Updates May

Yep, it's one of those posts.

May 11:
We had a ton of fun seeing everyone!!! We missed those who weren't there, though. The food was great, the company was greater, and my only big problem was that it went by too fast. (Post note for posterity - we spent mother's day at Sara and Taylor's house to celebrate Jacob's blessing. We were fed TWO meals, lucky moms, and lots of family was there. I lost Josh all day, he was having so much fun with cousins, and I got to chat and nap. Oh, and very cool - Gary made me breakfast and we were still able to make it to the blessing in the nick of time. The very nick, but still in time.)

I tried to make Noah show off while we were there, although he was marginal in his performances overall, he did tell everyone about how the butterflies flew away - a major event for Josh and Noah. I had to try and steal a few moments of motherly pride in Noah to offset the moments of blinking back tears when I see marker on my stairs I just paid to get cleaned. Little monkey, love his guts. Back to the butterflies, Josh didn't want to let them go, which made me want to get him a pet. Much later, though, for now Andrew can be his pet. I'll even let him have all the roly polys in our yard.

Sad news is our neighbors officially told us they weren't interested when I went over with the missionaries. I suspected given the time that had past, but I always want to hope. They are cool people, so hopefully we can be friends and it's not awkward.

P.S. (Mostly to Stacey) Turns out Andrew and I have thrush. When I called my dad for drugs yesterday I told him NO gentian violet. I don't want to ruin any more lives. :)

May 21:
Gotta hurry because I'm typing this before my kids wake up here in St. George . . . yep, we're on our way to San Diego. My sister will take out her endowments tonight and she and her husband and baby will be sealed on Saturday. Looking forward to it! If not for the drive - could we all pray for angel children today?


Yes, Noah is still destructive. One thing that delayed us was that he dumped out Andrew's antibiotic and we had to get it refilled. On Sunday it took us 20 minutes to get the antibiotic into Andrew because Noah first emptied out a container of Lysol wipes, then dumped out a bottle of foundation, then got a dresser knocked over on him. Last one could have been Josh's fault.

Cute thing he did this week (I seek for balance): At Josh's soccer game, every time the team would have a little huddle around the coach, Noah was right in there. After half time the coach was saying who was going to play. He said, "We'll have Taylor, Cole, Josh, and let's see . . ." "And Noah. Noah," came a little voice (yep, it was Noah). All of the parents' hearts went out to him when they learned that he's not even 2 - it's going to be a couple of years.

Most fun thing of the week(s) - Josh's birthday. He was SO EXCITED for days. He had a party and I'll blog about it when I get home. Yuckiest things - Noah barfing, Andrew's 4 medicines, my achy flu the other day that derailed my packing attempts. Craziest hour - The hour right before Relief Society when the teacher had an emergency so I had to teach last minute. And I wasn't dressed when I found out. It went well, though, no worries. I love getting a chance to bear my testimony. It was amusing because then the next hour the Sunday School teacher didn't show. I thought Gary might have to hop in, but one of the other guys did - and had to teach from his iPhone, no manual could be found. Best husband - Gary. Of course.

Pictures of Andrew doing yoga and more about his ears on my blog (emilary.blogspot.com). Off we go to San Diego, with Josh wearing his Ironman mask in the back seat. Hooray!

June 2:
If you really said a prayer for good traveling kids, it worked! I'm pretty sure it was a temple miracle (I was worried about getting there in time for my sister's endowment), but they were great. They slept, took off their shoes and clapped them on their hands, sang and danced to music (Josh said, "Hey mom, I can move my bum back and forth in my car seat!") , made up awesome songs (Itsy bitsy snake, itsy bitsy pig, itsy bitsy dinosaur . . . and so much more), and laughed at Gary's jokes (they COULD NOT get enough of Gary pretending it was a big deal we "smuggled" a pear into California). We made it in time for the endowment, and it was really fantastic, as was the sealing the next day. My sister and her husband seemed great, and it did my soul some good.


My parents rented a house for everyone to stay in, and although it wasn't a mansion, it was plenty big enough. They had a pool with a slide and hot tub, which was probably the most popular thing in San Diego. Josh and cousins stayed in it for around 4 hours at a time, until the tips of his fingers were peeling off from climbing in and out. They also had a pool table, and we had a tournament - Gary won the whole thing, and I at least didn't stink. I was sad he beat me, but glad my man has skills.

We also visited the Wild Animal Park, the beach, a Padres/Cardinals game, and celebrated Noah's 2nd birthday. He was a wreck from lack of sleep by then, but his birthday gave him snippets of happiness. All good times. On the way back we spent two days in St. George, and would have loved to stay and stay. We chatted, took the kids to the park, and Gary was able to see Deanne's Heritage Choir concert. The next day Gary was saying how great the concert was and Josh said, "Yeah, but making a gingerbread house was way more fun." So I guess we chose a good activity for when it was just me and the kids - thanks, Deanne! We arrived home at 1:15 in the morning on Saturday night (Sunday morning?), and immediately wanted to go back.

Yesterday Josh and Andrew had their pre-op appointments with the ENT for their surgeries. The doctor said if you look up pictures of kids who have overly large tonsils, Josh's face will show up. He will get his tonsils out, his adenoids if they grew back, and a new set of tubes. Andrew will get tubes. I'm excited for less infections and better sleep for children.