The Wessman Family

Christmas 2011

2011-12-27T11:33:00.011-05:00

Merry Christmas!

We opened our Christmas pajamas on Saturday evening. (Thanks, grandma!) Sunday morning we enjoyed a breakfast of fruit, cinnamon rolls and orange rolls. We enjoyed church and came home to some lunch. We didn't start opening gifts until around 1 pm (after putting jammies back on, of course) and enjoyed a relaxed time together, including a fun visit to the neighbors. Here is a highlight for each of the children:

Abby - She has wanted a unicorn pillow pet ever since the week after Christmas last year. Her reaction to seeing it was priceless. Abby loves anything cozy and this certainly fits the bill!

Briton - Briton asked for a variety of things but one of the first things he asked for was a backpack. He loves Thomas the Train so Santa brought him a Thomas backpack. I was a bit concerned that he might wonder where all the other things he'd asked for were, but he was (and still is) thrilled with the backpack. He has loaded and unloaded it countless times!

Hannah - Our cute little one still doesn't get the present idea, but she was pleased as punch to walk around and figure out what the rest of us were up to. She received some clothes, a doll cradle and doll, some winter accessories and more.

Of course, with all the presents, toys and stuff the kids got, here is what has received the most attention over the last couple days:

The missionaries helped them cut doors into the boxes and they have loaded them up with blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, toys, etc. It has been really cute to watch. Last night the kids asked to sleep in their "cozy places". I was skeptical about how much sleeping would actually take place, but they surprised me...and even slept in a bit. (Mike suggested that next year we hang out at the entrance of Walmart and ask people with big boxes if we can give them $5 for the boxes instead of all the other gifts.)

(PS These are from the new beds the kids received.)

Some Pre-Christmas

2011-12-26T17:10:00.007-05:00

I have not blogged for a while. Before I make a Christmas post, here are some of our other December comings and goings. More than comings and goings we've had "stayings". December has been a relatively low key month for us and we have (intentionally) kept it pretty calm.

The pictures are in reverse chronological order...

Abby had her preschool Christmas program and we were happy to all be able to attend.

We celebrated Mike's birthday.

One of our favorite December traditions is the Peacock Road Tree Farm. I have posted about this the past 2 years. We enjoy taking the train to the North Pole to visit Santa in his cottage and roast marshmallows and drink hot cocoa. This year we ran into some friends while we were there and enjoyed visiting with them. We also took the horse wagon to see Santa because the train was full. It was a fun change.

Briton is involved with Michigan's Early On program for his speech services. We have loved all the support they've provided to him and to us. (We're sad that when he turns 3 in February he'll transition out of Early On.) Last year, we missed the Early On Christmas party because of our new baby so we were excited to attend this year as a family. The girls got sick so it just ended up being Mike and Briton that attended. Mike raved about the party for days afterward! They had such a good time and the organizers were nice enough to send goodie bags (complete with cookies and decorating supplies) home for Abby and Hannah. We have some great videos of Briton playing the games - throwing puff balls at blow up reindeer to knock them down. He was, ahem, a bit over-anxious to hit the reindeer. Maybe I'll get some of the videos uploaded:)

November 30th was the first real snow storm out here. It was a doozy. We got 8-10 inches of snow and the schools were closed for a day:) So much fun! Lots of playing, sledding, shoveling...

And, here are the kids in the tub with mountains of bubbles.

Happy birthday, Hannah!

2011-11-25T20:47:00.002-05:00

Today we celebrated Hannah's 1st birthday. The real birthday is Sunday, but with Brian and Amy in town for Thanksgiving we wanted to make sure to include them in the festivities.

This afternoon we visited the local Christmas tree farm and picked out a beautiful tree. The weather was beautiful! (Incidentally, last year's trip to the tree farm was the day before Hannah was born and was very cold.)

Here we are with the winning tree:

She did not fully grasp the present opening...

...but the cake eating was quite the hit.

We loved that the minute we put the cake on her tray, she pulled the candle out, paid no attention to it and went for the frosting. We blew it out when she went for the "pinch it out" technique.

Hannah is the most patient baby in the world. She is adorable. She loves to be involved with her brother and sister. We think she is great!

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T21:31:00.003-04:00

Here are my children. They are not all looking at the camera, but I can't really blame them because this picture was the one thing that was holding them from trick-or-treating:)

Here we are post trick-or-treating where it wasn't as hard to get them to focus on the camera. They looked adorable.

The octopus costume has been worn by all three of the kiddos.

Wiggly

2011-10-31T21:21:00.004-04:00

11-months means wiggly and hard to get a picture. It also means adorable, happy, active and loving. My favorite things about Hannah right now are:

that she will eat anything
that she gives big open mouthed kisses
that she adores her brother and sister
that she is sleeping well
that she decided to take a binky (hence, the previous entry)

We sure love Hannah!

5!

2011-10-31T21:01:00.005-04:00

Abby turned 5-years-old. 5 is a milestone. Abby thinks so, too. (It was cute when the morning after her birthday she brought me one of her favorite outfits and told me we had better save it for Hannah because now that she is 5 it doesn't fit.) Abby is a delight in our family. She is creative, independent, happy and bright. We love her very much. Her personality and spirit are such important and needed parts of our family.

Abby, Briton, Hannah and I celebrated the morning of her birthday with a trip to Impressions 5, the local children's museum and McDonald's. That afternoon we had a fun birthday party. 10 of her friends came and I think that the kids had a nice time. She opened her family presents the day after her birthday due to some crazy schedules so it was fun to extend the festivities.

I think that my favorite part of the birthday celebrations was being the mom helper in Abby's preschool the day before her birthday. We celebrated in her class that day. October has been a busy month for our family and I feel that we've been jumping/racing from one thing to the next. It was so nice to not have any "lists" to think about for a couple hours and just focus on Abby. Her teacher asked her if she wanted mom to be the snack helper for the class or if she'd prefer that I just play with her. I was pleased (and slightly surprised coming from my uber-independent girl) that she said that she thought it would be best if I just played with her. It was a great day.

Grandma Mary

2011-10-20T21:50:00.005-04:00

Last Friday, Mike's grandma passed away. We knew it was coming. She was a loving and energetic grandmother and we will miss our visits with her. She had a strong testimony of the gospel. I remember seeing her in the Salt Lake Temple a few times while she and Grandpa Frank were working there. I am glad that we were able to spend some time with her on each of our visits to Utah this year.

Mary's obituary

Friday evening (yes, pretty last minute) Mike jumped on a plane to travel to Salt Lake. He took Hannah with him. I know that surprised a few people but being that she still flies for free Mike knew that people would enjoy seeing her and he looked forward to the one-on-one time with Hannah.

Mike was able to spend time with his parents, siblings, Robinson aunts and uncles and all but one cousin (as well as other friends and family members). He stayed at my grandma Nielsen's house a few nights and they enjoyed time together.

Abby, Briton and I missed dad and Hannah but also enjoyed doing some fun things while they were gone. (Briton's phrase of the weekend: "My baby. I miss. My house." He really missed his baby and wanted her back in his house.)

Pictures: Mike and his siblings/cousins; Mike's immediate family at Hope's grave (same cemetery); Hannah at Hope's grave; Mike, Hannah and Grandpa David

The next week

2011-10-20T21:28:00.003-04:00

Monday morning we headed out to Frankenmuth, Michigan. We loved it! Frankenmuth is a Bavarian town in rural Michigan with a few resort-y hotels, a chicken restaurant, shopping and the biggest Christmas store in the world. The Christmas store was our draw. Seriously. It was big and fun. Michiganders also like indoor water parks. We stayed at a hotel with one. It was perfect for our kids. The best part about it was that they didn't have height restrictions on the slides! Our kids are little so they are never allowed to go on waterslides. Here, as long as the little ones were accompanied by an adult, anyone could ride any of the slides. Brilliant! We spent two days in Frankenmuth. Wednesday we bid a sad farewell to my parents. Here are some photos:

A Couple Weeks ago

2011-10-16T21:45:00.005-04:00

The week after General Conference was very nice.

On Wednesday we had our Stake Temple Day. Mike was able to take the day off work. Briton's speech teachers came over for his 8:30 appointment and we were able to tell them a little bit about the temple since I was already dressed up. When they left, Briton was ready to leave as well since we'd told him we'd go to the temple after speech. It was cute that it was his teachers that convinced him to wait a few minutes until daddy was ready to go. (Mike had gone into work for a few minutes and was going to be home any minute.) I love that we get to take our kids with us when we go to the temple. (It makes for such a long day, it is hard to leave them behind.) We arrived at noon, took our turn babysitting for the noon session, attended the 2 pm session, did sealings at 4 and then attended the potluck at 6, getting home around 9. It was a fabulous day. The Detroit Temple is usually only open for 4 sessions on Wednesdays, but our stake provided all the workers to add two mid-day sessions. It was especially special to be in the temple with our stake family.

The next day my parents arrived. We had such a good time together. On Friday we played at home a fair amount (aside from the pedicures my mom and I got:). Saturday we went out to the Peacock Road Tree Farm for their Halloween activities. Pig races, pumpkin patches, train rides to get to the pumpkin patches, apple orchards, hay bale sculptures, pony rides and more.

Saturday night Mike and I attended the Adult Session of our Stake Conference. It was wonderful. We had a member of the Seventy (one of our church leaders) visiting named Elder David S. Baxter. He taught powerfully and we were blessed to be there. On Sunday, our Stake Presidency (some of our local leaders) was reorganized. We will miss being taught by our former Stake Presidency but are very much looking forward to learning from and getting to know our new leaders.

It was just a good week. I like good weeks.

General Conference on Sunday and Summing it Up

2011-10-02T21:35:00.002-04:00

Today we had the missionaries and some friends over all day for conference. It made for great company and even with 6 kids under 5 I think it was calmer than yesterday.

A couple of my thoughts from today:

I enjoyed Brother Richardson's talk. I've heard in a few settings lately the idea that teachers shouldn't get in the way of the learning of the students. I watched a talk given by Elder Bednar on this particular idea. How amazing it is that the Holy Ghost is able to teach all of us individually exactly what we need. The same lesson, if taught and received with and by the spirit can teach multiple students multiple lessons. Amazing.
Recently I studied some of the women in the Book of Mormon. It was a lot of fun. I enjoyed Sister Dalton's talk a lot - especially the part about Abish. (Incidentally, Lamoni's wife was a favorite. She had amazing faith.)
The Book of Mormon is such a source of peace for me. I appreciated President Eyring's teachings from the Books of Mormon, Elder Callister's testimony of it, and Elder Scott encouraging us to memorize it (verses, I mean).
There seemed to be a lot of references to prayer today, specifically President Monson and Elder Cornish. I can always be a better pray-er.

Summing it up: I actually came to conference this weekend with a few specific questions about some things I want to improve in my life. Those questions were a focus for me and I could look for answers that perhaps I wouldn't have recognized if I didn't have the question in the first place. It's true that general conference can teach 14 million. It is also true that it can teach one. I appreciated that I was able to add a few pieces to my puzzle this weekend.

General Conference on Saturday

2011-10-02T10:16:00.004-04:00

General conferences make for my favorite weekends. I am grateful for the focus they give me. Yesterday was kind of a rough day. I wasn't at the top of my game. Conference, however, was a bright spot and the afternoon session especially was just what I needed. (It was made better snuggling with a very peaceful baby.) A couple thoughts:

My favorite talk might have been Elder C. Cook who taught us that it is always better to look up. It reminds me of how far a simple yet sincere prayer or a few minutes in the scriptures can do on a downer day.
I love family history and I love Elder Bednar. Last night I opened some forgotten files and started looking for info on my 3rd great-grandfather's wife. Fun stuff!
Elder Andersen is also a favorite. My faith in and testimony of families was strengthened.
President Uchtdorf is always reminding us of who we are. Heavenly Father has such a different scale to measure the usefulness and worth of His children. Our value is limitless. Perhaps, if we could strive to feel that all the time we'd be limitless in our power to do good.

Those are a few of my thoughts. Today will be great.

10 months

2011-09-27T13:37:00.005-04:00

Today Hannah is 10 months. She is delightful and such a good baby. She eats just about anything (really - ANYTHING!). She crawls. She pulls herself up on some things. She loves seeing her brother and sister. She is patient with me when I am doing chores or tending to the other kids. She is not the greatest at falling asleep on her own. She likes to have a bottle with her (bye, bye healthy teeth?). I think she's getting better at it. Once she falls asleep though she sleeps well.

Just for fun, here are 3 pictures of 3 kiddos about 9.5 - 10 months old.

Helping Hands

2011-09-24T16:24:00.004-04:00

We are real Mormons now because we have our own "Mormon Helping Hands" t-shirts. No, there weren't any natural disasters here in Michigan. (That is what I've always seen the shirts used for when I've seen pictures in the Church News.) Our stake service project this year was to clean up homes of the elderly working through county agencies. I didn't get an action shot of Mike and I because I got to hang out with the kids in the nursery while he worked at one of the homes. It was a good morning.

Our branch was in charge of 4 homes. Here are some action shots from the home Mike helped clean up.

Finally

2011-09-15T23:20:00.001-04:00

I think I have finally caught up.

A Couple Firsts

2011-09-15T23:12:00.006-04:00

Abby's first day of preschool was this week. She is at the same school as last year but in a different class which means new teachers. She is happy. I am happy she is happy.

Hannah is still growing up. She started drinking from a sippy cup today. (I feel silly blogging about it because it is a small thing, but it was a big deal to us so why not.)

This doesn't fall in the category of firsts, but I must say that Briton is doing GREAT with his speaking! He is now imitating instead of babbling and putting 2-3 word phrases together. While we were in Utah, I told Mike that he'd be amazed at the progress he made while we were gone. His teachers are impressed and we just reviewed his IEP this morning and upped his goals. We still have a lot of work ahead of us but I am very pleased with Briton's willingness to work and practice his speaking. Heavenly Father has blessed our little boy and we are grateful.

Sleeping Bear Dunes

2011-09-15T22:43:00.006-04:00

Good Morning America voted Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore the most beautiful place in America. Dave and Kaye came out to visit last week and we took a short camping trip to Sleeping Bear. It was cold, but we really enjoyed it. As always, Lake Michigan is beautiful.

(1 - Hannah and I hiking the dunes; 2 - Mike, Abby and Briton on the dune with Glen Lake in the background; 3 - Mike and Hannah in a boat museum; 4 - Briton helping out a ranger program demonstrating shipwreck rescues; 5 - Briton insisting on pushing Hannah in the stroller; 6-8 - It is hard to tell how high we are above the lake but the dune slopes down steeply to the lake here; 9 - Another pretty overlook; 10 - Abby at the Point Betsie lighthouse)

Have I ever mentioned that Michigan has more lighthouses than any other state?

This picture more or less shows the steep slope down to the lake from the bluff. I downloaded the picture from nps.gov and it is a winter picture. Of course, this isn't the dune you climb, but we walked along the top and looked out over the lake.

Hannah - 9 months

2011-09-15T22:39:00.003-04:00

This little girl grew up so much in a few short weeks. She crawls, sits up from a crawl and is now starting to try and pull herself up to a stand. She is the most patient baby I know and we love her dearly.

Over-due post on the trip to Utah

2011-09-15T21:28:00.009-04:00

The kids and I took a 2-week trip to Utah in August. We had a great time, saw a lot of people, missed Mike and were happy to be with family we love and who love us.

Since it has been a while and there is plenty I should update. Here is a picture a day from our trip:

Friday - The main reason for the trip was my beautiful sister, Kaley's, wedding. (OK - so a couple days have more than one picture.) My mom did such a great job decorating the yard. It was lovely!

Saturday - The two little kids and I went to the Sandy City Balloon Festival. Later in the day we spent time with two of my sisters and parents. We went to a monster truck show with an organization my sister, Stephanie, participates in! (I remember all the monster truck commercials on TV as a kid and I think I secretly wanted to go.)

Sunday - After church my mom, the kids and I headed out to Yellowstone. We caravaned with Dave, my father-in-law, and had a picnic in Idaho Falls.

Monday - We spent the day in my happy place. My sister, Tami, and her kids came up as well!

Tuesday - Another day in Yellowstone...

Wednesday - We stayed in Island Park, visited Big Springs, took a canoe ride (and saw 3 moose) and had fun with cousins!

Thursday - A long drive home and no pictures.

Friday - We met up with my sister-in-law, Bekah, her family and my in-laws. We enjoyed the park and then went to visit great-grandparents. Friday afternoon the kids stayed with my mother-in-law while my family and I accompanied Kaley to the temple for her first time. It was a good day.

Saturday - We spent more time with Kaye. We rode the train (happy Briton) and visited a couple sites around Temple Square. We ate at my favorite - Sweet Tomatoes. (We also ate there last Saturday with my parents and some sibs.)

Sunday - Church and a family party complete with snakes...

Monday - We had more cousin time with my sister-in-law and niece! It was great to see them. We also really enjoyed visiting more great-grandmas!

Tuesday - We drove to the cabin!

Wednesday - We spent the day at the cabin with Kaley and Steph and their families - not enough pictures but another happy place!

Thursday -I think it was a pretty low key day. I went shopping and bought myself a new dress. In the evening I enjoyed going to my book club with dear friends. Kids stayed home with grandma and grandpa. Briton played trains!

Friday - Before heading home we went to the This is the Place Heritage Park with my parents and Steph and her boys.

Thanks again to everyone who made the trip so enjoyable for us - especially my parents who hosted us! We enjoyed seeing all of you!

Catch up

2011-08-12T17:32:00.000-04:00

I left my house very, very early this morning so that I could arrive in SLC early. I thought I had better update the blog since we'll have some exciting things to report on while we are here...sister's beautiful wedding, Yellowstone, friends, family, etc.

Beach

2011-08-12T17:31:00.001-04:00

Last week we took a last minute trip to Lake Michigan at the invitation of some neighbors. As always, it was great. Abby tells me that Lake Michigan is her favorite beach but that it is just too long of a drive. I concur. Well, I don't think it is too long of a drive but it would sure be nice if it was closer. The highlights: Mike took off a half day of work so it felt like a real vacation. I spent the morning making BBQ chicken for a picnic and forgot something to heat it up in. I swam (walked) to the buoy. Hannah ate a lot of sand.

8 months

2011-08-12T17:29:00.000-04:00

Our busy little Hannah is already 8 months. The picture was taken at 8 months, but I am a couple weeks late on the post. As of today, she is moving around a lot and we have to keep quite an eye on her. She scoots backwards like a champ and can get up on all fours but doesn't quite crawl. She loves her brother and sister and puts up with a lot from them!

Swimming Lessons

2011-08-12T17:28:00.001-04:00

Abby took swimming lessons a couple weeks ago. She enjoyed it but told me that it was "hard work". I am glad she likes being in the water and she's already asking when it'll be "next year" so that she can take lessons again!

Updates

2011-07-22T13:09:00.008-04:00

Abby

Our 4-year-old continues to impress us with her vocabulary, smarts and interests. She loves animals. She still wants to be an entomologist and has an arrangement with our next door neighbor who is a 3rd grade teacher that when she becomes an entomologist she'll visit her class to teach the 3rd graders about bugs. She also loves the neighbor's new puppy and I need to make sure she doesn't go and visit the puppy too often! Here are two experiences from the last 24 hours:

Abby found a frog in the backyard. "Mom, her name is Isabella Stickypaws. She has sticky feet so Stickypaws is her surname." Surname? I'm not sure where she learned that one!

At lunch today, I told Abby we needed to make a pie for the branch Pioneer Day Pie Contest. She asked what a pie contest was and I told her. She replied, "Maybe we should just take a Sweetie Pie." For the locals, that might mean something. For non-locals, Sweetie-licious is a bakery in our little town that is incredible. It wins all sorts of national pie competitions. We love Sweetie Pies but the pocket book only allows us to get them on very special occasions. So apparently Abby thinks that 1) my pies don't have a chance and 2) if we are committed to win this thing, we need to go for the best. So do you think I could fool anyone with one of these?

Briton

Briton has been very busy with his speech therapy right now. I don't know if I have said anything about speech on the blog so here is the sweetened condensed version: Back in October we had Briton tested for a speech delay. I wasn't concerned at all but thought I'd get him tested before the baby arrived. We figured it would be easier to do pre-baby. Over the next couple months, he was found to have a speech delay and qualified for services. We still weren't concerned. As our speech pathologist worked with him, she started to feel that he had a condition called apraxia. We have tried to learn as much as we can to determine what will be best for Briton. We found that one of the most respected authorities on childhood apraxia has her clinic just over an hour from our home. We have taken him to the clinic a few times for some evaluations and have been amazed at the responses they elicit from him. It's been educational for us to observe both the Kaufman Clinic and our speech pathologists work with Briton so that we can feel more competent as we try to reinforce/build upon what they are teaching. The prognosis is good. It'll take quite a while for Briton to speak clearly, but he will. We watched a youtube video recently of some teenagers who were treated for severe apraxia as children. It was great to see them so poised, confident and even articulate. Briton is absolutely delightful and we are proud of the efforts he puts forth in his therapy and practice.

Hannah

Hannah is now mobile. How do I feel about that? I am not sure, but it is very fun to see how it is helping her to develop her personality. For a while she has rolled from her back to tummy but could not go the other way. Now that she can, she can move across floors and beds and she is very happy about it! She continues to be calm and pleasant. This is helpful as I try (successfully or unsuccessfully depending on the moment) to juggle my time among the 3 kids and other stuff. She is a joy.

New York

2011-07-11T22:50:00.000-04:00

After Toronto, we headed to Niagara Falls and upstate New York. Our first stop was in St. Catharine's, Ontario to ride the $0.05 carousel. A couple miles down the road we arrived at Niagara. The bigger kids and I took a boat ride up to the base of the falls and we all enjoyed it.

That evening we watched the dress rehearsal for the Hill Cumorah pageant in Palmyra, NY. It recounts stories from the Book of Mormon and how we got the Book of Mormon. Mike and I loved hearing Abby tell us what was coming next in the pageant. She'd see a story from the Book of Mormon start and tell us the end of the story. She is such a bright little girl and we're so pleased to see her learning the stories from the scriptures.

After the pageant we drove to our friends' home an hour and a half away. We really appreciated the Nelsons letting us stay with them for two nights and we enjoyed the visit. They're great! Most of the day on Friday we hung out at their home. The kids loved playing with their children. We swam at their neighbors' pool in the afternoon and then went to a campground to roast hot dogs and hike to a beautiful waterfall that evening. (As much as I think Michigan is very lovely, it is very flat. Translation: no waterfalls.)

Saturday we headed back to Palmyra to see the sites. We've tried to teach our kids about Joseph Smith - and especially the First Vision. It was special to be able to take them to places where he walked and lived and make those stories more real for them and us. (Pictures: In front of the Smith family log cabin, In the Visitors' Center, Mike and Hannah in the Sacred Grove, Abby and Briton on the path to the Sacred Grove with the Palmyra Temple in the background)

We left the sites and drove partway home finishing the journey on Sunday with a stop in Ontario for church.

We had a great time and were especially grateful to be able to spend time together!

Toronto

2011-07-08T14:40:00.009-04:00

Monday: The Ontario Science Center

We got into this museum for free (a $53 value) because we are members of our local children's museum (a $60 purchase). It was worth everything we didn't pay for it:) The kids loved the children's areas as well as many of the more grown up exhibits. When we were deciding what to do our last day in Toronto, we considered going back and spending another day there. It was a lot of fun! The pictures show Briton using the conveyor belt in the construction area and Abby building her own roller coaster. After the science center we drove into downtown and looked at the base of the CN Tower - 1800 feet below the top!

Tuesday: Ontario Place

Ontario Place is an amusement park/water park/IMAX theater. We watched a movie (about bugs, of course), played at the splash pad, rode a paddle boat and rode carnival type rides. The kids were thrilled about (almost) all of it! Our only problem was that our kids are small so they didn't meet the height restrictions for a lot of the rides. They thought it was a huge treat to be able to ride what they could though.

Wednesday: The Toronto Zoo

I was really impressed with the Toronto Zoo. The enclosures are big and natural and there are some really beautiful animals. Being our third day of go-go-going, we were pretty tired and didn't see everything, but we liked what we saw. The zoo has a nice splash pad as well so that was a treat for all of us!

O Canada!

2011-07-03T22:38:00.004-04:00

Here we were stopped on a bridge. At this particular moment, Briton (and the rest of us) was in Canada and Abby was still in the U.S. Kind of fun, eh?

Shortly before we crossed the border into Canada for our summer vacation, Abby asked us about passports. We explained what they were and in the process I said something like, "Passports help the people at the borders know who to let in the country." Her response was, "Oh, they won't let Briton in because he hits and bites!" I got a chuckle out of that one. (Incidentally, Briton is leaving the biting stage but is in a bit of a "hitting my family members and laughing about it" stage.)

Dinner in Chinatown: Abby eats with chopsticks better than I do. The kids loved the meal - seafood and all!

Visiting the local temple is always a nice Sunday afternoon activity on vacation. The grounds of the Toronto temple are beautiful. It is terraced and has wooded pathways all around that were perfect for the kids to explore. Keeping a certain 2-year-old out of the fountains was unsuccessful.

Some pictures

2011-07-03T22:28:00.002-04:00

I haven't updated in a bit so here are a few pictures:

Here is Abby in a tree. She is probably about 7 feet off the ground here. She has become very resourceful in getting into the trees in our yard and circle and she loves it! Briton can't quite make it into the trees on his own, but when he has a little help from dad, he takes off and will go as high as he can get.

We went down to MSU's Bug Room the other day. Our budding entomologist was in heaven. Briton also enjoyed it. He was pretty interested in the bees, but not as excited to hold the cockroaches. (Can't say I blame him?!?)

7 months

2011-07-03T22:21:00.004-04:00

Here are two pictures since she is so cute:

Hannah grabs at anything and everything so keeping the bear on the couch was difficult. She sits very well. She doesn't roll, but is now trying (and almost successful). She loves her brother and sister. She does fun things with her tongue. It is always moving and out. She is starting to develop a bit of stranger anxiety. I am not terribly excited about that, but it isn't too bad. She is still very friendly and social.

Abby

2011-06-12T21:40:00.002-04:00

Abby sure cracks me up.

When you ask her what she wants to be when she grows up, she says an entomologist and a co-pilot. She is going to study bugs and fly airplanes and every time she goes up in an airplane she'll take a different bug. (She really loves bugs.)

Last night we were in the car waiting for Abby to buckle herself into her car seat:

Mike: Abby, do you have your buckles on?

Abby: No, dad, not yet.

Mike: Whatcha been doing back there?

Abby: Well, dad, I've just been laying around.

Maybe you had to be there, but it was really funny. Sometimes we need to encourage Abby to stay focused on the task at hand and it was so funny to hear her say she'd "just been laying around."

And this, my friends, is an Abby original. She calls it a "uni-corn":

The rest of our trip

2011-06-11T23:38:00.007-04:00

We spent 3.5 days in Utah following the funeral. It was actually pretty laid back. We took it easy and didn't try to do everything. Sunday I attended my Murray Ward. I felt right at home. In Relief Society there was only one lady who had not been in the ward when we were there. (I believe there were several ladies serving in Primary or YW who I didn't know, but I found it kind of fun that RS had barely changed.) After church Hannah and I headed up to the cemetery and spent some relaxing time there with a sack lunch. We then went home for dinner with my parents, sisters and their families and 2 of my grandmas. It was so much fun! I love being with them.

On Monday, mom and dad took us downtown to Temple Square. Growing up I loved going to Temple Square. (Do any of you remember the little boy in the tree movie?) I was thinking a while back that my kids probably won't grow up with Temple Square around the corner so I need to make sure they get to visit while we are out visiting. After lunch at Crown Burger, we met up with Kaye and got to make some nice visits to the Wessman grandparents. Again, a very nice day...

These last two pictures are from Temple Square - the new temple cross-section (amazing) and Hannah posing behind the Conference Center look alike podium in the Church Museum.

On Tuesday I got to visit Holli and Haley and their combined 4 kiddos! I didn't get any pictures, unfortunately, but loved the visit. We missed Shana and her 3 little ones. Afterwards, my mom and dad and I went here:

Wednesday morning we hung out at home with mom and dad and then mom and I ran some errands on the way to the airport. There's kind of a detailed story that is hard to explain, but I had a little tender mercy that morning. We were in the right place at the right time and it saved some heartsickness and $$$. I was very grateful. We flew home that afternoon. Hannah did have to sit on my lap both flights, but she is sure an angel - such a good traveler.

I was surprised to see Mike waiting for me inside the terminal at the airport. I figured I would meet him outside. I liked it. It was so good to see him!

Ray Casaday 1920-2011

2011-06-04T21:46:00.006-04:00

0My grandpa passed away last week. The funeral was beautiful and I feel blessed to have been able to travel home and be with my dad and the rest of the family. My brother, Brian, who lives in Ohio was able to come out. I loved that my parents and the 5 of us siblings could all be together. All of my cousins were there as well - except for Sara who has a really good excuse. She is on a mission. The funeral was really nice. My dad and each of his siblings spoke. They shared memories and testimonies of the Plan of Salvation. First thing this morning, we had a private family viewing with just my grandpa's posterity. It was a sweet and tender time for me and I was reminded of the real power of family. My grandpa was a loving grandfather, had a strong sense of patriotism and was dedicated to the gospel.

Obituary

2008 University of Utah Veteran's Day Honoree

Deseret News article - November 8, 2005

I miss my kiddos, but it has been good to have Hannah with me. She did very well on the flights and we were lucky (again) that flights were empty enough that I could take the car seat aboard.

My dad (right) and his sister and brothers...

The funeral was "with full military honors". Here the marine is presenting my grandma with the flag that draped the casket.

My brother is the second from the right (no sunglasses).

My uncle had this arrangement made. Can you tell what his drink of choice was? I was always offered a soda when I visited their home.

One of my early memories of my grandpa was that he brought us boxes of chocolate donuts. He sold packaging and Salt Lake Donut was one of his clients. My mom picked up chocolate donuts for everyone this morning. One of my cousins commented that grandpa always ate donuts with a fork. I hadn't remembered that, but I had to take this picture when I saw my dad eating a donut during the luncheon.

My parents, siblings, grandma and I...

The silly shot (only those wearing sunglasses allowed)...

My grandpa has 19 grandchildren. Here are the 18 who are not on missions right now.

First beach trip of 2011

2011-06-04T21:08:00.002-04:00

Memorial Day marked our first beach trip of the year. We had a fun time with each other and two other families from our branch. It was worth the wind and COLD water!

6 months

2011-05-27T21:35:00.003-04:00

She's pretty stinkin' cute. 6 months is a pretty big milestone!

Some pictures

2011-05-23T22:19:00.005-04:00

Here we are on Mother's Day. These were taken on the church lawn after the meetings. I thought we looked kind of matchy-matchy and wanted some pictures. I was pretty excited that we got 4 out of 5 looking at the camera (minus my hair issues:).

Hannah ate solid foods for the first time a week or so ago. She did really well and likes it. The next picture is of our 2-high-chair-1-posing kiddos.

The other day I put this outfit on Hannah and remembered distinctly that this was the outfit Abby was wearing in some of her first "I can sit up by myself pictures". I imagined that picture in my mind thinking about how much they look alike. Hannah is not a completely independent sitter, but she is doing pretty well so I thought I'd take a picture of her on my bed (like the other had been) and post the "twin" pictures on the blog. Here is Hannah:

Then I went and looked for the picture of Abby. I found it and they don't look nearly as much alike as I thought. Other pictures do, I swear.

In these pictures Hannah is about exactly one month younger than Abby. You can tell by the way the shirt fits how much bigger she is than Abby was. They are sitting on the same blanket. I planned it that way:)

Mother's Day at Preschool

2011-05-05T16:32:00.003-04:00

When I taught Kindergarten, the Mother's Day program was one of the biggest days of the year. Highly anticipated. Loved it. Today I got to be the mom. Loved it even more. Abby has really enjoyed her preschool class (as have we).

When I arrived Abby was waiting for me by her locker with a gift - a hand print pot holder. She then escorted me into one of the classrooms and served me a bowl of sherbet with animal crackers. We drew pictures for a few minutes and then joined together for songs and stories.

It has been a good school year. Playgroups, preschool, story times, speech help, etc. We're grateful for fun friends to associate with and nice teachers and other adults who are excellent influences on our kids.

Easter 2011

2011-05-05T16:29:00.003-04:00

5 months

2011-04-27T21:29:00.004-04:00

Our baby is growing up:

Hannah is looking and acting older everyday. She loves her hands. If she gets fussy or unsettled we can give her a toy or something to hold onto and it will help calm her down. She likes having her siblings' attention and they enjoy giving it. Briton can get great giggles out of her. She is showing no interest in rolling, but she is sitting up well and is getting closer to sitting independently. She has many admirers at church and at a community play group we attend (both of which I appreciate when it translates into freeing up my arms for a bit).

Cleveland

2011-04-24T22:32:00.004-04:00

Last weekend, we took a little road trip to the great city of Cleveland, Ohio so that we could see the following:

The NCAA Gymnastics Championships - Go Utes!

We love University of Utah gymnastics! They placed 5th this year and we were proud to cheer them on. (This poster was made by Briton and mom.)

Daddy! So I may be exaggerating a little (in implying that we don't get to see him already). We do see him daily, but the past couple weeks have been busy at work so we were pleased to have him to ourselves for a couple days.

Brian and Amy! We love Brian and Amy and we really love that they are only a few hours away so that they can meet up with us for weekend getaways.

Kirtland! There is nothing like some good church history sites to brighten up the rainiest of days. We think it is great that we live only a few hours away from this beautiful building and everything else in Kirtland.

It was a lovely weekend. Family, church and a good sporting event. That's the life. (Usually I don't put sporting events into those kinds of lists, but gymnastics is fun.)

PS We rented a house for the weekend. We did it last summer in North Carolina and we are deciding that it is a swell way to travel. It is much better than trying to share a hotel room with 3 children - and pretty economical.

Butterflies 2011

2011-04-10T22:14:00.006-04:00

We took our annual trip to the butterfly garden at MSU. Usually we do that outing in March soon after it opens because I am so excited about spring making its entrance. This year is different. Oh, how I certainly want spring, but it didn't even occur to me that that the butterfly garden was open yet because it has been so cold. We would like to be done with winter, thank you. Anyway, here are the kiddos.

2011:

2010:

2009:

In other news, Abby is quite the bug lover. She picks up worms to save them from drying sidewalks and she takes the annoying wood bugs (that are somehow getting into her bedroom) and saves them by mercifully carrying them outside. (Every once in a while she'll say, "Mom, is it OK if I just flush this one?" "Yes, dear, it is just fine.") Briton is also pretty interested in bugs, but not up close and personal like Abby.

The best news of all though is that today it hit 80 degrees!! Unfortunately it'll be back down to the 50s in the next couple days, but it was so beautiful today. So so beautiful. I was reminded how wonderful Michigan weather can be. Hannah got to feel grass for the first time today! Love the tongue.

Conference Thoughts

2011-04-06T22:39:00.004-04:00

Briton loved conference. Mainly he loved watching the movie on the "big screen". He'd get very excited as he got himself ready with a pillow and a blanket on the couch. Lest you think he sat that way for 2 hours times four...he didn't. He was sure cute to watch during his moments though.

Abby did well. She enjoyed doing crafts during conference and spent the vast majority of the time with Mike and I as we watched it. Her craft was called a "friddle". She folded a piece of colored paper in half, taped it shut, punched holes in it and stuck straws through the holes. We aren't sure if friddles have a practical use or if they are just aesthetically pleasing, but we think she is pleasingly creative.

Another thing (of more eternal consequence) about Abby: We encouraged her to listen to President Monson's Sunday morning talk. After it was over we asked her what it was about and she had recognized it was about temples. We told her that President Monson had asked that all the children have a picture of the temple in their bedrooms. That night Mike found a packet of a zillion (or maybe around 50) pictures of various temples that I had purchased way back when for a Relief Society project. We told Abby she could pick out a picture to hang in her bedroom. She picked out the Salt Lake and Manti Temples. Lovely choices. Since then, she has continued to choose more and more and now has a dozen or so temples taped up in her room. Her favorites are the pink temples - the pictures were taken at sunset so the temples and the background actually look pink.

I enjoyed conference a great deal. I loved the idea that when we serve alongside others, we accomplish more than just the service we are performing; we build relationships. I have seen that in my branch recently. I enjoyed anything that gave me ideas on how to be a better mom. And I love the temple.

4 months

2011-03-27T16:59:00.004-04:00

Today Hannah is 4 months old. She is growing a lot. I put this dress on her this morning being that Abby wore it at 5.5 months as an Easter dress. Well, we'll be lucky if Hannah gets to wear it once more. It's more of a shirt than a dress:) She is a happy kid. We'd love to remind her how to sleep through the night again!

Can you tell how much Abby loves her sister?

3 pictures of 3 kids

2011-03-20T21:52:00.002-04:00

Hannah: We love seeing this smile. We see it daily, but lately not as freely. Being sick threw her off a bit and we are so happy to be getting back "on" (eating, sleeping, playing, etc.).

Briton: Not only did Briton have RSV, but we took him in for his 2 year check up and found some strep throat hiding out in our little one. Neither have slowed him down much. (We wouldn't have known about the strep without the check up.) Briton has loved being able to play outside in the warm-ish temperatures and we have all gotten a good dose of spring fever.

Abby: Abby had her little dance recital this past week. Isn't this a great face? She still loves doing her classes - preschool and dance and playgroup.

Really Stinky Virus

2011-03-11T17:47:00.002-05:00

Ever since Abby was born and stayed in the NICU I've thought that RSV was as close to a death sentence as you could get.

Well...last week Abby was sick off and on with a fever, sore throat and cold symptoms. I took her in last Friday. She tested positive for strep. When she coughed the doctor said, "That sounds like RSV. It won't affect her much, but watch the other two." Great.

I took Briton and Hannah in on Wednesday and they tested positive for RSV. We have been giving them breathing treatments at home that they have actually come to enjoy:) I accidentally (long story) bought 2 nebulizers at $200 a piece. Fixed that problem, luckily! (Now we have 1 rental and 1 borrowed.) I am grateful that their illness seems to be mild. Their behavior hasn't changed much. We are just taking it easy and staying away from other kidlets.

In other Wessman news, Mike and I both have new callings. Mike was released as Scoutmaster 2 weeks ago and sustained as Branch Mission Leader. He is a great missionary and is excited to work more closely with the missionaries. He'll definitely miss Scouts. On Sunday I was released from Relief Society and put in as the Temple Prep Sunday School teacher. I am very excited about that calling! I'll miss many, many, many things about my Relief Society calling, but I am very grateful to know that the growth I experienced and the things I learned don't get taken away because I am released. The relationships don't disappear either.

Hannah is 3 months old

2011-03-02T08:16:00.000-05:00

The rest of our trip

2011-03-02T07:00:00.002-05:00

I am finally getting around to the rest of our trip: Post-baby blessing.

Here are the highlights:

Monday was Valentine's. My Valentine went to breakfast with his old boss and the kids and I hung out with some friends:) So we didn't do terribly romantic together, but we did enjoy spending time with good friends. We also went back up to the cemetery to drop off the Valentine's arrangement my mom made (that we had forgotten to leave the last time).

On the subject of Valentine's and Mike, one of the greatest parts of our vacation was being able to be with Mike all the time. I needed it! We've both been busy at home with work, church callings and 3 kids. It was good to be together.

Tuesday we went skiing! I hadn't been for 3ish years and we had a great time. The kids enjoyed the playdate on grandma and grandpa's playground.

The trip was fantastic. I was reminded how much I love Utah and even more how much I enjoy (and thrive off of) being with my family.

Brtion is 2!

2011-02-26T17:16:00.004-05:00

Our 1 year old:

is now 2!

Briton turned 2 two days after we returned home from our trip. Yes, we planned it that way so that we could fly him for free. We are so in love with this little guy!

About Briton:

He is smiles a lot! It is easy to get him happy and excited about something or someone. He will get frustrated about something on occasion, but it is easy to distract him and a moment later, he is laughing.
He is very curious. I love to watch him examine a toy or a big person toy to figure out how it works. He will take things apart to see all the pieces.
He is a climber. It is difficult to keep him off counters and tables. We had two sleepless days because he had learned to get out of the crib. Even though he was exhausted, he felt like he had to get out simply because he could. We unscrewed the frame of the crib and placed the frame and mattress on the floor on top of a couple bricks. Excellent solution thanks to Sue.
In general, he doesn't stay still for long. (Note the picture above. He was in the process of running away from me.)
He loves his sisters most of the time. He enjoys playing with Abby and the big kids. He always wants to kiss and love Hannah.
He is a great hugger.

Hannah's Blessing Day

2011-02-19T11:38:00.001-05:00

Hannah's blessing day was wonderful! We shared it with many friends and family. We so appreciated all those who made an effort to come. I love baby blessings. We are reminded that these tiny and completely dependent little bodies house valiant and very capable spirits. Hannah is a special little girl and we are excited to see promises made to her in her blessing come to fruition. We look forward to watching her grow (although we love her littleness right now - and for a while longer)!

Hannah's dress is beautiful! My mom made it - including the smocking!

A few pictures: 1 - Our little family with Mike's parents, one set of grandparents and a niece; 2 - My parents and Hannah; 3 - Four generations with my maternal line; 4 - Abby and her "hair like Clara's [a friend in MI]" that she was so proud of (thanks to Kaley); 5 - Me and my kiddos

A funny story: Right before Mike took her up to be blessed he asked if we should take her afghan as well. It looked so pretty with the dress:) He took the blanket and had her lay on the blanket in the circle. There were at least a dozen brethren that participated in the blessing so no one person had a good "grip" on her. At some point during the blessing she started to slide right off the blanket! Luckily, Tim caught her (by the legs)! Tragedy averted:)

Part 2

2011-02-16T22:43:00.004-05:00

On Friday we saw more grandparents.

Grandpa Ray and Grandma Ellen (and Iggy)

Grandma Mary and Grandpa Frank

Abby, Briton and Hannah got to see all their Casaday cousins that evening while my parents took my sisters, significant others and us to dinner at Texas Roadhouse. The kids got their picture taken. The adults did not. (They were busy eating a lot of food.)

Friday night we planned to attend the University of Utah gymnastics meet. (Oh, how we miss being regularly attending fans!) On the way, Briton started crying and crying and crying. This is pretty out of character for him so we pulled over to try to figure out what was wrong. We never did. But...the car wouldn't start after that. Sad. We think it must have been "meant to be" that we figure it out pre-meet and not too far from home because otherwise it would have been difficult to get everyone home and get the car fixed. It turned out to be a rather simple fix and all was well. (We didn't make it to the meet though. Oh well, maybe next year when they come to U. of M.!)

On Saturday, we got family pictures taken with the Wessmans. We are excited to see them!

We celebrated Briton's and two of his cousins' birthdays at McDonalds that morning. It was a really fun and relaxed way for the cousins to play and acquaint/reacquaint themselves with each other.

That evening we went to the Discovery Gateway children's museum with lots of family members. It looks like the camera followed Briton most of the evening. He loves playing kitchen. He must have found a tool set because he is cutting vegetables with a saw.

I recognize that Hannah is not showing up a ton in the pictures I've posted thus far. Rest assured - she gets to be the star in the next post!

Utah Trip - Part 1

2011-02-16T21:06:00.005-05:00

Well, we are home. Now for the report...

The trip started rather excitingly. On our way to the airport it started to snow - freakishly blizzardly (too many -ly words). We got stranded in Chicago. The kids were happy to be able to stay in a hotel.

We flew into Las Vegas and then spent a few days in St. George with Mike's parents and our niece. We had a lovely time...

...swimming

...playing on red rocks

...and visiting the temple visitors center

We drove into Salt Lake where we stayed with my parents for the rest of the trip. We had a great time! On the first day Mike went snowboarding with a friend. The kids and I went shopping with grandma and to the aquarium with grandma and grandpa. It's too bad that we didn't take any pictures but we really did enjoy the jelly fish, penguins, sting rays, sharks, frogs, etc. (And we loved the company!)

The next day began the visiting of the great-grandparents. It is so much fun for me to share my kids with my grandparents and share my grandparents with my kids.

Grandma Nielsen

Grandpa David

Grandma Marva

We also went to the cemetery that day. Briton loved it. (I was about to write that "Briton was in heaven" but that seemed a bit strange when talking about a cemetery.) He had so much fun running outside, on the cemetery roads and around the stones. We think that the Salt Lake Cemetery is the prettiest in the world!

To be continued. There is more - oh, so much more.

What we did while we were snowed in...

2011-02-04T23:20:00.002-05:00

..put on bathing suits and mopped the kitchen floor, of course.

There was a foot or so of snow at our place when we woke up Wednesday morning and we couldn't go anywhere. Mike tried to get to work, but got stuck in the driveway so he got to stay home with us for the day. Schools were closed for Wednesday and Friday and it wasn't until Thursday evening that our neighborhood was plowed. We enjoyed the coziness of the day and didn't have time in those short 24 hours to get cabin fever. (By Thursday morning, we were easily leaving our driveway although I am still turning my minivan around in the driveway so that I can pull out straight/forward into the road because today, when they plowed again, they left a ridge probably 18 inches high across the bottom of our driveway. That was a long sentence.)

Food storage is a good thing. Visiting teaching and home teaching phone trees are also good things. (Really this wasn't a big emergency, but it did show us that we'll be OK if we have to hunker down at home for a while.)

Hannah is 2 months old today

2011-01-27T22:09:00.002-05:00

My other children have not gotten their pictures taken by an animal each month, but we're going to give it a try with Hannah. (I even set up email reminders for me to do it, because otherwise I could possibly fail miserably.) She definitely looks older this month.

Hannah is a calm baby. Abby would say (in a great Abby voice that I can't imitate in print), "She's a sleeper!" She sleeps through the night about half the time and takes lots of naps. Abby and Briton still love her. Abby always wants to be where she can see Hannah's face and Briton likes to put his blanket on her. (That is very nice of him because he really loves his blanket.) She eats well and is growing a lot. We think she's a keeper.

Some pictures followed by an update

2011-01-15T19:17:00.003-05:00

Here is assortment of pictures. The next post is an update.

Whenever Briton sees Hannah on the floor on a blanket, he has to lie down next to her. (Speaking of Briton, Mike just informed me that he went potty in the toilet twice today. Way to go, buddy!)

The kids love to go out and play in the snow.

The work party was a mad hatter affair. Costumes are out of my comfort zone, but this simple little thing was perfectly acceptable.

Here I am with the kiddos on my birthday.
Hannah is cute. Enough said.

Us

2011-01-15T17:57:00.005-05:00

We have not posted recently. My laptop died (ie was almost dead) and our camera died (ie is almost dead). So I haven't been too motivated to make the effort to post. It is much less convenient when all the hardware is almost dead. But, alas, here is my update:

Hannah - Hannah is growing well and behaving herself. In 31 days she gained 27 ounces. That's pretty good. (I've been told the goal is somewhere between .5 to 1 ounce per day.) She has slept through the night twice now. Yay! Last night she slept for 9 hours. When she doesn't sleep through the night she wakes up once around 3 or 4. I am grateful for sleep! Hannah is a well-loved and her siblings are great with her. She looks just like them, too!

Briton - Boy, do we love this little guy! And, boy, is he busy. I have to keep very close tabs on him or else I will find my computer key-less, my oven full of pots and pans (at least he wears oven mitts when he's filling it up) or Briton in the garage or on any number of countertops. (We are keeping the door to the garage locked these days.)

Abby - Abby started attending preschool after the holidays. So far she is really enjoying it. I asked her what her favorite part was and she said, "I just like everything!" She qualified it by saying she liked the snack and playing in the kitchen in the playroom. Then she said, "Just everything, mom! Just everything! More than one thing, mom! Just everything!" We're happy she likes it. She is a bright little girl and surprises us with all she is learning. She also has a great imagination. Here is a conversation from today:

Abby: Mom, let's go downstairs.
Me: Okey dokey, artichokey.
Abby: Mom, I am NOT an artichoke! I am not an artichoke!
Me: You're not? I always thought you were an artichoke.
Abby: I am not an artichoke. An artichoke is a food and I am a p... (note: this is where I expected the word person to come into the conversation, but no...) porcupine! Actually, not a porcupine. I am a hedgehog.

Me - I was spoiled for my birthday with a new laptop. I am now the proud owner of a cute little red netbook. I love it! And the keys are not easily removed like my last one.

Mike - We have been spoiled lately to have Mike home a lot. Due to Hannah's arrival and all the holidays, this week was the first in a very long time that he worked a full week. Last night he and I went to his work party and they spoiled us with a very nice dinner and a few little "gifts".

We're happy. Lots of spoiling going on. I'll get some pictures on too. And find a camera on eBay. :(

A Look at our Christmas

2010-12-26T15:39:00.007-05:00

Christmas is great. Thursday night my brother and sister-in-law came into town from Ohio. We have been happy to have them staying with us. The kids have been in heaven. Here they are on Christmas Eve after putting on the new jammies.

With a new baby we are well equipped to act out the nativity.

Hannah's first Christmas...

Abby's expressions are priceless. Her Christmas was made especially complete with ring pops and a My Little Pony. (She also got a big girl bike that she's very excited about.)

Briton loves cars and things that move. He also enjoyed his new tent and tunnel. He is engineer #2 in our family and is always examining things to figure out how they work.

By the way, the build-your-own-marble-run toy was actually one of Abby's gifts. She loves playing with it as well. It is just as bit a hit with the adults!

Christmas Eve Photo Shoot

2010-12-26T15:01:00.001-05:00

Here is a sampling of our impromptu photo shoot on Christmas Eve...

Getting a decent picture of all three kiddos was not meant to be...(She's fine.)

Two was slightly more manageable.

Siblings

2010-12-18T21:07:00.003-05:00

Do they look alike?

Abby - 14 days old, Briton - 20 days old, Hannah - 13 days old

Home

2010-12-08T19:26:00.006-05:00

Here are some pictures from our happy day:

More Updates

2010-12-06T18:11:00.003-05:00

It has taken me a while to update. We have been busy - driving back and forth from the hospital, getting ready to bring Hannah home, Christmas, visiting with my parents, etc., etc. But things are going well. My parents have been life savers taking care of Abby and Briton. Here is an update:

Thursday - Thursday morning I showed up to visit Hannah and she was acting very calm. That was not characteristic, because she'd been very ornery the day before with her CPAP. When I looked closer I realized that her CPAP prongs were pressed firmly against...her forehead. She'd pulled them out and had them right where she wanted them! When I saw the nurse, I asked if I should be concerned (her monitor was showing that she was doing just fine without the oxygen help). The nurse went and asked the doctor if we could just take the thing off and he said that would be fine. So...no oxygen! The rest of the day went well. Our friend from our branch worked Thursday night so we were happy to visit with her and have her take care of our girl overnight.

Friday - Friday morning I called and talked with Stephanie (nurse friend) to see how the night had gone. It turns out a different doctor had had them put the CPAP back on because she was still breathing quite fast. We were a bit disappointed, but willing to do what we needed to do to get her better. Later that afternoon I went by - no CPAP. The attending doctor had said that she was breathing fast regardless of if she had the CPAP so might as well take it off. Sounds good to me.

Saturday - She had her last antibiotics treatment (for the pneumonia) and because of that got the umbilical line out. She also got off the biliblanket (for the jaundice). All of that meant she could move out of the isolette and into a little crib. Hannah also started bottle feeds and did pretty well. That evening we took Abby and Briton to the zoo for the Wonderland of Lights. It was fun to spend time with them.

Sunday/Monday - Hannah's feedings continue to go well! She is now taking nearly everything by bottle or nursing. She's a champ!

PS This is my cute nephew and the awesome tree that my sister, Stephanie, decorated for the Festival of Trees:

Pictures

2010-12-02T16:20:00.007-05:00

Here are some pictures through yesterday. Today has been a good day of progress so I'll post some details and more pictures a bit later.

Monday
Hannah on the ventilator

Kids decorating the Christmas tree for FHE

Tuesday
Hannah on the CPAP - she hated it!

Wednesday
Hannah on the CPAP and with the jaundice blanket - wide awake and a bit calmer

Wednesday Update

2010-12-01T16:49:00.003-05:00

Hannah is continuing to improve. Yesterday she came off the ventilator onto the CPAP. That is progress. I talked briefly to the doctor today. She feels that she'll be on the CPAP for a couple more days - not quite strong enough to go onto a nasal canula. She's still breathing fast:( She'll be on the antibiotics through Saturday. That didn't come as a surprise. This morning they decided to put her on a blanket for jaundice. She's all lit up! Abby was treated for jaundice as well so, again, not really a surprise - pretty routine. Yesterday she had another big step in that she started some feedings. With the CPAP she can't take a bottle or breast feed, but at least the nurses were able to give her milk through a feeding tube straight to her stomach. She's been receiving IV nutrients, but it has got to feel good for her to have her belly getting something. Over night the feedings were increased. She has had no trouble tolerating them. So...bottom line - she is making improvements across the board. I wish they were coming a bit more quickly, but she is not going backwards and what a blessing that is! When I talked to the doctor midday today she was genuinely pleased with the progress Hannah has made and that was very reassuring!

PS The other night at dinner, Mike and I were commenting on patience (and in some cases, the lack of it) in us and our children. It was a very humorous conversation. We love this video. I am pretty sure I need to be more of a 2 marshmallow girl in lots of things!

Hannah Update

2010-11-29T15:30:00.004-05:00

Last night Hannah was transferred to a Neonatal ICU. Her condition was not deteriorating, but it wasn't improving either. The hospital we were at is a good facility, but did not feel comfortable keeping her in case she did take a turn for the worse. (These pictures are from the hospital before we knew we were being transferred.)

I hated to have that be a necessity, but, having had Abby in the NICU, I knew it would be a good thing in the long run. We haven't been disappointed. Here is a basic rundown:

I was able to get myself discharged soon after finding out Hannah would be transferred. We were also able to arrange for Abby and Briton to have one more sleep over at friends' homes. We are so grateful that they have been so well cared for by such willing and trusted friends.
The Sparrow RNICU transport team arrived sometime around 6 and got her all ready for her 7 minute ambulance ride (no sirens or lights). Here she is in her fancy transporter - complete with seat belt.
Mike and I arrived shortly after Hannah. The unit was in the middle of shift change so we got to wait an hour or so to see her. Hannah happened to be the third member of our branch (church) to be in Sparrow Hospital for the day so the branch president and counselor were making the rounds. We appreciated them tracking us down and visiting with us for a while while we waited.
We talked and texted off and on with our friend Stephanie who works in the NICU. She has been great to have as a resource and source of help/comfort (as have many other friends and family members). Thanks! She made sure we got a great nurse for the night.
The nurse and the doctor told us that they'd be putting Hannah on the ventilator and putting in an umbilical line. She also got a dose of surfactant for her lungs. Mike was thrilled because they let him/us watch some of the procedures. Here she is getting ready for the umbilical line.
We got home sometime between 11-11:30 last night, slept in our own bed, woke up and got Briton from across the street. I went in to the hospital. Mike and Briton picked up Abby, did the grocery shopping, etc. Now Mike is at the hospital. This is me saying good night:)
Hannah had a quiet night last night and her morning was good as well. She is slowly being weaned from the oxygen levels on the vent. She got some blood to up her hemoglobin (?) levels to help keep her oxygenation levels where they should be. The doctor on rounds this morning thinks that the big problem has been pneumonia. She'll continue to get antibiotics for a while. She might get another dose of surfactant and hopefully will be off the vent within the next couple days. She is looking and acting much more comfortable!

Hopefully I am remembering what is going on - it is a lot to remember! Thanks for everyone's thoughts and prayers.

Hannah

2010-11-28T06:32:00.005-05:00

We have a beautiful new addition to our family!

Hannah Lucille
born Saturday, November 27, 2010
2:48 PM
7 lbs. 10 oz. - 20 in.

Hannah is a very cute little girl. She was born 20 days before her due date. It came as a bit of a surprise, but I was ready to be done being pregnant so it was welcome! I think she looks most like Briton - they have some very similar expressions. She is doing well. Her breathing was a little quick and labored so they took her into the nursery and did an x-ray yesterday evening. It looks like she does have some fluids in her lungs/possible infection so she gets to stay in the nursery on a bit of oxygen and is receiving antibiotics in case of pneumonia. Prayers in her behalf are welcome. We're confident she'll recover well. Here are some pictures:

Here she is in the nursery with the oxygen. This hospital does not have a NICU. If the staff here decided she needed a bit of additional care she could easily be transferred to a larger hospital with a NICU less than 10 minutes away. (She also has an IV in her right arm for the antibiotics.)

This is right after the kids saw their sister through the window. They were very excited! The last picture is one that one of the kids took through the window.

Monkey

2010-11-23T21:50:00.003-05:00

**This is a post I wrote last week, but never got around to posting because I wanted to include a picture of Briton with his wound, but I forgot to take the picture. So, sorry about the lack of a picture, but here it is...

I was going to make a post along these lines a couple weeks ago, but never got around to it. I suppose we were just waiting for the next occurrence...

Briton is really turning into a monkey. He manages to find mischief and injury fairly easily. (Or better said, we tend to bring it to him.) Here is a list, although not comprehensive. These are all since early September.

One night while I was out on Relief Society visits, he fell down the stairs (from the top). During the night he threw up and then had a high fever the next day. The pediatrician's office sent us directly to the ER worried it was a complication of the fall. Fortunately it wasn't, but an ER trip nonetheless.
I was pushing Briton in (our now trashed) umbrella stroller. It started to collapse so I stepped on the little thing to put it back up and somehow his finger got into the mess. We skinned it really well and the nail is still purple. (He cried over this one for nearly 48 hours off and on.)
He was trying to get Mike's water bottle off Mike's bike and toppled the bike on him - putting a few (albeit minor) scratches over his eye.
Mike and Briton were playing airplane rides. Briton rolled off the airplane (Mike's feet) and in the process dislocated his elbow. That turned into an urgent care visit and an x-ray. (Mike now knows how to put elbows back into place. If you ever need his services...)
Which brings us to tonight...Abby and I were just about to run out and do some Christmas shopping. We were just about to have family prayers and scriptures when Briton ran and tripped into the coffee table. Lots and lots of blood. We sent Abby to the neighbors. (She was very concerned about her brother.) Mike and I made, yet another, trip to urgent care. They ended up gluing his forehead shut. He was acting plenty normal (translate: rambunctious) while we were in the waiting room waiting for the all clear (making sure the wound didn't open with just the glue).

In this Thanksgiving season, we are grateful for: active, spunky and fun children, nice neighbors that take our kids at a moments notice, good medical care and excellent insurance!

A Unicorn and a Puppy

2010-10-29T23:02:00.001-04:00

For a trip down memory lane, here...

Happy Birthday, Abby!

2010-10-29T23:01:00.004-04:00

Our girl turned 4 on Wednesday. She is a very bright and enthusiastic part of our family. She has a great memory and knows the words to many Primary songs. She loves to draw and write. She loves books and knows letters and sounds well. She is a good big sister to Briton and helps take care of him. She cannot wait for her baby sister to be born! Abby and I have some very fun (and often entertaining) conversations. I love how she is learning so much about the world around her, her place in it and how everyone else fits in as well. Not only is she my sweet little girl, she is my dear friend. I love being her mom!

We had a good day as a family for her birthday. Together with Aunt Kaley, we went to the children's museum, trick-or-treating at a local shopping center and ate her requested dinner - pizza and broccoli. Abby was spoiled by many people with some fun gifts. She has been talking about a rainbow cake for weeks now so (although it isn't visible in this picture) I made a cake with a Skittles rainbow - simple, but she loved it. Unfortunately, she didn't like the flavor (poor thing), but she still liked the way it looked!

Kaley

2010-10-29T23:00:00.000-04:00

We were excited to have my sister here this week. The kids love her and I appreciate very much how deeply she loves them!

We spent a lot of time enjoying each other's company and playing together. Here are some shots of us at the children's museum and the MSU farms (2 of our visitor staples).

Busy Saturday

2010-10-18T11:53:00.000-04:00

Mike has been wanting to get rid of this tree ever since we moved in. We tried to convince the power company to take care of it (note the power lines behind it - they are really not that close). They generously chopped off the top and a few branches last summer. Well, Mike was able to borrow a chainsaw this past weekend and had a good time (I think) cutting it down. The kids and I enjoyed watching him and it got me to do a bit of needed yard work in the back as well.

Here are the boys with their man toy.

I dug up a couple overgrown flowers and split them. It was cute to watch Briton playing around in the holes we dug as we replanted the flowers.

Abby collected the dead stalks(?) from this year's daylilies (of which we have an abundance).

Saturday evening I made apple pies! I wasn't as ambitious as it looks here. I had a lot of help. Some of the Relief Society ladies got together at the church on Friday and were taught how to make apple pies to throw unbaked into the freezer. Great idea, huh? I ended up with a lot of chopped apples so I just had to mix up some more filling and make some more crusts. These are cream cheese crusts - not too labor intensive.

We rounded out the day with a movie after the kids went to bed. Nice...

At the horse farm in the fall

2010-10-08T21:40:00.004-04:00

Conference

2010-10-07T21:35:00.000-04:00

General Conference makes me happy.

It was excellent as always. I get kind of sad during the last session knowing that it is coming to a close and that I'll have to wait 6 months for more. It's a good thing they give us the 6 months though so that we can work on all we've been taught. Here are some paraphrases:

I liked Elder Christofferson's thoughts on living a consecrated life.
Leonardo da Vinci (as quoted by President Uchtdorf): "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."
Bishop Edgley: Because of faith, mountains have been moved - mountains of despair, sin, etc.
Elder Andersen: None of us wants our path of discipleship to be temporary.
Elder Scott: We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become.
Sister Cook: We must teach our children from Day 1.
Elder Oaks: We must learn to receive revelation ourselves and not rely on others to make decisions that are ours to make.
President Monson: Giving thanks for our blessings unlocks the doors of heaven and avoids arrogance.
Elder Lawrence: Being strong and of a good courage is a good theme for parents as well as the youth.

And here are some images from our General Conference viewing:

(He's off to a good start. Don't you think?)

We're still around...

2010-09-13T22:19:00.007-04:00

It has been a while since I have posted.

Here was our Labor Day trip to the zoo. It was a great day - overcast and not too hot.

We had some left over coupons from the Members Only Night for seed sticks for the birds and for pony rides.

They both enjoyed feeding the birds...

Abby thought that the pony ride was the greatest thing in the world...

Briton never quite figured out what he thought of it...

Here is an update on another meaningful part of our life:

Have you picked out a name for the baby?
No. We have a list. I think the names we're considering are fairly normal. We're getting closer.

How are you feeling?
Fine. I rest in the afternoons sometimes. The kids keep me busy, but I'm fine.

What do the kids think of the new baby?
Abby loves her. She really, really loves her. Briton doesn't know what's going on, but we are around babies pretty regularly and he seems to be pretty intrigued by them.

Mackinac and the Soo

2010-08-22T22:42:00.006-04:00

This was our weekend:

Mackinac \ˈma-kə-ˌnȯ\ Island: Mackinac is an island located in Lake Huron just east of the Mackinaw Bridge (yes, they are spelled differently). It is a quaint step back in time - no cars - just bikes, horse drawn carriages, shops, bed and breakfasts and history. We bypassed the bikes and just walked part (fraction) of the 8 mile perimeter. We loved it! The kids enjoyed playing in the water. Abby thought we were great for buying her ice cream and Mike and I enjoyed the scenery and cool weather.

About the pictures: 1-2 UPS deliveries on Mackinac - the boat in the second picture is carrying the UPS truck; 3 Proof we were there (with kiddos who have chosen not to be seen); 4 Arch Rock; 5 Bikes, cute houses, etc.; 6 Abby posing in front of horse carriages; 7 Kids and I with the bridge in the background; 8 Cheesy face in another fun street shot; 9 Hotel from Somewhere in Time (good movie) - the picture was taken from the ferry - they charge to walk on the grounds; 10 - back on the mainland our first crossing of the Bridge

Sault Ste. Marie \ˈsü-(ˌ)sānt-mə-ˈrē\ (and surrounding): Friday and Saturday nights we camped at a state park outside Sault Ste. Marie in the UP. It is a pretty area and we hope to go back and see more of the UP. There was a lot of rain and misty weather that slowed us down a bit. We didn't get to play on the beach. (I did touch Lake Superior though.) Today we attended the branch in Sault Ste. Marie. We love visiting wards and branches on vacation. It was a small branch. As usual, the members were very kind and welcoming. I believe this was the first time I have attended church in a rented building.

Highlights: 1 Abby's tree house - She asked us many times to put her into her "tree house" and she'd just sit there for several minutes - She loved it - Mike and I thought it looked slightly uncomfortable; 2-3 Point Iroquois Lighthouse; 4 The Soo Locks - These locks allow great big ships to travel between Lake Huron and Lake Superior - I believe it is a 21ish foot difference - It was pretty fascinating to watch the ships pull through and be raised and lowered; 5 Briton and Mike making dinner

Miscellania

2010-08-22T22:02:00.002-04:00

Two pictures worth remembering:

This was taken last Sunday which happened to be Briton's first day in the nursery at church. It was a great day! He did very well and the teachers only had to bring him to me once (nothing that a binkie and a few minutes of cuddling couldn't solve). Today we attending church in one of the farthest reaches of MI. No nursery. It was fine though. Mike has a talent with putting Briton to sleep at church. The little car pictures might become a family tradition.
Abby is becoming quite the artist. (I told her that the other day and she adamantly said, "No, I am not, mom....Mom, what is an artist?") Here is a sample. This is an aerial shot of eggs in a frying pan. The jagged lines around the outside of the pan are the flames on the stove. I thought she did a pretty good job. Most of her artwork is of her family and letters of the alphabet. This one is quite unique.

Briton's antics

2010-08-11T22:00:00.003-04:00

Briton is into a lot and growing up too quickly lately. He doesn't talk a ton (clarification: he talks close to non stop, but we aren't quite understanding it yet), but it is so much fun to see him responding to instructions and showing how much he understands. He is very observant and always tries to find out how things work. Sometimes he just plain gets into mischief.

I cannot leave doors to the bathrooms open for any amount of time because I underestimate how quickly he can be on a bathroom counter and in the sink.

He loves to pull keys off my computer. (I am currently working without the caps lock, function, control, alt and X key.)

Lately he has been taking vent covers off - not all of them - just this one in the living room and one in the dining room. When these pictures were taken I had just caught him very deliberately pulling the little flowers off the stems in this arrangement and then dropping them down the vent. I looked in the vent and pulled out 2 or 3 dozen of these flowers! He must have been up to this for a while. (The flowers have been removed from the vent and the arrangement has found a new home.)

The Zoo

2010-08-11T21:41:00.003-04:00

This year we got a pass to our local zoo. It is small, but a good size for our kiddos. I like being able to go whenever we like and stay for as long or as short a time as our schedule allows. It is about 15ish minutes from our house. Tonight was members only night. We ate hot dogs and got to see lots of animals up close. I loved that Abby was interested to go up to the various tables to see what they would talk to us about. Briton just gets excited to see any animal in any setting.

Tonight was Mike's first time accompanying us.

The kids always love to feed the llamas. (Even if I don't have a quarter to buy the food, Abby will find pellets on the ground to feed them. I love her resourcefulness!)

Here we are on the brass giraffes. (These are the only giraffes you will find at our zoo.)

Both kids enjoyed petting a few different animals. This turtle was a good sport letting them get up close.

The good doctor at the dentist's office

2010-07-22T22:17:00.000-04:00

Abby had her first dental cleaning on Monday. I went first and the kids stayed in the lobby with Mike. When it was Mike's turn, Abby went in to watch. I was out in the lobby with Briton so I couldn't make out what they were saying, but I could hear Abby's little voice talking quite a bit. It turns out that she really hit it off with the hygenist. (She has told me all week about how "Stephanie is a really good doctor at the dentist's office.") When it was her turn, I went in with her. (Sweet Briton was zonked out by now.) All of the tentativeness she arrived with was gone. She did great and appeared to feel very comfortable. Hygenist Stephanie was great with her and we were very proud!

More Visitors

2010-07-21T21:18:00.002-04:00

My parents and sister and niece and two nephews came out for a visit. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed being together. My brother and sister-in-law were also out for their MI wedding reception so, although we didn't get to spend quite as much time with them, we were thrilled to see them!! (The reception is what brought us all together.)

Here are some of our activities:

Blueberry picking (mom;Brooklyn, Amy and Isaac)

Firefly catching - the most simple things were the most fun

The MSU farms - I love the shot of Brooklyn eyeing the cow

Brian and Amy's reception - The kids found a very lovely plant to play jungle under - I think that the plant came out OK

What would a trip to MI be without the beach? These hot days have paid off with 74 degree water! That is 16 degrees warmer than last time we went.

The Children's Museum - Briton had a fever that day so he and I didn't go, but they had fun without us

Water fight in the backyard - Again, the simple things...

A walk in the woods - We have nature trails in our backyard (almost)

The nature trails open up to a playground

I don't know why they were all thanking me/us for "putting up with them". We had a great time and loved the company! Thanks for coming.

It has been a wonderful summer so far - both sets of grandparents, aunts and uncle, cousins and friends!

Our Trip: Part DC

2010-07-17T21:19:00.000-04:00

I must catch up...

Here is the last half of our trip that we spent in Washington, DC. Very enjoyable...

Day 1: We visited selected monuments and museums. It was a beautiful day! We wore ourselves out with all the walking and when we got to where we could "see" the White House (translate: make out that there was a building behind the trees) we pulled out the bubbles. The kids had a great time!
(Pictures 1-3: Hirschorn Sculpture Gardens; 4: The carousel; 5-6: Washington Monument and the Capitol; 7-8: Blowing bubbles)

Day 2: We visited Mount Vernon. We had only planned to stay 2 or 3 hours, but we loved it and extended our time there. In the 3rd picture, it is hard to see, but the home was built with wood and then covered with a sandy plaster to look like stone. In the 5th picture, the kids got to dress up like little Revolutionary era kids. The kids area of the museum was a lot of fun.

Day 3: Linda (our aunt/hostess) drove us around to some more monuments - WWII, FDR and Thomas Jefferson. I think that the FDR monument was our favorite. She then dropped Mike and I off at the restaurant Mike's cousin manages (yummy Latin food in Washington Harbor) after which we (Mike and I) went to the Holocaust Museum. Later in the evening we all went to see fireworks and do sparklers.
(Pictures 1-3: WWII monument; 4: A small snippet of the FDR monument; 5-7: Our children playing with fire)

Day 4: We attended church in the morning and then went to the Visitor's Center at the Washington DC temple. We drove to Pittsburgh that night and finished the journey home the next day.
(Picture 1: With our aunt/uncle/cousins who we had so much fun staying with; 2-3: At the visitor's center)

And thus ends a busy, happy vacation that we'd love to do again!

Our Trip: Part NC

2010-06-29T13:05:00.011-04:00

It is family vacation time! We spent Friday and Saturday driving from Michigan to West Virginia to North Carolina. We were very impressed by the beauty, greenness and hilliness of the Appalachians in West Virginia. (Remember we don't live in Utah anymore - just Michigan. Any sort of hill is impressive!) We stopped at the Raleigh North Carolina temple on the last leg of our journey for a bit of a break. It looks just like the Detroit temple.
After a couple days that included 15+ hours of driving time, we arrived in the Outer Banks of North Carolina to a beach house we rented with friends from NY and GA (actually we are all from Utah, worked for the same company and have relocated)! What a beautiful place and great company. Here are a few highlights:

An aquarium...
The beach...It was wonderful. The water was warm! (We still love Lake Michigan, but sometimes the 58 degree water just doesn't quite cut it.) The third picture is Briton in a hole. You can't tell from the picture, but it was just about as deep as he was tall. Natural containment.
Our friend, Marian, planned a treasure hunt for the kids. It was a lot of fun for them. Here they are posing along the trail and the second picture is the kids digging for the treasure. The shells you see were the "X" marks the spot.
On the last day we drove to Beaufort, NC. It is a historic resort-y town. Here we are at the maritime museum. Some members of the family were happier than others.
We posed for pictures while we were waiting for our lunch at this dock side restaurant in Beaufort. Unfortunately, we could've done an entire photo shoot while we waited for our (mediocre) lunch. We had a very nice view (and conversation) while we waited though. After lunch we got a picture of the 14 of us.
This was such a great trip! We had a marvelous and relaxing time and are so glad we could spend it with wonderful people! We are now in Washington, DC and will update soon...

Father's Day

2010-06-29T13:03:00.001-04:00

Happy Father's Day to Mike!
I know I am very late, but we love Mike very much and had a nice time celebrating his special day.

News

2010-06-16T14:36:00.004-04:00

For those of you who haven't already heard...we're having another baby! The due date is December 17th and we're very happy about it. Abby is insisting she'll have a baby sister (since we already have a baby brother - her words are something like, "We haven't had a baby sister yet") and is already finding clothes she's outgrown for the baby to wear. Briton doesn't seem to know what is going on yet:)

It's summer in Michigan (mostly)

2010-06-12T17:27:00.005-04:00

...and we were able to enjoy a (mostly) warm week with grandparents!

Mike's parents were here and we had a great time together playing and playing some more.

We visited the local ice cream parlor and grandparents treated us to a Sweetie-Pie.
We visited the MSU farms much to the kids delight on Tuesday.
Mike and I went on a date!
Mike took Friday off so that we could go camping out at the beach Thursday night.

The kids loved having grandma and grandpa around - the attention, more people to play with, etc. We all enjoyed the company (and extra hands)!

(I can never get too many cute beach pictures of my children.)

A few pictures from the farms:

Camping on the beach:

One reason we enjoy camping in MI - electrical outlets in all the campsites (notice the electric griddle on the table - we know how to rough it well)

Briton loves forks. He'll eat most anything as long as he can stab it. He's doing pretty well.

Memorial Day

2010-06-03T14:21:00.003-04:00

We went to the beach. There was a storm coming in so we left home early and stayed until 2ish - time for sand castles building, feet burying, almost swimming (58 degree water), kite flying, pier walking, etc.
*****
An anecdote from today:

3-year-olds sometimes bring up unique topics of conversations. Today it was bison. Abby started telling me how nice they are. My mother hen instinct kicked in and we had a lovely conversation about the size of bison and how they can push, gore and inflict bodily harm (using toddler appropriate language). Moments later, this was the conversation:

"Mom, you know what I'm going to do when I get big?"

"What are you going to do when you get big?"

"I'm going to go to Primary with the big kids and I'm going to teach bison how to behave. You know, behave means to be nice and not push. Yep, next time we go to Yellowstone, I'm going to do that!"

May

2010-05-29T17:53:00.006-04:00

We've been absent for the past few weeks. Here are some highlights - not always in order.

We sold one to buy the other. We miss the Santa Fe (great car), but even with just the two kids (their car seats and everything else), we decided it was time for more room. We really like it (Sienna) and it will come in handy with the family visitors that are coming into town the next few weeks! We appreciate the relatively good deals on Toyotas right now.

Abby has taken up floral design--and most of it includes dandelions. She is welcome to pick as many dandelions as she'd like. We love that flower season is here!

Abby is taking a community ed dance class. She really enjoys it and we look forward to her little recital next week.

Hope's 5th birthday was on May 14th! A few days later we went to a cemetery for a picnic. It was very nice. It's a beautiful old cemetery. The food was good and the company was perfect. When I asked Abby how we should decorate the cupcakes she said she wanted trees. We made them in ice cream cones (trunks) with green frosting and fruit snacks on top--nothing fancy, but the kids liked them. (In the background of the first and last pictures you can see our new car.)

Briton is starting to enjoy reading more--especially when it is the creepy, crawly bug book and when he is sitting in the rocking chair.

We bought a zoo pass for our local zoo. It is a small zoo, but a perfect size for our kiddos. This is the only picture I took that day. Abby was feeding the llamas (actual llama food). Moments after this was taken, Briton dropped a little bottle of hand sanitizer in the llama enclosure. Great. I had just gotten done looking at their display of x-rays of animals that had swallowed things negligent visitors had allowed to get into the enclosure. We immediately started looking for someone to retrieve our sanitizer and save the poor llamas. (Not too concerned about the sanitizer, more about the llamas.) Abby shed many tears over this, but all turned out well with us and the llamas. I turned this into a lesson on problem solving. We had a problem. How are we going to solve it? For a couple days, Abby went around telling people about the "problem" we had at the zoo.

Thank goodness for good weather. We get to be outside a lot. The kids love it! And they thoroughly wear themselves (and me) out.

The Rest of the Trip

2010-05-02T21:38:00.004-04:00

Many pictures:

On the way home from the airport, we stopped to see Grandma Mary and Grandpa Frank. We had a nice visit with them and were happy to see them before they left on their vacation.

The kids loved playing with Miles on the days that Steph came out to spend the day at grandma's house.

We had a nice time at Wheeler Farm with all the Wessman siblings and grandkids. We were also able to visit with Grandpa David and Grandma Nancy!

Here are grandma and grandpa with their 6 cute grandbabies. (Abby is the oldest of the bunch. That makes it a pretty young group!)

At Kaley's graduation open house, Briton decided that Grandpa Ray's walker was the way to go. He might need to master the art of steering.

We had a nice time at the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point with Tami and Kevin and their kids and grandma and grandpa.

I had zero luck getting a nice posed picture of both the kiddos at the cemetery. Here is a cute picture of Abby though showing the wind (which probably contributed to the inability to get desired photo).

On the night before we left this is what Kaley and Abby found in my parents' downstairs bathroom. It was kind of cool to pop. There wasn't a ton of water in the bubble, but it will be interesting to see what comes of it.

We had a great trip. Thanks to all those who made it so enjoyable!

Saw both sets of parents
Saw all grandparents
Saw all siblings and sibs-in-law
Saw all nieces and nephews
Attended the old ward
Had lunch with two sets of friends
Ate out way too much
Celebrated a wedding, graduation and birthday
Visited parks, the cemetery, gardens, a farm, a drive through (torn up) downtown SLC with a stop or two (the new Deseret Book is nice)
Survived the flights and a trip to the ER

Fairly/very successful!

The Last 48 Hours

2010-04-23T23:41:00.006-04:00

The kids and I have been in Utah this week and the last 48 hours have been pretty busy. Here are the basics (the details follow):

Now for the details:

Yesterday my brother was married. It was awesome! We are so excited for Brian and Amy. And one of the best parts of it all...Amy is from Michigan!! We love having a family connection to MI.

So, why is there an "Emergency Room" picture? The temple sealing was scheduled for noon. At 10:30ish I was doing Abby's hair.

me: "Where is Briton?"

Brian: "He is downstairs."

me: "Is he doing anything bad?"

Brian: [Pause] "Um...he might be!"

me: [frantic] "What is he doing?"

Brian carried him upstairs with an open jar of cough syrup and cough syrup all over his face. I panicked. I had no idea how much he had taken, if he was going to be OK and I needed/wanted to be to my brother's wedding in an hour! (In case you're wondering - he was acting normally the entire time.)

Long story, shorter...I called poison control. They insisted we take him to the ER. I cried. I took him to the hospital (can't wait to get the bill). They were so nice to me. I told everyone I saw that my brother was getting married very, very soon. As soon as I talked to the doctor, Kaley took over watching Briton in the ER for me and I rushed to the Draper Temple. I arrived at 12:05. Everyone from the recommend desk up to the sealing room said, "Are you Sister Wessman? Don't worry they are waiting for you." The sealing was beautiful!

Kaley's boyfriend sat with Briton while she came to the temple for pictures and then I rushed back to the hospital. He got the blood test and the all clear. There was no noticeable trace of Tylenol in his blood stream. Excellent! I was fairly confident the entire time that he was OK, but until I got the all clear I couldn't help but worry.

OK...so I didn't make the story too much shorter.

The wedding dinner and reception all went so well! We had a lot of fun and I am told Brian and Amy did too. (I didn't get to talk to them too much?!?)

Here we are with my grandparents:

Here are Brian and Amy with the kiddos:

This is how Briton felt at the end of his busy day:

Today we went to Kaley's graduation from BYU! We are so proud of her!

I am also proud of my parents. Their kids are 5/5 college graduates. Pretty cool!

Easter egg hunts

2010-04-12T22:11:00.000-04:00

The Primary egg hunt at the church:

At home:

Abby got a flute in her basket.

Briton likes candy bars with and without the wrappers.

Pastime

2010-04-12T22:10:00.000-04:00

Briton's favorite pastime lately is climbing. He climbs as high as he can and then stands up with a very silly, victorious grin. It is very common to find him in the playroom standing on top of this table. Yesterday at church he played in the nursery for a few minutes after church. There is a small rocking horse. We caught him climbing onto the horse and standing up on the seat - while it was rocking. He'd hold out his arms to steady himself. Crazy kiddo! He loves being so incredibly mobile.

This picture is also appropriate because he loves this book. When we took this picture he was climbing on and off the chair and each time reading the book. He's a smart little guy.

Caption

2010-04-03T09:31:00.004-04:00

"I have to wear all these things because I am so much cooler when I wear all these things." --Abby

Happy Spring

2010-03-31T12:31:00.003-04:00

We have one daffodil blooming and lots of smiles.

I just got caught up on blog posts. Hope all are well!

Abby

2010-03-31T12:26:00.000-04:00

Abby is one smart little lady.

She loves (and I really mean loves) to draw. In this picture she drew a whale and a diver. The whale is on the right side of the page and the diver is the green person on the left. She told me we needed to have "class" (ie play school). In class we learned about the diver and the whale. The whale was stuck in some ocean rocks and the diver went to help him. The diver needed to use a little pokey thing and there was a little bit of blood, but he was OK. After the story it was time to sleep and since I was the student, she put me to sleep on the playroom floor complete with a kiss.

Here is a sample of Abby's name writing. She does it very well. In this picture I made the "y" but she did the other letters herself.

Messes

2010-03-31T12:25:00.000-04:00

In the blink of an eye, there was cornstarch all over the kitchen. Here are some blurry pictures of some very busy little people. We've been cleaning up all sorts of messes lately (oh, so many) - some easier and more enjoyable than others.

Flutterbyes

2010-03-31T12:24:00.000-04:00

Last week we went to the MSU butterfly garden. There were not a ton of butterflies, but the kids loved the flowers, bugs, pathways and streams.

Mike met us at the garden being that we went at the end of the day and we went outside to some of the outdoor gardens as well.

Last year we went to the same butterfly garden (multiple times). Here are some shots to see how the kids have grown.

This year:

Last year:

More last year shots:

Food Storage Room

2010-03-31T12:23:00.000-04:00

Mike finished up our food storage room in the basement and I have the shelves stocked! We are not going to tape and paint the outside walls until (if, when) we finish the rest of the basement. I love it!

Paint Job

2010-03-31T12:22:00.000-04:00

We finished the paint job in my bedroom and bathroom last week. Here it is:

One wall in the bedroom is this maize color (this picture really distorts the color).

This picture shows the color a bit better. We did the other three walls ivory. It is very light. I like it.

We did the tub and one wall in the bathroom the maize as well and painted the rest of the bathroom the ivory.

Quotes

2010-03-21T20:40:00.002-04:00

"Yeah! Does that mean Briton will talk normally to me?"
This is what Abby said when I told her during a conversation that Briton would be able to go to the nursery at church at the end of the summer. She was very, very excited about it! I thought it was cute that she associated nursery with being able to talk.

"It's too much paint of a not pretty color."
This week we have been painting our bedroom and master bath. When I asked Abby what she thought of the paint this was her response. Classic. I texted Mike and my mom her quote and both of them within a couple minutes of each other responded that she was just disappointed it wasn't pink. They were right. I asked her. I'll put up some pictures when we finish and put the rooms back together. I, for one (and hopefully Mike, too), really like it.

"Princesses like their sloppy joes hot, hot, hot!"
Today at lunch Abby was dressed in her princess dress. She was talking in the third person about herself as a princess and we just got a kick out of this one.

Why the lack of posts

2010-03-18T22:27:00.003-04:00

I have not been an active blogger lately. I really had great intentions of posting a great post complete with pictures and videos. (I even edited some videos to include. You'll note that the today's other post references non existent videos. There was supposed to be a binky bear video and one of Briton walking.) I have been trying for days to get my videos to upload, but no such luck. I decided to post video-less. I'll be a better blogger.

Updates

2010-03-18T22:20:00.000-04:00

Here are a few things about us:

Abby is a big girl and no longer sleeps with her binky! We took her to Build-a-Bear last weekend and she put the binky inside the bear. What a fabulous idea from our friend! She was very excited about it. (I was the one who got a bit teary.) Here are a couple pictures and a video of her explaining it all. (If you don't want to watch the entire movie, my favorite part is from 0:30 - 1:00.)

Briton can walk. He took his first steps back in January and officially took off at his birthday party. He started a little wobbly (as they usually do), but is now fast. Church is challenging:) but he is happy to be so mobile!

Friday was our 6th anniversary. We left the kids with a couple from our branch. (Bless them.) Mike and I went to a nice restaurant on campus. Delicious! We then headed to a bed and breakfast in Williamston. It was really nice. The B&B was on a llama farm so here we are with the llamas.

It was a very nice getaway and I am very grateful for Mike and our marriage. We are very blessed in many ways!

Sun: Welcome back, we hope

2010-03-01T23:37:00.006-05:00

Today the weather was beautiful. It is still cold. There are still 18ish inches of snow on our front lawn with 3-4 feet piles lining the driveway, but it really was beautiful. After naps (they're both napping these days) we took Briton's birthday wagon for a ride up and down the street. They must be as stir crazy as me because I couldn't for the life of me get them to look at the camera. Take my word for it, they looked cute and were all smiles. (I had to remind myself - We're not out here to take pictures but to take in sunshine!)

PS We still love the hats. Abby calls them the "debilous penguin hats".