After Kindergarten...

I've been meaning to post these pictures since Monday, but life's been pretty hectic this week so here they are. After we picked up the Lukester at kindergarten, we thought it would be fun for him to choose somewhere to get lunch and take it to a park. He chose Taco McDonalds (aka Del Taco) and we went to a little park near home. Because of this one outing, every morning when we would drop of the schoolboy, his silly little brother would ask, "When we going to the park?" Needless to say, there were a few more trips to the park this week.

There was a fire on the mountain behind our house when we got home...of course the boys thought the smoke looked cool - Harry said something like, "That is so totally wicked!" (Been watching a lot if Incredibles lately)

First Day of Kindergarten

Luke did fantastically well today for his first day of school. He's been wanting to go to kindergarten since the day he turned five, so today was the great awaited day. Here are some pictures from his special day...

He's proud to be an Eagle.
He actually ran to class and I had to slow him down and tell him mom was coming in just for today.
Outside the classroom...
Finding his cubby...
He chose the letter "L" to sit on and read his book.
Luke and his friend Emily from church.
The happy kid on his way out. "Kindergarten was great, Mom."

The Fort of all Forts

Boys are fun...I really wouldn't know what to do with a girl anyway.

GIANT TWISTER

For Young Womens this week, we had a little back-to-school party complete with a giant Twister game rented from BYU and ice cream sundaes for a treat. We ended up coming to our house when the sprinklers came on at the church and it was a super fun night.

This is the Place

My folks and I took Luke, Jade, Harry and Ivy to the This is the Place monument and pioneer village on Friday and we all had a great time. It is definitely an all day event and there is so much to see and do, and although the kids aren't quite old enough to understand the significance of what they were seeing, they loved every minute and were attentive to the people teaching them and telling them stories about the pioneers. My mom took Luke and Jade to the historical sites downtown on Thursday, so they were primed perfectly for this opportunity. (My sis Amy did a nice post about that here.)

Just a word of advice for those who might be thinking about visiting, try to go earlier in the season than we did. Apparently, they run out of supplies for the crafts and we had trouble finding the three we paid for with each admission. Here are a TON of pictures from our fun outing....

They thought it would be "so fun to be a pioneer."
On the wagon ride...
They got to pet the baby duckling.
Learning the three R's. They all made lots of noise while designing their leather.
They also helped print the first edition of the Deseret News.

Making pinwheels was definitely a highlight....and an obsession.

The group appropriately at the "Andrus House."Our cute, tired kids.

Orem Heritage Museum

My recently-retired mom is a volunteer docent for the Orem Heritage Museum located on the second floor of the Scera Theater, so we decided to go check it out last week while she was "docenting."

I was actually quite impressed with the quality of the museum, and of course the kids loved it. Here are a bunch of pictures from our outing...

"Sign your name, and you can have a piece of candy."

I just loved these old magazines.
Luke and Ivy loved dancing to the old Victrola.
Honestly, most of their time was spent watching the train.
The miniature circus took their attention from the train for a little while.
"We get to touch this stuff? Cooool."

Grandpa is the resident expert on agriculture in old Orem.

showing Luke the workings of an old plow...

Everyone got their own tool to hold in the blacksmith shop.

Three cute kids in one big theater seat.

Ready....break! Fun times.

Tagged again....

My sister's nanny, Miss Kim, tagged me with one I actually did a few months ago and I thought I would just send her that link and call it good, but it's funny how much can change in a short time, so I decided to do it again, just for kicks.

3 Joys - My family, feeling the baby move, sunflowers
3 Fears- Something terrible happening to my kids, being a bad mom, that a wind storm will destroy the five plants I have in my yard
3 Goals - Get the nursery ready before the baby comes - I need a PLAN!!, get and stay on a set schedule when Luke goes to school, workout more often - does this baby make me look fat?
3 Facts about me - When I am not pregnant, I obsess about eating healthy - got fries?, I love working with the Laurels in our ward, the Olympics make me happy
3 Obsessions/Collections - photography, my yard is an obsession - not so much a collection yet, baby baby baby

The Birthday Present

This year I went all out for Jon's birthday...

Ok. I didn't REALLY give him a $220,000 Lamborgini, but wouldn't I be the coolest wife ever if I did? The true story is we went to Kaysville to visit Jon's family and be a part of his brother's ordination as an Elder in the church. I can't believe little 6'3'' Steve, who was 10 when I met him, is getting ready for college and mission and stuff. Anyway, a friend in the ward had the Lambo at church (on loan for the weekend from a friend of his) and he gave Steve and some of his friends rides. Jon wouldn't miss that opportunity, nor would he miss the opportunity to sit in the driver's seat with his tough-guy racer face. There's nothing like going 120 in 2nd gear eh? Not to mention the sound of that beast. Wow. Even I was completely impressed with it.

Bishop/Grandpa got his ride too - and Luke thought just sitting in the car was pretty cool. He said that's the car he wants when he grows up. Don't we look good in a car that cost more than our first house?
Harry wasn't as impressed, but was pretty sweet sleeping with Tickle Me Elmo.

Happy Birthday Jon!

I don't usually post to someone in particular, but it being Jon's "special day" I thought it was worth a post just to my sweetie. Happy 32nd Birthday Jonny Rave!

Hope we made your day fun today. Here are 32 things I love about you: (Bear with me on the cheesiness everyone - 32 is OLD! - Kidding!)

1. Your eyes - and that both boys got that deep blue color

2. Your smile - it lights up a room and I can't not smile back

3. That you keep me grounded

4. That you let me keep you grounded

5. Your passion for the gospel

6. Your love for family

7. That you put the kids to bed every night

8. Your work ethic - straight commissions is not a walk in the park

9. That you humor my pregnant cravings

10. That you've kept up your German language post-mission

11. Your family and your love for my family

12. Your strong arms that carry me to bed when I fall asleep on the couch

13. The fact that you always give me a hug and a kiss when you get home from work

14. Your patience with me and the boys

15. The song you wrote me while we were dating

16. Your love of music

17. When you sing your own songs at the top of your lungs while you think nobody is listening

18. When you chase fireworks with me

19. Your appreciation for the arts

20. Your love of sports

22. That you got me back on a bike - remember how scared I was?

23. When you check on the boys at night

24. That they ask for Daddy at night

25. That we get to be the same age for a couple months

26. When we work out together - actually when we do anything together

27. How you genuinely care about people around you

28. Your wacky sense of humor - particularly when we're tired

29. That you don't get mad when I fall asleep watching a movie

30. That we can stay up all night talking about anything

31. That you always take care of the cars, the garbage and the Christmas lights.

32. Your passion for life and making it the best you can

It's Official...

We definitely are having a.......BOY! And to spare you the prenatal porn, let's just say he wasn't hiding anything. Here are some other less revealing images from today's ultrasound. 

See my big hands? We are building a basketball team (men's) one player at a time.

Just chillin' with his little legs crossed. Can't wait to meet this little guy and find out his personality!