My Family is Eternal, Is Yours?

We've been blessed this year with two new temples in our area. Earlier in the year the Draper Temple had it's open house. Here are my boys (in dire need of haircuts), enjoying refreshments afterward.

Just recently, the Oquirrh Mountain Temple opened it's doors for visitors. Even though it has only been a few months since the last open house, I couldn't let an opportunity to take my kids to the temple pass me by. So, in spite of Dan's insane work schedule, I went.

Just me and my boys.

My favorite moment happened when we entered the Celestial Room. Upon entering the room, Tyson got very quiet, he stopped walking and folded his arms. When I tried to urge him along, (I didn't want to be the one holding up the line) Tyson solemnly told me, "I'm trying to feel Heaven."

Did I mention how much I love that kid?!

Making A Splash

Each summer our ward rents out a local pool for an evening.

My kids love it because I actually take them swimming.

I love it because it's free, and I don't have to worry about sunscreen because it's dark.

This year we arrived late to the party and had just begun swimming when the power went out. Pool management kicked us all out of the pool until the problem could be fixed. We all stood around the pool for 15 minutes freezing. Tyson said,

"This is the worst swimming day of my life!"

Before long, the power was back on and we were allowed back into the water. Dan and Preston stayed in the shallow end while Tyson and I headed for deeper water (4 1/2 feet).

Tyson practiced his swimming technique while drowning me in the process. After a few minutes of this the belly flop/cannonball competition began on the diving boards. Tyson loved watching his friends' dads make fools of themselves.

It was great entertainment.

Thoroughly impressed,Tyson wanted to learn how to belly flop. I explained that you simply jump into the water and land smack on your belly. He quickly climbed out of the pool the jumped spread eagle into the water.

It was a perfect 10.

He continued to belly flop over and over again until the pool closed and we were asked to exit the water.

Just as we were getting out I saw my friend

(who happens to be head judge of the contest).

"Hey Jana, Do you have time for one more belly flop?"

Tyson eagerly climbed out the pool, and demonstrated his new found skill.

Laughing, Jana congratulated Tyson on his good work.

Five minutes later winners of the competition were announced over the PA system.

"Third Place in the belly flop competition goes to Tyson!"

He was stunned.

"I've never won a competition before, Mom!"

Later he informed me that this was the best swimming day of his life.

Wordless Wednesday

The Sound of Music

Tyson loves Primary songs. I can always tell what song they practice each week in Primary because Tyson sings it all week long.

He sings in the car

He sings at the dinner table,

He sings while he colors.

You get the point. Apparently,the kids are learning "I'm Trying to be Like Jesus." Tyson knows both verses, and despite he inability to carry a tune, he has been singing it all month.

This morning I overheard him singing the first verse:

I’m trying to be like Jesus. I’m following in his ways. I trying to love as he did in allthat I do and say. At times I am tempted to make a wrong choice but I try to listen as

it steals my voice,

whispers, “Love one another as Jesus loves you. Try to show kindness in all that you do. Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought for these are the things Jesus taught.

Preston to English

Preston has some creative phases.

Can you decipher what he is saying?

Boo Goo Are You

Cock-U-Ahhh

Bidoman

Gink-a-munk or Gink-a-yado

Annie OK

Battyball

Bado Bado

What does he mean if he says someone "died?"

He also likes to put a 'y' at the begining of many words.

For example, he loves to yun, and yide bikes.

He loves to 'bump' and begs me to 'kickle' him.

He is learning his colors. He can identify bue, geen, yed, and pink quite often.

He loves to sing the ABC song, although it usually goes like this:

"A, B, C, D, ah ah G, ah ah ah ah mana P, eh eh S, eh eh V, . . "

Welcome Baby Mason!

This week this family

welcomed it's newest member!

Baby Mason

Isn't adoption great?!

I'd send you to their blog, but it's private.

So feel free to leave congrats here.

Wordless Wednesday

How Ever You Measure It

98 Days

14 Weeks

3 Months

3 Payments

0 Major Holidays

It doesn't matter how you measure it.

We are super dooper shmooper excited for Sheeby to come home!

(But don't tell him. He's trying to be good and focus on the work.)

Public Service Announcement

Did you know most kids rack up between 50% and 80% of their lifetime sun exposure before age 18?

It's up to parents to make sure kids are protected.

For sunscreen to do its job, it must be applied correctly.
Be sure to:

• Apply sunscreen whenever your child will be in the sun.
  


• Apply sunscreen about 30 minutes before kids go outside so that a good layer of protection can form. Don't forget about lips, hands, ears, feet, shoulders, and behind the neck. Lift up bathing suit straps and apply sunscreen underneath them (in case the straps shift as a child moves).
  


• Apply sunscreen generously.
  


• Reapply sunscreen often, approximately every 2 to 3 hours. Reapply after a child is sweating or swimming.
  


• Apply a waterproof sunscreen if kids will be around water or swimming. Water reflects and intensifies the sun's rays, so kids need protection that lasts. Waterproof sunscreens may last up to 80 minutes in the water, and some are also sweat- and rub-proof. But regardless of the waterproof label, be sure to reapply sunscreen when kids come out of the water.

I Love Him to Pieces

Do you want to guess what phase I hear all day, everyday?

"Mommy, Pay Pizzo Me."

(Translation: Mommy, you must come and play puzzles with me now or I will scream.)

Preston is currently obsessed with puzzles.

And not just any puzzles.

He isn't really interested in the age appropriate wooden shape puzzles.

No, that would be too easy.

He wants to play with Tyson's 50 piece floor puzzles. The ones that say Ages 3+ on the box.

Naturally he can't put together these puzzles on his own.

He is only 21 months old.

He insists that someone play with him.

Usually me.

'Cause I don't have anything better to do than sit on the floor all afternoon assembling Scarecrows and Easter Bunnies.

Over and over and over again.

Sometimes I can convince Tyson to play puzzles with him. But Tyson's puzzle attention span is shorter than mine.

Consider this your warning:

If you come to my house you will be expected to "play puzzles" with Preston.

Snack Time

Preston is delicious.

Simply irresistible.

Ever since he was a tiny baby I have not been able to restrain myself.

I must nibble him every chance I get.

His arms

legs

elbows

neck

ears

shoulders

Hmmm, it's all good.

The other day I was enjoying a little "Preston snack" when Tyson came over to scold me.

"Mom! Don't eat Preston!"

"Why not? I love to eat Preston. He's so yummy."

Tyson took off running to the kitchen. He came back with a string cheese.

"Here, Mom. Quick eat this!

Stop eating Preston!

He's my brother and you can't eat him!"

Wordless Wednesday

Plan B

Dan called in the afternoon.

"Hey, I was just given free tickets to the baseball game for tonight. Do you think the boys would want to go?"

Me: "Hey boys, do you want to go to a baseball game tonight?"

Tyson: "Yeah! Me! I want to go!"

Preston (jumping two inches off the kitchen chair he was standing on): "Ya! Baseball! Shoes on Mom!"

**************************************************************************

Later that evening I piled the boys into the car each of us wearing our favorite baseball hats.

We drove to meet Dan at work. When we arrived he informed me that some of his customers just showed up and he lost one of the tickets. Lame.

So, I broke the bad news to the boys. I told them we could do something else instead.

They opted for a trip to Cold Stone.

They look really sad about missing that baseball game, don't they?

Why Do I Waste Money On Toys?

Do you want to take a guess at what these two crazy boys are doing?

Go ahead, guess.

Since there is no way you will guess right I will just tell you.

Those clear buckets on their heads are space helmets.

They are pretending to be space men.

They had fun going into outer space.

Tyson invented the game and Preston quickly followed suit.

Tyson also stacked several of these boxes and other totes to make a "Christmas Tree."

Then he decorated the tree with a few leftover glow sticks and some Spider-man figurines.

(Sorry there is no picture. I forgot to charge my camera battery. You will just have to use your own imagination.)

Did You Miss Me?

We finally have everything back up and running.

It only took 10 days.

The lightning fried my cable box, (which we were planning on getting rid of anyway.)

We unhooked that, flipped a breaker switch and our TV was up and running right away.

The Internet and phone were a whole other story.

First we called Comcast to let them know that our Internet service was no longer working. According to their system we were up and running.

No help there.

We figured there was a problem with the router (since it was no longer lighting up). Our router was provided by our phone company (since we have digital phone service) and Dan was ready to switch phone companies anyway. So he figured this was a good time to do it. We returned the old router and picked up a brand new one from our new digital phone provider. However, when I attempted to install it, the computer was still not recognizing an Internet signal, so it didn't help much.

Next we tried replacing all the cables, thinking one of them may have been damaged.

No luck. Still no signal.

Even running the Internet to our laptop, completely bypassing the desktop didn't work.

Still no signal.

Next, we tried replacing the modem box. This fixed half the problem. We were able to access Internet on our laptop, but still not on our desktop computer.

Last night, in a last ditch effort we replaced our Ethernet card in our PC.

Bingo.

We are back in business.

At least with our Internet and home computer.

The phone is still another issue.

We have been able to reconnect the phone, so I at least have a dial tone, but because we switched phone companies in the process they assigned us a temporary phone number until they can switch our old number over, which will take a week (maybe two).

So, we are back in business. Unless you want to call me. Then your options are to call my cell phone or call my old number, listen to the recorded message to get my "new" temporary home phone number.

Fun, huh?!

Still MIA But For a VERY Different Reason

Thanks for all the well wishes. I am feeling much better.
I'm still not up to blogging however.

As my luck would have it, my house was hit by lighting.
Seriously.
It fried my home phone line and my Internet.
(I am amazed my TV and computer made it through unscathed.)

We are thankful that the damage was minimal and no one was hurt.

Until we have everything up and running I will still be MIA from the blogging world.

Somethings Mithing

Don't Get Whiplash

8:38am

8:42 am

Hang on for the ride.

This kid's moods swing faster than the weather changes.

I Love Technology, But Not As Much as You, You See. Always And Forever.

The CD player in Tyson's bedroom broke yesterday.

Dan has had this particular CD player for at least a decade.

It was on it's last leg so I wasn't surprised it finally kicked the bucket.

I'm sure the fact that Preston likes to drag it around by it's cord didn't help either.

After the boys were in bed for the night I sent Dan over to Wally World to pick up a new $20 no-frills CD player.

When Tyson saw the box sitting on the kitchen table the next morning he was ecstatic.

He couldn't wait to open it and "play with it."

He keeps calling it his iPod.

While messing around with it he discovered the switch that turns the radio on.

To my surprise it was set perfectly to a country radio station.

Tyson was amazed that his new iPod had a radio feature.

Can you believe it?

Radio!

After spending a few minutes in his room listening to country radio Tyson came running to find me.

"Mom! My new iPod has the rodeo on it!"

Wordless Wednesday