The Wilkinsons

climbing with 8 kids

2012-01-31T20:51:00.001-08:00

We ventured out with some friends of ours, their 5 kids and a friend of their 9 year old to do some bouldering and rapelling a few weeks ago. It was really fun and kind of crazy with all of the munchkins! We ended the day with pizza at their house and then their 6 year old gave all of the little kids a bath while the 4 adults played "Just Dance" on the Wii. Responsible parenting at its finest. Aaron has been avoiding that game for forever... it turns out he's pretty good! Thanks for a great Saturday, Julie and Jay!

this girl not only gives a great bath to 4 other little kids, but she is an awesome little climber too!

the mommies

the daddies

happy humpday!

2012-01-25T19:39:00.000-08:00

Ah!! It's Wednesday! So to further avoid the rental, grocery budget balancing and check writing I need to do... here's this week's addition of Happy Humpday!

I'm happy that Van loves to help... even if it usually does more harm than good.
I'm happy that Van loves that salami we got for Christmas.
That's a giant salami and a small white truck in that hand. Totally Van's style.
I'm happy that my little buddy was so sad about his shot this afternoon that he scarfed down his whole dinner (sniffling, or maybe just still crying...) and then fell asleep in my arms.
I'm happy that I read my scriptures and Ensign this morning before we left the house. And said my prayers. It must be a good day!
I'm happy that I got 30 minutes all alone with this sweet girl before I plunked her in bed.
I'm happy that Aaron is coming home "early" (he'll be home at 9. ha!).
WAIT - EXTRA happy because I just got a text. He'll be home at 8:30! WOW!! And he brought me leftovers from Lemongrass last night. That curry I just ate for dinner is making me happy still too.

Happy 29th Birthday, Aaron!!

2012-01-19T20:54:00.000-08:00

My cute hubby turned 29 at the beginning of the month!

Here are 29 things I love about my hubby on his 29th:

The only thing he ever wants for his birthday is this apple pie.
He can't pass an unmarked dirt road without driving up it.
The first think he does when he gets home from work is kiss his wife, then he goes up to kiss his sleeping babies.
We found his 1st gray hairs this year. So hot.
He's really worried that he's balding. And it's really cute.
He always gives me the leftovers.
He calls me so much his co-workers started to think I'm a crazy controlling wife who makes him call. He just loves me!
He's always the 1st to say he's sorry.
He's made his co-workers so aware of my extreme foodiness that they always send the restaurant leftovers home for me.
He's the best dish-doer and stair vacuumer at our house.
He really loves his siblings and parents.
He's the king of PMA (positive mental attitude).
He thinks my birthday is a sacred holiday.
He'd rather cuddle than get out of bed in the morning.
He loves adventuring with his kids so much that he hasn't really climbed much in 2 years.
He can still do this (below) even though he "doesn't climb" anymore.
Bouldering on Emery's birthday
He loves yoga.

On his birthday date... a food marathon. appetizer at Applebees (we had a giftcard), green curry at our favorite little Thai place and then concrete from Nielsen's for dessert. There was supposed to be another course, but we got full!

He likes to eat healthy as much as I do - and actually likes vegetables a lot MORE than I do.
He totally fits in in the Deacons Quorum (the 12-year-old scouts he works with at church).
He's not materialistic at all. He thinks our kids should have just a few toys and wonders if Emery should wear fancy boots. :)
His contagious imagination has given our kids the gift of creative play.
He refills my water... downstairs from the fridge... or gets up to get my eye drops or excema cream... even if he was already in bed.
He likes to help me paint furniture.
He makes friends with guys twice his age.
Old ladies love him.
He's such an enthusiastic scripture reader that Emery loves morning scriptures now.
He's never lucky... he's always "blessed".
He hasn't failed to make me brilliantly cute children.
He puts ketchup on everything. And thinks our kids should too. Sick. :)

The circus and a hockey game

2012-01-18T21:19:00.000-08:00

We have done two things we've never done before this year already (thanks to my friend Marissa who finds out about all of these fun things and lets me in on the secret...and lets us tag along...). We went to the circus and to a hockey game! They were both really fun!

At the circus, we couldn't convince Emery to ride anything but the pony.... meaning her pony obsession led to her not being able to ride an elephant! Stubborn little girl. :) My kids had cotton candy for the first time, too, at the circus, which they loved and Emery had her face painted for the 1st time. Emery's favorite act was the girls who climbed the ropes and did tricks and Van loved the motorcycles doing jumps (of course).

Van and his best buddy Tyler watching the elephant

Van riding his pony

Emery the butterfly

Van LOVED the hockey game. He yelled at the ref with the other fans, danced to every song and clapped vigorously for every goal. I think we have a sports fan on our hands!!

crazy mom and cute girl

Valley of Fire

2012-01-18T20:10:00.000-08:00

I'm blogging back in time trying to catch up. Before Christmas we spent all day hiking at Valley of Fire. I hadn't been there since I was a kid and it was fun to take our kids there. We had a magical day playing in the dirt, hiking and climbing in every hole we could find.

3 people + 1 tiny whole = lots of fun!

These rocks were bright orange and purple! The picture just doesn't do it justice!

Van had an awesome mega tired tantrum in the middle of this rock. It was hilarious.

Emery's 4th Birthday!!

2012-01-18T19:54:00.000-08:00

My 1st baby turned 4 right after Christmas! I really can't believe how grown up she's getting. It's crazy to think she's gone from tiny infant to mini-teenager in just 4 years. From this -

look at that giant head!

this is actually EXACTLY what she looks like still when she sleeps

...To to a girl who reads and asks me how to spell texturize! One really fun thing about having your birthday right after Christmas is that often your birthday gets spread over many days - birthday party a different day than your actual birthday which is different from the day dad can be home to celebrate with us, etc. :) So we did lots of celebrating for Emery this year. It was really fun to celebrate our good, sweet girl so much. Here's the run down on the birthday events:

Birthday morning - opening the last 5 of her Princess Barbies (she got 1 for Christmas from mom and dad and 1 from Santa. The other 5 she got for her birthday. Mom and dad got a great deal on the huge pack...)

We had crepes (her favorite) for breakfast and then she requested some crafts.

Then she wanted to go climbing for her birthday. Let me tell you this girl is turning into quite the little climber!!

Look at her stepping on those tiny edges with her feet!

And her little brother is trying, too!

Then on Aaron's birthday, actually, we had Emery's 1st party with friends. She couldn't be talked into anything but a Princess birthday party, so that's what we did!! They made their own mini pizzas, dug through sand for jewels, painted on huge posters like Rapunzel and decorated pink cupcakes and then all had their own candles to blow out together. They had soooo much fun!!

Blowing out their candles

Em and Prince Jack - the token Prince at her party!

We've begged her not to grow up, but she assures us she'll still love the rest of us as she does. Lucky for us, she's just about the sweetest 4 year old girl around! We love you Emery girl!

Happy Humpday!

2012-01-11T18:21:00.000-08:00

I have some kind of strange happies today... let's just say sometimes it helps to look on the bright side of things.

I'm happy I bought frozen chicken nuggets for the 1st time a few months ago because Van chomped them for dinner accompanied by a crying Emery with a very bad earache... and it took me 1 minute to make them. :)
I'm happy I have leftovers in my fridge.
I'm happy I have a pediatrician's office who should be able to get me in 1st thing in the morning.
I'm happy that my ultra sweet husband's reaction to "I dropped my iPhone in the toilet" was "Well, if it doesn't dry out and work we'll buy you a new one." Seriously? No lecture or anything. Where'd I find him anyway?
I'm happy I got to do birthday shopping and lunch with just my mom yesterday. Such a fun tradition and I love spending that time with my mom every year.
I'm happy that I broke down and bought good shampoo and conditioner. I haven't washed my hair for almost 4 days and it isn't even greasy yet!
I'm REALLY happy that I have book club tomorrow night. My mom and I are hosting and we read Peter Pan - the original text, that is. Best night of every month!

Hope your Thursday includes outings to somewhere other than the pediatrician's office! :)

Christmas in UT

2012-01-09T19:49:00.000-08:00

We had a blast going to UT for Christmas and spending it with Aaron's family. Christmas is so magical and being with cousins makes it extra magical for the kids! We're so lucky to have such a great family!

Christmas stories under the tree with Grandma and missy

Gingerbread men - that smile = candy overload

A little masked hot chocolate drinking P.S. Emery would do EVERYTHING with Missy. She's her only girl cousin in UT and they are so cute together!

Christmas Eve Dinner

vegging with the sibs after a rousing white elephant and gift trade (gift trade was games this year. awesome idea as usual, Mom!)

Christmas Eve jammies

The cousin PJ crew

Airplane from his stocking. This kid was so cute opening his stocking. He flew or drove every thing he pulled out and made the appropriate noises. It was adorable. I'm so sad I didn't get it on video!

Ariel - from mom and dad. Between Christmas and her birthday she got all 7 Princess barbies. Happy girl!

We weren't sure we got him the right truck... until he laid on the floor and played with it like this for 15 minutes straight. He doesn't do anything for 15 minutes straight.

The weather was so warm we even hiked while we were there!

Climbing at the Quarry. Emery did AWESOME! She's turning into quite the little climber.

Apparently Van prefers climbing without a rope attached. He mostly did this. And swung. Ha.

My girls made us all breakfast for my birthday. Love them!

Christmas lights with some scary masked man and his cute wife (who had their baby last week! Yeah for baby Diesel!)

You know you like my festive PJs

2012 Wilkinson Family New Years Letter

2012-01-02T12:59:00.000-08:00

We email this out, but in case we missed you... here you go!!

Dear Friends and Family,

Happy New Year! Wewelcome 2012 with open arms and just hope it’s as great as 2011! In 2010 we bought a new house, remodeledlots, started a new job and were busy, so in 2011 we played a lot. We got to spend time with so many family andfriends this year as we bounced all over the place (sometimes without Dad) tothe beach, the mountains, camping, Lake Powell, DisneyLand, weddings, etc. Dad’s great vacation time may have made upfor how much we missed him during his busy season!! Aaron and Britt even got to go backpackCoyote Gulch and do an 8 day Western Caribbean cruise by ourselves! Here’s aquick flashback of our year.

Aaron – worked 80hours most weeks until he passed the CPA exam in September!!!, sacrificed anyfree time he would have had to spend with his kids, spent 5 months out of town,but probably got enough sushi while he was there to satisfy his hunger, workedin Teacher’s then Deacon’s quorum, bought a minivan for his spoiled wife, roadand mountain biked, planted our first garden, told bedtime stories, brushedteeth and hair way softer than mom (just ask Emery).

Britt – playedlots of mommy teacher, painted furniture, blogged, served as the Relief SocietySecretary, had her 1^st real girls weekend, pretended to be a weddingphotographer, found her name in the acknowledgements of a book she helped editas a research assistant at BYU – and felt really cool and famous, book clubed,kissed boo boos, did crafts, read stories, rode bikes, created adventures andtickled, pinched and giggled more than should be legal.

Emery (4) – neverstopped talking, became a Sunbeam, says her eyes tell her stories when shesleeps, made an inseparable best friend, found a love for all things climbing –rocks, climbing shoes, harness, learned to swim without floaties, spent 75% ofthe year dressed as a princess, learned to love snuggling, is learning to read,became very concerned about gender, loves pink and purple, loves fruits andveggies, has a super-sniffer, is learning to share and listen like a big girl,dances, head stands and does yoga like a pro, promises often she’ll still lovethe 3 of us as she gets big.

Van (2) – wildand physically aggressive, adores trucks, tractors, buses, 4 wheelers,motorcycles and his friends the garbage men, loves broccoli, treats, every foodhe’s allergic to, scissors, “Hog” (his frog), water in any form, especiallyswimming, knows his ABCs, still eats the biggest bowl of oatmeal in our family(plus 2 bananas), bikes circles around his big sister, can and does climbeverything, calls himself “Dan”, despises his head getting bonked, when momlocks the fridge and when we stifle his independence.

We hope you have a great 2012 and look forward to seeing somany of you this year!

Love,

Aaron, Britt, Emery, Van and Baby Wilkinson (Due June2012)

Happy Humpday!

2011-12-14T21:24:00.000-08:00

I'm happy for lots of reasons today!

1 - Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving (even though this is in the past... I know!). We got to spend it in Las Vegas this year and it was so fun to be with family! Especially the Larsens this year. My Aunt's youngest is the same age a Em and this is the 1st time they were really the right age to play together. They danced with big cousin Shanae and would have played girly stuff for the rest of their lives, just the two of them, if they could have. Em asked me in the car on the way home today if we could go to Utah to see Demi. So cute. See dancing videos. This little girl has moves!
2 - Christmas shopping is almost in the bag. Whew. So relieved. I really got behind with that whole 12 day vacation thing. :)
3 - We finally found Emery some pants that fit (which was way worse than Christmas shopping I might add). She's going to be just like her mom - hard to fit. Poor girl. Thank you H&M.

Didn't buy the Santa picture, but I did get a picture of them in front of the huge "Dimma Dee!" (Christmas Tree ala Van)

4 - The kids got to see Santa today! Van gave him the stink eye the whole time. When we were waiting for our turn I asked Van if he was going to sit with Santa and he simply replied "No". And he didn't. Just stared at him suspiciously the whole time.
5 - I'm really happy that my daughter climbed up this tree like Mogli. Her daddy would have been so proud.

popcorn and hot chocolate

6 - We've done almost everything we had planned to do on the Wilkinson Christmas Fun Calendar (there's a Christmas activity on the calendar everyday... sometimes I secretly rearrange them because Em can't read. Ha.). It's been crazy around here so I'm just glad we've been able to squeeze in some fun, too. :)
7 - Happy to have onion breath from Cuban black beans and yellow rice with balsamic avocado dressing. Whoa. It's been a while. So glad I made this tonight. The kids scarfed it too. It was so fabulously delicious. I think I could just eat a whole bowl of tomatoes drenched in balsamic vinegar.
Gingerbread houses

one more happy...

2011-12-07T17:41:00.001-08:00

And I'm REALLY happy I have this guy. (on our amazing beach in Roatan)

Not only did he put away all seven loads of laundry on Monday when I crashed early, but he always loves me. No matter what.

And he wants me as his date for a fancy party on Saturday night. Ooh la la!!

happy humpday!

2011-12-07T10:48:00.001-08:00

Good Wednesday to you!! Here are my Wednesday happies:

I'm happy that I decided to make this a weekly tradition. I'm home sick today and need reasons to be happy.
I'm happy that I have an awesome friend who just stole my kids... even my sad 2 year old who just didn't want to be left out. And for awesome parents who are stealing my kids later. I think I'll take a nap.
I'm happy that I FINALLY cleaned off my desk and paid way too many over due bills. I hate it when that happens, but so happy when I know there's nothing hiding at the bottom of the pile anymore!
I'm happy that I just found this recipe on Janssen's blog. Yum.
I'm happy that I have leftover ham from the Ward Christmas Party on Saturday night. Ham fried rice (or not-so-fried in my case) is just what the doctor ordered for dinner, I think. :) (And the kids will scarf it and Van isn't allergic to it! Yahoo!! His, of course won't have the scrambled eggs... he IS allergic to that part.)

Cruisin' on the Carnival Glory

2011-11-30T18:52:00.001-08:00

Aaron and I just got back (a week and a half ago) from a Western Caribbean cruise! I LOVE the Caribbean - warm and you can see the bottom. That's my kind of ocean! The cruise was 8 days 7 nights but we were gone for 10 days! We had a blast, but were definitely missing our kids when it was over. This'll be a long one so prepare yourself....

Let's start with the random pics on the ship. We only had 2 at sea days, so there wasn't much to see.... unless you're interested in a million pictures of us eating. We did a lot of that! :)

Our dinner table! What an awesome group of people. We liked them so much you'll see them again... we ended up on excursions with them a few days.

Preparing to set sail

random pics by Aaron

Mini golf in the wind. Not our best idea, but it was pretty funny!

The Carnival Glory. Home for 8 days.

The champagne I won making a complete fool out of myself winning "Boat Brother Reality Show". It was fun, but the prize obviously found a new owner.


Aaron loved the Mongolian noodles the most. My favorite was the "Turkey Sandwich on a Country Roll" - put in the panini press. Somebody kill me.

Port Day 1: Cozumel, Mexico.
Aaron and I had been to Cozumel on our honeymoon and rented a scooter and drove around the whole island. We thought we'd relive the good old days since it was so fun the 1st time. Here's what we did in Cozumel:

Took a beginning snorkeling class... which I thought wasn't worth the money until I realized it really helped Aaron and I get over being a little bit ocean shy and we had so much fun snorkeling the rest of the trip.
Rented a scooter. Got less ripped off this time.
Boogie boarded. Drove to the back side of the island - aka the side with waves. Found the best beach for boogie boarding and my husband humored me and ended up having tons of fun, too.
Snorkeled. On the other side of the island with no waves.

Port Day 2: Belize City, Belize
We were seriously cautioned to "have a plan" this day... which of course we didn't. So we coaxed one of the couples at our dinner table, Jeff and Sandra, to "get lost with us". We ended up booking a tour when we got off the ship to go cave tubing in one of those huge underground rivers that are so important in Mayan culture. It was awesome!!

Belize had some beautiful, old buildings... but you can't see the building, just the fence in this one.

It was jungly fields as far as the eye could see and then these mountains popped up out of nowhere in the distance. Gorgeous!

We hiked 40 minutes through dense rain forest before we finally got in the river. It was awesome.

Port Day 3: Isla Roatan, Honduras

This was our FAVORITE port and we have but a few measley pictures... because our camera died! So sad! And terrible timing. :(

Teamed up with everyone at our dinner table to play in Roatan together.
Rented a 5-seater car for $50 (so cheap split 6 ways!). Only went the wrong way on a 1-way road once. Ha.
Drove 45 minutes on their 2 lane "highway" with densely packed jungle on both sides to the west end of the island.
Enjoyed West Bay for the rest of the day - a beautiful white sand beach complete with a delicious pulled pork quesadilla (the meat was a local specialty) and cute little girls selling necklaces on the beach... so of course I got one for Em.
Best snorkeling of our trip!! We swam out to the edge of this beautiful coral reef (some people were taking boats out to it.... it wasn't THAT far!) that dropped off into semi-open ocean. Enjoyed beautiful coral and fish... and basically felt like we were living in the Discovery Channel.

The view pulling into Roatan. It was at least as rain-forested as it looks. I was so excited! If I don't look excited it's because it was 3:30 in the morning my time at that moment. Yikes. I've been going to be between 8 and 9 every night since we got home. My body has NO idea what time zone its in!

Tell me you don't love that beach with the big cliff at the end with jungle sitting on top. Amazing, right?

Port Day 4: Grand Cayman
We had a blast in Grand Cayman even though it wasn't my favorite port location. I like the little, run-down islands where I can experience something different than what I see every day at home. Grand Cayman was commercialized. It had malls. And a Dairy Queen. And a Burger King. We definitely had some good adventures though. :)

Shopped for the kids at a cute local craft market and found them some good surprises to bring home.
Hopped one of Captain Marvin's boats to go swim with the sting rays. (Captain Marvin is 95, he has 15 kids, you leave on the boats from his house - which is tiny and run down, and he owns like 15 of these huge fishing boats. Pretty cool shin dig he's running!) The sting rays gather in this shallow sand bar in the middle of the ocean and thousands of crazy people go swim with them each week. They kept telling us "they are like trained puppies". Ya right, I said. They are STING RAYS. Turns out they are like puppies. People have been going out there since the 50s to feed them and swim with them. They are totally docile. They swim right up to your face to say hello. They eat out of your hand. Kind of crazy, but so fun!!
Snorkeled in the middle of the ocean in a coral garden. Saw a barracuda who sat there and watched our whole group snorkel for 25 minutes. (Side note - Aaron kept saying he thought he saw a barracuda every time we snorkeled. They were just needle fish. I told him he'd know if he saw a barracuda. And he definitely knew. It was pretty funny!)

Pirate ships in Cayman. They actually have a "Pirate Week" that's apparently a pretty big deal. I think I'll skip going back for it.

Despite being pretty commercialized, they did have a pretty awesome fish market!

Wanted to eat lunch at this groovy little grill on the beach.


But ate here instead. Peanut butter and jelly on toast from breakfast on the steps of a bank overlooking the ocean. It's good to exercise monetary self-control even when it hurts.

Our driver. Hilarious guy.

Cruisin' with Captain Marvin. Since our camera broke we don't have any pictures of the water-based adventures. Only regret of the trip... should have bought that $12 disposable water-proof camera. :)

It was a great trip and we really enjoyed the time together. It was fun to have the time just the two of us. A few times I felt like we went back in time and were newlyweds... especially reliving that scooter extravaganza in Cozumel. A few things we learned:

Always find a way to win a plastic piece of ship while on board a cruise (aka a trophy).
Salt water eats sunscreen. It's hopeless. We looked like Rudolf after Cozumel and we put sunscreen on 3 times!
The food on Carnival cruises is pretty good. And 24-hour a day food is amazing.
Some comedians do funny family-friendly shows, and some are too dirty to find anything funny to say in a family-friendly venue.
Sting rays give great back massages.
If you smile and hold hands enough, lots of people will wish you a happy honeymoon. :)
Even though we had a blast, 10 days is too long without our kiddos. Next time we do a 10-dayer they'll come too. :)

Other October Happenings

2011-11-28T20:54:00.001-08:00

Probably the 2nd biggest event of the month (behind Van's 2nd bday) was Emery traveling with Grandma and Grandpa to see Miles in Massachusetts. These two were so happy to be reunited and had so much fun! Thanks Gram and Pa (and Matthew and Amy) for such a fun treat for my big girl!

Daddy's little helper

A rare moment of Van holding still.... to read the Ensign with me on a Sunday morning! Weird - I can barely get him to hold still for Sandra Boynton.

When Vander's asleep, Daddy will play...

Van loves "Hog" (or "Hoggy", either way he's trying his best to say frog)

And as usual, my children proved to be the world's cleanest eaters. :)

Halloween... only a month late!!

2011-11-28T20:39:00.001-08:00

Halloween was so fun this year! It really is one of those holidays that isn't my favorite... until I had kids old enough to care! They loved it and were both old enough to really understand what happens when you say "Trick or Treat", or for Van just "treat" or "candy please!" Here's the recap.

Happy girl on the swing at the pumpkin patch

The signature pumpkin on the hay shot

nothing cuter than kids in gourds

Van with his little buddy Tyler (the monkey) and his cute mom at the Ward Trunk or Treat. These guys were two cute wild animals.

Em and Jayne - the Rapunzel twins.

"Candy please" is a consistent phrase heard at our house now. Here's Van enjoying a cake ball.

The pumpkins - from L to R - Mom's "big scary building with a bat and the moon, Em's happy Princess pumpkin, and Dad's angry pumpkin

happy humpday (wednesday)!!

2011-11-02T21:20:00.000-07:00

Here's what made me happy today:

My new sweatpants - I've been on a quest for the perfect sweatpants, and I finally found them! I want some I can wear on a normal day that look cute and don't make me look like I'm still in my pjs. :)
That there are people in this world who want their children, love their children, want more and are good parents. There are too many running the opposite course, but I'm so happy for the little army of us who really want to be good parents and help each other do it.
The Relief Society dinner tonight. Sat, relaxed, chatted with fun people, ate dinner someone else cooked and got some spiritual uplifting about developing a heart more like the Savior's.
Aaron keeping the kids way up past their bedtime to play a game that involved them chasing each other around the house with a pop gun.
Coming home to find Aaron adorned head to foot in Boy Scout olive green. Ha, my little scouter is so cute.

Hope yours was as good as mine!

happy wednesday (humpday)!

2011-10-26T09:32:00.000-07:00

What makes me happy today?

Em is home from her adventures with Grandma and Pa in Massachusetts visiting Miles. I really missed that sweet girly. She's definitely 3 though - she's been working me since about 10 minutes after she got home last night.
Van walking around in jeans and no shirt behind me. He loves to be "nakey" and I love that he loves to be nakey. What a boy.
Trunk or Treat is tonight at church. Halloween is the lamest holiday.... until you have kids! :)
My friend had baby #5 last night. 1 boy, 4 girls. She's such a good mom and I'm thankful to have her as my friend. And they all have J names - that makes me happy too. They are a great family.
The scriptures. I had a really good scripture study just standing at my bathroom counter reading this morning. Aaron and I had a conversation the other day about "feasting" (click for scripture reference) on the scriptures and how when you go to a feast you don't necessarily have to stuff yourself full to enjoy the feast - it's savoring what you do eat. That's totally scripture study for me - I don't necessarily have the lack of interference right now (ahem - kids) to sit down and study like a professional scriptorian. I don't get much out of the scriptures if I just read them, but if I really pay attention and savor what I read, my feast is complete the the spirit of my day is completely different.
My grandparents are back for the winter. They winter here and I just love having them around. They are amazing people and I love that my kids know and love them too.
And this picture from a few weeks ago makes me happy. Little goofballs in my dryer.

happy humpday - van turns 2!

2011-10-19T19:32:00.000-07:00

My not-so-baby boy turns 2 tomorrow. On this Humpday I'll write about Van because HE makes me happy!

For a long time he's been attempting basically any word you ask him to try... except his name. He finally gave it a go about a month ago and he calls himself "Dan". So funny. So he'll repeat things like "Van's smart" which comes out as "Dan's mart". Or "Vanny happy" - "Danny happy!". We love our little Dan.
He loves trucks more than anything in the world. Truck is definitely his most used word.
Second to trucks is probably bikes. He's a pretty aggressive little peddler.
He loves water - water in the pool, water in the ocean, water in a drinking fountain, water in the sprinklers, water in the street, water in a mud puddle at the park, water in the sink, water in the hose. He's my water baby, for sure.
He loves to identify things that belong to people - if something is pink he tells me its' "Emmy's". He likes to find my shoes and say "Mommy's shoes". Daddy's briefcase is a no no and he loves to point at it (and let's be honest, get into it) and say "Daddy's case". He loves "Ma's puse" (Grandma's purse) because it has mints and the iPhone. He loves "Pa's tuck" (Grandpa's truck). He identified something as his for the 1st time today, too. He likes to identify people, too - his friends, Emery's friends, this weekend it was Mark who we went camping with. Every time he saw him he'd shout - "Mark!"
This little non-verbal guy has surprised his mom by learning over half of the alphabet already.
He loves to count things, which always sounds about like, "2, 2, 2, 6!"
He loves colors - he knows white and purple always and everything else he guesses as pink (he's had lots of exposure to pink because Em always wants pink EVERYTHING). He's a lot better if he's picking out colors out of small groups. Then he gets most of them right. He did tell me today though that his favorite color is blue when I asked him.
He loves one on one time with mom. He likes to do things like coloring and puzzles, as long as he's sitting on my lap. :)
He's really learning to follow directions well and is getting really coordinated.
He loves to kiss Emery's princesses.
He can be a sensitive little guy and sometimes gets really upset when someone bumps into him or when mom accidentally bumps his head. Sometimes he gets down right angry! We've started calling him "anger management".
This kid is WILD!! I've been told he spends all of nursery trying to escape. He only sits still for an occassional Blue's Clues episode ("Dues Dues") - and by sit still I mean crawl/walk around my bed throwing pillows on the floor and climbing in and out of the blankets. And jumping until mom catches him doing it. He doesn't focus on anything yet. We're working on it. :)
He loves to jump and climb on EVERYTHING! He spends a crazy amount of time just jumping around the house.
He loves to kiss ouchies better and have his kissed better too.
He quit napping. Why do my kids do that at 2?
He loves to dance and sing. He loves to sing the last word of songs that have a big finish and hold the note forever. He will run around the living room in circles for forever laughing (aka dancing) if I'll sit and play piano to accompany him.
He's getting very independent and loves to do things him "self", and he tells me so frequently. He likes to walk by himself (in his own direction, away from mom...), get into his car seat himself and if you try to interfere you're going to get a piece of Van's mind. :)
He loves meat, rice, fruit, burritos, sandwiches, broccoli, sweet potatoes... well lots of things really. I've been blessed with another good eater. If I could get rid of the pesky milk, egg, soy and nut allergies this kid would eat anything!

Happy Birthday, Vander Mander! You have no idea how happy we are to have you in this family. Mommy's heart is so full with you in it.

His birthday morning set up (2 days early since dad was to be out of town on the real birthday!)

with his presents

I asked for a happy cake face and I got this - he loves to do happy and sad faces. Here's sad....

And here's happy! Silly boy!

beach and camping with Mark and Bek

2011-10-17T14:36:00.000-07:00

We celebrated our 6th anniversary on Friday by going to California for the weekend and had so much fun! On Friday we went to Leo Carrillo State Park and enjoyed a very warm beach day (until some crazy fog rolled in and it got cold!), tide pools with anemones, crabs, snails and star fish, sand castle building, caves and just being together. We had never been to the beach (a CA beach) with the 4 of us together and it was so fun! Emery loved playing in the sand and making friends with all of the little girls on the beach and Van loved running and splashing in the water.

crazy face kids

crazy face mom

crazy face dad

six years - i love this furry man

Then we headed to hang out with our favorite California hosts, Mark and Bekah. We stayed up way to late talking as usual, visited the canals in Venice (which were AMAZING!), went to Venice Beach - aka the human zoo, then drove to Malibu Creek Canyon for some camping. So glad we could carry on that tradition this year again. Thanks for another fabulous California adventure - we love you guys!

4 car seats, 4 adults...

and camping stuff and food for 8 people, all in Ruby! Love our car!

cute Lukey

big muscles!

the canals at Venice - so pretty!

Happy Wendesday (Humpday!)

2011-10-12T22:21:00.000-07:00

Wow - Wednesday again!! Comin' at ya.... this week's addition of what makes me happy on this lovely mid-week hump:

My sushi-snob husband. He ate at Elko's most renowned sushi establishment tonight. Claimed to be Top 5 sushi in the state. Too expensive, no Japanese people to be found (if you're a connoisseur of sushi you know this is a problem) and could the fish really be that fresh? He flew in on a plane with propellors, people. Needless to say he talked the people at the table next to him into trying his favorite Reno sushi next time. Lots better. He's so cute. And such a snob.
Words like "squishy", "nakey" and "potatoes" that make everyone around our house giggle.
My cute kids who squish into corners to read together.

Tiny trucks in my bed.

Toddler scissors. Best invention ever and this kid could cut paper all day and not kill anyone or hurt himself.

camping, BBQ and a baby blessing

2011-10-10T19:36:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend! On Friday we headed to a local canyon with 30 other people from the ward and camped. We had tons of baby campers, some 1st timers and I don't think any last timers. SUCCESS!!! We ate, camp-fired, slept (not much), rapelled (some 1st timers on that one too!) and the kids climbed rocks until they couldn't climb any more.

Em and her best buddy Jayne. These two think something is wrong if they don't get to play every day.

Jayne's little sister, Jersey. a.k.a "Jers" to Van, his partner in crime. These two are trouble.

A little PJ rapelling with my friend Sonna - her 1st time! She did great!

These cute girls drug their camp chairs all over kingdom come.


Dad and cute Van eating man-sized sandwiches for dinner in the back of Ruby.

And we got together with my red heads and their families for a little BBQ since we were all in the same town for once! - for Maggi and David to bless baby Liam in church. I apparently didn't get any pictures of Jack or Liam, but they were there and they were ADORABLE!! Our kids play so cute together. They must love each other because their mommies love each other so much.

Dudes in the car. I'm sure you can imagine how much coaxing it took to get Van out of this car for any extended period of time.

young love - Isn't Russell's smile the cutest thing you've ever seen?

Look out boys - that little girl is a knock out! Russell seems to think so!

happy wednesday (hump day)!!

2011-10-05T19:24:00.000-07:00

Wow!! I'm doing this two weeks in a row. Not bad. Though I haven't blogged anything in between.

Some things that made this Hump Day a happy one.

Van sitting on my lap "helping" me with a project when he was supposed to be taking a nap. (If Van could talk, he'd probably pipe in: "Mom, almost 2-year-olds totally don't nap anymore. How could you ask me to miss all that action while I'm asleep?") He was so sweet sitting with me cutting stuff with his little scissors and trying not to get burnt by the glue gun.
The ladies I serve with in Relief Society. We had a Presidency meeting last night. Man, I love those 3. They are strong, they are compassionate, they are hilarious.
My hubby calling me every 20 minutes for part of the afternoon. Turns out he was trying to prevent my loneliness for him. And I thought he was just really bored. He loves me.
That my daughter loves to accessorize. Jacket, hat, necklace, scarfs, a million hair bows, etc, etc, etc. SO not like her mama. I love to see what she picks out to wear every day.
Emery's nose - aka her sniffer. That girl can smell anything from a mile away... or 10 minutes later. I had a banana and peanut butter in the kitchen this morning. 5 minutes after it was all gone and put away Emery comes down stairs and says, "Mom, I want a banana and peanut butter too." To which I reply, "What do you mean, too?" She says, "Mom, you had a banana and peanut butter. I can smell it."
Needing to wear a jacket today. It felt so good to need a jacket after months of blistering in the heat!

No pictures again... my computer isn't really working. That was not a happy part of today. :)

Hope your Wednesday was as happy as mine!

Happy Hump Day!

2011-09-28T08:52:00.000-07:00

I've always laughed that Wednesday is often referred to as "Hump Day", but it really is a good descriptor! It's the middle of the week, right at the top of the hump, not quite close enough to the weekend. It's the day that makes it feel like it must have been at least 4 days since your almost 2 year old napped (because he's so grumpy... or is that me that's grumpy?...), like you don't have even 1/4 of the things done you need to get done before the end of the week and that it feels like it must be at least another 5 until Friday night when hubby might get off at a decent time.

So to add a little happiness to my Hump Day, here are some things that make me happy. I think I'll do this every Hump Day! I feel better already!

Making my bed every day. This isn't something I've always been great about, but my new Kohls finds (quilt and euro shams - $30, Britt's happiness - priceless) have given me new motivation. I feel happy about my room every time I walk in and see my bed.
Missionary opportunities. It turns out opening my mouth is easier than I thought, especially when the Lord keeps handing me people to talk to. I'm so thankful for my testimony of the gospel and the way it grounds me. Even when we understand pieces of Christianity differently, it has been a real blessing to see what peace our Savior brings to people I didn't even realize knew Him.
My hair. Vain as it sounds, it made me really happy when someone I see weekly at the gym asked if I'd gotten extensions! Maybe it's finally getting long!
Reading to my kids. They made "beds" under my desk yesterday and we laid under them two different times and just read for a while. Even Van held still.
Playing raquetball with Aaron. Man, we're bad. But I almost peed my pants laughing. And I won. :)
Cooler weather. Watching my kids play together on our porch again melts my heart. I'm such a lucky mom.

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

my hubby, the CPA

2011-09-21T19:15:00.000-07:00

he passed the last section of the CPA exam!!! glory, glory hallelujah, he's done! we're done! i've never known anyone so motivated and hard working. i know it was a long, 19-month sacrifice of lots less biking, running and fun that is normal for you, but your wife and kids appreciate your sacrifice and we're so proud of you!

love,
Mrs. CPA

Labor Day

2011-09-10T15:02:00.000-07:00

On our way home from Lake Powell we camped up Cedar Canyon near Mammoth Caves. The kids 1st caving experience was a little sketchy... but I'm sure they'll be more psyched about it when they're older. :) We had fun spending time in the great out doors, playing Indians, building a fire, roasting marshmellows and just being together for another day before we had to get back to real life.

love Em's face in this one

and Van's face in this one

Mammoth Caves are really cool - put it on your to-go list!

Lake Powell 2011

2011-09-10T14:50:00.000-07:00

Our Wilkinson Family goes to Lake Powell every year. We've been Lake Powell slackers for the last few years for various reasons (no money, Aaron can't come, etc.) and haven't been since I was pregnant with Emery. We finally got to go again this year and had sooooo much fun! We missed Amy and the Hatches, but everyone else was able to make it. The kids had a blast playing with cousins in the mud and water for 5 whole days and I think they would have been happy to never leave! We split up the cooking and all did a day and it worked out great. All of the food was delicious and we learned a lot about what worked and didn't work for next year with 22 people on one house boat. The kids did great - slept like a dream in the tent every night, Van fell asleep in my lap a few times (my dream come true) and we even managed to escape sun burns. Thanks mom and dad - we can't wait for next year!

Can you tell I'm in heaven?

My handsome guy and his beautiful mama

Mud, a truck and a giant hole to sit in. What more could a Van need?

Love those Rusts

Van and Rowan (Row boat)

Not too shabby for a desk-sitting accountant, eh?

There were 2 pregnant people on the boat - but these weren't them.

Dad looked lovely in my skirt

our newest addition.... and a newer one....

2011-09-07T15:03:00.000-07:00

Meet Zoom-Zoom.

Zoom-Zoom joined our family for a short time. Mazda5. Think minivan/wagon hybrid. A 6-seater. Lots more room than the Beast (the Corolla we've always had). We bought her in June. We liked Zoom, but just didn't love her.

So we traded her in for the dream. (Yes, this is our dream car.) Meet Ruby.

Here's the swagger wagon in all her camping glory.

8-seater Toyota Sienna. It's so good to be back in a Toyota. We're just Toyota people. I don't think we'll ever buy non-Toyota again. And she's Certified Used... so if anything does happen to go wrong (which it won't - it's a Toyota, people!), Toyota has to fix it, bumper to bumper through 2015.

I'm lovin' life. Lovin' being a minivan momma. Now we just need more kids. Or more crash pads. Or more bikes. Or more kids, crash pads and bikes!

And if you haven't seen the swagger wagon video you really need to see it.

http://www.youtube.com/toyotaUSA/?x=1sienna

A cute family

2011-08-24T13:39:00.000-07:00

I got to take pictures of this cute family in my ward. Just thought I'd show off a few of them - they turned out great with such a cute, photogenic family as subjects!

June and July 2011

2011-08-04T19:54:00.000-07:00

Not in any particular order, here's some of what we did in June and July!

Camping with our friends, the Elisons!

this little girl is sooooo cute! her temperament reminds me SOOO much of Emery!

teaching Vanny to burn marshmellows

Elison family, party of 7

I tried for 24 hours to get this kid to smile for pictures. I didn't get very many, but I did get a few!!

Spooky Canyon and Hoover Dam!

Kid Wrestling!

Horse-shaped pancake making!

Playing with dad in the sandbox!

Making silly faces!

happy

scared

happy

mad

happy

happy!!

Playing naked outside!! (What? - it's hot here!)

Being sick - I mentioned I was sick in a previous post. The kids only got the cold, but it was bad. Really bad. Both my kids holding still at the same time is always a bad sign.

Reupholstering my kitchen chairs!!

Before (nasty - Emery had started asking for a towel to put over the cushion because the seat "itched [her] legs".

After - happy!! (And complete with clear vinyl over the top so I can wipe them off easily)

Diaper/Panty popsicle eating on the porch!!

Pioneer Day Parade! Em makes a cute pioneer!

Splash Pad with Maggi, Jack and new baby Liam!!

I've never seen a sweeter baby, mine included. He's so precious.

twinners.

Fun at the District with Gram and Pa - Lucille's BBQ for dinner, REI, free carousel and trolley, dancing in the square to live music!

4th of July 2011

2011-08-04T19:38:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of catching up to do! We'll start with 4th of July - exactly 1 month late. Aaron and the kids had tons of fun in Orem for the 4th this year. I mostly laid on the couch sick. I was sick for over 3 weeks actually (1 week of some crazy rash covering 75% of my body, 1 week nasty cold, 1 week flu - back to back. Yikes.) Definitely glad to be done with that and I think I'm finally hopping again! Here are some short highlights in pictures of our 4th! (With no pics of the parade - the best part! They are on mom's camera!) Thanks, mom and dad, for making the 4th so magical, as always! :)

Grandma does a treasure hunt every year - this year it was a "Critter Hunt". The kids loved it!

We got this truck book from the library and I don't think obsessed really covered how Van felt about it. He fell asleep with it covering him more than once. (Here he's just waking up.)

he thinks my guide tennies are sexy

2011-06-30T14:25:00.000-07:00

If you know Aaron you'll understand why, but these are Aaron's biggest fears:

Pointy shoes - or particularly, me wearing them.
Big, ugly, trendy purses - or particularly, me wearing them.
Acrylic nails - or particularly, me wearing them.

Basically anything that furthers me from saying things like "I really think we should go to REI so I can get a new _____". He describes things like these as "gateway drugs" to further trendiness.

I bought these 5.10 guide tennies from Mountainworks at the beginning of the year. He thinks they are incredibly sexy.
I happen to think they are incredibly ugly, but I'm more than happy to wear them to [make Aaron happy] use the amazing sticky rubber to keep my babies safe when I hike with one on my back. Besides, they are pretty comfy.

we're baby-less

2011-06-23T19:56:00.001-07:00

It's a sad week at the Wilkinsons. We're officially to a point in time I never wanted to be at - we're baby-less. Em was 22 months old when Van was born and still in the crib and high chair, so we're just used to having a baby around all the time.

Van has hit all sorts of big boy milestones this week.

He's officially in the big boy bed. He loves to show me the cars and trucks on his sheets. He's really strong and was getting pretty rough on his crib, but it was surprisingly easy to switch him. He's such a good boy.
I put the tray on the high chair away and he sits in the booster at the table.
He swims by himself with just floaties. He's so aggressive in the water - it's hilarious.
He sat on the potty and seemed rather amused with himself. Daddy even helped him try to pee.
I even took down the baby gate at the top of the stairs. Sad.

Here's to hoping this baby-less period ends quickly! We'd definitely love another little one around our house.

daddy helping him try to pee

last 3 pics - Van showing me how he figured out how to climb into the pack and play.

One of the times I checked on him in the bed I found him sleeping like this. Awww!! A few minutes later he fell out. He looked confused but just climbed into bed and went back to sleep like it was no big deal. Love that kid.

our little garden

2011-06-15T14:05:00.001-07:00

Our little garden is turning out to be pretty fruitful!! We may only end up getting a billion tomatoes, a parsley bush (way bigger than a plant - hence it's now our parsley bush) some basil and a handful each of squash (that never seem to get big enough), beans and strawberries, but it's been so fun! Here are all of the tomatoes I picked TODAY!!

The Lion King is only in town for a few more weeks, so Grandma took us on a girls date! It was soooo amazing! We loved it. Emery was completely enthralled and was such a big girl.

the sweetest faces

2011-06-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

my kids have been so sweet lately. here are a few words to describe them the last few months.

EMERY:
smart. big. clever. adventurous. tough. independent. inquisitive. all-knowing. jumpy. princess. creative. sensitive. emotional. fun. life of the party. friendly.

VAN:
WILD. energetic. jumpy. reckless. hilarious. gentle. sweet. kissy. crazy. loud. adventurous. busy. mischievous. silly. laughy. talkative. friendly.

i'm so lucky to be their mom.

farewell to the Toulmers

2011-06-13T20:46:00.000-07:00

Matthew (my brother), Amy (sis-in-law) and Miles (Emery's cousin who is 16 days younger), who have been inhabiting a home on a desert research facility, off the grid, in the middle of the Sweeney Granite Mountains about 2 hours from Vegas for the last 2.5 years, are moving back to Massachusetts! We are so sad to see them go, but are happy for them since they are going back to a place they love so much. We made the trek out the the desert and enjoyed non-stop Emery and Miles fun for a day in May. We tried hard to make it well-documented since it won't happen very often anymore. :(

aren't the mountains in their little cove amazing? (side note - Emery got a giant splinter in her bum from playing on this wood)

I love this picture because it explains what Emery and Miles love to do most together - run unrestrained at full speed

welcome to "The Bunny Club". this place is legendary in California (and elsewhere) acadamia. built into the side of the mountain by some of the most renowned professors from the University of California, it is huge inside and has multiple stories and can sleep about 30 people - in beds.

it looks like a random collection of junk, but it's far from that. yes, that is a ship's horn in the left corner. you can never buy anything new for the bunny club, they accept donations of used items, but nothing new. it's a collection of random COOL, VINTAGE, COLLECTORS-QUALITY stuff. there's even a shower. the main guy who built it is too old to make the hike anymore, but his sons carry him up there because he just needs to go. matthew and amy only have access because they are the preserve hosts. you have to have keys to get through locked fences. definitely on my list of coolest places i've ever been (which, in case you were wondering, includes: Havasupai, Buckskin Gulch and The Bunny Club)

happy boy on a tractor. he loves tractors.

just the 2 of us

2011-06-13T19:49:00.000-07:00

Now that busy season is over and Aaron has finally taken the 4th and final section of the CPA exam (crossing our fingers that he passed!), we're learning to spend time together again. It's strange. I really feel like I've seen him, but hardly spent any time with him since Van was born. For the longest time I didn't even look forward to him getting home from work (I know this sounds terrible), but he'd just have to eat quick and go back to studying. I think this was mostly out of self protection - it's easier to not care at all than to really miss someone you can't have (until he's done with the stupid test and busy season). At least for me it is.

But let me tell you, I feel like we're actually MARRIED again. And not just on paper. I'm so excited when he gets home. We're really just enjoying each others' company in a way we haven't been able to in a long time. It's been awesome.

We celebrated this new stage by going to Escalante to hike Coyote Gulch - just the two of us. Thanks, Rusts, for watching our kiddies so we could go! It was a great trip and so fun to just be together.

and we embark...

me trying to get the scenery... i love this type of hiking. it looks drab, boring and deserty.... and then you descend.

so we got talking about our childrens' college educations on the way in, followed misguided footprints and got lost. but lost led us to this AMAZING view - way above and beyond any view we were supposed to see on the intended route. way worth the 1 hour detour.

finally found our way to the one and only entrance into the canyon - this 18 inch crack in the rock.

then down the big sandy hill with the huge hopping black beetles. scary.

aaron likes to feel safe when we're in the great outdoors. joke. he found this huge knife with a CTR ring tied to it. we tried to track down the scout that lost it for the rest of the trip. no luck. so now we have a huge knife.

"the black lagoon" - well worth the side trip up a semi-hidden side canyon to this giant deep pool of water. this is how scared i was to jump in. i thought i was so tough since I'd swam in the ocean just a few weeks before. it couldn't be colder than that, right? oh, it was. i shook for an hour after, even wearing my down jacket. and i only stayed in for 3 minutes.

finally made it out of the canyon - the hiked the longest 2 miles of my life uphill over the slick rock, then across the deep sand to our car. not the highlight. :)

the official breakfast chef the 2nd morning at our campsite in escalante. i have a smug look on my face because i'm trying to pretend i know how to use the camping stove. ha. i do now. apparently aaron always does that part. its only fair, right? i cook all the time at home. :)

when we got back we took the kids climbing to Momentum in Sandy. so fun. I try not to be biased since I'm their mom, but our kids are stellar little climbers. Genetically bred that way, I guess. :)

this kid hangs on EVERYTHING. at least here he's supposed to.

We also helped with lots of wedding prep for Chelsey and Taylor's wedding reception on Saturday. Mom pulled off the most GORGEOUS back yard reception I've ever been to. It was amazing!

lindsey and josh with family friends amy and allen

amy and rowan

don't you just love the way he looks at her? so cute!

that handsome father-in-law of mine

girls weekend in Newport Beach

2011-05-23T20:22:00.000-07:00

I just got back from the most rejuvenating, fun-filled, laugh-out-loud, action-packed weekend with my best girl friends. We get together every year with our kids, but this year we left the kids at home with the hubbies!! It was so far above and beyond our expectations. Seriously one of the best weekends of our lives! Here was our brief itinerary - not planned ahead - just planned from moment to moment while we were there. (And we missed you, Maggs!)

Lacee and I drove to CA Friday morning... talked for 5 hours straight. We needed it. It's been way too long.
Pulled in to Newport Beach about 12:30pm.
Ate at a delicious little upscale cafe right across the street from the Newport Beach temple - the Pacific Whey Cafe. Cajun Chicken sandwich on sourdough. One of the most amazing meals of my life. Wish I could figure out what they did to those peppers on it...
Did a session in the Newport Beach Temple. This temple is BEAUTIFUL!! And so beachy. Loved it.
Drove to Huntington Beach and to put our feet in the water before dinner.
Picked up Bekah and Lulu at our fabulous hotel. (Our hotel was hosting the fund raiser for the new Casablanca remake. See pic up top of motif. Fun!)
Went to dinner at the Stone Fire Grill. Sat around catching up and each laying out our dreams for girls weekend.
Went shopping at Fashion Island. Spent two hours in Forever 21 trying on ugly outfits, formal dresses and cute stuff too, of course.
Got Yogurtland. Yum.
Went back to the hotel where we all got facials from Lulu. My skin still feels soft.
Crashed and slept in. Ahhhhh....
Headed to California Adventure for the morning. Rode Screamin' over California, Tower of Terror, Soarin' over California and went through the interactive animation exhibit they have there. So cool.
Went back to the hotel at noon, changed into our swim suits.
Chronic Tacos for lunch. LIFE CHANGING.
Headed to Newport Beach. Laid on the sand giggling for hours. Played volleyball. Swam in the freezing cold ocean until we were hypothermic.
Got Sprinkles cupcakes. Didn't think I liked cupcakes. Turns out I do. Wow.
Showered and got ready as fast as we could!
Ate yummy Thai food at a local place for dinner.
Yogurtland. Again. :)
Headed to DisneyLand for the evening. Rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, almost Indiana Jones (it broke when we were almost to the front), watched the fireworks, sang at the top of our lungs to the music for the night shows and finally crashed with exhaustion. (here's us on the toy story bus on the way to the park and being sooooo happy in the happiest place on earth)
Finally got to sleep at about 2 am. Slept too late for 9am church.
Went to 11am church in a ward that had a musical sacrament meeting and the greediest choir director we've ever seen - he put in a huge plug for more choir members and then the choir got up to sing. Biggest ward choir I've ever seen. Great sacrament meeting though! Some powerful talks about church music.
More Chronic Tacos and more Sprinkles (to take home to the hubbies this time).
Saddest goodbyes ever!! :( (Apparently I make the world's ugliest sad face. I really had no idea.)

Bek, Lu and Lace - thanks for an amazing, wonderful weekend. I've never laughed so hard or talked so much. I love you and can't wait to do it again!

Best Day Ever!

2011-05-21T22:27:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have those days were you feel like your a good parent? Well, today was one of those days. Actually, it has to be in the top ten days of my life. Britt went to California with some of her friends and I got to stay home with the kids all weekend long. Let me tell you, it was much needed time after pretty much being gone for the past six months because of work. Here is what we did today:

9am - 2pm: went hiking in Red Rocks. The kids were so good hiking! You can't help but feel really cool when you are scrambling up rocks with your 1 and 3 year old.
2pm - 5pm: build a sand box in the yard. It's amazing how many bags of sand you can fit in the trunk of a Corolla.
5pm - 6pm: Ate at CC's Pizza. Yes! Kids 3 and younger eat for free.
6pm - 6:30pm: ran through sprinklers.
6:30 - 7:30: Went swimming in the pool. We were already wet, so we had to finish the job.
7:30pm - 8:30pm baths, wrestling, wrapping Van in a towel and making him laugh so much, via tickling, that he spits up. Whoops...
8:30pm: Bed (Emery is sleeping in my bed. hehe).

Emery loves to sing while hiking.

I am one happy dad!

new glasses

2011-05-16T20:53:00.000-07:00

thanks, buddy, for breaking my glasses so i could get new ones! you like? inspired by my friend, Jen, who has sported red glasses for the past few years. i actually got 2 pair. the other are black. love that bogo at eyeglass world!

Easter Sunday

2011-04-30T20:13:00.000-07:00

Easter Sunday was so fun this year! I didn't get pictures of the egg hunt with the cousins, but I did get a picture of Em dying eggs, a lovely one of Em and I working on the eggs (thanks, Aaron), and a dog pile on mom picture. it really was fun!

and the last picture is of Emery sitting on the couch looking at pictures of Christ. before church we sat down with just her and explained why we celebrate Easter. it was so special to be able to bear testimony of the resurrected Savior to our 3-year-old and see just how seriously she took it. she sat on the couch and just looked at pictures of Jesus for 5 more minutes, all by herself, when we were through. what a sweet girl we have! she's doing the 1st Article of Faith in Primary tomorrow. what a big girl!

happy laundry room!!

2011-04-30T20:04:00.000-07:00

i found this oh so yummy pint of paint on the discount paint shelf at Home Depot a while back for $1. yes, you read that correctly. $1.

but a pint of paint only paints like 80 square feet. just the size of the back wall in my laundry room. now i have a happy laundry room!! and i painted it all by myself while Aaron was studying one night last week. :)

got the shelf for $3.75 at Goodwill already cute, white and distressed!

and this is my real life, in the process of doing laundry, laundry room. not the "i just made it look perfect for the picture" laundry room. pardon my laziness!

here's the before. yawn.

DISNEYLAND!!!!

2011-04-12T20:40:00.000-07:00

We just got back from DISNEYLAND! We had a completely magical and amazing time at the happiest place on earth. Thanks to Mark and Bek (lovingly known as my Disneyland maid) for letting us crash their house, lives and refrigerator - and for just spoiling us in general. We could seriously hang out with you guys forever. We love you! The kids played so cute and were all pretty happy (generally speaking) for being so completely out of their routines. We can't wait to do it again!

Emery was, as expected, completely obsessed with the Princesses. She met 5 and Rapunzel waved and smiled right at her as she passed her after she heard Emery say, "Gasp! It's Rapunzel!". I was really impressed with how in character the Princesses were. They were so cute with Emery and really made her feel special and excited. And don't worry, I only cried like 6 times. There's just something so emotional about watching your babies' dreams come true. Disneyland is so magical. I love it.

I wish I could tell you that this is an exaggeration of my excitement pulling into Disneyland, but it's not. I was seriously going to pee my pants!

one of my favorite moments of the trip - Emery found a Jessie hat and then a Woody hat and brought it to Van. cute!

Van LOVED the teacups

Van was not amused with the only character he met

Pocahontas was my favorite that Emery met. She was DARLING!!!!

the kids rode horses in Griffith Park. definitely a highlight of the trip. Van was even big enough to ride and he LOVED it!

Mark works for Disney and gave us the grand tour of the Disney lot where he works in Burbank. It was so cool! We saw costumes from recent movies (think Alice in Wonderland's Mad Hatter and Alice - so cool) and lots of original sketches and story boards... along with lots of other things. Here's the Tangled story board.

This is the building where the Disney executives (like Bob Iger) have their offices. It's really cool - see how the building is being held up by the Seven Dwarfs? It's because the whole company was built with the money that Walt Disney made from Snow White. Kind of fun.

Van wasn't sure about the sand for over an hour. Once he watched Lukey the sand monster eat if for that long though he decided it must be okay.

nap on the beach - on mom. He really looks too big to sleep on me in this picture. and he is. he's HUGE these days!

trip to UT

2011-04-12T19:19:00.000-07:00

our trip to UT right before Chelsey's wedding was so fun! we got to go to the zoo with the Rust boys and see a few friends while we were there too.

and we got to play with all of the cousins together the day after the wedding. pioneer park in St. George is a blast for kids! we all did "the crack" and just played and played and played!! we miss our UT family so much!

Chelsey and Taylor's Wedding!

2011-04-04T21:45:00.000-07:00

Aaron's little sister got married this weekend. We're so happy to have Taylor in our family. The kids LOVE Uncle Taylor.... and so do the adults. :) The setting and the couple were perfect.

Chelsey was crazy enough to ask me to do the pictures at her wedding. Yes, crazy. I heisted my mom's fancy camera and away I went. The bride was absolutely STUNNING! I hope my pictures do her justice. They are such goof balls and were so fun to photograph. Now I know why people do this for a livWe love you guys!

don't hate me because i got this table for $5

2011-04-04T20:47:00.000-07:00

i really wanted a little table for the hall by the entry to my garage. i just didn't want to spend any money. which is why i didn't have a table. ha.

and then one day i was doing my usual Goodwill stalking run and came across this table ... for $5!!! the Goodwill guy almost always smokes crack (because things are too expensive) but this time it was the other way around! $5! i thought it was marked wrong or something. it was already antiqued/distressed and beautiful. aaron bought me the knobs at Anthropologie (i'd been stalking them... trying to figure out where i could put them in my house) and my table is perfect. i love it!

now for that white board on the wall. how to make it funky....

spray paint makes me feel crafty

2011-04-04T19:54:00.000-07:00

so, i'm not one of those crafty people when it comes to most things. i've made a few decent cards here and there, a fairly miserable wreath a while back... but mostly i just refuse to create (except in the kitchen, of course).

and then i met my new best friend - spray paint. and my new favorite store - goodwill. and i started trash digging.

be still my heart. i created something! and i don't even miss aaron when he hasn't been home before 10pm (or has just been out of town) since november (okay, i really do miss him, but this seriously keeps me entertained).

my pictures don't really do this stuff justice. so much better in real life. it really is so much fun - and looks AMAZING!

the lovely night stand I dug out of the neighbor's garbage....sanded, primed, spray painted Krylon smoke gray and glazed .....

the old DI bar stools before....

sanded, primed, painted Krylon Purple and glazed (they are going to look even cooler when i get my kitchen table done). i love the pop of color they bring to my kitchen!

aaron's little sister chelsey got married this last weekend and i decided to do a gallery wall inspired by Anthropologie's WAY too scrubby looking one...
and this really cool knock off...
using these frames....

here's what it turned out like - post priming, painting and glazing! it will look much better when it's hanging on chelsey's wall and not sitting on my carpet.
chelsey loved it. she told me at least 4 times that it is her favorite thing she got for her wedding!

i really wanted to keep this mirror. it took all the goodness in my sisterly heart to give it up. it's gorgeous.

someone stole my car

2011-03-27T20:32:00.001-07:00

so, thursday morning i go to yoga at my gym. it's at 8am which means i'm almost always in a hurry since the kids are getting up at 7ish (instead of 6ish) with the time change. i parked my car and ran into the play room to drop off the kids and then sprinted up the stairs to get there just in time to be part of the first down dog. i love yoga. i need yoga. ahhh.

i get done with yoga feeling completely stretched and relaxed, grab the kids and start walking out to my car. i get to where i thought i parked it and it's not there. since i was in a hurry and i go to the gym almost every day and park on the same side of the lot i figured i must just be going crazy and i'd parked somewhere else. but i didn't. i really couldn't find it.

so i dropped my kids back off at the play room and told the staff i couldn't find my car - i must be going crazy - and went to walk the parking lot by myself, expecting to find it without the kiddie distractions. no luck. the car was really gone.

so i went up and told the manager of the gym. and called the police. apparently i'm not the sharpest crayon in the box because i usually leave my diaper bag (and wallet) on the seat when i go into the gym. doh. i called aaron and had him cancel credit cards. i waited for the cops to show up. i filled out the police report. i was really in a "this can't seriously be happening" fog. i kept almost laughing. i think the cops thought i was a little nuts.

and then the next problem. the car had the car seats in it. how do i get the kids home? luckily a girl i've met a few times offered to take my kids home while i stayed at the gym with her kids. i had her take them to my parents' house since i was a little afraid to go home since my garage door opener was in the car too.

so we get to my parents house and i get a call from the police. they found my car - just 3 hours after it was stolen. and its "drivable". an interesting word to use. what does "drivable" mean? completely destroyed but you might be able to get it home without breaking down too often?

nope, it really was drivable. and fine. with the exception of the drivers side front window they bashed to get into the car. and it was less than a block from where it was taken. while i wasn't allowed to touch the car yet, the cop gave me a [much deserved and rather hilarious] lecture about not leaving my bag on the seat. and the criminalistics lady came and fingerprinted my car. and then we looked inside. my wallet was still there! he didn't take ANYTHING!!! it's in kind of a hidden pouch in my diaper bag and i guess the crook didn't see it in his hurry to bail out of the car. poor guy stole a car for only diapers.

moral #1 - don't leave your bag on the seat of your car when you live where i do.
moral #2 - if you're going to leave your bag on the seat, make sure you have a hidden pouch for your wallet.

i got really lucky and feel SOOOO blessed... mostly that i didn't have to spend 3 1/2 hours at the DMV getting my license replaced last week. whew! i'm the luckiest airhead alive!

sorry no pictures. the glass all over the car was rather entertaining, though! i'll leave it to your imagination!

A Look at Books with Team Hoopes

2011-03-18T12:15:00.000-07:00

My friend, Stacey, is doing a fun spotlight on reading this month with a different post every day about literacy, reading, how to teach your kids, etc. There are some really great tips on there. Check it out here!

IB with the Sampsons

2011-03-16T13:12:00.000-07:00

We were a little short on friends in Cedar City, but the ones we did make were good ones. Em's little BFF from Cedar and her mom and brother came with us to the beach for a week to escape the husbandless loneliness. (Thanks again, Colt, for letting me borrow your family!) It was a PERFECT, AMAZING trip. And did I mention the weather was GORGEOUS. And the company was WAY too much fun. It was an awesome trip. Thanks for making the trek with us guys!!

all 4 kids looking at the camera. how often does that happen?

little beach bums admiring our view

happy, cheesy boy

em spent a lot of time as a mermaid

and you can't do the beach without ice cream all over your face and dripping down your arms.

and without sharing the twin bed with your buddy because you CANNOT be separated

cute buddies on the play

the beach babes

goodbye imperial beach! until next time!

Dual Nappers Today

2011-03-15T13:02:00.001-07:00

Other moms of two: does it ever leave you in a slightly confused stupor when your kids both nap AND at the same time? Emery almost NEVER naps and definitely NEVER does it at the same time as Van.

So here I am blogging about it. I'm confused on how to just focus on one thing at a time. I'm used to juggling a munchkin while I clean out the closet or cook dinner. So weird.

I'm going to stop wasting time and try and escape my stupor and be productive. Even though what I REALLY want to do is finish my book. I only have like 40 pages left. No room for guilty pleasures here. Why is that a guilty pleasure for me anyway? Oh, I'm ridiculous.

when hubby's away, the wife will.... paint

2011-03-13T21:06:00.000-07:00

since aaron's gone so much i've taken up amusing myself with re-doing more furniture. here's what i've recently attacked. i'll post after pictures soon. next up - the kitchen table. :)

this piece of lovely i found in on my neighbor's curb in the trash. yes, i'm a trash digger now. whoever tried to refurbish it the 1st time went awfully wrong.
and my trusty old bar stools. bought for $5 each at DI in Cedar City. they needed a new look. who wants boring brown bar stools anyway?

family picture outtakes

2011-02-18T19:56:00.000-08:00

since I didn't do a family new years letter (whoops) I decided I'd at least better post some family pictures.

but that sounded too boring.

so, for your amusement, I give you the Wilkinson family picture outtakes.

way more fun than the ones we'd really hang on our wall. :)

to get the full effect you'll have to click on them to make them bigger.

Picture 1: what's in Van's mouth?

Picture 2: Britt mid-hair flip and Emery with the most fake smile she can muster

Picture 3: Aaron - "Ok, I think we're done with the kids on our shoulders now... the fake happy smile is gone..."
Picture 4: Aaron - "Like I said, can we please get the kids off our shoul....WHACK!"

Picture 5: Aaron and Emery having an ugly face contest

Picture 6: Van - "Ooh, dad, you have yummy bugs in your hair!"

Picture 7: Van - "What are we doing here again?"
Picture 8: Van - "Oh ya, posing! I'm good at that!"

Picture 9: Britt - "Van... it's hard to look happy when you're clawing at me..."
Picture 10: Britt - "VAN!!!" (notice Emery and Aaron completely oblivious to the battle occuring next to them)

Picture 11: things are getting a little crazy. Tickle attack gone bad and Van is no longer posing. DONE.
Picture 12: Ok mom, we're past crazy. We're done being happy....
Picture 13: okay, one last go. everybody HAPPY!!!!! (wait.... that's too happy...)
Picture 14: I leave you with a cute upside down boy and his dad...

Happy New Year (late) from our family to yours!

bathroom makeover

2011-02-10T22:07:00.000-08:00

the bathrooms in our house needed a LOT of work. the 2 upstairs had the most awful white linoleum you can imagine and the faucets started deteriorating the first time i scrubbed them. we didn't do special to our bathroom but we did do some fun things in the kids' bath. i promised kimberly these TONIGHT! so here they are!

BEFORE:

awful, dirty, i could barely stand to have emery in there to go potty! disgusting floor - and no tub - just a gross shower.

so i enslaved my husband to tear out the nasty shower and hang out with van fixing the new tub (during pretty much the only free month of his life... he loves me!) if van looks little this is because Aaron did it in September.

i love this picture of my handsome boys

the kids were so happy to have their own tub that they couldn't even wait for dad to finish the dry wall

but he DID finish it!

so professional. i'd hire him out, but he gets home at about 11:30pm these days, so he may not be much use to anyone. :)

and then commenced the painting. moral of the story: don't paint your house boring colors if you really want color - because then you'll explode and paint something lime green!!!!

what we did:

replace floors
tear out old shower and put in new tub surround
new faucet and towel ring
paint it green!!
and of course... new bathroom accessories.

AFTER:

and in case you're wondering where you can get one of those adorable over the toilet shelves for your kids' bathrooms - you can't. because i rennovated a Goodwill special! yahoo!! the first of [hopefully] many projects like this.

BEFORE: (I think this thing was born in the early 1900s. no joke.)

AFTER!!! (sand, primer, white spray paint, $2.50 - usually $5 - knob from Hobby Lobby and a little bit of scrapbook paper and Mod Podge.)

the kids and I LOVE the green bathroom! and Aaron thought I was crazy, but he actually likes it too! :)

for you pregnant girls out there

2011-02-02T21:30:00.000-08:00

"he's an allergic little dude." that's what dr. mcknight, the pediatric allergist, told me about Van yesterday at his appointment. he is very allergic to eggs and milk. slightly less allergic to peanuts. again less to soy. and he's allergic to cats and dogs.

i asked him what makes some kids allergic and others not. is it something i ate when i was pregnant? did i pass the milk allergy to him genetically (i was deathly allergic to milk as a baby and i'm still mildly allergic, if you didn't know)?

here's what he said: there is some (non-definitive) research that shows that eating large amounts of high allergy foods when pregnant can lead to the baby being allergic to those foods after birth. i definitely could have passed milk to him genetically. maybe.

he also gave a disclaimer: you could go to the best doctors at each of the best 3 allergy research facilities in the country and get 3 different opinions on the subject.

here's the funny part - when i was pregnant with Van, i ate at least 1 egg a day and had a bowl (not a serving - a bowl) of ice cream every night of the last half.

not so funny to Van i guess. note to Britt - careful what you eat next time around. :) the doctor said not to blame myself. i think he's just being nice.

sorry, Vander. mommy loves you! but you have to admit. that is one seriously cute allergic little dude.

sisters

2011-02-02T21:23:00.000-08:00

i wasn't blessed with any sisters. and i never thought i needed any... until i grew up and realized all girls need sisters. lucky for me i married into 5. we all got to be together over new years and it was so fun. i really love my sisters! and i have the world's best mother-in-law, but any of you who know her at all know that goes without saying. :)

and thanks for loving crazy britt as one of your own you guys!

2010 reading

2011-01-24T20:38:00.001-08:00

I read 6006 pages (of fiction) in 2010. That is probably 5000 pages more than the year before. Maybe not a lot to some people, but it's TONS for me! I have zero time to read. What made the difference last year?

Van nursed less than every two hours until he was 6 months old. That's a lot of reading.
I was having so much fun reading that I abandoned the treadmill for the elliptical for about 6 months because I can read while I'm on it. :)

I'm back to running. And I have no baby to nurse. :( I'm sure 2011 will be more like 1000 pages. Here's to hoping for a 7000 page 2012!

My reading list - just for fun! I really loved all of these books.

The Zion Covenant series - Bodie Thoene (books 1-5)
The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series - Alexander McCall Smith (books 3-10?)
The Hunger Games series
Enna Burning - Shannon Hale
AJ Adams - The Year of Living Biblically

i'm a mormon mommy blogger

2011-01-24T20:07:00.000-08:00

i'm a mormon mommy blogger. and proud to be one. i know i don't make an impact like some of the big time mormon mommy bloggers out there, but i hope that at some point i can show someone, somewhere that my life is just as magical as i write it to be. i'm so thankful to be a blogging, baking, diaper changing, almost always pregnant or nursing, tear-wiping, furniture renovating, budgeting master, booger wiping, clearance shopping, meal giving, make believing, laundry doing, foodie, husband pampering, lucky wife, LDS church going stay-at-home-mom.

this article made me so glad there are lots of us who do make an impact on the outside world - even if i don't.

http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2011/01/15/feminist_obsessed_with_mormon_blogs/index.html

hiking, climbing and more hiking

2011-01-18T21:41:00.000-08:00

the weather has been amazing here so we've been trying to get out as much as we can with the few hours we get on Saturdays.

here we are at Calico Basin... we did some Chaco climbing too because Emery was so into it. she really is a good little climber. i'd think that even if i wasn't her mom!

standing on a rock she napped on when she was 6 months old

here we are hiking "pyramid rock". on any adventure Dora still shows up. the first one she's singing the Dora song about our adventure and the 2nd one she's singing AND dancing. and so's Aaron. ha.

and last but not least we went hiking with Grandpa on MLK day since dad had to work. boo.

anthem east trail:

extras....

2011-01-18T21:22:00.000-08:00

Over the holidays we also went hiking with our friends the Derricks and their cute brood.

i know some of you looking at this picture are suspicious about what is hiding under my shirt. i unfortunately have nothing to report except maybe too many Christmas goodies and an awkward camera angle... though not for lack of trying. :)

And Van made pretty noises all the way home.

And Em went to Primary for the very 1st time! Ahhh!!! Jesus DOES want her for a sunbeam!

Aaron turned 28 and celebrated with his annual apple pie... the BEST apple pie on earth. (especially good the next day after it's been in the fridge....mmm...)
I turned 26 with no pictures to prove it. Though I did have an amazingly successful and fun annual shopping trip with my mom (thanks again, mom!) WITHOUT the kids (thanks, dad!)!

Van got his cast off and a much needed hair cut.
And he learned to walk and somehow managed to get cuter as well. (I'll post a walking video later!)

and we went on a hot date - played raquetball (have you ever done this for a date? you should. it's intensely fun!), jumped really high and ate mexican food. then took me home early to bed with a headache. boo.

UT for New Years

2011-01-18T21:12:00.001-08:00

Aaron's only other sibling (and fam) who doesn't live in UT decided to go to UT for New Years so since we had a 5-day weekend we decided to head that direction too! It was so fun to play in the snow and just spend time with our family. We are so blessed to have the best family. Emery loved playing with her cousins too. Aaron and I even got to go climbing for the 1st time in forever.
i happened upon these 3 cute cousins playing and singing "Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam" in the closet

Emery turns 3!

2011-01-18T20:40:00.000-08:00

I really can't believe my big girl is three!

We celebrated with Spicy Apple Pancakes with Cider Sauce for breakfast, McDonalds nuggets and play place for lunch and mac and cheese for dinner - all specifically requested by the birthday girl. And a pink and purple princess cake (again, specifically requested) which mom stayed up until midnight making the night before - and you LOVED it. We went to the Lied Discovery Childrens' Museum - dad even got off early and came too! We got Emery a doll house and Grandma and Pa got her a kitchen. She spends ridiculous amounts of time playing with both - we love toys that help her imagination! Grandma and Pa Wilkinson got her a unicorn purse that she's completely obsessed with.

this is a hurricane chamber... since it's hard to tell!

I wrote a huge entry in her journal about how cute she is, but it won't just copy over here so you'll just have to imagine how cute and smart she is - and it's true, she really is!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

2011-01-18T20:29:00.000-08:00

We spent Christmas at home this year. It was fun to make some of our own traditions and continue some old ones - like ebelskivers ala Mel and Britt for Christmas morning breakfast and funeral potatoes for Christmas Eve dinner (yes, there was other food. It's just inconsequential in comparison). My Christmas clearly revolves around food. Anyone surprised? I didn't think so.

dessert for Christmas Eve - a modification of this recipe. aaron and i ate one of them by ourselves Christmas Day. Oops.

Emery loved Christmas morning. She got what she wanted - her Princess Tiana, her horses and a few bonuses like a box of Cocoa Puffs and princess panties. She loved her Camelbak and headlamp from Grandma and Pa too. Obviously (see pic). She wore it ALL day.

Van had neutral feelings about Christmas until this bad boy showed up with Gram and Pa. He wouldn't get off of it. For weeks. I had to move it to the garage so I could stop pushing him around all day (his feet don't quite reach the pedals).

And for 2 years in a row I didn't get a picture of the 4 of us on Christmas morning. I'm terrible. I promise myself one next year.

Pre-Christmas festivities!

2011-01-18T20:22:00.000-08:00

Em was obsessed with Christmas lights so we tried to see as many as possible...

At Opportunity Village's Magical Forest...

And the big tree at The District... (and more places not pictured)...

Imperial Beach - Early December

2011-01-18T20:11:00.001-08:00

Here goes the catch up!

The kids and I spent 4 dreamy days at the beach with Grandma and Pa and Great Grandma and Grandpa Wimmer. We played in the sand, Grandma, Mom and I sewed doll clothes for our ward service project (sending dolls to Africa - remember that 29th Warders??), took long walks, played at the park and just enjoyed each others' company! It was a blast!

cute Van and Pa

the cutest retired people i know

how em felt about the sand

how van felt about the sand (for the majority of the time)

really a terrible location we stay at, eh?

for the love of cute. son, you're killing your mommy with cuteness.

to prove grimey mom was there...

classic

2010-12-23T07:13:00.000-08:00

family nativity

2010-12-22T13:42:00.001-08:00

i present for your viewing pleasure the wilkinson family nativity.

mary, joseph and the baby Jesus

cute little wise man

hark! the herald angel sung

and the sheep. good thing we want more kids. we were kind of scrapping for parts!

visit from the Dicous - Thanksgiving weekend

2010-12-20T21:27:00.000-08:00

we had a lovely visit from some of our favorite people Thanksgiving weekend. the Dicous came to stay at "Hotel Wilkie". we ate. we biked 35 miles. we stayed up late talking. we went to see Donny & Marie (she's Donny's dog's vet!) and even met them. Marie gave Bishop and Aaron a "man hug". they came to church with us and looked like proud parents while they watched me lead the music in sacrament meeting.

thanks for a great weekend - we love you guys!
i only wish sister D had sent me their "over excited" picture. if you think ours was funny you should see theirs! :)

em's first time climbing (Dec 4)

2010-12-19T15:13:00.001-08:00

we bought a childrens' rock climbing harness when i was pregnant with emery 3 years ago. we were clearly a little over excited. it's hard to believe, but we actually have a munchkin big enough to fit in it now. emery did so good her first time climbing and her daddy was SOOOOO proud.

and mom and van had fun too. van ate rocks and mom made sure he didn't choke or crawl off a cliff. :)

brave

2010-12-17T10:58:00.001-08:00

we interrupt these holiday updates to bring you a brave (spelled out on his forehead to try and distract him at the doctor's office) little boy with a broken arm. got jumbled amongst five 3-year-old girls at the top of the stairs and fell to the bottom. fractured both bones just above the wrist. he's taking it in stride. in 4 weeks he should be good as new.

something about my son tells me this isn't van's last cast.