Pioneer Children

Pioneer Day is one of the few holidays I get really excited about.  I think it's because my hometown of Mapleton throws the best party.
After a breakfast of big-as-your-face pancakes and imitation eggs, there's a parade that has candy and loud firetrucks and primary kids.

 Serious Henry contemplating the validity of cheerleaders in parades.

New this year, pony rides! After one time around, Sarah wanted off.  Not until you get your $2 worth.

 Happy Henry petting a pony or something.

 Onto the games. You can fish for a duck,

  wait in lines with your cousins,

 and knock down an ugly troll.  And there's always a consolation prize of a tootsie roll to add to your collection from the parade.

 That night, the whole town gathers to listen to music and wait for the fireworks.

And of course, shake their groove thang.

Rollie Pollie Henry rolled around a lot while waiting for the fireworks.  The fireworks were a-mazing as always.  If you can't feel your gut shake and get ash in your hair, it isn't a good show.

 Messy face break.  And this chicken is delicious.  Check out the recipe here

Nothing completes a week of cousins and pioneerish celebrations like a trip up the canyon. And sticks.  You need lots of sticks.

 Handsome Henry.

So I'm on this treat fast.  No treats from June 11 to my birthday (September 10) with a s'more exception.  I like to go big or go home when it comes to s'mores. Two mallows and a Reese's cup.  And apparently close your eyes and keep your pinkies up.

 More cousins and sticks.

Henry made this face yesterday to get his message across more forcefully.  He wanted something and I wasn't understanding so he thought this would help.

And Henry loves to watch flies.  He gets so excited when he sees one on the table.

How 'bout them kids?

Perhaps it's presumptuous of me to assume you like to see my kids as much as I do.  Oh well.
"Mom, take a picture of me while a run in a circle really fast."

Henry likes to play cars while lying on his back.  Yes, that's the laptop cord underneath him.  He's not picky.

Sarah loves her some foam curlers.  We've done them for church the past couple of weeks. I don't have an after photo since Sunday mornings are a bit crazy.

Henry loves this blanket.  At night, I can hear him rolling around, wrestling it until he gets comfy. He is so happy to go to bed because he likes to snuggle with it.

After a long day up in the mountains, he was so happy to see it.

 We went to Payson Lakes for the 4th. Sarah wanted her picture taken and this is the pose I get. 

 I didn't get in the water because I forgot/didn't care enough to remember my swimsuit.

Camping with a crawler is NO FUN. Henry would rather crawl around in the pitch darkness exploring the trailer rather than sleep. And he can't crawl around since he'd eat the dirt so he was stuck in his highchair or carried around. I came a day later since I knew it would be tough and then I took him home a day early because we both had enough.  The smores were worth the trip though.

Sarah, on the other hand, is a camping champ. She loves sleeping in her cubby-like bunk in the trailer, eating pancakes every morning, riding her bike around the firepit, feeding squirrels, eating marshmallows and getting dirty.

She made Uncle Dallin a play dough birthday cake. Happy birthday Dallin in Brazil! (I love that her face is dirty.)

And then it rained the day after we got back.  After 36 days without rain, it felt and smelled so good. We sat on the porch for nearly an hour just enjoying it all.  Yes, Sarah is wearing her pajamas and coat.

Monday Sarah and I went to see Brave.  I loved it.  She got scared.  Several times she buried her head into me and asked to go home.  I was mean and made her stay.  But ask her now and she'll say she loved it. 

 My hippy ballerina putting the silverware away.

 Henry figured out how to knock the tray off his highchair and stand up.  Awesome.

 Last night Justin taught Henry how to make car, truck, and motorcycle sounds.

Henry loved it. 

 He tried it himself.

Henry is all about Dad.  He is so excited when Justin comes home. I think he wants Justin to rescue him from these girls he's been with all day.

He can say "Dad" and "Daddy" but not "Mom" of course. He says "hi" and "bye" and "book".  He's pretty good at imitating sounds but they don't have any meaning to him and he forgets them.  He has no interest in walking but he can crawl up the stairs so fast.  He won't try going down.  Instead he just cries at the top for me to rescue him. I'm tired of that so the stairs are now blocked.

Sarah is asking lots of tough questions.  "Why do you wear makeup?" "Why don't boys wear dresses?" "Where's heaven?" "How come cars need gas?" If I say I don't know, she then says, "Because God made us that way?"  

Sarah's quote of the week: "Babies and squirrels have little hands."

Justin gives me a hard time because my left and rights aren't natural to me.  Thus he also makes it a point to teach Sarah.

Sarah: (Pointing to her left) What's this way?
Me: I don't know.  (I was thinking she wanted to know what was in that general direction, like Walmart or whatever.)
Sarah: That way's left. (Points to the right) And this way's right.
Me: Yup. (Dang her. She's already better at it than me.)

Henry's first (and hopefully last) trip to the ER

Sometimes Henry holds his breath when he cries and I'm like, "Breathe Henry. Let it out" and finally he will continue on with his wailing. On Thursday and Saturday he held it for so long he kind of passed out.  But on Sunday, Henry took it way too far.  Just as we were getting ready to head out the door for church, Henry got really upset and stopped breathing mid-cry like he sometimes does but he didn't let it out.  Justin was holding him and he went blue, then limp, his eyes rolled back and he spit up and his arms and legs started twitching around.  And he still hadn't taken a breath. Scary huh? I breathed into his mouth then laid him down and finally he started gurgling and breathing again.  Justin called 911 and 2 cop cars and an ambulance arrived at our house. (Just as everyone in the neighborhood was leaving for church.  We were quite the topic of conversation, I'm sure.) He was pale and limp but conscious while the EMT's checked him over. Then Henry and I both got our first ambulance ride.

At the hospital, they took blood and urine and ran all sorts of tests.  He had a CT scan and they put in an IV (those two things were worse than the seizure).  Everything came back normal and there's nothing wrong with his brain.  His seizure was caused by lack of oxygen to the brain from holding it while crying.  I never knew that could happen.  From the helpful handout the ER gave us, breatholding is caused by the involuntary nervous system, not manipulation on the kid's part. So the safest thing is to not let Henry cry anymore. So everyone be nice to Henry. What baby wants, baby gets.

I can joke about it now since it's been 4 days but really it sucked. On the ride over, I was watching Justin in the car as he followed the ambulance and realized that nothing else matters but my little family.  Everything I was worried about just 30 minutes before (Sarah's hair, Cheerios, clean faces) didn't matter. My mom and s-i-l Lisa came over to the hospital and their stories of how their kids scared the crap out of them was supportive and helped pass the time.

After given a clean bill of health they unhooked his IV and let us go home. We arrived just as church got out so Henry timed all this just right. I hope he's learned his lesson. After his nap, he was just fine. I was pretty emotional and traumatized for the rest of the day but went to bed feeling grateful.

What would I do if I couldn't kiss this face everyday?

Why do kids have to pose all crazy?

Sarah is obsessed with my mop.  Everytime I pull it out (which isn't often) she freaks and begs for a turn.  I've learned to just let her do it because she gets bored after like 5 minutes.

Last Wednesday I was a nice mom and took my kids for an outing that wasn't to the grocery store or the bank.  We went to the Provo Temple and the Bean Museum and to Burger Supreme for lunch.

 I've told you Henry loves water, right?

I wonder how long they can both get filled up on a single cheese sandwich. We'll probably stop taking them out to eat when that happens. I have major anxiety about taking my kids places all by myself but they did great. No tantrums or injuries.

 Friday we grabbed some dinner and headed up to Bridal Veil Falls. Henry was all smiles.

 Sarah was all cheese.

Seriously.  Next time I'm taking family pictures where Henry can see a river or waterfall because he won't stop grinning.

Mmm handsome.

This is Sarah playing school.  She doesn't really know what school is like but that's what she called it.  It was more like a bossy tea party.

 Later as I was folding towels (trying to, anyway) Sarah was making "campsites"

I don't really know how to preface this video.  Hopefully that still-shot makes you curious enough.

Last weekend (like 10 days ago) Justin and I went to SLC to stay overnight now that Henry is all weaned. It had been a year and half since we last got away for a night. It was to celebrate our anniversary a little late and Justin's new job. We stayed at the Marriott, walked around City Creek (very cool but nearly all the stores are way too fancy shmancy), and ate at the Cheesecake Factory.  Saturday, Justin surprised me by taking me to Park City to go horseback riding.  I was so excited! My horse was named Smokey, Justin's was named Duke.  Leah, our guide was super cool.  She stuffed her sandwich into her shirt pocket to adjust my stirrup straps.  I am so happy I just got to type that sentence. It was kind of scary to sit on something that could buck me off and trample me or just bolt while I hold onto dear life but I tried not to think about that. The 2 hour ride was surprisingly relaxing. Justin is hooked. I am going to check if La-z-boy makes a saddle. I have no pictures because I forgot my camera.

A cornicopia of a post, if you will.

Dear readers, all both of you. You know how the longer you go without posting, the longer the post is going to have to be?  So you just need to bite the bullet and write a really long post?  This is it.

A few weeks ago, we went to Payson Lakes to do some fishing.  Well I didn't fish, of course.  Sarah reeled in a fish or two and Justin caught a couple with her princess pole.  Kristen, Sarah, Henry and I walked around the lake.  The lake may look small but it felt large pushing a stroller around it.

Henry either loved or hated Sarah's hat.  I don't remember now.

My fisherman.

Henry figured out how the pull the DVDs out of the stand.  I was waiting for this day secretly hoping it would never happen.  The stand now faces the wall. I will probably turn it around next time I need to get something done. Can you see his top teeth?  They're huge with a big gap.  Is it okay to say that?  Sarah's were the same way until the other teeth came in.

I gave Henry the core of a mango and it kept him occupied for about 20 minutes.

Justin and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary.  During the day, we went bowling.  Here Sarah got a strike to celebrate.

Later Nadine watched the kids while we went to Texas Roadhouse. Here is a conversation Justin and I were fortunate to overhear from the neighboring table, full of adults.

Customer: What's the difference between the kinds of steak?
Waitress: Well there's the ribeye, it has the most marbeling.
Customer: What's marbeling?
Waitress: It's the kind of seasoning they put on it.

Fist of all, he should know. Secondly, she should know. How does a grown man and a steakhouse waitress have this exchange? It may have been the highlight of our annivesary.  That and the rolls and honeybutter.

I don't remember why I took this picture.  He sure is cute.

Not pictured but certainly noteworthy, my nephews Jack and Christian graduated from highschool.  We went to Chuck-a-rama where I ate more honeybutter. Thanks for graduating, you two. I was craving that.  For an article on my awesome nephew and an adorable picture see here.

This past weekend we went to Hurricane to stay at my parent's condo.  We went Wednesday night and Justin's family came down Thursday night.  Thursday we took the kids to this splash park in downtown St. George. Henry can flood the bathroom so I knew he'd like it.

 They also had a fountain thingy like here in SF and a river and waterfall.

 And they had a carousel that the kids ride free and adults are $1.  Cutest face ever.  You look handsome too, Justin.

 Can you believe I had to talk Sarah into going on it?  Just like on Mary Poppins, I told her.

 Afterwards we went to Iceberg for lunch.  These two are too cool for school.

That's the end of the photos for that trip. I don't know why. Friday we went boating at Sandhollow (I forgot my camera). After a 3 year hiatus, I tried my hand at wakesurfing.  And after an intense tube run, I was so sore. Sarah likes the tube as long as it is sloooow.

Saturday we took the kids to the pool while the fam went back to the lake.  Justin was sore and sunbuned and I was sore so we just played in the pool.  We have two little fish on our hands.

Then Justin got sick, Henry got sick, we came home and I got sick.  Let's see how Sarah does.

Speaking of Sarah.  This is hilarious.  She is singing "just a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down" while holding out her hand fully expecting a bird to come to her and sit on her finger.

And the most important piece of news, Justin got a new job!  He will be working for Anderson Engineering in SLC! I am very excited not to have to move to Topeka or Fargo.  Justin is happy he doesn't have to leave his hunting grounds. Sarah is working on pronouncing "engineer."