our president's day get-away

(I know, Eli doesn't match in the slightest, but he's warm and that's what matters. And he LOVES to play in the snow! Someday, I'll find his matching coat, but for now, it'll have to stay shoved in some random box that I have yet to open from the basement)

The first few weeks of February have been really busy. Crazy busy! Not to mention the "ho-hum" days of this weird winter. We've felt busy beyond control and yet cooped up with not much to do, all at the same time! Needless to say, our break from reality and trip to the cabin was a welcome treat for us all!

We left as soon as Scott could get away from work on Thursday, made it to the cabin around 8:30 that night and enjoyed ourselves until Monday morning. We got home Monday night around 5:30p. We love going to cabin, it is such a great location, so relaxing, and so fun for the kids. We are never ready to leave when it's time! Plus, we had tons of snow up there! That was the funnest part. And it snowed most of Friday and ALL day on Saturday. We awoke Sunday morning to enormous snow drifts and got stuck a couple times on our way home from church. It was so fun though. 

 Here we are with our cute little eskimos. The boys were loving all the snow and had a great time playing it. We rode the little snowmobile around all day and went tubing down our awesome tubing hill in front of the cabin. Scott and I enjoyed a little snow-shoeing and the boys just played and played to their hearts content outside. The weather was perfect. Even the snowy day! The best part about being at the cabin is that when the weather is snowy or rainy, it doesn't really matter! It is so fun to be there and cozy up by the fire or make yummy food, chit chat, play games whatever. You don't have to GO anywhere, so no matter the weather, it's always a great time!

Will and Scott dug this tunnel. Will loved crawling in it..... Eli, not so much.....

Probably the most exciting thing to happen at the cabin was Sunday morning. Will lost his FIRST tooth! We were all super excited for him. It'll be a great memory for him! I can't believe how big he is getting. We put his tooth in a baggie so he could put it in his special cubby at the cabin to keep for always!

 It's just a little hole.... you have to look close. It's pretty cute though!

We were able to take some friends with us this time. Here's our group, we had a blast! All of us have boys, and then our friends the Wards have one girl. So it was a house full of boys, but they had a great time and all played SO well together. I was pretty proud of them.

This picture is a little more accurate. You can see what kind of weekend we had together.......

The food was delicious, the company was great, and I stayed up WAY too late. It was a great trip! Thanks guys!! (Left to Right: US, Justin and Andrea Jory (and boys: Braden, Jaren, and James), Julie and Morgan Smith (and Nixon), Megan and Jon Ward (Ethan, Will, and Britta)

breakfast in bed

A couple weeks ago, before going to sleep Will said, "Wouldn't it be fun if we could eat breakfast in our beds?! Like, you could make breakfast and I could just stay in my bed and eat it right here?!" So I told him I would do that for him the next morning. Naturally, I forgot and went to exercise. Being the amazing Dad that he is, Scott got up and made Will and Eli breakfast! I got home just in time to help him take it up to them in their beds. It was so cute, they LOVED it! And we didn't even have any spills or messes. I loved the looks on their faces and how they talked about how fun it was.

A couple weeks ago, we met Glenn and Martha at the new Natural History Museum. It was awesome! They brought Caleb and Ivie and Sadie down with them and the kids had a great time. This was the only picture I got..... Eli and Dad holding a Moroccan Cockroach. GROSS!

It was really fun to see all the cool dinosaurs and learn all about the natural history of Utah. They had some great displays and lots of fun stuff that the kids could touch and handle. I think we'll go back again for sure! After the museum, we went and had lunch at Hires. YUM. I haven't had a hamburger in forever, so it tasted SO good. Why is that? It was a fun family Saturday!

I've been slacking at posting on the blog, but we've been super busy! The weather has been incredible, and we've enjoyed getting to play outside occasionally. Our ward just split, so we are in new callings and getting used to that. Will is still doing great at Violin and Jr. Jazz.

I'm hoping I can get back to my routine of posting every Sunday.... we'll see how it goes!

Infertility

I've tried a million times to put into words exactly how I feel about our infertility. Finally for the first time, someone has said it perfectly for me. I know there are many women (and husbands) out there who struggle with similar issues, my heart goes out to you. This is a never-ending trial and best thing I know to do is try to stay positive, happy, and grateful for what I DO have.... even when I want to be mad, bitter, angry, jealous, and just plain sad and depressed. Infertility doesn't just go away, even when you have babies by some other means than creating them yourself. Infertility starts to define you and who you are as a person, every, single, day, of your existence. I can honestly say that there is NOT one single day that goes by that I don't think about getting pregnant, being pregnant, or having a baby. I'm pretty sure my entire life will be like that.  It goes against every fiber of my being to not know why my body isn't working, when it's done it before! It drives me absolutely crazy. 

 Don't get me wrong.... I'm not trying to sound pitiful. Just having one of those days.......

We are SO blessed, and I have an indescribable joy being a mother to my beautiful boys. I love every minute of it. Families are created in all sorts of ways and for that I'm grateful. We are so lucky, we have what many other couples do not. I am so grateful that I have had the experience of both, adopting and having a biological child. What a blessing and a miracle!

Love this article, I've tried to express these feelings to so many people, and she says it wonderfully. Hope you enjoy! Here's the link in case you're curious! 

A View of Birth from an Infertile Womb by Mariah Wickham

January 25, 2012

 

Heart-in-hand gloves by Yastik izi.

I gave birth 7 1/2 years ago. It was an ordinary labor and delivery, free of complications. Because it was my first, the 10 hours it took from start to finish felt average and acceptable. My boy came screaming into this world weighing 8 lbs. 7 oz at 10:14 am. My husband and I beamed from ear to ear, but no different than other first time parents I’m sure. It was a Wednesday and the last day of March. The weather was typical of early spring in these parts: overcast with a few beams of sunshine.

As he grew we desired to add to our family and see him become a big brother. In fact, we wanted lots of children. We would discover along our journey many painful reports of infertility. We went through in-vitro fertilization 4 times. The third time we became pregnant but then had an early miscarriage. We also prepared for a year for an adoption trip to Russia that ended in failure. Our hearts broke over and over as we struggled to understand why nothing seemed to work out for us. And yet, we had a son who was growing before our eyes. At one time we were able to create life which gave us so much hope for the future, but now life felt replete with heartbreak and discouragement.

In correlation with this discouragement and the setbacks of our efforts, the day of my son’s birth has morphed into the miracle it was always meant to be. Viewing it as a long ways from typical at this point, I see his birth much differently. I embrace him and offer thanks each day for I am more acquainted now with the odds of us conceiving. I also realize that we could go bankrupt trying and still be where we started so I should be content with what we’ve been given. But most of all, I feel grateful because what once felt average now feels awe-inspiring. What once was ordinary is now anything but — we were given a gift that day. A gift so special it would never be repeated or imitated. A miraculous gift that I plan on celebrating for the rest of my life.

From Mariah Wickham.

"but i've been dying for a wii!!"

We couldn't resist. We knew Will REALLY wanted a Wii for Christmas but we kept telling him that he couldn't get one. So we decided we would trick him into thinking he didn't get a Wii.... it was pretty funny. I love this video... it's going to be a classic!

a little bit of sunshine in the middle of winter

Okay, honestly? This winter has been so weird. Where is the snow??? I'm all thrown off kilter without the snow, the storms, and the COLD weather. It still feels like we have to stay inside all the time just because it's WINTER, so it was so fun to receive this delicious box of AZ citrus last week! These are super fresh, picked from the tree and sent that day. Yum, yum. We've been eating to our hearts content, the oranges, two kinds of grapefruit, and super sweet lemons (for my diet pepsi) :)

a very merry christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas! It was by far one of my most favorite and memorable Holiday seasons. I felt like I was able to do so many fun things with my kids. We had a lot of fun doing our advent calendar and visiting family. It was a whirlwind, but it was great. Scott was done with work on Wednesday the 21st so we cleaned the house and took off to Logan for a few days. We played and stayed up way too late but had a fun time visiting.

On Friday morning, we left Logan with my parents and headed home. Along the way we were able to stop by see Del and Cheryl (Eli's biological sister's family). It was great (as usual) to see them and give them our gifts. They spoiled us as well. Then we headed to Kneaders for lunch, stopped quick at our house to unload the boys' new beds! Finally! The boys have beds! They love them and they look so cute in their room.

Then we headed up to West Valley to the Hale Theater to see A Christmas Carol. It was amazing! We had such a fun time. Scott's parents met us there with my parents. It was such a great time, I'm so glad we did it. Afterward, we headed home for some snacking and chatting. :) Both our parents stayed over night, so on Christmas Eve morning I made a big yummy breakfast. I made stuffed French Toast which was divine and sausage, hash-browns, and fruit. It was a great way to begin Christmas! Christmas Eve night, we went to the hospital and sang carols and had Will play his violin. Then we headed up to SLC to see the lights on Temple Square. It was chilly, but so beautiful. The boys enjoyed all the lights and nativities and the big Christmas Trees. I just loved being with my little family and taking in the moments!

After Temple Square, it was back home for tortilla soup and Christmas Eve PJ's! We read the nativity story in Luke 2, had a family prayer and then opened PJ's. The boys insisted that they sleep in their sleeping bags in our room. After they fell asleep, we (Scott and I plus my parents) watched A Christmas Story. It's a classic! We love that movie!

 Christmas morning was great. We have church at 9am, so we let the boys open their stockings and then we had to get ready for church. We had a great musical program and I found myself wishing that Christmas was on a Sunday every year. It was a great way to start the best day of the year. Taking the sacrament and remembering our Savior's birth. After church, we rushed back home to put back on our PJ's and open presents.

 The boys were more than happy with their gifts this year! Will was shocked and suprised with his Wii and Eli was super content and excited about his trains and train table. Eli didn't really know what was going on and it took him all day to catch on that there were fun things inside his gifts.

 After we opened gifts, we made a yummy dinner. We had a pasta bar with skewered tortellini with creamy pesto dipping sauce, baked ravioli with marinara, and fettucini with homemade alfredo. It was super yummy. We also had a big green salad, roasted asparagus, and frozen fruit salad. It was delish!

 I thought our table turned out so pretty I loved it. We had yummy sparkling cider in apple and pear and the touch of white green looked so festive! I made our napkin rings (thanks Stacey!!) and I thought they turned out great. My mom gave me her china and I couldn't wait to use it. I think it is so beautiful and just perfect, something I would pick out for myself. It looked really pretty with the red and green.

 For the kiddos, they got lingon berry juice boxes and they got to use my bird plates. It was such a fun day!!! After dinner, my sister and brother and their families stayed and hung out for the afternoon/evening. We played games, ate more food (of course!) and chatted for hours.

Christmas was a great day. It is so fun with kids I absolutely love it! The day after Christmas we got to see our friends from OH. It was SO fun to see them and visit with them. We miss them so much! I'm so glad they were able to make time for us. :)

On Tuesday after Christmas, we cleaned and packed up the house again and headed up to the cabin. Unfortunately we were having so much fun at the cabin that I took ZERO pictures. We were at the cabin all week and had a blast. We played in the snow, went sledding, watched lots of movies, played the Wii, and made lots of yummy food. The kids love the cabin and love playing with their cousins. We just loved hanging out and not having a schedule. We played games and just had a lot of fun with everyone. We left the cabin headed for Logan on Saturday. Spent the night at Glenn and Martha's and then went to my parents farewell on Sunday morning. We had dinner with my family and hung out there for awhile and then on Monday, Scott's mom had a family party at her house. After THAT, we were finally on our way home.

This week we have been trying to recover and get back into the swing of things! It was a fabulous holiday and we loved every minute.... even though we were busy and traveling, it was wonderful.

Merry Christmas all and I hope your new year is going great!

hunting for elves and a recital

 Friday was Will's last day of school until the New Year! I can't believe we are half way through Kindergarten already.... the months have FLOWN by. Each day my little baby Will gets older and bigger. It is such a fun age though I really love it. On Friday, to celebrate, we went with my sister and her kids (everything is funner with cousins!) and met my Mom at Gardener Village. We love to go to Gardner, it is a really fun historic mill with lots of great shops (not for kiddos, though) and they do a witches display in October and Elves during Christmas time. The displays are super fun and the kids have a lot of fun walking around to look at them. We did a little Elf scavenger hunt and then stopped off at the candy story to cash in for our prize! It was chilly, but we were bundled up and had a great time.

 I love this picture of my mom with 6 of her 25 (almost 26) grandkids! All the kids (except Eli) are smiling at the camera, I love it. This is such a great time of year and there are so many fun things to experience with your kids. Thanks for the fun day mom and Krista!

On Saturday, Will had his first official violin recital. We played at a Nursing home for some of the cute little old people. They really enjoyed it and Will did a fantastic job! He played his twinkles..... and then parts of Jingle Bells and Jolly Old St. Nicolas. This is not a great picture of him (I think he was a little nervous) or his sweet teacher Ms. Gina, but they did a great job. We LOVE Ms. Gina, she has seriously been the greatest teacher for Will. We are happy (and feel lucky!) to have found her and hopefully be able to stay with her for several years. She's awesome, if you are in the area and looking to start a child in violin, she's awesome!

I am so proud of Will and his violin accomplishments. He really is doing a great job and working so hard at learning to play. GOOD JOB Will!

all the who's down in whoville

This week was Will's big GRINCH play at school! He did fantastic. His line was "All the who's down in whoville liked Christmas a lot, but the Grinch who lived just north of whoville DID NOT!" They sang songs, told a shortened version of the Grinch story and all looked so cute. Before sending him out the door to school, I snapped a couple pictures in his "Whoville" costume. He looked so great! And of course, Eli insists on being in the picture, but when in the picture insists on squinting and doing crazy faces. This illustrates perfectly the difference between my children. I LOVE IT!

(Above) sitting on the stage with his classmates. I'm glad he had the santa hat on, he was easy to spot! (Below) At his desk in his classroom. I love to see all the little Kindergarteners. Will always seems so old to me, then I see his teeny tiny desk and remember that he is still my little buddy. My boys are growing up so fast.... how do I make it stop?

land of the cacti

 We just got home from an awesome visit to AZ to visit Liz, Scott's little sister. We had a BLAST! I didn't intentionally post the most unflattering picture of me ever, as the first one...... It just happened! Above, us in front of the Mesa temple. It was all lit up..... not quite like Temple Square, but it was still fun to see the temple, it is really pretty. Oh, did I mention i was FREEZING? Yes, I was. I thought AZ would be hot, so I didn't really go prepared for some chilly temps. Thanks for the blanket Liz!

 In front of the temple and reflection pool

 We did so many fun things while we were there. It was so odd to see palm trees lit up and Christmas decorations everywhere because it did not feel like December with all the sunshine and "warmish" days. We went to a really cool Luminaria display at the botanical gardens. It was awesome. It was so fun to see all the cactus and everything all lit up. We heard some really fun bands play and we laughed alot. Okay, we laughed hysterically pretty much the whole trip......

 I love the palm trees!!

 We got to see our good friends from MN, the Jenkins. It was SO fun to see them, and have a nice long lunch with them. ;) Their kids are adorable and getting so big! Shalee looked gorgeous as usual and I looked like I had just been hiking... which I had..... :) We ate at really yummy places while in AZ, my favorite was America's Taco Shop. It was so good, I was craving more of it the whole trip!

 We went on such a fun hike. It was pretty much straight up the side of the mountain, but it was great. It had a really cool view and the weather was perfect. It was a little windy and chilly on top of the mountain, but the sunshine was amazing! Of course Louie, Liz's cute dog came with us. He was a chap and did awesome at hiking.

 We loved all the different kinds of cactus. They are so unique and such strange plants. Scott even got attacked by a jumping cactus..... we counted 24 holes left over from the spines we pulled out. OUCH!

 This is the "jumping" cactus (above) and it literally jumped off when Scott got close to it (or when Liz kicked it) and stuck on Scott's hand! At the time it wasn't funny, but now it's a little funny remembering the whole event. :) Sorry Scott.

We had such a fun time. We ate awesome food, laughed A LOT, went shopping, sat in the hot tub, watched You Tube videos and laughed our guts out, and just had a blast. Scott and I enjoyed sleeping in and the little break from parenting (although we missed our boys terribly). Thanks to Glenn and Martha for everything and for watching our boys and spoiling them rotten while we were gone! Good times had by all....

And a special thanks to Liz (and Devin) for hosting us and being such a great sister and friend!! It was so fun to see you and spend time with you!! Love you!

gingerbread house

T

This day has been long anticipated since the day after Halloween. Will has been begging that we make gingerbread houses. I kept telling him "just wait, just wait, we'll do it, I promise!" I probably should have just let him go at it. But Gingerbread houses and all it entails can be a bit of work. This year, I secretly bought a premade house from Costco that comes with all the candy and such. Then I didn't have bags of bulk candy lying around my house for my eating pleasure! I loved it. It was great to just have it in the box until we were ready to use it, then pull it out with all the supplies, frosting, and everything ready to go in less than 5 minutes. Thank you Costco, once again you amaze me!

When Will pulled the activity out of our advent calendar and it was gingerbread houses he was SO excited. I made him practice violin, clean his room, and do all his chores BEFORE school, so that as soon as he came home, we could build our house. He was so obliging.... I need more positive rewards like that! Plus it was such a great time for the three of us (Scott was in St. George for work, otherwise, we would have waited for him of course). We got home from school and had the whole afternoon to spend on our house, and have fun together. I loved it and the boys had a blast.

 Every five minutes or so, Eli would disappear upstairs. Then he would sneak down and say "I'm right here mom!" I could tell he had been stealing candy and going upstairs to devour it. It was pretty funny. I wish I could have video taped it. Eli's job was to decorate a gingerbread man and then he just ate the candy. He loved every minute. He did NOT want to touch the frosting, so while decorating, he would just kind of drop the candy and hope it fell into frosting. It was pretty funny. I let Will do his own frosting and he did great. The boys had a lot of fun together.

 I love Eli's cheesy grin. I especially love that he always keeps a close eye on his big brother to see what he's doing.

 The finished product!.......

Whoever came up with this tradition was smart, creative, and loved to have fun. Seriously, sticking candy, with frosting onto a cookie house? That's genius.

Happy Holidays!