Nate 3.75

My hair can get a little shaggy when I let it grow too long.  In that shaggy state it is not uncommon for me to experience a little bed-head on Saturday mornings.  Some times this lasts in to the afternoon before I finally get around to showering.   Yesterday, while Julie was cutting my hair, Nate noticed my bed-head and asked…..  get ready for this….. he asked if I had some pee in my hair that was making it stick up!  Wow, I’m not sure how that train of thought came to fruition. 

Nate’s alter ego, Spiderman is very active in our home.  Sometimes I get to team up with him to fight the imaginary bad guys that have infiltrated our home and sometimes I get to be the super-strong bad guy.  I think I make a really good bad guy!  Nate usually wins by using his super strong muscles.  :)  Nate has two pairs of Spiderman pajamas that get much more use during the day than at night.  If he could wear them everyday and all day long I know he would.

In the last couple of months Nate has finally started to like music.  In the past, Nate always asked me to turn off the music.  If I showed reluctance, he would take matters into his own hands and turn it off himself.  As you can imagine this was very stressful for a guy that likes music as much as I do.  What changed then?  Earlier this summer we took the kids to the Ogden Arts Festival where some live music was being played.  We sat down near the old fountain and listened to the music for a while.  The band wasn’t too bad and Nate was completely enthralled by the experience.  He liked the guy playing the guitar the most and asked if he could learn to play the “loud” guitar when he gets big.  So this was really exciting.  Now Nate loves to listen to music on one condition.  It must be “fast” music with electric guitar!  Some of his favorites right now are Aerosmith and Relient K.

Just the other evening Nate and I were chilling downstairs.  Madeleine was asleep and Julie was out doing some fun stuff on her own.  Nate randomly announced that he had a baby in his belly.  Smiling, I asked why he thought he had a baby in his belly.  With all the confidence in the world he stated that he knew he had a baby in his belly because his belly was big.  :)  I explained that only mommy’s could have babies.  I think that conversation is just going to get more and more detailed as time goes on.  Ha. 

One of Nate’s classic laughing looks.  This is the laugh that is totally infections!  :)

Here is a shot with Nate and me.  I love that kid so much.  I look back on what we have done together so far and also look forward to all the thing’s will do together.  Our family rocks.

I am one proud father.  Stay tuned for a similar post about little Madeleine.  She has also surprised me a little as of late.  :)  All these photos can be found in this gallery on our website.

Julie’s Favorite Things

After my (Julie) horrible post yesterday I thought I better do something lighthearted and fun. Here’s a list of my favorite things (instead of Oprah’s). Unfortunately, I won’t be giving any of this stuff away to any of you. Sorry :)

 

Anything Aveeno

 

Dreyer’s Smore Ice Cream

 

Real Simple Magazine

 

Simply Orange Juice

 

Ann Taylor Loft Cami

 

 

Streetwise City Maps

 

Joovy Caboose Stroller

 

Arrow Fitted White Dress Shirt

 

Nutella

 

MAC Select Moisturecover Concealer

 

These are just a few of my favorite products. I have more, so maybe I’ll do a second edition sometime. Or maybe a LEAST favorite product post.

Poor Little Thing

I (Julie) like dogs. Generally. Kind of. I grew up with dogs my whole life. So, so many dogs. It seems our family was always rotating one into our home. Most of the dogs ended up being terrible and were taken back to the Humane Society. Our favorite dogs died.

I love the idea of “a boy and his dog.” I can see Nate needing one someday. It just has to be the right dog. Loving, playful, sweet, doesn’t shed much, not too big, and cute. Like a beagle.

Something exactly like the poor little dog I killed today.

I pulled out of our street going the speed limit with the two little kids in the backseat. A gray cat darted in front of me and I swerved slightly to avoid it. A couple of seconds after feeling relieved, I hit something else. I pulled over to the side of the road and looked. At first I thought it was a cat. I felt bad, but there are strays around here so I wasn’t too worried. But it was still moving. What was I going to do?

A lady who was driving behind me also pulled over and got a blanket out of her car to put over the animal. When I got over to them I saw that it was the cutest little white beagle with a collar and tags. By that time the poor little thing had died. The scene was a little graphic and I was glad it was mostly covered. The lady carried it over to the sidewalk. I’m so glad she was there because I’m not sure I could have done that without vomiting.

I knocked at the house I thought the dog had run from and a nice couple opened the door. I asked them if they have a little white dog. They said yes, smiling. I had to tell them I had just hit it and it had died. The husband ran outside to go get it and the wife broke down, crying frantically. She said her boys were going to be heartbroken.

Turns out, the lady who helped me was a friend of the family and was able to help console. My kids were still in the car not knowing what was happening, luckily. I had to get back to them so I repeatedly apologized as I walked away. I’m going to take some cookies or something to them tomorrow and apologize again. I don’t know what else can be done.

I know it’s not my fault, but I still feel terrible. 

Fixing A Bike

I have such great memories of fixing my bike as a kid.  It seemed that there was always something that needed to be tweaked.  I needed to change a flat, my seat was crooked, or took off and replaced whatever for fun.  Back in May we needed to change the seat height on Nate's bike so we grabbed a box of wrenches and went out back.  To say the kids enjoyed working on the bike is an enormous understatement.  They worked on it forever and as you can see they had a blast.  :)  The kids are amazing and Julie and I love them so much.  There are a few more images in the photo gallery for May if you want to check them out. 

Such Blessings…

Have you ever known a person that affects your life in almost every conceivable way? Someone that makes you so excited that you can hardly keep from messing up the song your playing on the drums when she walks into the room? Someone for whom you would give almost anything if it would make her happy?  Someone that would give everything in return? Someone with whom you can chat for hour after hour about everything and nothing?  Julianna is that person in my life.

I think it is so strange that we grow up, develop, gain knowledge, and experience life without knowing the person that will positively affect us in so many ways.  I am so blessed to have my Julie.  She is the emotional core of our home and the love of my life.  Thank you for everything that you do Julie!  Happy Birthday!

Great 4th of July

It is almost still July right?  Anyway, we had a great time celebrating our country in the company of the Snows.  Breanna and Joseph came down to visit (Poor Gene had to stay home and work – although I’m sure he read some geeky books too).  We all wanted to get out of the house in the morning so we went up to Mueller Park and played in the river.  We didn’t want to worry about photography so we just took our little Coolpix for snapshots and a little video too.  Hope you enjoy the pics and the video

Here we are hanging in the river.

You can see the rest of the photos here.

Later that day we all met for dinner (including my parents and grandparents Williams) at Hires and had a great time.  Julie and Breanna (my sister) went to see a chick flick and the rest of us lit some fireworks at my parents house.  A great 4th.  :)

When I’m Sick

I’ve been sick the last few days and am just starting to feel human again. Tired, but good. Rob has done a fabulous job trying to work and take care of the kids while I’ve been in bed. He’s even done a couple loads of dishes and cleaned the kitchen. So tonight he departed to scouts and I’m at home. The kids are tearing the house apart while I’m sitting on the couch just watching them. Toys and crayons are strewn everywhere, laundry (both clean and dirty) are in baskets in every room of the house, leftover dinner is still on the table, and I can now hear them pulling things out of the pantry. I keep telling myself that I’ll get it all cleaned up after I get them to bed, but I know I’ll just sit in front of the tv watching some lame reality show I have absolutely no interest in and eat ice cream. Oh, well. I’ll be more energetic tomorrow, right? Just don’t come over ;)

And here’s a story I like to call A Touch of Class.

Yesterday we received a client’s birth announcements from the printer in the mail. They live in Herriman and since Rob was taking the kids to Cowabunga Bay in Draper, he decided he’d just drop the announcements off afterward.

For some reason both Rob’s and Nate’s shirt got picked up or stolen so the boys were shirtless. Rob called our clients to inform them he was stopping by but they didn’t answer. So Rob just showed up on their doorstep, unannounced, in a swimming suit, shirtless. Classy. Professional. Not at all white trash.

Hahaha. Sorry, Josh.

I Do…I Don’t

Mommy version:

I DO make my kids try any food they haven’t tried before. I DON’T want them to be afraid of trying new things.

I DON’T make them eat too much of what they don’t like (but some). Rob and I are picky eaters so who am I to force on my kids what I, myself, am not willing to do?

I DO let Nate chose his outfits most of the time. There are so many other important things I have to nag him about.

I DON’T give my kids a bath more than twice a week. I probably should…

I DO make them brush their teeth every day.

I DO give Nate the freedom to play outside without my constant supervision; although, I DO check up on him every so often.

I DON’T let Madeleine play outside as much as I should because she needs constant supervision. She is a wanderer and so I have to follow her around and, quite frankly, I get bored. Especially when it’s just so hot out there. 

I DO apply sunscreen on my kids 80% of the time they’re in the sun. I should do it 100%.

I DON’T let crying get to me.

I DO let whining get to me.

I DON’T play with them very well. I’m not much of a player.

I DO read to them, cook with them, color alongside them, and cuddle them.

I DON’T buy movies. We own maybe 10 and all but 1 were given to us.

I DO take them to the library every week for movie rentals and a big bag of books.

I DON’T talk about Jesus and the Gospel enough in our every day conversation.

I DO have prayers, scripture study, and Family Home Evening with them.

I DON’T worry about Nate being a mean kid to others. He’s a very nice boy.

I DO have a good bedtime schedule for them; 7:15 and 8:30.

I DON’T mind them waking up at 7am (even though I’d prefer 8). I’d rather have the quiet at night when Rob’s home.

I DO clean my house frequently.

I DON’T think you’d be able to tell.

I DO take a nap every day whenever I get a chance, mostly during a cartoon.

I DON’T nap as much as I’d like…which would be 3-4 times a day.

I DO get bored of the routine.

I DON’T get bored of being the mom of two fantastically fun and smarter-than-their-own-good kiddos.

An Open House for Tara

In late March of this year, my cousin Tara married Mike in Green Valley, Arizona.  They held an open house in Logan on the 3rd of July at the family restaurant LeNonne.  I haven’t had a lot of time to hang out with Mike but he comes across as a very warm, kind, and friendly guy.  We’re happy to include him in the family.  He is lucky to have won over my cool cousin Tara.  As you can tell from the images, Tara is a fun-loving and happy woman.  We are so happy for both of you and wish you the best!

The people, the place, the food, the occasion, the details were beautiful!  We spent almost the entire day surrounded by family, fun, and good food.  Thanks to Tara and Mike for getting married so we could have such a great party and to Tara’s family for putting it all together.  It was great!  We hope you like the pictures.  Friends and family can view the rest of the gallery here (you shouldn’t have any trouble with the password).

Southern Expedition – Day 2

The second day of our trip to Southern Utah was just as great as the first. The only problem was that my (Julie) left achilles tendon was really stiff, swollen, and sore from hiking in the sand the day before. It kept giving out on me so we unfortunately had to skip one of the hikes I was most looking forward to, Lower Calf Creek Falls. But we’ll hit it next time.

So we headed to Capitol Reef National Park and took the Scenic Drive to Capitol Gorge. We drove up the gorge which is amazingly cool because you wind around on a dirt road surrounded by shear cliffs on either side most of the way. By the time we got to the trailhead at the end my ankle had loosened up enough to walk, so deeper into the gorge we went. It’s pretty neat and you can see a register of names high up on the cliff face.

After this we left the park and ate at a little place on top of a plateau. The food wasn’t that great, but the scenery was. We ate outside and played darts and horseshoes. It was just nice to take our time and not have to be anywhere.

We then stopped in at the Anasazi Museum. Kind of interesting, but it was mostly a place to kill time while my ankle finished healing.

The drive to Kodachrome, along with all of Highway 12, was just beautiful. We made it to the park about 45 minutes before sunset so we were able to get some spectacular light when the clouds decided to part. Hardly anyone else was in the park so it was quiet and serene. We swore we’d bring the kids back to camp in a few months and that plan is still in effect.

We decided we better get on towards the Bryce Canyon area in order to find somewhere to sleep. We ended up getting a little cabin and had a fun time taking goofy pictures before calling it a day.

 

Again, SO MUCH FUN!!! Such a beautiful part of our state where not too many locals go. It boggles my mind as to why. I’ll say it again, GO! You’ll thank me.   

To see more pictures of Day 2, click here and they start on Page 2.