Why I LOVE Spring

Need I say more???

Flowers courtesy of the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point.

Silence is Golden

Silence...

Oh, how I love silence.

No yelling

screaming

crying

fighting

talking loudly

insane laughing

(not that I don't like that part)

But I really love silence.

Do you hear it??

...exactly...

Rhett went to Albuquerque today with his dad

to get the rest of our stuff

that didn't fit in the moving truck the first time.

He called to say they were there

and that he was glad I hadn't come

and seen the house

and friends.

He thinks I wouldn't have come back to UT
and he's probably right.

I miss Albuquerque a lot more than I thought I would

I loved our house

and beautiful yard

and all our friends

and all the attractions ABQ had

like seeing the balloons flying in the early morning

and the Balloon Fiesta in October;

the zoo with it's great animals and playground;

the jets that used to fly over our house on their way to the air force base.

It's very bittersweet being here in SLC

I know there are bigger and better things for us

waiting in Vernal

It's just having the patience

to finally get there.

The boys and I had a busy, but fun day today

We started with Porter's soccer game

He played goalie the first half

and poor thing -

all the action stayed down at the other end

so between standing there

and the cloudy 45 degree weather,

he was an icicle by halftime.

We warmed him up in the third quarter

and he played in the fourth and played midfield

so he got some action time.

Afterwards, it was to the grocery store

then home for lunch,

then off to the Museum of Ancient Life.

They have a series of exhibits at the beginning

where they explain fossils and how the earth was long ago

They boys didn't think to highly of it

and Zach finally said to me,

"Mom, I just want to see the bones."

We all had a great time

Porter was in heaven being surrounded by dinosaurs

What an awesome place.

Then it was off to Costco,
then home for dinner.
After dinner we cleaned up,
then played UNO together
Porter said, "I like nights like these"
I do, too...

On a side note
Zach started T-ball on Thursday with their first game/practice

The boys were hilarious to watch
Some had no idea what to do
and would hit the ball, then field it themselves
Others would hit, then run everywhere
but around the bases
I sure was proud of our little Zachy
who knew exactly what to do...

I'm off now to watch my movie
Seven Pounds
and enjoy the silence...

Daddy's Home

The boys sure love their dad...

Rhett came home last night
after being in Vernal since Monday.
The boys were sure happy to see him
I was, too.
Andrew has freaked out twice
because he thought dad was going to leave again.

Rhett was home today
and the boys have had a great time.
They've built dinosaurs
played baseball
lauched parachute guys
played Wii
and we all went to the movies
to see Monsters vs Aliens.

Andrew only talks to Rhett now -
When he says something
and I acknowledge it,
he tells me
"no mom, I'm talking to dad"
This morning he got in trouble and was put in his bed
After a minute, he was yelling
"Dad! Come get me out!"
I went in to resolve the trouble
He wouldn't even talk to me
let alone look at me
I asked if he wanted dad to get him out
and I got a subtle nod
Rhett went in and got him out...

Boy am I lucky
to have married a man
that adores his kids
and his kids adore him.

Our Saturday

I call it "our" Saturday

because it's the first Saturday

Rhett didn't have to go to work

Since we moved to Salt Lake.

I call it "ours"

Because we were able to spend

the WHOLE day together as a family

doing things we wanted to do

And what a perfect day it was, too.

The day started with Porter's first soccer game

(even though we are three weeks into the season

the first two games got rained/snowed out)

Porter played well

and was so excited to finally get to play a game.

His team is the Big T-Rexes...

Afterwards, we spent some time at Grandma Hunt's

where we finally had our Easter Egg hunt -

Now that everyone was well and could be there.

Andrew was so funny once he had all his eggs

He laid them all out,

then opened them one by one

Everytime amazed and suprised to see

that each one was filled with candy.

We then did something we haven't done in a long time -

the boys played baseball.

We all had a blast -

The boys loved hitting and running the bases

Rhett loved hopping the small fence and chasing after the balls

And I loved watching.

The boys hit so well -

even Andrew

He hits as well as the other boys -

for only being 2 1/2.

Andrew would hit and go straight to 2nd base

(because he likes the number 2).

Porter and Zach would hit,

then try to make it all the way around the bases

before Rhett would try and tag them out.

Once the boys had their fill,

we headed home so Rhett and I could get ready

for a date...

We dropped the boys off

to play with their cousins

and enjoyed a wonderful BBQ dinner at Famous Dave's

then saw the movie Knowing...

Good movie but very interesting ending...

(I'll leave it at that)

This week starts a new "era" for us

Rhett left this morning for Vernal

and will be there til Thursday.

I feel like we just got him back

and now he's gone again.

The good part is he will get Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays off.

Zach's grounded to his room this week

for hitting his brothers,

again and again...

Any ideas on how to get him to stop?

I feel like I've tried everything

And the only thing I have left is to keep him in his room

where he's not around anyone to hit...

I hate to have to come to that

but I'm seriously at my wits end...

I looked out the window....

And what did I see???

Have I ever mentioned how much I love springtime??

The boys counted 25 of these trees in pink

just on the way to Grandma's house.

They are on the list of trees I want in my yard

When I finally get one again...

We were walking around the complex the other day

and saw a few of these trees

Without any prompting,

Andrew shouted excitedly

"POPCORN!!"

They are now known as the "popcorn trees"

I'd like to introduce

our future paleontologist

It was career day at Porter's school

and he decided to dress in his new dinosaur shirt

(make special by Grandma Peterson -

Thanks, Grandma!)

To show how much he loves dinosaurs

and wants to dig up their bones when he grows up.

Vernal will be the perfect place for him...

Scrapbooking, Easter and Fun

I know it's been a while

but we just had too much fun last week

with so much going on.

My family was in town -

We went to Sunday morning conference.

I love being in the Conference Center

especially when the prophet comes in and out

and when we sing the interlude hymn

If people sang as well as they do there in sacrament meeting,

it would raise the roof...

What an amazing way to bring the spirit in even stronger

The choir singing "We Thank Thee Oh God For a Prophet"

works as well...

The week was spent at Aunt Myrna's

where I scrapped my behind off

(as promised)

I got about 16 pages done

and three finished that I had started years ago

I came home feeling very accomplished

and in hopes that the motivation continues

We would go over in the morning

and the boys spent the time jumping on the tramp

watching movies

playing with Uncle Dan

and enjoing their cousins

We would come home for dinner,

then when Rhett would come home and the boys were in bed,

I would go back over for another few hours.

It was a great time.

We had a nice Easter

The boys woke up to the "bunny trail"

(jelly beans led to their baskets)

They each received a home-made church bag

and a coloring book

We colored eggs

And would have made it to church,
but Andrew had been running a fever
and Porter got sick
So we stayed home and enjoyed being together.
Zach, Andrew and I ventured to Grandma Hunt's
for a wonderful Easter dinner.
We had to postpone our Egg hunt til next week
When everyone can attend...

Today is Rhett's favorite day

April 15th

The last day of busy tax season

I take that back...

Tomorrow will be his favorite day

when he can come home at a decent time

Or maybe it will be on Saturday

When he doesn't have to get up early and go to work

The relief of busy season being over

won't last long for us

Starting next week,

Rhett will be in Vernal Monday to Thursday

That will last until we move out there -

at the end of June

Wish me luck...

I'm am so excited!!

Want to know why???

I'll show you...

A strong back and spine

Two little legs (so cute crossed, can you see?)


A healthy heart


A little arm waving hello

and an adorable little face.

And you know what else??

It's a BOY!!

Yes, another boy. We are thrilled.
Our little #4 was as cute as could be
squirming and moving around.
I could have stayed there forever
looking at him
and adoring him already.

The rest of the boys are thrilled as well
with the idea of adding another boy to the club.
Porter insisted we needed a girl
noting that we had enough "maniacs" in the family
But he loves the idea of anther baby joining the family.
Zach wants to play with him already
He's just going to have to wait til August...

Busy day

Today was busy...
We got up,
watched a bit of cartoons,
and got ready for the day.
Then we took some more stuff to the storage unit,
went to Wal-Mart,
then I dropped the two boys off at Grandma's
for it was my day to help in Porter's class.
Once we got out of school,
it was back to Grandma's for the boys,
then home for homework and an early dinner,
then off to the park for Porter's soccer practice
where it was FREEZING!
The actual temperature was o.k.
but the wind was horrible
and we sat out there for an hour.
Zach was perfectly content to play on the playground
(I think he has his dad's cold weather blood)
but Andrew got a bit chilly -
me, too.
Finally it was home for tubs and showers
and off to bed,
so I can pick up the rest of the place
to get ready for the family coming tomorrow.
Tomorrow's busy, too
Errands,
cleaning,
things to get done...

I still have yet to watch my Thursday night shows
That's on the schedule after I pick up the play room.
Poor Rhett still isn't home yet
(it's 9:45 p.m.)
and I don't expect him home for another hour.
Darn that tax season...

Hump Day

This morning, I so wanted it to be a lazy day
we didn't have anything particular to do
I would've prefered to sit on the couch all day
and read my book.
But the boys always have other plans.
Then I walked into our "play" room
and decided that it was way too cluttered.
So I rearranged the closet,
moved the two big filing cabinets into the closet
moved some other things around
and now there's a lot more space.
I started to go through the boys' room as well
trying to find space for their constant growing supply of toys.
I even changed everyone's bedsheets
and finished the laundry.
Pretty good for a lazy day, huh??

However, I did get lazy about dinner
and rather than try to scrounge up leftovers
for our leftover night,
I decided we'd better go out for burgers.
We ended up at BK -
the one with the playground, of course.
They boys were hungry because they finished their burgers
before they even wanted to play.
They were so cute on the playground together
helping each other,
waiting for each other
playing with each other.
I love watching them be friends
and wish I could remind them of those moments
when they are fighting like cats and dogs.

Two more days til family's here,
then it's party time!!