Our Visit to the NC Zoo and the Crazy Happenings of the Day

On Monday we went to the NC Zoo with Lauren and her 3rd grade class. We met up in Asheboro, NC; about a 2 hour drive for me and a 2 1/2 hour for Lauren on a tour bus. But before I can begin to tell you of our adventures at the zoo, I must fill you in on our adventures of getting ready to leave for the zoo at 8:00 am. For many of you that know me, I am not a morning person and neither are my children. So for us to be up and ready to leave by 8:00 in the morning is very trying for us. I had John put Brooklyn in her shower while Josh and I got ready in my shower. 15 minutes after I was done Brooklyn was still in hers goofing around. I managed to get her out and get her dressed. I got dressed and ready while the kids played around. We headed down stairs to brush Brooklyn's hair and finish the process, when to my surprise I found that the left side of her hair was much shorter than the right side. "OH MY GOSH!!! What happened, what did you do?" I said in shock. She tells me, "My bangs kept getting in my eyes so I needed to cut them." Totally understandable since we were trying to grow them out and yes they were in her eyes, but she totally missed her bangs! Luckily it was long enough that I could pull her hair up into pig tails and hide most of the damage.

So off we go to the zoo. Normally a one hour ride is too long for Brooklyn to sustain without having to stop to go to the bathroom, but we did manage to make it all the way without stopping for her. We caught up to Lauren's class and toured the zoo. This was the most odd zoo that I have ever been to. Not too many animals - it seemed more of a tour of the forest and other outdoor scenery than a tour of the animals. Nonetheless the kids loved it and Brooklyn made lots of new friends.

When we got back home we waited for John to get home so I could take Brooklyn to get her hair done. I told the lady that I wanted as little length taken off as possible but she insisted that if we kept any length that it would just look like a mullet. Needless to say it all got chopped off and believe it or not it is pretty cute.

I wanted to make sure that I showed before and after pictures of Brooklyn's hair, so here we go.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSHUA!!

Yesterday was Joshua's 2nd birthday. We attended a carnival that was put on by Piedmont High School to recognize all the students in Union County with learning disabilities. Brooklyn attends a Pre-School class where she is a mentor to some of the kids. We got to do lots of arts and crafts. But of course that was not what she was really interested in. They had some bouncers there and that was all that Brooklyn and Josh wanted to do. They jumped around a lot, went down the slides, and got eaten by a caterpillar that "dumped" them out the other end.

Josh was so excited when Daddy came home early because he had the birthday presents. Josh got lots of Hot Wheels and lots of Motorcycles. He is all boy, and John is quite proud of that.

We did a Fire Truck theme for his birthday. He got two fire truck birthday cards; Brooklyn's played the fire truck siren. His cake was a Fire Truck, decorated by yours truly. Unfortunately I turned back just long enough for Brooklyn to wipe the frosting off the whole bottom of the cake. (I took a cake decorating class almost a year ago and have not made any cakes, so I decided that this was the perfect occasion. It took a while, but I am pretty proud of myself. For any of you who are really into cake decorating and do a good job at it, don't even bother looking at the pictures of it.)

Not that Josh can read yet, but I want him to know that we love him so much. Not a day goes by that he doesn't put a smile on all of our faces. Even though Brooklyn keeps saying that she wants a sister instead, I know that she loves him with all her heart. He is truly a blessing in our lives and I wouldn't ask for things to be any different than they are. We love you Josh!!!

Happy Birthday Kristen!

Once in a while someone will cross your path and change your life forever. For me, I felt it best to hang on to one of those people, so I married her.

Today is Kristen’s Birthday, and I am so thankful for her. She was born one year and ten months after I was, and only about 100 miles separated us at that time. Obviously, we would not meet in California, as my family would move to Utah and her family would move to Texas.

Kristen was raised in Keller, Texas by two of the greatest parents a person could wish for. I am grateful that her parents raised her with the same morals and principles that my parents raised me with. It is in part, these morals and principles that led us both to seek our education at Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho.

I was a fresh returned missionary, and she was a playful flirt. Kristen and her roommates had fun making this recent returned missionary blush. Many nights, Kristen and I would talk on the phone, as “friends”. This led us deeper into our relationship. I will leave out details, but eventually we were married in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple.

Kristen is a wonderful Mother and Wife. She truly makes up for my shortfalls. As I have moved her around the country with me, she has been fully supportive. When I turned our apartment into a breeding house for Betta fish, she showed more interest than contempt. When I announced to her that I was going to run for Town Council, she gave me full support, helped me out tremendously, and she even voted for me. And now, as I have turned our bathtub into a greenhouse, there is no complaint. I will let you know how she reacts when I turn a room in our house into a BYU room! I know I don’t usually say it, but I love her with all my heart.

When Kristen’s Mother passed away, one of the most difficult times in our life, Kristen showed a strength that I never knew existed before. She showed comfort and compassion to her family, while inside, she was torn apart. She was able to do things during this difficult time that few could have done, had they been in her shoes.

Kristen brings me great joy and comfort. There are so many things in life that I am able to do because she is by my side, in full support. Kristen truly is beautiful in ever sense and meaning of the word, especially in heart, mind, and spirit.

Today is your day Kristen! I love you with all my heart.

Love,
John

Easter in Atlanta

This past weekend we headed down to Atlanta for a family reunion and a long weekend of volleyball. Unfortunately this year we did not go to any of the volleyball games, however we did hang out and catch up with my family.

This of course was a difficult trip for John as it was the start of March Madness. He would much rather have stayed at home where he could have yelled and shouted at the teams playing. I promised him though that while in Atlanta he could watch as much basketball as he wanted and I would not argue with him or complain about him not doing things with us. This was the compromise I had to make to even get him out the door to Atlanta. Believe it or not, he was a great sport about all of it - that's my baby, I Love Him!

There are so many things to go and do in Atlanta, last year when we were there we just hung out at volleyball and this year I decided we would go and do more than that. So this year we visited the Georgia Aquarium. It was totally awesome but with a two year old it was extremely difficult. We didn't get in until 3:00, which only left 3 hours for us to see all of the sights. As weird as it seems, they limit the number of people that get to come in each hour. Once I got in I totally realized why...ahhh! So many people and not a lot of room to move around. Brooklyn had so much fun especially with her cousin Charlotte there. I have to admit my favorite part was going through the shark tunnel. Another thing that they have in Atlanta that Charlotte does not have is an awesome mall with awesome stores. Needless to say we did a little shopping...I really do mean a little. I wish we could have done a lot, but no.

Luckily the Easter Bunny doesn't forget children that stay in hotels and came to visit them. Both of them got an Easter basket with way too much candy. Brooklyn also got some Roller Skates, which she has not been able to take off since she got them and Josh got a Diego Helicopter.

Monkey Joe's

We decided to have an afternoon outing with Brooklyn, Josh and a few of Brooklyn's friends yesterday. Back in Texas going to a "bounce house" was a normal activity, but we haven't been in a couple of years and Brooklyn had really missed out on all the fun she had. We found a place here in North Carolina called Monkey Joe's; not quite as big as those in Texas but still fun nonetheless. As usual, I forgot to bring a camera but luckily the other moms brought theirs. So thanks to them, here are some exciting pictures of our great fun with Grant, Hannah, Venice, and Alora.

So John has been requesting that I add pictures of the new member of our family. Well, life has been really busy lately and so this is the first opportunity I have had for quite a while. We had been looking for an animal for the kids to help them learn responsibility and the ability to be nice and tender to someone. John was looking on Craigslist one day and came upon a family that was trying to find a new home for their bird. Their daughter had left for college and didn't seem to have much of a bond with her bird anymore. So while she was out of the house they quickly found a new home...ours. The daughter had named the bird Buddy, but the parents didn't like that so they just called him Birdy. They told us we could rename the bird since they didn't think it was too stuck on anything. We decided to let Brooklyn pick a name. Flashlight and Mr. Crabs are some of the more memorable ones that she picked out. I have not been very good at picking names for creatures other than humans, so Birdy has stuck with me.

Birdy is a beautiful Cockatiel that is just over a year old now. He is very friendly with adults, but still learning about kids. He loves to put his head down and beg for someone to rub him. According to Brooklyn, he loves to get hair cuts and get baths. Long story, but I was up stairs folding clothes and started to hear the bird squawking. I ran down, as that usually means one of the kids is trying to do something, and found Brooklyn hiding behind the couch with a pair of scissors. I asked her what she was doing and just said that she was trying to cut something. I looked around and couldn't find the bird and asked where it was. She pointed to the other side of the room. At first I didn't notice anything, but as I looked around the room I noticed feathers everywhere. I turned to her and said "Did you cut the bird feathers?" She said that he was flying too much and needed his feathers trimmed. She ended up getting grounded from the bird for about 2 weeks - no touching the bird or even getting near the cage. We had to explain that there are special people that cut birds feathers and if you do it wrong they can die. Well he survived and is doing really good now. He is extremely scared of Brooklyn now, but I think one day she will regain his trust.

BYU vs Wake Forest - January 8, 2008

So for Christmas I purchsed BYU vs Wake Forest basketball tickets for John. Of course the game was during the week so we had a difficult time finding a babysitter. John ended up having me go and I took Brooklyn with me. It was her first basketball game. She was very excited to go since her friend Will would be there. When we got there she kept telling me "It's too loud mommy!!" Of course there was nothing that I could do about the cheering, so we went out after half time and got some peanuts, dippin' dots, popcorn, and a drink, hoping that would take her thoughts off the noise and instead allow her to indulge in things she doesn't normally get to devour. It worked!

This game was very sad to watch. The Cougars got killed. Wake Forest just schooled them on the board. It looked like BYU hadn't worked on shooting the ball for quite some time. It was depressing to say the least. We however had a very fun time taking the 2 hour drive there and back and having some girly bonding time.