The Big 3-0

This is about a week overdue, but... Happy Birthday, Lance! Yes, he has finally caught up to me and left behind those childish 20's. We all had a great time celebrating his birthday and he had a very "successful" birthday. First, he got to go golfing the morning before his birthday and shot his best ever 18 holes, by far. I may not completely appreciate this, but I can appreciate how excited he was about it. :)

The second thing was finding out that he landed a rather highly sought after clerking position at the Attorney General's office in Salt Lake that will last through the rest of law school and all the way through taking the bar. My store-bought gifts just couldn't compete with such successes!

The boys were very excited to celebrate to loved giving birthday hugs.
I made a cheese cake and my mom made that sign in the back with her cool new scrap booking paper cutting machine. (She also watched the kids so we could go to dinner and go to a movie--quite a novelty for us.)

Happy Birthday! We love you!!

"But he likes it!"

Mikey loves to play with Luke, but often plays a little rough. When he reaches that rough stage I ask Mikey to stop or be softer or whatever. His common response is, "but he likes it!" And I have to admit, Luke frequently laughs at Mikey's antics, even if it's just before Mikey goes too far and makes Luke cry.

One of Mikey's favorite activities, as of late, has been dragging Luke across the floor by his ankles. He does it along the carpet or the kitchen floor. We get worried about Luke's belly getting rug burn or him getting otherwise hurt so we keep trying to stop him (even though, again, I have to admit that Luke does sometimes laugh at this.) But finally the "otherwise" happened. Luke and Mikey were playing out front in the driveway. Suddenly there was a not so quiet scream coming from the front. Lance ran out to find Mikey, once again dragging Luke by the ankles, but this time it was across the driveway. Poor Luke cried for the rest of the night on and off. You can see the somewhat healed injury on one of his wrists. There was a matching one on the other wrist. It was so sad. And Mikey seems to have finally stopped dragging Luke along the floor--outside or otherwise.

14 months and change

It's been a little while since I've given a Luke update, so here we are. He's now a little more than 14 months old and he's been doing lots of great things. He makes us all laugh lots and lots. He's getting big enough that Mikey actually wants to play with him a lot of the time and it's so cute to see.

Luke is LOUD has been babbling for a long time, but suddenly we are actually getting a word or two. "Mama" and "daddy" have been staples for awhile, but now "thank you" is his response to everything. Of course it sounds a little more like "deet doo!" I love it.

One of his favorite activities is throwing things down the stairs. There is generally a pile of shoes inside our back door at the top of the stairs to the basement. When no one is looking this is what happens.

Luke just sits at the top of the stairs and throws all the shoes down.

Sorry, I just can't resist the sleeping pictures. He's such a cutie!

At least he finished the bottle before falling asleep--that doesn't usually happen.

Our biggest accomplishment in the past few weeks is the walking! On July 22 (our anniversary) Luke started taking 2 steps at a time.

And now a few weeks later we're a champ!

Shhh! Don't talk so loud!

We have reached a great point with Mikey. It's that stage when a child is very observant--too observant for their own good. Mix that with the desire to share every thought a child has with you and the inability to talk in any level other than maximum decibels and you have Mikey. So by "great" point I mean "embarrassing" point.

Some examples:


The first one happened a few days ago at the pool. There was a man there who only had one leg. I had noticed him a little earlier, but didn't take any thought of him. Later in the family locker room, in comes that man. Lance saw him just as he heard Mikey, "Hey dad!" He knew exactly what was coming next and tried to stop it. "Mikey, be quiet, let's go." Mikey, undeterred, couldn't get over this new sight. "Daddy, that guy only has one leg!" Lance continued to try to quiet him and move him along. "Yes, Mikey sometimes people get hurt."

Mikey was quiet for a moment, obviously thinking. Suddenly he pipes back up, "He must not be able to drive good at all!" At that point, the nice man turned around and nicely asked Mikey's name. He then called him over and showed him is prosthetic leg (as he didn't have it on prior due to swimming). Mikey thought it was the coolest thing and long after that wanted to go back and see it again. Thank goodness for a nice guy who frequents a gym filled with kids who probably have done similar things.


Next up happened during our experience donating blood. Yes, we were crazy and took our kids, but we only remembered the drive last minute. We had to trade off watching the kids. While Lance was back getting his finger pricked and answering questions about any questionable activities engaged in since 1977, I was desperately trying to keep the kids in the gym and in a relatively small space. Suddenly I looked over to the cookie and juice corner just in time to see a woman faint. Mikey didn't notice right away, but with all the fuss everyone gathered and started watching the scene unfold. They got the lady lying down, but she was unconscious. Suddenly Mikey noticed. He took one look and yelled to me "Is she de...is she...is she killed?!" I quickly tried to pull him into me and tell him quietly that she was just sleeping for a minute. (She was fine, by the way.)

An hour later, both of us were done with paperwork and Lance was hooked up to the needle. This time we were sitting over by the cookies to try and keep the kids quiet. Suddenly they rolled a man out on the gurney who had apparently fainted a while before and hit his head. He had been lying behind a screen while they tended to his head. And once again, right as the man rolled right in front of us, Mikey yelled, "Is he killed, mama?!" Of course Lance missed both occurrences. Luck of the draw for me, I guess. (Lance note: what the?! what's with this donation center? I've never seen so many people faint and hit their heads. Every time I turned around someone else was either on the floor or on a gurney. It was like an episode of ER or something.)


And lastly. This happened tonight. Luckily it was within the quiet walls of our own home. After dinner I was in the kitchen cleaning up a little and Mikey and dad had returned to their Wii bowling game. Suddenly Mikey called to me:
Mikey: "Hey Mama, we have what you have!"
Me, confused: "What?"
Mikey: "We have what you have!"
Me: "What do you have that I have?"
Mikey: "You know, those things that have milk?"
I stopped and thought, "No, he can't really be thinking that." I looked up at the same time to see this, Mikey's Wii character on the TV screen.

Yes, it was what he was thinking. (For those not familiar with Wii characters, those are actually arms.) Mikey continued, "Remember? Luke had to eat from them? Hey, dad! See!? We have what mama has?" Lance and I were both shaking with silent laughter that brought tears to our eyes.

Oh, Mikey. He brings just a bit of fear each and every public outing.

Soccer!

For the last 6 weeks Mikey has been taking soccer. At his age, in our city they don't actually play games, but just work on skills. A parent must also attend the class so every week Mikey and daddy would head out to soccer. Mikey loved it and his SKILLS are now awesome. On his last day they had a little game and all got trophies. Mama and Luke tagged along for the last day to see all excitement.

Always stretch!

Practicing some overhead throwing

Luke loved all the excitement, but did not love having to stay in his seat. Crawling through the middle of the floor after the soccer balls, though, would not have been appreciated.

Look at those kicking and stopping skills

Now some videos...

Check out Mikey's throwing skills in action

Luke was so excited for Mikey

I missed one good shot of Mikey dribbling, but luckily I captured his goal shot!

The trophy was even more than Mikey could have hoped for

Happy 5 Years!

That's right, folks. It's been 5 whole years!

5 LOOONG years... (JOKING, Lance! ONLY JOKING!) Yesterday we celebrated our 5 year anniversary and actually I can't believe how quickly time has gone. Though looking at these pictures and then the decrepit old lady I see in the mirror, the time has definitely passed! :)

Look at my pretty flowers :)

I tease Lance every year because the night before he married me he was throwing up. Of course, I think maybe I should be the one to feel bad about that.

Good thing I looked so hot. That probably made him go through with marrying me even though the thought of it obviously made him vomit the night before

That's right. We kiss. Sorry, our blog just went PG-13

Ahhhhhh

Okay, I know it's all about me and Lance, but come on, how cute is that! My 18-month-old niece definitely stole the show and I was happy to give it to her.

Welcome Home!!!!

Just wanted to give a big warm welcome to my parents who just returned from serving a mission in Tampico, Mexico for 3 years. They got home a week and half ago and it is so great to have them home! Welcome!

Summer Time!

I was going to find or write some cute little poem about what fun there is to be had in the summer to open this particular blog...but then I didn't. So anyway, summer is definitely going full speed ahead and both boys seem to be loving every minute of it. They can't get enough of the outdoors and I can't even mention swimming unless I'm prepared to do it!

Now that dad is back home, the boys can't get enough of him. His work schedule now is way more lax than when he's in school so we see a lot more of him. When he is around he is almost always number one. I feel slighted for about 2 seconds, but then realize that I then get a minute to actually get things done. :)

They LOVE to read books with dad and I know dad can't get enough of "Goodnight, Gorilla" and "There's a Wocket in my Pocket." ;)

Mikey was SOOOO excited to get his first pair of "gobbles" and "shooters." He couldn't wait until we got to the pool.

Luke and Mikey could pretty much take turns in dad's super swing all day (it swings like 10 feet up in the air, I kid you not)

Luke is thrilled by this both when he's pushed and when he's just sitting. We can give him one big push and he'll just go until it stops and then sit there looking around for awhile just content to be outside. Of course, it's still so much more fun when he's swinging and there is someone in front of him to grab his toes.

Like I said, Mikey couldn't wait for the pool. Two against one--a little unfair don't you think, boys? He's littler than you both! (There wasn't actually any water in those--fyi, but it was really cute to see Luke imitate the others and pretend to squirt back)

And of course, what would summer be without a little bit of camping

Mikey and dad had a fun little camp out in the backyard

Mikey was so excited (as you can imagine)

And what would camping be without roasting marshmallows (albeit on the gas grill)

Time to tuck in for the night with half a dozen books and popcorn. (And Mikey actually slept very well!)

Luke Turns One!!!

Luke actually turned one almost a month ago, but Lance was in Portugal so we waited to celebrate until after we got back from our trip.

This last month Luke started to point at things and people he wants. He also started to stand straight up in the middle of the room by himself. Taking any steps is still a little too risky for him. But he stands up and down all day!

He can also finally go down stairs by himself! (Yay! No more crawling up the stairs then crying until he's rescued.) What's funny is that when he first started to do this, we got all excited and praised him and clapped and all that stuff. Well now, weeks later, Mikey's enthusiasm has failed to wane even the slightest bit. Whenever Luke starts to back down the stairs, Mikey yells and yells until I come, "MOM! Come look! Luke is going down the stairs all by himself! MOM! Come see!" What a good, proud big brother.


Luke, like most little kids, is quite enamored with all cell phone and controller looking things. And don't try to take it away or you'll hear about it!

You know how moms know their own babies' cries? You know, the one for I'm hungry, I'm tired, I'm sad.... Well Luke has some of his own distinguishable screams. The most distinguishable one is the scream meaning "Mikey just took something out of my hands!" If you ever need to interpret his screams, it's the one that sounds like he has slammed his fingers in a door. Once he gets his hands on something, he screams at the top of him lungs when it's taken away. Mikey has been pulling stuff out of his hands from day one. Suddenly he's realizing he doesn't like it! So don't take anything out of his hands unless you're ready for the screaming.

And finally the party! It was only two weeks late.

Lance calls Luke his little bear, thus the bear cake.

It was quite a tasty cake!

But don't ask Luke.

This was the product of sitting around for awhile trying to get him to touch the cake. Then trying to put some in his mouth. Then finally pushing his hand into the frosting and putting it in his mouth. None of that succeeded in getting any into his mouth. But he did like rubbing the frosting all over his face!

Finally a few presents.

Of course I don't think Luke actually ever touched the wrapping paper.

Happy Birthday, Luke! We love you!

FINALLY

SIGH...

Finally I made it through my long month of being a single mom while Lance worked in Lisbon.

And finally I got to go on vacation with Lance and only Lance (yes, no kids!)

And finally I made it back to Portugal after 7 years.

And finally I am posting our pictures from our trip!



As many of you know, Lance started out his summer this year by working at the biggest law firm in Lisbon for a little externship. I first agreed to this plan because we decided I would bring the kids over after two or three weeks and hang out there while he finished up his work, then we'd all tour around a bit. So plans were made. Then after much consideration we realized how much better it would be without trying to drag two little kids through 18 hours of flying and layovers and then all over Lisbon. This was, in fact, a much better plan. The one drawback was that my plan of 2 1/2 weeks alone with kids turned into 4! Oh well. I made it through and then got to meet up with Lance for a great vacation! So here we are. There are a lot of pictures here, all of which are of us just posing in front of different backgrounds. Sorry if they get boring after a minute.



We started off by visiting The Algarve since that was all we ever heard about as missionaries in the summer. Everyone kept telling me I should go to The Algarve! So we went. It was beautiful, though we didn't exactly have perfect weather. At least we got a little sun :)

We got to do a little diving while we were there. Aside from the cold water and nauseating water swells it was great.

This is in Silves in the Algarve--a cute little town with a castle (like most little towns in Portugal :) That's why they're so awesome)

Silves Castle entrance

Lance would have been quite useful in defending the castle...

...especially with THAT sword

You can't go to Lisbon without going to Sintra. Okay, well we actually didn't go into the biggest attraction, Palacio de Pena because it was too late and it was closing. But we have both been there so we went through the Moors Castle which was new to us both. It was very cool. We climbed the stairs of two very tall battlements. This is me at the top of one battlement--you can see the top of the other battlement we climbed and Palacio de Pena in the background.

Before the climbing began. See? I'm still smiling :)

Lance was really disappointed that they didn't have any sort of layout or description of what the castle had looked like before falling into ruin. He was pretty sure he got this one room right, though.

Trying to get in? Trying to get out? I don't know.

Just some room. We have lots of these pictures. Us standing in front of some ruined part of the castle. It was really cool to see, though.

See? More standing in front of ruined castle.

And still more....
But that's the last one I'll share. Just imagine more of the same of that stuff.

Of course we had to see the Torre de Belem. Cool as always.

This is what happens when you don't have more than two people in your party. Two pictures exactly the same with each person.

Descobrimentos--Lisbon's shout out to all the Portuguese explorers. Also always cool. BUT, what was different from the last time I was here was that we could go to the top!

And here is the view from the top. See that tiny person at the bottom of the map? That's me :) Lance waited at the top while I sprinted down... yes, I said sprinted...

The elevator was broken so we had to hike the stairs. The good news? It was half the price to get to the top. :)

And Jeronimos--what an amazing cathedral! I recently read a historical fiction novel (Pillars of the Earth) about cathedrals being built in the 11th century so I had a whole new appreciation for this (not that this was 11th century, I think it was 16th). It's amazing what they were able to build so many hundreds of years ago.

Gardens at Jeronimos

More gardens at Jeronimos.

This was right outside Lance's office. I just liked the little pond/stream, the trees and the statues.

Campo Pequeno. This is where they do all the Bull Fighting! Sadly, we missed being able to attend a fight by one day. Poor planning!

More cool pracas (squares) with cool fountains and statues.

This is the "shopping" district/center. Translation: lots of crap stores (you know the stores I mean--rows and rows of magnets, pens, figurines and mugs and all that stuff that magically changes from souvenirs into crap as soon as it enters your home) and restaurant owners chasing after you with a menu.

And this was our last day. It just so happened that one of Lance's colleagues at the law firm was also a pilot and had some connection to the right people to be able to schedule a little flight for us with less than a day's notice to take a little tour over the coast. So we did it! It was the first time for both of us up in a small private plane.

The view was amazing! Of course pictures don't do it justice, but we got a lot of these anyway.

I thought of my dad the whole time and wished he could have been there. (Back in the day he flew his own little plane) He would have loved the whole thing.

This was one of our cute pilots

And this was the other pilot. They were both so cute and nice.

Okay. All done.