Love at Home

Sometimes I feel like I am in a scary game of ping-pong.  Both children are crying, so I go take care of Mckay's needs.  Now Mckay is calm, I go to Logan and take care of him.  By the time I finish helping him, child #1 is crying again, and on it goes.

I love having two kids, and I love being a mom, but sometimes I get really discouraged, and feel like I am so over-extended and under-appreciated.  That's why I thought I needed to post these pictures.  It's a good reminder to me that there is, occasionally, moments of peace and harmony here, and even when there is crying and sadness, ours is a home of love.

Farewell to Summer

School has started, the mountain leaves are turning.  Football is in full swing.  Somehow, fall has crept in and stolen the last days of summer.  This realization always brings with it mixed emotions for me.  I LOVE fall, with it's energy, beautiful weather, holidays, sweaters, and all other aspects of the season, but at the same time, I miss the beautiful, carefree days of summer.  I am especially nostalgic at the close of this summer, because this was the last summer Chase was a student.  After this year, summer will no longer mark a break from school, a chance to do something different for a few months. A big chapter in our life will be over.
In tribute to this summer, I wanted to blog a "Favorite Memories of Summer" post.  So here it goes:
(P.s., this is not all-inclusive, nor are they ranked in order of importance.  These are posted as they come to my mind.)

1. Our weekly courtyard barbecues.  As many of you may know, we live in the married student housing up at the University of Utah.  We live in a court (three buildings facing each other with a small playground/grass area in the middle).  Every Tuesday this summer, we got together as a court to barbecue and socialize.  We made so many wonderful friends through this activity, and lots of fun memories.

Here is Mckay playing with his friends Titus and Charlotte during one of our bbq's.

2. Going 4-wheeling and ATV-ing in the Uintahs.  The best way I know of to cool down in the hot days of summer.

3. Family vacations!  There were many vacations with both sides of our families that we just loved.  My favorites were probably when we went to California with the Englands, visited Manassa, and went to Kamas with the Sainsbury's.

 Cole and I on the teacups at Disneyland!

Grandma England, Talia, Logan, and Avenlea enjoying Mirror Lake in the Uintahs near Kamas.

4. Swimming

5. Riding the Choo-Choo train while in Manassa for the Anderson family reunion.  This may have been the single most wonderful day of Mckay's life!

6. Going to the Zoo.  

7. Visiting the Thanksgiving Gardens in August.

8. Taking family portraits by the pool . . . and what followed after:)

9.  And finally, spending the first summer in THREE years not pregnant and not in baby-recovery mode!  Yea!  We had a wonderful summer, and are now ready to love the fall.

8. 

The Day I Kicked a Door Down

One day the King and Queen of the Cinderblock Palace decided to take their two young princes on a much-needed journey to Pepperwood.  Pepperwood is where the King's parents live, and they have many strange and wonderful things there, like washers and dryers inside their house!  The King and Queen journeyed to Pepperwood and had many adventures, like doing laundry, doing homework, watching TV, and playing with Grandma's toys.
One of the young princes decided to venture into the most interesting place of all:  Grandma & Grandpa's bathroom.  There were lots of fun, interesting, and potentially dangerous things inside the bathroom, and he knew he shouldn't be in there, but he couldn't resist the temptation.  He went inside and the first thing he did was play with the little button on the inside of the bathroom's door.  He then shut the door and promptly forgot about the little button while he started playing with other fun things inside.
Shortly after this, the queen realized her oldest prince was missing, and she went through the house, calling his name.  She soon came to "the bathroom", and when she called for the young prince, he answered on the other side of the door.  The problem only came when the queen tried to open the door and discovered it had been locked from the inside.
The queen called and called to her young prince, asking him to unlock the door.  Ten minutes went by, and the young prince happily ignored her.
Door = 1  Queen = 0
The queen realized she was out of her depth, so she called for the king.  Together, they tried a myriad of ideas to open the door.
First, they tried opening the door with a straightened end of a hanger.
Door = 2 King and Queen = 0
Next, they tried to use a credit card to open the door.
Door = 3, King and Queen = 0
Next, they tried to unscrew the door knob.
Door = 4, King and Queen = 0
They then got a slim jim.
Door = 5, King and Queen = 0

By now, the King & Queen were starting to panic, and the young prince was crying to be let out on the other side.  An hour had gone by, and nothing had worked!  So the king made a phone call to "The Oracle" (Grandpa England).  The oracle said that violence may be necessary, and that the King and Queen had permission to use some if they had to.
The King and Queen then got a sledge hammer out in an effort to bust off the door knob.  Well, the door knob did bust off, but still, the door did not open.
Door = 6, King and Queen = 0

The queen got mad.  Really mad and really frustrated.  So she kicked the door hard.  BOOM!  Did the door just make a splintering sound?  Using perfect kickboxing form, she kicked it again and again.  BOOM, BOOM!  The door busted open, and the prince was saved.

After that, the King and Queen took the two young princes home.
The moral of the story is this:
1) Don't let your young children wander into their grandparents' bathroom.
2) Teach your kid how to unlock a dang door!
3) Don't make me mad. I am, apparently, VERY strong:)

Door = broken,  King and Queen = Victorious!