PHX with the BFF's...

(Disclaimer: Blogger is putting my photos is random order, again. )

So, Oliver and I got to take another trip to SUNNY Phoenix (not so sunny, by the way). It was magical. Rebecca and Ezra joined us along the way.

Here we are at Trader Joe's getting our picnic supplies:

Oliver loved having his own cart, which he rammed into everything he could.

This was not safe:

Here is the fierce little Mary. She is such a grown up! She and Oliver played really well together. Oliver is so enchanted with her.

May-may:

Here is Oliver....post hair cut. It still kills me. Big boy...

Here, Mary was pretending to be a horse.

We got one warm and sunny day:

Here we are at our picnic by a lake.

Here is Mary and Crit:

Reebs and EZ-Jay:

Me and the boy:

Here are the BFF's (second generation):

Back to Trader Joe's with Critti and Mary:

We went down by the water to feed the ducks.

Beautiful Mary:

Reebs and Ezra at the end of the dock....just taking it all in:

Mary:

Here are the BFF's.

I miss them already:

Mary....being.....Mary:

Oliver cash:

the BFF feets:

Crit's are the big ones....

(love you critti!, and your HUGE feet!)

Here we are by the lake:

There was a parade of boats that weekend. These boats decorate themselves with Christmas lights. It was pretty cool. There were also fire works.

Reebs and EZ-Jay...

Okay: Back to hte lake:

This is a stick.

When it is thrown at you, you may think it looks like a dead armadillo.

I certainly did.

It was an epic BFF weekend. Our babies got to bond and play. We had great late night talks.

Thank you to Matt and Kimmie for letting us ALL crash in their home!

Can't wait for the next one!

Hair cut...for REAL...

Here it is...I went to Phoenix to see the BFF's this past weekend.
We always do something monumental when we get together.
This time.....we cut Oliver's baby hair...OFF

Check out our little man:

Isn't this ridiculous? He's 12!!! I was worried that they would make me pay for him on the plane.
So cute.
More pics of our epic weekend to come...

PS: today, i just said Oliver's name in "that" tone that all Mom's come with (he was hitting the cat again) and he put himself in time out AGAIN!!!! I don't know what to do!

T-to the-R-to the O-U-B-L-EEE!

Ineffective dicipline...

Do NOT be fooled by the cute and innocent look on Oliver's face below:

There is DARKNESS brewing just beneath that sweet little face.

Yesterday, for the first time, we gave Oliver a "time out". He kept hitting Le Petite Kitton and so, I got our stool and put it in the corner and explained to him that if he chose to hit her again that it would mean that he would have to go to time out. Well, he hit that poor kitty again. So I sat him down, set the timer and he proceeded to laugh and talk to himself in the corner for 1 minute.

Great.

So, today: He threw a lego at me and hit me in the head. I said:
"Oliver, we do not throw. If you throw at me again, you will have to go to time out."
What does that little beloved monster of ours do?
He goes and gets the stool:

AND he climbs onto the stool and puts himself in time out.

It was hilarious.

He sat there and did a few significant signs to me, while babbling:

Here, he is telling me that he hit me in the head:

Here he is signing "hurt"

Here he is signing "sorry".

I did not prompt ANY of this. I just witnessed it (with a camera, of course).

As struck as I am by how intelligent and endearing this little man is, I am also scared to death. He has, as of yet, mocked pretty much all of my attempts at discipline.

Help.

Aw Snap...I am tagged...

Okay, I know I am cheesy...but people tag each other all the time and I never get tagged. Seriously. It is like being in Junior High again.

The lovely Kelli tagged me in her blog to do this....and now that I am typing this....I am wondering if she meant another Susan. I probably wasn't even ever tagged. Bummer. Back to Junior High with my-unpopular-self...again.

8 TV Shows I love to watch:
1. Heros
2. The Office
3. 30 Rock
4. LOST (come back, please)
5. Battlestar Gallactica (come back, please, PLEASE!!!!)
6. English League Soccer (only because I am forced)
7. Girls Next Door (don't ask)
8. Sex and the City re-runs


8. 8 Favorite Restaurants:

1. the Tree Room (sundance)
2. The Foundry Grill (sundance)
3. Zoom (sundance, seriously, we have the most amazing food)
4. Bajio
5. Happy Sumo
6. Pizzeria 712 (the former chef of Tree Room and pastry chef of Sundance left to form this amazing place, cheap and GOOD)
7. Yampona (great sushi in American Fork)
8. Arby's (hot ham and cheese....with curly fries....don't tell)


8 Things that happened YESTERDAY: (this could be a challenge!)
1. I had to wake up with the boy....it was my turn. But he loves me and totally slept in till 8am!!! I remember when I used to sleep til 11am.
2. I crawled into his room...he woke up talking and laughing...it made him laugh really hard when I popped up to surprise him.
3. Went to Costco.
4. Went to Smith's (grocery store)
5. Exchanged some jeans that I bought at Buckle: Listen: I tried on 31 (seriously) pair of jeans when I selected in the first round. They didn't work. SO--I took them back and tried on 42 pair and I ended up buying the SAME PAIR that I went into the store wearing. God bless my strange body.
6. Watched old family movies with Daniel. Hilarious. Endearing. I miss the south.
7. Had 2 Starbucks "doubleshots" . yeppers. I blame the boy for making me wake up so early (see #1)
8. Went to be early. Shocker.


8 Things I'm Looking Forward to
1. Summer
2. Going to see Critti and Mary (and hopefully Reebs and Ezra) in Phoenix in 10 days!
3. the next time we get to go home.....whenever that is....can't wait.
4. Getting pregnant. Yep....I said it. Bring it ON!
5. My next tattoo. As soon as I can afford it....it's all over my back. I am addicted. It is my jewelry.
6. The next episode of 30 Rock
7. Sleep. Sad, I know, but it is maybe my most favorite thing. Sad.
8. Waking up with the boy tomorrow. I love how his cheeks are so warm when he wakes up.


8 Things on my Wish List: (alright, time to get crazy)
1. I wish Bryce and I could just stay home all day and laugh, play with the boy, and eat lots of food--and gain no weight.
2. I wish I were pregnant. (see #4, above)
3. I wish I had more time to read.
4. I wish Battlestar Gallactica would come back already! I am such a nerd, and I blame my brother Matthew. With whom, I used to go to comic book conventions.
5. I wish I could hang out with Daniel every single day.
6. I wish everyone who was in love could get married.
7. I wish I could be a "runner".
8. I wish I had a million dollars. (had to say that)



8 People I Tag
1. Teri
2. Ruby
3. Devra
4. Andrea
5. Reebs
6. Critti
7. Katie Larsen
8. Chris L. (yeah right)

That was fun. I promise not to do that too often!

Hot Pots...

We had the privilege of going on an amazing hike to the hot pots near here with our friends Art, Jasmine and their lovely and amazing daughter, Astrid. It was so much fun.

Oliver was not crazy about the hike, but I kind of think that is our fault for not hiking enough with him. Once we got there, he had a blast! We all did.

Here are the Van Wagenens. Beautiful.

Here are Oliver and I before we got into the pools.

It is just SO beautiful there. I had no idea we had such an amazing place so close by.

Us, getting ready.

Me and my boy:

Thank you, Art and Jas for inviting us!

We had an amazing time.

Can't wait to do it again.

This one's for you, Chris....

I do not typically use my blog as a political forum. However, I have never been so emotionally attached to a political cause.

I quote my dearest friend, Chris, when I say "I couldn't have said it better".

Please enjoy with an open mind:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/27652443#27652443

Catching up on things...

FIRST, I need to explain something: Something is up with blogger. It has been posting my pictures in RANDOM orders. I've been fighting it for hours each time I try to post and have decided to just give up. I am going with the random order. I hope you enjoy the randomness.

So I am WAy behind on posting something VERY important!

After being without a full bathroom for over a month, we finally finished it! (a few weeks ago) and it was WELL worth the wait. Check it out:

Here is Oliver decked out in his winter gear. He looks so grown up.

I cannot believe I do not have more photos of this past weekend. My brother Arthur, wife Lori and kids Savannah and Jacob came to visit us for the weekend. We had such a great time.

Jacob and Savannah are so much fun and they really bonded with Oliver. Savannah just played and played with him. Jacob was the most fun to just talk to. He has the best perspective on things. We just love them.

Oliver had his 15 month shots today. It was so sad. I had stayed home sick from work (fighting a bad cold), so I as there to hold his little hand. His check up went well. He has actually lost weight from his last visit. Strange. He was such a fat boy for so long. They are not worried, but just want us to watch him. He's still unusually tall and has a big head to match his big body. Here he is sporting his band-aid.

He is doing the sign for "hurt".

Here are some more of the fabulous bathroom pictures.

It is so perfect. .

Had to share...

Okay, beautiful Robyn has this video on her blog. It was so touching that I had to share it also.

Please watch.

Realize how big our earth is and how small we are.

It made me think of how there are babies and beautiful dancing souls all over this planet that we can connect with.


Just click on this URL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY


ENJOY

Halloween in NEW HAMPSHIRE...

Okay....so, we decided to go to visit my brother and sister-in-law, Adam and Jenny, for Halloween AND their 5 wonderful and crazy kids.

The best part about this was that it was a surprise for Adam. Jenny, Bryce and I had be en planning this for months. We had laid everything out. Adam would be brought home from work by my Dad (Dad and Daniel were there as well, by the way). And we would just have Oliver playing in the mix with Adam and Jenny's 5 kids. I was so excited to see what would happen first....would adam notice that there was an extra kid? OR would he even notice that that kid was his nephew????

Well, in true Adam-form....he RUINED EVERYTHING!!!! When he got home, he decided to go to the BACK door and check on the chickens instead of coming in the front door.

Basically....he was totally surprised, but the perfect scenario we had imagined did not come true.

Nonetheless....we had an AMAZING time.

Here we are at Jessica's classroom listening to story time.

Here is Adam and Jenny's oldest son, Zachary.

And there is their only girl: Jessica.

By the way: Jessica is SO VERY girl that no other girls are needed.

Adam and Jenny's home is so wonderful. They have 3 acres of land. They have built a tree house house and a zip line in their yard:

Here is Bryce (number 4) enjoying the zip line:

One of the best surprises of our trip was that we moved Montana the beloved dog of our friends Mike and Sara Rogers to live with Adam and Jenny. Sara had become allergic to their dog and they had to give her up. She is this AMAZING lab and she seems to love her new home. Here she is with Wesley (their youngest baby):

Zachary on the zip line:

Great shot of Bryce and Zachary:

Did I mention the chickens?

Adam and Jenny have 30 chickens!!!!

They just got them and they are just beginning to lay eggs. It is so cool.

And then there was Halloween:

It was perfect.

Here is Zachary, he was Michael Phelps for Halloween:

Here is Oliver, in their back yard. He played so hard. Their kids are so wonderful. Oliver got a crash course in sharing...there were many tears, but it was very good for him. He had a blast.

I love this picture of Adam. He is mid-speech.

There is jsut something about Adam that is so genuine and dear.

I think that this picture captures that.

I have an amazing family....and he's just one of them.

Ummm...here's bryce.

so handsome....

Here is Ryan.

He was Indiana Jones for Halloween.

Here is Jenny and Wesley.

I love this picture of Jenny, beautiful.

Okay. Here is the only picture that we got of all of the kids. It took a lot of work.

Please notice Oliver.

He's not that happy.

I love this shot of Ryan.

Another fun thing that we did was that we went to a Science Museum in Manchester.

The best part was that Daniel TOTALLY loved it. He was so into the discovery.

Here he is with Adam looking at an exhibit:

Back to the back yard: Jessica and my oh-so-expressive-son:

We also went to a pottery-painting-place.

Daniel painted a horse:

Here is Brycee-boy, consuming all of his candy.

Daniel played a very important role in our Halloween fun.

He pulled the wagon---the wagon in which I rode:

Oliver and Brycee-boy in the back yard.

Okay...I had to take this picture.

It just so happened that Bryce, Daniel and Oliver were wearing the same outfit.

Okay, back to the museum. To explain this photo:

They did this electro demonstration where they sent a shock wave through my body to Adam's. It felt so weird. Here is the shot of just after:

They also had a pulley thing that you could play on. It made it so that it was really easy to pull yourself up. It was fun. Here is Bryce and Daniel:

Bryce and Bryce:

All in all...it was an amazing trip. We just had a lot of time together as a family. Thank you, Adam and Jenny and kids for having us. Thank you Dad and Daniel for coming.

We love you all!