Summer is Here!!!!

The pool at our apartment complex is finally open! Nicholas has been begging to go swimming for weeks and we finally get to! Of course we are leaving for utah in just 3 days and will be gone until the middle of July, so we have been making the best use of the pool while we could. Nicholas is the kind of kid who jumps right in, and Christian sits on the edge kicking his feet for a while before he will get in. They both have floating body-suits and I think they look so cute with their hughmongus chests!

TAGGED: SMALL GLIMPSE INTO MY LIFE

20 years ago:

1. I was baptized and became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints.
2. I sang a solo in the 2nd grade talent show.
3. My youngest brother Ron was born.

10 years ago:

1. I was a senior at Provo High School.
2. I went to Senior Ball with a boy Named Sam Brady.
3. I moved out of my parents house shortly after graduation and got an apartment that had shag carpet.

5 years ago:

1. I came home from serving an 18 month mission for my church in Illinois.
2. I took a country dance class at Utah Valley State College and loved it.
3. I was engaged to the above mentioned Sam Brady.

3 years ago:

1. I was enjoying the fact that my baby Nicholas who had cried for a better part of 7 months, was now 10 months old and finally happy.
2. My husband graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Physics from Utah Valley State College.
3. We packed up and moved across the country to Durham North Carolina so that Sam could go to grad school at Duke University.

1 year ago:

1. I was learning how to deal with 2 kids, not just 1. We moved into a bigger apartment just down the street that has a back yard-Yea!
2. Sam graduated with a Masters Degree in Medical Physics, but unfortunately that didn't mean that we were done with school because he was also accepted into Duke's PhD program, which meant we had 3 more years to go.
3. I completed 8 months worth of work on a quiet book for my boys, it was a nightmare project!

So far this year:

1. I survived having an ulcer and shingles at the same time, I wouldn't recommend that.
2. I checked off 3 of the things I want to see on the east coast... Washington DC, Disney World, the Beach.
3. Nicholas was officially diagnosed with sensory processing disorder and started occupational therapy.

Yesterday:

1. I took my boys on a long walk in their wagon down by the duck pond.
2. We went to Nicholas' soccer awards banquet.
3. I stayed up way too late.

Today:

1. I went to the WIC office. A nightmare, but a necessary evil when you are poor starving college students.
2. I Put my kids down for early naps.
3. I will watch American Idol.

Tomorrow I will:

1. Take Nicholas to Occupational Therapy.
2. Take my boys to the museum of life and science.
3. Watch the American Idol Finale and finally know who wins!

In the next year I plan on:

1. Enjoying the fact that Nicholas will be at preschool 4 mornings a week.
2. Voting Republican for President.
3. Seeing a few more places on my list.

Ok, I am going to tag Julene, Kathy and Kristen....

Someone tell me what happened!?

I know It wasn't that long ago that Christian was a sweet fat baby who slept most of the time, cooed a sweet song when he was he was happy, eagerly ate all that was given him and begged for more. I woke up this morning with an 18 month old boy runs like a penguin, laughs like a french man when he is naughty, won't eat anything but cereal even if he is starving thus making him skinnier every day, who's favorite word is "NO" and who now goes to nursery at church! Now I've done all this before with Nicholas, so you would think I'd know that babies grow up fast, but for some reason it seemed like Nicholas was so much older when he finally got to go to nursery. I really thought Christian was still a baby until just a few nights ago when I looked at him sleeping in his crib and realized that he was turning into a big boy. Do you know what big kid means? Potty training, big bed, tantrums, independence. Am I ready for this?

VACATION!!!

My sister Julene and her husband Gabe came out to North Carolina to visit this last week. I got to meet her adorable baby Jordan for the first time since he was born last September. My boys could not get enough of thier new cousin! It took a few day's for Nicholas to figure out that Julene wasn't aunt michelle, and he called Gabe "Gave" the whole time. My favorite was when he called him "Uncle Gavid" (he also has an uncle David, so he was confused). It was so nice to have them come, not only because it's fun to be with family, but also because it gave us a good excuse to finally go out and do a few things that we have been wanting to do since we moved here. We did a ton of things, and we took a ton of pictures, so I am going to do my best to recap!

Strawberry Picking
Of course we had to take them to our favorite activity. We got more strawberries than we could ever eat, and ended up freezing and making 3 batches of jam, and still had left overs!


After strawberry picking we went to Sam's club to pick up some munchies for our trips, and would you belive the former president Jimmy Carter was there?!!! Of all the random people to be at Sam's club. It certainly explained the full parking lot on a Thursday afternoon. I tried to take a picture to prove it since I know no one would belive me, but my darn camera has a delayed flash and this is what I got...

Mount Vernon
Friday we were off on our first adventure. Packed in the mini van like sardines we drove the 4 hours to Mount Vernon, Virginia to see George Washington's house. We told Nicholas that we were going to George's house. He told us he wanted to play with George's cars when he got there. He was really excited when he found them, you'll see them in the slide show.....

Washington DC
Our hotel was just 10 minutes outside of DC. A note for everyone... Saturday is actually a GREAT day to go to DC. There isn't really any traffic because the business people aren't there on Saturday, and all the parking meters are FREE on Saturday. I liked it becuase there was a lot to see, and you could see a good portion of it in one day, but you could also spend several days there if you wanted to, and still not see everything! It was A LOT of walking but we had a great time!

Emerald Isle
A bunch of families in my ward got together and rented a big beach house. We only got to stay for 2 days since Julene and Gabe had to fly home, but I have to say this was probably my favorite part of the vacation since it was so relaxing! We played on the beach for hours. At the end of the first day Nicholas looked up at me and said "Mom! Maybe we could sleep at the Beach!" It was awesome to make his day by telling him that he actually got to! Nicholas loved to jump and run with the tide, and run around with his friends playing "stop the train". Christian loved looking for seashells. By the end of day 2 he had both pockets of his shorts filled with seashells and as he ran the shells jingled in his pockets, which he loved! The house had an "alligator" (elevator) since it had 4 floors, and that was also a favorite, a long with rolling the pool table balls into the holes and making a triangle with them. Even Sam, who always says he is "not a beach kind of person" was talking about wanting to come back soon. I loved it!