Happy Father's Day to the man I love. You should know, Bri, that we love and appreciate you so much. You are so talented, and hard-working. We are the luckiest to have you for a husband and father.
For Father's Day we got Whitney and Taylor ready to go with Brad in the morning, we gave presents before they left. We gave Brian the movie Dan In Real Life (so good), a big chocolate bar, some beef jerky (the only present he specifically requested) and a "future router". "Future" because he had not yet decided which one he wanted, so I told him we'd get it as soon as he was ready. (Side note: Knowing Brian and his tools, it won't be long. He'll want this new toy very soon, especially since he's been recording and watching Norm Abram on the DVR. He's like Norm's apprentice, Norm just doesn't know!)
After Brad left with Whit & Tay we headed to church, and afterward we went to my parents' for dinner. It was a great day, and I am grateful for days such as these that remind me to tell Brian all the things we should say every day, but sometimes don't.
June 15, 2008
June 13, 2008
3 Months and Growing... BIG!
Here's our "little" man at three months-old. He's chubby. And oh-my-so-cute! Check out those dimples around his elbow, those cheeks, and if you could see those thighs!
We love how happy he seems to be. He is content most of the time (unless hunger strikes), and he smiles and laughs! Those are the sweetest sounds.
June 12, 2008
Red Butte Garden
So, last year we bought a membership to Hogle Zoo. This was a first. This week we were invited to a "members only night" - one of three nights where they open the zoo after hours to members only.
Problem #1: Tonight was the only night of the three that we had good weather. Problem #2: I think EVERYONE that goes to the zoo, or has ever heard of the zoo, is a member of the zoo. Problem #3: We did not know about problem #2 until we pulled onto Sunnyside Ave, and saw the cars lining both sides of the street, then the full parking lot, then the full overflow parking lot.
If you don't know, we don't like crowds. We're social, very much so in fact. But we don't like being shoulder-to-shoulder, especially with strangers, or standing in lines, or the smells that accompany giant heaps of giant people. So, when we saw what we saw, we knew it did not spell fun, but when you've driven the distance, you've gotta come up with an alternate plan quickly. And we're so glad we did! In fact, I think we decided we were glad that the zoo was too crowded, because it was such a gorgeous evening and we had such a delightful time wandering Red Butte Garden.
Have you ever been? I have, for a beautiful wedding, a child's fun birthday party, and maybe again to roam just for pleasure. Brian had only been there for concerts, so I was happy that we could wander with the kids around the gardens. I'm not kidding when I say this place is wonderful! The gardens are spectacular for the senses! We let the kids play in the sand box for a bit while we enjoyed incredible views of the city and valley. We walked fragrant paths and had such a peaceful, quiet time. We found out the names of some of our favorite trees, which we want to plant when we move into a home, and we watched the ducks in the pond. When the sun began to set, it cooled off rather quickly, and Whitney cooled off a little more when she fell at the little splash pad near the children's garden, so it was time to go home. On our way out we heard and danced to some great music coming from an outdoor wedding reception there, and then the kids played on the elevators until we caught both of them on the same floor. Good times.
I think we'll get to the zoo before our membership expires (on a less-crowded day), but I also think we'll purposefully not go to the zoo again sometime soon. ;)
Funny side note: So, the entire time we were there we thought we had forgotten the camera, and then when we were packing up the stroller Brian found it in one of the compartments! So, no pictures of this outing, except for in our hearts and your imaginations!
Problem #1: Tonight was the only night of the three that we had good weather. Problem #2: I think EVERYONE that goes to the zoo, or has ever heard of the zoo, is a member of the zoo. Problem #3: We did not know about problem #2 until we pulled onto Sunnyside Ave, and saw the cars lining both sides of the street, then the full parking lot, then the full overflow parking lot.
If you don't know, we don't like crowds. We're social, very much so in fact. But we don't like being shoulder-to-shoulder, especially with strangers, or standing in lines, or the smells that accompany giant heaps of giant people. So, when we saw what we saw, we knew it did not spell fun, but when you've driven the distance, you've gotta come up with an alternate plan quickly. And we're so glad we did! In fact, I think we decided we were glad that the zoo was too crowded, because it was such a gorgeous evening and we had such a delightful time wandering Red Butte Garden.
Have you ever been? I have, for a beautiful wedding, a child's fun birthday party, and maybe again to roam just for pleasure. Brian had only been there for concerts, so I was happy that we could wander with the kids around the gardens. I'm not kidding when I say this place is wonderful! The gardens are spectacular for the senses! We let the kids play in the sand box for a bit while we enjoyed incredible views of the city and valley. We walked fragrant paths and had such a peaceful, quiet time. We found out the names of some of our favorite trees, which we want to plant when we move into a home, and we watched the ducks in the pond. When the sun began to set, it cooled off rather quickly, and Whitney cooled off a little more when she fell at the little splash pad near the children's garden, so it was time to go home. On our way out we heard and danced to some great music coming from an outdoor wedding reception there, and then the kids played on the elevators until we caught both of them on the same floor. Good times.
I think we'll get to the zoo before our membership expires (on a less-crowded day), but I also think we'll purposefully not go to the zoo again sometime soon. ;)
Funny side note: So, the entire time we were there we thought we had forgotten the camera, and then when we were packing up the stroller Brian found it in one of the compartments! So, no pictures of this outing, except for in our hearts and your imaginations!
June 11, 2008
Sleepy Head
Yea for James! Yea for me!! This near perfect beautiful baby boy of ours slept for almost six hours straight last night. Finally. I need better sleep and I see the light at the end of this tunnel. Pray that soon this will be habit - better yet, that he will do even better and give me eight. One day. I know it can happen.
June 9, 2008
Buy Me Some Peanuts and Cracker Jacks
Tonight we went to the Bees game! It was much fun - and not just because we ate hot dogs, nachos, pretzels, and snow cones. It was a good game too- they beat Tacoma Rainiers and didn't even have to play the bottom of the ninth!
We thought this would be fun for the kids, and easy on us, so we took the train to Franklin Covey Field. It was Tay's first time on the train, and he really liked it! (If you haven't done this, you should. Very convenient, 'cause it drops you off right near the park, and if you have kids, you're awesome for scoring them a ride on the train!)
Of course the kids would rather watch the mascot than the game, but it was a family night at the ball park, and so it didn't matter. Even James enjoyed himself, sometimes tucked inside Daddy's jacket!
Awe, isn't that cute?
Also, par for the course, we didn't take the camera, so we took some poor-quality pictures with Bri's phone.
The ball park is no louder than a normal day at our house, I swear!
Not a great picture, but the only one I took of Whit with Mr. Bee. (I have no idea what his name is.) He autographed her arm - she thought it was so cool!
June 4, 2008
Last Day of School
Whitney finished the first grade today at West Jordan Elementary. I can hardly believe how quickly time seems to go by sometimes! Feels like she just began Kindergarten. (Though I'm sure I'll be saying the same thing each and every year until she graduates high school.)
Some first grade facts, according to Whit:
Her teacher: Miss Gardner
Favorite subject: Art
Favorite book: Junie B. First Grader
Favorite activity: Four square (this is a middle school memory for Kristen, "For Pete's sake, it's only four square!")
Favorite cafeteria food: Chicken nuggets
Favorite boy: Brandt
Favorite girls: Braelyn, Emily, Adrienne, Alissa
Favorite memory: Meeting friends
Most embarrassing moment: boys making fun (mean boys!)
Favorite holiday: "I loved Halloween, but my favorite was Valentines."
One achievement Whitney had was in spelling. With each test on Friday, they had a bonus word, and there wasn't one test throughout the entire school year that Whitney did not get "11 out of 10" on her test! We are so proud of our little speller!
I think the biggest academic improvement Whitney made was in her reading. She's been a good reader for a couple years now, but her reading level soared this year. She really enjoys reading chapter books on her own now. She also did well in math. We had fun doing math homework at our house this year.
She's a social butterfly (don't know where she gets it) and was able to make a lot of friends. I was actually surprised when at conferences her teacher didn't say "Whitney is too talkative." I guess she's not exactly like her mom!
Bring on the second grade, we're ready!
Some first grade facts, according to Whit:
Her teacher: Miss Gardner
Favorite subject: Art
Favorite book: Junie B. First Grader
Favorite activity: Four square (this is a middle school memory for Kristen, "For Pete's sake, it's only four square!")
Favorite cafeteria food: Chicken nuggets
Favorite boy: Brandt
Favorite girls: Braelyn, Emily, Adrienne, Alissa
Favorite memory: Meeting friends
Most embarrassing moment: boys making fun (mean boys!)
Favorite holiday: "I loved Halloween, but my favorite was Valentines."
One achievement Whitney had was in spelling. With each test on Friday, they had a bonus word, and there wasn't one test throughout the entire school year that Whitney did not get "11 out of 10" on her test! We are so proud of our little speller!
I think the biggest academic improvement Whitney made was in her reading. She's been a good reader for a couple years now, but her reading level soared this year. She really enjoys reading chapter books on her own now. She also did well in math. We had fun doing math homework at our house this year.
She's a social butterfly (don't know where she gets it) and was able to make a lot of friends. I was actually surprised when at conferences her teacher didn't say "Whitney is too talkative." I guess she's not exactly like her mom!
Bring on the second grade, we're ready!
June 1, 2008
CNG to the NGV for the same MPG but lower CAP (cost at pump!)
Today Brian came home with his new wheels! That's right, he'd been driving the same car for 12 whole months, so it was time to shake things up a bit.
Actually, the reason for the change was three-fold: 1) The price of gasoline will continue to rise, and we are doing something about it for our family. 2) The tax incentive on our new Natural Gas Vehicle (NGV) will give us $7,000 next year, which almost completely off-sets the cost of buying a new one rather than used. 3) NGVs, which are running on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) are estimated to last twice as long as those with engines that run on gasoline.
Brian researched his decision for a long while. One site he's become a member of is CNGChat, where he gained a lot of information, especially that which helped him plan his route and fill-up strategy home from California once he decided to buy. He sold his red '03 Honda Accord Coupe with the V-6 manual transmission and bought a white 2008 Honda Civic GX, with power similar to that of a 4-cylinder. No sunroof, no leather. There is virtually no trunk space, and the horn is a weak excuse. But it's new, it's nice, it has the MP3 jack (that the Accord does not), it fits the whole family for now, and when you're filling up for 65 cents per gallon (equivalent), there's not a whole lot of complaining to do.
Now, there are planned increases for CNG fuel costs; in July it'll go up to about 85 cents per, and in October may be about $1.05, but hopefully theses increases mean more infrastructure in the future. (Currently there are about six filling stations in the Salt Lake valley.) There's also fear that another company will buy the pumps in Utah from Questar, and that would mean a significant increase, though still less than gasoline.
One more benefit, though slightly less attractive to Brian is the fact that it is the CLEANEST vehicle on the road, second only to the electric car. But Brian wants people to know that he's not green, he's just cheap! I think he wants to stick it a bit to the tree-hugging liberals, though, as he boasts, "My Civic is cleaner than your Prius!"
He did buy out of California, because the wait here in UT is eight-10 months, and it didn't cost a whole lot (including the CA premium) to get there and get them home. Bri flew direct into Burbank for $99 on Jet Blue early Saturday morning, drove a rental car about 120 miles to Palm Springs, got picked up by the dealership where he was buying his new car, and got back on the road early that afternoon. It was about 700 miles from Indio to home and he stopped along the way at every station he could to top off (because I told him if he got stranded he was in BIG trouble)! He did stay the night at Mom's in St. George Saturday and got home today in the early afternoon. My favorite was when he called from Fillmore and told me he filled up his tank for $2.92 while gasoline was well over $4.00 per gallon.
We are excited about this new purchase! It will save us a whole lot of moolah in the long run. (Yes, I told Brian in order to make this car worth it we had to keep it longer than he had ever kept a car before; and to make it a really great deal, we'll keep it until it no longer wants to run.)
Actually, the reason for the change was three-fold: 1) The price of gasoline will continue to rise, and we are doing something about it for our family. 2) The tax incentive on our new Natural Gas Vehicle (NGV) will give us $7,000 next year, which almost completely off-sets the cost of buying a new one rather than used. 3) NGVs, which are running on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) are estimated to last twice as long as those with engines that run on gasoline.
Brian researched his decision for a long while. One site he's become a member of is CNGChat, where he gained a lot of information, especially that which helped him plan his route and fill-up strategy home from California once he decided to buy. He sold his red '03 Honda Accord Coupe with the V-6 manual transmission and bought a white 2008 Honda Civic GX, with power similar to that of a 4-cylinder. No sunroof, no leather. There is virtually no trunk space, and the horn is a weak excuse. But it's new, it's nice, it has the MP3 jack (that the Accord does not), it fits the whole family for now, and when you're filling up for 65 cents per gallon (equivalent), there's not a whole lot of complaining to do.
Now, there are planned increases for CNG fuel costs; in July it'll go up to about 85 cents per, and in October may be about $1.05, but hopefully theses increases mean more infrastructure in the future. (Currently there are about six filling stations in the Salt Lake valley.) There's also fear that another company will buy the pumps in Utah from Questar, and that would mean a significant increase, though still less than gasoline.
One more benefit, though slightly less attractive to Brian is the fact that it is the CLEANEST vehicle on the road, second only to the electric car. But Brian wants people to know that he's not green, he's just cheap! I think he wants to stick it a bit to the tree-hugging liberals, though, as he boasts, "My Civic is cleaner than your Prius!"
He did buy out of California, because the wait here in UT is eight-10 months, and it didn't cost a whole lot (including the CA premium) to get there and get them home. Bri flew direct into Burbank for $99 on Jet Blue early Saturday morning, drove a rental car about 120 miles to Palm Springs, got picked up by the dealership where he was buying his new car, and got back on the road early that afternoon. It was about 700 miles from Indio to home and he stopped along the way at every station he could to top off (because I told him if he got stranded he was in BIG trouble)! He did stay the night at Mom's in St. George Saturday and got home today in the early afternoon. My favorite was when he called from Fillmore and told me he filled up his tank for $2.92 while gasoline was well over $4.00 per gallon.
We are excited about this new purchase! It will save us a whole lot of moolah in the long run. (Yes, I told Brian in order to make this car worth it we had to keep it longer than he had ever kept a car before; and to make it a really great deal, we'll keep it until it no longer wants to run.)
May 28, 2008
Level II
Congratulations, Whiterney!!
Today she advanced to level two gymnastics at Academy West. She's been going there for about a year now and has made great progress. We love watching her improve upon her skill, and are amazed at her talent.
Way to go Whit!
Today she advanced to level two gymnastics at Academy West. She's been going there for about a year now and has made great progress. We love watching her improve upon her skill, and are amazed at her talent.
Way to go Whit!
May 26, 2008
Memorial Weekend
We sure enjoyed the holiday weekend this year. We started out in St. George with Bri's mom on Friday. It was a good visit, especially since we hadn't seen her since James was just a couple weeks old. Brian got a few things done around the house (such a good son), and on Sunday we were able to attend Sacrament meeting in an assisted living home, because Mom was invited to play the accompaniment music for them that day. That was definitely interesting! Brian and I said the opening and closing prayers, and they had speakers from the area (good talks).
Then after lunch, we headed north to Salina, where my grandpa (dad's dad) and Faye live six months out of the year. There are always good times in Salina! We were able to meet up with my parents and JenEric. We also got to see my dad's sister, Brenda, and some of her kids, so that was nice, especially since we don't see them often.
(Whit and Tay slept well at the Best Western.)
Monday began with a breakfast put on by the Lion's Club. We ate lots of good pancakes and eggs, and then got on our way to Wayne County for the visiting of the cemeteries.
My grandma (dad's mom) is buried in Bicknell. It's a beautiful place, as far as cemeteries go, so I enjoy visiting there. We also drove around Loa and Fremont, and I was able to show Brian where Grandpa lived as a little boy, and my dad recalled memories of his childhood, visiting his grandfather in those towns. Vardell is always good for a trip down memory lane - and I usually appreciate and hang on every word.
Whitney and Grandpa Taylor in front of his headstone
Steph, Mom, Dad, Jen
Grandpa, James, Dad, Steph
We went back to Salina and had lunch before heading home.
Thank goodness for portable DVD players! What did our parents do?
Mom, Faye, Aunt Brenda
I was glad to spend the weekend with family and begin the summer with a tradition. May 19, 2008
Potty Train
If you've been at our house the last six months or so, you've seen this picture of the "Potty Train" hanging on the doors of our bathrooms. For about a year now, we've been potty training Taylor, and more recently motivating him with this train track. But it wasn't until three and-a-half weeks ago that I got serious about it.Call me crazy - James was only about six weeks old, but I had had enough of the gross diapers that accompany a three-year-old. I was never going to be the mom that potty trained by allowing the child to roam naked throughout the house, but that's exactly what I did. I had heard of this method, but the reasoning as I understood it was to eliminate the absorbency of a diaper, so your child knows what it feels like to be wet or soiled. While I can see how this could be effective, I am not sane enough to handle the mess that would accompany such behavior.
So, I went ahead with my own reasoning behind the naked method: If there is no diaper or underoos to "go in" - he must choose the toilet. And gladly I proclaim, for the most part anyway - it worked! Yes, it takes diligence on Mom's part, but it's sooo worth it. This may not work for the "nice mom", but I think my kids understand my temperament and know they can't have accidents. To me, there are few things worse that urine or feces in your carpet.
And so we celebrate! Tonight for FHE, we had Family Out Evening and visited IKEA (for the first time) and purchased LOTS more track for Taylor's trains. He was so excited and we are so proud of him! Good job, Tay!
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