Twin Tidbits

• This morning I was driving the kids to their Mom's house. A was yelling at T about something (long experience has taught me that he was probably pestering her), suddenly T said, "It sounds like someone wants a different brother!!" Not only did he say that but he said it on a sliding musical scale. A responded, "No, I don't want a new brother, I just want the one I have to BEHAVE!!!"


• When we got to their Mom's house T was getting out of the car and lost his footing. He fell to the ground and scraped up his knee. Speaking through his screaming and his tears, he said, "OOOOOOHH (not OWWWW), now I am going to have to wear TWO band aids" (the day before he had scraped his leg when he fell on his bike, poor kid!). I thought it was funny that of all the things that could come out of his mouth, he was most concerned that he might have to wear two band aids.

Truck and Trunks

Today we took the big yellow truck up to the Anderson's to help them move a bunch of stuff to D.I. before they move to Ohio. It was a lot of fun for the kids to hang out and for the adults to hang out as well. Later tonight, after we had our family home evening lesson, we went swimming again. This time my brother, his wife, and kids came as well. Everyone had a great time, only this time I could barely keep the kids off the slide, we didn't spend much time actually swimming. They both love to float now and like to be on their own as long as they have their life jackets on.

• T crashed on his bike today and just got a little scrape that bled a little. He kept asking me if more skin would "hatch" in its place. Apparently he thinks there are some sort of skin eggs that hatch all the time or something.
• A was yelling at T today. I asked her what was the matter and why she was yelling. She told me that T was trying to tell her what to do. She then said, "I was just trying to mind my own business, but T is trying to mind my business for me!, I just want to mind my own!!"
• Tonight T was really giggly as I was lying by him for a second at bedtime. I sort of pretended he was a pillow and laid on his belly and said how comfortable, but wiggly this pillow was. T said in a laughing voice, "if you do not get up right now, I am going to throw you in the back of the truck and drop you off at D.I."

Abundantly Blessed

Today, we tested the faith of the members of the EQ by having me lead the lesson/discussion. The topic was President Monson's talk in the last General Conference about being abundantly blessed. As I was preparing, a few things came to my mind. In all the things he mentioned, he never once talked about the worldly blessings, although I do not doubt he appreciates those as well. His entire talk was about his family, the Gospel, and impact of people, etc. It definitely puts it in perspective. The other thing I thought of was, that someone viewing themselves as blessed has as much to do with attitude as someone who chooses to be happy. What I mean by that is you could have two people live almost identical lives and one could feel very blessed his whole life and the other could be complaining their whole life. There were a lot of great comments and it was interesting to think of all the ways we could easily feel like we are NOT blessed, or how little it takes to steer us away. There were also a lot of great comments on how we could constantly realize our blessings. That is one of the biggest reasons I have done a blog and keep a personal journal. It is one of the best ways for me to see all that I have been blessed with as I sit and ponder each day. It is a great time for me for personal reflection and while I may or may not write EVERYTHING I am thinking, it does allow me to see my many blessings. In Sunday School the lesson talked a lot about humility (good thing I didn't have to teach that one!). It was a great lesson on how we can choose, or be compelled to be humble. We talked a lot about what it is to choose and seek to be humble. It was a great day at church and I once again did not have to take the kids out of Sacrament, I only had to shush them a million times and remind them to whisper. As long as we are making progress! I am hopeful for a bright future of perfect children at age 6 who sit and listen with their arms folded. During dinner they can comment on all of the things they learned from the speaker. Later they will write a college level paper in their journal. Does that seem at all unreasonable? I mean they have a whole year and half to get there. I am not asking for them to be that way tomorrow. LOL.

Pins and Pizza

So, tonight we went with some friends to Fat Cats bowling alley and The Pizza Factory. I know the family, because the guy was a really good friend of mine in high school. He is a great guy and his wife and kids are also great. We had a lot of fun with them. We lost touch for a while (my fault not his), and he and his family have been more than forgiving in welcoming me back into the "fold." We went to Fat Cats, it is great because you can get Pizza Factory pizza right at the lanes. We ordered the pizza and then went to get some bowling lanes. The people informed us that we couldn't because they were closing the whole 36 lane bowling alley down for a party. I can only imagine how much that would cost on a Saturday night! So, we ate at the pizza factory and then went another place to bowl. I bowled six straight gutter balls my first three times, but still ended the night with a 94. The kids did pretty well too, T bowled a 65 and A bowled a 59 and the bumpers were not working. It was a lot of fun hanging out with them and catching up with each other. The kids loved playing with their two boys as well and instantly became friends. It is good to have lasting friendships with good people, and luckily I have been very fortunate in finding great friends.

Friday Night Exotic Camping Trip

This is what it looks like on the kitchen table anytime the kids think they need to make something. They go to the drawers and find all of this themselves, and they end up using ALL of it. T said that he wanted to make something for A because he loves her and wants her to know it. I thought that was really nice. He can be the most rough and tumble kid in the world, and honestly quite ornery when he wants to be, but more often than not he is really sweet.
A fell down and (barely) scraped her knee, T went over to all the flowers and picked A one before I even knew what was going on. Apparently she didn't get all her dinner off of her face before she came outside though. That is probably what threw off her equilibrium therefore causing the fall.

About a month of so ago I found this tent on sale really, really cheap. I had previously talked to the kids about taking them camping. We have never really done it and the tent has just sat in the garage for a month. Last night after I mowed the lawns I asked them if they wanted to sleep in the tent in the backyard. They were so excited, so we set up the tent. The kids wanted to help with everything, which can be a little nerve racking when they are holding poles and do not really understand the dangers of the lengths of the poles. We got the tent all set up and got the sleeping bags and pillows. They were so excited I thought they would be up for hours. We went in the tent at about 8:45 and they were actually asleep at about 9:40 after they felt they needed bathroom trips, something to drink, a cheese stick, etc. I was actually surprised that they went to sleep that early. I was preparing for the long haul of them being up til midnight. This was also a good test to see how they were before we "really" go camping. The kids kept wanting to light a fire, it took a lot to explain to them that it is not really a cool thing to do in the backyard. I am thinking we will try to camp at Jordanelle and take the boat up there one Friday, also there should be an upcoming "Fathers and kids" camp out in the ward in August so hopefully we will camp a few more times before the season is over.

There they are all snug in their sleeping bags. I hadn't put mine in yet.
The morning after outside the tent.
T loved to sit on the sleeping bag when it was put away in its stuff sack. A of course took Milky into the tent to sleep with her.

• My sister loves to joke around with the kids. On the phone one night she asked what they were doing. A said nothing. So, she said, "oh, you're just kickin' it?" A said, "what?" So, my sister said, "you know, just chillin', you know what I am saying?" A said, "No, I have no idea what you are saying, you are not even making sense!" It went on like this for a while, the conversation was really funny and my sister and A were laughing the whole time as well.
• T was jumping on the bed and fell against the wall. I don't know about all of you, but often when my kids are doing something and they get hurt, it is automatically my fault. So, when he started with "Dad!" I knew I was in trouble. I was surprised when the rest of the sentence contained the following: "why don't you move the wall, it is not even in a good place!" That caused me to laugh which caused T and A to laugh pretty hard too.
• We saw some friends we haven't hung out with for a while the other day. I told the kids we would have to figure out a time in the next few weeks and see if they can do something. T said, "I would be so excited to hang out (with his friend) that I might just have to pee my undies." He then laughed. He says some of the funniest and weirdest things. I don't know where he gets that from.

Movie Review and Daily Reflection

So, last night after work (at 10:45PM) I went with a friend to the new Batman movie, "Dark Knight." I just wanted to let you all know that it was indeed awesome. If any of you have seen "Batman Begins," this is the sequel. What I like WAY more about these movies than the original Batman movies was they are pretty real. A regular person could be Batman, it is not the science fiction type movies that the originals seems to be. The others were not bad, but these ones were way better in my opinion. They may not be for everyone, but I highly recommend you view "Batman Begins," and see if you like it, or if you have seen it, watch it again before you go to "Dark Knight." Anyway, I really, really liked the movie and thought I would give my opinion. I am working on opening up and sharing my feelings more because I have realized what an introvert I am (yeah, I know sarcasm does not translate well in typing).

Today, I feel like I did almost nothing. I ran a few errands, did some things around the house, and took care of a bunch of stuff I have not had a chance to do. I had the day off work for Pioneer Day and the kids have this day with their Mom. This is probably the first day in well over a year that I have not had either work, school, or had the chance to play with the kids. It was a little weird quite honestly. After I did some of the other stuff, I went on a pretty significant bike ride with my brother and sister. That was fun. However, most of the day I just found myself missing the kids. While it was nice to get some stuff done, it is more fun to spend time with my kids. I have realized more and more that holidays are all about kids. As I have had different experiences and grown older in life, I realize the happiest times are not just having everything your own way and doing everything you want to do. If anything happiness comes from the complete opposite. I could have done anything today, but really all I wanted was to play with my kids. I know that to many that would make my life seem really pathetic, but my experiences and age have changed many of my definitions and perspectives.

Floaty Feeling

Today after we did our normal Monday chores, we decided to have some fun. While we were heading to the 24th of July parade float preview show at the South Towne Expo Center (this is where you can see all of the floats that are going to be in the upcoming Pioneer Day Parade), the Andersons called. It ended up that they were going to the same place and were calling to invite us to come along. When we first walked in to the expo center we saw the Jones just leaving. We haven't seen them in a while and the kids were really excited. T in particular was excited to see his friend as he was jumping around in front of him like a monkey while his friend just looked at him (probably wondering if he was okay). We talked to them for a minute and then let them leave and headed in to meet up with the Andersons. All I can say is, I think that this should be some sort of model for future parades. I mean all parades should be like this! Why do we relegate ourselves to some smelly nasty street corner, squished in like sardines with a billion other people, only to end up leaving with gum on the bottom of our shoe and feeling the need for a shower? The solution has now become so simple. We do the walking in the parade in a nice air conditioned building and get a close up view of each float in the parade! Alright I am not a parade hate monger, but it was sort of fun and different to just see it this way (other than having to tell my kids 1000 times not to touch all the floats). The kids also got balloon shaped items made by clowns (I think most of those clowns wear the same size shoes as me). All the boys chose swords, but they also got holsters (a touch I have not seen many clowns do, I guess I will forgive the fact that they stole my shoes), while A decided she wanted a pink wiener dog. They also all had a chance to have their faces painted. One of the two Anderson boys decided to have a Spider-Man web painted on his face, while T went for Lightning McQueen and A just simply wanted a flower. The kids loved all the floats, so it was definitely hard for them to keep their hands off of them. T's favorite float was a pirate ship and A's was a huge caterpillar float. When T saw some guys dressed as pirates by the pirate float, he was really insistent that he needed to get his picture with "real" pirates. A also saw some royalty girls on some float (sorry I don't remember what kind of royalty they were, all that is important is that A probably thought it was Sleeping Beauty and Belle) and asked if she could get her picture with the "real" princesses. I think it is cool that they are still so innocent in many ways. I don't think they need to figure out all of life's realities any time soon. Sadly our time with the Andersons is coming to a close. They will be moving on August 8th to Ohio. I am sure they have become so desperate that they feel it is the only way I will leave them alone. We are going to miss them a lot and have really enjoyed hanging out with them over the last 4-5 years. We have especially enjoyed the huge amount of time we have spent with them the last couple of months. You all may not know it, but you are going to miss them too. How you may ask? Well, let me just say that while I am with them I am not bothering anyone else to hang out. I think you get the picture.The three painted faces.

A with her pink wiener dog.

All the boys sword fighting.

All the boys hanging by the pirate float.

A's favorite float.
After we had fun with the Andersons, we came home and had dinner. We then went to our local recreation center and went swimming for family home evening. Like most of the recreation centers I have been in or heard of this one had a huge slide and a huge kid area. The kids had a great time and did not want to leave. They wore life jackets the whole time and T instantly fell in love with the feeling of floating. He somewhat liked the feeling when we went swimming at the lake, but I think the choppy water freaked him out a tiny bit. He was completely happy to just float totally unassisted around the entire pool. When he saw some girl kicking her legs as she swam by he realized that might work for him too. So, he sort of rolled to his back and kicked his legs, but mostly he just floated around. I would play with him and check up on him here and there, but a lot of the time he just wanted to be left alone. When he would get a good distance away I would want to yell out, "WILSONNN!!!!" like Tom Hanks did in "Castaway." A screamed like crazy (that girl needs to be in some soul choir when she grows up with the lungs she has going on) for the longest time any time she thought I MIGHT let go of her. She would sort of relax for a little while and then catch herself being too relaxed. Just before we were going to head home she realized the whole floating thing (as long as I wasn't too far away) was pretty awesome. They had a great time and I am sure we will go back more in the future. It was fun to play with the kids at the pool. I love doing all of these little activities and just playing with them while they are this age. I already feel like so much time is slipping away, and time only seems to go faster (case in point: could someone tell me what happened to the first half of this year?). It was a fun day, but as I look back I am just left with a floaty sort of feeling.

Happy Anniversary!

Today my amazing parents celebrate their 44th wedding anniversary. They are such great people and I cannot tell you how much I respect and look up to them. As I think of all the things that are seen as well as not seen to make it to 44 years I am in awe. I know of some sacrifices, but I am sure there were many that I will never know of. I am sure they both sacrificed sufficiently in their own wants. Both to make each other happier and more comfortable, and certainly for their children. Yet, I do not think that either of them would view anything they have done as a monumental sacrifice. They have both supported and stood by each other in different circumstances and in every arena of life. They raised seven children with each other. They were always there for each of us. I do not know how on earth they could accomplish such a feat. I feel like I am not there enough for my two kids, I cannot imagine how you make 7 children feel loved, cared about, and important all at the same time. It takes special people to do that. We never went without the necessities of life and we also enjoyed some luxuries. Their home has always been a safe haven and refuge from the world. What great people they are and how I admire and look up to them. I hope that I am lucky enough to find such an amazing eternal companion ONE DAY and build an everlasting life and legacy with her. How lucky I am for the example my parents have always been to me. They have given everything within them to each other and to their family. I am grateful for their love for each other and the patterns they have laid for each one of us. For their gentleness and kindness with their 7 children. For their great love for their daughter-in-laws, and finally for their love and excitement towards their 17 grandchildren. Below are pictures of the posterity they have created. Happy anniversary Mom and Dad.

The following pictures were taken in the summer of 2006. 3 of the 17 grandchildren (all girls) were not yet alive. In fact, they were all born within about 3 or 4 months of each other. I also did not include a picture of my sister or the kids and I. She has never married, so there is only a siblings picture. She would be pictured third from the bottom. I did not post a picture of the kids and I either because you all know what we look like. We fit at the very bottom as I am the youngest of the seven. Unfortunately, blogger only allows you to post 5 pictures on each post.

This is my oldest brother and his wife. They have this little guy and a cute little girl that was born I think in November of 2007.

This is my second oldest brother and his wife and kids. They now have five children with a little girl added in January 2008.

This is my third oldest brother and his wife and kids. They now have 4 children. A little girl was also added to their family in January.

This is my fourth oldest brother (I guess the middle child) and his wife and kids. My sister would follow them. She is third youngest.

This is the brother immediately above me and his wife and kids.

• I told A that my parents were going on a vacation for their anniversary this week. She asked what an anniversary was and I explained it is a celebration of their marriage. I did not get to finish explaining. Her eyes became as big as saucers as she incredulously asked, "you mean they had you and your brothers and sister and they were never even married?!!" Once I stopped laughing, I explained that they were of course married before any of us were born.

Weekend in Review

This weekend was fun, but did not contain too many activities outside the house. We did go to the rodeo on Friday night as I mentioned. Friday during the day we of course received another infamous haircut story, but mostly played around the house. Saturday we went shopping for groceries most of the day and played outside as well. We washed and waxed the truck and car (T loves to wipe the wax off and make the cars them "so shiny")and then moved the truck to a different location that is not so accessible to dumb teenage impulses. Other than that, there is not too much new to report. I did not have to take either kid out of Sacrament Meeting today, which was awesome! T freaked out quite a bit about his breakfast waffle in Primary. His sweet teacher actually ran to her house and got him one rather than just having me take care of him. She is so sweet and really amazing with the kids! I think I do need to get him tested for either hypoglycemia or diabetes. While he can be just like any normal kid, most of the time he is really sweet and innocent (possibly quite a bit more than most kids). The only time he really throws huge fits is when he is hungry. Maybe it is just a boy thing, but a few people mentioned that I might want to get him tested. The other morning A came into my room in the wee hours of the morning. She had a bad dream and wanted to lay by me. She tossed and turned and finally asked for chapstick at about 5AM, so I told her where it was. Not wanting to get out of bed, she said, "never mind, I will just get it later." All of the sudden T came into the room (I am sure he was woken up earlier by her crying) and gave A the chapstick and said, "here A." He is a sweet, innocent little boy who loves to help people. He then went immediately back to his bed and back to sleep. That is about all that happened this weekend. While most people would find this mundane life to be completely boring, I love the fun normal times I get to spend with the kids. It is fun to just BE. I love that time with the kids and playing with them, talking to them, and just spending time with them. If you were looking for the "Fabulous Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," you have clearly come to the wrong blog. Although that might explain why I only have like 1 1/2 readers.

• We were at the store and I allowed the kids to get a huge tub of Winnie the Pooh animal crackers. The kids both said, "thank you." A carried the tub over to the cart. In a very honest voice she said, "no one needs to thank me for carrying them to the cart." It was really funny because that is something most people would say sarcastically. She said it really honestly.

The Rodeo

A smiling as she takes a sip of the drink she ripped out of my mouth mid drink moments before.

Look out ladies, there's a new Sheriff in town. T won that badge at a booth before the rodeo.
That's me down on top of that horse, it wasn't my best run, but there is always next year!!!
These tractors were parked out front. Of course the kids had to sit on them and pretend to drive them. At least they are cooler than the ones the kids sit on and pretend to drive at Lowe's and The Home Depot.
While T liked the bigger one, A decided that the littlest one was better and cuter.

So, I have the greatest Dad in the world. If you think that sounds boastful, it is. Anyway, he is a very good businessman, very religious, etc. What almost no one knows about him outside of our family is, he is an in the closet cowboy. He doesn't have the hat or the boots. You will never catch him wearing a 50 inch shiny belt buckle, or wrestling steers on the weekends, but he loves cowboy stuff. He loves old westerners, like John Wayne. He loves rodeos, he loves to ride horses, etc. Because of all of this we have gone to the Days of '47 Rodeo every year since I was five (I am sure we would have gone sooner, but we didn't move here until I was five). He purchases tickets for everyone and we all go and have a great time. In fact, I don't think any of my family living in Utah could say no. I think this is one of the things he most enjoys doing all together. No one would want to miss going to the rodeo with Grandpa and Grandma around the 24th of July because that is what we always do and we always have a good time. So, tonight we went to the annual family rodeo. They hold it at the Nuclear Waste Arena in case anyone is wondering. The kids had a great time eating skittles and kettle corn, playing with their cousins and watching all the action. There is calf roping, steer wrestling, bronco bustin', barrel racing, and finally bull riding as well as bull fighting. A said that her favorite part was when the guy would go into the barrel and the bull would hit the barrel really hard with his horns. She thought it was hilarious. T loved the bull riding and the clowns that steer the bulls away from the rider. We all had a great time.