Happy Birthday, Boys!

Since Gavin's birthday fell on Sunday this year, we celebrated on Saturday. It was a low key day. Mom and Dad were coming down with nasty colds, so we kept it simple. We invited Grandmas and Grandpas and Uncle Jarom over for a pizza dinner. We opened presents. Gavin got some money, books, the movie, Tron and a promise for new Scout pants. Greg got some money, the movie, Harry Potter, and a new paint sprayer.


For dessert, I made brownie covered Oreos. They were quite good served with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge sauce. I figured you can't go wrong with the boy's two favorite desserts together.

Happy Birthday guys. You are wonderful!

Meet my new friends

Let me introduce you to my two new friends: washer and dryer.

Our dryer has never been good - even from the beginning. We had a service call on it within one week of getting it. That should have been our first clue. We've babyed it along for about five years. It doesn't work well (about four hours to dry towels), it's noisy and the lint screen is on the top of the dryer (which I absolutely hate!). I told Greg the next time it goes out we are getting a new one.
Imagine my surprise when our washer went out instead. I wasn't expecting that. We weren't planning on replacing appliances now (we just replaced our dishwasher in December), but our washer was old (about 17 years) and I really wanted a new dryer.
We researched Consumer Reports, looked at websites and settled on Kenmore from Sears. Greg works near a Sears and he was great to stop in on his lunch break. He ordered them and set up delivery.
When the washer and dryer were installed I was conflicted. They didn't match. The washer was a front loader with a round black hole for the opening and the control panel on the front. The dryer had the control panel on the back and a silver square opening. I walked past them every ten minutes for about three hours. Finally I called Greg and told him I didn't think I could live with it for the next 15 years. I know I was being bratty about it, but I knew it would bother me. Greg didn't seem to understand what the big deal was, but he is a wonderful husband. He went back to Sears, got me the matching washer, set up delivery and never once complained about taking more time to go back or paying more for the upgraded washer or restocking fee. The only thing he said was, "Happy Mother's Day." I am so completely good with that!
At first I was convinced I wanted a front loading washer. Now, I'm so glad that my washer is top loading. A few reasons: 1. I've been told by a few people that because front loader doors lock securely in place to prevent leaking they also trap in extra moisture in between loads. So if you don't want your washer smelly you have to wipe it down, use special detergent or leave the door open when not in use. 2. You can't add items in after you have started the load. I can't tell you how many times I have put in a load and then walked down the hall to find the kid's jammies, socks, etc in their rooms. I'll run it back to the laundry room and throw it in. 3. On the model we had, the control were in front. After installation of our first washer, Enoch walked into the laundry room and immediately said, "Awww, buttons!" And started happily pressing every button on the machine. Not a good idea at our home.
Since we had a week's worth of laundry piling up, I put my new friends to work Saturday morning after our washer was installed. It took a bit of time to figure out how to use the things - they are so high tech. I was having the hardest time trying to find where you set the water level until Greg informed me that the washer did it for you. And another thing - my washer is huge. Really huge. I did a load of jeans that before would have been at least two loads (if not more) and I did it in one load with room to spare. Oh my goodness! As I was folding clothes I noticed that stains weren't there any more (or significantly faded). And my dryer is faster than my washer. Wow!
I am so happy with them. The kids love to watch the clothes spin around (the lids are clear on both the washer and dryer). I know they are going to save me a bunch of time. But the best part - how great Greg was about the whole thing. Thanks, honey!

Scattered Thoughts

1. Enoch and Kate are best friends. They do everything together. Today they were having so much fun they didn't want to come to lunch. They finally decided that it would be okay to eat if they sat in the same chair. So cute!


2. Gavin is now the Senior Patrol Leader in his Troop. He got his first taste of real leadership this weekend as he was 'in charge' of the camp out. He did a great job pulling everything together.

3. While Kate and I were at the store today she was so excited to see her name everywhere. "Look, Mom, my name is on all of these books!" She's referring to Kate Middleton on magazine covers. I explained to my Kate that the girl on the magazine covers was married that morning to a prince, so she is now a princess (I know, not technically). Kate said, "Princess Kate! Just like me!" By the way, wasn't her wedding dress amazing!

4. I'm happy to report that the Wii has not taken over our lives.

Easter Sunday 2011

We had a wonderful Easter Sunday. It was filled with laughter, love and thoughts of the Savior. We are so blessed to have each other and our testimonies of our Savior and the Gospel.

Easter Celebration 2011

The Easter Bunny always visits our family on the Saturday before Easter. This year the Bunny went all out and brought the kids a Wii. I know, about five years too late, but the excitement was still there.

We got dressed, ran to Game Crazy and let the kids pick out some games and then headed to the Evans' Easter Party at Uncle Bud's Ranch.
At the ranch we played, roasted hot dogs for lunch, rode horses and hunted for eggs. It's a great time every year. We were hoping for better weather, but we can still have fun.










Everyone spent the rest of the afternoon doing this (playing Wii).

It was a great Easter!

Enoch's Dangerous List

If you have spent any time around Enoch lately you know he is obsessed with volcanoes and tornadoes. He loves them - learning about them, drawing them, talking about them. He really does enjoy his earth sciences.
He told me today that the next thing on his dangerous list is hurricanes. Great, perfect season. I love to see him learn, but I'm a bit afraid of when his list makes it to earthquakes. So far it has been okay for him to learn about these things because we can tell him that we don't have volcanoes, tornadoes or hurricanes in Utah. But earthquakes? Well, that's another story. His imagination is so active that I'm afraid of him learning about earthquakes. Only time will tell, right?

The view from our backyard

As Enoch was drinking his chocolate milk before bed, he excitedly said, "Mom, look, look, look out the window in the field! There are deer!" I calmly walked to the window and was surprised. It is not too unusual (although not too frequent anymore) to see one or two deer in the field behind our home. Tonight we saw an entire herd. It was really quite amazing.



They were quite calm and weren't bothered by car lights or our camera's flash. We told the kids to be quiet in the yard, but Enoch and Kate were quite excited and had a hard time staying silent. Good eyes, Enoch! It was a fun way to end the day.

Thank You!

Greg works for a awesome company. They really appreciate their employees and realize that they have families and a life at home. The commute stinks, but it is worth it.
Greg came home from work today with this:

I'm not sure what to call it. I'm not sure where to put it. But, I love it! Why? It shows that his company recognizes what he is doing and that he is doing a good job. Greg's team is just finishing up a very large project. It required extra time and hours. We were happy to do it. They compensated the team by bringing lunch in everyday, a couple of $100 Visa gift cards and an Ipod Touch to every team member. Really! How great are these people?
Let me go back a year. If you remember Greg quit his last job about this time last year. Why? Because the company was horrible to it's employees. If Greg can't put up with it, you know it's bad. Greg worked months and months logging in 70+ weeks, working on Saturdays and Sundays with no overtime pay, no vacation days and no benefits. And, they still expected more. Yikes! I still can't believe we stuck it out that long.
For our Christmas bonus that year we got this:

Yep, a package of dollar store bamboo skewers. I told him I would have much preferred a thank you (which he didn't get).
Jobs come and go with frequency in the computer industry. I hope this one sticks around for awhile.

Kate's picture of Mom

Kate drew this picture of me today. It's not often the kids paint portraits. Kate likes to draw flowers and Enoch likes to draw volcanoes and tornadoes.
Kate told me, "I love you as much as my favorite colors, pink and purple. And you have hair like Rapunzel's!"

What a lucky Mom I am.

Man vs. Wild (BYU Edition)

Check out this hilarious video my brother and his friends made for a ward activity. My brother is the star!

Spring Break in Fairview

We loaded up the car and drove down to Fairview early Thursday morning. This was the first vacation in six years that I haven't had to pack bottles, binkies, diapers, etc. It was great!
We started the Easter party as soon as we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's Randalls. My sister, Valerie, and her kids, Carson, Brynnley and McKay, had come down earlier in the week and we overlapped by a few hours. We made the most of those hours.
We began by decorating sugar cookies. This is a tradition we have been doing for years - sugar cookie eggs. The kids had a great time. Gavin's eggs looked very professional. Enoch loaded as much frosting as he could onto each cookie. Kate's favorite cookie had a 'K' on it.



After cookies, we colored eggs. I'm so glad we did this there because I hate coloring eggs - such a mess, although the kids love it. They mix colors and came up with some great eggs.




Finally, the egg hunt. We hid plastic eggs downstairs because the weather was chilly. There were plenty of eggs filled with lots of candy and my parent's specialty of coins. Also, each child had an egg with their name written on it and inside was a $5 bill. What fun! The kids all had a great time.




On Friday, we relaxed, watched some TV and visited. In the afternoon we played at a great new park in Fairview.






The kids got a great surprise on Friday night when Dad unexpectedly showed up. Greg wasn't planning on coming down, but he missed us so much he made the trip after work.
On Saturday we had a great time on the 4-wheelers. Gavin helped Grandma split some wood and I finished a skirt for Kate. We had a great time, but by Saturday, the kids were ready to go home. I found this note sticky taped to the wall. I'll translate Kindergartenese: I miss my home. Do you miss your home? Love Enoch.