Even though Kris and I have many things to take care of around the house, we decided that part of our Spring Break time would be spent going to Vernal. Yesterday we left first thing in the morning and drove the three hour journey to Vernal. On the way there
Kyson and Kodi were great kids with a lot of enthu- siasm. We put on a couple of movies for them hoping Kyson would be entertained and Kodi would sleep. Kyson was entertained, but there was no hope for Kodi, and Kodi without her naps is Trouble. We kept telling Kyson that we were going to visit great-grandma, but he kept calling her "big" grandma. I guess he got the concept of "great" but with the wrong context. It was cute.
When we arrived, the kids were so excited. I don't know if they were excited to get out
wonderful and we were served Grandma'sof the car or to see "big grandma." We arrived just in time for lunch. We had a delicious meal with Grandma, Sharon, and Perry. The children wouldn't eat anything. It was probably because Kris, Kyson and Kodi ate an entire
canister of Pizza Pringles on the way there. The food was fantastic and we even got Grandma's famous mashed potatoes - boy they're good.
The rest of the afternoon was spent visiting. Kris was visiting with his grandma when he noticed a cricket on his leg. He called Kyson over, who is obsessed with bugs, and asked him to pick him up by the legs and take him outside. Kyson and I went outside with the little prisoner in hand, and then his bug hunting began. He was so excited about the cricket that he wanted to look for more bugs, potato bugs in particular. For
probably an hour Kyson and Kodi ran all over the yard, frolicking in the beautiful weather. Kyson was intently looking for bugs, but was only able to find an ant or two. Kodi was running around and laughing at everything. Eventually I was able toconvince them to come back inside so I could visit too.
I got them inside, but Kris's aunt Sharon is a regular play- ground. Kyson had so much fun with her that he had a hard time using an "indoor voice." They went into the back yard and walked around looking at different things in the yard. She's so good with kids. Kodi even went to her, but she wouldn't go to Grandma. Fortunately, Grandma was very patient and not offended by Kodi's antisocial behavior.
After a three hour visit, Kyson was ready to leave and Kodi desperately needed a nap, but we made sure to give a proper
goodbye to everyone, including Miss Kitty. We piled back in the car for our three hour drive to return home. Surpris- ingly, on the way home both kids slept, but not for long. Kyson slept for about an hour and Kodi only a half hour. Kodi typically sleeps about 5 hours a day in naps, and she slept half an hour. I was shocked that she had mutated by the end of the day. She wasn't terrible, just whiny. All in all, it was a great visit and I'm grateful we were able to dedicate the day to a day trip.
Four years ago, I went through an incredibly painful recovery after childbirth to bring my beautiful baby boy into the world. While he's no perfect child, I love him dearly and can't imagine my life without this precious boy. Sure, he is difficult to understand, doesn't always make sense, and can be socially awkward, he has stolen the hearts of many and hopefully he'll outgrow my previous list. Planning his birthday party this year has proven to be challenging because it seems like everyone is
always busy. We managed to find a date that worked for a few, so we're hoping all can come - but it's over two weeks after his birthday. Because of this delay, we decided to take him to McDonald's for dinner and have a "tiny party" with his BFFs, the girls next door. He always wants to play with them and even though they may get annoyed by him, they're such good sports to hang out with him and make him feel special. We had ice cream and sang
"Happy Birthday," but that really was about it. The girls were so nice to come over for him. After then left, we opened cards from his great grandma's (big grandmas as Kyson would call them), and then raced off to bed. It was a small way to celebrate a 4-year-old's birthday, but the big party will come soon enough. Hopefully it will be worth the wait for him.
disappoint. It was simple, but it doesn't take much to make little kids happy. 
Kodi has just turned 18 months and it's been so much fun to have her. I took her for her 18-month check-up and she's doing so well. She's a happy little girl and she loves to play and tease. She can say 4 things: Mama, Daddy, love you, and thank you. None of the words are very clear and I think only a parent or grandparent would understand, but it's still exciting. She's still a lightweight and she finally broke the 20 lb mark to go forward facing. Here are her stats from her check-up.
Beth and Randy, and it was a lot of fun. At one point Randy and I had Ghostbuster vacuums that strapped to our backs. I need to get me one of those. It's so easy to vacuum stairs with those things. I had a map of the areas I was supposed to vacuum and I had a really hard time following it. It's hard to read maps when you don't know what you're doing. I couldn't tell if rugs were in a lobby or in a room. I had no idea that even the rugs outside as you enter the temple are vacuumed daily. We were there until about 12:15am chatting, joking, and cleaning. It was a wonderful experience that I think anyone should take advantage of when the opportunity arises.
