Ahhh Summer...

We had a really fun fourth of July, (So I'm a little behind....BUT at least I'm posting about things in the same month!) we went to St. George and stayed with Tim's parents in the hot, hot, sun. The kids had fun swimming the days away. Dustin went from being afraid to jump into the pool, to finding out he can float with a life jacket, water wings, and an inner tube, to just swimming with water wings, to jumping in over his head without any floatation device whatsoever!!!! (I had to jump in and grab him and then give myself CPR from my heart attack---Dustin was completely unphased, he wanted to jump in again) All within an hour. I cannot get that kid to slow down! Audrey still prefers the stairs on the side, but she's starting to get braver. It was relaxing. My mother-in-law cooked, and gave me breaks from the kids, gave me more awesome clothes. Heaven.
We've done some fun things so far. We had our first family camping experience, in which we did all the packing and setting up ourselves (we went last year with my Dad and Robin, but they pretty much did everything). We stayed up by Elkton one night, and in Loon Lake the next night. And I must say, we did pretty well! My Tenderfoot husband ( I mean it, he never made it past Tenderfoot!) and I, managed to set up a tent and cook in the wilderness for 2 days. A big accomplishment for our little family! Dustin and Audrey had their first s'more experience, and their first fishing experience. Dustin was so excited, and he got the hang of it so quickly! It wasn't long before he could cast better than I could! We got him a little Spiderman fishing rod. We didn't catch anything, but it was still fun. The Becrafts took us wake boarding, and Tim tore it up!
We've been to Splash, had some free lunches at the parks, and have been loving the free wading pool by our house.
This past weekend, we went on a fun adventure to Bend. We just packed up, and left our hot house for the night. All I can say is thank goodness for our Garmin, because it made our impromptu trip so fun! We went to the High Desert Museum which was surprisingly really enjoyable for all of us. They have some neat exhibits, and our kids got to dig for dinosaur bones, get up close to a tiny owl, visit a homestead and saw mill from the 1800's, and learn all about bats and other animals in the high desert. I was worried a museum would be too boring, but they did great, and there were a lot of hands on activities to keep them entertained. The best part...4 and under is free! After that, we cooled off at the Juniper outdoor pool which was so much better than I was expecting. They have a great outdoor kiddie pool with a slide and splash pad and all kinds of water doo dads. If you're going to Bend with young ones, I recommend either of those spots. Oh, and if you get hungry, Pilot Butte Drive-In has some amazingly huge yummy hamburgers. Make sure you split it! Let me know what ya'll are doing to fill your summer days! I'm always looking for fun things to do!

Craziness = Happiness

The past couple of weeks have been crazy! My Mom and sister were in town, and I got to go birthday shopping with them for a day. One thing that my Mom knows how to do really well, is shop. She finds the best deals! I don't know how she does it. I can look at a rack and not see a single thing. She digs through it and finds and entire outfit, on sale, and then she'll find shoes on clearance to go with it! Unfortunately, I did not get the shopping gene, but it's a talent I hope to develop! Hangin with my sis was really fun too. Everywhere we go, we quote movie lines and sing like we're living in a musical. It's not unusual for us to be in a restarunt and inconspicuosly start singing Summer Lovin' while swaying side to side. We've gotten better about not doing it in public, but as soon as we get inside the car, we bust out! It's fun to have someone who's theatrical like me around.
We had an awesome barbeque for Father's Day. The kids made Disney cards for Tim, and Dustin yelled, "Surprise!" when he gave it to him. So cute. We also saw Transformers 2 as part of Father's Day and Tim got to the theatre an hour and a half early so we would have good seats. You don't mess around with Transformers.
Anyway, having lots of family around was fun, and as always, our gatherings revolved around eating out which was great, but here's the problem I have with that...
As many of you know, I am training for a marathon. And it's going really well so far. I've improved my mile time, I feel stronger, and I'm starting to see myself as a real runner (something I never thought would be possible!). In fact, I ran 10 miles in 91 minutes today. And with all this running, one would think that I would most definitly be losing weight. Well, one would be wrong! How is this possible, you might ask? Well, I'll tell you. Everytime a food opportunity is presented to me, a little devil on my shoulder pipes up and says, "Of course you can have german chocolate cake with ice cream, you're training for a marathon for crying out loud! Eat the cake! You'll run it off later!" My left brain can't seem to find any false logic to this statement and so....I give in! All the time! Like a billion times a day! I need help people! Or I am going to be rolling the 26.2 miles!
Sheesh! Everything else is going really well though. I am so ready for summer! The kids are great. Dustin is saying the funniest stuff right now. Audrey is starting to potty train, which is so hard for me! It feels like so much work. And I'm in battle with myself over whether or not she's ready. She willingly goes on the potty, when I put her on it, but she isn't at a point where she can tell me if she needs to go--alas the struggle. But look at how cute she is!

My Forever Family

Saturday, June 6, 2009

We got to go to the temple today to have our little girl sealed to us forever. I have to say, I feel so lucky to be able to have seen both my babies in white inside the temple! My chaperon said it is our reward for everything we had to go through to adopt her. It was such a special experience. Nothing compares to the awesome feeling and power of a sealing. I felt the Spirit so strongly, and Dustin and Audrey looked like angels. When Dustin came into the sealing room he kept on saying, "Is this the flying room?" My dear friend Ann suggested that maybe that meant something because the veil is so thin to little children. I'd like to think he could see angels. He also kept calling Audrey and I princesses. I was so overwhelmed with love for my little family. Having Audrey's little hand on the alter was so precious. It definitely strengthened my testimony of families and temple work. My amazing Grandma surprised me again and was sitting inside the sealing room when we walked in. She drove all the way from Calgary just for the day so she could be there for the sealing. I have to say how much I love and appreciate my Grandma for coming to every special occasion. My sister and her husband also came down for the day which made it even better.

Tim's parents were there too, and we have been having so much fun with them this weekend. We've gone to the Science Factory, Hendricks Park, and had tons of great food and laughs. And then we topped it all off with a great trip to the temple.

Thanks to Brain and Ann, James, and Chris and Tricia for coming all the way up to support us. It was special to see you all there. And thanks to everyone else who wanted to be there, but couldn't! We still felt all your love!

She's Finally Ours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Audrey Elizabeth Hess

Our final, final, final, paperwork finally arrived!!! I just have to say how happy and blessed I feel to be able to have this little girl. She is such a blessing to our family and I love her to pieces. Somehow the Spirit touched me the very first day she came to our door. I had such a wonderful feeling that we knew each other, and we had already agreed to be together. She has been the very best baby in the whole world and I am so excited to watch her grow into the beautiful girl she already is.

Our sealing is set for June 6th at 2:00pm. We would love any of our friends and ward family to be there. Just give me a call and let me know if you plan on coming so I can tell them how many people to expect. Thanks for all of your support through our long journey and for loving Audrey!

Craft Day!

Anytime I do anything arsty and crafty on my own, without help-- it's a big deal for me. I'm artistic, but not in a crafty sense. So the other day Dustin was bored out of his mind and I was feeling adventurous and found something online that we could do together. (It also happened to be the only one I had all the supplies for!) I'll give you my own instructions because the web site didn't have pics and was really vague.

We made a little crab!!!




You can do it too! All you need is

A paper plate
Sand
Egg carton (for eyes)
Red construction paper
Glue

Just take the paper plate and have your kid put glue all over the top of it. Then have them sprinkle sand all over the top till it's completely covered. Next cut out your crab legs and pinchers while the glue is drying. Then fold the plate in half and glue the legs on in between the plate halfs. You can either staple or glue your crab together (just know that glue takes longer to dry and needs some pressure to keep it shut) Then cut out two eyes from the egg carton and glue those on top! Voila!

Dustin had super fun making this and played with it for days afterward. Good luck!

Notes From a Slacker....

I know you all have given up on my blog, and I really can't say I blame you! My only defense is that I am a serious procrastinator and always think I'll have time to do it later...

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Just kidding! I will finally take a moment to update. Since I'm so lame, let me start back at Easter. My kids had adorable Easter Sunday outfits thanks to my mother-in-law. Dustin wore his first clip-on tie. Audrey wore an adorable purple flower dress. The kids got to do 3 Easter egg hunts over the weekend and we had a yummy feast in Florence with our good friends Brian and Ann. We still have leftover candy from all the festivities. And I have a leftover 5 lbs.

Other than that, things have just been really busy over the past few weeks. Tim has been so bogged down with school, work, and church stuff, that he really needs another vacation.

Dustin started gymnastics and that has been really fun to watch. He bounces around like a monkey on speed and the teachers are constantly having to get him off the equipment.

Audrey is talking so much and knows exactly what she wants. I constantly hear, "I don wan it!" or, "top id du-tin." (stop it Dustin) It's amazing how different boys and girls are. Audrey is so much more emotional and dramatic, but she's also able to sit quietly and entertain herself, which Dustin has never been able to do. The best news is that our paperwork has been sent to the judge and we get our final adoption decree and new birth certificate next week!!!!!! I can't wait. I knew she was ours the moment we got her and it will feel so good when it is all done. I also can't wait for the sealing. That will be really special for our family.

I had a great mother's day. Tim got me flowers, let me sleep in, and took care of the kids, which is a treat in itself. Cari and I took our kids to a mother's day breakfast at the community center on Sat, which was really fun, and Tim made a fantastic steak dinner on Sunday. Perfect!

This week we went to the Zoo for $2 Tuesday and I was totally impressed. I thought it was really kid oriented and they had a ton of different animals and exhibits. They also had great viewing areas so the kids could actually see all the animals. I've been to other zoos where every single animal was inside a cave or something and I felt like it was a waste of money. The kids got to get right up close to everything and they loved it!

Our good ol' station wagon puttered out on us and we had to get a new car. We opted for a minivan for more space and seats and started our quest. One of the things I hate about being a grown-up is car shopping. We went around to pushy dealers all day, couldn't find anything we really felt great about, almost got a Chrysler Town and Country, but we called our mechanic to ask him about it and he said he was at an auction and he would keep an eye out for us. It just so happened that a Honda Odyssey went through and we bid on it and got it! It all worked out great. I feel like an official Mom now that I have a mini-van!

One more final note, I entered my name into the St. George marathon, which is really hard to get into, and I got in! On October 3rd, I will be running 26.2 miles. I'm super excited, scared, nervous, and am going to need tons of help! More posts on this to come, but I wanted to let you all know I'm in...and there's no way out!

You'll never guess where we went on vacation....

Disneyland! Again! Tim especially loves Disney anything. I really love it too. And both the kids love the Disney channel, so we go there anytime we get a chance. Tim had a week break from school and we spent it in sunny SoCal. The kids did great on the drive down and we spent 4 magical days at Disneyland. Well...here's the thing, most peoples blogs tend to be super positive and perfect, and I could tell ya'll only the great things that happened and how wonderful and perfect the whole trip was, but I'm going to tell you exactly how traveling with two small children in a packed park goes.
Day one: Super fun morning, we went to California Adventure and the kids absolutely loved the Toy Story ride and A Bugs Land. I was a little worried they would get scared on the rides but they both absolutely loved them! That's all they wanted to do over and over. But the park started to get packed and it was hard to get on any of the rides. So we went to the Playhouse Disney show, where we forgot our brand new camera on the floor, and no one turned it in! So all the cute pics we had of our first day were gone along with our camera. Then we got a spot early to watch the Pixar parade, which Dustin feel asleep right before, and grumpily woke up because of the noise and watched the whole thing with a big frown. Then the break-downs started happening. Right around 6:00. We left the park early but the poor kids couldn't sleep at all that night because they picked up a nasty cough.

Day two: Dragged two extremely tired kids to a very packed Disneyland at 8:00am for Magic Morning Hour. The good news was that their cough seemed to go away in the morning and eventhough they were tired, we got to ride all the kiddie rides in Fantasyland which they loved. They loved Dumbo and the Choo choo train and Peter Pan was a big hit. Here we are waiting to go on the ride.


They were so tired by lunch that was had to go back to the hotel so they could take a nap. Mom and Dad were pretty tired by then too! We came back to the park later and got to go on a few rides and then parked it early to find a spot for the fireworks. One of the workers told us where a good spot was and we found a bench and waited. The kids were tired and said they wanted to go home, but we were determined to see the show. Finally the show started and the fireworks started going off right behind a big tree. We couldn't see a thing! It was a horrible spot! The worker lied! Irritated, we packed up the kids and went back to the hotel, which is where the kids wanted to be anyway.

Day 3: We finally slept in and got to the park at a decent hour. We did Toon Town all morning which was really fun, except that it once again, got really busy. But we did get to see Mickey and ride the roller coasters and after that we went to Rainforest Cafe for lunch. I've never been to one so it was kinda fun to watch the animals and lightening storms, and the wrap I had was delicious! But before we went in to eat, Dustin had the biggest melt down of his life. I carried him down stairs that he apparently wanted to walk down himself, and he started screaming and rolling on the sidewalk yelling, "I need to go down BY MINE SEEELLLLFFFF" over and over again. Everyone was rolling thier eyes at me like I was a horrible mother. There was no consoling him. I just sat beside him till he was finished and booked it to the hotel after we were done eating! We came back later in the evening and rode some of the bigger rides when the kids were happier. Dustin's favorite ride was the Matterhorn, and he does this really funny fake scream on all the rides. It cracked me up. Check it out


Day 4: The kids were pretty much zombies by the fourth day and Audrey spent a good portion of the morning asleep in the stroller, and Dustin fell asleep on my shoulder for most of the afternoon (4 days of theme parks is too much for kids under 3, take my word for it!) But I really enjoyed the Aladdin show while he was sleeping and Audrey loved all the animals and the magic carpet. We ended the day with the amazing fireworks show that left me misty eyed. Audrey fell asleep in the middle of it, and Dustin thought it was loud, but Tim and I loved it!

The rest of the time we spent catching up on sleep, going to the Aquarium of the Pacific and seeing all the fish and touch pools, hanging out at Newport beach and Balboa Island, and swimming in the awesome water park at our hotel. Now it's back to normal life and regular sleeping schedules and that makes me happy!

Happy Birthday Dustin and Tim!!!!

Today is Dustin and Tim's birthday!! My baby boy is 3, and my handsome hubs is 28! I feel bad that Tim has to share his birthday, so we are making a tradition to go out just the two of us on a day he doesn't have to share with Dustin. This year we went shopping and went out to eat together which was really fun. I love eating out without the kids.
We had a small get together at Putters for Dustin and had tons of pizza, cupcakes and ice cream. We had a Mickey Mouse themed year since we are going to Disneyland pretty soon. Dustin loved it! He got to play golf which is one of his favorite things to do right now, and had a blast running around the playground. Both Dustin and Audrey ate all the frosting off their cupcakes and left the rest. The highlight present was a big boy Lightning McQueen bike for Dustin and a brand spankin new ipod for Tim. I love both my boys so much! Happy Birthday!

We're Baaaaack!

We were gone for so long, but we are finally back and things are normal. The kids and I had a blast in St. George and I had so much fin with all the Oregon girls and I even got to fly to Phoenix to see my best friend. It was hard to leave the kids at the in-laws without Tim there, and to make it even harder, I got a call right before I got to the airport to go to Phoenix that Dustin had to get stitches in his forehead!! He was playing on the playground and smacked his head on the rock structure after he ran around a corner. I guess he only cried for a minute and then he wanted to go play some more with blood gushing out of his head, but grandma and grandpa took him to Urgent Care to get stitched up. And my little man didn't even cry once! He wasn't scared or anything. Six stitches later, he was rippin around like nothing even happened. It was so hard for me to not be there with him, but they assured me he was fine and to go on my trip. So this is Dustin's first big owie! (The first of many, I'm sure)
What a little toughie! Other than that little mishap, we had so much fun. It was sunny and 70 degrees in St. George and it got up to 90 when I was in Phoenix! It was so great to see Chelsea and Tara (miss you guys!) and it was really nice to have a little break at Kimmy's house. She let me sleep in and took me out to eat everyday! It was so great to see her and her family. I have to give a big thank-you to my in-laws because they spoiled us rotten and got me and the kids tons of new clothes and toys. And thanks to Jen, who squeezed me in to cut and color my hair. Do you guys like me as a dark brunette??

A big thank-you and I love you to my hubby, who cleaned the house, painted and redecorated our bedroom, changed all the sheets, and shampooed the carpets while we were gone. Do I have the best guy or what?? I missed you so much babe!

I have to give a huge shout-out to my girl Ann, for helping me SO MUCH on our flight home. She just so happened to be riding our same flight back home and she helped me with our luggage and carried the kids, and then when our plane had to be redirected and we had to get on a different plane, she switched seats so we could sit together and entertained my kids the whole 3 hours we were stuck at the airport and on the plane. Heavenly Father blessed me so much and I felt so grateful to have a friend who was willing to go above and beyond to help me. I love you Ann!!!

It was so great to have a little break but I am very happy to be back home. I have tons more updates that I'll post soon. Missed you guys!