Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Better Late than Never

Here are some of the pictures I promised. Unfortunately, my computer is being super slow now. I had the cutest pictures downloaded and it wouldn't let me save it to my blog. Such is life in the computer world. So there will be more to come when my internet has improved.

Old School... Finger Painting






The first two pics are Levi and the last three are Landon. You can see why I like painting at an easle much better!

Painting Fun






They all love to paint and now I love it too because it's not nearly as messy as it used to be. Landon is in the blue smock and Levi is in the red one. Landon's cunning little smile is one we see often and I love it! Did you check out Levi's masterpiece! He loves to fill in all of the paper with as much color as possible. And Isabelle is a goof just like her daddy, can't you tell from that goofy little grin?!

Before and After hair pictures



She wasn't too happy about the photo session... even after I finished cutting her hair she still didn't want to look at the camera. I love her, stubborness and all!

Long Lost Laurie

I haven't forgotten about the blogging world... but I have been in Colorado for almost 6 weeks! I know, crazy right?!? We had so much fun playing with grandma's, grandmpa, great grandpa, aunts, uncles and cousins. The kids are still talking about all of the little people they got to play with. They talk about everyone but I think Zeke-a-man (never just Zeke...it's always Zeke-a-man or Zeke-e-boy) comes up on a daily basis. It was nice that Grandma Gail watches him throughout the week cuz we got to see him a lot. We visited the zoo with everyone we know in CO 4 or 5 times. What can I say, except my kiddos love the zoo! We also frequented the kids museum compliments of Grandma Wilcox's annual pass. That was a favorite too! Of course they just loved playing in the backyard in the sand pile at the Wilcox's, playing with the dog at G.G.'s, jumping on the tramp at both houses, playing at the parks, swimming at the rec center, and getting Happy Meals at McDonalds (we NEVER buy them Happy Meals b/c we are too cheap, so that was a huge treat for them). Can we say that they were incredibly spoiled! They had so so so much fun, but they are happy to be home too.

Levi actually has a hard time being away from home for so long. He became really introverted (he wouldn't even look at people or answer questions when they talked to him) and he had a few more meltdowns then normal while we were gone. Not fun for the adult in charge... I'm sure Grandpa Wilcox can attest to that. He had a good meltdown when they (G and G Wilcox) watched my kids for 5 days while I got to go to Rexburg with all of the Bench girls. (Thank you, thank you, thank you for watching my kids) I got to be a part of the party who brought Jessie to college. For those of you who know her... YES she is actually old enough to be in college... scary how time flies. Our little Jessie is all grown up!

While in Idaho I got to see two of my old college roomies who still live there (and work... they aren't still in school). It was super duper fun. We had a slumber party at Liz's house and stayed up until 3:30 (which I must say, almost killed me... I'm getting old) just talking. We had so much catching up to do since I hadn't seen Daleen for 5 years! That is way too long! It went by way to quickly but it was so much fun. Hopefully I'll be lucky enough to see Liz again this summer since her fam lives in Wisconsin. I'm really hopeful that we can get the whole group together in the next year or two at the most.

Overall I am happy to be home. It's nice to get back into our routine and see daddy everyday. I have to say that I am loving the fourth year of dental school because Brandon is actually around everyday. Our first year of dental school we made it a rule that he had to come home for either dinner or bedtime so the kids could see him for at least an hour everyday. Sadly it was even hard for him to be away from homework for an hour some days, but he did it for us. Now it's so nice because we get to have him from the second he gets home until bedtime. The kids and I are thrilled about how much more we get to do as a family. It feels like family night every night! Brandon has had a few projects going and he loves to get the kids involved. They even "helped" him change the oil in the car and they thought it was so cool. Let's face it, everything daddy does is cool! He and in effect the kids has a huge passion for orchids. I have to admit that I love their passion for nature because it's been such a great way to teach the kids about Heavenly Father's creations.

Last comment... I am so happy to have my Levi back. I missed my little guy! From the minute he got home he has been talking/yelling (excitedly) non-stop. Plus he and Landon are loving their bikes. They roll out of bed every morning and the very first thing they do is go ride their bikes in their pajamas. I can't get them dressed fast enough. Oh well, as least they are clothed.