Wish Flowers

I usually try to keep Enoch contained to the backyard when playing outside; I know where he is and I know what he can get into. However during our backyard remodel, we have lost part of our fence and Enoch has taken full advantage of that. I now have to continually look out our front windows to keep track of him.
A few days ago, I noticed Enoch spending a lot of time sitting on the curb by our flowering plum trees. I was intrigued because it is unusual for Enoch to stay in one place. A few more times of peeking out the window and I realized Enoch was talking to the tulips in the planter beneath the tree. This would probably worry some moms that their kid was talking to flowers, but me, no - Enoch loves nature and interacts with it on a very personal level. Nature is just part of who he is.
I asked him about it later that day and he said, "Those are my wish flowers. I tell them my wishes and they come true". Enoch then got a disgruntled look on his face. "I think my wish flowers are broken. I don't have any magic or super powers yet. But they smell good!"
That's my Enoch - always looking on the bright side.

Favorite Words

I know kids are creatures of habit, but if I have to hear these words one more time, I'll lose my bloomin' mind!

Gavin:
I forgot! (Isn't that great!)
Chicken!
Bahookies!

Enoch:
I begot (forgot) and I bemember (remember).
Actually...
Holy Moly!
Whoopsies! (My favorite; I can't wait to see what has happened.)

Kate:
Uppie (I think this started as 'up me' and then blended into uppie. She says it when she wants to be picked up.)
ME DO IT! (Growling; we hear this constantly.)
Enoch! (When she gets hurts and I ask her what happened, she yells, 'Enoch!' - even when Enoch is not home.)

Let's Go Fly a Kite

Enoch has been begging for months to go fly a kite. How appropriate that some days I wish I could tell him to do just that. Anyway, this afternoon was finally kite-flying weather. Rarely is the wind blowing just right; it's either not blowing at all, or way too much.
Greg and Enoch headed out into the cul-de-sac to get the kite up into the air. Enoch was thrilled and memorized by the dragon kite (without a head, who knows where that ended up?!). He would shout and scream every time he got into the air and then shout and scream when it crashed into the ground.
What a simple joy, but life is simplistic joy for Enoch - everything is good.

Yard Day

The past month we have been doing some major remodeling in our backyard. We finally admitted to ourselves that we didn't have the expertise or time to do it ourselves so we hired our neighbor, a professional landscaper. Great move on our part. When the yard is finished I'll post pictures.
In the meantime, we have been finishing up a few projects to compliment the remodel. It was a beautiful day and we spent the entire day in the back.

We spread leftover mulch (or poopy dirt as Enoch calls it) in the front and back yards.
We spent some time at the nursery, bought blackberry and grape plants, got them into the ground and transplanted some raspberry plants.
We (okay me, I'm so proud of myself!) assembled a glider swing.
We (okay, mostly Greg) stained the garden arbor. That night we told Enoch he was a good boy. He pouted (very grumpily), "I'm also a painter boy. You should have let me help paint outside today." He was only slightly bitter about not being able to paint the arbor.
We were exhausted.

Blossoms by Enoch

We gave Enoch the camera to keep him entertained while we were working in the yard. I think the kid has real talent. He took about 30 pictures. These few are my favorites.

Easter Clothes

The kids were finally able to wear their Easter clothes today (Conference was on Easter and we were out of town last week). They all looked so cute and handsome. Kate loved her twirly dress, Enoch thought his matching belt was way cool and Gavin looked so grown up in his deacon suit.
Notice Kate pouting in the background. She wanted another picture to herself and didn't want to share with her brothers!

Dang Sensitive Skin

My Gavin and Kate have such sensitive skin. Enoch not so much, but the other two make up for it. They got the bad skin genes from both sides - my pasty white skin and the Fowler rashy skin. Yippee!
Gavin came home from Arizona with a rash covering his entire body. Really. Little white bumps everywhere. It didn't bother him so we just left it alone.
On Friday morning, Kate woke up with a cold sore on her lip. I was furious. I was ready to do serious bodily damage to the person who gave my baby cold sores. I took her into the doctor to learn about prevention and outbreaks of cold sores. After looking at her for a few seconds, the doctor said she was pretty sure it wasn't a cold sore but Impetigo. I had heard of that, but didn't know what it was. After describing the symptons, I'm convinced that is what Gavin has too. Good grief! The doctor said they probably caught it from the hot tub. After a $45 tube of antibacterial cream, we're in business.
I'm hoping it clears up fast. It doesn't seem to be bothering them at all, but poor Kate has a few big bumps on her face (probably irritated by her binkie). Once we get this cleared up, we'll start worrying about sunburns!

Did you feel it?

It was late (okay 6 pm). I was at work. I was getting ready to go home. I was sitting in front of my computer when I felt the earthquake. I felt like someone was moving my chair back and forth, but the rest of the room moved with it. It seemed to go on for several seconds, then stopped, then start back up for several more seconds. It was very quiet. Almost everybody at the office knew immediately knew what it was. We all went online to learn what we could about it. The first place that reported it was the U of U website. I called Tresa to see if she had felt it. She hadn't. I packed up and went home (glad that the earthquake didn't do more damage and I could drive home).

1300 Miles Later

Our family's trip to Arizona was wonderful, relaxing and just plain fun! We had the best time. What a happy memory!
We started the trip on Thursday morning at 2:30 am; I know, I was thinking the same thing. However, it was genius to leave that early. The kids slept and Greg did great with the driving (he had his IPod with a book on tape and his stash of sugar). We stopped for breakfast in Kanab (4 1/2 hours later). We ate at McDonald's and let the kids stretch their legs. We didn't stay long because we were excited to get to sunny Arizona - it was freezing in Kanab. Before the trip, Greg and I had scoured the Internet for fun car toys to keep the kids entertained. We decided at each stop the kids would get a fun something to help pass the time. We broke out the best toy of all in Kanab. Each child got their own TV/DVD player with headphones. AMAZING! Everyone was thrilled and Mom and Dad couldn't believe the quiet for the next hour. Even Kate was enthralled with Beauty and the Beast.

We kept driving for the next five hours. We detoured just before Flagstaff to visit Walnut Canyon. We debated making this stop, but I'm so glad we did. This area is filled with Indian cliff dwellings. The best part is the mountain 'island' that has dwellings all the way around it. The hike was difficult, but worth it. Luckily they had backpacks at the Visitor Center for toddlers. After we picked ours up, we were off. They hike down was great (except for the knowing you have to go back up!). You descend down about 200 stairs mixed in with some trail. Once you reach the 'island' you walk around the loop and head back up. It was fascinating. Enoch especially love it. We had to keep reminding him to stay off the ruins, only look. So difficult for Enoch!

Like I said, the hike up was difficult, but the weather was pleasant, the company good and we finally made it!
After Walnut Canyon, we had lunch at Wendy's in Flagstaff and we were off to Cave Creek! We only had a few hours after Flagstaff and they passed quickly.
When we pulled into the neighborhood where we were staying Greg made the comment that we were in the hoity-toity neighborhood. We keep driving, left that neighborhood and enter the hoity-toitier neighborhood. When we reached the house, we were in awe. In fact, I was a bit anxious about letting my kids into such a house it was so fancy. But, the kids were well-behaved all weekend and we didn't have any problems.

It was so incredibly good to see my family. I haven't most of them in a few years and I missed them so much. We all gathered in Arizona to celebrate my Grandma's 86th birthday. Out of her 49 living descendants (and spouses), 47 of us were there! Even my aunt, uncle and two cousins from Australia came over. It was so special to be there. As people trickled in on Thursday night, we hugged, talked, cried and had a great time.

For the next two days, we just stayed at the house and visited, swam, ate, watched movies and celebrated Grandma's birthday. We really didn't leave the house. It was so much fun to have everyone there together. We all fit very comfortably into this ginormous house. I wish I got some pictures of the inside, but since we spent most of our time in the back, that's the only place I took pictures.

The pool was so fun and the kids went swimming at least twice a day. They loved playing in the hot tub. It really wasn't that much warmer than the pool, but it was small and shallow and their 'little pool'. Gavin had a great time going down the slide and jumping off the waterfall.
From 7 am- 9 pm, someone was assigned pool duty. Of course, parents were in charge of watching their own kids swim, but there was always someone outside sitting by the pool watching for stray children. Good thing, we couldn't keep Enoch away from the pool! Everyone gladly did their shift and it made me a lot more relaxed knowing the pool was being watched at all times.
The backyard was amazing with so many things to do. Kate loved the playground with the sand and swing. Enoch liked wondering in the field and looking for the pet tortoises that lived back there. Gavin loved the pool. At night we would sit around the outdoor fire on comfy couches and visit. There were many sitting areas to visit and just enjoy the warm weather.
There was also a pond of turtles in the front yard that Enoch was obsessed with. If I couldn't find him, I knew he was with the turtles.
We celebrated Grandma's (Nathalie Helena Hatfield Halverson Hanson) birthday on Saturday afternoon. My Grandpa's siblings came for the party and it was wonderful to see them again. I think the last time I saw them was when I was a baby. We were able to visit with Hallie & Gene, Gloria & Bud, Jim, and Jay & Will. What wonderful people. Dinner was delicious and then we attempted to tackle family pictures. We did the best we could.
Grandma with her children:
Grandma with her children and grandchildren:
Grandma with her great grandchildren (Enoch is hiding in the back):
Grandma and our family:
By Saturday night, we were all exhausted.
Sunday morning was bittersweet. We were so happy to be there, but knew it was time to say good-bye. We packed up the car, had breakfast and then took the next 1/2 hour saying farewell. I don't know when I will see some of my family again. It was hard, but I'm so grateful we went. I will have incredible memories of this weekend for a long time.