Omaha

We drove out to Omaha, NE at the end of May. We decided it would be best to drive overnight so that the trip wouldn't seem so long to the youngens. It wasn't too bad, except that around 2am, we stopped for all of us to sleep, unfortunately, Anabelle decided to wake up and sat there crying until we started driving again. The little stinker. Luckily I had gotten some sleep before we stopped, so it was my turn to drive. We arrived at Grandma Jill's apartment early Saturday afternoon. Some of Matt's brothers and a wife came over and we had a fun time catching up and playing scrabble with each other on smartphones. Mom and I were totally excluded because we don't have smartphones. We had one of Matt's favorite meals that his mom makes, for dinner that night, Italian sandwiches. So yummy! It will kill you, but you will die happy.

The kids were so excited to be with their Grandma Jill. They had so much fun with her. One of Matt's sisters, Heather, brought over a bunch of toys for Mom to keep at her house, since she got rid of all of them when she left on her mission. One of the toys was this foot high, remote controlled T-Rex that walked, roared, and did all kinds of stuff. Beckett was so funny with this toy. At first he was really nervous about it. He would just watch it from a distance. Then he realized it wasn't real and that he could play with it and after that, it was his favorite toy. He had a hard time sharing it with other cousins that came over while we were there. I personally, am very glad that we don't have one of those. That thing would move all by itself without anyone touching the remote and it kind of freaked me out.

Belle's favorite thing at Grandma Jill's was her deck she loved it. I think she was out there every chance she got.

Matt left Saturday night to start his Brothers Baseball Trip. They did one two years ago, and decided they had so much fun, they wanted to do it again. This time they stayed at their sister, Tris's house. She lives in Ohio, so they went to Cleveland and Pittsburgh. They had a blast on this trip too. Tris made shirts for all the boys.

Matt's family loves Balderdash, a game about making up stuff and getting people to believe what you wrote is the right answer. On their last baseball trip, the boys played the game and they got the name George Dawes one round. He has since become a huge inside joke for all of the guys and at our family reunion, the joke only continued. Tris remembered it all and made a T-shirt for them. Isn't she so cool?

While they were on their trip, they also went to Cedar Point, the roller coaster capital.

It looks like so much fun. Someday I will get to go too. I love roller coasters. Hopefully turning 30 and having kids hasn't ruined that for me.

Back to Omaha. We had a lot of fun of our own. Monday was pretty tame most of the day. We went to a park and had a picnic with another one of the wives and children left behind.

All I have to say is the humidity is killer. I am seriously considering NOT moving to Omaha, just because of the humidity. I moved into the shade and it was literally no different than in the sunshine. I was melting. And Anabelle just wanted to swing the whole time, in the sunshine. I had to talk her out of swinging and going and playing on the playground with her cousins and brother because I couldn't stand it another second longer.

That night, after making pizza for dinner, the fire alarm went off in the apartment above Mom's. Mom immediately grabbed the kids and told them to get their shoes on. I grabbed my camera and phone and then left. As we were going down the stairs, the girl in the apartment on fire came out and said it was a cooking fire and they had put out and that we didn't need to leave. Mom and I left anyways because the alarm was still going. We walked across the street and watched the fire trucks come and then played at the park at the elementary. After a little bit, Mom's neighbor came running towards us and told us the fire fighters needed the keys to the apartment. I ran back to open the door for them to find them already inside and pots and pans everywhere. Apparently those sprinklers are crazy. They spray about 55 gallons of water per minute, so there was a few inches of water in the apartment above, and it was all coming down into Mom's place. We had to pack up and go sleep at my sister-in-law, Erica's house that night. It was crazy.

After a nights sleep, we felt better. Erica and I decided it would be a good day to take all our kids to the children's museum. As we were leaving it started to rain, then it turned into a downpour. It was lightening like crazy. I saw lightening strike a radio tower like a mile or less in front of me. Kind of scary. The streets were flooded. When we arrived at the museum, we got drenched running from our cars to the museum, and I am really not exaggerating. Here are some pictures of the kids at the museum after we had been there a half hour and you can still see the water in Belle's hair:

It was a really fun place. It is a lot like the Discovery Gateway. There was a YMCA children's group there so it was super crowded, but the kids had a blast anyways. There was this ball area that had all kinds of machines that moved the balls in all kinds of ways. Beckett loved that area. They also had an area for putting on stage make-up. Belle really liked that area as well as the grocery store. It was so fun. And it was free to boot. She had a year pass that lets in 2 adults, and 4 kids. It was perfect!

When we got back, Mom and I thought we would be able to go back to the apartment. Nope. We had to go back and get clothes for another night. I hadn't planned on living out of a suitcase, living out of a suitcase, if that makes any sense. Beckett and Anabelle were fine with it. They were having so much fun playing with their cousins that they never get to see, Beckett especially.

Wednesday, we thought for sure we would be able to go back to the apartment. We went back to only find big huge fans blowing. There was no way we would be able to stay the day there. So we went to the visitor's center by the Winter Quarters Temple. It was fun. They had all kinds of neat stuff and things to look at, even dress ups.

I highly recommend going there if you are ever in the area. The temple is just gorgeous as well. The visitor's center has a beautiful view of the temple and the graveyard right next to it. (In case you didn't know, the temple was built right next to the cemetery for the saints that died there before they could begin their trek out west. It actually is really beautiful and even more peaceful than most temple grounds)

Well, when we got back to the apartment, it was still blowing. So we went shopping! We went to Joann's, where Jill works, and she helped me pick out some fabric for curtains to put in Anabelle's room.

Didn't they just turn out adorable? I just love them. I like how they match her blanket as well.

Just a reminder of what it looks like

The only problem is, that as soon as we came home, Anabelle started insisting on sleeping in Beckett's room. So, now those cute curtains are up with no blanket to match. Oh well, they look cute anyways.

After our purchases, we decided we couldn't sleep at the apartment that night, and trespassed on another sister-in-law, Taffy. Luckily, we arrived just as she was finishing up making chicken pot pie, so we got to have a delicious dinner and a place to stay. Beckett and Anabelle got acquainted with more cousins that they never see and had a lot of fun. Everyone that we stayed with was so hospitable. They were so kind and gracious.

Well, now we are up to Thursday, and that was the day we went to the Omaha Zoo. Which is huge! I have never been and it was so cool. At least 3 or 4 times bigger than our wonderful Hoogle Zoo. They have the 2nd largest indoor rainforest in the world. How cool is that?! We didn't go in though. There was just too much to look at and two little kids and two adults that got a little weary of walking everywhere (oh wait, the kids were in the wagon that I rented, so they really had no excuse for being tired).

We did go in the desert dome, which didn't feel very new to me, but they did have an exhibit in the basement that was so cool. It is called Creatures of the Night. It is dark down there and they have all these nocturnal creatures on display, even bats in open cages that are netted off, but you can see and hear them flying around. It was really cool.

All the boys thought it was so fun to be down there and that they were so tough, even though they are only 4 and 5. Then we got to the end, which is where they have a bayou, complete with alligators. You walk through on a wooden platform that is maybe a foot off the water with thin metal netting on the sides, hanging from the railing.

At first I thought, "Those alligators are fake. There is no way they would have them so close to the public." Then I asked Taffy if they were real and yes they were. Beckett was scared to go in, but once he got in he wasn't scared. Once I got in and found that out, I was a bit nervous. Those gators could easily chomp through and eat somebody. I did calm down after she told me that they are really lazy and well feed. They better be! They had an albino alligator in there and that was really cool. It was maybe 3 feet from the walkway, so I didn't stay too long to gawk.

After that, we went to the aquarium. That was so fun. They had all kinds of ocean creatures. I think the kids liked this place the most.

I didn't get a picture of it, but they had a big column filled with water and Jelly fish. It was so amazing and beautiful. It was just like on Finding Nemo.

Due to Beckett's insistence, after seeing the cat house, we went and saw the giraffes, but I didn't take any pictures there either. I am terrible. I did get a picture of the next thing we went and saw though:

That was definitely the best thing there for Beckett. After that, we were all spent and went home. I got an amazing parking spot, in the shade, real close to the entrance. I was so lucky and so happy when we were able to just pull right out of there. That was a highlight for me.

After that, Mom and I decided that we had had enough of sleeping at other people's houses and went back, loud fans and all. They had now added dehumidifiers, so it was even noisier, but we didn't care. It was nice to be settled finally and not putting anyone out. Plus, we made up our own recipe for chicken salad that had just what we wanted in it and it turned out great. I am craving it now just thinking about it.

Friday was the day the boys got back, so we decided to not do much. I sewed my curtains and that was about it. Saturday we spent at Matt's brother's house helping him with yard work, and then had Chinese for dinner (you should know by now that the meals were just as much apart of the trip for me, as everything else was). Sunday we had a big picnic with almost all of the family in Omaha, plus some from Utah, and the kids just had a blast playing with all of their cousins. Here is a picture of Anabelle chasing a squirrel with her cousin Ally (also from Utah):

After the picnic, Matt and I decided we would leave as soon as we could, instead of the next day, so we could drive while the kids slept. I think it took Matt's mom by surprise because she started crying when we said it. It was hard for us to leave as well. I think Beckett knew it we were leaving too because this is what he did when we got back to Mom's apartment:

Then Anabelle couldn't be left out, only she didn't look quite so melancholy.

We had so much fun with family and especially with Mom. One of our best trips out there.

Go find a giveaway!

My friend is having a giveaway on her blog. Go to Liv's Favs to find out how you can win a $10 gift certificate to ShoeBuy.

Yes, we are alive

We are alive and well. We have not fallen off the planet or anything like that. Last we updated, it was mid-march. So, that means we start with Anabelle's Birthday. She had a great Birthday. All she wanted to do was go and sleep at Grandma's house. So my mom let us have the party at her house. Belle let me do her hair in ponytails and she kept them in most of the day. I couldn't believe it. She looked so cute.

We had dinner and then opened presents (I still needed to finish decorating the cake).

She got some great stuff. Grandma and Grandpa gave her a baby and her bed, stroller, and diaper bag. It was part of a set that got split up between Christmas and Anabelle's Birthday. So now she has all the baby stuff that she could ever need. She loves it and probably plays with at least one of the baby's things each day.

She also got some make-up from my sister, which mom has had to put up high and will only let her play with it if I can supervise. She really likes having her own make-up (she got mad at me once for not putting my make-up on her). She also got a Sleeping Beauty magnetic "paper" doll, great for church. She got some "school" books and a notebook. She loves to pretend to write and do homework. She is going to love school.

I found a screamin' deal on a Barbie doll that came with a brush and a lawn chair and couldn't pass it up. She loves that a lot too. She also got some new Signing Time DVDs, which she was very excited about as well.

Beckett got some gum from my sister, who hates to see anyone left out, and he just happened to sneak it right in front of the camera just as I was about to take a picture.

He is pretty talented.

After presents, we went upstairs and had cake. Belle had been telling me for months that she wanted a "Princess cake". The only thing I could come up with were those cakes with a barbie shoved down in side. I looked up on line how to do it and realized I didn't have a pan that would work well for the dress. Luckily, a woman that I visit teach had one that was perfect. I went to the dollar store and bought a super cheap barbie, broke off her legs, and viola....

Anabelle's Princess Cake

She was very excited about it. And I was pleased at how well it turned out. This was quite possibly my best cake decorating yet. And I am pretty sure I will never do this well again. I am very proud of how it turned out. I can't take credit for the idea of putting the candles in her hands. I saw that one on the Internet. But I did come up with the idea for the star candle behind for the 3rd candle.

I don't know if you noticed, but Belle isn't smiling much in her pictures. All day on her birthday, she just wasn't acting excited. I thought she was just so overwhelmed with everything, that she just didn't know what to do. After cake, she and Beckett went downstairs to watch her new Signing Time movies. Matt and I stayed upstairs and played games with all the big people. In the middle of a round of Telestrations (such a fun game by the way, highly recommend it), I hear Belle call to me. I told her just a minute. About a minute later she calls to me again. I tell her I will be down as soon as the round was over. When it ends, I casually make my way for the basement. I get down there and she had had a severe case of diarrhea. I mean it was bad. Straight liquid that ran down her leg, all over my parent's carpet. It was sooooo bad. That is when I realized why she wasn't very enthusiastic all day. Two days earlier, she had thrown up, but it was only once, so I thought it was just a fluke and that she just had to get something out of her tummy. I guess not. I don't think I have ever seen a blow out that bad, not even a newborns. Matt and I had a wonderful time cleaning her and the carpet all up. I felt so bad for her and for the carpet. On a positive note, she started acting like her normal self and was running around and finally acting excited, now that the day was over and it was almost time to go to bed.

Really, it was great birthday, despite the stomach problems. She is such a sweetheart and I am so glad she came to our family 3 years ago. Even though she has a teenager's attitude sometimes, she is really such a good kid and I rarely have to discipline her. She loves to help clean, almost too much. I think we go through twice as many wipes as we normally would because she loves to clean the house with them. I guess that isn't a fault. I just wish she was more that way with picking up toys or clothes.

She still loves to try on all kinds of crazy outfits and now she is into doing her own hair. She puts the clips in at the bottom of her hair, instead of at the top, similar to the way cute little African-American girls do their hair, minus the dreads that make it okay to put clips at the bottom of your hair. She is such a doll. She still loves shoes. A couple of weeks ago, we were at a friends' house for their daughter's birthday, who is the same age as Belle. The kids wanted to go outside and play. Anabelle comes out of her friend's bedroom wearing her Sunday shoes. I told her, "No. You cannot where her nice shoes outside. Go take them off and put on your flip flops." She stamped her foot and skulked off. A few seconds later, she tried the same thing in the same shoes again. I got a little more stern with her, and she huffed at me and stomped off. She did it a third time before she finally changed her shoes. Then, that little stinker tried again later, when it was time to go home, to leave the house with those shoes on. I could not believe that girl. I am so not looking forward to her teenage years.

Okay, back to what has been happening since Anabelle's birthday. The last day of March was a warm day, at least compared to every other day. When I got home from picking up Beckett from Preschool, Beckett saw his wading pool and asked if he could go swimming. I had a hard time convincing him that it was not warm enough to go swimming that day. Then, throughout the rest of the day, he kept bringing it up. Well, it was getting close to bed time and they really needed a bath. I have a struggle getting them into the tub most nights, so I thought, "Why not?" and went and got the wading pool from the garage and put it in the tub.

It was a hit. I had no problem getting them in the tub. As you can see, they insisted on wearing swimsuits, which made washing a little difficult, but in they end, they got clean. It was a great experiment. A little hard to clean up from, so I don't know if I will do it again, but we had a lot of fun.

April was a pretty quiet month to start out, but ended strong. I signed up to sell Mary Kay and we spent the last weekend of the month in Payson, at my Brother's house. We had so much fun. We swam at the hotel there (yes, they have a hotel, as well as a pretty sweet looking water park), and went to church with them. The kids had a sleepover in their cousin Julia's bunk bed and they loved it. When we sleep at someone else's house, usually Belle will go lay down for a little while with someone in their bed, but once everybody in the bed is asleep, she will come sleep with us. But this time, she totally stayed there all night long. It was great. We had a blast. Thanks Dan and Marcey!

We also went to the park in April. Here is a picture of the kids on the slide.

May was kind of a crazy month. The first week we spent house sitting/keeping my sisters company while my parents were out of town. We had a lot of fun with them and made some yummy food, which included some sauteed asparagus. It was so good.

Once it stopped raining, I made Matt put up the swings that have been sitting in our garage since our first summer in our house.

The kids love them. It is a rare day when they do not ask to go out side and swing.

Aren't those just the cutest pictures?!! I will admit though, I am beginning to wish I didn't make Matt put them up. My arms are getting so tired of putting them in and pushing them for forever. I was mowing the lawn one day (it was the day we were leaving for Omaha), and they insisted on being in the swings. Because I was in a hurry to get the lawn mowed and knew they wouldn't leave me alone unless I put them in, I put them in and every time I passed them while I mowed, I would give them a big push. It was compromise, except that I got the short end of the stick because our mower shuts off whenever you let go of the lever. So I had to restart the mower every time I pushed them. Maybe I should have just dealt with the whining and crying. They couldn't have been much louder than that mower. Oh well.

Belle has become quite the poser, for pictures that is.

Anabelle did our hair in this picture, that is one reason she is so excited.

See what I mean. She strikes a pose all the time now. It is so cute.

Beckett graduated from Preschool. We missed the actual graduation program, because we were in Omaha, but we still got the shaker he made for the program as well as a CD of pictures that were taken throughout the year. The school had class pictures taken (I didn't know Preschools offered such a thing, times have really changed). Here is Beckett's:

Isn't he so handsome?!! He was actually supposed to be in a cap and gown, but he refused. I think he looks much cuter without them on.

Beckett learned a lot in his four months of school. He knows all of his letters by sight and sound. He can read a dozen or so words. He also can count, with a tiny, little bit of help, to 30. He recognizes all of the numbers and can recognize double digits too. I am so proud of how far he has come. Pardon me for bragging a little. His teachers said he is such a bright, sweet boy, and a joy to work with. Maybe a lot of teachers say that to parents, but I know they mean it about Beckett. He is such a tender hearted boy and loves to please others (unless you are asking him to clean up or go home when he is having fun). Even though he would resist going most days, I think he really enjoyed school, at least his teachers. I really loved them. They were such good teachers and were able to keep those kids on task and teach them all kinds of things. They did such cute projects and had such a fun classroom. I would recommend Preschool express to anyone.

Here is Beckett's last day of school:

I just love that boy. So cute!

Well, I am going to end the update here. One, because it is 11:30 at night, and B, because next is our trip to Omaha, which needs a post all to itself.

Family Finance Basics: Certificate of Deposit Accounts

Remember how I told you about that blog about finances. Well, she just posted one that I found extremely informative. It was about Certificate of Deposit, or CDs, and the different kinds that are available. It has sparked inspiration in how I want to get our savings going. Check it out!

Family Finance Basics: Certificate of Deposit Accounts: "A Certificate of Deposit (CD) is a savings account where you can get a higher return rate by committing to keep your money there for a speci..."

Beckett is the cutest, truefacts.com

My nephew, Brayden, was baptised today. Beckett really likes his cousin Brayden, and was really excited to see him. We were running a little late (big surprise), and got to the church just as the family was moving into the font room for the actual baptism. All of the kids went immediately to the front of the font to watch. Brayden and my brother, Ben, stepped into the water and when Beckett saw them he said, no too reverently, "There's Brayden!" Then, when Ben started to put Brayden under the water, Beckett said, "Don't do that!" After Brayden came out of the water, Beckett said reassuringly, "Oh, he's okay now." I love my son.

Ana smells...

Scentsy is a company that sells those really cute warmers that you put yummy smelling wax into and it makes your whole house smell awesome. My sister-in-law, Ana, sells Scentsy. Her website for it is anasmells.scentsy.us. I love it. I think it is the most hilarious name for a website about smelly wax. I am throwing an online scentsy party through her. So, if you are interested in buying some awesome scents or a super cute warmer (my favorites are the Cherry Blossom and the Celtic Love Knot, love them!), please go to her website and click on my party. If you would like to come to my house and smell all of the lovely scents that Scentsy has to offer, I would love to have you over, so long as you give me warning so I can make sure my house looks decent. For those of you who live far away and cannot come to my house to smell them, I am going to tell you that all of the foody ones smell so delicious and scrumptious, like you have been making something yummy all day, and I recommend a lot of them. The perfume ones aren't my favorite, so I really can't give a good opinion on those. The man scents really smell like men's aftershave, so unless you really like your house smelling like musk, I would recommend you stay away from them.
I am toying with the idea of a girls night, in which we would watch a good movie, maybe make some chocolate waffles, and you can smell all the scents until you have a headache (a very real possibility, so I will make sure I have Tylenol on hand). I haven't decided yet though. Let me know if anyone is interested. It really would be just an excuse to make chocolate waffles and hang out with some adult women for a change. Also, please don't feel pressured into buying something. If you want something, awesome! If not, that is cool too.

LIV(E): Virtual Squeeze

Hey friends, can you help my friend Livia get her kitchen made over. Here is her post about how to do it: LIV(E): Virtual Squeeze

You have to hurry, tonight is when it closes. Livia would really appreciate all the help she can get to get this make over. She really needs it, there are holes in her floor and she has no dishwasher. Coming from someone that has lived somewhere without a dishwasher, that alone is a reason to get that makeover.