Skiing and other dramas

For his birthday, Sam got a ski lesson from his grandparents - the beginning of an expensive family tradition. However, he woke up sick the morning of the lesson, so Morgan unenthusiastically went in his stead. To my complete surprise, it was a success and she enjoyed herself enormously. 

When Sam finally got his turn, I was again surprised that he was less thrilled with the experience and not sure about continuing. Talk about role reversal. But just like boating and national parks, skiing is not considered an optional past time in Erik's mind, so next winter will see more ski lessons, cheese fries and endless hot chocolate (Sam liked that part). Thankfully kid season passes are only $10 - Erik's, not so much. 

Kate has formed a near obsession with brushing teeth, and she isn't choosy about whose brush she's using. 

We tried moving a dresser into the basement on our own (meaning Erik and an ineffective cheerleader) and this was the result. Turns out cardboard slides are useful not only in moving furniture down stairs but people as well. An Instacare visit confirmed there were no broken bones, but it has still been alarmingly slow to heal.

Sam's artwork really started blossoming this spring. So far we've had no luck in fixing his somewhat dyslexic name - he doesn't see the problem. 

We went in for the 8 week ultrasound and discovered that we were actually 11 weeks along. We still don't know how that's biologically possible, but I wasn't going to reject news that placed me closer to being done. 

An impromptu neighborhood hike in pajamas that Kate was clearly not consulted on.

I've been so sick with this pregnancy that I completely missed the Easter egg hunt. I bought and filled eggs and then went to bed while Erik and his parents handled the parts that required movement. 

Erik wanted me to try for an Easter picture before they shucked their nice clothes - I should have said forget it. Getting a nice picture of all three of them is nearly impossible. Sam refuses to look directly at the camera anymore and Kate is way too easily distracted. 

It didn't take too much whining about my sad state before my mom hopped on a plane and came to help. I don't think she minded much. I'm still not sure she's forgiven me for taking half her grandkids away from her. 

 A recent development when they learned about Captain Underwear. After I kiboshed underwear on the head, they grabbed Sam's pull-ups and called themselves Captain Pull-Up. Erik was so proud.

Old Stomping Grounds

We promised ourselves (and others) that we would return to Arizona in February, when the weather is gorgeous and Utah's is not. So we dusted off our summer gear and made the trek down south, breaking our journey in St. George. Taylor and Kaitlin were kind enough to settle in a perfect half way point for our trips. Our kids were so thrilled to see each other again that they had to be reminded that our goal was to leave Utah for a week.

As soon as we arrived, Arizona experienced a heat wave. We were pretty glad that the snow cone shops are open year round.

Princess Kate with my beautiful dad. Why can't everyone that we love just live by us? Maybe we should build a compound. 

We bravely went "hiking" as a family (we are definitely more in the brainwashing stage than the successfully hiking stage), but Erik and I enjoyed our morning hike sans children far more. We took the same trail from our dating years and remembered that we are a couple as well as parents. 

We were looking forward to fresh citrus again, but discovered that picking oranges a month later than our usual New Year's Eve tradition makes a big difference.

When Morgan was about Sam's age, my sister Becky took her to a shop called Girly-Girlz for a glamorous make over experience. Morgan has never forgotten it, and has talked fondly of it for so long that Sam started asking when Becky was taking him to "Boysy-Boys." Since no such place exists, Uncle Travis took him to Fat Cats and introduced him to the manly world of arcade games. Somehow Sam did very well, collected a pile of tickets, and traded them in for cheap prizes and candy which he called "loot." I love having indulgent younger brothers and sisters. 

It's become something of a yearly tradition for my parents to take the grandkids to a pint sized amusement park in Phoenix. All the rides and roller coasters cater to juvenile sizes and thrill levels and the kids eat it up, while we adults roast in the heat and take way too many pictures out of boredom.

And of course no trip to Arizona is complete without seeing Rick and Diane. By the time we revisited everything we loved about our old home we were doubting our decision to move.

 

Kate's unruly locks were out of control, so we took her for her first haircut. If Kate had her way, it would be the last. See the red eyes and dejected look? She sobbed through it all and insisted that I be in reach, meaning the poor hair dresser had to work around me and cover us all with hair. Since regular hair cuts appear more vital to curly hair than straight, I foresee a lot more trauma in Kate's future.

Ready to come home, full of sugar and low on sleep.

Then I was sick for several days, took a pregnancy test just to rule it out, and surprise! Baby four is coming in October against all odds and definitely out of our schedule. I guess I should be grateful I didn't get sick until we finished our vacation.