DECEMBER AND CHRISTMAS IN PICTURES

December was a wonderfully busy month for us and we enjoyed every minute of it!  Let's start with the annual cutting of the Christmas tree.

Setting up the Tree in Porter's Room

Next came Porter's 3rd Birthday.  We kept it simple inviting grandparents, and my cousins Josh, Mackay, and Sadie to yes, McDonald's.  But  kid should get to choose where to have his party and this was Porter's choice.

Next came sitting on Santa's Lap

(maybe I'm wrong, but most kids this age cry on Santa's lap right?)

 Christmas is by far now my favorite time of year because nothing can top the magic of Christmas to children!  We started with Tangled. Darling show, made me cry.  Tom just looked over at me and shook his head.  Next, we had a few hours of down time until we headed to my Uncle Scott's house for Christmas.  A very interesting Christmas indeed.  As long as I can remember we have had London Broil, baked potatoes, salad, rolls and Flaming Christmas Pudding.  Well, this year we mixed it up with Scott's wife Maralyn bringing in her tradition of Chinese Food mixed with some of our food.  It looked a little Chinese Gourmet-ish but was actually pretty good.

 
We acted out the traditional nativity but this year we were a little short on kids so we had to recruit some adults to join.  Porter was a Wise Man and insisted that we bring Jesus every present we could find.  And although he was a little large, Jack was Baby Jesus.  Asleep the whole time!

We headed home to deliver our sub-for santa gift for a family out in West Valley.  Porter contributed to the donation by using one of his dollars to buy a spider man gift for the four year old boy.  He was so proud to hand his dollar bill to the cashier.  It was darling.  This year was extremely humbling because the children didn't even ask for toys because what they really needed was clothes and food.  My toiletry stock from Rite Aid came in quite handy as I did have about a buzzillion toothpastes, deodorant, and shampoo and conditioner to donate too.

And finally, we went to check to see if the Elves came.  And sure enough, they visited and brought Porter Woody jammies and Jack Buzz Lighyear jammies.  And then sent the boys to bed while we did some wrapping.  It was put on hold when Porter had a wonderful accident in his bed and I had to run up and change the sheets, wash his underwear and handwash and dry the woody jammies because he still insisted on wearing them.

Christmas morning was perfect.  Porter got everything he possibly wanted and more!  Luckily he was polite and said thanks after every gift. Last year we weren't in our house so we spent Christmas Eve at my parents house.  Well, my family couldn't bear to think of us enjoying Porter and Jack Christmas morning without them so they came to our house at 7 am to watch the show. After we showered, we headed to my mom's for one more present from Santa and a ton of gifts from my family.  So spoiled when you have the only grandchildren!  And finally, we headed to the LeBaron's for food and cousin time.

My Boys Christmas Morning

  The Iron Man Helmet from Uncle Justin

 Luckily Santa Brought the Much Anticipated Dragon Castle to Manna's House!

                        

Christmas Thoughts

Christmas has been wonderful and I am sad to see it end.  We have had such a wonderful and magical Christmas which will most certainly need to be documented on my blog with photos, but for now, I just want to write my feelings about this Christmas down.  Picture documentary later.

We have done so many fun things this Christmas, but most of all I have loved teaching Porter the True Meaning of Christmas and the story of Jesus' birth.  He certainly was spoiled (that being the understatement of the world) but I am so happy that he is starting to understand at this young age why we celebrate Christmas and the joy one feels in giving gifts.  One of my favorite moments this Christmas was during our Nativity Reenactment.  Porter chose to be a Wiseman this year because he wanted to be the one to bring the gifts to the Baby Jesus.  We gave him "gold" to bring and he walked in an put the present down and then walked around the room insisting that we needed to find more presents for Jesus.  I love my sweet little boy!

For my mom, this Christmas has been quite an emotional one.  My favorite gift I received this year was a clock and the explanation and testimony she gave with it.  I wanted to be sure to keep this so I am going to write down parts of the letter to be sure I always remember the message.  Take from it what you will, but for me it means so much.  If it isn't obvious, clearly I have been having doubts on my abilities as a parent and knowing the best ways to raise my boys.  As well as balancing work, church, family, a husband that is always gone, etc.  I am grateful to my mom for always knowing exactly what I need to hear.  Here is most of the letter for memory's sake.

"This idea was a product of my continual reflection from October Conference in a talk by Elder Christofferson entitled "Reflections on a Consecrated Life".  In it he states, 'Life offers us two precious gifts--one is time, the other freedom of choice, the freedom to buy with your time what you will...Everyday, every hour, every minute of your span of mortal years must sometime be accounted for.' This thought has kept ringing in my ears.  Often the choices we make in this life aren't between good and bad but between better and best..

Elder Christofferson goes on to state that one of the elements of a consecrated life is work.  'All work is sacred,' he states.  'God designed this life to require almost constant work.  How we manage that in our lives is the key.  Work is required and when we are working we should give our very best. If it is important to do, it is important to do well and the time we work should reflect our integrity.  But you also have the work in your family.  Control your time; make the best use of it.'  Don't be jealous of what others have, even in ease and comfort.   

I believe we often learn the gospel with music and two lines from two different songs keep coming to my mind.  'I Walk by Faith'.  I know that as we lean on our Heavenly Father, He will direct us in making choices about our lives and the time we spend.  The other song is from the Forgotten Carols.  'All I ever wanted, all I ever dreamed of. . .couldn't hold a candle to what I've been given.  I've been given what I need.' You are the parents to two wonderful little boys.  They have been given to you for a reason.  You are the parents that are right for them.  Be grateful for the opportunity to raise them and lean on Heavenly Father for guidance.  He has given you what you need. 

Use your time to make the best choices.  Elder Chirstofferson says, 'men are that they might have joy-a joy that includes a fullness of life, a life dedicated to service, to love and harmony in the home, and the fruits of' honest toil.' I believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I know it is the only place to find the answers we need."

Merry Christmas.  I hope all of you had as wonderful a Christmas as we had!
'

Catch Up Now, Pictures Later

And...sigh.  I was released today from no longer in existence calling of Activities Coordinator after the crazy Christmas Party last night.  Props to all you out there who've served in this calling longer than 6 months :) Most of the time is is a great calling because you don't have much to do, but when the party approaches, you go into full swing.  And the stress case that I am doesn't handle it so well and it is hard to have kids when you are in charge so my mom was lucky enough to take them from 2-9:30 on Saturday.  Gotta love close family. (Ironic, however, that I didn't have my family there at the Ward Family Christmas Party)  For the most part, it went off without a hitch, although there was a disagreement on how many salads to put out at a time in which I lost and we almost ran out of salad before the last people were served.  (well, and the fact that like 3 people that were suppose to bring salad didn't show, nice)

I cannot believe Christmas is already in full swing!  Crazy how time gets away from you!  I have so much catching up to do with pictures that will have to happen later this week but I know if I don't post now I will have no motivation to do it.  Cutting Down Christmas Trees, Porter's Birthday, Sitting on Santa's Lap, Gingerbread Cookies, Decorating and More Decorating and if Porter had his way we would decorate everyday.

Christmas is so fun this year with all the anticipation.  It feels nice to have had all my shopping for my boys done before Thanksgiving but there is a part of me that is sad that I'm done just because it is so fun.  I think we have played with and probably lost pieces to about 8 different nativity sets, but Porter is obsessed with the Christmas Story.  He will go to Sunbeams in January, but the older nursery has been going into Sharing Time just to get them ready.  He came home singing "shepherds quietly" over and over and as of now I'm still not quite sure what Primary song that could have come from but he won't stop singing.  I love having a child at this age and their anticipation and excitement of the season.  Porter is insisting we make Jesus a cake for his Birthday because everyone should have a birthday cake.  He would also like to get him a toy.  Anyone do a tradition celebrating Jesus' birthday that they might want to offer up?

Happy Birthday My Blue Eyed Boy!

Happy Birthday my sweet little boy!  Porter turned 3!  How does that happen?  How do I have a 3 year old I ask you?  But for Porter's and my sake I thought I would document this little piece of history.
Porter, you are the sweetest little boy and have brought so much joy to my life!  Your curiosity and inquisitiveness bring a new adventure everyday.  You have such a zest for life that is contagious and you make motherhood a joy.  I love playing with you, and hearing you sing, and watching and listening to your wild imagination.  I love your snuggles and kisses and hugs.  Currently these are your favorites: 
-Iron Man (and all Marvel Comic Characters thanks to your uncle Justin, and you do in fact know every identity of every super hero and the name of their girlfriends also thanks to your uncle Justin),
-Pirates and your new Pirate Ship,
-Preschool with Brayden and Bo,
-Nursery (which I've already broken your heart by informing you that starting January you will now be a Sunbeam),
-campouts with  Papa Carl,
-having story time with Daddy,
-Peanut Butter Sandwiches (two every morning at 10 am for what we call second breakfast)
-McDonald's hamburger and "two-fries",
-helping me cook and clean while singing "Almost There!",
-anything and everything Disney but for now mostly Prince Philip from Sleeping Beauty and the Seven Dwarfs, -doing legos with Justin,
- and most of all, CHRISTMAS with all the decorations and the nativities and the story of Jesus' Birth when he receives gold, frankenstein and more!

We love you little boy and are so happy to have you in our lives. 

My Blog

Ok, so I started a deal blog to answer the requests of many of my friends asking me how I find my deals, how I save money and how I shop at Rite Aid.  I started posting a few ideas and deals I found.  (I subscribe to a lot of stores and deal site email blasts) It was just a little experiment into giving a few ideas but I didn't think really much of it.  (google analytics tells me differently)  I have been SHOCKED at the amount of emails I have received and visitors I have had.  So at this point, I guess I'll keep going.  If you didn't know, the blog is:
www.dealsyouwant.blogspot.com
Check it out and email me if you are looking for a deal on something in particular.

Pictures coming shortly of cutting down our christmas tree and in case you didn't know, my little boy turns 3 on Sunday!

i LOVE my BOYS!

Sometimes I think I take for granted how wonderful my life is and how blessed I am.  This is for my own sentimental journaling.  I love my boys!  Not a day goes by that they don't make me laugh.  At times, it is difficult to be a mother and have patience with every naughty thing they do (ie: Porter scratching the heck out of Jack's face right before we left for church!)  But  I love the days when we get to cuddle up on my bed and read a story to them before nap time.  And I love, even if just for a minute, when they are both sleeping and I just get to lay there with them and watch how innocent and adorable they are.  I love when I do find them laughing together.  Jack thinks Porter is the funniest person he has ever seen and it makes me happy to know that one day they will be the best of friends!  I love being a mom and with days like today when the power was out I realize how sometimes I lose sight of what is most important and how much I just enjoy sitting with my boys with nothing else to entertain us but, well. . . us!

I love Porter's enthusiasm for life!  Everything is so exciting and fun to him.  His new favorite?  Each day we get to get out one Christmas decoration.  Yesterday was a tiny nativity set and so as part of our Thankful Family Home Evening we talked about how thankful we were for Jesus and the Christmas Story.  He loves to tell me it a billion times a day.  Did you know that the Wise Men (who did in fact build their house upon a rock!) brought Jesus gold and frankenstein. We now carry the nativity around in a ziploc bag and I'm sure we will loose every piece of it, but well worth it.  He loves to help cook and clean, read stories, play the "what letter does it start with" game and hide and go seek (even if he doesn't get it), and he absolutely loves nursery and preschool.  We love this little boy!  (oh and potty training is just about there!)

Jack is trying my patience a bit right now, but I love this little boy.  I love him while I'm giving him a bath at 4 am because it is the only way to calm him down.  I love his chunky little body and his smiley face!  He is irresistable and he knows it.  He started crawling now and since it took him so long, he is quickly advancing to pulling himself up on things.  Here we go! 

One of Those Days

So. . . apparently, Jack is like his dad and is allergic to penicillin. I tried to take a picture with my phone, but it just doesn't quite do it justice.  We went to the doctor Friday to see if we could figure out why Jack was waking up every two hours at night and never napping longer than 20 minutes.  The diagnosis was reflux but he also had a small ear infection so we started him on antibiotics.   He said big kids (23 lbs.) often have a hard time with reflux.  We gave him maalox for the first two nights and it worked like a charm 10 + hours.  But then we started him on Zantac which started us back to 2 hours a night.  So. . . we are going to try Prevacid and see if it is less irritable on his stomach.  But, back to the matter at hand.  He woke up this morning with a rash.  It wasn't much so I thought maybe it was just an irritation to laundry detergent or something, but as the day went on his whole body was covered in hives and his back was almost completely red.  After seeing Tommy a few months ago with his allergic reaction to penicillin, I knew what had happened.  $25 later I found that he was indeed allergic to penicillin.  Awesome, poor guy looks pretty pathetic but hopefully all his problems are solved now and his ear infection is gone.

But, I had dropped Porter off at my parents house when I took Jack. As I was going inside to pick him up, I noticed the door to our Mr. Sandless truck was slightly ajar.  I looked inside to find that the stereo system had been stolen and the whole front end had been ransacked.  Awesome!

Luckily we've reached the end of the day and a package of pretzel M&M's and a Diet Coke is just what the doctor ordered to help wind down.  Pray that we have a nice restful night and that Jack will sleep for longer than two hours (that is worse than a newborn!)

We Survived!

We are home after being in Provo for four days watching my Aunt Jenny's 5 kids! So. . . maybe I"m not cut out to have that many kids, or maybe having 4 kids 3 and under is challenging! Actually, truth be told, it wasn't too bad, and Porter was in heaven. The hardest parts? Jack waking up every 2 hours day and night (this has been ongoing for the past month plus, we went to the doctor today so hopefully putting him back on acid reflux meds will do the trick!? Here's hoping!) having to give Porter an enema because he had not had a movement in a LONG time, making breakfast and dinner for 6 kids who all want something at the same time, convincing my 12 year old cousin that as a past History Teacher I was more than qualified to assist her with her history homework (if not more so than her mother whom she would secretly call to ask for help), figuring out how to pick up 3 kids from school with four car seats in a 7 passenger van, dealing with piano practicing for hours on end, getting my work done for Shabby Apple and completing a 1.5 hour conference call with 4 kiddos, and not losing my patience with such lack of sleep!

The kids were fabulously behaved for the most part. Bed time was the best. All kids in bed at 8:30 with flashlights that they use to read a book and then lights out (even the 3 year olds) I only hope my kids can be as well trained as that!

I admire all you mothers out there who handle a plethora of children so unbelievably well. I only hope that I can be as good as you when I have more! Jenn, you are awesome and have taught your kids well!

PS: Mags had her baby: 4 lbs 10 oz teeny itty bitty (especially for someone with almost 9 pound babies!), keep them in your prayers!

Our October

I absolutely love fall! And not just because of my birthday, although that was an enjoyable event too. I got a Cricut Machine and I am soo excited to start crafting. Now if I can only find the time. But back to Fall. It is by far my favorite season and having kids has made this month even more fun. Unfortunately, after more than a week of Halloween Parties and festivities, Porter has come to expect something every night and doesn't understand why we aren't still dressing up!

I love this costume!

The Pumpkin Patch

The First of many Halloween Parties. In case you can't tell, as many people seemed to need clarification: I am Wendy, Jack is Peter Pan, Porter is Captain Hook and Tommy is the Crocodile. No Jack is not Robin Hood and I am not Bo Peep. Come on people, honestly! He was so insistent on this that after going to every thrift store as well as Walmart and Target, I gave up and had to make my own nightgown. His assignments extended far beyond our little family as my dad was Mr. Smee, my mom, Tiger Lily, Trent as Michael, and Miko as "Poor Nana". Unfortunately, I don't yet have the picture of that, but hopefully I can get it from someone else.

Porter loved carving pumpkins, although he didn't really like the guts! Later on in the week, of course Justin had to use his art skills to carve an awesome Captain Hook Pumpkin.

Violet, Noah and Jack. This was right before Jack realized that Noah's costume was so soft and began to nuzzle his face into it. As you can tell, Noah didn't appreciate it so much.

The Grandkids with Nanny and Grandma Adams. I failed as a mom by forgetting the majority of Porter's costume. Luckily, Nanny saved the day with this Price Phillip costume that even matched the hat!

We had a very Happy Halloween, but I am Halloweened Out!

Pictures!

We had pictures taken a few weeks ago. Porter was not the most cooperative, Jack was all smiles, and here are the results. I love my little boys and you have to admit they are pretty dang cute!

Jack is so white in this picture you can't see the shirt underneath. A little photoshopping might have to fix that bare chested look!

The Question of the Day

Porter posed the following question on the way to Gymboree: "If Sneezy sneezes, and Happy is Happy, and Grumpy is mad, and Sleepy sleeps, what does Bashful do?" The kid cracks me up, seriously who thinks about that? I proceeded to explain that he was shy, but that didn't work for him so we ended on the fact that he doesn't talk much.
Porter is loving Halloween this year. I so wish we were in DisneyLand right now because he is all about Disney Villans and is totally into the Captain Hook costume and doesn't want to take it off. At least I am getting my moneys worth. After a brief search for a Wendy costume, I decided to make one which my mom helped me polish off today, so we are ready for Halloween at the LeBaron house. Here is just a glimpse of what is to come . . .

My Husband is Awesome!

So my husband is pretty much awesome. I wish I had pictures of the awesome shelves he made or the amazing dinner we just enjoyed that he prepared, but instead I guess I'll just tell you all. He is awesome! He can pull 6 miles out without exercising for a month, build anything (if only he had the time), survive on minimum sleep and wake up at the crack of dawn to go to work and then school and not get home until 10 at night and still have the patience to take care of Porter when he wanders in at 3 am. He is an awesome cook and loves doing it. Who doesn't love a man who can cook? He can figure anything out and loves to research everything. And despite how busy he is, he always manages to be the on-hand handy man to help anybody solve any problem they have. Ok, enough of that, here are a few catching up pictures:

Here is my little boy exhausted after a week of potty training (yes he sure did have an accident at Nanny's this day, as soon as I heard the door to the playroom slam I knew it was over as that is usually his choice of pooping places) In the words of Candace Flynn (if you don't know how that is, don't worry about it): "Sick of it! Totally sick of it. Sick! of! It!" We still have not mastered this aspect of potty training so basically I have to deal with dirty pants every other day! Any thoughts or help would be greatly appreciated!

We've been making lots of Halloween treats lately. As you can see from the pictures above (this photo is taken when I came down stairs looking for Porter after a shower) Porter loves frosting as he bites or licks the tops of the cupcakes off and puts them back.

In other news, we did in fact survive last weekend which unfortunately was the weekend everything was going on. We did the homeshow for Mr. Sandless starting Friday. Tom and I took the Friday evening shift ending at 10pm. I went the next morning with Trent until 1 while my mom watched the kids because Tom was helping his dad with a special project, after which I ran home to get to a baby shower for my visiting teaching partner. We then had to be at the Stake at 4 with a pot of chili and rolls to set up for The Stake Activity that I was partly in charge of. It went over fairly well. At the last second I had to enlist Trent to be the entertainment as everyone else bombed. Luckily I have a talented brother who can perform on the fly! The night was a pretty huge success with the exception of the Sumo Wrestling injury (the activity I was in charge of) as one of the Sumo Wrestlers fell out of the ring and landed on a little girl who now may have a broken arm. Of course there were the old ladies who then proceeded to criticize whoever it was that set it up there and why they weren't more careful (they being me!) We then had to clean up from the Home Show and by Sunday evening we were exhausted! So glad its over!

Being a Mom is Exhausting!

By the end of the day I feel like I have run a marathon. I give props to all you mom's of more than two children because mine are exhausting. Between potty training, Shabby Apple, preschool, gymboree, Mr. Sandless, the big stake activity this weekend, and the everyday mom stuff, and trying to fit in mom time, I feel like there are not enough hours in the day. At least children provide some comic relief! Porter is a chatter box that never quits, even in his sleep! Yesterday he rudely pointed to the woman passing by us in the aisle and said, "you stinking cod fish!" It was all I could do not to laugh, but don't worry, I did inform him that this was inappropriate. And today while at Walmart, he insisted on talking to the checker. Here's how the conversation went: "Hey lady, I watched Sleeping Beauty today. And do you know the name of the evil mean witch lady? Her name is Maleficent. And do you know what she does? She says, 'touch the spindle touch it I say' and Sleeping Beauty pricks her finger on the spinning wheel and dies! And then she turns into a scary dragon. Did you know that lady?" The checker just looked at him blankly, obviously not understanding a word he said.
The kid seriously cracks me up, although sometimes I wish we could just have quiet time for like 30 seconds. We're happy to report we have almost completely crossed the potty training hurdle. He has only had two accidents in the last almost 2 weeks, however, both of those were number two because he adamantly refuses to go in the toilet! Any thoughts from you experienced mothers out there? He has also picked up the horrible habit of coming into our room every night and wanting to sleep with us. The other night I rolled over to find Porter between us. I asked Tom when he brought Porter into our bed and he informed me that he didn't. Porter had climbed into our bed and nestled in between us and slept there for I don't know how long.
Jack, on the other hand, has given me little grief the last little bit except for the spitting up. I love that little chunker!
Pictures will eventually make it back on to this blog, I just haven't completely recovered my Mac yet so my iphoto isn't up to date.

6 MONTHS

So I have definitely neglected the photo department lately, but I will make up for it next week when Jack will have his 6 month photo shoot which I am totally excited for. Tomorrow I'll add some pictures. But Jackson is officially 6 months old and here are his stats:
20.5 lbs. (92%)
28.75" (99%)
and Head: 18.6" (folks, that is over the 100%!)

He is a crazy ball of energy and would love nothing more that to be standing upright and bouncing. He is a pro at rolling over and can scoot backwards quite well. When he tries to crawl forward he ends up swimming by kicking his legs and smacking his hands against the floor. He is still a MAJOR puker so he is not getting better with age. He loves to bounce in the johnny jumper which usually results in a lot of projectile puke. He has started on baby food but doesn't care much for it and after about half a jar he is done. He is in love with Porter and thinks everything he does is hilarious. He is such a giggler but still is totally bi-polar to the extreme. His little laugh is my favorite thing. He has sprouted two bottom front teeth and is apparently working on the next set. He loves his walker and could play in it for hours. His all time favorite thing in the entire world is PAPER. Yes, he loves how it looks, sounds, and would love to taste it as well. We love our little butterball and cannot believe it has already been 6 months. As for the statistics above, I now have to go buy a completely new wardrobe because instead of being 3 months off season of Porter, he is more like 6 months different. The child is wearing 12-18 month clothes now!

On the Porter Potty Training front: 3 days, no accidents, and finally after a bit of worry, a movement. We are quite happy on this front. Although, this child has most definitely inherited my childhood temper tantrums and after reading a few child rearing books, I am still at a loss of how to handle it. Unfortunately for me, the tantrum is usually directed at me and always at least once during the tantrum he informs me that he doesn't like me and wants me to go away. It's been tough to develop a thicker skin and not take it so personally because 10 minutes later he will be telling me how much he loves me but I do have to admit it has made me cry a time or two. How my mom handled this and how I survived childhood are still a mystery to me.

The Mac Died

Well, for all you mac users, just in case you were wondering, when your computer screen goes blank and then the screen flashes with a folder with a question mark in it, that basically means your hard drive is shot! Lucky for me I had just recently transferred all my photos to my external hard drive. Unlucky for me, I had spent a few hours photoshopping some pictures for work and spent hours on a letter to Porter that I have been writing him about his life, both gone! Hopefully they can possibly be recovered but so far Trent has had no luck. Oh yeah, another lucky for me, Trent is a Mac genius! So luckily the mac itself will still be of use to me. He happened to have an extra mac hard drive lying around (who has that?) and has installed it into my computer and reinstalled everything (even a pirated copy of photoshop as I no longer have my discs, yikes!). And all it cost me? A pizza! I guess I must jinx things like when I dreamt that Tom would loose his job. I was just saying that my mac was probably going to die soon and that there was no way I would be able to replace it. And of course, the next week it was gone! Sad day, but at least there is an upside, right?

On a different note, Porter has successfully completed day one of Operation Potty Training with a 5 for 5 record and no accidents! We even went to the grocery store and visited my mom's house. He is now in bed so here we go!!

Catching Up Again

Our "Rocket Ship"

Hanging Out with Josh and McKay

Pony Rides at Thanksgiving Point (yes as a pirate)

HAPPY BABY

As a side note, let me just tell you what a bad morning sounds like. The boys both had horrible nights last night as Porter has developed this new awful habit of wandering into our room at all hours of the night because he wants his daddy and he knows he doesn't get very much time with him. So already I was out of sorts from 3 nights of this. I then proceeded to take the garbage out. I have had to start locking the kids in the house so that Porter doesn't wander after me. Well as luck would have it the keys in my hand snagged on to the garbage bag as I threw it in the dumpster. Yes, I indeed had to jump into the dumpster (freshley showered and dressed) to get them out. I then proceeded to take the kids to the dog park so Miko could run around. Well, lucky us, the black dog was there that inappropriately mounts dogs so we didn't get to go in. We came home to the next door neighbors having their carpets cleaned which for some reason the company sounds like a jack hammer which continued for some time! (they were here last night too! For the love!) But we survived the morning and now the kids are napping on my bed next to me while I award myself with a quick break from working. So never mind the morning, its been a good day!

Lessons

I hate being humbled by your children. Last week I took Porter to the park. He is in this pirate phase right now and insists that he wear his pirate hat, patch, and belt everywhere and he runs around screaming argh! When we pulled up to the park, I recommended that he take his hat off because it is kind of weird. He said to me quite matter of factly, "It's ok to be weird mommy. It's not a big deal!"

Last week we were at my mom's house and she was watching my brother's dog for him. He was being quite overbearing and needy (he is a golden) and so she finally let him out to run around. He never leaves the yard. About an hour later she realized we hadn't let Dodger back in. We called for him and looked all around the yard but there was no trace whatsoever. She jumped in her car to go look for him while Porter and I stood at the window on the look out. I asked Porter if he remembered what his books told him about losing things. He told me we should pray about it. We said a prayer and immediately looked up to see Dodger bounding up the stairs towards us. (thank you for the perfect teaching moment for a 2 year old that needs immediate results!) I tried to call my mom to tell her but she wasn't answering her phone. Porter proceeded to inform me that we needed to pray to find "mana" and immediately said a prayer, "Heavenly Father, please find mana and bless her to get home safe and be ok; name of Jesus Christ amen." I love that little boy!

Our Summer

Since I have been severely slacking in the blogging, bare with me as I present a chronicle of our summer. We have been beyond busy with family, friends, work and activities, so here goes nothing!

The LeBaron Cabin

June-Tommy's Ragnar Race

Tommy and Porter at the Finish Line

July 3rd- The Oakley Rodeo with Carrie, Joseph, the kidlets, Bobby and the Smiths.
July 24th: Hiking Dog Lake and the Rocket ShipDog Lake

Porter's Buzz Lightyear Rocket Ship
"Pat Pat Pat, 1-2-3 Blast Off!

August 4th- August 8th-Lake PowellFailed at taking hardly any pictures!

August 10-August 14th San Antonio, Texas

My parents and I took the boys down to my cousin Hayley's wedding. Lucky for us, Texas was having a heat wave. Can I just say I hate humidity which unfortunately limits me to like two states I can live in in the US!The TemplePorter's Dance Partner Jamie-Lynn (his second cousin) Porter had a ball with his second cousins at my Aunt Wendy's House. He cried everytime we had to leave.Rocking Out with Grandma English
(yes they did have glow sticks for the dancing! I didn't let Porter wear a hat and half way through the night he decided he needed a pirate hat made out of a napkin)

Sea WorldHappy Boy Despite the Heat
Feeding the "Dolflins"The Alamo

And finally, this was our kids at the end of Sacrament a few weeks ago. As you can see, we have exhausted ourselves! You wouldn't know that this is a picture of a 2 1/2 year old and a 4 month old!