December - Part Two - Christmas 2012

We bundled up our babe a lot this month to be out and about. Thank heavens for online shopping though, Amazon.com delivered all our Christmas gifts this month.

Boston had a Polar Express Christmas party at school. He got to wear his cute Christmas jammies and came home with his bell and train ticket. He also came home with a cookbook of recipes from his classmates. How melt-your-heart cute it this?

The Grease Monkey and Gorilla Wash in Lehi opened, finally. John has been working so unbelievably hard on this, so to have it come to fruition was exciting. It's impressive, if you haven't been yet, you really should check it out. John gave out free car washes for 2 days to get some traffic through and let people know we were open. He washed 1700 cars in those 2 days. We are hopeful the store will take off quickly!

Speaking of cute, Rowen started giving out the big smiles this month, just in time for Christmas.

And then there was Christmas. It was our first time staying home. It was lovely. Waking up in our own bed, setting up gifts and everything in our own house the night before, all the presents under our tree, and breakfast together. Our Sacrament meeting was beautiful too. I made breakfast the night before. We woke up, the kids saw their bigger unwrapped gift, we ate breakfast and went to church. After church we opened all the gifts under the tree and the kids played all day. John and I took turns napping and it was a beautiful day.

The Goings On

I have pregnancy brain. Half of what comes out of my mouth makes no sense and I forget words all the time. Here is a little catch up of what's been happening this summer.

We moved in (did I tell you that already)

We love love love our new house and neighborhood. We have had a few minor and not so minor issues with our home, but they have mostly been resolved and weren't really anyones fault - but we have had a string of some bad luck I guess you could say.

We are re-discovering Utah county. Things have changed since we were here in college. We have a lot of fun reminiscing about our dating/engaged days.

We love our new ward and new friends. Kids make socializing so much easier.

The new Grease Monkey is finally under construction after the longest hardest most frustrating last few months for John. This economy sucks.

I finally chose a new Dr. and hospital to deliver at down here. It was not an easy process. The good news is that I love him. The bad news is my insurance is frustrating and I'm probably going for a C-section this time.

We have had several visitors since we moved in. My parents and Landon came and then Tanner came. My mom will be back next week. It's been really fun, but exhausting and I pay the price with lots of contractions.

I think (knock on wood) Boston is finally officially 100% potty trained. It has been an ordeal to say the least. Bribery of a big 2 wheeler "Cars" bike (with training wheels of course) was what finally did the trick. I'm praying we have no relapses.

We spend all day every day in our front yard. Living in a cul de sac is seriously all that and more. I absolutely love it. We open the garage, the mom's sit in our camping chairs with our water bottles and popsicles, and the kids ride bikes play in the dirt with the tonka trucks and play in our little kiddie pools. It's the life. I don't get much done, but I'm soaking this up for now.

John is working and commuting which makes for really long days and a really tired Dad, but it hasn't been as hard on me and the kids as I thought it would be. He is definitely getting the shorter end of the stick, but in a few (5) months it will end and he won't be commuting, but will probably be working even longer hours. Owning your own business is no joke. We are grateful he works so hard and complains so little. Except on days when I don't have any dinner ready. : )

So there you have it. Our first month is Pleasant Grove has been eventful. I'm entering my 3rd trimester now and with open arms. My 2nd wasn't as kind to me as last time, so at least I'm nearing the end of this pregnancy. Although I'm still in denial about what that means... a new baby. How is this my life??

I've always had a thing for pitchers...

It used to have a big time crush on Tim Hudson, little did I know my own husband was such a talented pitcher too? Mobil Oil was sponsoring a Salt Lake Bee's game, and they asked John to throw out the first pitch. Naomi stayed home and John and I took Boston to his first baseball game to watch him throw the first pitch from the field. It was a perfect pitch and I was very impressed. Way to go, Honey. You still got it. : )

Weekend in Denver

John's birthday gift from me was a weekend in Denver to see one of our favorites, Joshua Radin. We flew in friday night and came home sunday evening. It was the perfect getaway. We got some Christmas shopping done, drove by John's childhood homes, and even got to tour some amazing custom homes in his parents old neighborhood that happened to be having open houses. That is totally our idea of a good time! The concert was saturday night and it was amazing. We sort of accidentally ended up with the very best 2 seats in the house. He played almost all our favorites and his live performance did not disappoint. I would totally see him again in concert. In fact, he just added SLC to his tour so he is coming in March. Do it.

PS... don't know who Josh Radin is? Download these... "I'd Rather Be With You", "Paperweight", and "Winter". You might recognize them... a lot of his music is played on shows like Grey's Anatomy, Scrubs, and movies like Dear John, Catch and Release, and The Last Kiss. You can thank me later.

Father's Day

We spent Father's Day weekend in Sun Valley, Idaho. We rented a cabin on a golf course and enjoyed every minute of it. My parents and brothers met us there, and we got to celebrate my dad's birthday and Father's Day together.

The kids did awesome on the ride up there, the way home was a totally different experience, but whatever. Look how cute they are.

We did lot's of hanging out around the cabin. Boston wanted to throw "woks in the wogger" all day long, and a few days he did, until he literally ran out of rocks. Naomi loved hanging out on the deck and green with her "pops" and both kids relished in all the attention from my family.

The cabin had a hot tub on the back deck and we got in every night after the kids went to bed. We stayed in way too long talking and having lots of good adult conversations. We learned a lot about Tanner's girlfriend that John and I have yet to meet. Though I'm pretty sure we will know her very well, very soon!

The cabin had some bikes in the garage. All of Sun Valley and Ketchum are surrounded by an awesome loopy trail so we went for lots of walks and bike rides. Tanner wanted to do some off roading on this trip. This hill looks much smaller in the photo just so you know. I was scared... We had so much fun. We played EAGLE, like HORSE, but with bike tricks! I think I lost??

(first home run, look how shocked they are, and how proud John is!)

(second home run!)

After the golf course would close at night, we would go out and play on the green. One night Tanner and I started playing soccer. John came out of the cabin with a bat and ball and we set up to play home run derby. You might not believe me, but I was the first to hit a home run and it was awesome. They were all in shock. I'm no athlete, but I had some good luck that night. I totally won for my team. I was even better than you Tanner, don't you dare deny it.. I don't think I have swung a bat since YW softball, but I played like a pro. : )

We explored Hailey and found a cool park and hung out by the "ribber". Boston is a little obsessed with water. The weather was perfect the whole time and the busy season doesn't start until July, so we had everything to ourselves it felt like. I'm totally committed to making this a tradition. Father's Day weekend in Sun Valley. Who wants to come? By the way, if anyone can take a picture of my kids when they are BOTH looking at the camera, I will pay you 1 million dollars. Just thought I would throw that out there.

Sunday was Father's Day and we attended the ward in town. Then we spent the afternoon eating awesome food, enjoying long naps, and watching the US Open. I loved it.

My kids are seriously obsessed with "maa maa and papa". Boston talks about them ALL the time. He will randomly ask for them, and I know he is talking about my parents and not John's when he throws in "Tanna and Yandon". Otherwise I assume he is talking about his other grandparents. I'm glad he remembers these ones too : ) He prays for them and tells me sometimes "Mom, I scared. I scared of papa." He loves to play with papa and thinks when he scares him that it's hilarious. Luckily we get to see them both pretty soon.

Thank you mom and dad for making this happen. It was a blast and totally my kind of vacation. We are so glad we got to spend Dad's birthday and Father's Day with you. And I'm serious about a new tradition... we will be there.

Now, let me just say a few things about the father of my children...

I think you are awesome. Our kids are so lucky to have a dad that works so hard and is willing to play hard with them too. You are everything I'm not when it comes to this parenting business, and I appreciate that. One of us should be patient and calm and collected - and it's almost always you. I have a theory about marriage and parenting - I think that to be a good husband, you have to be a good dad, and to be a good dad, you have to be a good husband. So when I say you are a good dad to our kids, I really also feel like that makes you a great spouse and partner. I feel really lucky that you are so great at both. We love you, John. I hope you had a happy Father's Day. Oh, and I hope you thoroughly enjoy your HDTV. Sorry I held out so long. : )

5 Years

We spent our 5th anniversary as a family. Les Madelines for breakfast, the Zoo, and then a romantic night out to Cucina Toscana and a little kid-free shopping. It's been a beautiful 5 years, and I couldn't be happier with where we are at now.
Happy 5 years, honey.

for the dads:

look how cute your kids are. we miss you. come back to california soon. everthing is better here.

30 years of special (like 2 weeks ago)

so far behind... John's birthday was Nov. 2nd and I think I started this post the day after. It's now the 13th... don't even worry about it.

Yesterday was John's 30th. He apparently isn't that into big celebrations, so we kept it low key. 4 1/2 years of marriage and I'm still figuring out how to make John's birthday right. I have failed miserably many times, but that's another story for another day. This year, he worked and I spent the day running around town getting a few things to make his "low key" birthday special. We finger painted a poster for him with the kids sloppy handprints, wrapped his presents (movies, Scrubs season 8 and a Nintendo Wii) made his favorite treats (reeses peanut butter cup cookies) cleaned the house, decorated the table, got balloons, picked up take out, and then waited for him to come home. I thought it was a success.

I love you honey. I'm lucky to have you and our kids are lucky too. Remember that promise I made to you on your 29th birthday? I kept it! What is the new goal? 4 by 32? Possible, possible.

Our Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to the best dad I know. Thank you for being so wonderful to our kids. Thank you for making our family your number one priority. We think your the best dad ever.

And because I know you will think this is funny, here are some words of wisdom from Liz Lemon-

"Look, I don't have a lot of personal life experience, but if I have learned anything from my Sims family, when a child doesn't see his father enough, he starts to jump up and down, and then his mood level will drop, till he pees himself."

So thanks for being around honey.

We spent the day after church, up at John's parents house. It's Boston's favorite place on earth I think. He is totally attached to Grandma and Grandpa, especially after staying with them for a few days while we were in Oregon. I love that he loves them so much, but it makes me sad my parents are so far away from my kids. We miss our California grandparents!

John's mom just got herself a Rhino. She is so excited about it, and says it's mainly to deliver casseroles around the neighborhood. Guess that is one benefit of living in Utah, your ward boundaries are so small that driving your car seems ludicrous, so this is a justifiable expense..?? She is so funny.

All the cousins wanted rides with Grandpa. Boss even enjoyed it.

Miss Naomi is in heaven at Grandma's house too, because someone is ALWAYS holding her. My kids are spoiled.

Speaking of spoiled, Chesney and Boston snuck away with the bowl of melted chocolate and ate until their hearts content.

Somehow, it the middle of all the chaos, Naomi took a nap. By the time we left (late late late) that night, we were all exhausted from a fun day celebrating our daddies.

Wish we could have shared the day with you too, Grandpa Hunt!