Happy Father's Day!

Have you ever had one of those days that feel like it just can't get any better. Well Father's Day was that sort of day.It started out kind of rough. Eric was asked to give a talk in church. Being Father's Day and that Eric had lost his father when he was 9 years old, this was a very hard talk for him to prepare, but what an inspired and beautiful talk he gave. I, of course was not able to hear it. Tyler decided moments before Eric was to give his talk that he wanted Daddy. So I had to take a crying child out of the chapel and deal with tantrums for the rest of the meeting. When Sacrament meeting was over, people started to come out of the chapel tearful and sniffling and telling me what a "tear jerker" and beautiful talk Eric gave. I was very sad and to the point of tears that I had missed it, but I put on a smile and took Ty to see his Daddy. When he saw him they hugged each other. Ty did not want to let go of his Daddy and Eric did not want to let go of Ty. It was a very sweet moment. The church meetings were so good and during the morning, people were tearful especially as Fatherhood came up.

When we arrived at home, Ty and I were able to give Daddy his Father's Day gift. Ty had picked out a wooden train to paint with Daddy. I had made a fun four pack of bottles filled with candy for Eric along with all the cards that were he received. Tyler has been singing the "Happy Birthday" song a lot lately so we made it a "Happy Father's Day to you"song and he sang it to Daddy. We had a fun lunch of four different cheeses, crackers, and salami. One of our favorite Sunday lunch snacks.A very special moment came after putting Ty down for a nap, I was able to hear Eric's talk. He had recorded it while he was giving his talk so that he could send it to his mother. It was such a beautiful talk and filled with love for his Father, his step-father, and all the men who had played a special role in Eric's life. After listening to the talk, I felt this was such a great day.

We'll it got better. After our naps, we had a BBQ with a picnic in the backyard. Ty also spent time painting his train for Daddy and we topped the night off with a movie and brownies.
I am so thankful for the wonderful husband that I married. I love him so much. I am thankful for the wonderful father he has become to Tyler and am excited to see him with the two baby boys who will meet him in a couple of months. I know that fatherhood is a very sacred thing for Eric because of his life experience he had loosing his father at such an important age. It has impacted him so much and he strives to be the type of person his father was. I am also very thankful for Eric's father that in the short time he spent with Eric, that he could teach Eric so much about the importance of family, love, and a love for life.
I am also so thankful for my own father who I love very much. I am thankful for all his support, in teaching me about the importance of getting a good education and helping me through that time, and the importance of hard work.

Happy Father's Day to all you special men who have made an impact in our lives.

Words of wisdom from Mom.

I love this idea. I might have to do the same or at least put it above my toilet on the wall.

Found at
http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/

Preschool.

One month ago today, Tyler started Preschool. It was an exciting and nervous time for me. I knew he needed the social interaction. He was refusing to talk, count, ect. I felt that if he was around other children more often, he would voluntarily interact more.

When I picked up Ty on his 1st day of school, he wanted his sippy cup. I asked him to say the words and he did. No fussing, no hand in the face. On the way home, he threw a tantrum because we passed another school and he wanted to go there for some more fun. When we got home, out of the blue, he started counting on his fingers. He refused to do this before preschool. All I can say is that nothing but greatness has come from Tyler after attending preschool. His schedule is also more structured, naps are earlier again, and I have some free time in the mornings for myself; at least for the next 5 months.Tyler's first day of Preschool.

Today I was the spring celebration at Ty's school. They had an Easter Egg hunt and a special lunch for the kids. Parents were invited to come so I decided this would be the time to see how Tyler acts at school. I am told everyday that he is a great kid and interacts and does well with taking naps.
What I did not realize was that my presence at school with him would be a hindering factor. When I arrived, the kids had just had their Easter egg hunt and I think Ty was a little upset because he had to put his basket away for singing time. He wasn't really into it. When he saw me he came to me and grabbed my hand. We danced with the other kids but he kept wanting me to hold him. I refused of course.
Next the kids washed their hands and sat down to eat lunch. Ty would not let go of me. I had to kneel on the floor behind him and hold his hand. He was on the verge of tears because he thought I would leave. The table was decorated so cute and the kids were wearing Easter hats so I left for a short moment to get my camera and Ty lost it. He broke out into his almost-can't-breathe sobs and really did not get into the party spirit after that. Nap time came after lunch and I knew he was not going to let me leave then come back at 3pm so I took the stinker home for his nap.

I have decided that until Ty is older, I will have to fore go the fun parties that the kids have at school. Sad for me, but even sadder for Ty if I am there.Tyler's trying to eat while sniffing away because mom left for a moment.

Happy Easter!

The best day of the week.

Sundays are ultimately the best day of the week, unless it is my weekend to work. Its the one day that our family is together all day.

We get up at 7 am, cuddle in bed first, eat, shower and rush to get ready. At 8:40 we are off to church looking smashing in our Sunday attire. We listen and absorb all the wonderful teachings of the gospel that we need to live by in this sometimes crazy world and, of course, feel the spirit and maybe even cry a little. At 12p, church ends and we head home after a little mingling.

Once at home we eat a yummy lunch and just relax and enjoy the rest of the afternoon together.
Together is the key word.
I am not a hermit crab, but I treasure the time I have at home or away from home with my wonderful husband and my adorable son. If I had the choice to go to a party or spend a nice evening with my family, there is no question that I would choose my family. I can't get enough of them.
We don't have a lot of nights that we can say that we spend together as a family. We have a very crazy schedule and sometimes there are people who need to be visited, families that need to move, and meetings that need to be attended. The days we do get to spend together are precious and I can always count on Sunday as those days for our family. Of course, If it is not my weekend to work.

I feel even more now then ever why Heavenly Father has asked that we don't go shopping or go to parties on Sunday. It's a day of spiritual learning, a day of rest, and a day for family.

Getting ready for Church is always a very special experience, especially if Tyler is involved.
Ha, Ha!
Look at these two Handsome men.

12 Week Belly Shots.

Here is my belly shot at 12 weeks gestation with twins. I am pretty much only wearing Maternity Clothes because Regular pants feel like they cut into my stomach and tops are getting too short. My belly only gets bigger from here.

It's time to finally announce...

Ok, so now that mostly everyone knows. I think it is time to finally announce that We Are Expecting Twins! That's right, two little babies are growing inside my uterus. No, I was not on fertility meds and no, twins does not run in our family. You may be thinking that it must have been a really big shock to us to when we found out, but instead it was a very peaceful feeling that we had. This last year has been a very long and trying year for us. When we found out that we were expecting two babies, we knew that there were two little ones waiting to meet us.

So, I don't have any ultrasound pics to show you yet because our scanner is not working, and I do not have any pregnancy pics to show you yet because I am so uncomfortable in everything that I wear that I refuse to take any.

The Logistics is I am 12 weeks along and due 10/3 though I will not actually be delivering in October. The average length of a twin pregnancy is 35-36 weeks,but I think it would be great to make it to 38 weeks. We will have to see.It took me 3 test to believe that I was pregnant. The 2nd line was so light on the first two that I couldn't believe it.

It's been a while, but we will soon update!

I am such a slacker and sometimes there is really no excuse. Right now there is a lot going on: sicknesses, work, a 2 1/2 year old, etc. So wait just a little longer. Soon I will be blogging away about all the adventures we have been on in the last couple of months and let me tell you, there are some really exciting ones.

Cutting down a Christmas Tree.

This year we decided to finally make a trip to Apple Hill and cut down a Christmas tree. If you have never heard of Apple Hill, well you should have, it is this amazing area East of Sacramento. It's an area that has numerous orchard, shops, and Christmas tree lots. In the last 1o years that we have been in Northern California, we have never made the trip to Apple Hill. Boy, have we been missing out on some fun. One of the best part of the trip for me was stopping at a farmers market and having some apple donuts and apple cider. The donuts were so crispy with a cinnamon and sugar coating. I have never had a donut so good before in my life. We also picked up some apple upon Tyler's persistent request and they were also the best apples I have ever had. We decided that we needed to make more trips to this destination.

We went to a pretty big Christmas tree farm and thought it was going to be great because we could spend time picking out the "perfect" Christmas tree. Little did we know how overwhelming it was to actually pick one out. The more we looked, the more overwhelming it became to the point we could not remember where all the trees were that we liked.

Tyler was in his element on this farm. He leaded us in between the thickest trees and when we struggled to get by some of the trees, he would laugh because he was small and had no trouble. He especially liked when we encountered a very muddy spot. When he saw a stump where a tree had been cut down or some dead branches, he would get sad and say, "Awww," because he thought they were hurt.
Tyler became tired from all the walking so he decided to take a rest and play in the mud.
We finally settled on a tree that we liked and had it cut down and taken to the front of the lot. We had no idea how heavy this tree was until we got it home and Eric had to trim the bottom and get the tree into the house. We should have had some clue when earlier the tree broke the chain on the machine that was trying to wrap it up at the farm.
This is the tree stuck while they were repairing the chain. It did not look that big to us while it was around all the other Christmas trees.

We also realized that this was the fattest tree we ever had when it took up almost the entire width of our wall in our living room. We were so concerned about the height of the tree when we were picking it out that we did not figure in the width of it. Thank goodness it fit.It sure did smell good.

Days in Passing.

Lately our family has been extremely busy hence why I have not been blogging in 3 months. We have had some very sick family members that we have been feverishly praying for, finals for Eric, work for Kelly, and growing up for Tyler. Through all of this mentally and emotionally exhausting last couple of months, we have also had some great adventures.

One fun project that Eric recently completed was the concrete for our shed out side our house. The best part of it all was the arrival of the huge cement truck. Tyler thought this was the greatest present to show up in front of this house. Sadly he realized that this nice truck had to say goodbye, but the reaction on his face when he saw this truck was beyond words. Eric learned a very important lesson with this project: It is cheaper to just buy your own cement mixer than to rent a truck. Lesson learned.Prepping the ground for the laying of the cement. Tyler loves helping his Dad.

The biggest truck Tyler has ever seen. As Tyler says, "Whoooooaaaaa!"

Eric worked very hard and made at least 7-8 trips with cement because the truck was too heavy to back up onto our grass.

Boys getting dirty.

One of our Friends, Braden came to help and realized that he would rather hire someone to do this in his backyard.

Eric is making grooves in the concrete to prevent cracks.
Gotta love this handyman!

Oh, What a night!

Our Anniversary could not have been any better.
Eric came home from work with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers that was so big I almost did not have a vase big enough to put them in. Our house just permeates with their wonderful smell.

We then took Tyler to Daycare and headed out to eat. Thanks to a recommendation from a friend, we headed to the Slocum House. Talk about elegant. Its this older home that has been converted to an upscale restaurant. There were lights in the trees, winding steps leading up the house, and believe it or not, chickens running around. We just loved it. The setting was elegant and quiet and we could look out the window and see chickens perching on the railing. It was great. We have been to a couple of elegant restaurant during our marriage, but nothing compared to the food we had.

We started off with an appetizer of Bleu Crab Cakes. Divine! Then I had Almond Crusted Salmon with mussels on a bed of butter and fennel with a gourmet salad. Eric had Filet Mignon with sauteed onions. The best part of the night was when Eric received his entree. Next to the Filet Mignon was these three huge Mushrooms. I am talking about 5 inches in size. We were quite shocked. Eric is not a huge fan of mushrooms so I told him I would eat one. He handed me one once the waiter left and when I cut into it, I was surprised. It was not a mushroom at all. It was a potato cut into the shape of a mushroom. It must have been the lighting because we were so deceived. It really looked like a mushroom until you observed it really close. We had a great laugh.

For desert I had a Banana Cheesecake with creme whip and a carmelized banana over carmel sauce. Eric had a carmelized deconstucted banana split. It was all the ingredients in a banana split sundae separated and put on a plate except the banana was sliced with a carmelized glaze, the chocolate was a ganache, and the strawberry was a strawberry gelee. It was really good!

Everything we ate was just delicious. It was one of our favorite anniversaries and we have found our favorite restaurant to celebrate at.

Now that I have your mouth watering, go eat some ice cream.