Candid moments caught on camera

I love it when one (or both) of the boys does something cute and I happen to have the camera right there...and I actually get a good picture, too!

Craig loves to hold the cat. She doesn't love him so much, as you can tell in this picture, but she is so tolerant with him as he learns how to be gentle with pets. I've wanted to get a couple of pictures of him hugging her or giving her kisses, but I never seem to have the camera handy. Good thing for her she's too big for him to pick up on his own and he still needs my help.

When most toddlers just start walking, it's all they want to do. That's how Craig was. Ethan, though, is so cuddly. Whenever he comes across a pillow or blanket on the floor, he has to lay on it, tuck his little arms under him, and snuggle for a minute. Here he found my pajamas and decided to wallow in my scent, I guess. The kid loves the camera.

Today I'm thankful for balloons

This:

Plus this:


Equals about 30 minutes of a happy two year old and an un-tormented baby.


Today I'm thankful for balloons and all the fun, safe, active playtime they create! I think it's time to go to the dollar store and invest in a case of these things. The possibilities are endless.

Hospital birth: 1 Home birth: Infinity

There's a chain of hospitals down here all called Banner Something-or-other. Ethan was born at Banner Gateway, but there's also Banner Baywood and many others, including one called Cardon's Children Medical Center. Apparently Cardon's keeps track of when the babies born at Banner hospitals turn one year old and they select a chosen few to receive a special birthday present: a free three month membership to the Phoenix Zoo! I was totally floored when I got this offer in the mail about two weeks ago. I called right away and signed up for it. My voucher came Monday afternoon so yesterday, being my mother in law's last day with us (Robert drove her home after work last night) she and I took the kids to the zoo. It was so much fun. As a member, you also get discounts on the safari train, camel rides, giraffe feedings, and other cool things. It was warm, but at least it was under 100. We were home by 1:00, though. Craig crashed in the car at about 12:30, I laid him down when we got home and he continued sleeping until 4:30! I was shocked...and grateful. That made it possible for me to take an hour nap after putting Ethan down. I'm still recuperating from my big weekend. Here are a few pictures. I can't wait to go again!

There are several splash pads like this at the zoo. I forgot to bring swim stuff for Craig, but it was hot enough for him to just play in his shirt and diaper and then dry off pretty quickly afterward before I changed his diaper and put his pants back on. I think this was his favorite part. He LOVES the water.

We also ate lunch at the splash pad. We had several ducks for company. One of them tried to snag a piece of an orange (or "orshan" as Craig says) out of his hand. Craig was kind of scared of them after that. I thought it was funny. :)

I've ridden an elephant, but never a camel. Craig didn't want to go at first, but once he got on, he had fun. He kept saying, "Horse?" and I'd say, "No, camel. Say camel." Then he'd say, "Horse." Okay, Craig, so it's a horse.

There and Back Again (it's a very useful title, isn't it?)

It has been a very big week for me. On Labor Day, we drove to a town called Show Low to pick up Robert's mom and bring her back to Fountain Hills with us. That was a long day and I won't go into tired babies and being stuck in Labor Day traffic for four hours. I think I kind of just went into it anyway.

On Tuesday, at the last minute, I was able to go with Robert and a couple of guys from work to watch the Diamondbacks/Giants baseball game. They got tickets from a food purveyor (Sysco) and one of the guys backed out. Since Cassie was here (my MIL), I got to go and she watched the kids! They were awesome seats (about three rows back from the home dugout), we had access to the under-the-stadium restaurant, and we had a $10 credit--so a buffet that normally costs $23 only cost us $13! If you've ever been to a professional sports game you know you can spend that on a hotdog and a bag of chips. Arizona lost, but I am a San Francisco fan at heart, so I won either way.

Thursday was the day I had been waiting for, though. That was the morning I flew out to Sacramento to meet my mom and two sisters for a weekend in the city, away from children. husbands, and responsibility. I was very excited/nervous about leaving them since the longest I've been away from either one of my boys was when I went to the hospital to have Ethan. I held myself together well until my plane was on the runway. The engines revved, and we began speeding down the lane, launching into the air. I felt this desperate, inner voice yell, "Stop! I'm not ready! You're pulling me away from my boys and I have no power to stop it!" I involuntarily burst into tears as I watched Arizona shrink away. All of sudden it was very real to me just how far away Sacramento is from Arizona. I got over it, though, by the time we reached 10,000 feet and pulled myself together. I found refuge in the new book I bought at the airport: Eat, Pray, Love.

After that emotional outburst, I got all my nervousness out at once and felt much more confident the rest of the trip. I didn't worry about Craig and Ethan at all. I missed them like heck, but I didn't worry. I had so much fun. It was great to get away and see my family...well, most of them. I spent Thursday night at my parent's house and Friday morning my sister Laura, my mom, and I headed out to meet Anna in Fairfield before heading to Sacramento. I did get to stop and visit with some of my favorite people in Sonora, though before we left Friday morning. I used to work at a center for disabled adults for about two years before Robert and I moved to Montana. I surprised them and got to catch up on everything I've missed these last three years.

Under the capitol dome

In Sacramento we ate a lot, rested a little, laughed, walked, shopped, swam, and had a great time. We got to visit the capitol where we saw a police officer on horseback and took a picture in front of Queen Isabel from Spain (who said she would pawn her crown jewels to help America succeed--where's the queen of Spain in this economy, huh?) Saturday afternoon, my mom and sisters dropped me off at the airport and they went back to their homes. It was a lot of fun and I am so grateful to the grandma and husbands who made it possible for us to see each other and have a fun couple of days away. I got home right at bedtime and was able to see my boys for a few brief moments. I had missed them so much and it was good to see how much they had missed me. But they were good for Grandma in my absence. I'm ready to get back into the swing of things, though.

The cobblestone road in Old Town Sacramento

Despite Craig's best attempts, Ethan made it to his first birthday

Mr. Ethan turned one today and I can't believe it. I know everyone says that, and I said it on both of Craig's birthdays so far, but I really look at Ethan and see a baby still. Not a toddler. Maybe it's because he's so much smaller than Craig ever was at this age. He's barely big enough to be in a forward facing car seat. We had to put Craig in a big car seat, turned backwards, when he was seven months old. I'm tempted to just leave Ethan rear facing for a while because they sleep so much better that way on long trips.

Robert wasn't feeling well so he stayed home from church today. For a special treat for Ethan's birthday we let him stay home, too, and have three fulls hours without Craig! After dinner, we celebrated with this carrot bunny cake:


I made one like this for Craig's first birthday and I think I might make it a tradition. I'm certainly not claiming to be a cake decorator, but I think it turned out cute. Craig knew it was a bunny, so I guess that's a plus. Here are some pictures of the messy little birthday boy diving into his cake. I wish I could say this was his first taste of sugar, but it's not. I'll be honest.
The blogger video feature hasn't been working right, I've noticed, so I might try to post a video of him squishing it between his fingers at another time. If it doesn't show up, it's because I couldn't get it to work right.

By the way, I've noticed some of you have successfully posted videos in the last few months, any tips on how to do it? Do you use something other than blogger?

NCRM missionaries please read!

I got this in my email today and wanted to post it so anyone who may not be on the mission email list can know about it. Let me know if you want your email sent to Pres. and Sis. Welch and get on their list.

The family of Garth and Melba Welch is hosting an open house to celebrate their 50^th Wedding Anniversary on Saturday, September 18^th from 5:00 – 7:30 pm, to be held at 3910 No. 800 West, Pleasant View, Utah. In case of inclement weather it will be held at the church on the corner of Pleasant View Drive and 900 West. We would love to have you and your family join us for a combined anniversary celebration and missionary reunion.

We are sorry we were not able to get this out earlier. My computer has been down for a couple of weeks and we are hoping that it will hang in there till we notify everyone. We would appreciate your passing this on to others. It is far better to have several notices than none. Hope to see as many of you who can make it.

What do you get a one year old with a million toys and tons of clothes for his birthday?

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything really interesting. I've been waiting to take some good pictures but Robert took our camera to work. So, I figured I would just tell you all what's going on around here and put some pictures up next week. It seems like there's been a lot going on and we've all been busy, but then when I sit to write about it I can't think of anything worth documenting. Craig is using more complete sentences and just beginning to attempt "the, is, and" etc. I love being able to ask him questions and trust that his answers are really answers and not just the first this that popped into his mind. Ethan's walking is more and more confident every day. He's crawling less and less. He also got comfortable wearing his little soft-soled shoes at church on Sunday.

Here's something you can help me with---what do you suggest I get Ethan for his birthday? I want something he and Craig can (relatively) easily share but I'm not interested in just buying him a new toy. A couple ideas I had was a sandbox. I was thinking of using a plastic swimming pool. However, around here you have to worry about things like scorpions and tarantulas burrowing into the sand. So I would have figure out some kind of cover for it. Would that just be too much trouble? I also thought of getting a little plastic slide, but we only have a concrete patio and no grass, so I might just be asking for trouble there. My last thought was a double sided easel and some kids finger paints. I don't know. What suggestions or advice do you all have from your experiences?