Memorial D

I thought about bringing my camera, but didn't. I totally regret it! We had lunch with Grandma & Grandpa Welsh and a Ward BBQ. Both were a huge hit! 

Great Grandpa Welsh pulled out the riding lawn mower and let each boy have a turn driving around the front yard. The expressions on the boys faces were priceless! Of course, Rilie wanted a turn. Nick rode around with him a few times. He loved pulling on the stick. He couldn't move it out of gear, but he felt like he was controlling the whole thing. Great Grandma & Grandpa shared stories about learning how to drive on tractors and it was much better than letting kids start with real cars as teenagers. I'd have to agree! This all brought back memories of my granddaddy letting us ride on the back of his lawn mower. He tried to let us upgrade to driver, but that never last long :) My youngest brother Jason was the only one with the patience to prove he was responsible enough. Simple things really, like look where your going, don't turn the wheel with your eyeballs. Yet, it was too much for my older brothers and I. 

Next, Grandpa Welsh brought out the bow and arrows. It was a light compact bow, so the boys were actually able to shoot it! He taught them how to load it (I don't know archery terms), hold it, shoot it, and "leave your weapon behind as you gather your arrows". He was so patient with them! Even after the +5th time they'd forget not to point their arrows at us while loading and don't turn in circles, aiming your bow, while looking for the target. 

After practicing several times, and only loosing one to the tree, he brought out a styrafoam block for them to shoot at. After several rounds, they both were able to shoot all three arrows into the foam block. Rilie was beyond jealous, so Grandpa Welsh brought out a dart board with plastic tip darts for him. He loved it. 

Afterwards, we collected some beautiful blossoms from the snowball tree. We took these to John's grave. It is a beautiful intimate cemetery surrounded by rolling farms and framed by mountains in the distance. Alvin & Alex remembered their manners at the cemetery. I was very impressed. They helped snip the grass around John's marker and placed the blossoms in the cups. Rilie was a typical two year old and fascinated with the markers that had pinwheels, flags, and toy trucks. Fortunately, everyone seemed okay with my toddler running rampant as Nick and I tried to keep up. Rilie knows he is faster than me and thinks it's funny. 

Snowball Tree

Snowball Blossoms

It was a great afternoon, followed by naps in the car before the ward BBQ with Adam & Andrea. They had a wonderful program. Alvin was impressed by the color guard and whispered to me he was going to do that someday. They had a speaker that works with soldiers overseas. He had many great things to say about those who have served in the past and those who are serving now. The boys enjoyed the bounce house, until a band of girls took over and made it collapse twice. They decided those girls weren't safe and stayed out! 

Overall, we had wonderful company, wonderful weather, and a wonderful day. A special thanks to all those who gave their life, so we could continue to have our freedoms.

We took Nick to the turtle pond today. We got some great pictures and a video. 

Video will be posted to Facebook. Enjoy!

This is such a beautiful waterfall. 

TURTLES!

Fun cave the kids like to play in. 

Alvin & Alex

Rilie climbing the rocks.

Daddy helping Rilie not climb the rail.

MORE TURTLES!!!

Alex collecting ammunition.

Alvin playing with Rilie. 

Rilie & Alex together.

All three wonderful boys! How did I get so lucky??

36 weeks pregnant, swollen face and all :)

Jackson soon to come... 

Videos

Blogger won't let me post videos. So far, I only have two and I've posted them to Facebook. Hopefully, I can figure this out... but for now, Facebook will have my videos.

Confessions of a crazy mom...

Today, I wanted to take the boys to a new park. But, they loved yesterday's park so much, they begged to go back. On our way there, I miss the turn off. No biggy, I can just turn around. Except there are no places to turn around for awhile. Then we see this beautiful waterfall out of no where! I ask the boys if they want to explore the waterfall, before we turn around. They agree.

It's a beautiful waterfall. Not huge, but it is very full. There are paved trails going different directions. There are wonderful rails that keep Rilie out of the water, without detracting from the beauty of this waterfall & pond. I don't see any ducks and wonder why all the rails & fencing. Then I see them! TURTLES! At least a dozen of them! I start screaming, "TURTLES! TURTLES!" I'm like one of those AK tourist that have never seen a moose, make you stop the car (going down the New Seward hwy), so they can take pictures. I'm shaking the boys shoulders, "Do you see the turtles!" They calmly respond, "Yes mom, I see them." Fortunately, there were no other witnesses to my hysteria.

Discovering a new park!

Alex on the look out!

Playing tag. 

Rilie LOVED the swing. When I say LOVED, this is an understatement. 

I will post a video of how much he loves the swing. 

(... and his new haircut. It's not bad, I just miss his bangs.)

I love how it has two sets of monkey bars going around each other.

He looks good. He just looks totally different!

It's a miracle watching Alvin balance without holding on to something. We need to find him a chiropractor down here. He's already commented on his hips & back hurting again.

Sweet Alex!

Sweet Alvin!

Finally - Pictures!

I love the face Alvin is making!

The boys love sitting on "their side" of the table. 

Rilie thoroughly enjoys Jackson's vibrating chair. 

It must always be on, even if no one is using it. 

Paul has announced that he wants to go by Alex. 

He was Paul in his old world, and in this new world he needs to be called Alex.  

Discovering Otter Pops. It took a day to try them. 

Once he realized they were flavored ice, he can't have enough. 

We were getting bored with the regular routine of things, 

so I bought a bubble gun & badminton rackets. 

Sweet Alvin, he still wants to go by Alvin :)

Enjoying the green by the park.

Secret entrance in the hedge.

My crimes as a mother, after pictures will posted in next blog entry.

Rilie doesn't look bad, he just doesn't have his gorgeous locks and looks like someone else's child. 

Alvin and Alex look fantastic! We borrowed Adam & Andrea's clippers. Alvin is very sensitive to hair cuts. Uncle Adam recommended these. They tickled a lot, but no tears!

Settling in...

Nick and the boys are away at the Father & Son camp out in Coeur d'alene (Idaho). The quiet is weird, but lovely. Don't get me wrong, I love my boys and their rambunctious ways... but this break is nice. I finished unpacking the boys room, started some laundry, and I'm half way done dealing with the clothing situation in our room. My goal is to finish our room and touch on the homeschool room by the time they get back. Then we'll just have pictures to hang & Nick's computer boxes to sort through.

I have some wonderful pictures to post. I forgot the camera in the car, but hopefully Nick will take some pictures to add. So... pictures to come!

We're here!

We're here! I even got to experience traffic at 9:30pm!! The highway is under construction and the semis had loads to run. Our rental car has a sun roof, so I didn't mind.

The apartment is wonderful! It's cut out in a great way:


The boys share a room across the hallway from us. Having a master bathroom is fun. The room next to the lanai (balcony) is going to be our homeschool room. It is plenty spacious! We are done having coin-op laundry!! The cherry trees are beginning to bloom. They are below our bedroom window. Overall, it is very spacious and the boys love running around the wall between the kitchen and the living room. Fortunately, there are no neighbors below us yet.

It is very warm during the day (65 - 80) and cool in the evenings (around 30-40). I enjoyed an early morning walk with Andrea yesterday morning. They are in the building next to us. We also did some shopping together to help set up our place. After 3 hours, we both regretted this.

Almost there...

The apartment is packed up, Nick & his dad are driving through Canada, and the kids and I are visiting with family before we go.

Packing went so much smoother than it started. I'm so grateful for all the help we received from family and friends. I had two sisters from church help me pack up my apartment. Loading the truck went incredibly quick! We had eight people from church come help us. Some of them brought kids, which was great, because our boys loved spending some extra time with their friends. Cleaning went super well. My mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and visiting teacher came over. We were done in 2 hours! I feel so blessed for all the help we received.

Nick & David left early Saturday morning. They discovered the U-Haul has a governor capping them at 65 mph and with all the stuff in the back really couldn't go over 50 mph. The trip was going to be much longer than expected, but they are still making good time (days-wise). They got to White Horse the first day (16 hours) and Fort Nelsen the second day (12 hours). With the trip half over, and not "needing" to be in Spokane for 4 more days, they are going to take it easy. They have are planning to stop in a few cities and enjoy what there is to see. I'm so glad they are doing this trip together.

Friday, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner with my family and weekend fun at my parents' cabin. I enjoyed going to nursery with my folks and the boys going to Primary with their cousins. We'll be with Nick's family the rest of the week. After all that packing, it's been great to just relax and not worry about most things. Everyone's been very kind to let me just focus on the kids and being pregnant. We will miss them all dearly.

Overall, the boys and I are doing surprisingly well. With me being pregnant, Rilie being a complete daddy's-boy, and my older two needing some paternal reminders to respect mom... it was looking like a potentially long week. Nick gave me a blessing before he left and it reminded me of the importance of being gentle, remembering how much the boys will be missing their dad, and to focus on the excitement of our new adventure. These words of wisdom have been very helpful. 

3 more days in AK and on to new adventures!!