A Day on the Ice

Rick has been promising the boys to take them ice fishing for a couple of weeks, but because we have been so busy they haven't gotten around to it until this past weekend. What fun they had spending the day on Strawberry Reservoir. Darin met them in Heber to enjoy the day, which was a good thing because he was the only one who actually caught any fish! Oh well, they all had a great time, and we got to enjoy fresh trout for our Sunday dinner.

Luke patiently waiting for a bite.

Noah trying to dig another hole (good luck, the ice was 2 ft. deep).

Noah, the happy fisherman

Noah was very descriptive about how they had to kill the fish once they were caught. (If you know Noah at all you know that he is somewhat obsessed with violence. He is constantly talking about cutting things with a "very sharp knife (insert ax, saw, sword, etc.)." He is fixated on people getting hurt/cut/killed on any movie he sees. For example; if he talks about the Incredibles it is to mention the "very big robot to kill Mr. Incredible". He also watched the animated story of Joseph Smith and it seems the only part he remembers is that "the doctor comes to cut Joseph's leg with a very sharp knife." Needless to say, he in into violence). So, when Rick asked him to tell me what they did to the fish once they had caught them his response was "I bang fish, bang, bang, bang (jumping up and down and showing me how to "bang") and hit them so hard to kill it. I cut fish in bum with a very sharp knife. I murder fishy." All this was said in an angry voice with grimace on is face. Murder? Where did my 2-year-old learn the word murder? Who knows. To my knowledge he mostly watches Dora and Diego. So yesterday in church Mr. Chatty was telling the old lady sitting in front of us that he had gone fishing and I was just praying that he didn't mention anything about the subsequent "murder" of the fish. Thankfully, he left that part out.

New Challenge

70 words

http://speedtest.10-fast-fingers.com">Speed test

Happy Easter everyone!

What a fun weekend we had with all of my family in town! It started on Saturday morning with an Easter egg dive at the pool where the boys got to swim for as many eggs as they could and then trade them in for goodies. This is our third year doing it and they totally love it! That afternoon the dads all took care of the kids so we could have a little girl's day out for my birthday. We went to lunch and shopping in Park City. It was really a lot of fun and the time totally flew by. We came straight home to a pizza/egg dyeing/ birthday/ feats of strength/ yoga pose party at the Butikofer's house. Let's just say that by the end of the night both kids and parents were exhausted!

On Sunday morning the kids found their eggs and candy baskets right when they woke up then we had a HUGE Easter brunch. Of course I ate too much because the food was just too tempting! Noah and I stayed home from church because he had been sick with a fever for the previous two days. He also needed a LONG nap after such an exciting weekend. I was disappointed that I didn't get to wear my new Easter dress (a la girls shopping day) or hear the Easter program at church. That evening we headed to Bountiful for yet MORE Easter celebrations. We had a delicious dinner with the Gunnersons and the kids did another egg hunt. It was fun to get together with the Gunnersons and let the kids play together. Whew, can you jam more fun into one weekend?

Happy Easter from the Gunnersons!
(See I really am pregnant. That last picture was pretty deceiving.)

Rick, Jack, and Noah at the Easter egg dive.

The kids had a great time dyeing the eggs.
(I was totally sweating by the end of the process trying to keep Noah in check!)

Luke and Noah hunting eggs and candy in Bountiful.

Noah getting candy out of the tree.
(I guess that old Easter Bunny can hop pretty high!)

Bag Tag

I am finally getting around to answering this "bag tag" now because Allen and Patrice brought our camera to us from sunny Las Vegas! I don't know what the stuff in your purse says about you, but this is what I have in my purse:

1. Checkbook
2. Sunglasses
3. Lip gloss (2 kinds)
4. Fingernail file (well, 1/2 of a fingernail file)
5. Keys
6. Pen
7. Grocery list
8. Tissue (a must have with Noah)
9. Hand sanitizer
...and finally random items left on the cupboard of our house in Las Vegas that I threw in my purse on the way out of the door...
10. 2 markers
11. Luke's sight word dog tags
12. The grinder part of a baby food grinder

Pregnancy, child planing, and age... The great debate

So here I am, 30 years old (31 in a couple of weeks) and 26 weeks pregnant with my third child. I am about to my last trimester and things seems to be getting a little closer, which has really got me thinking. I have this ongoing internal debate (also external to anyone who will listen to me!) about what is the best age for having kids, spacing of said kids, and how many children to have. It goes a little something like this...

Rick and I met when I was 20 and we were married when I was just 21. Honestly, I would have liked to have been a little older because I wanted to go on a mission, but when love comes a knocking you have to let it in. Anyway, I was 21 when we got married and NOT ready to have kids. I think Rick would have been happy with a honeymoon baby, but not me. So I kept waiting until I "felt" ready for kids. My graduation came and went. Rick's graduation came and went. I got my first official job in my field of study and loved it, and realized that I still didn't "feel" ready to have kids. I decided that I may never "feel" ready so I just better do it! We had Luke two weeks after I turned 25. I loved the years that Rick and I spent together, just us. I loved being able to finish school and get to work doing what I studied. I loved being a little "older" and "wiser" when I had Luke. It was also good timing because we spent the next three years in Law School and didn't have any more babies.

I can't say that I "felt" ready to have another baby when we had Noah, but Luke was 3 1/2 and the timing was good for us with school and jobs; i.e. Rick was done with school and had his first real law job. We had Noah when I was 28 1/2 which means he will be 32 months when I have our next baby. Turning 30 last year was pretty hard for me. The weeks I spent analyzing my life made me realize that I was 30 years old and only had two children. When Rick and I were married we talked about wanting a big family and having about 5 kids. Well, with just two kids at 30, I felt that dream was getting away from me. Also, I didn't know until I had kids that my patience level may not be able to handle 5 kids. Shortly after my birthday we decided we better get cracking on the next child if we really wanted a big family. So, that leads me to where I am today, almost 31 years old and pregnant with my third child.

Here comes the debate...Do you start having kids quickly and space them close together so you can be done by 30, or do you take your time, not completely lose your sanity, but still have a naughty 2 year old running around sacrament meeting when you are 40 years old!? I don't actually want to have my children closer than 3 years apart, but I don't want to be having children after I turn 33 or 34! I LOVED not having a baby soon after we were married, and I LOVED the 3 1/2 years between my first two. If I could choose I would space them all that far apart. You get a great break from being pregnant, nursing, changing diapers, waking up all night, and all the "fun" that comes with pregnancy and babies. But, sometime in my life I want to be able to listen to what is being said during church. So what is the answer? I don't know that there is one, but I have been pondering this issue for quite a while. I've seen people on both sides of the coin and can't say which I would choose. I guess all I can hope for its twins the next time around (girls, of course!) so that I can get all 5 of those kids and still be done by 34! Wouldn't it be nice if life worked out that way.

Feeling Meloncholoy

Well, we have made the move back to Utah. We have been so excited about it for so long that when it finally arrived I was suprised to find myself feeling meloncholoy. It has been a long month of packing, an even longer week of cleaning, and one of the longest drives from Las Vegas I've ever had. By the time I was to Nephi and it was raining my spirits were getting low, by Provo it was snowing, and coming over the hill from Heber it was a whiteout. The boys rode in the "big truck" with Rick and were almost two hours behind me, so I was feeling very guilty about that the whole drive and for the two hours I spent looking out the front door waiting for them to pull up to the house. Despite my effort to organize the things that we needed to keep out to live while we are with my parents house, Rick arrived here without our clothes, diapers for Noah, or our toothbrushes. I went to bed overtired and exhausted, physically and emotionally.

This morning Rick did go and get most of our necissities, excluding my shoes. So, I went to church in my moms shoes which were three sizes too small. I really enjoyed sitting with my sister and her girls during sacrament meeting, but found myself looking around for all my friends, which are still in Las Vegas! Blame it on being tired or stressed or pregnant, but somehow being "home" has yet to make me feel as elated as I thought I would be.

I just wanted to thank all my wonderful friends in Las Vegas who made our 2 1/2 years there fun. Thanks for being my friend, having your kids be friends with mine, putting meals together with me at midnight, bunco (!), tending my kids while we cleaned our house, helping me clean my kitchen, throwing good-bye parties for us, and making us feel at "home" in Vegas. I will miss you all so much.

Luke starts his first day at his new school tomorrow, Rick starts work on Tuesday, and someday it will stop snowing. Things are going to be great. I really am glad to be here, we feel so blessed with the opportunites that life has given us.

Sorry for the rambling post, we actually left our camera in Las Vegas in the house we just moved out of (we need to figure out a way to get that back!) so I didn't have much else to update.