Tessa and Carson sitting in a tree….ok, in the hallway at daycare.
Every morning as Tessa walks in the door, Carson says, “Hi Tessa” in a very sweet, loving tone. Tessa replies in the same tone, “Hi Carson”.
Many of the high school students (that work in the day care) have mentioned how cute Carson and Tessa are together. They are “joined at the hip” so to speak.
When you ask Tessa about Carson, she starts to whisper and giggle saying, “he’s my boyfriend”. And from what I hear, Carson feels the same.
Tessa says that they plan to get married when they grow up and they want to have a ball pit at the wedding.
We took the kids to Nate’s school carnival last Friday. They had a lot of fun playing all the games at the various booths. Towards the end, we discovered the “Fear Factor” booth and just in time for the live snake feeding. They were feeding two large snakes two very large rats!
We went to the Utah State Fair on opening night to take advantage of the $2 entrance fee. The night still ended up costing $40, however. What a rip off!! Next time, we’re eating at Wendy’s before we go…the food prices are WAY to high at the fair. 
I was so excited that Tessa was finally old enough to participate in the annual Viking “mini-cheer” clinic this year. The little girls get to learn some cheers with the big girls and then get to perform during the half time of a football game. Because I’m a faculty member, they do it for just $6! She got a cute shirt, shorts, and pom poms. She was very excited to go cheer, as you can see in this picture taken before the game had started.
The start of school was VERY stressful for me for many reasons that I won’t go into right now. Let’s just say that I’m inches away from a nervous breakdown. 
We have been wondering and discussing the sex of this baby for quite some time. Because there is a history of heart problems in my family, I always have to wait an extra 4 weeks to discover the sex so that the specialist can then examine the heart at the same time! It is horrible to wait! I really don’t know how some people wait till they give birth….I couldn’t do it. 
I drove down Main Street Bountiful on the evening of July 22nd and was shocked to see hundreds of people “staking their claims” for the parade that didn’t start until 6:00 pm the next day. They were all completely ignoring the MANY big signs posted saying that they were not allowed to stake a claim until 7:00 am the next morning and that their things would be confiscated. I’m not sure if the city actually followed through with their threat because when I returned to try to stake my claim at 6:55 am the next morning, there were hardly any spots left. It is unbelievable that so many people go to such great lengths to see a parade. When I was a kid, I don’t remember it being like that at all. We just walked down and found a spot. Those days are gone, sadly.
We had planned to go to “This is the Place” monument/park for our fun friday adventure. Either we are very lucky or very un-lucky that it was “KSL family fun day” as we noticed on the giant sign as we pulled in. On the bright side, we got in for free , experienced numerous extra fun activities and enjoyed free water and popsicles. On the other hand, it was VERY VERY crowded and kids plus popsicles equals messy. 
The kids finished up their two week session of swimming lessons on Friday. They both passed their levels and had a blast doing it. 
Our summer schedule got off to a late start because of our vacation, but we are all organized now. Katie and I met last week and came up with a pretty good plan for the summer.
This is a picture of Nathan just after he hit his very first ball at his very first game. Even though everyone was screaming “run, Nate, run” he just stood there watching everyone for awhile. When he finally started to run, he took the bat with him. He did well and made it to second base on the next hit, but when it came time to go to third, he got a bit confused and just ran straight into the outfield instead. It was very cute.
Joey and I have been wanting to take our kids to DisneyLand since before we even had kids. We are both big fans of the place. I remember standing in line to ride the train at EuroDisney and watching the cutest little blonde girl in front of us. We both envisioned her as what our little “Tessa” would look like. We imagined how fun it would be to take her there. 
Much to our delight, Jason, Katie and Averi were able to come with us and we all drove down in my pimped out van. It was fun to be able to go spend time with them and the kids were VERY cute together. We stayed in Primm, at Buffalo Bills on the way there and the way back which was a nice little break from driving. In California, we stayed at the Ayres Hotel in Orange. It was a really nice hotel that served a full breakfast each morning and had free shuttle service to the parks. It all turned out really well. We went to the parks for five whole days and then spent one day at the beach. 
Tessa found absolutely EVERYTHING about DisneyLand to be absolutely wonderful. She was terribly delighted with everything she saw, especially the characters and princesses. She just ADORED ”it’s a small world”. She was so stinking cute and not a bit afraid of anything. It was so much fun to spend time with her there and to see so much excitement in her face. In California Adventure, she even had the opportunity to talk to “Crush” in “Turtle Talk”. It turns out that Tessa’s turtle name is “Tubular Tessa”.
Nater was such a trouper the entire trip. He walked and walked and walked and NEVER once complained or asked to ride in the stroller. At the end of one day, I asked him why he had been such a good boy, to which he replied, “I just really enjoy DisneyLand”. He went on every single ride that he was only afraid of one of them: Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride….but this was the first ride he went on. Once he saw that it wasn’t so scary, he settled down and had a blast on all the other rides. Nate also had the awesome opportunity to participate in “Jedi training” in TomorrowLand. He was chosen and he was so dang cute up there….fighting Darth Vader. 
Averi was scared of many of the rides and with me being pregnant and not able to ride the good ones, spent a lot of quality time with me. It was fun to ride a bunch of the “tame” rides with her. We all got a lot of small world. I think that Averi’s favorite part of the trip was getting to eat lunch with Ariel and four other princesses at Ariel’s grotto. When Jasmine came out, Averi stopped drinking her drink and stared at her. She quietly leaned over and told her mom, “She’s so pretty, I can’t drink”. Nate wasn’t very excited about the princesses, but he put up with it and even posed for a few pictures. 
All of the kids also had a GREAT time at the beach, playing in the sand and swimming in the ocean. They were COVERED with sand, and I’m still finding sand in strange places. It was overcast in the beginning, and we didn’t put the sunscreen on it time. All of the adults really got burned, but the kids made it out ok. 
It looks like our bundle will arrive around 12/27/09…officially. Since I have c-sections, I imagine that she’ll schedule it a bit early…before Christmas. So, it seems we’ll have a special Christmas present.
We gathered together for Mother’s Day Brunch on Sunday Morning. Tessa and Paige were wearing matching outfits and looked so adorable. They look a lot alike now that Paige got her hair cut. 
Tessa has really taken a liking to scrubbing the floor ever since Nathan “got to” scrub the floor after pee-ing on it. (yes, he really did)
Well, it’s been five whole years since little Nater came into my world. It was a terrifying experience becoming a new mom and in such a violent (c-section) way. But, I survived and have been blessed by this little boy. 
We drove up to Logan on Friday for the annual Baby Animal Festival at the American West Heritage Park. My kids have gone to this festival in the past with their babysitter, Reanna. Since it was my spring break, I got to go this time! It was really fun, with lots of fun activities for the kids to do, but it was REALLY crowded. We had to wait in a lot of long lines, which is not easy for little ones….or big ones, for that matter. Tessa REALLY enjoyed the baby bunnies and Nate liked the baby turtles.
Joey subjected Tessa to a Jazz game the other night. He bought her this outfit and pom poms and she was thrilled to go cheer for the team. 
Some of you may not know that we have a mountain in our backyard. It looks like something you might find at Cherry Hill or Lagoon and it is an interesting sight. On one side, there is a drinking fountain, and a shower on the inside, neither of which still work. Besides containing our pool pump and equipment, the mountain serves as a conversation piece and for very daring people, a cool way to cliff dive into the pool. 
We got some free tickets to Disney on Ice for Best Buddies. Luckily for us, not all the buddies could go, so we got to use them! They were good seats too, much better than the nose-bleeds we had last time. 
Nate came how a few weeks ago very excited about being able to “lie right down and die”. Upon further questioning, I discovered that Nate had earned a special “part” in his upcoming pre-school program because he had been the “best” singer. He was VERY excited for this and he practiced all of the songs a lot. We were excited to go watch him too, because the songs and actions that he practiced were pretty darn cute. 
I was just finishing up my breakfast this morning when I first heard the giggles. It wasn’t until I went into Tessa’s room and turned on the lights that I saw the grins. I guess that Nate woke up and climbed into Tessa’s bed. I don’t know what they were talking about, but they sure thought it was funny.
My parents are here from Germany making selections for their new house. They called and asked if we wanted to go see a movie with them. My kids LOVE to go to the movies and they LOVE popcorn even more. We went to see Coraline. It was a really cute movie and Tessa sat through the entire movie….it was a modern day miracle. 
We went out for dinner for Katie’s (my sister-in-law) birthday last night. We ate at Windy’s Sukiyaki, a place that I’ve never been before. They had really good calamari and my salmon was pretty great as well. My kids were obnoxious and I thought that Bob (father-in-law) was going to die of embarrassment. I don’t think he’s used to dining with toddlers. Nate threw a giant tantrum and Tessa spilled her drink. Averi was perfect, however. I was jealous. Maybe it was her birthday present to her mom?
Those of you that have ever tried to take two toddlers to the grocery store know that it is quite an exhausting experience. Tessa is especially naughty at the stores these days, so I avoid these shopping trips at all costs, under normal circumstances.
We’d been promising Nate that we’d take him to Chuck E Cheese for awhile now. He had earned enough “smily faces” at school, so we owed him. We decided to buckle down and go last night. 
After all was said and done, this was the state of my living room after the Christmas morning masacre. Bothof my children slept in till 9:00 am. Joey and I were both awake by 8:00, and wondering why they were still asleep. Didn’t they know that Santa had come? We laid in bed reminiscing of Christmas’s past, when we’d have such a hard time falling asleep and counting down the minutes till we could wake up to open presents. Good times. 
Tessa was thrilled with every one of her presents. She exclaimed “wook mamma, wook mamma!” at each present. We’d ask her, “What is it, Tessa?” and she’d say, “I don’t know!” Every single present, without fail. Her favorite was her baby, baby bottle and diaper bag. 
Nate tore through his presents like a hurricane. He has not yet learned how to be gracious and expressed his displeasure with certain gifts. He even cried a little. His favorite was his new tiny snow shovel. He saw it at Checker Auto parts and fell in love. He had a chance to shovel on the 26th. 
My gift from Joey showed up a couple weeks ago on my doorstep, un-wrapped, in this box. Joey was really mad at Amazon.com because he had even paid extra for wrapping paper. Regardless, I LOVE my new TV. I also received a copy of the best movie ever made.
Nater has been taking “learn to skate” lessons at South Davis Rec. Center. He has loved it. I have been quite amazed at his ability, as I can BARELY stand up on the ice. It’s so cute to see these little kids in ice skates.
Nater is the exact opposite of a vegetarian. I guess you might call him a “meat” atarian. He will not eat most other foods. He keeps it to chicken nuggets, hot dogs, and now ribs. He LOVES him some ribs! 
While Joe Joe was at home with the dish network guy (bonding), I decided to check out the annual “Breakfast with Santa” held at the Wight Reception Center in Bountiful. It’s a fundraiser for the Family Connections Center. I was surprised at first that it was kind of expensive, $13 for adults and $9 for children. When we got inside, however, I was very pleasantly surprised by how nicely done it was.
It was the annual Clipper “Christmas Light Show” in Bountiful and is was FREEZING cold! I was brave and took both of my little munchkins to it by myself as Joey wasn’t home in time. There was a lot of whining and crying because Nater fell asleep just minutes before we had to get out of the car.
