When did you grow up?

Nolan just had his first day of preschool. It couldn't have gone any better! Last week we went to see the classroom, meet Miss Anna-Marie, and pick out his chair and coat/backpack hook. When we left he said, "But why are we going home? I want to stay at school!"

So this morning when he woke up I said, "You get to go to preschool today." He then said, "But I want to go by myself without mom - just by myself." Clearly he was ready and excited. He walked in the door to preschool, said goodbye, and that was the last I heard from him for 2 and a half hours. And the best part? I get to do it all again tomorrow and the next day! Oh, I mean HE gets to do it all again. Can you tell I'm happy about this preschool thing?

There is a part of me (a small part) that can't believe he's old enough and wishes that he was still my little baby. But I just know he's going to love the extra social interaction and opportunities to learn. Here's to you, my little school boy!

Heritage Park Work Party

We had a good time at Justin's work party at the end of August . It was our first visit to "This is the Place" Heritage Park. We found an online discount for a season pass so hopefully we'll be going back for some holiday visits as well. Nolan enjoyed the pony and train rides and exploring the play ship. Ezra adored the petting zoo and munching on kettle corn popcorn. His little face in the above picture is pretty funny - he's so happy it looks as if he's going to burst!

Nolan got lost momentarily in the midst of the candy cannon chaos. I encouraged him to join the fray for taffy and then I couldn't find him in the crowd. Only a few minutes had gone by when I heard some screaming in the distance. I went toward it and sure enough, it was Nolan. He was drawing a crowd of people trying to help, but none could get closer than 5 or 6 feet because his screaming would turn manic. I ran up trying to explain that mom was in the same place the whole time and that he wasn't lost. Basically I was really embarrassed to have caused such a scene and worried Nolan so much. Curse that candy cannon and its charred taffy! Some mature child ended up giving Nolan his candy after he began yelling, "I didn't get any candy!!!" Luckily our day improved from there.

Too Much Love?

This morning, Justin told Nolan that he needed a big cuddle. A little cuddling, wrestling, and laughing followed and Justin said, "Nolan, how about you never get big? I need you to stay little so we can cuddle." And Nolan said, "No, I want to get big!"
Then Justin said, "Will you still cuddle with Daddy when you get big?"
Nolan answered, "I will. And I will shower with Mommy and Daddy when I get big, too!"
Oh, what a relief! 'Cause we were really worried about that.

Long week away

Congrats to Justin for making it through his Havasupai experience! He figures he hiked a total of 30 miles in 3 days, with more than 2,000 ft. in elevation change. He began the hike with a cold and the day after getting back to St. George he came down with a stomach bug. He explains that there are some trips to be enjoyed and some to be conquered - or maybe he said endured. Either way, he made it - blisters and all!

I spent the week in St. George thinking it would be easier to be there than spend a second week "alone" at home with the boys (husband was away on business the week before). I was wrong about the easy part. Ezra was still teething and Nolan decided he would do everything in his power to psychologically torment me with his screaming and tantrums. It's hard to explain how crummy and frustrated I felt so instead I'll just go over some of the highlights:

1) Nolan pooped on the potty twice at the beginning of the week, qualifying him for the long sought-after bucket of Legos from Target. He later had a huge accident that week, but I won't dwell on that.

2) I did a temple session and had lunch with my sister and her husband while Grandma babysat.

3) I attended my first (and hopefully not last) Zumba class with Keeley! Lots of booty-shaking, I tell you! It was followed up with a frozen hot chocolate from Dairy Queen. It's a favorite of mine.

4) I saw the movie Eat, Pray, Love with my mom while my Dad watched the boys. I loved the book and the movie was nearly as good.

5) We ate in Springdale for my Dad's birthday and had a fudge ice cream cake for my nephew's birthday.

6) We cooled off at the Main Street river park and picked out a treat at the old Judd's candy store.

So while the week may have been one of the hardest of my life since becoming a mother, it still had its good points. At least my parents' house is a good place to be when I'm having a hard time. And it could have been a lot harder by myself at home.

When we went to pick up Justin's car at his office, it was completely dead. I quickly called him and we jumped it with no problem. Then I filled it up w/ gas just before getting home and it wouldn't start again. I asked a cop to help me and his car was dead, too! After a teenager helped me out, I was on my way again. Justin later jumped it a 3rd time when he accidentally turned it off. It was official - we had to buy a new battery. Not exactly what we wanted to come home to.

Last week we bought a truck! It's a 1979 GMC! Yes, it's older than me (but not Justin!). The original owner was actually Justin's Dad, and his Grandpa Moulton has had it for the past 26 years. It's the first vehicle Justin ever drove. It's actually in really great condition and we're lucky to have gotten it for the bargain price of $400. It would have been great to have had it 3 years ago for finishing our yard, but there's still work to do and it will definitely be put to good use!

Pirate Potty

A while back I mentioned that we were potty training Nolan. Well, I just happened to never mention it again because we quit. Than we started several weeks later, and then quit. Well we're at it again and I think it's finally working (just in time for preschool). We've been reading "Pirate Potty" and I've been letting him stand up. He's always done well with the pee-pee bit, but poop was another story. I'll save you the details of our many hardships, but yesterday we had a breakthrough! He actually came to me and said, "Mom, I have to go potty!" And he went. No. 2. Just like that! I felt as though the heavens opened and smiled down upon me! I sang. I danced. We put a stamp on his poop chart and a sticker on his pirate hat. He ran around with his hat on saying "Arrr, Matey" the rest of the afternoon. Here is my little pirate pooper. X marks the spot, buddy!
Yesterday, Ezra was doing plenty of squealing at the dinner table. Nolan hates this and usually screams back. I couldn't take it anymore and reminded Nolan that when he screams back it only makes Ez scream more. Well, the next time it happened, Nolan said angrily, "Ezra, you are NOT terrific!"
And this evening Nolan kept slugging Ez while they were in the tub. I said, "Nolan, do not hit your brother." He got this innocent look on his face and casually said, "Oh yeah, I forgot." Oh brother.

Park City... again

I know, I know - we go to Park City a lot. But we love it! This time we were with my mom, and my two sisters' families. Lacey needed an unexpected surgery to remove her gallbladder so she, Rob, and baby Travis only came up for a couple day trips, but Ryan and Kendyll stayed to play. Luckily she is recovering well. Nolan loved playing with all of his cousins. There was lots of swimming, shopping, eating, walking, and movie watching. It was great for me to know that my boys would sleep through the night so that I could stay up later than usual. It's a treat to stay up late sometimes... I see why kids like it! Thank you, thank you to my Mom and Dad who paid for the condo. It's always such a treat to go cool off and have fun with everyone.

If anyone is interested in a trip to Park City, here are some of our favorite things to see and do: Tanger Outlet shopping, eating at Kneaders, hiking, walking Main Street, Olympic Park, new splash pad at Newpark, swimming, caramel apples at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, and visiting the local (and very old) cemetary.

As always, Nolan said some funny things this trip. But our favorite was when Bryson would say "Konnichiwa" and Nolan would ALWAYS respond "But I do have bones! See!" He would then proceed to point to his bones. We're not sure why he had this response or what he thought Bryson was saying, but it happened several times.

Our own little family took one morning to go hiking. We found a beautiful 3.5 mile hike nestled in the pine trees. It opened into a gorgeous overlook of Jeremy Ranch. I know that over the next hot month we'll be thinking back to that lovely hike.

Come see, Mommy!

This evening I was working some magic at the grill when Nolan came over and said, "There's a lizard up there. Come see, Mommy." He didn't seem all that enthusiastic but I thought I would help him get a close look. I asked him where it was and he continued to point to the side of the house. I still wasn't seeing anything... I figured it was a little baby that had already run away. We walked the length of the home and he finally said, "It's right there!"

Whoa!!! Lizard? More like a freaky wild dragon!!! Here is what he showed me:
I could hardly believe I was seeing this in my yard. It had to be just over a foot long with the tail and probably 3.5 inches wide at the belly. And Nolan didn't seem to think it was anything out of the ordinary. I ran to get Justin and the camera and headed back out. We thought it might be dead, but suddenly he jumped onto his feet in an aggressive charging position. I began screaming and yelling for the boys to get back. Later I said, "Justin, you know that was scary when he got up on his haunches like that." and Justin said, "The only scary thing was your screaming." Nolan just had this look of "What is going on?"
We made a few calls and the sheriff said he'd come help. We have no animal control here so he was the next best thing. He actually didn't know what to do with it at first. We figure that it is a bearded dragon that got loose from it's owner. He called a local pet shop and they said they'd take it. That way it will live and they'll give the owner a while to claim it. I'm pretty sure Sheriff Mott was not pleased about picking him up. I have a feeling he's more comfortable with handling criminals. But he did well. What an adventure!
Justin called a few of our immediate neighbors to ask if they had a missing pet. When they came out to have a look Justin later confided, "I figured you guys didn't have a pet lizard but I didn't want you to think this was a domestic abuse case." Nope - no wife beating tonight.

Youth Conference and much more!

This week has been so exciting. I'll start with last Sunday. When I awoke from my rare and glorious nap, my two nieces were at our home. Lacey had gone into labor! I just knew she wouldn't wait until Wednesday, her induction day. It was nice having the girls over to play with my boys since I had lots of packing to do for youth conference. Just before I left at 6:45 a.m. the next morning, we got word that the little guy was finally here. Lacey and baby Travis had a rough time (forceps and all), but they are doing well. We're happy to have another boy grandchild in the mix, especially one as cute as him! I'll get pictures soon to prove it.

So I left Justin with four children as I headed off for youth conference! I was so excited I couldn't sleep the night before. It did not disappoint. There were many fun activities, water fights, sports games, a fun dance, lots of good food (anything tastes better when I don't have to cook it), great spiritual moments, etc. etc. Our youth are awesome and I had a great time with the other leaders as well. If not for the lack of sleep I would have stayed a couple more days if I could! I felt like I was in high school again going to the dance and staying up late eating junk food and playing games. My bedroom even got slammed with water balloons at 1 a.m. The stake made a handful of boys write me apology letters. Poor kids... I thought it was funny! What an adventure. Justin did so well with the kids. He had the house clean and even had to take care of Kendyll's bloody nose. My mom only had to babysit one afternoon (thank you!!). It was a fabulous break for me. Next time we'll have to take a break together. Thanks, Doodah!

This week we've also been exploring in the moutains and tried a new local frozen yogurt shop. Delicious! We saw an official Home Depot stock car where Ezra tried his first cotton candy and Nolan threw another hideous tantrum. Justin took Nolan to an Elders Quorum activity this morning. They went shooting. Yes, we put a 22 semi-automatic rifle in the hands of our 3-year-old. Justin said that Nolan took a shot, looked around, and then continued shooting all over with a serious look on his face (Dad never took his hands off the rifle, of course). He then wanted to try the handgun... that's where Daddy drew the line!