So, We were having breakfast....

Eli: Do I have to finish my cereal?
Me: Yes, sweetheart, it helps you be healthy and strong.
Eli: Can I just finish the milk and be done?
Me: Do you not like your cereal?
Eli: No.
Me: Why?
Eli: Because it makes me feel like an alien.

Eli is at it again

So, I've been busier than busy lately and it seems that I am always cramming one more thing into the day than will fit, and frequently forgetting little things as I'm in a rush. So, we were trying to cram in a quick run to the library before Renton got home from school, and I'm hurrying Eli into the car and buckling him and Jory in when Eli asks me, "Any dangits mom?" I had no idea what he was talking about and asked him to repeat himself. When I realized that I had heard him correctly I asked him to clarify and he said, "Dangits. Did you forget anything? You know, Dangits." Then I realized that just about every time we get in the car I say "Dang it!" and hop out to get something that I forgot! Oops! I'm glad there is now a name for my condition, though.

odds and ends

So, Eli was bored and asked what he could do (for like the millionth time) and I told him he could stand on his head. And he did!

Ignore the diaper box in the background they are playing with, its the faces that are so exciting!

Eli and Jory playing

Renton's first day of 1st grade!

Eli's first day of soccer. At his first game he scored a goal!

Eli is on a role

This Morning
Eli: So, what can I do?
Me: What do you want to do?
Eli: Well, there's only one thing that my want to do, but my know my shouldn't.
Me: Oh really? What is that?
Eli: My want to crawl around on the ceiling, but my can't 'cause my don't have sticky shoes. But my really want sticky shoes 'cause that's all my want to do!

Later This Morning
( we had just finished up with the doctor for Eli's 4 yr well child check, and as the doctor left the room Eli started crying)
Me: Eli whats the matter?
Eli: My thought my was getting some shots today!
Me: Don't cry, the nurse will be in in a moment to give you the shots.
Eli: OK! My love getting shots! And my love getting cool band aids and my love getting succors too!
So Eli willingly laid on the table and held so still for his shots. Of course he screamed bloody murder during them, but as soon as he was done he stopped crying and made off with his plunder. I guess we don't have enough succors for treats at our house!

One Clever Day

Eli: (when asked what he wanted for breakfast) I want snakkle crack pot (snap, crackle, pop)

Renton: (while kicking around a soccer ball with me) Ya, I'm pretty much a professional.

Eli: (after battling with him over finishing dinner, and he was about 3/4 of the way through) Oh ya, my forgotted that my liked this! (and then finished dinner without a fuss!)

We have a crawler

Yikes!

Jory Update

Helping himself to some oatmeal

Jory is 5 months old, 27 inches long and nearly 17 pounds. He uses rolling as his main means of self transport, but he is beginning to push himself up in a crawl position and rock back and forth. He has been working on his teeth since 3 months old, and we suspect that one is on its way soon. He is positively the happiest baby ever! He has been very interested in eating, so to celebrate 5 months we broke out the baby oatmeal and he loved it!

Reunion

We had a great time catching up with some dear friends we haven't seen in a long time. We were neighbors at Stadium Gardens Apartments and did everything together. Its been a little while since then, but it was great to get together again and have it be like no time ever passed. Our kids got along famously. We had a blast, and I hope it doesn't go that long again without seeing them again!

Ryan, Merry, Staci, Tom

Ryan, Merry, Staci, Tom (2002)

Ryan, Merry, Staci, Tom (a really long time ago)

All the kids (minus Jory)

Happy Birthday Eli!

Eli is now 4 years old! He had a very fun birthday. We celebrated a triple birthday with family the Friday before his birthday, sharing it with Grandma Ali and Uncle Chance. It was nice to visit while Ryan's parents were in town, Jake was back from Africa, and just before Rose took off on her road trip. Rose asked me to bring a cake to the party for Eli... so I asked him what he wanted. For months he has been telling me he wants a Tweety Bird cake, so I was surprised when he asked me for a Superman cake, just like Renton had had a few years ago. So I made another Superman cake for that night.
I decided that when we celebrated his actual birthday I would do an ice cream cake (he was very excited about that) and now he decided that he wanted the Tweety Bird cake. So, when after opening presents and blowing out candles he declared that he didn't want any cake, he just wanted to play with toys, I was shocked! Didn't he just spend the last several months telling me what he wanted? And all day so excited as he saw me working on it? I guess if the real thing at this age is having something exciting to put the candles in is all that's really important, then mission accomplished. And maybe next year I'll just get a Styrofoam cake to decorate and cut out half the work! And to all of you who he told that he didn't get a cake at his birthday, I'm just correcting what he said to he didn't eat any cake on his birthday! He was very excited about his presents and felt very birthdayed.

More than meets the eye

Renton with all of his transformer stuff. He thanks everyone who has helped him collect it all!

Trek to Temp Caves

We just woke up and decided to go on a hike that day.

Jorman Xavier

So I Googled "Jorman " today and found that the name means exalted of the Lord, which Ryan had already told me. Then I Googled "Jorman Xavier" and found that he is not alone, there are many of them out there and they all seem to be Spanish speaking. I thought that was very interesting if not even a little apropos.

Family Vacation Part 3

delicate arch is in the background

Once again we packed the car up the night before and took off very early in the morning. Our destination: Moab. It was an equally long day as our first day had been, but we were prepaired and it wasn't so bad. We pulled in in time for dinner. The next morning we were off to Arches National Park. We wanted to keep it fun for the boys, so we only did some of the shorter hikes with them. They had fun climbing and playing, and trying to decide what the rock formations looked like. After lunch we headed home and got there by bedtime. It was a full trip, especially with a baby, but it was very fun and we all enjoyed it immensaly.

Family Vacation Part 2

Me and Jory with Kristen and Chase

Daddy and Jory

Everyone who was there

Christina, me, Nikki

Gabe's 6th birthday

Waiting for the fireworks

Our family on the 4th

The next day we headed down to the Phoenix area to Grandma and Grandpa's other house in Paradise Valley. We spent the next several days visiting with family, swimming, checking out the children's museum, celebrating a birthday and heading to a water park. I even got to sneak in a quick visit with some friends who I grew up with, Nikki and Christina Hosford. (I guess Nikki is a Peterson now, but she'll always be a Hosford to me). We celebrated the 4th of July with swimming, BBQ, and fireworks. Sunday was Jory's big day. He was joined by his newest cousin, Chase, and they were both blessed. It was a wonderful day for a blessing, and a beautiful little meeting we had for the two babies. Jory turned 4 months old on his blessing day.

Family Vacation Part 1

At the Hotel

Visiting the Dam

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

Jory's trip through the Grand Canyon

Explorer Renton

Checking out the view

We got the car packed the night before and piled into the car by 5:30 AM. There is something exciting about a road trip, but we also wanted to take as much advantage of Jory's sleeping time as we could. We drove from SLC to Flagstaff the first day. It would normally take about 8 hours, but it took us 12 1/2 hours because we were traveling with a 3 month old. The boys watched movies and colored. Jory slept and figured out how to grab at the toys that we hung from the handle of his baby carrier, and I read Twilight to Ryan. Yes, I know I swore I would never read those books... but when Ryan got interested in what all the hype was about and said that he would probably read them, I broke down and decided I couldn't miss Ryan reading a silly romance novel. But, what happened is that we got sucked into the story even while we laugh about the sap together. Anyway, we saw some great scenery and had a pretty uneventful trip, wich felt more than we could ask from a 3 month old who hates car seats! The next morning we met Grandma Ali and Grandpa Sam and took the boys to the Grand Canyon. We had a lot of fun climbing and checking out the sights. We spent that night in Sedona where the boys did even more exploring around Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Fun in June

Eli, Jory, and Renton

"Father and Sons" comp out in our library

Oquirre Mountain Temple

Eli in the downpour

Renton playing transformers

June was a beautiful month. We had so much rain that I was joking that we had gone on vacation to Seattle and hadn't realized it. It did wonders for my garden. The boys loved playing in the rain and we would watch the lightning from our front porch. It was very fun. Likewise, we had a lot of inside time and the boys played transformers together while made Jory's blessing outfit. The father and son camp out was a little too wet and lightningy for the boys, so they came home and camped in our library. They stayed up late and still had lots of fun. We also went to the Oquirre Mountain Temple open house with the boys. It will be our temple once it is dedicated.