Hill Aerospace Museum, and a visit to Grandma's

Back in December, less than a week after Tyler was born, someone backed into our minivan in a parking garage. The person left a note and was very nice on the phone. She explained that she accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake while backing up. I wish I had taken a picture of the bumper, because it was really smashed. Their insurance would pay for the repair, but I wasn't looking forward to the hassle, so I put it off for weeks and weeks.

When I finally got around to it, I decided to make good use out of the rental van the insurance provided. I took my kids and my nieces McKenna and Savannah to Ogden to visit Mike's grandma.

We also visited Hill Aerospace Museum on the way home because it was free, and the girls thought it was so cool.

A visit from a leprechaun

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! Elise made a leprechaun trap from an idea in a magazine, so we could catch a leprechaun and make him give us his magic gold. I'm sorry to say that although he tripped our trap, he somehow got away. He did leave us a note and a box of Lucky Charms for breakfast, and since leprechauns are so tricky, our mischief was repaid. We ended up with green milk and green Ramen for lunch.

Farm Country

We visited Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point a couple of weeks ago. The girls had fun with their cousins, feeding corn feed to the animals and riding the wagon. Afterward we had 25 cent ice cream cones. It was a fun day.

Finding a new fun (free!) thing to do...

In February we went with my SIL Krista and her kids to the Gale Center in South Jordan. It was a great place for kids, like a children's museum and the best part? It's free. The staff seemed kinda uptight, so you really have to watch your kids, but that's understandable I guess. Anyway, here are some pictures:

Danger: Explosives

This picture of Lydia and Watson playing checkers makes me smile. I think neither of them really knows how to play, but the look of concentration on Lydia's face suggests otherwise.
Owen and Elise, milking a 2-D cow.
Elise loves to play school. She has the best "teacher voice", a very no-nonsense tone.

Tyler at 3 months

I can't believe it has been 3 months since Ty was born. Unlike the girls, he is actually outgrowing the 0-3 month clothes right on schedule! Tyler started giggling this month, and I LOVE it! It just makes you feel all joyful and giddy inside to hear your little baby giggle. He is also becoming pretty good at getting his own thumb into his mouth. As a result (I think) of his new ability to self-soothe, he recently started sleeping a nice 7 hour stretch most nights. So I have been catching up on all the missed sleep. The trick is making myself go to bed instead of checking blogs or my new time wasting discovery, Facebook.

Tyler Giggles

Tyler at 2 months

Ok, again I put off posting this until it was almost a month late! Tyler has been growing and changing so much. He gives big smiles and loves attention. He also seems to recognize people. For example, when Elise approaches him, he gets a big smile on his face before she even does anything. It's like he's thinking, "Here comes my big sister, this is gonna be fun!"
It makes me a little sad that he's not a tiny newborn anymore, but on the other hand, it's exciting. At his 2 month checkup, he was 12 lbs 5 oz. It's about 70th percentile, and that is BIG, for our family. He has chubby little cheeks, arms and legs. Come to think of it, I need to take some pictures of his bare arms and legs, but it's winter and they're never on display! Here are Tyler's 2 month pictures:

Elise with the camera

The past couple of times I have uploaded pictures from our camera, I have found that Elise has been on a "shooting spree" with it. The last batch included at least fifty of her pictures. Here is a good sample:




I think the messy bedroom floor with the decapitated Barbie is my favorite.

Happy Valentine's Day (late)

To all our friends and family:

33 things I love about Mike

Can I just publicly declare how awesome Mike is? He had his birthday this week, and it's Valentine's day tomorrow, so it seems like a good time to do so.
Since he turned 33, I think I'll list 33 great things about him:

Handyman, Funny punster, Sports nut, Thoughtful husband, Attentive daddy, Silly made-up song singer, Well-liked by others, Fulfills duties, Smart engineer, Expert troubleshooter, Surprise kitchen cleaner, Not picky, Strong will-power, Worthy priesthood holder, Family prayer initiator, Handsome, Hard worker, Finishes what he starts, Fixes what he breaks, Professional omelet flipper, Sunday morning pancake maker, Ute fan, Stays home with the kids so I can go out, Budget keeper, Bill payer, Diaper changer, Do-it-yourselfer, Board game fan, Gracious loser, Gracious winner, Nice muscles, Good driver, Great kisser.

Wow, I totally scored in the husband department, and I realize it more and more as time goes on.