Utah!

We went to Utah last weekend and had a blast.  The trip got off to a rocky start.  Mike got pulled over for going 11 over the speed limit and then I took a nap and woke up to Mike saying, "That can't be for me again!"  Yep, pulled over twice.  But the boys did well:

We went to a corn maze, pumpkin patch and play area when we got to town with Mike's sister's family.  We, of course, took the kids' picture here:

Evan, lately, loves falling and laying on the ground.  He kept doing it at the pumpkin patch...

And then he got up and brushed himself off:

The kids loved running around:

Evan loved going in and out of everything.  You have to look close at this one... his face is classic Evan:

And Jordan loved the inflatable toys:

At the pumpkin patch, we bought pumpkins to carve but the kids were not interested.  Finally Jordan joined in for a bit:

While we were in Utah, we got a rain storm with some thunder and lightning.  It was quite the event for us:

I think we are a little more used to warm weather than I thought.  We took a walk on Sunday and had to bundle up because it was so cold to us:

Week in review

We have had a good week. The boys just keep growing. So here are some highlights:

The boy started holding hands. It really is cute. We ran some errands yesterday and they wanted to hold hands in the parking lot:

We went to a nature preserve close to our house on Saturday and the boys loved getting the chance to run around outside. The weather here in Vegas has been perfect, so we have been able to spend more time outdoors.

Evan was hilarious out there. He kept stopping and say, "OH!" or "Whoa!"

Then he would decide to just lay on the ground and look off the side of the path:

Jordan was so interested in everything he saw, in a different way than usual it seemed. He wants to learn more and understand why things are the way they are. He was fascinated by some ants we saw carrying food.

In other news, Jordan's potty training is actually going really well. He lets us know when he needs to go and only has had a few accidents. So, we are getting close to having him potty trained!

The past couple nights after we put the boys to bed, we have heard over the monitors Evan leaving his room and walking over to Jordan's and them talking. I love how much they like being together. We are trying to decide if we want them to sleep in the same room... could be good, but it could be really bad too!

Best buys.

Every once in a while, we find ourselves remembering our best buys, usually because we just used one: our van, the clipper set, my shopvac, our new extremely comfy comforter, etc. Today I picked up another one, or rather a pair of them:

I was at the store and saw Matchbox car washes. The boys LOVE making car washes with blocks, but they always fall down and the fun doesn't last long. Well, when we got home, they played with these for 30 minutes! Seriously! That never happens. So, I think this now joins the ranks of our best purcheses ever!

A morning with my boys...

My dad is coming to town this evening, so I spent a while last night cleaning. And since my boys can tear apart the house in five minutes flat I decided to take them out to minimize the damage.

First stop, the airport. We love going to watch the airplanes land and take off. After a twenty minute drive and Jordan's nonstop talk about school buses (we stopped for one in our neighborhood), we arrived at the observations spot, which happened to be filled with men smoking and reading the paper... and us. Jordan again talked nonstop about the airplanes getting bigger, landing, parking, what colors they were, and whatever else came to his little mind. I tell you what, that little boy can talk. We actually had a great time, sitting in the front of the van, snacking on crackers and watching the planes. As I was leaving I noticed a red sedan that pulled in with a mom and three little kids in the front seats. That made me smile!

Next, we went to the toy store to kill time. Because we are potty training Jordan I decided to take him over the bathroom and see if he needed to go. Unfortunately that little boy doesn't fit on toilets and while I was maneuvering and trying different options, Jordan announced, "I don't think this is working!" So, I had to hold him up. Well, Evan was in the stall with us and as soon as his saw the stream, he decided to stick his hand in it. Good times! I'm pretty sure it wasn't what he expected because he pulled his hand right out and kept it clenched the rest of the time. We had a good hand washing session after that!

They always keep me on my toes, I tell you!

Celebrate! (edited)

Well, I thought I would start this post with congratulating Mike - he successfully proposed his dissertation yesterday, so he is set to apply for internship. He has done an amazing job at pushing through (while doing everything really well, I might add) so that he can get done with school as quick as possible. And he is nice enough to humor me in taking his picture every time he is off to accomplish something!

The boys are doing well...

They are little stinkers though. They are fighting a lot lately, but also playing really well together. But, I spend a lot of time mediating. I think I am going to start letting them try to work out their problems...

Jordan is starting to do well with potty training. He wakes up every morning excited to go "on the big potty" but it only lasts until the first time he gets hurt for the day (which inevitably happens about an hour or two into the day...) and then he refuses to wear underwear or go on the potty. So, we're making a bit of progress, we just have to figure out how to get him to stick with it.

Jordan loves to practice writing letters. He gets so excited and calls us over to see. Here is what he did this morning:

I love that he sees the letters as parts, not wholes. Like the P, he divides into a circle and a line. It is so interesting to see how he thinks.

In other news, here is our new aquisition:

We have had a lot of unexpected expenses come up in the past few weeks. The back handle on my van broke and we had have it fixed (for a whole lot more than you would think a handle would cost... :)), and then the day after we did that, my hard drive crashed and we had to get a new (used) one installed. Then this past week our microwave was growling at us... it seriously sounded like it was going to explode at any moment. It has been interesting to see through all of these things that if they were going to happen, they have happened at the best time possible. When my door handle broke, it happened on a week that Mike actually had a day off so that he could help me take the van in and pick it up. And my hard drive crashed about a week after my birthday, so I had money to use to buy the new one. Anyway, last night we decided to get a new microwave. And it so happened that Target had microwaves on clearance for 50% off. Trust me, I look at the clearance racks at Target more often than I should - it doesn't happen that often that microwaves are on clearance. I am so grateful that ours went bad at the exact time that they happened to be cheaper. I seriously have seen so many examples in our lives these past few years to know that Heavenly Father looks out for us and takes care of us.

edit: So, we went grocery shopping tonight and when we got home the handle inside the driver's side door of our van snapped and is now broken. Looks like our streak is still alive!