For Time and Eternity

On October 22, 2010 Micah and Kolissa were sealed in the Salt Lake City, Utah temple for time and all eternity.  We weren't able to be there but we are proud of them, excited for them and we love them!  We were sad we couldn't make it but happy to see pictures of their beautiful day.

They are a cute couple and definitely made for each other!

Backyard Play Time

Now that the weather is beautiful here we have been enjoying a lot more time outside. The boys love to be in the backyard.  They are starting to actually play together which is exciting for Ricky and me to watch. Some of our backyard activities include:

Riding in the car

Logan's favorite - playing in the rocks

swinging with daddy

playing with the hose

playing together

(Logan is as confused as we were - this loving hugging stuff doesn't happen often)

posing for pictures

 popping bubbles

chasing bubbles

and contemplating the deeper meanings of life.

Conversations with Lincoln

Over the last week I started to write down more of our conversations with Lincoln.  As a mom it's so funny, amazing and wonderful to hear your child use words for the first time. It continues as they put them into sentences and then be able to explain and understand concepts, tell stories, etc.  


October 20th
Lincoln: "Scrumptious. (He pronounced it gum-shiss) It means yummy!"


October 23rd
Me: "Good Morning, Lincoln."
Lincoln: Good Morning, mommy.  I'm so glad to see you."
Me: Ahhh (as my heart melted and a huge smile went across my face!)


The closest Deseret Industries to us is about a 45 minute drive and it's not located in a very nice area of Phoenix. We had just dropped some things off at the DI when this conversation took place.
Rick: "Lincoln, what do you say we get out of this part of town?"
Lincoln "No problemo!" (said without hesitation and with the proper accent for the environment)


Later after returning home from Ikea, Ricky had some office furniture to put together for me.  Being the great dad that he is, he tried to include Lincoln in that project.
Ricky: "Lincoln, can you help me carry this?" (it was a sheet of wood about 2 1/2 feet long and less than 2 feet wide.)
Lincoln: "Yes!  This is humongous!


 Lincoln has been watching Ni-Hao Kai-Lan.  That show is pretty good about teaching kids emotions and how to express them with words.  One of the characters (Rintoo or Hoho - I don't remember which) stars in an episode where he gets mad. The character quickly shares his feelings by bluntly saying, I'm mad.  Lately so has Lincoln.  Now he is quick to say, in a bold confident (trying to be angry) voice, I'm mad!
He has also recently started saying, "that makes me sad."  Who said TV was a terrible thing?!?  It appears he's learning something.

Our Pumpkin Patch Visit

This year was Logan's first trip to a pumpkin patch. We took Lincoln last year to the same place but I don't think he remembered it.  They have a petting zoo, train ride, bounce house, corn maze and several other fun activities for the kids. I recall ever going to a pumpkin patch as a kid and picking a pumpkin but I love the idea of it and we've made it a family tradition. 

I gave up on trying to get the boys to look at me.  They were too distracted and excited about everything else going on around them.

Lincoln ran through the maze as fast as he could.  

At one point we stopped and explained to him that he was actually running through corn.  It took him a minute but it was when we showed him the corn on the cob in the husk that he put it all together. 

He is just the sweetest.  Everything was new to him and you could just see it on his face as he experienced new smells, textures and environments. 

He was hesitant at first to sit in a box full of corn. He wasn't sure what to do.  After a minute of watching his brother and the other kids, he too quickly joined in the fun and began scooping, pushing and rolling in the corn.

Lincoln seems pretty fascinated with little chickens, no matter where we see them.  This year he wasn't too interested in any of the animals, except the baby chicks.

San Francisco

Last week I had the opportunity to travel to Concord, CA for work.  I asked one of my favorite co-workers and friends to come with me to assist with my job fair.  She flew in from Florida at met me and my coordinator there. It was so fun to see her since it's been a couple years.  The day after our event, before flying home, we took a few hours to be tourists and enjoy San Francisco.  She had never been and I haven't been since high school. 


We drove over the bay bridge, went to Pier 39 to shop and saw the sea lions.  I wish we had more time together, and to see more sights, but we had fun during the time we had. 

Jennifer and Heather at the end of a long job fair day!

Bay Bridge - driving to Pier 39.

Alcatraz is in the background.  Heather was so excited to see mountains.  She isn't used to those since she lives in Florida.

Pier 39

It was fun to see the sea lions but it was stinky and loud.

I saw the zip it purse for the first time.  It was pretty fascinating and so fun that I had to have one.  I couldn't believe it's just one big zipper. 

Conversations with Lincoln

On September 25th as we loaded up the car early in the morning to head up to Idaho to see Tutu, Lincoln said, "I'm so excited!"  It was the first time that he used that word.  He is started to express emotion.


We stopped at In-N-Out for lunch and as we were leaving there he said, "We going to Tutu's email!" I questioned, "Tutu's email?  Do you mean Tutu's hotel?"  Lincoln, "yes!" (as if, duh, that's what he said all along.)


As we were preparing to cross Hoover Dam, Ricky was explaining to Lincoln that we were going to go over the dam and we were going to see a new huge bridge that they were building.  We finally got to the check point but we weren't yet at the point where we could see much of anything.  Lincoln, with anticipation and eagerness shouted out, "Where is the dam bridge!?" Of course, Ricky and I could do nothing but laugh.


As we continued to drive I had given Lincoln some raisins in a little bowl that he was holding on his lap.  At one point in the drive the road got bumpy and there was traffic causing Rick to hit the brakes pretty hard. Suddenly Lincoln says, "Whoa. Hold on raisins! Hold on!"

Papa

December 23, 1923 - September 29, 2010

As mentioned in early posts, we went back to Idaho and Utah to say goodbye to Papa and to attend his funeral.  Papa was Ricky's maternal grandfather.  Growing up Ricky lived as neighbors to Papa so he was pretty close to him and has a lot of memories with him. Ricky was actually named after him and they share the same birthday. Nana passed four years ago and we weren't able to attend her funeral but we knew the day would come that Nana and Papa would be reunited.  They were really the foundation for Rick's extended family and often the reason that the aunts, uncles and cousins all got together.  It was nice to see all of Rick's extended family together for probably the last time. 

Papa suffered a fall, two weeks before he passed, which caused a brain bleed. After a few days in the hospital he was put in home hospice care. We got to see him, say goodbye, and take one last picture with him.  Logan had never met him before so at least he can say he has a picture with his great grandfather. 

Papa was a sweet, hardworking man who loved the news and current events.  He left a great legacy behind and he will be missed.  We love you, Papa!

(Thanks, Nancee for the picture!) 

Nana and Papa later when I knew them.

Nana had a bridal shower for me at her house before I married Ricky. She was so sweet to me.

Aunt Evelyn is Papa's half sister.  She lived near us for a while in Whittier. 

 Papa and Ricky and Aunt Evelyn's funeral.

Papa visited us in Idaho.

Logan's only picture with Papa.  (He tried to share his blankey with him!)

We Almost Made It

Lincoln almost made it to three before having a hospital visit for a broken bone or stitches.  Unfortunately we ended up in Intermountain Hospital - Children's Urgent Care on October 2nd for Lincoln to receive six stitches in his chin.  The poor little guy was enjoying a fun filled evening with his cousins in Draper, Utah (following Papa's funeral - more to come on that later) when he fell off a picnic table bench and landed chin first of the back cement patio. I instantly knew we were going for stitches.  Luckily Logan was in bed so grandma Tutu just had to listened for him while Rick and I were off to the hospital. Lincoln was such a trooper!  He cried for a little while (as expected...it was a pretty big gash) and by the time we got in the car he had stopped crying. His chin bled the entire time until we arrived at the hospital.  We were the only ones in the waiting room (it was about 8:15 pm) and the staff that assisted us were fantastic.  Lincoln watched the movie Cars while we waited on the bed and as the nurse cleaned the cut and administered a numbing cream.  He even fell asleep for a few minutes while they stitched him up.  He didn't squirm or resist them at all.  He was excited to receive an orange popsicle and a Spiderman sticker when he was done.  We were in and out of the hospital in a little over an hour.

The chin is not an easy place for a 2 year old to keep and band-aid on.  Lincoln has done remarkably well and we got his stitches out today!

 He was in quite a bit of pain but held really still for the nurse.  

 After they got the numbing cream on him he was feeling pretty good.  He sat up to watch his movie and to talk with us.

By the end of the night he was so tired.  It had already been a long day and then to add the trauma of this injury on top of it wiped him out.  He clung to this little train from the Clayton's house (where we were staying) and he didn't want us to take it from him until the doctor came in.

Back to Idaho

On Friday, September 24th we got word that Papa (Rick's maternal grandfather) was going to be put on home Hospice care and we should expect to only live for another 3-5 days past that.  With that news, first thing Saturday morning we packed up the car and headed up to Utah.  We arrived in Salt Lake that evening and first thing the next morning we visited Papa.  He wasn't able to open his eyes or talk with us but we wanted to see him one last time, say goodbye and get a picture with him and the boys.  It was the only time Logan had met. Despite the fact that Logan would obviously not remember, we thought it was nice for him to have a picture with his great grandfather. After a short visit there, we headed to Temple Square for a few pictures and then on to Idaho for the week.


We had a great time visiting with Papa Tutu and Aunt Natalee.  Grandpa Tutu spent most of the week in Salt Lake caring for her dad so we didn't see her much until later in the week.  As always, the boys loved all of the fun things to do.  We played with the kitties, made Star Wars pancakes, rode on the tractor amongst other things.


Papa (Sandi's dad) passed on Wednesday, September 29th.  (I will blog separately about that) but while at the funeral Grammy came down from Logan to take care of the boys during the funeral.  Aunt Talicee drove up from Provo to also help out.  They had great time and Grammy kept them busy at the mall and target.


The reason for our visit was a sad one but we really did enjoy the quick trip up there.  It's always nice to have new experiences and visit family.

 We don't have many family pictures but I thought Temple Square would be a good place to get one if we could get the boys to be still long enough to.  It didn't turn out so bad.

Logan's first time in Temple Square.

Grandma Tutu met us in Temple Square and then we rode the Trax to the Gateway Mall for lunch.

Pancakes don't get better than this! Lincoln wanted to eat Yoda (Whoa-dah is how Lincoln pronounces it.)

Every morning Papa Tutu would eat breakfast with the boys at the breakfast bar. 

Everyone was still happy when we went to pick them up.  Considering the boys had short naps, I was pretty surprised. 

Tutu's House

Since we've spent so much time at Tutus house this summer I thought it would be fun to give it it's own post and share some of the fun pictures.  They talk about selling it eventually so i wanted to make sure that we captured pictures of it since we love to visit them there. Sorry...this post will be picture heavy but really the house is so beautiful I don't think you will mind me sharing!

              The end results in the winter months.  Pebble Creek Ski Resort in the background.

Ricky and I had a special Valentine's picnic in 2009 in the loft of the house as it was still being built.

Front of house in the beautiful spring months. 

Back view with the main house on left and the guest house and workshop on right.  The driveway gravel was still being laid. 

My favorite picture.  This sort of captures the peace and calm that can be felt when looking through the windows at the beautiful panoramic view.  No matter if it's seeing snow covered mountains, the deer and the green grass on the rolling hills, it is quite an amazing view.  

          

The furniture was rearranged to baby proof things but I love the openness of this great front room. 

Entry way (front door) is off to the right and the kitchen and loft (grandchildren's playroom) upstairs above the kitchen.

Lincoln's favorite place in the house.  He dubbed it HIS playroom.

Master Bedroom.  I love the red walls!

Master bathroom.  I love the chandelier.  This picture doesn't do it justice.  Behind the person taking the picture is a huge walk in closet and around the corner is the other half of the master bath with a shower and a walk in closet equal to (or possibly larger than) the bedroom. This is my favorite part of the house. 

Papa Tutu put in a climbing wall on the backside of the workshop.  Lincoln mastered it pretty quickly with Tutu's help.

House framed 

The construction of the house lasted a couple years because they can't work through winter. 

Ricky takes after his mom and has always been fascinated with home building.  He really enjoyed seeing the construction take place. Luckily we were living there for the later part of it so he was able to see how a lot of the house was constructed. 

The blue prints changed several times as they went a long but it was quite the undertaking.