hooston zoo

I don't know if I've blogged this yet, but when we were getting ready to move I was telling kate that we were moving to houston and then she started talking about "hooston." I thought it was so cute that I call it that now when I'm talking to her...and sometimes I'm afraid I'll actually be talking to an adult someday and slip and call it hooston.

anyways, we went to the zoo on thursday. we were getting ready to go and it was so sunny and so hot and so humid and we were afraid we wouldn't survive. kate was enjoying the animals but was very lathargic. we think it was because of the heat. she was so hot and sweaty in the stroller. oh, by the way, I got to use my new stroller. it is WONDERFUL!! I love how light and easy to push it is but it has a ton of storage and both of my babies were really comfortable in it. and just look how great the sun shade is over sawyer! it covers so well. its the babyjogger mini series double jogging stroller just in case you were curious. so anyways, back to the zoo, there were babies! baby giraffes and a baby elephant! so cute! and the exhibits were great. you could look into the giraffe houses through glass and we were right at this HUGE giraffe's feet. seriously, as we looked up into the huge giraffe butt you really got a sense of how tall it was. and you could go into the lion cave and they were sitting right next to the glass. the female turned on her back and rested her paw on the glass and kate touched it. unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures. but the good news is we'll be going back many times with our cool zoo pass! thanks mom! after we got through about a quarter of the zoo it started raining. it was a huge texas down pour and we found shelter in this cave with some snakes and toads and the like. we waited out the storm and I had to feed hungry sawyer while sitting in the floor of the cave. eventually the rain let up and my once lethargic kate was happy as can be and loved splashing in puddles!
I loved how curly her hair was after the rain. what a cutie!

as for news of the apartment, we are getting closer but I'm still not ready for pictures! just a little more time! also, tonight we went to a bbq at one of the girl's apartments from ryan's anesthesia program. 3 others out of the group of 14 are LDS too! it was fun to meet everyone that was there and it made it feel a little more real. ryan starts on monday!

we're here!

after 2 long days of driving we finally made it to houston!  the kids were perfect...most of the time.  I was amazed how much sawyer slept!  and now we're here surrounded by boxes.  lots of people are asking for picures of the apartment, but it really is not in a picture taking state right now so ya'll will just have to wait (see how I'm slipping into my texas accent already!) so for now all you get is a picture of the entrance.  

here is a funny moving story.  when we were packing in tucson I saw some of the ceiling fans we had bought for our old apartment and wondered if we needed them here.  I called and asked and they said they had fans already.  well yesterday ryan looked up in the living room and noticed there was no fan, just an empty space for where a fan should be, and I said "WHAT?!?  no fan!  I called and asked and they said there were fans!" and kate, who was standing right there and is completely out of sorts from all this change and not enough sleep, started crying and saying "no fan!  no fan!!"  I kind of laughed and told her it was okay and then I mentioned she had a fan in her room.  she calmed down, but then all day long she was saying "no fan! no fan!....kate's room!" and then we left the apartment and as we were coming up to the door on the way back she started saying "no fan!  no fan!"  and even today as we came home from church she was saying the same thing!  poor girl.  this move has traumatized her!

so long tucson

all our bags are packed and we're ready to go....

it feels like an dream....or nightmare, I guess...but at any rate UNREAL! we're leaving! ryan drove home a 26' penske yesterday and we thought we would NEVER fill it and we were laughing at how grossly we overestimated the size of truck we would need....and yet today we managed to fill the WHOLE THING! top to bottom! just a few more things to pack up in the morning and then we set out for our 16 hour car drive. we'll split it up into 2 days. ryan will be in the truck and mom, me, sawyer and kate are partying in our honda accord. yikes! I'm getting claustrophobic just thinking about it!

so I guess I won't be posting for a while and when I do it will be.....

(clap clap clap clap)

"deep in the heart of texas!"

check out the rock!

DANI IS ENGAGED!!

and here is a picture of the happy couple:
oh wait...sick...thats their feet! (the morning of the proposal dani took jared to ge a pedicure for his birthday) here is their better side:

congrats you guys! we are so happy for you and wish we were able to hang out with you more often!

happy father's day

for an activity day a while back our primary decorated ties that the men had donated for them to wear on father's day. it sounded silly, but it was really cute seeing all the men walking around in their funny ties. a visual of how much the kids love their daddys! ryan took it a little too far, though...

he wore his orange monkey biking socks to match!

I couldn't get a picture of daddy with both of his kids because sawyer was sleeping before church and kate was moody after church....so we got them separate!

today was also kate's last day in nursery so we decided to give her teachers a present. I was jealous of my sisters in law who were making cute gifts for their kid's teacher's and thinking I wouldn't be able to do it forever....until I decided to do it last minute. I decided to go with the m&m idea because "m's" are kate's favorite.

it says "thanks for showing me how marvelous & magical nursery can be!"

I told kate we were going to give it to her teacher's the night before and she was excited. that night we were saying prayers and she just started repeating after me instead of just listening. I said "thank you for nursery" (kate "babble babble nursery") and "thank you for our teachers" (kate "babble babble teachers") and then she said added "babble babble m's!" too cute! unfortunately, when nursery was over and we went to give it to them she was in kinda a bad mood (how long can I blame this on teething?!?) so it wasn't the cute scene I had envisioned. oh well, I just hope they feel loved!

so anyway, back to father's. I am so lucky! I have a wonderful dad who loves me and loves my children so much! he is the cutest papa and I love how he begs me to let kate stay up just a little longer so he can play with her. we are going to miss living with him so much!!

and ryan....my 5 am hero...who always takes sawyer in the morning so I can sleep in just a little longer and who put 2 crabby kids to bed on his special day because he loves me so much!! I am so lucky!!

thank you for being such an awesome husband and father!

papa's last saturday with kate

dad has been counting down the saturdays he has left with kate for the past 3 or 4 saturdays (and even not getting a haircut on those days as to not waste his precious time with kate) and yesterday was the last saturday!! so he woke up and made kate's favorite, faffles, and then we went to the zoo. kate hasn't been with papa in a while. it was going to be a HOT day (107), so we went early in the morning and didn't stay long. papa got to feed the giraffes with kate and see lots of animals. kind of funny, it was both the tiger and the lion's birthdays and they had a table set up with cookies and water on it to celebrate. we missed them opening their presents (boxes of meat!) and we heard the lion was 21....which is 105 in human years! he is one skinny, slow moving lion!

then we got home and went swimming! it was the perfect last saturday with papa!

random pictures

kate loving charlie

devin loving sawyer

kate feeding her baby

Sawyer's 2 month checkup

okay, so it was more like a 6 week checkup, but we wanted to get it done before we moved and the dr said it would be okay to get his 2 week shots at 6 weeks but no earlier. so, at 6 weeks, here are the stats:

weight: 11 lbs 1 oz (a little over 50th percentile)

height: 22 1/2" (50th percentile)

so we have a pretty average kid! well, as far as the stats go. in cuteness and wide-eyed-ness he is way above average.

sawyer's favorite things at 6 weeks:

sleeping for 4 hours at a time at night

opening his eyes really big and looking around everywhere

spitting up when mommy least expects it

kate kisses

his least favorite thing right now is probably shots. the poor kid had to get 5!! kate was fascinated and I could barely hear the dr giving me the possible side effects of them because she kept saying "sawyer get shots!" over and over. (which in kate language actually sounds like "soy shot!"...luckily mama speaks katelish!)

here are his bandaids on his cute chubby legs:

I can tell he's still feeling it, but he's being a trooper!

when I grow up....

this is a random thought I had last night but I have been thinking about it all day. as I was looking through all the blogs that I check on a regular basis, I was hit with how different everyone's lives are. there are so many people I know doing so many different things. and then I started thinking about all the things that I've wanted to do in my life "when I grow up." in high school I wanted to be a professional wakeboarder. I also have fell in love with pottery and wanted my own wheel and kiln in my house. I've always wanted to be a professional cake decorator like my grandma douce. when I went to college I had a strong desire to move to a big city like boston or new york and go to art museums and enjoy living in the city. I've gotten into sewing and would love to be good at quilting and want to own a big huge quilting machine someday. in college I got into oil painting and I wish I could have taken more classes. I would LOVE to be a better photographer. I still want to be an aerobics instructor and would like to stay a knowledgeable dental hygienist. and oh how I wish I had more time to play my bass. speaking of instruments, I think I could have totally rocked the drums and when sawyer gets his first drum set, we'll have to take turns. but I've also always wanted to be a mom....and thats where I am now. unfortunately, at this point, there isn't much time for anything else. so I will continue to sit here unshowered and with spit up on my shirt....three times over...and enjoy reading other people's blogs about all their talents and adventures and then find the awesome things in my life to post and look forward to all the things I'll do when I grow up.

dare to compare

I looked through tons and tons of pictures of kate (because there are tons and tons of her!) and sawyer to try and find ones where these 2 kids are looking just alike....but I couldn't find any! this is as close as I got. I was hoping to trick you with a "whos who" game....but it would be too easy. they are both too cute and adoreable in their own special ways!! (and sawyer's big handsome eyes are a dead giveaway!)

FHE - Obedience

So for enrichment this week we are making FHE kits. I have to make 10 of the same lesson nand put it all together in a manila envelope and we will exchange them and I'll come home with 10 all different and ready to go. I thought this was a great idea and when I signed up I was thinking I would just be able to go online and find some brilliant and super cute ideas that other people have done and it would be really fast. well....I had a hard time finding anything. I found some websites where you can buy them (here and here ) but none just laid out for me. I could have just been being picky...but since I had such a hard time with it, I decided to document it in case it is helpful for anyone else.

FHE-Obedience

Opening song: Do as I'm doing

Scripture: Romans 5:19

Story: “Jonah and the People of Nineveh,” Friend, Apr. 1998, 42

(with flannel board cutouts)

Jonah was a prophet just before the ten tribes of Israel were taken captive into Babylonia, a country east of Israel. Only a small part of Jonah’s story is told in the Old Testament, but the part that is recorded teaches us that the Lord offers salvation to everyone who will repent.

The Lord commanded Jonah to tell the wicked people of Nineveh, a city north of Babylon, that if they didn’t repent, they would be destroyed. Jonah didn’t want to go to that wicked place. He didn’t think the people would listen to him or want to change, so he got on a boat that was sailing west to Tarshish, Spain.

A terrifying storm arose and tossed the boat to and fro. The sailors cried out to the prophet, who was sleeping, to pray to his God to save them. Knowing that his disobedience was the cause of the storm, Jonah told them, “Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you” (Jonah 1:12).

Though they didn’t want to, the sailors finally did as Jonah asked and threw him into the sea. “Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” (Jonah 1:17.)

While in the fish, Jonah cried unto the Lord. He knew that he had disobeyed, and he wanted the Lord to forgive him. The Lord did, then caused that the fish “vomited out Jonah upon the dry land” (Jonah 2:10). He again told the prophet to go to Nineveh.

Jonah obeyed. To his surprise, when he told the people of Nineveh that the Lord was displeased with them and that they would soon be destroyed, they believed him and turned from their evil ways. They accepted the gift of repentance that would come through the Savior, and they were not destroyed. Both the prophet and the people he preached to had need of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ so that they could return to Heavenly Father. Because this gift is given to everyone, we too can repent when we make mistakes.

Activity: Jonah and the whale game

cut out these fish and write on them phrases about obeying and disobeying (ie "you didn't make your bed when your mom asked you to" and "you obeyed your primary teacher when she asked you to sit reverently") place them in a plastic bag. or, if you feel up to it, make a fishing pole out of a stick and string with a paper clip on the end and put a small strip of magnet on each fish so you can actually go fishing.

use this game board

and place 1 or 2 markers on the start (you can play all on one team or split into 2). the first person draws or goes fishing for a fish. if it is an example of obeying, move forward one space. if it is an example of disobeying, move back one space. the first team to the end wins (or if you're playing all on the same team, you all win!)

Treat: Goldfish crackers in blue jello

...or...

Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon chips

(the jello idea might be fun for the kiddos....but it didn't sound yummy to me. this did. I thought the chips could represent fish......)

INGREDIENTS
2 kiwis, peeled and diced
2 Golden Delicious apples - peeled, cored and diced
8 ounces raspberries
1 pound strawberries
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons fruit preserves, any flavor

10 (10 inch) flour tortillas
butter flavored cooking spray
2 cups cinnamon sugar

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, Golden Delicious apples, raspberries, strawberries, white sugar, brown sugar and fruit preserves. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Coat one side of each flour tortilla with butter flavored cooking spray. Cut into wedges and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle wedges with desired amount of cinnamon sugar. Spray again with cooking spray.
Bake in the preheated oven 8 to 10 minutes. Repeat with any remaining tortilla wedges. Allow to cool approximately 15 minutes. Serve with chilled fruit mixture.

Closing song: Quickly I'll obey #197

mommy bracelet

I saw these online and thought it would be really fun to make them while jen is here! I LOVE how it turned out!

we also made mom a grammie bracelet:

and, of course, here are more pictures of the cousin twins. this time they are in matching outfits from anut jenny and uncle bill:

adoreable!! thanks guys!

but its kinda hard to get pictures of both of these little guys in a good mood

random pictures

so many pictures....too tired for words!

here are sawyer and kate when we were getting ready to go swimming this week:

and this is cutie kate right before she jumped in:

sawyer hanging out on daddy's lap:

kate in her cute hilary handmedown pjs that she LOVED (especially the pockets!):

the boys boxing:

and then just hanging out:

kate in serious need of a new hairdo:

mommy, daddy and sawyer on his blessing day:

everyone else on sawyer's blessing day:

grammie and sawyer:

kate and sawyer:

sister kisses:

look who is 1 month old today!!:

cousin twins:

and kate wanted in on the action: