Liz and Adam Wedding...

I attended a wedding of a good friend at the end of June in Boise, ID.  I was a bridesmaid and was so excited to share her special day with her and the day was beautiful.  In fact, the whole weekend was just awesome.

I flew in Thursday morning and was immediately swept up from the airport (along with another bridesmaid) and taken to our rehearsal day brunch.  We had delicious food topped off with frozen crepes and fruit drizzle, YUM, and caught up with old friends while meeting the rest of the wedding party.  With no time to waste we piled in the car to go get some manicures!!  We had the whole place to ourselves and enjoyed talking and getting pampered.  Seriously, all I did all weekend was get pampered.  I'm not sure us bridesmaids pampered the bride enough!!

After manicures we drove over to the wedding location (St. Chapelle Winery) for an actual rehearsal and all of us were blown away with how beautiful everything was.  The gigantic trees, view over the valley, lush grass...pretty amazing.  By that time everyone was hungry so we headed back to a rental house and had a rehearsal dinner.  CAFE RIO!!!  Hello, could not get any better.  I gobbled up as much as I could because I never know when I'm going to get it next.  :)  There were some speeches during dinner by both fathers of the bride and groom.  Both were very funny and emotional.  Then Liz and Adam handed out gifts to the bridal party and again, I felt so spoiled and lucky to be there.  We all spent the rest of the evening hanging out but as soon as the mosquitos decided to eat us for dinner, we called it a night although Liz and Adam were heavily involved in soccer tennis.

I stayed at a hotel with another bridesmaid and since we had both been up in the 4am hour, we were OUT as soon as we reached the hotel.  The next morning we were picked up by the bride and taken to the winery to start decorating.  Not sure why we showered prior to that because we were all in a full out sweat!!  Boise was set to have a record high temperature that day in the 100's.  Luckily we got done quickly and piled into the brides room for lunch.  Once the fan and AC got running, everyone was feeling good again.  We had a few hours until pictures but it's amazing how fast time goes when everyone is trying to get ready and organized.

 

Once everyone was ready, we set out in the heat for pictures.  The first people I saw when I left the brides room were my parents!!  They came to the wedding and showed up to the venue a little early.  So my Dad talked with all the people he randomly knew (which is always a handful everywhere we go) and my mom joined the wedding party while we took photos.

Then the time arrived.  The entire wedding party squeezed into the brides room to hide, we had a toast, did a cheer, and waited for our time to walk down the isle.  Oh ya, someone also had to make sure that Liz and Adam's soccer cleats were tied tight.  :)  The ceremony was beautiful, funny, moving, emotional, real, and not a cookie cutter speech at all. Liz and Adam were married by one of their best friends so everything was just very heartfelt.  Those two are very loved and you could feel that during the ceremony.  We all returned to the brides room, witnessed the signing of the marriage document, had another toast, did a few more pictures outside, then went out to the reception to eat, visit, and party.

All my friends from high school were there (a few missed this pic) so it was SO good and SO fun to see everyone.  Especially because no one attended our 10 year reunion the weekend before.  I visited with my parents a bit more before they left the reception and my dad came back to retrieve me once the event was over and cleaned.

I stayed at a hotel with my parents that night and we spent the next day together before my flight at 3pm.  They took me to their old house out in Star Idaho and picked me some mint leaves from the fields.  They talked about how much things had changed and it made me sad that something or someplace can create such fond memories for someone but can also be changed or bulldozed or built over.  Their house was still standing though so we were happy.   We drove into Boise downtown and even took a short jaunt on the green belt.  We happened to walk right onto BSU campus in front of the business building where my Dad spent 90% of his time during school.  So we peeked in some classrooms, took some pictures, and headed back to the car.  After eating at Red Robin and talking about how fast the weekend went, I was dropped back off at the airport for my flight home.  Sad.  The whole weekend was incredibly enjoyable and to top it off I got to spend time with my parents.  Luckily they'll be coming out in September so our parting wasn't too depressing.

The picture below is my favorite picture from the weekend.  Bridesmaids left to right:  Me, Suzanne (my hotel buddy), Brynn, Kim (both matrons of honor and our high school friends), the bride Liz, and her sister-in-law Pomei.  Lots of love to Liz and Adam and big thanks for letting me be a part of a spectacular wedding!!

Father's Day to the Fourth...

The summer has gone surprisingly fast so far! As much as I hate the summers here because of the intense heat and constant sweating, even that hasn't seemed so bad. Maybe after four years I'm finally acclimating. Who knows. We've only had a handful of 100+ degree days and 4th of July weekend was actually quite cool! We're also gearing up for a big family reunion in Las Vegas next week. We'll be flying and it will be the first time as a family. We've already pulled out ten pieces of luggage and there will probably be more! Should be crazy. My point is that time seems to be moving quickly as we look forward to our big trip.

 Let's rewind back to Father's Day though. Like I mentioned before, Clark really made me feel special on Mother's Day and I wanted to make his weekend great as well. However, I STINK at giving gifts. I overthink, overanalyze, return what I bought, or talk myself out of buying at all. Father's Day weekend approached and I was still empty handed. Although in my defense I told him he needed to take a long morning and go golfing with a friend. Timing was bad though and that didn't work out. Instead, we headed to the outlet malls (huge mistake on a Saturday) and Clark got a new work bag that he has desperately needed and wanted for a while. He said his torn up college backpack just didn't look too professional anymore. His new 'messenger bag' is pretty awesome and certainly makes him look more legit so I was happy that he got something for himself that wasn't a new dress shirt or slacks. His most important request of the weekend though was that we all went swimming. We made that happen at a neighbor's pool and had a great time! The kids are getting so good and kicking around on their little noodles and had a great time. I guess their swim lessons had SOME impact.  Later that night we hired a babysitter and had a night out with friends.  We enjoyed good conversation, chips and salsa, and frog legs (not me!)!

Beyond that, the kids made a special craft and had some good wrestling/hugging matches on the couch after church. Clark was totally bummed he didn't get a chocolate bar but instead was given a flower. Poor guy. Luckily I made him some peanut butter balls that morning so he got his chocolate fix. Overall, a great weekend for a great guy.

 

We acquired some superman capes from our good friends and the kids have LOVED wearing them.  Especially because Clark has started watching animated superman and batman episodes with the kids so now they really get into character.  These pictures were taken post-pajamas and pre-getting dressed.  I couldn't reign them in from their intense rescue missions so it was all done in their underwear and diapers.  Then they all started pretending that they were falling and they each rescued and helped each other up.
 

Caleb's preferred method of helping up didn't always work out...

I recently found out about some special kids summer movies showing at the big Cinemark theater.  Admission is only a dollar so I packed up the kids and gave them their 'first' movie theater experience.  The movie was Ice Age: Continental Drift which wasn't terribly exciting and we only stayed an hour but they all LOVED it.  From getting their own tickets, handing it to the theater employee, getting their own seats, watching a HUGE screen, to eating snacks in a dark room, they felt super special and excited.  They are still too small for the chairs which kept folding up on them so we all ran out and got some boosters which solved that problem.  I enjoyed the morning just as much as them and loved seeing their reactions.  I mean, the movie theater is a pretty exciting place even for adults so it was quite the experience all around.

I actually had a weekend away this past month because I was invited to be a part of a special friend's wedding (next post).  It was held in Idaho so Clark and his mom (the stars aligned and she happened to be flying our way on that particular weekend) were on their own for a few days.  They went to Kid Mania, Eisenhower State Park, swimming, walking, crafting, etc...  Sounds like they were busy and had fun.  I got to spend a few days with Gram when I returned from Idaho and even got to eat her Taco Soup!  YUM!  Still need to get the recipe.  We're so grateful she was able to come and help.  Leah is holding a craft that Gram did with the kids while Clark was working one morning.  I told her to smile and this is what I got...

The only bummer of the weekend was that they weren't always open to letting Gram help with things or assist them in certain ways.  Had to be on their terms.  They weren't shy about vocalizing it either.  The 'independence' thing is fine to an extent but it is extremely magnified when three kids are doing it at the same time, all saying the same things.  Their behavior is totally a product of their situation and I'm convinced that one or two of them wouldn't act the way they do if they didn't have siblings who made a fuss over everything.  So of course they all copy each other and it seems a little over the top.  They do it with us (Mom and Dad) but when someone else enters the picture it just seems all the more crazy and inappropriate.  So Clark and I started some manners training and are calling the kids out on everything they say that isn't kind or polite.  We're also working on teaching them how to talk to other kids and each other.  We feel like we're correcting all day but we know it'll be worth it and will impact both friend and family relationships.

Enough about the woes of two-year-olds, let's talk about our awesome 4th of July weekend!  The Sunday before the holiday, Clark and I had a conversation about what we were even going to do.  We had no plans, not even anything tentative.  But then the 4th rolled around and it was a busy busy day.  Our friends, who we love and who love our kids, invited us to come out on their boat so the kids had another 'first' out on the water.  They were all super excited and loved "going fast."  Once we got out on the lake, we all took a dive in the water and the kids floated on the tube.  Although they weren't thrilled, each of them took a turn with Dad to get pulled on the tube.  Zachary cried the whole time but claimed he "loved it" when he got back.  Leah was actually pretty brave and happily got on the tube, and Caleb had to be convinced.  They were all smiles once they were done and talked about it in the days to follow.

Then I convinced Clark to get on the tube with me and we had fun for about five minutes getting pulled behind the boat.  Five minutes of fun for a few days of soreness.  Definitely worth it.  Being on the tube took me right back to elementary and middle school when I often went out on the lake with my friends and we would tube for hours.  With the water splashing in my face, I felt young and carefree.  I like those moments. They energize me.

Clark also got up on skis for a bit as well as our friend driving the boat.  By that time everyone was getting tired so we headed for the dock and went home for a nap.

We finished the day with more swimming, a pool side BBQ and another 'first' for the kids with corn on the cob (which they loved), buckets of water in the backyard, pizza dinner with the missionaries, and fireworks in the backyard.  The trio were crazy about their pop its and sparklers.  Clark bought some cool-looking tank fireworks that ended up being totally lame.  We'll stay away from those next year.   We didn't go out for the big fireworks and were happy to put the kids down at 7pm.  We were all exhausted.

The rest of the weekend got filled up with yardwork, going to World War Z, Yoga, grocery shopping, and all the little stuff in between.  I should know better than to think that we will have boring holidays.  They always get filled up and we end up sprawled on the couch from exhaustion.  I just wish Clark could get paid for staying home all day, everyday.  We all sure love him around the house.

Now life is back to normal (besides being sunburned and sore from all our festivities) and Clark is actually really busy at work so we can't wait to head to Las Vegas.  More time with Dad around and more time with family!  

The Beginning of Summer...

Yesterday I went to the kitchen to start making dinner and all three of the kids' straw cups were in the sink. I didn't put them there. What followed was a little proud moment knowing that some things we say to the kids sink in such as, "put your cups in the sink when you are done." For some reason though, "do not steal things from, scratch, bite, or push your siblings" still hasn't quite stuck. Guess we'll keep working on those. I read an article online that said as parents we should never say the phrase, "how many times do I have to tell you?..." because kids need constant repetition and it's just part of the process. Definitely creates some challenging moments though when you really feel like you've said something 100 times.


So the kids are getting super quirky. I don't know if that's just a toddler thing or a personality thing. Zachary is the quirkiest and has developed some OCD tendencies about his toys, where they go, which bib is his, etc... His attention for detail is pretty astounding and we've had to start marking cups, clothing, and toys with the letter 'Z' so he can see the letter and not have any meltdowns about what is or isn't his. Ownership at this age is important so again, I don't know how much is the stage and how much is personality. However, from what I've heard, and I've heard quite a lot, is that Clark was VERY quirky and OCD'ish as a kid so Clark has a deeper understanding and patience for it than I do sometimes. We've had to start locking him in his room at night because he was coming out so much...for no apparent reason, just standing in the hall and crying subsequently waking the other two. So the baby monitor is back in action and he's been told if he needs to go potty, to talk into the monitor and NO CRYING! Sounds cruel when I write it down but it has worked and we hope to break him of his habits soon. Last night there was no noise from anyone until a sweet voice came through on the monitor at 4am and said, "mama, I need to go peepee." So we did our thing and went right back to bed. Perfect.

His favorite songs at night time are Jesus' Baptism and Nephi's Courage (only the second verse about the boat). One funny thing I want to remember about Zachary and hope to catch on film sometime is that he LOVES to chase birds. One time at a park in a matter of 30 seconds, he was a whole soccer field away because he just loves to keep on chasing them. Not sure if he thinks he will catch one or maybe he likes it when they all fly in the air. Either way, it's something he CANNOT resist doing if there are birds on the ground. Definitely keeps the birds out of our backyard!


Caleb's quirkiness is a little different. We've always said he is passionate about everything and he definitely still is. If he's not screaming at the top of his lungs about every hour, it's not a normal day. Sometimes he plays REALLY well with either Leah or Zachary (never all together) and sometimes he is in total loner mode and wants to be left alone. If anyone comes near him, the screaming commences. I was at a playdate recently and he started screaming and the other moms jumped up in panic mode like Caleb was trapped under a piano or something. No. Leah had just messed up the way he had his cars arranged. That's what I'm saying.  And the way his face gets all contorted when he cries it's hard not to smile when he's coming toward you for assistance. His stubborness and need to be independent has been taken to a whole new level lately. No helping, assisting, choosing for, or hurrying up this guy. He's on his own schedule and runs his own life.

Getting him to fold his arms for prayers is a whole huge ordeal every night. Clark starting doing candy bribing for that and what do you know...Caleb has starting being compliant at prayer time. Caleb is having trouble right now differentiating between real life and pretend. He really truly believes he is Penny from the movie Bolt and asks us to say, "Goodnight Penny" (as opposed to his real name) when we leave his room at night. He tells me he is Penny about 50 times a day. We've tried to tell him he is just pretending to be Penny and that his name is Caleb but he's not buying that. He's Penny and that's just the way it is. He's also obsessed with Christmas music. When we ask him what song he wants before bedtime it's always Jingle Bell Rock or Frosty. Then when we're in the car he requests a Christmas CD to listen to. So currently we are listening to Kidz Bop Christmas Album in the car. Whatever.


Leah is quirky in a whole other girly way. She's constantly changing her mind about everything. One night she will die if she can't sleep with five different bears and blankets. The next night, she cries if you try to put those same things in her bed. She suddenly wants nothing to do with them. One day she wants to try to use the potty; the next day she cries if I even suggest it. I tell her sometimes, amidst all the indecision, that she's driving me crazy. So she says to me the other day that I'm driving HER crazy!  Ha! I'm sure I do drive them crazy but they've never told me until now.  She is like a last-trimester-pregnant lady all the time. She loves to nest. She nests everywhere in the house. When she wakes up, the first thing she does is grab some bags, fill them up with random toys, take the bags to a random area of the house, take out and line up everything, then totally desert everything. Only to start up a new nesting area somewhere else.

She loves bags. Not like purses or hand bags but the bags I used to put my piano books in. They are soft and can hold a lot. Some nights she wants all her blankets stuffed into a bag. So weird. She hates playing alone EVER so is usually bothering someone in some way. This is a bummer because it often results in timeout which she HATES with a passion. However, if one of the boys is in the mood for her chasing and pretending, it's pretty fun to watch and can last up to an hour sometimes. After someone prays, she always comments on what a wonderful prayer it was and whenever I put her down for a nap she says she hopes I have a good nap too! When I dropped her off in nursery last week she yelled across the room, "See you next week mama!" Still working on the concept of time. :) Her favorite song at night time is Nephi's courage but she likes all three verses and will sing the chorus a really awkward way....emphasizing the wrong words.  Pretty funny.


All quirkiness aside, their lives are all about just looking for a good time.  I thought going down to the local arboretum would be a good time but I was totally wrong.  It was fun for about 20 minutes but how exciting can looking at flowers really be for these guys.  They wanted to poke things, run where they shouldn't, jump in the fountains, etc...  However, before they all got difficult,

they ran across the bridge...

smiled for some pictures...

showed me how old they were...

gave hugs...

explored the pioneer area...

made funny faces...

and chased birds.

We finally made it clear across the park to our final destination.  The petting zoo. 

Caleb and Leah weren't interested and said they'd rather sit and eat crackers.  Which they did in their awesome shades.  I'm sure onlookers thought they had been abandoned.  Zachary really liked touching the animals and pet a bunny for a while as well as a couple goats.  Sometimes I hate to have certain kids miss out on things they enjoy just because the whole group doesn't want to participate.  We may have to start breaking off more and more as they develop hobbies and interests that will likely be completely different.

After a horrible walk back to the car, we made it home and I said I would not go back until they were much older or I was prepared for them to play in the water areas.  Not the best outing we've had but I suppose they all can't be perfect.

Clark was gone to California for a week at the end of May.  It just so happened that we received a TON of rain that week and our grass grew to record heights.  It was so long.  The boys were LOVING pushing their trucks in it, hiding in it, and laying in it. Too bad we couldn't keep it long.  Long grass attracts ants, chiggers, and a bunch of other unwelcome bugs.  They enjoyed it while it lasted though.

Clark encouraged me to join a local gym so that I could go enjoy some classes while the kids were taken care of in the Kids Club.  It's been great so far and we've even signed the kids up for swim lessons as a bonus from my joining.  They get four, 30-minute lessons and had their first one last week. They basically stayed in the shallow area, learned to blow bubbles, kick their legs, scoop up water, and lay on their backs.  They all hated being on their backs and just wanted to play with the water rings so I felt bad for the teacher who was having difficulty controlling them all.  I stepped in a tried to help with what she was doing and hoped that she wasn't secretly thinking I was being totally overbearing.  Next week they'll be in the deep water so I'm not sure how it's going to go.  Our expectations for these lessons are not for them to become awesome swimmers right away.  We basically just want them feeling more comfortable in water, learning how to move their bodies, and being ok with getting water on their heads and swimsuits.  Surprisingly this has been an issue in the past.  It was pretty sweet though to see them all lined up listening to their teacher.

Clark's trip to California was fun and relaxing for him.  He spent some time at his folks house and also up at a friend's cabin near Lake Tahoe.  Of course weekends like that always go so fast and are jam packed with activities but he said it was really good to get away and not have any work obligations to attend to.  While up at his friend's cabin, they went for a 'run tour' as he called it.  They had no idea where they were going but set off to see what they could see, exercising along the way.  They came across some incredible trees and he says the pictures don't do them justice.  Apparently they were HUGE!  After three hours of running and exploring, they found a place to eat and had some well-deserved juicy burgers.

With this trip piggy-backing his Brazil trip, he was GREATLY missed at home by all of us.  It's always a welcome relief, for many reasons, to see him come through that back door.  The kids didn't have anything to complain about especially after he pulled out his old pog collection, old He-Man toys, and a Polly Pocket from Gram to play with.  They have LOVED all that stuff.  Who knew Pogs could be such a cool thing for two-year-olds.

In preparation for Father's Day, we met up with some friends and did a special craft for their Dad's.  I even brought the popcorn maker so that we could make some after crafting.  The kids LOVED it.  Popcorn really is pretty fascinating AND delicious.  Perfect combo.   Wish I had a picture of all their excitement and delight.

Lastly, Clark has recently recovered his long board from a friend and was dying to take the kids out.  He took them one by one down the street and they could not have been more excited to do this with him.  They could hardly sit still while waiting for the next ride.  However, in my neck of the woods we rode our skateboards a little different.  Everyone piled on and we leaned and swerved together as we rode down the sidewalk.  Always made for a good time so I set the kids up.  Although Clark was totally skeptical of my approach, they all loved cruisin' down the sidewalk together.

Summer is in full swing around here so we'll be looking for ways to stay cool while also preparing for our big family reunion next month.  Should be an quite an adventure flying with these three crazies. Not any crazier than going to the grocery store I suppose.  :)

As Zachary would say, "Bye!  Love you!  See you soon!"