I guess I'm on the once per week blog post; lame. Oh well, what can I do? I suppose I'll be posting and doing more while I'm off track in THREE WEEKS!!! I am so looking forward to being off track. The sad thing is, I've already started my to-do-while-off-track list. I suppose we'll be plenty busy with Ryan going to preschool twice a week across town . I've scheduled play group at our house for the middle week. We have dentist appointments and pediatrician appointments scheduled as well.

I love the fall here in Utah, it's just so beautiful. Late September and we're still in the 80's and high 70's so we're loving that. The leaves have started to change colors and we can see the mountains looking more colorful.

Next week is General Conference and my family from San Diego will be up to watch. I can't wait to see them but I know we'll still be busy with all of our regular weekend stuff so we'll try to get as much done before they get here as we can. Ryan is always asking about family in California, asking me where they are (as if I know where every single person he is acquainted with is at any given moment).

The boys have been growing and learning new things every day. Ryan is getting really good at recognizing more and more letters. He's also learning some cute songs at preschool and some letter sounds. I don't think he's learned to be any more calm through attending preschool like I was hoping that he would. I suppose his personality will always be rambunctious.

Evan wants to move so badly that he's started to get frustrated by it. He'll lie on his belly and just stare at things out of his reach. He'll stick out his arms and kick his feet and growl until he's turned himself in a circle trying to get at what he can. I'm telling you this kid will be crawling before we know it.

Good Night Moon

I had a request for another post. Then I got to thinking about it and I hadn't taken a single picture in one week. So, I took some of the boys today and I thought I'd do a little stint of our week. See videos at the bottom.


The boys have really been doing some cute things lately and I'm trying to remember them all so that I can write them down.


Every single day this week when driving home Ryan has asked for me to drive up the mountain so he can go see the new temple on the east side of the valley. I guess he can see it just right from his car seat as I am getting onto the freeway. I have not felt like just taking a drive up the hill so I've kept putting him off.



Finally on Friday I realized that the distribution center was the one stop in the last two weekends that I had just not gotten to. So, I told him that we would go to "mommy and daddy's temple". I drove over there and was showing him our temple. I pointed out the man on the top and was trying to teach him how to say "Angel Moroni". He pretty well got it, however, like usual he knocked my socks off with his thought process.
He said, "can I touch it?"
Mommy, "no, Ryan it's too high up."
Ryan: well, can I take the elevator up to the top so I can touch it?


I honestly know that we've only been in a few elevators and it's been quite some time. I had no idea that he understood that the elevator was taking you up; inside of a building. Kids. They absorb so much.


When we were inside the distribution center Ryan was being his normal self running around, talking to all the patrons and seeing how the automatic door worked. One old man commented to me, "you've got a live one there". "You have no idea!" I was thinking. So live in fact that I did not realize the woman gave me the wrong kind of material! How frustrating. I suppose it will be another two weeks before I make it back to exchange. Oh well.




Evan is a little less "live" but still very active for his age. He has been so funny about eating this week. He will grunt and groan through an entire meal because he just cannot get food fast enough. He'll even do that while nursing. Funny kid. Evan has really been moving a lot lately and Colin and I have both predicted that he'll be crawling within a month. I tried to take video of his stunts but of course as soon as I got the camera out he stopped showing off.








Well, I suppose that is all for my post this week. Oh, but I did want to close with just one more story. We had a full moon earlier this week and when I took a picture of it, it reminded me of a daily occurrence. Each night when we get Ryan ready for bed. He and I have this conversation. I swear it is almost word for word the same every day.
Mommy: Ryan, it's time to get ready for bed.
Ryan: Where's the sun?
Mommy: It's going down, Ry.
Ry: Why is it going down, Mommy?
Mom: Because it's night-time.
Ry: Why is it night-time?
Mom: Because the sun is going down.
Ry: Where is the moon?
Mom: It's coming up.
Ry: The moon is coming up because the sun is going down?
Mom: Yes
Ry: Oh, it's nighttime?
Mom: Yes, now lets get your pajamas on.

Our Week

So sue me if this is the lamest post I've ever done. We are just so crazy busy these days that I don't have much else to add/post about.

Monday: Ryan attended his second day of Preschool. He calls it "P-School". They worked on the letter O and the color Red. He can write an O pretty well. The teacher knew which letter to start with!

Tuesday: I can't remember anything special that happened on this day. Tonya had a great report for the boys. Colin had class after work and we just sort of did our thing. Tuesdays are garbage days at Tonya's so Ryan and Curen love that day. Oh yes, how could I forget? The lovely district meeting that I had to attend which had me out of the house until 7:00 pm. Loads of fun and enjoyment. Thanks Jess for watching the boys for me.

Wednesday: Ryan had his third day of preschool and I was supposed to send something with him for show and tell. I realized this after work and called the teacher to see how he's doing. She said that he sits still (I'm sure she was generously exaggerating) and that he did well when he wrote his letters. She also said that he had something to share for show and tell (thank you Tonya!). Wednesday is a study night for Colin.

Thursday: This is my favorite day at work because our schedule is all very different. We have library, music, volunteering in the morning, recycling (which the kids cannot wait to do and start asking me about as soon as they walk into the classroom). We also don't have Science or CAMP (rotations: Computer, Art, Music, and PE). I like both of those but its kind of fun to have a day that just doesn't match up with the rest of the week, it makes it seem special. This Thursday was also neat because I got to teach my students about the events of 9/11/01. They were THREE at the time so they had a lot to learn and were really respectful and curious about the events. I did a slide show presentation for the whole grade and it went pretty well once I got the projector to cooperate with me.
Thursday is another school night for Colin.

Friday: Fridays for me are always a little crazy. We let out early for planning time and I always try to do the same amount with 2 hours less time. Why do I bring this on myself? I'm not sure. I did make great use of my planning time though and didn't bring home as much work as I did last Saturday. See, I'm learning.

Saturday: I love being home on Saturday and spending time with my family, however, Saturday's since I've been teaching have a double meaning. I also have to get EVERYTHING done for the upcoming week... "Saturday is a Special day..." and it just totally stresses me out! I have to do my grading, planning, recording, and correcting for work. I have to do the laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping for the house. AH. Just so much to do.
We also saw a blow-out football game on Saturday. The BYU Cougars beat UCLA 59 to 0! It was nice to see Colin really excited about a game. He didn't have much to complain about for this game. They did an awesome job!

Sunday: Today we had a really cute thing happen with Ryan. We were sitting in Sacrament meeting and the little girl behind us got up and bore her testimony. He realized that she was a KID and that she got up to speak. So, he decided he wanted to go up too. Colin started getting really nervous but I could tell he was willing to take him up to speak. Colin tried to prepare him by telling him what they would say before they went up. Ryan just kept saying that he wanted to say, "amen". So, they both got brave enough and went up to bear their testimonies. It was really cute because as soon as Ryan got up there, he looked out at the crowd and noticed that there were A LOT OF PEOPLE! He kind of got the deer-in-the-headlights look on his face and froze up. Colin whispered in his ear and Ryan sort of mumbled into the microphone. We could hear "stories" and "amen". When Ryan sat down the families around us were all congratulating him on doing such a good job. He just said, "I did it!" He was so proud of himself. Then he realized that Colin was speaking and he said, "that's my daddy talking". Too cute.

Anyway, that's that I guess.

Ryan's first day of Preschool

Ryan had his first day of Preschool on Wednesday. I think he was excited, but I know that I was. And I was also a little anxious about how it would go. Overall, I think he enjoyed it. I was majorly bummed that I couldn't go drop him off and pick him up (and take more pictures) from school because I was working all day long, but I don't think Ryan cared much. He is enrolled with his two best buds Curen and Macee. They stuck real close together for the first day and brought home some cute first-day projects. He was thrilled to wear his Spiderman backpack and show us his tractor picture when we got home.

Last Weekend

Colin and I attended the BYU season opener last weekend in Provo. The cougars played against Northern Iowa. My parents watched the boys so it was a nice long date for the two of us. It was a great game to watch (at least for me). Colin gets quite emotionally involved in the games. When we were only winning by 10 that was just unacceptable. But I did think that it was strange to see the our team score zero points to their 10 in the second half. In the end, the cougars won 41-17 and it was nice to start out the season with a victory.

side note: I don't like writing game reviews so I'm making Colin do the next one.

Colin and I at the end of the game.
The back of the south scoreboard has been painted with the logo and motto. Pretty sweet looking.

This was Daddy and Evan before the game started. You can really see how red his hair is turning. Call us crazy but we ALL dress up every gameday in cougar shirts. One of my favorite things about football season... buying new shirts.
Daddy and Evan again, this time taking a nap after the game.

My Friend Carol

My friend Carol passed away on Monday. She taught me so many things in the less than two years that I knew her. Mostly though, she taught me how to be positive and optimistic. Carol knew how to make any situation better. She always saw the bright side and helped me to find the silver lining also. Nothing slowed Carol down, not even cancer. She was out golfing and going to lunch with friends throughout her radiation treatments.

She cared deeply for our students and each of their needs. Carol taught me how to really care for people. I still don't do it quite as well as she did.

Carol taught me that to be brave, all you have to do is trust in the Lord. She had a tremendous faith that never faltered. She trusted Heavenly Father and believed in Jesus Christ.

Thanks for all you've taught me Carol. I wish we could have taught together the five years we planned on, but Heavenly Father needed you more than I did. I know you're busy teaching again. I love you and I can't wait to see you again sometime so we can laugh about the crazy things we teachers go through.

you may link to her obituary here

more from Evan

just a few recent photos of our Evan

a new trick

Evan has learned how to sit up all by himself. I think he kind of likes to do it too. He's proud of himself and he likes the view better than lying down. He's also been rolling around a lot more. I'll try to get it on video.