Conference weekend

I have really been looking forward to conference weekend. My goal was to be able to stay home not go ANYWHERE & enjoy the time together as a family. Be inspired by our church leaders. Mission accomplished. Jake & Marli really helped me out a lot. They watched Conor & played with him while I went downstairs in my scrapbook room & worked on my cards for card swap this week and a few other projects that I've wanted to finish up. I folded laundry & enjoyed being inspired by all the speakers.

Conor loves cords & electronics. He loves opening doors and closing them.He loves taking things out of their place. I just wished he liked putting things back.
After the morning broadcast I went upstairs to find all three kids playing in Jakey's room. My camera battery was dead otherwise a picture would be on here. Seriously my heart stopped for a second when I opened the door. Every single lego & toy in our house was on Jacob's floor or bed. I wasn't upset at all however because they were having so much fun and kept Conor entertained while I enjoyed listening to Conference. I put Marli & Conor in the bathtub. I asked Ry to help Jake with his school workbook. While I cleaned up the demolition. I made a yummy lunch. Homemade chille. We had quasadilla's & nacho's. All is well All is well! We are so blessed that we can watch Conference from our homes. I'm so grateful for this blessing! My fave quote from conference....We are never lost when we can see the Temple! What a wonderful weekend. President Monson is so incredible. I love him and am so grateful for his example. What a great man. "We are a blessed people. I love you & pray for you & ask that you do the same for me & all the general authorities". It's always sad when it's over. I can't wait to get next months Ensign. I loved all the music & especially the closing song "Till we meet again". I think I'm on a spiritual high. Hopefully it'll last all week.

Papa John

My Uncle Larry called my dad Wed. night & said Papa John wasn't doing very well. When my dad told me Thursday morning when he picked the kids up from my office, I said I wanted to go see him. When I told Ryan he said he wanted to go see him too. (Ry & Papa John have the same b-day Sept. 18th.) This made me very happy that he knew it was important to go. All day Thursday at work I was so emotional. I just couldn't pull it together. I was thinking about how much Jaxon struggled towards the end & just wanted my Grandpa to be comfortable & feel how very much we all love him. As we prepared to go to Butte we were going to stay the night. Hotels were $120 a night which shocked me. In Butte? That is so crazy! We decided we would just go & see what happened. We woke up to so much snow. I had to call and excuse Jakey from school & Marli from dance. We met my parents at Smitty's for breakfast. My dad said he wasn't going to risk taking "his kids" on those roads. We ate our yummy breakfast & didn't say too much about going. My dad had worked night- shift the night before & was tired. At the end of meal Ry told my dad we need to go. What if something happens tomm. you will never have the opportunity to undo not going. We finally persuaded him to put on his big girl panties & go. The kids & I watched "Marley & Me" on the way up. The roads were pretty yucky. I knew we were in safe hands.( My hubby has his class CDL license for heavens sake. He reminds me of that all the time.) He's driven in the worst situations. We made it to Dillon finally & went in the gas station that we always go in. They had some little chick chicks under a heat lamp. All three kids thought that was so cool. We got some snacks and loaded back up. When we pulled in Butte I was bawling I was scared to see my Grandpa who in my mind is so strong so full of life. I didn't want to see him frail and sad.

I hugged him so tight. I was so happy to see him doing so much better than I thought he would be. He is on oxygen & is pretty frail. He has a oxygen machine just like the one Jax had. Ripped my guts out. I brought him several treats from Great Harvest bread. I cut him up a apple crisp bar and he really enjoyed it. That made me smile.



Grandpa John held Marli's hand for a really long time. I could see the smile on both their faces. I remember being little and my Papa John always made me feel like I was the most special little girl. He still does. I love him so very much. He is a good guy. Everyone who knows him loves him & respects him.



I love Jakey in this picture he has his hand on Papa John's heart and is smiling. So Precious!Conor would go over to Papa John's feet & touch them & giggle. He loved playing peek a boo with him. He liked exploring his house. So much to get into.

Ry thought it would be nice to take the kids outside so the adults could visit. Larry's wife Donna came by. We had such a nice visit. I love my Aunt Donna so much. I'm so grateful that she is there taking care of Papa John. Her Dad passed away last Sept. She took care of him during his last few months. We laughed and cried. The kids came and got me they wre so excited to show me something. In Papa John's backyard the kids had made a cute snowman. I'm not sure why Marli was so sad for a minute.



I had to tickle her to get her to smile. I'm so grateful Ry was inspired to do this. Hopefully we will all remember this day forever.Before we left town we stopped by my Uncle Jack's credit union. We got to visit with him and my cousin Scott. It was so nice. We then went to Joe's pasty shop & got a bunch of little pasties & 10 big ones. Yum Yum. Then we got a porkchop sandwich onion rings and shakes. Jakey was so funny he ate a whole sandwich & they are huge! He's really got Montana blood in him. Hahah! We watched the movie hairspray on the way home. That was pretty interesting. All in all it was a great trip. I'm grateful we made it there and home safely.

Hanging out at home

Home sweet home

It doesn't happen very often at our house that we have an entire day to just hang out at home. These days are so cherished & welcomed. I love that the kids will get pillows & blankets and lay out in the living room. We hung out watching movies and playing games. So fun. We even had a pillow fight.

Con Con as we like to call him being silly

Jakey & Marli are best friends. They enjoy playing with each other and their likes are so similar. Marli is so easy going and what ever Jake wants to watch or do is fine with her. I walked in the living room and had the biggest smile when I saw them laying so close to each other & just enjoying being with each other. I told them this makes mom so very happy to see them loving one another.


What's this I spy? Jakey Hugging Marli's Thigh! Hahaha

I made this Winnie the Pooh blanket for Jacob when he was born. Conor loves it & sleeps with it. He rubs it on his cheek & tells me blankey. I can't believe he is 17 mo. old. He went from having 8 teeth to 15 practically over night. Unbelievable!

Conor loves his older brother & sister very much. You can most often find him in the middle of whatever they are doing.

I was thinking next year we have to go some where for spring break and thaw out...then I see these little munchkins just loving being home and not having to go anywhere. A lot of our neighbors went to Disneyland or Disney World for spring break. The kids keep asking me when we can go. I told them when Conor is three!?! We'll see!

Treats

Conor's new thing is to come get me & tell me he wants a drink or treat. Sometimes when I don't go with him right away he'll stand in front of the fridge or pantry and whine or whimper like a little puppy.



I recently picked up a couple of these new sippee cups that have straws that swear they are spill proof. Conor loves drinking out of a straw. Whenever we go out to eat he thinks who ever has a drink with a straw it's automatically HIS drink. I was pleasantly surprised when they really are totally spill proof.


Marli LOVES ice cream sandwiches. We ran out awhile back. She kept begging me to pick up some more. She was so happy the other day when I came home with a whole bunch. She was watching t.v. & had ice cream on her cute little face. I had to get a picture of her when I repeatedly asked her to go wash her face & she was so into her show she didn't even notice I was right in front of her.


I guess I didn't do very good getting a picture of her with her eyes open eating her treat.

Jakey joined Marli enjoying a ice cream sandwich. He thought it was so good he was licking his fingers which he never does. I thought this was so hilarious.

This picture cracks me up. He's looking at me like " Ma what do you want? Can't I enjoy my snack without you taking my freaking picture"?

Oh Sweet Mama

Ry drove out to work today. He left work a hour early. He called me at work around 4:00 asking what he could do to help. I was surprised he was in town before 5:30. I told him he could give my mom a break & pick up the kids. He got them dinner and headed home for Halo family night. His buddies & their kids are all playing Halo live tonight.
I knew I didn't need to hurry home so I took the opportunity to have some me time. I went to Barnes & noble and picked up a couple books I've wanted for awhile. I love their bargain & clearance tables. Then I went to Gandolfo's and went inside for once instead of the drive-thru. I was visiting with the owner and told him I had never been inside. We always go thru the drive thru. He got my order together and told me to bring the kids in anytime he has candy for them and we both laughed. When you have three little ones you just don't go in anywhere if you don't have to.When I got home tonight the first person to greet me was my beautiful daughter. She yells"Oh Swwweeet Mama". I laughed & said were did you hear that? She says hear what? Sweet mama? Her response"What? Well ya are"! OK! As I'm carrying in everything from the car she asks"So, What'ya bring Marli"? I smiled and said Oh nothing. Then she runs over to the kitchen table and See's that I didn't finish my sandwich from gandolfo's. She exclaims"Oh mom your the best! You brought me one of those yummy sandwiches"! She gobbles it up. I asked her how she was doing. She looked at me very seriously and said"Good, Real good,actually painfully good"! What does painfully good mean. "Oh ya know" then she gives me two thumbs up. I gave her a huge hug and kiss. She definitely lights up my life.

Marli and I were looking at a couple blogs tonight. She says "Oh! I miss them too much. Plus that one! Oh I love my family! My whole family".

Marli completely cracks me up. She has her own language & her own world. I think that is is awesome what a free spirit she is. She lives in Marli*Land & lets us come visit from time to time. Instead of a Barbie world it's a Marli*World at our house. We wouldn't trade it for anything. She's a total sweetie pie.

Too Much Fun In Utah

Ryan & I took the kids to Utah to see my brother Kyle his wife Lesley & my adorable niece Ella. My parents came with us and we had way too much fun. We didn't get out of town until 10:30 because the new DVD player Ry bought the night before at best buy wouldn't work(best buy doesn't open until 10:00). We met my parents for breakfast at Smitty's. Marli rode with my parents. Jacob & I watched Beverly Hills Chihuahua on the way down. It was so fun to hang out with the boys. Conor was watching the movie too which totally surprised me because he NEVER watches t.v. I'm hoping my SIL Lesley post some pictures on her blog. I brought my camera and didn't take a single picture on our trip.

Words can not even begin to describe how much I love my brother Kyle and his family. I love hanging out with them. No matter what we do we always have so much fun. On our way to Provo we stopped in Draper at the

Draper Factory Stores12101 S Factory Outlet Drive Draper, UT801-571-2933. Ryan got a leather vest & leather gloves for riding his Harley. He was pretty happy. I got the kids some super cute Summer clothes.

One of my all time favorite stores is Osh Gosh. I used to always dress Jaxon in their clothes. I got Jakey & Conor some cool matching outfits. They both thought it was cool that they had twinner shirts and pants and jersey's and shorts.

We met Kyle,Lesley & Ella for dinner at this amazing Brazilian restaurant called Tucanos Brazilian Grill . Oh my this place was so good. We all ate way too much. I saw on a cooking show last week about this Brazilian lemonade it looked so yummy. I was so excited when the waitress asked me if I wanted to try their specialty drink. It was the lemonade I wanted to try. It was so delicious.

I have never been to Ikea so it was on our wish list of places to go while in Utah. I love this store. It has all this stuff that you never even knew you needed. They have a play land for the kids to play in if they are potty trained. Jakey & Marli loved it. They had all sorts of fun stuff to jump & climb on while we all shopped. They give you a pager like when you go out to eat in case your child needs you. They give the parents a hour to shop. I was late picking the kids up it was more like a hour and 15 min. the girl said they tried to page me. Apparently my pager didn't work. Whoops!

The kids wanted to go to Chuck E cheeze. After Ikea I rode with Lesley to Hobby Lobby. Ryan met Kyle, Ella and my parents at Chuck E's. When they were ready to leave we stopped by to help load them all up. We went to Johnny Carino's for dinner. Only because the Cheese cake Factory had a two hour wait. Lame!

After Dinner we said our goodbye's and we had to head back to Provo to pick up Ry's pillow he left there. There was a girls basketball tournament in Provo and I talked to a bunch of the girls that were staying at our hotel. Their team was from Chicago. I told them we were from Idaho Falls, Id. and Chicago had nothing on us we are the windiest city.

The new Cabella's in Lehi was also on our list of places to see. They had a trailer out front with all these animals that were killed by poachers. It was called the Poachers wall of shame. The store was awesome. The kids really liked seeing all the animals and fish. They have this huge aquarium that is in a tunnel. There were some funky fish in there. Jakey said this one fish looked like a walrus's grandson. They had a pond of fish and they were all big. I was talking to the guy that worked there about what kind of fish were in there. He was telling me they were mostly trout. Once they got to a certain weight they would transfer them to the big aquarium. If they were too little the big fish would eat them.

Ryan was on a serious mission to find the Cheesecake Factory on the way home. It was going on 9:00 and he found it. He took Marli in to go potty and came out with three different kinds of cheesecake. We saved them for the next day when we got the car cleaned out and laundry all done it was our reward. We had a really fun trip. Thanks Kyle & Lesley for putting up with all of us.