phone picture. The boys were sharing iPod earphones.

After months of illnesses, we were finally able to attend well-check visits for Ian and Joseph in late June. (after canceling them because of illness 5 times in a month and a half!)

Here are the stats:

Ian
Weight: 32 1/2  lbs, 50%
Height: 38 1/2 inches, 60%

Joseph 
Weight: 26 lbs, 45%
Height: 33 1/2 inches, 70%
Head: 18 3/4 inches, 40%

It would appear that Ian is just about average and that Joseph is a little on the tall and lean side. We think they are just perfect.

Now for some funny stuff they have been saying....

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Today at swim lessons, the instructor showed the kids pictures of safe swim behavior and explained that life vests help you float and keep you safe. To which Ian replied "But if you mow the lawn, you will probably get sunburned."

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Joseph and Ian have been swapping booster seats lately, usually at Ian's request (read: demand) Joseph is usually will to give in but on one occasion he refused to give Ian back his booster seat after they had already switched once. So Ian said "Joseph, I am going to throw you in the lion's den and shut the door!" When I gave him a "look" he added "I am going to throw you in the lions den with your string cheese and then shut the door!"

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We put the side on Ian's crib at a lower level and now he loves to climb in by himself. Usually he asks us to leave the room so he can do it completely by himself which I guess means no one watching. 

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At Scott's encouragement I am now demanding privacy while using the restroom. The boys don't love being shut out and Ian has been known to bang his head on the door til he has a nose bleed. Joseph usually just sobs until I come out. But lately Ian will peek his head in the door and say either "can I leave you alone mom?" or "do you want privacy, mom?" and then lock and shut the door. Joseph loves to say "privacy" (pie-sissy).

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Joseph is becoming quite the contrarian. If we tell him it's not funny to scream at the table, he declares "It iiiiizzz sunny a skuh-weem a payble". If Ian tells Joseph that he loves Taylor Swift's song more, Joseph says "No it iiiiiizzz me a song." Sometimes a general "It iiiiizzzzz" is enough to get the boys arguing about nothing in particular for several loud minutes. UPDATE: Now Joseph says "It wiwy iiiiizzzzz!"

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Scott sent Ian upstairs to bring Joseph down for dinner. I was astonished when a few minutes later I saw Ian and Joseph holding hands and walking down the stairs, both grinning widely. Ian said "Look! Me and Joseph are like missionaries!"

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The boys had a nasty habit of fighting over food at the table. But during one peaceful meal, I realized what was really going on. Ian suddenly said, "Joseph! We forgot to do MINE!" and then he hugged his sippy cup tight to his chest and shouted "Mine!" Joseph copied it and they started shouting "mine!" back and forth at the top of their lungs. It was a game all along. How charming.

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Joseph still doesn't like it when I sing. But a few nights ago I was consciously trying to take my time with his nighttime routine and gave him an extra snuggle after we prayed and before I put him in bed. That's when he said "Sing a God a God." I knew he meant "I am a Child of God" and when I began singing he didn't interrupt with a slap! It was a special moment. 

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Joseph has begun praying at meal times. (I love that Scott always begins teaching the boys things so early -- he is always right that they can rise to the new challenge) We say the words and Joseph repeats them in wispers. It usually sounds something like "Father, sank-ooo a sood (food) Sank-ooo a Daddy. Sank-ooo a Eee-uh. Sank-ooo a Mommy. Name. Jesus Christ." Then he flings his arms out really wide and you know he is done. He pretty much refuses to say Amen anymore. Unless someone else is praying and he is ready to start eating mid-prayer.

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We attended a baptism recently and Ian has been thinking a lot about it. He has been saying things like "Did the water go over Mark's face and in his nose and mouth?" (It didn't but that doesn't seem to calm Ian's fears) "Where does the water go when he is all done?" "Did Mark feel very scared when he was under the water?" He has concluded (hopefully temporarily) "I don't think I want to be baptized".  
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Ian says this when he thinks someone has been unkind: "Ouch! That hurt my feelings!"
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When Ian wants Joseph to drive his ride-on hippo down the hall behind Ian and his dumptruck, Ian will says "Joseph! Come on! Let's go run and laugh!"
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The boys have become accustomed to being carried up and down the stairs. They are efficient at doing it themselves, but if I am with them, they expect it and they have even designated hips to sit on --Joseph on the rights, Ian on the left. It's ridiculous. And my thighs and biceps are growing tired of the extra 60 lbs. So when I left Joseph, crying at the top of stairs, to make his own way down, he wailed and carried on for at least 5 minutes. Ian got up from playing cars, disappeared and then reappeared at the bottom of the stairs a few minutes later. He was beaming and declared "I just gave Joseph a hug and then he stopped crying!" This might be the first hug he's ever given Joseph -- Ian usually sits on Joseph to show his affection. Again today "Joseph was feeling sad on the stairs" and Ian suddenly got an excited look on his face and raced up the stairs to hug Joseph. And again Joseph immediately stopped crying and followed Ian down the stairs, while they held hands.
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Joseph is stringing more words together all the time and it is so fun to watch his language skills evolve. A few nights ago Scott was tickling Joseph's feet during dinner. But since I was closer, Joseph mistakenly thought it was me, so he laughed and said "A mommy a kickle my sweet!" (Mommy's tickling my feet!) I love that he uses an article before nearly every word.
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Joseph hasn't mastered "F", "G" or "N" sounds. So some favorite words come out a little funny: Snack (swack) Ian (Eee-uh) Binkie (Ginkie)
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Ian and Joseph (mostly Joseph) like to remove the cushions on the armchairs and pretend the chairs are cars. It drives me nuts. Why do the cushions have to be removed for them to be cars?! When I hear Joseph shout "Cah!" I know what they are about to do.
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While in Utah we scored a nice big rental car (much nicer than we had reserved!) and so we put the carseats a little farther apart than they usually are in our Camry. When we got home and they were right next to each other again Ian noticed something new about his brother: "Mom! Joseph is growing hair on his arms!" Ian sounded really proud of his brother.
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Yesterday Ian left the cars he was playing with for a minute and walked over to me and stroking my arm said "I am so glad you are my Mommy."
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Ian said he didn't want to push his brother off a chair because it would hurt him. "I love my Joseph too much! I don't want him to get any bad ouchies because I just love him too much." It was sweet. Never mind the fact that he shoved Joseph anyway a few minutes later.

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Ian and Scott built a creepy-crawler that winds up and inches along. Ian loved having some one-on-one time with Dad.

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While in Utah Joseph met his Great grandma and Great grandpa Pope. Out of the blue Joseph will just start chanting "Gwampa Pope! Gwampa Pope!" He also met his Uncle Don for the first time too, and is rather fond of him. "Unka Don! Unka Don!" is another popular refrain this week.
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We're home from Utah!

 Aren't these BYU fans adorable? They loved spotting the "Big Y" on the mountain. 

More on our super-fun Utah adventures soon.

Swimming & Groundbreaking

Last winter I heard about an incredible sale on rooms at the place where Scott and I celebrated our 4th anniversary. So at the end of April we went back with Ian and Joseph and a couple other super fun families. They were so fun we all stayed up talking until 2 am without noticing!

Thankfully some of the pools were heated, because it was a windy and chilly 70 degrees (I know I won't get any sympathy from our Utah, Idaho and Connecticut family!) We remembered April being hot... but apparently the heat doesn't really arrive until about two weeks later. 

After building sandcastles alongside the lake, Ian and Scott went down some water slides and Joseph and I spend a lot of time circling the park in a lazy river. A giant bucket was suspended above a splash pad and every few minutes it would dump. Joseph was mesmerized by the "big drink" that kept "spilling" as we floated by in the river.

The boys tried water wings for the first time. Once Joseph got the hang of keeping his head afloat, they bobbed around us quite happily! They also loved it when Scott threw them in the air and when we tossed them back and forth between us.

When we first arrived it was naptime, so we settled the boys in their customary vacation locations: Joseph in the bathroom and Ian's hotel crib wedged between the bed and the wall. With the boys soundly sleeping in the blackout-curtained room, Scott and I went to enjoy the lake view from our porch. It felt instantly like a vacation as we talked uninterrupted and took in the gorgeous view. But then we noticed a dead bat on the floor next to us. And then we went to check on the boys and found this:

Ian wasn't in his crib, and was nowhere to be seen. But then we noticed a little light coming from a small closet... Ian had swept the clothes off the shelf then climbed in and fell asleep.

One last story of note: On Friday night just as we were ready to leave the pool for some dinner, our friends arrived and told us the power was out. The elevators were not working and the staircases were not lit. At all. So we waited as long as we could, and then just dragged our soggy selves and children up 11 flights of stairs in the dark, with only one small light between 10 of us. Propping the fire door open every few flights helped, but the whole thing was a little comical, pretty frightening and as Ian said "those stairs with no light were not fun". Luckily when we finished dinner the lights were back on.

In late May we attended a groundbreaking ceremony for a new church building. We are so excited about the building, which will be considerably closer to our home than our current building.

 It took place on a rainy Saturday night, but I though that all the people huddled close together under umbrellas added to whole experience.

After the stake presidency broke ground, the children were invited to do some digging. Ian was thrilled to have President Little, our former bishop, help him.

It sure was muddy and wet, but it was a neat family experience. We can't wait for the building to be done next year!